Crushing MTT's and SNG's (180man+)

I'm thinking of starting a motivational blog to motivate me to post in my motivational blog.

Probably a weekly blog + will be more realistic

Though staked for NL25, I started off playing NL10 6max - mostly because I'm money scared with my current roll. I figure I'm more comfortable with 50 buyins at least.

So last week played 28000 hands. Averaging 4-6k hands per day and now up to 10 tables comfortably, but losing reads. Still my winrate has improved, mostly because I'm being tighter.

I did some leak finding after the first 10k or so and found I was losing way too much money in the blinds. I tightened up a lot from SB and it's helped quite a bit. I'm also shying away from any kind of pure bluffs unless my hand read is confident and I think the player might fold.. sometimes they still don't. NL10...

My goal is to play 7-8k hands per day, 12 tabling - which is about 6 hours/3 sessions, for 24 days a month, until I reach the next limit.

After 28k hands at NL10 I'm running about 7bb/100 and still making stupid mistakes, so I'm optimistic about improving the WR. Still 7bb is much better than nothing.

This week I hope to reach my volume goal while playing A game as much as possible, and still taking notes on players. I hope to improve my reads more with the multitabling and also practice relaxation and meditation while playing (I find it makes a big difference)

Monitor my breathing, make sure I've eaten something before I start playing. Early sessions are not nearly as good as later ones.

So I'm staked comfortably for NL16, but it's a weird number. I don't know if I should do it or wait for another week or so (hopefully) to go straight to NL25.. a big jump up, but I'll be happy to be able to use a little more skill with thinking players, than non thinking ones.

Also my table selection sucks. I used easy seat, sometimes it was great, and sometimes impossible seating. I find sitting to the right of an aggressive player a challenge and I get a lot of satisfaction from stacking them with their own aggression, still I should be more prudent about table selection when possible. leave the ego at the lobby.

for those that miss my I Ching. My last throw was hexagram 50 - the cauldron. the judgement was 'supreme good fortune' - and so far so good..at least pokerwise. The lesson from the hexagram was to 'make your position correct' - so I took the advice tightened up on the blinds and made sure to play in position as much as possible. It also talked about wood under fire (the two trigrams) meaning that my position is correct to value bet, not bluff - and when bet at by fish, try to think what the wood is that is burning their fire too! I Ching is so applicable to poker, and why not - the outcome is also a pseudo-random event, of which we can not seperate ourselves. Enough philosophy and back to the tables. Good fortune reader.

Can you believe this hand? NL10, almost 500BB pot!

I had to call for set mine thinking at least one more fish would come along.. then everything goes nuts.

Poker Stars $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players -

MP: $10.00
CO: $12.90
BTN: $4.39
SB: $32.52
BB: $6.64
Hero (UTG): $13.74

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is UTG with 7 7
Hero raises to $0.30, MP calls $0.30, CO calls $0.30, BTN calls $0.30, 1 fold, BB raises to $1.30, Hero calls $1, MP calls $1, CO calls $1, BTN calls $1

Flop: ($6.55) J 7 4 (5 players)
BB bets $0.60, Hero raises to $2.30, MP raises to $4, CO raises to $11.60 all in, BTN calls $3.09 all in, BB calls $4.74 all in, Hero raises to $12.44 all in, MP calls $4.70 all in

Turn: ($46.88) 2 (5 players - 5 are all in)

River: ($46.88) 5 (5 players - 5 are all in)

Final Pot: $46.88

was overall a very good week. I'm encouraged enough to move to NL16 rolled more comfortably than NL25. If I continue a few more days I should be ok to take a 10BI shot at NL25.

I'm grinding 7k hands a day, but I'd like to do more. I can handle 9 tabling with a few more reads, 10 tabling has it's moments. I think I can up it to 12 eventually. That will at least cut down my hours.

I've logged only 30k hands this month, and need to play more tables to reach target for my goal of 200k hand/month. 150k is probably more realistic.

