I think I will be watching and really reviewing my play over the next couple days as I finally got my Iron Man status from FT. It is a shame that it involved one of my worst days playing but proving a few things to myself.
In the end I think that April will be a slight down month in terms of cash but overall it is a huge step forward in my poker thinking. Due to some traveling during these NHL playoffs I missed a few days of watching my NL beginners course videos and I think that many of them would have helped me make money or lose a lot less.
Had another coaching session and I am quite pumped up about following through and getting some review after just a few k hands.
April was also the first month that I have ever played anywhere close to this many hands and I have a new appreciation for those grinders who put in huge hours playing the game.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Getting eaten alive
So I start to tighten up and make sure that I have my resident fish to my right with a vpip of 45%+... many in the 60+% range... usually they are so passive preflop with maybe a 9-11% raising range.
On the first bunch of AK hands I get today I raise or 3 bet... only to get crushed by A9 or A6. Gotta love that... so my value bets are for their value and not mine. The hand selection chart I am using is getting me to fold more hands so I am playing tighter.
That being said I am a little tilted from last nights live play where I lost $225. Three hands in at this new club and they look a little loose. So when I look down at QQ I figure this could be interesting. Raise to 6 from utg+1 and called by guy to my right (who played every hand and bet every street). I reraise it to 22 and then the sb raises all in to 50. UTG+1 folds but guy to my right calls. I pop it up 75 more as I figure that gives me an auto push on any non A flop. Flop is 234r and buddy donk bets 40 at me. I push all in for 120 and he says he feels that I have a big overpair but he thinks his 6 is going to hit. He calls and sure enough a 6 on the turn.
About two orbits later where I have rebought for 200 and built it up to 325 I get the hand that really tilts me. Pocket 5's and everyone who is going to get involved has very deep stacks. UTG+1 raises to 20 and my buddy calls. I figure that if I flop big I will win a huge pot and I call.
Flop is perfect J J 5. Buddy bets 40 and I smooth call and so does utg+1. Turn is a 10 which could be really bad for me but if someone has J10 I will pay them off. Buddy bets 60 and I call again.
River is a horrible 10 to counterfeit me.... ugly. Buddy bets 100 and I fold....
On the first bunch of AK hands I get today I raise or 3 bet... only to get crushed by A9 or A6. Gotta love that... so my value bets are for their value and not mine. The hand selection chart I am using is getting me to fold more hands so I am playing tighter.
That being said I am a little tilted from last nights live play where I lost $225. Three hands in at this new club and they look a little loose. So when I look down at QQ I figure this could be interesting. Raise to 6 from utg+1 and called by guy to my right (who played every hand and bet every street). I reraise it to 22 and then the sb raises all in to 50. UTG+1 folds but guy to my right calls. I pop it up 75 more as I figure that gives me an auto push on any non A flop. Flop is 234r and buddy donk bets 40 at me. I push all in for 120 and he says he feels that I have a big overpair but he thinks his 6 is going to hit. He calls and sure enough a 6 on the turn.
About two orbits later where I have rebought for 200 and built it up to 325 I get the hand that really tilts me. Pocket 5's and everyone who is going to get involved has very deep stacks. UTG+1 raises to 20 and my buddy calls. I figure that if I flop big I will win a huge pot and I call.
Flop is perfect J J 5. Buddy bets 40 and I smooth call and so does utg+1. Turn is a 10 which could be really bad for me but if someone has J10 I will pay them off. Buddy bets 60 and I call again.
River is a horrible 10 to counterfeit me.... ugly. Buddy bets 100 and I fold....
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Shaking my head
Time to start over with learning a whole new way to play poker... I am totally spewy now and I sat down and got a good coaching session.
So now the goal is to try to play aggro robotic play where I have a set hand starting chart and not deviate from it for 25k hands. Also the goal is to 3 bet 7-8% at nl25 6 max which should get me some good action for my big hands. No need to 4 barrel bluff at this level as anyone who bets back at me at this level has a hand. In addition, I will need to start to leave those nits alone if they play back at me from the blinds. The goal is to table select and beat up the fish and right now I am not focusing enough on them and where they are at the table.
With all that said and done it will be a day or so until I get back into the game after some serious studying.
Tomorrow I am going to drive to Pittsburgh which is about 4.5 hours from my place. The Penguins game better be good because it isn't cheap to go to a game there. If Columbus wins I may drive up to Detroit for Saturday nights game as tickets for that series are cheaper than going to the movies!
Looking forward to coming back with a good frame of mind to start banging through hands again.
So now the goal is to try to play aggro robotic play where I have a set hand starting chart and not deviate from it for 25k hands. Also the goal is to 3 bet 7-8% at nl25 6 max which should get me some good action for my big hands. No need to 4 barrel bluff at this level as anyone who bets back at me at this level has a hand. In addition, I will need to start to leave those nits alone if they play back at me from the blinds. The goal is to table select and beat up the fish and right now I am not focusing enough on them and where they are at the table.
With all that said and done it will be a day or so until I get back into the game after some serious studying.
Tomorrow I am going to drive to Pittsburgh which is about 4.5 hours from my place. The Penguins game better be good because it isn't cheap to go to a game there. If Columbus wins I may drive up to Detroit for Saturday nights game as tickets for that series are cheaper than going to the movies!
Looking forward to coming back with a good frame of mind to start banging through hands again.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Penguins Good - Poker & Drinking Bad
I wish I could have watched the Penguins game tonight but CBC are a bunch of assholes and put on the Canucks game instead. Well it didn't stop me from having a couple pints with the boys but I headed home quite early to hit the virtual felt. Overall I am so glad that the Penguins are heading back with a 3-1 lead because this series can't get over soon enough.
All I can say is that trying to play an aggro style for 6 max after a few beers gets you into a few tough spots. So down about 6 buyins but here were a few awesome hands that hurt a bit.
But tomorrow is a new day. I did finish the $250 bonus on FT so now I am back to tracking rakeback. I think the goal next month is to get to that $500 level so that stoxpoker would be free from thisisthenuts rakeback site.
All I can say is that trying to play an aggro style for 6 max after a few beers gets you into a few tough spots. So down about 6 buyins but here were a few awesome hands that hurt a bit.
But tomorrow is a new day. I did finish the $250 bonus on FT so now I am back to tracking rakeback. I think the goal next month is to get to that $500 level so that stoxpoker would be free from thisisthenuts rakeback site.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Just get Surly!
I wanted to do a shout out to a blog that gives out tons of information to improve your game. The guy is the Surly Poker Gnome and I suggest that for real poker info you get a subscription to his blog.
He searches out and posts great links to podcasts and threads on 2+2 or DeucesCracked and also has great additional insight from a player who has gone up through the ranks.
I took my first crack at NL25 6 max today to get away from donking off more cash at FR trying out new techniques. Got a bit lucky but I was sort of due to hit a few hands!
He searches out and posts great links to podcasts and threads on 2+2 or DeucesCracked and also has great additional insight from a player who has gone up through the ranks.
I took my first crack at NL25 6 max today to get away from donking off more cash at FR trying out new techniques. Got a bit lucky but I was sort of due to hit a few hands!
Tenga Flip Hole - Anti-Tilt Device
Guys out there suffering from tilt should really check out this anti-tilt device made by the geniuses from Japan.
Not only does it help you stay in shape (not that poker players are that out of shape!) but it will get your mental game back to where it should be. Getting coolered.... forget about it and go blow off some steam. The good thing about this is that you don't have to ask it if it wants to do it now... it is always good to go.
And hell maybe if any of the internet geeks ever get laid with a real women this thing will give them some better technique than they currently sport!
Not only does it help you stay in shape (not that poker players are that out of shape!) but it will get your mental game back to where it should be. Getting coolered.... forget about it and go blow off some steam. The good thing about this is that you don't have to ask it if it wants to do it now... it is always good to go.
And hell maybe if any of the internet geeks ever get laid with a real women this thing will give them some better technique than they currently sport!
Running bad
Just having one of those run of sessions where everytime it seems that I put in my stack I am way behind. I guess playing more like a nit pays off at the NL50 levels but I should be able to adapt my play to pick on those nits and take away a lot of small pots.
I just think I am working on too many things at once and instead I should be trying to build the bankroll a bit as well. Luckily the FT bonus is keeping my bankroll above water but I will have to go down stakes if this downswing continues. I think that going down a level is probably the best way to reestablish the ABC poker that built the bankroll in the first place.
The good thing is that I really believe that my ability to play is improving but the results are currently showing a lot of unlucky situations and also mixed with making some moves at the wrong times. If I continue to use better hands and position it will eventually lead to me winning against this opponents.
The 40-50 vpip with 5-20 pfr% seem to give me the most trouble as they love to call light and play a big pot when their junk hits two pair or better. I find that by focusing on 3 betting them with position it should give me good situations to c-bet and take down a few good sized pots without opposition. The hard part comes from the fact that anytime these guys push it could be a bluff or a solid hand... one day I will be able to tell which is which!
So I am off to play another 15k hands and we will see if I can start to get some better results.
I just think I am working on too many things at once and instead I should be trying to build the bankroll a bit as well. Luckily the FT bonus is keeping my bankroll above water but I will have to go down stakes if this downswing continues. I think that going down a level is probably the best way to reestablish the ABC poker that built the bankroll in the first place.
The good thing is that I really believe that my ability to play is improving but the results are currently showing a lot of unlucky situations and also mixed with making some moves at the wrong times. If I continue to use better hands and position it will eventually lead to me winning against this opponents.
The 40-50 vpip with 5-20 pfr% seem to give me the most trouble as they love to call light and play a big pot when their junk hits two pair or better. I find that by focusing on 3 betting them with position it should give me good situations to c-bet and take down a few good sized pots without opposition. The hard part comes from the fact that anytime these guys push it could be a bluff or a solid hand... one day I will be able to tell which is which!
So I am off to play another 15k hands and we will see if I can start to get some better results.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Playing more tables
So I found some great software to make it possible for me to play more tables. Now I can comfortably play 8 tables of NL50 which really helps me improve the number of hands and it makes me a tighter player.
I am using some AHK scripts for FT such as a buddy program and also using Placemint to arrange tables. Also it is easy to setup TheOpener so that once I turn on my machine I can get all my poker programs up and running without a lot of fuss.
Had a good session this morning where I was running just way too hot but my headache from last nights celebration of the Penguins victory was getting in the way. So now I am back to watch a couple poker videos and will get back to the tables for this afternoon's happy hours on FT.
Not sure if I ever put up a link to track my results over at Poker Table Rankings so here it is:
Mungo36's Poker Profits
I am using some AHK scripts for FT such as a buddy program and also using Placemint to arrange tables. Also it is easy to setup TheOpener so that once I turn on my machine I can get all my poker programs up and running without a lot of fuss.
Had a good session this morning where I was running just way too hot but my headache from last nights celebration of the Penguins victory was getting in the way. So now I am back to watch a couple poker videos and will get back to the tables for this afternoon's happy hours on FT.
Not sure if I ever put up a link to track my results over at Poker Table Rankings so here it is:
Mungo36's Poker Profits
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Learning from mistakes
I stepped up and tried an hour at the NL100 level and it is still so beatable. People are so over aggro and others call you to the river that you can value bet for 1/2 stack. That also means that your bluffs don't work as well but that is fine as it will keep me in line.
I think that when I am really into trying to use a few new techniques it would make sense to try them at the lower NL25 level as it would cost less. But then again building the bankroll still seems to happen slowly while I work through the new ideas I watch in the videos.
But tonight I get to go watch the Pittsburgh PenGUINs go kick ass against those nasty Flyers. I hate those throw back orange jersey's that those guys wear. And they better not run Malkin like they did last year as that really ruined any chance that the penguins had of beating Detroit last year.
I also managed to lose about 1k trying to put my short onto US financials which I took off quickly as the market decided to rally today for no real reason... the economic news is going to get worse and not better. Here I am calling for no 2nd half recovery for the US let alone the world in general.
I think that when I am really into trying to use a few new techniques it would make sense to try them at the lower NL25 level as it would cost less. But then again building the bankroll still seems to happen slowly while I work through the new ideas I watch in the videos.
But tonight I get to go watch the Pittsburgh PenGUINs go kick ass against those nasty Flyers. I hate those throw back orange jersey's that those guys wear. And they better not run Malkin like they did last year as that really ruined any chance that the penguins had of beating Detroit last year.
I also managed to lose about 1k trying to put my short onto US financials which I took off quickly as the market decided to rally today for no real reason... the economic news is going to get worse and not better. Here I am calling for no 2nd half recovery for the US let alone the world in general.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Back to Grinding
The only problem with learning a bunch of new things is that you never totally feel comfortable trying something new for the first 50 attempts. Back when I started at CR I felt the same feeling that I am going through now... the only difference is that now I have the time to really try to focus and improve my game.
Started watching a couple of Leatherass9's videos and I am totally impressed. Actually he is quite similar to watch Green Plastic from CR in that they are always betting into their opponent. It sure does add a deal of variance that I just don't think totally grasps the low stakes that we are playing for the long term. When we get 4 bet we are basically up against AA or KK so your JJ hand is quite dominated.
Of course they do introduce a novice player like myself to a few tools to take down a few pots especially against very loose opponents that I have attempted to isolate.
Now if I could just not start a session down a buyin within the first 10-15 mins that would be awesome!
