Lol Waiboy,
Reading your blog always makes me feel better about myself. I had such a bad downer over the last 2 weeks at 2/4 I almost lost all my profit at the limit. Unfortunately I have to move down limits to .5/1 (odd cercumstances).
I played my first session today at .5/1 on PStars and man I ran over 1k hands at 8.08bb/100. Come to PStars and own it up here the players are horrible.
Anyways thanks for making me feel better again 
I hope things turn around again for you.
Originally posted by Verre
Reading your blog always makes me feel better about myself.
Hahaha #2
Originally posted by TerrorBlade
Originally posted by Verre
Reading your blog always makes me feel better about myself.Hahaha #2
+1
Hey guys.. thanks for the kinds words! I guess I know where you're all coming from... I try and get perspective from following all you guys too. Guess we're all fighting the good fight. 
I had planned to mark today with an epic, thoughtful post to mark my one year anniversary of joining all you good folks here at PS.com's English community, but after an ugly session I think my thoughts will be unfairly tainted (-30.28BB/100 through 136 hands). I put on $200 in the first thirteen days of this month running like God and I've dropped $180 in the last four running like doG.
All I can think of at the moment is I can't wait till the end of the month and I don't have to grind out points so a day or two off is a much easier proposition.
Instead I'll ruminate on my thoughts for another day and post tomorrow, my one year and one day post.
BTW Nick.. much, much better effort. 
*EDIT: I think maybe this is the best I can do to mark the occassion ATM:
I'm hoping to play some live NL cash in the mighty 'tron tonight (post game celebration of the Mighty Waikato laying waste to some pretenders from North Harbour - tbh it brings images of candy and babies.. although it's kinda more like a two year old v baby avec candy sorta deal :f_o:...).
In anticipation of SkyCity 'tron poker invasion, and post September grind goals being achieved, I played an hour or two of NL10 BSS finishing an outstanding +0.4 BI. I also took the latest NL blind defense quiz and scored 63% - which included a dodgy answer which I corrected as I was re-reading the question in the answer, thinking it was a WA/WB and answered B/C?! So really more like 70%.
This makes me a NL legend and someone to be feared tonight on the felt.
If there are any PS.com 'tron natives about (I'm not hugely optimistic...) any info you can give us about the Thursday night poker scene at the Casino would be gratefully recieved. The website is completely bereft of information. Oh, and stay away unless you are a complete fish or wish to be soul read Twice T stylz. (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - can't even type that with a straight face). 
Updates will follow. Honest.
Firstly, as regards NL500 at the 'tron Casino. Definitely rigged. AA v 88 all in PF is no good. Top pair good kicker v gutshot on flop is no good.
Only plus was a God like soul read on a villian. Lovely drunk girl shows her hand to her neighbour and says "hey, look at this!". I fold my TT on a 654r bd and she stacks someone else with a flopped straight.
Thank goodness I can always return to the ample bosom of online FLHE! 
Anyway Batman, to the Bat Garphes!
$.25/$.50 - $1/$2 FR
$.50/$1 SH
$.25/$.50 SH
SH stats both limits - NB: sample size ~10k hands
So, how does all this translate?
Well, started off the month (as reported earlier) with some sick +ve variance. This lasted until I hit some sick -ve variance. End result? A bankroll some $53 better than at the start of the month at the astounding rate of 1.02BB/100.
So, after a run of months of being destroyed I finally had a winning month. Which is nice. 
So what's the bigger picture?
Well, I still play rubbish... just look at my WTS.. it's absolutely nuts. Weird thing is it is waaay higher on iPoker than on bwin (which are the 5 max limits).
I'm back playing $.50/$1 - just. I almost had to drop back down at the end of the month, but struck a short run of ok variance and managed to stay in Purgatory.
I enjoyed my stint playing on bwin... it acheived it's intended goal - that being looking at something other than an iPoker table for the first time this year (excluding, of course, the divergence of the "Waiboy Challenge" on PokerStars. BTW, still not broke.. but haven't played at P*s this month to any extent).
I didn't manage to clear any of the $1k bonus.. just didn't play any volume there at all as all my time was ensuring I cleared Pro Status at Mansion to ensure I can collect my 6 month loyalty bonus of - count 'em - 120k MCPs. YAY!!!!
Ding, dong, the grind is dead. Which old grind? The Mansion grind. Ding, dong the Mansion grind is dead!!!
Que? I hear you think - yes I hear you think :f_mad:. No more setting myself up for unnessary grinding without adequate amounts of study. From here on I'm not locked into a target number of points for a month for the first time since April, so there is NO excuse now for not applying solid amounts of time to study.
As TwiceT reiterates time and time again improving WR is much more worthwhile than grinding. Until I'm ready for some opaling™ of course. ♠_cool:
So, ideally when bdl crawls back out from under his rock (SKYPE ME BUH-DY!!!) I'm in study mode this month.
I kinda have a little bit of grinding to do.. [hangs head in shame]. A Titan re deposit bonus which I'm gonna be clearing. Difference is, I don't care if I don't clear much or any of it. It's only for the change of scene and a bit of RB in my account for the first time since April. It won't deter me from my study focus.
I've just checked and Mansion (bless their cotton socks) have credited my account with my loyalty bonus! This means 38.2k MCP and I'm $1k to the good!!! I haven't decided when to attack this point deficit... I suspect next month, but it may depend on whether there are any offers in place on Titan or Mansion (or, heck) bwin when I do this. I will have to transfer my bwin cash at some point - this can stay put though until someone (this means YOU Mansion poker) bribes me with a deposit bonus.
Dunno if this is just me, but I've had NO popups at all on Titan since playing there this month. NONE!!!! Could this be love?
Alright.. enough warbling. Time for a song!!
This song definitely requires an 11 notch on your volume control.
out.
Ok, so yeah, I'm 'sposed to bluff the river x% of the time. Well, because my range reading is so average I very seldom do it, and then only with a busted draw or Ax v a weak villian. That's why I was so pleased with this hand:
Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:
$0.5/$1 Fixed-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 8:d, 9:s.
MP2 raises, 4 folds, Hero calls.
Flop: (4.5 SB) 3:h, 7:d, T:c (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets , Hero raises, MP2 calls.
Turn: (4.25 BB) K:d (2 players)
Hero bets, MP2 calls.
River: (6.25 BB) 3:c (2 players)
Hero bets, MP2 folds, Hero gets uncalled bet back.
Final Pot: 6.25 BB.
Villian stats (VPIP/PFR/WTS/AF/AFq/hands): 27/21/39/1.8/53/587
So, aside from the slightly tilty BB def v TAG MP2 raise (for once I couldn't be arsed double checking BB def chart and felt like playing a dodgy hand), I'm most pleased with my bluff.
I did think the hand through on the river slightly longer than usual, so this may have contributed to villian's fold. However I put him most often on a decent Ax or QJs after his turn call... I would have expected to be 3Bet on flop or raised turn with any pair other than 66. At the river my standard play is to check/fold but I couldn't see him calling with Ax here given my C/R flop on a relatively dry board... my range is pretty polarised between a pair+ or a complete bluff - which is pretty unlikely for me.
It made me feel like a poker player - just one time.
BTW check out this thread if you're a movie buff.. it's got me revelling in all the great cinema that we have the privillege of being able to watch.
And now a song:
Dragon are a legendary Kiwi band and this is IMO their best. They wrote it when they ran out of money and needed a hit... I've always believed a songwriter/band is at their best when they're desperate in some way. David Bowie is about the only exception to this as far as I can tell.
This song conjures memories for me of going to a rained out Yankees game when I was in New York (one month before Osama's mates got there). The rain started and this Kiwi boy who'd been away from home for three years is just about knocked on his arse when this is the first song they played in the delay.
Some moments will live forever.
out.
imo very good river bluff. If I understand optimal vb to bluffing frequencies you should be bluffing 14% as often as you value bet from the opponents p.o.v. Since this hand isn't even in your BB def. range vs mp2 it is def. at the bottom of your distribution and thus profits the most from a bluff.
post flop wp
Regarding the hand I like a river bet better if he opens from CO/BU.
His MP2 range is really "showdown bound" heavy on this board and I think the only hand he's folding on the end is QJs exactly/potentially a badly played weak Ax high but would be weird after total river blank, I wouldn't trust him to fold AJ/AQ tbh.
Hmmm.. well what does he put me on?
I'm really unlikely to C/R the flop with a weak Ax hand here (not sure if I should, but I don't tend to). So I'm most likely on either exactly what I hold, 89, for the OESD or I have a made hand. As 89 is the sole hand I would semi-bluff C/R the flop with, he would have to think his Ax is no good v my range. And only 89s is in my defend range if his hand reading is solid (which to me he appears to be).
Plus I don't tend to barrel the river very often, and am quite capable of 2nd barrelling my draw - especially on the K scare card, but giving up on the river unimproved.
And villian is only getting 6.5:1 on the call.
Probably the better question is what hands should I play this line with (that I'm probably not) on this sort of uncoordinated T high board?
100% agree with your line of thinking waiboy, villain has to be thinking that you're taking shots at him to call 3 barrels with an A hi. In a sense you are but even if he does catagorize you as a river bluffer what can he do? Call down his Ax hands vs a range that offers him worse chances of winning than the pot odds? That would be a major leak on his part. I unfortunately don't know how to calculate what % of hands are worth a semi bluff but I suspect that adding a gutshot w a bdfd or two into your semi bluff range would be +ev vs a guy that can call turn fold river.
You could have 89/96/J9/J8 and their suited variations, imo you should be check/raising this dry flop with gutshots and not just the OESD cause you have ~8 outs on average.
At least where I play the metagame is basically to cling to A highs with dear life no matter how incorrect, I'm not saying that it's the best idea for him here but exactly in the same line of thinking this is the perfect spot to 3-barrel if he IS folding those big A highs so he SHOULD be calling a river bet no?
Imo regs probably give other regs too little credit on average for hands and especially after those 2 total blanks roll off.
Also what was the table dynamic like at that point? What I mean is you could have just c/red him off 2-3 hands in a row that he had to fold and he looks down at AJ here thinking "this guy is taking shots at me, calldown".
Knowing that you 2 barrel 100% here he arrives at the river with between 37-41% equity with AJ or AQ if you 3 barrel 100%.
He needs ~14% so if ur barreling with 98o/98s and c/folding J8/J9/96 suited and offsuited so basically 1/4 of the time unimproved he can call (getting ~21%).
That said he might be one of those foldy regs 
Nice discussion 
If I was in villian's spot here I would fold Ax 100% against a <42 WTS, <2.2 AF reasonable TAG - probably I should check river AF/AFq stats more than I do before making this play... Against less reasonable opponents I might call, but I would look at this board and think "what reasonable hand C/R with 3 barrels v an MP2 open raise on this board?" and come up with none.
Originally posted by TerrorBlade
That said he might be one of those foldy regs
Given the above, I am probably (definitely) the foldy reg. 
