[Closed] 3F - Focus, Fun and Flexibility - Taking shots at NL10 SH, woohoo!

Didn't had time to post on the forum as i went out on the afternoon to chill my head about some things (not poker), and also woke up with a sick cold.

So i'm running actually pretty good on the $2.25 SNGs, playing pretty agressive but not maniac type, and so far is working good. Cash games, as i'm playing in a lower sample, there's not too much to talk about, i'm slim positive, not even 2BI up. And oh, AA and KK are the two hands i lost more money with, i know tides will turn the other way sometime.

I get some bad beats along the way, but that's the kind of players you want to have it on your table actually, so i'm fine with it.

Today is (late) posting graphs day. So here's my graph from the 3F challenge (sng's) so far (click the thumbnail to see it large):

(click here to see the full graph)

As you can see on game 79 i was into the $2.25 but didn't managed to stay, only coming back on game 111 and then having that good upswing that it's still going through.

I'm still trying to see how i post Full Tilt sng's hands with the results shown, any ideas?

Well, let's keep grinding because the $6.50 games are only slim far away.

About handposting: Either just remove the result yourself before you post the hand, or use the handconverter at weaktight.com, I think it works for SNG but not sure, I know it works for CG and you have an option to hide the results there.

As for your CG bankroll management, I think you have very conservatime BRM there aswell, I mean 25 BI should be about good enough, if you wanna go on the conservative side make it 30-35 BI's but no need to go higher then that in my oppinion.

Also, the book "The poker mindset" is one of the first and only real books I've read concerning poker, but I would say so far one of the most useful ones too. It really changed my way of thinking alot, and really for the better. It gives you alot of knowledge about why we react in a certain way etc and it's just very useful.

It's been a good read and even though I don't really play any SNG at all nor have any knowledge about it really I'll be following your blog.

If you are a dedicated player and serious about your poker (which you seem to be), feel free to contact me on skype as I dedicate some of my time sweating (or if you wanna call it that; coaching) microstakesplayers in CG, but only SH.

So uhm, good luck to ya

Hey Vonki,

Thanks for the response. So about CG, i'm still trying to adapt that, i did notice it's far too conservative to follow the same br strategy from the stt's but it'll will take some time, as this is a very new field for me (i'm more STT and MTT player).

But i'll make some math here that makes better sense on them and i'll be posting it too, and i would love to see some microstakes sweating as soon as i can, i actually think SH better 'cause there is more action. How can i catch your skype?

Also, as you were the first to suggest me a book, i'll be buying it asap and posting here on the blog as soon as i get it. It's from Ian Taylor right?

So, i'm gonna grind a little today and hopefull post some good results over here

hey again

Yes, SH is definitely more actionfilled but that also means there is way more room for mistakes and emotions to bubble up, so just make sure you are able to handle that first of all. I think though, that perhaps playing FR for starters whilst NOT sweating might be a good idea and then gradually convert into SH player on your own too. I don't know, we can talk about that when we sweat later on.

My skype is voenki, (sweden), just feel free to add me.

I can assure you (in my oppinion) that there are very few other books that are as rewarding as The poker mindset (by Ian Taylor idd ). It's not packed with strategy's or anything (we get that from here anyway) but more about how to think about poker in the optimal way and thus have the right mindset. That is what most people fail in, because it's not that hard to learn HOW to play, it's the part about sticking to playing that way that's the tricky part.

Hey guys, how's it going?

Great monday as vonki will now be coaching me on cash games. And has already gave me a lot of homework to read and watch and do

But it's been a nice conversation going on, and that feels great to know i'll have a more experienced help on improving my skills.

So my whole BR managment for the cash games has changed and i'll try if i have the time, and the mind feels good, to play a short NL5 session today. Not sure, might only be tommorow (most likely).

As for the weekend, the tables felt great, i think i played good and was able to fix my mistakes pretty quick before things go the other way around. Didn't forgot to the most important thing though. Get out of the house and have fun. Most important because i'm not 'sick' anymore.

So that's it for now. I got to watch a video, read a book and find during this week 5 intresting hands to discuss with vonki by sunday. That's a lot of homework as i said. But as far as i listen to Daft Punk. I like homework.

Cya.

Nice update!

We should love homework imo, I mean if we studied as much poker (so thus have a tacher that gives us homework and actually sets deadlines etc for us) we would all be alot better at poker right now then we actually are

Besides, the hard work will pay off in the end, which should make us even more motivated to do it!

Don't forget you have to record a session too btw! ♦

For anyone interested, I found him to be a dedicated person and chose to take him on as my priority student. I will closely watch his progress and help him in any way I can. For any of you who wonder "why does this dude get such a oppertunity?" I only got one answer: Dedication and respect.

Peace out!

xx vonki

Nice blog man. You've had a pretty sick run on the SnGs so far it looks like, feel free to add me on skype if you wanna study sngs sometimes. skype: ged.forrest
cheers dude,
ged

First, SNGs played only 4 today as my main goal was starting on NL5, i've played first a NL5 session of 40 minutes, then after school i got to play this short sng session, read a little of The Poker Blueprint that was recommended to me and then played more NL5.

So i did these two short sessions, and decided to record them both (Vonki asked me one, there's two ). I'll be posting both videos online if someone has the effort of watching it, raw and unedited.

For starters i've just moved up to NL5, so any comment is appreciated, and most likely i'll be discussing the sessions with Vonki after she watches them. So here are the sessions (sorry about struggling with the recording video program for a while, now i've learned hotkeys )

NLHE NL5 BSS FR Session on August 16th:

NLHE NL5 BSS FR Session on August 17th:

A intresting hand happened on the session of August 17th. You can see it on the time 19:15 of the video, but i think this one is good posting also:

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:
Play hand

$0.02/$0.05 No-Limit Hold'em (8 handed)

Known players:[tg]CO$5.37:///////;BU$0.98:///////;SB$7.77:///////;BB$0.75:///////;UTG2 (Hero)$5.10:///////;MP1$3.48:///////;MP2$5.00:///////;MP3$5.67:///////;[/tg]
Preflop: Hero is UTG2 with J:c, J:s.
Hero raises to $0.20, 2 folds, MP3 raises to $0.60, CO folds, BU calls $0.60, 3 folds, 2 folds, Hero folds.
Flop: ($1.47) J:d, 6:h, J:h (2 players)
MP3 bets $0.42, BU calls $0.38(All-In).

Turn: ($2.27) K:d (2 players)
River: ($2.27) 9:h (2 players)
Final Pot: $2.27.
Results follow:
BU shows a flush, ace high(Th Ah).
MP3 shows two pairs, aces and jacks(Ac Ad).
BU wins with a flush, ace high(Th Ah).

My thought was playing OOP against a player that wasn't playing bad (to check table image just look the video), and also didn't feel i had the right odds to call. Even though the BU would most likely invest his last $0.38.

What you guys think?

BTW: Ged, u're already added on Skype

1st) vonki is never written with a capital V, it just looks ridicilous! I don't like it that way, never has and never will ♦ But I forigive you.

2nd) Downloading the 1st video but it says it will take 3 hours (to convert, whatever it means by that) so I might have to redo it later

3rd) Why are you awake at that time? Did you not sleep? ♦

Take it easy, I don't want you to get burned out right away!

Quick thoughts on the hand even though I'm no FR player: You are UTG and get 3bet, so I think that player (since you say he seems to play good) will have a range of perhaps QQ+ and AK there and when the midstack calls it's even worse for you to call since you then have to beat 2 hands to get that part of the pot whilst you're still playing for a sidepot about the rest... personally like the laydown. Good job!

Looking forward to see the rest of the video

But now, some more hours of sleep... (pretend like the questoinmarks are like zZZzz instead!)

TTYL!

xx vonki

Hi vonki,

So yea, i won't type that capital v no more, and about converting the video it's a little time vimeo takes to do that, not sure why.

I was still playing 2am because i wasn't tired at all, and felt motivated to do so, if by ever i thought i wasn't playing a good game i would never kept sat down at the tables, don't worry.

