Running Free (A Computer Science student's Diary)

So... I played today for about 1hr on Titanbet (~100 hands). It was really fun, and I enjoyed having a strategy, and just playing the good hands. There were two problems, however:

• The SideKick did not record any of my hands. This also happened with Stars Play Money and a freerol on titanbet.
• The titanbet software, for some reason, tried to shut down every 15 minutes or so, by showing a timer ("the progam will close in 30 seconds"). When I was folded it was not a big deal, but one time I was plating a rather large pot (~10BB), and I am completely sure I misplayed because of the annoying message. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

Another bad thing about Titanbet is that there are no 2NL games, the minimum in Spain is 5NL (0.02/0.05), which leaves me with a total of 1.2BIs from the free money, not a great starting BR.

So, Now to the learning. I learned that:

• 5NL is a beautiful place where most people enter with 1/2 buyins.
• I am quite disciplined, if I have a plan. Without a plan, most of my calls are bad (see HAND#1). I am guessing that this is because I am far from having a developed intuition. Stick to your guns!
• I might be playing too tight preflop. I was using confidant91s starting hand guide as a guide for a shortand (6 players). Thoughts on that?
• I really like this, it's a good mental sport.
• Having very few BIs sucks. It puts too much pressure on you, and a bad variance beat can screw you. I can only play really tight and hope to get lucky.

Final result:
BR: 3.89€ (-3.11€)
Profits: -(1/2)BI

HAND EVALUATION

HAND#1
The following is one of the last hands I played, in which I think I went too far, and trid to BLUFF A REALLY GOOD DRAW. I have now learned to never do that, no matter how thight I think the player is.

$0.02/$0.05 No Limit Holdem
iPoker6 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by WeakTight Poker Hand History Converter
Stacks:
UTG sutiplay ($3.48) 70bb
UTG+1 Hero ($5.40) 108bb
CO titanbet442 ($5) 100bb
BTN Curumo ($2.50) 50bb
SB dario77 ($0.59) 12bb
BB MultiAmrasEsp ($1.32) 26bb
Pre-Flop: (0.07, 6 players) Hero is UTG+1 A♣ 9♥

sutiplay raises to $0.17, Hero raises to $0.29, 3 folds, MultiAmrasEsp calls $0.24, sutiplay calls $0.12

Flop: 6♦ 4♠ 5♠ ($0.89, 3 players)
MultiAmrasEsp bets $0.05, sutiplay folds, Hero raises to $0.72, MultiAmrasEsp calls $0.67
Turn: 3♣ ($2.33, 2)
MultiAmrasEsp bets $0.10, Hero raises to $1.85, MultiAmrasEsp goes all-in $0.21
River: 10:club: ($4.49, 2), 1 all-in
Final Pot: $4.49
MultiAmrasEsp shows
7♠ J♠
Hero shows
A♣ 9♥
MultiAmrasEsp wins $2.76 (net +$1.39)
Hero collects $1.54 (net -$1.32)
sutiplay lost $0.29

HAND#2
This shows one of the hands with most action that I had, and I am not really sure that I played it correctly. If anyone could take a look at it and give some feedback, I'd be really thankful.

$0.02/$0.05 No Limit Holdem
iPoker6 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by WeakTight Poker Hand History Converter
Stacks:
UTG TXUS888 ($5.48) 110bb
UTG+1 voroparece ($1.72) 34bb
CO gol99 ($6.73) 135bb
BTN Curumo ($2.65) 53bb
SB Hero ($4.48) 90bb
BB elisita ($7.04) 141bb
Pre-Flop: (0.07, 6 players) Hero is SB Q♦ 7♥

1 fold, voroparece calls $0.05, 2 folds, Hero raises to $0.20, elisita calls $0.15, voroparece calls $0.15

Flop: 8♦ 9♣ Q♥ ($0.58, 3 players)
Hero bets $0.42, elisita calls $0.42, voroparece calls $0.42
Turn: J♥ ($1.84, 3)
Hero bets $1.30, elisita raises to $5.76, voroparece folds, Hero folds

Final Pot: $8.90
elisita wins $8.63 (net +$2.20)
Hero lost $1.92
voroparece lost $0.62

That's it for today, I think I'll continue tomorrow.

Good luck

Borja

I’m no cash gamer, but first hand I would fold pre-flop against a UTG open without any info about him. As played I don’t like you’re re-raise (3bet) sizing. I would make it at least 40c in total on a 3,5bb raise of him.

Now you’re missing the flop complete and the fish min bet. I don’t think you let him fold a draw or better hand than A high out of the hand. So calling him down on his 5c bet is better to make the pot bigger without a strong hand that can't improve much.

2nd hand I would choose also the tight approach by folding right away. Q7o isn’t a hand you want to play out of position with in the SB and I don’t think the limper (caller in UTG+1) will fold often on a raise.

As played I would check/fold the turn on a draw heavy board like that in a multi way pot. I expect you get only action of better now and 1 of them will only bet with a better hand than top pair.

I expect it’s also smart to post hands on our Hand discussions for No Limit board. Than you get faster feedback of other forum members about you’re hands and I think you can learn a lot of it.

Further I wish you good luck with improving you’re game

Best regards,
SDK1987

Wow, thanks for the great feedback, I'll be sure to take my time to digest it before sitting on the tables again. I posted the first hand in the hand discussion forum and the answer was mostly the same.

It was very insightful to see the thought process of good players, thank you very much

So, Second session. I just broke even, even though my connection died in about 5% of the hands (one was KKs and other AKs, that hurts). On top of it, TitanBet did not save any hand history, and I can't post the 8 hands I had noted to consult... Losing for bad luck I don't mind, losing because I played bad is good (I can learn)... but losing because of the internet... I just sucks.

All in all, I played about 200 hands in 1,5h and I am more or less even (about 1/2BB up or down).

I really like this, and I think I have the patience (so much patience, mos hands are unplayable at my level). So I'll keep working on it.

Good luck at the tables.

Something awesome happened:

I got some free Spin&Go Tickets on Stars, and after reviewing basic strategy I play them, just for fun (they're free rolls, after all). After all is said and done, I am left with 2€ in real money (for free), and I decide to start practicing on 2NL, which is the game I'm interested in. I know I don't have the bankroll, but this is unplanned free money, and I wanted to prepare for when I make a deposit.

The thing is that in one hand I got AKs, and I was playing against really loose opponents. After some re-raises I go All-In, and so do my opponents (they have about 40-70BB in their stacks, and I have about 104BB, so I wasn't risking all my money). They show their cards, and one had 83o and the other JTs. The streets come... and I now have a bankroll of about 8€.

So, affter grinding a little more using confidant91's NL Beginner course, and Lem0n's recourded Beginner NL Adventures, I now have a Bankroll of 9.89€

Taking into account that this was free money basically, I am now feeling pretty lucky (not like running well, just lucky for this opportunity).

I will try to improve more, and grind more

Starting BR: 3x1€ Spin&Go tickets on Stars
Delta: -3 Tickets, +9.89€
Total now: 9.89€

Well, I played about 400 hands today, and experimented with both 2-tabling and Zoom, all at NL2. The takeaways are:

General Mentality:

• I know how to recognize when I'm not playing my A game, and when I'm not even playing my B game. I have to start having the will to quit the table when I am not playing well, no matter how many fishes there are. These are probably the mistakes that cost me the most money (I think it was about 3bi).
• Fold. More. I tend to carry marginal hands too far, like KJ, and sometimes even go all-in preflop. A horrible mistake that only happens when I'm not playing my A-game. This has cost me about 5bi.
• I dominate my strategy enough that I can 2-table competently, and keep winning, and I am sure that I make less mistakes, because I am less bored. However, multitabling is still very taxing on me, and I have to take breaks more often than when single tabling.
• The same goes for Zoom, except that I can competently play Zoom for a bit longer, and I don't second-guess myself here, because I can't read opponents.

HAND#1

Thoughts: I think I did well folding here, but the inner teenager in me tells me otherwise...

$0.01/$0.02Zoom No Limit Holdem
PokerStars6 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by WeakTight Poker Hand History Converter
Stacks:
UTG gonzo608 ($0.95) 48bb
UTG+1 elgatfosc ($0.99) 50bb
CO venenopur9 ($0.79) 40bb
BTN Hero ($2.09) 105bb
SB kylawAMG ($2.88) 144bb
BB bebot123 ($2.27) 114bb
Pre-Flop: (0.03, 6 players) Hero is BTN Q♠ K♥

3 folds, Hero raises to $0.05, 1 fold, bebot123 raises to $0.16, Hero folds
Final Pot: $0.22
bebot123 wins $0.22 (net +$0.06)
Hero lost $0.05

HAND#2

Thoughts: I think I made the right call, since rrodriguez00 didn't have a full stack, But I am not completely sure... of the hands I would go all-in with, this is the weakest one.

$0.01/$0.02Zoom No Limit Holdem
PokerStars
6 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by WeakTight Poker Hand History Converter

Stacks:
UTG rrodriguez00 ($1.16) 58bb
UTG+1 belgacom69 ($4) 200bb
CO kylawAMG ($3.68) 184bb
BTN AK-Kariteu ($3) 150bb
SB Hero ($2.58) 129bb
BB gonzo608 ($3.87) 194bb

Pre-Flop: (0.03, 6 players) Hero is SB Q♥ Q♦
rrodriguez00 raises to $0.07, 3 folds, Hero raises to $0.20, 1 fold, rrodriguez00 goes all-in $1.16, Hero calls $0.96
Flop: 8♦ 10:heart: 6♦ ($2.34, 2 players), 1 all-in

Turn: 6♠ ($2.34, 2), 1 all-in
River: 4♠ ($2.34, 2), 1 all-in

Final Pot: $2.34
Hero shows two pair, Queens and Sixes
Q♥ Q♦
rrodriguez00 shows two pair, Jacks and Sixes
J♣ J♠

Hero wins $2.24 (net +$1.08)

rrodriguez00 lost $1.16

Final Balance for today:

• Hands played: ~400
• Starting BR: 9.89€
• Delta: +1.46€
• Final Bankroll: 11.35€

All in all, a good day. I learned a ton, and stayed in the positive.

So, I played a few sessions, which fortunately got recorded in SideKick!! That tool is amazing, when it works.

All in all, I think I am grounding the basics well, specially since I read Phil Gordon's Little Green Book (damn good book). During play, I am focusing in these concepts:

• Small hands are for small pots, Big hands for big pots. If the pot grows too much, and you don't have strong suspicions that the villain is bluffing or weak, fold. FOLD!
• I try to ask myself "what could he have?" in every hand. I am sure my reads are not really all that accurate, but there are some strong ones that have saved me tons of money, like identifying a paired board, and being aware of possible full houses.
• In the micros, if somebody goes all-in, or bets strong, no matter how strong a suspicion you have that he's bluffing, RECONSIDER CALLING/RAISING.

Out of the card room, I have been making extensive use of the Hand Discussion Forum, to review my thought process during the hand. The more details you give of your thought process, the more you get out of every comment. I find that one detailed hand is much better for learning than 5 copypaste hands.

Roll changes:
Hands played: 934
Starting BR: 11.35€
Delta: +2.04€
Final BR: 13.39€

So, I have decided to join the BR challenge, since I have more or less a free month alone in my flat, on vacation, before my Schoolyear starts. I have played about 7000 hands up to now, but I'll start again from 0 hands.

I play mostly 2 tables of 2NL Zoom, it keeps my mind busy enough not to second-guess myself, and Zoom is perfect for getting the fundamentals right (even though it's a bit tougher).

Initial BR: 24.72€
Objective: 1000€

Have fun at the tables!