No more excuses

[Jager]

Well I have become extremely lazy with my poker playing this year. Last year I played almost 1 million hands, this year less than 300k. Last December I had a 17k month at 1/2 nl, followed by a 9k Jan, plus bonuses I cleared 40k for the 2 months. I have only hit 50k hands in a month once since(July), partly due to having my first child in August, but mostly because poker has become monotonous. I have lived off my bankroll since Feb., paying all my bills, buying 2 cars, and letting my roll dwindle down to ~10k. The last couple months I made what I withdraw each month for bills, while not really wanting to make any more...

My goals for the rest of the year:
1. Play enough to reach at least the 3k Milestone bonus, Im at 185k vpps right now.
2. Post more in the SH forum.
3. Keep this thread updated after every session.
4. Build my roll back up so that I can once again think about moving up.
5. Have fun playing poker again...

[Jager]

Alright so I just finished up my session:

2100 Hands: $557.05

I got behind early then heated up for a nice session. Had a nice read here:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2.00 BB (5 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($315.90)
UTG ($159.10)
MP ($219.05)
Button ($244.60)
Hero (SB) ($220.60)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9, 9
3 folds, Hero raises to $6, BB raises to $18, Hero calls $12

Flop: ($36) 8, 5, 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $22, Hero calls $22

Turn: ($80) J (2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks

River: ($80) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $275.90 (All-In), Hero calls $180.60 (All-In)

Total pot: $441.20 | Rake: $2

Results in white below:
Hero had 9, 9 (two pair, nines and fives).
BB had 9, A (one pair, fives).
Outcome: Hero won $439.20

He had been 3betting or floating every blind battle. He is a reg although I never played with him before. I had lost a nice pot to him early, but I started to pick on him a little so I think he started getting a little tilty. I didn't think he was repping anything.

[LuckySlevin]

wow nice read. Was it purely because you thought the guy was tilting or would you make this call in other situations?

[ATOTHEC101]

He made the call because his line made no sense, the only hands that would make sense would be like a 54/56s hand or possibly a thinish value shove with jx, though thats still unlikely as he bets the turn with his jacks most of the time as well. Btw good luck, nice to see your trying to get grinding again.

[Jager]

wow nice read. Was it purely because you thought the guy was tilting or would you make this call in other situations?

This was entirely read based. He doesn't know me and I felt that he is someone who will try too hard to make the person to their immediate left their bitch. This board is way to drawy for him to check a blankish turn with a big hand, he can't check and let me hit my flush. I also would say that 95+% of my plays on the turn and river are read based and in the context of the game flow.

[Fnord]

99 Hand is well played.

How many tables do you play? You're a bit too tight/solid for my taste and I don't think you see enough flops against the right folks. Make it up in volume?

I think you took this pot away from me. Could have gone either way.

$1/$2 No Limit Holdem
PokerStars
6 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($64.35)
UTG+1 ($226.95)
CO ($190.00)
Hero ($229.10)
SB ($420.80)
BB ($353.10)

Pre-flop: ($3, 6 players) Hero is BTN
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $8, 1 fold, Hero calls $8, 1 fold, BB calls $6

Flop: ($25, 3 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($25, 3 players)
BB bets $18, UTG+1 folds, Hero folds

Final Pot: $25

BB wins $41.75 ( won +$15.75 )
UTG+1 lost -$8.00
Hero lost -$8.00

[Jager]

22 there Fnord...

I play 6 usually, but that can increase to 9 if I am playing well or I can find more good tables. Too tight?? This is kinda surprising I think we about the same 25/21ish.

[Fnord]

Too tight?? This is kinda surprising I think we about the same 25/21ish.

Your button open range is pretty good, otherwise, meh. Maybe it's because there is usually a fish in the mix when we play. Also, you're very good at not taking the bait when offered obvious bluffs. So many TAggs just love to stab at me, then follow up stabs with total spew.

[Jager]

I got in a lite session this morning. I had waited around for awhile before I could get a good table, a lot of regs on(5+ on each table).

722 hands: $725.40

The dollar a hand is nice, but it was a pretty straightfoward run. Had 3 nice pots all were pretty standard. Got myself in a tough spot here though:


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2.00 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($200)
SB ($126.25)
BB ($189.70)
UTG ($221.45)
MP ($770)
Hero (CO) ($245.80)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 10, J
UTG raises to $7, MP calls $7, Hero calls $7, 2 folds, BB calls $5

Flop: ($29) K, 3, 2 (4 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, MP checks, Hero bets $18, BB calls $18, 2 folds

Turn: ($65) 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($65) A (2 players)
BB bets $164.70 (All-In), Hero ??

No reads on villain pre hand at all. Only reads during hand are he insta called flop, then paused checked turn, then insta shoved river.

[Fnord]

a lot of regs on(5+ on each table)

Yeah, fish supply has been kind of slow.

BTW, who do you think are the best regs?

[Jager]

Well there aren't any regs I actively avoid, but I also don't see the point in sitting with 4 2p2ers and a korean. I think the regs as a whole aren't as good as they used to be. I contribute this mainly to 2p2 and other forums??? There are way too many copycat players who fail to think on their own. This causes them to incorrectly impliment things into their game that they either do not understand or do not have the hand reading ability necessary to play properly. The current trend seems to be get your non-showdown winnings to be positive. This has turned every non-korean reg into a spewtard, as they bluff, float oop, raise flops, 3bet, squeeze, 4bet, etc all way too much. It makes for a lot of easy opportunities for extra money, even when they have position on you, because they tend to be extra aggro out of the blinds when you have postion on them.

[Fnord]

The current trend seems to be get your non-showdown winnings to be positive. This has turned every non-korean reg into a spewtard, as they bluff, float oop, raise flops, 3bet, squeeze, 4bet, etc all way too much. It makes for a lot of easy opportunities for extra money, even when they have position on you, because they tend to be extra aggro out of the blinds when you have postion on them.

Thanks. Great insight.

I'll take it up a notch.

I think all these plays are good. You know first hand that I do all of this stuff. However, I see a lot of copycats picking bad hands to do this with, making bad assumptions based on pre-flop stats and just not having a feel for table dynamics.

BTW, if you feel this way, why are you still opening for 4x? Smaller openers seems to be a pretty trival adjustment to all of this crap as it makes a higher fold3bet% correct, maximizes value when they check the fold box with trash, maximizes their mistake when they put a lot of money in light and gives you more room to go over the top when they're pretty clearly full of it.

If you want to take this to PMs, feel free.

[Jager]

BTW, if you feel this way, why are you still opening for 4x?

I open to 3x, unless I am iso-ing fish then its 4x + 1bb.

I am not saying that these plays are bad or wrong(I use them often as well), but there are a lot of people who don't understand why we do these things or how to counter them. They seem so intent on getting to a certain number just because that is what the cool kids are doing.

[Fnord]

LoL, yeah, like a few months ago I remember looking at my stats and going, wow I'm playing 30/20 now! Then I dug into a bunch of spots where I might be playing too loose, saw profit and didn't look back.

LoL @ this thread...
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/39...r-flop-327658/

[XTR1000]

Yo, the last time i remember reading your blog u were on a nasty giant downswing. GL that such a swong wont occur again

[Jager]

Got off to another late start, so I had another small but successful session.

557 Hands: +$780.40

Again all basic standard type stuff. Won a BI with AA<QQ and with AJ < J7 on a 9JJ5r board. The rest was just solid play. I am also very reluctant to sit at any bad table, I just keep waiting around for some with at 1+ solid fishtype.

Fnord, that thread is the perfect example of what Im talking about.

[Jager]

Got in another nice session.

1268 Hands: $676.15

I really wanted to play longer, but felt my game was slipping so I quit. There was a ton of good tables, and I was on a lot of them. I am just too tired to focus...

I really need to play some hands if I am gonna get to that 3k bonus.

[Jager]

Well it was bound to happen

6031 hands: -$425.80

Didn't play too good, and ran pretty bad. Lost a $465 pot with the nut str8 in a reraised pot on the river to the nut flush. TT-KK were losers or BE, just couldn't hit any flops. After a while I get stubborn when Im down and I refuse to quit, then I start to really play subpar. After hand ~4200 I started spewing and lost around $700 in non showdown pots. I am typically around even in those, but I can tell when I am playing poor 'cause I start to call excessively then fold. Oh well, all is still good for the month I have got 15k hands in now and I am still running at 5.62 bb/100.

[Fnord]

Learn to quit a loser.
Learn to quit tables when someone with position on you has success playing back at you because it sets up a very bad dymanic.

When we do something and it works, our mind wants to repeat that. When we do something and it doesn't work, our mind wants to avoid that. Also confident poker is winning poker. When a non-spewtard picks good spots to play back and hits hands or wins without showdown a couple times in big pots, he's going to be a force to be reckoned with. If those spots go badly for him, he's probably going to back off unless he's really really absurdly good.

All that aside, when I'm stuck, I play to win half of it back and quit if the bleeding continues and/or my mental state continues to degrade.

[Jager]

Good advice Fnord. I was down $1500 at one point...

[Jager]

Well after last night I had to get back at it.

602 Hands: $302.75

I didn't feel too comfortable at first, but then I settled down and found my groove. I might play again later, but I gotta go play some hoops right now.

