Climbing the mountain - Akerul's logbook

Hello.
I really like that "wait 10seconds before calling a shove". Im trying to do something like that too, basicly lately I told myself not to do any decision without thinking about it. Even though during the session it might be tough, you can improve your game and winnings that way, I believe.
Good luck.

Hi guys,

first session today, had a good one and I'd give myself B+. Quite concentrated, managed to keep up red line and at the same time going at showdown for value. Some silly mistakes in the first part of the session, but overall I'm satisfied. Maybe it's just the fear to be judged by others that kept my focused on tables. Surely positive variance helped me a lot. But managed to control myself from clicking the "call" button without thinking. Happy I could leave ego out of the door and played detached

Hand to note: folded to a 2.5x 4bet OOP against a short stacked fish. This is the kind of fishy call I could do preflop, when opponent is shortstack and surely pushing al in after flop comes out.

Hi guys,

second session today, just played 1000 hands because of lack of time and my internet connection that went off. Would have rated my game with a good A but then made two silly calls in a row, called a shove all in without counting until 10 and lost: it was obvious, 3/5 straight on the board but I called just the same with AK. So overall I'd rate my game with B. Positive variance came to visit me again today, nevertheless I made very good plays, could maximise lots of spots, got the most out of bread and butter and others print free money spots. Should aim to play this way everytime I sit at tables, except for those two silly calls.

Hand to note: folded KK on river OOP. Opponent rised flop, checked back turn and rised river. Board was 3s Td 4d 3d Th pretty obvious fold, but this is a kind of mistake I would have done in non-perfect focus status or without having to report you my results. This would have been what I call a see-just-for-curiosity call.

Here's the graph
PS: had a Royal Straight Flush, always nice to have, even though villan was short stack and I couldn't get 100bb.

Hi guys,

awful session tonight, could have been luckier in some spots but tons of mistakes preflop and most of all my mind was not on poker today. So kinda played with autopilot, called spots I shouldn't have had, checked were I should have betted... played passively and red line is a good indicator of this. My game was a D today.
Should learn from today that when not 100% on poker with my mind I should leave it there and do other things.

Here is the graph.

Hi guys,

I thought I'd write here I had finally played my A-game, and for most part of the game it was, but some loss of focus make me prefer rate my session with a B. First part of the night played really well. I couldn't believe I had such a bad graph when looked at it. But I didn't mind, at tables I should look only at EV, not money (and I did for long periods of time tonight). In the second part of the night got much more interesting card, and got more action in general at tables. Overall I'm quite fine the way I played tonight.

Hands to note: want to report two I'm not sure I played well:
First one I'm on BB with KK and 3bet open raise of BTN to 6bb. He calls. Flop comes 8s Jc 8d, I cbet 9bb, BTN raises to 23bb, I re-raise to 37bb, BTN shove all-in 80bb and I call. Turn 3h, River 3s, BTN shows Jh8c, wins the hand with Eights full of Jacks.

I'm not sure I've been unlucky, I think I made a mistake calling his second reraise. But I put him on AA-KK-QQ-AJ-A8 even though I was probably thinking he was bluffing since I noted him as a fish. But he could have beated me with many others combos I know.

Second hand:
PokerStars - €0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 32.4 BB (VPIP: 22.73, PFR: 4.55, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 23)
SB: 108.2 BB (VPIP: 16.74, PFR: 8.46, 3Bet Preflop: 2.30, Hands: 6,220)
BB: 20.6 BB (VPIP: 53.89, PFR: 9.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.61, Hands: 394)
UTG: 79.8 BB (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 10.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 10)
MP: 165 BB (VPIP: 100.00, PFR: 66.67, 3Bet Preflop: 100.00, Hands: 3)
Hero (CO): 171.6 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has A♠ Q♦

fold, MP raises to 2 BB, Hero raises to 6 BB, BTN calls 6 BB, fold, BB raises to 20.6 BB and is all-in, MP calls 18.6 BB, Hero calls 14.6 BB, fold

Flop: (68.2 BB, 3 players) Q♠ 8♠ 8♥
MP bets 46 BB, Hero calls 46 BB

Turn: (160.2 BB, 3 players) 2♥
MP bets 98.4 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 98.4 BB

River: (357 BB, 3 players) 5♣

MP shows 8♦ K♥ (Three of a Kind, Eights)

Main Pot [68.2 BB]: (Pre 38%, Flop 91%, Turn 98%)
Side Pot#1 [288.8 BB]: (Pre 40%, Flop 91%, Turn 98%)

Hero shows A♠ Q♦ (Two Pair, Queens and Eights)

Main Pot [68.2 BB]: (Pre 31%, Flop 6%, Turn 1%)
Side Pot#1 [288.8 BB]: (Pre 60%, Flop 9%, Turn 2%)

BB shows Q♣ A♥ (Two Pair, Queens and Eights)

Main Pot [68.2 BB]: (Pre 31%, Flop 2%, Turn 1%)

MP wins 337.4 BB

Not sure I played it badly, the 3bet call preflop made sense since I had good pot odds, then the SPR was good enough to commit to the pot. Let me know what you think.

Here's the graph of the session:

Hi guys,

just finished another session, a nice one, started 4tabling and then when I felt more focused added 2 more. Didn't have too many difficult decisions to take, could fold more than usual with little equity and the feeling villain was going to fire future streets. This is a B+.

Hand to note: big mistake OOP. In MP I raised 4bet villain's 3bet (+1 caller) with QQ to 25 big bling, CO 5bet to 62bb, I call. I check-called his all in for the remaining 38 BB, he had AA of course, really fishy play from my part. This is the hand I played worst tonight, still have to learn what to do with KK, QQ (IP and OOP) when opponent 4 or 5-bets.

Here is the graph:

Ciao guys,

tonight the only rule seemed to be I had to loose on river. I kept playing only because I had a whale on a table, he was playing 96/15 vpip/pfr, but still I lost many hands to him, he showing 69o and taking down the pot with run run.. The worst was me folding to his call to an all in at flop with a board like 628rainbow, I was in BTN with A6 (folded), villain took down the pot with 6J, other had AQ. By the way I tilted a bit in the end, still I played patiently for most part of the night so I think I deserve a C+.

Hand to note: no hand to note, since there would be so many but I need to do some hands review tomorrow on tonight's session. The fact is that I lost so many bb on river, both for folds I couldnt avoid and for calls I made because "that cannot be,he couldn't have won again on river"..but guess what? They can win whenever, I have to learn to accept it, fight in tough times so to fly higher in normal/positive variance swing.

Here's the graph. Tomorrow will be another day. So, no complaining, look forward to next session.

Awesome work keeping this updated. Keep at it.

Hi guys,

I honestly don't know how this session went, I think I didn't played that bad. Pretty like yesterday night, I had to defend my hand against many rivers, but could not do a lot...
I prefer to abstain from any comment. tonight I decided to stop before 1k hands (909). Just think I didn't deserved so much
here's the graph, enjoy.

ps: I love these two. They should go to casino with no fear of the disavantage against house. (this is 5nl)

Hi guys,

here again, to update the blog with my progression. On friday I had a lesson with a coach, it was super useful and he opened my eyes to many leaks I have. I still have to work hard to be constantly profitable at 5nl. But the important is that I finally know where to put my efforts and attention when playing. So, since then, I started playing focusing on those parts of the game I'm still weak. I played very well in the past three days, during some sessions I played my A-game from the beginning until the end. Overall the rate for these days is A--, since sometimes I was not focused enough and gave away chips for free.

Hand to note: I love this hand. 4 players on the flop, me on SB with KhJh. Flop comes Th 4d Qh, I have at least 15 outs. I lead with 10bb, BB raises to 41 I shove all in to 223BB and BB calls 182BB with Ah 4c. I won at river with flush.

Here's the graph of the last three days, luckily the 9 BI of gap with adjusted equity came back to me Even though the most important to me is playing good, no matter what happened previously.

Hi guys,

sweet session today, a part one of the very first hands which I played poorly (called three streets AJ with A on board, lost to AQ), I played very very well, finally I can say it, I played my A-game. I truly think the session with my coach helped me a lot since now I am getting rid of those bad habits I used to have, play a better pre-flop game so that I can play higher value hands, and constantly be aware of positional advantage.
Should continue like this. Also as for the off-table work, I think I'm putting enough amount of time on it, to improve and learn new things.

Hi guys,

I'm back after a week. I couldn't play a lot during weekdays, 500 hands or so everyday, so I decided I would have shared my results at the end of the week. Not a good one to be honest. I am trying to change my strategy and work on those leaks I found having after coaching. Still is not that easy, but I reduced the number of tables to concentrate more on what I have to do. Quite frustrating from time to time, I can't easily fold even though I know I should. Working on it, that would save me many BB.
Overall I'm not satisfied with these results. The fact is that by reducing the number of tables, after a while I just want to make hands hands hands and since I have less table to play at I get irritated. What I should learn from this week is that no matter if I only play 2k hands per week, the important is to put quality time in this journey, if not there's no point in doing it and that's just a waste of time.

Next week I'll keep on playing 3 tables at a time and posting results, no matter if just 300 hands in a night. This could keep me focus on long term goals and above all on maximizing the opportunities I am given (by this I also mean being disciplinate enough to fold when it is the best EV play). I will also book another lesson and put at least 5 hours in study.

gl all

here's the graph:

Gl following....

Hi guys,

yyyyyeeeeesss! A-game today, no ifs no buts. Really played well, 3 tables, short session high focus. Didn't care to fold when didn't flop well, no fear to bet at river with air if my opponent checked on each street. Played well multi-way pots. I had more equity those times I went all in, and could do some nice exploitation play from villain's hud. Called less 3bet pre-flop, sticked to my pre-flop ranges and focused a lot on playing way different IP and OOP.
Felt great, I know I should play detached from money and I'll obtain good results.

Here's the graph:

Hi guys,

nice session today. Would give me a rate between B/A, cause I wasn't 100% into poker and played too much (5 hours+ with some very little breaks in between). But it's ok since I was playing very well. I played not caring about money, I could have folded 50BB every hand if that was the most EV+play. So I'm glad for this, hope it will last. Normally after a short period during which I face poker this way I go back in those old bad habits where I look at money and want to get them all. No, this time my attention will be higher and try to keep playing with this state of mind: only following strategy is important, EV will turn into money in the long rung.

One thing to change from next session on: I will try not to open my software during the game, and look at the equity line only at the end of the session. I can't refresh the graph every 5 minutes. This sometimes stop me playing good, for ex when I'm near local/absolute highs. Should just think to play, graphs are for off table analysis!!!

Here's the graph:

Hi guys,

didn't post here yesterday night, I couldn't, so I'll comment 2 sessions today.
Yesterday was awful. I'm crazy. I played like a stupid recreative fish. I multitasked all the time, listened to music and stuff. I was really nervous and my thoughts were not in poker. Played just for habits. I suck. At least I think I learned the lesson. Moreover I could understand where I have to work more on. When I'm not focus I start being passive and leave the lead to others. Just call call and fold. All the time. You can say it from the red line. Call 3bets OOP and stuff. But it's ok, these moments are useful to improve our C-game to A-game, and Jared Tendler would be proud of us :). My rate: D-

Tonight was great instead. Didn't have many opportunities but I could play my A-game again, even for a long period during which I didn't see action at all. Could force myself to fold at river (to a x/r) hands such as sets, KK for example. Signs I am in great shape. The only thing I hated is the last hand, I had set of 7, betted two streets and my pc frozen when I was about to pot bet river. cazzus.

Here the graphs, attitude was super different trust me.

Hi guys,

here I am posting my last few session. I feel great. Even though results are not super I think I played really good. Generally I feel like I'm a much better player respect one months ago and of course waaay better comparing to the one I used to be before February. The way is so long, but putting much effort in it and seeing results. I think I am a wiser player, not interest anymore in calling just to check they are not bluffing, I can fold hands with potential but pot odds are low, I'm not chasing losses and I started embracing variance. The time I will shout after ba beats in a row will come again, no doubts, but atm I'm accepting with a smile when it happens, cos I know poker is this, and this is the reason fish keep playing. So, I know it happens to me as well, I move forward, forget the hand and stay focused on the present action.
Happy to share here this results. Time spent in study/coaching is good as well (as amount an as quality time). My rate for last sessions : B++. My rate for my recent improvements is way higher.

Here is the graph since last one:

Hi guys,

another good session tonihgt, for both my attitude and results: I'd say A-game tonight, even though variance helped me so I didn't have a big amount of difficult decisions. Variance helped, but I could - let me say - "surf the wave" since I really feel I made correct decisions almost all the time.

Here's the graph:

Hi guys,

not a good session tonight, in terms of focus. I couldn't focus 100% at first, and my attention diverted little by little from poker. I could have won much more big blinds if only I thought more over some spots. I played a C tonight. In the end I could focused more. The problem could be I was near my bankroll old high so I probably had this kind of mental block.

By the way I could end it quite well, even though I'm not happy the way I played. If I want to be a strong player I shouldn't let this degrading of focus so often. Before the session I took the second session with my coach and we discussed about other leaks I have to work on. He suggested me to take a shot very soon at 10nl, I will probably have a very tight one already tomorrow.

Here's the graph, gl to all: