Hey,
Just some points to think about:
- you can not control variance by playing less or more - it is one big session
- on average you have to steal in 25% of the time, so wait for profitable situations
- you don`t have to play incredibly passively from BB, only your "raw" draws (meaning FD or OESD), everything better you should play agressively.
Thanks again, Xylere. You're a huge help to my game.
About the variance comment, the unavoidable fact is that I will likely make more tilty plays if I have a bad downswing for a day. I am working tirelessly on my discipline, and it is getting much, much better.
The problem with my stealraises is that when I am called, I rarely know what to do postflop. I find it hard to estimate my opponents' range, and there's a lot of donks on my limit that like the check/minraise move. I'm not sure if they have the goods, but a lot of them are non-believers and I play bet/fold on the flop, unless I actually flopped two pair or a good draw.
My wireless connection is making me sad. I think I'm going to lose my Silver status if this keeps up. It's becoming more and more reliable daily, so hopefully I can get back to playing. For now, I am studying hands in the SSS section and a few in the BSS section to get an understanding of what my trickier opponents are thinking.
I'm going to lose my silver status in a few days.
I took about two weeks off (played maybe 2 hours in those weeks) thanks to my bad internet connection. So now, as a result of not playing enough, I should be losing my status in three days.
This really doesn't affect me too much, but really shows how much dedication I put into the game. I would like to spend more time, but unfortunately, it is not there.
I can easily reach silver again if I play as much as I did four weeks ago. It is that week by itself that gave me 100 points. The goal is to maintain silver status as long as I am here. This means playing about an hour a day on my current stakes, which I think I have time to do.
School starts on the 7th, so time gets harder and harder to come by.
Saddened by my upcoming status loss, I decided to play about an hour today on twelve tables. I kept what Xylere said in mind and made more steal-raises than I typically do. I was a little card dead, and the steals helped me stay above water. In my one hour session on twelve tables, I never got a pair above TT. AK was a non-dominating favourite a couple times, flipped once, but mostly just took blinds.
Looking back at the session, I have no idea how I made a little above break even. The only raising hands I remember was AK a few times, and TT once.
Oh. Right.
My freeplays in the big blind managed to extract quite a bit of money. On three tables, I managed to make at least 5 bb, so I could leave the table right away.
2 bad beats
1 suckout (pot odds for my call there)
No idea how many hands went well. most of my cbets made my opponents fold.
$99... still hovering around the $100 mark, but I'm 0.30 away from my second $10 bonus. I'm starting to get anxious about moving up the limits.
Hi mikeymoo!
I hope that you reach the Silver status again. If you need further advice to improve your game, don't forget to post some of your hands in our sample hands board.
Good luck at the tables!
Puschkin81
Just a question.
If I get more than the usual frequency of playable hands by SSS, and they run "as they should" (AA wins 4/5, etc), is this still considered an upswing? Or is an upswing defined by the luck of the hands you choose to play?
If it is measured by bb/100, I guess I had an upswing 
Sit down with KK, everyone fold to my bb =/
AA about 3 times, cracked once by AKo preflop.
Hit two pair with AJo, and cbets were folded to with my pocket pairs.
The lack of respect I get from some players is incredible. I raised from MP1 with AQo, and got called by the button. Flop comes AA6, and I bet for 2/3 of the pot. I got minraised, and felt that if he had AA/AK, he would have reraised preflop. So I wait a few seconds, and shove it.
He insta calls and reveals 56 suited.
About 5 people at the table say "wtf?" or something of the sorts. i say "ty" and "nh" to try to tilt him before the bb comes. Unfotnately I didn't catch a hand until that and called it a session. 
Originally posted by chenny8888
fyi if the flop was AA6 and you had AQo, it is pretty unlikely he has AA.
You're forgetting the joker, my friend. 
Hm. What happened today?
Lots of people slowplaying. Too bad, because they check to me in position and I have to shove to maximize fold equity. I lost most of my money here. Maybe about $12. I might post some hands later.
I shouldn't have tried stealing so often, as the blinds were way too loose.
Lost 4 or 5 races for $2 each. If I won 2/4 I would be -$7, not -$15.
AA folded to me in the bb twice in 3 hands.
AQ ran into AK when I had about 15bb and was committed.
Just card dead for the most part today. Only won about 2 pots worth 20bb+. Boring and annoying day. Got straight flushed on river (d'oh!).
Goals for next session:
- Only attempt stealraises versus tighter blinds. (No PT, so I have to be observant.)
- Be patient. Very patient.
- Be awake, and aware.
- Hope really hard that I can win 50% of my races.
- Push less often when caught bluffing at a table.
There was one flop where three small cards came, and I pushed. The cillain called with TT vs. my AK.
He is not ahead of my range here, as I open raised from early position. The more I abuse this type of push, the more calls I will get if anyone has seen me try this "move" before.
Just very annoyed at today, I cannot see anything I did that was not in the SSS. No tilt, but needed to leave before I started.
Grabbed my second $10 bonus, but every time I get one of these, I hit a big downswing. I guess I can consider it extra insurance ♦.
My last complaint is that when I have a big pair, and make it a 3-bet pot, small pairs continue to call and today, I bulldozed right into 4 or 5 sets.
STILL hovering at around $100. But that's okay, I will eventually get an upswing similar to the one I got after the gross coolers when I started playing.
I really want to move up limits, but if I get too anxious, I will not be able to play properly.
Last goals:
- Buckle down and play very strictly, because it has worked before for me and other PokerStrategy members.
- No distractions.
- Paste a bunch of post-its on my laptop with "NO SPEW" "NO TILT" "PLAY PROPERLY" "DON'T GET FANCY" and "RUN LIKE GOD".
don't be fooled that your opponents notice your plays. they don't. especially with SSS where you are moving around tables a great deal. opponents at that level do not make notes, they do not understand pot odds, they do not understand fold equity and they certainly don't try put you on a hand range!
Originally posted by chenny8888
don't be fooled that your opponents notice your plays. they don't. especially with SSS where you are moving around tables a great deal. opponents at that level do not make notes, they do not understand pot odds, they do not understand fold equity and they certainly don't try put you on a hand range!
I know I know. Don't assume intelligence. Another leak I really need to fix. I give people WAY too much credit.
But when all your pushes get called by midpair/flushdraws/gutshots, you start to wonder.
But then you stop wondering, because someone comes by your diary and assures you they are not taking notes.
Thank you.
