Vi's Poker Blog

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

I've been a member of FTR for about two years, and during that time I have spent a tremendous amount of time playing and thinking about poker. This is actually my third poker blog, and i'm hoping this one mirrors the first more than my most recent. I have had modest financial success from poker, but i'd like to someday play at the 5000NL tables -- something i used to fantasize about when i was 16 and watching those games.

When i first joined FTR late in 2006, i was a losing small stakes player. It would've been cool if i had become a great poker player the moment i joined, but it didn't happen. It actually took about 6 months after i joined FTR for me to take the first major step in becoming a better poker player, which was starting my first poker blog. Shortly after i started writing, i found out about and joined Cardrunners. Doing this made studying much more productive and entertaining, and very quickly my game improved. Over the course of the summer i switched to 6Max and went from playing 50/100NL to taking shots at 400NL. To this day i've never managed to keep my foot in the door at the entrance to midstakes, and after a couple failed shots and playing/running bad i was back at 100NL by the beginning of 2008. Not surprisingly, around February of this year my enthusiam for poker dropped off sharply and i stopped playing.

Because i had taken a break from poker i needed a new method for paying my bills, so i returned to working full time. After a couple months of this i was starting to miss poker, and so around the middle of May i returned to playing. I quickly rebuilt my roll and by the end of June i was in a position to take another shot at 400NL. Unfortunately this shot didn't work out either. But the story won't end here.

I consider myself a very competent poker player and i'm confident i'm intellectually capable of understanding the concepts and ideas necessary to succeed in much bigger games than i'm playing today. My shortcoming has always been my work ethic. Last year a long running blog, as well as a passion for poker, helped keep me motivated. The only goal of this blog is to stay focused on playing and improving.


I expect the content of this blog to generally consist of hand histories, session summaries, and thorough explanations of random poker concepts. Also definitely some shout outs to all the ballers who are helping me become a better poker player!

[Jack Sawyer]

FIRST


and gl!

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

thanks jack


Today i played 2k hands, finished up 2 buy ins. Felt like i did a remarkably good job bet sizing and paying attention to table flow today. I shipped $90 to a fish on a horrible river call, but otherwise the tables were very good and the fish made many more mistakes than i did!


Here's an interesting hand from my second session. Button is the table fish and CO is Superluck, a TAGgy regular. No weird history.

What i would usually have done in a similar situation is call the flop raise and fold to a turn bet. Reviewing the hand afterwards, i think this is a spot where checking the flop would be best as my hand doesn't like to see a raise from CO, whose raising range is tighter than normal with the fish in the pot. Still proud of my flop fold!

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($225.80)
BB ($235.35)
Hero ($227.65)
MP ($200)
CO ($256.40)
Button ($132.05)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, Q.
Hero raises to $8, 1 fold, CO calls $8, Button calls $8, 2 folds.

Flop: ($27) J, 7, T (3 players)
Hero bets $18, CO raises to $36, Button folds, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $63

[kmind]

sick fold. I wish you the best. Definitely impressed with your past posts and believe you have what it takes to get to 5knl very soon.

Good luck!

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

sick fold. I wish you the best. Definitely impressed with your past posts and believe you have what it takes to get to 5knl very soon.

Good luck!

thanks kmind, that's very nice of you to say


A productive day at the tables, 2k hands for 6.5 buy ins! Early into my second session i almost tilted as i quickly dropped about 4 buy ins, but after winning some flips my mental balance was restored. Definitely ran well today.

I regularly read the HSNL forum here at FTR, and lately the content the posters have been writing about has been excellent. Their posts have made me think more about bet sizing in 3bet pots, and how position and SPR's (stack to pot ratio) influence that. Also sauce123 recently wrote a couple excellent posts regarding value betting in the HSNL forum everyone should check out. Here's the link:

http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...ma-t74532.html

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

Also, some hands...

I'm disgusted by my turn shove on this hand. At the time i figured that because i was holding the Jc i would have 15-20% equity against sets and worse flushes, and therefore a shove couldn't be that bad. However, i don't have enough hands on my opponent to be able to accurately determine his bluffing frequency, which means i can't accurately estimate my fold equity. Also, i am drawing dead versus Qxcc/Kxcc which make up a significant portion of the flushes in my opponents' range.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

CO ($215.55)
Button ($592)
SB ($186.30)
Hero ($215.65)
UTG ($347.25)
MP ($257.60)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, J.
1 fold, MP raises to $8, 3 folds, Hero calls $6.

Flop: ($17) 5, 8, 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $12, MP raises to $38, Hero calls $26.

Turn: ($93) A (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $64, Hero raises to $169.65, MP calls $105.65.

River: ($432.30) A (2 players)

Final Pot: $432.30




This hand came after i butchered the hand above. I was thinking about the earlier hand and beating myself up a little about it (something you definitely should not do during a session!). When a bad player makes a small lead and then 3bets, it's almost always a strong hand, but i forgot that before i shoved on him. Anyways after this hand i was really steamed at myself.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (5 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($207.10)
SB ($230.95)
BB ($199.90)
UTG ($206)
MP ($123.05)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, T.
1 fold, MP calls $2, Hero raises to $10, 2 folds, MP calls $8.

Flop: ($23) 5, 8, 9 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero checks.

Turn: ($23) T (2 players)
MP bets $4, Hero raises to $22, MP raises to $40, Hero raises to $194, MP calls $73.05 (All-In).

River: ($330.05) T (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $249.10




Here's a hand i like how i played. Button is a big fish, spewy aggro and a station. I think my CiB on the turn is optimal versus this player as it allows him the opportunity to either call with a draw, thinking he has excellent odds, or to bluff, as there is still some money behind.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP ($453.95)
Hero ($226.70)
Button ($226.35)
SB ($41.50)
BB ($33.30)
UTG ($136.75)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 8, 8.
2 folds, Hero raises to $6, Button calls $6, 2 folds.

Flop: ($15) J, 3, 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $10, Button calls $10.

Turn: ($35) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $22, Button raises to $58, Hero raises to $94, Button calls $36.

River: ($223) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $116.7 (All-In), Button calls $116.35 (All-In).

Final Pot: $455.70

[Da GOAT]

on the JJ hand i think we could find a fold after he raises you on flop.

when we lead we prefer opp to become passive and call us down. we bet bet bet depending on how texture evolves.

so when he raises its sets/ big draws/2pair/overpair. imo he wud call with weak draws like non nut ones. i dont think theres enough air in his range here to get it in on this flop bcoz its very wet board.

i think we can lead/fold here. also i think leading is fine since opp's wont be c/b'ing this board unless they hit/protecting. overall its a tough hand to play. im interested tho to hear arguements for leading and checking since checking gives us more info on opp's hand. if we check then we c/c flop and tend to be calling another street or leading river so it does suck. leading may well be best tho hard to quantify.

btw why no 3bet preflop?

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

on the JJ hand i think we could find a fold after he raises you on flop.

when we lead we prefer opp to become passive and call us down. we bet bet bet depending on how texture evolves.

so when he raises its sets/ big draws/2pair/overpair. imo he wud call with weak draws like non nut ones. i dont think theres enough air in his range here to get it in on this flop bcoz its very wet board.

i think we can lead/fold here. also i think leading is fine since opp's wont be c/b'ing this board unless they hit/protecting. overall its a tough hand to play. im interested tho to hear arguements for leading and checking since checking gives us more info on opp's hand. if we check then we c/c flop and tend to be calling another street or leading river so it does suck. leading may well be best tho hard to quantify.

Against a very very good opponent i could see how folding the flop might be correct. In reality however MP will sometimes give up on bluffs on the turn or check his drawing hands behind and basically won't play perfectly. Also i disagree that he couldn't raise a hand like KTcc when i lead the flop, which was the biggest reason why i didn't fold.

btw why no 3bet preflop?

Against a 15/13 i'd flat TT in this spot so i'd imagine flatting JJ can't be that bad. I didn't have enough hands on MP to know roughly what his opening range would be, how he plays in 3bet pots, 4bet frequency etc., so i decided to play it in such a way that i would be well ahead of his range almost regardless of how he was playing.

I can think of two good reasons not to 3bet unknowns with a hand like JJ. Since i won't have a good idea of how they play postflop, hands in the middle of my range (like JJ OOP in a 3bet pot) are going to be difficult to play after the flop. Also, if i showdown a hand like JJ/AK after just calling preflop, my opponent will likely come to an inaccurate conclusion about my 3bet ranges -- potentially very valuable misinformation!

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

2k hands, finished up 2 buy ins. No major spews, ran well.


Interesting hand, mostly because it's a 3bet pot 200bb deep. SB is an unknown, only 50 hands with him running nitty. He had already 3bet a couple times at the table though.

I decided not to raise the flop at the time because i felt that getting all in on the flop would be marginal and that a raise would commit me to the pot. After reviewing the hand, i like a very small flop raise (to $75 or so) as it would better define my opponents range and charge any potential drawing hands. I also just stoved SB's 3bet range and with AK i'm about a 15% favorite, so when i raise my hand is actually a bluffcatcher if he 3bets! If SB had just called my flop raise and checked on the turn i'd have bet/folded for $100.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (5 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

BB ($239.10)
UTG ($103.80)
MP ($209.45)
Hero ($400.30)
SB ($470.30)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, A.
2 folds, Hero raises to $6, SB raises to $22, 1 fold, Hero calls $16.

