[Closed] Low roller's diary

Two weeks since my last update. I manage to play regularly, getting in about 1000-1500 hands a week. The usual fluctuations in BR occur, but today with a nice up (some Dutch guys on the table, they can't play ) I'm now at an all-time high of $235! Got some flames from a Rumanian guy who saw his Aces busted by my river flush. But I had Q9s on a Q-high board, so was going to see the showdown anyway. I had the odds to call all the way (especially after I did a freecard raise on the flop that didn't work ).

I'm trying to incorporate some more of the SH preflop chart. I was already open-raising according to the ORC, but I'm now starting to add play *against* blind stealing as well. Today I found that many pepole steal blinds on a bluff (one guy even folded his BU open-raise to my SB 3-bet! I had Ax suited). If that is structural, then blind defense will add quite some value. But time will tell.

Ploughing through "Mathematics of Poker". there are quite some typos and little mistakes in it. I can pick them out (after trying to get my rusty Math brain in gear), but it's slow going. But I do want to really understand what they're saying, otherwise it's no use reading this kind of book, there are no easy tips or directions in it.

Anyway, I seem to be pretty well established on 0,25/0,50 now, and getting another 130BB this calendar year definitely looks like a realistic goal, provided I can get a sufficient amount of hands in. Will keep you posted.

Just a brief update, so as not to post only when it's going well!

Last two weeks kind of muddling along. BR up to 243, then down to 203, currently at 221. Nothing spectacular in terms of variance I know, but it does get dreary sometimes.

I haven't posted any hands lately, because I can't get myself to look at my hands afterwards. I do read (and sometimes discuss) other people's hands on the forum, but the motivation is a bit less than it was a while ago.

Will post again in two weeks or so. Nice to see so many topics in the User News.

Maybe you will move up faster when you post some hands?! ♦

Good luck at the tables!
Puschkin81

Hmmm, maybe this hand - played yesterday - will give me back some motivation?

0,25/0,50 Fixed-Limit Hold'em (9 handed)
Hand recorder used for this poker hand: Texas Grabem 1.7 by www.pokerstrategy.cc.

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with K♦, J♦
UTG+1 calls, UTG+2 calls, Hero calls, 4 folds, SB calls, BB checks.

Flop: (5,00 SB) 6♣, A♦, T♦ (5 players)
SB bets, BB folds, UTG+1 calls, UTG+2 calls, Hero raises, SB calls, UTG+1 calls, UTG+2 calls.

Turn: (6,50 BB) K♠ (4 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 checks, UTG+2 bets, Hero calls, SB calls, UTG+1 calls.

River: (10,50 BB) Q♦ (4 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 bets, UTG+2 calls, Hero raises, SB folds, UTG+1 3-bets, UTG+2 folds, Hero caps, UTG+1 calls.

Final Pot: 19,50 BB

My first Royal Flush!!

Wow nice hand.

Nice hand, Classical! Go go go ♦

Good luck at the tables!
Puschkin81

Well, after that Royal Flush the poker Gods continue to smile upon me. I experienced an upswing of 80BB+ in less than 1000 hands...
And I resumed posting hands in the forum, which was very wise, because our good coaches uncovered many a bad play Goes to show that short-term winnings or losses are not very significant of quality of play.

BR is now at $267. I need $33 or 66BB to move up to 0.50/1.00. Then the PPs accumulate a lot faster, and I can maybe try to reach Gold (am currently at some 200 SP per 4 weeks, need to quadruple that. Moving up to 0.50/1.00 will take care of a factor 3, so I have to play 1.33 times as much for four weeks to make it )

But, first things first, let's go for these 66BB!

Nice hand!

I wish you all the best for your goals. Keep this "blog" updated!

And for the other side of the coin: I just lost $27 in less than 300 hands. My largest single-session loss yet. I won the first pot (including blinds!) on the 73rd hand(!), a record for me. After that I lost some big pots with sets and trips, but I certainly went on tilt as well. Not a huge tilt, but a call too many here, try a little move there *while being aware this was wrong*.

