Winter whining @ NL100-200

Welcome to blogging!

Wow what an opening post!

How long did it take you to climb from NL4 to NL50 the first time? 10ish months based on the story?

Is €400 really enough to live on in Finland? Whereabouts in Finland are you living?

How come you used 60BI to move up to NL50 the first time?

I'm sure I'll have more questions as we go along, will be following for sure!

Regards,
Richard

Thanks!

Well I started a Finnish blog on PS in April '11, I had played about 30k hands of NL10 at that time with HEM (I bought it when I started @ NL10) However I had played NL4 for a few months without strategy or software or any idea about the online poker world. I had boosted my bankroll though, mostly because of RB and 1st deposit bonuses. I moved up to NL50 sometime December, so yea, I guess it took 8-9 months from NL10 and 11-12 months from NL4.

No, 400€ is not enough to live in Finland. However as a student you get a student benefit that's about 300€/month and also support for your rental fees up to 250€/month. So with all those combined one is able to get by - and in my opinion quite comfortably too, especially with pretty ascetic living habits.

I live in Tampere. A great city.

I used 60 bins because I'm a BR nit. And even with 60 bins I remember being scared money. Actually that's a leak that's slowing me down - I definetely should use a more aggressive BR management, or at least take some shots. But even with shot taking I'm afraid like losing 4 bins, which would be 8 bins on my normal stakes. And then I start to calculate how much I have to play (EV-wise) in order to win back my losings, and so on...

Nice day, almost 5 bins up.

This hand really bugged me. SB is a solid, pretty ABC TAG (21/17/4.5), and BB is a 29/4 fish. The TAG plays 84/8/8 (fold/call/3bet) vs. BTN steal, so I expect him to have something like 22-TT (although calling 22-66 is pretty bad in SB imo, unless there's a huge donkey in the pot with a decent stack), AJ, KQ, KJs, QJs, AT, maybe AQ sometimes, and maybe KK+ too here because he wants to keep the fish in.

Well anyway I flop top set, the TAG calls and fish folds. Turn brings the 3rd heart, but still betting for value (although not many worse hands are calling: slowplayed sets call, and maybe something like Tx with the A of hearts). On the river I end betting vs. slowplayed sets or AT. But he ends up shipping. That's gay, cuz if I'm right he only has 2 or 3 flush combos (AhJh, QhJh, and maybe AhQh). Still I end up folding, since 1) there's no aggro dynamic and he's not shipping worse, and 2) I can't think of a one hand he turns into a bluff, and 3) he's too ABC to turn something into a bluff anyway.

Entraction, $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em Cash, 4 Players

Hero (BTN): $52.25 (104.5 bb)
SB: $50 (100 bb)
BB: $10 (20 bb)
CO: $66.68 (133.4 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with T T
CO folds, Hero raises to $1.12, SB calls $0.87, BB calls $0.62

Flop: ($3.36) 7 T 9 (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $2.50, SB calls $2.50, BB folds

Turn: ($8.36) K (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $5.88, SB calls $5.88

River: ($20.12) A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $15.50, SB raises to $40.50 and is all-in, Hero folds

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Here is a pretty standard hand vs. a 50/10 fish, with flop & turn AF 1 and river AF 6. Hit top pair, bet 2 streets for value, and then let him bluff with whatever he has. Was calling any non club river. Was very happy to see him pot it since then I'm good way over 50% here in my own experience (and obv need to be good 33% of the time). Had he bet halfpot or something it would have sucked, but would have called anyway. My own betsizes are way too small on flop & turn though.

Entraction, $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

MP: $27.63 (55.3 bb)
Hero (CO): $52.25 (104.5 bb)
BTN: $49.09 (98.2 bb)
SB: $64.26 (128.5 bb)
BB: $48.45 (96.9 bb)
UTG: $50 (100 bb)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 9 7
UTG folds, MP calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2.25, BTN calls $2.25, 3 folds

Flop: ($5.75) 9 6 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $3.88, BTN calls $3.88

Turn: ($13.51) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $9.20, BTN calls $9.20

River: ($31.91) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $31.91, Hero calls $31.91

Results: $95.73 pot ($3.00 rake)
Final Board: 9 6 2 3 8
Hero showed 9 7 and won $92.73 ($45.49 net)
BTN showed Q 3 and lost (-$47.24 net)

------------------------

And here some 39/24 regfish donated me 50€... Hated river cuz thought only a split will call, luckily it wasn't so.

