Micro Madness!

No more hands to speak of just yet, planning on getting some in over the next few weekdays. Also, I'm planning on entering the Sunday Storm tonight because I've heard that the field is supposed to be pretty soft and I've missed playing tournaments, this is most likely just going to be a one-off stab at a big tourney. I know full well it's way out of my BR, but I think just taking a shot is alright if I don't make a habit of it

Wish me luck!

6510 from 5k starting stack at the first break, not bad Table is really limpy so suits my tight aggro style at the start of the tournament just fine ♦

Busted miles out the cash, in the space of 10 hands I ran 99 into slowplayed AA, that took out half my stack, then ran AQ into AA (again) to finish me off Back to the cash table grind

Weekly Roundup!

Had a week very much of two halves. Started $11 down after taking my shot at the Sunday Storm, and then in my first session I went on a rather brutal downswing, a combination of coolers and getting sucked out on when I went in ahead, ended up bottoming out at ~-$10.

However, with around 800 hands left to hit my weekly target, things started to pick up, my hands were holding, my reads in marginal spots were a lot better and it was just a fantastic session and I ended the week +$11.79 up in cash games ♦ And bear in mind I ran about $7.50 below EV After taking out the tournament buy-in (I also cashed in a much smaller tournament for a pittance), my bankroll is up by $1.33, and given that I was down over $20 at one point this week I think I've done alright Not going to take another shot at a tournament with that much of my BR again, but it was fun and I'd certainly like to play tournaments in the future once my BR is higher

Last week's targets

Play at least 2k hands this week.
2003, just about squeezed it out

If at any point I make a play that I am unable to justify logically, stop playing immediately and take a break. Tilt must be quashed
Despite taking a bad swing at the start of the week, I didn't make any stupid plays (bar one towards the end of the week but that was me being thick rather than tilting!)

Consider what would be a good bankroll to move up to NL5, since the max BIs are a little weird at these levels.
$150 should do it for NL5 I think, I'll adjust my BI to be 5% of my bankroll maximum, so starting at $7.50 and working up. $250 for NL10, but let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet

Targets for next week

Play at least 1k hands this week (I'm lowering it because I'm likely to be busy over the Christmas week :P).

When I sit down at a table, play much tighter for the first few orbits so I can see how other people play before making moves based off reads. A leak I have at the moment is trying to play people based on their tendencies when I've only played like 10 or so hands with them.

Current bankroll: $107.86 (+$1.33)

Weekly high: $107.86
Weekly low:: $84.51

Weekly winrate: 29.4 bb/100
Overall winrate: 22.1 bb/100

:diamond:

5 diamonds is a what?

Poker Stars, $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 5 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

BTN: $3.90 (195 bb)
SB: $2.49 (124.5 bb)
BB: $0.57 (28.5 bb)
Hero (MP): $7.19 (359.5 bb)
CO: $1.60 (80 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP with A 9
CO posts BB OOP, Hero raises to $0.06, CO calls $0.04, 2 folds, BB calls $0.04

Flop: ($0.19) J T 7 (3 players)
BB bets $0.04, Hero calls $0.04, CO calls $0.04

Turn: ($0.31) 7 (3 players)
BB bets $0.04, Hero calls $0.04, CO calls $0.04

River: ($0.43) 8 (3 players)
BB bets $0.04, Hero raises to $0.20, CO raises to $0.78, BB folds, Hero calls $0.58

Results:

This is the stupid play I mentioned earlier with regard to my targets. A9s is a bit sketchy UTG in FR, but since we're 5-handed I decide to open it, don't realise that CO posts his BB out of turn so I should have really made it 8c instead of 6c to go but I don't think it really changes all that much. CO is unknown, BB is loose passive and doesn't really grasp bet sizing.

Flop gives me a gutshot and I don't pay much heed to BB's small bet, I have a few ways I can make my hand, 8 for the straight, a Q would give me an up and down straight draw, K gives me a double gutshot and an ace would give me top pair and probably the best hand.

Turn doesn't change much, I don't think either player has trips or a FH here because of how passive the betting is so I opt to call the small bet again and see if the river brings an A or 8.

River is that magic 8, and I'm so happy to see it that I forget what 3 diamonds on the board means. In hindsight, raising the BBs bet again is fine, and I even think the sizing is decent, just under half the pot can probably get calls from hands I have beaten here. When I get reraised, at the time I think "I've got a straight here, what's this guy trying to pull?", and I could get myself in more trouble, but I just call instead of raising again, wary that I could be up against Q9. When he turns over the flush and takes the pot, it's only then that I realise that there are 3 diamonds on the board! If I'd been playing like a non-idiot, I'm probably folding to the reraise here the vast majority of the time, unless the player is likely to be bluffing at it.

Frustrating fish

Poker Stars, $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 7 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

MP3: $2.10 (105 bb)
CO: $2.37 (118.5 bb)
Hero (BTN): $6.17 (308.5 bb)
SB: $2.30 (115 bb)
BB: $4.87 (243.5 bb)
MP1: $1.03 (51.5 bb)
MP2: $1.58 (79 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with K 9
4 folds, Hero raises to $0.06, SB folds, BB calls $0.04

Flop: ($0.13) 4 2 9 (2 players)
BB bets $0.08, Hero calls $0.08

Turn: ($0.29) 2 (2 players)
BB bets $0.18, Hero calls $0.18

River: ($0.65) Q (2 players)
BB bets $0.44, Hero calls $0.44

Results:

Villain is 36/24 with ridiculous postflop aggro and is playing all sorts of weird hands so I'm happy to get in as many pots as possible with him. Preflop raise is easy for me here with K9s, I'm probably ahead of the villain is he calls, or I can steal the blinds.

Top pair is a dream for me on this flop, I'm going to be ahead here so much of the time. I'm tempted to raise his flop bet but I want to get as much out of him as I can so I just call it despite the flush draw, even if a third heart hits, he bets so much with nothing that I'm still staying in the hand.

Turn's a blank unless he has a 2, in which case I'll end up paying him off, but it's unlikely.

River stop me from raising the bet I know he's going to put out because he may have just lucked out and hit the Q, I know I'm good here a lot of the time but I don't want to put more money into a pot where I'm only going to be call by hands that I'm beaten by, so I just call and he shows his nothing Lovely stuff.

Frustrating fish again

Poker Stars, $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 8 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

MP3: $3.03 (151.5 bb)
CO: $2.03 (101.5 bb)
BTN: $4.24 (212 bb)
Hero (SB): $5.87 (293.5 bb)
BB: $4.84 (242 bb)
UTG+2: $4.92 (246 bb)
MP1: $1.52 (76 bb)
MP2: $1.71 (85.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 2 Q
6 folds, Hero raises to $0.06, BB calls $0.04

Flop: ($0.12) 6 3 Q (2 players)
Hero bets $0.08, BB raises to $0.22, Hero calls $0.14

Turn: ($0.56) T (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $0.35, Hero calls $0.35

River: ($1.26) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks

Results:

This is the same villain as the previous hand. Q2o is easily worth a raise blind vs blind and I'm happy to fold it if the flop doesn't connect with me. That said, even if I only hit my 2 I'm probably playing this hand til showdown

Flop is once again a dream for me (I'm not a luckbox, I isolated this guy quite a few times and these are just the hands I hit with :P), I have the initiative so I cbet it and get raised. This guy has made similar moves in other hands against other players where he's had nothing at all so I'm completely unphased by the raise.

Turn doesn't change my outlook on the hand, but I check to the villain this time, figuring he'll bet out after the flop raise, and sure enough he does and I call it down.

River completes a couple of possible straight draws but I'm not worried about it. I check to him again, assuming he'll bet it out again and with the intention of raising him (a small one though, to try to get a call, maybe even a minraise), but unfortunately he checks back and I have to make do with the pot as it is. He's so aggro that I still think checking the river was a sound idea, it just didn't work out this time.

So yeah, I like these last couple of hands because it's shown that I can win decent sized pots without monsters, just by reading people (really bad people I admit, but it's a start! :P)

There are a few beats and coolers I could post but I don't want to turn my blog into a whinery, unless I think I played them terribly and want to publicly shame myself to stop me from doing it again!

Overall, feeling very good about my poker at the moment. Hopefully I'll be at the lofty heights of NL5 in a few weeks

sounds like you have some good goals and a positive attitude mate!

I question your hand goal though sir, do you think you should lower it to 1500 to ensure you arent forcing yourself to play, or is it because you simply cant play enough, OR do you even think about it when your playing or ever except at end month review? think about that.

I, also, find myself playing players based on their "tendencies" even though they only have 4 or 5 hands logged...but when you smell a fish, sometimes its rotten and you can smell it from a mile away eh?! Other times its just a god damn shark with the rotten fish stuck in its teeth...c'est mal

check out my vlog, in my signature, i will surely follow you!

GL

Thanks very much

I mainly do it so that I feel I have a reasonable amount of hands played for the week with which to make a substantial post and evaluate my performance. I have never forced myself to play in order to meet my target, and I don't even really think about it when I'm playing, I just sit down in a good mood and enjoy it I don't think it's detrimental to my performance, although if I felt it was becoming that way I'd reassess it as a target.

I know exactly what you mean Getting more hands to base reads off of is just something I need to start doing.

I'll follow you (and everyone else who's subbed to my blog too, thanks again!) ♦

Good luck at the tables!

Won my biggest cash game pot so far. Let these gifs tell you the story.

Poker Stars, $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 8 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

SB: $0.33 (16.5 bb)
BB: $5.36 (268 bb)
UTG+2: $1.42 (71 bb)
Hero (MP1): $6.36 (318 bb)
MP2: $2.64 (132 bb)
MP3: $2 (100 bb)
CO: $2.24 (112 bb)
BTN: $3.21 (160.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with A A

UTG+2 folds, Hero raises to $0.06, MP2 raises to $0.21, 4 folds, BB raises to $5.36

Hero calls $5.30, MP2 calls $2.43 and is all-in

MP2 showed Q Q

BB showed 7 7

Flop: ($13.37) 8 5 K (3 players, 1 is all-in)

Turn: ($13.37) 5 (3 players, 1 is all-in)

River: ($13.37) 8 (3 players, 1 is all-in)

Results:

Nice Blog ♠_o:

Weekly Roundup!

Should have gotten this up yesterday but I was feeling absolutely terrible so I couldn't find it in me to do it. Feeling much better today though

This was a very good week for me. I ran a fair but above all-in EV, yet I never once went all-in in a situation in which I was behind so that alone makes me feel pretty good about myself Most of the reason for being above all-in EV stems from the AA vs QQ vs 77 hand.

There seemed to be a lot less fit-or-fold players around this week which is probably why my red line is close to break even, but I could still take passive fishes to valuetown with TPBK or middle pair depending on how wide their range was.

Last week's targets

Play at least 1k hands this week (I'm lowering it because I'm likely to be busy over the Christmas week ).
1304 hands played

When I sit down at a table, play much tighter for the first few orbits so I can see how other people play before making moves based off reads. A leak I have at the moment is trying to play people based on their tendencies when I've only played like 10 or so hands with them.
I've been very vigilant in this, and this was helped reduce how often I take a hit in the first few hands I play in a session.

Targets for next week

Play at least 1k hands this week (again lowered as I'm going to be away for most of Monday and Tuesday this week).

Work on improving my bet sizing on an opponent-by-opponent basis. I need to pay attention to how much other players are willing to call with what their range is likely to have hit, so that I don't get them to fold out by betting too much, or bet less than they were willing to call and therefore miss out on value.

Barring any big downswings at the start of the week, take a shot at NL5. Why not?

Current bankroll: $130.78 (+$22.92)

Weekly high: $130.88
Weekly low:: $105.94

Weekly winrate: 87.9 bb/100
Overall winrate: 35.0 bb/100

:diamond:

Loose passive fish and you a.k.a. "How not to bluff"

Poker Stars, $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 8 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

CO: $2.07 (103.5 bb)
BTN: $2.03 (101.5 bb)
Hero (SB): $5.75 (287.5 bb)
BB: $2.32 (116 bb)
UTG+2: $2.14 (107 bb)
MP1: $2 (100 bb)
MP2: $2.60 (130 bb)
MP3: $0.80 (40 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A J
5 folds, BTN calls $0.02, Hero raises to $0.08, BB folds, BTN calls $0.06

Flop: ($0.18) 3 5 J (2 players)
Hero bets $0.12, BTN calls $0.12

Turn: ($0.42) 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.30, BTN calls $0.30

River: ($1.02) T (2 players)
Hero bets $0.72, BTN raises to $1.53, Hero calls $0.81

Results:

Villain is 32/0. Preflop is standard, BB is a rock so will almost always fold here, if villain folds I get free blinds, if he calls I'm likely ahead, and if he raises I can get outta dodge.

Bet flop with TPTK and I'm usually expecting a fold here but when he calls I think maybe he has the straight or flush draw.

Turn is a blank unless he had a 5, if that's the case then that's just bad luck but it's not going to happen often here. He still appears to be chasing that draw.

River is great because it's not an overcard and doesn't complete any draws, in hindsight I may be better off betting smaller here because I'm pretty much advertising TPTK or better here, if I bet smaller maybe I get 3x or Tx to call. Anyway, he jams on me and I'm still fairly sure he's got a busted draw, either that or Jx and he thinks I'm full of it. If he has 5x or a set then so be it.

Dodging traps

Poker Stars, $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

UTG+1: $0.45 (22.5 bb)
UTG+2: $5.19 (259.5 bb)
MP1: $1.36 (68 bb)
Hero (MP2): $5 (250 bb)
MP3: $2.33 (116.5 bb)
CO: $4.96 (248 bb)
BTN: $2 (100 bb)
SB: $2.13 (106.5 bb)
BB: $2.50 (125 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Q Q
UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 raises to $0.10, MP1 folds, Hero raises to $0.30, 5 folds, UTG+2 calls $0.20

Flop: ($0.63) J 5 2 (2 players)
UTG+2 checks, Hero bets $0.44, UTG+2 calls $0.44

Turn: ($1.51) 8 (2 players)
UTG+2 checks, Hero bets $1.08, UTG+2 calls $1.08

River: ($3.67) A (2 players)
UTG+2 checks, Hero checks

Results:

Villain is 77/23. QQ is a dream against this kind of player raising in front of me and when he flats my 3bet I'm pretty much certain that I'm not behind.

Flop brings no aces or kings which is nice, I bet out and get called so I put him on AJ or a flush/straight draw for the time being.

Turn seems inconsequential to me so I bet out again and get called, seems like someone chasing a draw as in the previous hand.

River is a scare card because it completes a wheel draw and means I'm beaten by any ace, he checks to me and I really want to bet at it but I don't see what's going to call me that I beat here with the ace on the board. I check back, and find that I could have gotten into a nasty spot here.

The importance of betting while ahead

Poker Stars, $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

MP3: $2 (100 bb)
CO: $2.25 (112.5 bb)
BTN: $1.64 (82 bb)
SB: $1.30 (65 bb)
BB: $2 (100 bb)
Hero (UTG+1): $11.09 (554.5 bb)
UTG+2: $5 (250 bb)
MP1: $1.08 (54 bb)
MP2: $1.48 (74 bb)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with 9 T
Hero calls $0.02, 6 folds, SB raises to $0.07, BB folds, Hero calls $0.05

Flop: ($0.16) T K 4 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($0.16) T (2 players)
SB bets $0.12, Hero raises to $0.24, SB raises to $1.23 and is all-in, Hero calls $0.99

River: ($2.62) 2 (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results:

Villain is 27/8. I call his raise preflop because I have position and suited connectors can destroy the stacks of people who raise fairly tightly when they hit

Flop gives me mid pair, but with a king on the board and his fairly tight PFR range he can easily have AK, AA or KK and be miles ahead. However, he checks to me rather than betting, so it's either missed him and he has something like QQ or JJ and is scared of the overcard, or he's hit with his KK or AK and is slowplaying, or he has AA for the overpair. Whatever the case, I don't think any good is coming out of betting here so I check back.

Turn completely changes the hand, I'm now ahead of anything I think he can have here bar KK. He bets, I minraise and he shoves, I know he can have me crushed with KK here, but he can also do this with AK or AA and believe that his hand is best here so I call it. As it is, I seriously overestimated his hand strength, bar him connecting with the king I still don't understand why he checked the flop.

Weekly Roundup!

Had a bit of a mixed bag this week, still turned an alright little profit but I could have made a lot more if it weren't for a large bad stretch I went through, some coolers, some bad plays that I need to tighten up on.

I took a shot at NL5 at the start of the week and started crushing it, although i confess I was running like God at the time After I peaked though, I went and lost all that profit in ~1k hands. Determined to end the week in profit, I put another couple of sessions in and ended up +~$8 for the week. I think I'm going to stay in NL5 next week, but I need to tighten up some areas of my game that caused at least part of my huge spew this week.

Last week's targets

Play at least 1k hands this week (again lowered as I'm going to be away for most of Monday and Tuesday this week).
2450, smashed it!

Work on improving my bet sizing on an opponent-by-opponent basis. I need to pay attention to how much other players are willing to call with what their range is likely to have hit, so that I don't get them to fold out by betting too much, or bet less than they were willing to call and therefore miss out on value.
Still needs attention but I have been altering my bet sizes largely based on whether boards hit the villain's perceived range and their WTSD stat.

Barring any big downswings at the start of the week, take a shot at NL5. Why not?
Overall success, but as I've said, could have done better

Targets for next week

Play 2k hands this week.

Tighten up my steal ranges against non-rocks. Exploit looser players in the blinds who try to resteal with junk.

Exercise pot control in marginal spots, even against bad players. Often I'll push small edges like middle pair against a bad player and I'll be ahead, but they'll bink TP ott/otr and I end up losing a medium sized pot over a very small edge.

Targets for the year

100k hands

Reach NL25

Silver VIP on Stars

Current bankroll: $139.00 (+$8.22)

Weekly high: $161.78
Weekly low:: $124.85

Weekly winrate (NL5): 6.73 bb/100
Overall winrate (NL5): 6.73 bb/100

:diamond:

How to lose when you flop a set

Poker Stars, $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 8 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

MP3: $5.07 (101.4 bb)
Hero (CO): $12.50 (250 bb)
BTN: $7.88 (157.6 bb)
SB: $7.35 (147 bb)
BB: $12.77 (255.4 bb)
UTG+2: $5 (100 bb)
MP1: $1.16 (23.2 bb)
MP2: $4.93 (98.6 bb)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 9 9
UTG+2 raises to $0.20, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.20, BTN folds, SB calls $0.18, BB calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.80) 9 T 7 (4 players)
SB bets $0.77, BB calls $0.77, UTG+2 calls $0.77, Hero raises to $3, SB raises to $7.15 and is all-in, 2 folds, Hero calls $4.15

Turn: ($16.64) Q (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: ($16.64) 8 (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results:

Vilain is 15/13. Preflop is pretty standard.

SB bets pot and the other two come along for the ride, I'm pretty sure that there's at least one player drawing here so I need to make a hefty raise and not feel too bad if I scare them all away. I make it $3 which is just under the size of the pot after all their bets. SB shoves and the only hand I can put him on that's ahead of me is TT, he most likely has a drawing hand here imo, any two spades, 8x of spades (A8 is plausible), even any 8 with no spades might do this. And he can have random two pairs or 77 for the lower set.

So I call and he shows he called a raise preflop with his suited gapper and flopped the nuts. Nice hand

How to lose when you turn a set

Poker Stars, $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

Hero (BB): $13.81 (276.2 bb)
UTG+1: $2.68 (53.6 bb)
UTG+2: $2 (40 bb)
MP1: $7.79 (155.8 bb)
MP2: $5.26 (105.2 bb)
MP3: $2.13 (42.6 bb)
CO: $4.82 (96.4 bb)
BTN: $5 (100 bb)
SB: $2.79 (55.8 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9 9
UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 raises to $0.15, MP1 calls $0.15, 4 folds, SB calls $0.13, Hero calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.60) K J 8 (4 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG+2 bets $0.30, MP1 calls $0.30, SB calls $0.30, Hero calls $0.30

Turn: ($1.80) 9 (4 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG+2 checks, MP1 checks

River: ($1.80) 7 (4 players)
SB bets $1.05, Hero calls $1.05, UTG+2 calls $1.05, MP1 folds

Results:

UTG+2 is 15/15, SB is 50/22. Preflop is standard.

UTG+2 bets out, I'd probably fold here it it has heads-up, but the extra money in the pot from the other two callers make me think calling is okay here, any 9 will likely give me the best hand, and a T would give me straight draws. In addition, UTG+2 has 100% cbet, so he may well have nothing at all.

Turn makes my hand and I check, thinking that UTG+2 will fire again, or MP1 will take a stab at it because his postflop aggro is quite high. No one bets it though, agh

River is probably the worst card in the deck, completing a 4 to a straight and flush draws, and it's pretty obviously I'm never beating SB when he bets here, it's really a rage call and "Why didn't I bet the turn!?"

Mind games

Poker Stars, $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

MP2: $2.59 (51.8 bb)
MP3: $2.31 (46.2 bb)
CO: $1.86 (37.2 bb)
BTN: $6.39 (127.8 bb)
Hero (SB): $12.59 (251.8 bb)
BB: $12.70 (254 bb)
UTG+1: $6.07 (121.4 bb)
UTG+2: $2.27 (45.4 bb)
MP1: $5 (100 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K 8
7 folds, Hero raises to $0.15, BB raises to $0.65, Hero calls $0.50

Flop: ($1.30) 8 6 J (2 players)
Hero bets $0.95, BB folds

Results:

BB and I have had a bit of history on this table, he caught me try to steal his blind from the SB early on, and since then I'd done it most orbits and he'd almost always put out a resteal, so I started tightening my range to steal with and took down a few small pots. This is once such hand where he resteals, most likely quite light, so I call it and see if I can hit/bluff him off.

Flop is perfect to bluff on because if he has a naked spade then it's easy to get away if he continues and hits, otherwise I'm ahead, and he's unlikely to continue even Jx here after I donk bet on a 3 spade board.

Only just noticed that you were a scouser :fail:

So red or blue?!

I'm very much a red, girlfriend is a blue though which makes things interesting I don't mind Everton at all though, usually happy for them when they do well, and if they don't I'll just take the piss out of my blue mates It's Man U and Chelsea that I can't stand

You into football yourself?

As a side-note: poker's going well, beating NL5 for over 10bb/100 so far this week

Good answer!

Admittedly, I don't watch as much footy as I have in the past but I am a big LFC fan! I have been over to Anfield a few times although not as much as I'd like. My most memorable game there would have to be Olympiakos in December 2004 when Stevie G scored that screamer into the Kop to put us on the road to Istanbul!

Having a blue as a girlfriend must indeed be interesting ♦ But better a blue than a Manc or a Chav!

Glad to hear NL5 is going well and long may it continue!

I'm in the same boat, I don't have Sky as I'm living away from home with my girlfriend and my job pays total crap so I'm not exactly swimming in money It's enough to get by though and it's well worth the cost I'm insanely jealous you've been to a game that good, I remember watching it on TV at the time (still sometimes watch clips of the goal on Youtube, "OOOOOH YAH BEAUTY!"), the best game I've been to see was probably when we demolished Chelsea at Anfield in the league in 2009, 2-0 but we were absolutely rampant and ironically Torres scored both goals ♠_o: A damn shame we never went on to win the league that season. Now it's hard to watch us play

Too right, can't stand them, fair play to Man U fans who've been to games, but supporting United when you live in London/America/some country in Asia, and watching the odd Champions League game now then, never having been to Old Trafford in your life, don't like those sorts of people, they're usually the first to mouth off about other supporters too! Chelsea I just hate for the attitude of some of their supporters, particularly disrespecting the silence for Hillsborough last season. Scum.

I'm happy to say I've played some more today and I'm still crushing pretty hard, BR is $170.95, I'm not going to go overboard and take a shot at NL10 just yet, could be on a bit of a heater, but I reckon if I can keep this up I might take a shot at $200 with a strict 1 BI stop loss in force until I hit $250 where I'll feel more comfortable to lose a BI and keep playing.

Weekly Roundup!

Got a ton of hands in this week which I'm happy about A pretty profitable week too, although I had a bit of a rough swing towards the end but I managed to play myself out of it Hit ChromeStar because I'm a high stakes pro fo' shizzle. Had some more bonus release this week, should have my next bit of $10 bonus released early next week too, could very well be looking at taking that NL10 shot the week after!

Last week's targets

Play 2k hands this week.
5250 hands played, ballin'.

Tighten up my steal ranges against non-rocks. Exploit looser players in the blinds who try to resteal with junk.
I noticed a huge increase in my steal successes than when I was pretty much in auto-steal mode last week, and my resteals vs habitual stealers also had a very high success rate.

Exercise pot control in marginal spots, even against bad players. Often I'll push small edges like middle pair against a bad player and I'll be ahead, but they'll bink TP ott/otr and I end up losing a medium sized pot over a very small edge.
I did well in this, only really ending up in big pots with TP holdings vs aggrofish who would overbet the pot with less than TP. I'm obviously not folding there

Targets for next week

Play 3k hands this week.

Cbet more often on the turn vs non-fish who have a low foldtocbet%. My flop cbet and turn cbet have a fair bit of a gap between them and there may be good players who exploit this by floating the flop and firing the turn when I check.

Open up my 3bet range vs people opening too wide. This'll probably be good practice for NL10.

Current bankroll: $177.90 (+$38.90)

Weekly high: $194.12
Weekly low:: $124.65

Weekly winrate (NL5): 11.02 bb/100
Overall winrate (NL5): 9.65 bb/100

:diamond:

Biggest pot lost so far

Poker Stars, $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 7 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

BTN: $2.50 (50 bb)
Hero (SB): $13.74 (274.8 bb)
BB: $5 (100 bb)
MP1: $5 (100 bb)
MP2: $12.34 (246.8 bb)
MP3: $2.46 (49.2 bb)
CO: $5.33 (106.6 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8 8
MP1 folds, MP2 calls $0.05, MP3 raises to $0.20, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.18, BB folds, MP2 calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.65) A 8 7 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $0.35, MP3 calls $0.35, Hero raises to $0.70, MP2 calls $0.35, MP3 raises to $2.26 and is all-in, Hero calls $1.56, MP2 calls $1.56

Turn: ($7.43) T (3 players, 1 is all-in)
Hero bets $11.28 and in all-in, MP2 calls $9.88 and is all-in

River: ($18.13) 4 (3 players, 1 is all-in)

Results:

MP2 is a ridiculous fish running 100/38, MP3 is really tight, 13/9. MP2 can have pretty much anything here, MP3 most likely has a hand. I call to set mine.

I hit my set, but with the draw heavy board I'm not as comfortable as I should be. I minraise here because I'm trying not to scare MP2 out of the hand, but I'm trying to induce MP3 to shove with AK/AQ/KK/QQ that would certainly be in his range if he raised pre and then called on the flop, and with there now being more in the pot than there is left in his stack, he's going to end up all-in at some point if he has a hand. I know that MP2 is fishy enough to continue here with any ace and any draw if I call, so I call and commit myself to shoving any turn, and if he does make his draw, I at least have a chance to boat up. If I shove the flop after MP3's shove, I probably get him to fold and I'm losing value.

Turn is a complete nightmare of a card, but give that he can have done this with Ax/random two pairs and will call this bet with just one heart and/or a 9, I still feel committed to shove here.

River bricks and I see he turned his flush. Sad face.

Slowplaying quads for fun and profit

Poker Stars, $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

UTG+1: $5 (100 bb)
UTG+2: $5.66 (113.2 bb)
MP1: $8.59 (171.8 bb)
MP2: $7.17 (143.4 bb)
Hero (MP3): $18.27 (365.4 bb)
CO: $4.20 (84 bb)
BTN: $5 (100 bb)
SB: $3.59 (71.8 bb)
BB: $3.46 (69.2 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with J J
2 folds, MP1 calls $0.05, MP2 folds, Hero raises to $0.25, 2 folds, SB calls $0.23, BB calls $0.20, MP1 calls $0.20

Flop: ($1) J J 5 (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, MP1 checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($1) 3 (4 players)
SB bets $0.55, BB calls $0.55, MP1 folds, Hero calls $0.55

River: ($2.65) A (3 players)
SB bets $1.85, BB folds, Hero raises to $3.70, SB calls $0.94

Results:

Not much explanation needed here, but you'll feel sorry for him when you see what he has.

Exploiting restealers

Poker Stars, $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 8 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

SB: $5 (100 bb)
BB: $5.43 (108.6 bb)
UTG+2: $6.92 (138.4 bb)
MP1: $4.12 (82.4 bb)
MP2: $4.88 (97.6 bb)
MP3: $5 (100 bb)
CO: $7.96 (159.2 bb)
Hero (BTN): $12.50 (250 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with 7 6
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.15, SB raises to $0.55, BB folds, Hero calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.15) 5 4 9 (2 players)
SB bets $0.50, Hero raises to $2.05, SB folds

Results:

Villain is 14/12 and has 100% resteal over 3 samples, also 100% cbet. I have position being on the button so I call his resteal and see how the flop treats me.

When I flop an open end draw I decide I'm going to raise the cbet that I know he'll put out, if he folds then that's a tidy $1 bet for exploiting predictable plays, if he calls he'll be committing half his stack so it's hard for him to fold regardless of the turn or river, and I know I have a decent chance of my draw hitting.

Weekly Roundup!

Once again, got a decent amount of hands played this week, and I've been smashing pretty hard ♦ BRs comfortably over $200 now having hit two bonuses, plus I'm easily on target to hit SilverStar this month even without moving up, I really hadn't expected to be hitting it until later in the year so that's a bonus I'll probably invest my FPPs in the odd Sunday Storm ticket now and then and look to ship one Speaking of which, I played a few low buy-in tourneys this week but ran like crap, cashed one and one I ran KK into AA first hand lol I'll save tournaments for a later date. I do love playing them though ♠_love:

NL10 is definitely getting a trial run later today and for the rest of this coming week as long as I don't get turned over. Full of confidence and hoping to continue playing well

Gonna post my overall graph this week as well as my weekly one since $200 feels like a milestone of sorts, and because my redline makes me feel like a man

Last week's targets

Play 3k hands this week.
5784 played

Cbet more often on the turn vs non-fish who have a low foldtocbet%. My flop cbet and turn cbet have a fair bit of a gap between them and there may be good players who exploit this by floating the flop and firing the turn when I check.
I haven't really done well in addressing this, a lot of the time vs decent regs with low foldtocbet, I'll pick my spots badly and cbet the turn having missed and then be in a nasty spot when they call or raise me. Maybe this is something that will work better at higher limits but most of the regs who call my cbets won't give up to second barrels, whether they have the goods or not I don't know, and I'm finding it hard to get the balls to triple barrel my air hands.

Open up my 3bet range vs people opening too wide. This'll probably be good practice for NL10.
It's up to ~8% this week from the previous overall average of ~6%. I have to start small This has helped me take down a few pots vs loose raises, although it's landed me in trouble spots when I happen to run into the top of a fish's range. A work in progress.

Targets for next week

Play 3k hands this week.

Learn what adjustments I need to make at NL10.

Enforce a 1 BI stoploss for the duration of the week at NL10. If BR falls below $200, move down to NL5 and stay there until $210.

Current bankroll: $229.02 (+$51.12)

Weekly high: $237.09
Weekly low:: $172.59

Weekly winrate (NL5): 13.75 bb/100
Overall winrate (NL5): 11.41 bb/100

Weekly Graph

Overall Graph

:diamond:

Action flop!

Poker Stars, $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

UTG+2: $7.80 (156 bb)
Hero (MP1): $12.57 (251.4 bb)
MP2: $5.42 (108.4 bb)
MP3: $5.15 (103 bb)
CO: $5 (100 bb)
BTN: $3.18 (63.6 bb)
SB: $7.29 (145.8 bb)
BB: $4 (80 bb)
UTG+1: $6.58 (131.6 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 8 8
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.15, MP2 calls $0.15, MP3 calls $0.15, 4 folds

Flop: ($0.52) J 8 4 (3 players)
Hero bets $0.30, MP2 calls $0.30, MP3 raises to $1.35, Hero calls $1.05, MP2 raises to $4.75, MP3 raises to $5 and is all-in, Hero raises to $8.40, MP2 calls $0.52 and is all-in

Turn: ($16.06) A (3 players, 2 are all-in)
River: ($16.06) K (3 players, 2 are all-in)

Results:

Hand pretty much plays itself, but it was a pretty sick one for my relative inexperience so I thought I'd post it

Smashing blind stealing rocks (again)

Poker Stars, $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

BTN: $8.54 (170.8 bb)
SB: $2.87 (57.4 bb)
Hero (BB): $13.19 (263.8 bb)
UTG+1: $8.93 (178.6 bb)
UTG+2: $5.34 (106.8 bb)
MP1: $12.85 (257 bb)
MP2: $5.29 (105.8 bb)
MP3: $12.14 (242.8 bb)
CO: $2.50 (50 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K 7
6 folds, BTN raises to $0.15, SB folds, Hero raises to $0.45, BTN calls $0.30

Flop: ($0.92) 7 K T (2 players)
Hero bets $0.45, BTN raises to $1.60, Hero raises to $4, BTN folds

Results:

I love this hand because I felt like I outplayed this guy hard. He's 12/7 but has 35% steal, so he's opening a lot wider here. In addition, he has 0% fold to resteal, and 40% raise vs cbet, which seems fishy as hell. With all this in mind, I decide I'm going to make a resteal attempt to show strength, which he'll call unless he has a monster, cbet the flop, and reraise him if he raises my cbet, which he's not that unlikely to do. I decide this preflop regardless of the flop, unless the flop is really wet. As it is, the flop actually connects well with me, and in hindsight I can call his raise rather than reraising the flop, but I doubt I'm getting anything from him ott since he's gonna know he's in trouble after I call his raise anyway.

Let's hear your thoughts

Poker Stars, $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

SB: $7.35 (147 bb)
BB: $9.21 (184.2 bb)
UTG+1: $4.52 (90.4 bb)
UTG+2: $11.04 (220.8 bb)
MP1: $5.92 (118.4 bb)
Hero (MP2): $12.50 (250 bb)
MP3: $4.63 (92.6 bb)
CO: $5 (100 bb)
BTN: $10.55 (211 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 4 4
UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 calls $0.05, MP1 folds, Hero calls $0.05, 2 folds, BTN raises to $0.30, SB folds, BB calls $0.25, UTG+2 calls $0.25, Hero calls $0.25

Flop: ($1.22) K 4 2 (4 players)
BB checks, UTG+2 checks, Hero bets $0.85, BTN raises to $1.90, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.05

Turn: ($5.02) T (2 players)
Hero bets $3, BTN raises to $8.35, Hero calls $5.35

River: ($21.72) J (2 players)

Villain here is 33/14 so a little loose passive preflop, but his flop aggro is fairly high. I limp pre because UTG+2 in front of me is a fish running 77/10 and I don't want to try to isoraise with a hand that he could easily outflop and with so many behind. When villain raises and gets callers I'm getting nice implied odds despite the bigger raise so I call it.

Flop is simultaneously a dream and a nightmare given how fishy BB and UTG+2 are, anyone could have flopped a flush or draw. When I'm checked to I bet out to protect my hand to prevent BTN from checking and letting a free card out. When he raises me, especially a minraise, I'm aware that I could be well behind, but he could be doing some weird crap where he has TP/two pair and thinks I'm drawing and that a minraise will stop me. I call with the intention of betting a non-diamond and c/f a diamond.

Turn is alright so I bet and get shoved on. Since it's just over the pot size it doesn't necessarily have to be a nuts or nothing shove, I figure he either has a flush and I need to suckout on the river, he has a draw and I just need to fade it, or he has a pair/two pair and is a huge donk. I figure I'm ahead way more often than not so I call.

What would your thoughts be here, and what do you think the villain has?

In addition, had this hand in the tournament I cashed in, I couldn't post it in the previous post because there were too many images in the post

Ridiculous GIF hand

Poker Stars, $2 Buy-in (20/40 blinds) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

UTG+2: 3,000 (75 bb)
Hero (MP1): 2,820 (70.5 bb)
MP2: 3,000 (75 bb)
MP3: 2,795 (69.9 bb)
CO: 3,225 (80.6 bb)
BTN: 1,340 (33.5 bb)
SB: 4,190 (104.8 bb)
BB: 2,710 (67.8 bb)
UTG+1: 3,115 (77.9 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 9 A

UTG+1 calls 40, UTG+2 folds, Hero calls 40, 3 folds, BTN calls 40, SB completes, BB checks

Flop: (200) 9 T 9 (5 players)

SB checks, BB checks, UTG+1 bets 3,075 and is all-in, Hero calls 2,780 and is all-in,

BTN folds, SB raises to 4,150 and is all-in, BB calls 2,670 and is all-in

SB showed 9 2

BB showed 8 7
UTG+1 showed K J

Turn: (11,800) A (4 players, 4 are all-in)

River: (11,800) J (4 players, 4 are all-in)

Results:

Wow, I don't know if it was just the tables I was on but NL10 seems mental compared to NL5, even the fish are much more aggressive. That said, I had a brilliant session over ~500 hands, $30 up, ran well, that said I still lost some big pots and came out smiling because I don't think my play was at fault i.e. getting it in on a non-overcard flop QQ vs KK after he flat my 4bet when villain's 3bet was ~30%. No problem with that.

3bet bluffed in some really good spots, not only vs people with high foldto3bet % but also against looser openers who liked to call my 3bets with high foldtocbet%, I'd inflate the pot pre with a mediocre hand and then take it down on the flop despite usually missing. On the rare times I'd get called, if I did happen to make a hand I could get paid off. Awesome ♠_cool:

Let's hope it continues like this.

Gah, couldn't maintain it, on a rough swing now, I genuinely don't believe it's down to bad play all that much, a couple of hands I made bad calls on, but I'm 2BIs below EV over 2k hands and I'm having loads of hands vs fish where I extract value from them on the flop and turn while ahead, only to get rivered, often backdoor draws that it's hard to fold to because if makes no sense to chase them. AA been beaten the two times I've been flops by 42s hitting two pair on the flop, and KQss hitting runner-runner flush on a low flop with one spade (was like 8% to win on the flop :P)

Apologies for the whining to anyone who reads, just want to vent. I've actually managed to avoid tilting for the most part, focusing on the fact that I'm usually make the right plays, but sometimes you just want to get the frustration out your system in a way that isn't 3bet shoving 72o into the guy who just rivered you again

If I drop below $200, I'll drop back down to NL5 and probably won't take a shot again til $250. I'm on $216.01 at the moment ($10 bonus just been released). We'll see how it goes.

Good luck and LOL at the gif hand