Select Page
Poker Forum
Over 1,291,000 Posts!
Poker ForumFTR Blogs and Operations

Operation: Getting a grip on things.

Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 76 to 150 of 178
  1. #76
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Yeah, I've wanted to try starting new tables, and I tried at 2nl but I didnt do well.
    So I'm hoping to try again at 2nl now that I am rolled for 5nl and playing FR and get better at 6max and HU so that I can do it profitably at 5nl and beyond. I will always try new things (like short tables, HU, adding new hole cards etc...) at lower levels. Its much safer on the BR...
    I've considered trying some HU SNG's but they start at $2 and thats a bit more than I'd like to spend for practice...
  2. #77
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    I'm trying to convince myself to play more game types. I've always loved cards games....period. I now have a roll for 5nl....as it grows I would like to learn to play limit HE, Stud, 2-7, Omaha, razz etc...but at the lowest possible limits to begin

    All those games are interesting to me and I'd love to learn how to play them profitably. The problem as always with me is time. I dont have much of it and I'm trying to build the BR in NLHE.

    Hopefully I can spend some time learning them...Especially stud...I liked playing that as a kid, I just didnt understand it. I could build the roll w/ NLHE and play the lowest micro limits learning the other games it will just mean that my roll builds slower than normal...

    The weekend went ok. I played a little 6max and did well...I definitley need to continue to play tight at 2nl 6max. I thought I woul open up a bit more and steal more pots etc...but they dont fold right? So I open with stronger hands and just absolutely torture them with value bets...

    5nl went ok too. I played my game, I didnt bet scared and I took down some pots uncontested when I would open raise my low/mid PP from EP which is nice. I got into a couple nice pots and won an all-in....I love this game when you can play comfortably and profitably...
  3. #78
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Beautiful session today: 2tables 5nl FR and one 2nl 6max...

    Had this one very early:
    PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

    SB ($2.72)
    BB ($6.50)
    UTG ($1.32)
    Villain (UTG+1) ($14.59)
    MP1 ($5.47)
    MP2 ($4)
    MP3 ($5.25)
    CO ($2.55)
    Hero (Button) ($4.93)

    Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, A
    1 fold, Villain bets $0.15, 4 folds, Hero calls $0.15, 2 folds

    Flop: ($0.37) 4, 3, Q (2 players)
    Villain bets $0.20, Hero raises to $0.65, Villain raises to $1.10, Hero calls $0.45

    Turn: ($2.57) 6 (2 players)
    Villain bets $3.05, Hero raises to $3.68 (All-In), Villain calls $0.63

    River: ($9.93) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

    Total pot: $9.93 | Rake: $0.45

    Results:
    Hero had Q, A (one pair, Queens).
    Villain had Q, K (one pair, Queens).
    Outcome: Hero won $9.48

    I just started the table so I didnt 3bet him b/c I felt his cards would be decent from EP...so I flatted
    His bets just looked scared, he didnt want the flush to hit obviously but just in general he wanted me to go away...so I called the shove.

    At the 6max 2nl table I tapped into this one. I cant believe he felt ahead on the turn and river...

    No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (4 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

    Hero (BB) ($2.83)
    UTG ($5.52)
    Button ($8.12)
    SB ($3.80)

    Preflop: Hero is BB with A, 10
    1 fold, Button calls $0.02, SB calls $0.01, Hero bets $0.06, Button calls $0.06, SB calls $0.06

    Flop: ($0.24) 7, A, K (3 players)
    SB checks, Hero bets $0.16, 1 fold, SB calls $0.16

    Turn: ($0.56) A (2 players)
    SB checks, Hero bets $0.34, SB raises $3.56 (All-In), Hero calls $2.25 (All-In)

    River: ($5.74) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

    Total pot: $5.74

    Results:
    SB had K, 7 (two pair, Aces and Kings).
    Hero had A, 10 (three of a kind, Aces).
    Outcome: Hero won $5.49

    I was kinda shocked that he would think I was calling that shove with a hand that doesn't beat 2 pair....glad these players are out there...

    This happened on the 6max table as well....just shows how bad some people are even when you lose...

    No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

    Hero (UTG) ($5.48)
    MP ($5.49)
    CO ($5)
    Button ($7.98)
    SB ($4.91)
    BB ($4.98)

    Preflop: Hero is UTG with 5, 5
    Hero bets $0.08, 1 fold, CO (poster) calls $0.06, Button calls $0.08, 1 fold, BB calls $0.06

    Flop: ($0.33) A, 5, Q (4 players)
    BB checks, Hero bets $0.30, 2 folds, BB calls $0.30

    Turn: ($0.93) 2 (2 players)
    BB checks, Hero bets $0.42, BB raises $4.60 (All-In), Hero folds

    Total pot: $1.77

    Results:
    BB had 4, J (flush, Queen high).
    Outcome: BB won $5.90

    He showed it and asked if he beat me...I felt like mouthing off "wow! I cant believe you had a flush! Never would have guessed..." But restraint got the better of me and I just said "yes" and "nh"...did he expect me to call on that board?

    Back on the 5nl table:

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

    MP3 ($3.18)
    CO ($6.39)
    Button ($4.88)
    SB ($6.95)
    BB ($5)
    UTG ($4.90)
    UTG+1 ($1.93)
    MP1 ($4.93)
    Hero (MP2) ($9.48)

    Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 4, 4
    3 folds, Hero bets $0.15, MP3 calls $0.15, CO raises $0.25, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.10, MP3 calls $0.10

    Flop: ($0.82) 4, 5, 10 (3 players)
    Hero bets $0.60, MP3 calls $0.60, 1 fold

    Turn: ($2.02) 2 (2 players)
    Hero bets $1.65, MP3 calls $1.65

    River: ($5.32) 10 (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.70, MP3 calls $0.68 (All-In)

    Total pot: $6.68

    Results:
    Hero had 4, 4 (full house, fours over tens).
    MP3 didn't show [2h, 3h]
    Outcome: Hero won $6.40

    Again, I couldnt believe it...ok he had a SD but holy crap....
    I figured he had a draw but could never put him on that hand...

    A nice way to spend my evening...I love da pokerz...
  4. #79
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Time for update...

    Down a bit after I had a bad session where my KK<QQ (lost stack) and other hands didnt go well (missing lots of flops).

    I have been playing 5nl the last few sessions in the evenings at PS and it has been a nitfest....so bad. I spent a fair bit of time table selecting but it didnt make much difference. I would find a table with a high $/pot amount. I would jump on there and it would just slow to a crawl...it happened on 3 tables I went to where it was at the highest level for $/pot only to fall to the bottom after a while.

    The only pots I won were pots that I raised PF, then won on the flop w/ a cbet/value bet and the other players just folded b/c they didnt hit. I cant complain with that too much but it makes making $$ harder to come by. I had a set, straight and a couple TPTK scenarios that didnt get past the flop....

    The only nice thing was I was able to take a couple of three-way pots with an OESD when the others just folded.

    I left yesterday with a marginal gain....it would have been better but I chased a ISSD vs 2 players for a little too much. The flop call was ok but I should have given up on the turn...I was likely beat even if I hit it...
    The best pot I had was a flush that I hit on the river that paid off vs trips...

    Still having fun, I just dont have a lot of time and am still having trouble concentrating on the players and I go into autodrive, something that the regs are trying to reduce in the BC...
    I think my schedule only allows to play in the late hours which means I'm tired so I cant concentrate as well...I dont take as many notes as I should, especially when the table is so straight forward (call preflop, fold to cbet w/ nothing).
  5. #80
    Sometimes it's hard to find a calltard

    What adjustments to your game do you make when the table is weak-tight?
    Congratulations, you've won your dick's weight in sweets! Decode the message in the above post to find out how to claim your tic-tac
  6. #81
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    I "attempt" to open up a bit more in LP and steal blinds more with hands like A8o, K9s, JT etc...

    I dont open up much from EP or MP though. I'm just not good enough yet to tell when I am ahead or behind since their range is still very wide on the flop and a hand like AT from EP is not fun for me to play. Unless the board is T high I dont have a lot of confidence putting money in the pot.
    The other change i made was I open raised with all PP. Sometimes I will limp in with 66< to hit a set vs maniacs but I had the table fold almost every time when I raised with them...

    I also reduce my 3betting (which isnt that high to begin with) b/c I find that when they were raising preflop, it was with very strong holdings so a 3bet would only really be a bluff.

    It was a tough grind yesterday...I have a couple hands that I should put up here...one where I had QQ and I folded on the flop to a weak/tight player who all of a sudden found his balls and bet with a J high board. So I figured the only hand I beat was AK but since there was no A or K on the board so I didnt think the pansy would cbet that strong on a board he completely missed. It was a clear value bet by him. He probably had JJ+ and I was crushed but I cant be sure. That hand bugged me all night.
  7. #82
    Quote Originally Posted by Vinland
    I'm tired so I cant concentrate as well...I dont take as many notes as I should, especially when the table is so straight forward (call preflop, fold to cbet w/ nothing).
    If a hand makes it to showdown, there is usually a note or observation you can make, if not several. If you find yourself getting bored, I recommend going through hand histories of your table and looking for noteworthy actions you may have missed. I also suspect you aren't table selecting as well as you should. If I can find juicy tables at all hours of the day @ $10NL, I think you should be able to @ $5NL. Good luck!
    - Jason

  8. #83
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Long update here:

    Luco: Yeah we'll have to look for each other at IRC and do some donking at 2nl....I wouldnt mind some HU for practice...

    Jason: My big mistake was stayng at tables too long after they became nitty. It WAS bad though...I changed that last night and just moved along when I had to and found new tables with some bleeding going on.

    This first hand is from a few sessions back. I was so happy with my bluff, although it may not have been a bluff....I may have had the best hand. He just seemed so scared that I decided to pull one out:

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

    Hero (BB) ($5.70)
    UTG ($9.90)
    UTG+1 ($7.66)
    villain (MP1) ($12.55)
    MP2 ($5)
    MP3 ($9.25)
    CO ($0.68)
    Button ($2.63)
    SB ($4.66)

    Preflop: Hero is BB with K, A
    1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.05, villain bets $0.20, 4 folds, SB calls $0.18, Hero raises $0.55, 1 fold, villain calls $0.40, SB calls $0.40

    Flop: ($1.85) 3, 8, 8 (3 players)
    SB checks, Hero checks, villain bets $0.40, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.40

    Turn: ($2.65) Q (2 players)
    Hero checks, villain checks

    River: ($2.65) 4 (2 players)
    Hero bets $2, 1 fold

    Total pot: $2.65

    Results:
    Hero had K, A (one pair, eights).
    Outcome: Hero won $4.55

    I almost never bluff, aside from cbets or semi-bluffs so this felt like a good genuine bluff....as I was committing a good chunk of my stack to it...he probably had a mid PP or a good A or K...

    So I had a dry spell for a bit. Little action, bad cards, missing flops etc...
    Its amazing how a few hands can turn things around. I started the session dry as ever, mostly taking down pots with flop cbets.
    Then these happened:

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

    UTG ($8)
    Hero (UTG+1) ($6.08)
    villain 1 (MP1) ($18.35)
    MP2 ($10)
    CO ($6.55)
    Button ($4.39)
    villain 2 (SB) ($5.10)
    BB ($3)

    Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with A, A
    1 fold, Hero bets $0.20, villain 1 raises $0.35, 2 folds, Button calls $0.35, villain 2 raises $0.98, 1 fold, Hero raises $5.88 (All-In), villain 1 calls $5.73, 1 fold, villain 2 calls $4.10 (All-In)

    Flop: ($17.66) 9, 3, 8 (3 players, 2 all-in)

    Turn: ($17.66) 10 (3 players, 2 all-in)

    River: ($17.66) 8 (3 players, 2 all-in)

    Total pot: $17.66

    Results:
    villain 2 didn't show [Q,Q]
    Hero had A, A (two pair, Aces and eights).
    villain 1 didn't show [Q,Q]
    Outcome: Hero won $16.81

    WOOOT! They both had QQ....I don't know, if I had QQ and was Villain 1 I probably would have folded...
    I thought the shove was a bit overdone by me but I didnt want to make a decision on the flop and I felt that Villain 2 would call for sure so I just went ahead...

    About 3 hands later this happed on another table:

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

    UTG+1 ($5.08)
    MP1 ($2.28)
    villain 1 (MP2) ($5.57)
    CO ($4.41)
    Button ($9.78)
    SB ($3.35)
    Hero (BB) ($5.77)
    UTG ($1.58)

    Preflop: Hero is BB with 9, 9
    3 folds, villain 1 calls $0.05, CO bets $0.20, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.15, villain 1 raises $0.65, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.50

    Flop: ($1.62) 9, 7, K (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.65, villain 1 raises $4.87 (All-In), Hero calls $4.22

    Turn: ($11.36) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

    River: ($11.36) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

    Total pot: $11.36

    Results:
    Hero had 9, 9 (full house, nines over Kings).
    villain 1 didn't show [A,A]
    Outcome: Hero won $10.81

    I almost never donk bet but I thought a nice little wussy donkbet would cause him to reraise huge and he took the bait...
  9. #84
    donking sets ftmfw
    Congratulations, you've won your dick's weight in sweets! Decode the message in the above post to find out how to claim your tic-tac
  10. #85
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Yeah pretty tilting eh?
    You disprove of it??

    I think they have their place at times...I don't use them much except when I have a villain crushed and he has given away the fact that he has a premium pair and will likely reraise or shove.
  11. #86
    It's such an awesome move when you know villain will spaz out and come right over the top
    Congratulations, you've won your dick's weight in sweets! Decode the message in the above post to find out how to claim your tic-tac
  12. #87
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    I haven't had to vent in a while...so here goes.

    Fuck...
    Thats better.

    A pretty bad stretch going on for the last while. I haven't been able to play a lot of poker for the last while so last night I fired it up and was all gun-ho to get crushing...instead I got bulldozed.