In retrospect I should have stopped when I realized I was tilting. I did in fact consider it, but went on nevertheless, another proof of tilt...

I'm going to look at the hands later, hope I can learn from this.

Well, I went over my tilt-session, and posted some hands where I wasn't sure on the forum. For these hands my level of play wasn't much worse than normal. There were other hands I didn't post that were just clearly tilt, but all in all it seems that the majority of the loss was "normal". From the 54 BB I'd estimate 15BB were tilt.

Of course 15BB tilt loss on 300 hands is huge, but somehow in my mind I thought it was even worse - probably another aspect of tilt, it warps your perspective of reality. Nevertheless it will be a big step forward if in the future I manage to avoid this, by either getting a grip on myself, or quitting when I find I can't.

Meanwhile, I had a session yesterday with some winnings, BR now at 247.

Hi Classical!

Well done! Reviewing a session and analyzing your game is exactly what a good poker player should do. Just try to avoid the mistakes you found this time and you'll automatically improve your game.

Good luck at the tables!
Puschkin81

A very short session yesterday. Today I won't be able to play, due to RL commitments it's hard to put in any substantial amount of play these days.

Yesterday's session was good though, because I managed to keep a very clear head. Made some good folds of strong hole cards that didn't hit the flop (QQ against two with flop AKx).

I played three tables instead of my usual four because the fourth table just didn't become available quickly enough. I think at the moment it's +EV longterm to stick to three tables. There's just some more time for reflection, and less chance to get carried away in tilt, so I will stick to three for a while.

One of the tables was a "speed table", a new PP feature, where you have less time to think and where your blinds are always posted automatically (also you can only enter the game in the BB). I think I'll stick to regular tables for flexibility and time though.

BR at $251, so total life earnings > $100

Another update after 9 days. Haven't played a lot, but could put in a fair amount of hands today. BR has been as low as 232, as high as 275, and is currently on 270. Three new things:

- I've played a few $3 SNGs. I know the buy-in is too high for these, but they're more for fun only, since my skill nor BR support a higher rate. They serve to keep things fresh, I play just one after a satisfying session. I've been 3rd twice and 2nd once, so overall about break-even.

- I did a "time slow-play" in the following hand:

0,25/0,50 Fixed-Limit Hold'em (9 handed)
Hand recorder used for this poker hand: Texas Grabem 1.7 by www.pokerstrategy.cc.

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with Q♦, K♣
2 folds, MP1 calls, MP2 folds, Hero raises, CO folds, BU 3-bets, 2 folds, MP1 calls, Hero calls.

Flop: (10,40 SB) 8♣, T♥, 4♦ (3 players)
MP1 checks, Hero checks, BU bets, MP1 calls, Hero calls.

Turn: (6,70 BB) K♠ (3 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets, BU folds, MP1 calls.

And when the second K came on the river, I deliberately waited some 15 seconds before betting, hoping to induce my opponent to raise, and...

River: (8,70 BB) K♥ (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets, MP1 raises, Hero 3-bets, MP1 calls.

Final Pot: 14,70 BB

Results follow (highlight to see):
MP1 shows [ 2d, Ac ] a pair of Kings
Hero shows [ Qd, Kc ] three of a kind, Kings
Hero wins $7 USD with three of a kind, Kings.

- The bad-beat jackpot is very high (>600k at the moment), so i took on one $0.50/1.00 jackpot table along with my 0.25/0.50 tables. BR is almost high enough anyway, and I was hoping for loose players taking a shot at the Jackpot (just like me ). I was slightly in the plus on that table. Too few hands to notice much difference compared to my usual limit.

Hi Classical!

Nice to read that you are moving up. Hope you keep doing that.

Good luck at the (jackpot) tables!
Puschkin81

Ahum, new record for biggest loss in one session. Today $38 down in some 250 hands... I played six tables in total (never more than 4 simultanuously) and was negative on all six of'em...

A lot of strong draws that I had odds on to go to the river, but didn't materialize so I have to fold. But there was also some sloppy play, some mistakes, and maybe a leak in my river play, where I maybe fold too many hands, thinking I'm beat. I posted some of those, see what the experts say.

Took shots at a 0.50/1.00 jackpot table again, although the jackpot apparently had fallen, and is now at 160k. So probably -EV. Anyway, I lost some on that table, but not as much as on the 0.25/0.50 tables.

So I'm back at BR $232, will be on this limit a bit longer :). But I'm starting to get used to the swings, and I really have to do something about that river. I find it by far the hardest street to play...

More bad news. I've fallen below $200... BR now at $191. That is 150BB+ down, my biggest down sofar since the initial 340BB down on 0,05/0,10.

Today's session was in the minus again. Won lots of blinds, but lost most big pots I was involved in. I'll go over the hands later.

You won't have any problems dealing with your downswing. Having read this entire thread you've obviously got a level head and should be having a nice upswing in the near future.
Let's hope you can reach $300 by the end of the year.

I wanted to ask you a couple of questions about your game.
1. Are you using the new SHC or the old one?
2. Do you use the postflop strategy from the bronze section, or are you adding some different play to your postflop game?

Good luck in reaching the magical $300!

Thanks for the support Pokerhammer, much appreciated!

I'm not sure this down classifies as a real DS, as it's not over that many hands. I don't have PT, but it's certainly no more than 2000. I'm still in the plus overall, and even on this limit (famous last words).

1. Preflop I'm still using the old SHC, but I'm not limping often in early position anymore, only when the table is loose. I also use the silver ORC consistently when I'm in MP2 or higher. In addition, I use the silver SH charts when appropriate: in blind defense, and generally when UTG1-MP1 fold.

2. Postflop I use the strategy articles from the Bronze and Silver sections, plus what I've picked up from hand reviews. I've also read Jones' WLLH, and King Yao's Weighing the Odds, plus parts of Mathematics of Poker.

Weak points:
- patience/perseverence. I can't play many hands (1000/week is typical), so even with a decent winrate (which I don't know I have) climbing the limits takes a long time. Sometimes reading all the success stories on this site makes me impatient, I was already playing 0,50/1,00 in my imagination! And after a down I sometimes have trouble keeping motivated. But the Dutch PS forum has just opened, so that may help.
- Heads-up play. I have a big fear when playing HU, that I'm being taken advantage of. If I lose two pots HU to the same villain, it's very hard for me to stay objective, because I'm afraid to be exploited. So then I tend to call down more than I should. I guess this is a form of tilt. Does anyone have tips to deal with this?
- River play. Very hard, especially HU. Bet/fold is almost impossible for me to do (again out of fear of being exploited), so it's mostly c/c or b/c. In the Gold section there is supposedly a very good river article, but at my volumes I won't be making Gold on this limit.

In order not to program myself too negatively, I'll also consider my:

Strong points:
- Objectivity. I don't have a problem examining my play afterwards objectively, or taking criticism/advice from other PS-ers.
- Mathematical interest. So I can at least understand the various concepts (although Mathermatics of Poker is still pretty tough).
- Knowing when to stop. I usually stop when I feel my concentration diminishing. Mostly my sessions are no more than 1 hour.

Will review yesterday's hands tonight, and post some in the forum. Good luck at the table to you all!

"- River play. Very hard, especially HU. Bet/fold is almost impossible for me to do (again out of fear of being exploited), so it's mostly c/c or b/c. In the Gold section there is supposedly a very good river article, but at my volumes I won't be making Gold on this limit."

I would suggest buying Small Stakes Holdem, it has a great section on river play that could help a lot.

Thanks for the advice. I will give it a try.