My winrate is climbing, at about 8bb/100 but I've recently had and recovered a 10BI downswing. Was a good day actually going down almost 10 BI and then coming back to be in the plus for the day after a long grind. If I can keep it up, I'm sure to improve from the volume and I can make it to NL25 grinding - 200k hands / month would do me fine.

NL16 after hours on stars is much like NL10, but even more action. This will mean higher rake overall and more pots played. I'm facing more 3bets, but I'm learning how to manage wide 3bet ranges better. Watching Pleno1's coachings are also a big help. My 3bet stat is up closer to 10, and rising.

Hoping

hey gavinonymous

Belated welcome to our blogging section. I prefer cash games for the same reasons that you've outlined above. Have you played any fast fold poker? it's quite good for achieving your volume goals. That 77s hand is a massive hand, hard luck.

Anyway all the best for your goals

Regards,
Luke

Originally posted by legand73
hey gavinonymous

Belated welcome to our blogging section. I prefer cash games for the same reasons that you've outlined above. Have you played any fast fold poker? it's quite good for achieving your volume goals. That 77s hand is a massive hand, hard luck.

Anyway all the best for your goals

Regards,
Luke

Hi thanks legand73. not my first blog, but this time around I decided to get a fresh start on it.

the 77 hand.. typical. the ones that get me is villain shoves all in on turn, I have the top pair, and he rivers a set. that kills me.

speaking of bad runs, I seem to be stepping in a lot of setups, and went 7 BI under EV not winning a flip. When I have TT, AK wins. When I get AK, TT wins.. etc.

Still I'm encouraged I managed to only tilt slightly, and one or two stacks, then came back to crush the tables again. mercilessly.

Playing micros is a such a mindfuck - you want to raise and bluff them off hands, but they won't fold, so you are stuck letting them catch up, and getting more bad beats and more tilted.

I experimented with improving redline and actually played a session where all the winnings came from red line (about 8bb/100) which was great, but eventually people adjust, or the fish don't fold bottom pair when they should, so back to the value lines. I would roll myself for NL100 if I could, but I think it's best to move up limits naturally.

I had a decent shot at NL25 and won a couple of buyins, but then started playing zoom, and lost about 10 BI in short order. I don't like zoom so much because it's hard to gauge how much I'm winning or losing. I can have 3 stacks on 3 tables, but still be down 4 stacks overall and not know. I think the tilt likelihood on zoom is more, and I'm more comfortable with 9 multitabling than 3 tables zooming.

Poker Stars, $0.08/$0.16 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

vs aggro fish:

UTG: $30.10 (188.1 bb)
MP: $20.25 (126.6 bb)
CO: $19.16 (119.8 bb)
BTN: $1.47 (9.2 bb)
SB: $7.28 (45.5 bb)
Hero (BB): $16.30 (101.9 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A T
UTG folds, MP raises to $0.48, 3 folds, Hero raises to $1.60, MP calls $1.12

Flop: ($3.28) T J 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP checks

Turn: ($3.28) T (2 players)
Hero bets $1.92, MP calls $1.92

River: ($7.12) 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $4.16, MP raises to $16.73 and is all-in, Hero calls $8.62

Results:

no money in poker.. this is what happens when I'm tilted already:

Poker Stars, $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

vs somewhat tighter passive fish.

BTN: $10.67 (106.7 bb)
SB: $19.25 (192.5 bb)
Hero (BB): $9.95 (99.5 bb)
UTG: $9.07 (90.7 bb)
MP: $6.10 (61 bb)
CO: $3.54 (35.4 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 2 6
UTG calls $0.10, 2 folds, BTN calls $0.10, SB folds, Hero checks

Flop: ($0.35) T 6 6 (3 players)
Hero bets $0.13, UTG raises to $0.26, BTN calls $0.26, Hero raises to $1.50, UTG calls $1.24, BTN folds

Turn: ($3.61) A (2 players)
Hero bets $2.76, UTG calls $2.76

River: ($9.13) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $4.71 and is all-in, Hero calls $4.71

Results:

Crazy week.. Went on a almost 20BI downswing and almost lost faith in my game, but my EV line was going up and I was 10BI below EV at one point.

Today was a monumental day for my poker game. Psychology wise it was exceptional.

First goal achieved, play 12 tables at once comfortably with some reads.
Next goal - play 10k hands in one day
Next goal - get tilted, play through it and come out on top.

Here's what it looked like, and I don't like to post graphs so much, but this is one to remember.

Started off crushing, and then every fish hit every river.. added to the fact I can't fold a decent hand when shoved on (somehow everyone else seems to?)

I've given up the polarizing shove and going for reasonable bets, and even induce bluffs.

I've cut down on 3betting a lot and happy to play post flop with the fish and the regs. I folded great hands a few times, even folded a boat on the turn.. villain had turned quads!

10k hands, you get quads a few times, I'm learning how to maximize the return, without scaring off anyone.. it's still hard for me to check back quads on the turn...

Anyway, will post some hands shortly, long day and I deserve a sleep!

Good fortune reader.

I have been tilting a bit. Playing like a fish, I think partly due to losing and swinginess, suckouts and else making me play fishy.

The antidote.. move down a limit and work on my game. I just finished one of the best sessions I've ever played.- not even my A+ game .. yet. Again, I'd rather not post graphs, but it's another milestone for me. Playing through tilt, analyzing my mistakes and improving. A good starting point to move back up the stakes.

This is my aggressive game. Much better than Mr. Tiltfish. About 50bb/100 at NL5, 9-tabling.

Lesson learned. Stay aggressive, hand read, and fold when you are beat. Bluff catching is working out well, as are big value bets. Had a lot of fun today, biggest hand was 500bb and won many hands I shouldn't have.. hoping I can continue in this groove.

Poker Stars, $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

SB: $2 (40 bb)
Hero (BB): $8.93 (178.6 bb)
UTG: $10.10 (202 bb)
MP: $5.40 (108 bb)
CO: $7.55 (151 bb)
BTN: $5 (100 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J Q
2 folds, CO raises to $0.10, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.05

Flop: ($0.22) J 5 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.14, CO calls $0.14

Turn: ($0.50) J (2 players)
Hero bets $0.35, CO calls $0.35

River: ($1.20) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $8.34 and is all-in, CO calls $6.96 and is all-in

Results:

the next one was the most satisfying after being confounded by a maniac to my left.. I finally got him all in and me with the nuts ofc.

Poker Stars, $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

MP: $7.25 (145 bb)
CO: $1.13 (22.6 bb)
BTN: $4 (80 bb)
SB: $6.87 (137.4 bb)
BB: $2.43 (48.6 bb)
Hero (UTG): $12.61 (252.2 bb)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A Q
Hero raises to $0.15, MP calls $0.15, 4 folds

Flop: ($0.37) J K 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.25, MP raises to $1.25, Hero calls $1

Turn: ($2.87) T (2 players)
Hero checks, MP checks

River: ($2.87) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $11.21, MP calls $5.85 and is all-in

Results:

I had two hands where I flopped a straight draw with my pp and it improved to straight. Lots of fun.

Poker Stars, $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 5 Players

BTN: $1 (20 bb)
Hero (SB): $4.95 (99 bb)
BB: $5.13 (102.6 bb)
MP: $14.35 (287 bb)
CO: $1.58 (31.6 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7 7
MP raises to $0.15, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.13, BB calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.45) 6 8 5 (3 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $0.20, MP calls $0.20, Hero calls $0.20

Turn: ($1.05) Q (3 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $0.65, MP calls $0.65, Hero calls $0.65

River: ($3) 4 (3 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $1.85, MP folds, Hero raises to $3.95 and is all-in, BB calls $2.10

Results:

Going to end on an upnote, sometimes I'm chasing my winnings. Not tonight. Good fortune and thanks for reading! Comments advices and suggestions welcome.

Eat salmon and brocolli before session, meditate, positive thinking = rungood

Position and initiative = profit.

I ran at 50bb/100 again today for a 3 hour session 9 tabling. This time back at NL10... I'm rolled nicely for NL16, but going to solidify my improved game first. I'm overrolled, but the time spent at NL5 makes it seem like more money, and I'm not being as frivolous with my buyins... gambling with shortstacks less and more folds..

Some really fun hands, especially when calling 3bets. People really 3bet a lot on NL10, more than you'd think. I tend to 4bet or call depending on how I feel. I haven't folded too many 3bets in position at all. I'm also floating 3bet pots and driving the regs nuts.

After about 20 hands on one table, I'd 3bet the reg (we had several hundred hands on eachother) so many times, he 4bet me CO vs my BU with KTo and I shoved it in with KK. Glorious.

I'm handling crazy suckouts better, and realizing I'm getting some luck too, busting AA with QQ AI pf recentlly, hitting 2 pairs on flop vs AA who 3bet me, or hitting a boat on the river and minbet shoving a loose agressive fish... ok it was a misclick but he had KK and came over my misclick, so I shoved.. he called and wish I could have seen his face.

Poker Stars, $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 5 Players

CO: $10.61 (106.1 bb)
Hero (BTN): $14.30 (143 bb)
SB: $11.34 (113.4 bb)
BB: $11.40 (114 bb)
MP: $16.38 (163.8 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with Q T
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.30, SB folds, BB raises to $0.50, Hero calls $0.20

Flop: ($1.05) T T 9 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.70, BB calls $0.70

Turn: ($2.45) 8 (2 players)
BB bets $2, Hero calls $2

River: ($6.45) Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.10, BB raises to $1.20, Hero raises to $11.10 and is all-in, BB calls $7.00 and is all-in

Results:

A stellar day at stars. I'm enjoying poker a lot more lately.

Had a nice weekend. Not enough poker, but enough to have shaken off almost all the tilt, and recover all the losses.

I played only 10k hands all weekend, but also played in 2 micromillions events, and mincashed (unluckily) in the $1 rebuy.. there were 185000 rebuys total! Unreal.

I've been spending a lot of time recording and playing music with my band Chugbucket.

We're an all acoustic hillbilly band, with a banjo, 2 guitars, a gutbucket (look it up) a spoon player, and two female backup singers.

We've got a really nice sound, and it's very unique. Our styles range, and pretty much any song from punk to country blues goes well in this style. I'll be happy to post the album when we're done.. So far we have 14 songs recorded, needing to be remixed and mastered.

I'd be happy to send/post some if there's an easy way to do it. Maybe I'll make a youtube video with no picture?

The one song I listen to a lot is called 'Pray for Good Luck' Some of the songs are really cool, and I'd never thought I'd be in a band like ths.

-----

I'm rolled again easily for NL16, and even NL25 but I took a shot yesterday and ended up money scared... I also got sucked out on a two outer with a boat after all in on turn, though the next few hands were mostly picking off terrible bluffs. NL25 is much more aggressive, raising cbets and all kinds of 3betting going on . Many of the 3bets are just crap, but I'm money scared to 4bet/call and just fold mostly oop. IP is another story, I'm getting better at floating, or raising flops depending on the texture and my range on the 3bettor.

I think I'm going to spend some time at NL16 and see how it goes. Warm up with NL10 first. My goal is to have a high volume week, and possibly 50k hands. I'm also doing well with my goal to fold rivers when beat, but sometimes that river is so surprising...especially when you expect villain to bluff a missed draw but he picks up another hand instead.

Posting more hands and seeing that I've some leaks still, but it's not too bad. Running at 15-20bb/100 over the weekend helps, also recovering some major swings (10BI up and down) The rake at NL10 is very high, so I'm encouraged my winrate would be even higher. At least with high rake I'm able to score more in return. I'm trying to play a lower variance game than usual and see how that goes.

See you soon, and pray for a little good luck! (pray that I will not get ______ )

Nice blog, the problem with going up is that people get money scared like you have shown. In my attempt of moving up people played a lot more aggressively and it was hard to get reads on people, and it costed a lot of $$ to call just to obtain more information about my opponents.

Good luck on your next shot to NL25, take your time in the lower limits until you are confident that you can do good in NL25.

Sick day yesterday. 8BI under EV, luckily only at NL10. Very swingy day, and I tilted like a fish.. I regained my game towards the end of the session, but was tired, and this hand almost did me in.

Poker Stars, $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

CO: $10.15 (101.5 bb)
BTN: $9.35 (93.5 bb)
Hero (SB): $9.75 (97.5 bb)
BB: $10 (100 bb)
UTG: $10.81 (108.1 bb)
MP: $5.42 (54.2 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with T J
UTG folds, MP raises to $0.30, CO folds, BTN calls $0.30, Hero calls $0.25, BB calls $0.20

Flop: ($1.20) T 8 9 (4 players)
Hero bets $0.80, BB calls $0.80, MP folds, BTN raises to $2, Hero raises to $9.45 and is all-in, BB raises to $9.70 and is all-in, BTN calls $7.05 and is all-in

Turn: ($29.15) 3 (3 players, 3 are all-in)
River: ($29.15) J (3 players, 3 are all-in)

Results:

'I had to do it' says the guy who called with the gutshot!

Also this happens within a few hands on the same table..

Poker Stars, $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

CO: $9.50 (95 bb)
BTN: $10.27 (102.7 bb)
SB: $4 (40 bb)
Hero (BB): $9.95 (99.5 bb)
UTG: $29.13 (291.3 bb)
MP: $9.85 (98.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q K
UTG folds, MP raises to $0.35, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.25

Flop: ($0.75) J 6 T (2 players)
Hero bets $0.60, MP calls $0.60

Turn: ($1.95) A (2 players)
Hero checks, MP checks

River: ($1.95) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.30, MP folds

Results:

Misplayed that, should have checked the river too since my c/r attempt on turn failed (thought villain was trying to float me and would rep turned flush)

5 minutes later on the same table:

Poker Stars, $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

BTN: $10.30 (103 bb)
SB: $10.42 (104.2 bb)
BB: $4.28 (42.8 bb)
Hero (UTG): $10.66 (106.6 bb)
MP: $28.68 (286.8 bb)
CO: $9.80 (98 bb)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K J
Hero raises to $0.30, 2 folds, BTN calls $0.30, 2 folds

Flop: ($0.75) Q T A (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($0.75) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.50, BTN folds

Results:

Villain wants nothing to do with that flop.

WOW ♦

Two royal flushes in a same session, @ the same table, to bad you didn't get any action on either.

I think I had like 3 or 4 RF on a 120K hand sample

Today I'm finding my balls. At NL10 that's dangerous people don't like to fold, but sure do they think they can push you around.

Poker Stars, $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

Hero (BTN): $23.09 (230.9 bb)
SB: $10 (100 bb)
BB: $35.86 (358.6 bb)
UTG: $11.62 (116.2 bb)
MP: $13.30 (133 bb)
CO: $10.89 (108.9 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with A 7
UTG folds, MP raises to $0.30, CO folds, Hero calls $0.30, 2 folds

Flop: ($0.75) 8 T 2 (2 players)
MP bets $0.50, Hero raises to $1.40, MP raises to $2.30, Hero calls $0.90

Turn: ($5.35) J (2 players)
MP bets $2.50, Hero raises to $9.90, MP folds

Results:

Bluff of the day?

And made back a lot of EV from last night, winning QQ>AA and this hand, I think my biggest +EV gain in bb ever.

Poker Stars, $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

MP: $10.30 (103 bb)
CO: $10 (100 bb)
BTN: $9.61 (96.1 bb)
SB: $5.67 (56.7 bb)
Hero (BB): $9.85 (98.5 bb)
UTG: $10.17 (101.7 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A A
UTG raises to $0.30, MP calls $0.30, CO folds, BTN calls $0.30, SB folds, Hero raises to $1.80, UTG calls $1.50, MP calls $1.50, BTN folds

Flop: ($5.75) 6 6 T (3 players)
Hero bets $3.40, UTG raises to $8.37 and is all-in, MP raises to $8.50 and is all-in, Hero calls $4.65

Turn: ($30.54) A (3 players, 2 are all-in)
River: ($30.54) 2 (3 players, 2 are all-in)

Results:

I figure after I cbet, I'm committed. I think many worse hands can call, and sure no 6 will fold, but I didn't worry about that slim possibility.

My game is going well, still calling fish on unbelievably lucky rivers when draws miss. I'm not sure how to fix that leak.. maybe never call fish on the river at all without the stone nuts?

Desiring a break from cash and watching some Colin Moshman coachings inspired me to take my improved postflop game to the 180mans... Not a great start, but not bad either, considering I'm well well below EV in flips - agonizingly so.. still I lucked up to here.

Poker Stars, $2.28 Buy-in (1,500/3,000 blinds, 300 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 2 Players

Hero (SB): 104,498 (34.8 bb)
BB: 165,502 (55.2 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K A
Hero completes, BB raises to 69,000, Hero raises to 104,198 and is all-in, BB calls 35,198

Flop: (208,996) A 5 8 (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Turn: (208,996) 7 (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: (208,996) 3 (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results:

It's going alright, remembering Nash ranges and adjusting to different players is still a challenge, especially as there is a huge variety of playing styles on the 180 $2.50's.

Will play a few more sets, and some zoom on the side is going nicely too. I'm itching to move up stakes, but my conservative BRM won't allow yet.

So I reshove AQo on the BU and I'm ahead of his range, but not the top of his range... the Russian at the table (who I've been swearing at in Russian) is a real maniac, reshoving, calling anything, just playing insanely and running over the table.

He says some things in Russian I don't understand so I tell him 'ne ponimayo po russki' which probably steamed him. He had told me earlier 'I don't understand english'

Poker Stars $2.28+$0.22 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t100/t200 Blinds - 8 players

Maniac: t5936 29.68 BBs
MP1: t1250 6.25 BBs
MP2: t2890 14.45 BBs
Hero (CO): t666 3.33 BBs
BTN: t845 4.22 BBs
SB: t5025 25.12 BBs
BB: t2765 13.82 BBs
UTG: t1890 9.45 BBs

Pre Flop: (t300) Hero is CO with 7 3
1 fold, Hero says "ofc 12 jacks in the deck", UTG+1 says "bye bye", Hero says "naturally", 4 folds, Hero says "i will win", BTN raises to t845 all in, SB calls t745, 1 fold

.. 90 hands later in the same tourney, at the final table...BB is the Russian maniac.

Poker Stars $2.28+$0.22 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t1250/t2500 Blinds + t250 - 8 players

UTG+1: t22784 M = 3.96
MP1: t45540 M = 7.92
MP2: t67953 M = 11.82
CO: t34709 M = 6.04
BTN: t18740 M = 3.26
Hero (SB): t34106 M = 5.93
Maniac: t12792 M = 2.22
UTG: t33376 M = 5.80

Pre Flop: (t5750) Hero is SB with T 7
5 folds, Hero says "love when they try to steal from me", BTN calls t2500, 1 fold, BB raises to t12542 all in, BTN calls t10042

Flop: (t28334) J J J (2 players - 1 is all in)
Hero says "23", Hero says "steal"

Turn: (t28334) 4 (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: (t28334) 7 (2 players - 1 is all in)
Hero says "LOLOL", Hero says "oomg"

Final Pot: t28334
BTN shows A J (four of a kind, Jacks)
BB shows 3 2 (three of a kind, Jacks)
BTN wins t28334

I didn't win, but hung on to 3rd place. Reviewing the game I played almost perfect, but ran into A8o in the BB with my AQo shove all in... flops an 8 ofc.

Crazy swingy tournaments. I'm glad I am well rolled for it, they are very soft, but insanely flukey. All in fests, and every kind of player, from pro to complete newbie.

Love when they try to steal from me. Sometimes I call just for the odds, and depending on flop and opponent shove. Often they call with air when I have something, but sometimes they suck out too.. . not sure how effective this strategy is but when you have to call >1/4 of your stack and get >2:1 odds.. I think reshoving a weak hand like T7o is the worst option. Calling probably second worst, and folding the best. Still I worked it out - who and when.

Poker Stars $2.28+$0.22 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t200/t400 Blinds + t50 - 8 players

MP2: t2685 M = 2.69
CO: t3640 M = 3.64
BTN: t560 M = 0.56
SB: t1560 M = 1.56
Hero (BB): t2930 M = 2.93
UTG: t1890 M = 1.89
UTG+1: t4445 M = 4.45
MP1: t5480 M = 5.48

Pre Flop: (t1000) Hero is BB with T 7
2 folds, UTG+1 says "typical for joker stars though", 2 folds, CO raises to t800, 2 folds, Hero calls t400

Flop: (t2200) J 9 7 (2 players)
SB says "so true", Hero bets t2080 all in, CO calls t2080

Turn: (t6360) J (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: (t6360) 4 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t6360
CO shows T A (a pair of Jacks)
Hero shows T 7 (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
Hero wins t6360

I still wonder why they asked me to be a chat moderator... maybe because I can swear in so many languages?

I'm not totally discouraged with the $2.50 180 mans.. it's good practice, high value and low buyin. I've improved in other MTT's along with it, recently cashed for $65 in micromirrions $2 3xturbo rebuy, only taking one rebuy at the beginning and the addon.

I love tourneys, too bad they take so long, maybe zoom tourneys are running and I don't know about them?

Good fortune reader.

one hand to note. I've been using sng wizard and comparing with Nash ranges. SNG wiz says this is a reshove and Nash says a bit looser. Often it says to push much tighter first in.

I notice that MP1 is waiting for a hand, so I assume he's a bit tighter than Nash shove, even with the short stack. I should tighten my calling range, I think I can call 33, but not 22. Is this nitty? I also think I can give up the marginal call in favor of my big edge against the 'talent' in the field. (talent being sucking out apparently)

Poker Stars $2.28+$0.22 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t125/t250 Blinds + t25 - 9 players

UTG+2: t4196 M = 6.99
MP1: t1075 M = 1.79
MP2: t4489 M = 7.48
CO: t5980 M = 9.97
Hero (BTN): t1382 M = 2.30
SB: t3605 M = 6.01
BB: t5495 M = 9.16
UTG: t2740 M = 4.57
UTG+1: t999 M = 1.67

Pre Flop: (t600) Hero is BTN with 2 2
Hero says "KQ is AA in russian", 1 fold, BB says "hahhah", 2 folds, MP1 raises to t1050 all in, 5 folds

Final Pot: t850
MP1 wins t850

MP1 37.3%, 22+ Ax+ K3s+ K8o+ Q6s+ Q9o+ J7s+ J9o+ T7s+ 97s+ 87s
BU 28.2%, 22+ A2s+ A4o+ K6s+ KTo+ Q8s+ QTo+ J9s+ JTo T9s

Just took another 4th, and narrowly missed cashing in another.. f. the bubble.. I want to win all the monies!

I cut down to 4 tabling and much improved my game. I was missing spots to shove over loose players, but no more. Analyzed my game and only missed one or two bottom of Nash range shoves or calls, and made a few excellent calls. No messing around with resteals and bluffs ATM, why bother? There are so many bad players I feel I don't need to take the risk to improve my edge. Some of the more aggro players can be played back at easily, but it's a crapshoot whether they have it or not. I'm calling and betting out from blinds to minraises when possible, but nothing crazy yet. I've been watching other regs and picking up on how they play against different types of players. I see some super wide shoves and I think this is largely because:

1. players call too tightly (mostly)
2. they use SNG wizard to calculate ranges, which says any two for too many spots that a wide caller can take advantage of. e.g. shoving 85o on the BU into me isn't a good idea.

the neighbourhood cat is coming to visit me often at my new place. I wonder how many homes he has already...I hesitate to feed him, but I did give him some cream. He came over to play today. cute.

Pocket 33's .. close one. Enemy has been overly aggressive at the final table, especially down to 5, 4, and 3 left. When it finally got heads up, I shoved over his first raise on the third hand. It's marginal depending on the range you give him to minraise call or fold, but I thought it was ok given that I didn't see too much edge against him otherwise, and I had the big stack. I can call, but probably have to fold the flop bet that was certainly coming.

Poker Stars, $2.28 Buy-in (2,500/5,000 blinds, 500 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 2 Players

Hero (BB): 156,964 (31.4 bb)
SB: 113,036 (22.6 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3 3
SB raises to 10,000, Hero raises to 156,464 and is all-in, SB calls 102,536 and is all-in

Flop: (226,072) K 8 5 (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Turn: (226,072) Q (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: (226,072) 8 (2 players, 2 are all-in)

Results: 226,072 pot
Final Board: K 8 5 Q 8
Hero showed 3 3 and won 226,072 (113,036 net)
SB showed J A and lost (-113,036 net)

The best outcome. ♠_evil:

Lately I have been playing sets instead of reloading tourneys. It's helping a lot to have only one or two final tables to focus on and less distractions. Start out with 4-6 and one or two will hopefully remain. If not, take a break, review the tourneys, and reload another 4-6.

Last two days at 150% ROI is encouraging. Still getting terrible beats and making a few mistakes. I like the formats so I'm staying at the $180's and possibly move up to higher buy-ins.

biggest pot yet vs unknown on zoom NL10 SH

Poker Stars, $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

BTN: $10 (100 bb)
SB: $14.90 (149 bb)
BB: $10 (100 bb)
Hero (UTG): $23.77 (237.7 bb)
MP: $23.45 (234.5 bb)
CO: $30.42 (304.2 bb)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 7 7
Hero raises to $0.30, MP folds, CO calls $0.30, 3 folds

Flop: ($0.75) 5 9 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.60, CO raises to $2.10, Hero calls $1.50

Turn: ($4.95) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $3.40, Hero calls $3.40

River: ($11.75) K (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $9.80, Hero raises to $17.97 and is all-in, CO calls $8.17

Results:

Usually I don't shove over on the river, but figured he would probably fold his busted draw.

playing some zoom NL5 SH for fun during tourneys. some astonishing play. very optimistic. If I could only play 25k hands/day of NL5 zoom....

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

Known players:
[tg]BU$6.47:///////;SB$5.16:///////;BB$6.83:///////;MP2$3.87:///////;MP3 (Hero)$8.76:///////;CO$2.30:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with K:s, A:s.
MP2 folds, Hero raises to $0.12, 3 folds, BB raises to $0.19, Hero raises to $0.45, BB raises to $0.76, Hero calls $0.26.

Flop: ($1.44) 5:s, 3:d, 3:h (2 players)
BB bets $0.05, Hero raises to $0.95, BB raises to $1.85, Hero calls $0.90.

Turn: ($5.14) T:s (2 players)
BB bets $1.00, Hero calls $1.00.

River: ($7.14) 6:h (2 players)
BB bets $0.05, Hero calls $0.05.

Final Pot: $7.24.
Results follow: