Ramble's Ramblings

Originally posted by Ramble
Started my stab at the $3.50's today... only 8 games so far...
ITM: 50%
ROI: -19%
FML... yup...

Well, nice to see some things don't change...

I think overall I played well, unlucky having pocket pair run into higher pocket pair, TPTK beat by two pair, etc... there were 2 hands where I shoved before really considering opponent stats well enough and would have folded if I had, but then sucked out vs their monster hands so... ♦...

Games Today: 13
ITM: 30.8%
ROI: -50.07%
EV ROI: -35.71%
2014 Volume Goal: 398/5000 (7.96%)

If all goes to plan, tomorrow should be a good volume day... fingers crossed some profit to go with it.

GL Jim,

It's crap when you move up, realise the play is just as bad as the lower stake then hit a downswing. My recent dance with the 7's left me both optimistic and very disappointed.

Best of luck for February.

So frustrated and disappointed...

Getting killed at the $3.50's... running about 11 buy-ins under EV in just 25 games. Only 4 money finishes and they were all 3rd's... so basically I've blown close to 20 buy-ins... and my stab at this level is capped at 25 buy-ins.

I just finished a review of all the hands where I won/lost 5 bb's or more (52 hands total), I made some really bad mistakes in about 6 or 7 those hands, but am quite happy with the rest of my game. I think if I continued to play though, tilt was going to be a big factor so I decided to pull the plug and do the review...

I'm basically down to one more short session before I have to drop down again...

"The night is darkest just before the dawn" - Harvey Dent

Originally posted by Ramble
So frustrated and disappointed...

I'm basically down to one more short session before I have to drop down again...

It sounds like you've given up already.

This is the journey. Imagine how boring it would be if we just breezed through the stakes? Now that I think about it it would be quite nice though wouldn't it!
I ran like God at 3.50's for 2 weeks and moonwalked into the 7's only to have my dreams crushed. This has made me realise there's still a ton of work to be done. Cracks were exposed and I'm glad they were.

Back in the horse soldier! ♦

Originally posted by maythany
"The night is darkest just before the dawn" - Harvey Dent

Originally posted by zachrina
This has made me realise there's still a ton of work to be done. Cracks were exposed and I'm glad they were.

Back in the horse soldier!

Thanks guys - I always love a good batman quote ♦. I took a step back and realized a few things:

1. I was tilting - I had such a good run the past few weeks that I felt entitled to keep on winning so I was making too many marginal calls where I really didn't need to.
2. I had loosened up my ranges just a bit and found myself in spots I shouldn't have - probably a sign that I am comfortable with my ranges at my current skill level. Playing with wider ranges may be an area for improvement down the road.
3. The few hands that I played very badly - I think were a result of my recent change in always maintaining the same number of tables open. When combined with the added stress of moving up limits and experiencing above average run-bad, my brain shut-down and I wasn't switching my thinking correctly between the early/mid/late stages.
4. Despite everyone saying there is no difference between the $1.50 and the $3.50's - I find that the play is generally a bit more aggressive, with more blind-stealing and 3-betting. Having said that, I also feel like there are more players around as the blinds go up, so it is not uncommon to have 7 players all playing 10-bb push/fold at the 100/200 level. (I would say at the $1.50's it is more common to have 5 players remaining at the 100/200 stage)

Hopefully this will prove a good learning experience for me, as I figured out the conditions that lead me to tilt, and not to try to introduce too many changes to my playing habits at once.

After realizing the above, I re-focused and played a few games tonight and made a slight profit. I'm looking forward to playing tomorrow and will post results for the week so far.

I think this illustrates what happens at 9 mans as you go up the limits.

Just realised I wrote "in the horse" instead of "on the horse" which sounds a bit weird!

So today was a great day:
ITM:75%
ROI: 204.9% ♦ ♦ ♦

(only played 4 games so far though...) ♦

Unfortunately, that is just today's... Since I started my journey at the $3.50's my results aren't that cheery, but I'm optimistic that good things are coming.

Games: 50
ITM: 24.0%
ROI: -30.11%

I feel like my nerves about moving up and wanting it to work out are in check now, so if it works - great, and if not, well I'm ok with that too. I think just being in this frame of mind is going to give me a better chance at playing successfully.

Just to update the above post...

Stats for today:
Games: 13
ITM: 76.9%
ROI: 137.6%
2014 Volume Goal: 448/5000 (8.96%)

The above includes 5 firsts, 3 seconds and 2 thirds - I kinda like that distribution!!!

I decided to go back to just doing a set of 4-tables at a time so I could really put everything into playing well. In a few days if things are still running good, I'll bump back up to 6 tables for a few days. If things continue to run well after that, I'll go back to starting a game once one closes and having a constant 6 on the go. So my volume is going to take a hit for a bit, but hopefully it will build my confidence and bankroll back up. I'm running about 2% (~85 games) behind my 2014 volume goal at the moment, but I'm not worried yet.

I think you're right to not be concerned about volume, in 9 months time it's very conceivable that you'll be multitabling 10+ tables and so the volume goal will be quite achievable.

I've been pretty quiet on here of late, the past few days have been busy ones in the real world as I adjust to being back to work and other endeavors.

My volume has also suffered a bit, but I think things are going to get back on track with that as well. My stab at the $3.50's continues after I rallied and made back most of my 25 buy-in downswing. My results have leveled off, and I'm ok with that as it gives me time to find my game again.

Sunday, I had a 2.5 hour review session with the guys which was great. Today, I had another coaching session with Alex where we focused exclusively on bubble play and looked at a few different set-ups there. This was good as I feel my bubble play had slipped in quality lately, so this gives me something to work with.

I've had a couple of sessions with Alex in which we review a hand where I made a good decision, and I know that it is a good decision, but I didn't really understand all of the factors that made it a good decision. I think I learn as much in these hands as I do in the hands that I played poorly.

I've decided to stop the daily progress stats and limit them to weekly as I think it puts too much emphasis on the short-term results. (weekly is still short-term, but I like the updates so ... compromise... with myself )

Help,
Trying to read MGOP here on holiday but struggling a bit.
Do you guys read it as a book or pick bits out that are relevant to yourselves?
Find it difficult as it often tells you to go to page ..... to read more on certain subject.

Maybe it's just that I can't even be arsed to make an effort.

haha - you are on vacation... put the book down, do some one-armed curls with a cerveza and try not to let the wife see you admiring the scenery!

I read it straight through (almost done). My plan is to go back after and re-read the sections that apply most to me. Honestly it is a bit of a tough read because it is written in such a way that you can just read the sections that pertain to you, but this means there has to be a lot of repetition of similar ideas for each section...

Hope trip is going well.

The scenery has gotten me in to trouble already! It is getting tougher to ignore the older I get. Can't wait until I'm old and mental and can just masturbate in public ♦

Had a go at the book today and so much I checked out is relevant. Valentines day and my birthday today so going out for a meal, half cut already as I've been getting sly rum shots in my soft drinks

Tons of Canadians here too, good times.

Haven't played much poker or been online much at all the past week. Busy with work and life, fighting a cold that just had me so run down, and watching a fair bit of Olympics - Go CANADA Go!!!

It's time to make up some lost ground volume-wise, so I played a bit today and tried 8-tabling... seemed to go well. I thought the max tables I could tile was 6, but I've changed my laptop/monitor configuration and found out I can fit 12 tables tiled very nicely on my monitor. It'll be a while until I get to that point but nice to know.

Since I am way overdue for a stats update I'll just post results for the month so far.

Games Played: 191
ITM: 38.2%
ROI: -6.30%
2014 Volume Goal: 11.1% (behind by about 3.4% or 170 games) Not too worried - think I can close this gap quickly.

I'm still playing the $3.50's and am confident that I can beat them, but this past week has unfortunately been better for my red-line then my green line... oh well, all good experience!

February is coming to a close and it's time to reflect...

This month I moved up from the $1.50's to the $3.50's and despite a very rocky start I've managed to bounce back and am currently down about 13 buy-ins. Not turning a profit yet, but I'm pretty confident that will change given time.

I didn't get as much volume in as I hoped for many reasons, but I have recently started 8-tabling (instead of 6) and think this will help me get back on track. I'm currently about 3% behind for the year (~150 games). I re-claimed SilverStar status on Stars after losing it for the month so that's good.

I also didn't get as much studying in as I would have liked. I reviewed all my marked hands on my own, and then selected about 10% of those to review with my coach but this is still much less than I have been doing. I also didn't get to work with my study group as much as I would have liked (this weekend will be no different unfortunately...)

I'm thinking about making the switch to Knock-outs... the dynamics that the bounties introduce seem very interesting and I think offer an edge if I put some effort into studying their effect a bit more. I've played some the past week and will be playing them almost exclusively in March I think.

As for my results for February:
Games Played: 290
ITM: 38.6%
ROI: -6.9%
2014 Volume: 13.1%

The first huge dip is where I switched from $1.50's to $3.50's, then I got my footing a bit... the last big dip was some serious run-bad. Another month with not great results, but I am still feeling confident. ♦

A few BI's under is as good as BE. Plenty good whilst we learn our trade IMO.

see you at the KO games

good to see you at the KO's man!

You like it?

Originally posted by maythany
good to see you at the KO's man!

You like it?

Yeah it's been fun so far. I haven't turned the bounty pop-up off yet cause I still get excited every time!!! I'm still trying to get comfortable with how the bounties and ICM tax balance out in different spots especially approaching the bubble. I think I'm getting a feel for it though.

Didn't see you at the tables tonight (and I was looking to my right and everything!!!)

Had a decent night tonight so thought I'd come and post a brag...
GP: 24
ITM: 62.5%
ROI: 37%
2014 VG: 14.6% (about 150 games behind)