Nice!
I might easily have folded A♠:5♠: there -- but you gotta admit that's a dream flop.
Imagine if instead of 5♣: the turn had been Q♠: -- BB might have been tempted to shove!
Oh, wait...
Notifications
Clear all
Time to buckle up!
My last 4 or 5 sessions had been profitable ones. I was happy with my play overall and seeing some pay-off as I work to plug up on one of my biggest leaks... things were going so well... then tonight, in the span of less than 400 hands, I lost 6 buy-ins... pretty frustrated and discouraged... 4 all-in situations - AA got cracked, ran AKs into AA pre-flop, AQ (2 pair and villain made straight), and a dumb tilt bluff on a very wet board, lost the other 2 buy-ins making what I hope were hero-folds when the board turned on me.
The one silver lining is I got dealt pocket queens an incredible 5 times and they held up every time... so there's that I guess. I would write up a "Return of the Jedi" parody post to go with my previous couple... but not tonight.
I know a downswing of 6 buy-ins happens but to happen so quickly is quite a gut-punch. I'm not giving up though, there's a long road ahead to success, so buckle up - it's gonna be a bumpy ride!
If it wasn't a bit deeper the QQ hand, I would say really standard, he could have flushdraw and so on... But even with 140bb deep it cannot be too big of a mistake. He can sometimes have bluffs with this aggro image, you are pot committed and you are getting good odds. The only thing is, he puts you on something really strong right, after you bet/call the flop and 3bet pre. But vs unknown aggro laggy guy I think it is a small mistake or maybe not even a mistake, who knows what a random aggro can be up to at NL10... at NL2 vs this type of guy I think it would be a no-brainer jam.
Chin up Ramble. These type of sessions are super frustrating and can often knock your confidence down a notch. Thankfully they don't happen often.
Originally posted by taavi1337
If it wasn't a bit deeper the QQ hand, I would say really standard, he could have flushdraw and so on... But even with 140bb deep it cannot be too big of a mistake. He can sometimes have bluffs with this aggro image, you are pot committed and you are getting good odds. The only thing is, he puts you on something really strong right, after you bet/call the flop and 3bet pre. But vs unknown aggro laggy guy I think it is a small mistake or maybe not even a mistake, who knows what a random aggro can be up to at NL10... at NL2 vs this type of guy I think it would be a no-brainer jam.
Thanks taavi - I've got to learn to trust my gut a bit more and be willing to lay my cards down in these types of spots.
Originally posted by SiKWiThIt
Chin up Ramble. These type of sessions are super frustrating and can often knock your confidence down a notch. Thankfully they don't happen often.
Thanks bud - it definitely makes you question a lot of things suddenly when it hits this quick, but it's just fuel to the fire for me now. I'm over it and working on recovering my losses and getting better at my game as I go.
What's your line?
I feel like I've been playing in a way that is reducing my winnings overall by overplaying my strong hands. What I mean by this is I think I'm betting/raising a little bit too much with some of my strong hands and should be check-calling a bit more so I'm not chasing out villains with weaker holdings. I'm referring specifically to strong hands on dry boards or boards that aren't likely hitting villains range that much.
I recently posted a few hands to the hand discussion forum for feedback on how to extract more value from these hands and thought the responses were interesting so I'm linking to them here so I can refer to them again later. Thanks to everyone that provided input.
PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3
Hero (BB): $10.72 (107.2 bb)
UTG: $6.11 (61.1 bb)
MP: $13.79 (137.9 bb)
CO: $10.00 (100 bb)
BTN: $10.00 (100 bb)
SB: $18.31 (183.1 bb)
SB posts $0.05, Hero posts BB $0.10
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has K♠: K♦:
3 folds, BTN raises to $0.30, fold, Hero raises to $0.90, BTN calls $0.60
Flop: ($1.85, 2 players) 4♥: 2♥: K♣:
Hero checks, BTN bets $1.33, Hero calls $1.33
Turn: ($4.51, 2 players) 7♦:
Hero checks, BTN bets $3.23, Hero ?
Spoiler
Hero raises to $8.49 and is all-in, fold
Results: $10.97 pot ($0.49 rake)
Final Board: 4♥: 2♥: K♣: 7♦:
Hero wins $10.48
See discussion here --> https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?postid=3264403#post3264403
Spoiler
Lots of ways suggested to play this one:
x-c, x-r... (or if flop was rainbow x-c, x-c, x-r)
bet, bet, bet
x-c, x-c, x-r
bet flop, bet turn, x-r river
x-c, x-c, x-c
----
PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3
BB: $20.00 (200 bb)
UTG: $24.90 (249 bb)
MP: $12.63 (126.3 bb)
CO: $10.35 (103.5 bb)
Hero (BTN): $9.87 (98.7 bb)
SB: $9.36 (93.6 bb)
SB posts $0.05, BB posts $0.10
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has 9♦: A♦:
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.25, fold, BB calls $0.15
Flop: ($0.55, 2 players) 9♠: J♣: 9♥:
BB checks, Hero bets $0.25, BB raises to $1.00, Hero calls $0.75
Turn: ($2.55, 2 players) 7♣:
BB bets $1.80, Hero ?
Spoiler
Hero raises to $4.22, fold
Results: $6.15 pot ($0.28 rake)
Final Board: 9♠: J♣: 9♥: 7♣:
Hero wins $5.87
See discussion here --> https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?postid=3264402#post3264402
Bankroll Challenge Update - 1 Month
All info below is specific to the Bankroll Challenge and are the running totals since the start (August 12, 2021)
Stakes: NL5 and NL10
Hands Played: 11,825
Starting Bankroll: $100.00
Current Bankroll: $148.82 (includes bonuses)
Bankroll Goal: $500.00
Goal Completion: 9.7%
The first few weeks of this challenge were pretty great. I was crushing NL5 (17bb/100 over 5300 hands - 
), and it gave me the confidence to stab at NL10.
My stab turned into a permanent move to NL10 as my confidence is strong at this level too. I started out really well and my bankroll was growing quite nicely. There were a few ups and downs, but overall I was confident and could own most of the losses as learning opportunities... I could already see a move up to NL16 or NL25 in my not-too-distant future... 
Then I hit a sharp downswing and lost 6 buy-ins over 700 hands. Downswings happen, it was disappointing at the time, but I'm still going strong and learning lots, I'm not going to dwell on it.
Here's my graph since the beginning of the bankroll challenge:
My goals aren't just about increasing my bankroll. I'm also very happy with my other goals:
Volume - was expecting to play 1000 hands per week - but I'm averaging about 2500 / week
Studying - was expecting to have a study session once per week - but I'm averaging two per week
Stakes - was hoping to move to NL10 by end of challenge, but there now, so I'm setting a new goal of stabbing at either NL16 or NL25 at the end of this challenge.
Let's GOOOO!!!
Downswing or Avalanche...
Well the downswing continues... I'm down 13 buy-ins and it sucks... Lots of coolers, running sets into sets, K-high flush into A-high flush, that type of thing... I'm reviewing my play and feel like I'm playing decent so hopefully I come out of it soon.
I'm definitely not winning at NL10 anymore... but I'm going to stick with it until I hit 20 buy-ins down (hopefully that doesn't happen), before switching to NL5.
Thought I could push through, but I can't... taking a couple days off to come at it fresh again.
I just reviewed my 30 biggest losses of the downswing and saw 4-5 really bad plays on my part... see you all in a couple days. 
A slow return...
So taking a couple days off did me some good... Got some much needed sleep, exercised, spent some quality time with my family, etc...
I reviewed a few hands from above again... Looking at them fresh, I was making all kinds of mistakes... I know - Big Surprise right? This happens some times when I make a small adjustment to my game, it throws out other parts of my game... usually I can tell quite quickly that what I'm trying isn't working, but I was too stubborn/blind this time and thought these were the "exceptions that proved the rule". Having said that, the timing was bad as there were a lot of coolers that happened at the same time so it exaggerated the downswing - BUT, on the other hand, it made me step back sooner, so maybe the coolers saved me.
LOL - I DUNNO... trying to be positive about it.
Played a bunch of micro-sessions today to be sure I was fully focused and aware and am very happy with my play. 6 out 7 were +$$$, so that's nice. I'll try to get a bigger session in later tonight.
This was my favorite hand of the day:
PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3
CO: $11.11 (111.1 bb)
BTN: $6.00 (60 bb)
SB: $14.41 (144.1 bb)
BB: $8.23 (82.3 bb)
Hero (UTG): $19.28 (192.8 bb)
MP: $10.00 (100 bb)
SB posts $0.05, BB posts $0.10
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has T♥: T♣:
Hero raises to $0.25, 2 folds, BTN calls $0.25, SB raises to $1.20, fold, Hero calls $0.95, BTN calls $0.95
Flop: ($3.70, 3 players) 9♥: 2♥: 4♦:
SB bets $1.40, Hero folds, BTN raises to $4.80 and is all-in, SB calls $3.40
Turn: ($13.30, 2 players) 5♣:
River: ($13.30, 2 players) Q♦:
Results: $13.30 pot ($0.60 rake)
Final Board: 9♥: 2♥: 4♦: 5♣: Q♦:
Spoiler
SB shows J♣: J♦:: (One Pair, Jacks)
(Pre 67%, Flop 54%, Turn 69%)
BTN shows Q♥: 5♥:: (Two Pair, Queens and Fives)
(Pre 33%, Flop 46%, Turn 31%)
BTN wins $12.70
Sitting Out...
Downswing hit 20 buy-ins so I've decided to sit out and dig in-depth into my game. I keep grinding out tons of small pot wins to build a nice stack and then lose most of it in the bigger pot hands. As I mentioned before, some of these are coolers, but most are me not recognizing when I'm behind (or I do, but call anyway because "villain can't possibly have the one hand that beats me yet again"), and honestly there have been very few bad beats.
What I'm working on now...
My current study is reviewing pots where I was pre-flop raiser and then reviewing different board textures on the flop, turn and river and seeing how different parts of my range should be playing each street. I feel I was doing this "ok" before (well enough and often enough to come out ahead - but certainly not proficient).
When I started adjusting my game a couple of weeks ago to try and extract more value from villains - I over-adjusted and now I'm having a hard time getting my game plan on each street back to something that works.
Next Steps
Following this, I'm going to focus on the spots where I was pre-flop caller. After I feel I have regained a better understanding of these situations, my plan is to start playing again (same stakes), but reduce to a single table and really solidify my ability to play sensible game plans based on ranges and board texture.
Wish me luck - I need some! 
Good Luck!
A study plan and consistency is a sure fire way to overcome any obstacle
Originally posted by SiKWiThIt
Good Luck!
A study plan and consistency is a sure fire way to overcome any obstacle
Thanks.One thing about me is I don't like to quit and I don't like to not understand things... I guess that's 2 things.
This downswing is driving me to study hard and I'm really enjoying it.I've been digging into my hand histories and looking at spots where I was the pre-flop raiser and saw the flop... really focusing on what lines I take in different situations and found some leaks that are probably costing me 3-5 bb/100. I'm getting a much better understanding of how my hand is really hitting the board and how that dictates my game-plan on each street. I thought I had an ok understanding before, but I've definitely improved in this area.
I think I'll finish up this area of study by the end of today. Tomorrow I'll start studying spots where I was the pre-flop caller, I expect that to be much more nuanced.
Good luck everyone!
Enough Study... Time to Play
Spent yesterday studying spots where I was the pre-flop caller and trying to understand those spots better and how to proceed on different board run-outs. It really highlighted the power of position... Position is always important, but I think much more so as the caller. Knowing how the initial raiser reacts to a board just gives you so much more information to form your game plan on each street.
Reviewing these spots has shown me how poorly I was playing post flop as the pre-flop caller...I was:
Playing my strong hands too weak
Playing my medium strength hands too strong
Not understanding which parts of my range to bluff with when the flop is checked, so just playing way too passively.
This is going to be a tough one and take lots of practice, but it makes the game a lot more fun! I think I'm going to stick to 1-tabling for the next few thousand hands and really try to focus on these spots.
This game is hard - who knew?
Played a few hundred hands last night and wow - I'm not sure I was able to apply what I studied even 20% of the time...
It's one thing when you have a couple of ranges visually in front of you (raiser's range and your continue range), and you and can take the time to divide your range into different actions... but in game is super-tough. I know it's just a matter of practice, but this may be the most challenging part of the game I've studied so far.
:heart:Based on my generalizations from reviewing many different spots, I've developed a few mental shortcuts that seem to work well in determining what part of my range I raise for value and what part is a clear check-fold.
:heart:I would say that I'm able to slot about 35% of the rest of my range appropriately into check/calls or (semi) bluffs... it's the other 65% of these hands that I'm having a hard time sorting in game.
Study Plan:
When I was studying example hands yesterday I was looking at random hands where I was the pre-flop caller, but not sorting specifically by position or board texture... I think this is too complex to be reviewing random hands so I'm changing my approach.
Pre-Flop calls from BTN versus UTG opens when flop has various textures (rainbow vs 2-tone, connected vs gappers, paired vs unpaired, high-cards vs low cards, etc...)
:diamond:I'll then run through the same hands but versus a CO open and see how villains range changes my gameplan.
After I think I've got this figured out, I'll probably do the same review but from Big Blind vs UTG open, vs CO open and vs BTN open... Sounds like I'm going to busy for awhile.
Good Luck Everyone!
Range Constructions on the Flop
I'm wondering if people want to review and comment on my flop range construction and help me out. I'm struggling in some spots determining what hands make the most sense to go where (often arguing with myself in circles...).
DISCLAIMER: These aren't my exact pre-flop calling ranges but approximations - the point is to try and understand why we include certain hands and not others in our post-flop choices...
Hand 1
PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3
Hero (BTN): $12.71 (127.1 bb)
SB: $12.62 (126.2 bb)
BB: $11.91 (119.1 bb)
UTG: $10.59 (105.9 bb)
MP: $12.27 (122.7 bb)
CO: $10.17 (101.7 bb)
SB posts $0.05, BB posts $0.10
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has <<Range in Spoiler>>
UTG raises to $0.20, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.20, 2 folds
Flop: ($0.65, 3 players) A♣: J♦: 5♥:
Spoiler
Thinking vs C-Bet:
Value hands - I think these are strong enough to bet and build a pot.
Check/Call hands - I think these hands are good enough to call a bet. The :Ax:, :Jx:, (and KQ?) hands I'd continue vs a turn bet, the others would likely fold to a turn bet.
Bluffs/Semi-bluffs - I think ATs-->A8s or 
that give BD FD are good enough to raise once and try to steal the pot, but if villain calls and I don't improve on turn then I'm check-folding... (ATs-->A8s :spade:, I'm calling one street.)
I think these hands are not worth playing.
Thinking vs Check:
Value hands - I think these are strong enough to bet and build a pot. If he folds, so be it.
Check/Call hands - I think 2nd pair hands are likely good to bet turn if checked to again, other pairs good enough to bet or bluff-catch on river?
Bluffs/Semi-bluffs - I think I bet these suited and hands (and suited K-high 
s) as semi-bluffs into his check, otherwise I check them behind with intention of calling turn and river.
I think these hands are not worth playing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hand 2
PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3
MP: $18.57 (185.7 bb)
CO: $17.44 (174.4 bb)
Hero (BTN): $13.41 (134.1 bb)
SB: $4.00 (40 bb)
BB: $13.60 (136 bb)
UTG: $10.15 (101.5 bb)
SB posts $0.05, BB posts $0.10
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has <<Range in Spoiler>>
UTG raises to $0.30, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.30, 2 folds
Flop: ($0.75, 2 players) 6♣: Q♠: T♥:
Spoiler
Thinking vs C-Bet:
Value hands - I think these are strong enough to bet and build a pot.
Check/Call hands - I think these hands are good enough to call a bet. (I think raising with AQ here is building the pot too much vs UTG range and limits my options on future streets?)
Bluffs/Semi-bluffs - I think I bet any AJs that gives me a BD FD and just call with AJs:diamond:. I bet the 98s and 87s hands that give me both BD FD's and double gutshots, and just call the others.
I think these hands are not worth playing.
Thinking vs Check:
Value hands - I think these are strong enough to bet and build a pot.
Check/Call hands - I think I bet my 2nd pair strong kicker hands on the turn if checked to again, and other pairs good enough to bet or bluff-catch on river?
Bluffs/Semi-bluffs - I think same as facing a c-bet.
I think these hands are not worth playing.
--------------------------------------------------
Hand 3
PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3
UTG: $10.93 (109.3 bb)
MP: $21.33 (213.3 bb)
CO: $10.43 (104.3 bb)
Hero (BTN): $9.66 (96.6 bb)
SB: $7.82 (78.2 bb)
BB: $22.88 (228.8 bb)
SB posts $0.05, BB posts $0.10
Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has : <<Range in Spoiler>>
UTG raises to $0.30, fold, CO calls $0.30, Hero calls $0.30, 4 folds
Flop: ($0.65, 3 players) 7♥:4♦:3♠:
Spoiler
Thinking vs C-Bet:
Value hands - I think these are strong enough to bet and build a pot.
Check/Call hands - I think these hands are good enough to call bets and get to the river with.
Bluffs/Semi-bluffs - I think I raise these hands that give me a BD FD (suited :heart:, :diamond:, or :spade:) and give up if I don't improve on turn with either the flush draw or OESD. KQo (colored wrong in screen cap) and KQs are call flop, fold turn. A8s and 98s :club:s are check-fold on flop.
I think these hands are not worth playing.
Thinking vs Check:
Value hands - I think these are strong enough to bet and build a pot.
Check/Call hands - I think these hands are likely good enough to call down to river.
Bluffs/Semi-bluffs - I think I can take the pot down with these hands and still have good equity if I get called. (not sure about the K-high hands... maybe these are better to check behind until Turn?)
I think these hands are not worth playing.
good effort. a few thoughts:
- if you're playing all those hands as pure calls you're calling WAY too wide preflop, especially for microstakes rake
- "bluffraise" range construction is a very interesting and difficult topic, especially as on the flop bets and raises fulfill a wide variety of functions that go beyond "value" and "bluff" (equity distribution can massively change on various runouts, equity realization and equity denial are strong reasons to put money into the pot, IP also often has the option of checking the next street after raising).
hand 1: raising weaker TP is a thing you can do in theory in some frequency, but you have to be careful with how you play it out. your reasoning isn't quite right, why are you trying to "steal the pot" by raising top pair? do you think he's folding any better top pairs to your raise? even worse, what if he calls with some KQcc type hand and bluffs the river? (those hands are protected by his strong top pairs, as you presumably correctly assumed)
the easy/standard way to play is to just call flop (and most turns against most sizings) with those hands.
hand 3: that is a flop where BTN should have a higher proportion of nuts and hitting a piece of the board, so UTG should be very careful (i.e. check a lot more than the pool does) and you can add a lot more raises vs cbets, like mixing some pair+gutshots which blocks opponent's sets, denies overcard equity and puts overpairs in a tough spot.
hand 2: i'm too lazy
that's not all there is to say, but just some food for thought. generally speaking, you're going in a good direction