Flop: ($46) 8, 4, K (2 players)
SB bets $32, Hero calls $32.

Turn: ($110) 9 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $66, SB folds.

Final Pot: $110

[Da GOAT]

on the JJ hand i think we could find a fold after he raises you on flop.

when we lead we prefer opp to become passive and call us down. we bet bet bet depending on how texture evolves.

so when he raises its sets/ big draws/2pair/overpair. imo he wud call with weak draws like non nut ones. i dont think theres enough air in his range here to get it in on this flop bcoz its very wet board.

i think we can lead/fold here. also i think leading is fine since opp's wont be c/b'ing this board unless they hit/protecting. overall its a tough hand to play. im interested tho to hear arguements for leading and checking since checking gives us more info on opp's hand. if we check then we c/c flop and tend to be calling another street or leading river so it does suck. leading may well be best tho hard to quantify.

Against a very very good opponent i could see how folding the flop might be correct. In reality however MP will sometimes give up on bluffs on the turn or check his drawing hands behind and basically won't play perfectly. Also i disagree that he couldn't raise a hand like KTcc when i lead the flop, which was the biggest reason why i didn't fold.

btw i wud expect him to raise up KTcc here too, when i said non nut hands i really meant all others non nuts but K high ones. i dont get the turn action though, i dont likey.

btw why no 3bet preflop?

Against a 15/13 i'd flat TT in this spot so i'd imagine flatting JJ can't be that bad. I didn't have enough hands on MP to know roughly what his opening range would be, how he plays in 3bet pots, 4bet frequency etc., so i decided to play it in such a way that i would be well ahead of his range almost regardless of how he was playing.

I can think of two good reasons not to 3bet unknowns with a hand like JJ. Since i won't have a good idea of how they play postflop, hands in the middle of my range (like JJ OOP in a 3bet pot) are going to be difficult to play after the flop. Also, if i showdown a hand like JJ/AK after just calling preflop, my opponent will likely come to an inaccurate conclusion about my 3bet ranges -- potentially very valuable misinformation!

completely std flat pre here then, had to ask since i had no reads

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

2k hands, down 10.5 buy ins. Ugh. I don't feel too disappointed about poker today, as i managed to make some difficult folds when i might have otherwise tilt called/jammed. I imagine i ran below expectation today lol.


Here are my screw ups from 08/12/2008:


My flop 3bet is clearly much worse than calling the c/r, as my opponents' range is very polarized and the board is very dry. I'll need to shorten my sessions if i see more of these easily avoidable spews.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Button ($128.90)
SB ($198)
BB ($200)
UTG ($231.40)
MP ($197)
Hero ($200)

Preflop: Hero is CO with K, K.
1 fold, MP raises to $8, Hero raises to $24, 3 folds, MP calls $16.

Flop: ($51) 9, A, 2 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $26, MP raises to $88, Hero raises to $176


By felting my pair of 3's, i am essentially bluffing versus his calling range. While felting is probably not a major mistake as the effective SPR in the hand is 2, i need 66% fold equity if i never win the hand when called. I probably don't have that much FE, as CO was a station.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

CO ($45.70)
Button ($185.75)
SB ($196.45)
BB ($104.80)
Hero ($209.85)
MP ($130.80)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 3, 3.
Hero raises to $8, 1 fold, CO calls $8, 3 folds.

Flop: ($19) 4, 2, 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $42

Given the board texture, knowing my opponent isn't that aggressive, and my perception of his range, not continuation betting on this board was a mistake. BTN would definitely 4bet QQ+ so there are very few made hands in his range he is going to raise my cbet with, as he won't felt hands like TT on this flop.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG ($200)
MP ($212.60)
CO ($203)
Button ($237)
Hero ($198)
BB ($204.65)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7, 7.
3 folds, Button raises to $6, Hero raises to $22, 1 fold, Button calls $16.

Flop: ($46) 8, 4, 5 (2 players)
Hero checks


Using Pokerstove to determine BB's range i found i actually only have about 30% equity on the turn, a lot worse than i thought during the hand. Also, considering that BB hadn't check/raised a flop over 100 hands, calling the flop and folding to a turn bet would be a better line than calling the flop and jamming on a blank turn.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($197)
BB ($200)
UTG ($207.35)
MP ($156.10)
Hero ($218.15)
Button ($200)

Preflop: Hero is CO with K, 9.
2 folds, Hero raises to $6, 2 folds, BB calls $4.

Flop: ($13) J, K, 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $10, BB raises to $35, Hero calls $25.

Turn: ($83) 8 (2 players)
BB bets $55, Hero raises to $177.15

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

2k hands, down 8 buy ins. The downswing, along with having recently withdrawn money for expenses for Aug/Sept, has made my bankroll such that i need to move to 100NL. Pretty bummed.


Strangely, i feel today i played as well as i ever have which is almost ironic! Here are my hands; the good, the bad, and the interesting...



Here's an FPS fold of 77. Should have 3bet versus this fairly wide BTN opener.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($200)
UTG ($250.10)
MP ($148.05)
CO ($120.75)
Button ($123.05)
SB ($250.75)

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


Here's a big fold i'm proud of. Villain seems to be an aggressive TAG regular, who has been 3betting fairly light. This was my first session i've played with him. I believe his betsizing gave away the strength of his hand, as he was committed with even a hand like AK and if an average player wanted to maximize his fold equity he would likely have selected a larger bet size. I figured it was very unlikely my opponent was thinking on the 3rd level, which was why i folded. Had i believed otherwise, i would have jammed.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Button ($62.10)
SB ($284.90)
BB ($211.20)
UTG ($77.40)
Hero ($200)
CO ($224.25)

Preflop: Hero is MP with Q, Q.
UTG calls $2, Hero raises to $10, 2 folds, SB raises to $34, 1 fold, UTG folds, Hero calls $24.

Flop: ($72) 3, 9, 2 (2 players)
SB bets $42, Hero calls $42.

Turn: ($156) 8 (2 players)
SB bets $73, Hero folds.


The turn overbet shove was actually a misclick. I believe the best line would have been to check/raise all in, which i'd also do with 77/JJ. I'd check/fold anything worse than 33 on this turn, and some air. Bet/call any flush, QQ, and bet/fold remaining air (which would consist of hands with an Ace... i.e. AA, AK no diamond, AT, etc). BB was the table fish.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($35.55)
BB ($193.10)
Hero ($273.25)
MP ($200)
CO ($71.90)
Button ($425.45)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K, A.
Hero raises to $8, MP calls $8, 3 folds, BB calls $6.

Flop: ($25) J, 7, 3 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $20, MP calls $20, BB folds.

Turn: ($65) Q (2 players)
Hero bets $245.25 (All-In)


I think this is a very profitable shove versus non calling station villains. If the SPR was considerably higher than 2, then i'd bet/fold for a smaller amount. Have to use the same bet sizing with Kx+!

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

CO ($327.90)
Button ($189.50)
SB ($143.55)
BB ($195)
UTG ($118)
Hero ($200)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 5, 4.
UTG calls $2, Hero raises to $10, 4 folds, UTG calls $8.

Flop: ($23) Q, 3, K (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $18, UTG calls $18.

Turn: ($59) 2 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $92


Here's another hand where i used some psychology to determine that shoving was correct. Typically when a bad player limp/reraises preflop, they min reraise or reraise very small when they have a very strong hand (QQ+). This bad opponent instantly reraised very large, which lead me to believe he was weak.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($201)
UTG ($245.10)
MP ($176.65)
CO ($146.30)
Button ($115.05)
SB ($235.65)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, A.
2 folds, CO calls $2, 2 folds, Hero raises to $9, CO raises to $48, Hero raises to $201


Here's the first of my misplayed hands from today. The overbet shove is pure spew versus this nitty regular. I over prioritized the information i got from his large bet size, which i believed skewed his range towards draws/air, over the fact that he is a nitty villain who will have a low bluffing frequency.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (5 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Button ($515.30)
SB ($200)
BB ($212)
Hero ($208.25)
MP ($200)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 7, 8.
Hero raises to $8, 2 folds, SB calls $7, 1 fold.

Flop: ($18) 4, 5, 8 (2 players)
SB bets $17, Hero calls $17.

Turn: ($52) 5 (2 players)
SB bets $50, Hero raises to $183.25


My other misplayed hand from the session was a much more modest error. When my fishy opponent leads the river small, he likely has a medium strength hand and won't be bluffing very often. However he is a call station and i don't believe he will fold to a raise often enough to be profitable. There's no good reason to call here as i'm confident in my assessment of his range and calling for information in a spot like this, which would be reasonable if my opponent were a regular, is unnecessary versus a fish.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG ($200)
MP ($99)
CO ($392.30)
Hero ($200)
SB ($217.40)
BB ($148.95)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 4, 5.
UTG raises to $7, 1 fold, CO calls $7, Hero calls $7, 2 folds.

Flop: ($24) 5, 2, A (3 players)
UTG checks, CO checks, Hero bets $16, UTG folds, CO calls $16.

Turn: ($56) Q (2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks.

River: ($56) J (2 players)
CO bets $10, Hero calls $10.


Two poker ideas i learned today:

1). Most players won't start a bluff after the flop if they didn't continuation bet after raising preflop. This however does usually indicate our opponent has a medium strength hand that he was pot controlling on the flop, which means with the right image we can apply a ton of pressure and expect to win the pot very often.
2). Against TAG regulars with a relatively high 3bet frequency and relatively low VPIP, it is deceptively profitable to steal their blinds. For example a 20/18 TAG who 3bets 10% of his range is likely to fold a ton to your steals. This is because his likely playing style in the blinds is to 3bet or fold, which means he's probably only defending his blinds around 15% of the time!

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

Yesterday i logged 2k hands and finished down 1 buy in. At the low point of my session i was down 6 buy ins, but ran much better towards the end. I'd forgotten what a downswing was like, and unless you are very well rolled it can be a test of your discipline, patience, and confidence. The goal is to make it back to 200NL with a higher respect for variance, as well as being an improved poker player in general. One benefit of losing is that it encourages you to study.


Not sure what i think about my river call. CO is a slightly aggro 22/18 TAG regular i have sometimes seen playing 200NL, but no history or notes. He probably knows that i'm pretty aggressive and would barrel the river with AK+.

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

BB ($42.80)
UTG ($113.80)
Hero ($103.65)
CO ($184.45)
Button ($113.70)
SB ($61)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 8, 8.
1 fold, Hero raises to $4, CO calls $4, 1 fold, SB calls $3.50, 1 fold.

Flop: ($13) 4, Q, 2 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $9, CO calls $9, SB folds.

Turn: ($31) A (2 players)
Hero bets $23, CO calls $23.

River: ($77) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $148.45 (All-In), Hero calls $67.65 (All-In).

Final Pot: $212.30

[zook]

I like this river call a lot more against a bad player. Good players realize that you're bluff catching this river a lot because the flush draw missed and value bet thinly.

From the hands in the post before, I can never fold QQ in hand 2. Folding strong hands in big pots is a pretty big leak. You're getting ~2:1 on the rest of your stack so you only have to win 33%+ of the time to make getting it in profitable. I think he has a spade draw, JJ/TT or a bluff often enough to make the turn a shove.

edit: in the QQ I just raise the flop smallish... JJ/TT/spade draws aren't folding and occasionally AKo will shove too.

[Fnord]

I like a shove a lot more. Flush draw has to fold (ldo) and it might fold out a Queen.

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

thx for the comments gentlemen, i agree completely

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

yesterday wasn't the turnaround day, 2k hands for -5.5 buy ins. The situation will improve soon!

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

Today i mostly took a break from grinding, only got 500 hands of breakeven poker in. I still was occupied with poker though, as i got 2 hours of coaching from ISF today. It was the perfect time to have my game reviewed, and i learned a ton of poker stuff today. Plugged leaks, learned more EV ways to exploit fish, better 3bet ranges, and just seeing how many more factors there are to consider in "standard" situations. I remember almost everything we talked about during the session, which is a pleasant surprise as my memory is usually very poor. I can't wait to put in a long session tomorrow!

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

played 1100 hands or so yesterday and broke even.

Last time i updated i wasn't fully awake, but now that i am i want to say how much i benefited from getting some coaching. Without a doubt it was the most i have learned about poker in a single day. I gained a better fundamental understanding of how to exploit loose players, instead of just constantly isolating. I dropped numerous marginal preflop opens in EP, which were likely costing me a lot more postflop when i misplayed marginal hands OOP. And, a much much better understanding of how to play those marginal hands postflop.


While watching ISF play and hearing his thought processes, i realized there were many more factors to consider into any decision than i'd realized. Seeing his HUD layout was beneficial too, and i think my new layout is much better than my old one. Instead of feeling frustrated while playing, since getting the coaching i've felt very confident in my decision making and that has lead me to feel more relaxed when i'm at the tables.

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

I made some money today, 3200 hands for about one buy in. Stopped once i noticed my brain was processing information considerably slower. Felt like i played well, but i'll review todays hands more thoroughly and post some cool/tough ones tomorrow as i'm feeling quite exhausted!

[bjsaust]

Nice on the coaching! Good job quitting when you realised you were no longer able to play as well.

Make sure you note down the ideas you got off ISF, so you can refer back to them in a months time and see how much you've retained and give yourself a reminder for any you've stopped applying by then.

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

Make sure you note down the ideas you got off ISF, so you can refer back to them in a months time and see how much you've retained and give yourself a reminder for any you've stopped applying by then.

good idea bj, thx



tighter out of position. this reduces the number of marginal hands i have to play OOP, and personally saves me a lot of money i might otherwise lose misplaying marginal hands OOP!

i don't have to always play the marginal or medium strength hands in my range aggressively. before i was taking the concept of widening ranges too far, and since i unlearned this misapplied concept it feels more like i'm playing poker.

counting card combinations in narrow range spots. a typical situation where considering the possible combinations of a starting hand becomes relevant is on the river. it's a specific hand reading factor i hadn't thought to consider before.

much better fundamental understanding of how to exploit bad players who are playing a lot of hands. before i was isolating with too wide a range, and by doing so i was weakening my range to the point that i couldn't as effectively exploit my opponents mistake of playing too many hands. You still do want to play as many pots with the bad players as possible, but instead of basically only isolating i've added more preflop limping with hands that have nut potential but don't play well vs. a wide range HU and benefit from others getting into the pot.

why is 3betting 77 from the BB generally less correct than calling versus someone who is opening 4o% of their hands from the SB?

- it wastes a lot of value the hand has postflop against such a wide range
- 77 isn't a hand you can usually stack off with for 100bb+ in a 3bet pot unless you flop a set. You usually can't even get one street of value out of just a pair of sevens in a 3bet pot. And bluff catching with 77 is pretty tough too, considering it's often going to be 3rd or 4th pair by the river.

upgrade my mental processor . i'm not considering nearly all the factors i could into my decision making, but this is the sort of thing that mostly takes a lot of practice.

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

+2 buy ins over the last 5.5k hands

One possible reason my results haven't been as good lately is because i haven't been bluffing as often. My overall aggression has dropped considerably on the turn and river, and my initial thought was that this was an adjustment to the 100NL tables i've been sitting at (nits and fish). However there are still plently of 22/18 TAG regs and as my 3bet percentage has also dropped considerably i suspect i haven't been paying close enough attention while multitabling to good spots to 3bet.

I also realized for me that posting misplayed hands here is kind of a waste of time, as i already realize i misplayed the hand! My next update will be longer.

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

Since i got my coaching i've been limping behind bad players with my drawing hands instead of raising to isolate when they limp preflop, in an effort to keep my preflop investment smaller and the stacks deeper postflop for making the implied value of my drawing hand higher.

I'm watching CTS play right now and he min raised to isolate a limper in front of him. I like this play as it's more likely to get you HU with the bad player, with the same sort of benefits from limping behind. The slightly larger preflop investment is well worth sacrificing for the other benefit of isolating -- increasing the size of the pot, which makes future bets into the pot bigger. This play seems fundamentally superior to limping behind a bad player, although in the atypical case where the bad player always reraised your min raise limping behind would work best.

A standard isolation size (5-6bb) is best when you don't expect your isolation raises to be 3bet light, and you feel that 15:1 implied odds or whatever with your hand is sufficient. It also is best to use when you feel your opponent will either fold often preflop, or give up often postflop.

To make this a theory post as well, i realized something fundamental about implied odds while writing the strategy part.

A player holds 22 and faces a standard preflop raise from a player whose range we know to be only AA. This player stacks off every time on the flop regardless of the action/board texture. Ruling out the occasional winning straight or flush or when our opponent also flops a set, we only beat our opponent when we flop a set which will happen roughly one time in eight. Therefore our preflop call only needs to be 1/8th the size of our opponents stack for us to have enough implied odds. Consider the same scenario, except now we know the standard preflop raise is 4bb and the effective stacks were 100bb. We would have 25:1 implied odds in this hand, but it wouldn't be any more valuable than having 8:1 implied odds like we had in the earlier example.

Summary: Once you have sufficient implied odds, you can't get "better" implied odds.

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

breakeven yesterday over 1500 hands. I made one marginal river call and a spewy bluff, but otherwise played well and put back more aggression into my game.


Brag hand: CO was aggressive and a light 3bettor, we have no 3bet pot history. He probably percieves me as pretty aggressive and 3betting light. I expect he would certainly 4bet AK versus me as this was the 3-4th time i'd 3bet him in the last few orbits. Can't entirely rule KK/AA out of his range, but with both cards on the board and the fact that it's unlikely he generally plays them this way i felt confident there weren't many nut hands in his range and that he was vbetting AJ/AQ much more often.

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

MP ($100.00)
CO ($100.00)
Hero (Button) ($115.05)
SB ($226.05)
BB ($68.60)
UTG ($101.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with J J
2 folds, CO raises to $4.00, Hero raises to $11.00, 2 folds, CO calls $7.00

Flop: ($23.50) K 2 A (2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($23.50) 5 (2 players)
CO bets $16.00, Hero calls $16.00

River: ($55.50) 8 (2 players)
CO bets $38.00, Hero raises to $76.00, 1 fold

Total pot: $131.50 | Rake: $3.00


I also used chat on a fish last night to try to induce a call...

PokerStars Game #19798661632: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/08/21 - 21:40:27 (ET)
Table 'Sirius V' 6-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: HawkATP ($100 in chips)
Seat 2: VI-Popsmak ($125.75 in chips)
Seat 3: FLIB59 ($96.10 in chips)
Seat 4: 17wheez ($192.50 in chips)
Seat 5: howieebub ($241.80 in chips)
Seat 6: knewjerzee ($140.70 in chips)
17wheez: posts small blind $0.50
howieebub: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to VI-Popsmak [Jc 9c]
knewjerzee: calls $1
HawkATP: folds
VI-Popsmak: raises $1 to $2
FLIB59: folds
17wheez: folds
howieebub: folds
knewjerzee: calls $1
*** FLOP *** [Qd Ac 4c]
knewjerzee: checks
VI-Popsmak: bets $4
knewjerzee: calls $4
*** TURN *** [Qd Ac 4c] [Th]
knewjerzee: checks
VI-Popsmak: checks
*** RIVER *** [Qd Ac 4c Th] [Ks]
knewjerzee: bets $7
VI-Popsmak: raises $22.90 to $29.90
VI-Popsmak said, "fold"
knewjerzee: raises $22.90 to $52.80
VI-Popsmak said, "i have a Jack"
VI-Popsmak: raises $66.95 to $119.75 and is all-in
knewjerzee said, "so do i genius"
knewjerzee: calls $66.95
*** SHOW DOWN ***
VI-Popsmak: shows [Jc 9c] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
knewjerzee: shows [Jd Qh] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
knewjerzee collected $125 from pot
VI-Popsmak collected $125 from pot


lol

[zook]

loool

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

4k hands since the last update, up 6 buy ins. I'm really happy with how i've played over the last couple of days, and hopefully the winning continues...

[Da GOAT]

Good posting Vi,

Ive had some similiar thoughts on isolating and i vary my iso's by a bb + or - depending on what I wanna do and esp based on fishes/limpers stack ie less if he has 60bb etc. I dunno much about US sites but are there very many reisolations?? what i mean is yu iso a fish then someone 3bets you with crap since they know your raised is vulnerable.

i say ''crap'' bcoz they shouldnt be raising mid strength hands since they can call and crush fish thus only premiums and crap raise.

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

Good posting Vi,

Ive had some similiar thoughts on isolating and i vary my iso's by a bb + or - depending on what I wanna do and esp based on fishes/limpers stack ie less if he has 60bb etc. I dunno much about US sites but are there very many reisolations?? what i mean is yu iso a fish then someone 3bets you with crap since they know your raised is vulnerable.

i say ''crap'' bcoz they shouldnt be raising mid strength hands since they can call and crush fish thus only premiums and crap raise.

i wouldn't say i get 3bet particularly light when i min raise isolate. and the regulars who are playing 18/15 or 15/12 usually don't even take advantage of the good pot odds my min raise offers them when they're in the blinds, so i'm usually HU with the fish IP for a lot cheaper than a standard isolation raise! The other big benefit is that the stacks are much deeper...

i guess how much money is already in the pot determines whether i'd 3bet an isolation raise with a hand like AJs/88. facing a min raise i'd prefer to keep the fish in the pot and call rather than 3bet, but if there were 7-8bb already in the pot a 3bet to pick up the pot seems worth the risk of possibly pushing the fish out of the pot.

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

Played 1500 hands at 200NL today and dropped 3.5 buy ins. The big pot hands all look good, but the losing session has inspired me to take a close look at my play from the past two weeks and compare it to my play over the month of June, my last winning month.

August 18-28: 18k hands

19/16 VPIP/PFR (AVG 9% PFR from UTG/MP)
3Bet: 5.7%
Fold to 3Bet: 85%
42.5% WSF
Flop AF: 3.7
CBet: 54%
Turn AF 2.2
CBet: 46.5%
River AF: 3.3
WTSD: 21.9%, W$SD: 55.9%


June 1-30: 35k hands

21/19 VPIP/PFR (AVG 17% PFR from UTG/MP)
3Bet: 5.7%
Fold to 3Bet: 81%
49% WSF
Flop AF: 7.7
CBet: 68%
Turn AF: 4.4
CBet: 45%
River AF: 1.9
WTSD: 22.7% W$SD: 51.6%


Here's what i think about the numbers...

