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

If you cud play 25k hands a day of nl5 zoom u'd b a robot haha it only plays like 1-1.2k hands per hour!

Originally posted by Vip3rNZ
If you cud play 25k hands a day of nl5 zoom u'd b a robot haha it only plays like 1-1.2k hands per hour!

8 tabling maybe. 4 each on two sites at once. yeah, I'd be a robot - ten hours a day. I'll stick to 10k/day goal on NL10, the rake is higher anyway than NL5, so more perks in playing so many hands.

Of course I'd rather be playing NL25 but I'm trying to bust all my leaks first, especially the impulsive 'he must be bluffing' call.. which while satisfying when right (for their entire stack) it really sucks when you are wrong - most often.

Lots of 4betting on NL5 zoom.. really. Maybe because my 3bet is very high, so I've started min-5betting. I don't understand why they fold, but so far so good.

This is all from the same session.

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

BTN: $5.12 (102.4 bb)
SB: $5.73 (114.6 bb)
Hero (BB): $11.56 (231.2 bb)
UTG: $3.96 (79.2 bb)
MP: $2.63 (52.6 bb)
CO: $8.05 (161 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A 3
3 folds, BTN raises to $0.17, SB folds, Hero raises to $0.40, BTN raises to $1.26, Hero raises to $2.45, BTN folds

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

BTN: $9.46 (189.2 bb)
SB: $5.38 (107.6 bb)
Hero (BB): $5.88 (117.6 bb)
UTG: $8.38 (167.6 bb)
MP: $6.03 (120.6 bb)
CO: $5 (100 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J J
UTG folds, MP raises to $0.16, CO calls $0.16, 2 folds, Hero raises to $0.50, MP raises to $1.15, CO folds, Hero raises to $2.20, MP folds

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

BTN: $5 (100 bb)
Hero (SB): $14.76 (295.2 bb)
BB: $3.53 (70.6 bb)
UTG: $4.90 (98 bb)
MP: $2.45 (49 bb)
CO: $5.16 (103.2 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8 A
3 folds, BTN raises to $0.15, Hero raises to $0.40, BB folds, BTN raises to $1.05, Hero raises to $2, BTN folds

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

BTN: $9.36 (187.2 bb)
Hero (SB): $12.29 (245.8 bb)
BB: $4.08 (81.6 bb)
UTG: $6.55 (131 bb)
MP: $17.51 (350.2 bb)
CO: $12.44 (248.8 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 3 A
3 folds, BTN raises to $0.15, Hero raises to $0.40, BB raises to $1.20, BTN folds, Hero raises to $2.35, BB folds

I guess I'm readjusting, we'll see what happens when they flat my 3bet, probably try to slow play me.

This one surprised me. I was running into a lot of calling stations, people calling down draws for way too much. Here the 'block betting' seemed obvious, and I felt lucky to hold this time, it too often goes the other way.

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

Hero (BTN): $5.05 (101 bb)
SB: $6.63 (132.6 bb)
BB: $5.47 (109.4 bb)
UTG: $5.07 (101.4 bb)
MP: $2.72 (54.4 bb)
CO: $14.52 (290.4 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with K J
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.10, SB raises to $0.50, BB folds, Hero calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.05) 7 6 Q (2 players)
SB bets $0.50, Hero raises to $2.15, SB calls $1.65

Turn: ($5.35) 8 (2 players)
SB bets $0.50, Hero raises to $2.40 and is all-in, SB calls $1.90

River: ($10.15) A (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results:

What's going on at the micros? Seems everyone is trying to make a move.

This just happened also.. complete unknown.. played 2 of 3 hands. what is he jamming on the river? NL5...

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

BTN: $5 (100 bb)
SB: $8.36 (167.2 bb)
BB: $5.05 (101 bb)
UTG: $3.64 (72.8 bb)
MP: $7.03 (140.6 bb)
Hero (CO): $10.42 (208.4 bb)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A 7
UTG folds, MP raises to $0.10, Hero raises to $0.30, 3 folds, MP calls $0.20

Flop: ($0.67) 2 Q 9 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $0.40, MP raises to $0.95, Hero calls $0.55

Turn: ($2.57) T (2 players)
MP bets $1.10, Hero calls $1.10

River: ($4.77) A (2 players)
MP bets $4.68, Hero calls $4.68

Results:

Good fortune.