    I couldn't connect worth a damn and my good PP never held up.
    In one hand (I need to post it for critique) I had QQ, raised and had one caller, flop came KXX and I cbet and was insta raised (just over min raise) and I insta folded. There were no SD or FD's possible so I dont know what else he would have raised with other than a K...

    I had QQ 5 times and I lost 3 out of 5 with one "win" being the blinds only.

    I lost my stack when I had the 2nd nut FD and on the flop I felt the implied odds made it good for me to call (there were 3 players in the pot), and on the turn I called the rest of my stack with proper pot odds and didnt hit....that was one buyin gone.

    On another table I made up a little bit with one good pot but then on that same table I got in all in w/ KK...
    It took him a while to call my all in so I knew he didnt have AA, I figured JJ, QQ or maybe AK (some will call). The flop came XQJ and I knew I lost....sure enough, he had QQ....there was another stack gone.
    Had my KK held I would have been up for the session and would be happy about how things went.

    As is, I still think I am playng fairly well. Not scared, not spewing, still playng tight and aggro....its just not going my way.

    I hope to get back on and fight again...It would be nice to get ahead on the BR, I've dropped a bit over the last week.

    I'm not too tilted, just frustrated how I'm hitting my flops and how my good PP don't seem to hold up.
  13. #88
    Quote Originally Posted by Vinland
    Had my KK held I would have been up for the session and would be happy about how things went.
    I think Tommy Angelo talks about this - how one little marginal thing can make or break a session or affect our outlook. Because of that, it's always important to keep things in perspective and realize that one play (or even several) doesn't make us a good player or a bad player. It sounds like you already know and you're doing that, but that one sentence really illustrates it.
    - Jason

  14. #89
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Well another session last night went awry.....its bad....

    I'm officially on a 7 BI downswing...
    I'm a little pissed with last nights session, I started to tilt a little bit.
    I lost a BI when I raised EP w/ AdJd and the flop came J high rainbow. SB checked and I value bet and was called.
    The turn was a second diamond, SB shoved....
    So he had a hand but was worried abot the flush. I had TPTK and the nut flush draw but it was apparant I was behind but the session was going poor again and I just couldn't believe I was behind yet again so I made the bad call.
    I didn't hit the flush and he turned over AA...there was a buyin gone.

    Its really suprising how card dead I am. I am getting good cards to start but I just dont connect off of them. My cbets arent working very well and I just dont know if they are floating me or if they actually have something...and I don't like to 2nd barrel yet...the players just dont fold that fast after calling one street.

    I think yesterday I didnt cbet enough. I had a tonne of hands with low/mid PP and there usually was a K or A on board and I always checked and folded to a bet b/c it seems like a lot of the players at 5nl call raises w/ K or A's in they're hand, not like 2nl where they call raises w/ anything...

    I am almost down to my 2nl BR, my only saving grace is that my expected EV winnings are quite a bit higher than my actual winnings due to some of the beats I've taken. My earnings graph and EV graph are almost equal...

    I am still playing good cards, I'm not playing junk....I think there are 3 problems, I'm not connecting on my good cards like AK, AQ etc...I have taken some bad beats (KK getting cracked 2x by QQ), and I have made some bad calls where I should've known better...It's just hard to believe after a while that once again you're behind in a hand!

    I think I will need to open up some stats and see if I can find a problem/leak...As I said, my preflop selection is good, but my cbetting needs to improve for sure...and I have to fricken fold when I think I'm behind...

    The biggest change b/w 2nl and 5nl is my cbetting. It seemed like I could cbet any board and have them fold whereas now, I get called so often....I dont know if its just floating or if I'm actually running into hands...
    At 2nl if a player bet and I only had say AQ, I folded...they didn't bet without some kind of hand....at 5nl, I'm starting to think that this isnt the case. When I raise with JJ and the flop comes Axx, I have been checking and autofolding to bets, I just don't know if they are making bets like that w/o an A in their hand...
    When I do cbet, I seem to get called and again,I have a hard time believing that they are betting into me with worse than an A...
  15. #90
    This may seem small, but if you can change your way of thinking from
    Quote Originally Posted by Vinland
    I'm officially on a 7 BI downswing...
    to
    Quote Originally Posted by The New and Improved Vinland
    I have officially suffered a 7 BI downswing in the past and who knows what tomorrow will bring?
    I think you'll be better off in terms of proper mindset. If you're truly getting coolers and bad beats, it will even out. Just always focus on your play because it's all you can control.
    Quote Originally Posted by Vinland
    I started to tilt a little bit.
    Aha ... and THIS is why people in "downswings" lose more money than normal variance would otherwise allow.
    Quote Originally Posted by Vinland
    I just couldn't believe I was behind yet again so I made the bad call.
    This perfectly illustrates the psychology and tilt behind a "downswing". If you're on your game or an "upswing", you may trust your read and lay it down. But, under bad circumstances, it's harder to make the right play, which is ALWAYS the right play regardless of how good or bad your most recent results have been. We've all been there and it's tough to fix, but that's the challenge.

    Quote Originally Posted by Vinland
    I am almost down to my 2nl BR, my only saving grace is that my expected EV winnings are quite a bit higher than my actual winnings due to some of the beats I've taken. My earnings graph and EV graph are almost equal...
    Meh ... I don't think you should take any happiness or frustration from these graphs or even spend much time looking at them. If there is a graph that could tell you how often you get it all-in with the best hand, that might be useful because good players should most often get their money in good and bad players less so. However, the actual results after the money gets all-in is trivial - all that matters is if the play was optimal.

    Quote Originally Posted by Vinland
    I think there are 3 problems, I'm not connecting on my good cards like AK, AQ etc...I have taken some bad beats (KK getting cracked 2x by QQ)
    None of these are problems - this is the reality of poker which you can embrace and move forward or lament and stagnate.
    Quote Originally Posted by Vinland
    ... and I have made some bad calls where I should've known better...It's just hard to believe after a while that once again you're behind in a hand!
    This is a legitimate problem, but completely psychological. Fixing these things is easier said than done, but at least you're honest with yourself and can hone in on some problems. Good luck!
    - Jason

  16. #91
    I've pretty much gone through everything you have in terms of handling losses. Everything Jason said is bang on. Now here's my 2c:

    One thing that has helped me lately is instantly closing all tables once I feel frustrated. The other day I had a hand where villain sucked out on me with 4% equity for stacks and I admit I was pretty frustrated because the same thing happened to me on another table at the SAME TIME. So I got really frustrated - but instead of trying to play upset and grind back my losses I forgot about it and quit for the day. IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO DO THIS IMMEDIATELY - DO NOT WAIT FOR YOUR THE BIG BLIND TO REACH YOU. IT IS +EV TO QUIT WHEN FRUSTRATED NO MATTER HOW MANY 'FREE' HANDS YOU HAVE LEFT TO SEE.

    Sometimes unbelieveable things like that will happen, but the best thing you can do is realize that you're either on tilt or going to be put on tilt from such events, and then do everything in your power to close the Poker software. Doing this will save you alot of money and make you feel much better when you cool off and realize you only lost a little bit instead of what could have potentially been alot.

    Don't wait for the big blind, don't make excuses - get up and leave. You need to admit to yourself right away that you're on tilt and then stop playing. You can try your hardest to stop tilting, but it won't work. It's not easy to do, but once you do it, you'll thank yourself.

    This is completely normal and something that every poker player goes through to some degree. Those who manage it best will earn the most.

    If you want I have a (very, very long but worth it) article on how the human brain works and why you cannot play your best no matter how hard you fight it when you're on tilt. PM me if you want a copy of this article.
  17. #92
    Quote Originally Posted by Vinland
    I have to fricken fold when I think I'm behind......
    If you can attain the discipline to do this, you'll be on your way. Get out of a hand as early as possible If you are not confident. You need to really feel like you're ahead in the hand. And, of course, that feeling should be based somewhat on villians stats and "maniac factor" so pay attention to showdowns when you're not in the hand. Probably, you need to tighten up your post-flop game. Play tight and be happy about it. Wait for good hands (good flops), see a cheap turn card if possible, or get out of the hand. Just 1 or 2 bad decisions can make a big difference to your session winrate.

    Quote Originally Posted by Vinland
    The biggest change b/w 2nl and 5nl is my cbetting. It seemed like I could cbet any board and have them fold whereas now, I get called so often....I dont know if its just floating or if I'm actually running into hands......
    Well, of course, you don't want to c-bet "any board". You need to hit a good piece of it or have the table rep (by playing tight) that they'll give you respect when you do c-bet and fold unless they really do have a good hand. What's your c-bet % stat? Think of it this way, maybe. 5NL is a cheap level to learn at. You can experiment with a few hands. If you think you may be beat, but you might be good, call down, try to keep the pot small and see if you were right or wrong. Then, start trusting your reads.
    Explain...what I do for a living without saying "I make monies in da 600 enels by pwnin' tha donk bitches". Instead I say "I'm a online financial redistribution broker". - Sasquach991
  18. #93
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Thx for all your input...
    I have decided on something which will help out:
    - I was still playing on auto too much so I am going to move to only 2-3 tables max. I was paying much better attention to the players with 2 tables, when I improve, I will go back to 4 tables.

    Something that I need to get into my head is that just b/c a player is bad, doesn't mean he can't have a strong hand...

    I played a good session on the weekend and have 3 sample hands.
    2 went my way one didn't:

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

    CO ($1.44)
    Hero (Button) ($5.55)
    Villain) (SB) ($4)
    BB ($12.22)
    UTG ($5)
    MP1 ($7.65)
    MP2 ($2.81)

    Preflop: Hero is Button with A, K
    3 folds, CO bets $0.20, Hero calls $0.20, Villain) calls $0.18, BB calls $0.15

    Flop: ($0.80) 5, K, 7 (4 players)
    Villain) bets $0.50, 1 fold, CO calls $0.50, Hero raises to $1.75, Villain) calls $1.25, 1 fold

    Turn: ($4.80) 2 (2 players)
    Villain) checks, Hero checks

    River: ($4.80) Q (2 players)
    Villain) checks, Hero bets $0.90, Villain) calls $0.90

    Total pot: $6.60 | Rake: $0.30

    Results:
    Hero had A, K (one pair, Kings).
    Villain) mucked 8, K (one pair, Kings).
    Outcome: Hero won $6.30

    I was a little worried on the turn that he ran into a 2pair hand and I unwisely checked. On the river I knew I was well ahead so I put a smallish bet out that I hoped to have called. I don't know if I got all out of the hand that I could...

    Next:
    These 2 hands happened simultaneously against the same villain...
    PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

    MP1 ($6.62)
    MP2 ($1.13)
    Hero (MP3) ($4.98)
    CO ($5.68)
    Villain (Button) ($4.29)
    SB ($6.93)
    BB ($1.57)
    UTG ($4.25)
    UTG+1 ($11.56)

    Preflop: Hero is MP3 with J, A
    4 folds, Hero bets $0.20, 1 fold, Villain calls $0.20, 2 folds

    Flop: ($0.47) 7, A, 6 (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.40, Villain calls $0.40

    Turn: ($1.27) J (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.85, Villain raises to $3.69 (All-In), Hero calls $2.84

    River: ($8.65) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

    Total pot: $8.65 | Rake: $0.40

    Results:
    Villain had 6, 6 (three of a kind, sixes).
    Hero had J, A (two pair, Aces and Jacks).
    Outcome: Villain won $8.25

    Not a good call, but not sure. He certainly would've done this with 2 pair or even AK (he possibly would limp/call w/ AK, very passive). He was running about 60/0/X over 50 hands....very passive...

    We were involved in another hand at the same time on another table that went as follows:
    He raised preflop for the first time, what do you think he had?
    I usaully 3bet QQ but I was pretty confident I was up against a big hand but cant fold QQ yet...

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

    UTG+1 ($5.07)
    Villain (MP1) ($7.26)
    MP2 ($6)
    MP3 ($6.86)
    CO ($5.85)
    Hero (Button) ($5.11)
    SB ($3.03)
    BB ($8.63)
    UTG ($5.17)

    Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, Q
    UTG calls $0.05, 1 fold, Villain bets $0.15, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.15, 2 folds, UTG calls $0.10

    Flop: ($0.52) 4, 10, Q (3 players)
    UTG checks, Villain bets $0.30, Hero raises to $0.80, 1 fold, Villain raises to $7.11 (All-In), Hero calls $4.16 (All-In)

    Turn: ($10.44) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

    River: ($10.44) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

    Total pot: $10.44 | Rake: $0.50

    Results:
    Hero had Q, Q (full house, Queens over fours).
    Villain had A, A (two pair, Aces and fours).
    Outcome: Hero won $9.94

    I hope to find him at the tables b/c he was a maniac...
  19. #94
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    I played an interesting session last night. I marked a bunch of hands for observation later and may post some here or in the BC.

    I was up marginally, so I'm happy. It would have been much better had I not misplayed a hand badly. I knew I was behind on the turn and he checked the 3rd spade on the river. I tried to bluff at it repping the flush and he called w/ a set of Q's...
    People are much nittier in general at 5nl. Sure there are some maniacs but I have ssen so many just flat call QQ in the blinds or limp AK in EP...it's been a real eye opener to see what hands they turn over sometimes.

    Just working on folding really....and on cbetting proper boards. I probably cbet too much and possibly fold too often when I check the flop. Most of the players will bet at me when I check...I need to watch they're hands w/others to see what they are floating with.

    One interesting spot...I had a perpetual blind stealer on my right. 3 rounds in a row he tried stealing from the SB. Everytime he did, I 3bet him and he folded. The interesting thing is that each time I had a genuine 3betting hand. I believe I had AJs the first one, 2nd one was 99 and the last hand was KK. I was just praying that he would get tired of me 3betting and that he would fire back at me on the 3rd try, but unfortunately he folded vs my KK....oh well.

