Can't win at microstakes...or can i. An Irishman's journey to success.

Hey mate, I thought irish had the edge with irish luck
About not feeling able to beat micro-stakes we've all been there you just need to study and practice a bit, having a blog helps a lot since people around here is very helpful.
Wish you best of luck, also you might want to state what limit you playing, fr or sh?

Right, so today I decided to make a quick video of the start of my session, I also decided to do a bit of 6-max for change from fr. Would be greatful if you guys could watch it and tell me how you would play some hands or tell me any majorly bad move I made. I know it's only around 130 hands but the vid was already reaching 4gb so I had to stop it short, then had to compress it quite a lot for youtube. Oh, I didn't know it was recording audio the clicking noise was me shuffling chips whle on the grind (so i'd mute the sound as it's annoying).

Here's a graph on the hands from the video.

Felt like I was making good reads but the whole time while playing these hands the only main thought I had in my head was...

In other news I've purchased books from amazon that I hear are 2 very good ones and are 2 books I need to read in order to help me achieve what my goals for right now.

Really looking forward to reading these , verneer is an absolute legend and his results from playing the micros is god like.

Thanks for reading guys, i'll probably make another entry in here soon outlining my poker and life goals.

Welcome....

Where in Ireland are you? (My name is misleading as I now live in Naas).

I too am trying to beat the microstakes, seem to have more success at FL than NL so that's where I'm concentrating my efforts.

The one thing I would say is that I would find it almost impossible to read a player in Zoom, really you're talking ABC poker unless you have a lot of stats on the individual from past encounters.

Best of luck....also you may have inspired me to start a blog for my own learnings.

Go raibh maith agat agus slan!

Originally posted by dublinmatt
Welcome....

Where in Ireland are you? (My name is misleading as I now live in Naas).

I too am trying to beat the microstakes, seem to have more success at FL than NL so that's where I'm concentrating my efforts.

The one thing I would say is that I would find it almost impossible to read a player in Zoom, really you're talking ABC poker unless you have a lot of stats on the individual from past encounters.

Best of luck....also you may have inspired me to start a blog for my own learnings.

Go raibh maith agat agus slan!

Well depending on the number of zoom tables being played it should be possible to take pretty good notes on opponents and while reviewing as well, so I think it should be possible to get a read on an opponent. Not as easily as on regular tables, but definitely possible!

I also live in Ireland (Dublin) although I'm danish. ♦

In for the journey

Best of luck sir,
Fran

Originally posted by dublinmatt
Welcome....

Where in Ireland are you? (My name is misleading as I now live in Naas).

I'm down in the premier county of Tipp

Originally poste by FFRRAANNKKIIEE
In for the journey

Best of luck sir,
Fran

Cheers Fran ♠_thumbsup:

Right well I haven't been able to play much poker since my last post due to some boring college stuff keeping me busy. I did have a session today however and things were going smoothly until this happened..

This was my 3rd last hand of a 1600 hand session. Major fish move by shoving on the flop? I don't think it's terrible but definitely not necessary I suppose, I shoulD have ended my session earlier this was one of my longest so far and my quality of play was falling from optimum. But I ened the session two hands after this to avoid spewing.

PokerStars - $0.02 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $2.26 (VPIP: 20.27, PFR: 9.46, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 76)
SB: $3.74 (VPIP: 11.76, PFR: 8.82, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 34)
BB: $2.16
UTG: $4.39 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 1)
Hero (MP): $10.67
CO: $1.97 (VPIP: 25.40, PFR: 19.05, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 65)

SB posts SB $0.01, BB posts BB $0.02

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.03) Hero has Q♦ Q♥

UTG raises to $0.04, Hero raises to $0.08, fold, fold, SB calls $0.07, BB calls $0.06, UTG raises to $0.40, Hero calls $0.32, fold, fold

Flop: ($0.96, 2 players) 9♦ 5♥ 3♦
UTG bets $0.80, Hero raises to $10.27 and is all-in, UTG calls $3.19 and is all-in, UTG shows K♠ A♣

Turn: ($8.94, 2 players) K♣

River: ($8.94, 2 players) 7♦

UTG shows K♠ A♣ (One Pair, Kings) (Pre 43%, Flop 24%, Turn 95%)
Hero shows Q♦ Q♥ (One Pair, Queens) (Pre 57%, Flop 76%, Turn 5%)
UTG wins $8.64

In other news my 2 books I ordered came in the mail, i'm reading veneer's book first and i'm delighted that I bought it, invaluable to have imo. Mental game of poker is definitely one I need to study cover to cover. Having a quick looks through it seems that no stone is unturned in Jared's book, can't wait to get stuck into it.

Might not be able to get a decent session of poker in until probably the 2nd half of next week, but then it's just 2 1/2 weeks of pure grinding. I'll update the blog later on today or tmrw, where i'm gonna lay out my fitness goals for the summer and how far I've come already since February 2013.

Next time you start a session put this tune on for a bit of feel good and motivating vibes to help put you in a good frame of min to crush the :f_p:.

Happy Grinding.

Best of luck TJ. I'm a Limerick man myself so I'll be following.

And ignore what lkdr9494 said; Irish luck is a load of bollocks when it comes to poker!

Hi all, didn't get to play much poker this week and probably won't get much time to play next week, or until Thursday anyway.

Didn't play any cash tables last night, I said I would play some satellites for a bit of fun and didn't do too badly.

I played 5 6-max satellites for the big 2.20 and won a ticket in 4 of them for some lovely tourney dollars. Then I played a $1 satellite for the $11 sunday storm and won a ticket in that. I then done a silly thing and played a $7 sat for the sunday million :facepalm:. Had no intention to play it, I was just gonna use it for more tourney dollars.

In the 2.20 today I went busto about 12 spots away from the money and I decided not to go into the $11 sunday storm so I took it out for tourney dollars and decided to go for the hotter $4.40 turbo and came 58th for $45 which was sweet, that's my deepest run a big field mtt to date, think there was around 7200 players. I keep running deeper and deeper and I have a funny feeling i'll definitely ship one before the year is over.

I have a question though, how do you feel when you bust out of a mtt when you get really deep? I got very annoyed with myself, I didn't make a bad play, blinds just caught up with me and I was forced to shove with K10. The deeper I get into a tourney the angrier I get at myself for no reason rather than being happy and using it as a building block. I do find it funny how all of this stemmed from, me deciding to play a few 70c sats lol.

I'm debating on going into the sunday storm but I doubt it.

Peace out y'all.

Chanced my arm at another 6-max sat for the hotter $11 and won a ticket.

Think i'll go into it for the hoot. ♠_cool:

Busto from the Sunday storm. Oh well, bring on next Sundays donkaments.

Busto hand

PokerStars - $10+$1|125/250 Ante 30 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: 11,145 (VPIP: 32.73, PFR: 10.91, 3Bet Preflop: 5.00, Hands: 55)
UTG: 1,440 (VPIP: 44.68, PFR: 6.38, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 47)
UTG+1: 7,390 (VPIP: 21.82, PFR: 3.64, 3Bet Preflop: 5.00, Hands: 55)
MP: 3,645 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 2)
MP+1: 4,695 (VPIP: 10.34, PFR: 3.45, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 29)
CO: 11,800 (VPIP: 30.91, PFR: 3.64, 3Bet Preflop: 8.00, Hands: 55)
BTN: 2,660 (VPIP: 14.29, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 14)
Hero (SB): 7,140

8 players post ante of 30, Hero posts SB 125, BB posts BB 250

Pre Flop: (pot: 615) Hero has K♠ K♦

fold, fold, MP raises to 3,615 and is all-in, fold, CO raises to 11,770 and is all-in, fold, Hero calls 6,985 and is all-in, fold

Flop: (18,325, 3 players) J♠ A♥ 7♠

Turn: (18,325, 3 players) Q♣

River: (18,325, 3 players) J♦

Hero shows K♠ K♦ (Two Pair, Kings and Jacks)
Main Pot [11,335]: (Pre 18%, Flop 6%, Turn 10%)
Side Pot#1 [6,990]: (Pre 18%, Flop 5%, Turn 9%)

CO shows A♦ A♣ (Full House, Aces full of Jacks)
Main Pot [11,335]: (Pre 65%, Flop 94%, Turn 90%)
Side Pot#1 [6,990]: (Pre 82%, Flop 95%, Turn 91%)

MP shows 6♥ 6♣ (Two Pair, Jacks and Sixes)
Main Pot [11,335]: (Pre 17%, Flop 0%, Turn 0%)

CO wins 18,325

See you in a couple days.

NIce blog and great sense of humor!!
Will be following.
Cheers

This is far too important to wait, I have come to the conclusion the type of player I am at the moment. Turns out i'm a TAGfish :f_cry:. I read a random article called 7 signs you're a TAGfish and oh man every sign described me to a tee, it was freaky. I won't post the link because i'm not sure if i'm allowed.

Reconstruction of my reaction after reading the article:

Has anyone got any tips for a TAGfish? If so, hit me up. It's good that I know exactly what I am now, I can focus on fixing it.

Check out this hand from the hotter 4.40 on pokerstars, villain showed the exact hand I put him on after the call, felt damn good, I definitely wouldn't have made this call in the past, not a chance in hell.

PokerStars - $4+$0.40|75/150 Ante 20 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BB): 9,508
UTG: 1,585 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 2)
UTG+1: 22,259 (VPIP: 75.00, PFR: 41.67, 3Bet Preflop: 16.67, Hands: 12)
MP: 1,980 (VPIP: 30.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 10)
MP+1: 11,723 (VPIP: 14.52, PFR: 4.84, 3Bet Preflop: 3.70, Hands: 62)
CO: 20,972 (VPIP: 57.14, PFR: 28.57, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 7)
BTN: 2,900 (VPIP: 8.82, PFR: 2.94, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 34)
SB: 4,264 (VPIP: 22.86, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 36)

8 players post ante of 20, SB posts SB 75, Hero posts BB 150

Pre Flop: (pot: 385) Hero has K♠ Q♥

fold, UTG+1 raises to 300, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 150

Flop: (835, 2 players) 8♣ A♣ 3♠
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets 150, Hero calls 150

Turn: (1,135, 2 players) 6♦
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets 600, Hero raises to 1,500, UTG+1 calls 900

River: (4,135, 2 players) 8♥
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets 2,100, Hero calls 2,100

I just got that second book and it seems pretty good. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

Question you posted above;

It is frustrating to get kicked out of a MTT, eapesh when really deep. It's probably one of the most annoying situations in poker, that's why my hat is off to every MTT reg who keeps goomg through that variance hell untill he/she finally binks big.. eventually..

All in all, keep us updated and best of luck,

Fran

Don't believe it just made a whole blog entry and backed out of the page and deleted the whole thing!!

So mkII of this is going to have cliffs

Leanring more, gaining better understanding
Feeling good about poker
Confidence up
Major cooler at start of session KK into AA preflop, didn't tilt stayed focused.
Made disciplined folds preflop and on the flop in spots where I know I would have spewed off before.
Red line is still mega high, I ain't bluffin it's just I can't get calls come the turn and river, maybe need to make my value bets lower or maybe i'm making my hand strength obvious come the end of hands.
Looking forward to grinding over the next fortnight.

Check out this hand looks like a very basic spot now I have reviewed it, need to be able to make better decisions when i'm in the moment. I'm learning and would still like some closure.

PokerStars - $0.02 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $1.98 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 1)
SB: $2.00 (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 40.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)
BB: $2.14 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)
Hero (UTG): $2.70
MP: $2.54 (VPIP: 20.69, PFR: 17.24, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 31)
CO: $7.86 (VPIP: 19.05, PFR: 19.05, 3Bet Preflop: 9.09, Hands: 21)

SB posts SB $0.01, BB posts BB $0.02

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.03) Hero has 9♠ 9♦

Hero calls $0.02, fold, CO raises to $0.08, BTN calls $0.08, fold, fold, Hero calls $0.06

Flop: ($0.27, 3 players) 3♣ 3♦ 9♥
Hero checks, CO bets $0.18, fold, Hero raises to $0.38, fold

Hero wins $0.61

My initial thought when it mattered most was to re-raise in order to get villain to possibly shove But flop would have completely missed his range. I was playing 21/16 at the time and I know he only had 20 hands on me but my initial thought was when I re raised, he would call bs and react. I think I made it look like I had TT,JJ,QQ, to him in the end. So I think flatting would have been the best option in a hope that he hits top pair and pays me off then. Am I anywhere close in my disection of this hand??

Session Graph:

Peace out.

Watch this space....

Ok, hello all. I am back from the a major absence from the forums and here to re-ignite the fire.

As you probably would have guessed, my attempt from last year failed miserably and I left. A while ago I attempted to come back and this time, come back prepared. I feel I'm a totally different player from what I was last year, through a lot of study and work I am sure can pull this thread out from the pits I left it in and make it shine. (see link to another thread in my introduction post on here).

Looking back on a lot of this stuff I cringe, and noticed this thread even made it on to the news page a couple of months ago which was a bit embarrassing but gave me drive to get better. I thought I knew what I was doing but I really knew VERY little and what I did know I did not apply it correctly.

I felt today I was ready to begin MKII of my journey and deposited $30 to grind at NL2. I hope you follow the thread, I will not let you down... again. Just other changes to note, I only play 6-max now and I'm not playing zoom tables anymore.

Here's my first session from today, you can probably notice differences between this and the others from before. Onwards and upwards.

Hey guys, I couldn't really get as much volume as I was hoping for with the last few days due to my isp doing upgrades on their service and my connection was very inconsistent while they were working, should be all ok from tomorrow on.

Anyways, still going good and feeling very confident in my game and long may it last.

:club:To be done by next Friday:club:
At least 3.5k volume
Read mental game of poker again
Post hands in evaluation section
High quality review sessions with no distractions
Buy a mouse for my laptop, using a touchpad can get annoying after a while.

Progress so far:heart:

♠_drink:♠_drink::f_drink: