Operation: Get Serious

[Knytestorme]

Figured this was about over due and I need ot stop pfaffing about blaming lack of progress on not playing enough or taking massive breaks when I lose a little.

My goal for now is to move off Poker Stars and jump into 6 max NL somewhere I can get rakeback at (I should also work on my LHE game but that can wait except for maybe clearing a bonus or two) and whore as many bonuses as I can while moving up in limits along the way and get my BR up to at least $4k to cover me for $100NL. If I can pull out $1k or so for some clothes or a ps3 at the same time I would be more happy (think bonuses and rb will be the main way of doing this).

I'll try to post my best and worst losing hands of each session here with my thoughts and an explanation of why I did what I did, if there actually is a reason. Should help remove some of my clutter from the hand history forum too .

[Jimmy Mac]

I think I played with you at stars once or twice.

Good luck

[Knytestorme]

Well haven't had much of a chance to play the last few days, still got about 400 raked hands to clear my Party bonus so I'm trying 6-Max $25NL....managed to get up about $50 in the first day, and now back to about even form a combination of bad play and bad luck though I'm not sure which is which.

Notable hands both + and - follow

Hand 1:
#Game No : 5841655928
***** Hand History for Game 5841655928 *****
$ 25 USD NL Texas Holdem - Wednesday, April 04, 22:29:44 ET 2007
Table Table 126982 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 3: GenXXXXXXneG ( $ 23.39 USD )
Seat 6: fastball1970 ( $ 7.55 USD )
Seat 2: KIEZKALLE81 ( $ 20.05 USD )
Seat 5: lorenzocash ( $ 24.75 USD )
Seat 4: ItsTheNewBlack ( $ 25 USD )
KIEZKALLE81 posts small blind [$ 0.10 USD].
GenXXXXXXneG posts big blind [$ 0.25 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to GenXXXXXXneG [ Ac Ad ]
lorenzocash folds
fastball1970 calls [$ 0.25 USD]
KIEZKALLE81 calls [$ 0.15 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG raises [$ 0.75 USD]
fastball1970 calls [$ 0.75 USD]
KIEZKALLE81 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6d, 6s, Jh ]
GenXXXXXXneG bets [$ 2.75 USD]
suetash has joined the table.
fastball1970 is all-In [$ 6.55 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG calls [$ 3.80 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2s ]
** Dealing River ** [ 2d ]
GenXXXXXXneG shows [ Ac, Ad ]two pairs, Aces and Sixes.
fastball1970 shows [ 5h, 6h ]a full house, Sixes full of Twos.
fastball1970 wins $ 14.60 USD from the main pot with a full house, Sixes full of Twos.
Game 5841656929 starts.

Hand 2:
#Game No : 5841604832
***** Hand History for Game 5841604832 *****
$ 25 USD NL Texas Holdem - Wednesday, April 04, 21:54:01 ET 2007
Table Table 125385 (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: mrpepper084 ( $ 19.45 USD )
Seat 3: Dantee111 ( $ 18.95 USD )
Seat 6: gand00 ( $ 25.40 USD )
Seat 4: GenXXXXXXneG ( $ 24.75 USD )
Seat 5: leafs2413 ( $ 31.75 USD )
Seat 2: Hugroo ( $ 22.30 USD )
GenXXXXXXneG posts small blind [$ 0.10 USD].
leafs2413 posts big blind [$ 0.25 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to GenXXXXXXneG [ Js 7s ]
gand00 calls [$ 0.25 USD]
mrpepper084 folds
Hugroo folds
GenXXXXXXneG calls [$ 0.15 USD]
leafs2413 checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ As, 6s, 5h ]
>You have options at Table 126982 Table!.
GenXXXXXXneG bets [$ 0.75 USD]
leafs2413 raises [$ 2.50 USD]
gand00 folds
GenXXXXXXneG calls [$ 1.75 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qh ]
GenXXXXXXneG checks
leafs2413 bets [$ 4.50 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG folds
leafs2413 does not show cards.
leafs2413 wins $ 10 USD
Game 5841605980 starts.

Hand 3:
#Game No : 5841599252
***** Hand History for Game 5841599252 *****
$ 25 USD NL Texas Holdem - Wednesday, April 04, 21:50:25 ET 2007
Table Table 125385 (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: mrpepper084 ( $ 20.15 USD )
Seat 3: Dantee111 ( $ 18.95 USD )
Seat 6: gand00 ( $ 26.15 USD )
Seat 4: GenXXXXXXneG ( $ 18.90 USD )
Seat 5: leafs2413 ( $ 26.10 USD )
Seat 2: Hugroo ( $ 24.40 USD )
gand00 posts small blind [$ 0.10 USD].
mrpepper084 posts big blind [$ 0.25 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to GenXXXXXXneG [ 7d 7c ]
>You have options at Table 126982 Table!.
Hugroo raises [$ 1 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG calls [$ 1 USD]
leafs2413 raises [$ 2.50 USD]
gand00 folds
mrpepper084 folds
Hugroo folds
GenXXXXXXneG calls [$ 1.50 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ah, 5d, 4d ]
GenXXXXXXneG checks
leafs2413 bets [$ 5.50 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG folds
leafs2413 does not show cards.
leafs2413 wins $ 11.55 USD
Game 5841600348 starts.

Hand 4:
#Game No : 5841618553
***** Hand History for Game 5841618553 *****
$ 25 USD NL Texas Holdem - Wednesday, April 04, 22:03:13 ET 2007
Table Table 126982 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Maltafalcon ( $ 23.05 USD )
Seat 2: Muuzh ( $ 67.85 USD )
Seat 4: Primopoke ( $ 33.84 USD )
Seat 3: GenXXXXXXneG ( $ 17.95 USD )
Seat 5: Tobihino ( $ 16.99 USD )
Seat 6: fastball1970 ( $ 5.90 USD )
Tobihino posts small blind [$ 0.10 USD].
fastball1970 posts big blind [$ 0.25 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to GenXXXXXXneG [ 9c 9d ]
Maltafalcon folds
>You have options at Table 125385 Table!.
Muuzh calls [$ 0.25 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG raises [$ 1 USD]
Tobihino folds
fastball1970 calls [$ 0.75 USD]
>You have options at Table 125385 Table!.
Muuzh folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ Jh, 6c, Js ]
fastball1970 checks
GenXXXXXXneG checks
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ah ]
fastball1970 bets [$ 0.25 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG raises [$ 1 USD]
fastball1970 raises [$ 2 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG calls [$ 1.25 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 7h ]
fastball1970 is all-In [$ 2.65 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG folds
fastball1970 does not show cards.
fastball1970 wins $ 9.20 USD
Game 5841620675 starts.

Hand 5:
#Game No : 5841626948
***** Hand History for Game 5841626948 *****
$ 25 USD NL Texas Holdem - Wednesday, April 04, 22:08:54 ET 2007
Table Table 126982 (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Maltafalcon ( $ 20.90 USD )
Seat 3: GenXXXXXXneG ( $ 16.35 USD )
Seat 5: Tobihino ( $ 8.99 USD )
Seat 6: fastball1970 ( $ 17.30 USD )
Seat 2: KIEZKALLE81 ( $ 9.40 USD )
Seat 4: suetash ( $ 10 USD )
GenXXXXXXneG posts small blind [$ 0.10 USD].
suetash posts big blind [$ 0.25 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to GenXXXXXXneG [ Kc Ts ]
Tobihino calls [$ 0.25 USD]
fastball1970 folds
Maltafalcon folds
KIEZKALLE81 calls [$ 0.25 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG calls [$ 0.15 USD]
suetash checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qh, 7d, Ac ]
GenXXXXXXneG checks
suetash checks
>You have options at Table 125385 Table!.
Tobihino checks
KIEZKALLE81 checks
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jh ]
GenXXXXXXneG checks
suetash checks
Tobihino bets [$ 1 USD]
KIEZKALLE81 folds
GenXXXXXXneG raises [$ 3 USD]
suetash folds
Tobihino calls [$ 2 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 6h ]
GenXXXXXXneG bets [$ 5.75 USD]
Tobihino is all-In [$ 5.74 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG shows [ Kc, Ts ]a straight Ten to Ace.
Tobihino doesnt show [ Kd, Jc ]a pair of Jacks.
GenXXXXXXneG wins $ 0.01 USD from side pot #1 with a straight, Ten to Ace.
GenXXXXXXneG wins $ 17.58 USD from the main pot with a straight, Ten to Ace.
Game 5841629201 starts.

Hand 6:
#Game No : 5841555647
***** Hand History for Game 5841555647 *****
$ 25 USD NL Texas Holdem - Wednesday, April 04, 21:23:47 ET 2007
Table Table 127052 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: eriol85 ( $ 34.37 USD )
Seat 3: shmoozor ( $ 24.90 USD )
Seat 4: EmmaDieLemma ( $ 39.90 USD )
Seat 5: diipadaapa1 ( $ 25.45 USD )
Seat 6: GenXXXXXXneG ( $ 24.65 USD )
EmmaDieLemma posts small blind [$ 0.10 USD].
diipadaapa1 posts big blind [$ 0.25 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to GenXXXXXXneG [ Jd Ah ]
>You have options at Table 125385 Table!.
GenXXXXXXneG raises [$ 1 USD]
shmoozor folds
>You have options at Table 125385 Table!.
EmmaDieLemma raises [$ 2.90 USD]
>You have options at Table 125385 Table!.
diipadaapa1 folds
GenXXXXXXneG calls [$ 2 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6s, Qd, Jc ]
>You have options at Table 125385 Table!.
EmmaDieLemma bets [$ 4 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG folds
EmmaDieLemma does not show cards.
EmmaDieLemma wins $ 9.95 USD
Game 5841557168 starts.

Hand 8"
#Game No : 5828752123
***** Hand History for Game 5828752123 *****
$ 25 USD NL Texas Holdem - Sunday, April 01, 10:31:38 ET 2007
Table Table 127871 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: Lupo111 ( $ 12.61 USD )
Seat 4: Mescalero13 ( $ 15.02 USD )
Seat 5: Hengist_Pod ( $ 28.48 USD )
Seat 6: JO_Luck ( $ 17.34 USD )
Seat 3: GenXXXXXXneG ( $ 25.95 USD )
Seat 1: joohaa ( $ 8.90 USD )
joohaa posts small blind [$ 0.10 USD].
Lupo111 posts big blind [$ 0.25 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to GenXXXXXXneG [ As Ad ]
>You have options at Table 129278 Table!.
GenXXXXXXneG raises [$ 1 USD]
Mescalero13 folds
Hengist_Pod folds
>You have options at Table 129278 Table!.
JO_Luck calls [$ 1 USD]
joohaa folds
Lupo111 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8s, Ts, 5h ]
GenXXXXXXneG bets [$ 2 USD]
JO_Luck calls [$ 2 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Kh ]
GenXXXXXXneG bets [$ 15 USD]
JO_Luck is all-In [$ 14.34 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 9h ]
GenXXXXXXneG shows [ As, Ad ]a pair of Aces.
JO_Luck shows [ Kc, Kd ]three of a kind, Kings.
GenXXXXXXneG wins $ 0.66 USD from side pot #1 with a pair of Aces.
JO_Luck wins $ 33.28 USD from the main pot with three of a kind, Kings.
Game 5828754149 starts.

BR is still even though have effectively cleared $50 of bonus, will only add once it's cleared though.

[biondino]

Okay, some poor play here, let's have a look.

Hand 1: Raise more pre-flop - even with aces you still want isolation, and you definitely want to build a pot. Then, bet less on the flop - such a big overbet may even get hands like QJ to fold, it should certainly push out 99/TT.

When he pushes, you can't fold as his stack is so small (and shorties often push hands like TPWK). Had his stack been 100BBs, what would you have done?

Hand 2: Fold the flop (completing in a passive game is okay I guess). If he's raising you properly on the flop, and giving you bad odds, he'll give you bad odds on the turn too, and may fold if you hit. Your implied odds - and bear in mind you're not even drawing to the 2nd nuts here - simply aren't good enough.

Hand 3: I would seriously consider folding pre-flop here. This is the same guy who raised you in hand 2 - if you have a read that's he's hyper-aggressive then either play back at him - per-flop or on the flop - or just fold pre-flop. You are just about getting odds to call if you know he'll stack off if you set, but if you're purely relying on setting, it's not worth it.

[Knytestorme]

Yeah, he annoyed me too much, pretty much stopped playing pots with him when I had nothing much. His stats were like 53/24 so I donb't mind playing hand 3 with him too much. Hand 2 I don't know why I was betting into the flop, is something I need to stop doing.

Hand 1 is one of those hands where shit happens I think, was just annoying as I have an intense hatred of short-stacking and think it shouldn't be allowed. My pfr at $25 is either 3x or 4x and I vary it randomly, that was just one os those times I went 3x and don't think it would have made a difference to his play.

Agree though, there is bad play in there and totally open to looking at it.

[biondino]

Hand 4: bet the flop! If he doesn't have a jack (or 66 - I'm sure he'd be betting overpairs here), the pot's yours. If he does, you can slow down. Even a half-pot bet should work here - there are no draws to keep him in. It's not worth giving him a free card because anything above a 9 is scary.

When the ace comes on the turn, and he minbets, your raise needs to be a lot bigger - pot sized maybe, so that if he doesn't have the ace, he'll fold. When he re-raises you, the fold should be instant - you have been (effectively) check-raised on the turn with 3rd pair and two outs that may not even be good.

hand 5: fine

Hand 6: You have position here, but a pre-flop re-raise at 25nl tends to mean a monster, so unless you have strong reads that she's a stealer or maniac, I might let this one go. You're likely to be dominated if you hit, and because she's being aggro you'll probably end up all-in if you choose to continue. AJo suffers from bad reverse implied odds, and isn't a good drawing hand. Just let it go.

Hand 8: I don't understand the enormous turn bet. The board is wonderful for you - only the flush draw, no straights, and 2 pair is highly unlikely (sets are of course possible). The villain has a small stack, so a $5 bet on the turn, if called, puts the pot at $16 and the villain with $9 behind, so you can expect to put her all-in on the river.

You're going to lose a full effective stack here anyway, but if we're not being results oriented you have to ask yourself what type of hand is going to call you here. If you're behind a set, you're screwed and will stack off; villain's stack is too small for you to fold here, really. So what else could they have? TP (AT, or maybe KT, say?), a flush draw, or an overpair or say 99. they could also be floating AK or AQ, feasibly.

So, of all these hands, ONLY KT or KK move ahead of you on the turn, and as we've already discussed, you're getting all-in here come what may. But hands like 99, JJ or any draws are outta here - and these are the hands you want to stick around. If she's floated AK you're likely getting a call too, but that's just one hand, and a relatively unlikely one at that.

You look like you're scared of a flush draw - which is fair enough, but it's easy enough to give them bad odds without pushing (and, because of their small stack, they should know that implied odds won't be enough to merit a call); and, bear in mind that although there are two flush draws possible, they can only have one of them!

[biondino]

Hand 1 - I have no problem with varying pre-flop raises size (assuming I know a 3x raise will still allow me isolation when I want it) but with two limpers you want to raise more, if anything, not less. I can't tell if you bet $0.75 here or $1 - you are BB, right?

[Knytestorme]

Hand 4 is one of those ones where I'll sometimes take a shot at and others will check. In this case I wasn't sure what I'd do to a raise so I decided to let it go but can see the reason behind taking a shot at it.

Hand 6 is meh, I hate AJ and you're right there.

Hand 8 is pure unadulterated tilt + opponent having crappy stats and been showing trash, honestly put them on either a resteal or AK and wanted to put them to the test figuring they'd call with anything based on their previous action. You're right though, if he reraised me I'd be getting it in anyway but a lesser bet would have been a better play against a more rational opponent.

[Knytestorme]

yeah, in hand 1 I was BB and raise another 3x to $1

[Knytestorme]

Crappy quick session but did manage to get down to about 100 hands left to clear Party bonus. Got to about $15 up for the session then hit one bad hand and 2 spews and ended up about $5 down. I really need to learn to keep my focus and when I decide I'm done for the night just sit out rather than wait till the end of the orbit.

Hand 1: Haven't had one of these in ages
#Game No : 5843214386
***** Hand History for Game 5843214386 *****
$ 25 USD NL Texas Holdem - Thursday, April 05, 12:32:21 ET 2007
Table Table 129282 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: Mickepoo ( $ 27.50 USD )
Seat 3: careltje333 ( $ 20.20 USD )
Seat 4: rasten84 ( $ 25 USD )
Seat 5: Raidizzle ( $ 14.91 USD )
Seat 6: lassejay ( $ 29.70 USD )
Seat 1: GenXXXXXXneG ( $ 24.15 USD )
rasten84 posts small blind [$ 0.10 USD].
Raidizzle posts big blind [$ 0.25 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to GenXXXXXXneG [ Ks Kc ]
lassejay calls [$ 0.25 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG raises [$ 1 USD]
Mickepoo folds
careltje333 folds
rasten84 folds
Raidizzle calls [$ 0.75 USD]
lassejay calls [$ 0.75 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4d, 5c, 6c ]
Raidizzle bets [$ 0.25 USD]
lassejay calls [$ 0.25 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG raises [$ 2.25 USD]
Raidizzle calls [$ 2 USD]
lassejay folds
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7c ]
>You have options at Table 131352 Table!.
Raidizzle checks
GenXXXXXXneG checks
** Dealing River ** [ 3h ]
Raidizzle checks
GenXXXXXXneG checks
Raidizzle shows [ Kd, 6d ]a straight Three to Seven.
GenXXXXXXneG shows [ Ks, Kc ]a straight Three to Seven.
GenXXXXXXneG wins $ 3.75 USD from the main pot with a straight, Three to Seven.
Raidizzle wins $ 3.75 USD from the main pot with a straight, Three to Seven.
Game 5843216999 starts.

Hand 2: This was nice but after seeing the hand I think I could have extracted more
#Game No : 5843248732
***** Hand History for Game 5843248732 *****
$ 25 USD NL Texas Holdem - Thursday, April 05, 12:42:56 ET 2007
Table Table 129282 (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: Mickepoo ( $ 42.05 USD )
Seat 4: rasten84 ( $ 12.89 USD )
Seat 5: Raidizzle ( $ 18.92 USD )
Seat 6: lassejay ( $ 28 USD )
Seat 1: GenXXXXXXneG ( $ 21.70 USD )
Seat 3: Spregled ( $ 10.60 USD )
lassejay posts small blind [$ 0.10 USD].
GenXXXXXXneG posts big blind [$ 0.25 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to GenXXXXXXneG [ 3d 3h ]
>You have options at Table 131352 Table!.
Mickepoo calls [$ 0.25 USD]
Spregled folds
rasten84 folds
Raidizzle calls [$ 0.25 USD]
lassejay calls [$ 0.15 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qc, Jd, 3s ]
>You have options at Table 131352 Table!.
lassejay checks
GenXXXXXXneG checks
Mickepoo checks
Raidizzle bets [$ 0.25 USD]
lassejay folds
GenXXXXXXneG raises [$ 0.50 USD]
Mickepoo calls [$ 0.50 USD]
Raidizzle calls [$ 0.25 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 9s ]
GenXXXXXXneG bets [$ 1.75 USD]
Mickepoo calls [$ 1.75 USD]
>You have options at Table 131352 Table!.
Raidizzle calls [$ 1.75 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 7c ]
GenXXXXXXneG bets [$ 5.50 USD]
Mickepoo calls [$ 5.50 USD]
Raidizzle folds
GenXXXXXXneG shows [ 3d, 3h ]three of a kind, Threes.
Mickepoo doesnt show [ Ah, Ac ]a pair of Aces.
GenXXXXXXneG wins $ 17.85 USD from the main pot with three of a kind, Threes.
Game 5843252121 starts.

Hand 4: Had no idea where I was at in this hand, but I now have a tell on this player
#Game No : 5843258076
***** Hand History for Game 5843258076 *****
$ 25 USD NL Texas Holdem - Thursday, April 05, 12:45:52 ET 2007
Table Table 129282 (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: Mickepoo ( $ 33.35 USD )
Seat 4: rasten84 ( $ 12.54 USD )
Seat 5: Raidizzle ( $ 16.42 USD )
Seat 6: lassejay ( $ 27.50 USD )
Seat 1: GenXXXXXXneG ( $ 31.20 USD )
Seat 3: Spregled ( $ 26.40 USD )
lassejay posts small blind [$ 0.10 USD].
GenXXXXXXneG posts big blind [$ 0.25 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to GenXXXXXXneG [ 8h Tc ]
Mickepoo calls [$ 0.25 USD]
Spregled folds
rasten84 folds
Raidizzle folds
lassejay folds
GenXXXXXXneG checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5c, Th, 3h ]
GenXXXXXXneG bets [$ 0.50 USD]
Mickepoo calls [$ 0.50 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8d ]
GenXXXXXXneG bets [$ 1.50 USD]
Mickepoo calls [$ 1.50 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 5s ]
>You have options at Table 131352 Table!.
GenXXXXXXneG checks
Mickepoo bets [$ 3 USD]
>You have options at Table 131352 Table!.
GenXXXXXXneG calls [$ 3 USD]
Mickepoo shows [ Qh, 9h ]a pair of Fives.
GenXXXXXXneG shows [ 8h, Tc ]two pairs, Tens and Eights.
GenXXXXXXneG wins $ 10.10 USD from the main pot with two pairs, Tens and Eights.
Game 5843260666 starts.

Hand 5: Not sure about the overbet on the river, some people have success with them but I haven't
#Game No : 5843275772
***** Hand History for Game 5843275772 *****
$ 25 USD NL Texas Holdem - Thursday, April 05, 12:51:23 ET 2007
Table Table 129282 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 4: rasten84 ( $ 14.89 USD )
Seat 6: lassejay ( $ 26.05 USD )
Seat 1: GenXXXXXXneG ( $ 35.45 USD )
Seat 3: Spregled ( $ 25 USD )
Seat 2: bomzet ( $ 25.60 USD )
GenXXXXXXneG posts small blind [$ 0.10 USD].
bomzet posts big blind [$ 0.25 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to GenXXXXXXneG [ Ah 6h ]
Spregled calls [$ 0.25 USD]
rasten84 folds
lassejay folds
GenXXXXXXneG calls [$ 0.15 USD]
bomzet checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9h, 5h, Ts ]
GenXXXXXXneG bets [$ 0.75 USD]
bomzet calls [$ 0.75 USD]
Spregled folds
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3h ]
GenXXXXXXneG bets [$ 2.25 USD]
bomzet calls [$ 2.25 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Jd ]
GenXXXXXXneG bets [$ 9.50 USD]
bomzet: 5 10 you flush
bomzet folds
GenXXXXXXneG does not show cards.
GenXXXXXXneG wins $ 15.95 USD
Game 5843279375 starts.

Hand 6: Spew
#Game No : 5843330624
***** Hand History for Game 5843330624 *****
$ 25 USD NL Texas Holdem - Thursday, April 05, 13:08:30 ET 2007
Table Table 129282 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 6: lassejay ( $ 24.85 USD )
Seat 1: GenXXXXXXneG ( $ 37.80 USD )
Seat 3: Spregled ( $ 24.55 USD )
Seat 2: bomzet ( $ 53.69 USD )
Seat 5: elsbethGambling ( $ 30.10 USD )
Seat 4: don_johnson3 ( $ 24.75 USD )
bomzet posts small blind [$ 0.10 USD].
Spregled posts big blind [$ 0.25 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to GenXXXXXXneG [ Ks Ac ]
don_johnson3 folds
elsbethGambling folds
lassejay raises [$ 1 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG calls [$ 1 USD]
bomzet folds
Spregled folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qh, 4h, 2h ]
lassejay checks
GenXXXXXXneG bets [$ 1.25 USD]
lassejay calls [$ 1.25 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Td ]
lassejay checks
GenXXXXXXneG checks
** Dealing River ** [ Qs ]
lassejay bets [$ 2.50 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG folds
lassejay does not show cards.
lassejay wins $ 7.15 USD
Game 5843333418 starts.

Hand 7: I think this was the right laydown, see HH forum post
#Game No : 5843341803
***** Hand History for Game 5843341803 *****
$ 25 USD NL Texas Holdem - Thursday, April 05, 13:11:57 ET 2007
Table Table 129282 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 6: lassejay ( $ 30.80 USD )
Seat 1: GenXXXXXXneG ( $ 35.20 USD )
Seat 3: Spregled ( $ 25.20 USD )
Seat 2: bomzet ( $ 48.59 USD )
Seat 5: elsbethGambling ( $ 30.75 USD )
Seat 4: don_johnson3 ( $ 24.40 USD )
bomzet posts small blind [$ 0.10 USD].
Spregled posts big blind [$ 0.25 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to GenXXXXXXneG [ Kd Kh ]
don_johnson3 folds
elsbethGambling folds
lassejay folds
GenXXXXXXneG raises [$ 1 USD]
bomzet calls [$ 0.90 USD]
Spregled calls [$ 0.75 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3s, 9s, 7d ]
bomzet bets [$ 1 USD]
Spregled calls [$ 1 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG raises [$ 4.50 USD]
bomzet folds
Spregled calls [$ 3.50 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ts ]
Spregled bets [$ 3 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG calls [$ 3 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 8d ]
Spregled bets [$ 8.50 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG folds
Spregled does not show cards.
Spregled wins $ 26.55 USD
Game 5843346938 starts.

Hand 9: More spew. Villan was 22/11 so was thinking he may have missed the flop...not sure if he just floated there or may have had AT or overpair
#Game No : 5843379797
***** Hand History for Game 5843379797 *****
$ 25 USD NL Texas Holdem - Thursday, April 05, 13:23:32 ET 2007
Table Table 129282 (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 6: lassejay ( $ 30.70 USD )
Seat 1: GenXXXXXXneG ( $ 24.23 USD )
Seat 3: Spregled ( $ 48.05 USD )
Seat 2: bomzet ( $ 45.16 USD )
Seat 5: elsbethGambling ( $ 24.50 USD )
Seat 4: don_johnson3 ( $ 21.85 USD )
lassejay posts small blind [$ 0.10 USD].
GenXXXXXXneG posts big blind [$ 0.25 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to GenXXXXXXneG [ 7h 7c ]
bomzet folds
Spregled calls [$ 0.25 USD]
don_johnson3 calls [$ 0.25 USD]
elsbethGambling folds
lassejay raises [$ 0.90 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG calls [$ 0.75 USD]
Spregled folds
don_johnson3 calls [$ 0.75 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Td, 8d, 2c ]
lassejay bets [$ 1.50 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG raises [$ 4 USD]
don_johnson3 folds
lassejay calls [$ 2.50 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qs ]
lassejay checks
GenXXXXXXneG checks
** Dealing River ** [ Ts ]
lassejay bets [$ 3.75 USD]
GenXXXXXXneG folds
lassejay does not show cards.
lassejay wins $ 14.45 USD
Game 5843382318 starts.

So all in all it was fiarly uneventful few hundred hands apart from those highlights. I probably should have finished up after the KK hand and still booked a win when I knew I was getting tired and not kept playing...hopefully something I can fix in myself, though I really don't want to force myself to leave a game I think I can win so yet another thing I need to balance in my play.

So yeah anyway, dropped about $5 but still about even (little ahead) there so I cound BR still about the same but do have the bonus to clear today that will add some to the roll and then look at either starting Vegas or UB bonus because I fucking loathe Paradise and think I'll just forget about that bonus.

[Jimmy Mac]

1. I make it 5BB pre sometimes, and a tad more on the flop. These mini donk bets are very often a weak pair or draw. Punish them. Rest is fine.

2. Euch.. wtf is this check/minraise supposed to accomplish? Build a pot dude. I just lead 3/4 pot on the flop, I think this gets more value out of worse hands than a check raise. If you must check raise, make it man sized!

4. I like the c/c on the river. Nice hand.


5, Fine, I'd probably value bet unless opp is really bad. If you want to overbet the river, then push. I think he will call a push almost as often as yr 2x pot bet.

6. I make it $3 preflop.

7. Horrible turn and river for you there. I havent read the HH post, but i think this one is OK.

8. Meh, I probably fold flop cos I'm a nit. Many opps have a very narrow range when raising from the blinds.

Hope my low stakes nittiness helps lol. Good luck in your operation.

[Knytestorme]

Well, managed to clear the party bonus after a little session just now of 271 hands...and as has been the way the last few sessions I was so card dead it's not funny, my VPIP over 270 hands of 6-max was 12%, according to pokeroffice I had AA 0 times, KK once, nearly all my paint pairs happened once or twice and my most common hands were K9, J3 and A6. I may not know a lot still about 6 max but I do know even those cards are shit to play.

With my cards lately not much happened but I did manage to get into the first set over set I remember being on the losing end of (had JJ, villan slowplayed AA and flop came JxA, was destined to get stacked there) and that pretty much covered most of my losses at Party.

Over all, I ended up about $67.50 over 2200 hands of 6-max $25NL and over the last 10k hands (what I've played since coming back) I am down $57 at the tables, with all of that coming at eithert $50NL or 6-Max so I'm not too disheartened though would like to think I could actually beat at least $25NL and up $150 in cleared bonuses.

Next stop today is to take another look at Paradise and if it still sucks decide on either Ultimate Bet or Vegas247 for bonus whoring (though both of those will require me to play $50NL I think so they may end up as wasted bonuses as they are 60 day expirations).

[Knytestorme]

Well, been a while for this but had a boatload of work drop on me that was meaning I wasn't getting home till around 8 most nights and just didn't have time to play once I did everything I needed to.

Good news though is the project has now entered trial phase so I am back playing and decided to take a shot at clearing the 100% FullTilt bonus and move up to $50NL at the same time. The move has been semi-successful so far, have cleared $80 in bonus, have $50 in rakeback to hit the br and have made about $60 in cash so far in about 4k hands. Yeah I know the actual cash made is low, but was up about $200 until 3 hands today took their toll, you'll see them

Anyway, going through my sessions since going back and just going to put the biggest winning and losing hands here.....not sure if I should show results or not really, since I guess results will be seen if I fold, etc but for the sake of consistency with most people here I won't show and hopefully get some more honest and less results based feedback on how I played them which I figure is needed. Easy to look at a hand that won $50 and say it was played well when it in fact sucked big-time and won't learn from it if not called on bad play.

Anyway,m here we go.

Hand 1:
Villian is 33/15

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 ($41.80)
MP1 ($46.25)
MP2 ($17.30)
MP3 ($42.55)
CO ($50)
Button ($117.55)
SB ($48.35)
BB ($24.50)
Hero ($54.50)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, Q.
Hero raises to $2, 5 folds, SB calls $1.75, 1 fold.

Flop: ($4.50) K, 9, 3 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $4.5, SB raises to $9, Hero calls $4.50.

Turn: ($22.50) A (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks.

River: ($22.50) 9 (3 players)
SB bets $7, Hero calls $7.

Final Pot: $36.50
Main Pot: $36.50, between MP2, SB and Hero.

Hand 2:
Villain is 27/9.5

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

SB ($69.65)
BB ($50.80)
UTG ($12.15)
UTG+1 ($92)
MP1 ($48.25)
MP2 ($87.45)
MP3 ($10.15)
CO ($23.25)
Hero ($37.40)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, A.
3 folds, MP2 raises to $1.75, 2 folds, Hero raises to $5.5, 2 folds, MP2 calls $3.75.

Flop: ($11.75) 4, 6, J (2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets $10, MP2 raises to $81.95 (All-In), Hero calls $21.90 (All-In).

Turn: ($125.60) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($125.60) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $125.60
Main Pot: $75.55, between MP2 and Hero.
Pot 2: $50.05, returned to MP2.

Hand 3:
Villian is 87/15

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP2 ($50.60)
MP3 ($34.20)
CO ($76.55)
Button ($28.20)
SB ($6.65)
BB ($51.80)
Hero ($47)
UTG+1 ($25.85)
MP1 ($55.25)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, Q. Hero posts a blind of $0.50.
3 folds, MP3 raises to $2, 1 fold, Button calls $2, 1 fold, Hero (poster) raises to $6.5, MP3 calls $4, Button calls $4.

Flop: ($18.75) 7, 3, T (4 players)
Hero bets $25.5, MP3 folds, Button calls $22.20 (All-In).

Turn: ($66.45) K (3 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($66.45) 5 (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $66.45
Main Pot: $63.15, between Button and Hero.
Pot 2: $3.30, between BB and Hero.

Hand 4:
Villian is 42/16

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP2 ($31.95)
CO ($53.95)
Button ($64.15)
Hero ($47.50)
BB ($20.70)
UTG ($56.85)
UTG+1 ($9.50)
MP1 ($15.05)

Preflop: Hero is SB with J, T. UTG posts a blind of $0.50.
3 folds, CO calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero completes, UTG (poster) checks.

Flop: ($1.50) 9, J, T (4 players)
Hero bets $1.5, UTG folds, CO calls $1.50.

Turn: ($4.50) 5 (3 players)
Hero bets $3, CO calls $3.

River: ($10.50) Q (3 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $3.95, Hero calls $3.95.

Final Pot: $18.40
Main Pot: $18.40, between CO, Hero and BB.

Hand 5:
MP1 is 36/6.3 and UTG is 15/8

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 ($61.60)
MP2 ($54.70)
MP3 ($19.25)
CO ($40.80)
Button ($74.95)
Hero ($46.50)
BB ($9.20)
UTG ($49.30)
UTG+1 ($49.25)

Preflop: Hero is SB with T, T.
UTG calls $0.50, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.50, 1 fold, MP3 raises to $1.5, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.25, 1 fold, UTG calls $1, MP1 calls $1.

Flop: ($6.50) 3, 8, 6 (4 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks, MP1 checks, MP3 checks.

Turn: ($6.50) 5 (4 players)
Hero bets $5, UTG calls $5, MP1 calls $5, MP3 folds.

River: ($21.50) 2 (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks, MP1 checks.

Final Pot: $21.50
Main Pot: $21.50, between MP1, Hero and UTG.

Hand 6:
No stats

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP2 ($20.70)
MP3 ($36.30)
CO ($20)
Button ($40.40)
SB ($11.80)
BB ($61.25)
UTG ($53.30)
UTG+1 ($8.45)
Hero ($97.40)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with J, J.
2 folds, Hero raises to $2, 1 fold, MP3 calls $2, CO calls $1.50, 3 folds.

Flop: ($6.25) 9, 7, Q (3 players)
Hero bets $4.5, MP3 folds, CO raises to $18 (All-In), Hero folds.

Final Pot: $28.75
Main Pot: $15.25, won by CO.
Pot 2: $13.50, returned to CO.

Hand 7:
Villian is 31/6

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

BB ($22.15)
UTG ($49.30)
Hero ($61.40)
MP1 ($34.70)
MP2 ($48)
CO ($51.40)
Button ($52.45)
SB ($45.45)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with 9, 9.
1 fold, Hero calls $0.50, 3 folds, Button calls $0.50, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($2) Q, T, 9 (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $2, Button calls $2, SB folds, BB folds.

Turn: ($6) 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $4, Button calls $4.

River: ($14) J (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $12.5, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $26.50
Main Pot: $14, won by Button.
Pot 2: $12.50, returned to Button.

Hand 8:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP2 ($68.30)
MP3 ($49.25)
CO ($29.75)
Button ($98.30)
SB ($87.40)
BB ($42.75)
UTG ($19.50)
UTG+1 ($15.50)
Hero ($45.90)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with A, Q.
2 folds, Hero raises to $1.5, MP2 calls $1.50, 4 folds.

Flop: ($3.50) 5, J, 2 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP2 checks.

Turn: ($3.50) K (3 players)
Hero bets $2, MP2 calls $2.

River: ($7.50) T (3 players)
Hero bets $4.5, MP2 raises to $17.5, Hero calls $13.

Final Pot: $42.50
Main Pot: $42.50, between MP2, SB and Hero.

Hand 9:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

SB ($52.75)
BB ($96.65)
UTG ($50.75)
UTG+1 ($48.50)
MP1 ($15.55)
MP2 ($56.10)
Hero ($43.80)
CO ($58.50)
Button ($31.95)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 5, 5.
2 folds, MP1 calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.50, 2 folds, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($2) T, 5, T (4 players)
SB checks, BB bets $2, MP1 folds, Hero raises to $7, SB calls $7, BB calls $5.

Turn: ($23) 8 (3 players)
SB checks, BB bets $23, Hero raises to $36.3 (All-In), SB calls $36.30, BB calls $13.30.

River: ($131.90) 3 (3 players, 1 all-in)
SB bets $8.95 (All-In), BB calls $8.95.

Final Pot: $149.80
Main Pot: $131.90, between SB, BB and Hero.
Pot 2: $17.90, between SB and BB.

Hand 10:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG ($28.65)
UTG+1 ($32.45)
MP1 ($31.95)
MP2 ($48.30)
MP3 ($51.95)
CO ($50.50)
Hero ($40.20)
SB ($88.35)
BB ($50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, J.
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $1.5, 4 folds, Hero calls $1.50, 2 folds.

Flop: ($3.75) J, K, A (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $2, Hero calls $2.

Turn: ($7.75) 6 (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $4, Hero calls $4.

River: ($15.75) K (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $11, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $26.75
Main Pot: $15.75, won by UTG+1.
Pot 2: $11, returned to UTG+1.

Hand 11:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 ($33.55)
MP1 ($48.45)
MP2 ($11.80)
MP3 ($46.75)
CO ($36.30)
Button ($77.15)
SB ($47.85)
Hero ($47.05)
UTG ($54.50)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, A.
2 folds, MP2 calls $0.50, 1 fold, CO raises to $2.25, 2 folds, Hero raises to $8.5, 1 fold, CO calls $5.75.

Flop: ($17.25) 4, 6, 4 (3 players)
Hero bets $16.75, CO raises to $28.3 (All-In), Hero calls $11.55.

Turn: ($73.85) 6 (3 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($73.85) K (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $73.85
Main Pot: $73.85, between CO and Hero.

Hand 12:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP3 ($38.75)
CO ($15.75)
Button ($19)
SB ($50.65)
BB ($53.55)
UTG ($19.80)
UTG+1 ($49.25)
MP1 ($26.40)
Hero ($48.10)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with T, T.
2 folds, MP1 calls $0.50, Hero raises to $1.5, MP3 calls $1.50, 3 folds, BB calls $1, MP1 calls $1.

Flop: ($6.25) T, 7, J (4 players)
BB checks, MP1 checks, Hero bets $6.25, MP3 calls $6.25, BB folds, MP1 calls $6.25.

Turn: ($25) 9 (3 players)
MP1 checks, Hero checks, MP3 checks.

River: ($25) 2 (3 players)
MP1 bets $2.5, Hero calls $2.50, MP3 calls $2.50.

Final Pot: $32.50
Main Pot: $32.50, between MP3, MP1 and Hero.

Hand 13:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

Hero ($48.25)
BB ($33.40)
UTG ($50.50)
UTG+1 ($50.35)
MP1 ($47.30)
MP2 ($38.55)
MP3 ($46.40)
CO ($49.95)
Button ($49.20)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, J.
3 folds, MP2 raises to $1, 2 folds, Button calls $1, Hero calls $0.75, BB calls $0.50.

Flop: ($4) J, 3, 4 (4 players)
Hero bets $2.5, BB folds, MP2 calls $2.50, Button calls $2.50.

Turn: ($11.50) T (3 players)
Hero bets $6.5, MP2 calls $6.50, Button calls $6.50.

River: ($31) 5 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $4, Button calls $4, Hero calls $4.

Final Pot: $43
Main Pot: $43, between Hero, MP2 and Button.

Hand 14:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG ($84.50)
UTG+1 ($50)
MP1 ($42.15)
MP2 ($55.45)
CO ($22.65)
Button ($19.95)
SB ($55.35)
Hero ($51.10)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, K.
4 folds, CO calls $0.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $2.5, CO calls $1.50.

Flop: ($4.75) A, Q, 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $3, CO raises to $6, Hero calls $3.

Turn: ($16.75) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $14.65 (All-In), Hero folds.

Final Pot: $31.40
Main Pot: $16.75, won by CO.
Pot 2: $14.65, returned to CO.

Hand 15:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG ($50)
UTG+1 ($31.90)
MP1 ($36.55)
MP2 ($24.80)
MP3 ($49.20)
CO ($37.05)
Hero ($48)
SB ($65.55)
BB ($29.05)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, A.
5 folds, CO calls $0.50, Hero raises to $3, SB calls $2.75, 1 fold, CO calls $2.50.

Flop: ($9.50) 2, 3, 4 (3 players)
SB checks, CO checks, Hero bets $7, SB raises to $18, CO folds, Hero calls $11.

Turn: ($45.50) 7 (2 players)
SB bets $44.55 (All-In), Hero folds.

Final Pot: $90.05
Main Pot: $45.50, won by SB.
Pot 2: $44.55, returned to SB.

Hand 16:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

Button ($26.10)
SB ($66.75)
BB ($48.80)
UTG ($50.30)
UTG+1 ($20)
MP1 ($19.50)
MP2 ($44.60)
Hero ($45.20)
CO ($38.70)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with K, K.
UTG calls $0.50, 1 fold, MP2 calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2.5, 1 fold, Button calls $2.50, 2 folds, UTG calls $2, MP2 calls $2.

Flop: ($10.75) 8, Q, 5 (5 players)
UTG bets $0.5, MP2 folds, Hero raises to $3, Button calls $3, UTG calls $2.50.

Turn: ($19.75) 7 (4 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks, Button bets $7.5, UTG folds, Hero raises to $23, Button calls $13.10 (All-In).

River: ($63.35) J (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $63.35
Main Pot: $60.95, between Button and Hero.
Pot 2: $2.40, between UTG+1 and Hero.

Hand 17:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 ($64)
MP1 ($34.25)
MP2 ($40.25)
CO ($60.70)
Button ($46.15)
SB ($52.40)
Hero ($50)
UTG ($57.10)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, K.
2 folds, MP1 raises to $1.5, 4 folds, Hero calls $1.

Flop: ($3.25) 7, Q, K (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks.

Turn: ($3.25) 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $2, MP1 calls $2.

River: ($7.25) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $6.5, MP1 raises to $21, Hero calls $14.50.

Final Pot: $49.25
Main Pot: $49.25, between MP1 and Hero.

Hand 18:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

BB ($65.75)
UTG ($35)
UTG+1 ($41)
MP1 ($65.45)
MP2 ($40.55)
MP3 ($25.45)
CO ($51.30)
Hero ($54.10)
SB ($33.05)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 8, 8.
5 folds, CO raises to $1.75, Hero calls $1.75, SB calls $1.50, 1 fold.

Flop: ($5.75) 5, 7, 2 (3 players)
SB bets $5, CO folds, Hero raises to $15, SB raises to $36.3 (All-In), Hero calls $16.30.

Turn: ($73.35) T (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($73.35) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $73.35
Main Pot: $68.35, between Hero and SB.
Pot 2: $5, returned to Hero.

Hand 19:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 ($25.50)
Hero ($45.25)
CO ($28.35)
Button ($35.45)
SB ($67.35)
BB ($57.50)
UTG ($58.65)
UTG+1 ($41.15)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 8, 8.
3 folds, Hero raises to $1.5, 2 folds, SB calls $1.25, BB calls $1.

Flop: ($4.50) 6, 8, 5 (3 players)
SB bets $2, BB folds, Hero raises to $7, SB calls $5.

Turn: ($18.50) 9 (2 players)
SB bets $15.5, Hero raises to $36.75 (All-In), SB calls $21.25.

River: ($92) T (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $92
Main Pot: $92, between Hero and SB.

[Knytestorme]

man, ever have one of those nights.....:/

Ended up about $20 over about 250 hands but could have been much better or much worse.

I got lucky early when my 88 hit a set on flop or A8K before getting most of my money in behind to a T turn and spiking quads on the river.

From there I fluctuated between being down for the night or being back up when my set of 9's on an 8T9 flop didn't improve and I payed off a raise on the river.

Ended the night playing a hand I hardly ever play (22 from UTG) that flopped a set on a 3 flush board of A2J, hit the fullhouse on the turn and then didn't get raised on my river bet by the nut flush which kinda sucked but not sure I could have called a push.

Looking at my graph so far I've been breakeven over the last 2900 hands, which would be fine if it didn't have such vast spikes in it, but am up $183 at FullTilt $50NL so far so I'm not too unhappy, apart from there being $100 in bonuses in there as well.

Goal for the rest of the month is to continue trying to hit 100 points per day to clear my bonus in time and try to reduce the variance in my graph and start it back on an upward trend again.

[Knytestorme]

Sweet, went to try some 6 max out and see if I coiuld get PAHud working, managed to dump $20 to some luckbox calling station that managed to outflop me nearly every hand to hit like bottom pair on a KJ2 flop that I raised with AQ and then called down the entire way before potting the river when I check....so much fun, such a waste of time

[Knytestorme]

Well, tonight was one of those nights that most things went right. I think I was playing my "A"-game and making the right reads, laydowns and playing back at people. It also helps when your AA holds up on a paired board, or when QQ/KK hold up with a c-bet on a flopped A board, sets hold up, etc.

There was pretty much only one hand where I am still tossing up the right play, and I have it up on the HH forum but other than that the only thing I am questioning is when I left money on the table in situations like holding AQ agianst a raise, board ends up A9K2Q and I either check/call the river or lead for a small amount but I think leaving a little cash on the table at the moment is still ok compared to handing over all of mine to AK/JT type hands.

Over all, ended up $85 for the night, plus cleared another $20 bonus so I'm not unhappy....just now need to make sure I dont donk it all off tomorrow again

[Knytestorme]

Such a sick night tonight...managed to lose nearly all last nights profit but only really upset at myself with one play, most other times I managed to lose the least I could or was around 80%+ fav when the money went in.

Was one of those nights where AA < KJ, KK < QQ, my QQ ended up against AA and I lost the minimum I could, KK went up against AA and got stacked and 99 got stacked by JJ as both were overs to the board (the one I played badly)

If things went differently I'd be up over $300 at FullTilt so far but as is I'm not still about even for the week.


I'd show some histories here but the convertor seems to have problems with pots with more than 2 players in them, it's showing me winning my AA hand even though I lost to two pair...AcAd with flop of Kc Qc 7c and KJ hits a J on turn, not much can be done.

[Ash256]

After a look through your HHs, I only noticed a couple of big mistakes:

Hand 10, probably dump the flop - he's UTG+1.. that floating is the type of thing I'd do vs a button raiser, but definitely dump the turn.
Hand 15 is prolly a threebet pre unless the guy is a complete and utter nit.
Hand 16: Please, make a real raise on the flop. Your raise just inflates the pot, draws still have the pot odds to call.


Anyway, n1 on your operation, I'm on something similar, I'm just trying my best to hit the 2k mark.

Btw, I know I play the same stakes as you, so I didn't mean to sound patronising when I criticised your hhs, I just know what's bad and what aint!

gl

[Knytestorme]

heheh, no need to worry...I'm posting them for feedback and cause I know a few of them suck hard

Agree with you on hand 10 for sure, only card I'd have been semi happy to see would be a T and then I'm only looking to chop most likely.

Hand 15 I assume you mean 3-bet flop, I'm still leaning towards either checking the flop or just dumping to the raise. If I had the As then I'd reconsider but with a board like that and no real draws I think I'm wb here.

Hand 16 is another one much the same. I dont like my play on the flop and agree that given the size of the pot my raise should have been much larger but think I was leaving wiggle room ot see if anyone came over the top of me and I could then let it go.

One thing I have noticed a lot so far is that a min bet usually means a draw so I wasn't too worried about UTG as I was about button still to act.

Am sure there are still plenty of leaks in my game, so feedback is always good and anyone doing one of these hings that gets upset at being called out for something shouldn't be doing it anyway

Good luck with your push too, not sure I'd be as comfortable taking on $100NL with 25 buy-ins so hope it works well

[Knytestorme]

god damn, worst 2 days of my playing in terms of bankroll.....lost everything I had already won + $60 of my cleared bonus for $200 downswing.

Problem is, I don't think it was really bad play, since it was a whole 6 hands that did it to me and all but one of them I don't think I could get away from...hopefully someone is actually reading here and can give some advice on the hands.

Hand 1:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 ($44.50)
MP1 ($46.95)
MP2 ($23.80)
MP3 ($25.85)
CO ($25.10)
Button ($34.75)
SB ($10)
Hero ($49.50)
UTG ($62.45)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, K.
UTG raises to $1, 5 folds, Button calls $1, Hero raises to $3.5, UTG calls $2, Button calls $2.

Flop: ($9.50) 5, 4, 8 (4 players)
Hero bets $7, UTG calls $7, Button folds.

Turn: ($23.50) J (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $5, Hero calls $5.

River: ($33.50) 2 (3 players)
Hero bets $12, UTG calls $12.

Final Pot: $57.50

Results in white below:
SB doesn't show.
Hero has Kh Ks (one pair, kings).
UTG has Ah Ac (one pair, aces).
Outcome: UTG wins $57.50.

Hand 2:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

SB ($50)
BB ($25.35)
UTG ($49.50)
Hero ($102.75)
MP1 ($10.75)
MP2 ($10.20)
MP3 ($40)
CO ($30.25)
Button ($96.65)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with K, K.
1 fold, Hero raises to $2, 2 folds, MP3 raises to $37, 4 folds, Hero raises to $74, MP3 calls $3 (All-In).

Flop: ($114.75) 3, 9, A (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($114.75) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($114.75) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $114.75

Results in white below:
Hero has Kc Ks (one pair, kings).
MP3 doesn't show.
Outcome: Hero wins $114.75.

(Convertor is wrong, MP3 showed QQ for a set to win the hand)

Hand 3:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG ($21.55)
UTG+1 ($50)
MP1 ($64.20)
Hero ($42.55)
MP3 ($28.75)
CO ($39.20)
Button ($70.90)
SB ($15.55)
BB ($50.70)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K, K.
2 folds, Hero raises to $3, 4 folds, BB calls $2.50.

Flop: ($6.25) 6, T, 6 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $6, BB raises to $16, Hero raises to $45.55 (All-In), BB calls $23.55.

Turn: ($91.35) Q (3 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($91.35) 7 (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $91.35

Results in white below:
BB doesn't show.
UTG+1 doesn't show.
Hero has Kd Ks (two pair, kings and sixes).
Outcome: Hero wins $85.35. UTG+1 wins $3. BB wins $3.

(Again, the convertor is wrong....BB had AA)

Hand 4:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG ($33.55)
UTG+1 ($50)
MP1 ($55.95)
Hero ($49.25)
CO ($118.80)
Button ($92.40)
SB ($25.40)
BB ($53.70)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K, K.
UTG calls $0.50, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2, CO calls $2, 2 folds, BB calls $1.50, UTG folds, MP1 calls $1.50.

Flop: ($8.75) 8, 5, 9 (4 players)
BB checks, MP1 checks, Hero bets $6, CO calls $6, BB folds, MP1 folds.

Turn: ($20.75) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $15, Hero calls $15.

River: ($50.75) T (2 players)
Hero bets $26.25 (All-In), CO calls $26.25.

Final Pot: $103.25

Results in white below:
Hero has Kd Kc (one pair, kings).
CO has 6h 7h (straight, ten high).
Outcome: CO wins $103.25.

Hand 5:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 ($19.40)
MP1 ($75.05)
MP2 ($50)
Hero ($39.50)
CO ($62.50)
Button ($17.60)
SB ($70.40)
BB ($49)
UTG ($56.40)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 9, 9.
2 folds, MP1 raises to $1.75, MP2 calls $1.75, Hero calls $1.75, 1 fold, Button calls $1.75, SB calls $1.50, 1 fold.

Flop: ($9.25) 3, 2, 5 (5 players)
SB checks, MP1 bets $4.5, MP2 folds, Hero raises to $12, Button folds, SB folds, MP1 raises to $77.8 (All-In), Hero calls $25.75 (All-In).

Turn: ($124.80) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($124.80) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $124.80

Results in white below:
MP1 doesn't show.
Hero has 9c 9d (two pair, nines and threes).
Outcome: Hero wins $84.75. MP1 wins $40.05.

(Convertor wrong again, MP1 showed JJ...this hand I played badly even if I put him on AK/AQ)

Hand 6:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP2 ($47.10)
MP3 ($20)
CO ($23.50)
Button ($49.25)
SB ($70.50)
BB ($21.25)
UTG ($60.15)
Hero ($51)
MP1 ($15)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with A, A.
1 fold, Hero raises to $2, 2 folds, CO calls $2, 3 folds.

Flop: ($4.75) K, Q, 7 (3 players)
Hero bets $4, CO raises to $8, Hero raises to $31, CO calls $13.50 (All-In).

Turn: ($57.25) J (3 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($57.25) 4 (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $57.25

Results in white below:
Hero has Ac As (one pair, aces).
MP3 doesn't show.
CO doesn't show.
Outcome: Hero wins $57.25.

(Convertor has issues again.....MP3 showed KJo)

[bigspenda73]

Just a sick bunch of coolers

[biondino]

You can edit the output of the converter - probably worthwhile otherwise these HHs are hella confusing, even with your explanations.

Yes, mostly unlucky here, but hand 3 - raise KK more than 4x after two limpers.

[Knytestorme]

GUessing you mean hand 1, andyeah I still have problems with my bet-sizing.....I try to vary it between a standard 3x and 3x+1 per limper depending on players stats, no point putting more in to the pot if one is a calling station for instance until I get a feel for the board.

And thanks for having your operation going Biondino, helps put my downswing into perspective looking at your graph and stats....if I can break even over the month then I haven't really gone backwards at least and need to keep remembering that so it's good to see others helping to reinforce that in my mind

[Knytestorme]

god damn it I'm starting to hate this fucking game.

Another night, another $70 down and another KK vs AA.

If it's not getting into that it's hitting a set with a 3 flush flop, or hitting a set on a 3 flush/4 straight board and winning like nothing due to passivity, flopping a full house and getting no action, getting AA 3 times and getting no action.

Just so fucking frustrating to have 8k hands and being a whole $20 up so far even after clearing $140 in bonuses and having been up $190 in cash at one stage.

[Knytestorme]

Well, another 400ish hands tonight and yet again I managed to get stacked as 68% fav, this is really getting old.

Convertor screwing up HH again so basically went like this:

I limp on button with QJss, BB raises to $2 so I call the raise. Flop comes 234, all spades....we get into raising war and they flip over AdAs.....river comes 7s and I ship it over.

Seems to be the way things go lately but guess it shows I need to work on my hand reading still, or just get my money in with the worst of it and suck out

Anyway, I managed to play some actual poker in a few hands tonight too (such as floating flop and hitting turn, or bluffing at correct spots) so I'm not too unhappy and with clearing another $20 bonus I only ended up down about $15.

I've cleared $160 bonus so far at FullTilt and my account balance still says $600 so while I'm on a 6 buy-in downswing atm I'm still even so I can't really complain too much yet....am going to post my stats for 10k after the weekend (may take a couple days break now I've hit my ironman target) and discuss where I think I am having issues....hopefully some of you guys that are taking pity on me reading this will have some ideas or be able to confirm my thoughts then

[Knytestorme]

Just going to post images now for june stats, will post tomorrow my thoughts on them....hopefully others will chime in before I wake up

[jimmy44]

I would comment a couple of your hands (from the second session of hands), my reasoning might not be all correct as I'm still learning cash, however, I'm also playing 50NL for the moment, so questions/approach should be relevant.

Hand 1: Why are you betting the river?, villain has took a flush line do you want top pair to pay? The problem I see here is that only a better hand would call that river bet (except QQ).

Hand 4: With so many possible completed draws on the river (i.e. straight and flush) are you hoping for a JJ-QQ call?

[Knytestorme]

Thanks for the reply and questions, will see if I can remeber my thinking.

Hand 1: I expected a made flush to raise me on the flop (a mistake I continue to make with people, expecting them to raise where I would) and when there ended up being no 4th heart I figured I was free. The bet on the end I think my reasoning was there was so much in the pot already that I was going to have to reload if I was behind so why not just get it all in there if I'm ahead.

Hand 4: You're right, badly played really and could have saved myself 1/2 a stack here by check/folding to a decent sized bet.

[Knytestorme]

Got up early today, which is amazing for a saturday, since I still had about 150 points to get on fulltilt for my 200 in a day in the Ironman challenge and am glad I did.

Cleared another $20 of my bonus and ended up $180 while 4-tabling. Only had one table I couldn't get a handle on and ended up $36 down at it but at two others I was sitting with $199 and $126.

Day got off to a good start when I was dealt AsQs in the big-blind as my first hand at the table, flop came Ks Js 9h and big stack led into my check. Turn came 8s and that was it.

Variance finally kicked my way again but I think I was playing well and making good laydowns and avoinding bad situations. Caught some sick bad flops and managed to either get away from them or bet into them to get a fold (eg holding QQ, flop comes A5A and a c-bet takes it down), managed to bluff into some situations and not get looked up and at times my draws came in.

Hell, even managed to be on the right side of an AA vs KK preflop and have them hold up.

All in all a good day so far, off to grab some lunch and play some 360 and then back into it and see how we go.

[Knytestorme]

Have decided to go for iron level in the FullTilt ironman promotion atm to try and get enough fpp to get one of the football or hokey jerseys (yeah I know, but I actually like them ) so have started to play more hands a night now and am averaging about 700 hands while four-tableing to get the 200 fpp per night I need but am not sure if it's helping or hurting my game.

Managed to end up $45 tonight + $20 bonus release + some rakeback (not sure how much I get yet since my provider has me down for $153 MGR last month yet PT has me at $240 so will wait till I get my first payment on 15th to see if I get that amount or 27% of it) so it wasn't a bad night per se, but I managed to start it off losing $90 to the following 2 hands

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP2 ($63.50)
CO ($35.55)
Hero ($46)
SB ($52.05)
BB ($35.30)
UTG ($89.15)
UTG+1 ($88.95)
MP1 ($50.45)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, T.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, 1 fold, MP2 calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.50, SB completes, BB raises to $3.5, UTG+1 calls $2.50, MP2 folds, Hero calls $2.50, SB folds.

Flop: ($10.50) 3, 8, 6 (3 players)
BB bets $10, UTG+1 folds, Hero calls $10.

Turn: ($30.50) T (2 players)
BB bets $22.3 (All-In), Hero calls $22.30.

River: ($75.10) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $75.10

Results in white below:
BB has Qc Qd (two pair, queens and threes).
Hero has Ad Td (two pair, tens and threes).
Outcome: BB wins $75.10.

I'm not too sure about this one....once I had top pair + the nut flush draw on the turn I think I was committed anyway and pokerstove puts me at 80:20 vs his range so I think it was the right call.

On another table I ended up with this hand

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 ($129.30)
MP1 ($16.05)
MP2 ($18.25)
CO ($61.60)
Button ($60.90)
SB ($10)
Hero ($49.50)
UTG ($37.75)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, A. UTG posts a blind of $0.50.
5 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, UTG (poster) calls $1.

Flop: ($3.25) 3, 6, J (3 players)
Hero bets $2, UTG raises to $4.5, Hero calls $2.50.

Turn: ($12.25) 4 (3 players)
Hero bets $8, UTG calls $8.

River: ($28.25) 3 (3 players)
Hero bets $11.5, UTG raises to $23.75 (All-In), Hero calls $12.25.

Final Pot: $75.75

Results in white below:
Hero has Kd As (flush, king high).
UTG has Ac Ad (flush, ace high).
Outcome: UTG wins $75.75.

Against his range I was 97:3 and there was one card out there that beat me so again, I think this was ok.

A while after these my pc started screwing up so I took an hour to go get some food and play Forza 2 while it rebooted. Came back and just sat and focused, managed to donk off about another $10 before things started to feel right and while I was running a few little steals and crap on three tables I had a guy on my fourth that I just couldn't lose against and managed to snag 3 buy-ins off him with hands such as this (which came a few hands after I limped his raise while I was in the BB with KK and then c/r him on QJ9 flop and told him but didn't show)

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 ($43.45)
MP2 ($49.50)
CO ($18.35)
Button ($42.85)
SB ($84.05)
BB ($75.80)
UTG ($50)
Hero ($94.25)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with A, Q.
Hero raises to $1.5, 5 folds, BB calls $1.

Flop: ($3.25) J, T, K (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $2.5, BB raises to $10.75, Hero raises to $40.5, BB raises to $85.05 (All-In), Hero calls $36.30.

Turn: ($165.10) 9 (3 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($165.10) 3 (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $165.10

Results in white below:
BB has Td Tc (three of a kind, tens).
UTG doesn't show.
Hero has As Qd (straight, ace high).
Outcome: Hero wins $165.10.

which I think is actually my biggest pot so far now, that was followed a few hands later by this (think he was tilting bad given this hand)

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG ($51.60)
UTG+1 ($49.75)
MP1 ($46.45)
MP2 ($48.75)
CO ($121.45)
Button ($48.25)
SB ($51.40)
Hero ($173.10)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, A.
5 folds, Button raises to $1.75, 1 fold, Hero raises to $5, Button calls $2.75.

Flop: ($9.75) 7, 9, 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $6.5, Button raises to $24, Hero raises to $71, Button calls $19.75 (All-In).

Turn: ($124.50) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($124.50) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $124.50

Results in white below:
Hero has Ad Ac (two pair, aces and fours).
Button has Qh 9h (two pair, nines and fours).
Outcome: Hero wins $124.50.

This one I'm not sure about now looking back at it but he was like 52/4 or something

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

Button ($46)
SB ($57.05)
BB ($33.35)
UTG ($57.30)
UTG+1 ($82.50)
MP1 ($66.80)
MP2 ($19.50)
MP3 ($59.70)
Hero ($51.20)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 3, 3. UTG posts a blind of $0.50.
2 folds, MP2 calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.50, 1 fold, BB raises to $1.75, 1 fold, MP2 calls $1, Hero calls $1.

Flop: ($5.25) 3, T, 6 (4 players)
BB bets $5, MP2 folds, Hero raises to $14, BB calls $9.

Turn: ($33.25) 7 (3 players)
BB bets $17.85 (All-In), Hero calls $17.85.

River: ($68.95) 2 (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $68.95

Results in white below:
BB has Th Ad (one pair, tens).
Hero has 3c 3d (three of a kind, threes).
Outcome: Hero wins $68.95.

The final big pot I played of the night was played so badly I can't really believe I'm showing it but I think I lost the least I could with it and I guess I should explain it....CO is a major lag that has been annoying me for a few days now (can't seem to beat him and with this hand it's no wonder) but I was expecting the short-stack to re-raise as a squeeze and when he did if CO called I was then pushing (opinions on that play?...CO is 30/15)

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

BB ($50.95)
UTG ($55.75)
UTG+1 ($51.20)
MP1 ($43.75)
MP2 ($47.95)
MP3 ($29.95)
CO ($45)
Hero ($51.50)
SB ($66.80)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, K.
4 folds, MP3 raises to $1, CO raises to $3.75, Hero calls $3.75, 2 folds, MP3 folds.

Flop: ($9.25) 6, 9, 4 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $6, CO calls $6.

Turn: ($21.25) 5 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks.

River: ($21.25) 2 (2 players)
CO bets $15, Hero calls $15.

Final Pot: $51.25

Results in white below:
CO has 9s 9c (three of a kind, nines).
Hero has Kd Kh (one pair, kings).
Outcome: CO wins $51.25.

All in all I think I got lucky a few times, got unlucky a few times and managed to focus myself well to come back from the horrendous start to the night...just would have been nice to see the account at FT over $900 again, but that's for tomorrow

[Knytestorme]

Another better day but I still am having trouble picking up on set lines.

Got home from work dead-tired and just crashed, woke up around 1am and decided to try and get my 200 points done and then get back to bed (still up though, god I suck)...managed to drop $45 in the first 80 hands when my KK < J9s with runner runner flush hitting and then managed to drop about $30 at the end to the following hand

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG ($40.85)
UTG+1 ($14.95)
MP1 ($101.25)
MP2 ($26.50)
MP3 ($80.85)
CO ($37.95)
Button ($12.55)
SB ($31)
Hero ($50)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, A.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, MP1 calls $0.50, 4 folds, SB completes, Hero raises to $2, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls $1, SB calls $1.

Flop: ($5.50) 7, 5, A (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $3.5, MP1 folds, SB raises to $15.5, Hero raises to $36.5, SB calls $14 (All-In).

Turn: ($71.50) T (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($71.50) 6 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $71.50

Results in white below:
SB shows 5d 5c (three of a kind, fives).
Hero has Jc Ac (one pair, aces).
Outcome: SB wins $71.50.

With his reraise I put him on the flush draw since I figured the usual line for a set would be call, call, reraise but I guess he was worried about the flush draw as well.....I need to stop over-valuing TP tho, thats for sure.

In the end though I cleared anbother $20 bonus and ended up another $54 on top of that + whatever rb I get to put my br up almost at $2400 (and god I've been stuck around $2k for so long, like 18 months, it feels good to finally be pushing past it and moving towards the $100NL range) so hopefully I can keep up the play I've been making the last week or so and keep the graph heading up.

The one thing I have really noticed with doing these recaps, even if no-one else is reading them, is that I am getting off to bad starts nearly every day but managing to maintain focus and fight my way back up into the positive for the night where-as when I was in the downswing I just got down every time I lost a hand and started going into hands expecting to be beat...now I am going into hands feeling I can outplay my opponents and while it's probably costing me some money when I pick wrong times to play back at them or bluff I still think I am making steps forward in my game. I think I'm also starting to get into the comfortable zone with $50NL where I am thinking about bets only in terms of blinds and not money, so I don't cringe at c/r'ing as a semi-bluff for instance now that I can think of it as merely 6 more bb's which is what it would be at $25NL as well, rather than $3 vs $1.50, and I believe this is a big hurdle to overcome when moving up stakes.

I'm also finally back over 1 ptBB / 100 hands (1.19 to be exact) which isn't even a mediocre winrate really but I am happy to be back there and just a matter of working to up it now.

[Knytestorme]

such a sick night tonight, managed to drop 2.5 buyins overall so back down to about $825 on FullTilt.

This fucking yo-yoing up and down in the same spot for days/weeks/months on end is just so fucking frustrating....I can't seem to get over this barrier of about 2.3k, every time I think I am making progress I manage to run into nights like tonight when I play one hand bad to start with and then get coolered to hell.

I managed to stack myself with QQ as an overpair to a 379 flop (so sick of making that mistake) and then had KK run into AA for a stack, AA vs A8s lose to runner runner flush, AA vs AK lose to four flush on the board and then finally a hand I got away from.

AA in the BB, bumped it up to $2 and got the two players in that I wanted...flop came 7c Jc 9h...sb bet $5, I raised to $14, button came over the top, SB came over the top of him and I had to let it go so see I was up against a set of jacks and the nut flush draw.

Any other time I had a hand I'd get either the blinds or one caller who would fold the flop bet since the rare times I'd hit a set it would be on either a monotone or co-ordinated flop so I'd have to bet out.

I still managed to steal here and there and apart form the QQ hand that I should have gotten away from (and maybe could have gotten away from the KK that had 2 others in a raising war pre but neh) I don't think I played badly, I just got more and more frustrated thinking about this stagnation yet again and realizing I have no idea how to get past it and move up the ladder so I can start seeing progress again (and pulling some out each week to pay one of my mortgages, which is only $75....I mean fuck, seriously I should be able to be making $20-30 a night shouldn't I?)

Enough whining, I'll start convincing myself it's just not worth the hassle so guess I just need to get some sleep and get back into it tomorrow and just focus on playing better, get my hands in, clear the bonuses, hope rakeback provides some help and believe it will get better.

[Knytestorme]

Well, been a few days with this...took one day off and then haven't really had time to get stuff posted after I finish playing for the night.

Been a great few days though since last post...got $41 in rakeback for last month (was only about 1/2 month @ about 300 hands per day so hoping it will increase) and managed to lose that + another $30 or so on the 13th after taking the 12th off to reset my mind but did clear $20 bonus so wasn't too bad.

Took the 14th off as well and started back on the 15th since I can only miss one more day for iron man status this month and want to go see HPOotP with friends tomorrow....managed to get up $128 yesterday and then another $80 tonight.

Started off well (goal was to crak the $1k mark on FT and was at $973), got up to $1030 but still had about 180 points to go and since I'm trying to force myself to handle structured playing will set goals (such as time, hands played, etc) I stayed playing and with about 120 hands to go I was down to $950 with a combination of bad luck and bad play (such as betting into an A3J flop with QQ and finding the other two players with AA and 33, but I managed to fold the turn )

I settled back into things, got a few wins up and just kep rolling along until I ended the night at $1053 and my br at it's highest level of $2485....so close to that next goal of moving past the stagnation point I've been at for so long.

I think I still left a bit of money on the table the last few nights by only calling or cheking behind on the river with second nuts after opponents have played strangely....am still a little scared to fire second barrels at times when I miss the flop and the highest card is in opponents range, etc.

I want to get those sort of things fixed before moving up but I guess if I leave $10 on the table with a $40 pot I'm still up compared to getting c/r and mis-calling.

Anyway, will get at least a few hands in tomorrow night to get me over $2.5k and then starts the march to $3k to clear the bonus and start taking little looks at $100NL.

[Knytestorme]

Well, not a bad night at all....ended up +$190 over 720 hands in 2 sessions and made one of the best (if not best) reads ever in the first session.

That was countered by dropping a stack to one of the worst reads ever in the second session but thankfully I made it back on one of the last hands when AA > 79 called down to the river by a 100/56 player.

Was crappy that I had to break the night up but I had to watch a show at 8:30 and need to keep pushing the 200 fpp per night, was at 170 by 8:30 so took the break and came back but my mind was slipping into non-poker mode by then so I got stacked by the second hand below.

In the first session though I was just playing out of my skin, some of the best poker I have ever played I think and I got rewarded for it along with some luck I would guess.

Anyway, first hand was a thing of beauty just because I thought about the hand, went with my read and was right...think I'd have still been happy if I got stacked here honestly.

BB is 56/30, MP2 is 12/2

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

CO ($83.80)
Button ($75.65)
Hero ($63.20)
BB ($45.45)
UTG ($58.45)
UTG+1 ($14.55)
MP1 ($39.50)
MP2 ($39.60)
MP3 ($50.50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, Q.
4 folds, MP3 raises to $2, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.75, BB raises to $13, MP3 folds, Hero raises to $39, BB raises to $58.45 (All-In), Hero calls $8.45.

Flop: ($96.90) A, 4, 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($96.90) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($96.90) A (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $96.90
Main Pot: $96.90, between Hero and BB. > Pot won by Hero ($96.90).
Pot 2: $11, returned to Hero.

Results in white below:
Hero has Qs Qc (two pair, aces and queens).
BB has 9d Kd (two pair, aces and fours).
Outcome: Hero wins $107.90.

When MP2 raised I had him on probably AQ+ given his stats over 750 hands so I was willing to take a flop and see how it played out from there. When the BB then re-raised 6x my first thought was a squeeze play by him and I was willing to play back at him, depending on what MP2 did.

If he called, I'd have called to still go along with the set theory (though maybe that would be a place for another squeeze) and if he folded like he did then I was willing to play for stacks with the BB. My main thinking here was that the bet sizing just seemed wrong...if he had of had KK/AA then I can't see how he wouldn't have wanted to bet only around 3x the raise to try and keep a weaker hand in, if not limping along for trapping.

If he had of raised 3x then I probably would have been done with the hand, and yes I know people will look at his stats and say I should be willing to felt it there but wouldn't a normal size re-raise into a raiser and cold-caller indicate more strength? I'm not sure but in this case it just seemed wrong in bet sizing and right in circumstances for it to be anything but a squeeze so I went with my read and got paid off, though as you can see I had to sweat till the end.

This next hand was the worst I played of the night I think...first hand at the table, no stats on anyone.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (7 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG ($95.10)
MP1 ($42.75)
MP2 ($48)
CO ($51.65)
Button ($8.75)
SB ($74.50)
Hero ($50)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, Q.
3 folds, CO calls $0.50, 1 fold, SB completes, Hero raises to $2.5, CO calls $1.50, SB folds.

Flop: ($5) 4, T, K (2 players)
Hero bets $3.5, CO calls $3.50.

Turn: ($12) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $6, CO raises to $12, Hero calls $6.

River: ($36) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $34.15 (All-In), Hero calls $32.50 (All-In).

Final Pot: $101
Main Pot: $101, between CO and Hero. > Pot won by CO ($101).
Pot 2: $1.65, returned to CO.

Results in white below:
CO has Kd 7d (two pair, kings and sevens).
Hero has Qs Qc (one pair, queens).
Outcome: CO wins $102.65.

I essentially figured he made me as being fos since it's my first hand and he called with something marginal....I wanted to check behind on the river to induce a bluff from a busted flush draw (which funnily enough I did) but I was still unsure since I guess a K has to be in his range. I took till the last second of time to make the call, not sure if it's right or not...the results oriented in me says no, the playing side of me says I got what I wanted out of him (though for the wrong reasons) and the human side of me has no clue if it was right or not.

Stats after a while on him put him at 40/10 fwiw.

Final big hand of the night was this one, villain was 100/56 at the time after about 90 hands.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

CO ($50)
Button ($55.15)
SB ($119.15)
BB ($56.20)
Hero ($53.70)
UTG+1 ($87.70)
MP1 ($54.45)
MP2 ($51.55)
MP3 ($34.50)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, A.
Hero raises to $2, 3 folds, MP3 calls $2, 1 fold, Button calls $2, 2 folds.

Flop: ($6.75) 8, Q, 3 (3 players)
Hero bets $6.5, MP3 folds, Button calls $6.50.

Turn: ($19.75) K (2 players)
Hero bets $16.5, Button calls $16.50.

River: ($52.75) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $28.7 (All-In), Button calls $28.70.

Final Pot: $110.15
Main Pot: $110.15, between Button and Hero. > Pot won by Hero ($110.15).

Results in white below:
Hero has Ad Ah (one pair, aces).
Button has 7s 9h (one pair, nines).
Outcome: Hero wins $110.15.

Really not sure what he was planning here since he never showed strength or tried to put me to a test at all. Not complaining about it, just seems like it can't be a profitable play in the long-run

[Knytestorme]

+712 hands
+$106.70
+$20 bonus

I'm really starting to feel comfortable now at $50NL, something has just clicked the last few days and I am starting to make some moves, playing sensibly and doing things like recognizing when I am on positive tilt.

I'm still missing sets sometimes, I am letting myself get into positive tilt, I am playing too aggressively (though that has started to tone down since I noticed) and I am having trouble vs short stack ratholers still but I think being able to recognize these is the start for me.

As can be seen, last month was a bit meh for me, ending up in lots of yoyoing and a downswing but this month has been much better so far. I'm running at +$37 per day and 6ptBB/100 which has brought my stats since I restarted poker last month back up to +$10 per day, 2.5 ptBB/100 which compared to where they were at the end of last month isn't too bad.

Hopefully this upgrade to my play will last through the rest of the month (and I stay focused on Iron Man status.....still have to get 11 days @ 200 points for iron and only 12 days in the month so will be tight) and beyond.

I'm thinking about looking at $100NL when I get to $3k rather than $4k (but not until the start of next month in either case) by perhaps dropping 2 of the $50 tables and replacing them with 1 $100 table but I'm not sure if it will screw with my game by playing 2 levels at the same time like playing LHE and NL at the same time does...or would it be better to just not play any $50 and start at 1 tabling $100 and working my way back up to multitables as I feel more comfortable?

[Knytestorme]

Such a sick day so far today.

Since it's a saturday I'm playing 3 x 2 hour sessions...one in the morning when I wake around 9am to get the 200 iron man points for friday, one now that I have just finished and one later tonight.

This mornings session I ended up +$1.10 with a bunch of coolers such as hitting a set of tens on the turn after an AAQ flop, getting it all in and seeing a Q on the river to go with the Q2 of my opponent. I did however manage to suck out with the following hand to pretty much get back to even:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG ($70.05)
UTG+1 ($50)
MP1 ($228.30)
Hero ($67.85)
CO ($22.50)
Button ($55.30)
SB ($10)
BB ($37.30)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K, K. UTG posts a blind of $0.50.
MP1 calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2, 2 folds, BB calls $1.75, 1 fold, MP1 calls $1.50.

Flop: ($6.50) 2, K, J (5 players)
BB checks, MP1 checks, Hero bets $6.5, BB folds, MP1 calls $6.50.

Turn: ($19.50) 7 (4 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $16, MP1 raises to $40, Hero calls $24.

River: ($99.50) 2 (4 players)
MP1 bets $70.5, Hero calls $19.35 (All-In).

Final Pot: $189.35

Results in white below:
UTG+1 doesn't show.
MP1 has 9d 6d (flush, king high).
Hero has Ks Kc (full house, kings full of twos).
SB doesn't show.
Outcome: Hero wins $138.20. MP1 wins $51.15.

After that I went and picked up Deathly Hallows and read about 200 pages and had lunch before my second session.

That was a bad, bad session with me making a few bad plays in spots they probably should have worked, got lucky in one spot and made a great play in another. Session was so swingy, went from $40 up after about 100 hands to $145 down to end up -$35.

The bad plays are the two following hands, but I think the line I took was a good one in both and probably shoudl have seen lay downs? I'm not sure, hopefully will get some feedback on them.

This one I thought shoudl have been seen as a set line, though I guess with his hand he has to figure any board pair will likely see his boat being bigger so probably an ok call.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

Hero ($49.60)
BB ($46.50)
UTG ($20.60)
UTG+1 ($48.35)
MP1 ($49.75)
MP2 ($49.45)
MP3 ($95.85)
CO ($180.85)
Button ($43)

Preflop: Hero is SB with T, J.
4 folds, MP3 calls $0.50, CO calls $0.50, Button calls $0.50, Hero completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($2.50) T, 5, 9 (5 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $1.5, MP3 folds, CO calls $1.50, Button folds, Hero raises to $4.5, BB folds, CO raises to $13.5, Hero raises to $53.6 (All-In), CO calls $37.10.

Turn: ($105.20) 6 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($105.20) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $105.20

Results in white below:
Hero has Td Js (one pair, tens).
CO has 9d Ts (two pair, tens and nines).
Outcome: CO wins $102.20.

This follwoing one I can't see how he could make the call honestly. I would have thought my bet, call of his re-raise showed I had the A and then my push on the ten repped a better 2 pair didn't it?

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP2 ($49)
MP3 ($29.60)
CO ($48.50)
Hero ($58.20)
SB ($84.80)
BB ($73.45)
UTG ($50.40)
UTG+1 ($13.80)
MP1 ($58.85)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, 4.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, 2 folds, MP3 calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.50, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($2.50) 5, A, 8 (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG+1 checks, MP3 checks, Hero bets $2.5, SB folds, BB folds, UTG+1 folds, MP3 raises to $5, Hero calls $2.50.

Turn: ($12.50) T (2 players)
MP3 bets $8, Hero raises to $52.7 (All-In), MP3 calls $16.10 (All-In).

River: ($60.70) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $60.70

Results in white below:
MP3 doesn't shows 8d Ah (two pair, aces and eights).
Hero has Ac 4c (two pair, aces and fives).
Outcome: MP3 wins $89.30.

Then I had this following hand, which I'm not sure about over all....think if I am going to put out blocking bets I need to then not make the hero call when raised :/

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 ($34)
MP1 ($45.45)
MP2 ($8.75)
MP3 ($44.50)
CO ($59.30)
Button ($32.95)
Hero ($49.60)
BB ($36)
UTG ($9.10)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, Q.
6 folds, Button calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2.25, 1 fold, Button calls $1.50.

Flop: ($4.75) 7, A, J (2 players)
Hero bets $4, Button calls $4.

Turn: ($12.75) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $5, Hero calls $5.

River: ($22.75) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $8.5, Button raises to $21.95 (All-In), Hero calls $13.45.

Final Pot: $66.65

Results in white below:
Hero has Qh Qs (one pair, queens).
Button has Ts Js (flush, ace high).
Outcome: Button wins $66.65.

Biggest hand of the session was this one, where I guess he put me on a busted flush draw?

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

Hero ($62.95)
Button ($13.90)
SB ($61.75)
BB ($50)
UTG ($100.90)
UTG+1 ($94.75)
MP1 ($169.75)
MP2 ($26.65)
MP3 ($56.25)

Preflop: Hero is CO with J, A.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, MP1 raises to $1.5, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.50, 1 fold, SB calls $1.25, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls $1.

Flop: ($6.50) 5, T, Q (4 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 checks, MP1 bets $2, Hero calls $2, SB folds, UTG+1 folds.

Turn: ($10.50) K (2 players)
MP1 bets $10.5, Hero raises to $30, MP1 calls $19.50.

River: ($70.50) 6 (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $29.45 (All-In), MP1 calls $29.45.

Final Pot: $129.40

Results in white below:
MP1 has Kc Ac (one pair, kings).
Hero has Js As (straight, ace high).
Outcome: Hero wins $129.40.

And the best play I think ever for me was the following, mainly because I thought a move ahead. When UTG raised pre and then there was the late position caller I thought about raising standard and then I thought back to the squeeze play tried on me the other day and tried to make my raise look like a squeeze by overbetting into a 14/6 UTG and seemed to work as he insta-raised AI (was actually the first AA I had seen all day too ).

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 ($46.95)
MP2 ($56.75)
MP3 ($49)
CO ($20)
Button ($22.45)
SB ($95.95)
Hero ($50)
UTG ($68.90)
UTG+1 ($8.85)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, A.
UTG raises to $1.5, 3 folds, CO calls $1, 2 folds, Hero raises to $9.5, UTG raises to $70.4 (All-In), CO folds, Hero calls $41 (All-In).

Flop: ($102.25) T, K, 5 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($102.25) 2 (3 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($102.25) 7 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $102.25

Results in white below:
Hero has Ah Ad (flush, ace high).
UTG has As Kh (one pair, kings).
Outcome: Hero wins $102.25. UTG wins $19.90.

[Knytestorme]

Well, weekend was a bit crappy.

Ended up down about $100 or so on saturday, got most of it back sunday to only be down $25 for the weekend.

Got on tonight and got an hour in before FullTilt went down for maintenence and was up about $60 until KK ran into AA (probably could have gotten away, see post in HH forum) and so ended up $2.60 for that hour or so.....got back into it after it came back up and ended up

850 hands
+$136 cash
+$20 bonus release

Now up over $1.5k on FT and to $2.9k BR.....so close but don't think I'll worry about considering $100NL now until next month but have gotten my bb/100 up to 2.73 since starting last month and am running at ~5.7 this month so am feeling good though am sure people would say running 13/6 isn't really playing poker....can't work out how to open my game up though even when expanding my range more towards Miller's.

[Knytestorme]

Such a disgusting night tonight. Just got no traction at all, went down from the very first hands and never recovered....graph for the night has 2 upward spikes where I managed to hit a hand but otherwise it's just down.

813 hands
-$145 Cash
+$20 bonus release.

Was one of those nights, I got AA once and made $3.45....got KK 6 times and lost $95 after it ran into AA 3 times....almost none of my draws hit, hit one set I got paid off with and other than that just managed to steal a few pots now and then with nothing. I also played a few hands really badly, chased a few gutshots on the flop that I shouldn't of and tilted towards the middle bit but refocused I think.

Sucks though, br at FT back to ~$1.4k and total is back to like $2.8k so I need to make sure I play better tomorrow I guess and just accept, I suck at playing KK :/

[Knytestorme]

Such a sick night tonight...played well i think over all but still ended up -$76 over 620 hands.

Had 4 big losing hands, one was a 333 flop with me holding AK and making a move that ended up being against KK, QQ and didn't end well

The other three major losing hands of the night were all frickin rivers, made the right reads all the way along and just got rivered every time with things like JTs > JJ with rivered flush, QJ > KK to rivered two pair, KT > nut flush with rivered boat and 9T > KJs to rivered straight.

Got AA once and made $2, KK twice and broke even with it as has been the way lately.

Not sure what I'm doing wrong (apart form making some bad bluff spots but am going to try and not bluff tomorrow) and just seems like I take 2 steps back after taking a step forward each time. Was looking on track to make an $800 month until I dropped $200 in the last two days and am back to ~$445.

One of the things I have been trying to do each night I sit down has been ignore what has happened previously, play my hours and try to end up in the night $30-50 and have been able to do that so that I focus purely on the game at hand but then I have to go through PT and grapher and sit down to write these out and I just find the same things happening time and again and I have no idea how to rectify them or how to spot them until after the session is over (eg set lines vs TPTK, etc) and this doesn't seem to be helping since I appear to only be writing it for myself so I don't know.....

The other thing I do notice during my play is that I get no action for the most part to my raises, due to running at ~ 14/5, but I just can't find ways to loosen up too much without then limping too much....eg KJo in late position is theoretically a raise but if there is a raise ahead of me by an 18/8 to $2 then I can't really three-bet it and I don't really see how to play it if I just limp and if I do just limp in situations like this then my pfr goes down and I'll get no action on my raises or three-bets when I make them....I just don't know

Oh well, off to sleep and let's see if I can get a winning session tomorrow...would be nice to end the month up ~$500....even getting up to $620 with any rakeback would mean I am up $500 for the last two months + bonus and give me a foundation to start next month on for the final push to $4k because I can't see myself taking shots at $100NL next month if my BR is still under $3k

[Knytestorme]

such a sick fucking week....have managed to drop 6.5 BI's in the last 4 days and I'm not sure how to stop the bleeding.

Tonight I played well, AA and KK got paid off pretty well and had about 150 hands left in my session so was feeling good and then in about 20 minutes it was all done for and I was $122 down for the night...had a major suck out on me to put me $30 down and then just donked off two buy-ins with bad play on good hands as you'll see.

I have no idea if people are actually even reading this or if I'm wasting my time posting hands and ideas in here for comment but guess I'll keep doing it for now.

Hand 1: Opponent is 12.8/2.8 over about 300 hands, have posted this in HH forum to see because I'm still not sure about my river play. The flop bet I'm iffy on because if I don't bet here it lets him take the initiative on the turn and most likely push me off my hand

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP2 ($10)
Hero ($96.05)
CO ($37.20)
Button ($67.65)
SB ($44.65)
BB ($10)
UTG ($96.80)
UTG+1 ($93.30)
MP1 ($50)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with A, A. UTG posts a blind of $0.50.
2 folds, Hero raises to $2, 2 folds, SB calls $1.75, UTG (poster) raises to $6, Hero raises to $16, 1 fold, UTG calls $8.50.

Flop: ($32.50) A, Q, 8 (4 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $21, UTG calls $21.

Turn: ($74.50) 6 (4 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks.

River: ($74.50) 7 (4 players)
UTG bets $24, Hero calls $24.

Final Pot: $122.50

Results in white below:
BB doesn't show.
UTG has Kh Kd (flush, ace high).
MP2 doesn't show.
Hero has Ad As (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: UTG wins $122.50.

Hand 2: Villain is 18/8 over about 200 hands....no idea what I thought I could push him off, I put this one down to tilt as it was about 4 hands after Hand 1 but on a different table

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 ($31.20)
MP1 ($52.75)
MP2 ($20)
MP3 ($9.25)
Hero ($78.25)
Button ($41.30)
SB ($19.50)
BB ($51.65)
UTG ($49.25)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, K.
UTG raises to $2.5, 4 folds, Hero calls $2.50, 2 folds, BB calls $2.

Flop: ($7.75) 2, K, 2 (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $5, Hero raises to $13.5, BB folds, UTG raises to $35, Hero raises to $79.5, UTG calls $16.75 (All-In).

Turn: ($111.25) T (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($111.25) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $98.75

Results in white below:
UTG has Ah Ad (two pair, aces and twos).
Hero has As Kd (two pair, kings and twos).
Outcome: UTG wins $98.75.

Hand 3: Villain was a short-stack ratholing fuck running 11.5/3 over about 300 hands.....again, if I put him on AA or QQ then I was not pushing him off this hand and should have let it go when he called my flop raise.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 ($22.70)
MP2 ($34.80)
MP3 ($17.45)
CO ($57.90)
Button ($49.25)
SB ($58.05)
Hero ($49.70)
UTG ($64.25)
UTG+1 ($9.25)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, K.
2 folds, MP1 calls $0.50, MP2 raises to $1.5, 4 folds, Hero calls $1, MP1 calls $1.

Flop: ($4.75) 8, Q, T (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks, MP2 bets $3, Hero raises to $8.5, MP1 folds, MP2 calls $5.50.

Turn: ($21.75) Q (2 players)
Hero bets $26, MP2 calls $24.80 (All-In).

River: ($71.35) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $68.35

Results in white below:
Hero has Kd Kc (two pair, kings and queens).
MP2 has Ts Tc (full house, tens full of queens).
Outcome: Hero wins $68.35.

Take those hands out and I end up again...hell, even take hands 2 and 3 out and leave hand 1 in, cause I can't see how I get away from it really, and I'm about even for the night or a little down from donking off to the shortstacks, stolen blinds and preflop bets that don't go anywhere.

Not sure what to do, I don't want to get into the habit of getting up after an hour or so and then leaving as opposed to putting in my hours each day but it seems that at the moment that would be the only way I can win....play a bit, get up $30-40, take an hour or two break and do it again. Problem is I hate those short-stack ratholing fucks that play a similar strategy and don't want to fall into that style so I don't know.....I really just don't know.

I'm still up $650 at FullTilt but now $440 of that is bonus so over the last 2 months I have made $232 @ 1.01ptBB/100 over 25k hands which is just abysmal honestly (at least I'm up in every position including blinds once the diff is accounted for) and my br is around $2600 once more which isn't enough for me to take a shot at $100NL (and doubt I would anyway with such a crappy winrate at $50NL)...have about $100 or so in rb coming to me this month which can help a bit but I want to get my winrate up to the 2.5/100 before I start to look at moving up but it seems I'm destined to keep donking cash off after making a small amount of forward progress and end back up in this mindset time and again.

Maybe I need to take a few days off, or move to one of the softer sites to whore some bonuses since I'm not restricted to where I can play...just anything to pad my br out a bit more so I can at least start looking at moving up....or maybe I need to move to 6 max where I can feel less stressed opening my game up and being more aggressive (one of my main problems in FR is I am playing too tight still, which is great when I get respect for my raises with trash, and can't find a way to open it up since a lot of hands where I'm in late position and thinking about raising things like KJo get raised before me and so I have to toss it)...or perhaps move to limit where I can be more methodical and limit my losses each hand as opposed to being able to blow my entire sessions work in 2 hands as I can in NL.

As I said earlier, when it comes to just about all things poker and how they relate to me....I just don't know

[jimmy44]

Just a couple of comments in your hands:

Hand 1: Raise more on PF. This guy is 12/2 and min 3bets, he should have a monster QQ-KK, if you 4bet to $24 he would call or push. If he calls, you can easily push the flop! As played, I play the same, you cannot bet that turn and you have to call the river ...

Hand 2: Hmmm ... normally I would 3bet, but after mixchange post about 3betting I might call also PF (basically, the idea is that you don't want a big pot with AK, except if it's suited, as this hand is a hand where you either loose a big pot or win a small one). On the flop, I would be tempted to call his 3bet ... but I might fold or push (difficult) ... this guy has 100bb ... what was his aggression on the flop?

Hand 3: I would 3bet to around $6 PF. You don't want to see a flop with 2, and you are OOP! Villain might fold his TT. Once villain calls your flop raise, with that flop and Q on the turn I check and would only call a 1/2-1/3 bet.

I remembered something that I wanted to mention to you in the past and I forgotten. My feeling of FT is that it's too solit to play FR there (at least for me). Yeah, they have nice bonuses, but the players are more solid then in other sites (e.g. Prima, Ongame, Everest, ...)

[Knytestorme]

Thanks Jimmy, nice to see at peast someone reads this

Hand 1: You're right and didn't realize that I didn't raise more considering my usual re-raise is 3x raise. I also didn't notice that he posted so your call there is correct. The flop I tossed up on shoving and praying or betting a little light in hopes he would c/r me if he had the made flush. Once the fourth came then his possible holding were pretty much QQ/KK/AK and all of those had a heart so I had to check behind there...the river I'm still iffy about because does he make the same move there if he doesn't have the or does he push since I didn't have a psb left when I showed weakness to the 4th on the turn?

Hand 2: I need to start working on my 3-betting with AK/AQ, it's a definate weakness. I seem to prefer to call a raise with them and then go slap-happy if I hit TPTK with them. Here I didn't put a 2 in his range, but also forgot to account for him having KK/AA and just had in my mind when he raised me that it was heading to a split.

Hand 3: This is an extention of the same thinking behind not 3-betting AK and the fact that lately I haven't been able to get away from AA with my KK and running into them quite a lot. In this pot I decided to take a flop and see if any scarecards came but over all that's no different to getting it in pre with KK if no K comes on the flop isn't it?...with this hand I agree, one he calls my flop bet he could likely have AQ (what I put him on), J9 (unlikely but who knows at these stakes, specially if sooted), QT or TT so after the Q hits the turn I am still beating none of those and should c/f most likely.

One of my problems atm, apart form just playing scared due to downswing, is that I will be putting opponents on ranges and then still jamming when a card comes that improves what I already had them on without helping me....I need to stop it

[Knytestorme]

Well, not a great day but not a bad one.....didn't stop the bleeding but did manage to staunch it by only losing $20 over 650 hands.

I made some decent plays at people with nothing that paid off at times, other times I had it....I managed to suck out once but still made a dodgy play at the end.

I also noticed I was playing scared due to the downswing and wanting to try and start heading back up in my graph and expecting every hand against me to have me beat...eg held AA, flop came 995, got lead out at and just went call/check/check to find myself against Q5o

Apart from that I still made some donkey plays and didn't trust my reads until too late again a few times, such as this hand where villain is 12/4:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG ($46)
Hero ($57.35)
MP1 ($9.90)
MP2 ($16.60)
CO ($95.20)
Button ($81.05)
SB ($20.40)
BB ($83.50)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with Q, Q.
UTG calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2, 3 folds, Button calls $2, 2 folds, UTG calls $1.50.

Flop: ($6.75) K, 4, 9 (3 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $6, Button folds, UTG raises to $12, Hero calls $6.

Turn: ($30.75) K (2 players)
UTG bets $20, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $30.75

Results in white below:
No showdown. UTG wins $30.75.

Here my read once he min-c/r'd me was he was on AK/KK and both had me beat at that stage, so why do I call his raise...is it really possible to justify there by saying if I don't then everyone will start using that against me?

Was a check behind on the flop a better play to see what the turn brings, or does it just induce a bluff on the turn by something less than a K because I have shown weakness to it?

[Knytestorme]

Damn the games today were weird....decided to get some time in early today so started playing at 2pm which was 12am server time, every table I was at was running around 38/11 or more table averages. Any raise less than 8xBB would see at least 4 players and if anyone limped they were going to call a raise as well. I think I adjusted ok but there were one or two spots I didn't, mainly with one player that would raise or re-raise me AI and then make the "if you call you win" comments each time and was running at 60/20 so wasn't sure what to do but went with the feeling if they are trying to get a call they want it.

Played about 420 hands, ended up +$37.50 and +20 bonus released which shows how the games were playing given I usually have to play ~700 hands to get the 200 FPP.

The one hand that had me doubting myself at the end of the day was the following with villan running 36/15

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 ($48.35)
MP1 ($21.60)
MP2 ($27.50)
MP3 ($82.40)
CO ($18.90)
Button ($95.60)
Hero ($88.10)
BB ($9.50)
UTG ($20.85)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, Q.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50, 2 folds, MP3 raises to $1.5, CO calls $1.50, Button calls $1.50, Hero calls $1.25, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls $1.

Flop: ($8) 2, 6, 5 (5 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks, MP3 checks, CO checks, Button bets $4, Hero raises to $12, UTG+1 folds, MP3 raises to $48, CO folds, Button folds, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $36

Results in white below:
No showdown. MP3 wins $36.

Given the way the table was playing I didn't see any value in 3-betting here and maybe folding out 1 player while inflating the pot while OOP so I called looking for a safe flop. When this flop came I decided to go for the C/r to see where I was at and when the pfr only led out a min-bet before re-raising my C/r I figured KK/AA was a possibility but most likely had AK for the nut flush draw + outs since I doubt he was raising any pocket pairs that hit that flop pre so a set was unlikely....thinking more on it it's possible that he had something like TT/JJ and decided that my C/r was with something like AK/AQ as I would have re-raised anything better pre but I'm not sure.

[Knytestorme]

God I suck.....played up and down all night, then about 3 hands before I was calling it a night I was uop around $15 (crappy night overall) and I flopped a wheel (see hand in HH forum) that ended up putting me down $45 for the night total and wiping all my gains from the last few days away (what little there had been anyway).

Just sick at myself for that play, for hitting 2 pair that gave opponent a set and for flopping a set and losing to a flush yet again...that and the fact I have gone backwards or stalled this month it seems even though I am up $320 this month....just seems I went on a heater at the start then caught some sick variance but it may also be that I suck, or it might be that my game is just not open enough in starting hands but too aggressive post flop.

Going to post a 25k hand checkup and see if anything but being too tight is noticed by anyone.

I'd love to move up but with BR stagnant and only making 1ptBB/100 over the last two months I doubt that will happen any time soon, and I hate that doubt is there because that will be holding me back.

Have about $2.50 left to clear another bonus and that will leave me about $120 left to clear....should also get about $90 rakeback this month so will see. I should now have ironman status for this month so I might take a couple days off to clear my head, don't know.

[mixchange]

In that last QQ hand, you have to re-raise PF. Gotta, gotta, gotta. Must. Hero bumps to $7, as there is $5 in the pot so its a lil over a PSB. QQ plays TERRIBLE in a multiway.

In the KK hand, pop that to 3x his raise. Get used to doing this...folds are fine with big overpairs, get over it.

It sounds like in general you need to learn to make big laydowns and raise proper amounts PF -- that sounds like a big problem for you, lots of crying calls because you put yourself in a bad spot by not raising properly PF . Villains give you information with their betting, if you are re-raised AI with 2p you have to worry, as you are only really beating a lower 2p, or if there was a big PF raise, an overpair. But you don't know their range if you don't bet properly PF.

Your KK hand up there with 2 queens out is a prime example of a hand that you have to let go. You make a turn bet that is only called by hands that beat you and folds all hands that you have beat, but after your re-raise is called you should realize you are beat 90% of the time in this spot. You must also re-raise PF. You flopped TPTK but I would not be willing to go all in with just that.

In the AK hand you called a big PF raise from UTG, which usually means a strong hand. Your re-raise on the flop was very strong, so his re-raise shows you that you are beat. He isn't making that re-raise with KQ or KJ and he's not drawing because its a dry board. I fold after you are re-raised.

The AA/Flush hand is just a cooler and I think you played it fine, though I probably fold river!

Learn to let hands go and sense when you're beat. Review all your big pots and see when you should have gotten the hint. You are stacking off with one pair a lot in these hands...

[Knytestorme]

Mix, you nailed it exactly.

My main problem is stacking off after I have been told I am beat, and my graphs and hh's show it. It's a major leak I need to work on but I think I know why I have it...I'm worried that if I back down once or twice at a table people will start noticing and playing back at me the same way with air, but I'm not sure if I should give players at this stake that much credit yet.

The two other major issues I have is knowing when to 3-bet pre from anywhere (ie I don't really like 3-betting with AJ+/TT+ even with position because I still don't know where I'm at if they call or 4-bet) and playing out of the blinds with big hands. I'll likely just call a raise out of the blinds with AJ+/TT+ though I will raise with them if it's folded or limped round to me. I think I need to start 3-betting at least AK/QQ+ from there but again I then get lost if played back at in knowing whether I want to play for stacks or not, though I think that has come alot from getting it in with KK and being up against AA each of the last 6 times I've gotten action with KK and I know this is a crappy mindset so I need to just get past it.

I much prefer getting the big hands out of the blinds where I know what I want to do with them most of the time (eg 3-bet and call a 4-bet with < AA when in position, etc) but I also need to play them all better as you say.

Thanks for the advide, and it's good to see a higher stakes player spotting my same leaks....I'd have been more worried if you spotted something else

[Knytestorme]

Well, new month, new attitude.

This month I'm still going to be focusing on pushing to $4k for $100NL but I'm also going to try to open up my game a little more to something like 16/7 rather than my previous 13/5 while reducing my VP$IP from the small blind from 23% down to around 20%, try to play ~1k hands a night and 4ptBB/100. I'd also like to be able to take Mix's advice and be able to make some correct laydowns when I need to so basically my preflop hand selection and postflop reading are what I'm working on this month primarily and the rest will flow from that.

If I achieve those goals I should make ~$1300 in the month without bonus or rakeback and hit the $4k mark easily, add in rakeback and the $110 bonus I still have to clear at FullTilt and I'll have a nice cushion to my goal.

Anyway, started off tonight with 948 hands...was pretty much breakeven for the first 850 hands (fluctuated between -$12 and +$10 the whole time) but I made some decent plays and laydowns, got outplayed in a few hands by shortstacks running stop-n-go's on me and one guy that was just calling pre for 4-5bb then shoving over any bet/raise for 80+bb every time (just couldn't get a hand in thsoe spots) but eventually ended up +$23.50 at 2.48ptBB/100 running 16/6.

Even running loser than usual I got no action on my 4 AA's (+$6) and got action on one KK hand that folded on the turn (+$13)..I spewed in a couple of hands where I thought I could force them off low pair but didn't and didnt have one draw hit all night though luckily that was less costly than it could have been as often it would be folded when I semi-bluffed to build a pot.

I also managed to clear another $20 bonus and ended up +$90 in rakeback last month (damn bonuses take a chunk out of MGR don't they) so I'm now effectively back up to $1370 at FullTilt and $1425 at Netteller (if I can ever get my $225 out of Paradise and not have to put it onto my Visa).

Once I finish up the bonus at FullTilt and get my 25k fpp for the hockey jersey I think I'll go check out UB/Vegas/Cake/Mansion where I have rakeback at and clear those bonuses (perhaps try clearing them at 6-Max 1/2 LHE rather than NL), or perhaps go clear some of the easier ones like Everest first and move to the rakeback sites after that to make a final mainsite decision.

Anyway, that's to come, for this month it's just focus on the goals listed up the top of this post and actually finish this operation so I can feel I am achieving something rather than just spinning my wheels and not learning or improving.

[Knytestorme]

Really weird night.

700 hands, -$23 in game, +$20 bonus released so essentially break even @ 15.5/4.3 with my af still around 4 total, flop is still over 3 :/.

Only had one really big losing hand where I ended up with KK vs AA in a blind battle with a guy on his first hand....really want to go through PT and see how many times I have been AI pre with KK and how many of those have been against AA.

Managed to flop quads twice tonight and at one stage I had the following happening at the same time on 3 of my 4 tables...AA in the BB pre facing a raise from the button (he folded to rr), KK flopping a set (stacked QT) and JJ in the sb flopped quads and only made ~$14.

So yeah, I managed to lose only one big pot all night (and that was about equal to what I got in the KKK hand) so overall I managed to get AA 3 times and flop quads twice and still lose $23 over the rest of my hands.....spewtastic. Definalt spewed in a couple of spots against a 70/20 that rivered me twice and think I definatly got outplayed in one hand.

Villan here was 17/7 over ~650 hands and folds to a flop bet 80% of the times, has never c/r'd the flop in all those hands (Sorry for the HH format, convertor just mangles this one for some reason)

FullTiltPoker Game #3130526194: Table Spring Gate - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 10:05:47 ET - 2007/08/02
Seat 1: XXX ($30.55)
Seat 2: XXX ($51.35)
Seat 3: Villain ($48.25)
Seat 4: XXX ($35)
Seat 5: XXX ($9.75)
Seat 6: XXX ($53.30)
Seat 7: XXX ($23.25)
Seat 8: XXX ($19.25)
Seat 9: Hero ($83.35)
XXX posts the small blind of $0.25
VIllain posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [9s 9d]
XXX folds
XXX folds
XXX calls $0.50
XXX folds
XXX folds
Hero raises to $2
XXX folds
XXX folds
Villain calls $1.50
XXX calls $1.50
*** FLOP *** [3h 5h 7s]
Villain checks
XXX bets $2.50
Hero raises to $6.50
Villain raises to $15
XXX adds $1.20
XXX folds
Hero folds
Uncalled bet of $8.50 returned to Villain
Villain mucks
Villain wins the pot ($20.70)
Total pot $21.75 | Rake $1.05
Board: [3h 5h 7s]

Anyway, I'm not too unhappy with my play though I still need to watch my spewage when leading into people from OOP on a board with bottom pair and have to work on my image still...for some reason I am still getting no real action on my big hands unless I am beat.

[Knytestorme]

Well not much to add tonight.

708 hands @ 18/4.5 and AF of 2.74 for a total of +$3.65 to make me essentially even for the month so far after 2.5k hands but anything the good side of 0 is a bonus, especially after most of tonight.

Spewed off some in a few bad spots, got caught by slowplayed KK when I didn't hit an A or a 3rd club after the flop with AQ and just got outplayed I think...got c/r'd a few times in spots I thought I was ahead but with bad kicker so lost a bit there and also missed value in a few spots like not raising the river bet with 2 pair and a straight when 3rd flush card hit the board, or when I had K-high flush with 4 on the board...not sure if they were scared play or correct play based on what would be calling me if I raised so will deal with it.

Managed to get square at the end of the night when a few straights and flush draws completed thanks to people not taking away odds for me to hit and then on one of the last hands of the night I hit this one

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP2 ($20)
MP3 ($22.25)
CO ($52.50)
Button ($46.45)
SB ($49.50)
BB ($10)
Hero ($115.80)
UTG+1 ($104.90)
MP1 ($45.70)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, A.
Hero raises to $2.5, 2 folds, MP3 calls $2.50, 1 fold, Button calls $2.50, 2 folds.

Flop: ($8.25) K, A, A (4 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets $19.75 (All-In), Button folds, Hero calls $19.75.

Turn: ($0) Q (3 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($0) K (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $47.75

Results in white below:
Hero has Ad As (four of a kind, aces).
MP3 has Js Jc (two pair, aces and kings).
Outcome: Hero wins $47.75.

just a shame he was a SSRHF

[Knytestorme]

god damn, such a sick night.

737 hands, -$165 in cash, +$20 in bonus release and now at a whopping 0.34 ptBB/100 since the start of June...thank god for bonus money and still have about $90 in rakeback to come in.

Was feeling really bad about tonight, just seemed every time I made a decision in any hand it was the wrong one but looking back over my stats it was only really 6 hands that cost me all the money, yeah there were lots of little losses (< $10 per loss) but they were mostly offset by the gains I made as well.

Main hand I screwed up on was with AQo in the SB that I didn't 3-bet the button and then just donked along before calling an ai raise on the river. Just another one of those hands I need to let go.

Other than that though I had KK run into AA yet a-fucking-gain, AA < QT on a 3 K J flop, and 2 pair run into a straight and a set.

I don't think there was anything I could do with those (though I really need to go through PT and run a query to see how many times I have had KK against AA because I am starting to have some doubts) so I'm not too stressed now I have thought about it...what is getting me is the amount of times I had a hand and got no action, such as AA in MP scoring the blinds or hitting a set and getting folds wether I lead out or C/r, etc.

One other thing I noticed, and it might be related to this downswing, is that when I do hit a hand such as a set, I will most often raise a bettor rather than just calling and letting them lead into me again and I'm doing it no matter the board texture (eg board can be A94r or can be something like AQ3 with 2 ). I know I shoudl be able to take the chance that they will draw out on me to maximize my EV but I just can't get round wanting to get it all in while I am likely ahead than watching a fluch or straight-maker hit and having a hard decision.

I know the accepted wisdom is to play your made hands fast in micro-stakes but it seems to be leaving money on the table when most times you'll get a fold to the raise and I'm not sure which way to start playing.....probably just keep playing fast at the moment while confidence is shaken (same as going back to my nittiness) and then once I look to be playing better and winning again start opening up my range and taking more chances with smooth-calling based on reads and ranges (eg a 10/1 that raised pre c-betting a flop of J72 where I have 22 would be a place to smooth-call I think) so let's see how we go I guess.

Let's see about getting out of this funk though for the first part, goal for this month was to average $40 per day....I've done so atm, but in the negative so that ain't too good is it

[Knytestorme]

After saturday's play I spent yesterday just playing Fortza 2 and trying to keep my mind off poker but struggled to do so especially after looking at the pokerev graphs where my sklansky bucks were twice my showdown winnings and 4 times my overall, and my expected vs realized was about 1/2 as well which indicated that I was playing well but just getting unlucky.





Given that the graphs and my hh's in PT didn't indicate I was playing badly I spent today considering my options and what my goals are and came to a few conclusions.

1. I want to get my BR up to at least $8k by end of the year to let me get started on playing $200NL in the new year.
2. I need to start looking at 6-max soon as that seems to be the way everything heads as you get over the $100NL games
3. I am mainly losing big pots where I am getting it all-in when behind or not being able to let go when I can see I'm beat
4. I'm way too nitty at FR
5. I am way too aggressive post-flop

Looking over that list it seems I want to make ~$5.5k in the next 5 months, I need to move to 6-max in a situation where I can use my aggressive nature but limit my losses while I come to grips with learning where I am behind...and that was when it came to me, moving to 6-max LHE for the moment may be the best move for me.

If I get my head around the concept that 1BB/100 is an acceptable winrate at LHE (as opposed to being not so much at NL) and that I will most likely end a nights session up only 10-15BB (4 tabling for 4-5 hours a night for about 1500 hands) as opposed to counting in number of buy-ins then I think that is an acceptable trade-off for limiting my losses on the bad days.

I understand my variance will be a lot higher in LHE but I just think at this stage my game needs me to step back and put myself into situations where my biggest weaknesses (aggression and pushing tiny edges too far) can be tamed and adjusted to turn into strengths in the long-run.

When I run some rakeback estimates for even playing 1500 hands a day of 0.5/1 6-max limit it is showing about $479 per month in rakeback at Vegas/UB or $431 at FullTilt which means over the 5 months I would only need to make ~$3k in the cash games...so $600 per month at 60000 hands per month is a worst case scenario of $1/100 and if I can't manage that playing 0.5/1 LHE then I think my long-term viability at poker would be called into question.

This is also assuming no bonus clearing as well, which I still have full bonuses at UB, Vegas, Doyles, Mansion, Cake and more to go and I think these will become fairly easy to clear at 1/2 and still reasonable at 0.5/1 so I have high hopes that this move will be the right thing to do (hopefully with some moving up in stakes along the way, could see 5/10 being a reasonable goal by Xmas) and then can start taking another look at NLHE in the new year with a hopefuly improved understanding of where I'm at in hands to stop stacking off in bad spots

Feel free to give opinions on if I'm thinking this though correctly or just retarding my growth, everything is welcome

[Knytestorme]

I need to know when to leave the tables :/

519 hands of $50NL = -$70 and +$20 in bonus release.

I was up about $40 and on last orbits when I had AQ in the BB that hit broadway on the turn with 2 spades....overbet the pot and got called by 56 for the flush to hit on the river so that put me back about even then about 2 hands later I got AA, raised 5x the BB, got 5 callers and got stacked by a set...I fucking suck is all I have to say.

I did try some 6-max LHE earlier for 172 hands = -$3.60 so that was slightly better but I honestly don't know where my head is at right now. I have about 1000fpp to go to clear my FullTilt bonus so I guess at this stage I'd just be happy to break even while I get that but maybe I'll just play until I get up about $30 per night and just leave then...I don't like the idea of leaving just to book a winning session but I think my confidence needs it right now.

Plan at this stage is to just finish off those points this month and hopefully get enough ironman points for another 150 medals (which gives me 25k FPP for the jersey) and then move across to bonus whoring a few sites playing LHE as per my last post.

[Knytestorme]

well I still suck but I think I have worked something out from tonight.

A limp, call of raise preflop and then min-raise on flop from a tag = set

I think I might have raised my bb/100 by about 2 if I keep this in mind from now on.

Suckouts from a 50/10 will happen as they chase, and they will tilt me if I don't keep my mind on things but I can learn when to get away from hands and that formula is one of the things I need to remember from this point on.

[Knytestorme]

well woke up to a reload bonus at party this morning so thought I'd take a few days break form FullTilt and go see how party was, with the intention of trying my hand at some 6-max $25NL using Sauce's guidelines.

Managed to play 702 hands for $6.75 @ 1.92 ptBB/100 @ 18/12/2.23 and got 41 points towards the 600 I need for the bonus.

Was fairly interesting playing 6-Max....more stressful, more blinds and less time compared to FullTilt but I think I did ok. Had to make some really thin calls on the river in a few spots and got lucky to either be splitting or have AK vs AQ.

Only had 2 really bad hands, one I ran QQ into KK in a blind battle hit a Q on the flop and then a K on the turn, gg 1 buy-in and then a while later I hit top set on the flop, guy kept calling me down, 3 hit on the river with 3 spades on the board I check called a 1/4 pot bet and he had hit a straight on the river holding 46o but only cost me about 1/2 buy-in so can't really complain.

The game seems fairly soft still, lots of folds to pfr's and a lot of players running stats of 11/9 that I'd expect to see for fr...semi-nice to get a winning session under the belt (though no-where near what I need to be seeing at the moment in terms of results) but I am a little worried about being able to hit the number of hands I need in the next 6 days....need like 5600 more raked hands, will be tight but seems like I'll get a crash course in 6-Max cause no way could I do it with FR. I could cut the number of hands needed by 1/3 if I move up to $50NL but not ready for that yet so have to put in a boatload of hands this weekend I think.

[Knytestorme]

Well I took a little break to clear my head, played no poker during it but got back into some leveling in WoW and watched poker episodes as they became available, took time to think about my game and just get my head straight.

Came back to playing a few days ago, first day back ended up +$163 and thought it was coming back to me but then I got a reload bonus at Party and decided to deposit to it...big mistake. That place has become the same as Absolute was when I left, 1/2-3/4 the table being shortstack ratholers that just make it impossible to play properly by either raising or going ai and taking away any sort of implied odds to play back with.

Ended up losing about $130 there so far and think I'll just pull out of there altogether and shift the money to UB for their current sign-up bonus since I believe it never expires while I currently have about 5 days left to play another 5k hands at party to clear the $100 bonus...just not worth it.

I've also deposited at PokerStars for their current reload and played some 6-max $1/2 limit there tonight which I think I'll stay with there and just slowly move up the limits using my br there as a 300bb inidicator rather than my entire br (otherwise I'd be playing 5/10). I can definatly agree with what people have been saying about the swinginess of LHE and getting used to being rivered, I was up and down most of the session but ended up about $30 at the end of the short session of ~120ish hands. The interesting thing there was that I also cleared 34 fpp towards the bonus and seems to be much quicker than party.

Overall though I'll probably use FullTilt as my main base of playing rather than Stars just due to gettting rakeback at FT. I still have about 5 more sites through my RB provide to do bonuses at, including Vegas (anyone know if they are still as liberal with reloads as Absolute used to be?) so I'll see what they are all like first before making a decision since if one ends up being clearly better to me and I still get rb it seems silly to not play there the most.

So yeah, will see how my sanity holds up to the swings again (least I was only out 4 weeks this time rather than 40 ) and hopefully be able to stay focused and move on up to beat Jimmy's target of 12/08 heheh.

[jimmy44]

Don't go to the Absolute Network check on the "online poker rooms" section for why

As for you trying to beat me on my 12/08 target, cool! It'll be nice for both of us to have an additional incentive to play more and better poker, and stay focused!

[Knytestorme]

Yeah, I've been keeping track of the AP issue but I've noticed no-one has yet mentioned it having happened at UB or Vegas though if they share tables then I guess it is the same issue.

Have pulled out of Party last night, just annoyed me in the end and ended up down about $150 overall there.

In real terms I'm only down 2 buy-ins on the last 30k hands so I just need to look at it that way and realize I'm still pretty much breakeven and just work on my game.

LHE is so swingy I've found but it seems also to be the way I want to head at the momentin terms of risk vs reward once rakeback is taken into account so the goal until the end of the year now is to work my LHE game, whore as many bonuses as I can and play mainly at sites I have rakeback for and try to move the bankroll past the $3k mark and try for between 6 and 8 by the end of the year then re-evaluate after xmas.

[Knytestorme]

Can someone tell me why I came back to playing please?

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 ($34.30)
MP2 ($82.35)
Hero ($50.25)
CO ($20)
Button ($53.20)
SB ($47.10)
BB ($36.50)
UTG ($48.25)
UTG+1 ($9.25)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with A, A.
2 folds, MP1 calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $3, 4 folds, MP1 raises to $34.8 (All-In), Hero calls $31.30.

Flop: ($69.35) 4, 9, 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($69.35) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($69.35) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $69.35

Results in white below:
MP1 shos Ad Ts (flush, ace high).
Hero has As Ah (flush, queen high).
Outcome: MP1 wins $69.85.

This has been the kind of crap I've been dealing with and managing to lose 3 BI's since coming back....I don't know, seems if I play tight I get no action though looking over my FT stats since coming back to playing I'm running 17.73/6 with a total AF of 0.87 so I'm not playing tight but I'm running way too high in the SB at 33% and my W$SF is only 36%.

I do need to tighten up more at FR so will see how that goes tomorrow......game over for me tonight I think.

[Knytestorme]

such a sick night.

Played some 0.5/1 6 Max LHE at stars tonight.....was on a massive roll then in the space of literally 3 hands I had KK < QJ on KJT flop, QQ < AA when he showed no aggression at all to my bets or raises and KK < J9 to put me about $3 down over 900 hands.

It's not bad, just sucks to play that many hands and not be getting rakeback on it but I think I am learning to play better so will see....be nice to finish at Stars this time pulling out ~$1k after depositing $500 for the $125 bonus.

Haven't been playing massively at FullTilt lately, only have about 200 points left to get to have cleared their bonus and over 30k hands I am down like $5 or something which sucks to go that long playing breakeven but it could be worse and means I'll still end up leaving there at least $600 up if I don't totally fuck up clearing this last bit.

No really interesting hands to show really, most have been standard or coolers and am sick of blaming things when hands dont go may way, as long as I'm making the right decisions then I'm happy. About all I really have to work on in the very immeadiate future is working out when to save that last bet on the river with a c/f, b/f or plain old fold.

Will post my $50NL stats in the next day or two for 30k checkup once I clear FT bonus and then focus more on the 6 max limit as I do think I am playing better there and it's nice to have a leash some times as I'm trying new things or making plays to see if I understand why I'm doing them.

[Knytestorme]

I play so badly.

Bankroll is down to about $2350 but I'm going to add $135 to it as that was what I lost at Wingows trying to clear the 100 raked hands requirment for a year of premium access to Stox so I effectively saved myself $135 so I don't see that as a loss really...given I'll never be playing back at that site again (500 players on max I have seen) I dont mind it too much.

Have almost cleared FullTilt bonus now and deposited at Titan to see how it goes...hopefully I can actually start remembering how to win again soon.

[Knytestorme]

Well, been about a month since my last post due to a combination of work deadlines, trying to finish my last unit for my second degree and getting a little fed up with my bad play at times in NL which I thought was putting me into a bigger downswing than I was (~30k hands at $50NL and only down $85 is not really a downswing I realize now).

Anyway, I've been spending most of my free time just kicking back playing the 360 (too many great games released all at once) and playing $0.50/$1 limit at Stars (to clear bonus, way slow) and Full Tilt....I know I have the bankroll to play higher but moving from FR NL to SHLHE made me want to be a little more cautious at the start.

The reasons I have outline previously for my move to LHE have definately been noticeable and my game is really starting to improve because of that I think, for example now when I have a hand up until the flush hits the river I am able to know I am likely beat and get away from it most times because I am not as heavily invested as I would be in NL where I'd likely have to call even when I am 100% certain I am beat. yes, I still make hero calls and crying calls because often times the pot odds are just insane not to but I am picking my spots and players for those a lot better now too, but I guess the long term figures will show if I'm right or just deluding myself .

Anyway, tonight was an interesting night for sure..I think any time you can play $0.5/$1 LHE, have AA as your biggest loser of the night and still end up at 17.55 BB/100 over 350 hands is a good night. I did have a lot of help with a few semi-bluffs hitting hard on the turn or river but for the most part it was just standard ABC poker with lots of value-betting against 77/0 and 54/40 players.

Two most memorable hands of the night were:
PokerStars 0.50/1.00 Hold'em (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, A. MP posts a blind of $0.50.
UTG calls, MP (poster) checks, 1 fold, Button raises, 1 fold, Hero 3-bets, UTG calls, MP folds, Button caps, Hero calls, UTG calls.

Flop: (13.50 SB) J, 9, Q (3 players)
Hero bets, UTG folds, Button raises, Hero 3-bets, Button caps, Hero calls.

Turn: (10.75 BB) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets, Hero calls.

River: (12.75 BB) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 14.75 BB

Results in white below:
Hero has As Ah (two pair, aces and nines).
Button has Qd Qs (full house, queens full of nines).
Outcome: Button wins 14.75 BB.

I was about 85/15 he had the set of J's or Q's or had something like AQ/AJ/QJ and since I had AA I was pretty much ruling out AQ/AJ and the pre-flop action likely wasn't capping QJ, so while KK was also a possibility I figured to just check/call it down after the flop cap.

The other hand I remember the most was:

PokerStars 0.50/1.00 Hold'em (5 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
2 folds, Hero raises, SB calls, BB calls.

Flop: (6 SB) , , (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks.

Turn: (3 BB) (3 players)
SB bets, BB folds, Hero raises, SB 3-bets, Hero caps, SB calls.

River: (11 BB) (2 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, SB 3-bets, Hero caps, SB calls.

Final Pot: 19 BB

Results in white below:
SB has Qs 5s (flush, ace high).
Hero has Ah 9c (full house, nines full of aces).
Outcome: Hero wins 19 BB.

Wasn't the biggest pot of the night but I really liked the way I played it...yes, it helped that he had the second nut flush but if I had led out on the flop there would be no action most likely and that was my thought process on it, let him catch up and accept if he overtakes me. If he has nothing and the turn doesn't help him then it makes no difference if I bet the flop or the turn, but if the turn helps him I make at least an extra BB so I think there it's best to check even though Sklansky and Miller both agree that it's never a mistake to lead out with your made hands.

Overall since I started looking at SHLHE I'm at 4bb/100 over 4k hands running 21.5/10/1.4 so I think it might be worth looking at moving up but think I'll give myself another 6k hands just to see.

Bankroll is about stagnant at $2613 but I also have to put $190 back into it for losses incurred during whoring for Stoxpoker membership and PT Omaha and Stud licences. I have given up on the titan poker bonus but I think I might go whore Vegas247 since they are only 4 raked hands per $1 bonus released in $5 lots so for $500 bonus I only need to play 2k raked hands which should be doable in 2 weeks or so I hope.

Feels good to be back (though always seems that way when I come back winning) and as long as I can keep my hands off GH3 and my real guitars when I get home I should be putting in a lot more hours again now.

[kettleofish]

Bankroll is about stagnant at $2613 but I also have to put $190 back into it for losses incurred during whoring for Stoxpoker membership and PT Omaha and Stud licences. I have given up on the titan poker bonus but I think I might go whore Vegas247 since they are only 4 raked hands per $1 bonus released in $5 lots so for $500 bonus I only need to play 2k raked hands which should be doable in 2 weeks or so I hope.

.

Titan was gonna be my next bonus stop, since according to bonuswhores it is one of the quickest to clear. But i'm yet to hear anyone say anything good about the site. What's so bad about it?

[silu73]

Titan's bonus is only easy to clear if you have signed up with Bonuswhores otherwise there are much better ones out there. Titan is on iPoker so how bad can it be. Its certainly trustworthy.

[Knytestorme]

Firstly....yay, people read this

Now, on to Titan.

What Silu says is correct, you need to get good terms for Titan. I signed up and it was 120 points per $1 bonus so to clear my $400 bouns was going to be 48k points. Given that at my playing time there were usually 3 fr 0.5/1 lhe tables and 1 or 2 sh I was clearing about 100 points per hour and just not playing enough to realistically clear the bonus in time.

The games themselves are fairly soft compared to somewhere like PokerStars or Full Tilt but the software is really slow and glitchy (eg timeclocks flicker on and off the screen as counting down and seem to bear no relation to actual time left) which was the main thing that had me not wanting to play there. In terms of the support it's really good, my withdrawal was done in about 2 days and when I first logged in and deposited I was immeadiately contacted by a support member to explain things to me such as the new member freeroll tickets, etc.

If there were more players and better software I'd have no problem staying there, but I'd suggest not depositing until you try the software out with playmoney and checking on the number online at your play time first.

[Knytestorme]

Well, I'm officially running hotter than god at the moment in minbet.

Had a quick session when I got hom from work before grabbing dinner now...87 hands @ 41bb/100...so sustainable

Had these two hands back to back which helped:

Villan is 30/20 over ~ 160 hands

PokerStars 0.50/1.00 Hold'em (4 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Preflop: Hero is SB with J, J. UTG posts a blind of $0.75.
UTG (poster) raises, 1 fold, Hero 3-bets, 1 fold, UTG calls.

Flop: (7.50 SB) J, J, 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets, Hero calls.

Turn: (4.75 BB) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets, Hero raises, UTG 3-bets, Hero caps, UTG calls.

River: (12.75 BB) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets, UTG raises, Hero 3-bets, UTG caps, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 20.75 BB

Results in white below:
UTG has 8s 8h (full house, eights full of jacks).
Hero has Jh Jc (four of a kind, jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins 20.75 BB.

Followed by his table chat:
midnightpulp said, "luckier than s hit"
midnightpulp said, "only way you'll make money off me"
midnightpulp said, "cooler,cooler, cooler"
KnyteStorme said, "just kicking myself I missed extra bets on the flop"

he went quiet after that

and then:

Didn't bet this one as hard as I would of if it had been heads up, and I probably could have found a raise followed by a crying call on the river

PokerStars 0.50/1.00 Hold'em (4 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
UTG calls, Hero calls, SB raises, 1 fold, UTG calls, Hero calls.

Flop: (7 SB) , , (3 players)
SB bets, UTG calls, Hero calls.

Turn: (5 BB) (3 players)
SB bets, UTG raises, Hero calls, SB calls.

River: (11 BB) (3 players)
SB checks, UTG bets, Hero calls, SB calls.

Final Pot: 14 BB

Results in white below:
UTG has Ah 6s (one pair, sixes).
Hero has Kh Jh (flush, king high).
SB has Js Jc (one pair, jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins 14 BB.

And then had this as the last hand of the session:

PokerStars 0.50/1.00 Hold'em (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with , .
Hero calls, MP calls, 2 folds, SB completes, BB raises, Hero calls, MP calls, SB calls.

Flop: (8 SB) , , (4 players)
SB checks, BB bets, Hero raises, MP calls, SB folds, BB 3-bets, Hero caps, MP calls, BB calls.

Turn: (10 BB) (3 players)
BB bets, Hero calls, MP calls.

River: (13 BB) (3 players)
BB bets, Hero raises, MP calls, BB calls.

Final Pot: 19 BB

Results in white below:
BB has 8h Ah (three of a kind, aces).
Hero has 4c Ac (full house, aces full of fours).
MP has 5d 4s (two pair, aces and fours).
Outcome: Hero wins 19 BB.

Worst hand of the session was also the first hand...had absolutely zero reads or stats on the villain and don't think I played it too badly but am open for comments

PokerStars 0.50/1.00 Hold'em (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
UTG raises, 2 folds, Button calls, 1 fold, Hero calls.

Flop: (6.50 SB) , , (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets, Button calls, Hero calls.

Turn: (4.75 BB) (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets, Button folds, Hero raises, UTG 3-bets, Hero calls.

River: (10.15 BB) (2 players)

Final Pot: 10.15 BB

Results in white below:
Hero has 7d 7h (two pair, sevens and threes).
UTG has Qc Qs (two pair, queens and threes).
Outcome: UTG wins 10.15 BB.

[Knytestorme]

Well, it might still only be short term but I am starting to think I have a handle on this 6-max LHE thing at poker stars.

Just finished up another nice little session of 600 hands @ 8.36 bb/100 for an even $50 for the night.

I'm still a little shaky with calling down the 50/20 and 80/0's with A-high or middle pair and finding I am behind but I manage to make it up with the big hands still and getting value from where I am just ahead as my hand reading skills and putting people on ranges get better.

So far at Stars I am running at 5.64 bb/100 over 4.5k hands at 21.5/9.5/1.26 and a W$@SD of 55.77...my W$SF is a little low at 38.7 so I need to work on that but overall I'm up and feeling I am getting better at the game. I have another 800fpp to go to cleat the wcoop bonus and then it's off to somewhere with rakeback, likely back to FT but I still have Vegas, UB, Mansion, Cake and Doyle's left to whore and I get rakeback at all of them so not totally sure yet.

My BR is now up over $2700 again, and if I count the money I want to put back in for the stox bonus clearence I am at $2950 so I might still meet my goal of $4k by end of dec if I don't slack off again....might have to move up to the 1/2 game next month to help it along too but only if I am still winning at current game after 10k hands.

[Knytestorme]

Well my heater ended today in a big way...632 hands @ -10.01 bb/100

I donked off a bit, well I think it was only a bit but I think the ev graph is telling me it was a lot...felt like I was getting sucked out on heaps though like turning the nut straight and having them fill on the river, or having middle pair and betting it while ahead only for them to river 2p, etc.

So yeah, ended up about $65 down with 10 tables over the session and only being a small winner on one of them...strangely though I only lost about $4.65 on the button, was up over $10 every other position outside the blinds. Also looks like the majority of my losses in the small blind were from completing trash based on getting like 6:1 to call the rest of the blind, catching a little peice and then losing. Majority of the big blind were from folding or paying one more bet and folding the flop....though I also lost a fair bit in blind battles to fucktards that couldn't fold bottom pair etc.

Seems most of my draws and things like Ak also didn't improve and with like 4 players per pot I was having to c/f unimproved after c-betting...I was also calling a lot of flop c/r's with like AK/AQ/AJ that I missed since it was still only one more sb to me but I think this is a real leak I have along with my sb play and blind defenses so I need ot work on it....so much for moving up next week

[Knytestorme]

and the bounceback was fairly quick.

back up $48 @ 6bb/100 over the last 2 days at stars and about $13 at Full Tilt so looks like the other day was just variance giving me a kick to let me know it's still around.

Only really one interesting hand that had me thinking on each street and questioning my play and I've posted that in the limit forum so I wont report here.

I'm happy with the way I've been playing (I have tightened up again after the other day where I was also playing more QJ/KTo type hands and SC's in position but it wasn't working for me....also have started thinking more with my smallish pp's and am not playing them for two bets unless I am closing the action, etc) and I honestly think that this is a good fit to my temprament, I'm just not sure if I'll be happy when I can start moving up limits to get away from the 70/0 donks or if I'll be sad they aren't giving me their money most of the time.

With the Full Tilt year-end bonus now up for grabs I may have to move up to 1/2 this month there so I'm not sure how that will go given I've been mostly playing the 0.5/1 at Stars so far and still only have 6k hands logged..I have a feeling 4bb/100 will not be sustainable as I move up and definatly doubting it will be by 2/4 though if I'm playing with rakeback I'll be happy with 1bb/100 as long as I play at least 1k hands per day.

[Knytestorme]

Making a copy of a post I just made over at my blog http://www.gen-xxx.com

So as I said in my last WoW post, I was getting a little burnt out and needed to get back to something and that something was poker, and I’m glad I have.

I stopped playing at the start of the year after an horendous december that saw me having 1 winning day for the month. I decided after I got home from visiting my folks that I’d take time out to go back over hand histories, rewatch some training videos and replays of hands I had played, check my stats and reread a couple of books. After going over my stats and checking hand histories, along with PokerEV graphs, it seemed that pretty much I was just behind on luck where none of my draws were hitting or I was getting rivered by hands like J2 making 2 pair against KK etc rather than a lot of bad play.

Yes there was some donkage in there but mostly it was just short-term variance that was compounded by me not playing enough hours to counteract it, so I’d get behind on a couple of tables and then have something come up that I had to do to help my folks out, or go somewhere etc that meant I had to leave the tables without having a chance to recover as I got into a better flow on the tables and started getting reads on players. I have a major leak in my game where I will quite often get stuck on at least 2 tables making light call-downs for information in situations hwere I may just be good and then over the next few hours get myself back up into the black for the night, so if I get to a point where I can’t spend at least 4 or 5 hours straight on the tables I will likely end up stuck and that was what happened.

Anyway, had some other stuff going on with poker so I decided to spend time playing WoW while that was sorted and to also help clear my mind of poker since I knew when I was ready to play again I’d feel it. Friday came last week and my desire to play WoW disappeared and my mind was telling me I had to install my room clients and pokertracker and pokeroffice and get into the game, so I did. I spent about 3 hours playing at PokerStars before bed and was doing ok but a little tired so I logged….30 minutes in bed and I just had to open up PokerStars again and get back to it so I did…..7 hours later, at 11am, I fell back into bed having played 2200 hands of 6-max limit with a win-rate of 10bb/100….ship it.

Last 3 days since then I have played another 2000 hands and my winrate is down to about 7.8bb/100 with a total of 348BB won since I restarted saturday morning. I’m sure this is just some positive variance kicking in but I also know I am playing better, making better reads and more importabtly, better laydowns. I’m also actually practising table-selection now rather than just taking what is available, ie I’ll wait for a seat at a table with 68% players per flop than just sit at the first one open, even if it’s only 28% players per flop, and I think this has been the major factor to my crushing it…I am playing the tables with the worst players on them, the ones that are playing any two cards (and given I have people in PokerTracker now that have 80% VP$IP over 250+ hands I know it’s not an anomoly), and so I can just wait for decent hands and value-bet them to hell. This is also allowing me to move my game away from where it used to be and open it up a bit from TAG to SLAG, getting a feel for playing a slightly wider range than I used to and learning to understand where something like JQo is behind to someone even if it was ahead of their range preflop…I have moved from 20/9 previously to 32/12 player now, and yes I still have to lower my VP$IP (need to stop playing so much from the blinds even when getting a good price, along with Axs from before the CO) and up my pfr (this is still low because of the players I’m facing, there is no point raising something like JQs/55/etc from any position when you are getting 4+ players per flop that won’t fold…would rather leave that for hands I’d usually 3-bet).

I’m going to try to keep this up for the rest of the month and am trying to play 30k hands this month just to force myself back into the game, and also to make sure I stay around long enough to recover my initial donk-offs. The only thing that might cause me to stop playing before finishing 1k hands on a night would be if I get majorly ahead and then start donking off like I noticed I was doing last night. After about 200 hands I was 70bb up for the night yet after I finished I was only 26bb up and looking through PokerTracker showed me why, I started losing focus and calling down stupid things where I knew I was beat and by what just because “I’m way up for the night, will only cost me 1bb to see”…essentially the same thoughts that go through my head at the start of the night, and also by calling down ultra-light against the donks because bottom pair is often good against them. Maybe I need to just start beleiving them when they lead out and then reraise me on a board of 252 for instance.

[Knytestorme]

Well, been playing most nights since the last post with a couple missed when I haven't been feeling totally awake and feels like I'm treading water a bit since I'm down since then overall (though only 16BB so not like it's significant)...just seems I'll get up 30-40BB one night and then go down the next night, or get up like 70bb and only be a few hundred hands into my session and end up having lost it all because I stay to finish my hours/hands rather than just book a win for the night.

Some nights are just brutal, like tonight...the kind of nights where your KK will end up facing a board of QT98K and there being a raise and 3-bet to your donk out....the kind of night where your AQ will be ahead of a 75/0 donkey on the turn and the river brings the 4th heart to finish off their 5-high flush...the kind of nights where you get 0 AA in 600 hands....those kind of nights that I'm sure we've all had plenty of.

Last two nights I have felt myself starting to get really tilted as I get stuck early on to these guys (or right at the end of the session) but I've been really happy that I have shown enough discipline to remind myself I am playing 6-max on tables with 60%+ players to the flop stats, this is part of the terriroty and then knuckled down and fought my way back.

It just gets frustrating once I do that to get unstuck and up 10+bb and then continue, think I need to just stop once I get up about 10 after getting unstuck...but don't really see how that will help improve my game and so I guess if losing myself 10bb and ending up even for the night helps me improve even a little bit it's likely a fair price to pay for the lesson.

I am really getting happy with my game and ability to start laying down hands where it's obvious I'm beat, which has always been one of my main weaknesses, but I think now I'm being too loose-passive in the blinds (especially the SB) which is coming from seeing 4 players to almost every flop and knowing they won't lay down a hand for an extra bet so if I have something like 99/AT+ in the blinds I am often just limping it rather than raising/re-raising which is costing me a lot of money I think...and probably more than just limping like QJ/KT+ in the bb to an early raiser.

I've never been happy with my blind play in limit or no-limit but I'm not sure if I have it in me to be more aggressive when I'm out of position with hands I'm loathe to raise or call 2 bets cold with when I do have position (and that's likely another leak.....24/10 can't be good 6-max stats really, I either need to tighten up my starting hands or raise more of them) so I'm kind of in a bind there......think I need to start hopping onto IRC or Vent.

I was thinking of jumping up to 1/2 for another shot at it this week, but with the Battle of the Planets reload I'll likely just stay at .5/1 until I clear that and consider my options for next month. I want to get up to at least 3/6 by the end of the year so I need to start moving up soon...uDevil has my CI at 99.67% confident I'm a winning player with my current stats and sample size so the only thing holding me back is my memories of the bloodbath I suffered last time I tried, but my limit game has definiately improved since then.

The final thing on my mind now is where to play. I'm liking Stars, but I get rakeback at Doyles, Cake, Titan, UB, Absolute/Vegas and FullTilt, with bonuses still to clear at Doyles, Cake, UB and Vegas so I'm not sure if staying at Stars is really worth it at my limit atm...might be worth going out and whoring as much as I can while it's still semi-worth it and reasonably quick at the stakes I can feel comfortable playing (also got an email from Stox today about 6-month access by signing up at a few sites, 2 of which were on my todo list so still have them to do soon to).

I know most will say to stay at Stars cause the fpp bonuses are a reasonable subsitute for rakeback but I'm not sure given it currently takes me ~5 hands per vpp, but will wait till the end of the month to see...if I stop screwing around it could even be possible to move up to 1/2, play enough at Stars each month to maintain Gold status and play at other sites with rakeback for the rest of the time and acheive a decent return overall so will likely look at that.