Operation: Make Platinum Star in Feb.

[pgil]

Same thread as before, just a new short term goal, so a new title.



Little background on me: I started as a SnG donk, and made the transition to SHNL a little over a year ago. started playing 25NL 6max with good results. stayed at that level for way too long. Moved to 50NL after the UIGEA and basically played break-even for a long long stretch. moved to 100NL FR after a couple of MTT cashes (was planning a trip to the local casino while the GF was away on vacation and wanted to practice the FR game) and have been playing that since June 07 on stars.

I had no goals in 07, and therefore achieved all of them (or none of them if you are a pessimist).

My goal for 08 is to continue to improve while making $10,000 over the course of the year. This isn't really a lot for 100NL, but I don't get to play too often. I would also like to keep my WR over 4 PTBB/100 while increasing to 5-6 tables from my current 3-4 without becoming too much of a nit along the way. I may or may not take stabs at 200NL as well, we'll see.

I started 08 trying to clear a $200 no deposit bonus on party, but I tried to do it playing 25NL and 1/2 stacking 50NL. this did not work out. I did however leave with $300, so not a total waste of time. However, since the play there was pretty bad I think I may have lost a little something off of my game. I didn't really fight for pots, because there was no need. After I find something to do with my FPP's I am going to be moving to a new site. Not certain which one, but it will be a couple of months before I can get anything worth getting, so I have time to decide.

Here are a couple of hands from my first session back at 100NL

button is way too loose, even if he is on the button. no real read on CO, but he has been slightly more aggro than most FR players, at least pf.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG+1 ($48.75)
MP1 ($87.75)
MP2 ($109.35)
CO ($110.10)
Button ($298.40)
Hero ($169.85)
BB ($184.50)
UTG ($93.50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $1, 2 folds, CO raises to $5, Button calls $5, Hero raises to $14, 1 fold, UTG+1 folds, CO calls $9, Button calls $9.

Flop: ($44) A, 2, 6 (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, Button bets $20, Hero calls $20, CO folds.

Turn: ($84) J (2 players)
Hero bets $135.85 (All-In)

I don't like playing KK OOP against 2 opps, but this is what happened. I hated the A on the flop, but didn't feel like button necessarily has one. he could be playing a lot of stuff here. Turn, I don't know. Turning KK into a semi-bluff seems like a bit of a waste, but any bet here commits me. And I don't really want to see a brick on the river. I figure I can get him to fold a few of his weaker aces, plus all of the stuff I beat.

I am always unsure of 3-bet sizes, esp with a caller added in.

Might be a little FPS, but this guy had been playing extremely loose, and had been making min raises from EP a few times. He seemed to play pretty weak postflop (check-minraise with a weak overpair on a drawy board), so I decided to call IP with a hand with potentia, but I was planning on taking it down on the flop if I missed and the board looked good.

PokerStars Pot-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Button ($94.90)
SB ($19)
BB ($100.60)
UTG ($210.05)
UTG+1 ($100)
MP1 ($160.40)
MP2 ($86)
MP3 ($150.75)
Hero ($109.70)

Preflop: Hero is CO with , .
UTG raises to $2, 4 folds, Hero calls $2, 3 folds.

Flop: ($5.50) , , (2 players)
UTG bets $4, Hero raises to $12, UTG calls $8.

Turn: ($29.50) (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $20

flop was completely unconnected with only 1 high card. the second barrel should chase out all underpairs. I haven't really been doing much at the table. I think the last hand I had shown down was a set that was outdrawn at the river.

That ends my first operation post.

[pgil]

marathon 150 hand session tonight after work.

don't really know what I think of this hand. original raiser was pretty tight, which is why I flat called. After the reraise, which looks a lot like a squeeze play, folds out the original raiser, I figure to be flipping vs AK a lot.

(For some reason the converter does not like this hand)

POKERSTARS GAME #14567395182: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/01/14 - 23:53:00 (ET)
Table 'Rosa III' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: doolitcd ($99.90 in chips)
Seat 2: EyeNeverLie ($19 in chips)
Seat 3: cph72 ($106.60 in chips)
Seat 4: pgil ($100.20 in chips)
Seat 5: Spagiari ($93.50 in chips)
Seat 6: bim522 ($231.20 in chips)
Seat 7: Rip_AA ($172.60 in chips)
Seat 8: pvl000 ($98 in chips)
Seat 9: NessV ($99.90 in chips)
pvl000: posts small blind $0.50
NessV: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pgil [Qc Qs]
doolitcd: folds
EyeNeverLie: folds
cph72: raises $3 to $4
pgil: calls $4
Spagiari: folds
bim522: raises $11 to $15
Rip_AA: folds
pvl000: folds
NessV: folds
cph72: folds
pgil: raises $85.20 to $100.20 and is all-in

The overbet push is kinda meh, but there is a big pot and I will be out of position, so it will be hard to get a lot more out of him post if he misses completely.

[pgil]

played about 600 hands so far today, and things did not go well. I played alright, maybe 1 or 2 spewy plays, and a couple of hands that I played too passively/didn't protect adequately. The rest is just bad things happening to good hands, so no need to go into it here other than to say that AA and KK are negative this year.

I couldn't find a good table that lasted for more than a couple of orbits, and the only one that did I ran shit. The rest of the tables that I sat at ended up being basically full of the tightest players I have seen for a while. I guess that is one more thing for me to work on, is either adjusting better to the table (I did my best to absolutely abuse LP) or to just up and leave to find a better one.

Here is 1 hand that I didn't like as soon as it happened. Is the flop a 3-bet shove pretty well always???

SB in this hand calls too much pf, and isn't really a strong player. he makes his hands fairly obvious.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

CO ($189.20)
Hero ($104.90)
SB ($101.65)
BB ($61.80)
UTG ($15.50)
UTG+1 ($20)
MP1 ($99.90)
MP2 ($127.30)
MP3 ($94)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 6, 4.
6 folds, Hero raises to $3, SB calls $2.50, BB calls $2.

Flop: ($9) 3, 5, 2 (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $6, SB raises to $14, BB folds, Hero calls $8.

Turn: ($37) 3 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero...

even if the flop isn't a push, there has to be a bet on this turn, right?

[pgil]

well, got in just under 300 hands tonight after dinner/time with girlfriend. Down just under 2 buyins on the day, which isn't all that bad considering.

sadly on the year I am sitting on $52 profit after 1300 hands (not including ~$300 from party after about 7000)


I love this guy, I hate that I left the table down about $15, but I guess that is the risk. he took 3/4 of a stack off of me when he caught a flush vs. my trips (made him pay dearly for it too) and then another 3/4 stack off of me when he runner runnered a straight vs. my set (again made him pay dearly to get there, so it's alright) he unfortunately left an orbit or two after this hand with a little over $100.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Button ($98.50)
SB ($100)
BB ($164.20)
Hero ($115.50)
UTG+1 ($140.40)
MP1 ($98.50)
MP2 ($100)
CO ($265.30)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, Q.
Hero raises to $4, 3 folds, CO raises to $7, 3 folds, Hero raises to $45, CO calls $38.

Flop: ($91.50) A, Q, 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $20, Hero raises to $70.5, CO calls $50.50.

Turn: ($232.50) T (2 players)

River: ($232.50) 3 (2 players)

Final Pot: $232.50

edited to include results: he had AJo

[pgil]

here is what I have been working on lately:

1) I need to 3-bet pf a little more. I had basically stopped doing it entirely (with the exception of the big PP's, either in EP to chase out the trash or build a large pot or after a raise and a call). So far it has worked out quite well. I have been picking spots where I would likely have a weak hand if I was opp and using them.

2) related to the previous one, is protecting my blinds. Basically, I don't. I have started to do it a bit more. In my last session I called and donk-bet ragged flops a few times from the BB, and 3-bet from the SB vs. obvious steal attempts, with good results.

3) I need to bet the turn more often to protect my med-strength hands. I think the problem may be I am taking an extraction line when there is probably not a lot more to extract unless opp catches, and if he catches he will be ahead of me. An example from last night:

100 BB effective stacks. Tightish player raises from EP (range includes a lot of PP's and AK/AQ type of hands), I call a couple seats behind him w/ JJ.

flop is Q high with no draws and 2 rags. He c-bets, I call.
turn is a blank, and he checks, and here is where I think I need to bet.

if he has a weaker pair (TT, maybe 99) he will probably call, if he has the Q (AQ) then he will call and either block or make a small VB on the river, AK folds, and all bigger PP's probably CR or go for a CC turn, CR river type of line. all of the weaker hands are only really putting in more if they hit the river. and if they hit the river, I am not ahead anymore.

It will also allow my floats to have a bit more respect if I am betting value on the turn more often. I may even be able to get three streets of value off of big hands if I am able to increase my turn AF enough to skew decisions against me that are made by the HUD bots. But then again maybe I am overthinking this and being a little results oriented.

4) I need to work on my blocking bets. At the moment, they are not good. they are either too big, or they don't happen at all. What situations are people looking for when deciding to block? What opponents are best?

[pgil]

well, the new more aggressive approach has been going well. I am having a lot of fun donk-betting from the blinds, and 3betting a lot more. I forgot how scary 3-bets are to people when you usually only see them a few times in a session.

I played a little over 250 hands tonight. not too many big hands, just me picking up a lot of small and medium sized pots with very little in the way of cards. I was playing quite well and was up about $70-80, when I got aces and donked off a stack. It was obviously a set, it's always a set. but even if it wasn't, I was only getting more money in vs. a hand that had me crushed with the way I played it.

I probably wouldn't have minded as much if it had happened on one of the other tables I was playing, because on 3 of the 4 I was being very aggressive, but on this one there weren't a lot of good spots, so I was playing pretty conservative.

meh. one more leak to plug. I am still ever so slightly in the green for 2008 at 100NL/PL. But so far, my goal of $10,000 for the year seems far off. It's still early, and I still have a lot of hands to go though.

[pgil]

As the new title indicates I have a new goal. to make platinum in Feb. Doing this will allow me to purchase the platinum star bonus, which will allow me to use up most of my FPP's and eventually move a portion of my role off of stars and allow me to start playing for rakeback.

making platinum star will be tough, as I've never even come close before. I worked out that I will need to play around 22,250 hands to do this (thanks to spoonitnow's threads on stars and pokertracker for this).

this works out to 5570 (rounding up) hands a week. I think I will be able to get in at least 400 after work on most nights. I should be able to do 2200-2500 on Tuesdays, and another 1200-1500 on Saturdays. this should allow me to reach platinum for the month.

There will probably be a big push at the end of the month as I will undoubtedly slack somewhere during February.

I haven't yet worked out how many hours this is going to take, as that will be depressing. I may have to up my average sessions to 5 tables from 4 and increase my other sessions from 5 to 6.

[pgil]

good day overall pokerwise. Went to the local casino with the girlfriend (we both had the day off and were both bored). First nice surprise was that there was a decent game going at 2:00 PM on a Monday. I assume that some of the players must have been americans with MLK off.

Next nice surprise was that they have raised the max buy-in from $100 to $200 at the 1/2 NL tables. Didn't really matter because nobody bought in for $200, but it is still nice to know that it is an option.

I played tighter than a frog's ass and ended the 2.5 hr session up about $80. The table was so loose and passive it was ridiculous. I probably could have made more, but I figured with the limited bankroll it's probably best not to fuck around.

Didn't really want to leave when we did, but I was getting hungry (damn diabetes).

Tonight on stars, played about 425 hands, and ended the session up a couple of buy-ins. Played 5 tables, and didn't seem to fall behind on any of them. Am trying to get used to the increase for my push to platinum star.

Biggest hand was AA AI pf vs. QQ against a tight 8/7 player when about 130bb deep. I think I missed 1 obvious value bet that cost me about $25, but overall the session seemed good. Not too much spewing. 1 ill-timed flop CR against an unknown, but nothing much outside of that.

It is looking like I am getting around 60 hands/hr/table, which means around 75 hours playing 5 tables will be needed in February. If I can successfully play 6, that drops to just over 60hrs. A mix of the 2 as the mood fits (also the level of concentration) should suffice.

[pgil]

haven't played for a couple of days. put in 274 hands tonight, and finished up ~$60. of course I had 1 hand where I got AI on the flop with top set vs. an underset and an overpair, and ended up making $1.75 on the hand. main pot was $197, side pot was $136. thank god for short stacks.

I found that there was a bit more 3-betting going on pf. might just be a sample size issue. I hope so. I don't want my soft FR games to become similar to the 6max games where opponents try to play poker against me.

Overall this year I have noticed my VPIP has dropped by about 1.5 points, but my pfr% has gone up almost a whole point. again, sample size is an issue. I am unsure what to make of this, so I will just wait and see what happens.

just looked and my SB is a huge winner so far this year, so I really shouldn't make anything at all of any changes in my stats yet.

[pgil]

So I haven't updated for a while now. I have only been able to play 2 short sessions in the last week and a bit. I may not be able to make platinum star in Feb. I think this coming Tuesday will be the deciding day. After I have played as much as I can on Tuesday, I am going to figure out my pace and decide if I can play the required amount.

I was away for work for the last week of January, so I didn't get to play at all. Then when I got back, I was extremely tired and was spending time with the fiance, because we hadn't seen each other for a week.

The last session I played was about 400 hands, and it sucked. There was 1 table where someone was playing something ridiculous like 67/10, and had about $500 in front of him at a $100NL table. I got cold cards for about 45 minutes. Then, when I finally got a hand, he was sitting out. (he would sit out randomly for about 5-10 minutes at a time).

He did end up getting in a pot with me when I had QQ, unfortunately there was another player that came along from the SB. And AJ took a pretty big pot down against 9c5c when the 9 hit the river (two aces on the flop which checked around, small turn bet, we both called, larger river bet which the 95 (big stack donk) guy called with me yet to act with 2nd or 3rd pair, I don't remember exactly.

After that I tilted a little because every time I had a decent hand it was getting outdrawn, and pushed an underpair on a T high turn. Of course the nit immediately to my left called my EP raise with 9To. Oh well, I knew better. Hopefully I will get to play tonight after work.

My short term goal is to play 2000 hands on Tuesday. I haven't played that many hands in a day before, but I think some good time management should allow me to do so.

[pgil]

887 hands so far today. don't know that I will be able to make the 2K mark for the day, but I will give it a shot. would be a pretty good day so far if I hadn't blown 1.5 BI's trying to play 50NL 6-max. didn't play badly there, but didn't really play well either.

I am running 22/17 so far at my FR tables with an att to steal blinds >50%. obviously some tight tables during the days.

I feel as though I am finally getting back into the groove of playing. That week off made me a bit rusty. Couldn't read boards very well, couldn't lay down a hand to save my life. Now I am doing a bit better at these things and it is showing in the results. I feel comfortable again.

Played the end of a $50 deep stack tourney last night. GF had joined it while I was at work. Then she had to go to bed at around 1AM so she could get up for work today. So I took over and played until 4. Those things are way too long. Finished in 6th for a little over $600. Kind of meh about my final table play. went out chasing a 15 outer. probably could have played it better and saved a fair amount of chips. I had position and it didn't need to end there. oh well.

The really annoying thing about the tournament was there were fewer than 300 people to start but it payed 45 places. that and it took well over 9 hours for me to go out in 6th.

probably go take a 45min to hour long break, then fire up some more tables. still unable to play 6 tables well, but am really comfortable with 5. 6 starts to bog down my computer and is too hard for me to pay attention to and still play the way I like to.

[pgil]

total of 1400 hands so far today. as best as I can remember, this is my biggest day hands wise. pretty pleased with the results. Up $322 at 100NL/PL, minus $81 at 50NL for a total of $242 on the day.

2133 hands so far this month. at this pace I will not come close to making platinum in Feb. 893 VPP's so far. not really on pace for platinum. barely on pace for goldstar.

had some tough QQ hands in my last session. didn't like them at all.

hand 1. Villain is new to the table, but I recognize the name. I have been running 22/17 at this table.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

CO ($83.80)
Button ($139.25)
SB ($76.20)
BB ($100)
UTG ($114.60)
Hero ($121.75)

Preflop: Hero is MP with Q, Q.
1 fold, Hero raises to $3, 3 folds, BB raises to $10, Hero calls $7.

Flop: ($20.50) 9, K, 5 (2 players)
BB bets $11, Hero calls $11.

Turn: ($42.50) 7 (2 players)
BB bets $15, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $42.5

hand 2. well, I can't seem to find hand 2. perhaps it was a JJ hand. either way, it went pretty well the same as hand 1. blah.

Now, since it feels like my eyes are going to explode, I am going to leave the computer.

[pgil]

haven't played for a few days. extremely long days at work. On a plus, the gf placed 6th out of 900 in a $55 $25,000 guaranteed the other day for $1900. was a nice boost.

I finally got in about 400 hands today. Had a nice run of cards, but misplayed some hands. Had AA vs. a suspected KK and only took a $60 pot. Tightish player raised 4bb from UTG, I reraised to 13 from BB with AA. He 4-bet me, but fairly small. I pushed thinking that he can't fold KK, but he did. We were about 130 deep, so that may have contributed. Looking back I should have called and CRAI on any flop.

Had more issues with 3-bets. I had a mini heater going and so was playing a lot of pots, which means I am more likely to get 3-bet light. But, when it comes from a tight player I get scared. The only problem comes when I have a hand like AKs. I really don't like playing this hand in those spots. My tight opp could be playing back at me with less, or he could have finally picked up a big hand. I think I play too nitty in these spots and fold. It sucks.

EG.

opp is running 10/7 or something like that. he hasn't played a hand yet, but has been at the table long enough to see that I am playing and opening a lot of pots. This hand is even tougher because it is the perfect spot for a squeeze with the caller.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

BB ($73.70)
UTG ($40.15)
UTG+1 ($272.75)
MP1 ($120.80)
MP2 ($100)
Hero ($100.50)
CO ($97.50)
Button ($114.60)
SB ($99.35)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with K, A.
4 folds, Hero raises to $3, CO calls $3, 2 folds, BB raises to $14, Hero folds, CO folds.

Final Pot: $9.5

Any thoughts on the hand in particular or 3-bet pots in general would be helpful

[Muzzard]

Due to the lack of other players support here in this thread, I thought I'd say a quick hello and GL! Keep going dude!

How many tables do you play and how many hours a week?

I'm only play 25NL, but 9-tabling. Ive played 15k hands since Feb 1st, I'll get to Platinum... I think. 7.5k more points needed.

[pgil]

ty. wasn't sure if anyone was actually reading this.

I play 4-5 tables and maybe 10-15 hours a week. only 2500 hands so far this month. need roughly 8800 points.

[pgil]

day is off to a good start. only 246 hands so far, but up $169. I ran pretty good, but also played good. Stole pots that were available and (mostly) folded to value bets.

well, I've almost hit the 1500 VPP point for the month. The quest for platinum is not going well. really don't have a shot at it. I am going away this coming weekend too, so no poker for a few days = no shot at platinum. I am going to try to grind out goldstar, just to have a goal to shoot for to force myself to play more hands.

Couple of hands from todays morning session:

#1.

Opp is pretty tight, and seemingly mostly straightforward. I figure his range from this position is comprised mostly of decent to good hands, not a lot of which liked this flop.

I was unsure if I should attempt to float or just raise the flop. I felt that floating would allow him to possibly hit a card/pick up a draw, or fire a second barrel if he thinks I am on a draw, which I will not like. Therefore I raised. I think I fold out all non-paired hands here, and maybe even some lower PP's (though they are less likely to be in his range)

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP3 ($101.50)
Hero ($150.20)
Button ($99.95)
SB ($57.85)
BB ($42.85)
UTG ($110)
UTG+1 ($122.45)
MP1 ($101.55)
MP2 ($99.50)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, Q.
2 folds, MP1 raises to $4, 2 folds, Hero calls $4, 3 folds.

Flop: ($9.50) 8, 8, 9 (2 players)
MP1 bets $6, Hero raises to $18, MP1 folds.

Final Pot: $21.50

Results in white below:
No showdown. Hero wins $21.50.

#2.

Opp is again fairly tight. didn't think he was leading this flop with an A too often. Thought that it was much more likely that he has a med PP and did not want to C/F with the A on board, so he led to try and see where he was at. I think he folds a lot of decent hands here.

edit: for some reason the ace wasn't showing up on the flop, so I did this

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (7 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Hero ($98.50)
Button ($37.65)
SB ($147.25)
BB ($135.90)
UTG ($108.35)
MP1 ($92.55)
MP2 ($72)

Preflop: Hero is CO with , .
UTG calls $1, 1 fold, MP2 calls $1, Hero raises to $5, 1 fold, SB calls $4.50, 1 fold, UTG folds, MP2 folds.

Flop: ($13) , Ace of Diamonds, (2 players)
SB bets $8, Hero raises to $24, SB folds.

Final Pot: $29

Results in white below:
No showdown. Hero wins $29.

#3.

I don't like this hand too much. I think this was 1 of 2 mistakes that I made in this session, both of which involved not getting enough value out of a set. I don't know if he would have called the rest on the river or not, but it seems kind of likely given stacks/pot. Honestly, I didn't pay enough attention to stack sizes before deciding on my river bet.

Opp is a 2+2er who I haven't seen at 100NL for a while, and assume he has been at 200NL. He is pretty tight (obviously) and I think has a pretty narrow range here. After the turn, he basically has AA, AK, KK with a small amount of QQ thrown in for good measure. And I don't think he folds anything to the river push (except QQ).

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

SB ($100.90)
BB ($110.60)
UTG ($100)
UTG+1 ($113.15)
MP1 ($101.50)
Hero ($111.40)
MP3 ($58.90)
CO ($172.90)
Button ($96)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with , .
2 folds, MP1 raises to $4, Hero raises to $13, 5 folds, MP1 calls $9.

Flop: ($27.50) , , (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero checks.

Turn: ($27.50) (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $18, MP1 calls $18.

River: ($63.50) (2 players)
MP1 bets $14, Hero raises to $35, MP1 calls $21.

Final Pot: $133.50

Results in white below:
MP1 doesn't show.
Hero has Jh Jd (three of a kind, jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins $133.50.

[pgil]

another short session and my mini heater continues. 325 hands this last time. 571 hands total for the day so far with $350.25 profit.

This last session was a bit annoying as my tables kept breaking up. I basically ran white hot on 1 table and pretty standard on the rest. Of course, there was 1 table where I managed to hit the spewtard button pretty good.

on my good table someone twice flopped combo draws ovs. me and they both missed. I would feel bad (i wouldn't really but I might pretend to) if either of them were hands that should have been in to begin with. I didn't really play well this session as a whole, but I did take some good extraction lines and made 1 good call vs. a short donk.

On a side note, there was a player with the screenname waterloo, so now I have the ABBA song of the same name stuck in my head. The thing is though, I don't really know any of the words other than the title and a few random chorus words. quite annoying.

[wesrman]

ty. wasn't sure if anyone was actually reading this.

Ive been reading it. Im just bad at poker so i dont really have much to offer in the way of advice.

Good luck with it.

[pgil]

have not played much since the last post. Went away for the weekend and got a new amp. It's a fender G-DEC jr. Has a bunch of backing tracks and a couple of different effects knobs on it. The backing tracks are great because I have horrible timing/rhythm.

On poker, I have played three losing sessions since coming back from the weekend. Most of it is bad play. Not laying down when it is obvious I am beat. Also, not getting enough value out of good hands, usually because I am afraid of a draw. A couple of coolers mixed in, but mostly spewy unnecessary play. At least I know where I am going wrong.

First session back I don't think I paused to think about a hand once. I am getting better now, but the first few orbits I still manage to spew off about 1/2-3/4 or a buyin, leaving me playing catch up for the rest of the session.

At least in my last session, I started to play a lot better in medium sized pots than in the previous two. I am still tending towards passive play post flop, but that may be because I am finding some pretty crazy tables, and then I get lulled into passive play because I usually like to play passive and hit a hand against the real maniacs. couple of more things to work on.

Made a fun river call with A high today. I was pretty damn sure he had the busted flush draw and not much else. also played a flopped wheel extremely poorly in a multiway pot against an idiot. I keep expecting them to feel committed and call the pot sized turn push, instead I should probably be easing their stack into the middle with two bets, thereby completely committing them before they realize what's going on. especially because in this case, a standard turn bet means that I will not fold the river no matter what comes, so I should just make the bet that is easier for them to mistakenly call. Maybe if I write it a few more times it will sink in.

hopefully will get to play more tonight and saturday.

[pgil]

yesterday and today went better. basically recovered all losses from the previous days, with a (very) small amount to show for my troubles.

had a couple of fun hands, 1 of which was a value bet on a very scary board that I liked a lot. also folded QQ pf today. which sucked. A Q flopped, which also sucked, but I got it all in the next hand. I think it was my reward for making the tight fold .

here they are:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP3 ($48.50)
CO ($123.20)
Button ($39.20)
Hero ($101.50)
BB ($23.50)
UTG ($102.20)
UTG+1 ($24)
MP1 ($139.85)
MP2 ($39.35)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, Q.
UTG raises to $5, 5 folds, Button raises to $23, 2 folds, UTG calls $18.

Flop: ($47.50) 3, Q, 6 (2 players)
UTG bets $16, Button raises to $16.2, UTG calls $0.19.

Turn: ($79.90) 7 (2 players)

River: ($79.90) 8 (2 players)

Final Pot: $79.90

Results in white below:
UTG has 9s 9h (one pair, nines).
Button has Ah As (one pair, aces).
Outcome: Button wins $79.90.

then this happens two hands later:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

MP1 ($48.50)
MP2 ($123.20)
MP3 ($80.15)
Hero ($101)
Button ($22)
SB ($100)
BB ($24)
UTG ($139.85)
UTG+1 ($37.35)

Preflop: Hero is CO with , .
2 folds, MP1 calls $1, 1 fold, MP3 calls $1, Hero raises to $5, 1 fold, SB calls $4.50, 1 fold, MP1 folds, MP3 calls $4.

Flop: ($17) , , (3 players)
SB checks, MP3 checks, Hero bets $10, SB folds, MP3 calls $10.

Turn: ($37) (2 players)
MP3 checks, Hero bets $20, MP3 calls $20.

River: ($77) (2 players)
MP3 checks, Hero bets $46, MP3 calls $45.15 (All-In).

Final Pot: $167.31

Results in white below:
MP3 doesn't show.
Hero has Ah As (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins $168.14.

then there was this one guy, had over $300 at one point, was a complete dumbass. unfortunately, while he was at the table I got absolute crap.

Here is the hand he went out on. This is the second time in a row that he has done this pf.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (7 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

UTG ($158.45)
MP1 ($224.75)
MP2 ($190.40)
CO ($100)
Button ($43.50)
Hero ($115.10)
BB ($100)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , .
1 fold, MP1 calls $1, MP2 raises to $190.4, 4 folds, MP1 calls $189.40.

Flop: ($382.30) , , (2 players)

Turn: ($382.30) (2 players)

River: ($382.30) (2 players)

Final Pot: $382.30

Results in white below:
MP1 has As Ks (high card, ace).
MP2 doesn't show.
Outcome: MP1 wins $382.30.

edit to add that MP2 had AQo

[pgil]

The month of February has been a strange month. I started out trying to play over 20K hands, and have played a total of ~8300. Not really on goal there. I have 3724 VPP's this month. So, at least I will make goldstar. Not quite platinum, but better than silver. I have decided that I can't make platinum at 100NL. I don't put in enough hours/hands. My BR has been stuck at the same spot for about a week and a half now. It is quite annoying. I will play well, then spew, or play well then get coolered. Or, play badly and spew, then have to play really well to catch up to even.

Bankroll is pretty well stalled at between 7600 and 7800. can't seem to break out and get over 8K.

I am currently up 715.80 on the month, and if I hadn't played any 200NL/PL or 50NL 6 max I would be up 951 over 7941 hands. So, I run good at my main game, but lose everywhere else.

In my brief foray into the 1/2 game, I started off as scared money and played badly. Once I settled in I felt I played ok, not great, but not bad. Took 1 annoying beat where someone called me to the river with AK no pair no draw vs. my QQ. caught the A on the river then left the table.

had a bad run with QQ this month. couple of times I have had QQ in quick succession (either at the same time at two tables or twice in a row at the same table) and lost all of them.

had a very annoying 100NL session a couple of days ago. Was playing pretty good, but breaking even. Up a BI on 1 table, but down 1 on another, even on the rest. The table I am down on had 2 players running 40/1 and they were kicking my ass. I couldn't hit a hand to save my life. I have never had 88 so many times, and had it lose so many times in such a short period. Then, right around the end of my session (I played too long and should have left about 1/2 an hour earlier but I wanted to stack these clowns) I get set over set on the table that I am up with 180bb effective stacks. That hurt like a motherfucker. I was so certain I had him, then I didn't. He had the JJJ to my 333 on a drawy flop. goodbye the biggest online pot I have lost. oh well. At least that made me stop playing for the night.

Made it all back yesterday, which is good.

actually felt like I played really well yesterday. I was starting to run a little looser overall. Which probably isn't good considering I already run about 20/14. I have recently gone blind stealing crazy, and am over 50%. there are just so many uber-tight nits in the blinds that I can't help myself. I am a blind-kleptomaniac.

Unfortunately, my CO/HJ are negative for the month due in part to this. These are usually very profitable positions for me. My button is up, but not much.

Oddly though, my blinds are both positive. BB by 3.40, and SB at 53.45. not much, but still great. I had decided that I needed to work on my blind play after a thread by spoonitnow. It appears to have worked, so far anyways.

I think if I tighten my button/CO/HJ a little bit it will pay immediate dividends. Although, in all fairness, I do remember a couple of hands from the CO/BTN that I just randomly decided to spew of loads of chips for no reason whatsoever.

well, I have now rambled on for quite long enough.

[jasons0147]

It is quite annoying. I will play well, then spew, or play well then get coolered. Or, play badly and spew, then have to play really well to catch up to even.

Thought I would stop by and comment on your opp. I was reading your last post and this really caught my attention. I can relate to this quite a bit and it happens to me all the time. In fact in a session tonight it did happen a few times, and the only thing I can find to help is to just leave that table. I know everytime I stay there and try to grind my money back from opp, I end up catching a long run of horrible cards and it seems like all of a sudden the 45/10 next to me is only showing down with 2 pair or better.

Anyways, Im just a Micro/Mid Stakes player so this may not help, its just something I have noticed lately and like they say sometimes the simplest solution is it.

[pgil]

thanks for the response. it can be true sometimes. it is usually more true of the donk on your left of course.


had another moderately losing session. a little over 500 hands. not too much happened. didn't really get paid off on any sets. which was annoying because there were 4 or 5 of them. had aces lose to a 60bb stack in a 3-bet pot, which is alright I suppose.

misplayed 1 hand where I chickened out of a river push that my opponent would have called with a worse kicker than me, I am almost positive of it. convinced myself that he could have JQ, but he had Qx so many more times than he has the J. still a little mad at myself. that would have pushed it to a breakeven/slight win for the session.

on the positive, I made goldstar for Feb, it's not platinum, but it's the next best thing. the double VPP's for Feb. 29th helped a little, although I think I would have just made it if they weren't giving double. plus I could still play tomorrow morning before work if needed. at least now if I do play tomorrow it is because I want to and not because I am trying to grind out 100 vpp's.

[pgil]

thought I would share what is possibly my favourite play to make at 100NL. It is not all that fancy, and doesn't win huge pots, but it does pick up some small ones and works very often. As well, I am sure that others do it, so it's not all that new.

Here is the situation: HU limped pot and we are in the BB with 2 cards. the flop contains 3 cards. we check, limper bets almost always (usually $2) and we raise (usually to $6). limper folds.

simple, straightforward, usually very effective. the limper is betting 95%+, and this seems to work almost as often. It rarely requires a 2nd barrel, which makes it that much better.

I tend to do this once or twice a session, but that is about it. It's not something new, but someone may get some use out of it.

[pgil]

the title makes no sense now, but I don't feel like starting a new op thread, so I will continue with this one.

March goal is to play 10K hands for $1K profit at 100NL. So far I am 2034 hands in and am up $252.95, so off to a good start. Had an extremely fun/swingy session tonight. A couple of tables almost broke up (got down to 3 handed) but then came back. The brief period of 3 handed play was a load of fun. There were also quite a few really bad players at my tables tonight.

I think I only hit 1 set the entire session, and that was with KK when we were AI pf (I was against a shorty w/ A8cc). I did a better job of getting marginal value with some mediocre hands. I also got to call a river bet w/ A high, which is always fun. I think I found the perfect tables for my calling station tendencies

[pgil]

Am attempting to make a couple of tweaks to my game at the moment, and I think that they are working out for the best.

1) I am tightening up overall, although not much. 2) I am tightening up my UTG range. I was a marginal loser UTG so far this month, and now I am a very marginal winner there. We will see if this continues though. 3) I am trying to add more tables to get in more hands with my limited poker time. This is the biggest reason behind #1. I am currently playing 6 tables pretty comfortably. Unfortunately my computer starts to lag a fair bit at 6. But, since I seem unable to make Platinum star to get the associated FPP bonus, I now have another use for my points, and that is going to be a $1000 future shop gift card that will go towards a new computer. I am currently at ~56000, and will need 64000 for the GC. So, a little over a month.

YTD I am still positive out of the SB. I am slightly negative so far this month in the SB. I am wondering, what are standard SB stats looking like in FR?

[pgil]

running pretty good right now. 4521 hands this month, $827.80 for a 9.16 BB/100. kind of waiting for the string of coolers and beats to bring this back down

Wanted to try something different, try to inject some content, but it probably won't go well.

I am going to talk about how much I love position. I play a ton of hands from the button and cutoff, I have an attempt to steal above 50% at the moment, and just basically can't seem to bring myself to fold an unopened button, but this is OK.

You can do so much with position if you use/abuse it correctly. you can be a daunting force from LP. Just remember, it's not always about winning on the button, it's about winning more money with your good hands, and losing less with your bad ones, which sometimes means actually winning with them.

Here is example 1. Unknown limper, but he isn't important. The BB is a complete moron. He just finished limp-calling Jx from UTG and calling three streets w/ 2nd pair against an UTG+1 raiser. He is the reason I am at this table. He is the reason I am playing this hand (although I may raise to take a bigger pot on the flop from the limper).

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($112.65)
SB ($100.75)
BB ($91.75)
UTG ($153.50)
UTG+1 ($77.10)
MP1 ($103.35)
MP2 ($75.35)
CO ($46.85)

Preflop: Hero is Button with J, 8.
3 folds, MP2 calls $1, 1 fold, Hero raises to $4, 1 fold, BB calls $3, MP2 calls $3.

Flop: ($12.50) K, J, 5 (3 players)
BB bets $5, MP2 folds, Hero calls $5.

Villain hasn't lead any flops yet, so I figure him to have Kx. I also am fairly certain that he will be paying me off with his stack if I hit 2pr/trips on the turn because he won't want to fold and I will have position, so it's an easy call.

Turn: ($22.50) 8 (2 players)
BB bets $11, Hero raises to $33, BB calls $22.

There we go. He is out of position, so he is forced to either go into check-call defensive mode, which he doesn't want to do, bet and fold to a raise, which he can't do, and bet and call a raise/reraise, which is a losing play most of the time. All because he has to act first.

River: ($88.50) 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $50, BB calls $49.75 (All-In).

By the time the river comes he is committed, but is probably pretty sure he isn't good, so he checks, then calls the rest of his chips when I put him in.

Final Pot: $188

If I am out of position the hand will play out a lot differently and I will be the one facing the tough spots more often than not.


In this hand, I have been abusing the button for a while now, and figure opp has had enough. I plan on playing for stacks on any non-ace and some non-king flops. Those I will play by feel.

There isn't really a lot that hit opps range on that flop, but if I were OOP I would have to either lead, or check and hope he bets so I can raise, opening myself up to a lot of trouble. It would also allow opp to alter his betting frequencies to make it unprofitable for me to continue (ie. betting with the overpair enough times so that I can't call, but betting with the missed overs just enough so that I don't want to fold). And that is not a fun situation to be in.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (7 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

MP1 ($109.75)
MP2 ($76.30)
CO ($114.95)
Hero ($120.85)
SB ($67)
BB ($66.95)
UTG ($90.10)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
4 folds, Hero raises to $3, SB raises to $8, 1 fold, Hero calls $5.

Flop: ($17) , , (2 players)
SB bets $10, Hero raises to $60, SB folds.

Final Pot: $37

Here is an example of a draw played aggressively on the flop. I am raising here to try and get a free river card if I miss, or to possibly take this down. If opp has the J he is usually going to check the turn to me, and if he doesn't he will usually fold. Once the turn completes the draw, he is kicking himself that he didn't raise over the flop bet, but then I would have folded and he wouldn't have gotten any more. Because he was out of position he was forced to either slowplay his trips and risk getting outdrawn and losing his stack, or raise it big and blow out all hands that are behind and get stacked by hands that have him crushed.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (7 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

UTG ($42.75)
MP1 ($92.85)
MP2 ($95.30)
CO ($46.05)
Hero ($96)
SB ($85.40)
BB ($90.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
UTG calls $1, 3 folds, Hero calls $1, 1 fold, BB checks.

Flop: ($3.50) , , (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $2, Hero raises to $6, BB folds, UTG calls $4.

Turn: ($15.50) (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $11, UTG calls $11.

River: ($37.50) (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $25, UTG calls $24.75 (All-In).

Final Pot: $87

Final hand. Opp leads like he has a flush draw, instacalls and then checks the turn. Really looks like the flush draw now. I maybe could have bet the turn, but oh well. River is a pretty easy call because he has a FD most of the time here, and therefore the 7 couldn't have hit him. If I am OOP I can't really play this hand all that well. The flop I would have to lead at if I raised pf (which I would have), and then he can call and force me to either double barrel or check-fold the turn, or he can raise the flop and take it down (or buy himself the free river). Once the river comes I have to either make a desperate stab or hope he checks down whatever hands I am beating.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

MP3 ($92.05)
CO ($52)
Hero ($110.15)
SB ($114.90)
BB ($100)
UTG ($116.35)
UTG+1 ($70.10)
MP1 ($116.80)
MP2 ($30.15)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
5 folds, CO calls $1, Hero raises to $4, 2 folds, CO calls $3.

Flop: ($9.50) , , (2 players)
CO bets $2, Hero raises to $9, CO calls $7.

Turn: ($27.50) (2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks.

River: ($27.50) (2 players)
CO bets $7, Hero calls $7.

Final Pot: $41.50

Just realized those were all wins. So really the last hand. Pretty standard. I raise the button with 2 cards, get some calls, and c-bet when checked to. Opp leads the turn because all hands that he is beating are checking behind here and he can only get value by leading. BTW, if he is behind here he is going broke a lot of the time.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Hero ($205.90)
SB ($122.50)
BB ($52)
UTG ($156.85)
UTG+1 ($97.50)
MP1 ($87.70)
MP2 ($101.85)
MP3 ($100)
CO ($42.35)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
6 folds, Hero raises to $3, SB calls $2.50, BB calls $2.

Flop: ($9) , , (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $6, SB calls $6, BB folds.

Turn: ($21) (2 players)
SB bets $10, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $21

[pgil]

March so far is going well. Just over 5000 hands and already broken the $1K mark. Now the rest of the month is to try to build upon this start. I am getting in a fair amount of hands, so am really pleased with myself for that, especially given the current circumstances. My girlfriend is currently taking her qualifying exams, so things aren't exactly relaxed here

I have really been working hard this year to get my W$SD % higher, and I believe this has paid dividends in terms of small to medium pots. In the past it always hovered around 45%, and I am working on increasing that, attempting to get to 55%. This basically means paying off fewer value bets on the river, and occasionally extracting value with monsters as opposed to going for the stack every time. Sometimes it's just not there to be taken. But this also has exciting implications.

[pgil]

I am apparently a bit of a donkey (in 2 hands tonight anyways), but luckily I run like god in big pots, so it's okay.

Really misplayed 1 hand, was just a silly idea to 3bet a nit w/ a suited connector. I did it though, then lead the flop, called a minraise and hit my gutter on the turn.

The other donktastic hand isn't so bad. It was against shorties, and I wasn't about to fold A high against 2 horrible shortstack swho called every raise imaginable. I figured to have enough outs to take them and their 30-45bb's (can't remember exact details) to the felt. I guess it was marginal at best.

[pgil]

8205 hands so far for $1584.20 profit. Still running fairly well (obviously). Did have a couple of big PP's lose today. Also had a fun 18 out draw lose to air To be fair I figured I was on anywhere from 12-18 outs when all of the chips went in. It was only after I saw that he had 3-bet bluffed the turn AI with K high that I realized I had just missed a full 18 outs. The funny thing was, I had him on air on both the flop and turn, and felt I played it pretty well considering.

here it is:

I call pf because he is a monkey. I call flop because he is a monkey. I plan on CRing turn, repping the T. I also plan on shoving all rivers whether I hit or not. Did not expect the 3-bet shove, but thinking back, all hands that are made are at least wary of the T's (other than a T itself, but he wouldn't play them that fast). So I guess the biggest danger is that he has a similar draw to mine, which drastically reduces my equity.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($122.75)
UTG ($106.75)
UTG+1 ($18.50)
MP1 ($201.40)
MP2 ($98.50)
CO ($97.05)
Button ($187.80)
SB ($108.15)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7, 8.
5 folds, Button raises to $3, 1 fold, Hero calls $2.

Flop: ($6.50) 6, 2, T (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $6, Hero calls $6.

Turn: ($18.50) T (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $14, Hero raises to $34, Button raises to $178.8, Hero calls $79.75 (All-In).

River: ($246) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $246

Edited to include opp had KJo

[pgil]

basically just had the swingiest session ever. Found quite possibly the worst deep stacked player to ever exist, and was stuck about $200 against him. Ended up leaving with just under $500. Figure I should post all of the interesting hands.

Couple of reads. First, he is playing 78/44 or something crazy like that. preflop he is minraising most crap, and is making outrageously large raises with better (ie. med PP, AK, etc.) He has min-4bet me a couple of times with garbage.

Postflop he is min betting with most stuff: air, weak pair, etc. but is betting close to pot w/ draws.

Now to the hands.

#1.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP3 ($91.85)
CO ($40.10)
Button ($86.30)
Hero ($99)
BB ($150.55)
UTG ($162.40)
UTG+1 ($118.15)
MP1 ($98.50)
MP2 ($23.85)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, K.
6 folds, Button raises to $2, Hero raises to $7, 1 fold, Button raises to $12, Hero calls $5.

Flop: ($25) 8, A, 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $12, Hero raises to $54, Button calls $42.

Turn: ($133) T (2 players)
Hero bets $33 (All-In), Button calls $20.30 (All-In).

River: ($173.60) J (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $173.60

Results in white below:
Hero has Ac Ks (one pair, aces).
Button has Js 8s (two pair, jacks and eights).
Outcome: Button wins $173.60.

#2. Not a huge hand

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

UTG ($100)
UTG+1 ($51.75)
MP1 ($331)
Hero ($130.90)
MP3 ($146.05)
CO ($100)
Button ($179.65)
SB ($94.50)
BB ($47)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with , .
2 folds, MP1 raises to $2, Hero raises to $6, 5 folds, MP1 calls $4.

Flop: ($13.50) , , (2 players)
MP1 bets $1, Hero raises to $10, MP1 calls $9.

Turn: ($33.50) (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero checks.

River: ($33.50) (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: $33.50

Results in white below:
MP1 has 3c Ac (one pair, threes).
Hero has 8c 8s (one pair, eights).
Outcome: Hero wins $33.50.

#3. Normally might consider playing this one different, but I just can't see myself folding any sort of hand against this guy.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

UTG+1 ($159.75)
MP1 ($50.25)
MP2 ($313.95)
Hero ($137.80)
Button ($240.55)
SB ($97)
BB ($100)
UTG ($39.90)

Preflop: Hero is CO with , .
2 folds, MP1 calls $1, MP2 raises to $2, Hero raises to $8, 3 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 calls $6.

Flop: ($18.50) , , (2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets $12, MP2 calls $12.

Turn: ($42.50) (2 players)
MP2 bets $25, Hero raises to $117.8, MP2 calls $92.80.

River: ($278.10) (2 players)

Final Pot: $278.10

Results in white below:
MP2 has Qs 5d (three of a kind, fives).
Hero has As Kh (two pair, kings and fives).
Outcome: MP2 wins $278.10.

#4. At least he was nice enough to give some back

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Button ($151.25)
SB ($45.25)
BB ($440.45)
Hero ($99)
UTG+1 ($240.55)
MP1 ($99)
MP2 ($100)
CO ($77.55)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with , .
Hero raises to $4, 3 folds, CO calls $4, 2 folds, BB raises to $7, Hero raises to $14, CO folds, BB raises to $21, Hero raises to $109, BB calls $78.

Flop: ($212.50) , , (2 players)

Turn: ($212.50) (2 players)

River: ($212.50) (2 players)

Final Pot: $212.50

Results in white below:
BB has Th 9s (two pair, fives and threes).
Hero has Ac Ah (two pair, aces and fives).
Outcome: Hero wins $212.50.

#5. This flop just did not cooperate. If I trust my read, which I do, I have to give him some sort of draw, which he will not fold, and which I am at best a flip against.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

MP3 ($297.50)
CO ($38.75)
Button ($270.65)
Hero ($203.10)
BB ($238.05)
UTG ($107.10)
UTG+1 ($98.50)
MP1 ($98.50)
MP2 ($108.10)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , .
6 folds, Button raises to $2, Hero raises to $8, 1 fold, Button raises to $14, Hero calls $6.

Flop: ($29) , , (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $19, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $29

Results in white below:
No showdown. Button wins $29.

#6. The granddaddy hand. If I had lost this, I just might have cried. Take special note of the initial preflop raise.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

SB ($299.20)
BB ($36.75)
UTG ($281.15)
Hero ($186.10)
MP1 ($236.05)
MP2 ($98)
CO ($99.50)
Button ($124.65)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with , .
UTG raises to $22, Hero raises to $186.1, 6 folds, UTG calls $164.10.

Flop: ($373.70) , , (2 players)

Turn: ($373.70) (2 players)

River: ($373.70) (2 players)

Final Pot: $373.70

Results in white below:
UTG has Kd Kh (three of a kind, kings).
Hero has Ah As (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins $373.70.

#7. They ain't over yet. I am still basically playing any 2 playable cards against this guy. He may be busto now. Note the turn shove, he just isn't folding any draws ever.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

MP2 ($295.70)
CO ($69.50)
Button ($62.30)
Hero ($369.70)
BB ($236.05)
UTG ($98)
UTG+1 ($99.50)
MP1 ($124.65)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , .
2 folds, MP1 calls $1, 2 folds, Button calls $1, Hero completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($4) , , (4 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, MP1 checks, Button bets $4, Hero raises to $12, BB folds, MP1 folds, Button calls $8.

Turn: ($28) (2 players)
Hero bets $50, Button calls $49.30 (All-In).

River: ($126.60) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $126.60

Results in white below:
Hero has Jd Ts (two pair, jacks and fours).
Button doesn't show.
Outcome: Hero wins $127.30.

All in all, a trying, yet profitable session. Kind of a testament to hanging around the fish, isolating them, and just staying until they run out of luck. Also, even though he is an absolute fish, he can still be read. Plus, get good cards and lots of them when someone is at your table

[pgil]

Going to attempt to add more content, so here goes.

On 3-betting AK pf.

It seems that everyone and their dog is 3-betting AK pf. My question is, why?

I am not advocating for never 3-betting, or even rarely. I would just like to make sure we are 3-betting because we have a specific reason for doing so, and not because it's how you play AK pf.

As far as I can tell, there are some specific reasons to 3-bet.

1 is to isolate the raiser to make sure we are HU. This is usually done because our hand will lose equity and be harder to play against a larger field, or because the initial raiser is truly horrible and we want to be the only one with the chance to stack him on this hand.

2 is to build a big pot. We have a big hand, we want a big pot, and we want as much of it in pf as possible.

3 is as a steal/resteal. Our opponent is raising light, and we want to take advantage of this fact by 3-betting lighter to take away the larger pot pf. This may also serve to slow down our aggressive opponent, which usually makes them easier to play against.

4 is as a defensive measure/to take the initiative. Our opponent is likely to fire two barrels (at least) at us that we will be unable to profitably call if we flat call pf. He will fire with enough hands that are beating us to make it unprofitable, but will also be firing with hands we are beating a large enough percentage of the time that we will be folding the best hand too often. A 3-bet pf can put them on the defensive and slow them down. It can allow you to take control of the hand, and take the free turn card if you like, or attempt to take down the pot on the flop.

5 is for deception/balancing. If we are only 3-betting AA/KK/(sometimes)QQ, we are pretty easy targets to play against. So sometimes we have to throw in some other hands to protect our big PP's.

So where does AK fit in? It makes a good resteal hand, if only because it has decent equity against virtually all hands in case we are called. However, the flipside of this is, we have decent equity against all hands and (hopefully) position on our opponent and a wider range if we flat call.

It also makes a good big pot hand against certain opponents.

It is certainly a good iso-raise hand, for the above mentioned equity reasons. We are usually in good shape against the initial raiser and would like to avoid having to play a 1 pair hand against multiple opponents.

It also fits the bill as a good hand to make a defensive 3-bet.

All in all, it's a good hand to make a 3-bet pf, which is why it's done. However, if you are always 3-betting AK pf without thinking about why you are doing it this time, you are costing yourself money, and probably putting yourself in a tough situation.

Flat calling AK in position has some distinct advantages over 3-betting in certain situations. Basically you are turning your powerful hand into a bluff (or semibluff) and are blowing all hands that you dominate out of the pot before they get a chance to catch a second best A or K against you. You are also forfeiting all of your equity when someone 4-bet pushes against you. If they are doing this with AA/KK 90%, and QQ/JJ/AK 10%, you can't call in a typical stack size situation.

Well, I seem to have lost my train of thought .

Just make sure you know why you are 3-betting AK pf. This will also allow you to better size your 3-bet. If you are going to be taking it down on the flop the majority of the time, a slightly larger 3-bet is in order. If you are isolating a bad player, maybe a little smaller to allow more play on later streets.

Also consider if you would be better off flat calling AK in your situation. If your opp has a lot of Ax's in his raising range and you have the button, you might be better off playing postflop against a likely dominated hand in position.

I find example hands always help.

Here is a defensive 3-bet. Opp is upayforcollege. IMO one of the better 100NL players. At least he always gives me troubles. He is FOS just enough that you want to play lighter against him, but just not often enough so that you can do it profitably on any regular basis. I expect him to 2-barrel me here if I flat call and I miss, and I also expect him to fold pretty easily if I catch an A or a K. Maybe get 1 bet out of him if I'm ahead postflop by hitting.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG ($101.50)
UTG+1 ($18.50)
MP1 ($53.90)
MP2 ($125.65)
MP3 ($110)
Hero ($107.50)
Button ($71.85)
SB ($92)
BB ($124.05)

Preflop: Hero is CO with K, A.
UTG raises to $4, 4 folds, Hero raises to $13, 3 folds, UTG calls $9.

Flop: ($27.50) 2, 7, Q (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $17, UTG folds.

Final Pot: $27.50

Results in white below:
No showdown. Hero wins $27.50.


Don't really remember much about this guy, but I am sure that his raising range is pretty wide, so I decide to flat call in position and take it away on most flops when I miss and value bet to death when I hit.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

MP2 ($101.50)
CO ($114.90)
Hero ($200.85)
SB ($19)
BB ($100)
UTG ($105.30)
UTG+1 ($135)
MP1 ($77.30)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
4 folds, CO raises to $3.3, Hero calls $3.30, 2 folds.

Flop: ($8.10) , , (2 players)
CO bets $4.5, Hero raises to $14, CO folds.

Final Pot: $17.10

Results in white below:
No showdown. Hero wins $17.10.

This guy is pretty loose, and pretty bad. I don't mind getting AI pf given stacks and opponents tendencies. I am probably going to be pushing all flops anyways. yay coinflips vs. 1/2 stacks.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

MP2 ($100)
CO ($147.25)
Hero ($117.10)
SB ($227.20)
BB ($20)
UTG ($25.80)
UTG+1 ($121.75)
MP1 ($46.70)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
2 folds, MP1 raises to $3, 2 folds, Hero raises to $10, 2 folds, MP1 raises to $46.7, Hero calls $36.70.

Flop: ($94.90) , , (2 players)

Turn: ($94.90) (2 players)

River: ($94.90) (2 players)

Final Pot: $94.90

Results in white below:
MP1 has 7h 7d (two pair, tens and sevens).
Hero has Ah Kh (one pair, tens).
Outcome: MP1 wins $94.90.

I don't make a ton off of this hand, but I don't know that there was a ton to be made. he is opening from EP, and is most likely holding a PP/AT+. I am in pretty good shape vs that range and want to allow for some post flop play.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

UTG ($91.50)
UTG+1 ($203.70)
MP1 ($104.40)
MP2 ($86.50)
MP3 ($180.75)
Hero ($93)
Button ($22.15)
SB ($109.90)
BB ($101.90)

Preflop: Hero is CO with , .
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $3, 3 folds, Hero calls $3, 3 folds.

Flop: ($7.50) , , (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $4.5, Hero calls $4.50.

Turn: ($16.50) (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $9, UTG+1 folds.

Final Pot: $16.50

Results in white below:
No showdown. Hero wins $16.50.

Standard iso-raise vs. complete moron from previous post, is also posted in previous post, but it fits here as well. Not the best result, but was good up until the turn

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

UTG+1 ($159.75)
MP1 ($50.25)
MP2 ($313.95)
Hero ($137.80)
Button ($240.55)
SB ($97)
BB ($100)
UTG ($39.90)

Preflop: Hero is CO with , .
2 folds, MP1 calls $1, MP2 raises to $2, Hero raises to $8, 3 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 calls $6.

Flop: ($18.50) , , (2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets $12, MP2 calls $12.

Turn: ($42.50) (2 players)
MP2 bets $25, Hero raises to $117.8, MP2 calls $92.80.

River: ($278.10) (2 players)

Final Pot: $278.10

Results in white below:
MP2 has Qs 5d (three of a kind, fives).
Hero has As Kh (two pair, kings and fives).
Outcome: MP2 wins $278.10.

[pgil]

So I finally broke the 10K hand mark for the month of March. I started off really well, playing a ton of hands, but sort of tapered off the last little while, mostly due to long days at work and lack of sleep. I had some drunken west coast relatives call me up on Saturday night. It was still early for them I guess.

Anyways, I also achieved my second goal for the month, which was to be up $1K. So far I have shattered that goal, and am up a little over $2100 so far.

Played a session tonight. spewed a bit more than normal. had some stretches where I just wasn't hitting hands, but my opps were (or were rightly calling me down with a PP). turned it around, made 1 decent (probably standard) calldown vs a fairly tight player with 77. made a nice double barrel on a turned ace against a player with calling station tendencies. I figured he was folding most PP's and anything less than TP to my second barrel on the A. It helped that I picked up a gutter to go too.

[pgil]

Whoooo, BR broke the $10K mark today. I know it's an arbitrary benchmark, and that the difference between 9500 and 10000 is the same as the one between 8500 and 9000, but there is something about that mark.

would be a little more up today, but I decided to start spewing chips in weird spots and against opponents that didn't call for it. I think I overadjusted to 1 or two players.

I still did a good job of isolating and fleecing the table uberfish, which is always fun.

[pgil]

haven't been able to play much lately. Have dropped a couple of buy-ins over the last few sessions. I have found that my play has gotten a little bit sloppy. Next time I play I am going to work on that.


I figure I will be moving up to 1/2 to see how that goes. I was planning on moving up at around the 15K mark, so I may as well.

/brag

[pgil]

Well, march went well. I got in between 13 and 14K hands, and was up 2500 on the month, so I made both goals I set.

I haven't played much lately, maybe 700 or so hands yesterday, a mix of 100 and 200NL. There weren't a lot of FR tables available during the day at the 200NL level, which kinda sucks.

My run at 200 so far has not been great. Couple of bad calls mixed with some bad luck means I am down a little. Fortunately the tables of 100NL I was playing at the same time made me slightly positive on the day.

If I can pull out a decent winrate at 200NL and put in enough the same amount of hands as I was at 100NL I should finally be able to make platinum star.

Figure that will be my goal for April, although I will not be able to play much for the next couple of weekends as I have plans, so that may make it difficult. Still worth a shot though.