'Lil leaps, for big feats!!

Well I played my first $.10/.20 last night and I had to end after only about 220 hands, Because my computer was super laggy for some reason. Then a message window popped up saying I was 'low on virtual memory' (I think I saw something like this in the funny pics thread). Because of this I was getting sat out alot which meant having to post from CO alot. In about 5 raised PF hands also got sat out. (in one I flopped str8flush draw + 2overs, but never got to act. ♠_confused:
The hands I did get to play, well I lost two pretty big pots (8BB+). One a rivered flush and the other a slow played AA. (never understood why ppl do that at FL micros.
Anyway, I don't usually play friday nights, but I might tonight to get a bit experience at my new level.

OK, today I remembered how I started out on FL (when my BR was $2.50). I had a sort of BRM within a BRM. Basically I work out how much I can lose before I move down limits, and only jump on with around 20% of that. Then divide that by 12 to to see how many tables I can play. ( I auto reload 12 BB)

So today it was 2 tables. BORING! I played around 300 hands and was breaking even, largely because I was bored and playing hands I usually wouldn't play, but there was this american who was super unpredictable, and he sucked some of my chips out of my pots.

So I loaded up 2 $.05/.10 tables as well, and started getting some good momentum going. I ended after around 650 hands with a 64BB profit (@$.10/.20).

Theres not much action at this level at night, so not sure what I'm gonna do next session when I 3 table, as I have enough BR to.

Tomorrow I'll post my most annoying, interesting and the biggest pot hands.

OK heres some hands:

Biggest pot
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.1/$0.2 Fixed-Limit Hold'em (8 handed)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 2:c, 2:d.
2 folds, MP2 calls, Hero calls, CO calls, BU folds, SB raises, BB folds, MP2 calls, Hero calls, CO calls.

Flop: (9 SB) J:d, 2:h, 6:c (4 players)
SB checks, MP2 bets, Hero raises, CO calls, SB folds, MP2 calls.

Turn: (7.5 BB) 2:s (3 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets, CO raises, MP2 folds, Hero 3-Bets, CO caps, Hero calls.

River: (15.5 BB) 3:d (2 players)
Hero bets, CO raises, Hero 3-Bets, CO calls.

Final Pot: 21.5 BB.

Most annoying
Villain= 34/6 4.0AF
Notes on villain= Donks TP 100%
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.1/$0.2 Fixed-Limit Hold'em (7 handed)

Preflop: Hero is BU with A:s, K:s.
4 folds, Hero raises, SB folds, BB calls.

Flop: (4.5 SB) K:c, 8:h, T:h (2 players)
BB bets, Hero raises, BB calls.

Turn: (4.25 BB) 2:c (2 players)
BB bets, Hero raises, BB calls.

River: (8.25 BB) 7:h (2 players)
BB bets, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 10.25 BB.
Results follow:

Hero shows a pair of kings(A:s K:s).
BB shows two pairs, kings and sevens(7:d K:d).

BB wins with two pairs, kings and sevens(7:d K:d).

Most interesting
I like this one. Taavi1337 told when OOP you will nearly always get value in these situations if you keep betting.
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.1/$0.2 Fixed-Limit Hold'em (8 handed)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J:h, J:c.
2 folds, MP2 raises, MP3 calls, 2 folds, SB calls, Hero 3-Bets, MP2 calls, MP3 calls, SB calls.

Flop: (12 SB) 8:c, 4:h, J:d (4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, MP2 folds, MP3 calls, SB calls.

Turn: (7.5 BB) J:s (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, MP3 calls, SB folds.

River: (9.5 BB) 5:s (2 players)
Hero bets, MP3 calls.

Final Pot: 11.5 BB.

Hey fella. Good luck crushing LDO. ♠_cool:

Originally posted by Waiboy
Hey fella. Good luck crushing LDO. ♠_cool:

Cheers bro. Although after last night I'm gonna do an extra hour strat. studying today. I almost reached my stop loss limit over 1300 hands or so. The smaller pots were variance (flushes completing etc.) but the big pots were the idiots who feel K7o, 56o etc. are ahead in a capped PF hand.

So its back to 2 tables tonight (with a couple $.05/.10 to keep bordem at bay).

One more point, I can't find where it is, but someone posted in their blog $.10/.20 has more fish than $.05/.10. I can say it does. So some serious adjustment to my game is needed. I've been trying to keep my vpip/pfr ratio closer which means straying away from SHCs. But I'm not gonna worry about it for now, just gonna gut and smoke all the fishies.

If you're not using the charts, that's fine, just bear in mind:

- at micro limits, playing too loose can be -EV due to rake;
- if you're diverging from the charts, know why you're diverging (ie that the player is weak / exploitable / you have an equity edge over their range).

Great advice Waiboy. When I sat down last night to play I decided not to worry about my vpip/pfr till I'm at low stakes. So I pretty much followed the charts to a 't', deviating every now and then for certain players, (as you mentioned).

I'm not getting crushed, just not doing so great ATM. 800+ hands last night and down 19 BB. Played patiently, (losing 40+BB from blinds) and took my time making decisions. There were quite a few spots I'm not sure I made the right move, (folding) but had to just let them go.

I noticed when reviewing my hands around 85% of my bigger loses are through suck-outs. Eg. a villain donk/caps on a 7 high flop, two clubs (I'm holding JJ+ and its a multiway) x/calls turn and donks the club river. I'm getting like 14:1, and holding an overpair. I know protecting your hand is very important, but its these pots that are hurting my BR. The bigger pots I'm doing nothing wrong, just unlucky.

I'm hoping variance will smile on me soon, as I know beyond a doubt I can crush this limit. Hope this all doesn't sound like a whinge, its fully not meant to be. I'm still smiling and anxious to play.

Till tomorrow, stay ♠_cool:

PS. Thanks Waiboy for checking in on me. It kinda helps my confidence having a fellow FL player, and a kiwi of course, seeing my progress ♠_biggrin:

OK I know its just variance and I shouldn't complain, but this is ridiculous. I just keep losing to muppets, or getting sucked-out on. Even by dudes calling my raise with A-rag and calling down to catch the ace on the river.

Heres one example of a suck out. I don't know if villains play is correct, but I know I certainly wouldn't have played like that:

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.1/$0.2 Fixed-Limit Hold'em (7 handed)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3:h, 3:c.
UTG2 folds, MP1 calls, MP2 folds, MP3 calls, CO calls, SB calls, Hero checks.

Flop: (5 SB) T:d, 3:s, 5:d (5 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, MP1 folds, MP3 folds, CO calls, SB calls.

Turn: (5.5 BB) K:h (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, CO raises, SB calls, Hero 3-Bets, CO caps, SB calls, Hero calls.

River: (17.5 BB) 2:d (3 players)
SB bets, Hero calls, CO calls.

Final Pot: 20.5 BB.
Results follow:

Hero shows three of a kind, threes(3:h 3:c).
SB shows a flush, queen high(Q:d 7:d).
CO shows two pairs, kings and tens(T:h K:c).

SB wins with a flush, queen high(Q:d 7:d).

And its these spots that are crippling my BR. They always come up, I know what their doing so I raise to protect, but BOOM!

And then theres THIS guy. I'm not gonna post hands I lost to him 'coz it looks strange, but I'll post two of the hands I clearly remember that justify my calling on A high alot against him. (he's BU in this hand):
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.1/$0.2 Fixed-Limit Hold'em (8 handed)

Preflop: Hero is UTG2 with K:d, T:d.
2 folds, MP1 raises, 3 folds, BU 3-Bets, BB folds, MP1 caps, BU calls.

Flop: (9 SB) 8:c, 9:d, J:h (2 players)
MP1 calls, BU raises, MP1 calls, BU 3-Bets.

Turn: (7.15 BB) 9:c (2 players)

River: (7.15 BB) 7:c (2 players)

Final Pot: 7.15 BB.
Results follow:

BU shows a pair of nines(6:s 3:s).
MP1 shows a pair of nines(Q:s A:s).

BU wins with a pair of nines(6:s 3:s).
MP1 wins with a pair of nines(Q:s A:s).

And this. (he's UTG1):
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.1/$0.2 Fixed-Limit Hold'em (9 handed)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 9:h, J:h.
UTG1 raises, UTG2 calls, MP1 calls, MP2 folds, Hero calls, 3 folds, BB calls.

Flop: (10.5 SB) 2:d, 7:h, 8:d (5 players)
BB checks, UTG1 bets, UTG2 calls, MP1 calls, Hero calls, BB folds.

Turn: (7.25 BB) 8:c (4 players)
UTG1 bets, UTG2 raises, MP1 folds, Hero folds, UTG1 3-Bets, UTG2 calls.

River: (13.25 BB) 5:s (2 players)
UTG1 bets, UTG2 calls.

Final Pot: 15.25 BB.
Results follow:

UTG1 shows two pairs, eights and twos(Q:s 2:s).
UTG2 shows two pairs, eights and threes(3:h 3:c).

UTG2 wins with two pairs, eights and threes(3:h 3:c).

I lost 19BB to this guy, one hand where he 3bet my raise with 85o and got a straight on river.

I think tomorrow I'll play some $.05/.10 just to cool off a bit, as tonight I reach my stop-loss limit and I only have one left before I move down.
AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I woke up this morning feeling a bit better (sort of), and thought no need to drop back just yet, I haven't reached 300BB for lower level yet. Instead I'm gonna 1table it (zzzzzzz) and win back my money. Stay tuned ♠_cool:

With respect to multitabling, it doesn't matter how many tables you play as long as you are within BRM (ie the amount on all tables isn't relevant, it's the amount in BB you swing that is relevant for BRM purposes).

More important a consideration when deciding how many tables to play is how well you can follow the action, adapt to your opponents, and make correct decisions. TBH I only ever managed to comfortably play four tables SH, six tables FR at the slower sites (ie iPoker, Stars v Full Tilt - which is pretty fast).

Oh, and get used to swings. Even playing superbly, you can have mass swings of 200 - 300BB. And that assumes you're playing without leaks. Forget about the results and concentrate on improving. At micro/low limits this is especially important as plugging leaks will have a much higher impact on your winrate.

And, you know, us Kiwi's gotta help a cuz out.

Excellent advice bro clear and to the point, and its helping me look at things from a different angle.

I was fluffing around today and came across 1 of TB's blogs, and seeing even he had up and downswings was an eye opener. (I saw some1 post u had a blog, so gonna find that once I've finished TB's). I'm only now realizing swings aren't an "every 15k or so hands" thing. I only ever had 1 dwnswing period in my time playing FL, 150BB in 2-2500 hands, so I assumed they weren't that frequent. "wrong I was" (as Yoda would say).

All day I've been druming into myself 'shrug it off' and focus on my next session. So from now I'm just gonna take it on the chin and grind on.

As far as table amounts go, I'm 100 % comfortable 4 tabling, Even have done 2 weeks 6 tabling when I borrowed my mates lappy, and it was a breeze ( SNGs, But still extra 30% or so BR increase). So I'm not gonna factor that anymore. Saying this means dropping back to $.05/10 for the time being (4tabling @ $.10/.20, buy-ins=88% of stop-loss. Only have 1 stop-loss left).This isn't bugging me, I'm looking at it as a learning curve.

ANYWAY, plan for tonight: best mates here, just cooked mine and his family a fat feast. (his a chef for orbit, skytower) so no playing. Good to have an excuse.

Tomorrow: house to myself for the day. Gonna find some FR vids to watch, before TB's coaching. Then as I have a good memory, I feel writing out some articles will semi-burry them in my brain.

Waiboy, if you could point me in the direction of the best FR vids to watch IYO, and even articles which have most important key points, I'd be super apreciative bro.

Till next time, lets have a heiny seeing we're not playing

By bazerk at 2011-03-09

Quick little post. Just found TBs FR videos and watched them. Think I found a BIG leak, over calling in certain spots. Feeling good and ready to gut and smoke tonight.
Stay tuned

Had house to myself yesturday, so hooked my TV up to my PC and watched a couple of FR vids. Very insightful, espacially seeing spots I seem to have trouble with. Gonna watch more today.

After I watched a couple I decided to take advantage of having a bigger screen. I fired up 6 tables, $.05/.10. Felt really relaxed and comfortable. Took my time with decisions and made more folds in spots I'd usually call down on.

Then an hour into it, the mrs. comes home with the kids. Bugger. Only played around 340 hands, but, 24BB up. In one hand I extracted would I think would've been the max vs villains hand for flopping quad J's. Felt pleased with my play in general.

Hoping to play tonight, (a mate might stop by) so stay tuned for more gut and smoke stories. ♠_cool:

As I'm writing this I feel a pain in my stomach. No I haven't gone broke, (in my FT account anyway) but my computer is dead. Since I know nothing about computers I don't know what to do.

What does this mean? NO BLOODY POKER! Money is a big issue ATM so I can't just go buy another 1 or get mine fixed. Still thinking what I can do so I can carry on playing.

Luckily I had saved all my HHs the day before so my HEM should be accurate when I do get up and running again.

Gonna go cry now.

Dya get your computer fixed matey? I good friend of mie is from New Zealand and we partied hard here in South Spain & Gibraltar. So based on Deacon I have nothing but good things to ay about Kiwis, plus I really dig the Haka by the rugby team

Hope you get back to grinding soon, all the best fella!

AKM

keep your good work bro.

OK, time to revive my blog.

WHAT"S BEEN HAPPENING?

Well my computer is non existent. Lucky for me, my mate gave me his old laptop that to him was 'dead'. All it needed was a new hard drive and now I'm back. I still lurked around the PS forums in my absence, and kept studying poker on my brothers computer as much a I could.

But I'm stuck on bronze as I was only tracked on full tilt. I did however write out all the silver articles before I lost my status. It's how I've always studied stuff 'coz I got a good memory and when I write stuff it seems to stay in my brain. While studying, I read the SH article, and liked what I saw. AGGRESSION.

So when I started grinding again, I jumped straight into $0.02/0.04 6max. What a game! I can honestly say I've never enjoyed playing so much. I know it's a 'swingier' game, but I love the fact I'm in the action alot. I decided to use the advised 500BB BRM while I'm still in the micros, so I moved up to $0.05/0.10 when I reached $50. (I started with $8 my mate shipped me). In no time at all, I grinded enough to start $0.10/0.20. ♠_cool:

I've just completed my certificate in security, which was taking up alot of my study time. but now it's over I can 'hit the books' so to speak. At least until I start working as a securty guard. (just waiting to here back from a company I want to work for before I commit to one of the ones that have already offered me work). Then it's just a matter of rearranging my study/grinding schedule around my work roster.

WHAT NOW?

So I was doing approx. 8 hours per week studying, so I'm gonna keep that up. Mainly reading articles, but every now and then, get my mate to log into his account when he visits so we can watch some videos. I've been watching boomers 'micro surgery' religiously and taking notes, and I feel it's been helping a tonne.

I've also been making thousnds of notes on players, as well as table selecting like it's going out of fashion. (never used to do these things, and having 2 screens helps alot). Also just read the articles on 'game annalysis' so I can improve and move up faster.

Only had 1 session at my new limit, made just over 50BB in ~1000 hands. I won't be playing tonight, already promised the missus I'd watch movies with her. But before we do, I'm gonna do some FL quizes.

In my next post will be my goals for november (another thing I never used to do) and hopefully I can have a grind tomorrow night. I always get unexpected guests coming over, putting a halt on my plans to grind, but I've been telling them I need to play more, so stay away after 7PM or so.

What a rant! I'll also have to work on my blog content as well. It's just tonights movie night, which means 'happy smoke' night, so my brains all over the place.

Untill next time....

NOVEMBER GOALS

[ 5/5] watch first 5 videos in the micro surgery series
[ 15/15] read 15 articles
[3 /3] take 3 quizes
[ x ] play >1000 hands per session
[ ] post at least 3 hands from each session for evaluation
[ x ] finish the month in profit

And not so important:
[ x ] reach silver status on stars ( I've never attempted this before)