[Closed] Gavin's School of Fish

Went back on today to see if I'm tilting or not, and learned something very interesting..something really basic but easy to forget.

When one starts winning a lot, they get into patterns of thinking that they are playing better than they really are. In reality they are hitting almost everything and winning - when they aren't hitting other players still fear their luck/skill and bets bluffs/cbets work more often.

When the cards start turn consistently in my opponents' favour these plays will often fail, and failure to adjust will bring disasterous results.

The upswing doesn't and can't happen on purpose. You can't just come on a table thinking cbets, bluffs, blind steals, 3bets and draws will all pay off immediately.

Catching an upswing depends on a few things going right at the same time, and they reinforce eachother - especially at one table. That's why it's possible for me to get 4.5stacks up on one table and 2 down on another at the same time.

The downward spiral starts when you get a passive or spewy image and you don't adjust to how your opponents see you. If this happens it's probably better to leave the table.

Rely on the strategy. Make appropriate plays, and don't bluff/spew without solid reads. Make our table image as solid as possible, bluffs cbets and steals won't have a chance otherwise. Fold when you are beat, call if the odds are right, and bet if the reasoning is correct.

'Do every task for its own sake as time and place demand and not with an eye to the result.' - I Ching

Been playing and studying a lot. I watched several hasenbraten videos and read a lot of sample hands. SH is going to be swingy no matter what - whether it's running into AA or the fish hitting on the river again and again you have to take it all good and bad.

I try to remember my good wins more than my bad beats.

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.25/$0.5 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)

Known players:
[tg]MP3$50.00:///////;CO$77.80:///////;BU$53.20:///////;SB$6.50:///////;BB$98.20:///////;MP2(Hero)$50.50:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with J:d, J:h.
Hero raises to $2.00, MP3 calls $2.00, 3 folds, BB calls $1.50.

Flop: ($6.25) 4:s, J:s, 9:h (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $5.00, MP3 raises to $19.50, BB folds, Hero raises to $48.00, MP3 calls $28.50(All-In).
Turn: ($102.25) 6:c (0 players)

River: ($102.25) 5:s (0 players)

MP3 shows three of a kind, fours(4d 4h).
Hero shows three of a kind, jacks(Jd Jh).

I'm more aggressive on NL50 than NL25 but I think it's necessary with so many more aggressive players and light 3bets etc.. I got my 3bet % up to 7% after 4k hands at this limit. I still only play 2 tables, occasionally 3 but never 4. If I'm going to play 4 tables I figure I'm better off playing NL100 and focusing on one or two tables.

So far going well, my pep talk earlier helped. Up 7BI over 3 days, and that's about as much as I'd make in a decent job. My swings are about 3BI up and down, and so long as the redline continues going up I don't have to worry too much about big variance. I'm already thinking about NL100, I'd love to show that I can win consistently at that limit - it would enable so many other parts of my life to do it, it's worth the effort. One hand at a time...one fish at a time. It's been a while, so maybe check on how it's going with:

First 4k or so hands at NL50 small sample but some small confidence to start off.

Good fortune on the tables

So, the upswing continues - small sessions and big winnings. Only 2 tables is enough since reads are becoming much more important.

I expect to get 3 bet almost all the time especially in blind steal situations. Maybe it's better to only raise to 3xbb in those situations.

I also adjust my bets according to what I want to represent on the flop. Playing the flop texture and the opponent tendency, while putting them on a range is a tough task - don't see how I could do it on too many tables at once, at least not yet. Why add stress when I'm still learning?

I'm having a good go of NL50, I warm up with a few tables of NL25 to make sure I'm ok to play first. This time it was almost all good times, I even sucked out once huge against KK with 99 hitting a backdoor straight all in. A bit more than lucky.

$0.25/$0.5 No-Limit Hold'em (4 handed)

Known players:
[tg]SB(Hero)$49.25:///////;BB$30.25:///////;CO$33.10:///////;BU$73.65:///////;[/tg]

Button steals, 3 bets, and is very spewy, maybe on tilt? My image is fairly tight, but I've been 3betting a bit on this table already.

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q:d, A:s.
CO folds, BU raises to $2.00, Hero raises to $5.50, BB folds, BU calls $3.50.

Flop: ($11.5) A:c, T:s, 6:c (2 players)
Hero bets $9.00, BU calls $9.00.

Turn: ($29.5) 3:s (2 players)
Hero bets $34.75, BU calls $34.75.

River: ($99) 3:c (0 players)

Results follow:

BU shows two pairs, aces and threes(5:h A:h).
Hero shows two pairs, aces and threes(Q:d A:s).

Results for today speak for themselves.

And finally I have the EV graph - if anyone was wondering how lucky I am.

ok. one more really nice hand - another blind defender, and aggressive post flop.

$0.25/$0.5 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)

Known players:
[tg]CO$117.10:///////;BU(Hero)$56.90:///////;SB$30.25:///////;BB$39.80:///////;MP2$73.45:///////;MP3$50.85:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is BU with 8:s, 8:d.
3 folds, Hero raises to $2.00, SB folds, BB calls $1.50.

Flop: ($4.25) 9:c, 6:s, 5:d (2 players)
BB bets $2.50, Hero raises to $9.00, BB calls $6.50.

Turn: ($22.25) 3:h (2 players)
BB bets $12.00, Hero raises to $45.90(All-In), BB calls $16.80.

Turn bet looks stong at first, but then it looks weak - I'm with the initiative why wouldn't he let me bet? He's committed at this point I guess - he'd have a hard time folding AK - which I now put him on.. or AQ..

River: ($96.95) 9:h (0 players)
BB gets uncalled bet back.

Final Pot: $80.15.

Results follow:

Hero shows two pairs, nines and eights(8s 8d).
BB shows a pair of nines(As Kc).

Hero wins with two pairs, nines and eights(8s 8d).

I like your thoughts on that 88 hand.
I guess you have suckout cards aswell if your wrong

I wasn't going to play today, give my mind a refresh. I made a date to go for dinner with my gf, and spend some of this week's winnings (there's no reason working so hard if you can't enjoy the fruits of a good week's work)

So we say 8:00, and it's like 6:30pm.. twiddling my thumbs and I open up Pokerstars and PT3 just to have a look. I'm thinking, 1.5hours is maybe enough to pay for half of dinner so I go on one table - it's full of regs chasing the fish that already left so I find another one. Full of fish and maniacs.

What do you do when the maniac is on your left, but you have two really juicy looking fish on your right? In my case you end up playing back against the maniac, raising his contibets etc and going all in while letting the fish suckout without a fight?

I don't know if this is right - it must be close, but I have started doing this a bit more on NL50 due to all the aggression and playing back:

$0.25/$0.5 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)

Known players:
[tg]CO$94.40:///////;BU(Hero)$62.50:///////;SB$50.00:///////;BB$56.50:///////;MP2$50.00:///////;MP3$49.90:///////;[/tg]

SB is a maniac. Plays back at every 'button steal' etc.. with a 'decent' hand, cold calls his monsters.

Preflop: Hero is BU with 5:h, 5:s.
3 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, SB raises to $6.00, BB folds, Hero calls $4.50.

It's not a steal, really, just because I'm on the button, I can still have a hand! This time I go easy and just call instead of 4betting. I kind of like 4 bet better now that I think of it, especially considering what happens next...

Flop: ($12.5) 3:h, J:h, 8:h (2 players)
SB bets $8.50, Hero raises to $20.00, SB raises to $44.00, Hero calls $24.00.

Donkety donk. How did I know that the cbet was coming? It's not the kind of board I'd want to cbet unless I had a flush draw and a pair, maybe AhJc or something. So 20$ in the pot, and 60$ more to come. If he doesn't fold I need only to call 24$ to win his 40$ and pot of 76$ - I have 11 outs against an overpair and I''m about even with a flush draw and ahead of air. I'm beat by a flush (mostly) and killed by AhJc e.g. but I'm not so worried about that. I pretty much snapped called.

Turn: ($100.5) 5:c (0 players)
Hero gets uncalled bet back.

