[Closed] Grinding in the Far East - Going for Supernova

Hi again!

I haven't played any poker since my last update, but I got my diamond shirt as well as a bunch of other goodies, so I thought I would post some pictures.

Here is what I got in the package with the shirt. The shirt itself is in the wash so I couldn't take any shots of it.

Card Deck

Keychain (Sorry for the crappy quality)

Chain thingy

The shirt is also very cool.

In other poker-related news, I got my database review back from BogdanPS, and was very pleased with how professionally done it was. I would highly recommend him to anyone interested in such things(See hqpokercoaching.com). Anyways I liked it so much I decided to try a live coaching with him as well which we will do tomorrow, hopefully I can use this opportunity to patch some leaks.

Thats all for now, thanks for reading.

Hehe nice stuff
Maybe I'll try that coach in the future. Thanks for recommend him. I'll bookmark his site.
Maybe you can tell us more info and feedback about him? How he did the review or smth.. Would be interesting to hear

Good stuff Might have to try out that DB analysis, although the costs really put me off. Don't get me wrong, I know it's not actually expensive, but to spend 1/10 of my roll on DB analysis really puts me off

Hey again all!

Ill write a bit more/give some feedback after my coaching tomorrow. I agree that paying like 3 or 4 BI is a bit much, but once you move up and grind a bit it will probably be worth your while. Also, you get 10% off if you say you are from Pokerstrategy.

I had the evening off tonight but I didn't really feel like grinding, so I just watched some videos while playing in the Japanese community $100 freeroll. I ended up coming second after losing HU in 1 hand.

This is the first and last hand of HU. Is shoving here standard? I have no idea how to play tourneys.

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $1,200(BB) Replayer
($56,843)
Hero ($36,157)

Dealt to Hero A♦ Q♦

Hero raises to $3,900, raises to $9,600, Hero raises to $36,007 (AI), calls $26,407

FLOP ($72,314) 6♣ 6♠ J♥

TURN ($72,314) 6♣ 6♠ J♥ 9♥

RIVER ($72,314) 6♣ 6♠ J♥ 9♥ K♦

shows J♠ J♦
(Pre 56%, Flop 99.3%, Turn 100.0%)

Hero shows A♦ Q♦
(Pre 44%, Flop 0.7%, Turn 0.0%)

wins $72,314

Also 4 hands before the end of the tournament this happened:

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $1,000(BB) Replayer
SB ($47,797)
Hero ($31,649)
CO ($9,171)
BTN ($4,383)

Dealt to Hero T♠ 4♦

fold, BTN raises to $4,258 (AI), fold, Hero calls $3,258

FLOP ($9,516) A♦ 3♣ Q♠

TURN ($9,516) A♦ 3♣ Q♠ K♣

RIVER ($9,516) A♦ 3♣ Q♠ K♣ J♥

BTN shows K♠ K♥
(Pre 87%, Flop 96.1%, Turn 90.9%)

Hero shows T♠ 4♦
(Pre 13%, Flop 3.9%, Turn 9.1%)

Hero wins $9,516

I was like whaaaaaaaaat when I got shipped the pot and I actually felt pretty bad about it. Oh well, thats poker!

Thanks to this HUGE tournament victory I am up a cool $16, bringing my Fulltilt account balance to... $16.

Hello everyone!

It has been a while but I have had a very busy week with exams and work. However if I can just survive the next few weeks I will be finished school forever! Hooray!

Status Update:

Well I haven't played that much poker this week, but I did have a coaching session with BogdanPS on Sunday. We did a review in HEM and it was really enlightening. Bogdan is super nice and a really good teacher, I was really impressed by how easily and smoothly he explained everything. The time just flew by and I know I never pay half as much attention when I am actually at school ♦. The lesson was only supposed to be an hour and a half but we ended up talking for about two hours and he didn't mind at all, it was actually me who ended the session as I had to go. All-in-all I highly recommend him to anyone looking for a coach.

Picture 1 - Session Report

My last session went pretty bad, me going from down $400 back to just down $100 back to down $400 again. I was pretty upset because I felt like I was getting a ton of coolers, but then I read this awesome thread(PooBah Post: You suck at poker) which recommends going over a session and actually writing down all the hands you played both well and poorly. I tried it out and was pretty shocked to see that the amount of poorly played hand was quite large, and while some of the hands I lost I played well and some of the ones I won I played poorly, the bad hands made up for almost the whole amount of money I was down for the day. So basically I think this helped me to realize that I have a big flaw in my thinking, which I am happy about. Although I already knew it, I was able to come to terms with just how important making the best play and not being result oriented is.

Well, thats all for now. In closing I leave you with this funny hand where I bluff and win with the best hand! I'm not really sure about my play here at all so I posted this hand to be reviewed. If anyone reading this has any opinions please let me know. Raiser is a weak TAG who folds to 90% of 3-bets, caller is an unknown.

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $1(BB) Replayer
SB ($100)
Hero ($100)
UTG ($103)
UTG+1 ($80)
UTG+2 ($166)
MP1 ($76.55)
CO ($98)
BTN ($156)

Dealt to Hero A♦ Q♣

fold, fold, fold, fold, CO raises to $3, BTN calls $3, fold, Hero raises to $14, fold, BTN calls $11

FLOP ($31.50) J♥ 9♥ T♦

Hero bets $22, BTN calls $22

TURN ($75.50) J♥ 9♥ T♦ 2♦

Hero bets $64 (AI), BTN calls $64

RIVER ($203) J♥ 9♥ T♦ 2♦ J♦

BTN shows 7♥ A♥
(Pre 32%, Flop 45.9%, Turn 27.3%)

Hero shows A♦ Q♣
(Pre 68%, Flop 54.1%, Turn 72.7%)

Hero wins $200

Where is he from, what does he play and what does he charge? ♦

Hello! ♦

I think he said hes from Romania and he lives in Canada now. His English is perfect though, and you can get an idea of what his coaching style is like by watching one of his videos(Betsizing in shorthanded games - Part 1). For what he plays and prices and stuff you can just look at his webpage at http://hqpokercoaching.com/ . For an hour and a half session it was $100, which I think is pretty cheap, especially considering the quality of the coaching.

As i've mentioned before, I really want a coach and he seems to be great. But, as i've also mentioned before, despite his prices being cheap in comparison with many, many other coaches I just can't afford to pay $100 for a coach Really annoying me because i'm certain I will need one when I move up to NL50, as technically i'm just not that good of a poker player, my only saving grace is my mindset haha!

Oh well, seems you're doing great so well done and good luck ♠_cool:

Hello all, long time no see.

I had a busy week with a ton of tests and work, but now I am done school pending any makeup exams. I am going to pick it up starting February and hopefully get some momentum going. I played in the 100k freeroll and 30k 100FPP tourney today(at 5am for me X() and made a combined profit of $6! I guess I need to learn how to actually play these MTT things.

Status Update:

Well this month is about to come to an end, and I haven't gotten in much volume at all. But that was to be expected what with exams and such going on. I am still about 500 VPP off Platinum Star so its safe to say I am behind pace, but I'm sure Ill catch up soon. I will do a monthly recap in a few days, so hopefully I can avoid a huge downswing like I had last month at this time and record my first 1k month.

Picture 1 - Session Report

I got in a few good sessions yesterday after recovering from several days of no sleep. I lost several big pots where I got it in bad against sets in 3-bet pots, the worst being set over set for 150bb, but I ran good with my flips so I ended up up for the day.

Picture 2 - Daily Graph

Things started out bad but I managed to avoid tilting for more than a few seconds and dug myself out of my hole. I actually find it easier to play long sessions when down than when up(not just chasing losses), which is something I really need to work on. I always end up quitting after like 500 hands when I'm up a few BI, which is a pretty big leak and obviously counter-productive to my SN chase.

Picture 3 - STT Graph

I have also started playing STTs on the micro stakes($2-$6 turbos), mostly just for fun. For some reason I find not being able to lose more than my buy in and being able to just stack off with TPTK super relaxing. My strategy is to open up a bunch of tables, then browse 2+2 while folding everything except AA until I get to the the push-or-fold stage, where I randomly shove stuff. It doesn't seem to be working out too well, but I am below EV I guess. Does anyone know if the SNG EV line is accurate or if its just a joke like cash game all-in EV? Now that I have more time to play I might read some of the SNG articles when I'm not feeling so lazy.

Well thats all for now, I will update again soon for February.

Hi again everyone,

Well its time to recap my month for January! I was planning to write this up sooner but I have been having a terrible month so far(-7BI in 5k hands) and thus haven't been that motivated.

Picture 1 - Monthly Report

Fish on a heater! As you can see I ran way above EV! I honestly felt like I was losing every damn flip all month, but I guess winning a few 2 outers AI on the turn will do that to you. Considering I had a 10BI swing, I am very happy with my results over 25k hands. Also this was my second month on NL100, and first 1k month ever, so that is something to celebrate about too. Hooray!

Picture 2 - Monthly Graph

Heres my graph for the month. If only those 4k hands in the middle never happened, I might have made a 2k month. Oh well!

My goals for the month were to play less tables to improve my overall play and keep to my A game at all times. The former goal I think I did well in(I did cheat a bit multi-tabling to make PStar), but the latter I think was not a success. I really really have to stop leveling myself into throwing away money! I don't think I have big tilt issues when I lose to bad beat and such, but I often find I am playing perfect for like 45 minutes and then I just make some stupid move that I know is stupid but I do it anyways.

For that reason my February goal is FOCUS. I know I can beat NL100, but the biggest thing I have to overcome is my own stupidity. I think playing shorter sessions might be helpful, so I will try to do two or three 90-120 minute sessions a day as opposed to one big one. Also I am going to make an effort to talk to myself while playing! I feel dumb doing it but I think putting my actions to words might help me avoid impulsive actions.

Well thats all for now, session report and hopefully rungood coming soon!

Hello again!

Now that school is over I have a lot more time to dedicate to poker, so my Supernova grind has started to heat up! I am still on the wire about how to balance volume with improving my game but for now I am mostly just going to stick to 6 tables.

Status Update:

So far I have 10k VPP for the year so I don't think I am going to have any problems making it. Depending on how things go, I might decide to shoot for 2x SN.

Picture 1 - Session Report

Well I am not doing so well this month, but this is my own fault, so I cant blame it on some act of variance. As I wrote in my last update, I have been having problems concentrating during longer sessions, and I inevitably manage to tilt myself somehow. Yesterday was the worst, when after I made a pretty cool river call with A high against a reg, I managed to level myself into calling his turn shove the very next hand with middle pair and a double gutshot thinking, "hes got to be tilted after that last hand!"

Picture 2 - Graph

While my results are not very encouraging, I am happy about my red line. It is actually positive if I don't include the huge swing downwards that resulted from some epic tilt. Now I need to win some showdowns and Ill be set! I'm only down 5BI so I am not that worried, I just need to keep focused and avoid crazy moves from here on out and I should be able to turn things around.

In closing I leave you with a sick hand from one of my sessions. I flop top set on a bone dry board against a spewy whale. An evil grin crosses my face as I check and wait for him to donate his chips to my stack, but then...

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $1(BB) Replayer
Hero ($100)
BB ($242)
UTG ($104)
UTG+1 ($104)
UTG+2 ($45.10)
MP1 ($109)
MP2 ($100)
CO ($100)
BTN ($118)

Dealt to Hero K♥ K♦

fold, fold, UTG+2 calls $1, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $4, fold, UTG+2 calls $3

FLOP ($9) 4♦ K♠ 7♥

Hero checks, UTG+2 folds

Hero shows K♥ K♦

Hero wins $8.55

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Originally posted by Hajler

In closing I leave you with a sick hand from one of my sessions. I flop top set on a bone dry board against a spewy whale. An evil grin crosses my face as I check and wait for him to donate his chips to my stack, but then...

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $1(BB) Replayer
Hero ($100)
BB ($242)
UTG ($104)
UTG+1 ($104)
UTG+2 ($45.10)
MP1 ($109)
MP2 ($100)
CO ($100)
BTN ($118)

Dealt to Hero K♥ K♦

fold, fold, UTG+2 calls $1, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $4, fold, UTG+2 calls $3

FLOP ($9) 4♦ K♠ 7♥

Hero checks, UTG+2 folds

Hero shows K♥ K♦

Hero wins $8.55

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

He's a super user ♦

Haha, thats what I was thinking at the time too. I have almost never seen anyone just open fold HU, let alone while I had top set. ♦

As you can see I am back to platinum. I am not getting in as much volume as before but I feel like my game has gotten a little better. I have a coaching session tonight with Bogdan so hopefully I can learn some new stuff.

Status Update:

Well my results aren't showing it, but I have been playing my very best in my last couple of sessions, so I am happy about that at least. In one session I ended up losing two BI in three hands to the same guy(one AIPF flip, the next a sick set over set), and another big pot a few hands later, leaving me down $250 in less than 40 hands, but I didn't tilt at all and was able to continue on playing my A game.

Picture 1 - Session Report

I have been booking about the same amount of winning sessions as losing sessions so far, but I can never seem to win more than a couple BI at once for some reason, while I have no difficulty losing 5BI in 1k hands. ♠_cool: Volume-wise things are looking pretty cool though. One thing I have been considering is that since I am playing two sessions a day, one I could do 4 or 6 tabling, and the other I could play like 12 or something, which would give me opportunity to get in a lot of hands but also improve as well. Either way I am going to wait until I am back in the black or near it before deciding on this.

Picture 2 - Graph

I wanted to post my SD/NSD graph because the crazy swings are hilarious, but I guess I saved the wrong one. I will try to post it in my next update as I am too lazy to open HEM again. I'm running a bit under EV but I guess I cant complain after last month.

Once again I will leave you with an interesting(?) hand from one of my sessions. Am I a fish or a soul-reader? You decide!

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $1(BB) Replayer
SB ($131)
Hero ($100)
UTG ($108)
UTG+1 ($34.25)
UTG+2 ($77.85)
MP1 ($121)
CO ($100)
BTN ($100)

Dealt to Hero 3♠ 4♦

fold, fold, UTG+2 calls $1, MP1 raises to $4, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $12, fold, MP1 calls $8

FLOP ($25.50) 3♣ 5♣ 7♦

Hero bets $18, MP1 calls $18

TURN ($61.50) 3♣ 5♣ 7♦ T♠

Hero bets $36, MP1 raises to $91.80 (AI), Hero calls $34 (AI)

RIVER ($201) 3♣ 5♣ 7♦ T♠ A♠

Hero shows 3♠ 4♦
(Pre 33%, Flop 47.2%, Turn 65.9%)

MP1 shows 9♣ K♣
(Pre 67%, Flop 52.8%, Turn 34.1%)

Hero wins $198

Originally posted by Hajler
Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $1(BB) Replayer
Hero ($100)
BB ($242)
UTG ($104)
UTG+1 ($104)
UTG+2 ($45.10)
MP1 ($109)
MP2 ($100)
CO ($100)
BTN ($118)

Dealt to Hero K♥ K♦

fold, fold, UTG+2 calls $1, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $4, fold, UTG+2 calls $3

FLOP ($9) 4♦ K♠ 7♥

Hero checks, UTG+2 folds

Hero shows K♥ K♦

Hero wins $8.55

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

same post + 9 threads = troll

Greetings all!

I had a coaching with Bogdan the other night and had some very interesting discussions. We went over a video I made and he pointed out a bunch of stuff. In particular I am picking the hands I 3-bet/squeeze based pretty much only on if I think it is a good spot or not, and I'm not paying enough attention to equity, which gets me into tough spots when I get called. Once again I highly recommend him to anyone looking for a coach.

Status Update:

I played a bit since my last update and I am very very happy with my play, if not the results. I have managed to play my A game at all times during my last few sessions, even when getting coolered a ton.

Picture 1 - Session Report

Things could be better, but I haven't been losing at least so I cant complain I guess! My last session was pretty sick as I got set over set not once but twice in the span of 100 hands. The second time was particularly gross, as I had middle set on a KQ8ss board, and got it in against some guy who just flat pre with KK.

Picture 2 - Graph

Look at those crazy lines! I am slowwwwwwly moving upwards so hopefully I will be in the black soon. I am uncharacteristically still running under EV, which sucks because being a luckbox is my most positive trait in poker. I think I have been mentally scarred from losing too many flips - before when I got it in with QQ vs AK I was like "lol ownnnned!!!" but now I'm like, "Well when the ace hits on the river at least I can say I'm running below EV!"

Finally, here is a hand where I take some guy to coolertown! Preflop I was like :f_love:, but then I got 4 callers and was like :f_mad:, but then the flop came and I was all :f_cool:. On the turn Im not getting payed off so I'm :f_frown:, but then the river comes and I think :f_eek:, maybe he will call me if I shove! So I do and I see his hand and I'm like and hes like ♠_o:, the end!

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $1(BB) Replayer
SB ($113)
BB ($104)
UTG ($56)
UTG+1 ($101)
Hero ($102)
MP1 ($92.35)
CO ($50)
BTN ($100)

Dealt to Hero A♠ A♥

fold, fold, Hero raises to $3, MP1 calls $3, CO calls $3, BTN calls $3, SB calls $2.50, fold

FLOP ($16) T♦ A♣ T♣

SB checks, Hero checks, MP1 checks, CO checks, BTN bets $11, SB folds, Hero calls $11, MP1 folds, CO folds

TURN ($38) T♦ A♣ T♣ A♦

Hero checks, BTN checks

RIVER ($38) T♦ A♣ T♣ A♦ T♥

Hero bets $88 (AI), BTN calls $86 (AI)

Hero shows A♠ A♥
(Pre 83%, Flop 95.6%, Turn 100.0%)

BTN shows T♠ J♣
(Pre 17%, Flop 4.4%, Turn 0.0%)

Hero wins $207

lol, these kind of hands make me want to play the jackpot tables.

Greetings all.

It has been a while! I went on epic monkey tilt last week and thus had to take another small break to re-evaluate my poker mindset.

Status Update:

After a tilting -6BI session I took a small break to think about things. I think I have been worrying too much about getting in a ton of hands which I really don't need to do as its not like I'm gunning for SNE or something. The 4k or whatever SN equates to is nice but it certainly isn't worth sacrificing my win rate/improvement for. I had been playing well but I think the negative emotion from continued poor results just kind of built up and exploded during that one session(I only lost 1BI to complete tilt spew, so I guess it could have been much worse).

So basically I am going to keep playing the same as I have been but not stress about volume(take breaks when losing etc.) and play overall shorter sessions, because I always lose in my long session for some reason(see this thread).

Picture 1 - Session Report

Things have been going quite well since I calmed down and started playing shorter sessions. I have just been closing all of my tables as soon as I notice I start losing focus and taking a break.

Picture 2 - Graph

Almost back in the black! I have been making an effort however not to look at my monthly/weekly graph etc. and just focus on playing my best.

Also I have gotten hooked on Omaha hi/lo! I am really liking the game so far and it seems soooo soft, unlike PLO which I think is starting to get popular and thus harder. I am still a complete fish, but luckily there are fishier fish in the water! I have been making a decent amount at PL/NL25 so I went and upgraded my HEM to the Omaha version with my winnings. I cant win in FL though, its just way too boring/slow. I would probably self exclude myself from the tables except there are never open seats/games running higher than .25/.50 anyways.

Well thats all for now, thanks for reading.

oh so you noted my presence already. ♦

i dont think i've stacked you before... definitely not with the kind of volume you put in, or the way you run!

good luck, dont wanna run into fellow english ps members!

Haha, thanks, and good luck to you too. You should tell me the first letter of your Stars name so I can guess who you are. Mine starts with "S"

Status Update:

I managed to get within $30 of break-even for the month, but then it all went wrong. I got up this morning at 6AM ready to play 2 or 3 sessions before midday while the north american fish are still awake. The first session started off pretty bad with me down about 3BI after some questionable plays, then I wake up with AA! I get it in on the turn vs some spewy reg but he hits his draw. After taking a break and cooling down I open up the tables again. First hand is... AA! I get it in pre and lose to KK - standard but now I am tilted. I insta-click sit out next BB on all tables but still manage to lose 1.5BI before they close down. FML. So I ended down 7BI, definately my worst day ever money-wise.

Back to the drawing board I guess! I really need to fix my mindset leaks because I am continuously pissing away a weeks worth of good play in one bad day.

One thing I have decided I am going to do is not look at my cashier or HEM graphs/reports until the end of February! That's right HEM, fuck you! I don't need you or your bitch sidekick table manager being negative all the time and bringing me down. This will probably complicate session reviews a bit, but I will try to just mark interesting hands and avoid the sessions tab. Hopefully this will have a positive effect on my game.

So that said no more pictures until March! Wish me luck!