Adam's Poker Adventure

I played 6 games tonight, one 0.50 and 5 0.25. I didn't feel i played that well, although i got some nice stacks before losing them. I went out in 8th in the 0.50 so feel i can definitely make some money in them. The rest didn't end up well either, only managed one 7th out of everything so a loss for today, the table i came 7th on was really slow and frustrating aswell. Oh well, I'll be back on the tables tommorow night and a lot this weekend ♦ also i think i need to review more of my hands and study a bit.

Nice one on the first and 3rd haha pretty good motivation to win that HU! nice hand to finish with! I really enjoy Headsup.

Are you going to keep playing the 0.25?

This was an interesting hand from my 3rd place finish yesterday. I was 5th of 7 at the time. My hand reading was spot on. I was putting both villains on A + high card hands so I reasoned I was probably facing 3 overcatds. Deciding then that I needed to hit my set or have 5 cards 9 and under hit the board I eventually folded.

When I ran this through Equilab I was a 42% fave so I was actually getting good pot odds. In a cash game this is an insta call, but in SnGs and MTTs this is a "wait for a better spot" situation. Multi way all ins are hit or miss.

Poker Stars $0.23+$0.02 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t200/t400 Blinds + t25 - 7 players - View hand 2102989
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BB: t8812 M = 11.37
UTG: t15123 M = 19.51
UTG+1: t6602 M = 8.52
MP: t5680 M = 7.33
CO: t9246 M = 11.93
Hero (BTN): t6710 M = 8.66
SB: t15327 M = 19.78

Pre Flop: (t775) Hero is BTN with 9 9
2 folds, MP raises to t5655 all in, CO raises to t9221 all in, 3 folds

Flop: (t12085) 9 6 Q (2 players - 2 are all in)

Turn: (t12085) 4 (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: (t12085) 7 (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: t12085
MP shows A J (high card Ace)
CO shows A T (high card Ace - lower kicker)
MP wins t12085

Yes I enjoy HU too. A lot of players at the micros tend to keep their full ring strategy when tables get short handed which is a big mistake. The less players at a table means a slightly looser playing range and as the table gets smaller you need to get looser. Generally to be a good HU player you need strong post flop skills.

Yes, I had forgotten how much I enjoyed playing them. I had become a bit jaded with poker and had moved around playing other variants. This has been good for both of us. I have given you some tips on how to beat the 45 manners and you have given me back my passion for NLHE.

Thanks M8

P.S. Yes keep an eye out for me at 45 manners

I think i would have folded those 99's in that situation aswell.

Yeh, I tend to feel more comnfortable towards the end when I have a reasonable stack and very comfortable when i'm one of the big stacks. It seems mostly pretty easy to push people around in the right spots.

I think i need to work on my post flop skills aswell, because sometimes i get in tricky situations.

I'm glad your enjoying poker again Do you have any goals, like building a bankroll? or are you just playing purely for enjoyment?.

I was very happy with a 3rd in the 0.50's and two 1st in the 0.25's tonight. I did feel a bit weak at times though before i started to get bigger stacks and ended up having to push/fold with short stacks because i'd lost chips.

I'm going to play more in the morning, maybe half 0.50's and half 0.25's.

I think my free trial of pokertracker 4 runs out in the next 10 days or so so i'm going to have to figure out whether i want to buy it or HEM2 or wether i want to try and build a bigger bankroll first.

One minor leak I think I might have noticed is that when you flop top pair, top kicker type hands where 2 suited and/or 2 straight cards come, you don't necessarily protect against drawing hands. Those types of hands are very vulnerable so you need to ensure that villains aren't getting the pot odds to draw out on you. It's always better to take down the pot with those sort of hands ASAP because your chances of improving further pale into significance compared to drawing hands. I would normally bet 50-60% of the pot if I was fairly certain that someone may have picked up a draw. I'm not suggesting you change what you're doing but I thought you should be aware of the potential pitfalls.

But hey, why change. You are crushing them ATM, so I really don't think you have to change anything. So impressed again watching (even slightly scared about playing against you :f_biggrin:) that session. You looked like the most accomplished and most experienced player at every table you were at.

No real goals for poker apart from playing live tourneys (I want to play at the Aussie Millions, but probably not the main event). I play for the mental challenge and the "enjoyment" lol. I didn't enjoy playing 5 .50 centers.

JJ lost when 4 hearts came, AJ lost to AT, AK lost to K9 yet again. I'm just so tempted to start shoving K9 as if they were AA

But todays a brand new day and maybe the start of an upswing which is well overdue.

If we end up on the same table be kind and don't steal too many of my blinds ♦

thanks for that advice about my leak it helped me out a couple of times today

I had a great session this morning but i started this afternoon, got a few bad beats and got a few suckouts and a few silly mistakes and suddenly i'm tilting and signing up for more tables haha ! I think i'll call it a day after these last two games . I've had a few goes on the $1 games aswell and i don't think they are much different however i'll stick to the 0.25 and 0.50s for now

I think your bad luck has rubbed off on me it was a shame we didn't meet at a final table! have you found the upswing yet?

I think i'm going to play again in an hour or two and see how it goes

Yes, a lot of players make the mistake of checking or betting min bet with their TPTK type hands when flop delivers 2 straight and/or 2 flush cards which of course is the exact opposite of what they should be doing. You must ensure they don't get the 2/1 post flop or the 4/1 post turn to draw out. As long as you do that this play will always be +EV.

You sure had a red hot start to the day. Even one of my house mates has taken to watching you play on his computer. I'm a bit jealous because he prefers to watch you play rather than me :O.

I played 6 * .50c for a 6th and 7th and 6* .25c for a 3rd, so only a small loss.

Interesting we never made the same final table. I made a quarter of final tables and I think you were almost half, but never the twain meet. Things have been running a bit better for me and I certainly hope you don't catch my downswing. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

We have our own home game club on pokerstars which you and any other PokerStrategy members are welcome to join. We don't have many members and a lot of them got fed up with other people not being available. I would really like to get that going again if we can get enough members.

If you want to join, the details are:

Club ID: 115190
Password: springfield17

Go to Home Games / Join Poker Club and enter above details. If we get enough interest I will schedule some regular tourneys as well as set some up as per member's request. So come one, come all.

All PokerStrategy members are welcome to join.

thanks for that advice, i'll start doing that more often. I need to try and focus a bit more on what odds i'm offering and getting and also stop making stupid bets of 1/6 of the pot when i'm unsure of what to do, even though fish seem to fold to them when it's completely impossible to.

lol does he not play?. I had a nice morning Saturday and then a bad afternoon but i managed a great Sunday, playing about 28 44mans and getting my bankroll up to $49 in total, from the $10 a couple of weeks ago.

I'll definitely check out your home game club. Let me know if you get a few members and i'll play some.

I'm not going to get much poker played this week i've been out at the football tonight ( Manchester United) and i've got family staying this week so i'll ry and get a night or two of poker if possible and then hammer it over the weekend if i haven't forgotten how to play by then :P.

I think my poker tracker trial runs out next weekend so i'll have to see if I'm any good with no HUD at all

A lot of people will use that really small bet to try and trap with monsters, (flopped quads, full houses, sets and straights in particular). The reason for this is to keep as many people in the pot as possible and possibly goad some one in later position to run a squeeze play. If someone does that to you on a wet board then they've probably flopped the nuts. Remember in poker "weak is strong" and "strong is weak".

I share a house with 3 other guys of which 2 play regularly, so sometimes there will be three of us sitting around our loungeroom playing at the same time.

I ended up giving up on saturday after I lost 8 consecutive hands over 6 games involving AK. four hands I had it against smaller pocket pairs and missed improving and four hands where I had smaller pocket pairs against AK and they hit the flop 3 times and the river once. I think I had the smallest upswing in the history of poker lol.

PokerStars - $0.23+$0.02|100/200 Ante 25 NL - Holdem - 7 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 23.45 BB
BTN: 11.57 BB
SB: 40.9 BB
BB: 76.24 BB
UTG: 14.55 BB
UTG+1: 18.45 BB
Hero (MP): 22.65 BB

7 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.37 BB) Hero has A♠ A♣

fold, fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, CO raises to 23.32 BB and is all-in, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 20.53 BB and is all-in

Flop: (47.43 BB, 2 players) K♣ 4♥ T♦

Turn: (47.43 BB, 2 players) 9♣

River: (47.43 BB, 2 players) 4♣

Hero shows A♠ A♣ (Two Pair, Aces and Fours) (Pre 81%, Flop 10%, Turn 5%)
CO shows K♥ K♦ (Full House, Kings full of Fours) (Pre 19%, Flop 90%, Turn 95%)
CO wins 47.43 BB

Poker is fun! I min raised with AA because i expected some action behind me as they were pretty active.

PokerStars - $0.23+$0.02|150/300 Ante 25 NL - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 2.35 BB
BTN: 15.18 BB
SB: 2.28 BB
Hero (BB): 40.31 BB
UTG: 15.67 BB
MP: 3.52 BB

6 players post ante of 0.08 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2 BB) Hero has A♣ A♠

fold, MP raises to 3.43 BB and is all-in, fold, BTN raises to 5.87 BB, SB calls 1.7 BB and is all-in, Hero raises to 10 BB, BTN raises to 14.13 BB, Hero calls 4.13 BB

Flop: (34.4 BB, 4 players) 6♦ 8♥ 2♣
Hero bets 1 BB, BTN calls 0.96 BB and is all-in

Turn: (36.32 BB, 4 players) 3♦

River: (36.32 BB, 4 players) J♠

Hero shows A♣ A♠ (One Pair, Aces) (Pre 51%, Flop 55%, Turn 68%)
BTN shows J♥ A♥ (One Pair, Jacks) (Pre 14%, Flop 6%, Turn 0%)
MP shows 7♣ 5♣ (High Card, Jack) (Pre 20%, Flop 38%, Turn 20%)
SB shows K♠ 3♠ (One Pair, Threes) (Pre 15%, Flop 2%, Turn 13%)
Hero wins 36.32 BB

this helps

So really i shouldn't do silly small bets when i have nothing, just check mostly or bet if i don't think anyone hit the board?
ah cool, sounds pretty good, so you all learn off each other?.

lol your probably due an upswing then :). I managed 6 games today, went out unluckily in a few and managed to win one so +$1.33 so can't complain. I'll try and play another 6 tommorow night and then loads at the weekend.

Do you think it's worth entering tournaments such as the hot $0.55 ? and just playing them the way i play these 44 mans ?

Say you have KQo against 2 villains and the flop comes 39T with 2 diamonds. Both villains check. You think, well I have 2 overcards and a gutshot, not a great hand but if I bet minimum maybe everyone will fold. So you bet 80 into a 600 pot. Villain 1 calls (he has QJo). Villain 2 raises 400. What do you do?. You fold. Villains can run this play on you with any 2 cards and pick up free chips. If you are betting into the pot with a weak hand you must show a certain amount of strength to at least get weaker hands to fold, and maybe even some stronger hands. The only time I ever consider small bets is if I've flopped a monster on the button.

So I'm not saying don't do it. Just be wary that a certain amount of the time that weak bet will be bluffed raised because of the value already in the pot. But you need to catch some of these bluffs or rebluff if you really think he's bullshitting otherwise you'll be easily exploited by good regs.

Yes I saw your AA get cracked by KK in one.

Definitely play the hot $0.55c. Just avoid the donks in the first couple of levels. Don't overdo preflop steals until the antes start. As a matter of fact just play nitty until the antes start and then revert to your normal style.

That makes sense I tried to be a bit stronger on the flop today in similar situations but i wasn't really focusing properly on my poker, in fact i was doing other things. However i did reasonably alright, I managed 9,9,8 and 7th including some bad beats. I'll try and focus more tommorow night and play better.

I'm going to try and play a couple of those 0.50 tournaments each week and see how they go, but mainly focus on the 44mans

I got 2nd and 3rd out of 4*25c and blanked 2*50c so I almost doubled my outlay (WARNING : Upswing alert?, I hope).

I'm going to post a hand from my 2nd place. This was a key hand in allowing me to get a stack and also a lesson in how to deal with big stack bullies. This guy had been raising almost every hand and forcing everyone to fold. I hadn't seen a flop in ages and was just waiting for an opportunity to make him pay. Finally I got a hand so I decided to limp and set him up for a check/raise and it worked beautifully.

Poker Stars $0.23+$0.02 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t75/t150 Blinds - 7 players - View hand 2112748
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: t4870 32.47 BBs
SB: t2425 16.17 BBs
BB: t5784 38.56 BBs
UTG: t3415 22.77 BBs
UTG+1: t7389 49.26 BBs
MP: t1380 9.20 BBs
Hero (CO): t3795 25.30 BBs

Pre Flop: (t225) Hero is CO with 9 9
3 folds, Hero calls t150, 2 folds, BB raises to t300, Hero raises to t3795 all in, BB calls t3495

Flop: (t7665) 5 7 2 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Turn: (t7665) Q (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: (t7665) J (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t7665
BB shows 9 A (high card Ace)
Hero shows 9 9 (a pair of Nines)
Hero wins t7665

Shortly after he was gone and I was able to take control of the table.

And what the hell was this guy thinking off.

Poker Stars $0.23+$0.02 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 7 players - View hand 2112752
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BB: t4400 146.67 BBs
UTG: t870 29 BBs
UTG+1: t2330 77.67 BBs
MP: t1195 39.83 BBs
CO: t1725 57.50 BBs
BTN: t1455 48.50 BBs
Hero (SB): t2555 85.17 BBs

Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is SB with A T
2 folds, MP calls t30, CO calls t30, 1 fold, Hero calls t15, BB checks

Flop: (t120) T 7 5 (4 players)
Hero bets t60, BB folds, MP raises to t210, CO folds, Hero calls t150

Turn: (t540) A (2 players)
Hero checks, MP checks

River: (t540) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets t300, MP raises to t660, Hero raises to t1020, MP calls t295 all in

Final Pot: t2450
MP shows 2 2 (a pair of Deuces)
Hero shows A T (two pair, Aces and Tens)
Hero wins t2450

Thanks for the free chips.

I played a few nights this week and didn't do very well, mostly because i was busy working and doing other things, so pretty tired. I played this morning and made over $3 profit, including a 2nd in a 90 man sng. However I just played again and now i'm probably closer to break even or just above $0 for the day. It's a hard game and i have so much to learn. My poker tracker trial runs out tommorow and i'll have to decide if i want to buy one or see how it goes for a few weeks without one. I tried a 0.50 and 0.10 tournament this morning and didn't really get a good run going, but never felt uncomfortable.

I've got so much to learn, I need to spend some time looking back over my play and see where i'm making silly mistakes and also reading the hand histories I have posted here

Hows your week been Lazza?

It's so hard to maintain focus and concentration when you're either tired or distracted. You start too make silly mistakes and play hands you normally wouldn't.

I watched a few of your games. Seen your pocket aces cracked, bur also seen you win 3 huge pots with KK in quick succession.

90 and 180 manners are super nitty. A lot of multitablers playing small or mid stack strategy so generally it's hard to play a decent pot without being up against a really strong hand.

I like to do session reviews directly before my next session so it's fresh in my mind.

Don't be discouraged by the learning process. There is no right or wrong way to play holdem. Maniacs, LAGs, TAGs, Rocks.... doesn't matter what style you play, there are winners amongst all of them. A lot comes down to just good judgement and knowing the style your opponents play. For instance you are raised by a 10/6 VPIP/PFR, get the hell out of there, he's got AA, KK, AK. However when you get raised by a 35/20 player it's not necessarily a snap-fold, especially if you have position.

You are now set up as a TAG which is the highest percentage of winners in poker. Most of your further improvement will come from your judgement and your read of other players and their playing style. As a matter of fact, the only players you should fear are other TAGs. You steal through Rocks relentlessly and float LAGs and Maniacs in position.

My week's been a bit ho hum. A couple of 2nds and a 3rd in holdem 45 manners, but a 2nd in a $1 NL Omaha H/L 45 manner for $8.80 ensured I ended up in profit.

Yeh it really is difficult. I decided today that I would try playing without a Hud as my trial ran out, I was running good but i missed having the stats to look at so I got HEM2 small stakes edition. I decided to play 8 tables and i didn't feel too uncomfortable doing this. I was running good and had some nice stacks on a good few tables. But things didn't end up going as planned and i'm down a couple of $ for the day. I really do think I'm making some good plays and pushing in the right places but they just aren't holding up.

Yeh, I love rocks but I hate players who are very aggressive unless i'm holding a big hand and then it's nice.

Nice one, my weeks been pretty unprofitable but overall i'm probably only $3 -$4 down for the week.

Check these out

[converted_hand][hand_history]Poker Stars, $0.23 Buy-in (300/600 blinds, 50 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

MP2: 8,486 (14.1 bb)
MP3: 7,050 (11.8 bb)
CO: 9,908 (16.5 bb)
BTN: 5,325 (8.9 bb)
SB: 16,228 (27 bb)
BB: 8,910 (14.9 bb)
UTG+1: 4,412 (7.4 bb)
Hero (UTG+2): 3,287 (5.5 bb)
MP1: 3,894 (6.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+2 with T♥ J♥
UTG+1 folds, Hero raises to 3,237 and is all-in, 3 folds, CO calls 3,237, 3 folds

Flop: (7,824) Q♦ 2♣ 4♠ (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Turn: (7,824) J♠ (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: (7,824) K♣ (2 players, 1 is all-in)

[/hand_history][/converted_hand]

[converted_hand][hand_history]Poker Stars, $0.23 Buy-in (200/400 blinds, 25 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

SB: 5,714 (14.3 bb)
Hero (BB): 4,240 (10.6 bb)
UTG: 6,698 (16.7 bb)
MP: 3,705 (9.3 bb)
CO: 6,945 (17.4 bb)
BTN: 3,818 (9.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J♠ J♣
3 folds, BTN raises to 3,793 and is all-in, SB raises to 5,689 and is all-in, Hero calls 3,815 and is all-in

Flop: (12,373) J♥ 6♣ 8♣ (3 players, 3 are all-in)
Turn: (12,373) 9♠ (3 players, 3 are all-in)
River: (12,373) 5♣ (3 players, 3 are all-in)

[/hand_history][/converted_hand]

[converted_hand][hand_history]Poker Stars, $0.23 Buy-in (150/300 blinds, 25 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

MP2: 9,645 (32.2 bb)
MP3: 8,202 (27.3 bb)
CO: 7,875 (26.3 bb)
BTN: 16,709 (55.7 bb)
SB: 5,020 (16.7 bb)
BB: 10,047 (33.5 bb)
Hero (UTG+1): 5,345 (17.8 bb)
UTG+2: 2,525 (8.4 bb)
MP1: 2,132 (7.1 bb)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with K♦ K♠
Hero raises to 900, UTG+2 raises to 2,500 and is all-in, 4 folds, BTN calls 2,500, SB raises to 4,995 and is all-in, BB folds, Hero raises to 5,320 and is all-in, BTN calls 2,820

Flop: (18,660) 4♥ Q♥ Q♣ (4 players, 3 are all-in)
Turn: (18,660) T♦ (4 players, 3 are all-in)
River: (18,660) 9♥ (4 players, 3 are all-in)

[/hand_history][/converted_hand]

and my AA got beat in a big pot too. Oh well. I'll keep studying and see if i can make this week a better one I'm going to try and play one session per night with 9 Games at a time that way I should get a nice amount of volume in per week, hopefully 100+ games this week, including next weekend.

I'm going to join another poker room so i can use the code and get to Bronze on here. I'm going to learn how to use HEM2 properly and set it up how i want it. I'm going to try and figure out how best to look over my tournaments and see where i went wrong aswell. I need to make sure i spend at least 30 mins a day studying poker / looking over my hands.

Played 9 games at the same time tonight. Ended up with a 3rd and a 7th, burst right on the bubble in some aswell. $-0.19 for today, not great but better than the last few sessions Got to keep studying. Not really sure what stats / types of hands i should be looking at when i look at my hand histories in hem2 ?

Another tough day today, down roughly -$1 for my 6 games tonight. I feel pretty lost in terms of where my poker is going. I've been watching lots of videos, posting hands for evaluation and looking back over my hands on HEM2, but i still really don't know what i'm doing at the moment.

Set yourself long and short term goals e.g

I will not move up limits until BR reaches $x

I will reach $x by x date

I will study x amount of time per day/week

I will do $50 quiz (if not done yet) and join another poker room to achieve higher status and unlock more content

I will actively participate in hand evaluation forums

I will learn to setup and use HEM2 to my advantage

One of the best ways I found is to look up your starting hands and see which ones are costing chips or BB/100 hands. I found hands like AJ to be real lemons for me