I've been playing too long at micros, and have started to boost my game to move up to NL25. I've played tourneys mostly so cash is still a challenge.

I'm still not comfortable throwing around $16 or $25 as so many chips, so I stay at NL10..

I figure as your edge increases, it only becomes more profitable as you are able to take on regs etc.. I sometimes play NL5 and there are even decent players there. The practice can't be bad in preparation for higher stakes.

I think nowadays too many people know the basics, but on the flip side it's profitable to take advantage of them knowing that their knowledge is more limited. For example they don't know what to do in 3bet pots, or when they are 4 or even 5bet. Floating is good in many spots and people seem to take your bluffs seriously - even fish.

Occasionally there's no folding, but what can you do if they refuse to let go of bpbk for their 100bb. I think overall the game is fairly decent, and extremely exploitable. I hope I can keep up good volume and not tilt. Solid play, and take lots of breaks and short sessions. It's much more flexible than the tourneys, which I only occasionally enter. I'm thinking to use all my FPP's for the storm satellites, but probably these are already reg infested.

edit: at least I can post a hand to show you what I mean about people knowing to do things, but having no idea why, how or when.

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

BTN: $10.27 (102.7 bb)
SB: $9.01 (90.1 bb)
BB: $5 (50 bb)
Hero (UTG): $10.16 (101.6 bb)
MP: $28.02 (280.2 bb)
CO: $7.36 (73.6 bb)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 7 7
Hero raises to $0.30, 2 folds, BTN calls $0.30, SB raises to $1.10, BB folds, Hero calls $0.80, BTN calls $0.80

Flop: ($3.40) 4 7 A (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2, BTN folds, SB raises to $7.91 and is all-in, Hero calls $5.91

Turn: ($19.22) T (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: ($19.22) K (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results:

first hand vs this opponent

Originally posted by gavinonymous
What's going on at the micros? Seems everyone is trying to make a move.

Some hands I just keep wondering..and then again well happy about such skills ♦

These from NL10zoom

$0.05/$0.10 No Limit Holdem
PokerStars
6 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($15.75) 158bb
Hero (UTG+1) ($14.04) 140bb
CO ($11.91) 119bb
BTN ($9.88) 99bb
SB ($10.30) 103bb
BB ($6.60) 66bb

Pre-Flop: ($0.15, 6 players) Hero is UTG+1 A♠ A♣
UTG calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.30, 1 fold, BTN raises to $0.50, SB raises to $1.60, 1 fold, UTG folds, Hero raises to $3.60, BTN calls $3.10, SB goes all-in $10.30, Hero goes all-in $14.04, BTN goes all-in $6.28

Flop: 5♦ 5♠ J♦ ($30.68, 3 players, 3 all-in)

Turn: 9♠ ($30.68, 3 players, 3 all-in)

River: K♥ ($30.68, 3 players, 3 all-in)

Final Pot: $30.68
BTN shows two pair, Kings and Jacks
J♠ K♠
SB shows two pair, Queens and Fives
Q♠ Q♦
Hero shows two pair, Aces and Fives
A♠ A♣

Hero wins $33.04 (net +$19)

BTN lost $9.88
SB lost $10.30
UTG lost $0.10

_______________________

$0.05/$0.10 No Limit Holdem
PokerStars
6 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($9.05) 91bb
UTG+1 ($9.91) 99bb
CO ($17.71) 177bb
BTN ($9.09) 91bb
Hero (SB) ($42.56) 426bb
BB ($10.90) 109bb

Pre-Flop: ($0.15, 6 players) Hero is SB K♦ K♠
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.10, 1 fold, BTN raises to $0.40, Hero raises to $2.40, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls $2.30, BTN goes all-in $9.09, Hero goes all-in $42.56, UTG+1 goes all-in $7.51

Flop: K♣ Q♥ J♠ ($29.01, 3 players, 3 all-in)

Turn: 6♣ ($29.01, 3 players, 3 all-in)

River: A♥ ($29.01, 3 players, 3 all-in)

Final Pot: $29.01
BTN shows three of a kind, Queens
Q♠ Q♣
Hero shows three of a kind, Kings
K♦ K♠
UTG+1 shows high card Ace
9♥ 7♣

Hero wins $60.35 (net +$17.79)

BTN lost $9.09
UTG+1 lost $9.91

vs unknown.. it.confused me on turn so I shoved.