[Jager]

Quick insomniac session

263 Hands: $433.75

Spiked a K with KK v AA for $135 on the very first hand at one table. I accidentially posted in the CO, then raised 3x, the BT jammed, I win. I also had an interesting hand near the end:

Villain is a regular, I do not normally open this UTG but at the time the only non reg left was on my right and the only non nit is villain. I don't have a lot of hands(200) with him in PT3, but iirc my stats on him seem accurate. I have him at 23/20 with a call pfr of 7.46, but this is alnost all on the button for him.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2.00 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (UTG) ($246)
MP ($214.15)
CO ($140.85)
Button ($436.25)
SB ($255.30)
BB ($443.75)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with J, 9
Hero raises to $6, 2 folds, Button calls $6, 2 folds

Flop: ($15) 4, J, 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $10, Button calls $10

I choose to C turn, as I think he has a draw and I know he floats too much. I also think he thinks he can take this away from me here.

Turn: ($35) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $26, Hero calls $26

I get a pretty good card here, at least it isn't a diamond. I had decided to c any non diamond river after calling the turn. I think it helps as to not give any timing tells if I think about the next street before I act on the current street. Also his bet river was 50%!

River: ($87) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $52, Hero calls $52

Total pot: $191 | Rake: $3

He thought about this for several seconds. If he had a set here it should be an easy vbet, why was he thinking? At this point I knew I was ahead and was calling any river bet. Of course I need to see his cards so I call instead of jamming.


Results in white below:
Button had 10, K (high card, King).
Hero had J, 9 (one pair, Jacks).
Outcome: Hero won $188

[Jager]

1149 Hands: $361.40

I played like junk. I had to quit 'cause I lost my focus. Funny thing is I had gone down 3.5 BI's before I found my focus, then went up 2 BI's before I completely lost it again. This should have been a ~4 BI session. Gotta have the mental thing going while I'm playing...

[Jager]

893 Hands: $1091.55

Played real well tonight. I set my tables up really well, and took most of them down. I had 4 hands that were for a BI+, winning 3 and losing one for ~250. The rest was just some good solid play. My tables started to dry up or close and I couldn't find anymore good ones, so I quit after I busted the last fish.

[Jager]

Well it was bound to happen. I've played 3 sessions since Saturday.

5530 Hands: -$2811.30
190 Hands: $282.65
2863 Hnads: -$110.50

Had a couple bad hands the first session, but mostly it was just insanely bad run. I flopped a set in a pot for .5 Bi+ 9 times winning 3, including a loss in a 3bet pot for 2 BI's w/ TT. Lost 2 hands simultaneously with top set v Quads. This led to a couple of tilty hands.

Got back at it the next day for a short session before I played Hoops. It was nice to win again, even for a little while. Got back at it again this morning. Yeah not so good. I flopped trips, a set or 2 pair matching my hole cards 9 times, I won 1 once. Was outdrawn or had an underset all 8 times, and was down $643 with 3 of a kind.

Gonna try and turn it around again later tonight. Good news is that I now will have more time to play, so that I can get some hours in.

[bjsaust]

Just a quick reply that I'm enjoying this Op thread.

[Jager]

2062 Hands: $625.80

Nice results, but I tilted off a BI by not being patient enough. It seems that during and after a bad run, I lose some patience and do something that leads to a mistake. Its a mental error that need correcting.

[Jager]

722 Hands: $402.65

Short session due to my internet going down. Not much here, although I did blow another BI with AJ in a blind battle. Also I had a tilting reg on as table, he jammed into my set and also into my AK with 44 preflop. He eventually got me back and calmed down after his AA was good against my KK and another player with QQ also AI preflop.

[Jager]

Sat session 3599 Hands: $71.80

Interesting thing to note here is that this is my only my 2nd weekend session in months, and they are #1 and #2 most dissappointing sessions. If not for these sessions I would be running at 6.5 ptbb/100, instead Im at 4.5 ptbb/100. I had hoped that I could finally shake this weekend bug, but maybe not. The weekends for me have always been boom or bust.

Also I checked through my PT3 DB and found that I really start to play worse when I hit 3k hands in a session. I am basing this on the fact that my red line forms a cliff at some point in every extended session I play, usually around the 3k hand mark. I am not typically a red line winner, it is usually around BE to -1 BI per 1000 hands. I find this to be around the right amount of spew:value ratio that maximizes my winrate.

My new plan is to not play more than 3k hands at any 1 time. If I am stuck I will take a break before I get back at it, for another 3k hands.

[Fnord]

The weekends for me have always been boom or bust.

More players that need to see a hand. Beating on weak players is a pretty steady stream of small pots until a big pot happens.

My new plan is to not play more than 3k hands at any 1 time. If I am stuck I will take a break before I get back at it, for another 3k hands.

How often do you extend a session (maybe drop a table or two) to try to break someone on a suicide mission? I've done this a few times in the last couple months and turned some very medicore sessions into huge winners.

[Jager]

I really only put in those 4k+ hand sessions when im stuck, which is usually 3+ BIs. I checked PT and I got that I extended 5 of the last 31, of which I recovered to show a profit just twice. In all of those sessions I tailed off my poker playing and it seemed that I played almost a fit or fold game after a certain point, even I think as going outside of my normal game in order to hit big just once.

How long is a typical session for you?

[Fnord]

How long is a typical session for you?

3 tables, usually 1k hands, sometimes 2k.

Poker is still something I do every now and then for fun.

Playing stuck is a tough thing. I was up only $300 last night, then bluffed off a bunch and dropped to $150, was going to quit then jumped back into it and put in a $550 night.

Last time I ran really bad it was pretty obvious. Big pot, big draw, 2 blanks. Build a big pot with big cards against an action player and miss. KK > AA. AA into KK (for the first time in months), a couple other sick coolers. I laughed because I knew there was nothing I could do about it and got through it. Still always a challenge to figure out how hard to push, how many pots to open, how far to take one pair hands, etc.

[Jager]

3053 Hands: $1258.80

Im a little disappointed, I flopped a set on my last hand and lost to a flush. I also made a bad mistake in a call down BvB, just wasn't very smart. Other than that I guess it was pretty standard. This was my first session playing 3k hands.

Fnord: I don't have very many session were I play less than 1.5k. A quick glance at PT when Im playing can give me confidence that Im running bad, but playing well. It helps keep me from getting too frustrated and tilty.

[Jager]

1693 Hands: +$396.70

I did not run real good here. I lost $300 w/ AK v AA, I valueton myself with J9 v A9 on a 99x board, and I had 2 sets blown up by runner runner flushes. I guess I am happy with the win, but I started to lose focus and had to quit.

I don't think I can reach the 3k milestone bonus, I was sick most of last week and really didn't think I could play well with a 103 fever. I guess I could try a marathon session, but I don't think it is a good idea.

[Jager]

2748 Hands: +$425.45

Well I am officially running like puke. I was 2 outered 4 times, but only once for a full BI, then I was 4 outered when I flopped the nuts, then I had KK, 4 bet, villain flats, flop Axx. I somehow managed to book another win, so I guess its not all bad.

[Jager]

3087 Hands: +$715.70

I really don't know what to think anymore. I was 2 outered twice(QQ>AA, TT>KK) then 3 outered(AQ>AK) right out of the gate for full stacks. I seem to recover nicely most of the time, but it doesn't stop me from getting frustrated. Later on in the session I run into 2 60/40 aggro donks. Of course they both ran at ~80% W$SD, built up 3-4 BI stacks. I need to do a better job against these types of players, as I seemed to just give them money sometimes. I even called a $120 river bet in a $30 pot w/TPTK.

Also seemingly in an effort to hold myself back I found out that I didn't have the 50 bb min tables checked. Appareantly I like the shortstacks...

[chadherczeg]

That was a beautiful call. I enjoy seeing people who can make good reads and go with the gut. I hope you continue to prosper in the sport, so once my bankroll is up there i can take all yours. lol. GL on the felt.

[Jager]

Well I really can't believe what has happened. After some time spent playing some omaha, I finally got back to the $200nl tables. Neither was very kind to me, after a xmas withdrawal I have gone from over 70 BIs 2 weeks ago and now I am now at 26. After losing 15 BIs at omaha I proceeded to lose 15 more at the holdems. I am going to have to move down for the first time in 2 years.


FML!!!!!

[Galapogos]

At least 8k is still a decent roll and you should do really well at 100NL. GL with the rebuilding.

And stay away from Omaha! I suspect the rumor that it's the next big thing is one giant trap created by the fishies because they know they can run like gods in that game.

[Jager]

Thanks G!

I got a quick session of 100nl in. It was kinda fun, I actually played against a 95/20! It is a lot softer than 200nl, I cleaned up, with 5 BI's in 1300 hands. Problem is that I don't have 8k, its more like 6k. So I may be in the shot taking business for a while.

It used to be that the big 'gap' in player ability came from 200--->400, could it be now that this is 100--->200?

[Jager]

Took my 'shot' back at 200, was welcomed with a rivered 2 outer in a squeezed pot(JJ > KK).

Pulled it together for a nice 2.5 BI session though. Gonna give it a go again later.