Entraction, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 5 Players

BTN: $29.67 (59.3 bb)
SB: $60.21 (120.4 bb)
Hero (BB): $50 (100 bb)
MP: $55.78 (111.6 bb)
CO: $51.40 (102.8 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A J
2 folds, BTN calls $0.50, SB raises to $2, Hero raises to $5.50, BTN folds, SB calls $3.50

Flop: ($11.50) A K A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $6, SB calls $6

Turn: ($23.50) Q (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $13, SB calls $13

River: ($49.50) Q (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $25.50 and is all-in, SB calls $25.50

Results: $100.50 pot ($3 rake)
Final Board: A K A Q Q
SB showed T T and lost (-$50 net)
Hero showed A J and won $97.50 ($47.50 net)

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Now to zzzzz....

Seems like a nice blog. I'll follow you.

Good luck at the tables.

Here is a wrap up for June / goal setting for July post.

Ran / played well last month, but volume was really low. Only had 2-3 sessions where I tilted. Here are the results:

Hands: 19056
Profit: 1292.24 € (886.49 + 230.75 (RB) + 175 (Race Winnings))
Hourly: 1292.24 / (4074/60) = 19 €

Really lousy volume. So here's how I plan to increase it, at least to 40k hands, and hopefully more:

¤ No heavy drinking (= no more than 5 beers / drinks a day, and only once a week). This is very important, since I tend to have horrible 2 (sometimes 3) day hangovers, feeling anxious, a bit depressed, and really afraid of something - and I can't play feeling like that. So if I drink on Saturday, that's at least 2.5 days of not playing: Sundays and Mondays, and 1/2 of Saturday. This means that I lost 4*2.5 = 12 days of playing last month, since I got pretty wasted every Saturday...

¤ My sessions are too short, especially when I'm up and feeling like I should book a win. My average session is about 30 minutes. So whenever I feel like quitting, I'm gonna force myself to play 10-15 minutes more.

¤ I try to live with a somewhat orderly nycthemeron (I learned a new word, yey!). It should look something like this:

- Waking up at 8-10 am.
- Doing my morning routines. Doing something to wake me up properly (maybe doing some "Just Dance" on Wii).
- First session 11-12. A short break and then another session.
- 13-14 a lunch break.
- 14-16 two more sessions.
- 16- Free from "work", however if I'm eager to play, I'm gonna play more.
- Soccer practise / some other workout in the evening at least 5 times a week.
- Going to sleep @ approx. 23-01.

(If you're wondering why I play during the day, it's because I think that the EV of regularity is higher than the EV of playing during the peak traffic hours. Also I've noticed that even though there are less tables, the fish / reg ratio doesn't change all that much, at least on NL50.)

More goals for July:

¤ Eat well, meaning:

1) smaller portions, but more meals (5-6 a day)
2) avoiding high glucose carbohydrates
3) making my own meals
4) dropping junk food altogether
5) having water as my primary drink
5) and, as already mentioned, cut back the overtly profuse alcohol consumption

¤ Setting up a high moral structure in my personal life, and then living up to that structure. I'm not exactly sure what this means yet.

¤ Identify leaks in my own game, and make a blog post of at least 4 leaks I find. First one is going to be about playing HU vs. fish when the blinds are "wrong": on 24hpoker 6max tables you play the SB from out of position when heads up. I'm losing HU, and this must be bad, since I'm pretty much only playing vs fish (no regs will come until there are fish).

¤ And last, start on PLO. Play at least 5k hands of PLO4, watch PLO videos, read the hand evalutiations, and post some hands yourself. I did try PLO once, however I had no clue / ran pretty bad, lost over 1k€ on PLO10/PLO20, and decided it was not worth it. Now I'm reconsidering. Here's my PLO graph, it's ugly:

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So that's that for now.

Superb read, I'm following!

Thank u freebsdfag.

Well my planned playing schedule is a bit off since I just quit a 3h session at 04.15. Super soft 4-5 tables, however played bad / run into a few preflop setups / got sucked out a few times on turn with no way to fold: for example I had AA, the board is K43r, turn is a 4, I have PSB left and ship it in, and obv against trips. Was down 4 bins, but worked my way up to a BE session.

Some mistakes, and one really nice hand.

First hand is vs. a reg who flatted a lot (he probably doesn't flat that wide vs. UTG though, esp. in UTG+1) / floated almost every time IP. So I hit TP, decide to Cbet small to induce a float, and then c-call turn & river. Well planned, however against those betsizes I really should fold. It's like he's wawing a flag at me that he has it, but I just refuse to see it. I think the regs are really unbalanced with their betsizes @ NL50, and I need to stop paying them off when they clearly got the goods. I have to start believing that their betsizes correlate directly with their hand strength, especially on turn & river. However hats off to this villain realizing that if he floats so much he has to just call strong hands too.

Entraction, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

BTN: $72.40 (144.8 bb)
SB: $53 (106 bb)
BB: $23 (46 bb)
Hero (UTG): $76.45 (152.9 bb)
MP: $142.32 (284.6 bb)
CO: $50 (100 bb)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A K
Hero raises to $1.75, MP calls $1.75, 4 folds

Flop: ($4.25) 9 K 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $2.77, MP calls $2.77

Turn: ($9.79) T (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $8, Hero calls $8

River: ($25.79) T (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $20, Hero calls $20

Results: $65.79 pot ($3.00 rake)
Final Board: 9 K 5 T T
Hero mucked A K and lost (-$32.52 net)
MP showed 9 9 and won $62.79 ($30.27 net)

--------------------

However you can obviously make some nice bluffs vs. unbalanced betsizes when you know ur imago & know ur opponents betsize tendencies. This is vs. a reg who I know thinks I'm ABC (we've talked in the chat a bit), and also knows I don't raise the river even with pretty strong hands when I know I can't get called by worse (he commented on a hand I played). When he donks halfpot on the turn he most likely has Tx or a flush. He folds so much vs. Cbets that he doesnt have many draws, the only one I can think of is QJ with a club. Since he has no worse Tx's in his range (he flats 8% in SB vs BTN steal, I've seen him flat 98s, so he has some low flushes in his range too), I could even fold the turn, but that's so weak. Anyways on the river he makes it slightly over half pot, and my thinking is as follows:

1) Considering his betsizes I expect his valuehands to be either a better Tx than me or a flush, but not a boat. Also the boats he can have are KTs or 33, and that's only 4 combos.

2) I can turn that range into bluffcatchers by shipping it in, since he knows I'm not raising worse for value.

3) I have reasons to believe that he thinks I'm a tight ABC player, and I don't expect him to think I'd turn something into a bluff.

So for those reasons I end up turning my trips into bluff, believing he will fold anything that's not a boat or (maybe) A-high flush. And if I'm right he would bet those hands stronger, so he should fold here every time.

Entraction, $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em Cash, 3 Players

SB: $54.05 (108.1 bb)
BB: $14.34 (28.7 bb)
Hero (BTN): $58.94 (117.9 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with 8 T
Hero raises to $1.43, SB calls $1.18, BB calls $0.93

Flop: ($4.29) T K 3 (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $2.75, SB calls $2.75, BB folds

Turn: ($9.79) T (2 players)
SB bets $5.50, Hero calls $5.50

River: ($20.79) 6 (2 players)
SB bets $12.50, Hero raises to $49.26 and is all-in, SB folds

Well my plans don't always work.

My friends asked me to go to some music festival last Friday, and I couldn't resist the temptation. So I went and "partied" (I don't really know what partying means - that is, when I'm out in a bar / festival / whatever, I really don't know what I'm exactly partying for) both Friday & Saturday, and had a horrible hangover on Sunday. And on top of that, I came down with a cold, and don't feel like I'm mentally prepared for playing at the moment. Maybe I'll try with some PLO4, so there's no pressure about the money.

And things don't get any easier this week, since Tammerfest, a city festival @ Tampere, is starting on Wednesday. I really need to grow a backbone when it comes to alcohol...

And on another news, I bought a book: Theoren Fleury - Playing with Fire. He's pretty much the only "idol" I've ever had. Fleury actually played in Finland during the NHL lockout in 94-95, and in my favourite team Tappara, where I played as a junior too. Here's a link to an overtime goal made by Fleury that ended Tappara's 10 match losing streak. I was present at the match, and even though I was pretty young, that was one of the best moments of my childhood.

Well I didn't grow a backbone; instead I drank 3 days, then catched a cold, and ddidn't play for over a week. But now I'm finally back at the tables. A few hands.

First hand. I open KQ in HJ, get 2 callers, both regs. CO's range is wider than BTN's, since he can have AQ & KQs and similar hands, but I presume the BTN's range is pretty much only pocket pairs, maybe up to 99 or something like that - he would squeeze his Ax hands. Anyway, I flop TP + 2nd NFD. I guess it would be standard to Cbet, but I'm thinking that 1) what worse hands can I really get value from, especially when it's 3way, and 2) my hand doesn't really need that much protection, and 3) I'd hate to get raised. So I end up checking. Turn gives me 2pair, but I see no value in getting it in, so I check-call again. River is a blank, and I have a strong feeling that I'm beat, but still I'm unable to fold.

Entraction, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

BTN: $54.43 (108.9 bb)
SB: $50 (100 bb)
BB: $53.68 (107.4 bb)
UTG: $50.56 (101.1 bb)
Hero (MP): $55.27 (110.5 bb)
CO: $36.87 (73.7 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP with Q K
UTG folds, Hero raises to $1.75, CO calls $1.75, BTN calls $1.75, 2 folds

Flop: ($6) 3 6 Q (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BTN bets $4.50, Hero calls $4.50, CO folds

Turn: ($15) K (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $10.50, Hero calls $10.50

River: ($36) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $24, Hero calls $24

Results: $84 pot ($3 rake)
Final Board: 3 6 Q K 2
BTN showed 3 3 and won $81 ($40.25 net)
Hero mucked Q K and lost (-$40.75 net)

---------------------------

Second hand. AA in UTG. Get flatted in UTG+1 by a 30/25/8, who I know has been playing up to NL200. He's never flatted in UTG+1 before, and he 3bets tight against UTG. He's range is probably something like (77-) 99-JJ (maybe even QQ), and maybe AQ, and AK too, at least sometimes. So when the flop comes JJ7s, I'm pretty sure I have the best hand (he shouldn't have any J's in his range), and expect to get called very often. Turn is a 9, and I bet again, but it's getting thin - but because QQ and TT will call, I end up betting. River is a K, that brings the BD flush. In retrospect I don't know if there's any value in a bet, but maybe he finds a herocall thinking I'm repping the K in a spot where I'm not valuebetting thinly cuz' the flush comes in (although vs. my UTG-range his herocall would be awful).

Entraction, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

Hero (UTG): $92 (184 bb)
MP: $60.12 (120.2 bb)
CO: $118.39 (236.8 bb)
BTN: $16 (32 bb)
SB: $67.06 (134.1 bb)
BB: $70.16 (140.3 bb)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A A
Hero raises to $1.75, MP calls $1.75, 4 folds

Flop: ($4.25) J 7 J (2 players)
Hero bets $2.50, MP calls $2.50

Turn: ($9.25) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $6, MP calls $6

River: ($21.25) K (2 players)
Hero bets $15, MP folds

Results: $21.25 pot ($1.06 rake)
Final Board: J 7 J 9 K
Hero mucked A A and won $20.19 ($9.94 net)
MP mucked and lost (-$10.25 net)

-----------------------

Third hand. This is vs. a 40/25 fishreg, who floats every time IP. He has folded to Cbet IP 0/7 times, and bet vs. missed Cbet 6/7 on turn. So I Cbet my overpair, and then start bluffcatching. Without the T of hearts I'd probably bet again myself, however now there are not many bad rivercards. On the river it's a snapcall. I think the opponents play is awful, since when I check-call the turn in this spot, I almost always have a made hand with a heart in my hand. (This is somewhat of a leak for me btw: projecting my own thinking into others and assuming they are thinking the same way. Both in poker and IRL.)

Entraction, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

BB: $25.87 (51.7 bb)
UTG: $62.42 (124.8 bb)
Hero (MP): $57.08 (114.2 bb)
CO: $50.75 (101.5 bb)
BTN: $50 (100 bb)
SB: $50.75 (101.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP with T T
UTG folds, Hero raises to $1.75, CO calls $1.75, 3 folds

Flop: ($4.25) 4 2 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $2.77, CO calls $2.77

Turn: ($9.79) K (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $4.89, Hero calls $4.89

River: ($19.57) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $14.67, Hero calls $14.67

Results: $48.91 pot ($2.44 rake)
Final Board: 4 2 4 K Q
Hero showed T T and won $46.47 ($22.39 net)
CO showed A J and lost (-$24.08 net)

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Now to zzzzz... Hoping to get up at 10.30, not at 15.00 like I've been doing last 10 days.

Ok f*ck this shit. 30 bins down in 10k hands. 10 under EV, 10 gay setups (K-high flushes against super donkeys A-high flushes etc.), and the rest on monkey tilt / bad play. Tomorrow moving up to 100NL, and even if it goes badly, I'm not moving down. For sure I ain't gonna start grinding 30 bins back on 50NL.

I'm so very angry now, and completely hopeless too. I feel like I'm never gonna feel any better. I really wanna smash something.

F*ck. F*ck. F*ck.

Originally posted by Zebbu
Tomorrow moving up to 100NL, and even if it goes badly, I'm not moving down. For sure I ain't gonna start grinding 30 bins back on 50NL.

dont tilt your roll off! you will regret it... you had a downswing, it happens to everyone. take it like a man and grind it back within ur bankroll. you'll get it back eventually.

good luck.

hi,

nice blog
nice results
solid game

would u like to join our skype study group of hard-working nl50+ players? (6 members so far)

skype me if ur interested ♠_cool:

anyways gl

Hey, just found this blog and discovered that we have very similar brain activity

Deffo following and hope you didn't bust ur roll !

@StaticMoth:

Thanks! I read ur blog too and liked it a lot. I think you should play higher limits though...

@kokos99sd:

I don't have a skype, since I don't have a microphone. I'm thinking of buying one though, and when I do, I'd be interested to join the study group.

------------------------------

Ok. I took a week break after the downswing, and after that the games have been going well. Even played some NL100 when there were 2 tables with 4 fishes and 1 reg besides me (who was also an NL50 regular -> I 3bet him a lot since it was likely he was playing scared money). This month so far:

Anyways, here's a hand:

Entraction, $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Hold'em Cash, 5 Players

MP: $6.88 (13.8 bb)
Hero (CO): $54.63 (109.3 bb)
BTN: $50 (100 bb)
SB: $54.82 (109.6 bb)
BB: $50.75 (101.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 9 Q
MP folds, Hero raises to $1.50, BTN calls $1.50, SB folds, BB calls $1

Flop: ($4.75) T K 7 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $3.40, BTN calls $3.40, BB folds

Turn: ($11.55) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $7.50, BTN calls $7.50

River: ($26.55) T (2 players)
Hero bets $19.50, BTN folds

Results: $26.55 pot ($1.32 rake)
Final Board: T K 7 9 T
Hero mucked 9 Q and won $25.23 ($12.83 net)
BTN mucked and lost (-$12.40 net)

This is vs. a solid reg, who thinks I'm a tight ABC player. It's 3ways on the flop, but obviously I Cbet with GS+FD, hoping at least other of them folds so it's easier to barrel the turn. That's what happens too. I pick up a 9 on the turn, but I don't want to give up the initiative so I bet again, looking to barrel the river, since I can't see many hands that are folding the turn after calling the flop. So he calls, and the river is a T that is pretty much a blank (Only Tx he really can have is AcTc, he's pretty tight so I expect him to fold Ts on the flop most of the time with one player left to act). I might have the best hand obviously, but I think there's a good chance he will fold KQ if I 3barrel, so that's what I do, and he folds.

He's range on the river is KQ, AcJc, AcTc, Ac8c (although it's questionable if he'd flat that pre) QJs (and sometimes he raises the turn with that), and maybe 77 and TT, but usually he'd raise those too on the flop & turn. QJs is calling, so is AcTc and 77 and TT. That's 8 combos (of which some could be discounted, since he'd raise them sometimes). But if I'm right that he will fold KQ, that's 9 combos, and with AcJc and Ac8c, that's 11 combos folding. So i think it's a good triple barrel.

Should he call with KQ? Assuming I triple barrel all my 8+ outer draws and AK+ for value, my range for betting the river looks something like this: AA, KK, TT, 99, 77, AK, AJ, QJs, T9s, 87s, KT, QJo, Axc. Agains that range KQ has 48,5% equity. So he should call. However if we assume that I give up with less than 12 outer draws on the turn (I might), he has only 31,3% equity. So in the end it boils down to knowing your opponent, and as I said, I expected him to think I'm tight ABC player (who might give up on that river card) so I did the triple barrel.

-------------------------

That's that for now.

A few hands.

1) Here I made a big, big mistake. 70bb mistake to be precise. I check my flopped nuts vs. 2 fish, hoping they have something and bet, or check and hit something on the turn. In retrospect, maybe betting is better since they were both quite passive, and they might even "slowplay" and check Kx. Initial plan was to c-call flop, c-raise turn, but when the super passive button pots the flop, I decided to raise. However I should have raised to 6€, so I can get the money more easily in with 3 bets. Turn could be bigger here too. On the river I put him on FD or Kx (55 is possible too, so is maybe AA, and maybe 66-QQ). So my thinking was that he will call Kx and 55 and QQ, but fold anything else. However, since FD was also possible, I thought he will bet any value hand that he is calling with and he might bluff a busted FD. So I checked. Which was a huge mistake, considering he was so passive. Can't afford these anymore.

Entraction, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 5 Players

SB: $62.52 (125 bb)
Hero (BB): $50 (100 bb)
MP: $50 (100 bb)
CO: $29 (58 bb)
BTN: $64.01 (128 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5 K
MP folds, CO calls $0.50, BTN calls $0.50, SB folds, Hero checks

Flop: ($1.75) K K 5 (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BTN bets $1.75, Hero raises to $5, CO folds, BTN calls $3.25

Turn: ($11.75) 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $8, BTN calls $8

River: ($27.75) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Results: $27.75 pot ($1.38 rake)
Final Board: K K 5 2 Q
Hero showed 5 K and won $26.37 ($12.87 net)
BTN mucked 3 K and lost (-$13.50 net)

---------------------

2 & 3) These hands were vs. a megafish, who was also tilted. With the first hand I was pretty lucky to get a good flop.

Entraction, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

MP: $51.50 (103 bb)
CO: $56.75 (113.5 bb)
BTN: $28.75 (57.5 bb)
Hero (SB): $52.35 (104.7 bb)
BB: $50 (100 bb)
UTG: $94.06 (188.1 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8 8
UTG folds, MP raises to $3.25, 2 folds, Hero raises to $9.25, BB folds, MP calls $6

Flop: ($19) 2 3 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $43.10 and is all-in, MP calls $42.25 and is all-in

Turn: ($103.50) Q (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: ($103.50) 2 (2 players, 2 are all-in)

Results: $103.50 pot ($3 rake)
Final Board: 2 3 6 Q 2
MP showed J 5 and lost (-$51.50 net)
Hero showed 8 8 and won $100.50 ($49 net)

Entraction, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

BB: $50 (100 bb)
UTG: $59.04 (118.1 bb)
MP: $29.56 (59.1 bb)
Hero (CO): $64.21 (128.4 bb)
BTN: $48.50 (97 bb)
SB: $36.05 (72.1 bb)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 9 9
2 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, BTN folds, SB raises to $5, BB folds, Hero raises to $64.21, SB calls $31.05 and is all-in

Flop: ($72.60) 7 2 6 (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Turn: ($72.60) T (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: ($72.60) 2 (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results: $72.60 pot ($3.00 rake)
Final Board: 7 2 6 T 2
Hero showed 9 9 and won $69.60 ($33.55 net)
SB showed 7 J and lost (-$36.05 net)

4) Biggest pot (in BB's) of the month so far. When he raised I was like oh f*ck, have 33 or KQ or AA, please don't have a draw or KK. He did have a draw - but luckily I shipped it home.

Entraction, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 5 Players

MP: $50 (100 bb)
CO: $98.74 (197.5 bb)
BTN: $50 (100 bb)
Hero (SB): $91.51 (183 bb)
BB: $46.15 (92.3 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q Q
MP raises to $1.50, CO calls $1.50, BTN folds, Hero raises to $7.25, 2 folds, CO calls $5.75

Flop: ($16.50) Q 3 K (2 players)
Hero bets $10, CO raises to $46.50, Hero raises to $84.26 and is all-in, CO calls $37.76

Turn: ($185.02) T (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: ($185.02) A (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results: $185.02 pot ($3 rake)
Final Board: Q 3 K T A
CO showed 5 A and lost (-$91.51 net)
Hero showed Q Q and won $182.02 ($90.51 net)

------------

Ok. Now off to play some soccer.

Bum bum. Slowly moving completely to NL100, although not many games going on at 24hpoker (=IGM). I'll have to divide my bankroll to 2 sites I think.

Here's a hand. I flat AA vs. a 3bet cuz' 1) opponent folds 60% to 4bets, 2) I expect him to 3bet his whole range in SB vs. regs - that is, he's either 3bet or folding here, not flatting, and therefore he has hands that will flop top pairs and has a hard time folding them in 3bet pots, and 3) he's a big floater himself, so I expect him to think I'm floating myself, therefore he will 2barrel a lot K-high and low boards.

Anyway on the flop flatting is best because, as mentioned, I expect him to think I'm floating with AJ for example, therefore he will 2barrel a lot. Against some paranoid regs I might minraise the flop to induce a spewjam & balance the times I actually minraise the flop as a bluff. On the turn a Q falls, and I shove, since 1) there's only 1/2 PSB left on the river anyway, 2) he's pot committed himself with a decent draw, and 3) I might get called pretty light since he might put me on some float that turned a draw, and is now semibluffing with it.

Entraction, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

UTG: $65.15 (130.3 bb)
MP: $69.55 (139.1 bb)
Hero (CO): $50 (100 bb)
BTN: $30.50 (61 bb)
SB: $64.14 (128.3 bb)
BB: $50 (100 bb)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A A
2 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, BTN folds, SB raises to $5, BB folds, Hero calls $3.50

Flop: ($10.50) 4 8 9 (2 players)
SB bets $5.50, Hero calls $5.50

Turn: ($21.50) Q (2 players)
SB bets $14.50, Hero raises to $39.50 and is all-in, SB calls $25

River: ($100.50) J (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results: $100.50 pot ($3 rake)
Final Board: 4 8 9 Q J
Hero showed A A and won $97.50 ($47.50 net)
SB showed K Q and lost (-$50 net)

---------------------

Here's an NL100 hand. I 3bet AQ vs. a reg who opens UTG, and get called. He doesn't fold that much to 3bets (50%), but given the positions I expect his calling range to be pretty narrow: 88-JJ, AQ, and maybe KQ and AJ, especially suited. Obviously he might flat QQ+, even AK sometimes. Flop comes JJ3r (he doesn't have many J's in his range, whereas I can have more (KJs, JTs etc.)), and I cbet, with the intension of barreling blanks (cards lower than 7), and high cards (higher than J).

Turn is a third J, and since 1) obviously I'd bet 3barrels now with QQ+, 2) I 3bet vs. UTG OOP, so my perceived range is strong, and 3) I don't expect him to bluffshove the turn on this board, I think 3barreling is the way to go to get him off 88-TT (and even QQ is a bluffcatcher on the river).

Entraction, $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

BB: $108.81 (108.8 bb)
UTG: $119.37 (119.4 bb)
MP: $48.38 (48.4 bb)
CO: $173.29 (173.3 bb)
BTN: $100 (100 bb)
Hero (SB): $100 (100 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A Q
UTG raises to $2.87, 3 folds, Hero raises to $9.50, BB folds, UTG calls $6.63

Flop: ($20) J J 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $10, UTG calls $10

Turn: ($40) J (2 players)
Hero bets $22, UTG folds

Results: $40 pot ($2 rake)
Final Board: J J 3 J
UTG mucked and lost (-$19.50 net)
Hero mucked A Q and won $38 ($18.50 net)

-----------------

Ok.

Bluuhhh. Such a tilting session. Was down 6 bins; however managed to work my way up to losing only 1 bin. Had AK 4 times in maybe 50 hands, and got it in 4 times too: vs. AA, KK, QQ, and JJ. Could have played differently once: vs. AA, where I opened UTG and got 3betted very big by a pretty unknown reg, fish coldcalled, and I shipped it in, thinking there's so much dead money in the pot. That was stupid. Because 1) fish was involved, and 2) I was UTG, I think flatting > folding > 4betting.

Soon after that there were two instances where fish runner runnered trips and straight vs. my overpair and set. Then I tilted, and started to do what tilted people do: calling 3bets & 4bets, floating, bluffraising etc. Lost maybe 2 bins to that, until I got a grip of myself, took a 5 minute break, and started playing better. I couldn't have stopped playing altogether though, I was so angry.

Also, I ordered 3 books: the hyped Mental Game of Poker, some autobiography of Arnold
Schwarzenegger, and a book called the 50th law. I'm not exactly sure what's that about though.

Hey Zebbu

Great blog thanks for sharing your thoughts, good to know what kind of ups and downs a cash player is in for!! I enjoy the way you explain your hands and what you were thinking that led to your decision.

Just a suggestion to help with tilt, definately look at diet, I took sugar out of my diet just water and had a massive imporvement in tilt. Also yeah I love to drink too and try to cut it back ♦ ♦

Im currently grinding NL16 hopefully by up to NL50 in the next few months!

Definately be reading more keep the posts comming ♠_grin: