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Originally posted by ragney
Hmm, today I tried being more aggresive preflop, didn't end up good at all. Have to check what to do vs those loose TAGs, kinda hard to beat them at their own game. I think I have to tighten up and don't bluff them often. Most loss comes from bluffing the loose TAGs (semi maniacs).

wat? you tried to be more aggresive and ended up playing 13/11 and 15/14?=) thats pretty nitty, are that your stats in general?

Originally posted by luzzy
like your blog alot, would be great if we could get in touch for some poker talk
edit: playing nl25 with a 3k roll is pretty sick tho

Add me on the community or drop your skype nick. I don't want massive people adding me on skype. I don't mind talking about poker but I don't want it too much. I'm also quite busy with internship so I hope you understand

I like to play with at least 40 stacks so I don't feel any tilt when I lose 5-6 stacks.

wat? you tried to be more aggresive and ended up playing 13/11 and 15/14?happy thats pretty nitty, are that your stats in general?

I used to play nitty with 15 tables. I quitted that few months ago and play now about 23/20.

@phantommm92: same what I wrote to luzzy, sweats takes more time though, I don't mind helping you with some hands or questions/problems you have.

Originally posted by ragney
Update: Officially playing poker NL25 for a semi-living. Averaging about $15/hour.

About me
I'm 22 years old asian/dutch guy living in the Netherlands. Found out about poker only half year ago when I stopped playing an addictive online game and found out my old friends were playing poker and offered me a free $50 and said "give it a shot"

Nice blog!

Are you a blogger in the dutch community to?
Did you use to play WOW or another addictive game?

Without meaning to sound rude you most likely don't beat the game at 12bb/100 ($15) an hour, and a 30k hand sample is no where near a big enough sample to designate yourself an hourly rate. Clearly you haven't experienced the swings in poker yet, (well you've probably experienced the nice swings..) poker can be cruel, it's not uncommon for most pros to have a 100k breakeven stretch at some point in their career, so a 30k hand sample doesn't even cut it for declaring your hourly.

Also, you didn't even take your EV$/hr just your actual $/hr, and you're running over EV. Your real hourly is much more likely to be closer to $10, trust me. If you actually beat the game at 12bb/100 @ 25nl, it'd be near suicide not to move up.

GL anyway, im just saying don't get too carried away with numbers over small samples, coz if u hit a downer it will totally destroy you, make you question whether you beat the game etc. and in reality it'll just be a standard swing.

Originally posted by fusionpk
Without meaning to sound rude you most likely don't beat the game at 12bb/100 ($15) an hour, and a 30k hand sample is no where near a big enough sample to designate yourself an hourly rate. Clearly you haven't experienced the swings in poker yet, (well you've probably experienced the nice swings..) poker can be cruel, it's not uncommon for most pros to have a 100k breakeven stretch at some point in their career, so a 30k hand sample doesn't even cut it for declaring your hourly.

Also, you didn't even take your EV$/hr just your actual $/hr, and you're running over EV. Your real hourly is much more likely to be closer to $10, trust me. If you actually beat the game at 12bb/100 @ 25nl, it'd be near suicide not to move up.

GL anyway, im just saying don't get too carried away with numbers over small samples, coz if u hit a downer it will totally destroy you, make you question whether you beat the game etc. and in reality it'll just be a standard swing.

Thank you. I know that the sample is still somewhat low. I don't use EV$/hr because it doesn't include non-all in postflop equities. Like hitting a flush on the river and calling the river is for me -65% EV but since the villain calls its a break even EV. I don't use it.

I didn't include my rakeback as income because I want to use that a "reserve" incase I run too hot or too cold for a longer period of time.

About NL50, I'm going to try it when I have enough confidence and time. It's just a matter of time.

Anyway thanks for your input, I know most of the things that you wrote but its good to have someone telling me it again. I rarely see people write that. I've gotten slightly overconfident last week, which I shouldn't be. Still some decent NL25 regs out there which can able to put some big pressure IP.

@martijnde666: Nop, not using the dutch community (more forums = more time waste, this one is enough^^). I used to play diablo 2 and warcraft 3 as online addictive games. Other games I also play are strategy games, especially fire emblem at super hard mode.

I have a question:

I'll try to make the switch from 20NLFR to 10NLSH, but im losing some BI's.

I'll have a problem with playing small to medium pairs in position (55 to 1010).

In full ring you dont have a lot of showdown value, en i'll use the medium en small pairs for setmining only.

But in SH some times you do have showdown value, how do i recognize these spots?

I try to look at the betting pattern of villian, but the maniacs (witch there are a lot in sh) are hard to read.

I think i have to controll the pot in these spots right?

Originally posted by martijnde666
I have a question:

I'll try to make the switch from 20NLFR to 10NLSH, but im losing some BI's.

I'll have a problem with playing small to medium pairs in position (55 to 1010).

In full ring you dont have a lot of showdown value, en i'll use the medium en small pairs for setmining only.

But in SH some times you do have showdown value, how do i recognize these spots?

I try to look at the betting pattern of villian, but the maniacs (witch there are a lot in sh) are hard to read.

I think i have to controll the pot in these spots right?

Playing small pairs in position vs tight/nit UTG/MP open is usually for setvalue (call20 rule). Against looser opponents opening from MP/CO you have to play "poker" against them. You need experience telling when its good to raise for value or raise as bluff. You have position, position is powerful.

When you feel you have a hand that can only beat a bluff, there is where your showdown decisions start. If your opponent bluffy on rivers? Check the river and let him bluff his craps.

If you feel you're ahead of your opponent on the river, bet. If they raise, think if you raise with anything worse you're holding. If the answer is no, fold, you don't have showdown value.

All-in its kinda hard to explain... SH is more loose style, if you plan to play tight you'll never be a good player. Try playing on SH ~18/15 on NL10.

Move to 20/17 on NL25.

Back to my own story:
I plan to play on some other sites for the first deposit bonus and check out software + the poker skill level there. Stars has the highest skill level imo due many regs there. Since I won't be hitting supernova this year, planning to play on party poker. Any suggestions?

@discussion:
you can be a v sick player playing tight, it's all about thinking about ur overall gameplan, at micros u can just play tight because no one is good enough to adapt correctly, so all u need to think about it value value value, no need to balance and many less spots to bluff.

also 18/15 is probably closer to tight than loose.
20/17 is probably getting near the average.

no reason a loose player should be any better/have higher winrate at micros than a tight player, it's all about adapting to ppls ranges, and generally ppl are too loose, splashy and generally bad at micros.

just think about every spot individually, opening QTo is not +EV normally, but if there's a splashy spewy fish in the blinds its probably going to be +EV. opening AT is probably standard open on most tabs but on tougher tabs where blinds and others IP have the ability to play back at u, it can be more profitable to fold.

888 poker is verry soft, they have a good bonuss system.

A lot of the players are verry weak.

Played 3k hands today, about 5-6hours of poker. Won about 200bb. Looks like people have more sample size of my aggressive play, they don't fold light anymore vs my 3bets or c/rai during postflop. So I started to play less aggressive, when I play aggressive I'll be having a good value hand (while they think I'm overly aggro due my stats).

Also almost reaching a $1000 on NL25, excluding rakeback.

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Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.25(BB) Replayer
SB ($26.22)
BB ($21.31)
UTG ($41.71)
UTG+1 ($61.26)
CO ($26.74)
Hero ($31.95)

Dealt to Hero Q♦ J♦

UTG raises to $0.75, fold, fold, Hero calls $0.75, fold, BB calls $0.50

FLOP ($2.35) J♣ T♦ 4♥

BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $1.70, BB calls $1.70, UTG folds

TURN ($5.75) J♣ T♦ 4♥ Q♣

BB checks, Hero bets $4.70, BB raises to $9.40, Hero raises to $27, BB calls $9.46 (AI)

RIVER ($43.47) J♣ T♦ 4♥ Q♣ 2♦

I wasn't sure if I can fold this, I think its still marginal because the amount of sets+straight combinations than overpairs (very unlikely) and two pairs.

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Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.25(BB) Replayer
SB ($17.30)
BB ($25)
UTG ($57.44)
UTG+1 ($24.26)
Hero ($65.58)
BTN ($50.24)

Dealt to Hero A♥ 8♣

fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.75, BTN calls $0.75, SB calls $0.65, fold

FLOP ($2.50) 8♥ 6♠ 3♦

SB checks, Hero bets $1.80, BTN folds, SB raises to $4, Hero calls $2.20

TURN ($10.50) 8♥ 6♠ 3♦ 4♥

SB bets $5.25, Hero calls $5.25

RIVER ($21) 8♥ 6♠ 3♦ 4♥ T♥

SB bets $7.30 (AI), Hero calls $7.30

SB shows 6♣ 6♥
(Pre 56%, Flop 98.4%, Turn 100.0%)

Hero shows A♥ 8♣
(Pre 44%, Flop 1.6%, Turn 0.0%)

SB wins $33.88

Villain is 36/20 over 46 hands, somewhat aggressive but small sample. For 70bb, not sure if we can play for stacks (70bb).

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Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.25(BB) Replayer
SB ($62.14)
BB ($27.31)
UTG ($34.71)
UTG+1 ($39.46)
CO ($25)
Hero ($25)

Dealt to Hero 4♠ 4♦

fold, UTG+1 calls $0.25, fold, Hero raises to $1, fold, BB calls $0.75, UTG+1 calls $0.75

FLOP ($3.10) Q♦ 2♥ 3♠

BB bets $2, UTG+1 folds, Hero calls $2

TURN ($7.10) Q♦ 2♥ 3♠ K♣

BB bets $5, Hero calls $5

RIVER ($17.10) Q♦ 2♥ 3♠ K♣ K♠

BB bets $18.50, Hero calls $17 (AI)

Villain is maniac. He isn't repping anything. I think I shoulda raise for value on the flop, because way too many overcards showing up on other streets.

dont mind folding A8o pre CO esp when deep vs BTN.

Played about 5k hands for the past three days, manage to win about 400bb. IMO I spewed too much money (again!!!) by playing too aggressively. Need to stop this shit asap, its fucking me up big time. I hope I have enough time to get my last 900 vpp for gold status this month, due internship I'm really busy.

One hand that I'm really pissed of...
SHNL25 AQ, worse play in awhile...
Because of this shit I have to grind about 1k hands to fix this mistake I've made. fml

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Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.25(BB) Replayer
SB ($27.82)
BB ($10.25)
UTG ($44.70)
CO ($22.78)
Hero ($25.90)

Dealt to Hero K♣ K♦

fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.55, SB calls $0.45, BB calls $0.30

FLOP ($1.65) 9♠ Q♣ 6♣

SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $1.30, SB calls $1.30, BB folds

TURN ($4.25) 9♠ Q♣ 6♣ Q♠

SB checks, Hero checks

RIVER ($4.25) 9♠ Q♣ 6♣ Q♠ J♥

SB bets $3.25, Hero calls $3.25

Villain is reg 23/20 with agg factor 28% on river. Judging by his play, IMO nothing we can beat. I think the call was bad. I was planning to b/f turn but I wanted to let him bluff the river due the somewhat high aggressiveness. But he is OOP 3-way, so he is rarely bluffing IMO.

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Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.25(BB) Replayer
SB ($28.04)
Hero ($25)
UTG ($26.18)
UTG+1 ($17.06)
CO ($25)
BTN ($37.14)

Dealt to Hero K♣ Q♣

fold, fold, CO raises to $0.75, fold, fold, Hero calls $0.50

FLOP ($1.60) 2♠ Q♥ 7♦

Hero checks, CO bets $1.19, Hero calls $1.19

TURN ($3.98) 2♠ Q♥ 7♦ T♦

Hero checks, CO bets $3.06, Hero calls $3.06

RIVER ($10.10) 2♠ Q♥ 7♦ T♦ T♠

Hero checks, CO bets $7.50, Hero folds

Villain is reg 23/20 with agg% 49/45/25. I wasn't sure about the river, he can't be betting pp's like a bluff. Not many draws he could bet as bluff. So I think its a solid fold, though he is really aggressive.

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Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.25(BB) Replayer
Hero ($25)
BB ($25)
UTG ($34.43)
UTG+1 ($18.16)
CO ($22.10)
BTN ($25)

Dealt to Hero A♣ T♠

fold, UTG+1 calls $0.25, CO raises to $1, fold, Hero raises to $3.25, fold, UTG+1 calls $3, fold

FLOP ($7.75) A♥ 4♣ 6♦

Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $3.25, Hero calls $3.25

TURN ($14.25) A♥ 4♣ 6♦ 4♥

Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $4.75, Hero calls $4.75

RIVER ($23.75) A♥ 4♣ 6♦ 4♥ 2♠

Hero checks, UTG+1 checks

Villain is unknown but looks fishy due stack size. Wasn't sure if I wanted to play for stacks with a TPMK. Turn was a hard decision for me. Since I called turn, I must call river whatever the reason is?

Played 1k hands. Won 80bb. Thought I played well but I ended up losing 300bb on non-sd winnings. Checked my hands but couldn't spot many non-sd postflop ones that were questionable. I lost alot money by 3betting/fold preflop though, I guess I shouldn't do it vs the high 4betters (although I shove much lighter vs them but was always stuck with crappy hands, wanted to balance out though).

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Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.25(BB) Replayer
SB ($36.72)
BB ($25.32)
UTG ($14.96)
UTG+1 ($43.35)
CO ($70.30)
Hero ($25.44)

Dealt to Hero K♦ A♣

UTG raises to $0.75, fold, fold, Hero calls $0.75, fold, fold

FLOP ($1.85) 8♦ J♦ Q♠

UTG bets $1.23, Hero calls $1.23

TURN ($4.31) 8♦ J♦ Q♠ 8♥

UTG checks, Hero bets $3, UTG calls $3

RIVER ($10.31) 8♦ J♦ Q♠ 8♥ K♠

UTG bets $9.98 (AI), Hero folds

UTG wins $9.81
Not callable vs a 23% river aggression guy?

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Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $0.25(BB) Replayer
SB ($25)
BB ($37.17)
UTG ($45.87)
CO ($35.69)
Hero ($25.60)

Dealt to Hero 4♦ J♦

UTG calls $0.25, fold, Hero raises to $1, fold, BB calls $0.75, UTG calls $0.75

FLOP ($3.10) J♥ 8♦ 2♠

BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $2.10, BB folds, UTG calls $2.10

TURN ($7.30) J♥ 8♦ 2♠ 2♣

UTG checks, Hero checks

RIVER ($7.30) J♥ 8♦ 2♠ 2♣ Q♦

UTG bets $6, Hero folds

UTG wins $6.95

Villain fish 58/22. Agg% over 120 hands is 21/16/29. Being 3way and not many draws, can he be bluffing? Are we 33%'ish ahead?

Besides these hands I saw I played abit too loose out of position. I'm noting it down.

September:

Not as good as august but still okay'ish. People are starting to adjust so I have to re-adjust making games higher variance. Rb about $150.

hy Ragney!

how can your non-showdown winning be so "high", I mean not negative?
Are you just 3bet bluffing more preflop, or calling more in blinds and bluffing more postflop in the appropriate situtations and you get a fold?

Thanks is advance,
paatika

Originally posted by paatika
hy Ragney!

how can your non-showdown winning be so "high", I mean not negative?
Are you just 3bet bluffing more preflop, or calling more in blinds and bluffing more postflop in the appropriate situtations and you get a fold?

Thanks is advance,
paatika

As I was an huge loser in non-showdown redline at the same stakes before and now have the same kind of graph, I might answer that.

Of course, the main leak for aweful redline would be being passive and loose preflop (with big vpip compared to pfr) and check folding like a faggot postflop. But it wasn't my case and I hope it's not yours neither. Not totally at least, as I had some problem with setmining all baby pairs out of position with borderline crappy odds. Don't do that.

It came as surprise to me but, the main thing I had to do was to play less tables, be able to focus more on the good spots on each table, now playing 8 instead of 16. This will result on less useless postflop cbets (you know vilain(s) will never fold due to their fishy stats or obvious range) and more barrelling. You really need to know when to pull the trigger for second barrel. 3 bullets is very rare for me at those stakes though.

This should already fix the redline greatly, but to be able to have it becoming actually positive, I had to open my game and aggression preflop quite drasticly. 3-bet a lot on position opener (look at their steal %age) when you're on the button or blinds, but don't do it randomly. Squeeze the limped or gay-raised pot when you're cutoff or BU with almost any crap. Steal every button except if you get caugh by some reg in the blinds, etc... Also, I had to adjust my postflop cbet size, doing it between 1/2 to 2/3 of the pot (in a 3bet pot) instead full pots. On the other hand, I start to overbet some small pots because fishes tend to call your weak c-bets with air so many times when pot is small, but that's just me...
My stats went from something like 18-13-3 to 30-25-12. So, yeah it's a big change of style and quite hard to control (especially at those stakes filled with some fishy stations) but in the end it really works for fixing the redline, and eventually kill the blue one ^^

@paatika: Pretty much what RoManZ said. You have to find your own leaks and the leaks of the opponent to play well pre and postflop. Of course there are some common leaks like what RoManZ said.

Anyway, another month full of swings. Up by $200'ish in about 10K hands.

thank you guys. altough mostly I do what RoManZ wrote. I guess it depends a lot on the poker room as well where you play (it could mean other kind of opponents) and on your strategy. in my last about 30k big sample I run around 10 bb/100 and my nonshowdown is quite negative (for example if I cbet/barrel/bluff more my better hands will be paid out better, but my nonshowdown can decrease at the same time). interesting anyway.
thank you for your answers!

Originally posted by paatika
thank you guys. altough mostly I do what RoManZ wrote. I guess it depends a lot on the poker room as well where you play (it could mean other kind of opponents) and on your strategy. in my last about 30k big sample I run around 10 bb/100 and my nonshowdown is quite negative (for example if I cbet/barrel/bluff more my better hands will be paid out better, but my nonshowdown can decrease at the same time). interesting anyway.
thank you for your answers!

Mind posting/making screenshot of your (position) stats along with aggression and WTS?

Originally posted by paatika
thank you guys. altough mostly I do what RoManZ wrote. I guess it depends a lot on the poker room as well where you play (it could mean other kind of opponents) and on your strategy. in my last about 30k big sample I run around 10 bb/100 and my nonshowdown is quite negative (for example if I cbet/barrel/bluff more my better hands will be paid out better, but my nonshowdown can decrease at the same time). interesting anyway.
thank you for your answers!

Yep, it might totally depends on wich kind of pool you play. If you play a LAG style and 3bet madly against mostly loose fishes, this might aslo be the main reason why you're losing too much at non-showdown. That's why playing less tables and paying attention to your hud, see who's at the tables, was the key change for me.
For example, I've noticed a direct impact on my redline from the "cbet flop success %" stat. On a given session, if this stat is around 60% I can be almost sure my redline is posivite (playing quite loose aggro) at the end of it.
And most of the time, it is just even or negative, and guess what ? The percentage drop to 40%. This should mean, you don't have to expect any showdown winning against loose passive bad players pool. Just limit the bleeding as much as you can.