The Carrot Corner

[Carroters]

Hey all and welcome to my Blog. I've decided right now that I need a place to set my goals down in writing and channel rants and HHs without cluttering up the BC with my outbursts.

So this is the Carrot Corner, where anyone who cares can check up on my progess. I'll start with some personal info I guess since noone really knows me here. You'll be able to imagine who's post you're reading a little better next time those bright orange annoying fucking carrots pop up!

My name's Pete, I'm 22 from Scotland. Been playing poker online for about 2 years, but only started to take it really seriously in the last few months or so. In the past I've been a 50NL grinder and made several cash outs of around $1000 to keep me alive in real life when money has been scarce. Now, I'm 4 tabling 20NL to rebuild a role for the purposes of travelling eastern europe with my girlfriend in May. When I come back from this I'll be going back to university and grinding a BR to never withdraw! So this is a little mini Op from now till May and after that you'll see the "going pro and reaching 1KNL" OP when I return to FTR. Poker is one of my few passions in life, so the prospect of getting a real job after I graudate is very ugly. Poker is my love in life and will hopefully save me from a grey pointless exisitence in the end.

Ok so what are the goals of the Carrot Corner then? They are to turn my current role of $558 into $1500 and grind 50Nl at least a bit before May 4th. This is ambitious I know, but I believe it can be done if I really put in the hands. I'm not working just now so it'll be all poker non stop until I leave the country, so we're talking 6 hours or 2000 hands a day hopefully 5 days a week.

I've made my last withdrawal from my poker account now until May. Just so you can get an idea of how I'm doing, I'll start by posting some stats for all of the hands up until now that I have on HEM.




And here's Feburary's which I'm pretty happy with. Ran ahead of EV for the month so no complaints.




Now here's March's graph up until today. Fuck March thus far! It's been filled with suckouts and horible spots, but I think I've controlled myself to not tilt as a result so far which is encouraging since I used to have a some serious tilt issues.



I had a pretty dismal session earlier - lost 2 buyins, but fuck it I'm only down $4 in EV. Got it in with top 2 on A 10 8 and got rivered by AJ then KK ran into an UTG limp/raised Aces and I obv failed to get away from it. Reminded me of Micro2Macro's recent post re: limp raising ranges at these stakes. I made some dubious plays today also, 2 of which I've posted in the BC (the 10,10 hands). Think I may have been on ignorance tilt towards the end of today's sesh - where your subconcious mind tilts and your conscious mind does everything it can to stop you from realising this is happening! As soon as I realised this, I quit playing. Another goal for this OP is to stay strong and focussed during times of running bad or making dumb mistakes.

It's 2am here and I'm wide awake, but I'm not in a productive poker mood so I'll refrain from donking about until tomorrow. I plan to get up real early to start my session tomorrow (10am) but this is easier said than done. I'm totally not a morning type of guy.

K I've rambled a shitload here, so if you're actually still reading this then, awesome and I very much appreciate the interest. I shall update soon with a review of tomorrow's session and some more rambling.

Just before I sign off though, I'll use this space to say thanks to all of FTR for your support. This place has been amazing lately and helped my game a ton!

[Illfavor]

First. I'll be watching this!

[dranger7070]

Good luck carroters. Start pwning more imo.

[AnTman_69]

I remember ages ago you made a thread about moving up to 100nl with a 1500 roll or something like that. How did your shots at 100nl go back then ? or is that when u cashed out everything.

[flomo]

i got a good feeling about carrots


tear it up!

[Carroters]

Ok so there was no upfate and session review on here yesterday. This is because HEM decided it could no longer connect to postgre or my database, this is fucking iritating. So instead, I went up some woods with a couple of my best friends and got really drunk around a fire. Think I've mostly slept off the hangover today.

I'm going to head over to a friend of min later on for a sweat session, some live heads up and to see if he can fix my HEM sicne he knows about that sort of technical shit.

Thanks for the support thus far guys.

Antman - Yeah I did take shots at 100NL last year, but they were underolled shots when I wasn't too serious about my game or opening my eyes to improving it. I was titly back then and failed to realise how much I sucked. I now realise this so I think my next shot at 100NL will be much more successful. I took shots with just a $2100 roll last year, lost some, got scared and cashed out to get out of my overdraft.

I'll play some hands HEM or no HEM later today and post on here tonight.

[Carroters]

Got up real early today at 8.30 which is insanely early for me actually. Already I've put in 1100 hands 5 tabling which is nice.

Then session got off to a terrible start when thisn happened:

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.20 BB (5 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($18.95)
SB ($22.48)
Hero (BB) ($20.55)
UTG ($20.20)
MP ($44.14)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, 2
1 fold, MP calls $0.20, Button calls $0.20, SB calls $0.10, Hero checks

Flop: ($0.80) A, 3, 10 (4 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, MP checks, Button checks

Turn: ($0.80) 4 (4 players)
SB bets $0.40, Hero calls $0.40, 2 folds

River: ($1.60) 8 (2 players)
SB bets $1.60, Hero raises $5.80, SB raises $20.28 (All-In), Hero calls $14.15 (All-In)

Total pot: $41.50

Results:
SB had K, 4 (flush, Ace high).
Hero had J, 2 (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: SB won $42.43

The guy was a loose pasive donk, so I realy should have folded here. I don't think this is a cooler at all because it was either this or a smaller flush (perhaps) but I really knew I was beat. Made the call because it was early in the session and I wasn't in the groove yet. Just couldn't bring myself to fold since I'd be feeling like a donk afterwards for the next 15 minutes. As it turns out I felt like a donk afterward that was down a buyin for the next 15 minutes!

