[Closed] Salami's Blog - ...

First off, I'll post the graph for the $20's:

I had one of the worst days ever playing these things as you can see from the end of the graph - but the period before that was pretty sweet.

Now the 500 games graph:

Yeah, that's why I keep on playing these, it's pretty +ev for me so far. At the $20's the $/hr is $11.42, and I started the $20's when my roll was $525 so it's a good rate. Now that my roll is big enough to play 1/2 FL it's not as clear which game I should play considering opportunity cost. Hmmmm, it's probably about even at this point about which game I should play, 6max ring or HUSNG. If I play HU cash I'd like to have 600 BB's and only start at 2/4 - I'm only half way there bankroll-wise. But I'm due for a little break. This time I will get around to posting some hands. It's been a while since I really dug through my hand history so I'm sure I'll find plenty to post by tomorrow.

Another thing: I got to see a FT pro, Barny Boatman, get totally screwed over by one of the donkey reg's at the $20 HUSNG's, then he went for the rematch and got screwed over again!. It's wrong to think that way but seeing that made me feel much better about my day. ♦ Sometimes bad days just happen.

Don't waste time with 1/2 FL cash if you are doing good HU sngs. I doubt you will have a better winrate (hourly) than in your last SNGs. Rather collect some more money playing SNGs and start on HU 2/4 cash, or maybe keep on playing SNGs and move to higher buy-ins.

Yeah, FL-SH has been really swingy even though I likely do have an edge so I think I'll stick to what I'm doing now. Later on I'll tap a bonus somewhere and try some 1/2.

Alright, I finally got around to finding some hands.

Hand 1

Opponent is playing fairly straightforward.

Stacks:
SB ($1,290)
Hero ($1,710)

Blinds: 15/30

Pre-Flop: ($45, 2 players) Hero is BB 2♦ 2♠
SB calls $15, Hero raises to $60, SB calls $30

Flop: 6♦ J♠ 3♦ ($120, 2 players)
Hero bets $30, SB calls $30

Turn: 8♦ ($180, 2 players)
Hero bets $60, SB calls $60

River: 9♥ ($300, 2 players)
Hero ($1560)?

I find it tough to keep barreling with an underpair here. I beat a high card but not much else to bet for value at and it's possible that villain picked up a draw on the turn and might take a stab at it with a bluff?

Hand 2

I'm short-stacked here and villain is passive, fit or foldy, and trappy sometimes.

Stacks:
Hero ($400)
BB ($2,600)

Blinds: 20/40

Pre-Flop: ($60, 2 players) Hero is SB 8♦ 8♣
Hero raises to $80, BB calls $40

Flop: 10:diamond: A♥ Q♦ ($160, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $40, BB calls $40

Turn: 7♦ ($240, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: 5♥ ($240, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero ($280)?

Hand 3

Stacks:
Hero ($2,000)
BB ($1,000)

Blinds: 20/40

Pre-Flop: ($60, 2 players) Hero is SB J♠ 10:heart:
Hero raises to $80, BB calls $40

Flop: K♦ 8♠ 5♦ ($160, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $40, BB calls $40

Turn: 4♥ ($240, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $80, BB calls $80

River: 3♥ ($400, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero ($1800)?

I bet this one because the pot is large and it's possible that villain was on a flush draw but it's hard to say with the type of opponent that's fit or foldy and stays fairly passive.

No replies for the posted hands? Yeah, I didn't know what to do, either.

I figured a 6 buy-in downswing would happen sooner or later based on some simple math:

If I win 61.5% then the chances of a 6 buy-in swing are (1-.615)^6=0.0033, about 3.3 in 1000. I've played 544 of these so I guess I'm due? Ahhh dammit! Even though I know it will happen eventually it still hurts! I hit a new high yesterday, though, but today was horrible!

I'm done for the day for sure and I'm taking tomorrow off as well. If I feel like playing I'll just watch another poker vid instead and work on improving my game.

There's a couple players who play 2 games at a time at the $20-$30 limits. Now's not the time to make such a move, but it's something I'm considering. But first I have to find myself on an upswing before I attempt such an amazing feat.

Yeah, for a few moments there I felt like Full Tilt was rigged and doomswitching me for making a cashout. I struggled a bit, played a few $10's then went back to the $20's after winning 3 in a row then found myself on an upswing again, 21 for 22. Of course, it's not rigged anymore... ♠_evil:

Alright, new graph.

I'm still gonna wait a bit before trying out the $30's. When I do I want to play a bunch so I get a real idea of the winrate there. I'm comfortable with the $20's and the winrate is good so no rush really.

I'm still playing some horse etc. almost every day when it's off-peak hours at tilt. .5/1 stud hi has been crazy. 15BB+ pots are not unusual. Here's a stud hi hand that got my blood pumping. I had rolled up 7's and half the table kept on calling until the end. A set of 7's isn't that strong against that many opponents who are hanging on with something, be it a pair higher than 7, two pair, gutshot, etc. Damn that was fun. I probably would have been better off to raise preflop but I didn't want to tip off the strength of my hand, like that really matters - at this level no one respects your bets anyways. (Seat 5 was the bring in and completed right away, all the callers came afterwards and seat 5 had the initiative on 4th.)

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 Limit Stud $0.10 Ante - 8 players
3rd Street: (1.6 SB)
Seat 1: xx xx 3♣____Seat 1 calls
Seat 2: xx xx 4♠____Seat 2 calls
Seat 3: xx xx 7♠____Seat 3 calls
Seat 4: xx xx 9♥____Seat 4 folds
Seat 5: xx xx 2♥____Seat 5 completes
Seat 6: xx xx 4♣____Seat 6 folds
Hero: 7♥ 7♦ 7♣___Hero calls
Seat 8: xx xx Q♠____Seat 8 calls

4th Street: (7.6 SB) (6 players)
Seat 1: xx xx 3♣ 2♦____Seat 1 calls
Seat 2: xx xx 4♠ 8♣____Seat 2 folds
Seat 3: xx xx 7♠ K♠____Seat 3 checks____Seat 3 calls
Seat 5: xx xx 2♥ 8♠____Seat 5 bets____Seat 5 calls
Hero: 7♥ 7♦ 7♣ 8♥___Hero raises
Seat 8: xx xx Q♠ 6♠____Seat 8 calls

5th Street: (8.8 BB) (5 players)
Seat 1: xx xx 3♣ 2♦ 6♥____Seat 1 calls
Seat 3: xx xx 7♠ K♠ K♥____Seat 3 checks____Seat 3 calls
Seat 5: xx xx 2♥ 8♠ 4♦____Seat 5 checks____Seat 5 calls all in
Hero: 7♥ 7♦ 7♣ 8♥ T♣___Hero bets
Seat 8: xx xx Q♠ 6♠ J♥____Seat 8 calls

6th Street: (13.05 BB) (5 players - 1 is all in)
Seat 1: xx xx 3♣ 2♦ 6♥ 4♥____Seat 1 calls
Seat 3: xx xx 7♠ K♠ K♥ 2♣____Seat 3 checks____Seat 3 calls
Seat 5: xx xx 2♥ 8♠ 4♦ 9♦
Hero: 7♥ 7♦ 7♣ 8♥ T♣ 5♦___Hero bets
Seat 8: xx xx Q♠ 6♠ J♥ J♣____Seat 8 calls

7th Street: (17.05 BB) (5 players - 1 is all in)
Seat 1: xx xx 3♣ 2♦ 6♥ 4♥ xx____Seat 1 folds
Seat 3: xx xx 7♠ K♠ K♥ 2♣ xx____Seat 3 checks____Seat 3 folds
Seat 5: xx xx 2♥ 8♠ 4♦ 9♦ xx
Hero: 7♥ 7♦ 7♣ 8♥ T♣ 5♦ 6♣___Hero bets
Seat 8: xx xx Q♠ 6♠ J♥ J♣ xx____Seat 8 calls

Final Pot: 19.05 BB
Seat 5 mucks A♥ Q♦ 2♥ 8♠ 4♦ 9♦ T♥
Hero shows 7♥ 7♦ 7♣ 8♥ T♣ 5♦ 6♣ (three of a kind, Sevens)
Seat 8 mucks K♦ Q♣ Q♠ 6♠ J♥ J♣ 8♦
Hero wins 9 BB
Hero wins 9.55 BB
(Rake: $0.50)

Ahhh dammit! I'm doomswitched again. Break even for the day, lost the last 3, in the last one I lost to quads over fullhouse , a better kicker with a set, and 66 vs. 55 to finish the last one off.

But I'll be back tomorrow.

holy shit! you've found a goldmine

Yeah, I was running 81% for 50 games or so. The reg's are avoiding me now so it's been just premium sushi the last couple weeks. And I prefer to avoid them too so fine with me. But I hit another down 6 in a row and that kind of bad luck can just drive a guy bonkers. This is the hand that from the last of the 6 that just made my head-a-splode...

Stacks:
SB (1,760)
Hero (1,240)

Pre-Flop: ($75, 2 players) Hero is BB Q♣ K♥
SB calls $25, Hero raises to $100, SB calls $50

Flop: K♣ 4♥ A♥ ($200, 2 players)
Hero bets $50, SB calls $50

Turn: 7♣ ($300, 2 players)
Hero bets $100, SB calls $100

River: 3♣ ($500, 2 players)
Hero bets $100, SB raises to $200, Hero calls $100

Final Pot: $900
SB shows a straight, Five high
5♥ 2♦
Hero shows
Q♣ K♥

SB wins $900 (net +$450)

Hero lost $450

These types never show the obvious paired kicker with A or K or a flush... it's always the most rediculous possible hand... dammit people, at least show me the flush...

But I played a couple today and won them both. I'll just enjoy winning the two for the rest of the day and watch some more football and read some articles about "how to avoid tilt".

Hello! Been looking at your blog, really sick profit from FL HU! Im playing thoose too atm, but i play mostly cash games! The enormous rake is a disadvantage i guess, i really wanna try HU SNG! If you got skype you can add me: Leraand1!

I still can't get my mike to work with Skype, but my nick is Salami_AC. Anyone can add me. I'll get to work on fixing my mic settings...

... fixed!

Haven't posted anything in a while because I've been keeping up the same steady pace the last while, until now. Halfway through the month things were looking good, up $480, a little bonus from FT etc. Fast-forward to a week later and I'm down 7 buy-in's at the $20's. It's not too bad, really. 7 Buy-in swings happen, and I lost a couple of the games to fairly solid play from my opponents which helps keep any feeling of tilt to a minimum - usually it's just horrible bad luck in these little downswings, and of course there were some really ugly unlucky sessions the last week. Ok, here's the monthly graph:

Lately I've been playing some 6-max as well. I'm at 2.26BB/100 for ~2.5k hands so I'm happy with how that's going - I'll post a graph after 10k hands or whatever.

I've been overtired the last few days and stayed away from playing the $20 HU games, so for kicks I played some $2 NLHU sngs! I'm 6/7 in those, heh. Ahhh so much fun just screwin' with people until it's time to take their stack! Later on, I think I'll try to get a handle on the HUNL game and see if I can get something going in those.

Salami.

Note: This graph looks a lot like the one from the first post on the page, and I did well after that one for the next ~6 weeks, so... yeah.

6max at Everest didn't go well. I started off alright then ran into some bulljive, came back a few times but it just continued so yesterday I went bananas and cashed out from there. -20bb/100 for 700 hands isn't too bad (but then again that's 140 BB's total in 700 hands) but damn, every time I went back to play the beats just kept coming so eff it. I played ~1800 hands there in total. Plus I was getting disconnected from Everest on a regular basis even though I was able to surf the web normally at the same time. Maybe it has something to do with being in Canada and not Europe - anyways, doesn't matter now.

Finally got back on track with the HUSNG's. I didn't get to play as often this month because of some school and I hit a little downswing - I reduce my play when in downswings - so I played 149 of the usual one's and some NLHU sng's, CAP NL 6max, and a bit of regular NL. I'm thinking of playing some more NL sng's since it seems I like the instant win/lose aspect of it - even if there's a downswing, at least I could look at a couple sng's where I played well and won is the idea. The rake in PLO is pretty high I hear so I think I'll stay away from that for now.

Alright, end of month garph:

I might as well go on to the $30's. I split my roll to play 6 max at Everest so I just stuck to the $20's at FT. After I get a hundred or so of the $30's in I'll check to see if $/hr thing is better there, if not then might as well stick to the $20's until sometime later.

I started playing some NL10 6max at FTP and doing alright at it and since the Christmas bonus FT gave out will be cleared soon I figured maybe I'll try out another site to bonus whore on. What the hell convinced me to deposit into UB again after all the rigged up bull jive I went though last time I don't know (rakeback...), but I did and it was going swimmingly at the start until...

Stacks:
Hero ($9.98)
UTG+1 ($10)
CO ($23.89)
BTN ($2.71)
SB ($10.05)
BB ($9.46)

Pre-Flop: ($0.15, 6 players) Hero is UTG A♦ K♥
Hero raises to $0.35, 1 fold, CO calls $0.35, 1 fold, SB raises to $1.50, 1 fold, Hero goes all-in $9.98, CO folds, SB calls $8.48

Flop: 9♥ K♠ K♣ ($20.41, 2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: Q♠ ($20.41, 2 players, 1 all-in)

River: J♦ ($20.41, 2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $20.41
SB shows a full house, Queens full of Kings
Q♥ Q♦
Hero shows three of a kind, Kings
A♦ K♥

SB wins $19.05 (net +$9.07)

Hero lost $9.98
CO lost $0.35

Stacks:
UTG ($10.38)
CO ($10)
BTN ($30.48)
SB ($2)
Hero ($10.15)

Pre-Flop: ($0.15, 5 players) Hero is BB 6♥ A♦
2 folds, BTN raises to $0.40, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1.25, BTN calls $0.85

Flop: 6♠ K♦ A♠ ($2.55, 2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: 3♥ ($2.55, 2 players)
Hero bets $1.50, BTN raises to $3.50, Hero goes all-in $8.90, BTN calls $5.40

River: 4♣ ($20.35, 2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $20.35
Hero shows two pair, Aces and Sixes
6♥ A♦
BTN shows three of a kind, Kings
K♥ K♠

BTN wins $19 (net +$8.85)

Hero lost $10.15

Stacks:
UTG ($12.29)
CO ($11.81)
BTN ($12.12)
SB ($19.75)
Hero ($18.37)

Pre-Flop: ($0.15, 5 players) Hero is BB T♦ 9♦
UTG calls $0.10, CO calls $0.10, 1 fold, SB calls $0.05, Hero checks

Flop: 3♦ K♦ J♦ ($0.40, 4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.40, 1 fold, CO calls $0.40, SB calls $0.40

Turn: A♣ ($1.60, 3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.40, CO folds, SB raises to $5.80, Hero calls $4.40

River: 9♠ ($13.20, 2 players)
SB bets $7.86, Hero calls $7.86

Final Pot: $28.92
SB shows (Flush ace high)
4♦ A♦
Hero shows
T♦ 9♦

SB wins $27.48 (net +$13.32)

Hero lost $14.16
UTG lost $0.10
CO lost $0.50

Yeah, so I after ~230 hands of this bullshit I instaclosed the site and reaffirmed my vow to never play there again. I laid down for 20 min or so, thought about the all the 40%+ vpip tables (6max) and convinced myself that the place is not rigged up against me and that if I played those hands a bit differently then it wouldn't have been to bad, especially the A6 hand. So, I log back in, start up 3 tables and within 19 hands this happens:

Stacks:
UTG ($16.08)
Hero ($9.85)
BTN ($8.39)
SB ($12.76)
BB ($7.65)

Pre-Flop: ($0.15, 5 players) Hero is CO 5♦ 5♥
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.35, 2 folds, BB calls $0.25

Flop: J♥ 2♦ A♥ ($0.75, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.47, BB calls $0.47

Turn: 5♣ ($1.69, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.04, BB goes all-in $6.83, Hero calls $5.79

River: 7♥ ($15.35, 2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $15.35
BB shows (Three of a kind aces)
A♣ A♦
Hero shows (Three of a kind fives)
5♦ 5♥

BB wins $14.59 (net +$6.94)

Hero lost $7.65

What the hell!?!? Wow.

It's a stretch to think the place is really rigged against me and some of my play is questionable, but really, how am I supposed to go back and play there after all that? I'm emailing them as soon as the cashout is complete and permanently closing down that account.

Everything else is going alright, the FLHU sng's are going the same as usual etc. Only thing is what should I do and what site do I choose to do it? No rakeback at FT so I'm not happy about grinding a cash-game there, I'm tired of limit SH and would rather get something started with NLSH, the VIP program at Stars is lousy for low-limit NL so if I'm going to do stick with NL cash-game it won't be Stars. I have enough bankroll to play $20-30 NL sng's at Stars so that's an option and the VIP program is alright with playing those. And there's a few rakeback sites I haven't tried that are affiliated here that I can consider. Ahhh fuck, options, options. Not sure what to do just yet. Hopefully by the end of this month I'll have it sorted out.

Cheers,

Salami.

Hehe, just the last post for first time in weeks. Ahh well, it's UB, it's a fact bad things go on there so being paranoid about playing there is alright. After I get the little bit of rakeback from there I'm just closing it of course. They have a casino there now, so of course I tried it before moving my money out. I made a $10 bet on the dozen bet and guess what, nothing happened! Yeah, I press the spin button and nothing, they just took my money! But I talked to support and they gave the $10 back in tourney dollars which sucked because I didn't want tourney dollars. Ahh well, hell with 'em.

Now I'm playing some at Stars. The new VIP program looks alright for the lower stakes and since I don't have rakeback at FT I figured I'd give it a go playing some NL10, NLHU sngs, and some turbo sngs. Damn! I've been running bad at all of them! Lost 5 stacks at NL10 in 1k hands and lost the first 6 turbo sng's and finished 1st in the last one I played. The HUNL sng's I'm ahead in those but opponents seem to just want to shove any A etc from the start. I'd rather not push/fold from the start in a regular speed sng but that's what they're making me do, lousy buggers.

FLHU sng's at FT are going good as usual. I didn't get a chance to really grind them this month because it was exam season and I've been dabbling in NLSH and HUsngs too. Next month I'll go back to playing lot's of the FL sngs, 250-300 in the target. NL10 at Stars is killing me, no luck at all. I could try FL 6max 1/2 there and might reach supernova if I keep it up, but not sure if I want to play 6max FL to be honest. Getting something going in NL50 (after I get something going at NL10) and/or 9man sngs would be alright at Stars, too. If I just keep getting beat up at Stars I'll just move somewhere else. Cake, maybe Betfair even, who knows.

Cheers,

Salami.

Ohhh good lord! Time to work on this monstrosity? It's the .5/1 FLSH graph for iPoker, Stars, and FT. U want to play 1/2 Salami? Really?

I know how it feels.
But we've got one thing left. It's what holds us together now. It's hope!

</melodrama>

Well, I'm on a 14 buy-in downswong, almost double the worst one I've had so far since playing the FL-HU sng's about 7 months ago so it feels pretty brutal, but I guess it isn't really looking at the big picture. Soon I'll open up a game and things will start to go well again - that's running at 5 of 8 or so. I get pretty tilted when I'm outplaying my opponent but there's nothing I can do about them getting too lucky over and over again. Weak-tight is what happens and that's no good so I just take a break and come back when I'm feeling confident again is what I do. Some people can just grind through these moments - I've tried but that approach doesn't work well for me.

Rush poker has been a lot of fun, despite running under ev the last little while. I've tried a bunch of different approaches, steal everything, 3bet very light, playing uber-tight, bluffing a lot post-flop, etc, each for 600-1000 hands and the last couple thousand hands it's been a nice solid, tag strategy with a dash of lag and that seems to be about right for me. Here's the graph....

Like I said, I tried a bunch of things but nothing I tried seemed to have a big impact so I'll just stick to standard things for now. No more 3betting with 33 from the sb against early raisers - sure I won the pot against AQ but just barely at a showdown.

Cheers,

Salami

Rush poker, meh.

10k hands, down 4 buy-ins playing rush FR - two at NL25 and two at NL10. EV line sucks, showdown line stinks, non-showdown line -3.3 PTBB (not bad, really). Better monsters are killing me, I'm not getting paid off when I do have the best hand and the few times I mixed it up and gave a cheap/free card I got squashed by gutter balls. Lost set over set a few times, flopped a set of aces with my rockets vs. a flopped set of J's and lost to quads. Meh... If someone has any tips how to get paid off without getting screwed (if I actually got the money in good those times I would be happier) and how to fold to quads please tell!

But I'm on a 12 of 15 run in the FL sng's so I'm actually up for the week.

To review:
- Rush poker
- FL sng's: ♠_evil:

I played some more rush btw. If u wanna see my rush poker graph just scroll up a couple posts and look at the .5/1 FLSH graph... same shit but in half the hands. I made a ton of mistakes I'll have to admit and I'm only down 1.5-2 buy-ins so not too bad, really.

Rough month playing the sng's. I was tilting pretty hard for a while and when I started playing after a break the bad run just continued and my brain didn't even want to touch the mouse anymore! But I managed a good run playing at the $10's and I'm back to the $20's again. Only played 75 games in January and finished it 38-37.

This month I'm concentrating on FL HU again and develop a better psychology for the game. I'm watching a video series on poker player psychology and so far it's helping.

Two goals for this month:

1. Play at least 50 games each week.

2. Not being concerned with results game to game, day to day.

If I get a handle on the 2nd one the 1st will follow.

Damn! It's midterm season again so that means I didn't get the 50 in. But I did get 36 played before I had to concentrate on schoolwork. 22 of 36, 61.1% ITM for the week. The first half of the week was rough but I stuck to my plan and improved my performance in the psychological aspect of the game so overall a solid week. Time for bed...