Lazy fat fish dreaming about NL25 *(swimming NL5 NL10 now)*

hey koosMaras,
im in the same situation as you after the ft shutdown and
also playing on ipoker but over on titan. goodluck with your
goals that seems like a ton of volume!

Thanks yougotfelted,
I think 30k hands/month is realizable and even not that much when playing 8-10 tables on PokerStars, at least at NL5.

Hello friends,

it's time for an update. Almost 2k hands played so far this month, sadly I'm down a bit more than 1 BI. Last session was amazing for me from psychological point of view. Haven't been so deep in a game with my thoughts, thinking about every situation, making good decisions for a long time. Actually, I finally retrieved the sense of motivation, just want to crush the tables, show my opponents what I've found out during my session reviews and analysis. Weird thing, that I felt like I should be up 2-3 BI last session, instead I saw -2 BI, which actually surprised me. However, I'm not angry, tilting (maybe improving?). When I filtered biggest pots lost, I understood that I'd made good decisions. Actually, what is more surprising that I didn't remember how my middle set lost to flusdraw AI on flop, how AA busted against 75s. These things usually put me on tilt and I must stop playing. Now, I just ignored it, kept playing and enjoying the game :]. Feels good

Hope, you're all enjoying the game as much as I do now

hey boys & girls,

time for a short update.

About yesterday:

it was my b-day. Nice evening with my family. Also had pretty nice morning. That's how PokerStars said happy birthday:

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.05(BB) Replayer
Hero ($8.82)
BB ($1.83)
UTG ($4)
UTG+1 ($5.74)
CO ($0.69)
BTN ($5.98)

Dealt to Hero J♥ Q♥

fold, fold, CO calls $0.05, fold, Hero raises to $0.25, fold, CO calls $0.20

FLOP ($0.55) T♥ A♥ 8♣

Hero bets $0.53, CO calls $0.44 (AI)

TURN ($1.43) T♥ A♥ 8♣ 6♠

RIVER ($1.43) T♥ A♥ 8♣ 6♠ K♥

CO shows 9♠ T♣
(Pre 32%, Flop 34.6%, Turn 54.5%)

Hero shows J♥ Q♥
(Pre 68%, Flop 65.4%, Turn 45.5%)

Hero wins $1.36

First time ever! Sadly, against 93/3 fish with 12bb stack ♦. Was already down 3BI this month(won't complain about run bad, opponents just realised their 20-30% equity), but managed comeback to breakeven with one session.

Today:

TableNinja didn't work properly with betting sizes when tables were small. Usually, I play 6-10 tables tiled but had to play stacked. Wish I hadn't play ♦. Though, looks like there's a new update for TN and everything's fine. Maybe will load some tables for a quick session.

This month:

7.2k/30k hands played
-1 BI

hey,

this month's numbers changed quite a bit since the last update:

11.7k/30k hands played
+4 BI

Was grinding breakeven for a while (~3.5k hands ♦) and then things turned around :f_biggrin:. Started running like Doug Lee (<- "he hits all his semi-bluffs") lol. Well not like that. However, it's payback time. My overpairs and sets were not good to beat flushdraws and OESDs, but now it's good against bigger pairs and trips :f_biggrin:.

Little surprise:

Now few sentences about blog's title. My first steps in poker were in FR cash games. Played it nity even for FR, though profitably, reached NL10, had positive winrate there also. At some point joined cash game chat group. Almost everyone decided to switch to SH by then. Well, I also took a shot. Pretty much different game, needed some time to adapt, but I liked it and stayed with it. However, couldn't keep growing my BR, got small profit only from rakeback. Though, found my problem - played to loose, spewed to much with marginal holdings. Actually, jumped too high from nit to something like TAG+bad LAG. Clearly overadjusted and that made me slightly loosing/breakeven player. So started this month with new attitude: learning more, (re)started from pokerstrategy's bronze content and I'm happy with my progress!(always can be better :))

Good luck on the tables!

Good luck kid, just found your blog just now. Im putting serious volume over at NL5 on PokerStars as well, just hope you miss those bad beats against me. Whats your sn btw?

Best of luck mate - AND happy belated birthday! ♦

good luck))

Hello, verry nice start to your blog,
The name cought my eye,
I am in similar situation,

FT lost bankroll,
was NL25 FR now cant get SH out of my mind just find it so enjoyable
had stars before so not tracked there by pokerstrategy =*(

However i am writing this to inform you that i sent you a friend request through Pokerstrategy

Since i am also starting my transformation from FR to SH, (FT to Stars)

i can not send a private message unless you accept, but i think we could help each other's game improve since i think our approach is verry different,
by that i mean from what you said about your mathematical approach,
while my backround and life expirience maybe make me more adapt at the metagame aspeckt of poker,

i am not saying you dont have gameflow/metagame in good shape, i'm not saying my math is based on counting my fingers... lol

just that i think studying with players with different veiw of the game would benefit us both, also you seem ambitius, and want to work on your game, and i really need someone to talk shop with

Accept if your interested and i will send you my skype

i am sorry this came so long, my intention was not to write a story, however my posts seem to keep spiraling out of controle...

Also if anyone else of you guys that posted earlyer in similar situations are interested we could make it a group thing...

gl at the tables

@nathanrenard, thanks. I don't think about bad beats(even couldn't name those losses like that) against other good players that much, it happens :). Don't like to publish my sn, though I'm sure you would recognize me.

@AKM247 and lolly1, thanks guys :). Nice to see that someone's reading my blog.

@mongomob, yea, SH has way more interesting spots, more postflop decisions. About friend request - I don't see it in community tool ♦ Though, I'm interested in everything that could improve my game.

Running hot last two days: +850bb :f_biggrin:.
Had big fish to my left on one table, a rebuying fish! First hand HU against him in freeplay pot(silly, how no one isolated him when he'd limped all 3 hands before). Flop comes 2J5cc, I overbet with my J5o and get called. Get called on the turn also. All draws missed on the river. He calls my shove with J2s. Then he sits out for couple hands. First hand after his rebuy: limps(unexpected ♦), I isolate him w 33, one reg calls. 3-way to the flop: KQ3r. Reg folds to my cbet, fish calls. Turn is a brick. Hell knows what crap he's holding. Bet big on the turn and he calls. River's an ace. He c/c my shove and shows AJ. Reg who folded states: "total pwnage" Obv he thought "lucky bastard, got two stacks from fish". Later that reg also got some moniez from our "recreational player". Funny thing that fish started l/f to my pfr or c/f on the flop. Probably I always had the nuts in his mind ♦. He left the table when limped UTG, it's folded to me in BB, got decent hand to raise but decided to check. He put ";-(" in chat. Had a hand for limp/3bet probably ♦. When you run good, you run good :f_cool:.

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.05(BB) Replayer
SB ($5.42)
BB ($7.56)
UTG ($7.37)
Hero ($11.09)
CO ($4.11)
BTN ($6.31)

Dealt to Hero 8♠ 8♦

UTG raises to $0.20, Hero calls $0.20, fold, BTN calls $0.20, SB calls $0.18, fold

FLOP ($0.85) 4♥ 8♣ 9♣

SB bets $0.60, UTG raises to $1.20, Hero raises to $10.89 (AI), BTN calls $6.11 (AI), SB calls $4.62 (AI), UTG calls $5.97 (AI)

TURN ($26.52) 4♥ 8♣ 9♣ A♥

RIVER ($26.52) 4♥ 8♣ 9♣ A♥ 2♦

Hero shows 8♠ 8♦
(Pre 15%, Flop 4.8%, Turn 2.5%)

BTN shows 9♥ 9♠
(Pre 16%, Flop 62.0%, Turn 2.5%)

SB shows Q♣ K♣
(Pre 14%, Flop 23.4%, Turn 17.5%)

UTG shows A♣ A♠
(Pre 54%, Flop 9.9%, Turn 77.5%)

UTG wins $25.20

Probably would be unfair if I won this pot ♦. Today's lesson learned: there's always someone holding top set in 4 way pot when you have middle one.(Sample size: 1/1 100% = always)

Have 20BI for NL10. Time to take a shot tomorrow.

Good luck!

Took a shot at NL10 and could name it "Fishy thursday".

In numbers it looks like this:
/Session 1/ 444 hands/ $6.58
/Session 2/ 953 hands/ $35.15 Bam!

Started with 4 tables, got less action then expected so opened up 2 more tables. Played good, though results could be even better, made a stupid and expensive call on the river where I was clearly beat.

Most interesting part is session 2 of course ♦. Since, I didn't feel a big difference between NL5 and NL10, I opened 10 tables like always at NL5. Played so tight like never before on sh tables and opps still payed for me. I just got to *click* CALL postflop 2 or 3 times, opponents just spewed their stacks. Seriously, is this real?!
VPIP/PFR/3bet - 15/13/1.3 and you're up 3.5 BI. Easy game :f_biggrin:.

Well, obv what I have to do is keep improving my game.

Will see how it goes tommorow ;).

Today's winning song:

heyy

took a day off from poker yesterday. Was tired, didn't want to play or review my session. Listened to some music, watched couple of movies. Ready to get back on the tables.

Oh yeah, here's how shot at NL10 looks:

I'm rolled for NL10, so can say it's my current limit. Moved up!
Would like to put some nice volume today: ~2.5k-3k hands.

Dreaming about shots at NL25 by the end of August. Who knows, if I keep this pace, dream will become a goal.

However NL25 are unknown waters for me, so got to make some serious efforts(study hard obv) to succeed.

Time to load some tables. GL!

Looks like our goddess variance remembered my screen name ♦. Session 1 is over, 920 hands played with result: -7.15$. 25$ below EV if someone's interested. Obviously can't win always, but more hands to come today, maybe I'll change red numbers to the green ones.

#Hand 1
Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.10(BB) Replayer
SB ($10)
Hero ($10)
UTG ($29.78)
CO ($8.75)
BTN ($9.85)

Dealt to Hero A♠ A♣

fold, CO calls $0.10, BTN raises to $0.40, fold, Hero raises to $1.30, CO calls $1.20, fold

FLOP ($3.05) K♦ A♦ 9♠

Hero bets $2, CO raises to $7.45 (AI), Hero calls $5.45

TURN ($17.95) K♦ A♦ 9♠ Q♦

RIVER ($17.95) K♦ A♦ 9♠ Q♦ 4♣

CO shows 8♦ T♦
(Pre 21%, Flop 27.4%, Turn 77.3%)

Hero shows A♠ A♣
(Pre 79%, Flop 72.6%, Turn 22.7%)

CO wins $17.06

I'm still a fish myself, though I can call this one a fish. Opp 70/20. If something beats my set, it's usually flusdraw ♦. This guy left the table 2 hands later. New fish type: win a stack and leave the table.

#Hand 2
Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.10(BB) Replayer
SB ($10.58)
BB ($10)
UTG ($9.90)
Hero ($10.25)
CO ($17.92)
BTN ($9.89)

Dealt to Hero Q♦ Q♥

fold, Hero raises to $0.35, fold, BTN raises to $0.70, fold, fold, Hero raises to $2.10, BTN calls $1.40

FLOP ($4.35) J♥ 3♣ 9♦

Hero bets $3.70, BTN raises to $7.79 (AI), Hero calls $4.09

TURN ($19.93) J♥ 3♣ 9♦ K♣

RIVER ($19.93) J♥ 3♣ 9♦ K♣ 2♦

Hero shows Q♦ Q♥
(Pre 71%, Flop 80.2%, Turn 13.6%)

BTN shows K♥ J♣
(Pre 29%, Flop 19.8%, Turn 86.4%)

BTN wins $18.95

Another "recreational" player. He knew that king was coming ♦.

Nicely done, I'll be starting from 2 NL Tomorrow!

@LoOkzor: good luck, hope you'll beat it soon.

about my poker days:

running bad, mmm.. maybe should say playing bad. Had couple of winning sessions, but ended almost breakeven. Looks like I can't control my game in the end of sessions. Last two sessions were terrible, tilted so fast and actually funny, not important things put me on tilt. In conclusion, I sucked at poker, played like shit!

So now, decided to change something: won't play poker until next week(maybe sunday, if I feel ready), will dedicate all the time for studying, session reviews, learning something new.

[X] LOCKDOWN aka "Poker studies & mindset improvement" started

Good luck at the tables!

Studies went pretty well, I've rebuilded my mindset. However still ran cold. Was down 600bb last few sessions. Not that much lol, but when you look at $ graph, it's almost breakeven and that affects my psychology somehow. Thus, after reading Verneer's guide about beating uNL 2010, decided to leave SH tables for a while and grind some FR(playing looser now haha). Things went nicely there. I'm up 300bb after 2k hands. Made some questionable calls where I could just raise/shove or simply fold.

Also participating in NL BSS beginner's course to keep my motivation and avoid tilt. Went on a big heater during the first school, which I've passed(got the badge ) and few days after the exam just slipped and started falling down.

The course starts with FR, so I'm probably also playing there next 4-5 weeks. However still find SH tables more exciting to play. Will move there as soon as I feel ready. Of course I'm restarting from the basics of the game, though I think basics are pretty much enough to beat NL2 - NL10 with adding and learning something new in each limit.

Going to eat and then review some hands

Had some soft FR tables last few sessions, saw some hands that it's even hard to imagine. Bluff/call w air line still exists here.

Opened 8 tables at the beginning of the session. One word: BORING. Don't know how I could play there before. Ended up 20tabling :f_biggrin:.

Though, when playing so many tables I don't feel like I'm improving my game. I'm just in auto-click mode, no thinking...

So, couldn't resist and opened sh tables yesterday Felt comfortable, played pretty well(there are always few mistakes), no bad beat stories, ended my session with profit.

Thus, compared pros/cons FR vs SH and decided that currently improvement >>> money, fast moving through the limits etc.

Conclusion: f**k variance, I'm playing sh.

Let's start with a graph(first graph ITT):

I think month went pretty well. Bad though that almost all bigger losses came from NL10(still not crushing that game, but working on my game and it's only the matter of time). So in $ that graph looks more swingy :f_biggrin:. Well, biggest positive is red line. You can say: it's going down! Though, comparing it with my past graphs, where red line goes down ~45 degrees, this one looks awesome. Of course I failed in volume, needs 3k hands more. Not that much, but still - FAILED. Had success in putting more time for session reviews, watching videos etc. In conclusion:

THEORY: succeded
PRACTICE: failed

Now some thoughts about September. Thus, uni starts again, so will have less time for poker, will see how much less. So far it looks like there will be less lectures and I'll have a free wednesday. Tuesday evening/wednesday should be then "Biggest grinding days" when there are no tests coming.

Don't know about goals though, still considering should I make them smaller(volume), easier achievable or leave it as it was/make them bigger. Also probably would be playing less tables, because trying to finally move up to NL10.
Ok, no matter what I must grind it out, let's try with this:

30k hands
Same amount of time for studying
Shot at NL25 by the end of September(let's do this! )