Things got even worse when this same guy got stacked by a reg then I opened KK utg the very next hand and insta fist pumped called his $8 shove - he had AA obv.

Then things started to pick up as I towned a few donks got back to even then towned a few more to finush the session +$26.00 running 6.27BB/100.

Here are a few of the good hands, starting with my favourite. I love these retards.

1. No-Limit Hold'em, $0.20 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($16.04)
UTG ($16.41)
MP ($35.96)
CO ($14.40)
Button ($3.70)
Hero (SB) ($38.39)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, J
4 folds, Hero bets $0.70, BB raises $1.20, Hero calls $0.60

Flop: ($2.80) Q, K, K (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $0.20, Hero raises $2.60, BB calls $2.40

Turn: ($8) J (2 players)
Hero bets $4.50, BB calls $4.50

River: ($17) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $9, BB calls $7.54 (All-In)

Total pot: $32.08

Results:
Hero had K, J (full house, Kings over Jacks).
BB had Q, A (two pair, Kings and Queens).
Outcome: Hero won $32.54

2. No-Limit Hold'em, $0.20 BB (5 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($58.26)
BB ($3.63)
UTG ($21.82)
MP ($21.08)
Hero (Button) ($23.10)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9, 9
2 folds, Hero bets $0.70, SB calls $0.60, 1 fold

Flop: ($1.60) 4, 9, 10 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.20, SB calls $1.20

Turn: ($4) 10 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $3.35, SB calls $3.35

River: ($10.70) A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $8, SB calls $8

Total pot: $26.70

Results:
Hero had 9, 9 (full house, nines over tens).
SB had 9, 8 (two pair, tens and nines).
Outcome: Hero won $25.70


A good little session overall then and the BR sits at $600.82

Going to get some lunch, do some sit ups then play some more. Also got the first round HU noob tourney match with dranger today at some point so that'll be much fun, getting to donk about vs an actual FTRer.

This tourney may even top that day I got nutsinho to play 50NL with me!

I'll sign out for now as food of some sort awaits.

[Carroters]

Arghh I'm so drained. Just had one of those epic sessions where you stack 2 people then get stacked twice the next 2 hands. It was costant stuff and I'm real pissed at this one donk in particular.

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.20 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (UTG) ($40.28)
MP ($5.73)
CO ($20.52)
Button ($9.02)
SB ($27.62)
BB ($8.32)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, Q
Hero bets $0.80, 2 folds, Button raises $1.40, SB calls $1.30, 1 fold, Hero raises $5.85, Button raises $7.62 (All-In), SB calls $7.62, Hero calls $2.37

Flop: ($27.26) K, 8, 4 (3 players, 1 all-in)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($27.26) 8 (3 players, 1 all-in)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($27.26) 9 (3 players, 1 all-in)
SB checks, Hero checks

Total pot: $27.26

Results:
Button had J, J (two pair, Jacks and eights).
SB had K, 7 (two pair, Kings and eights).
Hero had Q, Q (two pair, Queens and eights).
Outcome: SB won $26.26

Fucking retard station. I know we shouldn't get mad at the stations but seriously wtf is that. The sickest part is she's such a station that I almost almost very nearly shoved that river for value. I only say she since her SC was Hanna234 or something and girls are all weak tight station hybrids so it makes sense....

Up another buyin and a half from that sesh although it was much more at one stage.

1486 hands at 9.27BB/100

My W$@SD is a sick 60% exactly. Ran 18/15/3.8 today

I want to get my stats up to around 22/18/3.8 but sometimes the sheer amount of stations in these games makes it impossible, so I guess I'm happy playing to suit my opponents who in general suck ass on this site.

Here's a hand that bothers me. Think I just need someone to reassure me this is a cooler.

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.20 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP ($14.61)
CO ($4)
Button ($42.91)
SB ($7.50)
BB ($24.04)
Hero (UTG) ($58.89)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, K
Hero bets $0.80, MP calls $0.80, 3 folds, BB calls $0.60

Flop: ($2.50) 9, 9, 3 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $2.10, 1 fold, BB calls $2.10

Turn: ($6.70) A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $4.45, BB raises $21.14 (All-In), Hero calls $16.69

River: ($48.98) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $48.98

Results:
BB had J, 9 (three of a kind, nines).
Hero had A, K (two pair, Aces and nines).
Outcome: BB won $47.98

The BR is now $646, but that includes $10 of Mansion bonus I cleared this afternoon.

[Carroters]

I really haven't been putting in enough hands lately. Seem to be putting off having a really good grind for some reason. Think it's that I've doing stuff with friends, getting drink etc and not getting a good enough sleep lately. I'm going to put in some hands tonight sicne I really need to get up to the next VIP level on Mansion by the end of this month so I can earn enough points for the $100 bonus.

Played a little today then went for a cold March BBQ which was an awesome hangover cure!

Thought for the day: Why do 20NL donks c/c monsterous hands all the time and not even try to get any value. This leads to me towning myself with value bets that are often not thin in the slightest.

Here's an illustration:

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.20 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP ($20.52)
CO ($9.40)
Hero (Button) ($45.40)
SB ($24.35)
BB ($19.80)
UTG ($20)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 2, K
3 folds, Hero bets $0.70, SB calls $0.60, 1 fold

Flop: ($1.60) 9, 6, 2 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.20, SB calls $1.20

Turn: ($4) A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($4) K (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $3.35, SB calls $3.35

Total pot: $10.70

Results:
Hero had 2, K (two pair, Kings and twos).
SB had A, 9 (two pair, Aces and nines).
Outcome: SB won $10.17

[Carroters]

Man I feel so frustrated right now. On an annoying break even stretch for like 8k hands just now, running about 1BB/100 over this recent sample.