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

BTN: $13.47 (134.7 bb)
SB: $6.27 (62.7 bb)
Hero (BB): $10 (100 bb)
UTG: $10.17 (101.7 bb)
MP: $24.97 (249.7 bb)
CO: $17.70 (177 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J A
2 folds, CO raises to $0.30, BTN folds, SB calls $0.25, Hero raises to $1.30, CO calls $1, SB folds

Flop: ($2.90) J 8 T (2 players)
Hero bets $1.70, CO calls $1.70

Turn: ($6.30) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $3.10, Hero raises to $7 and is all-in, CO calls $3.90

River: ($20.30) J (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results:

and in a donkament..this

Poker Stars, $2 Buy-in (30/60 blinds) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 6 Players

MP: 2,471 (41.2 bb)
CO: 2,015 (33.6 bb)
BTN: 4,380 (73 bb)
SB: 2,279 (38 bb)
Hero (BB): 3,980 (66.3 bb)
UTG: 3,915 (65.3 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with T T
UTG folds, MP raises to 120, 3 folds, Hero calls 60

Flop: (270) K 7 T (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets 180, Hero calls 180

Turn: (630) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets 420, MP calls 420

River: (1,470) T (2 players)
Hero bets 1,920, MP calls 1,751 and is all-in

Results:

tanked on the river for ages before he instacalls

Beginning to win the battle, turn the corner, and really feeling good beating NL10 zoom (finally)

My bad luck was taken away by a random old Chinese woman on the street. She stopped when I passed her crossing the road, turned sideways towards me and shook both arms carrying bags up and down three times while muttering something. Then she walked on. It was very strange....

Later I hit quads over quads, quads again, more quads, and rivering straights and flushes everywhere. Of course I occasionally lost, but managed to keep my losses small, and avoid mistakes.

Today started off badly, 4 stacks in a few hundred hands, but then ended up 7.5BI overall. A solid start to the month, in 3 days play running over 25bb/100

I cut down the tables, only playing 3 zoom maximum, and warming up with just one. I'm posting a lot more hands, and reviewing spots, attending coachings etc..

Most importantly, my mindset has improved a lot. Looking to win pots and not how I'm going to lose them. I think attitude is a huge part of the game and you have to expect to win, not lose. Aerosmith said it well in Dream On. '

'I know nobody knows
Where it comes and where it goes
I know it's everybody's sin
You got to lose to know how to win'

there we go. not even superstitious about posting it. great start to the month, hope I can keep it up. Low volume, but more hourly.

Good fortune.

I was having good success at cash games, zoom, finally.. running so well I decided to switch back to MTT SNG's. Something about the format is so much more appealing than the comparative monotony of cash games. Especially with zoom, it seems more one dimensional.

With MTT's and SNG's there's a final goal in sight, first place, or at least the cash.

Last couple of days I went back to $3.50 45max SNGs. Today was the most profitable all year, playing about 90 tourneys and achieving 43.1% ROI

I reviewed after most sessions, though it was tough keeping focus sometimes. I took some good breaks and fought through the ridiculous suckouts and inevitable coolers (I did manage to win some myself)

I think I could have played much better, but that's for another day.

Not so many interesting hands to post, a lot of very fishy players in the first few rounds, and mostly reggy types at the final tables. I'm rolled for $7, but I've never had success there yet. I think maybe one more week, and start taking shots.

Good fortune.

Brutal suckouts and coolers today... some really horrible play gets rewarded, but still a positive.

Started out paying for posting the graph with a 20BI down, but after a really good second set (50% ITM) I was back to even and decided why not mix some $7 games in.

These went well, and I busted out of almost every $3.50, but was crushing on the $7.

I ended up playing only 20 of them (they loaded really slowly on my late hours) but overall more than 50% ROI.. I won the first one I played, and one of the last ones, along with a couple other FT small cashes.

I had some epic heads up battles the last couple of days, one of them my opponent and I decided we wanted a deal.. it was that close and lasted about 40 hands.

I'm glad I got over the fear of moving up. It seems there are basically the same types of players and skills, maybe a bit less random maniacs. I think I can beat it consistently, and can't wait to play the whole day at this limit. If I can book >100 tourneys/day and keep up the quality/review I will be a very happy poker player.

I've noticed I'm still missing a few shoves, but I'm making very good calls.. the first game I made some calls that seemed to surprise the regs, which was good for my image, After that, I wasn't pushed around and given some respect .

I've also had some good success postflop, not so much with stop and goes, but the go and goes are working well. It's a good position to be in.. if you don't hit, you have FE, and if you do, you can be a little deceptive. Ofc, there is more chance someone is going to try and stop and go me.. that's a tricky one.

Will update with a graph of the $7's after some sample size. 20 tourneys is hardly a sample, but an encouraging start..

Good fortune.

Meh start to today. Suckouts coolers, dominating hands losing.. 16 BI in a row like this, until a few final tables and a really nice win where I came onto the FT in last.

Got to watch the SB/BB calling dynamic and reshoving/calling seems to be where a lot of the chips are.

This one surprised me, I folded but wasn't sure until I looked

UTG 14749 20.8% 17.21% 17.25% +0.039%
UTG+1 10040 16.9% 14.17% 14.22% +0.052%
UTG+2 13259 31.5% 16.36% 16.41% +0.052%
UTG+3 4370 18.6% 8.20% 8.28% +0.077%
UTG+4 6010 25.8% 10.33% 10.40% +0.074%
CO 2015 33.9% 4.26% 4.36% +0.104%
BU 4100 41.5% 7.80% 7.89% +0.090%
SB 5762 78.3% 10.04% 9.87% -0.163%
BB 7195 11.63% 11.31% -0.325%

SB 78.3%, 22+ Qx+ J2s+ J5o+ T2s+ T6o+ 92s+ 95o+ 82s+ 85o+ 72s+ 75o+ 62s+ 65o 52s+ 54o 42s+ 32s
BB 16.1%, 66+ A5s+ A8o+ K9s+ KTo+

That's a huge difference. He can push 80% while in BB only calling 16%.. talk about an easy time for SB.

Back to studies...

Wish I didn't have to have an awful session to realize the profits of studying hard.

I analyzed every game with Holdem resources and SNG wizard for about an hour, and watched today's coaching. Then back to the tables.

What I thought was a shit day is actually 12 buyins up, and one of my more profitable days recently. Considering was down 16 that's a decent swing!

I got to have some fun crushing bubbles with the big stack a couple of times, but got a bit too confident in one heads up, overshoving a too weak hand that didn't suck out. Also lost the final flips quite a few times.

I feel like I'm getting donked out, sucked out and coolered way too often, but so far at the $7's I'm crushing at a rate of 44.8% ROI. If my KK would hold up sometimes it would be even much better. I'm confident to continue. I think I'll stay at 100BI and cash out from there... see how it goes after a few weeks.

I'm glad I didn't tilt at the 16BI down on this level. Lucky I had won a few first, and then down, otherwise I'd be dissapointed and feeling I wasn't good enough to move up. It's a myth. There are plenty of awful players at these stakes too, and probably higher.

If I can get some sleep tonight, maybe I can join all the volume tomorrow. Not enough today, and I think I'll take a break, stars does a reset tonight, and there's not much action at all.

One of my favourite gambling songs. Grateful Dead, in the fine autumn of their career. I saw them that summer in Alpine Valley Wisconsin, all 3 nights, and 5 crazy days.

What a long strange trip that was.

If I had a gun for every ace I've drawn
I could arm a town the size of Abilene
Don't you push me baby cause I'm moaning low
You know I'm only in it for the gold

All that I am asking for is ten gold dollars
I could pay you back with one good hand
You can look around about the wide world over
You'll never find another honest man

Last fair deal in the country, sweet Suzy
Last fair deal in the town
Put your gold money where your love is, baby
Before you let my deal go down

Don't you push me baby
because I'm moaning low
I know a little something
you won't ever know
Don't you touch hard liquor just
a cup of cold coffee
Gonna get up
in the morning and go

Everybody's bragging and drinking that wine
I can tell the Queen of Diamonds by the way she shine
Come to Daddy on an inside straight
I got no chance of losing this time
No, I got no chance of losing this time

Decent few days, up in the 7's but still playing the 3's for volume. My game is improving still, and I've taken more to minraising and adjusting ranges better vs. opponents.

Back over 95% on OPR which is a start. My goal for this month is to reach at least 97%.

Enjoy the tune, good fortune.

Today's first session, seems like all coolers and bad beats, but I'm getting some luck still.

After 35 games only today now reviewing, and turns out I made 67% ROI, so not a bad set at all! Actually a decent wage esp,. for $3.50 45 mans. The field today is FPS and mega fish. Typical for a Saturday.

Some general notes:

I'm too loose on the final table by a pip or two.

I'm playing well with the bigstack, even though I'm getting called when shoving very wide, it's ok. I'm taking down blinds much more often, and occasionally sucking out. I had 18k chips with 2 tables left, pushed J6s from MP, and it was a +$EV push, even though it halved my stack when I was coolered. Maybe I can give up some of these with my edge, but then again, dominating the final table is more profitable even.

My play at $3.50 is much more aggressive than at $7.00 I hope to erase money scaredness and start mixing back in 7's.

Overall this week only 360 games, but 19.6% ROI. And I feel like I've had a lot of bad luck.

I need to put in more volume, or move up stakes soon, though I'm happy cashing out a steady win with less risk if that's what it means to stay at $3.50 for a while. My BR is mostly idle, so I should probably make a cash out this weekend, and be happy.

Witness the awesome suckout power!

Poker Stars, $3.19 Buy-in (100/200 blinds, 25 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 7 Players

CO: 3,255 (16.3 bb)
BTN: 3,480 (17.4 bb)
SB: 5,570 (27.9 bb)
BB: 2,700 (13.5 bb)
MP1: 3,485 (17.4 bb)
MP2: 3,995 (20 bb)
Hero (MP3): 6,891 (34.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with T T
2 folds, Hero raises to 400, CO raises to 3,230 and is all-in, BTN raises to 3,455 and is all-in, SB folds, BB calls 2,475 and is all-in, Hero calls 3,055

Flop: (13,090) T A 6 (4 players, 3 are all-in)
Turn: (13,090) 9 (4 players, 3 are all-in)
River: (13,090) 2 (4 players, 3 are all-in)

Results:

Last week I submitted a request to Collin to join Team Moshman. I mostly wanted some coachings and to be rolled for $7s, but I ended up turning down an offer... what it did do for me is motivate me to play sng's again, after a few months break from them...

I've been studying a lot, watching whatever coachings I can, and even watching other players. I have learned to become friends with the suckout and the cooler. My mindset is improving, but the best thing from last week: (results oriented ofc.)

~100 games at $7 = 24% ROI
~300 games at $3.5 = 23.8% ROI

some MTT's included, didn't do as well, I expected that for deep fields, hoping to get lucky and bink one, one of these days.

So.. without superstition, here is last week's results.

Just finished today's set, another $150 up.. I hardly played last week, but studied about as much as I played. It's starting to pay dividends.. Even with all the crazy suckouts and coolers, I can still achieve this. I can't wait until my 'runbad' is over!

Good fortune reader.

Forgive me, it's been ages since my last post. I lost motivation after a little ~30BI downswing.. It pissed me off so much getting everything beat or constant coolers I took 2 weeks off in April and focused on music.

I came back with a fresh mind, and right back to the same games. I've been through drastic downswings a couple of times now, and this one didn't faze me so much as the last.

So I played, and was winning again, I exceeded my expectations, running 60% plus ROI for a while, and then slam. 70BI downswing... this one followed by a protracted break even period about 500 tourneys..

Really frustrating, but what could I do, study my games, review ranges, even studied opponents and devised strategies against their styles. I had also upped my volume to 12 tabling from 9 during the sideswong, and have been getting used to it. 12 is no problem now, soon I hope to go to 15.

I'd rather up the tables at the lower stake than play fewer at the higher stake for now. The $3.50's are easily beatable, and the regs aren't really that great. Final tables are great because the ones that luck into it are usually horrible, and I've improved recently my finish positions.. especially heads up. I was coming 2nd too many times, so I started playing more small ball and pushing my post flop edge. It's working.

I'm trying to come up with a nash tournament structure that approximates positions 18-10. Basically, how much to loosen up or tighten up depending on slight bubble factors... at 10-11 players left, there is some bubble factor, including a 'final table' bubble factor. I think SNG wiz and Nash don't account for this well enough.

I've also marked the players using SNG wiz ranges for pushes. Mainly they are shoving much too wide, and calling much too tight. Thanks SNG wiz!

I also studied the top players at my limit. Many of them play 2500 to 3000 games a month, I figure they are 24 tabling at least.. so very robotic. I've taken to flatting some of their minraises, and min 3betting them sometimes as a bluff. I also trap them more SB vs BB not with a limp, but minraise. Invariably my monster gets a shove, unfortunately sometimes I get sucked out.. so not sure how worth it this is rather than open shove. I see them shoving a much wider range than their call ranges, so probably it's +$EV overall.

Happy to be back winning. Goals for rest of May:

♠ Wake up before noon.
♥ Eat more salmon.
♦ Play 12 tables = 100/day
♣ Review EVERY game.. this is time consuming, but getting less so.
♠ Find spots where I'm not sure of ranges, especially when 2 are all in ahead of me. Sometimes it's a VERY wide range to call.

lastly, thanks Collin for helping to motivate me. I'm glad I didn't take the stake, though I might be amenable to one for higher limits shortly. My ROI at $3.50's is nearly as good or better than the top of the field at my stake (~12%) and I think I've gone through some very unlucky streaks. I think 20% ROI is doable on this stake. Some more graphs for you.

Finish positions so far

BB/hands so far

Chips/hands so far

Today wasn't so fun, started off with 25BI upswing, then downhill but ended up 15BI up overall. Also the server crashed and I lost some good cards before it restarted again an hour later.. killed my motivation and my heater!

With another milestone bonus was able to make my 3rd cashout in 3 weeks.. So far so good. All I need now is to maintain volume, discipline and motivation. Easy game right?

Good fortune at the tables. Any advices and comments are more than welcome.

Almost forgot: Goal achieved from last post:

Year 2013 98.46% $6,408 - 1,861 18% 9,911 of 645,572

Nice rainy day to stay in and play poker. Got up before noon and got myself together for an hour. Only had coffee. No food.. no water. And a spliff.

Remembering the mindfulness seminar last night I kept conscious of my actions, and caught myself when I would want to slip to autopilot.

Today was extra fishy, being Friday, so I played a little tighter 18-10 man. This turned out a good strategy as they knocked eachother out all the way to the final 3 spots, where I ended up a fair bit. I also managed to not look at my cashier or HEM until I was done the session. Was a good feeling to see that I won more than I expected.

60 buyins is probably one of my most winning sessions ever. My volume suffered, but only in relation to how long my games were, so I don't mind. Not like I'm grinding for rakeback.

Some notable hands :

Poker Stars $3.19+$0.31 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t500/t1000 Blinds + t60 - 8 players

UTG+1: t3293 M = 1.66
MP1: t6798 M = 3.43
MP2: t16588 M = 8.38
CO: t6462 M = 3.26
Hero (BTN): t6862 M = 3.47
SB: t15020 M = 7.59
BB: t11105 M = 5.61
UTG: t1372 M = 0.69

Pre Flop: (t1980) Hero is BTN with K K
UTG raises to t1312 all in, 3 folds, CO calls t1312, Hero raises to t6802 all in, 1 fold, BB calls t5802, CO calls t5090 all in

Flop: (t22298) 7 K T (4 players - 3 are all in)

Turn: (t22298) 2 (4 players - 3 are all in)

River: (t22298) 5 (4 players - 3 are all in)

Final Pot: t22298
CO shows 8 8 (a pair of Eights)
Hero shows K K (three of a kind, Kings)
BB shows Q A (high card Ace)
UTG shows A J (high card Ace)
Hero wins t800
Hero wins t15270
Hero wins t6228
---------------------
Poker Stars $3.19+$0.31 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t500/t1000 Blinds + t60 - 5 players - final table bubble vs. aggr. multitabling reg.

Hero (SB): t6778 M = 3.77
BB: t7280 M = 4.04
UTG: t10495 M = 5.83
CO: t9704 M = 5.39
BTN: t7956 M = 4.42

Pre Flop: (t1800) Hero is SB with A J
2 folds, BTN raises to t7896 all in, Hero calls t6218 all in, BB calls t6220 all in

Flop: (t21458) T 7 K (3 players - 3 are all in)

Turn: (t21458) Q (3 players - 3 are all in)

River: (t21458) 6 (3 players - 3 are all in)

Final Pot: t21458
Hero shows A J (a straight, Ten to Ace)
BB shows 9 9 (a pair of Nines)
BTN shows A Q (a pair of Queens)
BTN wins t1004
Hero wins t20454

oh yeah, made the 99% club! only on bronze, but still best ranking ever!

Year 2013 99.09% 5,930 of 650,236

Good fortune at the tables

man mttsngs your doing great. holy moly. I wish i could just switch to that and pwn them noobs like you .. im very impressed by your volume. really sick.

gl gl

A break even-ish week so far. Running well under EV in flips and flops. Coolers abound, and suckouts on my side are few and far between. Still I maintain volume knowing I'm beating the game.

I've made a few adjustments to see how it works out. I'm playing very low stakes, and I think the strategy of taking every possible +EV spot and some -EV spots is losing me money.

I've found that the final tables are very easy, and since other players are knocking eachother out so often, I am being a -EV on the entire tourney with my looser shoves and calls.

Why pwn the final table bubble when you can pwn the final table, even from 7-9th place? For now, if I'm over 8k chips with 18-10 players left, I'm nitting it up, even with calls. Now if only my monsters would hold! I'm working on that too.

Positive thinking is my strategy. Instead of thinking of the horrible ways I can loose. e.g. runner runner straight or flush, I am thinking of ways I can win. My mental question is 'how can I win?' not 'how am I going to lose'. When I win I think 'that's how you win!'

Best moment of today, besides winning two prolonged HU duels was a hand I played late in HU vs a random unpredictable player. Both aggressive and passive, loose and tight. Tough to get a read on, especially in some situations - it looked like he didn't really follow the conventions of the final table like everyone else.

Anyway, I'd been super tight the entire final table, coming from 9th and biding my time until 3rd, and then 2nd, when he knocks out 2nd place ending the folding war. I started far behind in chips and clawed ahead for a while, and then it was back and forth for many hands. I appeared to play very straight up and honest the whole time, and then banked my winning on one bluff that I kind of forced myself into making. Because I'd been so straight up already, I think it boosted my credibility enough to make this play..

Poker Stars, $3.19 Buy-in (1,500/3,000 blinds, 150 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 2 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

BB: 29,371 (9.8 bb)
Hero (SB): 38,129 (12.7 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 3 2
Hero completes, BB checks

Flop: (6,300) 5 7 J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets 3,000, BB calls 3,000

Turn: (12,300) 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets 9,000, BB calls 9,000

River: (30,300) 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets 22,979 and is all-in, BB folds

So I've changed my sig line, at least for now while I'm in the micros. I'm planning also to play some HU tourneys during slow times to work on that part of my game. I might mix in a few 9 and 18 mans if things are going really slow. I'm still not getting up before noon.. my damn circadian rhythm must be set at 27hours or something.

Til next post, with graphs and stuff. Thanks for reading and kind comments.

Good fortune.

Keeping motivated and playing solid volume this weekend.

Last 3 days I've experimented with stacking my tables, which has + and - to it.

I don't mind not seeing how I got sucked out on, or cooled so much. Also I can play more tables this way with less confusion than tiling. I like that a lot.

Today I played 15 tables, the most I've tried in a while. Some spots were hectic, but not too bad, I think I can get used to it.

Best thing is that I played 55 tourneys with 12-15 stacked and managed a 25% ROI and a 24% ITM! I think my ROI would have been higher if not for some dreadful suckouts on the final table.

Looks good for the week, last three days especially. My strategy of giving up the -EV shoves and calls occasionally seems to be working. Besides confusing the regs who see my game change, I feel I'm getting more FE with my shoves, having a tighter image. I'm not playing around so much early on and really playing solid short stack. Enough to wait until blinds are fairly high and come back often. It's almost a challenge when I get shortstacked, or lose a big pot to try and come back. I used to give up a lot more often, but now I've gone last on the bubble to win a few times, it's not so bad to wait a bit.

There's tons of value in these games, and I think I've been throwing it away by trying to make marginal calls and shoves, even though the blinds get high, you still have FE with 3 or 4 BB! (especially when you've been tight - I guess people do notice after all)

last 3 days.. not so bad.

Good fortune reader

Yesterday was shit. Really shit, ran above 5bb/100 but couldn't win the important flips at all, also coolers everywhere. I started to give up too many spots being scared so I stopped playing.. stlll played 75 games, but dropped about 30BI - I still reviewed every game, and vowed to start taking back my marginal EV spots.

I think on weekdays you see a lot more aggressive players during the day on stars, while on the weekend it's more passive. I wonder if I can filter my stats to show if this is true?

Today was much better. I watched the focus video, and even though I skipped nutrition, I had a good sleep, and didn't sleep in extra. Got up just before noon feeling ok.

I surfed only 20minutes (good job) before playing.

First 21 games or so I bricked. Really horrible, I'm thinking oh no not again as my KK lost to QQ, or ran into AA, while I couldn't win a flip. Every SB push seemed to run into a cooler and no suckouts.

I persevered anyway, kept loading games (12 tabling) and still ran into some horrible luck, but had some run of cashes and recovered all the loss, and then quite a bit.

Overall today at 25% ROI in 75 games, which is great, turning a -$80 into a +$80 in 50 games is a nice heater. I feel I could have won much more without some poor timing, and one or two mistakes.

Usually I would have been tilted from losing 21 in a row, but I found myself even more focused and kept confidence.

10 days left this month hopefully play every day 75games. that'll be 750 games, and I hope another 100-200 BI comes back my way.

Reviewing 75 games is a lot of work, but I'm still doing it. Tomorrow I'm going to try 14 tabling and see how it goes. Stacked doesn't seem to work well for me, I like to see what people pushed, so I'm overlapping. It's much more sane, but then again, now I see all the suckouts as they happen.

Going to work on my short game a bit in the evening, maybe some 6max hypers. Good sleep, good food and come back to crush again tomorrow.

Interesting hand(s)

Chipleader plays stop and go vs. short stack:

Poker Stars $3.19+$0.31 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t600/t1200 Blinds + t75 - 5
SB: t13707 M = 6.30
Hero (BB): t33955 M = 15.61
UTG: t4068 M = 1.87
CO: t10543 M = 4.85
BTN: t5227 M = 2.40

Pre Flop: (t2175) Hero is BB with 6 8
2 folds, BTN raises to t2400, 1 fold, Hero calls t1200

Flop: (t5775) 6 Q T (2 players)
Hero bets t4620, BTN folds

I like it, gives me extra chance to win, he's not folding PF, but the flop is another story. There's another short stack on the table, so it's worth it for him to fold on the flop. This player was waiting to move up cash spots. gotta remember this one. not always need to reshove the BB if no FE PF, and might have some PF. Same with the go and go. I'd like to start using that a bit in the right spots.

just thought of an exercise I want to do. make a plot of SB push ranges vs SB:BB chip ratio (cEV) and then again on a bubble.

another exercise.. write out explicit ranges of 10%, 20%, 30% etc.. using NASH ranges. observe ranges where some cards are left out .. eg. leaving out low pp's on FT, or leaving out A6o.

Good fortune at the tables