    I feel as though I am getting my head around this again...although I am still annoyed at my cbetting. I am hoping to maybe get a membership somewhere for a month (like grinderschool) and see what they say. I just seem to get called too much and I have a hard time 2nd barreling. Its tough to put them on a range and when I only have 99 and there is a Q or K on board its tough to fire a second round.
  20. #95
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Nice session last night. Played some 5nl (3 table for a bit and 2 for a while).
    Up a buy-in and pretty happy overall. One table had a complete suicidal maniac/self flagellator at the table....He ran about 79/75/2.5. Just a moron.

    However it was fun to watch b/c I saw people playing against him and they all knew just like me that he was bad, but none of them played against him properly...
    I could tell that when he bet big (PSB, over shoves etc...) that he had something....a FD at worst, sometimes even bottom pair. But people would call his flop shoves with A high and of course they lost their stack to a middle pair w/ shitty kicker.....
    He was up 3 buy-ins on the table.
    I don't think I played a pot against anyone but him...I just value bet like crazy and in one hand he shoved the flop and I had TPTK which I felt was plenty....It was as he only had an OESD....

    The difference is that I tightened up a bit more, and 3 bet him to isolate...Sometimes it sucked when I had to fold the flop or turn but I knew my patience would pay off with him....I probably lost more pots than I won but I won WAY more $$ than I lost...

    I could have won more probably but in one hand I lead UTG w/ JJ and he 3bet me and I called...
    Flop was KJX....he lead out strong and I figured, if he has a K he's not folding so I reraised about 4.5X....and he folded
    I figured if he had a straight draw or K he would shove over but I guess he had air.
    He left the table about even, only b/c people played him poorly and on his last hand he went all in with 85s and hit runner, runner, runner for a STRAIGHT FLUSH!
    What a goof....I hope to find him again at the tables.

    My cbets were working well, I found some nice flops where I could cbet w/ confidence, sometimes against 2 players...
    So I am slowly but surely rebuilding the roll from by 7 BI slide....I hope to be back up in no time...

    I will continue to play some 6max at 2nl and hope to get to 5nl 6max soon. I am getting more confident and patient but I still find it swingy for me and my earn rate is lower than at FR...
    When I do move up, I will try to work on HU at 2nl....I am god awful at HU.
  21. #96
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Kinda frustrated right now but not giving up...
    I started in 2nl and it went well. Actually it was quite easy...
    I started 5nl and it was great, I was taking guys to value town, stacking, bullying and having fun....then it hit, a 7 BI downswing.
    It started as a couple of beats and coolers, then it progressed w/ bad call downs when I knew I was behind but didn't want to be.

    From that slip-up I have been slowly building back. My frustration is that it is quite slow. My winrates aren't what they used to be and I'm beating 5nl for an embarrassing rate.

    I've tried to get the win rate out of my head and instead tried to focus on the positives that the more time I spend there, the more I can see and learn from.

    Last night I played a bad session. I wasn't angry with my play, I just couldn't stay ahead and I had to lay down on the river to hands that seemed to now be ahead (4 to a straight and villain wakes up and starts raising, get reraised when the flush completes etc...) Hands like that I don't know if I'm behind, I just trust my instinct that the player who usually is passive probably wouldn't do that kind of bet w/o the goods.

    I will plug ahead, and keep playing the way I believe I should. It would be nice if my BR would improve faster, but I also want to make sure I play well.
    Yesterday, I had a hand that I was proud to lose in a way. I had 99 and raise pf and had a caller. The flop came AJX and I did not think a cbet would be wise...we checked it down and he showed JT. He had the best hand. Now its possible that I could have stole the pot with the worse hand but I am actually happy that i was able to see a flop that did not look good to cbet on....a small victory I suppose.

    Hopefully I can play again today, I am hoping to keep grinding and keep learning. If I can get to 10nl relatively quickly that would be great.
  22. #97
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Had a nice steady session last night. Played tight, and patient and folded when I should for the most part. Except for two mistimed bluffs, I did well. Nothing special, no all-ins, no set over AA, just good ol' fashioned value betting with TPTK vs villains willing to call with TPLK....Everything was so standard aside from my two bad bluffs, that I have no HH to show. I may put one of the bluffs in the BC....I just couldnt put him on a hand to save my life and the board contained all low cards...

    I was able to follow the action, take notes etc....it feels good to really feel on top of things and play well. I just need to be patient, not worry about the dry stretches of getting dealt J2, Q6 etc...
    The cards will come eventually
  23. #98
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Have been carrying on through a shitty breakeven stretch.
    Part is still beats, part coolers, part stupid calls that I make.
    Its the kind of calls that made me money in 2nl but not in 5nl, people are repping more what they have in general...

    Things have picked up a bit lately so I'll post a few to provide evidence.

    This one is on the tilt side, as in put me on the tilt side....

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

    UTG+1 ($5)
    MP1 ($15.59)
    MP2 ($11.60)
    MP3 ($6.22)
    CO ($5.69)
    Villain (Button) ($7.44)
    SB ($2.07)
    Hero (BB) ($5)
    UTG ($6.12)

    Preflop: Hero is BB with A, A
    4 folds, MP3 calls $0.05, 1 fold, Villain bets $0.20, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.60, 1 fold, Villain calls $0.40

    Flop: ($1.27) 7, 4, 8 (2 players)
    Hero bets $4.40 (All-In), Villain calls $4.40

    Turn: ($10.07) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

    River: ($10.07) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

    Total pot: $10.07 | Rake: $0.50

    Results:
    Villain had 3, 4 (three of a kind, fours).
    Hero had A, A (two pair, Aces and fours).
    Outcome: Villain won $9.57

    I'm fricken tickeled that he called, pissed at the river. Shoving AA on the flop is not something I do often like that but I really felt that he would call with shit b/c the board is so weak and the shove may come off like a bit of a bluff...I know its not necessary at 5nl but it worked, and I thought it would for some reason.....
    Wont be doing that too often though.

    In the last few sessions I have been making some calls that have been profitable. They have been difficult calls but I have won the hand and made some $$. The problem is, these are the same kind of calls that I have been making over the past while and losing money on. A few weeks ago I was in similar situations, and the overbet shove I was looking at was repping the top of his range and usually the nuts.....but in the last few sessions, my calls worked and I had the guy dominated.....sometimes the villain was on a complete bluff.....which wasnt happening a few weeks ago. It's strange, I don't really feel like I'm playing all that different but yet my BR would say otherwise...

    I have some other hands I wanted to show but the Hand Converter doesn't seem to want to work for me now after I posted that last hand.
  24. #99
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Supposedly I just have to delete 3 letters and the hand converter works so here goes...
    These are some interesting hands (for me) that I played a session or two back:

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

    MP1 ($7.61)
    Villain (MP2) ($8.98)
    MP3 ($10.77)
    CO ($4.13)
    Button ($10.63)
    SB ($4.95)
    BB ($9.12)
    UTG ($9.01)
    Hero (UTG+1) ($5.81)

    Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with K, A
    1 fold, Hero bets $0.20, 1 fold, Villain calls $0.20, 3 folds, SB calls $0.18, 1 fold

    Flop: ($0.65) A, 4, 10 (3 players)
    SB checks, Hero bets $0.50, Villain calls $0.50, 1 fold

    Turn: ($1.65) 6 (2 players)
    Hero bets $1, Villain raises to $3, Hero calls $2

    River: ($7.65) 5 (2 players)
    Hero checks, Villain checks

    Total pot: $7.65 | Rake: $0.35

    Results:
    Hero had K, A (one pair, Aces).
    Villain mucked K, 8 (high card, Ace).
    Outcome: Hero won $7.30

    I don't remember much about the villain. The thing that gets me is that lately I have been inclined to fold when I see a big reraise on the turn like that...During my downswing, I had a few hands like this where I called the big raise on the turn and was all in on the river to see that I was up against a set or 2 pair. I tend to think that those reraises mean what they say now...
    However in this pot, I just didnt believe him and I don't know why...
    There wasnt much different between this hand and the others that I got stacked in....his raise really could only mean a few things: I have 2 pair/set and I'm showing you I have strength, I have an A w/ med kick but I don't think you have an Ace..., I have a FD so I'm semi bluffing...(which I dont see happening as much when the pot is that big already)...
    I'm happy I called but not sure why I would feel ahead...

    This hand happened a bit later:
    PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

    Hero (UTG) ($5)
    UTG+1 ($11.92)
    MP1 ($3.20)
    Villain (MP2) ($8.23)
    CO ($5.44)
    Button ($9.68)
    SB ($9.16)
    BB ($6.10)

    Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, Q
    Hero bets $0.20, 2 folds, Villain calls $0.20, 3 folds, BB calls $0.15

    Flop: ($0.62) 2, 6, 6 (3 players)
    BB checks, Hero bets $0.50, Villain raises to $3.70, 1 fold, Hero raises to $4.80 (All-In), Villain calls $1.10

    Turn: ($10.22) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

    River: ($10.22) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

    Total pot: $10.22 | Rake: $0.50

    Results:
    Hero had Q, Q (full house, Queens over sixes).
    Villain had 2, A (two pair, sixes and twos).
    Outcome: Hero won $9.72

    Again, I was a bit scared but I thought he probably would've reraised KK+ preflop and if he had trip 6's, he would slowplay a bit more (not always but many times they do). Again this is where my problem is. A while ago when I lost a bunch of BI's, players would have shoved trip 6's b/c they were worried about the FD on board...in this hand, I felt I was likely up against an overpair like TT or JJ and he probably put me on over cards. Trips were certainly in his range but not a huge chunk of it, so I just put the rest of my stack in and hoped I was right.

    As mentioned in my last post, I had a good session, making calls that a few weeks ago, were extremely unprofitable for me.
    Is there a big difference between these hands and this one I posted a while back?:

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

    MP1 ($6.62)
    MP2 ($1.13)
    Hero (MP3) ($4.98)
    CO ($5.68)
    Villain (Button) ($4.29)
    SB ($6.93)
    BB ($1.57)
    UTG ($4.25)
    UTG+1 ($11.56)

    Preflop: Hero is MP3 with J, A
    4 folds, Hero bets $0.20, 1 fold, Villain calls $0.20, 2 folds

    Flop: ($0.47) 7, A, 6 (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.40, Villain calls $0.40

    Turn: ($1.27) J (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.85, Villain raises to $3.69 (All-In), Hero calls $2.84

    River: ($8.65) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

    Total pot: $8.65 | Rake: $0.40

    Results:
    Villain had 6, 6 (three of a kind, sixes).
    Hero had J, A (two pair, Aces and Jacks).
    Outcome: Villain won $8.25

    To me its similar, I faced a big reraise and I called just like I did in the last session, but here I was miles behind....chalk it up to semi-cooler? Varience? Or am I missing something...
  25. #100
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    No update for a while:
    Have continued to play lately and have played decent. No huge sessions, just steady progress...slow and steady wins the race I suppose. I'm almost back to my BR before my BI drop from end of June.
    I have played well imo. I need to break out some stats and see but I would say I'm doing well at showdown and some of the ones I lose are beats/coolers that I cant complain about....
    My fav so far? I had 88 on a TT8 board....I got it in on the river vs a nit and he showed T8....
    The table had a maniac and so people who were generally nittier started playing any hand for the chance to stack him....I just got caught in the crossfire.

    As for learning....I'm not learning much outside of hands. I havent had a lot of free time and will have less come sept so I haven't been to the IRC in ages.

    I finished Harrington on Cash vol1 and need to get Vol 2 as well as some Sklansky books.

    My biggest challenge right now is deciphering the difference between calls that lose me money and calls that win money. I have had hands where I hold say, QQ and the flop comes all lower and villain reraises me/shoves, I call and he shows a set.....I think, "of course he has a set, what else does he have that he'll do that with"?
    Then, the next day, I run into the same scenario, I call the reraise/shove and he has TP on the board and loses to my over pair.....it can't be random chance.....there is something about the player that I should know about that makes the call profitable or not. I just seem to run into bad situations where I don't have enough history on the player to know what they are capable of.

    I have understood that it will take me forever to get to 25nl, which is my ultimate goal for now. I'm fine with that. Playing under 5K hands makes it tough to move up quickly.

    Last night I had a great session where I won just under a BI in a short stretch of hands. This included a loss w/ AA vs JJ all in pre.
    I really felt in control and was confident, and had a good idea when I was ahead or behind. You really feel like you are crushing the table when you rarely lose a pot and people just seem to get out of your way often.
  26. #101
    How many h/week do you play?

    Not understanding when to stack off properly is a ranges issue. Post two similar hands and we can maybe work through what's correct in different spots, etc.
    Ich grolle nicht...
  27. #102
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Ill:

    Lately I average about 900 - 1000 hands/week. I want to get back to 4 tables to up the amount. I wont get more hours to play so I have to open more tables.


    I will look tonight for some hands to show you...
  28. #103
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    This is a sample for Illfavor to look at. I have posted these before...

    Hand 1) my reads on him are at the end of the hand.

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

    MP1 ($6.62)
    MP2 ($1.13)
    Hero (MP3) ($4.98)
    CO ($5.68)
    Villain (Button) ($4.29)
    SB ($6.93)
    BB ($1.57)
    UTG ($4.25)
    UTG+1 ($11.56)

    Preflop: Hero is MP3 with Jd, Ad
    4 folds, Hero bets $0.20, 1 fold, Villain calls $0.20, 2 folds

    Flop: ($0.47) 7h, As, 6c (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.40, Villain calls $0.40

    Turn: ($1.27) Jc (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.85, Villain raises to $3.69 (All-In), Hero calls $2.84

    River: ($8.65) 2h (2 players, 1 all-in)

    Total pot: $8.65 | Rake: $0.40

    He certainly would've done this with 2 pair or even AK (he possibly would limp/call w/ AK, very passive). He was running about 60/0/X over 50 hands....very passive...
    Hand 2)
    Didnt have any real reads on this villain (not sure if I was new or he was cant remember)

    $0.05 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

    MP1 ($7.61)
    Villain (MP2) ($8.98)
    MP3 ($10.77)
    CO ($4.13)
    Button ($10.63)
    SB ($4.95)
    BB ($9.12)
    UTG ($9.01)
    Hero (UTG+1) ($5.81)

    Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with Kh, As
    1 fold, Hero bets $0.20, 1 fold, Villain calls $0.20, 3 folds, SB calls $0.18, 1 fold

    Flop: ($0.65) Ad, 4s, 10h (3 players)
    SB checks, Hero bets $0.50, Villain calls $0.50, 1 fold

    Turn: ($1.65) 6s (2 players)
    Hero bets $1, Villain raises to $3, Hero calls $2
    Is the only difference the fact that the villain in hand 2 wasnt prepared to shove his stack? It was a good chunk so I didnt see a huge difference...
    ...usually I fold to those turn raises with only TP.

    What do you see as being different? Is it just a difference in the player? (With no reads on villain 2 its tought to tell them apart) Or a difference in how the hand was played out?

    I look at both and feel they are similar, I cant see why I would call one and not the other and yet only one worked out well.
  29. #104
    H1- Alright. He's loose/passive, so he could conceivably be limping his stonger hands as well. But generally, even the most LP raise QQ+/AK. I think your analysis is fine and we're likely against 2p/sets since no draws completed. There are so many worse two pair hands in his range (namely, all of them), that I think we're fist-pump stacking off here. We only have to be good here like 1/3 of the time, and we have 70% equity vs. 2p/sets. No worries when he has the set.

    H2- A major difference in H2 is our relative hand strength. The best possible two pair (H1) vs. a range of 2p and sets is awesome. Top Pair vs. 2pr, sets and bluffs is much less good. We have one pair, and should generally be less willing to stack off on the turn facing a raise (Baluga Theorem). Versus an unknown, I probably fold here.

    In both cases, the villain may have some bluffs in his range, but imo, in H1 bluffs are good for us, and in H2 there aren't enough bluffs in his range for us to call profitably. In H1 we just have so much of his range crushed. In H2, it's ambiguous as to what he's doing this with (it's rarely one pair) and while he may be bluffing, his range is usually not a bluff.

    Now, people may be looser at 5nl that at 100nl, so that's a metagame problem that you have to identify and adjust to. If you feel the common opponent is bluffing a lot in H2, then stick it in and reevaluate your assumptions based on what results most often.

    So think about relative hands strength. It's relative to the gameflow, the board texture, and most importantly, HIS RANGE.

    Hope this helps.
    Ich grolle nicht...
  30. #105
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Illfavor:
    H1) I have looked at that hand a few times and I still think I am accurate as far as my reads on him are. He had 66 for the set and he stacked me but I am happy with my call I think...He would have done it with far worse I am pretty sure.

    H2) I think I'm crazy for calling.....we checked the river and he had K high....it was a total bluff.....I won a nice pot.
    In hindsight, these are the type of calls that have cost me money lately but here I was good. I'm starting to think that basically it came down to dumb tilty luck that he was bluffing b/c I had no reads that he was capable of it. I think many would come to the same conclusion that you did...I'm behind, so fold.

    Thanks for the help/assurance...

    On another note....I am back! my BR is back to where it was before the hit I took at the end of June. It took a bit but this month has been very good to me. Only one losing session this month. The sessions were great....nothing huge, no multi BI winning sessions, just good steady progress with a lot of money made on cbets, value bets w/ TPTK type hands and very few all ins actually.
    I am happy with my progress, no playing tired, no playing passive.

    I have done a fine job the last few sessions with stealing blinds and playing aggressive in limped pots where I raise to steal blinds or take flops with cbets with hands like A7o or KJ in the CO or BTN. Once I am comfortable at the table, I up the aggression a little and try to get blinds with these hands.

    For me its important to first note who the loose passives are. If they limp from mp and I am on the BTN with A7o I have no problem raising with the expectation to win the blinds. Should they call and then check the flop, you are almost a shoe-in to win with a cbet...These players play so transparently you can almost see their cards.

    I think I will post my August graph in the BC soon, I'm just so pleased with my results...
  31. #106
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    About time! I had 2 things going well for me yesterday:
    1) Got some good hands
    2) Had a drooler maniac that decided to come along.
    I've sat for a bunch of session lately and had a maniac at the table only to go card dead. The next 2 hands happened in a short time frame early in the session.
    He was running 78/25/x with a 25% 3bet...

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

    Villain (Button) ($5.08)
    SB ($4.78)
    BB ($4.20)
    UTG ($2.74)
    UTG+1 ($5.43)
    MP1 ($7.21)
    Hero (MP2) ($5.88)
    MP3 ($1.87)
    CO ($9.93)

    Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 4, 4
    3 folds, Hero bets $0.20, 2 folds, Villain calls $0.20, 2 folds

    Flop: ($0.47) 2, 4, 10 (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.25, Villain calls $0.25

    Turn: ($0.97) A (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.80, Villain calls $0.80

    River: ($2.57) 5 (2 players)
    Hero bets $1, Villain calls $1

    Total pot: $4.57 | Rake: $0.20

    Results:
    Villain mucked J, A (one pair, Aces).
    Hero had 4, 4 (three of a kind, fours).
    Outcome: Hero won $4.37

    I bet small on flop but I wanted to invite his range in, or if he had anything he would reraise me and I could get more of his $$. Not something I usually do (1/2 sized pot bets) but this player warrented this I believe.

    The turn I put in a better sized bet and the river I bet small and not sure why. I think by that point I figured he had very little b/c he was pretty aggro when he did have something so I bet small to invite a call. I probably could've bet 2/3 or even 3/4 pot.

    Next hand:

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

    Villain (UTG+1) ($5.34)
    MP1 ($4.66)
    MP2 ($4.58)
    MP3 ($2.89)
    CO ($5.36)
    Button ($6.96)
    Hero (SB) ($7.95)
    BB ($6)
    UTG ($9.03)

    Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, Q
    1 fold, Villain calls $0.05, 2 folds, MP3 calls $0.05, 2 folds, Hero bets $0.30, 1 fold, Villain calls $0.25, 1 fold

    Flop: ($0.70) 8, J, J (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.55, Villain raises to $1.10, Hero calls $0.55

    Turn: ($2.90) J (2 players)
    Hero bets $1.45, Villain raises to $3.94 (All-In), Hero calls $2.49

    River: ($10.78) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

    Total pot: $10.78 | Rake: $0.50

    Results:
    Hero had Q, Q (full house, Jacks over Queens).
    Villain had A, 8 (full house, Jacks over eights).
    Outcome: Hero won $10.28

    I didnt reraise the flop b/c I was sure he would just hang himself by the end of the hand. Yeah it was possible he had a J but his range here is huge.....I was going for it regardless.
    He left the table right away and the $/pot went south pretty quick.

    Hand 3 was at a different table and Villain was 50/2/x...
    I only show this hand b/c I 2x barrelled, not something I do often.

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

    Villain (UTG+1) ($12.43)
    MP1 ($2.03)
    MP2 ($4.46)
    CO ($3.09)
    Button ($4.06)
    SB ($5.74)
    Hero (BB) ($13.05)
    UTG ($11.51)

    Preflop: Hero is BB with A, 8
    1 fold, Villain calls $0.05, 2 folds, CO calls $0.05, 2 folds, Hero bets $0.25, Villain calls $0.20, 1 fold

    Flop: ($0.57) 9, 2, Q (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.40, Villain calls $0.40

    Turn: ($1.37) 4 (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.80, 1 fold

    Total pot: $1.37 | Rake: $0.05

    Results:
    Hero didn't show A, 8 (nothing).
    Outcome: Hero won $1.32

    I raise w/ A8o, good enough vs some weak limp folders and the villain who plays too many hands post flop.

    I cbet the flop b/c his range is huge and he folds to cbets pretty quick. When he calls I thought about it quick and just didn't see this player having anything that this board helps that he calls another bet with.
    So I tried again and he folded....
    Yeah nothing huge but I dont barrel often....I usually check against loose players like this but I felt I had the correct read on him.
  32. #107
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Muuhahahaha!

    Things are going well. I need to post some hands to show but lately I've been ok.
    The only problem I find is that I may sit for a while and just dwindle chips due to blinds and the odd small pot I play that I fold on the turn etc....So I will be down a bit, and then BAM! I run into a nice hand or two that gives me my session winnings...
    I'll take it, but I wish it was more steady all the time.

    A while ago I had a great session where I won a buy in with never better than top pair, and I won a pile of pots on cbets with mssed overs. That was nice.

    One great moment lately was a session where I won 2 nice pots with A high. It was just one of thse pots where I checked the flop and called him down on flop and turn and checked the river to win. Both instances they just bet away and i was confident on my ranges that I had a good chance to be ahead.

    I havent updated my OP goal b/c it seems everytime I do, I run into a bad session...
  33. #108
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Some recent hands:

    Villain only played 17 hands so no reads of note yet.
    I put 3bets at JJ+, AK until I see otherwise from an unknown.
    So I basically call for set odds most likely.

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

    UTG+1 ($5.62)
    MP1 ($2.56)
    Hero (MP2) ($5)
    MP3 ($1.35)
    CO ($3.35)
    King of Kings (Button) ($4.83)
    SB ($1.94)
    BB ($11.20)
    UTG ($18.13)

    Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 9, 9
    3 folds, Hero bets $0.20, 2 folds, King of Kings raises to $0.35, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.15

    Flop: ($0.77) A, 9, 10 (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.45, King of Kings calls $0.45

    Turn: ($1.67) 8 (2 players)
    Hero bets $1.55, King of Kings calls $1.55

    River: ($4.77) 8 (2 players)
    Hero bets $2.65 (All-In), King of Kings calls $2.48 (All-In)

    Total pot: $9.73 | Rake: $0.45

    Results:
    King of Kings had K, K (two pair, Kings and eights).
    Hero had 9, 9 (full house, nines over eights).
    Outcome: Hero won $9.28

    Gotta love spew. He fell in love with his kings and he lost his stack. Its amazing he didnt put me on an A by the turn...He just couldnt lay it down.

    Hand 2)
    Villain 33/4/1.1 over 45
    Had a read that he had small value bets (1/4 – 1/3 pot) w/ hands like TPGK. This bet looked like a steal/semibluff. I had TPMK but am only likely beat by sets and QJ,KJ, AJ which he probably would have bet differently.
    His timing tell on turn told me the flush was unlikely, I almost reraised him but figured, most 5nl players don’t go nuts with flushes until river to suck out the bets…plus I might be best so no need to raise.
    He gives up on river and I feel I’m not getting worse to call so I check behind.
    I am happy with how I played it. Its an improvement a little bit (compared to how I used to play these hands) by getting some value out of these types of hands against the right villain.

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

    SB ($10.10)
    BB ($4.95)
    UTG ($2.25)
    UTG+1 ($0.55)
    MP1 ($15.21)
    Villain (MP2) ($4.49)
    CO ($7.02)
    Hero (Button) ($4.93)

    Preflop: Hero is Button with J, 10
    UTG calls $0.05, 2 folds, Villain calls $0.05, CO calls $0.05, Hero calls $0.05, SB calls $0.03, BB checks

    Flop: ($0.30) 9, J, 7 (6 players)
    SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, Villain bets $0.20, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.20, 3 folds

    Turn: ($0.70) 5 (2 players)
    Villain bets $0.15, Hero calls $0.15

    River: ($1) 5 (2 players)
    Villain checks, Hero checks

    Total pot: $1 | Rake: $0.05

    Results:
    Hero had J, 10 (two pair, Jacks and fives).
    Villain had 10, Q (one pair, fives).
    Outcome: Hero won $0.95
  34. #109
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Long time since I updated...
    I started a new job this week and its crazy busy as I try to figure out what I am doing there. Also, I don't have my own office anymore so my screen is in view = no spending 7hrs/day at FTR...

    I also started my course again so my nights are busy as well. This leaves little time for poker and FTR.
    Last night I played 2 tables which was the first poker in over a week. It went very well. I lost very few hands and got involved in one large pot with the table bluffer. He was talking a lot about how he usually multitables but was only doing one table to f@%k around on. He was constantly reraising and showing bluffs but I noticed that when he had a decent hand he was betting differently and looking for calls.
    During the session he was running 69/17/4 and was raising lots of cbets. My only note/read was that if I had a hand, I could let him bet away his stack.
    No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (9 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

    CO ($4.56)
    villain (Button) ($7.38)
    SB ($8.69)
    BB ($9.57)
    UTG ($6.17)
    UTG+1 ($10)
    Hero (MP1) ($8.61)
    MP2 ($8.96)
    MP3 ($11.58)

    Preflop: Hero is MP1 with A, J
    2 folds, Hero bets $0.20, 3 folds, villain calls $0.20, 2 folds

    Flop: ($0.47) 5, J, Q (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.30, villain raises $0.60, Hero calls $0.30

    Turn: ($1.67) 7 (2 players)
    Hero checks, villain bets $0.95, Hero calls $0.95

    River: ($3.57) 5 (2 players)
    Hero checks, villain bets $5.63 (All-In), Hero calls $5.63

    Total pot: $14.83

    Results:
    villain had 6, 3 (one pair, fives).
    Hero had A, J (two pair, Jacks and fives).
    Outcome: Hero won $14.13

    I barely hesitated...I was quite sure enough that I was ahead to make the call.
  35. #110
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Havent been around b/c I started a new job and university at night so not much poker.
    The job was sick hectic and my old employer made me an offer I couldnt refuse so I went back.
    Its more sane and school is lightening up a smidge so hopefully I can play more. The little I have played has gone well...
    Now that I'm back to the old job, I can probably come around more and post. I'll be busier with a new position but should have some freedom to come in and post hands etc...
  36. #111
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Played a bad session yesterday. I finished up, but did not play well. Made some horrible river calls etc. Its too bad b/c I had at least one maniac at every table.
    At one table, it started breaking down and it was 4 handed....I was playing against 3 players who were at least 45/X/X. So I should have stood to win a lot of money. Instead I lost the most. I dont know what it is about shot handed.....I felt like a fucking fish at a table with 3 of them. Just couldn't get anything going.

    I hit some nice hands so that I could finish ahead. I had a set where I was the PRF, and I was able to hit my straight and got the guy to pay me off. I felt good about the hand with the straight. I feel that I was justified in my call with the OESD.

    I am moving up slowly, and I cant wait to get out of 5nl. I hope that by Christmas I can get there. If I could play more hands, I would get there quick they way things are going, but I only play about 2k hands/month.

    Another problem I am starting to have is when there are a number of maniacs at a table. There was a full table where there were 3 players who almost never folded preflop. I would raise, get 3 callers and I just wasnt hitting and I cant really cbet properly. I found myself loosing a lot of money to these players and I was probably bluffed out a lot where on the river an EP villain would bet and I would be caught inbetween him and one or more others so I don't want to call with players behind. I think I could call if it was HU with say A high but not with players behind.

    Oh. well, I guess its nice to have something to work on. If I was hitting flops a little better I could have done alright but it was tough going.
  37. #112
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Villain at the time was running about 12/9/3 over 55.
    My thought at the end of the hand

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

    BB ($10.26)
    UTG ($6.75)
    UTG+1 ($18.23)
    Hero (MP1) ($6.78)
    MP2 ($2.36)
    MP3 ($17.88)
    CO ($1.95)
    Button ($2.93)
    SB ($21.05)

    Preflop: Hero is MP1 with J, J
    UTG calls $0.05, 1 fold, Hero bets $0.25, 6 folds, UTG calls $0.20

    Flop: ($0.57) 10, 2, 2 (2 players)
    UTG checks, Hero bets $0.45, UTG calls $0.45

    Turn: ($1.47) 3 (2 players)
    UTG checks, Hero bets $1.10, UTG calls $1.10

    River: ($3.67) 8 (2 players)
    UTG checks, Hero bets $1.60, UTG raises to $4.95 (All-In), Hero ?

    His stats had me convinced he limped a PP and called my bet.
    I discounted QQ+, I feel he would have reraised. So I put him on a small list of hands on the flop, 99, TT, AKs, AT.
    River = spew?
  38. #113
    This is 22-99 so often its gross. I think he shows up with a set or boat here almost always. On the river, it might be gross, but I could totally see checking behind, but betting isn't bad.
  39. #114
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Yeah, I posted my thoughts really on the above hand b/c I was posting the hand to link it on IRC for M2M to look at and didnt want to take my sweet time.
    After his turn call I was a bit annoyed b/c really the only hands that I worry about here is TT and 33 just got there. There arent a lot of hands that beat me but there are VERY FEW hands that he calls down with that I beat.
    I think, given his stats and the way he plays the river was a clear check. As played I should fold the river shove but I was too proud b/c I was doing well up to that point.

    He had 22, I was hopelessly crushed
  40. #115
    Quote Originally Posted by Vinland
    Yeah, I posted my thoughts really on the above hand b/c I was posting the hand to link it on IRC for M2M to look at and didnt want to take my sweet time.
    After his turn call I was a bit annoyed b/c really the only hands that I worry about here is TT and 33 just got there. There arent a lot of hands that beat me but there are VERY FEW hands that he calls down with that I beat.
    I think, given his stats and the way he plays the river was a clear check. As played I should fold the river shove but I was too proud b/c I was doing well up to that point.

    He had 22, I was hopelessly crushed
    I like your observation here. In this spot villain is repping a very narrow range, however, he almost never has a hand he can bluff with here. And even if he was turning lke 99 into a bluff (which you will never have to worry about) he still has many more combo's of nut hands in comparison to bluffs when he ships the river since there really isn't anything he can bluff with given his line. So in this spot we hold a hand that is a bluff catcher since he's never value betting worse, but since he's never actually bluffing, we must fold.
  41. #116
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    I am so close to 10nl I can just about taste it. It will still take a bit b/c I dont play enough hands but I still is within reach.
    I have, for the most part, been playing very well. I have made some nice calls with middle range hands and have had nice sessions.

    I am hoping to reach the 10nl BR by December or mid Dec at worst. It just depends on how much I play and if I can keep up the nice sessions I'm having.

    Like I did with 2nl, I will post some thoughts in the BC on 5nl and what I observed. It was different than 2nl, but small and I was able to make a few adjustments and tame a few bad leaks.

    Lets hope this continues for a while and I can get out of the lowest of the low stakes....
    10nl seems so much more respectable.
  42. #117
    Hi Vinland,

    I've been following your op and it's great you're finding your way to 10NL soon. Just wanted to say I like the reasoning behind your moves, puting other players on a range and playing against that. Most people post hands but seem to forget(?) describing what was the rational behind their decision.
    I'll also be waiting for your thoughts on 5NL as I hope to be able to reach that level soon (now this is what I call optimism ).
  43. #118
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Running like God lately.....more on that later
    But here's a hand I'm posting for IRC review:

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

    SB ($1.90)
    Hero (BB) ($5.03)
    UTG ($6.05)
    MP1 ($6.51)
    MP2 ($2.42)
    CO ($3.28)
    Villain (Button) ($2.90)

    Villain runs 83/17/1.5 over 25
    Calls lots, plays passive. I raise preflop hoping for HU vs a limper and I get him....Vinland is happy...

    Preflop: Hero is BB with 10, 10
    2 folds, MP2 calls $0.05, CO calls $0.05, Villain calls $0.05, SB calls $0.03, Hero bets $0.30, 2 folds, Villain calls $0.25, 1 fold

    Flop: ($0.75) 8, Q, 6 (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.50, Villain calls $0.50

    Vs call machine, I am happy to bet for value here and charge for a multitude of draws. Given the board, I have his range pretty big here: FD's, straight draws, Qx, 2nd pair, A high

    Turn: ($1.75) 5 (2 players)
    Hero?

    Does anyone bet here? A flush just got there and there is a better chance for straight draw possibilities as well as he could have a Q. However, he calls so much and plays just about ATC....can we still bet here? I pokerstoved all fd's, all q's some A high, some 8X hands and I was ahead, but I may be off here.
    Is this a case where b/f works?
  44. #119
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    You know how I said I hope to make it to 10nl by xmas? Forget it...aint gonna happen....


    Why? CUZ I'M ALREADY THERE!
    Pretty good heater lately (+6 BI in 300 hands). I was playing 4 tables today and was doing really well on 2 of them. I had already doubled up on one table and then this happened to give me my 10nl BR:
    PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

    Button ($6.18)
    SB ($2.24)
    BB ($5)
    UTG ($5.07)
    UTG+1 ($6.07)
    Poor Bastard (MP1) ($11.91)
    Hero (MP2) ($10.83)
    MP3 ($6.96)
    CO ($8.15)

    Preflop: Hero is MP2 with J, J
    2 folds, Poor Bastard bets $0.15, Hero raises to $0.45, 1 fold, CO calls $0.45, 3 folds, Poor Bastard calls $0.30

    Flop: ($1.42) J, 9, 6 (3 players)
    Poor Bastard checks, Hero bets $1.05, 1 fold, Poor Bastard calls $1.05

    Turn: ($3.52) A (2 players)
    Poor Bastard checks, Hero bets $2.70, Poor Bastard calls $2.70

    River: ($8.92) 10 (2 players)
    Poor Bastard checks, Hero bets $6.63 (All-In), Poor Bastard calls $6.63

    Total pot: $22.18 | Rake: $1.05

    Results:
    Poor Bastard had 9, 9 (three of a kind, nines).
    Hero had J, J (three of a kind, Jacks).
    Outcome: Hero won $21.13

    Thats what I call a heater....
    Yesterday I doubled up when I was able to check in the BB multiway with a 78. The flop was checked around and I hit my ISSD and my opp hit his set. They money went in, my hand held and there you go!

    Thats all there is to it....Heater!!

    I made it hthrough 5nl in 14.5K hands, I'm pretty happy with that, it could have been better but for a 5K even stretch where some leaks reared their ugly head.

    As always, I hope to quickly adjust to the new level and hope to improve on my level of play. I know it will be tougher at 10nl but I know I have made vast improvements to my game already from 2nl to 5nl. I just hope I can figure out the little differences quickly and adjust to the new level and make some moneez...

    Thanks to all those that have helped: Jason, Dranger, Boog, Illfavor, M2M, spoon, the BC mods for HH help and a slew of others.

    I will post some other thoughts later including goals. One goal I have is to start watching some 10nl vids from GS. I've heared great things about it and I'll take the help.
    I also hope to add a table once I feel I have adjusted to the level.
    I need to play more hands. However, as I said, I will try to outline my goals later...gotta sleep...
  45. #120
    Great progress, keep it up.
  46. #121
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    I posted this in the BC, its my observations and thoughts on 5nl. If any low micro players see this, they can have a look, hopefully there is something to take away from this:

    -Typical passive player, instead of running 30/3/1.5 now they run 20/3/1.5 (just slightly weaker/nittier but not much more)

    -Lots of regs running >10/2/3 Some as low as 5/2/2 just very nitty.

    -Ran into players who would limp AA even from UTG just to be trappy

    -Learn to play large pots w/ TPTK or even middle pair against the maniacs. Its tough b/c
    “I” would never go into a big pot with worse than TPTK but “they” will.

    -Learn to size your value bets….I hear a lot of talk about “pot, pot, shove” and sure against some you can, but when the board isn’t too threatening and the villain is weak, you cant always pot the flop. If the flop is $.70, you may need to bet 2/3 to keep a weak villain in there. You have to manipulate them a little to make some money off an extra bet.

    -When you put a player on a range, and at showdown he shows up with the top portion of that range and beats you, it doesn’t mean your range was bad, it just simply means that he showed up with the best part of that range in this particular hand. I had a hand that bugged me for a bit. I had 2 pair and a fish stacked me with a set. I was sure that he would do that with a variety of TP hands, 2 pair hands and sets…..Illfavor reassured me that it was a proper call given his tendencies…he just happened to have the best possible hand given his possible range, but our call vs that range was a good call.

    -Don’t be too aggressive….what do I mean? I remember in 2nl I would have say AK on a K high flop and villain would bet into me maybe ½ pot. I would immediately reraise b/c “I haz TPTK…I need moneez”, and then they would fold. You sometimes have to call a few streets when it looks like opponent is well behind. Let them hang themselves once in a while. This is villain and read dependant but you cant blow every opponent out of the pot just because “calling seems weak” and raising is cooler than calling. The idea is to make the most money possible against that particular opponent, given what cards you have, villain has and what the board contains.

    -Cbet flop almost every time against loose passive players (the ones that run 20-30 vpip and pfr >5), unless the flop contains 2-3 overs, I cbet them with success.

    -Play your pocket pairs and raise them pre. Esp if there are a lot of loose passives, you will win a lot of pots with cbets.

    -I had to adjust my 3betting a little. Rather than always 3betting with KK, AA with position against a weak opponent, I sometimes just called their raise. Seems strange but I found them to fold a lot b/c they would only continue with the strongest of hands…so I flatted and let them into the pot with a wider range. Some may disagree, b/c yes I have AA so what am I worried about, well they wont call my 3bet without QQ+ which doesn’t happen often enough to 3bet imo. Let them come in w/ AQ and win a decent size pot.

    -Punish limpers….I still didn’t do this enough but I worked on it. The tables are full of loose passives who fold a lot preflop to raises after limping, so raise and profit.

    -There is a lot of money to be made in multiple small pots. I didn’t go to showdown often and didn’t get into a lot of all-ins…but I had tonnes and tonnes of small HU pots where I won on the flop with a cbet (after I missed). These types of pots were often against…. you guessed it, loose passives.

    -Unless it’s a maniac, 3bets usually mean big hands so don’t let the ego get involved.

    -Set mining is hugely profitable vs regs running 5/2/3…they don’t fold they’re big pairs.

    -Unless it’s a maniac, big overbet/shoves are usually with strong hands. Many players you run into can’t build a pot worth shit, and they shove to look like they are bluffing, don’t fall for it unless you have a strong read.

    -When it comes to playing the really, really terrible players, don’t let your “I’m better than him” ego take control. You cant call every river bet they make just b/c they suck. Shitty players still get monsters too, the cards aren’t prejudiced.

    -Take notes…..bet sizing, timing tells, stack off w/ draws, if they go for broke w/ TPTK etc…

    -I had very little chat with other players. You don’t want to be at 5nl long enough to get to know them.

    -Make sure you review hands you played bad in and see where it went wrong. Don’t waste your fucking time looking at coolers, look at hands where you stacked off w/ TPTK vs a pretty straightforward player who reraises the turn and shoves the river…. Why did you call and where did you go wrong?

    -I learned to double barrel a few times vs weak players on boards that were non threatening and contained low cards.
  47. #122
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Have played only one session of 10nl. It was ok. Ended just slightly down (-$.40). I wasnt hitting alot of flops and had 2 big hands, one I lost with top 2 pair that completed his straight on the river. I felt committed so there was a stack gone...

    Another was KK on a J high flop. The villain shoved turn and I had a note on him from a previous hand that he would play large pots with TPMK so if he had TPTK or even TPGK he may shove. I called and sure enough he had KJ for TPGK....
    Thats why notes are so damn important. If he was new or I hadnt taken note of his previous plays, it would have been tougher to call.

    School is driving me nuts soI dont have lots of time to play. I bought a 1 month membership at Grinderschool and will watch as much as I can. Hopefully I can pick out some for knowledge regarding cbetting, playing more aggro in position and even bet sizing.
  48. #123
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    So far so good at 10nl. God there are a lot of short stackers....but they dont even play it well....I've seen so many limp/fold from ep its strange....
    Best hand so far was when I called 89s on the BTN against a nit who opened UTG. I decided to call and flopped trip 8's. 3 streets of betting by him followed including him calling my reraise on the river, he turned KK.

    I would be up quite a bit more but I made a horrible call down on the river against a nit. It should have been obvious on the turn I was in trouble.....but I was doing so well in the session that I feel untouchable....
    Thats my tilt problem....when I'm doing well, I assume my cards are always better even when the betting sequences of villain says "you my bitch".
  49. #124
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    A few hands w/ thoughts on my session this week-end (which went very well). I love 10nl so far...

    Villain was a passive station running 48/4/.8
    I just have to figure he's able to call with any A so I just bet away for value:

    PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (7 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

    Button ($9.75)
    SB ($9.90)
    Hero (BB) ($10.50)
    UTG ($10.15)
    MP1 ($10.70)
    MP2 ($3.30)
    CO ($10.75)

    Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, A
    1 fold, MP1 calls $0.10, 3 folds, SB calls $0.05, Hero bets $0.50, MP1 calls $0.40, 1 fold

    Flop: ($1.10) 9, J, A (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.90, MP1 calls $0.90

    Turn: ($2.90) 9 (2 players)
    Hero bets $2, MP1 calls $2

    On the river, I typically slow down w/ TPGK....simply because if he has a worse A, by the time the river comes, that worse kicker can pair up...however this guy has proven to call down so I bet again for value...

    River: ($6.90) 5 (2 players)
    Hero bets $2.50, MP1 calls $2.50

    Total pot: $11.90 | Rake: $0.55

    Results:
    Hero had Q, A (two pair, Aces and nines).
    MP1 had A, J (two pair, Aces and Jacks).
    Outcome: MP1 won $11.35

    That was an early hand in the session so I had some work cut our for me.

    Next up:
    Villain 24/7/.5 - my first hand against him and the first time he really mixes it up in a pot.
    His 4bet tells me QQ+, nothing else....I probably should fold but folding AK seems so gross (a leak of mine vs weak players)...

    PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

    Villain (MP2) ($9.10)
    CO ($16.70)
    Hero (Button) ($9.85)
    SB ($15.50)
    BB ($11.15)
    UTG ($14.05)
    UTG+1 ($9.90)
    MP1 ($1.80)

    Preflop: Hero is Button with A, K
    UTG calls $0.10, 2 folds, Villain bets $0.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1.60, 3 folds, Villain raises to $2.70, Hero calls $1.10

    Flop: ($5.65) 3, 10, 7 (2 players)
    Villain bets $4, Hero raises to $7.15 (All-In), Villain calls $2.40 (All-In)

    I feel like I have a decent amount of equity so a call is fine, but the call comitts me to the hand so I just shove even though my fold equity is zero.

    Turn: ($18.45) 6 (2 players, 2 all-in)

    River: ($18.45) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

    Total pot: $18.45 | Rake: $0.90

    Results:
    Hero had A, K (flush, Ace high).
    Villain had K, K (flush, King high).
    Outcome: Hero won $17.55

    Great result, I think I made the right play on the flop but preflop was my mistake. It was obvious that I was well behind, and I should've folded preflop.....AK is not the nuts people...

    Then, I found another table to sit at.....there was a villain who was playing 95/52/4.5....yes, thats right.
    If you caught any good piece of the flop, you basically had to decide to go all the way regardless of what came down on the last 2 streets. He just wouldn't fold. I wouldn't call him bad, I just dont think he cared. He bluffed every single time he didnt have a hand. He had a nice stack b/c he was a bit of a luckbox on a few occasions...

    I played 4 hands against him, one he hit his straight on the river for a mediocre pot, another he folded a large river reraise (I guess he could fold a little) and then I had these two hands with him:

    PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

    Button ($10)
    SB ($9.35)
    Villain (BB) ($14.65)
    UTG ($19.70)
    UTG+1 ($10.95)
    MP1 ($9.20)
    Hero (MP2) ($8)
    CO ($7.40)

    Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Q, Q
    2 folds, MP1 calls $0.10, Hero bets $0.50, 3 folds, Villain calls $0.40, MP1 calls $0.40

    Flop: ($1.55) 7, 4, 4 (3 players)
    Villain bets $1, 1 fold, Hero raises to $3.10, Villain calls $2.10

    Turn: ($7.75) 8 (2 players)
    Villain checks, Hero bets $4.40 (All-In), Villain calls $4.40

    River: ($16.55) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

    Total pot: $16.55 | Rake: $0.80

    Results:
    Villain had 9, 9 (two pair, nines and fours).
    Hero had Q, Q (two pair, Queens and fours).
    Outcome: Hero won $15.75

    I was never folding to any bet of his.........

    The next hand I get QQ again and told myself preflop, I'm committed....I cant fold b/c he bluffs too much...

    PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (7 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

    UTG ($10.90)
    MP1 ($16.25)
    Villain (MP2) ($8.05)
    CO ($10)
    Button ($9.90)
    Hero (SB) ($16.10)
    BB ($5.55)

    Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, Q
    1 fold, MP1 bets $0.50, Villain raises to $1, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.95, 2 folds

    Flop: ($2.60) 3, A, J (2 players)
    Hero checks, Villain bets $1, Hero calls $1

    It was the first time villain 3bet, and then an A fell on the flop, so I was a little concerned. However, the player he 3bet was berating him over the course of a few hands so I was pretty confident he was simply playing back at him. I again decided that my hand was good enough to felt (pretty standard)

    Turn: ($4.60) J (2 players)
    Hero bets $3.80, Villain raises to $6.05 (All-In), Hero calls $2.25

    River: ($16.70) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

    Total pot: $16.70 | Rake: $0.80

    Results:
    Hero had Q, Q (two pair, Queens and Jacks).
    Villain had 5, 5 (two pair, Jacks and fives).
    Outcome: Hero won $15.90

    As I said, I love 10nl so far...
  50. #125
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Something to note as I move along in 10nl. I am working on the profitability of my cbets. Not just when to make a cbet but also how much to bet. I have watched some Grinderschool vids and really took in something regarding the difference b/w cbets and value bets.

    Spenda said it in the video along these lines: If you are cbetting, bet the lowest amount that will get you a fold. If you are value betting, bet the most that you can to get the call.

    Seems obvious but I was often cbetting as high as my value bets, typically 75-90% of the pot. It seems exploitable to bet less than a value bet but in the micro's (as the video said) no one will exploit that tendency yet.
    So lets say I cbet and get a fold 55% of the time, now I can improve my profitability by lowering my cbet, maintaining my 55% and losing less when I get called am I am forced to possibly fold/give up the hand.

    I started doing this recently and it makes for a nice change. No snse betting $1 into $1.20 when $.80 will do the same job...
  51. #126
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Fuck me......
    You know those sessions where it feels you cant make any good decisions and you always run into better hands? That was yesterday.....
    Almost every hand I was in was just fucking torture....

    My 3bets with decent but not QQ+ hands would get 4bet and I'd have to fold, my cbets were working ok but on some pretty easy flops to cbet they started playing back and then I hit a huge cooler.

    I flopped a set on a very drawy board and I didnt want a 4th card out that would complete a straight b/c it would slow the betting down.
    The board was 9TQr....
    The money went in and he turned KJ for the flopped straight....

    I hit 3 sets in the session and not one paid off well.
    I had to quit b/c I was so pissed about that hand. I kniow its not a big deal, but I play so few hands, it will take a while to win that back...
    Oh, well. Tonight might be a Grinderschool night...
  52. #127
    I know the feeling all too well. At least you had the wisdom to know when to call it quits. Don't forget that to take your game to the next level, psychological control is just as important as the fundamentals. When you can have a night like that night again in the future and hardly care, you'll know you're on the right track. Or, maybe you still CARE and are ticked off, but you recover quickly and forget about it so ultimately it doesn't affect you that much. Good luck.
    - Jason

  53. #128
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Well def not running the best.....
    I've had a lot of sets lately but they dont pay off or I run into bigger hands...
    I'm not playing the best but not terrible either, not a lot of spots to get value...
    I'll just push through and it'll work itself out...at least I'm not calling down light.

    In this hand villain is running 9/9/inf over 32 hands

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

    BB ($12.60)
    villain (UTG) ($9.85)
    UTG+1 ($18.50)
    MP1 ($10)
    Hero (MP2) ($12.55)
    MP3 ($12.55)
    CO ($12)
    Button ($11.20)
    SB ($10.05)

    Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 5, 5
    villain bets $0.50, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.50, 4 folds, BB calls $0.40

    Villain raises UTG so I figure my med PP has some nice set value here.

    Flop: ($1.55) 5, 8, 2 (3 players)
    BB checks, villain bets $1, Hero raises to $3, 1 fold, villain raises to $9.35 (All-In), Hero calls $6.35

    KABOOM!! Set me!!. I am pretty sure he has a decent PP so I decide not to slowplay and the money gets in.....awesome...

    Turn: ($20.25) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

    River: ($20.25) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

    Total pot: $20.25 | Rake: $1

    Results:
    villain had K, K (full house, Kings over eights).
    Hero had 5, 5 (full house, fives over eights).
    Outcome: villain won $19.25

    LOL.....thats the worst beat that I have on HEM record....It pissed me off b/c it would have really erased some loses from the previous session....but it was not to be...
    I didnt tilt too much from this one. Nothing I could do and I knew he wouldnt fold (neither would I against the ave player I suppose)
  54. #129
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Uhhhhh....interesting time certainly. I havent played a whole lot but when I do its fucking torture....
    I havent played the best, called turn/river raises when I shouldnt, and without a doubt have really had some bad spots.....
    I've never ran into so many flopped straights, flushes etc before.
    I've lost a stack w/ a full house, had top 2 pair lose to a flopped straight (well hidden), Top two to a flopped flush and other semi tough spots. I guess on the bright side it should help train me for future decisions....
    I also have had very poor opportunities to get value. My good hands (2 pair +) I lose lots with and my hands I raise with like AQ I never really am able to bet for value.

    I will just keep plugging away and hope it turns around soon. Yesterday I only made one poor call and the rest I did ok on. I just never got much in the way of bread and butter type hands where I could bet for value...

    Anyway.....you all have a good Christmas!
  55. #130
    Hey, nice Op, seems like youre doing pretty solid despite the anger lol :P

    One thing I would suggest for coolers like the 55 vs KK hand is think about what you would have done in the other players position. If I were the villain i would stack off verse you with kk all day everyday, I rarely made big folds in 10$NL when I was playing it. Since you would have played it the same way just dont let it bug you at all, EV evens out over time and in situations of AA/KK verse set mining it is likely two decent $10NL players are just stacking off every time the set hits because there are too many fish at $10nl to make folding KK every time an op shows a set like line +EV...

    I struggle with the same things as you with anger about the beats and I tilt some of the time when they happen, lately Ive been taking breaks after -3 buyins and really trying to not be results oriented, its a never ending battle, gl!
  56. #131
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Not much to update.....
    I'm still getting tortured and just bleeding away money. I never lose huge amounts in a session, its just a slow death.

    Still the same problems. Having few chances to value bet, and running into probable hands that beat me. I say probable b/c I havent seen a lot of showdowns....it just seem likely that I'm beat. I have also made some poor calldowns simply b/c he minraises me and I justify the pot odds on the river, even though its likely I am as good as dead...

    I'm having a hard time putting ranges on players (yes, I'm trying) and I still run into a lotta shit.

    I know the funk will break....I still am trying to play aggressive and I havent resorted to limping.....I raise my good hands and ditch the shit....
    I've even amped up the stealing % from CO and BTN to good effect but I can make anything on my value hands.....even my sets get me next to nothing....

    Well there's my rant.....gotta work now.
  57. #132
    Hey man, I've been going through a lot of the same stuff this month. I've had 2 winning sessions so far this year, out of ~10-12. It sucks, but we just gotta push through it. Post some hands, see what people think.
  58. #133
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Well, I'm one BI in away from dropping down to 5nl. 10 nl has continued to be torture. I just cant make any $$ at it. I had a session with a horrible maniac at the table and I lost a BI worth to him over a series of hands where I raised pre, hit nothing post and he was a bit of a station so I could just bluff him off.
    It went like that for quite a while. I lost so much to him it was pissing me off considering how bad he was...

    Perhaps another quick run at 5nl willbe good. I ust didnt think I would have to do it but my bottom range of my BR is coming up and I wouldnt be rolled for 10 nl properly.

    I am hoping to play tonight but I'll see.
    It's still the same problems as before, however sometimes I wonder if I'm folding too often when I am ahead. I've just had so few opportunites for value its really surprising.

    I still think I can do this. I always wanted to get to 25nl and I trust I will. Its just been a bad stretch with a little poor play, beats, coolers and low value hands all in one...
  59. #134
    Are you still playing 2 to 4 tables? How do you select tables? What are your VPIP/PFR stats? How many notes do you take? How big is your notes file? If you are hardly ever calling down with the worst hand, you're folding too much plus you're not giving yourself a chance to determine the outcome and take notes. I'm not giving you a liscense to spew, but you should be putting your opponent on a range of hands and along the way, your opponent will make bets with good made hands, marginal made hands, draws, missed draws, and air. It's your job to assign that range and then assess your equity compared to that range. Don't get caught up in thinking "I have the best hand or they have the best hand". Determine how good or bad you are for that situation and try to make the best play KNOWING the actual result of that hand may not be the outcome you're looking for. Right or wrong, reflect the hand and make sure you are on the right path. Just because you win doesn't mean it was right. Just because you lose doesn't mean it was wrong. Not to mention, you'll want to be evaluating your own image and how your perceived range fits into that so you can make good value bets and bluffs when needed.

    From what I remember about $10NL, it was a bit nitty and not always easy to extract money, but it was still very beatable, widely profitable with PLENTY of fish. So, my gut reaction is that you're not table selecting or you're missing out on some very key concepts. In every hand, if you're sure you have the best hand, ask yourself, "how do I get the MOST $ for THIS situation LONG term based on villain's range and tendencies to act with that range?". If a $2 river bet gets called a 100% of the time but a $7 bet gets called 40% of the time, you should bet $7. If you think you're behind or drawing or could have a dominated hand, you need to take lines that will minimize your losses, too. Folding is often the right option for this, but knowing stack sizes, pot odds, and opponent tendencies are key, too. Do you have any fold equity? How much do you need? Some of these concepts may not even apply to most $10NL games, but you need a solid foundation and the ability to use different tools in your toolbox.

