[Closed] The 100 000 000th best poker player of all time's blog (BOOM From NL5 to NL10 in only 3 months!!)

Quite nice read but... what do you play and at what limit?

NL SH, FR, SNGs, FL?

Originally posted by vonki
Quite nice read but... what do you play and at what limit?

NL SH, FR, SNGs, FL?

I think I wrote something about this in the post I deleted accidently. Currently I play Full ring NL Hold 'em yoyoing between NL5 and NL10 depending on how well I am playing. I also play some micro SNGs.

Soooo.... official update 1. Today was a day of mixed fortunes. I began with an epic 4 hour long battle with my computer and postgresSQL- or whatever the fuck its called, I hate it and wish there was another way to run things. I had to delete all history of it from my computer so I could restart with a new database to run with elephant (one that it didn't get a server error for). Anyway I sorted that out and pretty much wanted to kill the person that invented computers and code and hidden folder (I mean seriously wtf is the point of a folder on your computer that cou can't see). Rant Over.

I did all that and then started grinding NL5 with a coffee and a packet of crisps (think casino royale but a lot worse). The results of the session are below.

For the first 200 hands I was on two pretty tight tables and literally raised every button and won about 90% of hands from BU and CO. Then a drunk Latvian donk shoved me all in a few times and ruined that plan as can be seen from the drop off on the graph. He then REALLY got the better of me before I returned the favour with quad kings ♦. Also it has to be noticed that I didnt engage elephant to start drawing my graph until I had lost about 1-2$ playing very badly with AQ and being a nice payoff wizard for the guy with trip Js.

I was also involved in a pretty funny hand that I accidently found myself in (I meant to fold but playing on a laptop I touched the raise button- then once in the pot I decided I might as well make an attempt). The turn was kind to me and I took down a decent pot. See below:

$0.02/$0.05 No-Limit Hold'em (9 handed)

Known players:
UTG2 = ($6.66)
MP1 = ($3.33)
MP2 = ($4.73)
MP3 = ($2.93)
CO = ($5.16)
BU = ($4.62)
SB (Hero) = ($3.78)
BB = ($3.98)
UTG1 = ($8.57)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7 :club:, 5 :diamond:.
3 folds, MP2 raises to $0.20, 3 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, BB calls $0.35, MP2 folds.

Flop: ($1) J :spade:, T :spade:, 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.20, BB calls $0.20.

Turn: ($1.4) J (2 players)
Hero bets $1.40, BB folds, Hero gets uncalled bet back.

Final Pot: $1.4.

Enjoy the above and I will probably write something again tomorow. I have found already after just this post that it helps to sum up a days play nicely to write a blog. Sleep time now. ♠_cool:

G'day. Since the last post I have barely played if I am honest. Started a new job for the summer at Evans cycles (apparently their team is doing ok in that big race round France- woohoo). Evenings have been taken up by World Cup duty and I also went to see Reginald D Hunter and Steven Hughes perfrom stand-up in London.

All of that is probably +EV for life in general but not great for poker.

In other gambling news I won a prop bet with someone over how long I coul stay awake. The fool bet me £10 (ok its hardly loads but I'm a student so every little helps) that I couldnt stay away for 48 hours. With Phil Laak as my inspiration I took that down pretty easily. I also have another bet on decent amount of money over whether or not I will be able to walk around 5 miles by road, bear foot. I am expecting to shred the soles of my feet a little but feel the money justifies the potential injury.

Hopefully later today (after the full tilt maintenance is done) I will be able to get back to the virtual tables and play a good number of hands.

Cheers

Hopey.

Great blog so far ♦ Really enjoyed reading it and will be checking back regularly (And I will expect this to be returned when I finally get round to writing a new blog oj).

I love prop bets like that as well ♦ I've also done the sleeping prop bet with a flatmate, whoever could stay awake the longest. I won obviously 60 hours in total, then I slept for 16 hours straight. (He fell into slumberland at 55 hours, but I thought I had to make it to 60 :))

Thank you Wriggers let me know when you start youyr blog and I will definitely give it a read. As for staying awake for 60 hours-intense; 48 hours I think is my limit. What did you do during the time?

Poker: played like 100 hands- was playing badly, lost money, stopped. I wasn;t even unluck I was just bad. I think it was tiredness, I kept making irrational decsions. Very annoying, must try harder.

Hopey

The first 40 odd hours I was doing University work for a deadline, and my flatmate was doing the same, after we both handed our work in we decided to see who could stay up the longest. From then on in I basically did a combination of watching TV, playing a few HU games against him and playing Football Manager ♦ I found the 48-50 hour mark the hardest to get through, but after that it gets a bit easier

I assume that pretty much everyone who plays this game has at least one life moment where they just want to give up. Maaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnn, literally had the worst week ever. Hit some savage coolers, had some pretty repulsive bad beats and played som awful poker too. To give you some idea of how bad things were; I managed to lose with AK 22 (TWENTY-TWO) times in a row (my particular favourite AK defeats were playing it v A4 and losing to a flush made with the 4, and a defeat on a final table in hand that would have given me a large chip lead where I was bettered by KJ). The result of this mayhem was that I lost more than half my bankroll. I have now switched to 90 man $1 doubled-stack SNGS- with moderate success so far. I will probably stick to them for a little bit to rebuild.

I also tried rush poker for the first time with moderate success, so I will continue to see how I run in that.

Also to add to the week my car was written off after I was hit from behind by a van going about 50mph.

Shit happens I guess

Hopey

ps. I posted this and like 5 hands later

$0.02/$0.05 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)

Known players:
BU = ($1.19)
SB (Hero) = ($6.64)
BB = ($2.66)
MP2 = ($10.68)
MP3 = ($1.38)
CO = ($4.85)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8 :club:, 8 :heart:.
4 folds, Hero raises to $0.15, BB calls $0.10.

Flop: ($0.3) 5 :club:, 3 :diamond:, A (2 players)
Hero bets $0.10, BB calls $0.10.

Turn: ($0.5) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.20, BB calls $0.20.

River: ($0.9) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.90, BB raises to $2.21(All-In), Hero calls $1.31.

Results follow:

BB shows three of a kind, aces(A A :spade:).
Hero shows three of a kind, eights(8 8 :heart:).

BB wins with three of a kind, aces(A A :spade:).

Poker summary: broke even playing micro stakes SnGs (how good am I!!!!!)

I have decided to devote my time entirely to micro heads-up SNGs and mtt SNGs. The level of play in heads-up games is laughable. One guy the other day lambasted me after I raised from the button with Q3o and I won at showdown for being "a retarded donk who plays junk like Q3o and just hits suck outs." I have found that people are either way too tight- playing only slightly looser than usual- or they are calling stations. I think at HU I have played fairly well (I won the first 8 I played although I got pretty lucky with A9 v KK and AJ v QQ for two wins) and it looks like it could easily be my most profitable format. Back when i played on 365 a few months ago I played a massive amount of HU micro-cash games and did fairly well (cashed out about £150 with winnings mainly from that), I think that experience definitely gives me a huge edge over some of the fish that rock up to FT HU games presumably after watching Durrrrrr's heads-up challenge or maybe just accidently.

In live poker I had another AK special after I shoved on a flop of KJ4 only for the oponent to turn over K4. I then dealt for like 2 hours (considering maybe looking into being a dealer as a student job- anyone know anything about it?)

In other news: Bought the two new Arcade Fire songs, definitely a +EV life move there. Considering which cheap student car would be best to buy. Met a girl she's hot, unsure as to the life EV of this move.

Hopey

Howdy poker players.

LOL is there a gayer way to start a blog? (Besides something obvious like: "I want you to all know I'm gay")

Poker update! I recieved a 2nd free starting capital! Which may explain why I'm so upbeat. It went into 888 poker under TheOnlyHopey and I've spent the day grinding on that. Having played on fulltilt for a few weeks it came as a bit of a culture shock as to how bad the players on it are. I mean on a 6max table you're unlikely to find; a) anyone who raises b)anyone who folds c) anyone who appears to care. This "style" of play troubled me initially and I lost about $10 in an hour or two. I change my style to "super-tight-nit-mode" playing only pocket pairs (any pocket pair as the odds were always so good) and big aces, waiting to see the flop then just accepting the pay offs that people seem so eager to deliver.

As a funny aside: I played the FT dailydollar through 7 levels without winning a single hand. Literally the most card dead I've ever been. Shit happens.

In general life- I saw Tony Hawk, he is one impressive 42 year old, it has to be said. Going like 15-20ft up in the air on a plank of wood with wheels is pretty much unattainable for most 25 years olds and there he is at 42.

A quick question: Does anyone know how to get 888 hand histories into elephant or to find the hand descriptions?

Hopey

Think most casinos expect their dealers to work full time. Because of the amount of training that probably goes into it, they don't want to waste time teaching people who will only work weekends or summers. Think i read on a different forum about needing some kind of qualification to deal in the WSOP as well.

Also you'd be dealing blackjack alot which is fairly boring and roulette probably which i imagine is absolutely hideous. A friend of a friend was a dealer in a casino and he was a bit of a dick, but gave off the impression it's a pretty hard job to land.

Nice blog btw.

And no idea about hand histories.

In the casino near me after the dealers that work there finish for the night at about 8am the option of a self dealing table is available. This usually goes on for a pretty long time and the players at the table generally agree to give the dealer a few BB each per hour for their troubles. So basically they're getting paid about £20 an hour, which isn't bad at all ♦

Firstly- thank you fryandspicy and wriggers for the advice on becoming a dealer.

Secondly- I just had one of the most fullfilling poker sessions yet. Played a lot today, if I had to guess I'd say I played maybe 1000 hands (which isn't a lot compared to some of the mult-table maniacs on here, IS a lot to me on my 2-4 tables). To begin with I didn't run so well I had one spell where I pretty much had to fold with AA then QQ then KK in 10 hands on one table, which was great (4 clubs fell when I had KK, the board was KKQQ on the turn with AA and the flop was AAK with QQ- luckily I suppose I didnt even lose half a stack because of the pretty transparant way the 888 donks play good hands (slide the bar to the right until it stops and then click :))). Then I had was victim of another classic donk call- with top set QQQ on a Q 6 7 board I managed to get it all in against A K and was given the classic river treatment. Anyway so all that happened and I was down to $41. End of part 1.

Part 2. I read on someone elses blog- or in the downswing section- about someone who was having trouble tilting and as often happens about 6 people had recomended he reread articles on the "Poker Mindset". Right after the top set loss I was cross and about ready to tilt- In my EXTREME ♠_mad: fury I even cut my hand open a bit punching the table (smart I know ♦), instead of donking off like $25 (which I've never done before of course :rolleyes:) I read the article a couple of times. Opened up four tables and continued to grind. For about 30 minutes all I did was wait for a hand and lose a few blinds- then in literally 10 minutes I just started hitting everything. I mean literally everything... and then being paid off by everyone. As a consequence of this I went from pretty low to absolutely buzzing. I even then had the self control to leave the table at 12.30 (as I've noticed my ability to make good decions dramatically falls after this) at a high point of $60.43 (in that account- my total BR including for live games stands at about $160 (trying to factor in the exchange rate).

To summarise- when feeling bad about poker, read strategy, relax, don't tilt, do well at poker.

Elsewhere- parents are going away for the week and leaving me! (idiots) To prepare for this I have stockpiled.

8 oven pizzzas
4 burgers
6 chicken pieces
Bag of oven chips
24 rashers of bacon
4 large bags of crisps
2 bottles of coke
30 San Miguels (if carlsburg did beer.... .... oh wait ?()

Looks like it could be a good week. I even have plans to turn the downstairs of my house into a 4 table poker room for 2 nights (so if anyone in the south east of england is up for some teen action (that POKER teen action) let me know ;))

Hopey

You are having some healthy week then.

get some vegetables ffs ♠_biggrin:

he hopey, nice to read -your blog.
in the last session you proved what makes someone a better poker player: being able to wait!
Unfortunately your hands are explained rather short,maybe you could eventually use a handhistory converter to post some interesting hands after each session. Or how about directly putting them into the hand evaluation section of our forum and by this way get additional advice from our professional and voluntary hand judges?
don't know how? Just have a look here:
Hand Evaluation Boards - What you need to know

have fun& a lot of success!

Hi all. Pretty much broken even since the last update. Not much very interesting has happened if I am being brutally honest

Im not sure how to get hands from 888 into a format in which they can be displayed on here. I will try my best to pick up a hand here and there off of Full Tilt though. Here is a hand I saved earlier on FT- I thought it was quite interesting and would appreciate some tips on how I could have played it better/whether I could have avoided the end result. Ta.

$0.02/$0.05 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)

Known players:
BU = ($1.19)
SB (Hero) = ($6.64)
BB = ($2.66)
MP2 = ($10.68)
MP3 = ($1.38)
CO = ($4.85)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8 :heart:, 8 :club:.
4 folds, Hero raises to $0.15, BB calls $0.10.

Flop: ($0.3) 5 :club:, 3 :heart:, A (2 players)
Hero bets $0.10, BB calls $0.10.

Turn: ($0.5) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.20, BB calls $0.20.

River: ($0.9) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.90, BB raises to $2.21(All-In), Hero calls $1.31.

Final Pot: $5.32.
Results follow:

BB shows three of a kind, aces(A A :spade:).
Hero shows three of a kind, eights(8 8 :club:).

BB wins with three of a kind, aces(A A :spade:).

Outside of pokerland. I spent a week alone- barely left the hosue- ate no fruit- think I've developed scurvy- think I've gained about 5 stone.

Cheers for reading.

Hopey

Hey, nice to hear about your good week ♦

Regarding the hand, I would have bet more on the flop, 2/3 pot at least, and then bet more on the turn as well, another 2/3 pot bet. Either way, you can't really get away from that situation, the flop was definately a bet, just standard conti-bet. Then when you hit your set on the turn you couldn't get away from it.

G'day. Played some poker etc. I think I can best describe my session with 2 hands;

The hand I didn't play very well and consequently lost a stack on:

$0.02/$0.05 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)

Known players:
BU = ($2.87)
SB = ($1.75)
BB (Hero) = ($6.03)
MP2 = ($5.00)
MP3 = ($4.50)
CO = ($6.54)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K :club:, K :heart:.
2 folds, CO raises to $0.17, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.12.

Flop: ($0.36) 6 :club:, 8 :heart:, 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.36, CO raises to $1.22, Hero raises to $5.86, CO calls $4.64.

Turn: ($12.08) 7 (2 players)

River: ($12.08) J :diamond:(2 players)

Final Pot: $12.08.
Results follow:

Hero shows a pair of kings(K K :heart:).
CO shows three of a kind, eights(8 8 :spade:).

CO wins with three of a kind, eights(8 8 :spade:).

AND

the hand I was randomly paid off with:

$0.05/$0.1 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)

Known players:
CO = ($2.95)
BU = ($2.05)
SB = ($10.44)
BB = ($10.15)
MP2 (Hero) = ($6.53)
MP3 = ($7.73)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Q :cluc:, T :club:.
Hero raises to $0.30, MP3 calls $0.30, CO calls $0.30, BU calls $0.30, SB calls $0.25, BB calls $0.20.

Flop: ($1.8) T :spade:, 6 :heart:, T (6 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, MP3 bets $0.70, CO calls $0.70, BU calls $0.70, SB folds, BB folds, Hero raises to $6.23(All-In), MP3 folds, CO calls $1.95, BU calls $1.05.

Turn: ($13.13) 2 :diamond:(3 players)

River: ($13.13) 3 (3 players)

Final Pot: $13.13.
Results follow:

Hero shows three of a kind, tens(Q T :club:).
BU shows a pair of tens(7 9 :heart:).
CO shows two pairs, tens and eights(8 8 :club:).

Hero wins with three of a kind, tens(Q T :club:).

So yeah. I won some and lost some and then won a bit more to have a decentish session. Actually no it was a very good one taking my FT roll from $33 to $54, but it seemed worse than it was I think because of losing the hand with KK (especially as at the time I was playing so well- what also annoyed me about that was that I was slow rolled completely. The guy literally used up his time bank before showing me the bad news- he had top set, he should have insta called not consciously wasted time. I think it was supposed to be some sort of "serves you right" gesture as I'd been playing super aggressive and won a couple of close hands with him and generally winning a lot of money. (I'd doubled up without going ever moving all-in). Moral of the story is; don'y slow-roll. Rant over.)

Fun times.

Hopey

GOOD TIMES ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

I actually really hate people that put the word times after everything they say, but this is a genuine good time so I will break the rule and use it.

I think i have had a sort of poker epiphany (I've heard other people mention this sort of thing so maybe you can relate). In short, previous to this week, I used to be super aggressive (Aggression factor of 6+) I used to raise everything, and it sort of worked- I could overwhelm some players with sheer force. However playing like this obviously will get you in tough spots as people will eventually get a hand that they are happy to call you down or reraise with. This meant that I used to start pretty much every session as winner as I stole the blinds and made crazy moves all the time, and people who had never seen me play would bottle it. Then after Id been at a table for a few orbits everyone would clock on and I'd often lose a lot as people called my bluffs. Anyway I got a bit sick of this and thought about how I play, I'm now less aggressive and instead of constantly trying to batter people into submission I'm happy to wait for the big pay-off that is always round the corner on the micro's.

RESULT:

Full Tilt bankroll has more than trippled.

Obviously its early days and I could conceivably just be running hot- but I like to think that I've changed my play a bit, plugged some leaks, and matured a bit.

$0.02/$0.05 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)

Known players:
CO = ($5.00)
BU = ($4.92)
SB = ($4.73)
BB = ($3.04)
MP2 (Hero) = ($4.58)
MP3 = ($5.07)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Q :club:, K :spade:.
Hero raises to $0.15, MP3 calls $0.15, CO calls $0.15, 3 folds, 2 folds, BB folds.

Flop: ($0.52) K :club:, J :diamond:, Q♦ (3 players)
Hero checks, MP3 checks, CO checks.

Turn: ($0.52) Q (3 players)
Hero checks, MP3 checks, CO checks.

River: ($0.52) 6 (3 players)
Hero bets $0.15, MP3 folds, CO raises to $0.50, Hero raises to $1.30, CO raises to $4.85, Hero calls $3.13.

Final Pot: $9.8.
Results follow:

CO shows a full-house, sixs full of queens(6 6 :club:).
Hero shows a full-house, queens full of kings(Q K :diamond:).

Hero wins with a full-house, queens full of kings(Q K :diamond:).

The hand above is an example of change IMO. 2 weeks ago I'd have raised the flop and ended it there, I didnt raise and got two unbelievable strokes of luck- but I let myself get in the position for that (Before I would raise and justify it as protection against a straight/flush, But tbh for a 50c pot its really not worth it- if a guy makes his straight oh well there goes 50c that could have been mine, however the check (again IMO) keeps my hand well hidden and makes me look maybe weak and could entice bets- just my thoughts, someone can shoot that theory down now :rolleyes:).

Not too much real life stuff going on at the moment.

I have agreed to go to a dubstep clubbing night on Friday so that could be carnage or it could be a very long painful experience: to call me a fan of dubstep would be to use a very liberal use of the word fan so I think it could be the latter.

Anyone up for a prop-bet? I want some action.

Hopey