VPIP/PFR
I'm doing a lot less raising in early positions, and limping and calling more in position. My preflop game has changed a lot, and i think the adjustments i made were improvements.

3Bet Stats
I need to do a lot more reraising preflop. I'm also still folding to reraises too often.

Flop, Turn, and River AF's

My continuation betting frequency has lowered since i started checking behind more hands that can bluffcatch on later streets or only get 1-2 streets of value with. I'm happy with this adjustment also.

My turn aggression is much lower over the second sample. I have very little difficulty deciding when to bet the turn with my medium strength hands, so it looks like i need to bluff more often on the turn.

My river aggression has actually increased over the second sample. Since the level of aggression isn't extremely high i assume this is just because I am bluffing a little more and value betting a little better.

WSF

1). Missing double barrel bluff opportunities
2). Playing more pots with loose fish when holding speculative hands, and because most fish are stations I rarely try to take the pot away when i miss.

Not sure if #2 actually significantly affects this number. Thoughts?

WTSD/W$SD

I am folding too often on the river.


So, i need to 3Bet more, call more 3Bets, double barrel bluff more often, and be more of a station on the river. I am excited to see how my stats look over the next two week period.


Also ordered the book "The Poker Mindset" today.

[cardsman1992]

Vi, a couple of thoughts not necessarily particular to your stats but related....

I think people underestimate the value of flatting in position. Fnord alludes to this quite a bit. I think everyone sees why doing it against aggros, but OTB against a fish has some value once in a great while.....

The June Aggro numbers look pretty high, was that successful? Did you get floated/trapped quite a bit? The number that stands out is the WSF number, but maybe that is a standard number for 6max? I thought 40-42% was pretty darn good, but that was FR....

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

yeah i've been doing a lot more flat calling preflop in position since my coaching. I've generally been a lot less aggressive since june, but in june i won almost 30 buy ins at 200NL so it was working though i suspect it was mostly because i was running well. My WSF has dropped a ton, and it's coincided with my money won in non showdown pots dropping into negative territory.

[cardsman1992]

check Z's blog out, there's some good stuff about winning money in nonshowdown pots....

FWIW I think I might flat too much......

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

Losing is so frustrating, and it's because i'm not studying enough or playing enough. At the moment i have no motivation to work on fixing this, but i'm posting it so i'll look back at this later when i'm not feeling so negative.

[cardsman1992]

You will get through it, believe me. I have been there SEVERAL times, although I never dealt with the lack of motivation.

If you want to see some good whining, check out this thread....

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/96...-nl-100-a-911/

Check out most threads by Acevader or NFuego20.....LOL

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

played a session, 1000 hands for -2.5 buy ins. I pretty much increased all my stat numbers that i wanted to, though i'm aware the sample size makes the numbers effectively irrelevant. thought i played well too, and stopped once i started feeling a little frustrated. I'll get some more hands in later tonight.

thanks for the support cman, the lack of motivation stems from me being lazy and not appreciating the reality of my alternative (getting a job again). It's a mindset i'm going to have to work harder at to avoid getting in.

[cardsman1992]

Out of curiosity, what is your typical day like? Do you have plenty of outside activities to break up the drudgery of grinding and studying? ie do you run or ride a bike, work out, etc? Most of the times I feel "lazy" in one area of my life it bleeds to other areas, so by picking up the pace in one area it spreads to other areas as well.

Just a thought.

PS working at a "job" isn't so bad LOL, I think that keeping poker as a profitable hobby has helped to keep it fresh for me.

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

i've played once since my last update, 1k hands for -3 buy ins. i am returning to the workforce, and since i made that decision i've felt a lot less stressed out! Cashed out and left my bankroll at 1k, and when i feel like playing poker again i'll start at 50NL.

cman: i run a couple miles pretty much every day, do sit ups and push ups, but other than that my recreational activities are very sedentary. and yeah working isn't so bad, my attitude was unnecessarily negative.

[Da GOAT]

did u really HAVE to withdraw it all??????

Back around Jan I withdrew my then 1.8K roll when I quit. Sucked when I wanted to play again and built up through 25nl.

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

did u really HAVE to withdraw it all??????

Back around Jan I withdrew my then 1.8K roll when I quit. Sucked when I wanted to play again and built up through 25nl.

haha yeah at the time i didn't have work lined up and i wanted the money cushion! also it wasn't like i had much left after 3 consecutive losing months of ~2k.

i don't plan to be away from poker for long, i'm just happy i won't have to play 2k hands a day to be satisfied.