    If you haven't already, I would highly recommend reading Miller, Mehta, Flynn's "Professional No Limit" and Sklansky's "Theory of Poker". In fact, if you haven't read them twice, I would highly recommend that, too. Those books were instrumental to me starting out and if you really understand and are correctly applying those concepts, I think you'll be beating $10NL quite handily.

    Also, are you using proper bankroll management? You should have made 30 buy-ins @ $5NL or $150 before you moved to $10NL and you should have had 30 buy-ins total in your bankroll @ $10NL or $300 when you moved up and should not drop down until you hit 20 buy-ins or $200. If you hit 20 buy-ins, that means you have LOST 10 buy-ins. I've played 6 levels of stakes from $2NL to $100NL and the largest buy-in downswing I've hit thus far around 5 playing from 1 to 6 tables. So, my point is that you need to give yourself a full chance to play the stake and LEARN the stake and if you lose the full 10 buy-ins, it's HIGHLY likely at that point that you're not getting coolered or having bad luck - you're not playing winning poker. That's yet another virtue of bankroll management - when used properly, it is one of the best indicators of assessing your skill. Losing players can rarely win 30 buy-ins at a stake. And winning players who don't massive multi-table (and anyone trying to move up SHOULD NOT BE PLAYING TOO MANY TABLES) rarely go on 10 buy-in downswings.
    - Jason

  60. #135
    Quote Originally Posted by Vinland
    Congrats on moving up to 200nl.
    I wanted to respond to your comments you left in my op so I tried to put them in red (we'll see if it works).

    Are you still playing 2 to 4 tables? How do you select tables? What are your VPIP/PFR stats? How many notes do you take? How big is your notes file? If you are hardly ever calling down with the worst hand, you're folding too much plus you're not giving yourself a chance to determine the outcome and take notes. I'm not giving you a license to spew, but you should be putting your opponent on a range of hands and along the way, your opponent will make bets with good made hands, marginal made hands, draws, missed draws, and air. It's your job to assign that range and then assess your equity compared to that range. Don't get caught up in thinking "I have the best hand or they have the best hand". Determine how good or bad you are for that situation and try to make the best play KNOWING the actual result of that hand may not be the outcome you're looking for. Right or wrong, reflect the hand and make sure you are on the right path. Just because you win doesn't mean it was right. Just because you lose doesn't mean it was wrong. Not to mention, you'll want to be evaluating your own image and how your perceived range fits into that so you can make good value bets and bluffs when needed.

    I still play 2-4 tables of FR. Usually 3 so that I can pay attention well. I select tables by trying to find them with VPIP>23% and with an ave pot of >$1. If I notice it drop uner 20% or the ave pot decreases, I leave.
    I do take notes. I try to include things like what type of hands they raise in what position and what their raises post flop mean and try to take note of the size of the raises etc. I'll take note on their tendencies to donkbet and whatever else I think will help me play against them.
    My stats are about 13/11/3. I steal about 30% of the time in the late positions.
    I have called down with the worst hand at times but I don't see a lot of showdowns (about 20%) and win about 55% of them. Its the large pots that go to showdown that I seem to lose and I often fold on the turn when I get reraised in a large pot but the board makes it likely that I am well behind.
    I sometimes make my decisions based on "I think I am ahead" or "I think they are ahead" and forget to look at equity. However it seems like when I do make the call based on a range, its in a smallish pot against a 20/5/1 type villain who doesnt often bet the river unless they are confident so I make the call simply to get some kind of a read. I had the good pot odds, but it was pretty obvious given the players stats and tendencies that I was behind and sure enough, I am. These little ones tend to add up.


    From what I remember about $10NL, it was a bit nitty and not always easy to extract money, but it was still very beatable, widely profitable with PLENTY of fish. So, my gut reaction is that you're not table selecting or you're missing out on some very key concepts. In every hand, if you're sure you have the best hand, ask yourself, "how do I get the MOST $ for THIS situation LONG term based on villain's range and tendencies to act with that range?". If a $2 river bet gets called a 100% of the time but a $7 bet gets called 40% of the time, you should bet $7. If you think you're behind or drawing or could have a dominated hand, you need to take lines that will minimize your losses, too. Folding is often the right option for this, but knowing stack sizes, pot odds, and opponent tendencies are key, too. Do you have any fold equity? How much do you need? Some of these concepts may not even apply to most $10NL games, but you need a solid foundation and the ability to use different tools in your toolbox.

    I dont know how I would table select better. The tables are quite full when I start playing and I do go on waiting lists for the juicy tables with high ave pot. I just don't seem to do much on them. I would think that I'm missing out on concepts instead of table problems. I just don't know what I'm missing out on that allowed me to crush 5nl but so far get destroyed at 10nl.
    I cbet a lot. Prob too much esp at 5nl. At 5nl however, if I cbet with missed overs and was called, I knew I could check the last two streets and usually see a cheap showdown because they didnt often bet the turn after I cbet the flop and then checked the turn. A typical hand in 10nl has me raising pre, I miss the flop, I cbet, get called and c/f turn b/c they are almost always playing back at me after I check the turn. Of course this doenst hapen in every hand but its hands like these that just trickle the money out of my BR. I cant double barrel every hand. I try to make my cbets vilain dependant. If the board is very dry I will play it different vs a 25/5/1 station vs a 5/2/2 nit.


    If you haven't already, I would highly recommend reading Miller, Mehta, Flynn's "Professional No Limit" and Sklansky's "Theory of Poker". In fact, if you haven't read them twice, I would highly recommend that, too. Those books were instrumental to me starting out and if you really understand and are correctly applying those concepts, I think you'll be beating $10NL quite handily.

    I have read Sklansky/Miller NLHE Theory and Practice as well as Harrignton on cash vol 1. I havent done Theory of Poker yet but plan to.

    Also, are you using proper Bankroll Management? You should have made 30 buy-ins @ $5NL or $150 before you moved to $10NL and you should have had 30 buy-ins total in your bankroll @ $10NL or $300 when you moved up and should not drop down until you hit 20 buy-ins or $200. If you hit 20 buy-ins, that means you have LOST 10 buy-ins. I've played 6 levels of stakes from $2NL to $100NL and the largest buy-in downswing I've hit thus far around 5 playing from 1 to 6 tables. So, my point is that you need to give yourself a full chance to play the stake and LEARN the stake and if you lose the full 10 buy-ins, it's HIGHLY likely at that point that you're not getting coolered or having bad luck - you're not playing winning poker. That's yet another virtue of Bankroll Management - when used properly, it is one of the best indicators of assessing your skill. Losing players can rarely win 30 buy-ins at a stake. And winning players who don't massive multi-table (and anyone trying to move up SHOULD NOT BE PLAYING TOO MANY TABLES) rarely go on 10 buy-in downswings.

    I moved to 10nl with 25 BI's. I told myself to drop down if I ever went below 20 BI's. I'm one away now....
    I was up a little but have been on a continuous 8 BI slide.

    I hate to generalize but it seems like my bread and butter hands at 5nl (TPTK, TPGK) that usually got me a call on the flop and turn now dont even get a flop call. If they do, I am usually behind or against draws (which is fine).
    A typical problem for me: Raise pre to say 50 cents, get a call, hit TP, bet flop and they fold. I win about 65 cents.
    Next hand, raise 50 cents pre, get a call, hit nothing, cbet 80 cents, get a call. Figure in my head that the board makes it likely that his range hit better than mine so I check turn and villain bets at me and I fold usually. I've now lost $1.30. See what I mean? I win more pots than I lose but I lose more than I win, leading to a slow bleeding process....thats where I am at...and I don't know how to get out of it yet.


    Any how, thanks for listening and for your help. Its always appreciated.
    Hey, Vinland, I'm going to answer you here because I think this is more appropriate than my quest to see "How High Can You Get?".

    I think it's good you're playing a low number of tables, table selecting, and paying attention and taking notes. However, your stats seems a little on the nitty side to me. If you are doing all those things, I think you should be looking for more spots to get involved. With those stats, I suspect you are largely waiting for premium hands and trying to cash in, which isn't bad by itself, but even fish are going to catch on after a while that whenever you wake up and get involved, you probably have something good. So, my first thought is that you need to look for more opportunities to get involved. Maybe try to limp more in middle to late position with suited connectors and aces - in late position, consider RAISING with those hands from time to time to keep things mixed up. You want to try to portray an image as someone who is playing a reasonable number of hands and not just nut peddling and with 13/11 @ $10NL 2 to 4 tables, that's largely what it looks like you're doing. Don't turn into a lagtard over night, but look to open up and get involved - that's the beauty of playing a low number of tables.

    20% showdown seems pretty low to me. I suspect you need to try to take pot control lines to get to SD more often or perhaps checking earlier on boards where you're way ahead or way behind like if you have QQ on a JJ2 board. If you check the flop in position against most reasonable opponents, if you are ahead, you're more apt to get more money. If you're behind, you're more apt to lose less money compared to c-betting. I get the impression that you're either pushing people out of pots or getting pushed out yourself. So, recognize when YOU want the pot to get big and find ways to do that and keep them in the pot. Recognize when you have a hand that you don't really want to get big and use position to help you control the flow that way.

    Read Sklanky's book ASAP and read Miller's book AGAIN. Don't move up to any level again unless you have 30 full buy-ins. You either aren't giving yourself a full 10 buy-in shot OR you are giving yourself a full 10 buy-in shot and risking having yourself barely rolled for the last stake. You're also not giving yourself a solid EMOTIONAL shot at the level when you move up under-rolled.

    As for table selection, I would advise against wait-lists. Usually when you get on the table, the dynamics of what existed when you wanted to get on have disappeared and it's just another table. Sometimes, just one maniac or fish will completely dictate the table flow and when that player busts, it's no good. Instead, start your own tables. Get used to playing heads-up and 6max with full ring players. It will be an adjustment, but it's a necessary skill to have if you want to have a table selection edge because those are your only two choices: join a good table or start your own and hope it becomes a good table. KEEP A FISH LIST and look for tables with one or more of those fish. That's the only time you can consider wait-lists and if you get there and the fish is gone, don't join the table. You always want to be on the fish's left. That should always be your first priority in seat selection, too.

    For the example you gave about the cbets, it's hard to exactly say what the problem there is. I doubt they are ALWAYS folding when you have the best hand TPTK and ALWAYS calling when you miss, BUT if you always play your hands in such as way that you fire 2 barrels when you hit and just 1 when you miss, that's pretty exploitable. If you're not putting your opponents on good ranges, you are probably be betting sometimes when you should be checking and you should also be double barreling sometimes even when you miss. That's why ranges and position is so important because it give you the leverage to make the best play so that you can win maximum value with the best hand and take pots away with air. When is the last time you showed down a bluff because you were called? Just like if you are never showing down with the worst hand, then you are folding too much, so too you are not bluffing enough if you're never caught bluffing. Again, don't just go willy nilly bluffing, but look for spots with certain villains in terms of their range, board texture, AND YOUR IMAGE, to take pots away WITHOUT the best hand or even a good hand.

    I just feel like there's a lot of spots you're missing. Consider making a video of yourself playing with audio behind your thought process for each decision and post it.
    - Jason

  61. #136
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Well I have played 2 nice sessions where I didn't feel like a total loss at poker. I was able to hit some flops nice, was able to get a few sets vs aggro players and was able to bluff a few nice pots for decent $$.
    I felt pretty good, and made a decent amount. I made one boneheaded call on the river when the 3rd spade came and I called his river bet after he c/c 2 streets. It should have been obvious but I guess I just didnt want to fold my set in a multiway pot. That was bad, but I did well otherwise.

    I think I need to pull out some hands from HEM and see how I do when I call a river bet. I am almost always behind and I bet I am a big looser there.

    I am trying to change some autopilot stuff like always cbetting flops, and I will try to be more judicious with it. My range analysis obviously needs to improve.
  62. #137
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    LOL!
    Sure enough, last night I dug out some hands from HEM. I searched by hands that went to the river where I either just call a river bet or where I bet/call and I am a huge loser in those hands....
    Some of those hands sucked b/c villain would flop the nut straight or river his flush or even flop a flush but regardless, I am calling too much.
    I have won more hands on the river than I lose but the ones I lose tend to be larger.

    So I need to work on the following:
    1) Quit calling river bets as a tilt response.
    2) Put villains on a better river range given their action.
    3) Quit convincing myself I have the equity to call the bet. 3-1 pot odds on a paired board vs a nit who all of a sudden comes alive usually isnt enough.....
  63. #138
    Interesting. I've never even thought about using HEM like that. I checked my own and I'm down almost $300 over fewer than 820 hands with the highest limit being 25nl. That's so bad. Thanks for that tip.
  64. #139
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Just got the FTR newsletter and it seems my list on the "Observations from 5nl" made it onto the newsletter. Thats cool. Hopefully there are some who can take something from the list. I didn't expect to be included on that so thats great. Now I just hope I can do the same for 10nl once I get through.
  65. #140
    LOL Vinland, I just caught up on your OP because of you being featured in the newsletter. Sounds like with some more mental toughness you should see a turn around in your 10nl game. And don't forget to keep posting hands I noticed as you got further in your OP you have less hands were you are just looking for info it seems to be more of the cooler hands.

    I have found myself in the same rut. Although with purchasing a house recently and getting married in a couple of months poker has taken a back seat so I am hoping when everything settles down again I can get back to studying and playing poker more then every other week. Keep at it you have the foundation you just gotta keep building on it.
  66. #141
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Yeah you got that right. I have reduced my HH. Some of them I have played so bad that its not worth a HH analysis b/c it should be straight forward. The other prob I have is I am 5x busy at work and dont have a lot of time here or at home to put the HH in and talk them through.....
    I will sure try though.....
    I think I had a couple lately...
  67. #142
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    OK time for a few hands. Havent done it in a while.

    First hand. Villain was only around for 11 hands so no major reads.

    PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (7 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

    UTG ($4.30)
    MP1 ($1.85)
    Villain (MP2) ($8.25)
    CO ($8.30)
    Button ($11.70)
    SB ($3.35)
    Hero (BB) ($10)

    Preflop: Hero is BB with K, A
    2 folds, Villain calls $0.10, 2 folds, SB calls $0.05, Hero bets $0.40, Villain calls $0.30, 1 fold

    Flop: ($0.90) A, 6, 3 (2 players)
    Hero bets $0.80, Villain calls $0.80

    The timing of his call was very strange. I cant really describe it. Whatever it was, I felt very strong that he wasn't on a FD and I discounted this quite a bit.

    Turn: ($2.50) 8 (2 players)
    Hero bets $1.40, Villain calls $1.40

    Prob couldve bet $1.80 but I wanted to keep Ax in the hand. I'm still not really worried about FD's and I beat any single spade draw w/ my K


    River: ($5.30) J (2 players)
    Hero bets $1.90, Villain raises to $5.65 (All-In), Hero calls $3.75

    I just dint believe he had a flush.
    He must have thought I didnt have an A or he was turning his J's into a bluff. I just didnt like this line.

    Total pot: $16.60 | Rake: $0.80

    Results:
    Hero had K, A (one pair, Aces).
    Villain had J, Q (one pair, Jacks).
    Outcome: Hero won $15.80



    Next hand)
    Villain is 18/10/inf over 50. I hadnt seen a showdown from him yet but he seemed straightforward.


    PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

    MP2 ($38.35)
    Hero (CO) ($10.80)
    Button ($10)
    SB ($14.70)
    BB ($12.35)
    Villain (UTG) ($13.50)
    UTG+1 ($16.85)
    MP1 ($10.30)

    Preflop: Hero is CO with 4, 4
    Villain bets $0.50, 2 folds, MP2 calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, 3 folds

    Not prob calling for set odds vs a player most likely playing a small well defined range.

    Flop: ($1.65) Q, Q, 4 (3 players)
    Villain bets $1, 1 fold, Hero raises to $3, 1 fold

    Uhhhh....I hit the jackpot, he cbets/valuebets and I reraise. I essentially rep a Q which is not what I want to do. The only likely hand he has that I am behind is AQ and there are many others that I beat so why did I reraise here? I prob shouldve called and seen what he did on the turn.

    Total pot: $3.65 | Rake: $0.15

    Results:
    Hero didn't show 4, 4.
    Outcome: Hero won $3.50

    Next:
    UTG 24/22/inf over 51 reads: raising fair bit in EP, not positionally aware. Raises lots preflop but doesn’t cbet much 20%<
    MP 52/10.2.5 note is that he c/r big hands on later streets.
    I think my hand is just enough to call in SB vs player who opens wide range
    UTG checked immediately (weak) and MP was a fish so I took his bet as a steal attempt. So I bluffed….I like it…

    PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

    Button ($38.20)
    Hero (SB) ($9.65)
    BB ($10)
    Villain1 (UTG) ($15.10)
    UTG+1 ($12.35)
    MP1 ($13.50)
    Villain2 (MP2) ($17.65)
    CO ($10.30)

    Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, K
    Villain1 bets $0.30, 2 folds, Villain2 calls $0.30, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.25, 1 fold

    Flop: ($1) 5, 8, 5 (3 players)
    Hero checks, Villain1 checks, Villain2 bets $0.50, Hero raises to $1.80, 2 folds

    Total pot: $2 | Rake: $0.05

    Results:
    Hero didn't show Q, K.
    Outcome: Hero won $1.95
    Last edited by Vinland; 03-30-2010 at 12:27 AM.
  68. #143
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Been a long time...
    It sucks too b/c we got a new IT provider at work and they have uber secured our internet viewing etc and now FTR is blocked from view so I can only come here in the evenings at home.

    Things have been going very well in march except that I haven't put in enough hands. I have had some nice sessions and played pretty well. I would like to post hands soon but It takes a while and I dont have a lots of time. It sucks that my time here will be drastically reduced but there isnt much I can do about that...

    I hope to put a few hands up soon and show what I've been up to.

    Later
    Last edited by Vinland; 03-30-2010 at 12:30 AM.
  69. #144
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    No huge updates.....other than it has gone well with the BR. Some sessions I play well and get mediocre results but I played one session very poorly and had great results.

    This is from a recent session. The villain had raised very mediocre hands from mp before (79s) so I am happy to call on the btn with a connector.

    PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
    BB ($10.95)
    UTG ($11.40)
    UTG+1 ($14.70)
    MP1 ($7.50)
    MP2 ($12.35)
    Villain (CO) ($13)
    Hero (Button) ($17.25)
    SB ($12.95)
    Preflop: Hero is Button with J, Q
    4 folds, Villain bets $0.40, Hero calls $0.40, 2 folds
    Flop: ($0.95) 8, K, A (2 players)
    Villain bets $0.70, Hero calls $0.70

    I am fine with calling this. I feel I have some good implied odds. He had played a hand similar to this very aggro with a marginal hand and I feel the str8 would be concealed and should make some money to justify the call..

    Turn: ($2.35) 10 (2 players)
    Villain bets $2.10, Hero raises to $5.50, Villain raises to $11.90 (All-In), Hero calls $6.40

    I dont want anything to slow the action down so I decide to try top get more money in the pot. He obliges...

    River: ($26.15) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

    Total pot: $26.15 | Rake: $1.30

    Sweet......he had a good hand. Sick turn card for him...He turned over TT for a set.

    Next hand to show:
    This one put me on severe tilt...
    I really got worked up on this one.

    Preflop, the shortstacker was bad and the caller was running about 90/14 over 40 hands so i def call with AJ.

    PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
    MP1 ($7.75)
    MP2 ($2.40)
    MP3 ($40.55)
    CO ($9.85)
    Button ($10)
    Hero (SB) ($23.65)
    Villain (BB) ($9.35)
    UTG ($1.75)
    UTG+1 ($8.75)
    Preflop: Hero is SB with J, A
    3 folds, MP2 bets $0.40, MP3 calls $0.40, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.35, Villain calls $0.30
    Flop: ($1.60) 6, A, A (4 players)
    Hero checks, Villain checks, MP2 bets $0.60, 1 fold, Hero raises to $2, Villain calls $2, 1 fold

    I dont think donking does anything here so I check and hope someone puts money in. I raise b/c if someone has an A, its likely worse and likely they will pay me off.

    Turn: ($6.20) 9 (2 players)
    Hero bets $3, Villain raises to $6.95 (All-In), Hero calls $3.95

    I have to believe that he would prob raise AK prew so it could be AQ or A6, A9 that beat me. The rest I beat....

    River: ($20.10) 6 (2 players, 1 all-in)
    Total pot: $20.10 | Rake: $0.95

    Villain turned over A3....but we tied obv...

    WTF? The shit river takes away my score....
    I was well on my way to a killer multi buy-in sesh.....oh well.
    I quit to take a breather....I was pissed. Need to calm down......
    Last edited by Vinland; 04-05-2010 at 12:22 AM.
  70. #145
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    I hate to follow up a rant with a rant but its hands like below that make me wish poker would fuck off.

    No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
    Hero (MP1) ($10)
    Villain (MP2) ($10.45)
    MP3 ($11.65)
    Villain2 (CO) ($19.10)
    Button ($3.75)
    SB ($8.95)
    BB ($5.05)
    UTG ($11.45)
    UTG+1 ($11)
    Preflop: Hero is MP1 with K, K
    2 folds, Hero bets $0.40, Villain calls $0.40, 1 fold, Villain2 calls $0.40, 2 folds, BB calls $0.30
    Flop: ($1.65) J, 6, K (4 players)
    BB checks, Hero bets $1, Villain raises $2, Villain2 calls $2, 1 fold, Hero raises $5, Villain calls $4, Villain2 calls $4
    Turn: ($19.65) 8 (3 players)
    Hero bets $3.60 (All-In), Villain calls $3.60, Villain2 calls $3.60
    River: ($30.45) A (3 players, 1 all-in)
    Villain checks, Villain2 bets $1.10, Villain calls $0.45 (All-In)
    Total pot: $31.35
    Results:
    Hero had K, K (three of a kind, Kings).
    Villain had J, J (three of a kind, Jacks).
    Villain2 had 10, Q (straight, Ace high).
    Outcome: Villain2 won $30.55

    I'm fucking pissed because I know with out a doubt that the 3 largest pots I have ever played in (the above being the largest to date) I have never won. .....And its usually to shit like this or a horrible player flops a straight....and I get a set...

    I know, I vbet the flop small but I remember thinking, I only have to worry about QT or AQ thats it. So I even put in a good reraise on the flop for measure after they showed interest......
    I really hate to complain but I fucking wish that just once one of these multiway all in hands would go my way...

    Sorry, I wish I had something good to say but thats what happened
  71. #146
    I know what you mean. I got burned by a QT when villian flopped a str8 and I flopped top 2-pair (AK). And I'm down 3 BI's already this month. Sucks.
    Explain...what I do for a living without saying "I make monies in da 600 enels by pwnin' tha donk bitches". Instead I say "I'm a online financial redistribution broker". - Sasquach991
  72. #147
    I think with 4 players you need to bet that flop larger - say $1.50 just because it makes the money easier to get in instead of leaving money still to go in on the turn and I doubt these guys playing there ranges differently for $0.50 more.

    GL with 10NL - I play 6 max on Stars so maybe see you around?
  73. #148
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Holy Shit.....

    No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
    Villain (MP2) ($11.60)
    MP3 ($10)
    Villain2 (CO) ($4.95)
    Hero (Button) ($9.60)
    SB ($10.60)
    BB ($14.85)
    UTG ($9.60)
    UTG+1 ($10.15)
    MP1 ($11.40)
    Preflop: Hero is Button with 9, A
    2 folds, MP1 calls $0.10, Villain calls $0.10, 1 fold, Villain2 calls $0.10, Hero calls $0.10, SB calls $0.05, BB checks
    Flop: ($0.60) 9, A, 10 (6 players)
    SB checks, BB checks, MP1 checks, Villain bets $0.30, Villain2 calls $0.30, Hero raises $1, 3 folds, Villain calls $0.70, Villain2 calls $0.70
    Turn: ($3.60) Q (3 players)
    Villain checks, Villain2 checks, Hero checks
    River: ($3.60) A (3 players)
    Villain bets $2.50, Villain2 calls $2.50, Hero raises $8.50 (All-In), Villain raises $8 (All-In), 1 fold
    Total pot: $23.10
    Results:
    Hero had 9, A (full house, Aces over nines).
    Villain had 10, A (full house, Aces over tens).
    Outcome: Villain won $24

    I almost raised pre....but I figured w/ position it would be nice to see a cheap flop.
    Just getting brutalized right now.....
    So fucking bad. I even took a few days off to recoupe and clear my head. I wanted to be fresh before jumping into the next session. And you can see the marvelous results that I got from it.
  74. #149
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    Quick update:
    Still not much time to be here. I can only come to FTR at home.

    Poker has gone poorly. I was up at my highest at 10nl and since then I have been on a 8BI slide in about 2300 hands. I keep getting decent hands and I end up busting vs the real fishy players, the guys who have vpip >50....

    One of note: I had AA, raised in EP and an 55/18 player called in LP. Flop 474....I bet, he raises. I have seen him do this w/ any overpair so I shove b/c if I call I'm committed. He turns over 84 and I'm crushed...
    If I lose a stack to a good player so be it but its so often against the worst player at the table, a guy who should be donating 2BI to me in a session.
    I suppose I need to really concentrate and try and understand what their reraises mean.....
    I have seen them do it with 99 on a low board b/c they assume they are good but maybe they dont do it enough to justify shoving.
    I have a hard time folding AA on a 7 high board when I'm against a complete fish.....yet I seem to lose all my money to them.


    Oh, and here's my biggest cooler to date...
    villain is 20/9/1.4 over 237


    No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
    BB ($10)
    Hero (UTG) ($10)
    UTG+1 ($13.10)
    MP1 ($15.90)
    MP2 ($10.15)
    MP3 ($12.80)
    CO ($11.10)
    Villain (Button) ($10.45)
    SB ($3.75)
    Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, Q
    Hero bets $0.40, 5 folds, Villain calls $0.40, 1 fold, BB calls $0.30
    Flop: ($1.25) Q, 4, 5 (3 players)
    BB checks, Hero bets $1, Villain calls $1, 1 fold
    Turn: ($3.25) 5 (2 players)
    Hero bets $1.50, Villain calls $1.50
    River: ($6.25) K (2 players)
    Hero bets $4, Villain raises $7.55 (All-In), Hero calls $3.10 (All-In)
    Total pot: $20.45
    Results:
    Villain had 5, 5 (four of a kind, fives).
    Hero had Q, Q (full house, Queens over fives).
    Outcome: Villain won $19.90

    Yikes....

    But basically I need to find a way to put better ranges on total fish....yet some of these hands I would wager most in the BC would say I cant fold vs the opponent I am up against given his wide range but I dont know.
    I continually get these awesome preflop or flop situations against a guy who is more than willing to burn half a stack w/ mid pair and I end up down huge against them...
  75. #150
    Vinland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,017
    Location
    Canada; the country all tucked away down there...
    I Haven't posted in ages and it sucks. I still dont get much time to visit.
    I dont play lots of hands (never have) but so far at 10nl I am BE over 20K.
    I have looked through HM and at some stats and I just cant find the reason...I know its probably staring me in the face but I cant see it.
    I'm hoping to post some good stats in the BC for some feedback.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •