Tilter's blog. Micros @ NLSH

Hey Anger86,

Welcome to the blogs

I can see this will be an interesting blog. A bit of humour and hopefully I'll be able to follow your journey to tiltlessness (if there is such a word).

GL and Happy Tiltfree Grinding

Laz

Have fun on Your quest...
Will follow

GL @ the tables (stay away from mine ♠_biggrin: )

Looking forward to the blog, sounds like a very similar path I travel. Hopefully I can pick up on a few things and turn my game around! cheers!!

Thank you for the support guys!

My idea here is to have a little bit of fun, but at the same time I want
to improve as a poker player. In my case - less tilting, since
I'm one of those players, who have a solid theoretical game,
but practically I'm between my B+ and C game.
My A game is alright, I guess.

Do you have some mental game issues too?
We can surely talk about it in a funny way. Or not.

Me, for example:
1. I bluff stations. ♠_confused:
2. I mark players too soon as "bad players" at my tables.
3. I'm pretty good at checking my graph every single session, every 10 minutes.
4. I seek too much of knowledge and perhaps I should mostly work of reducing my C-game.

There are a lots of areas, where I can get better, though.

Note for me:

I guess, I just got a little clue where I start to tilt and why I do so.
There are two types of sessions for me:
1. Where I play my standard game and play as good as I can against everyone;
2. Where I see some leak of a player and force myself
way too far just to get his stack.

For me the #1 is a B+ at least, but #2 can turn into a C game quite fast.
I guess, I see a target and want to destroy it. And I do it until one of us
gets fucked up real hard.

Why it doesn't make sense?

Well, I'm playing 4-6 tables and I can probably see a lot more
opportunities on other tables as well. If not, then find some better
tables.

Is it logical to force action against one player?

Probably no. I still think, that I have to make a notes
of his play, etc. and use them, when there is a right time.

- Correct situation ♠_grin:
- Based on the right note ♠_cool:
- Maybe on other session, stay cool bro!

Until I get a better feel on myself, why do I tilt, I'll close those tables,
where I think too much of a single opponent.

PS. I had this book by J.Tendler, maybe there is something that can help.

Hey Anger86,

Definitely read Jared's book. It has an interesting section showing that to improve your game, you must improve from the worse areas.

Look for the bell curve diagram.

Cheers

Laz

Hey Lazza61,

I'll definitely check it out. I remember that we can't learn lot more stuff
effectively unless we have a C-game made better. It will be nice to refresh.

By the way, I also found some material in a book, that helps me
about "playing back at single opponent/forcing an
action too much". Like, f.e., when someone 3bets
me and I try to force my action back at him.
The main idea is to understand, that I can't control my opponent's play.
They each are individuals, who play by their own rules and the rules of the game.
So, instead of controlling them I need to control my own game.

It is really logical, when I think about it. I have to think like -
so they play like this and what can I do now to make money from this.
Instead of - they 3bet me, oh no, I can let them win from me.

Also, some saying comes into mind after this:
"NL Holdem is not about winning pots, it's about making money."

NL10 SH

1. The ugly.
Not sure of Villain's stats here. Donking PSB usually is pretty strong,
but we have to think what might be strong to him. It could be sets, 87s, 99-JJ, I guess.
OTF I decided to commit overall. Idea was to induce his jams/3bets.
If he calls, I can easily bet many Turns.

Hand:

2. The bad.
I probably should have cbet to get value from 99-JJ.
Ofc, I have to pot control at some point, but F is a cbet.
So, I'd bet/fold F, check T for pot control or bet depending on a card.

As played R is a clear fold, Villain could have called Turn with
Ax or two spades. Couldn't have 77,88,55, mostly.
Most people don't bluff here.

Hand:

3. The good.
Villain is a nit, who 3bets ~3% overall. As nitty as it sounds, it's
probably a right play to 4bet/call with KK+.

BB: $12.69
UTG: $11.05
Hero (MP): $10.73
CO: $8.75
BTN: $10.34
SB: $8.00

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is MP with Q Q
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.30, 1 fold, BTN raises to $0.90, 3 folds

Here are both stakes I played this year. NL5 and NL10 in bb.
I have to admit that there is little difference on how to play at NL10 vs NL5.
Tilting, however, does some wonders. + ofc there is a variance.

Had some bad beats on which I'm proud of. ♠_cool:
Btw, EV line is incorrect.

I think, I'll later post some stuff about that red line, since
it is a huge problem to many players. For short - it's a myth that a
good red line only comes from bluffs.

Also I'm pretty sure, almost 100%, that I've actually have been
too aggressive from hands 34k-41k.

Doing well so far. Playing poker every day. Reducing my C game quite a bit.
Here is what are my tilting problems (in my words):
1. Getting angry at some opponent.
a) He might be from some "X" country and for the next sessions I start
hating on everyone who is "X".
b) Is see come bad player or try to say to myself that he is a
bad one. Although I need to follow reads and sample size.

It looks like I want to make my opponents suffer for some wrong reasons.

2. Playing while tired is a huge one also. I'm getting better
at this.

3. This might be weird, but I'm tilting from HUD. Always looking at those small sample sizes and trying to positively think about outcomes. No! NO!!!
There are facts and I need to stick with them.

While I see a HUD and tilt more, there is a funny thing I noticed.
When I play a ZOOM poker on PS I don't use HUD. It doesn't allow
me for some reason. It doesn't matter to me and I'll tell you why.

I'm tilling way less. I just have no time to tilt + I also don't have any
small samples to look at

I've played only about 9k hands in last 6-7 days. Feeling good at the tables.
But still, to make sure I'm better in ZOOM, I'll need to play 40K hands
more to see how tings go.

Small sample; results at NL5 and NL10 ZOOM:

NL5 = 4k
NL10 = 5k

Actually trying to play like a monkey, but with a reason behind it.

Posted some ideas for my mindset leaks.

LINK: Mindset ideas.

There are no fish at the poker tables, but they swim in the ocean.
However there are poker players, who play at the tables.
Everyone play within the rules of NL Holdem, their own rules and their
own leaks.
The only way to succeed is to play my game and keep exploiting opponent's leaks (the right way).

How funny is that?

All the bad players, I thought, who are really bad. REALLY BAD.
Those at my tables, not too long time ago I was 100% sure
they are BAAAD.

Shit!

They have leaks, but they are kind of geniuses. Don't underestimate
a stupidity of people or don't overestimate your geniality.

Poker update:
As I said earlier, I was thinking about taking shots at higher stake,
when I reach 20-25 BI bankroll.

That happened twice this last weak. So, yes, now NL25 and NL10 are my
stakes. NL25 to climb up. NL10 to have fun and that is so ridiculously funny
stake at ZOOM.

So, yeah, first time when I took shots at NL 25 was a disaster. It was a
serious mindset leak to which I found a good medicine.

The problem lies in that I started with NL25 only and inside thought, that
it is something completely new. I felt I wanted to play the same as NL10,
but something on my mind just didn't click.

Solutions?

It turned out quite simple actually and this I'll have to remember for the
rest of my "poker career" Not too serious, he-he.
Emm, yes, the solution. When trying to take a shot at a higher stake.
First open the old stakes tables.

Play usual 4 tables for 30 min to warm up.
Then leave 2 tables of old stake and start 2 new tables at the new stake.
It leaves me with the idea, that I'm doing all the same old shit.

So, It works for me.

Reminder:

Happy start for ZOOM:

Started this month with $ 150 deposit at Poker Stars.
Trying to take shots at stakes as quick as possible.
I don't hurry anywhere. It's just fun.

Second attempt at NL25 ZOOM seems quite simple to
beat.

My game slowly turns to post-flop oriented decisions mostly and
ranges I select are used mostly for post-flop potential. There are a lots of benefits for this. It's so fun, especially deep stacks, where you can bluff a lot more as well.
Not too scared money, so it's all cool.

One thing, that makes it a bit different to play is that I don't have a HUD,
then on the other way the most hands I have on one player = 200.

Benefit is that I don't go into a small sample size tilt. Concentrate on board
reading and bet sizes, timing and most importantly stack sizes.

People so often are fucking up with playing against different stack sizes
on my limit.

F.e. flatting AK/AQ, when stacks are 100 bb. SPR (stack-pot-ratio) is so bad
for TP, but gets way better, when 3bet.

There is also no problem to 3bet/fold AK/AQ since it's only a drawing hand.
The idea is that many of my opponents call with worse, but 4bet only better. In that case 3bet/5bet w/ AK is a mistake.

When effective stacks are about 50 bbs, AQ can be an easy call,
just because SPR is way better and you can 3barrell All-in until the river.

When effective stacks are 200+ bb 3betting with AK/AQ just sucks.
People often times will call with hands that has great implied odds
(I will) and you will be forced to play for pot control in a 3bet pot.

That all is like an ABC for beginners and I'm getting comfortable with
it.

Keep it up

Quite nice results so far, keep up the good work

Thanks guys!

It's incredible, how lucky I get with worse players.
They make a pot big OOP and then says: "Welcome Hero, you can bet
now and take down the pot. You are my best friend."

That's just ridiculous how often it happens.
I must be getting lucky, I guess.

My biggest weapon guys is playing IP and being aggro.
So my red line goes up and that's my style I guess.

Learning habits.

I mostly learn from my database and don't post hands anywhere,
but I'm not sure if that can be a leak.

Why?

I didn't learn too much from posts earlier, when I played a year ago.
Biggest weapon always was to read theory articles about
exploitative play. Also people often talk how to play TPTK
in a spot, f.e., but that is bullshit IMO, because you have to
think about you range also. OK, you play AKo on KTxr this way
and how would you play QJs, JTs, 88 f.e. ?
What is OP representing?
And what are you representing?
And from that, how should you play your hand to get the most
cash money?

I still think that posting hands is fun poker talk and I think about
ideas, but that's your game, but mine is different, etc.
I guess, most players anyway are nits and think how to play
those two cards they hold, but how about a fucking range?

Books:

Some said - at all times read at least one book. I agree. I don't agree
with everything in the books, but there are a topic or two that I like, etc.
So, I read some stuff from "Professional No-Limit Hold'em".

However ... if 99 guys read one book, but one from them actually does
a counter-strategy vs. strategy in that book, then he will be the
biggest winner around them.
Most likely.

Stakes.

Started a month with $ 160. Was playing NL5 recently.
@ $ 200 took a shot at NL10 for 2 BI
@ $ 500 took a shot at NL25 for 2 BI

Now I'm about $ 1000 and think about to start playing NL50,
but might give it a few BI bigger shot. Previously it was 2 BI,
so now I might make it 3-4 maybe 5. Not much more.

I guess, that skill level of the micros should be about the same.
Anyway, if you have some really big ideas about NL50 vs NL25,
then shoot.

This day was quite fun.
Although graph here looks quite alright, had some really bad errors
in my play and I look forward to make those smaller.

You know this line from weaker players?
x/c Flop, x/r JAM Turn...
So, I called, guessing that it was Aces. Actually it was a so predictable
read and I made a mistake.

Feel good about my game overall, but only in a way that it is a
process to get better.

NL25 ZOOM

PS. Some errors = a LOT of shitty play.
PPS. How comes one plays badly, but still wins?
PPPS. Don't change anything while it works? Kind of ...