Ramble's Ramblings

For your previous hand:
1) Always calling
2) stabbing small and calling a XR vs a reasonable sizing.
3) As we checked through on flop, we have to call vs turn delay with TP
4) River I don't mind folding or calling, I think the EV is going to be close either way so it is not going to be a big mistake to call or fold. (If the two 9's were 8's I would say it is a must call, likewise if the river was a brick say 6d then again it would be a clear call and likely losing a lot of EV by folding)

Hope this helps

Originally posted by SiKWiThIt
This is the conclusion that I have recently come to, and finding that sweet spot has definitely improved by performance!

I'm diabetic, so I have to be careful with that sweet spot

But it is so true -- in the past players could play vast numbers of tables and were content to be break-even just to get the rakeback.
This isn't really a valid strategy these days, especially since a lot of rooms are limiting the number of simultaneous tables.

Cheers,
VS

Returning to NL5 (but not for long)

I've noticed that the gap between my A-game and B-game is quite a bit. Since my last post, I had 3 days of A-game play and despite facing some big soul-sucking losses, still managed to come out on top and bank some nice profit...

Unfortunately, in the most recent couple of days, I have been dealing with issues outside of poker and haven't been sleeping well... and I came to poker to distract myself, but I'm not able to play my A-game... and it showed. I was struggling to remember my ranges pre-flop, forgetting to decide on a game plan on the flop, and calling rivers too light...

I've decided to spend the weekend studying instead, if things gets a bit better and I'm more rested, I'll come back to NL5 until I have some confidence built up again and I'm able to be more consistent on my A-game.

One thing I'm pondering is Poker Ranger 2... it's on discount until Sunday. I downloaded the free-trial and will play around with it tomorrow. It looks pretty slick, I'm just curious what you guys think... has anyone used it or had a look at it?

hey Ramble,

wish you all the best. I am sure you will prevail.

Regarding Poker Ranger, never heard about it. If you will decide to buy it it would be great if you can describe your experience with it.
Also, I wanted to ask you about your opinion on how big the gap is between NL5 and NL10? Not that I want to move there soon, I am just curious ♦

Have a great Sunday and stay strong!

Originally posted by Pokrovec
hey Ramble,

wish you all the best. I am sure you will prevail.

Regarding Poker Ranger, never heard about it. If you will decide to buy it it would be great if you can describe your experience with it.
Also, I wanted to ask you about your opinion on how big the gap is between NL5 and NL10? Not that I want to move there soon, I am just curious ♦

Have a great Sunday and stay strong!

Thanks Pokrovec.

From my very limited experience, I think when moving up stakes the first thing people need to keep in mind is that it isn't so much about the opponents as it is about you.

Is your game good enough, do you have good fundamentals, do you know how to adapt to different players and situations. As I moved from NL2 to NL5 to NL10, I saw all the same player types, the same moves being made, the same challenges, etc... the only thing that really changes is the frequency of those things happening. There are still plenty of bad players at NL10, and a bit more occasionally you have to switch tables to find them, that's all.

In general though, a bit more 3-betting, blind-stealing and defending, more c-bets, better bet-sizing, etc.... The same things you likely noticed from NL2 to NL5.

Status Update

Hi folks,

Just thought I'd post a quick status update since it's been awhile. I'm still playing NL5 and working on my game which I feel is becoming much more solid overall. I'm winning but not crushing at a rate of 5+bb/100 hands. That number should be a bit higher, but I'm working on closing up some big leaks:

1) "Winning Tilt" - If you've read through my blog, I've talked about this before... I'm not prone to tilt much since reading through the excellent The Mental Game of Poker, except after booking a few huge winning sessions back to back... then I feel infallible and start playing a bit looser than I should expecting I'll just automatically win because I can't lose on this run.

2) I find sometimes I go on runs where my bluff frequency (versus people capable of folding) on the river is too high and then I over-correct and fold too much on the river (versus players probably bluffing or betting weaker hands) for awhile... I think on overall my frequencies are ok, but session by session I fall into one camp or the other and may be exploitable by anyone paying attention.

3) ... and of course many more, but ones not worth listing here yet.

The reason I haven't been updating this poker blog is that I found updating the blog on a regular basis was taking away too much time from my poker play and study time... but I miss it too, so I think I'll try updating it more but on a less frequent basis.

I hit a milestone last night and am ready to take another shot at NL10 and see how that goes. Wish me luck.

Bankroll Challenge is On!!!

Hi Folks - I decided to join the Bankroll Challenge today as a way to encourage me to update this blog. I'm aiming to do updates weekly now. In the updates I'll post my bankroll update, # of hands played at each stake, # of hands reviewed and will likely post a few hands and some results screenshots.

For the purposes of the challenge we'll say my starting bankroll is $100 and my goal is to reach $500. I'm playing mostly NL5, but taking stabs at NL10 from time to time.

Please leave a comment if you find anything interesting or just want to say "hi". It's great motivation for me to keep updating.

hi

Originally posted by Tomaloc
hi

LOL - Hi Tomaloc!

First 1000 Hands played for Bankroll Challenge

So that went quicker than I thought... and better than I was hoping.
Stakes: NL5
Hands Played: 1002
Net Won: +$14.40
bb/100: 28.74
Bonus: +$0.76 from WCOOP free satellite, +$0.60 from Daily Leaderboard
Bankroll Challenge Roll: $115.76

A few things that led to some early success:
1) Table Selection - I paid more attention to finding good tables and changed tables quicker when the table dynamics changed
2) Bet Sizing - I reviewed some of my notes on bet-sizing and made some small adjustments but believe this helped a bit in some spots.
3) Game Plan - for the first 90% of the hands played I was really focused on my game plan on each street and knew what my actions would be... I was less focused the last 10% of the hands and I think I probably lost a buy-in overall due to it.

Off to a good start, let's keep it going...

I love nice looking giraffes!

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I love nice looking giraffes!

Thanks Vorpal!

A Couple of Hands from my Review

Here are a couple of hands from my review... I'm not sure why I chose these ones over the others to share... but I did... so deal with it.

Hand 1:
PokerStars - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3

BB: $5.00 (100 bb)
UTG: $5.00 (100 bb)
Hero (MP): $9.97 (199.4 bb)
CO: $6.27 (125.4 bb)
BTN: $5.53 (110.6 bb)
SB: $5.05 (101 bb)

SB posts $0.02, BB posts $0.05

Table - I’ve only played about 35 hands at the table, but most players seem weak. Villain has only been here for 5 hands and has not played any of them.

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.07) Hero has 9♦: A♦:
UTG raises to $0.10, Hero calls $0.10, 3 folds, BB calls $0.05
Pre-flop – this is a marginal hand to play in this early position when the Lojack (UTG) has already opened… depending on table dynamics I’m usually folding (~50%), calling (~20%) and 3-bet/folding (~30%).

Flop: ($0.32, 3 players) 2♥: 6♦: 9♣:
BB checks, UTG bets $0.10, Hero calls $0.10, BB calls $0.10
Flop – I hit the flop pretty good here with TPTK and back-door flush draw. I don’t have much info on villain other than he hasn’t VPIP’d his first 5 hands at the table, so I assume a pretty standard LJ opening range with 2 overcards, a pocket pair, maybe a 9x hand, 87 suited and possibly sets (I block all but 1 set of 9’s). Although I likely have the best hand on the flop, I decide to just call for pot-control.

Turn: ($0.62, 3 players) A♠:
BB checks, UTG bets $0.30, Hero raises to $0.78, fold, UTG calls $0.48
Turn – A great turn card for me as I hit top 2 pair and villain bets into me. I beat everything except a set, so I decide to 2.5x his half-pot sized bet to try and extract some value from worse Ax hands.

River: ($2.18, 2 players) K♣:
UTG bets $1.15, Hero calls $1.15
River – When the king hits and villain bets half pot again, I don’t have a good feeling but there is no way I can fold, I should be good here most of the time if I’ve characterized villain correctly. What do you do here?

Hand 2:
PokerStars - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3

MP: $5.45 (109 bb)
CO: $5.10 (102 bb)
BTN: $6.78 (135.6 bb)
SB: $7.10 (142 bb)
Hero (BB): $4.72 (94.4 bb)
UTG: $5.25 (105 bb)

SB posts $0.02, Hero posts BB $0.05
Table – I’m only in about 45 hands at this table, and it seems that almost all players are playing just a bit loose, nothing crazy, average VPIP about 35%. I’ve got about 400 hands on villain and his relevant stats are VPIP:32%, PFR: 20%, C-Bet Flop OOP: 33%, C-Bet Turn OOP: 67%

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.07) Hero has 8♦: 7♦:
fold, MP raises to $0.12, 2 folds, SB raises to $0.45, Hero calls $0.40, MP calls $0.33
Pre-Flop – I believe villain is 3-betting light here to isolate against the weaker player who opened from the Hijack position. Even so, I shouldn’t be calling a 3-bet here, I just don’t have the right pot-odds, but hey... I’m not perfect (yet) so I do.

Flop: ($1.35, 3 players) J♦: A♥: J♥:
SB checks, Hero checks, MP checks
Flop – The flop is horrible for me and great for my opponent’s ranges so I’m happy to check it down.

Turn: ($1.35, 3 players) T♦:
SB bets $0.55, Hero calls $0.55, fold
Turn – The turn improves my hand marginally giving me an inside straight-flush draw… but I’m still dominated by my opponents ranges and I should definitely fold this hand, so when villain bets a 1/3 pot-size bet… I call… wait, what?!? I call... (wow… I’m really not too happy with myself reviewing this hand.)

River: ($2.45, 2 players) 3♥:
SB checks, Hero bets $1.56, xxx
River – Villain’s check here makes me pause for a bit… I can’t check it down and lose a 50-bb pot. I have no choice but to bluff at a very connected board. Based on how I played the hand pre-flop onwards it could look like I’ve got a strong made hand, so I decide on a bet of more than half pot. What do you do?

Anyways - just a couple of hands from my review that I thought you may find interesting. Let me know your thoughts on them, if you would have played anything differently, etc...

Originally posted by Ramble
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.07) Hero has 9♦: A♦:
UTG raises to $0.10, Hero calls $0.10, 3 folds, BB calls $0.05
Pre-flop – this is a marginal hand to play in this early position when the Lojack (UTG) has already opened… depending on table dynamics I’m usually folding (~50%), calling (~20%) and 3-bet/folding (~30%).

agree with you that mostly i'd fold. 4 players that you cant really judge fully because microstakes = fold

Flop: ($0.32, 3 players) 2♥: 6♦: 9♣:
BB checks, UTG bets $0.10, Hero calls $0.10, BB calls $0.10
Flop – I hit the flop pretty good here with TPTK and back-door flush draw. I don’t have much info on villain other than he hasn’t VPIP’d his first 5 hands at the table, so I assume a pretty standard LJ opening range with 2 overcards, a pocket pair, maybe a 9x hand, 87 suited and possibly sets (I block all but 1 set of 9’s). Although I likely have the best hand on the flop, I decide to just call for pot-control.
Turn: ($0.62, 3 players) A♠:
BB checks, UTG bets $0.30, Hero raises to $0.78, fold, UTG calls $0.48
Turn – A great turn card for me as I hit top 2 pair and villain bets into me. I beat everything except a set, so I decide to 2.5x his half-pot sized bet to try and extract some value from worse Ax hands.

River: ($2.18, 2 players) K♣:
UTG bets $1.15, Hero calls $1.15
River – When the king hits and villain bets half pot again, I don’t have a good feeling but there is no way I can fold, I should be good here most of the time if I’ve characterized villain correctly. What do you do here?

Results: $4.48 pot ($0.19 rake)
Final Board: 2♥: 6♦: 9♣: A♠: K♣:

UTG shows K♦: K♠:: (Three of a Kind, Kings)
(Pre 68%, Flop 76%, Turn 5%)

raise turn bigger if you raise
river.... it sucks,because river raises are in general no bluffs on that limit.

aaand welcome to the challenge!

Hand 2: I am always folding Preflop - Even if one of the villains is the biggest fish ever. Cold calling a 3-Bet is usually a big no no. You want to 4-bet or fold. Basically to a competent player you are really capping yourself.

Now in terms of hand strengths suited connectors look nice but in reality it is very hard to realise your equity with them especially multiway. This is because they will often require you to commit to multiple streets in order to try and hit your draw.

As played vs a small cbet on turn. I think calling is ok, and on the river well played. The way I look at it very simply is you have 0 showdown value. You check river and you will always lose. So bluff! in terms of size I think 2/3 is fine but I wouldn't go any smaller here. Anything from 2/3 to All in seems fine and will always be more EV in the long run than checking

Originally posted by SvenBe
...
river.... it sucks,because river raises are in general no bluffs on that limit.

aaand welcome to the challenge!

Thanks SvenBe, the challenge is going well so far - and you weren't kidding about the river bets - they've been painful this week.

Originally posted by SiKWiThIt
Cold calling a 3-Bet is usually a big no no. You want to 4-bet or fold. Basically to a competent player you are really capping yourself.

Thanks SikWiThIt - You're responses are always so appreciated, this is definitely something I need to review. I'm sure that I am cold-calling 3-bets too often, so I'll be looking back at my hand history for where I did this and look to see where I could have played it differently (i.e. 4-bet or fold, as you say).

Goodbye Rakeback!

I got my rakeback bonus yesterday and lost it all within about 15 minutes... pretty disappointing really. Most of it went in 2 all-in situations - AJs on an A-high board with a flush draw that didn't hit (opponent had AKo)... and then a few hands later had a cooler with pocket kings versus pocket aces.

I put in a lot of volume (for me) this past week and feel like I was playing my A-game for over 90% of it and a solid B-game for the rest... I don't feel like I was ever playing poorly. I did feel like I was card dead more than average and when I did get some premium hands, everyone folded to me pre-flop.

Since the bankroll challenge began, I've played just over 3000 hands, earned just over $30 and am running at 11 bb/100... so pretty happy with results so far. (Not to be results focused :f_thumbsup:)

I'm taking a few days off from poker, but will be back soon.

Feeling Discouraged

I'm a bit bummed out with my results lately... feel like I'm playing ok but I keep running into absolute top of villain's range very often or they keep hitting their outs. I should take solace, that long term my play will be profitable, but the past few days I seem to be hung up on winning the hands as the measure of success.... which isn't good for my mental game (or bankroll) so I'm thinking it might be a good study day instead of a play day.

I wish they could all be this easy and hold up:
PokerStars - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 4 players
Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3

CO: $7.95 (159 bb)
BTN: $5.57 (111.4 bb)
SB: $14.52 (290.4 bb)
Hero (BB): $5.30 (106 bb)

SB posts $0.02, Hero posts BB $0.05

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.07) Hero has 4♦: 2♠:
2 folds, SB calls $0.03, Hero checks

Flop: ($0.10, 2 players) 6♠: 2♣: 4♣:
SB bets $0.05, Hero raises to $0.20, SB raises to $0.90, Hero raises to $5.25 and is all-in, SB calls $4.35

Turn: ($10.60, 2 players) J♥:

River: ($10.60, 2 players) K♥:

Results: $10.60 pot ($0.44 rake)
Final Board: 6♠: 2♣: 4♣: J♥: K♥:

SB shows K♣: 5♣:: (One Pair, Kings)
(Pre 68%, Flop 45%, Turn 27%)

Hero shows 4♦: 2♠:: (Two Pair, Fours and Twos)
(Pre 32%, Flop 55%, Turn 73%)

Hero wins $10.16

Anyways - have a great day all!

Originally posted by Ramble
I wish they could all be this easy and hold up:

I sometimes think that, but then, if it really was this easy, it would be no fun

Feeling Energized

Ok, I know it's only been a couple of hours since my previous post and this seems like a quick turn-around, but I think I found a leak that was causing me a lot of issues.

A few weeks ago I started paying more attention to my table selection. It was working well in the beginning but I think has been the reason I'm running into trouble lately. I'm selecting tables that are much looser and have more players seeing the flop... i.e. many more multi-way pots.

In doing my review, I'm not adjusting well enough to multi-way pots... I'm c-betting in too many spots, my c-bets are too big and I'm too willing to defend hands multi-way. I think a lot of this is why it seems like villain always has it or hits... the drop in equity multi-way is much bigger than I was giving it credit for.

Time to make some adjustments and get back to the tables!

Feeling Gratified

I don't think I've ever made 3 updates in 24 hours before... but what a day!

I started out so discouraged with how my game had been going the past few days, then I focused on reviewing my game and found some big leaks, and now I just finished a great session winning almost 6 buy-ins over 600 hands...

I'll post a bankroll challenge update soon.

May the upswing be with you !