Thanks For All The Fish

Trip report and 50NL progress.

2009-03-23T19:29:00.006-04:00

I had a trip this Saturday down to Ceasars in Windsor, CA (few hours from home). I arrived around 10 AMish and played until 4 PM, which wasn't enough time if you ask me. I bought in for the max buy in at the $1/$2 tables, $200, and made quite a few mistakes. I ended up -$140, but it actually wasn't my fault so I don't feel too bad about it, just a bit disappointed. I went there knowing that the only way I was going to lose was if I get sucked out on. Sure enough...

I call a pre flop raise with KQ, 3 to the flop. Flop comes 9TJ. The lady checks, the pre flop raiser (typical balla with sunglasses) bets $20 or something. I raise to ~$60 and the lady ships it, all in for like $180 or something. I'm jumping up and down on the inside, knowing I'm about to ship a huge pot. Balla guy thinks for way too long (he had AK... which gives you an idea as to the skill of live $1/$2) and folds, I snap call. The lady flips over QJ. I sigh. Turn is... 5. Ship $300+ pot to not me.

I also had KK and AA twice, but misplayed them. It was early on in the session, and when I had AA there were like 6 limpers, so I raised to $30. This table was a little nitty for a live game and pre flop raises were only $7-$15 usually, but I didn't know this at the time. Everyone folded and I picked up their stupid limps. One of the times I had KK I raised to $20 pre and only got one caller, took it down on the flop. I realized afterwards that I lost a ton of value on those hands, which bothered me.

My newness to live poker showed when I made a total noob mistake and string bet on the river by accident with the nuts. I had AQ and got one caller pre flop. I bet the flop which was J high and he called. Turn put another on board so I had the nut flush draw. I figure maybe, just maybe this guy knows how to fold so I fired another barrel. He calls. River is and I jump up and down inside. He insta bets like $40 into a $150 pot or so. I hollywood it for a few minutes so as not to give away what's going on... then I slide my one stack of chips out, and then the other. The dealer looks at me and asks 'Did you say raise?', I reply 'I'm all in', and then the dealer explains to me how string bets work and that I just did one. Only my first action counts, so I have only called his bet and don't get the option to raise. I've heard of string bets before, but never even thought about it. The guy flips over KJ for the second nut flush and I miss out on the $130 he had behind because I'm a total idiot. I said to him 'Wow, you're lucky I'm an idiot.' and he said 'Yeah, I would have called for sure if you went all in.'... sigh.

I lost a coinflip for a couple hundred, but that didn't bother me too much (although it did suck). What really bothered me was my noobness and missing value on my flush and my aces and kings. I would have been even or up a bit if I didn't mess up in the 'live' part of 'live poker'.

I've played 4 sessions and 2,300 hands at 50NL and am still getting comfortable to the limit. It feels different than 25NL, with more pre flop aggression and it's even harder to extract value unless it's nuts vs. second nuts. Thus far it feels like everyone floats every flop and never folds, but that's likely just variance rearing it's head given that I have such a small sample. I played my first full 8 table session yesterday and it didn't go well. I started up $75 within about 30 minutes and was going to just call it a session since I didn't want to play too long, but thought to myself I'd try to put in more time. As I discovered last time, the longer I play the worse I play, so I ended up playing for about 2.5 hours struggling to break even. I think that for me shorter sessions are definitely +EV since I feel that my play slips pretty quickly after the 1.5 hour mark, so I'll stick to my shorter sessions from now on. On the last session I played I really, really started to play badly and it felt like the same way I played back at 5NL before I was even beating the limit... not good. So far at 50NL I have gotten lucky though, as evident by the following:

Clearly sustainable.

I'm still waiting on my books to arrive from PokerStars and can't wait to read them. I feel like I need an injection of some intermediate/advanced theory and play because right now my game is fairly basic and standard, it needs a shot of something more. 50NL seems to give out mad FPP's so I should make GoldStar this month and hopefully can start getting some bonuses going on PokerStars. I'm trying to put in more volume and I feel that I will, but it might be a bit less than I'd like since I'm still adjusting to 50NL, but oh well. I should make more this month than last month, so it's all good. I've surprassed my March goal of $1,200 bankroll which I didn't even think I'd make, hopefully I can keep my head above that line for the rest of the month.

50NL shottaments with extra run good

2009-03-18T23:32:00.005-04:00

DING!

Hands Played: 238
Minutes Played: 63
Amount Won: $33.55
ptBB/100: 14.10
Tables: 3

Alright, so on March 18, 2009 I finally hit the $1,000 mark in my bankroll! I've come a long way from my last $25 deposit and am infinitely better at NLHE than I was just 3 months ago. I didn't start actually beating 5NL until January, so I'm proud of my progress.