Just finished a session that started awesomely until I got coolered twice and then 2 outered after getting it in with top set on the flop. It seems as soon as I make some progress, I just get battered back down to where I was before the progress was made. There's obv some spot I can imrpove my game with, but I don't feel I'm gettin owned or outplayed much at all.

Here's a list of shit I should work on to make sure I don't start blaming it solely on variance.

1. Stop putting myself awkard spot Vs shortstacks.

I'll do this by tightening up my opening ranges when there are short stack(s) in the blinds etc. I feel they own me a lil without trying to because I whiff flops and often don't know whether I should be c/f or c betting sicne shorties come and go like mad and you rarely get much of a read on their tendencies until you're in the damn shit spot vs them.

2. Stop isoing light vs people I know are stations and just wont fold to c bets enough.

3. Find a few more spots to 3 bet regs with high att to steal %s. I'd like to bring my 3 bet% from 5 upto about 7.

Idk there's defo gonna be other leaks I haven't notcied, but I'm tired so will think more about what they are tomorrow.

Side note: Why do I flop sets with 33 all the fucking time and never any other pp?

[BooG690]

I don't know if that was a level or not...but it's the Kramer. It's funny you say that...because in the show, that's exactly what one man feel about him...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp3yCycv-EI

Hope to see you by my OP more often...and I'll certainly be following yours!

[Carroters]

Lawl no level I can assure you. Watching the link was the first time I've ever seen that show.

He isn't as annoying as a character as that one painting makes him out to be.

I think soon my dreams are all gonna involve sex with many hot woman with Kramer taking his human/dog in an apron for a walk in the background. Of course, I will suddenly realize that I am not the guy taking part in the fun, but merely a stick man watching at his desk, head buried in my computer, playing poker.

Anyways, I just installed MiniMax, which for those of you who don't know, is a program that lets you reaize tables on i-poker and change the layouts etc. So I've made my virtual poker world way cooler now and will be set to 6 table tomorrow morning. 4 tabling has always been comfortable, but I wanna get more hands in and think I can handle 6 now I can have them all on screen at once.

I lost a buyin and a half there in 56 hands while testing the software

Look how retardly this donk played his QQ - sure owned me! I hope this is standard.

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.20 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (CO) ($20.13)
Button ($4)
SB ($13.03)
BB ($8.43)
UTG ($10.36)
MP ($31.57)

Preflop: Hero is CO with J, J
UTG calls $0.20, 1 fold, Hero bets $0.90, 3 folds, UTG calls $0.70

Flop: ($2.10) 2, 4, 3 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $1.90, UTG raises $4, Hero raises $17.33 (All-In), UTG calls $5.46 (All-In)

Turn: ($21.02) K (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($21.02) 2 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $21.02

Results:
UTG had Q, Q (two pair, Queens and twos).
Hero had J, J (two pair, Jacks and twos).
Outcome: UTG won $20.02

I then lost like 4 races with shorties and gave up for the night. I didn't actually care since my poker tables now appear as a very mellowing yellow which soothes me. We'll see in due course if this is a good or bad thing.

I'm going to fuck about on FTR and read some blogs out of non tired boredom.

Tomorrow's plan - go for a 15 minute run and play 2K hands at least.

Side Aim: Stop valuing spade flush draws above all other flush draws.

[Carroters]

Just played 1700 hands 6 tabling 20NL and I've ended up +$23.

I'm pissed at myself right now. I stacked off with an overpait twice today when I knew inside I was beat. I'll try and explain this conflict between the two sides of my mind that makes me make these bad calls then I'll post the hands to show you all.

Poker Logical Mind (PLM): Right we'll b/f this turn since we have plenty value and if he raises us after flatting the flop on this dry of a board we're fucked.

Desperate Gambling Mind (DGM): I really hope he doesn't raise us man.

PLM: Shit he's raised okay, I really think 80%+ of his range is a set here, the flop was multiway and we've shown immense strength by all through this hand. Let's muck.

DGM: Fucking hell!!! Why does this always happen to us arghhh!!!!!!

PLM: I've consdiered the stats and they aren't in any way bluffy although we have just 60 hand sample. Easy fold imo.

DGM: I hate this, I hate this I don't want to fold, let's not fold, he might have air or a backdoor flush draw!!!

PLM: You think?

DGM: Yeah and besides...erm.....erm......overpair vs set is a cooler anyways!! We can't fold cos that's just such a leak if we keep folding the best hand!!

PLM: Shit we're timing down, I wana fold.

DGM: No we've worked for 3 hours just to make 1 buyin im not throwing a 3rd of that away now, stack off! stack off! stack off!

PLM: Ohh wth alright then sir you've convinced me. *Hits raise*

*Guy shows a set which holds up*

PLM: Fucking retard!

DGM: ......................


I hope others can relate to that. FWIW, I don't have multiple personalities in life lol just when spots like these 2 come up.

Here are the HHs:

1. Villain is 17/15/3 and solid looking over 40 hands.

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.20 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP ($20.99)
CO ($19.60)
Button ($9.20)
SB ($19.80)
BB ($19.90)
Hero (UTG) ($21.12)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, A
Hero bets $0.80, 2 folds, Button calls $0.80, SB calls $0.70, 1 fold

Flop: ($2.60) J, 5, 2 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2.25, 1 fold, SB calls $2.25

Turn: ($7.10) 6 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $5.40, SB raises $16.75 (All-In), Hero calls $11.35

River: ($40.60) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $40.60

Results:
SB had 2, 2 (three of a kind, twos).
Hero had A, A (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: SB won $39.60

2. Villain is defo spewy, half an hour before this he'd opened 86s UTG called my 3 bet and c/r all in on a Q high board with a fd.

He ran 24/18/2.8 over 70 hands.

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.20 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($20)
SB ($34.08)
BB ($29.04)
UTG ($18.40)
MP ($19.30)
Hero (CO) ($36.30)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q, Q
2 folds, Hero bets $0.70, Button calls $0.70, 2 folds

Flop: ($1.70) 6, J, 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.50, Button calls $1.50

Turn: ($4.70) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $3.60, Button raises $9.60, Hero raises $30.50 (All-In), Button calls $8.20 (All-In)

River: ($40.30) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $40.30

Results:
Button had 9, 9 (three of a kind, nines).
Hero had Q, Q (one pair, Queens).
Outcome: Button won $39.30


I really think that not acting upon my usually correct insticnts is a massive leak right now and something I'll work on. If anyone has comments on these hands or has this problem themselves I'd love to hear about it.

[Sir Pawnalot]

Lets kill DGM!

It took quite some time before I was able to trust my instincts- and as a beginner I didnt have much instincts so my decisions was based solely on statistical strenght- not relative strength.

But now that you have developed strong and accurate reads/instincts you need to follow your heart more.

Bury DGM now and may he RIP.

[Carroters]

Lets kill DGM!

It took quite some time before I was able to trust my instincts- and as a beginner I didnt have much instincts so my decisions was based solely on statistical strenght- not relative strength.

But now that you have developed strong and accurate reads/instincts you need to follow your heart more.

Bury DGM now and may he RIP.

Thanks for the motivation Sir P, DGM will be exterminated I can assure you of that.

I played a lil 500 hand session there and won like half a buyin so no complaints there.

I'll put in another 2k hands tomorrow. I need to stop stacking off with AK so much pre flop. I mean it's not so bad vs the regs, but vs the donks that run 56/12/1.5 with a 3 bet of 2.5 I need to ly this down pre. There just isn't enough light 3 betting to be going nuts with the illusion of equity with AK and certainly not enough light 4 betting.

I leave it there for the night.

[Micro2Macro]

Carrot man we need to discuss when we will play heads up

Do you visit the IRC? I just started logging on there recently.

Just remember when we play heads up I'm a huge nit, and a bit of a station. Ask Illfavor if you don't believe.

And by the way, good luck on the operation! I'll be checking back.

[Carroters]

Hey man thanks for dropping by. This may sound dumb, but what's the server name for IRC or where can I find it? I suck with technical shit.

I'm guessing we're all waiting for the 1st round to finish up first? I'm free to play anytime really. The best time is when I got the place to myself so between 11am-6pm Uk time, but I can play later and I'm pretty much free most days.

Drop me a PM to let me know when it suits! By the sounds of things you have more on than me, sicne I'm a just a poker obsessed bum just now.

I know you're a mega-nitting-machine-deluxe already from that 6 max game we did. Think in the whole 2 hours or whatever you were the only guy I didn't play a proper pot with post flop. The good news for you is that nits tilt me and I pay them off out of frustration all the time. You're prolly in good shape!

[Illfavor]

I have this great list of 25NL "observations" I've collected form various sources across the internet.

One of them is: "I've never been bluff check-raised on the turn, or bluff raised on the river."

Another is: "It's possible to still make 5ptbb/100 betting your value hands and just folding EVERY TIME you are raised w/o the nuts."

This is information that I did not have at 10NL, but did have for 25NL, and my winrate clearly expresses their truth.

[Micro2Macro]

Hah, good to know you think I'm a huge nit.

Now I can pull stuff like this:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($14.25)
Hero (BB) ($13)
UTG ($3.90)
MP ($10)
CO ($11.85)
Button ($11.15)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7, 5
1 fold, MP (poster) checks, CO bets $0.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, 1 fold, CO calls $1

Flop: ($3.15) 2, K, 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $2, 1 fold

Total pot: $3.15 | Rake: $0.15
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($14.25)
Hero (BB) ($13)
UTG ($3.90)
MP ($10)
CO ($11.85)
Button ($11.15)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7, 5
1 fold, MP (poster) checks, CO bets $0.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, 1 fold, CO calls $1

Flop: ($3.15) 2, K, 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $2, 1 fold

Total pot: $3.15 | Rake: $0.15

AND U AINT GONNA HAVE A CLUE ABOUT ME 3-BETTIN TRASH!

(this was in no means created to hijack your thread , I'm just remind you how I'm such a nit )

[Carroters]

Okay noted Micro. If you ever 3 bet me 3x oop and the flop comes:
6 4 3 r I shall insta muck, even if you check!

Thanks for the wise words Illfavor - this is so true even at 20NL and 25NL.

Just finished a 1044 hand session up by $44.33. I was running pretty goot though. One hand I got it in with KK vs AA and spiked my K on the river - ship it. He called me a "dumb fuck" which was satisfiying.

Then I got it in with 88 on Kc 8c 4c Vs AQc and filled up on the turn.

I'm still making dumb ass calls though and giving myself reasons to do it. There was one from this session that I'll post here just to soak up any deserved flaming and try to learn from this shit.

This guy is a retard staion, but I beat 0. Literally nothing. My reason to call this off was "well look at the pot odds." That's the DGM speaking again! Although maybe I do just have to stick in the last $8 here getting like 5-1.

Thoughts?

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.20 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($3.02)
BB ($23.26)
UTG ($4)
Hero (MP) ($42.33)
CO ($25.31)
Button ($20.23)

Preflop: Hero is MP with K, A
UTG (poster) checks, Hero bets $0.90, 3 folds, BB calls $0.70, UTG (poster) calls $0.70

Flop: ($2.80) K, 5, 9 (3 players)
BB bets $1.80, 1 fold, Hero raises $4.70, BB calls $2.90

Turn: ($12.20) J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $9.40, BB calls $9.40

River: ($31) 10 (2 players)
BB bets $8.26 (All-In), Hero calls $8.26

Total pot: $47.52

Results:
BB had 10, J (two pair, Jacks and tens).
Hero had K, A (one pair, Kings).
Outcome: BB won $46.52

I'm going to take a break for a while and play some more later.

The BR is now $691 so still a long way to go till 50NL. Not sure I'll make it to 1500 by the end of April, but even if I don't, the more monies I can amass, the better.

[Illfavor]

If he's a station, my flop raise is bigger. I mean, stations don't fold (Micro2Macro especially lulz) and you have the nuts. You could even raise enough so that you can shove the turn. Either way, you're always getting it in by the river IMO and if he ever wins it's a cooler.

[Carroters]

Just 6 tabled for like 20 minutes and lost 3.5 buyins. It was absolutely horrible, but I for some reason I'm emotionally calm. I didn't feel tilted, but decided to stop incase I actually was and didn't realize.

3 Buyin seems like a reasonable stop loss i think. I might play a little later on if I get time. I'm feeling really fucking frustrated in general with poker this month. After a really good month in Feb beating 20NL for 6BB/100 over about 25k hands, I'm almost B.E in March over around 15k.

I don't think my game has suffered or changed too much. In fact, the adjustments I have made are positive things like cuting back on c bet spewage and getting into bad spots. I guess it may well just be variacne. Todays failure of a session was just so nasty though.

I'd be grateful if some of you could take a look through these hands from today and let me know if I could have played them better.

1. Villain is quite an aggro reg, who I haven't tangled much with in the past, but had more info before I lost my HEM database. His stas are 30/26/2 over 50 hands.

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.20 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($34.69)
UTG ($36.37)
MP ($20.61)
CO ($17.39)
Button ($52.16)
Hero (SB) ($20.10)

Preflop: Hero is SB with J, J
3 folds, Button bets $0.80, Hero raises $2.50, 1 fold, Button calls $1.80

Flop: ($5.40) 6, 2, 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $3.55, Button raises $8.02, Hero raises $13.95 (All-In), Button calls $9.48

Turn: ($40.40) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($40.40) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $40.40

Results:
Button had Q, Q (one pair, Queens).
Hero had J, J (one pair, Jacks).
Outcome: Button won $39.40

2. Same villain 10 minutes later.

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.20 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($26.64)
BB ($38.16)
UTG ($20.31)
MP ($20)
CO ($76.97)
Hero (Button) ($25.28)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, A
2 folds, CO bets $0.80, Hero raises $2.60, 2 folds, CO calls $1.80

Flop: ($5.50) 8, A, J (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $3.50, CO raises $8, Hero raises $19.18 (All-In), CO calls $14.68

Turn: ($50.86) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($50.86) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $50.86

Results:
Hero had Q, A (one pair, Aces).
CO had 8, 8 (three of a kind, eights).
Outcome: CO won $49.86

3. Villain is 35/12/2.3 over 83 hands.

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.20 BB (6 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP ($21.28)
CO ($19.70)
Hero (Button) ($20)
SB ($13.17)
BB ($23.95)
UTG ($5.95)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, K
UTG calls $0.20, 2 folds, Hero bets $0.90, SB calls $0.80, 1 fold, UTG calls $0.70

Flop: ($2.90) 9, 7, J (3 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($2.90) 10 (3 players)
SB bets $2.90, 1 fold, Hero raises $19.10 (All-In), SB calls $9.37 (All-In)

River: ($27.44) J (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $27.44

Results:
Hero had Q, K (straight, King high).
SB had 7, 7 (full house, sevens over Jacks).
Outcome: SB won $26.44


4. Villain is a donk running 44/6/5.5 over 42 hands. Pretty sure this is standrad, just to check up.

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.20 BB (5 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($18.33)
UTG ($21.96)
MP ($33.10)
Hero (Button) ($20.80)
SB ($19.80)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 10, Q
2 folds, Hero bets $0.70, 1 fold, BB calls $0.50

Flop: ($1.50) 8, 6, 10 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.20, BB calls $1.20

Turn: ($3.90) 4 (2 players)
BB bets $1.20, Hero calls $1.20

River: ($6.30) J (2 players)
BB bets $1.20, Hero calls $1.20

Total pot: $8.70

Results:
Hero had 10, Q (one pair, tens).
BB had J, Q (one pair, Jacks).
Outcome: BB won $8.27


Feel I'm getting stacked so much lately, it's horrible. It's unsettling my head, making me want to fold more and making me doubt my game. So yeah.....my question is: are these std? Help!!

[Illfavor]

H1- Meh. It sucks, but I think I do this too. You said he's an aggro reg, but is he stacking off with 88/99 here? If not, how is your hand vs. his stacking off range? Probably pretty terrible.

H2- Again, think about stack off ranges. He just called the 3bet pre, so how does that limit his range? PPs mostly, right? Stacking off on this board KINDA sucks imo. You don't beat any ace that stacks off here, you're behind or even money with combo draws, and you are decimated by sets.

H3- You know not to post hands when you stack off with the nuts and lose so...

H4-Lol. Vill is the worst player ever and you played this fine.

Think about this. When we make a bet that commits us to a hand, we have to make it relative to the range we think our opponent will stack off with. If we're +equity against that range, we can bet profitably, if not...

[Carroters]

Thanks for the advise man, much appreciated.

I only posed hand 3 to demonstrate how the session went, I didn't doubt how I'd played it. I'm going to be working hard this week on what you've said there about stack off ranges. If I'm going to be committing myself to a hand it's going to be because I am +Ev vs villains stack off range.

I think he possibly does stack of here with 88 and 99 in hand one and these are a bigger part of his range than QQ-AA imo.

I agree by getting it in in hand 2 we're basically hoping for a race or split at best which totally sucks.

I think if I can plug this leak, it'll show huge profit over time. In the moment it's so easy to forget the simple fact that money you don't lose is exactly as good as money you win and in the long run is the exact same thing.

The BR got a much needed boost when I cashed 6th in a $10 MTT for $186. Played solidly nitty throughout and worked my way to the final table without ever getting it in less than a 70% favourite.

Tomorrow I may play live MTT at the casino since Sunday's the only decent event of the week.

Point of focus - stop stacking off lightly when we are clearly in bad shape vs Villains stacking off range. I'll update tomorrow night.

[Carroters]

Wow where to start. Just had one of those sick sick heater sessions where everything goes right and you remember why you love poker so much. I feel like the frustration of the last 2 weeks has just been rewarded over the last 1000 hands.

I'm up almost 7 buyins, look how ill this is!







So yeah happy times today for sure. There were also a few really interesting hands in betwen all the coolering of donks. I've posted 2 of them in the BC for scrutiny. I also flopped quads with 1010 and had a donk check raise me all in on the river with a rivered straight - ship it. I didn't know donks could check raise rivers, but apprently the odd one can.

Played a live tourney this morning though and got completely fucked over by the deck. Feel I was playing about the best (live) that I've ever played in my life. Everything seemed so freszh and clear I was putting people on ranges and soul reading the table. Then after building my starting stack of 14k up to 23k, some bad things happened.

I called a raise with 8h9h in the bb when a total preflop nit opened utg. This guy was a station post flop and must have been running like 32/0/0.7 over like 100 hands. So i know his stack is mine if I flop hard. I flop a pair and combo draw c/c 2 streets and he checks back his AA on the river after i miss everything so meh a few thousand gone.

Then 3 donks limp including bald retard station to my right. I Iso 99 on the CO to 1300 (blinds are 100/200) everyone folds cept bald station.

Flop: 9s 8s 5c

He checks i make a weak looking insta c bet sicne I know he's seen me c bet a lot so far. He insta raises and I shove. He looks at me and says "Mate, I've put too much in noo tae fold." and calls.

My hearts sinks as I see the fucking A3 of spades. He hits a non board pairing spade on the river and I'm out. He says "A hud tae call" - scottish slang fwiw. Yeah you did have to call after raising 2/3rds of your stack on the flop. You didn't have to flat a 6.5bb raise oop with A3s though.

I just feel in the zone just now and confident in the plays I'm making. Everything seemed really clear when I got up today and I hope it stays that way wihtout that nonsensical confused stack off merchant showing his ugly head again.

I'll play another 500-1k hands tonight cos I really need to get to Pro Vip level this month. That's the equivilant of gold star at stars fwiw.

[daven]

heaters are nice. Enjoy it, and make sure you keep playing well - some players (me) have a tendency to loosen up or call draws without good odds after/during a big heater

[Carroters]

Whilst sitting reading Daven's opp and seeing he's put in 15k hands in 5 days I felt a bit sick.

I've realised that I'm an undisciplined lazy procrastinater when it comes to volume. I should have earned the 8k mansion points I need to become a mansion pro member this month easily. I have so much free time on my hands and for some reason just put off playing. It feels a bit robotic from time to time and this may be the reason I procrastinate.

So how do I fix this? I'll put in lots of volume and actually give poker the effort and time it derserves. I played 1K hands today, but that isn't a lot when I'm 6 tabling. It's only about 2 hours max.

So lets set a hand target for tomorrow sicne I have fuck all else planned.

I'll get up at 11am latest (It's tough cos I'm in weekend mode just now and slept late today)

11am - Make some food and do some studying/FTRing while food digests.

12pm - Go for a run and do some sit ups. Come back and shower

1pm - Look at my session objectives and start playing (I'll set these in a minute.)

1pm - 6pm - Play for all of this time with an overall break time of 45 minutes max.

7pm - Make dinner with g/f when she gets home from working for the man.

Do a session review post on FTR any hands I am unsure of

1am - Bed so I can get up early to play more hours than this while I have the house to myself.

Right then, no more excuses for poor volume. If anyone phones me up and says "Hey man lets shoot some pool and smoke weed" I'll say "No you fucking stoner, I've got monies to make!" Ok now let's set the session objectives for tomorrow. Three a day seems good even if I have to repeat if they haven't sunk in.

1. Stop constantly checking the fucking bankroll during sessions. Seriously what the hell is wrong with me?

2. Don't call raises oop with low pocket pair so much vs regs who wont stack off too often. Only do this vs retards that will donate their stack all the time or when the opponent c bets and gives up a lot so we can float or c/r flops profitably. We need solid stats samples and reads for this so no self convincing.

3. No msn, no FTR, no using my phone, no looking up random stuff, no playing guitar during sessions. This is all retarded especially the guitar since I need to put the thing down to play a hand every 7 seconds.

Okay if anyone's got any good ideas for good poker lifestyles or poker regimes I'd love to hear them.

For the next month I'm gonna make this game my life and my life this game.

BR = $931.17

Peace.

[Carroters]

Arghh why do insist in stacking off with overpairs all the fucking time to donks that check/min raise the turn.

I know this is always a huge hand and yet I still stack off for some reason. That's it I'm laying these hands down from now on in this exact spoft because it's really hurting my winrate.

Nothing that exciting happened today. I did stick to the plan I made for myself though, everything ran smoothly. Played 1600 hands which is okay but not great.

Here's tomorrow's plan since it's also going to be a full day of poker.

10am - Get up and go get food from shop and cook it den eat it.

10.30am - 11am: digest and FTR etc

11am: Do sit ups and go for another run then shower.

12pm - 6pm: Grind like a mother fucker lets play 2500 hands if possible. No procrastinating.


3 Main objectives are as follows.

1. Keep reminding myself to not take time to not stack off where I know my equity is terrible deep down. If I remind myself all through the session, I will be prepared when the spot comes up if it does at all.

2. Stop checking the BR all the time. Today was better, but I still did it too much.

3. Don't isolate light the donks that are stationy post flop. Iso the fit or fold ones lightly in position only.

BR's taken a hit today after a 2 BI losing session. I didn't think I played terribly, but it could have been much better.

BR = $917.00

[Illfavor]

I had the problem of stackig off w/overpairs at 10NL. I could just never ever fold an overpair. Ever. 3ptbb/100 winrate. At 25NL, I've learned to fold to raises. 7ptbb/100 winrate. How? This simple thing: When the pot is over 50BB, HANDS OFF THE MOUSE and analyse. Facing ANY RAISE, HANDS OFF THE MOUSE, etc. Just step back and look at what's really happening. If you still stack off, then lol I dunno what to do.

[Carroters]

Yeah you're right because I know the source of the problem. It's not that I don't recognise I'm in terrible shape, it's that I convince myself eventually to call after dismissing what my instincts are saying. I'm gonna sort this.

Thanks man.

[flomo]

discipline



good luck!

[Carroters]

Ok I refuse to let my OP slip any further down the page. Haven't updated in a few days, but I have been playing. Looks like I'll make enough MCP to make the next Mansion club level this month which is good.

Had a good +2 buyin session yesterday after an annoying few days where I lost a couple. Played 970 hands today for a grand profit of $2.00---->ship! I have the place to myself as the girlfriend is out getting smashed so I'll play another 1k or so tonight.

I'm noticing my stats getting a lot tighter. Last month was 19/16 and this month I' running 17/15 over like 15k hands. I'm maybe not isolating weak players enough in position so I'll look to find a few good spots for this. Also, I really need to not make spewy c-bets made one today in a 4 way pot with no reads just because the flop was so dry and c-betable (K 7 3 r). But still, no c-betting 4 handed without better reason, it's just a spew.

BR sits at $902. I really wana make my goal of $1500 by the end of April. It's possible if I put in more hands than I am currently and patcfh up a few leaks. My win rate this month is only 3BB/100, I think this is just due to variacne though. Last month's was 5BB/100 so I suppose 4s and okay average. Defo improvable though.

[Illfavor]

Are these stats for FR or 6max? bc lol I run 16/12 at FR so you being 17/15 at 6max seems weird.

[Carroters]

Yeah 17/15 at 6 max this month. My attempt to steal is pretty high so I am opening a good amount in late position. It might be because I do nittish things like fold AQ to MP opens...

[Illfavor]

Yeah 17/15 at 6 max this month. My attempt to steal is pretty high so I am opening a good amount in late position. It might be because I do standard things like 3betting AQ to MP opens...

FYP.

[Carroters]

Update time.

I've been thinking a bit lately about what I'm actually getting out of poker and grinding just now and how it's affecting me. I'm not playing anywhere near as well as I potentially can right now. The reason for this is that my BR is too crucial to the next few months of my life. This is getting cashed out in 1 month anyways to contribute to going travelling this summer. In my head I know it's not a permanent roll and my achievement or lack of in poker will have a fairly siginificant affect on how much I have to spend when travelling.

I have a fear that losing money/running bad could potentially hurt what I've earned over the past 2 months (£560). The realness of this BR to my life right now is making me stack off way too light, tilt without realising, and try to control what I cannot control. This is fucking bad for my game and my attitude to poker. I play shit when running badly - I tilted today crazily and had to stop after dropping nearly 4 BIs. I play well if I'm having a good session and horribly if having a bad one. This money is just too real to me and I don't feel rolled for the stakes I'm playing (even though I technically am) because I can't afford to lose this BR or even a good chunk of it.

I've sort of abandoned the goal of this thread becasue I'm not willing to risk anymore than £60 more of my roll. I think when I get back to the UK in August I'll deposit a good amount at my first available chance and grind 25NL with much more focus and dsicipline. I need to be detached from my BR to play well. When I play with fear and stress, I play badly.

So my decision. If I drop to below £500, I cash out and be done with the grind till August. This is to preserve my own enjoyment for poker and believe me I fucking love this game. I don't look forward to playing right now and do it somewhat out duty. It seems my mentality is often more of that of a gambler than a poker player because I'm emotionally affected by this money that acts as my BR . It's only really today I've had the clarity to realise what has been causing the bad stack offs and the thoughtless emotional decisions. I know that when I have a BR that is once again totally separate from my life, that I'll be able to feel like I'm risking nothing and concentrate fully on making the right play like I have in the past.

I'm going to fit in some time to play some hands tomorrow, and just see what happens. I'll play emotionally immune from the impact of losing since I know I will not drop any lower than £500. This means I can play logically and well. If I lose over £60, so be it. I'm going to have to take at least a 3 month break from poker anyways, so fuck it, I'll be back after the summer with more ambition than ever so this wont phase me.

The goal of this OP is still relevant, although now unlilkely. If I don't drop to below my quitting threshold, I will strive to make it to 50NL in the next month. I obviously now can't handle any variance at all, but that's okay.

I refuse to play poker when it's affecting me emotionally and fucking with my worrying mind. Sorry to all that've been following my OP for this outbreak of random defeatism, (if you see it as that, I don't) but I think playing with the aim of making a set amount of money for a specific real life cause in a predefined short amount of time is a bad idea for an OP as it assumes to a certain extent that I will run above average for this duration of time. My OP title in August when I come back to FTR and poker will be "Carroter's Poker Career" or something to that effect. I fully intend to be a successful professional poker player, no matter how long it takes. Just now is just a bad time mentally for me to be dedicating a shitload of time to it because it's obviously affecting me emotionally in a shit way.

I'll update this tomorrow after my session and let y'all know where the BR's at and if I'm busto or not! I do believe I'll play a lot better than I have been and will enjoy my session though. I'm fucking glad I've made this choice tonight.

This is a total ramble and sounds dramatic prolly, but it's not intended to. I guess I just have a dramatic style of writing. If poker doesn't work out I'd like to be an author so there's a side aim fwiw.

Thanks to all for you're support through this thread and sorry if this seems ott and against the spirit of having an OP in the first place. it's in no way a Slevinesque meltdown, but a logical choice I feel the need to rant to you guys about. FTR rocks and I will defo be logging my entire poker career on this site when it begins. Peace for now.

Da Carrot Man imo.

[Carroters]

Had a couple of bad sessions in the last 2 days, just running awful and hella behind EV. Even with this though, I still haven't been playing anywhere near my best. I withdrew what was left of my roll today ($725) after a shitty downswingy, semi tilted break even month.

Cash - +$8, lol (25NL)
Donakaments - +$186

Just now I don't feel like I want to risk anymore of a BR that is important to my life. However, I will be back in August to grind 25NL, clear a massvie (to me) bonus and aim to patch up as many leaks/rusty failings as I can.

It feels weird to no longer have a roll to grind with, but hey it's for the best just now. I'll try to fill the newl found free time with excersie, seeing friends, and bonding more with the g/f because in all honesty I feel I neglect spending time with her to grind, read FTR and watch poker shit. I need to get straight the things that really matter to me and pay more attention to the people I care about. I hate that I neglect people just because my mind can be lazy and narrowly focussed on one priority only. You know there's this one girl who's been a friend to me and a reaosnably good one in that she cares and shit and isn't selfish and would listen and be there if I had some sorta breakdown - truth is I've ignored her texts for like a month because I'm a dick. I can be a horribly lazy person sometimes, and although I'm a bit drunk right now, this is soemthing I need to work on for sure. People who care about me deserve better than that shit so I'll text that girl tomorrow when I get up. The sick thing is that my close close friends, I'd never ignore. Well cept maybe for my ex, who is also a good friend, but her stalkerish need for councilling kinda puts me off, specially when she calls me 6 times a week just to talk about herself. I mean seriously get some self respect and move on from the evil guy that keeps fucking you about. It makes me not care, even though I want to.

Back to poker, I do think I can beat 25NL for a good amount (5 or 6 BB/100), but it needs focus and fearless grinding with incentive - something I just don't have right now when I know I'm cashing out soon and need the monies. Consider the Carrot Corner now closed and I'll be back in a few months with a new OP thread that will be my long term poker career.

You know what, it's not solely the need for the $725 that's making me cash out. It's also the fear that I will play shit and my game will descend into bollocks die to the bad variacne of late. I go on horrible cycles sometimes following downswings, this is something I'm going to dedicate and assload of time to when I get back to the UK and the grind. Dealing with downswings is the no 1 priority infact and I'll set that now for the next OP (cos I'm dedicated to the poakrs and shit)

Thanks for all the support FTR and those who've contributed to my OP. I'll still post for the next month to keep poker fresh on my mind and enlighten you all with my wisdom obv. I'll prolly also play live in a few attractive donkaments and home games.

Admins lock this thread plz so I can feel cool that I got a thread locked without having to say: "givs freetroll passvrd pls FTR I wuld fold in dat hand or all in."

Later all.

[KeeKoLy]

I'm going to subscribe to this and follow your journey carroters.

First off a couple observations and/or questions.

In you first post, and some later with stats, your cBet% is as high as 80+....I'm still fairly new, but isn't that a bit high? (is this 6max BTW?, maybe that makes it higher than FR).

Second, how does HEM come up with the EV line? What is it exactly?

[Carroters]

Yeah it's 6 max, but I still think 80% is too high yeah. I've been trying o get this down and it's defo one of the things I'll be working on more when I return to poker.

The EV line is bascially your expected value when all the money has gone in already. So if you get it in with Aa vs someone's 55 and lose, you lose $20.00 real money so the money line drops, but since your EV was +$15 or whatver because you will win that amount or close to it if this situation was run infinitely, the EV line will show +15 and there'll be a $35 difference between the 2 lines on your HEM graph.

If you ever get the last of your money in on the river the two lines will show as exactly the sane herem since there were no cards to come to make EV different from actual value.

[Micro2Macro]

Yeah 17/15 at 6 max this month. My attempt to steal is pretty high so I am opening a good amount in late position. It might be because I do standard things like 3betting AQ to MP opens...

FYP.

+1

Carroters even if MP is tight you can still 3-bet, DUCY?

I'd probably fold if he's like 5/4 though, and since I play on Pokerstars, yes, some people are so fucking bad at 6-max that they run 5/4 because they think losing like 1ptbb/100 is worth getting supernova or whatever. (Sorry to hijack thread)

[Carroters]

Nah no probs, I don't fold AQ to MP opens as regular practice lol, I just recalled one instance where I did that day I posted about it to a nitty looking player.

Btw I miss your stick man avatar.

[Micro2Macro]

Nah no probs, I don't fold AQ to MP opens as regular practice lol, I just recalled one instance where I did that day I posted about it to a nitty looking player.

Btw I miss your stick man avatar.

Sorry but ALF is in, I might bring the stick man back though...