Road to 400NL: stop speewing & don't tilt!

[jimmy44]

Hi guys,

I've been playing poker for about 1 1/2 years.
I started playing SNGs and MTTs but since June last year I moved to cash.
In October last year I stopped playing poker and I thought that I would never play again, but the poker bug got into me and I started again
This is my second blog. The previous one I finished saying that I would not play cash anymore as I felt I was not good enough ... however, back in November, I started playing again . On December last year I reached 30 buyins for 100NL and my new years resolution was to start playing 100NL up to a loss of 5 buyins.
Since the beginning of 2008, I've exploded my BR: I'm almost rolled to 200NL However, my winrate is below average: it sits now at 1.5BB/100 after 30,000 hands at 100NL. Lately, I fell that I have been playing too loose (mainly calling too much on the flop/turn) and I'm spewing a lot of chips due to this.
One additional difficulty I'm having lately is accepting that I have such a low winrate (somehow, I should be happy to have won such an amount since January, but somehow, it doesn't seem to be enough ==> Have to work on this).
I normally 4 table. I have tried 9 tabling but I just spew too much.
I know that I'm not a very good player, the reason I have not a worst winrate is that I don't tilt too often.

The goal of this blog is to show and make me aware of the most stupid/bad/tilt plays I do, to try and avoid them. I'll be posting the biggest winner and loser after every session.

==> Here's the biggest winner from yesterday evenning:

No reads on villain, he just joined the table a couple of hands before.
We have near the nuts on the flop. This is an easy push as he might have KK-AA and stack off, have something like Axcc and think we have a FD or 77-JJ or even any 4x (not A of course) as he posted.

Texas Hold'em $0.5-$1 NL (real money), hand
#P4-62486193-999
Table Kandy, 8 Mar 2008 11:44 PM ET

Seat 1: vlad.Z ($98.50 in chips)
Seat 2: Hero [ 4H,KH ] ($101.40 in chips)
Seat 3: Jarl73 ($52.50 in chips)
Seat 4: ALCANDO ($58.15 in chips)
Seat 5: NoRushes ($97.90 in chips)
Seat 6: malkcovich ($100.00 in chips)
Seat 7: slvador ($108.55 in chips)
Seat 8: lajjabusig ($100.00 in chips)
Seat 9: Unlexxis ($120.45 in chips)
Seat 10: loukki ($46.35 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
ALCANDO posts blind ($0.50), NoRushes posts blind
($1), malkcovich posts blind ($1).

PRE-FLOP
malkcovich checks, slvador folds, lajjabusig folds,
Unlexxis folds, loukki calls $1, vlad.Z folds,
Hero calls $1, Jarl73 folds, ALCANDO folds,
NoRushes checks.

FLOP [board cards 2C,4D,4C ]
NoRushes checks, malkcovich bets $3.50, loukki folds,
Hero bets $10, NoRushes folds, malkcovich bets
$20, Hero bets $90.40 and is all-in, malkcovich
calls $75.50 and is all-in.

TURN [board cards 2C,4D,4C,10H ]

RIVER [board cards 2C,4D,4C,10H,8C ]

Results

Hero shows [ 4H,KH ]
malkcovich shows [ 3C,4S ]
Hero wins $200.90.



==> Biggest looser. This is one bad play from me. I should have raised this fold to about $35-40 (I think that villain would have called after I got some stats from him later on, but I cannot be results oriented).
We are calling PF as we have good implied odds as MR qwert will most likely will call the small 3bet.

Texas Hold'em $1-$2 NL (real money), hand
#P4-62486193-918
Table Kandy, 8 Mar 2008 10:32 PM ET

Seat 1: cartmanv ($121.90 in chips)
Seat 2: Hero [ 7S,7C ] ($98.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Beliavskij ($109.70 in chips)
Seat 4: ALCANDO ($78.80 in chips)
Seat 5: panjp67 ($30.00 in chips)
Seat 6: MR qwert ($87.15 in chips)
Seat 7: Blacksad95 ($152.15 in chips)
Seat 8: naturecalled ($10.00 in chips)
Seat 9: peilimies ($20.90 in chips)
Seat 10: Oscarloco ($113.30 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
panjp67 posts blind ($0.50), MR qwert posts blind
($1).

PRE-FLOP
Blacksad95 folds, naturecalled folds, peilimies calls
$1, Oscarloco folds, cartmanv folds, Hero bets
$5, Beliavskij folds, ALCANDO folds, panjp67 folds, MR
qwert calls $4, peilimies bets $10, Hero calls
$6, MR qwert calls $6.

FLOP [board cards 7H,2D,4H ]
MR qwert checks, peilimies bets $9.90 and is all-in,
Hero bets $19.80, MR qwert calls $19.80.

TURN [board cards 7H,2D,4H,9H ]
MR qwert bets $56.35 and is all-in, Hero calls
$56.35.

RIVER [board cards 7H,2D,4H,9H,3D ]

Results:

MR qwert shows [ QH,10H ]
peilimies shows [ AH,AS ]
Hero shows [ 7S,7C ]
MR qwert wins $192.70.

[XTR1000]

Yea Jimmy, all the best!

Good to see you have enough confidence in your game to aim at 2/4NL. We´re walking down the same road as I´m looking forward to play 2/4NL by oct and I hope we can both talk midstakes until then


As for the hands, a converter would be great

#1 I don´t like limping in LP, regardless of the action so far or the absolute strength of hands. If u decide to play here, do it for a raise, you´re very likely to take it down right now, since an MP2 limper isn´t necessarily strong and we´ll have position on him anyway. Flop is fine tho.

#2 Yea ur laying great odds to draw, 35-40 would be better denying his odds, but may even keep him in the hand in face of the huge pot.

[jimmy44]

400NL by Oct this year? nah, if I'm lucky it will be end of the year or next year
It would be good discuss midstakes though

As for the converter, do you know of a good ongame one? The one I'm using is really shitty and I have to edit the hands everytime ...

#hand 1: Actually, sometimes (if at least 2 villains have limped) if limpers and/or SB/BB are huge stations and players after me are not aggro's PF, I call Axs or Kxs from BU and CO. It can do wonders

[Robb]

As for the converter, do you know of a good ongame one? The one I'm using is really shitty and I have to edit the hands everytime ...

Check out weaktight.com - they list Pokerroom/Ongame support. Nice interface.

BTW, good luck w/ your operation!!

[jimmy44]

Thanks Robb!
Weaktight does not seem to support ongame though ...

[jimmy44]

One more session yesterday. Everything seemed to go wrong. Seems that everytime I post a blog here, I run pretty bad

I want to keep focussing on the following aspects on my next sessions:
- ALWAYS PUT VILLAIN ON HAND
- 3 barril air on favorable flop against 15/5 nit
- following IowaSkinsFan blog, raise 30% of hands flop from BU against MP PFR

==> Biggest winner hand:
villain is very good TAG (16/11/3). On flop my call is questionable as villain could well have a FD. However, by 4betting that flop I would only get called by better or AKdd/AQdd. I didn't push river as I felt villain (as he is good) would see a bet of almost all my stack as more weakness than a push (that would represent a good hand trying to get paid). Or maybe I'm wrong and I should have pushed ... my line would show weakness anyway.

Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1.00
9 players
Hero:
Converter

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is BU with 9 9
UTG+1 folds, MP2 raises to $4, 4 folds, Hero calls, SB folds, BB calls.

Flop: 9 2 J ($12.5, 3 players)
BB bets $4, MP2 raises to $15, Hero calls, SB folds.

Turn: J ($46.5, 2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero checks.

River: T ($46.5, 2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets $60, MP2 calls.

Results:
Final pot: $166.5

Hero shows 9h 9:d
MP2 show Ad Kd


==> Biggest looser:
I also posted this hand on the FR forum.
villain was 60/6/3 (flop aggression was 5). I only had 40 hands on villain.
Actually, when I saw the flop I said that I could committ if BB will stay/bet the flop. This should be a safe flop for us (we have the 3rd nuts (we can discount K8)). His min 3bet on the flop was scary, but by this time we cannot fold here.

PPoker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1.00
9 players
Seat 1: SB ($123.40 in chips)
Seat 3: BB ($204.00 in chips)
Seat 4: UTG ($121.15 in chips)
Seat 5: UTG+1 ($67.00 in chips)
Seat 6: MP1 ($237.95 in chips)
Seat 7: MP2 ($100.00 in chips)
Seat 8: CO+1 ($134.80 in chips)
Seat 9: Hero [ KH,QD ] ($98.50 in chips)
Seat 10: BU ($47.65 in chips)
Converter

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is CO with K Q
2 folds, MP2 calls, 2 folds, Hero raises to $5, 1 fold, SB calls, BB calls, MP2 calls.

Flop: K K 8 ($20.25, 4 players)
SB checks, BB bets $11, MP2 folds, Hero raises to $30, BB folds, UTG raises to $49, Hero raises all-in $63.5, UTG raises to $138.

[XTR1000]

- 3 barril air on favorable flop against 15/5 nit

Bad idea. Assuming you´re the preflop aggressor the nits range is small-mid pp´s exclusively, with which he fits or folds. When these guys call a flop slow down. This sort of opponent´s range is so unlikely to catch a mediocre hand that he could be 3barelled off, that multistreet-moves are just spew. U take more money off them by cbetting 100% and slowing down if called when u cant beat bottom set.

[jimmy44]

- 3 barril air on favorable flop against 15/5 nit

Bad idea. Assuming you´re the preflop aggressor the nits range is small-mid pp´s exclusively, with which he fits or folds. When these guys call a flop slow down. This sort of opponent´s range is so unlikely to catch a mediocre hand that he could be 3barelled off, that multistreet-moves are just spew. U take more money off them by cbetting 100% and slowing down if called when u cant beat bottom set.

Actually, I have found that these 15/5 or 15/7 guys will fold everything but near the nuts to a 3barril on a favorable flop (e.g. K64). If they have a hand (i.e. "set") they will let you know on the flop/turn. If they don't they will most likely fold to a 3barril. They will not call their all stack with KQ (they might even fold AK) on a K64TJ by the river.

[jimmy44]

I had a good 800 hands session yesterday evening. To the opposite of my previous session, I felt that lots of stuff went on my direction, I also think I played well (it's always easy when things seem to go your way).
Here are my biggest win and biggest lost hands.

==> Biggest winner hand:
villain was 12/5/3 and I had stacked villain where he had KK and my flush complete on the river (on paired board) a couple of hands before. I had a read on him that he bets sets every street IP. After that I folded to him to a pot turn bet when I had KK on a low four way flop, so I knew he would think that I was pushing him around. Too bad for him I wasn't

Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1.00
10 players
Seat 5: Hero [ QD,AS ] ($148.50 in chips)
Seat 10: BB ($111.45 in chips)

Converter

Pre-flop: (10 players) Hero is MP2 with Q A
3 folds, Hero raises to $4, 4 folds, BB raises to $7, Hero calls.

Flop: T J K ($14.75, 3 players)
BB bets $9, Hero raises to $24, BB calls.

Turn: 3 ($62.75, 3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $80, BB calls.

River: 3 ($222.75, 3 players)

Final pot: $222.75

Results:

Villain shows Ac Ah



==> Biggest loosing hand (I was lucky that I didn't had a worst loosing hand in the session ):

villain just entered the game on the previous hand. I just could not get away off the hand, he might well could have high cards or a lower pair.

Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1.00
10 players
Seat 1: SB ($29.00 in chips)
Seat 4: Hero [ 8D,8C ] ($100.00 in chips)

Converter

Pre-flop: (10 players) Hero is UTG+1 with 8 8
UTG calls, Hero raises to $4, 6 folds, SB calls, 2 folds.

Flop: 5 2 2 ($8.75, 2 players)
SB bets $5, Hero raises to $25, SB calls all-in $20.

Turn: 9 ($58.75, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $58.75)

River: Q ($58.75, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $58.75)

Final pot: $58.75

Results:

Villain shows 9c 9s

[jimmy44]

Just had a nice Sunday evening!!
Played a small 2-tables session while playing on a $5k MTT freeroll.
Conclusion:
- Won $120 on my cash game session
- Won $1500 (1st out of 183) on my $5k MTT freeroll. I think I won a million of all-ins!! I'm such a lucky bastard!!

Now I'm rolled for 200NL: got 37 buyins
Tomorrow I'll post my biggest winning/biggest looser hand.

[jimmy44]

I was very impolite yesterday!!
I would like to thank FTR for making this possible. Without FTR I'll not be where I am now!

Cheers!

[XTR1000]

Won $1500 (1st out of 183)

Nice score man, congrats!

[jimmy44]

Thanks mate!
My 3 MTT win and the 2nd over $1000

[jimmy44]

Here are the biggest winners/loosers from 2 nights ago.

==> Biggest winning hand:
Pretty standard.

Texas Hold'em $0.50-$1 NL (real money), hand
#P4-63118269-442
Table Fortaleza, 16 Mar 2008 9:44 PM ET

Seat 1: Haieral ($76.20 in chips)
Seat 2: freds129 ($97.50 in chips)
Seat 3: ...well... ($65.55 in chips)
Seat 4: tslgambler ($21.05 in chips)
Seat 5: Travinski2 ($97.00 in chips)
Seat 6: Klappergott ($14.95 in chips)
Seat 7: klevez ($84.00 in chips)
Seat 8: kurteman1 ($71.00 in chips)
Seat 9: Hero [ AC,AH ] ($99.50 in chips)
Seat 10: lithi-san ($78.30 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
Haieral posts blind ($0.50), freds129 posts blind
($1).

PRE-FLOP
...well... bets $2, tslgambler folds, Travinski2
folds, Klappergott folds, klevez folds, kurteman1
folds, Hero bets $10, lithi-san bets $32,
Haieral folds, freds129 folds, ...well... folds,
Hero bets $89.50 and is all-in, lithi-san calls
$46.30 and is all-in.

FLOP [board cards 5D,4D,3C ]

TURN [board cards 5D,4D,3C,AS ]

RIVER [board cards 5D,4D,3C,AS,8C ]

SHOWDOWN
Hero shows [ AC,AH ]
lithi-san shows [ 10S,10C ]
Hero wins $178.30.


==> Biggest looser:
Villain was pretty aggressive. His min raise PF can be something from huge pair, mid/small PP, suited connectors or Axs. My call on turn was not very good as very seldomly he would have a "set" on flop, so my implied odds are very weak.
On river, I thought I could put him off his weak holding (I did not thought he could small bet this turn & river with TPMK). However, I played badly, as I was representing a missed FD ...

Texas Hold'em $0.5-$1 NL (real money), hand
#P4-63118269-467
Table Fortaleza, 16 Mar 2008 10:07 PM ET

Seat 1: Haieral ($72.70 in chips)
Seat 2: freds129 ($97.10 in chips)
Seat 3: ...well... ($85.05 in chips)
Seat 4: tslgambler ($5.55 in chips)
Seat 5: Travinski2 ($107.95 in chips)
Seat 7: poweRanger ($100.50 in chips)
Seat 8: kurteman1 ($80.85 in chips)
Seat 9: Hero [ 10H,7H ] ($176.30 in chips)
Seat 10: lithi-san ($105.55 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
kurteman1 posts blind ($0.50), Hero posts blind
($1).

PRE-FLOP
lithi-san folds, Haieral folds, freds129 folds,
...well... bets $2, tslgambler folds, Travinski2 calls
$2, poweRanger folds, kurteman1 folds, Hero $1.

FLOP [board cards KC,JD,2D ]
Hero checks, ...well... checks, Travinski2
checks.

TURN [board cards KC,JD,2D,8H ]
Hero checks, ...well... bets $1.50, Travinski2 folds, Hero calls $1.50.

RIVER [board cards KC,JD,2D,8H,5C ]
Hero checks, ...well... bets $1.50, Hero bets $9, ...well... calls $7.50.

SHOWDOWN
Hero shows [ 10H,7H ]
...well... shows [ 10S,KS ]
...well... wins $26.15.

[XTR1000]

Hand 2 is so bad. Vs you´re line he doesnt ever fold 2nd pair. Don´t (delay)float OOP, it works almost never.

(I know this, b/c I did this a million times without success )

[jimmy44]

Hand 2 is so bad. Vs you´re line he doesnt ever fold 2nd pair. Don´t (delay)float OOP, it works almost never.

(I know this, b/c I did this a million times without success )

Yup! I'm really happy I started this blog again!

[jimmy44]

A small update.
2 days ago I played my first real session of 200NL.
Played around 350 hands and made a small profit of $126

==> Biggest hand won:
I was hopping he had a K and he did (nor KK neither KQ or course )
Texas Hold'em $1-$2 NL (real money), hand #P4-63380277-258
Table Billings, 20 Mar 2008 1:02 AM ET

Seat 1: 6898 ($185.65 in chips)
Seat 2: uniconda ($314.20 in chips)
Seat 4: Snkplissken ($197.00 in chips)
Seat 5: xcyde ($209.95 in chips)
Seat 7: Hero [ QH,QD ] ($208.30 in chips)
Seat 8: shuri ($244.70 in chips)
Seat 9: 2feel ($224.75 in chips)
Seat 10: RaoulDuke123 ($194.00 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
6898 posts blind ($1), uniconda posts blind ($2).

PRE-FLOP
Snkplissken folds, xcyde folds, Hero bets $7, shuri calls $7, 2feel folds, RaoulDuke123 folds, 6898 calls $6, uniconda folds.

FLOP [board cards KH,QC,KC ]
6898 checks, Hero bets $15, shuri folds, 6898 calls $15.

TURN [board cards KH,QC,KC,7H ]
6898 checks, Hero bets $30, 6898 calls $30.

RIVER [board cards KH,QC,KC,7H,5S ]
6898 checks, Hero bets $156.30 and is all-in, 6898 calls $133.65 and is all-in.

SHOWDOWN

Hero shows [ QH,QD ]
6898 shows [ KD,6D ]



==> Biggest lost pot:
Maybe a fold PF after the limp/raise might have been better as I would not have position.
Texas Hold'em $1-$2 NL (real money), hand #P4-63366649-386
Table Tsumeb, 20 Mar 2008 1:16 AM ET

Seat 1: paruch ($45.00 in chips)
Seat 2: Doetsie ($217.75 in chips)
Seat 3: Burnie244 ($204.15 in chips)
Seat 4: Deltahedge ($450.05 in chips)
Seat 5: greedy91 ($191.00 in chips)
Seat 6: winnarr777 ($23.00 in chips)
Seat 7: Hero [ 10C,10S ] ($240.85 in chips)
Seat 8: funghetto ($211.25 in chips)
Seat 9: monkey4sale ($192.80 in chips)
Seat 10: fillmar13 ($198.00 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
Hero posts blind ($1), funghetto posts blind ($2).

PRE-FLOP
monkey4sale folds, fillmar13 calls $2, paruch folds, Doetsie folds, Burnie244 folds, Deltahedge folds, greedy91 folds, winnarr777 folds, Hero bets $11, funghetto folds, fillmar13 bets $35, Hero calls $25.

FLOP [board cards 5H,QS,JH ]
Hero checks, fillmar13 bets $70, Hero folds.

[jimmy44]

Really bad night yesterday!! Lost 3 buyins at 200NL
Lately, I seem to lose almost every pot against small stack (overpair vs set, ...). But I have to fight to cope with this not affecting my play!!
I lost 3 stacks in 3 big pots (I'll post 2 of them under the FR forum). At least one of them was a very bad play.
My BR is now down to $5900. I was planning on playing 200NL with a stop loss at $5000 where I would move back again to 100NL. However, I'm wondering if I would not be better off my playing 100NL up to $7500 BR and and try again 200NL with a stop loss at 12.5 buy-ins which should give me a good margin ...
I know this is FR and variance is much lower but I'm an uber nit at playing poker and BR management I have 2 days to think about it!

==> Biggest post won
Villain was 30/11/2. I would not get any value by betting river, I had to allow villain to bluff me river and try to take the pot from my represented AA/KK. Too bad he did not bet more. I don't think a check-raise river here would be good as we would only get called by better.

Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
Hero: MP2: $200
villain: CO: $200
9 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is MP2 with K Q
2 folds, Hero raises to $7, MP3 folds, CO calls, 4 folds.

Flop: Q 5 9 ($15.5, 2 players)
Hero bets $12, CO calls.

Turn: Q ($39.5, 2 players)
Hero bets $24, CO calls.

River: 4 ($87.5, 2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $15, Hero calls.

Results:
Final pot: $117.5
villain shows Ah7h


==> Biggest post won
villain was 10/5/2.
I called PF hopping that villain could have a JJ-QQ and stack off in a low flop or that BB would squeeze.
Please let me hang my self here!!! (Who can provide me with a rope? ) How can this villain bet this turn with JJ-KK and a heart? (There are so much many possible hands that are in front: 66/77/TT/JT/AKhh/AQhh/AJhh. This was a clear fold on turn.
If the turn card was not that bad (e.g. not paired the board) I think getting it in would not be that bad, though with that tight of an opp, it's still questionable ...

Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
8 players
Seat 1: villain: CO+1: ($311.50 in chips)
Seat 2: Hero: CO: [ AD,AH ] ($197.00 in chips)
Converter

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is Button with A A
3 folds, CO raises to $8, Hero calls, 3 folds.

Flop: 6 7 T ($17.5, 2 players)
CO bets $15, Hero raises to $45, CO calls.

Turn: T ($107.5, 2 players)
CO bets $60, Hero raises all-in $144, CO calls.

River: Q ($107.5, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $107.5)

Results:
Final pot: $107.5

villain shows 77

[jimmy44]

Finally, I decided to stick with 100NL until I have 37.5 buy-ins for 200NL.
I had another session yesterday evening for a profit of nearly 3 buy-ins at 100NL (it's not enough to cover the 3 buy-ins lost at 200NL, but I'll get there! ).
I really felt that I play well yesterday, after having played about 2k hands at 200NL and moving down to 100NL, really made me realise that 100NL is not that difficult and be able to exploit much better opps
I advice anyone who is near enough their lower limit to a higher level to really try to play it for some hands and try to get used to that new level. When you come back to your old level you'll see that your game has improved and you'll exploit opps better!

==> Biggest hand won:
villain was 19/2/3 so I can put him solely on KK+ making my call a good one. On the flop I cannot raise as he would easily push over my raise (maybe I would have odds to call anyway ... hmm ... hesitating now on the bet line). My implied represented all my stack so I could call here even if getting only 2.3-1 odds.
Then turn, I can put him on KK/AA or maybe AK and he is not folding so it speaks for itself

Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1.00
10 players
Seat 3: Hero [ AS,JS ] ($129.30 in chips)
Seat 4: shajmaty ($19.50 in chips)
Seat 5: Kaato83 ($93.10 in chips)
Seat 6: HasimTachi ($98.50 in chips)
Seat 7: Peponekw2 ($49.00 in chips)
Seat 8: SRLE82 ($245.65 in chips)

Converter

Pre-flop: (10 players) Hero is MP2 with A J
4 folds, Hero raises to $4, 4 folds, BB raises to $11, Hero calls.

Flop: 8 K 3 ($22.75, 2 players)
BB bets $18, Hero calls.

Turn: 2 ($58.75, 2 players)
BB bets $55, Hero raises to $99.3, BB calls.

River: 7 ($257.35, 2 players)

Results:
Final pot: $257.35
villain shows KK


==> Biggest hand lost:
Villain was unknown. I had been at table for 10 hands and I had bet aggressively 2 pots.
The problem with my line is that the only thing I'm representing is QQ/22/QJ and maybe 55. I don't know if villain is a thinking player (that's the problem of trying this against an unknown).
With all that in mind I think villain folds 77-TT here quite often.
He almost ran out of time before calling.

Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1.00
10 players

Converter

Pre-flop: (10 players) Hero is BU with T 8
7 folds, Hero raises to $4, SB calls, UTG folds.

Flop: Q 2 2 ($8, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks.

Turn: 5 ($8, 2 players)
SB bets $6, Hero raises to $18, SB calls.

River: J ($44, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $30, SB calls.

Results:
Final pot: $104
villain shows AQo

[XTR1000]

i dont like the preflop call in hand 1. His range is so tight, we dont catch a flush vs top set often enough to make this even close to 0ev. Most of the time we win a small pot or lose a big one. As played flop and turn are standard

[jimmy44]

I'm getting 2-1 odds ($8 to call a $16) on hand 1. Plus with such a narrow range and my stack, I'm getting nearly 17-1 with implied odds. The odds to flop a FD are 8.1-1 (11%) and the odds to flop 2 pairs are 24-1 (4%). So odds of making a good hand on flop are around 6-1 (15%), not counting trips Js. So, with position, I believe it should be an easy call

[XTR1000]

Ur implied odds arent even close to 17:1. What sort of board do u think of, where u beat KK+ and he will stack off with weaker?

[jimmy44]

Let's see:
With such a villain on a non A board he would stack off with an overpair. He's not the ultimate nit (not something like 5/2 or 7/2, he is 19/2 (so a bit of a station and very tight raising PF)).
Let's take the FD possibility only.
We have 8.1 odds of having a FD board:
So 8.1 in 9.1 we would loose the $8 because we would fold. 1 in 9.1 we would have a FD board where we can call a bet. Let's say for the sake of the example that villain bets $18 pot on flop and we call. 1 every 5.5 times the turn card will be a spade and we would stack him (because the pot is too big)). The rest we would fold and loose the bet.
Let's put some figures:
-8.1*$8 + 1*(-4.5*$18 + ($157*0.8 - $97*0.2))) =
-64.8 + (-81 + 125.6 - 19.4) = $-39.6 EV

Some factors to add more EV:
1 - villain might 3bet AKo and will most certainty check down if unimproved.
2 - On a A high flop villain would slow down (at least on turn) with KK.
3 - villain would possibly tilt (actually it happened yesterday and he gave me 30BB more )
4 - on a flop xJJ (not considered in the calcs) he would not stack off but he would give a bit of his stack.

Some factors that would remove EV:
5 - We would loose part of our stack on a AJx flop and he has AA.

Note: I think we can forget about 4 & 5 because they will complement themselves.

Of couse I haven't thought about all that yesterday evening
This was not an easy call as I mentioned before, I think this is tight. If villain was 5/2 this would have been a different story ...

[XTR1000]

okay consider two more things:

- when he 3bets oop it doesnt matter if hes 5/2 or 19/2. In fact his range is even stronger, since the high vpip indicates passiveness and that he´s only raising the goods.

- it does not increase our ev, when he slows down with 2nd best hands.


Dont get me wrong, I can imagine many situations where this call is good, but not vs a guy who 3bets KK+ exclusively

[jimmy44]

Thanks for the insight! I think I learned something here

I played another session yesterday evening for a total profit ot 4 buy-ins at 100NL I'll getting closer to the 37.5 buy-ins for 200NL.
Even if I started with stacking of Top 2 pairs vs set, yesterday I ran really well (I think too well, so I have to expect a bit of a downswing soon!).

==> Biggest hand won:
Villain was a huge station PF and a bit aggressive postflop: 33/1/3.
Due to stack sizes I did an ankward 4bet PF. Villain is clearly saying he has KK+ (maybe QQ). As he was a huge station I wanted to put a lot of money PF so that he had to call postflop even with QQ and K or A high flop.
Maybe a 4bet to $100 would have been enough ...
Or maybe this hand just plays out itself and I'm asking too many unecessary questions ...

Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1.00
8 players
Seat 3: Hero [ AC,AS ] ($229.80 in chips)
Seat 9: UTG ($167.75 in chips)
Converter

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is Button with A A
UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls, 2 folds, Hero raises to $5, SB folds, BB calls, UTG calls, MP1 raises to $20.5, Hero raises to $125, 2 folds, MP1 calls.

Flop: J A 3 ($260.25, 2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $104.8, MP1 calls all-in $42.75.
Uncalled bets: $62.05 returned to Hero.

Turn: 5 ($345.75, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $345.75)


River: 6 ($345.75, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $345.75)

Results:
Final pot: $345.75
Villain shows KK


==> Biggest post lost:
Only had 11 hands on villain for 11/0/inf stats. Therefore, I didn't 3bet flop.
On flop his 3bet is clearly saying he has a set or with the FD, maybe he was getting tricky. However, the only really hand we are worried here is 77 as AA and QQ are quite unlikely, therefore, I think we have to push (if we call we are committed to the pot anyway).

Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.5/$1.00
10 players
Seat 2: CO ($97.40 in chips)
Seat 4: Hero [ AS,QD ] ($96.50 in chips)
Converter

Pre-flop: (10 players) Hero is SB with A Q
6 folds, CO raises to $4, BU folds, Hero calls, BB folds.

Flop: Q 7 A ($8.25, 2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $6, Hero raises to $18, CO raises to $46, Hero raises all-in $74.5, CO calls.

Turn: 4 ($8.25, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $8.25)


River: 8 ($8.25, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $8.25)

Results:
Final pot: $8.25
Villain shows 77

[jimmy44]

During the last 4 days I had 2 sessions, one negative and the other one was positive which completely balanced themselves, so I'm still at 33.5 buy-ins for 200NL, 4 more to go

==> Biggest won hand:
I even thought of folding the river, but as what I wanted was the flush I could not fold anymore and I was right
Eckmul31 and alex9x were both aggressive stations.

Texas Hold'em $0.5-$1 NL (real money), hand
#P4-64303061-707
Table Chiayi, 31 Mar 2008 10:51 PM ET

Seat 2: x akut x ($94.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Hero [ 10,6 ] ($98.30 in chips)
Seat 4: Zopuh ($124.15 in chips)
Seat 5: alex9 x ($84.00 in chips)
Seat 6: x etavla ($20.50 in chips)
Seat 7: Doi_Moi ($127.05 in chips)
Seat 8: kikuszko ($200.00 in chips)
Seat 9: Eckmul31 ($53.40 in chips)
Seat 10: blackmoon76 ($18.50 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
x akut x posts blind ($0.50), Hero posts blind
($1).

PRE-FLOP
Zopuh folds, alex9 x bets $2, x etavla folds, Doi_Moi
calls $2, kikuszko calls $2, Eckmul31 calls $2,
blackmoon76 folds, x akut x folds, Hero calls
$1.

FLOP [board cards Q,K,7 ]
Hero checks, alex9 x bets $5, Doi_Moi folds,
kikuszko folds, Eckmul31 calls $5, Hero calls
$5.

TURN [board cards Q,K,7,5 ]
Heroy checks, alex9 x bets $4, Eckmul31 calls
$4, Hero calls $4.

RIVER [board cards Q,K,7,5,9 ]
Hero checks, alex9 x bets $1, Eckmul31 bets
$42.40 and is all-in, Hero calls $42.40, alex9
x folds.

SHOWDOWN
Eckmul31 shows [ JS,9D ]
Hero shows [ 10C,6C ]
Hero wins $120.30.

==> Biggest lost hand:
I don't remember when I played so bad a KK hand before!
Villain was unknown.
Preflop/Flop I'm anouncing that I have a big pair. He called pretty quickly preflop & flop. This is normally a draw type of hand. The issue I had was that I was worried villain had: 66/77/88 or T9. However, on turn, pot was so big and flush didn't hit so I have to bet/call push.

Texas Hold'em $0.5-$1 NL (real money), hand
#P4-64316913-435
Table syltunge's HE, 31 Mar 2008 10:28 PM ET

Seat 2: cepetruck ($91.00 in chips)
Seat 3: Scripett ($167.50 in chips)
Seat 4: x akut x ($775.70 in chips)
Seat 6: oilispeaking ($100.00 in chips)
Seat 7: phung1 ($138.10 in chips)
Seat 8: Lisa_Sweden ($227.90 in chips)
Seat 9: solongfolks1 ($184.50 in chips)
Seat 10: Hero[ K,K ] ($98.50 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
cepetruck posts blind ($0.50), Scripett posts blind
($1).

PRE-FLOP
x akut x folds, oilispeaking folds, phung1 bets $3,
Lisa_Sweden folds, solongfolks1 folds, Hero
bets $12, cepetruck folds, Scripett folds, phung1
calls $9.

FLOP [board cards 6,7,8 ]
phung1 checks, Hero bets $17, phung1 calls $17.

TURN [board cards 6,7,8,2 ]
phung1 checks, Hero checks.

RIVER [board cards 6,7,8,2,J ]
phung1 bets $40, Hero folds.

[jimmy44]

I checked my March stats and OMG!! It was my biggest month in terms of winnings. I won $2674!! (I have to count my $1500 MTT win of course )

Other then that, I had another session yesterday evening and here are the biggest won/lost hands:

==> Biggest won hand:
villain was 20/0/2 over 20 hands. Too bad for villain we hit our dream card on turn.

Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1.00
9 players
Seat 4: CO ($100.35 in chips)
Seat 7: Hero [ 10S,10C ] ($102.95 in chips)

Converter

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is BB with T T
5 folds, CO calls, BU calls, SB folds, Hero raises to $6, CO calls.

Flop: 5 7 8 ($13, 2 players)
Hero bets $10, CO calls.

Turn: T ($33, 2 players)
Hero bets $22, CO raises all-in $83.35, Hero calls.

River: A ($33, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $33)


Results:
Final pot: $33
villain shows 88


==> Biggest lost hand:
villain was 70/15 (over 40 hands). With this villain we cannot fold he could have anything from FD/KQ/QJ, even if we have not played a lot of hands. A better line could be call and push a non diamond turn.
Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1.00
8 players
Seat 2: SB ($56.75 in chips)
Seat 7: Hero [ QH,AH ] ($100.00 in chips)
Seat 8: CO ($71.95 in chips)

Converter

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is MP2 with Q A
3 folds, Hero raises to $4, CO calls, BU folds, SB calls, BB folds.

Flop: T Q 4 ($12.25, 3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $10, CO raises to $20, SB folds, Hero raises all-in $86, CO calls all-in $47.95.
Uncalled bets: $18.05 returned to Hero.

Turn: 8 ($148.15, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $148.15)


River: 9 ($148.15, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $148.15)


Results:
Final pot: $148.15
villain shows QTo

[jimmy44]

After a huge month of March, I'm having a terrible time in April.
I'm up $22 after 10k hands!
Lately, I seem to run like dog shit!
Anyway, as a general rule in poker: "What comes around goes around".
I have 33.5 buy-ins for 200NL, still need 4 more.

==> Here's the biggest hand won (from my last 1500 hands session!)
Texas Hold'em $0.5-$1 NL (real money), hand
#P4-65877508-144
Table Pretoria, 20 Apr 2008 8:31 PM ET

Seat 1: bondike ($123.95 in chips)
Seat 2: blaster1111 ($68.70 in chips)
Seat 4: Miggl_AC ($17.70 in chips)
Seat 5: Hero [ AC,AD ] ($115.45 in chips)
Seat 6: fred4242 ($22.85 in chips)
Seat 7: Paasis ($99.10 in chips)
Seat 8: nuttheflops ($100.00 in chips)
Seat 9: DeadPrincess ($100.00 in chips)
Seat 10: lasdxm ($98.40 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
jimbo_jimmy posts blind ($0.50), fred4242 posts blind
($1).

PRE-FLOP
Paasis calls $1, nuttheflops folds, DeadPrincess
folds, lasdxm folds, bondike folds, blaster1111 folds,
Miggl_AC folds, Hero bets $6, fred4242 calls
$5.50, Paasis folds.

FLOP [board cards AH,7H,QD ]
Hero checks, fred4242 bets $1.50, jimbo_jimmy
bets $17, fred4242 calls $14.85 and is all-in.

TURN [board cards AH,7H,QD,10C ]

RIVER [board cards AH,7H,QD,10C,6D ]

SHOWDOWN
Hero shows [ AC,AD ]
fred4242 shows [ 7C,7D ]
Hero wins $45.05.

==> Here's the biggest lost hand
villain was 80/2/3 (I'm not joking!!) for 50 hands.
I had a read on him that he tried to get a tight player of his TP with a raise all-in on River. The different was that on that hand the tight player had raise flop & bet turn. Here I had played the hand passively. Can we put villain only on a set?


Texas Hold'em $0.5-$1 NL (real money), hand
#P4-65914855-190
Table Jena, 21 Apr 2008 11:39 AM ET

Seat 1: Gyazy78 ($77.55 in chips)
Seat 2: topinHUN1 ($129.75 in chips)
Seat 3: dreamerlife ($82.25 in chips)
Seat 4: MuHyc 0 ($173.45 in chips)
Seat 5: ThaArqui ($170.55 in chips)
Seat 6: Hero [ 8H,9H ] ($96.35 in chips)
Seat 7: lucky636 ($210.50 in chips)
Seat 8: SylviaGirl ($100.00 in chips)
Seat 9: strst ($330.70 in chips)
Seat 10: MOPOH ($18.50 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
Gyazy78 posts blind ($0.50), topinHUN1 posts blind
($1).

PRE-FLOP
dreamerlife folds, MuHyc 0 folds, ThaArqui folds,
Hero calls $1, lucky636 folds, SylviaGirl
folds, strst calls $1, MOPOH folds, Gyazy78 calls
$0.50, topinHUN1 checks.

FLOP [board cards 5H,2S,9D ]
Gyazy78 checks, topinHUN1 checks, Hero bets
$2.50, strst bets $5, Gyazy78 folds, topinHUN1 folds,
Hero calls $2.50.

TURN [board cards 5H,2S,9D,8S ]
Hero checks, strst bets $10, Hero calls $10.

RIVER [board cards 5H,2S,9D,8S,2D ]
Hero checks, strst bets $80.35, Hero calls $80.35 and is all-in.

SHOWDOWN
[Hidden]

[jimmy44]

I've been quite lasy lately at posting the status here.
Work lately is frantic! Therefore, I don't have a lot of time during the day.
Anyway, 2 weeks ago I started thinking that my stats postflop are quite aggressive and that I felt that my game was more suited to 6-max, so since last week I decided that I would play 5-max (I play in Ongame and it had only 5-max and very few 6-max tables) until mid May and then evaluate. My ultimate goal is to switch to 6/5-max as at higher levels FR has not a lot of traffic. Furthermore, playing 6/5-max will make me improve as a player.


I had initially 2 1k sessions at 100NL 5-max where I lost about $30 each and then yesterday evening I had a very good one where I won $470. Let's wait for mid May and evaluate.

==> Biggest post won:
villain was 19/13/3 (50 hands).
He definitively does not have KK+. cocomusic was a station but he would not call his stack with a weak hand. Back to villain: even if villain has a PP, with the money in the pot, this should be a call.

Texas Hold'em $0.5-$1 NL (real money), hand
#P4-66972580-691
Table Gera, 5 May 2008 9:06 PM ET


Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1.00
5 players
Seat 2: MP ($123.95 in chips)
Seat 3: BU ($188.20 in chips)
Seat 5: Hero [ KD,AD ] ($99.00 in chips)
Seat 8: BB ($38.30 in chips)
Seat 9: UTG ($98.50 in chips)
Converter

Pre-flop: (5 players) Hero is SB with K A
UTG raises to $3.5, MP calls, BU calls, Hero raises to $20, 2 folds, MP calls, BU raises to $187.95, Hero calls, MP folds.

Flop: 9 J T ($399.4, 2 players)


Turn: 8 ($399.4, 2 players)


River: T ($399.4, 2 players)


Results:
Final pot: $399.4


==> Biggest pot lost:
We have a lots of outs on the flop and against shorty we cannot fold.

Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.25/$0.50
4 players
Seat 6: Hero [ 7D,AH ] ($194.35 in chips)
Seat 7: SB ($37.60 in chips)
Converter

Pre-flop: (4 players) Hero is Button with 7 A
Hero raises to $4, SB calls, 2 folds.

Flop: T 8 9 ($8.5, 2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $7, Hero raises all-in $190.35, SB calls for $25

Turn: 4 ($8.5, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $8.5)


River: A ($8.5, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $8.5)


Results:
Final pot: $8.5

villain showed TT

[jimmy44]

After a nice profit in 5-max, then I have the same amount but the opposite was around ... it sucks, but that's the price to pay to learn 5/6-max.
Yesterday I lost $500, $170 of which was badly play, the rest was unlucky, but that's poker.

==> Biggest hand won:
On my 5-max sessions, I like to raise crap for some hands in a row to have a crappy image, so I'm raising almost anything on SB against BB.
I was lucky that villain wanted to play dumb push river poker

Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1.00
4 players
Seat 2: BB ($92.70 in chips)
Seat 10: SB [ 3H,10H ] ($99.00 in chips)
Converter

Pre-flop: (4 players) Hero is SB with 3 T
2 folds, Hero raises to $3.5, BB calls.

Flop: T 3 6 ($7.25, 2 players)
Hero bets $5, BB raises to $10, Hero calls.

Turn: 8 ($27.25, 2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $15, Hero calls.

River: T ($57.25, 2 players)
Hero bets $5, BB raises to $63.7, Hero calls.

Results:
Final pot: $184.65

villain shows 84o


==> Biggest pot lost:
villain was 23/20/4 (200 hands)
I decided to trap with KK here.
I believe that villain will call with dominated hands here such as TT/QQ and maybe 99 as I'm representing a FD.

Seat 1: BB ($162.70 in chips)
Seat 7: Hero [ KD,KS ] ($155.35 in chips)

Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1.00
3 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (3 players) Hero is SB with K K
BU folds, Hero raises to $3.5, BB raises to $12, Hero calls.

Flop: 5 2 7 ($24.25, 2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $20, Hero raises all-in $142.35, BB calls.

Turn: 8 ($308.95, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $308.95)


River: 9 ($308.95, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $308.95)


Results:
Final pot: $308.95

[jimmy44]

A quick update on my operation.
In June I played 10k of 100NL 5max which helped me a lot to steal more blinds from LP and deal with 3bets.
I'm currently playing 200NL FR. I'm still learning the game (aren't we all? ).
I'm targetting 400NL within 6 months or so. Let's see if I can make.

Here's a hand that I'm not sure if I played it well:
$1/$2 No Limit Holdem
9 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG Noodlebrains ($306.69)
UTG+1 christop69 ($235.75)
MP1 ogYahtzee ($200.00)
MP2 Anni_Maria ($192.70)
MP3 Easy_Rider_x ($134.25)
CO Hero ($231.60)
BTN Pokerbus21 ($76.00)
SB chiefschief ($217.05)
BB underthefelt ($238.20)

Pre-flop: ($3, 9 players) Hero is CO
2 folds, ogYahtzee calls $2, 2 folds, Hero raises to $10, 1 fold, chiefschief raises to $30, 1 fold, ogYahtzee folds, Hero raises to $80, chiefschief raises to $217.05, Hero calls $137.05

Flop: ($438.10, 2 players)

Turn: ($438.10, 2 players)

River: ($438.10, 2 players)

Final Pot: $438.10
[Results hidden]

villain was 10/8/2 but 3bets 6% over 500 hands. Now the decision should be on the 4bet. I believe that if we 4bet we have to call a push. Maybe it's better vs a 12/10 villain

[jimmy44]

I thought about this hand and the problem with it is simply that in this case I should be calling Pre often as we have position we can play a pot with a good hand.

[bjsaust]

Hey Jimmy, obviously beyond my stakes, but against a guy this tight (even with 6% 3-bet), the problem I see with 4-betting is that you get into a situation where you fold almost all hands you're ahead of and get called/raised mainly by hands ahead of you. AK is probably the only exception to those situations. Against a more aggressive/tricky opponent its better I think, but against someone who seems fairly straightfoward I dont think its a good line.

[XTR1000]

The QQ looks okay to me. If he´s been overly defending his blind by 3betting a case for flatting his 3bet could be made. We´re in good shape vs his range and dont want him to fold his {88-JJ,AJ,AQ}. Still 4betting with the intention of getting it in isn´t a bad play, it´s just the higher variance line.

One thing about posting hands, that I realized maybe some weeks ago: Biggest winners/losers are mostly hands, where one party gets coolered or bad players donk off a stack to us. The medium sized pots and tough turn decisions are way more worth looking at and the spots where we can improve our game largely imo.

Good luck on your way, hope we´ll play some 2/4 together by the end of this year

[jimmy44]

Hey Jimmy, obviously beyond my stakes, but against a guy this tight (even with 6% 3-bet), the problem I see with 4-betting is that you get into a situation where you fold almost all hands you're ahead of and get called/raised mainly by hands ahead of you. AK is probably the only exception to those situations. Against a more aggressive/tricky opponent its better I think, but against someone who seems fairly straightfoward I dont think its a good line.

Completely agree! It's much better to call the 3bet IP

[jimmy44]

The QQ looks okay to me. If he´s been overly defending his blind by 3betting a case for flatting his 3bet could be made. We´re in good shape vs his range and dont want him to fold his {88-JJ,AJ,AQ}. Still 4betting with the intention of getting it in isn´t a bad play, it´s just the higher variance line.

Yup, but it would better do this against a 12/10 guy. Here calling the 3bet IP is best I believe.

One thing about posting hands, that I realized maybe some weeks ago: Biggest winners/losers are mostly hands, where one party gets coolered or bad players donk off a stack to us. The medium sized pots and tough turn decisions are way more worth looking at and the spots where we can improve our game largely imo.

I agree, I remember you posted something on this subject and I have to start reviewing more medium pot hands!

Good luck on your way, hope we´ll play some 2/4 together by the end of this year

It would be cool, but I'm not sure I'll do it. Time will tell!

[jimmy44]

Hmmm ... I don't seem to have the motivation to post here often ...

Update on the operation:
My BR sits now at $11,600. I played 30k hands at 200NL at a below average rate of 1.7bb/100 while running hot (I'm running at 2 buys-in less then expected in All-in EV, but I got some stuff like set over set or stuff like that, so I think I should be on a couple of buy-ins less). Plus I got some bonus in addition.
At a certain point my BR was $12,300 and then I lost $1K with variance and at least half of it with bad play. Then I've been trying to rethink my game and improve.

Currently, I lost a bit of motivation to keep playing 200NL as I fell that I have a huge number of leaks to fix.
One of my huge leaks is that I'm too weak-tight player.
Does any of you thinks that to fix that the best way would be to play a bit of LAG style at 50NL/100NL or play more 6max/5max?