How do I into cash game?

Hey everyone and anyone. Thought I'd update and try to get posting some more hands and ideas again. It's just so easy to stop working in poker .. to just log on, play the same way you always do, and bemoan or celebrate at the end of each session. It's not good. It's lazy, and I don't want to end up as another break even or 1bb winner grinding 12 tables with no real passion for the game.

I've had a bad couple of weeks playing. Not terrible in terms of -$, but in terms of mindset and ability to think. Last night for the first time in months I got so angry with my bad play that the frustration boiled over into the urge to break something near me. But it's not just these things that are frustrating me, I suppose. It's partly not knowing what to do to improve, or not being sure enough so as to set upon a road. I know that a lot of players take coaching, and really believe the experience to be beneficial. But I've never really been one for talking/sharing or taking criticism (huge life leak), so I'm not sure that I'd be able to make the most of coaching right now .. I'd probably shrug off solid advice and only make small adjustments. Arrogance, I suppose ... but also, if I'm honest, just a fear of being wrong.

The thing with poker is that it isn't much like any other education: there aren't books out there with all the right answers, and it's not just a matter of reading and remembering. I mean, sure: there are books, but they're not going to be able to help you answer the exam questions you come across in every difficult spot. You're on your own, for the most part -- books, videos, coaches: they all teach you concepts .. a way to think about different things. Your job, as a student, is to apply them as correctly as you can. And right now, as a student, I feel that when it comes to concepts, I have far more quantity than quality. I need to address this.

I'm slowly starting to realise that the vast majority of poker talk here and elsewhere has weak foundations; that the vast majority of it is little more than prejudicial bull shit. It's damaged my game no end. Reading forums from the very start, I've (un)consciously accepted what I took to be merited opinions about spots/scenarios -- opinions that, in fact, are often grounded in poor and lazy thinking. It affects my game because occasionally I still find myself thinking: "but the guys in the forum always say that .. " rather than "think: what's the most logical thing to do here". I need to work on my game and rid myself of all these useless misconceptions. I need to rely on logical thinking to arrive at the right conclusions.

I guess since this is my blog, I can write anything I like. So I'm going to moan some more about whatever the hell I want. Another problem with online poker: the isolation it brings. Now I'm considering playing for an income later this year, or next year, and putting more hours in, I find that I just feel pretty awful and tbh, pretty fucking lonely. Talking on skype just doesn't cut it. I feel like I've started playing MMOs again, grinding endlessly in my study, eating at the computer. When I look at myself as an observer, I feel disgusted. I guess it just comes down to self-discipline, and understanding what is important in life. I need to get out more.

On a related note, I've signed up to run a half marathon in October with my brothers. We have a bet in place: we all put in £50, and the fastest time takes it. Both my brothers are pretty fit, and one has done several full length marathons before. But fuck it: I'm going to win. I will train hard, and persevere, and kick their asses. Maybe I'll keep track of my progress here, along with game analysis.

I've also just invested in an entry level road bike: I love cycling, and my last bike got stolen after one of my brothers decided to leave it unlocked in the center of town. Here it is: http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/2013.giant.defy.4.compact/11833/56806/. I'm going to pick it up on Friday. I figure that if I really get into the cycling, and maybe want to compete at some point, I can always buy a proper road bike down the line. This will do for now.

I'll keep track of my training for the half marathon here, and also make notes on other productive things I'm trying to achieve at the same time. So maybe I'll try and make this about more than just poker. Now, time to think about some fundamental game changes that need to be made -- I want to get excited about poker again.

Here's something that plays on my mind, and probably the mind of a lot of other people first delving into the world of poker. Why does my graph look like this:

And the graph of BIG winners look like this:

In other words: why is the combination of a (positive non-sd + marginal sd) so much more common with crushers that (positive sd + marginal/negative non-sd)? Note: I'm not just blindly assuming that having a rising red line is important, but merely noticing that some of the best players really do have quite ridiculous red lines. There is almost certainly something to it, and it's worth taking it as a starting point for analysing and improving one's game (don't link me to the "myth" of the red line, please).

Since we don't often assume that these guys are calling down too light (for their overall winnings are sick), we must think that for the most part they're taking down pots before show down with the right bets, and not bloating pots to fold at the river. And this really rings true with what we commonly know about poker: betting/applying pressure really just does work so damn often. So here's some areas we're going to work over the next few posts:

3b pots are just incredibly profitable. People call and fold flop/turn far too much, and every time we c-bet we risk such a marginal amount to win such big pots. We just get such great odds when bluffing in these spots, considering how inclined people still are to fold.

