Originally posted by bodutzu
Pokerstars is totally rigged, the same downswing happens to everyone. U get a few money for a while and than suddenly u cant win a freaking 1$ sng . It really discourages you , making u feel like u dont know crap about poker.
I feel your pain
Today i decided to play move down limits and multi table some $1 45 sng,only twice did i finish itm
3 weeks ago i would average itm 30% of the time playing $5+ sng/tournys.
Originally posted by poger8
Other not so fundamental, but important theorem is: in real life KK hand is rather close to AK: on showdown be prepared to less than 50% win rate - either it will go against AA, or there will be Ace on the board much more often than supposed by any probabilities.
It's common knowledge... that on table with good players there is 6 aces in a deck ♦ ... go figure...
So stop calling with AQ to begin with. If he has AK ure screwed either way, if he has an underpair ure supposed to push or fold. That's the idea of a short, not big, but a short stack. When someone raises in front, you evaluate their range, and either push all in or fold. You dont call for hitting an ace on the flop when you could very well be dominated, splitting, or not even getting paid by an underpair.
Originally posted by Zervin311
So stop calling with AQ to begin with.
Why not? I know the "strength" of Ax hands, IN POSITION sometimes I may call even with AK. Look with AQ on BU - if I flop A - i'm behind only AA & AK, if get Q I'm behind only AA-QQ, if none I may be behind even 23, and can easily drop my hand on strong aggression, or make a more definite conbet after check. Of course RNG may give me AQ against AK and A on the flop sometimes. But they also may give you a lot of villains raising with KJ/KQ or just two suited cards, and you push AK against 9T and then become very frustrated...
SSS is not a bible. If I smell a call, let me call 
Little lyrical off-top. Reader discretion is strongly adviced.
The more I play the more I realize that poker is much more about luck than skill. What skill can help you, if you get QQ into KK? And again? Then get AA on BB and receive 0.5 BB? Of course SSS doesn't require any skills (except, of course, patience ) But even in big games luck goes all the way. All popular names and best players played in WSOP 2009, but in final table there's only Ivey (7th place). And I saw how he won few big pots - got big pair and/or great flop and press other guy with raises. Here's rather funny example of another final table poker I saw yesterday:
Only 7 left, one raised with Q9s (spades), shortstack goes all-in with AK. First calls. BTW AKo against Q9s is only 63:37
Flop A spade K (95:5)
Turn spade (84:16)
River spade (0:100 
)
Hey. I just lost QQ against AJ flush on the river! Does it mean I'm ready for final tables?
Magical PPT show or learning from the best.
Final of WPT event. 2 players heads-up. 5 consecutive plays. 4 times (80% 
) outcome is dramatically changed on the river. 3 times one of players all-in and win all 3 despite any possibilities. So (Pl1 vs Pl2):
1. AK(all-in) vs 22. Flop, turn nothing, river - K
2. Q9 vs A8 (all-in) Flop KQJ, turn X, River A.
3. A7 vs A6. Flop Axx, turn x, river 6.
4. Only non-river game. Still on river comes 4th (!) club, that pushes Pl2 to unsuccessful bluff, because Pl1 had it.
5. Simply he best! K7 vs 96 spades.
Flop Ks7s3. Pl1 - 2pairs, Pl2 with flush draw All-in and of course called.
Turn 10 River 8. After this I just cannot watch it anymore...
They claim it's real event I still don't know if this is a fable, triller or comedy show....
I've just been over this thread and I have to say ... this is the saddest thread I've seen in a while. In pretty much every aspect there is. To me it looks like an excuse for every mistake u made while playing poker. I'm not sure if u ever heard about of any equity calculators but I'd strongly recommend u to take time and download one or more of them (just so u can verify the results and finally realize a few key things ...).
I play online poker pretty much every day, most of it on stars. Today I had so many coolers and bad beats that I really can't remember them all. A couple of weeks ago I had so many suckouts and wins against moderately better hands I couldn't remember them all either. IT IS COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT! Poker skill(s) is/are about how/when u get ur chips in the middle and why u put them there. If u got ur money in while u had a bigger chance of winning than of losing then GG, everything else is pretty much IRRELEVANT! Skill(s) also help u identify these spots and further help u maximize ur winnings in them.
If u want to continue this diary of "zomg another bad beat/cooler/injustice against me in general" that's cool but u'll end up with a remarkably draining way to spend some time which would be way better spent by watching videos or posting hands on the hand review section of this forum. I hope for the sake of ur sanity that u see the light and move on from ... this.
I'd just like to say something about that famous AK vs (your) KK all-in.
Well, when you play at a table with better players and higher limits, then there's that "any A is good" proverb. What does that mean? It means that if there is one raise before you, no one else calls and you go all-in with KK, general probabilities consider all the outcomes (you get K, your opponent A, nobody get's improved, you win, there's only an A, K high scale, 5 high scale, flushes... etc.). And this is where you have that general % to win.
However, on those tables, someone will fold a K time-to-time, and if nobody showed any interrest in their hands, there are probably 3 aces in the deck.
So, you get many situations where you go all-in with KK vs AK and there are 3 aces in the deck and that one K is folded. Chances to win are degraded then...
I personally don't think that KK ever has those general mathematical chances to win vs AK, it's always less, so (when playing better players) that EV should be adjusted accordingly, and one should expect a profit, but less than the general odds say it is.
Originally posted by LudiCoka
I'd just like to say something about that famous AK vs (your) KK all-in.
Well, when you play at a table with better players and higher limits, then there's that "any A is good" proverb. What does that mean? It means that if there is one raise before you, no one else calls and you go all-in with KK, general probabilities consider all the outcomes (you get K, your opponent A, nobody get's improved, you win, there's only an A, K high scale, 5 high scale, flushes... etc.). And this is where you have that general % to win.However, on those tables, someone will fold a K time-to-time, and if nobody showed any interrest in their hands, there are probably 3 aces in the deck.
So, you get many situations where you go all-in with KK vs AK and there are 3 aces in the deck and that one K is folded. Chances to win are degraded then...
I personally don't think that KK ever has those general mathematical chances to win vs AK, it's always less, so (when playing better players) that EV should be adjusted accordingly, and one should expect a profit, but less than the general odds say it is.
Sorry sir but that post was pure trash imo
Originally posted by AugustusCaesar
Originally posted by LudiCoka
I'd just like to say something about that famous AK vs (your) KK all-in.
Well, when you play at a table with better players and higher limits, then there's that "any A is good" proverb. What does that mean? It means that if there is one raise before you, no one else calls and you go all-in with KK, general probabilities consider all the outcomes (you get K, your opponent A, nobody get's improved, you win, there's only an A, K high scale, 5 high scale, flushes... etc.). And this is where you have that general % to win.However, on those tables, someone will fold a K time-to-time, and if nobody showed any interrest in their hands, there are probably 3 aces in the deck.
So, you get many situations where you go all-in with KK vs AK and there are 3 aces in the deck and that one K is folded. Chances to win are degraded then...
I personally don't think that KK ever has those general mathematical chances to win vs AK, it's always less, so (when playing better players) that EV should be adjusted accordingly, and one should expect a profit, but less than the general odds say it is.
Sorry sir but that post was pure trash imo
+1
OK, ok, I admit I was joking saying that KK is almost same as AK. I was just throgh rough patch when on every KK I got A (or even AA ) on the flop.
Yesterday I had Ladies night. I got pocket queens more times than other top pairs combined. And lost few of them in a row until
Miracle on the river or when improved full-house makes Villaiin crazy
With QQ I raised and was called. Flop 8KK. After previous losses I thought I should have some luck, and I push my short stack. Was called again, and Villain shows 88. Disaster?
Turn X, River K Disaster, but this time not for me.
Talking about sanity, my favorite is following phychiatric joke:
There are no sane people, some are just not examined properly.
I just had my "river" day, not talking about losing higher pairs even lost AK to AK
But my favorite is deja vu set story:
99 against KT, Flop JXX, Turn Q, River 9 
I know you should keep emotions off poker. But how to do this with such gifts?
Freaking Kings! Yesterday each time I had KK and go at least into flop, Ace was on the board! Every time - I specially started counting. Of course I lost more than win. Lately I'm more happy even with Jacks - at least I may muck them if flop is a disaster
Some Guys Have All The Luck
Some Guys Have All The Pain
Some Guys Get All The Breaks
Some Guys Do Nothing But Complain. (R.Stewart)
Yes. it's me complaining again. Yesterday I've got under the truck again and lost 8BI (almost 25% of bankroll) in an hour while PokerTracker that I installed recently showed 0 expectation. That means in one hour I fell 8BI = 160 BB below EV
Yesterday in my games was a day of paired Ax hands. All my 5 pairs on steal-resteal, including 77,88 and 2x99, lost. Against one 99 Villain with AQ collected even full house
Of course I also got some Ax hands. And also got some enforcements. But support I got was a little bit different
3. Hero AQ on the button, raised and get called by SB. Flop Qxx. SB bets, Hero goes all-in, SB shows KK.
2. Hero AQ in late position, got minraise from MP, reraise and got called. Flop QXX. MP raises, hero all-in, villain calls and shows KJ, Turn X, river K.
1. This is really sadistic case - I can't find it any other name. Hero just got doubled. Rare case of double stack during downswing + I'm on the button. What may happen if I look into cards once more?
On the BU Hero got AQs and bets, gets called. I thought - no help, and I won't even c-bet.
Flop AQT, 2 of them clubs. 2 top pairs - is it luck returning or what? Of course finally I went all-in and guy showed me KJ clubs. From the flop he had flush draw, Royal Flush draw and flopped straight 
Talking about math: chance to flop 2 pairs is 1:48 (2%), chance to flop a straight from a connector is 1:75 (1% and the guy didn't even have a connector), chance for me playing with double stack also 2-3%. Now try to connect all this %% and calculate what was the probability of such sadistic gift from beloved PokerStars.
What did I do to them they hate me that much....
Originally posted by excelgeo
8bi should not be 25% of your bankroll
think again
imo, every one gets bad beats , suckouts and even to read something like this is horrible after that , but the long run always puts things into the right places.
poker is a game about learning and improving maybe these posts are just some kind of excuse of bad play?
<8bi should not be 25% of your bankroll >
I'm playing SSS. You're supposed to play a limit having 30 BI. 8x4 = 32, in fact I had 34 BI lately. Not anymore.
<maybe these posts are just some kind of excuse of bad play>
No limits for perfection. But according to SSS I usually only play hands 77+, AJ+ and occasionally KQ from late position. What's wrong may be in my play if I lose 5-8 coinflips in a row? Of course I make mistakes, but when KJ wins 2 times in a row against my AQ, what mistake did I make?
Though I found a reason of my bad play, It' PokerTracker! Since I installed it, I have a steady winning rate at amazing -42BB/hour
Of course I'm joking. In fact I like PT, it gives me that little fun after my last sessions. You can get so different info from it. Like now my best hand is QQ, and worst - you never guess - JJ.
Back to pokka. Last session was light, comparing to previous one. I lost "only" additional 4BI. In only six all-ins my winning rate was 1 of 6. But moreover this was a session of futility. By poker math you're supposed to get a good pair once in 55 hands. This time I got only one such pair in 400 hands, and I got it very late in the session. Also i got only one AK (and collected blinds only).
So I have very little amount of hands to play. Still PokaStarz prepared a pair of surprises for me 
2. Hero on CO raises with AJo. BB calls. Flop J63. TPTK, finally I went all-in. Guess what hand had my caller to call an initial raise? 63
1. Hero finally got AA on UTG. I even consider slowplay, but still raise. BB calls.
Flop J83 all diamonds. Anyway I'm committeg with AA. check-raise-call.
Turn K. I'm all-in. get called. Guess with what hand I was called with raise from UTG and re-raise? Guess again. QTo. So before turn I'm with pair of aces and Villain is with OESD. River 9.
I know bad beats happen. But why it must happen with your only good pair in whole hour? And where are my good beats?
I'm waiting for a big, no HUGE upswing
FMyLife! My slide continues on the steady rate at -42BB/hour. Yesteday I complained fo missing of good hands. This session PS proves that if it's eager to funk you - cards don't matter.
I got 16 AA & KK hands. Of them I got +3BB. Yes, not BI, but 3 big blinds on 16 most premium hands.
On 7 aces 5 reach showdown, and my all-in record is 40% (win 2 of 5), so I was fortunate in stacks that finish with few BBs won
Of 9 KK hands - 5 collected blinds, 1 collected 1 blind, 2 opponents folded on re-raise, and only one went to showdown where it was successfully lost to A9 with a famous "Ace on the river". So my all-in record is 0%, and total record with KK negative
Now I lost 20BI in three days. And my best winning hand of now is 66
Uff. This string ends at 4. My lovely 66 won against Aces (straight) and few Aces finally won, and I got a small part of losings back. Will see if upstreak matches the down...
This is a long and boring story. I told you.
My sensual experience in poker - unfortunately always in passive mode
1. My tournaments history or Third time's a Charm
I don't like to play tournaments. I can't sit few hours or even days to be dropped on the bubble. Still I participated in three restricted freerolls already. Short history of first 2:
1.1. In just third play lost KK to 55. Got out first or close.
1.2. Played for like 15 min before losing AK to AQ. In fact got K on river exactly one to finish AQ flush
1.3. This time I decided to play longer. So I select passive strategy - go very aggressive only with pairs from JJ+. Which I didn't get any. What I got were 2xAK and AQ. In 3 times of 14 community cards I got NOTHING. On pair of smaller pairs I got the same result
Next to me on the left was Other guy. Probably his skills were much better than mine, so while I was losing my chips, he was always going up. Of course with a little help. like getting AA and QQ and a pair of flushes and also some, so before the beginning of my last game he had stack 12 times my size.
Hero on UTG with AK with very small stack. Raise, Other guy re-raise, I'm all-in. Other guy shows AA - second in less than an hour. Ok, I think, that is a story. Flop - trash, turn - trash, I'm drawing dead, river - Ace! I looked for a second in amazement - yes that only lonely Ace. System's telling me like "You wanted an Ace - Here we are! Get your Ace, and other's not our problem!".
Then I started laughing for a long time. This joke was not the best of my life, but probably would make top20 for sure. BTW with that loss I still made it into top 40% Hopefully that was the end of my tournament history at least for long long time.
2. First time - an accident, second - a coincidence, 3rd - a System, fourth what? SuperSystem?
Why I remember this story? Because after this tourney a week ego I fall to a huge downswing that ate almost 2/3 of my bankroll, so I needed to deposit some money just to maintain myself on the level. I completely don't like an idea of going down limits, because it basically means that new cards you get are 2-2.5 times cheaper than you've got before,and your (supposed) compensation will be much smaller. Better probably to drop freaking game altogether, unless it's your last hope for good life And that may happen with me too, though now I got at least some bonus for a first deposit back...
But more interesting were some of losses I encounter during this down. Four times in my few last sessions I got AJ/AQ on late position, made a raise, got A on the flop only to lose to dominating Ace-hand! Remember this "You wanted an Ace - here we are!" Initially it was even funny. Imagine - I just lost AJ to AQ and AQ to AK with Aces on the flop. Now hero on BU with AQ got called by SB. Flop Qxx. OK I said, show me your AK now? SB raises, hero all-in, SB calls and shows KK...
When it happened 4th time, it wasn't funny anymore. Let's look from math point. With non-paired hand you have 16% change to get special pair card. That's if you're supposedly the only holder of a card. Here we have clear cases that AT LEAST two of Aces were already dealt, and flopping possibility of this card falls to at max 11%! And system still consistently flops it to me in situation where I'm already behind. Like, you already balancing on the edge - get a good kick to your butt!
But this cruel setup becomes even tougher when we come back to poka math. Probability to flop any pair to your hole cards are less than 1/3. It means that you're not only screwed now, but theoretically will be screwed next 2 times, when you got these stuff and others show resistance. Or should I stop playing AQ/AJ and some AK at all and drop my PFR from already tight 8% to 4-5?
And that's exactly what happened yesterday. Immediately - next hand after losing AQ to AK with A on the flop, I got AK, and got re-raised all-in by follower of Chinese SSS school that only knows 2 moves - fold or all-in with any reasonable cards. And of course lost to JJ without getting (and rightly so according to math) anything from the board. And after this 2 losses my record again plunges to a minus, and I couldn't get back, especially when I also got nothing for the next 2 AKs and probably exceeded a limit for good pairs on previous session.
BTW among there Chinese super-SSSers, probably there are also some players claiming to play advanced Chinese SSS and boasting big winnings. One of them for sure gets a mine buy-in too