I just completed my first session of 50NL and it was a reasonable success. I won money, but that's not why I say it was a successful session. The first while at a new limit I use to acclimate myself to the general atmosphere of the limit, pick out some of the possible regulars and just get a feel for how the play is. From my short session I noticed more pre flop aggression and (seemingly) positionally aware players. I also found some huge fish which doesn't really surprise me. I raised in MP and a guy just called with KK from the BB. He then called down the flop and turn on a 4 2 2 7 6 board and checked the river to me. I bet the flop because I likely had the best hand and it was just a continuation bet. I fired the turn because again, I felt I had the best hand and he would fold a large portion of the time. This guy is a calling station, but I didn't see a hand like KQ calling my turn bet unless it was a draw. No draws made it, so I just checked behind. lol donkaments indeed.

Anyways back to what I was saying about a new limit. It takes a while to get used to new bet sizing pre flop because of the different blinds. The first time I had to raise a limper it took me a good second to think of what sizing to use, but that will all come in time. Overall the limit seems a bit tougher than 25NL, but with decent table selection and the occassional reg battle it feels like I'll do OK. I never felt outclassed or out of place, which I was actually afraid of. If the regulars start adjusting to me things might get pretty interesting.

One thing I'm proud that I'm not doing is playing with scared money. The limits are doubled and I'm sitting down with $50 at each table and a continuation bet in a 3bet pot (fairly common) is $5-$7 usually. At 25NL a bet that size is usually a turn or river bet, not a continuation bet. The key to getting around this sort of thinking is to just ignore the fact that you're playing with money. Everything is still just as proportional as it was at 25NL in terms of flop bet sizing, stack sizes in ratio to blinds, etc. The only difference is the dollar amount. When I 2 barrel the turn and it costs me $12 I don't think 'Holy crap I just bet $12 and have air', I just think to myself 'I'm going to 2 barrel this card' and do it. The actual dollar amounts are totally irrelevant, your actions are what matters. You continuation bet because you continuation bet. $1.50 at 25NL or $3 at 50NL, it's all the same in terms of ratios. I focus on what my actions are and ignore the dollar amounts behind them, and I feel that it works well.

I used most of my FPP points on PokerStars to order Professional No Limit Hold Em and No Limit Hold Em: Theory and Practice. Both seem to be very highly regarded as must-reads and my FPP points are useless to me right now. Since I'm only a SilverStar I don't earn enough points to get any worthwhile cash bonuses. The books would have cost me around $60 USD in total to order from Amazon and the 5,000 FPP bonus is only $50, so I think it was the best use of my points I could find. If I stick at 50NL and don't have to move back down, I may be able to hit GoldStar which can get me a $285 cash bonus I might actually be able to get, but we'll see.

There weren't any memorable hands from the session... OH EXCEPT WHEN I GOT MY FIRST ROYAL FLUSH!

These two hands are almost back to back against the same villain. In hand 2 I knew he was going to be super aggro because I just stacked him but the play itself is pretty standard. I was getting it in on pretty much any flop.

MP1: $33.20
Hero (MP2): $54.50

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is MP2 with A Q
3 folds, MP1 calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2.50, 4 folds, MP1 calls $2

Flop: ($5.75) J 9 7 (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($5.75) K (2 players)
MP1 bets $0.50, Hero raises to $4.50, MP1 calls $4

River: ($14.75) T (2 players)
MP1 bets $2, Hero raises to $10.50, MP1 calls $8.50

I kind of wish I shoved here, but I really wasn't sure if villain was calling. I figured he'd come over the top with any flush or straight (he was a fish). Now that I know his hand I think he would have called a shove.

Final Pot: $35.75
MP1 mucks K T
Hero shows A Q (a Royal Flush)
Hero wins $34.00

===================================================================

UTG: $15.70
Hero (UTG+1): $71.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+1 with A A
UTG raises to $1, Hero raises to $3.50, 7 folds, UTG calls $2.50

Flop: ($7.75) 2 K T (2 players)
UTG bets $12.20 all in, Hero calls $12.20

Fistpump a baby insta-snapcall.

Turn: ($32.15) K (2 players - 1 is all in)

Vomit into my own mouth and stomp a kitten.

River: ($32.15) A (2 players - 1 is all in)

El oh fuckin' El, thank you PokerStars.

Final Pot: $32.15
UTG shows J K (three of a kind, Kings)
Hero shows A A (a full house, Aces full of Kings)
Hero wins $30.60

Shippin' it

2009-03-13T22:57:00.004-04:00

I just played one of my best sessions ever skill wise, and one of my better ones cash wise. I played around 1.5 hrs and was break even on suck outs (3 and 3) and made some really nice moves if I do say so myself. Up until this point I've mostly been playing fit or fold ABC poker. I did a stat review with mpethybridge (Stox coach, 2p2 mod) yesterday and he gave me some advice about basically not playing fit or fold because it's losing a lot of value. I agreed and I do feel I'm at the point where my game should be opening up to all the good stuff poker has to offer.

I'm going to share some of these hands that I enjoyed. If you play 50NL or above they probably seem pretty basic, but I loved making them at the table and am reasonably proud of myself for doing so. Also, I folded AA for the first time ever.

===================================================================

Hero (BTN): $28.80
SB: $23.70 (24/14 over 90 hands)
MP2: $20.85 (51/16 over 69 hands, 100% cbet)

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BTN with 9 9
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.25, 2 folds, MP2 raises to $0.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.50, SB calls $0.40, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.25

Flop: ($2.25) 8 2 3 (4 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 checks, MP2 bets $1.75, Hero calls $1.75, SB calls $1.75, UTG+1 folds

At this point I feel this is a pretty standard continuation bet and I feel he has air here a lot (air or trips). SB's call tells me that he's on a flush draw most of the time. With the action so far anyone with a set is raising here (even a fish).

Turn: ($7.50) Q (3 players)
SB checks, MP2 checks, Hero bets $5.50, SB folds, MP2 folds

Both of their checks let's me know that MP2 really was just firing a continuation bet and was trying to scoop the pot and that SB is in fact on a draw. I now know SB likely has absolutely nothing and the turn card isn't a bad one. I bet a sizeable bet that should be enough to force MP2 to give up and SB will of course fold his air.

===================================================================

BTN: $27.90 (7/4 over 501 hands, 100% cbet and fold to cbet)
Hero (BB): $53.05

UTG+1 posts a big blind ($0.25)

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is BB with J J
1 fold, UTG+1 checks, 2 folds, BTN raises to $1.25, 1 fold, Hero calls $1, 1 fold

He's likely raising a hand, but the dead money is also something to consider. I figure his range is slightly wider here than his usual 4%. Also if he does have a hand he likely has TT+, or AK. I flat call for the obvious reasons.

Flop: ($2.85) 9 A 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $2, Hero raises to $6.25, BTN folds

I check to let him bet and he does a standard continuation bet. At this point I realize that if he has TT-KK here he is folding if I raise this flop because he's an uber nit and he plays his hands face up. I also know that if he has AK he'll likely call, and AA will call or raise. So if my raise is called, I can just be done with the hand. Since I feel only 2 hands in his range are continuing in this spot I make a decent raise. He thinks for a while and then folds. I also assume he uses a HUD and I would show as a fairly TAG regular, so my raise should have some weight behind it.

===================================================================

Hero (MP2): $42.85
BTN: $25.00 (8/4 over 91 hands, 50% fold to cbet and 3.7% 3bet)

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is MP2 with A A
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.25, MP1 calls $0.25, Hero raises to $1.50, 1 fold, BTN calls $1.50, 3 folds, MP1 calls $1.25

I've been watching this player and he is a classic set miner. He folds any flop he doesn't hit. I know when he calls here that he has a pocket pair approximately 134.16% of the time. MP1 is a 59/3 fish so we can just ignore him.

Flop: ($5.10) 6 J 5 (3 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $3, BTN calls $3, MP1 folds

I made a slightly smaller cbet than normal in this spot. MP1 has 75% fold to cbet and he limped pre so he likely has garbage. BTN is only continuing with a set, so I think a smaller cbet gets the job done and loses less when I'm behind.

Turn: ($11.10) K (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $5.50, Hero folds

Uh... yeah. I thought for a while and realized that this is a value bet and BTN is not an aggro donktard. I realized that more often than not I'm totally dominated here. His AF is 1. This is a set all day every day. I sigh and fold knowing that I saved myself a buy in.

Those are the three hands that stand out to me. A lot of the other ones were positional 3bets in position against regulars and some nice abuse of the limp/fold type players. All in all it was a stellar session and I hope my current rate of winning continues. At this point I hope to be shot taking 50NL by probably next weekend or earlier, depending on how bad or good I run. I'm not sure how 50NL is going to be, but I hope to play more of this kind of great poker and less of value betting the fish. I'm really, really tired of value betting fish. This is the kind of poker I want to be playing.

Bankroll: $935.70

Bankroll wall just got Berlin'd

2009-03-12T08:52:00.003-04:00

So I've been at the $800 mark for a lot of time. I got up to $806, then lost ~$90 over two sessions. I finally got back up to $805, then lost ~$40. Then I finally get to $807 and... it sticks! I get up to $825.00 (exactly) and then last night happened.

Last night was a good night, one of the more fun nights I've had playing poker. I started by watching Newman (100/200NLer) playing 16 tables of 200NL on FTP. He got set over set twice within about 10 minutes for full stacks, but ended up grinding a $150 profit before he quit. I asked if he wanted to sweat me for a while and he said sure. As we're starting, jasons0147 (also 100/200NLer) AIMs me and says he's bored and drunk, wants to sweat me.

So he joins into the Skype conference and I'm playing 8-9 tables of 25NL while being sweated by teh pros. We 3bet some nit regs and stole lots 'o blinds. jasons0147 made me semi-bluff shove a flush draw on the turn against a player with reggy stats. I really didn't want to do it, but they both insisted. So I did, and hit my draw, and he showed up with trips. I still yelled at both of them, because a lot of stuff that works at 100NL absolutely does not work at 25NL.

This is one reason where even while getting sweat, you need to think about how to apply the things you learn. A semi-draw shove is +EV for a lot of reasons. Dead money, FE, and outs. The problem with the shoves they had me make was that at this level the FE is usually extremely low. They simply won't fold very often in a lot of spots and shoving without a made hand can become -EV if you lose part of the equation, fold equity. I respect their advice and I remember what I'm told, but after my first sweat with Newman where I listened to him and lost ~$35 (at 10NL) I realized there's a difference between 25NL play and 100NL play, so try to be aware of that at the tables.

I finalized and posted my Complete Guide to Beating the Micros on 2p2. It was received very well, and hopefully it will help out all those struggling micro stakes players who can't seem to beat the limits. It's about 8,000 words long, but I feel it's definitely worth the read if you're playing the micro stakes. Even if you're winning, you might pick up on a tidbit or two of knowledge.

I'll leave you with the biggest pot I've won (outside of 50NL). This hand was epic. The first bettor likes to bet a lot of flops, and the other two players were 30/15ish types. I really thought one of them had a set, but then the turn card came. What do you do with a full house at 25NL against aggro donktards? You check it, of course.

Hero (BB): $25.00
UTG: $23.75
UTG+1: $40.75
MP1: $25.00
MP2: $14.60
CO: $5.00
BTN: $29.85
SB: $5.00

CO posts a big blind ($0.25)

Pre Flop: ($0.70) Hero is BB with 6 J
UTG calls $0.25, UTG+1 calls $0.25, 2 folds, CO checks, BTN calls $0.25, SB calls $0.15, Hero checks

Flop: ($1.60) J 9 6 (6 players)
SB bets $1, Hero raises to $4, UTG calls $4, UTG+1 calls $4, CO folds, BTN folds, SB raises to $4.75 all in, Hero calls $0.75, UTG calls $0.75, UTG+1 calls $0.75

Turn: ($20.60) 6 (4 players - 1 is all in)
Hero checks, UTG bets $10, UTG+1 calls $10, Hero raises to $20 all in, UTG calls $8.75 all in, UTG+1 calls $10

River: ($79.35) 7 (4 players - 3 are all in)

Final Pot: $79.35
Hero shows 6 J (a full house, Sixes full of Jacks)
UTG mucks K K
UTG+1 mucks Q T
SB mucks J Q
Hero wins $2.50
Hero wins $54.25
Hero wins $19.60

Bankroll: $872.55

The prodigal son returns...

2009-03-07T17:34:00.007-05:00

Alright it's been a long while since I've posted. I had a huge post prepared, but can't find it, and things have changed since then so I'll just give cliff notes.

Ended 5NL at 21,329 hands for a profit of $261.57 at 12.26ptbb/100.
Played 8,346 hands of 10NL for a profit of $126.45 at 7.5ptbb/100.
Moved up to 25NL at $450 in the bankroll ($50 early).
Lost about $85 my first day at 25NL over 1,300 hands or so.
Won it all back the next 2 sessions.
Been up and down since, moving gradually up.

25NL has overall been going well. I'm currently 21,900 hands in and have made just over $300, but my winrate is only 2.81ptbb/100. I'd really like to see this improve, and my goal is to have it at 4. This is a small sample size, but I'm still slightly disappointed overall and am pushing myself to do better. I'm frequently doing sweats with some awesome players from 2p2 and I know I can beat 25NL, I just wish it was for more.

I've had some big problems with tilt at the tables and I'm definitely improving. I listened to a few podcasts about tilt and mindset and it has helped. I used to go Hellmuth after a single bad beat, but now it takes a few of them back to back to phase me. Losing coinflips is becoming easier, but I still hate it. The one major problem I'm grasping with right now is the fact that I hate everyone at 25NL. The players are so bad and so retarded that it makes me angry. noidea555 was sweating me the other day (he plays 100NL/50NL) and was like 'Dude, what the fuck is this?', and I said 'Yeah, this is 25NL dude. All day, every day'. He said he was going on tilt just watching me play. Why? Donk bets, flop raises that make no sense, etc. Unfortunately I have no choice but to deal with it, but it's very frustrating at the tables.

I'm hoping to start taking shots at 50NL by the end of the month when I'm around $1,000. This is of course assuming I hit $1,000 by the end of the month, but I think I should if I put in the hands. My goals for this month as posted in the goals thread:

Bring winrate at 25NL to a solid 4.5 ptbb/100 (3.9).
Bankroll at $1,200 (rolled for 50NL).
Shots at 50NL at good tables at $1,000.
Move to 50NL.
25,000 hands.
lrn2pokerz even more.

My bankroll goal is lofty on purpose, because I'm hoping I can push myself to put in the volume to get there. I don't actually think $1,200 is doable given how little I play, but I hope to get close. mpethybridge (Stox coach/2p2 mod) also gave me some words of praise that I can't help but brag about: "I gotta agree with KurtSF on this--in a lot of ways yours is the most impressive performance posted in this thread. Well done, sir."

Encouragement from your peers is always nice! I'll finish this post off with 2 graphs for your viewing pleasure. I'll update this regularly from now on since it looks like someone might actually be reading it. I 8-9 tabled for a while at 25NL but have since dropped down to 6 to try and focus on refining my game to get ready for 50NL.

Lifetime Graph up to today's date: (Really easy to tell where I started 25NL)

Lifetime 25NL Graph up to today's date: (Was up to over $800, then downswinged)

Bankroll: $784.65

Movin' on up

2009-02-05T23:54:00.004-05:00

Haven't posted in a while, been putting most of my free time into playing and by the time the session is over it's usually bed time, leaving me no time to post. I'm starting to put more volume in and it's going very well. I moved up to 10NL and have been winning consistently. I feel it's reasonably different than 5NL, but I'm enjoying it so far.

A huge thanks to Jasons from 2P2 who posted a video/contest thread, you can find it here. Great video and I recommend a watch, the contest thing was a really cool idea. I managed to get the 100th post while 4tabling late at night and I'm really happy I was able to. Tonight I did my first sweat session (ever) and it went really well. He sweated me for 45 mins or so and we talked a lot about marginal situations and he really gave me some great overarching advice that applies to poker in general and especially my limits. Staying out of those marginal situations, not getting fancy when you don't need to, a bit of help on my pre-flop game, etc. I think sweat sessions are by far the best way to learn anything, being able to talk things over after they happen and while they happen is just invaluable.

I think we'll wait about a week and then I'll have another sweat session with him and he's going to also do a stat review with me to discuss possible leaks and things to improve on. Jasons knows his stuff, and I'm extremely grateful for him to be giving back to the community as he is. He 18 tables 100NL and posts 2-3PTBB/100 profit, so... yeah. Balla'.

For the 2P2 micro sweat sessions for the month I'm paired with MacAvoy, who lives a few hours away and plays 25NL. I feel bad because I won't really be able to help him that much, but I hope we can do quite a few sweats together because it really is so helpful. Definitely looking forward to it. I'm still planning on doing a January review, probably this weekend. I'll post my graphs and some of my stats so I can sort of keep track of them month to month. Here are some quick stats of my 10NL play so far and a pot from tonight which proved to be my largest ever.

10NL
Hands played: 2,738
Hours: 12.88
Amount Won: $77.20
BB/100: 14.10

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

MP: $15.65
Hero (CO): $18.85
BTN: $5.05
SB: $20.10
BB: $10.00
UTG: $11.40
UTG+1: $22.15

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is CO with K K
2 folds, MP raises to $2, Hero raises to $7.50, 3 folds, MP raises to $15.65 all in, Hero calls $8.15
Flop: ($31.45) K 4 3 (2 players - 1 is all in)
Turn: ($31.45) 6 (2 players - 1 is all in)
River: ($31.45) Q (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $31.45
MP shows J J (a pair of Jacks)
Hero shows K K (three of a kind, Kings)
Hero wins $29.90
(Rake: $1.55)

I like poker.

Bankroll: $361.32

I like weekends

2009-02-02T07:40:00.003-05:00

Hands Played: 2,303
Hours: 13.47
Amount Won: 62.84
BB/100: 27.29
Tables: 2-4

These stats include Friday (posted below). I love weekends! I played my first 1,000 hand session on Saturday (just over 5 hours, 1,130 hands). I was on the tables that long mostly due to the table talk. I somehow managed to start the session with quad Jacks and end up $11 only to somehow end the session up $1.28... woops. Aside from that Sunday and Friday were both very profitable. There weren't many noteworthy hands to post and not much else worth noting. I've started to open up my aggression pre-flop and am 3 betting when appropriate and starting to try and isolate the limpers and improve my game.

I plan to move up to NL10 very soon. I played literally one orbit at a table that started out a bit fishy, but went downhill so I just left. I'm not expecting too many troubles adjusting to the stack sizes as I tend to think in BB's when it comes to bet sizing. Stacking off should be easier, which may lead to more variance, but hopefully also more money.

I plan on doing a January review perhaps later tonight or sometime this week to look back at the month and maybe check some notable hands and my play on them. For February I'm looking to put in more volume and move up to NL10 and keep grinding the roll.

I also have some good ideas in mind for a large guide-type post and possibly accompanying video for 2p2. I think the hump of beating the limit for the micros can be a challenge for some. It was for me, as it took me a month and a half or more just to post a profit and start to beat the limit. I don't want to make it yet as I'm still pretty green, but I think I can write a guide and make a video that can have anyone beating NL2/5/10(?) after watching it. That's the goal, at least.

Oh yeah, I also changed the name of the blog... much better I think. If you're a fish and would like some free poker lessons, see this post in uNL February BBV. Seriously, don't limp AA in the micros. Ever. They all deserved it if you ask me.

Bankroll: $282.67

Friday Night Fun

2009-01-30T23:13:00.003-05:00

Hands Played: 284
Hours: 1.87
Amount Won: $15.77
BB/100: 55.53
Tables: 2-4

I love Friday nights. This guy was open shoving pre a lot. He got called down by others and showed stuff like QQ, AK, etc. I was dealt this hand and just said to myself, 'Please let him shove'... and he did :D

UTG+1: $8.55
MP: $4.22
Hero (CO): $15.34
BTN: $10.25
SB: $3.29
BB: $15.09
UTG: $4.66

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is CO with A A
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $8.55 all in, 1 fold, Hero raises to $15.34 all in, 3 folds

Flop: ($17.17) Q 6 A (2 players - 2 are all in)

Turn: ($17.17) 5 (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($17.17) J (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $17.17
UTG+1 shows A K (a pair of Aces)
Hero shows A A (three of a kind, Aces)
Hero wins $16.32

Not really any other hands worth noting... your standard Friday night donkfest. So overall tonight I made $28.64 in under 3 hours. Nice. Pretty refreshing to see after the past few days.

Bankroll: $248.02

And the storm cleared...

2009-01-30T20:41:00.006-05:00

Well, I just had a very interesting few days of poker. I think it was my first official spot of variance. It lasted about 2,000 hands and was much more hardcore than I expected. I'm alright with people sucking out on me, sometimes I even chuckle. I lost $12 with AA thanks to the river. Both of my opponents made straights on the river in both hands. It was so bad last night I snapped a little inside, much to the dismay of the 2P2 Micro FR Regulars thread. It isn't even just getting bad cards, or no cards, it's much worse. It's bad cards compounded with getting sucked out on and rivered on top of not getting paid on any of your made hands, having no one respect your continuation bets, getting check raised and re-raised left right and center all over the place on every table... it's fucking brutal. I really didn't think it could be that bad, but boy was I mistaken. I feel lucky that it only lasted 2,000 hands, because that is by far some of the most frustrating nights of poker I've played, ever.

I do have to thank the people of the Micro FR Reg thread. I ranted huge and they were all really kind about it and I didn't get flamed like I expected. I feel bad for even posting what I did, but I really had no other outlet. Props to all them over there for helping me out. I wasn't able to post during the past two nights because I didn't end up going to bed until very late, hopefully I won't let that happen again. Anyways, on to tonights session...

Hands Played: 86
Hours: 0.97
Amount Won: $12.87
BB/100: 149.65
Tables: 2

I played a quick 2 table session tonight before dinner. I sat down at the table with a certain freshness and positiveness in my head before I started playing (i.e shook off the past few days). My second hand was AA, so I thought that was a sign. Turns out it was. I flopped the nut flush in one hand and stacked someone for a $4.25 pot, only to turn a straight on the very next hand and stack yet another someone for a $3.29 pot. I was also getting some fairly decent cards and took a few pots down with regular continuation bets and even hit a pair or two. The session I played only lasted 86 hands and less than an hour, but I made a definite solid amount in that time. My biggest losing hand was floating a regs continuation bet with 99, he fired a second barrel so I decided that was that.

A lesson can be learned from my past few days... variance is a bitch. The first day I was down $0.78, the second day I was up $12.10, but that didn't even matter. The session was atrocious and drove me insane. Last night was by far the most aggravating, running -$13.45 over 680 hands. The worst seems to be over for now, hopefully tomorrows sessions will be as profitable as earlier tonight. I leave you with one of the last hands from my short session...

BTN: $5.02
SB: $3.05
BB: $3.50
UTG: $9.53
UTG+1: $5.52
MP: $2.68
Hero (CO): $10.08

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is CO with 5 A
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.15, 1 fold, SB calls $0.13, BB calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.45) J T 4 (3 players)
SB bets $0.10, BB calls $0.10, Hero calls $0.10

Turn: ($0.75) 7 (3 players)
SB bets $0.35, BB raises to $3.25 all in, Hero raises to $9.83 all in, SB calls $2.45 all in

River: ($10.05) Q (3 players - 3 are all in)

Final Pot: $10.05
SB mucks 6 2
BB shows 3 K (a flush, King high)
Hero shows 5 A (a flush, Ace high)
Hero wins $0.85
Hero wins $8.70

Bankroll: $232.25

And God said; 'Let sircuddles not win'

2009-01-27T23:45:00.005-05:00

Hands Played: 840
Hours: 3.15
Amount Won: -$0.78
BB/100: -0.93
Tables: 5

Well I just had possibly the most brutal session I've had in a long time. Even worse than the -2 BI sessions I've had. It felt like God himself decided I wouldn't be making any profit today. I had a few suck outs which is fairly standard (flop trips vs. AA with an A on the river), but almost none of my actual hands got paid off by anyone - not even the fish! It's a wonder I ended up only down 78 cents, because about 30 minutes into the session I was down $13.

The tables weren't very good, but I ended up finding a few that were alright. Problem is I never actually got any hands against the fish and they just ate up my continuation bets and donked me off of just about every pot. Whenever I'd flop trips I'd bet, but instead of doing what they always do, they'd just fold. It almost felt like every fish could see my hole cards... Out of my top 15 winning hands, only 4 went to showdown. At least my red line gets a boost, I guess.

There's an odd thing I've noticed that happens at these limits. In order to valuetown the fish, you need to play poker that isn't really optimal. Against any decent player I'd never stack off with TPTK or bet 3 streets, but against a fish it's standard. I find that every once in a while I hang myself, but maybe that's also standard. When we play against fish we play very differently than optimal because it gets us the most value overall for our TPTK+ hands. There's no need to worry about keeping the pot small because our opponents will call enough and play badly enough that this is profitable. However, that's not always the case and sometimes I question the road to valuetown.

Both of us had $10 behind here.

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is CO with A Q
2 folds, MP1 calls $0.05, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.25, 2 folds, BB calls $0.20, MP1 calls $0.20

Flop: ($0.77) J K A (3 players)
BB bets $0.15, MP1 folds, Hero raises to $0.75, BB calls $0.60

At this point I'm putting him on any one of the cards on the table, but certainly not on AK or any similar hand as he would have likely 3bet preflop with such a holding. I'm not worried about QT, and a draw is also possible.

Turn: ($2.27) 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $2, BB calls $2

So, I take the standard line vs. fish with TPTK. Bet every street, maximize value. I'm smiling as I continue to bet the pot.

River: ($6.27) 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $3, BB calls $3

Sweet I say to myself, managed to get all 3 streets out of him. Although at this point I'm worried in the back of my head about being beaten, but I can't think of anything he can really have that beats me. I figure he has ATs or something similar.

Final Pot: $12.27
BB shows J A (two pair, Aces and Jacks)
Hero shows A Q (a pair of Aces)
BB wins $11.72

Well don't I just look stupid, eh? Against a regular player I would have checked the turn and maybe put out a small 1/2 pot bet on the river, keeping with the small hand, small pot philosophy, especially on this board. But he isn't a reg, he's a fish, so I assume my TPTK is the nuts and off I go to hang myself on the turn and the river. Bad play? Bad beat? Fish just happened to have 2 pair? Either way, I played this hand differently against this player than I would have against anyone else, is that a good thing? Overall it probably is, given the state of NL5 and it's players. In the long run 2 pair or trips is pretty unlikely and most of the time I'll take this pot down against a fish... but damned if I don't look like a bit of an idiot here. Is there a way to balance fish play and real play to optimize our value? Is this standard? Did I just play it bad? All questions for 2 Plus 2.

I feel I really need to look into how I value TPTK against certain villains, because that seems to be the crux of my losing plays and a big bone of contention for me. I don't know when to overvalue it and when not to. Then again, maybe it's just a bad beat against a fish who got lucky and I'm over analyzing. Tomorrow I'm going to hit the tables with the wrath of cuddles and have my vengeance.

Bankroll: $220.73

Late Afternoon Session

2009-01-25T19:58:00.008-05:00

Hands Played: 349
Hours: 1.38
Amount Won: $19.79
BB/100: 56.70 (sustainable imo)
Tables: 5

Had a great session after a long afternoon nap. Tables were extremely fishy, I think 4/5 of them started with average VPIP above 40%. They cooled a bit after a while, but still plenty of money to be made. I feel like I played really, really well. I don't think I made any major mistakes and I played my premium hands well. The biggest pot I lost was only $0.85, and in that pot I got rivered for a better two pair which was slightly annoying since the villain was 92/0...

This was my biggest hand, and I think I played it well in terms of bet sizing. Maybe could have gone a bit bigger on the flop. CO was very clearly drawing.

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is UTG+2 with 2 2
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $0.10, Hero calls $0.10, MP1 raises to $0.20, 1 fold, CO calls $0.20, 3 folds, UTG+1 calls $0.10, Hero calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.87) 7 2 A (4 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $0.40, MP1 folds, CO calls $0.40, UTG+1 calls $0.40

Turn: ($2.07) Q (3 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $1.50, CO calls $1.50, UTG+1 calls $1.50

River: ($6.57) 4 (3 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $5, CO folds, UTG+1 calls $3.82 all in

Final Pot: $14.21
Hero shows 2 2 (three of a kind, Deuces)
UTG+1 mucks K A
Hero wins $13.56

I'm not sure about UTG+1's play on this one. I don't think I call that many strong bets on every street with just TPTK. Maybe he should go read Harrington on Hold 'Em. I'll post this hand here just because it made me laugh both pre-flop and on showdown. Nothing better than getting 3bet with AA.

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is UTG with A A
Hero raises to $0.25, 3 folds, BTN raises to $0.75, 2 folds, Hero raises to $5, BTN calls $4.07 all in

Final Pot: $9.71
BTN mucks T T
Hero shows A A (two pair, Aces and Queens)
Hero wins $9.26

I had one problem hand that I posted on 2 Plus 2, you can find it here. TPTK is a big question mark for me most of the time. Against fish I simply bet/bet/shove and that's good enough, but with unknowns and thinking players I try to stick with the small hand, small pot philosophy and am not really comfortable betting 3 streets with TPTK. It's something I'll have to really keep an eye on and work on, because I think I'm missing a lot of value being too passive with my TPTK hands against non-fish.

Bankroll: $221.51

Morning Session

2009-01-25T10:33:00.013-05:00

Hands Played: 364
Hours: 1.20
Amount Won: $3.62
BB/100: 9.95
Tables: 5

Tables started out really fishy and it was going well. First hand I played in the session:

Hero (BTN): $10.00
BB: $7.26

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BTN with Q Q
UTG raises to $0.10, 5 folds, Hero raises to $0.35, 1 fold, BB calls $0.30, UTG calls $0.25
Flop: ($1.07) 7 6 2 (3 players)
BB bets $6.91 all in, UTG folds, Hero calls $6.91
Turn: ($14.89) 2 (2 players - 1 is all in)
River: ($14.89) 9 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $14.89
Hero shows Q Q (two pair, Queens and Deuces)
BB shows 5 7 (two pair, Sevens and Deuces)
Hero wins $14.19

Gotta love it. Villain left immediately after as per usual. Aside from this hand and a few others not much excitement. I flopped a full house, 77 in the hole with AA7 flop. Four people were in the pot so I went for the slowplay hoping someone would hit something big, but they just kept betting little amounts. On the river the last guy left bet out and I re-raised a healthy amount and he only called. Of course, he had AQ and flopped trip aces, which means I should never have slowplayed in the first place, because we could have stacked off on the flop... sigh. Lesson learned.

Overall I played pretty poorly this morning. I overplayed JJ twice, which is never a good thing and cost me $3.40 vs. QQ. In the other hand I cbet the flop (Qxx), and it was checked to the river. But then I got fancy and fired $1.50 hoping he'd fold since he was a regular, so I know he's a thinking player. I sized the bet to look like a juicy value bet, unfortunately he snap called my bluff and showed his KQ. I also had a blind thief that I could not seem to take out. Every time it was folded around and he was in CO/Button he would raise .20 without fail. The first time I caught him with 44, but of course he had 65o and hit a 5 on the turn...

Overall it was a profitable session, but could have been much better. Without those two badly played JJ hands and fighting in the blinds I would have been up another $5. Oh well. At least I finally hit my second milestone...

Bankroll: $201.72

The History Thus Far

2009-01-25T00:24:00.006-05:00

Welcome to The Grind. This blog serves a few purposes. The first of which is to keep me motivated and help me improve my game. I find that talking about hands and sessions is great review and documenting my progress is something that interests me a lot. I think it'll be good for me to catalogue my progress through this blog. If anyone actually reads this and enjoys it, well that's just a bonus. I fully expect no one to ever read even this post I'm making right now.

So, this is the beginning. The start of the journey. I hope it's a long one. To set a baseline for what's happened since I started playing serious (and winning) poker at the start of December, here's some statistics:

Hands Played (NL5): 16,036
Hours Played: 166
Amount Won: $176.75
BB/100: 11.02

VPIP: 15.8%
PFR: 9%
AF: 2.7
ATS: 25%

I play a fairly tight and ABC game, as is probably evident. A lot of people would say my PFR and VPIP should be closer together, but I find that limping suited connectors in decent spots and limping pocket pairs is fairly profitable. A lot of profit at NL5 can be found with playing speculative hands in good spots and simply check/folding if you miss. This of course involves a decent amount of limping, but it's something I've been working to improve on. Loosening up in the CO and Button is another big thing I've been working on. I have avoided it due to ending up in marginal situations on the flop, but it's another thing that is slowly improving.

Beating the NL5 level took me a lot of time and it wasn't easy. A lot of things sort of fell into place and I finally understood the true meaning of value betting. I hope to write some articles that will help others get past that first initial step of simply beating the limits, because it isn't easy for everyone. I've read a few books (all of them twice), read a lot of posts and watched a lot of videos to simply get to the point where I'm beating NL5, but I'm happy to be here.

My bankroll started at $25 on December 4, 2008 at PokerStars and is currently sitting at $198.10. I've been consistently winning since the start of January. The first 3 weeks of December were pretty up and down, but I never busted out. I'm extremely excited to eclipse the $200 mark. I currently play 4-5 tables comfortably, and am slowly increasing that a table at a time. 5 is currently my high limit on tables, as I tend to browse and post in forums a lot while playing. Yet another of many leaks in my game, I'm sure.

Any post I make will come with hand histories as well as links to the forum post on 2 Plus 2 if I make one for that hand. This blog will likely be updated daily or after each major session, so there will be a lot of activity. Hopefully someone can learn from this. If not, I'm sure it will be fun to look back on.