Yeah, i think if that hand was SH i probably wouldn't folded pre-flop. But on that spot i was sure it was a correct laydown for the moment, i probably wouldn't do that so if the villian was a maniac, but being oop after the 3-bet wasn't comfortable for me.

update:
My long term goals were updated.

So just finished two sessions on FR NL5, that went good i think mostly i avoided tough spots and on the second with a help of vonki, things got a lot easier.

Oh, as graphs and results only on fridays now (after rakeback cash in) as i don't open my cashier anymore.

As soon as possible i'll post a video session again, but not sure i am going to have time to play today again. I might if my teachers be nice to me.

Cya guys.

Hey, you still in florianopolis, right?
I arrived here today, going to stay 2 weeks.

So i've played another sessions today and i've recorded a snip of the start of one of the last sessions, it's about 30 minutes long, so if anyone cares to watch it's here:

NLHE NL5 BSS FR Session on August 19th

There was an intresting hand that happened a little after i stopped the video and ofc i'm posting to you guys evaluate if you want, i didn't include the results as vonki spotted it can lead to changing the line of thought, so here's the hand:

NL5 NLHE @ FullTiltPoker
8 Players
Hand also available on http://weaktight.com/2582822

Stacks:
UTG FunkyBahia ($5.07)
UTG+1 DonkBuster2 ($3.57)
MP1 easymoney181 ($1.75)
MP2 Kevlar509 ($3.36)
CO aimbire ($5)
BTN pearlxman ($5)
SB elocutionist ($2.49)
BB borjamillan ($5)

Pre-Flop: ($0.07, 8 players) aimbire is CO Q♠ 10:spade:
1 fold, DonkBuster2 calls $0.05, 2 folds, aimbire raises to $0.25, 1 fold, elocutionist calls $0.23, 1 fold, DonkBuster2 calls $0.20

Flop: K♥ 6♣ Q♦ ($0.80, 3 players)
elocutionist checks, DonkBuster2 checks, aimbire bets $0.50, elocutionist calls $0.50, DonkBuster2 folds

Turn: 10:heart: ($1.80, 2 players)
elocutionist checks, aimbire bets $1.10, elocutionist calls $1.10

River: K♣ ($4, 2 players)
elocutionist checks, aimbire checks

What's your though about the play? - And what would you guess villian had?

So i did also played some sngs, i did actually already spoke with vonki about it, so sngs are not priority but they are fun to play and i actually think i got some edge on them on these stakes, but they're not a goal, as for today i've invested about 2h on NL5 and only ~30 minutes on sngs.

Also, i'm updating the top post as this challenge is going into another direction than it started out, but i sure feel motivated about it. Once again i want to thank vonki for the support.

On another note, i also invested about 50 minutes watching a video she sent me, very good material i'm probably going to watch it one more time making some personal notes about it.

So yea, i think this is it for today boys, tommorow should be a long day, but it should turn out for the best. Cya later!

replies
@Skeat, we should go on tommorow on this party at the University. It could be fun! We'll post pics here.

Hey guys,

Few days without giving this blog an update. Still don't feel like posting graphs because i'm trying to avoid looking at my cashier and results. On a note how the goals are going.

I've actually printed out "The Poker Blueprint" so it would be easier for me to read. Yesterday i took a walk and read it a little, sorry i forgot to take some pics. I've also read some articles on turn play, as i think i have some major leaks on that street.

On playing NL5, i'm still a few 'k' hands behind to see if i'm rolled to move up for NL10 FR. And then i'll see what vonki thinks about when to progress to SH play.

Although i got another filmed session with some intresting hands over there, i've watched it yesterday and find some moves i've could've done in another way:

NLHE NL5 BSS FR Session on August 20th

And here's an intresting hand i've played yesterday that i would like some comments on it if you guys are willing to:

NL5 NLHE @ FullTiltPoker
8 Players
Hand also available on http://weaktight.com/2593780

Stacks:
UTG JoKerAABell ($5)
UTG+1 cardUkemi99 ($2.60)
MP1 NastyNate206 ($2.52)
MP2 Zaon28 ($5.52)
MP3 mikeandyuri ($5.39)
CO shichya ($5.49)
BTN CrazyRusPilot ($5.24)
SB aimbire ($5.19)
BB sinhacerlescaso ($6.32)

Pre-Flop: ($0.07, 9 players) aimbire is SB J♦ J♠
2 folds, NastyNate206 calls $0.05, 1 fold, mikeandyuri raises to $0.20, 2 folds, aimbire calls $0.18, 1 fold, NastyNate206 calls $0.15

Flop: 2♦ 5♣ 2♣ ($0.65, 3 players)
aimbire checks, NastyNate206 checks, mikeandyuri bets $0.60, aimbire calls $0.60, NastyNate206 folds

Turn: 9♣ ($1.85, 2 players)
aimbire checks, mikeandyuri bets $1.25, aimbire calls $1.25

River: 4♠ ($4.35, 2 players)
aimbire checks, mikeandyuri goes all-in $3.34, aimbire goes all-in $3.14

Any comments on this play? MP1 was playing pretty call/check-fold almost every flop. And the MP3 was firing everystreet with some marginal holdings on the past 50 hands.

As for today, i think i will play something around 3, 4 hours. Right now i'm going to get some sun on my face. The day it's to beautiful to stay home.

So yeah, i'm feeling pretty good right now.

My mindset couldn't be better. First: because i'm actually enjoying more and more the cash games. Second: my Sunday was great. I went with a friend who also shoots the series i work in (yes, i'm an actor too), and after that we had a great home-poker-game with some friends.

Two of them had a recent knee surgery so we didn't talk for a month or so live, and the game was pretty fun, the company was great too btw.

After that long home-poker session, i played some guitar and just about 2-3 hours ago i've sat down and played some poker. After a really quick start, the pace of the game slowed down, and a few minutes ago, as soon as i start to feel sleepy, i finished the orbits i was and now i'm getting ready to go to bed.

Now i'm not sure how my results are going, but as i didn't experienced any visible downswing i'm still being able to not look at my cashier and as i've also removed the 'Amount Won' column from my PokerTracker, and i've also painted all with white background and black text so even that i can't know if i'm up or down (i feel i'm up, not sure how much though).

So for now i'm going to get a good night sleep as tommorow i got lots of work to do, but still having at least time for a 2h poker time (yay). Hopefully i'll reach NL10 soon, we'll see.

Cya guys.

keep up the good work.

The results aren't yet important anyway and you know that so... Just keep it uP! We'll get there.

Btw sunday is over so I expect you to post 5 hands (we can also do it on skype but do prepare them) with thoughts about the hands. As much thoughts as possible, on both preflop and postflop action, ranges and betsizing etc.

Get to work!

Almost forgot that vonki,
So ok i'll post the 5 hands here and we can discuss them over Skype, as every other PokerStrategy member gives thoughts about it.

Hand N°1

NL5 NLHE @ FullTiltPoker
8 Players
Hand also available on http://weaktight.com/2599113

Stacks:
UTG ttyypo ($5.07)
UTG+1 Chess_M8 ($5.09)
MP1 Hanmeroid ($4.93)
MP2 supernozik ($2.68)
CO Around89 ($2.90)
BTN aimbire ($6.81)
SB Zaon28 ($5.02)
BB SpikeLived ($2.98)

Pre-Flop: ($0.07, 8 players) aimbire is BTN A♦ Q♦
ttyypo calls $0.05, Chess_M8 raises to $0.25, 3 folds, aimbire calls $0.25, 2 folds, ttyypo calls $0.20

*So here pre-flop i didn't too much read on the +1 raiser, and i decided to call AQs only because i was on the button and as i had position on him i felt like maybe a nice flop can get me his whole stack, as the utg limper he didn't scared me at all.

Flop: A♣ 8♣ 9♠ ($0.82, 3 players)
ttyypo checks, Chess_M8 bets $0.60, aimbire calls $0.60, ttyypo folds

* The turn gives me top pair with a really good kicker, but unfortunatly i didn't hit a board that gave me a chance to draw on the turn, so the cbet went and i wasn't exactly sure what villian had here but i decided to call anyway thinking he could have some pair and that my ace was good.

Turn: 5♦ ($2.02, 2 players)
Chess_M8 bets $1.12, aimbire calls $1.12

* The tricky part, when the 5 on the turn came and he bet a little more than half the pot, i had to think he had TT+, i played it safe here and tried to keep the pot controled.

River: 8♥ ($4.26, 2 players)
Chess_M8 checks, aimbire checks

* The river wasn't a compleatly blank as it paired the board. Right now i knew i was only losing to a set/boat or AK. I didn't thought he had 67. For a second i thought he could've had a busted draw. But i thought checking was the best option here as i wouldn't get called by some hand behind me unless maybe an AJ.

Hand N°2

NL5 NLHE @ FullTiltPoker
9 Players
Hand also available on http://weaktight.com/2599139

Stacks:
UTG BamFlops ($2.16)
UTG+1 podgi ($2.10)
MP1 barik305 ($1.52)
MP2 chrs11 ($3.67)
MP3 s1NXXX ($2.08)
CO cmberges1 ($1.93)
BTN aimbire ($1.53)
SB beerpong13 ($0.06)
BB TR3VORMCCALL ($2.23)

Pre-Flop: ($0.03, 9 players) aimbire is BTN J♣ K♣
1 fold, podgi raises to $0.06, barik305 calls $0.06, 3 folds, aimbire calls $0.06, beerpong13 goes all-in $0.05, 1 fold

* So here i didn't decide to raise KJs because i didn't see too much point in it. The sb had just gone all-in last hand and was most likely to shove his last 3bb on this one, so i woulnd't add to much value here. As last hand i decided to call and see a flop in position. On another note this table was mostly tight-passive.

Flop: K♠ 6♠ 9♥ ($0.26, 4 players, 1 all-in)
podgi checks, barik305 bets $0.02, aimbire raises to $0.17, podgi folds, barik305 calls $0.15

* So flop comes, utg checks and +1 min bets. Now right here i thought ofc he is weak and maybe just trying to donk add more money to a draw, so i think with my tpdk i should raise, and i get utg to fold, and he called.

Turn: J♥ ($0.60, 3 players, 1 all-in)
barik305 checks, aimbire bets $0.31, barik305 goes all-in $1.29, aimbire calls $0.98

* So the turn gives me top two pair, but completes a draw if he had QT (that somehow was on my range of what he could've had). He checks to me, and as i still put him on a spade draw i felt i needed to bet. I think the 1/2 pot bet was so stupid right now i'm almost embarassed to post this one, but it's ok, as he shoved me, so right now i thought a while 3-4s and made my mind he was either with anoth Kx or drawing. If he was drawing i guess i had to call, so i did.

River: Q♦ ($3.18, 3 players, 2 all-in)
* No play here, only showdown

For time managment issues i'll be posting the other 3 hands in a later post.
Take care guys (and girls)!

Still have 3 hands to post, but i can't think of that right now, as i'm not at home and can't get my hand histories.

So yesterday was a pretty rough day as nothing worked, and i find myself at some point playing it too passively, getting the worse of it on showdown, mostly because of the way i'd played.

So as soon as i felt i wasn't playing comfortable and definitely not my best game, i took a break from the tables and re-read all basic/bronze articles, and started reading the silver articles once again.

So i've watched one of hasenbraten videos on NL5 and also continue my reading on "The Poker Blueprint".

Today i'm still gonna have about 3 hours to play, and i'll post the remaining 3 hands a little while before starting my session. I think that will be the best time to review what hands i could/should post, as reviewing them by myself is already some kind of auto-learning.

So, later everyone.

So just a quick update on everything as i don't get that much time to talk.

I've made a sick session today and played 3k hands in just one day (that's a lot to me). Got near that 10k that vonki said i should play. Unfortunatly i didn't had in the past days too much time to play as i was involved into a party organization. Party was this saturday and yes ofc it was awesome.

I did run into meeting Skeat live, but unfortunatly i had to let him hangin' by himself as and old friend needed my help with something.

After all those hands i've managed to see that my worst street is by far the turn. So i'm givingin it a lot of study into it. Unfortunatly vonki isn't going to be online as much as latests weeks as she is working hard as she wrote in her blog, but i'll try to survive.

For now, that's that, cya guys.