River: ($100.5) J:d (0 players)
Hero gets uncalled bet back. (why does the hand converter say this?)

Final Pot: $76.5. (I thought the pot was $100 total?)

Results follow:

SB shows three of a kind, jacks(Ad Jc).
Hero shows a full-house, fives full of jacks(5h 5s).

Villain says 'well played nh' - I'm not sure if he's being sarcastic or really means it. Any thoughts? I have a feeling if I post it, the coach will say fold the flop.

I end up ahead 60$ for the waiting time, enough to order a nice bottle of wine with dinner and then some. After dinner my gf and I end up doing some heavy 3betting, 4betting and even 5bets all in. A +EV day for sure.

Feel a little tilty tonight and not in the mood for NL50, but I still might. I'm playing 2$ large multi tourneys for fun, and to work out whatever might be off...

I played extremely aggressive and kind of loose the first few rounds in one 2$, 3000ppl tourney - I stole most of my stack and hit once, lost a big pot also

I think hands like this are a good example. UTG is a fish of some kind.

MP2: t2735 M = 9.12
CO: t904 M = 3.01
BTN: t326 M = 1.09
Hero (SB): t4250 M = 14.17
BB: t2770 M = 9.23
UTG: t7645 M = 25.48
UTG+1: t3900 M = 13
UTG+2: t3370 M = 11.23
MP1: t16615 M = 55.38

Pre Flop: (t300) Hero is SB with 5♠ 2♠
UTG calls t200, 6 folds, Hero raises to t1000, 1 fold, UTG calls t800

Flop: (t2200) J♥ Q♠ T♣ (2 players)
Hero bets t3250 all in, UTG folds

Final Pot: t2200
Hero mucks 5♠ 2♠
Hero wins t2200

Yeh, well i thought I had a backdoor flush draw ♠_confused: at least 1 out, that plus FE and the amount in the pot is a push for me. i wonder if I'd have the nerve to do that in a $10 tourney?

update: push AQo UTG with 10BB and get called by JJ = busto, but I cashed at least.

Now playing NL50 SH. first table I waited and watched the play first, and thought great, two maniacs - of course they give me the seat to the right of both of them.

Next table, not much better, just regs. 16 hands in and the fish on the BB when I'm on BU with my first playable hand/spot.

Hero (BTN): $49.70
SB: $25.70
BB: $30.50
UTG: $59.95
MP: $27.25
CO: $22.55

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with 3♥ 6♥
3 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, 1 fold, BB calls $1

Flop: ($3.25) 7♥ 5♦ J♦ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $2.50, BB calls $2.50

Turn: ($8.25) 4♣ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $7, BB calls $7

River: ($22.25) T♥ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $38, BB calls $19.50 all in

Final Pot: $61.25

Hero shows 3♥ 6♥ (a straight, Three to Seven)
BB shows 7♦ J♠ (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
Hero wins $58.25
(Rake: $3.00)

.. few hands later fish is replaced by a maniac - I press sit out next blind, but get a hand.

Hero (BTN): $73.95
SB: $17.70
BB: $20.85
UTG: $51.70
CO: $35.95

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with A♣ T♣
2 folds, Hero raises to $2, 1 fold, BB raises to $4.50, Hero calls $2.50

Flop: ($9.25) A♠ 3♣ T♠ (2 players)
BB bets $16.35 all in, Hero calls $16.35

Turn: ($41.95) 8♣ (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($41.95) 4♥ (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $41.95
Hero shows A♣ T♣ (two pair, Aces and Tens)
BB shows Q♣ A♦ (a pair of Aces)
Hero wins $39.95
(Rake: $2.00)

Wow, maybe i should play a little more..

.. ok I still am, anyone want to do a session? There's still plenty of maniac/fish around. The shortstacks are a delicacy.

BB: $50.50
UTG: $9.90
CO: $74.35
Hero (BTN): $51.40
SB: $22.25

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with T♥ K♦
2 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, SB calls $1.25, 1 fold

Flop: ($3.50) 6♥ 7♠ K♠ (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $3, SB calls $3

Turn: ($9.50) 5♦ (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $6, SB raises to $17.75 all in, Hero calls $11.75

River: ($45.00) 2♠ (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $45.00
Hero shows T♥ K♦ (a pair of Kings)
SB shows 9♥ 9♣ (a pair of Nines)
Hero wins $43.00
(Rake: $2.00)

Wow what a week. One and two tabling NL50 SH, sessions get shorter as the week goes on, but I didn't have much time to play, and more time to study.

Started out a bit money scared but soon got used to the bet sizing amounts. I think I've really improved my play when there's a maniac or fish to my left, I haven't tilted and I've only donked off one stack real badly in the last while.

It's hard to believe that there's room for improvement - I've been a bit lucky, but also unlucky. I think I managed to make my lucky plays in bigger pots and unlucky ones in smaller pots. Keep your winnings big, and your losses small. Small hands are for small pots etc.. still, some small hands turn into big ones.

I just saw an amazing trio of hands where a fish rivered a better hand than a very good made hand - 3 stacks in like 12 hands. The guy was tilted but I didn't have position. I did manage to take some of his cash from this fish who was on my right sitting with 4 stacks

I just sat down at this table and only a few hands in villain had lost some 1/3 of his stack but didn't rebuy.

Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 4 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (BTN): $49.25
SB: $50.00
BB: $84.50
CO: $35.05

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with 4♣ 5♣
CO calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, SB calls $0.25, BB checks

Flop: ($2.00) 6♥ Q♦ 7♠ (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, CO bets $2, Hero calls $2, SB folds, BB folds

Turn: ($6.00) 8♣ (2 players)
CO bets $2.50, Hero raises to $10, CO raises to $32.55 all in, Hero calls $22.55

River: ($71.10) 6♠ (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $71.10
Hero shows 4♣ 5♣ (a straight, Four to Eight)
CO shows Q♣ 9♠ (two pair, Queens and Sixes)
pakkeper said, "doipgfbhatæhj'eTøblAdhØKADFngølkmNFG'"
Hero wins $69.10
(Rake: $2.00)

Can't forget the 3rd place for $465 in the 2$ tourney and the $100 reload bonus - I think I tripled my bankroll in just over a week!

Good fortune on the tables, careful with the spiky fish this weekend!

Ugh.. 4 stacks of NL50 down thanks to some poor play, wicked variance, suckouts and loss of confidence. I went back to NL25 to donk off some more stacks and even NL10 to keep a lid on tilt.

It seemed to work, I managed to struggle back a bit, but still lost a good chunk of winnings to - well, I don't know I need to review some hands, but mainly I got rivered again and again - sometimes the river completed my straight, but also his backdoor flush, or something like that.

I almost resolved not to call ANY river bet pr raise - I wonder how that would work out? I see others able to fold against mine...

I did play some awesome hands along with some stinkers, and I found myself a little loose calling the shorties, but usually ahead of their range.

BTW.. what is this??

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.25/$0.5 No-Limit Hold'em (3 handed)

Known players:
[tg]BU$39.50:///////;SB(Hero)$49.50:///////;BB$23.80:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q:c, Q:h.
BU raises to $2.00, Hero raises to $6.00, BB folds, BU calls $4.00.

Flop: ($12.5) 2:s, 2:c, T:h (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $9.00, Hero calls $9.00.

(no way he called my 3bet with anything that matches this flop - if AA or KK then fine)

Turn: ($30.5) 6:s (2 players)
Hero bets $9.50, BU calls $9.50.

(I'm like.. please stick in your stack - this bet will commit you!!)

River: ($49.5) J:c (2 players)
Hero bets $25.00, BU calls $15.00(All-In).

Final Pot: $89.5.
Results follow:

Hero shows two pairs, queens and twos(Q:c Q:h).
BU shows two pairs, sevens and twos(7:d 7:h).

And the hall of shame. Really most of my stacks were avoidable had I just folded preflop or the flop and stop not believing my opponent had anything.

$0.1/$0.25 No-Limit Hold'em (5 handed)

Known players:
[tg]BU$71.75:///////;SB$25.00:///////;BB(Hero)$35.60:///////;MP3$32.20:///////;CO$25.00:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is BB with T:d, A:s.
3 folds, SB raises to $1.00, Hero raises to $3.00, SB raises to $9.10, Hero calls $6.00.

(nooo! fold preflop you dummy!)

Flop: ($18) A:h, K:s, 8:h (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $26.60, SB calls $16.00.

(and he's going to call me with what worse hand? fold which better one?)

Turn: ($60.6) J:s (0 players)
SB gets uncalled bet back.

River: ($60.6) 6:h (0 players)
SB gets uncalled bet back.

Final Pot: $44.6.
Results follow:

SB shows two pairs, aces and kings(A:d K:d).
Hero shows a pair of aces(T:d A:s).

SB wins with two pairs, aces and kings(A:d K:d).

Yeh well, he deserves it, NH sir.

I don't feel tilty at all anymore. I lost less than 4BI and had the presence of mind to move down levels (even to NL10) to work it out. I might have a nice long session tonight to prove it. On the other upside, I think I might reach gold star status for October at this pace.

Good fortune!

first hand: nh sir
2nd: i first of all dont know y u did not rebuy
i would fold pf to a 3bet even in a blind battle
flop: both of u were commited

i also play nl50sh. check my stats if u want fun101rockets at fulltilt (on pokertableratings)

Originally posted by fun101rockets
first hand: nh sir
2nd: i first of all dont know y u did not rebuy
i would fold pf to a 3bet even in a blind battle
flop: both of u were commited

i also play nl50sh. check my stats if u want fun101rockets at fulltilt (on pokertableratings)

1st, thanks
2nd, that hand was on NL25, I was deepstacked at the time, and yeh, I have to get it in on that flop I guess. Folding preflop is much better thanks for reading - i'll look u up.

Ok, this is more like it. I played a couple of rounds on NL50 SH but didn't feel so comfortable against the 3bets, 4bets and bluffs - I figure I'm money scared on NL50 even though I have much more than 25BI, I'm not prepared to lose my stack as easily as I should. I can't play that way so I went to NL25 to work on my game and increase my confidence. I'll go back to NL50, but I want 50BI at least this time.

My first few sessions back at NL25 were kind of like a dream, I just pulled off a 9BI upswing and pretty much erased the losses from my downswing/tilt session the other day. I dominated all the tables I sat at and really just took chips away from whoever I wanted. There's a noticable difference in my play when I have >>50BI for a limit than only 30 or so.

9BI upswing - 3 or 4 tabling! and no stats!! (PT3 hud is on the blink)

Back to the tables, much more fun owning NL25 than being money scared on NL50. I hope it won't take long to raise the few more buyins I need and the confidence along with it.

Update: Hitting almost everything and when I'm not my image and lines are making cbets and bluffs very profitable. When you are in the zone you are almost unbeatable. I 5bet all in w ATs on a blind steal situation and guy actually had KK that went down in flames. Not sure if it was a good play on NL25 - probably not but I don't like to fold much after I 3bet either. I calculated I had 2.5:1 or better odds with my hand and the pot odds were almost 3:1 if I pushed and he called, plus FE, and slim chance he had a worse or even hand (I thought he was making a move at first) What do you think? Did I calculate correctly?

CO: $28.85
BTN: $31.05
SB: $25.00
Hero (BB): $25.00
UTG: $15.00
MP: $22.60

UTG posts a big blind ($0.25)

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is BB with T♦ A♦
UTG checks, 2 folds, BTN raises to $1.25, 1 fold, Hero raises to $3.50, 1 fold, BTN raises to $8, Hero raises to $25 all in, BTN calls $17

Pot is 12.1$ with his 8$ bet, I figure I can take it down with a 5 bet, and if he calls it's good enough odds against his range (unless it's AA) - 17$ more to win $47.85 (2.8:1) - am I crazy or is this a +EV play?

Flop: ($50.35) 6♥ 3♣ A♥ (2 players - 1 is all in)

Turn: ($50.35) 7♣ (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($50.35) 7♥ (2 players - 1 is all in)

Villain shows KK

Nice day.. At one point I was doing $100/hour for the first 3 hours. I guess I got card dead or just poor table selection, not enough spots - some bad plays maybe, I'm reviewing. Still the red line continues to go up, and I ran way above EV.

I think it's possible to run above EV consistently by getting in good spots with marginal hands, playing pot odds - implied odds, or forcing your opponent to make poor odds plays. Still I'm not sure how it works, but I didn't run this hot because of luck.

I played a more loose aggressive style (something I didn't do the last few days at NL50) My stats for the session:

26/21/4 VPIP/PFR/AF, AF is highest on flop at 5, then about 3.5 for turn and river. My WTSD came down to 25.8% (from 27-29) my 3 bets up to 10%(from around 5%) and my 4 bets up to 18%(from 5%) W$SD is 35/60.

Some tables I was very LAG, others I was so card dead I was straight TAG. Moving to a >double my normal BRM strategy is kind of liberating at this limit.

Good fortune at the tables.

i think FOLD its a10

Originally posted by fun101rockets
i think FOLD its a10

Yeh, I know your right, and I don't have the odds I need, even with reads to play it. I'm not only gonna post the good hands

pretty sick winrate dude.. congratz and keep up the good work.

perhaps ill stay tuned on updates.

cheers

your day yesterday is kinda like my doay today at nl50

many thanks absoluto, and funrockets, I moved back to NL50 with some confidence after that day - and also after playing around with aggression on NL10 just betting 3betting, 4betting or folding no checking no calling - I learned a lot about fish (and maniacs) doing that. I might try another one where I'm the fish and just call or fold all the time.

So I take my aggression and my bankroll on the tables - but the first few hundred hands are even, and then I'm down a stack with some bad, and optimistic play. I don't give up and take a new strategy to table selection.

Since it's late at night there aren't as many tables, starting new ones usually means you get full of shorstacks and midstacks (even on NL50 SH) I started joining tables with 0 waiting list and got on and off them quickly. There were many juicy tables with some already tilted and tilting players. Adding me to the mix made even more action.

I think I had my biggest stack yet after finding a perfect seat to the left of what seemed a total maniac. I saw him steal $1.75 almost every time he could. He was really getting the better of the table for a while (except me)I stole back a lot of pots by 3 betting preflop, firing a couple of barrels, check raising the flop on paired boards etc.. I think I made him a bit tilty, or he started to not believe me at all.

[tg]CO(Hero)$49.05:///////;BU$51.75:///////;SB$122.35:///////;BB$52.75:///////;MP2$82.30:///////;MP3(maniac)$59.55:///////;[/tg]

Maniacs stats were 49/44/2 after 43 hands. WTSD 29% and ATS 67%!

Preflop: Hero is CO with J:c, T:c.
MP2 calls $0.50, MP3 raises to $2.25, Hero calls $2.25, 3 folds, MP2 calls $1.75.
Flop: ($7.5) 8:d, T:s, 3:c (3 players)
MP2 checks, MP3 checks, Hero bets $4.50, MP2 folds, MP3 calls $4.50.
Turn: ($16.5) 7:s (2 players)
MP3 checks, Hero bets $10.50, MP3 calls $10.50.
River: ($37.5) 9:d (2 players)
MP3 checks, Hero bets $20.50, MP3 folds, Hero gets uncalled bet back.
Final Pot: $37.5.

think that kinda tilted him, he was playing like he had a big hand for real. A couple of minutes later

[tg]SB(Hero)$66.00:///////;BB$51.75:///////;MP3$50.50:///////;CO$50.00:///////;BU(maniac)$51.30:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7:s, 8:s.
2 folds, BU raises to $1.75, Hero calls $1.50, BB folds.
Flop: ($4) 8:c, 6:c, 6:h (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $3.50, Hero raises to $11.00, BU folds, Hero gets uncalled bet back.
Final Pot: $7.5.

Now hes gotta be wondering about me..what a cheap play. I was prepared to give up the hand at least. Here come the fireworks.

[tg]BU(Hero)$71.25:///////;SB$51.25:///////;BB$50.00:///////;MP2$50.50:///////;MP3$50.00:///////;CO(maniac)$50.00:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is BU with K:h, K:c.
2 folds, CO raises to $1.75, Hero raises to $5.50, 2 folds, CO calls $3.75.

Flop: ($11.75) Q:d, 4:d, 3:h (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $9.00, CO raises to $24.50, Hero raises to $65.75, CO calls $20.00(All-In).
Turn: ($122) 6:d (0 players)

I think I'm screwed.. pokerstars loves diamonds. and I'm sure here comes another #$@#%

River: ($122) 7:d (0 players)
Final Pot: $102.
Results follow:
Hero shows a pair of kings(Kh Kc).
CO shows high card ace(Ah Js).

Nice hand sir. A mere 10 minutes later, he's rebought and still playing the same way.

[tg]SB(Hero)$107.25:///////;BB$53.10:///////;MP2$17.15:///////;MP3$50.75:///////;CO$50.00:///////;BU(maniac)$63.15:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is SB with K:s, A:h.
3 folds, BU raises to $1.75, Hero raises to $5.50, BB folds, BU calls $3.75.

Flop: ($11.5) T:c, J:c, 4:d (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $6.00, Hero calls $6.00.

Turn: ($23.5) A:d (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $12.50, Hero raises to $95.75, BU calls $39.15(All-In).
River: ($170.9) 2:d (0 players)
Final Pot: $131.75.

Results follow:
Hero shows a pair of aces(Ks Ah).
BU shows a pair of aces(Ac 3s).

Oh man, after that pretty much everyone left the table except the maniac, but I had enough of his money and knew it would be high variance to stay. There was a good portion of my BR on that table.

Todays session up 2.5 stacks in 707 hands. 17.2ptBB/100 nice!

Good fortune at the tables. Thanks for reading

Swingy lately. I've been getting some bad beats, and playing a bit poorly against shortstacks (preferring to flip them since so many are just bad) Up two stacks down 4 up one down 4 up 2 etc...

So I lost 3 stacks so far today, but haven't felt more competent than I do now with my game. I was thrown off by all the europeans that I don't usually see on my normal hours. There are some incredible fish - really they will call absolutely anything - even at NL50.

There are also those who will bet absolutely anything.. amazing I called down a few hands with A high and won.

My BR is still very healthy and I'm pretty happy with my play on NL50. There are a few players who constantly 3 bet me in position, and sometimes 5 bet bluff me when I play back. I might take to calling their 3 bets out of position and trying to take the pot down postflop.

My postflop skills and lines are improving, I'm more able to float correctly, and take it away on the turn or river. I'm also 3 barrelling more confidently..these spots are hard to find but very profitable.

My (non showdown) red line on the graph is now higher than the blue (showdown winnings) I attribute this to people being more able to fold, which means bluffs are working much better (ok not when all the european fish are here - I have to just give it up to them) About 60% of my winnings now are non-showdown.

There have been some bright lucky spots. I sucked out with quads on the river when I was set under set. I also cold called QJs once that turned into a royal flush - still no showdown, but I got about 70bb out of it

anyway I'm off to work for a bit - may you always run miles above EV

Cash games are going sideways for a while. I'm really not hitting much and AA, KK are mostly folded to preflop (I don't think I should start slowplaying and open limping?) I start to think that some tables are filled with colluding players at times. It's hard to find good tables at the crazy hours I play but I still do.

The really weird thing is that my showdown winnings are only about 1/3 of my total winnings and my all in EV line trends down lately. At the same time, my non-showdown winnings are most of my winnings, and my actual won is moving far ahead of my expected winnings line. I'll have to think about this for a bit.

♦

Played a couple of freerolls yesterday with my new Gold pokerstars status (not so difficult to attain on NL50..)

1st one ($100k) I dominated the early game and had a really good stack, 80th out of 800 when I busted out for something stupid (I think a resteal and a push on a draw against another bigstack who had TPTK)

Next one was the $30k and I also got a decent stack, lost almost all of it, then crawled back to average stealing relentlessly, and hitting some flops hard when I was called. I then busted out, but at least cashed for $12. I really think I could have gone to the final table, these freerolls are filled with mainly cash game players. I was finally cooled off when the BU 'steals' I reraise w AK, he pushes and I can't fold... of course he has AA. Maybe I fold the AK preflop, or just call next time.

I also played a $15 buyin MTT (probably the highest buyin tourney I've done in a while) and cashed for $37, again I could have done much better. Last hand was brutal, I remember.

Had a good hand recently where I 3 barrel bluffed 24s after my CO steal was called (by a PP I think) I think my opponent knew I was bluffing but they just couldn't call the all in on the river Q. Gotta be careful who I bluff, this guy was tight and passive post flop.

Now to watch (and shadow) coach grummeler for his MTT coaching today. I really hope he goes deep today. (yeh I know that's what she said)

May your sets be over sets, your flushes over flushes and your AA hold up against KK.

Not a great couple of days tourney wise. The last tourney was just terrible, I got two outered twice, and called in a 3 way all in with some 86o that had to make a flush on the river..rrrggg

Anyway taking a few moments before playing some more - it kinda hurts to play perfectly and lose, but it's still ok to know I'm getting in my money when I'm ahead.

My flop play is improved significantly, and so is my turn play, I'm still not good enough yet on the river.

Some good NL50 SH play lately, another few buyins up but again some real bad luck with 2 outers, or having AA losing to KK all in preflop (shouldn't have written that in my last post i guess)

One interesting and controversial hand worth posting happened a couple of days ago. I had next to no reads, but decided to go with my feel and what the odds looked like.

$0.25/$0.5 No-Limit Hold'em (3 handed)

Known players:
[tg]BU(Hero)$49.45:///////;SB$66.05:///////;BB$97.60:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is BU with 9:h, 9:c.
Hero raises to $2.00, SB calls $1.75, BB raises to $8.50, Hero calls $6.50, SB folds.

I like to call in case I hit a set, or maybe even have best hand on the flop.

Flop: ($19) 3:c, J:h, 8:d (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $11.00, BB raises to $89.10, Hero calls $29.95.

I think I have the odds here to call a raise against the range I give him. I figure if he has a made hand he'll call, if he has air he'll raise or fold. I kind of think he's aggressive (esp. based on preflop play) so it's even easier call for me

Turn: ($149.05) 8:c (0 players)
River: ($149.05) 7:s (0 players)
Final Pot: $119.1.
Results follow:
BB shows a pair of eights(As Ks).
Hero shows two pairs, nines and eights(9h 9c).
Hero wins with two pairs, nines and eights(9h 9c).

And I get flamed. Something about not being ahead on the flop to make that call.. I checked equilator. I have about 43% equity on the flop plus possible fold equity. When he bets I have pot odds to call, even with rake.

I give him a standard maybe even tight 3bet range of about 6.5% 88+ AQo+ AJs+ KQs and maybe T9s.

Equity Win Tie Loss Hand
Player 1: 43.733 % 43.005 % 1.456 % 55.539 % 9c9h
Player 2: 56.267 % 55.539 % 1.456 % 43.005 % 88+, AJs+, KQs, T9s, AQo+

After his bet, his range is tighter, or a bluf/semibluff. I didn't include 88/33 since I didn't think he'd play them this way, why didn't villain just take set value on the multiway flop..

Equity Win Tie Loss Hand
Player 1: 37.546 % 37.546 % 0.000 % 62.454 % 9c9h
Player 2: 62.454 % 62.454 % 0.000 % 37.546 % JJ+, AKs, AKo

Pot odds are $30 to win $81 = 37.0%. It's really close but I have a feeling I can rule out AA and KK, and he checked the flop (more consistent with AK) This makes it a call for me, flames or no flames.

Good fortune at the tables.

Hi again,

Just wondering about a sweat session when convenient; I'm only on lowly NL10 while I find my feet with a big stack in front of me, but I'd be interested in commenting on your play and vv if there's a convenient time?

Tim