Defending and stealing the blinds wider and in more logical ways. Having a very wide calling range in BBvBU/SB, and being more willing to take trickier lines vs. wide and weak button ranges. I see so many guys 3bing 14% or something in BB, but still folding 75% of the time. This is insane vs. BU/SB OR ranges.

Stealing pots (esp. multiway) when no-one seems strong. So often pots get checked round and we think "I probably could have taken that if I'd put on the pressure, and I knew that". Well, fucking do something about it.

Making decisions vs. barrelers concerning the top of our range. We need to think in advance about how often our opponent is likely to barrel, and what our range in this spot will look like. When villain reps that turned Ace on 562A and we're sitting with 77, we need to ask ourselves: since sometimes villain has A, what % of our range do we call turn/river with? Is 77 in that range? If it is, stick to your read: it's logical.

And other stuff. I don't know .. again, it's all super simple, but hard to implement. I get the feeling I write this to avoid doing any real work, as well.

6.

Villain is fish 23/11 relatively unknown. Has c-bet and shown some propensity to know what he's doing, but no raises so far.

BTN: $105.22 (105.2 bb)
SB: $87.86 (87.9 bb)
BB: $113.63 (113.6 bb)
Hero (UTG): $161.18 (161.2 bb)
MP: $111.75 (111.8 bb)
CO: $100 (100 bb)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A K
Hero raises to $2.29, 3 folds, SB calls $1.79, BB folds

Flop: ($5.58) A 5 6 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $4.50, SB raises to $9, Hero calls $4.50

Turn: ($23.58) 8 (2 players)
SB bets $11, Hero calls $11

River: ($45.58) J (2 players)
SB bets $27

Since even fish capable of bluffing, we need to defend a range here >AA/55/66. AK is of course part of this range. Easy defend. On the river we need >27% equity, and his range looks something like:

Board: A♠5♠6♦ 8♣ J♠
       Equity     Win     Tie
MP2    60.00%  60.00%   0.00% { 66-55, AQs-ATs, A6s-A5s, 65s, 9s7s, 8s7s, AQo, ATo, A6o-A5o }
MP3    40.00%  40.00%   0.00% { AcKs }

If he bets AT/AQ easy call. I've seen fish do this to themselves. Since he is a bit more capable, I take AT out and we have 22%. He also has sometimes some random air ball in this spot. It's a very marginal to call here, since maybe he also checks back some A5/A6 when he sees flush complete. I think folding here is fine, since he's been passive so far.

7.

Villain fairly agg. reg, playing 25/22/8: raise flop 15 // raise turn 25 // fold to c-bet 52 // cc SB 7 // bet turn after raising flop 71 (7) // bet river after raise flop/bet turn 75 // WTSD 27.

SB: $100 (100 bb)
BB: $79.28 (79.3 bb)
MP: $107.92 (107.9 bb)
Hero (CO): $131.48 (131.5 bb)
BTN: $152.99 (153 bb)

Preflop: Hero is CO with T T
MP folds, Hero raises to $2.29, BTN folds, SB calls $1.79, BB folds

Flop: ($5.58) 4 8 3 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $4, SB raises to $13, Hero calls $9

Turn: ($31.58) 2 (2 players)
SB bets $20, Hero calls $20

River: ($71.58) 4 (2 players)
SB ...

Flop raise is questionable, since I don't think he often c/r sets with no dynamic here. He 3bs TT+ I'm quite sure. I'm just wondering about what our calling range is for river if he decides to shove.

Our range in that spot is: 88+,44-33,A8s,A5s,K8s,98s,87s,A8o.

GTO defense requires us to defend ~53% of our range (since he b/e at 47% fold rate), so we call JJ+,88,44-33,A5s (35/64 combos). Since we think he doesn't jam all bluffs here, and gives up some times, we can reduce this calling range so as to exploit him. Maybe QQ+, 88,44-33,A5s. So in this spot if he jams I don't think we're calling TT here since we would be calling off too wide, and have other combos for this that stop him exploiting us.

Hey ains21

I understand a lot of what you're saying on here dude. The thing about being a student of the game and learning a lot of concepts actually means nothing if you don't apply the concepts on your own. I feel like I have so many concepts that are all skeletons of actual full concepts that need fleshing out a lot more before I actually fully grasp those concepts. And grinding the tables is so lonely. I just hide away in my cave of a room and grind. What i'm thinking of doing that you may find helpful is going to the spca and walk some dogs haha it's a good chance to get out of the house and you get exercise plus you get a mate, not sure if you're a dog person but just a suggestion. Good luck on your quests anyway.

Originally posted by legand73
Hey ains21

I understand a lot of what you're saying on here dude. The thing about being a student of the game and learning a lot of concepts actually means nothing if you don't apply the concepts on your own. I feel like I have so many concepts that are all skeletons of actual full concepts that need fleshing out a lot more before I actually fully grasp those concepts. And grinding the tables is so lonely. I just hide away in my cave of a room and grind. What i'm thinking of doing that you may find helpful is going to the spca and walk some dogs haha it's a good chance to get out of the house and you get exercise plus you get a mate, not sure if you're a dog person but just a suggestion. Good luck on your quests anyway.

Hey legand,

Good to know I'm not the only one that finds it kind of tough spending so much time at the computer. That's a pretty awesome idea about the dogs btw -- I'm moving out soon to a busier place (I live in tiny village atm) so might look into doing something like that some mornings when the gf is at work. I think I'm going to mix some live play in as well, since there will be a local casino: at least I'd actually have some people to talk to while I play.

I guess since it's nearing the end of June I should do some kind of wrap up for the month. Generally, I haven't been playing my A-game. I've been frustrated and worried about the future, and distracted/bored/tilted when playing poker. Additionally, my gf has been living with me this month, so it's been that bit harder to put in the volume. In fact, I only achieved 27k hands in total. I think I need to be aiming for somewhere around 35k+ if I'm honest -- I table select really well so my volume will never match anything mass tablers or zoom players can make .. 35k seems doable. Since it's super Sunday I won't post June's graph until the end of the night: hopefully I make some $$$ and it will look a little more impressive than it currently does.

I've also started going through Alan Jackson's Rakeback grinder series, and looking over my own (limited) database as I do. It's kind of like getting coached, since all his student's leaks are fairly similar to my own. First indications vindicate what I've always known: I really don't 3-bet enough. It's super profitable and I need to do it. What's important is not playing super awesome and scooping huge 80bb pots with crazy bluffs, but all the small incremental gains from opponents folding pre- and post-flop.

Strangely, I've also identified a leak with my CO play: I'm losing a ton of money playing too many 3-bet pots, esp. vs. BU. Though I didn't realise I was doing it, I've been fighting back against BU way too often (4b bluffing/calling to fold) and it is just losing me too much money. As Alan said: in this position (and SBvBB), you've just got to let them get away with it (some of the time). We all knew that though, right? Don't play too much out of position is rule #1. Oddly, as a result of CO play and other spots, my fold to 3-bet OOP is LOWER than IP(!).

In other news, I'm still pretty money scared at 1/2 (I hope no regs read this, btw). While it's getting better, I am noticeably tighter and overestimating the ability of my opponents (as we all do when we move up). Hopefully this is just something that I will overcome in time. I'm still playing about 90% 50/1 atm, so it's not a huge issue for my win rate.

Anyway, good luck all at the tables and I'm going to get back to posting hands.

8.

SB: $383.21 (191.6 bb)
BB: $263.73 (131.9 bb)
CO: $335.51 (167.8 bb)
Hero (BTN): $200 (100 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with J♥ J♦
CO folds, Hero raises to $4.59, SB folds, BB raises to $12, Hero calls $7.41

Flop: ($25) 9♦ 8♦ 8♥ (2 players)
BB bets $12, Hero calls $12

Turn: ($49) 4♥ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $24, BB raises to $56, Hero calls $32

River: ($161) K♣ (2 players)
BB bets $90, Hero calls $90

Villain was fish at the table: 22/15/5.2 with c-bets of 80/67/100 (56 hands). No real sample so his 3-betting range is open to question -- I just want to consider our river calling range to try and make these calculations quicker.

Hero's range at river: JJ-77,JTs,T9s,AhQh,KdQd,AhJh,AhTh (approx 33 combo).

GTO calling %: 64.15 -- GTO calling range: JJ-88,T9s,AhQh,KdQd (21 combo).

Since villain bluffs not too frequently at this river spot, I estimate exploitable calling range of 88-JJ,KdQd and T9s is close/probably a call seeing as all draws blank.

9.

Hero (UTG): $100 (100 bb)
MP: $166.10 (166.1 bb)
CO: $101.71 (101.7 bb)
BTN: $114.49 (114.5 bb)
SB: $106.94 (106.9 bb)
BB: $45.24 (45.2 bb)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K Q
Hero raises to $2.29, 2 folds, BTN calls $2.29, SB folds, BB calls $1.29

Flop: ($7.37) 3 Q 7 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $5, BTN calls $5, BB folds

Turn: ($17.37) Q (2 players)
Hero bets $11.50, BTN calls $11.50

River: ($40.37) T (2 players)
Hero ???

BB is fish. Villain is 23/19/9.6 reg with the following stats: F2cb 36/33/0 -- raise f/t 18/0 -- WTSD 34 -- af 2.5 (400 or so hands). I think that stats are not too important for this, since we only really interested in whether he turns hands into bluffs turn/river.

Villains range at river: JJ-77,33,AQs,KQs,QTs+,AsJs,AsTs,AQo,KQo,QJo (40 combo).
We assume he folds worse non-sdv fds on the turn when board pairs (seems reasonable).

Hero bets

Villain calling range: JJ,KQs,QTs+,AsTs,KQo,QJo (14 combo, 35% of range).
Villain raising range: TT,77,33, AQ (13 combo, 32.5% of range).
Villain folds remaining 32.5%.

Say Hero bets $30 on river if he bets: is this profitable?

Villain calls and we have 89.29% equity (we tie 10%). We make on average (.89*126.37)+(.11*78.185) = $147.76
If we assume villain never bluffs all-in, we then have EV(bet) = (147.76*.35)+(-126.37*.32)+(126.37*.23) = $29.06

Hero check-calls

Villain bet when checked to range: TT,77,33,AQs,KQs,QTs+,AQo,KQo,QJo,AsTs,AsJs (22 combo, 55% of range).
Villain checks back remaining 45% of range.

Assume villain bets $30 on river if checked to with the above range.

When we check call we have 34% equity, so we we make on average (.34*156.37)+(.66*-156.37)= -$50.03.
If we assume he checks back 88,99,JJ we have EV(check-call) = (.55*-50.03)+(.45*96.37) = $15.85

EV(bet) = $29.06
EV(check-call) = $15.85

This is assuming he doesn't call 88,99 to a bet, so EV(bet) may be even higher. I actually found it suprising, given these assumptions, how much better betting is here than check-calling. Maybe it's because I'm a total nit, eh?

Well might as well do a wrap-up for the month. Here's June's graph:

Playing 90/10 NL100/200. The volume was kind of low this month, as I explained above. I really need to do something about this .. just getting too lazy nowadays. Had many sessions this month when I felt like my cash game was pretty off, and often distracted and lazy when it came to putting in solid hours/study. Hopefully this will improve next month.

Targets for next month:

Continue with AJ's rake back grinder coaching and achieve some decent database analysis.
Put in at least 35k+ hands.
Try to play at least 25% of my hands at NL200.

See you tomorrow.

Have had a number of days off from poker now. Last session I played I just felt super frustrated and out of my depth for some reason, and it really knocked my confidence and I just quit a few BI down. Hopefully I will have a slightly better session tonight. I'm going to start to re-read Jared's poker mindset book again, since recently it's really been my emotions that have dictated when and how long I play for. Hopefully this is something that I will come to resolve in the up coming months.

At the moment, one major source of frustration/anxiety is an over-estimation of the skill of NL200 players, and their perception of my abilities as a player. This is a problem that extends beyond poker for me: I always seem to over-estimate how much other individuals know and place too much emphasis on their assessment of my own abilities, academic or otherwise. As I shoot new limits, I often imagine that these new "pro" regs are judging my actions, thinking things like: "LOL he didn't even go for thin value on the river vs. that fish" or other stupid shit, and it makes me nervous and play kinda dumb. I cement these feelings by often checking 2+2 forums for any comments about general population play and so on at Stars.

The truth of the matter is that most of these regs aren't that much better than me or other regs they play, and that they just love to show off and appear better than they are by vocally assessing plays in a fairly aggressive way ("shoving there is terrible"). I need to learn to forget about those forum posting regs and to play as consistently and as logically as I can. I'm currently beating NL100 at 5bb/100 over 95k hands so I know in my heart that I'm doing something right, and need the confidence to stick to my own thought/inference/play.

Right now, I'm going to watch another AJ video, do some minor assessment, then crush some games. Good luck all.