Started watching a couple of Leatherass9's videos and I am totally impressed. Actually he is quite similar to watch Green Plastic from CR in that they are always betting into their opponent. It sure does add a deal of variance that I just don't think totally grasps the low stakes that we are playing for the long term. When we get 4 bet we are basically up against AA or KK so your JJ hand is quite dominated.
Of course they do introduce a novice player like myself to a few tools to take down a few pots especially against very loose opponents that I have attempted to isolate.
Now if I could just not start a session down a buyin within the first 10-15 mins that would be awesome!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Stoxtrader results
It is good to see that when I watch Stoxtrader playing NL25 I feel that I would have played in a similar manner. Then later in the video he showed his results and to think of making over 150k in just over a month playing seems a little insane!
So each day I hope to get through the NL beginner course and at least two other movies while still earning 200 FT points to qualify for an Iron Man status. Just had a super small session this morning because my daughter wanted me to read to her but booked a small win and a much higher EV number. Again it is good to think that people have to suck out against me and I can still have positive results.
So each day I hope to get through the NL beginner course and at least two other movies while still earning 200 FT points to qualify for an Iron Man status. Just had a super small session this morning because my daughter wanted me to read to her but booked a small win and a much higher EV number. Again it is good to think that people have to suck out against me and I can still have positive results.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
EV calc in Hold'em Manager
I will say that the $EV calc in Hold'em Manager is very helpful in controlling tilt. I just finished a long session where I was down slightly on the day but my stats said I should have won about one buyin.
During my review of my session's I am reviewing the EV of the big hands to see that I am not just getting lucky on certain days. It sure helps that rakeback and bonuses give you back some of that lost EV!
Going to take the family to an easter egg hunt today... hopefully everyone has a chance to spend some decent time with family on this Master's weekend.
During my review of my session's I am reviewing the EV of the big hands to see that I am not just getting lucky on certain days. It sure helps that rakeback and bonuses give you back some of that lost EV!
Going to take the family to an easter egg hunt today... hopefully everyone has a chance to spend some decent time with family on this Master's weekend.
Starting the beginner course
Just starting on a 30 day course and I love the starting hand range day 2 course expectation... "it’s recommended that you play a hundred thousand hands or more with a borrowed base range for each position."
Damn I haven't played 100k hands in the last year and just to figure out an ABC hand range they want me to at least play that many hands to learn. This is going to get me to really grind it out and hopefully I can figure out how to play more tables to keep a tighter range from boring me.
Time to get back to the tables.
Damn I haven't played 100k hands in the last year and just to figure out an ABC hand range they want me to at least play that many hands to learn. This is going to get me to really grind it out and hopefully I can figure out how to play more tables to keep a tighter range from boring me.
Time to get back to the tables.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Stoxpoker and grinding
So I finally got over the 25k Full Tilt points needed to get a 6 month subscription to Stoxpoker . Not sure how long things take when you buy them through the FT store but I hope it isn't too long.
Been running hot until this morning when I started getting a bit too comfortable raising out of position. I also didn't win races but at least I am keeping the tilt down. I think that by playing through the first bout of poor play should help me when I start to study the videos.
Actually I want to edit that I am not tilting! Just ran into KK 2x with smaller overpairs... ouch that hurts.
I hope everyone is going to have a good long weekend.
Been running hot until this morning when I started getting a bit too comfortable raising out of position. I also didn't win races but at least I am keeping the tilt down. I think that by playing through the first bout of poor play should help me when I start to study the videos.
Actually I want to edit that I am not tilting! Just ran into KK 2x with smaller overpairs... ouch that hurts.
I hope everyone is going to have a good long weekend.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Getting setup
It seems every time I try to get my poker stuff in order my life throws me a curve ball. I did manage to get in a few hands today and start to build the bankroll so I can begin to play NL50 again.
In the next month hopefully I will have a new apartment and finally get the home office setup so I can take the poker seriously. In addition I have started trading my portfolio again since I have been in cash since the end of January. The market is starting to give me some opportunities to make some quick cash which I need to fund me until I feel like working again.
I did check out the poker academy on the Full Tilt site and it isn't half bad. Sign up for a challenge and get some points and hopefully they will be worth something some day!
In the next month hopefully I will have a new apartment and finally get the home office setup so I can take the poker seriously. In addition I have started trading my portfolio again since I have been in cash since the end of January. The market is starting to give me some opportunities to make some quick cash which I need to fund me until I feel like working again.
I did check out the poker academy on the Full Tilt site and it isn't half bad. Sign up for a challenge and get some points and hopefully they will be worth something some day!
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