Monday, October 29, 2007
Birthday
The long awaited 21st birthday has almost arrived. Its kind of surreal. I remember dreaming of the day I would turn 21. Well, it will be here on the 30th. My buddies are taking me out tonight. They dont have practice tomorrow so it should make for an interesting night.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Goal Accomplished
As anticipated, I accomplished my goal this weekend. Pawel was there for it and so was one of my best friends from school, who Ive talked about in my last post. He is one of the few people that regularly I come in contact with that I share my trials and tribulations as a poker player with.
I am looking forward to continuing my progress as a poker player. Pawel said that I would no longer need his coaching once I reached the 10k mark. I ran at 6ptbb/100 over 25k hands at 200NL this month. The original date we had set for this was goal Christmas. Well either Christmas came early this year or my hard work has finally paid off orrr maybe a bit little both? While this 10k signals the end, it also marks a new beginning. I am not satisfied with the 10k mark... and I mean that with all my heart. Assuming I will enter the real world in August of '09, I have roughly 21 months to devote to poker to fulfill my maximum potential in this game. This time around I will not make the same mistakes which prevented me from accomplishing my goals in wrestling; at the same time, I will not make the same mistakes which have compromised others chances from accomplishing their goals in poker.
Anyone is free to comment on my blog, I won't bite. I am going to start including some hand analysis in my posts. I think it will be beneficial for both me and my readers.
I am looking forward to continuing my progress as a poker player. Pawel said that I would no longer need his coaching once I reached the 10k mark. I ran at 6ptbb/100 over 25k hands at 200NL this month. The original date we had set for this was goal Christmas. Well either Christmas came early this year or my hard work has finally paid off orrr maybe a bit little both? While this 10k signals the end, it also marks a new beginning. I am not satisfied with the 10k mark... and I mean that with all my heart. Assuming I will enter the real world in August of '09, I have roughly 21 months to devote to poker to fulfill my maximum potential in this game. This time around I will not make the same mistakes which prevented me from accomplishing my goals in wrestling; at the same time, I will not make the same mistakes which have compromised others chances from accomplishing their goals in poker.
Anyone is free to comment on my blog, I won't bite. I am going to start including some hand analysis in my posts. I think it will be beneficial for both me and my readers.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
No Play?
I spent yesterday writing and revising a case study on Marvel Enterprise. My assignment was to establish two ways in which Marvel could sustain long-term profitability. Their main problem was that the majority of their profits have come from their most well-known characters, such as Spiderman and the Incredible Hulk. The services of these characters have been exhausted. Marvel obviously cannot live off of these characters forever. I could go on forever about this (5 pages to be exact, lol) but I'll spare you before I get carried away. I think it turned out well, though.
At night, I spent some time with my best friend at school. He's a member of the lacrosse team and has 7am practice every morning Mon-Sat, but not on Wednesday's. I know, 7am isnt that bad, but for us college bums that is rough. We pretty much just kicked it and shot the shit for a few hours. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Yesterday I did a little bit of hand analysis and alot of reflection on my game. The reflection was key. I am aiming for consistency. Every time I think about "consistency", it elicits a response from my mind and body. In respect to poker, this response is playing my TAG game which is meant to be profitable at small stakes over a large sample of hands. I have placed a Post-It directly under my monitor with one word on it - consistency.
Long-term goals are very important. My goal of a 10k BR is a long-term goal. It is a destination. Something to work towards. Many people set high long-term goals but fail to reach them. Some may use the excuse that their goal was simply not attainable, which could actually be legitimate. Aim high, but the goal should be a mature one within reason. Here's the beef of the story. Yeah, I want a 10k BR. Ok, cool - GL! Many people will leave their goal setting at that. This is the primary reason as to why they do not achieve their long-term goals. So how do you do it? Pretty simple answer - short-term goals! In wrestling I wanted to become a state champion (long-term goal). My short-term goal was to not leave the wrestling room until I felt like I could only crawl out on my hands and knees. Obviously implying that I worked my ass off each day to the point where I could no longer stand. Another everyday example: You get in your car at 9am to drive to work. You just go to work? No, you turn left at this street, go through a light, and make a right at that street. The turns are all short-term goals which allow you to accomplish your long-term goal of arriving at work. My short-term goal with poker is to play consistently. This does not mean play the same way every single hand I'm in. There has to be a slight inherent randomness to my game, otherwise I'll be exploitable by good players. Consistently playing MY game will allow me to reach me goal of a 10k BR. Accomplishing short-term goals allow you to ultimately achieve your long-term goals. This rant has concluded. Good day sirs and GL- Dice
At night, I spent some time with my best friend at school. He's a member of the lacrosse team and has 7am practice every morning Mon-Sat, but not on Wednesday's. I know, 7am isnt that bad, but for us college bums that is rough. We pretty much just kicked it and shot the shit for a few hours. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Yesterday I did a little bit of hand analysis and alot of reflection on my game. The reflection was key. I am aiming for consistency. Every time I think about "consistency", it elicits a response from my mind and body. In respect to poker, this response is playing my TAG game which is meant to be profitable at small stakes over a large sample of hands. I have placed a Post-It directly under my monitor with one word on it - consistency.
Long-term goals are very important. My goal of a 10k BR is a long-term goal. It is a destination. Something to work towards. Many people set high long-term goals but fail to reach them. Some may use the excuse that their goal was simply not attainable, which could actually be legitimate. Aim high, but the goal should be a mature one within reason. Here's the beef of the story. Yeah, I want a 10k BR. Ok, cool - GL! Many people will leave their goal setting at that. This is the primary reason as to why they do not achieve their long-term goals. So how do you do it? Pretty simple answer - short-term goals! In wrestling I wanted to become a state champion (long-term goal). My short-term goal was to not leave the wrestling room until I felt like I could only crawl out on my hands and knees. Obviously implying that I worked my ass off each day to the point where I could no longer stand. Another everyday example: You get in your car at 9am to drive to work. You just go to work? No, you turn left at this street, go through a light, and make a right at that street. The turns are all short-term goals which allow you to accomplish your long-term goal of arriving at work. My short-term goal with poker is to play consistently. This does not mean play the same way every single hand I'm in. There has to be a slight inherent randomness to my game, otherwise I'll be exploitable by good players. Consistently playing MY game will allow me to reach me goal of a 10k BR. Accomplishing short-term goals allow you to ultimately achieve your long-term goals. This rant has concluded. Good day sirs and GL- Dice
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Not Pleased
Tonight was very swingy. I think this is due to the looser style I played tonight. This is not a good thing. After watching Fabian and CTS latest vids, I found myself playing ultra aggro post flop. Although it has its merits, for where I am with my game a looser post flop style does not fit in well. I do not doubt that Fabian's style has granted him great success, but I feel that it is unnecessary to play that way to beat the small stakes. This loose post flop style also requires extraordinary hand reading abilities to play profitably. As I move up in stakes, loosening up post flop will become important. At my current stake, I can expect to get paid off with my big hands alot more than I will at higher stakes. Basic logic suggests that I should be patient and show down winning hands- as I have said too many times to recall. Sometimes I get testy when I feel I am being exploited- especially in 3 bet scenarios. I must continue working on detaching myself from my emotions at the table. There is no need to get testy, emotions are -EV and a loose 3 bettor is easy to exploit :) My overall message is that at the lower stakes we must remain patient and calm while at the table. Lost 3 BI tonight. I am now 7 BI short of my goal. I am anticipating the completion of this goal by week's end (Sunday). After two solid winning nights, it's nice to get a lick of reality. I know what I have to do to win. Its now simply a matter of execution.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Back to Back
Yesterday I made it back to the tables in one piece after a pleasant Saturday. My day started off with me four tabling while Malfaire, Peten2toms, and Verneer watched/coached. I ran super hot. I was hitting sets like it was my job. I was up 4 BI fairly quickly. Shortly thereafter, my profits slowly bled away. I cut the session off at 1.5k hands and +3 BI.
I made a big f-ck up when I accidentally misclicked and folded an easy call for $25 into a $100 pot with TP2K against a donk. He proceeded to show me the ever glorious 62 off for bottom pair no kicker. He asked in the chat, "KK?" (there was an A on the board) I got a good laugh out of that one.
Following the session, I got something to eat and took care of some homework while keeping tabs on the Eagles game. Ugh, don't get me started on my Eagles. That's all I'll say on that topic.
Around 10pm I decided it was time for another session. I logged 1k hands total. Right off the bat, I lost with AA to villain's KK- oh well. I rallied hard. I did get a little help from an old friend of mine to my right who went on tilt for a brief period of time after I stacked him with quad 9's to his QQ. Its nice to get paid off with quads.
The more I play and study, the clearer and easier this game is becoming. Most of my decisions are becoming second nature- its pretty cool. With that said, I don't like it when things come easy. The reward is not nearly as satisfying. I'm going to continue playing, analyzing, and studying. I ended up +6 BI total for the day. Back to back +6 BI nights. The good thing is that I dont feel any sense of satisfaction from my latest results. The first time I did it, I was pumped. This is now familiar territory and I'm not going to jump for joy every time I have a 1k night. Its all in a day's work. Hopefully I can achieve my 10k BR goal by the end of this week. I need 4 more BI.
I made a big f-ck up when I accidentally misclicked and folded an easy call for $25 into a $100 pot with TP2K against a donk. He proceeded to show me the ever glorious 62 off for bottom pair no kicker. He asked in the chat, "KK?" (there was an A on the board) I got a good laugh out of that one.
Following the session, I got something to eat and took care of some homework while keeping tabs on the Eagles game. Ugh, don't get me started on my Eagles. That's all I'll say on that topic.
Around 10pm I decided it was time for another session. I logged 1k hands total. Right off the bat, I lost with AA to villain's KK- oh well. I rallied hard. I did get a little help from an old friend of mine to my right who went on tilt for a brief period of time after I stacked him with quad 9's to his QQ. Its nice to get paid off with quads.
The more I play and study, the clearer and easier this game is becoming. Most of my decisions are becoming second nature- its pretty cool. With that said, I don't like it when things come easy. The reward is not nearly as satisfying. I'm going to continue playing, analyzing, and studying. I ended up +6 BI total for the day. Back to back +6 BI nights. The good thing is that I dont feel any sense of satisfaction from my latest results. The first time I did it, I was pumped. This is now familiar territory and I'm not going to jump for joy every time I have a 1k night. Its all in a day's work. Hopefully I can achieve my 10k BR goal by the end of this week. I need 4 more BI.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
First 1k Night
Last night I had my first 1k night. It was pretty cool, but this is only the beginning of the race so I'm going to celebrate today and forget about it tomorrow. I played two sessions and logged 2.7k hands. I won 6 BI total on the night. Friday nights are donkey-rich, so I continued my tedious table selection. My goal is to be seated one or two seats to the left of a donkey. Once I establish position, I'm there to stay and I'm there for a donkey killing spree.
I've been working on folding. In the past Ive made the mistake of calling big bets with marginal holdings. Tonight I lost only two pots over 200bb. I got my money in as a 4.5:1 and a 2.5:1 favorite in those cases, so I cant complain. I folded over pairs a couple of times tonight. Another concept that makes a huge difference has been identifying who I can value bet thin. A couple of extra $60 or $70 bets here and there pay off big time in the long run.
On a personal note, today is "Joe College Day" at Duke. Its going to be a day long music festival. I will most likely be engaging in certain non-musical festivities- you can take that any way you like. I need ten more BI to complete my goal of a 10k BR. GL - Dice
I've been working on folding. In the past Ive made the mistake of calling big bets with marginal holdings. Tonight I lost only two pots over 200bb. I got my money in as a 4.5:1 and a 2.5:1 favorite in those cases, so I cant complain. I folded over pairs a couple of times tonight. Another concept that makes a huge difference has been identifying who I can value bet thin. A couple of extra $60 or $70 bets here and there pay off big time in the long run.
On a personal note, today is "Joe College Day" at Duke. Its going to be a day long music festival. I will most likely be engaging in certain non-musical festivities- you can take that any way you like. I need ten more BI to complete my goal of a 10k BR. GL - Dice
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Loser
Tonight I am a loser. It wasn't variance. Alot of it was FPS and calling in marginal spots. I dropped 3.5 BI over 1k hands. I wasn't dealt too many winners, but I could have minimized my losses alot better than I did. Im not happy with my bluffing frequency. I put some moves on guys that just didn't work out. At this stake, the primary focus should be showing down winning hands and minimizing losses. I am very unhappy with a river call I made with aces. Villain from the SB lead at me in MP all three streets. I said I would call 2 streets and fold to a river bet. I tanked it on the river and called as time ran down. No excuse for this. Can't call three streets against a reasonable opponent with only aces. I feel like part of the reason I called was bc IT WAS ACES! A level one thinker makes that call. I had a good feeling he had me beat as soon as he lead the flop. I should have raised his flop bet about 2.5x and folded to any further action. Oh well, I wont make that mistake again.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Interesting Hand
Played 2.5k hands last night. I was satisfied with my play, but not overly excited about it. Called some large bets in marginal spots. A large bet is the most telling piece of information in no limit hold em . Even though a particular holding may not seem likely, a big bet should merit serious consideration.
Here is the hand from the other day that I said I would post along with my thought process.
Background info: BU is 23/20/5.6 and is a thinking slightly LAG opponent with a 41% Att. to Steal Blinds. The SB was a donk playing 51/0/.8. Since I had been on the loose passive donk's left, I was quite active.
MP ($204.30)
CO ($238.70)
Button ($216.25)
SB ($442.35)
Hero ($197)
UTG ($463.60)
Preflop: Hero is BB with Td, 8s.
3 folds, Button raises to $7, SB calls $6, BB raises to $30, Button calls $21, SB folds.
Standard button open by him and also a standard call by SB donk. Perfect spot to squeeze. Button flats my squeeze. He knows this is an ideal spot for me to squeeze and I figured he was looking to play a big pot in position against me b/c he knows I have a wide range.
Flop: ($65) Ks, Ac, 6h (2 players)
BB bets $40, Button raises to $80, BB raises to $209 (All-In), Button folds.
I follow up the flop with the aggression I had shown preflop. He min raises me. I'm was about to fold, but instead I decided to play poker and start running through his course of action and the hands he representing. I know that he knows I have a wide range here. I started going through his range for this flop min raise. AA has the deck crushed so he would flat my flop bet. KK could milk my AQ-J by also flatting the flop or he could simply shove if he thinks Im going all the way with an A. AK certainly didn't fit the mold bc against a wide range, why would he want to take a flop with it? That would be bad play, and I know as a LAGGY opponent he's 4 betting AK in that spot every time. It took me some time to deduce this, and I knew that if I shoved, he'd have excellent odds for a call. I was very confident with my read when I shoved (I had to be with those odds) but I must admit I was nervous. It was one hell of a rush, though. When he folded, it was an amazing feeling. It was reminiscent of the feeling I would get from winning a big match. A fleeting moment, indeed, but it was a great feeling when he folded.
Final Pot: $96
I finished up 3.5 BI over the course of last night. I am half way to my 10k BR goal after one week. 6.8ptbb/100 over 11.6k hands this week while 6-8 tabling. Tedious table selection has been key. On another note, I won a new 80 GB laptop through CR's promotional giveaway. LOL I couldn't believe it. I am in dire need of a new computer. I guess I'm lucky and this is a sign of good things to come?
Here is the hand from the other day that I said I would post along with my thought process.
Background info: BU is 23/20/5.6 and is a thinking slightly LAG opponent with a 41% Att. to Steal Blinds. The SB was a donk playing 51/0/.8. Since I had been on the loose passive donk's left, I was quite active.
MP ($204.30)
CO ($238.70)
Button ($216.25)
SB ($442.35)
Hero ($197)
UTG ($463.60)
Preflop: Hero is BB with Td, 8s.
3 folds, Button raises to $7, SB calls $6, BB raises to $30, Button calls $21, SB folds.
Standard button open by him and also a standard call by SB donk. Perfect spot to squeeze. Button flats my squeeze. He knows this is an ideal spot for me to squeeze and I figured he was looking to play a big pot in position against me b/c he knows I have a wide range.
Flop: ($65) Ks, Ac, 6h (2 players)
BB bets $40, Button raises to $80, BB raises to $209 (All-In), Button folds.
I follow up the flop with the aggression I had shown preflop. He min raises me. I'm was about to fold, but instead I decided to play poker and start running through his course of action and the hands he representing. I know that he knows I have a wide range here. I started going through his range for this flop min raise. AA has the deck crushed so he would flat my flop bet. KK could milk my AQ-J by also flatting the flop or he could simply shove if he thinks Im going all the way with an A. AK certainly didn't fit the mold bc against a wide range, why would he want to take a flop with it? That would be bad play, and I know as a LAGGY opponent he's 4 betting AK in that spot every time. It took me some time to deduce this, and I knew that if I shoved, he'd have excellent odds for a call. I was very confident with my read when I shoved (I had to be with those odds) but I must admit I was nervous. It was one hell of a rush, though. When he folded, it was an amazing feeling. It was reminiscent of the feeling I would get from winning a big match. A fleeting moment, indeed, but it was a great feeling when he folded.
Final Pot: $96
I finished up 3.5 BI over the course of last night. I am half way to my 10k BR goal after one week. 6.8ptbb/100 over 11.6k hands this week while 6-8 tabling. Tedious table selection has been key. On another note, I won a new 80 GB laptop through CR's promotional giveaway. LOL I couldn't believe it. I am in dire need of a new computer. I guess I'm lucky and this is a sign of good things to come?
Monday, October 15, 2007
Short Session
I six tabled for about an hour and 15 minutes tonight. Would have put in more hands, but I'm tired and my eyes were starting to get heavy. The weekend finally caught up to me. Went on a nice little run tonight over the span of 10 minutes where I won 3 BI. Flush over top 2, AK over AQ on A high board, and trips with a better kicker. Felt good to go on a little heater. Other than that there wasn't too much action. I ended up +3 BI over 600 hands. Over 9k hands Ive won 12 BI, thus leaving me 16 more BI to go before accomplishing my goal. I have an interesting hand from my session yesterday that Verneer asked me to post along with my thought process. I'm quite tired right now, so I'll save the hand for tomorrow morning.
Emotional Control
As my poker game continues to progress, I am realizing just how important emotional control is. I have thought about this in the past, but lately I have developed a deeper understanding of it with the help of Verneer and SirNeb. When I asked SirNeb what he felt contributed to vast improvement as a player, he humbly stated that the keys to success (other than obvious ones such as work ethic and skill) were logging many hands and emotional control.
I've done alot of reflection on my marathon session. It has granted me a better understanding of the game of poker. I did not have intentions of playing 4k hands. Around 1.7k hands into the session, I was $50 short of a 6k BR. I decided I would conclude the session after reaching 6k. To make a long story short, I came within $50 on two separate occasions and dropped at one point back to 5.5k. The moral to the story: as I neared my target the first and second time, I got anxious. I upped my aggression and was loosening up preflop. Slowly but surely, I lost money. I could have went on monkey tilt after dropping back down to 5.5k, but I decided that it would be better to instead just focus on playing optimal poker. Seems easy right? lol. This is a long term game. If you attempt to make it a short term game by loosening up, being over aggro, and falling in love with pots (aka tilt), you're progress as a player will be stagnant. You may improve, but the results will not show. The lesson I took away from the marathon session was that the only thing in your power is to make the correct play EVERY time. Bad beats will happen. If you cant handle them, go cry to your mommy- I'm sure she'll understand. Over the course of 100k hands, you'll endure many bad beats. If each bad beat puts you on tilt or even slightly alters your play for the worse, it will certainly show on your bottom line.
Mental toughness is a key in this game- more than you'd imagine. After taking a beat, you have three options: 1. Go on monkey tilt, 2. quit, or 3. play optimal poker. Personally, I prefer the latter. I see it as a challenge. Its a challenge I take pride in. After four years of wrestling for a nationally ranked high school wrestling team and two years of Division I, I think should be able to handle a little bad beat. This is a bit of a rant, but I hope it makes sense.
I am proud of the session I put in last night. I played 1.5k hands and merely broke even (+$35). However, within the first 250 hands I endured the following beats/ coolers. These are not posted for cry baby purposes. If you continue reading, it correlates with the remainder of the educational value of my post.
1. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1590392 Villain was 85/17/.6
2. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1590407 Villain was 66/35/1.6
3. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1590415 Same villain as hand 1.
4. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1590420 Villain is 30/9/1
These were hands that took place during the first 250 hands. Granted, I could have easily went on tilt, but instead I chose to play optimal poker. Over the course of the next 1.5k hands I managed to bounce back. I wasn't winning huge pots, either. It was weird because I checked my account balance at one point in time and I was nearly even. I couldn't believe it. Granted I was upset during the immediate time that they happened- Im human, but I quickly eliminated all negative thoughts and focused on "making the correct play every time." Emotional control turned what could have been a disastrous night into a slightly profitable night.
I've done alot of reflection on my marathon session. It has granted me a better understanding of the game of poker. I did not have intentions of playing 4k hands. Around 1.7k hands into the session, I was $50 short of a 6k BR. I decided I would conclude the session after reaching 6k. To make a long story short, I came within $50 on two separate occasions and dropped at one point back to 5.5k. The moral to the story: as I neared my target the first and second time, I got anxious. I upped my aggression and was loosening up preflop. Slowly but surely, I lost money. I could have went on monkey tilt after dropping back down to 5.5k, but I decided that it would be better to instead just focus on playing optimal poker. Seems easy right? lol. This is a long term game. If you attempt to make it a short term game by loosening up, being over aggro, and falling in love with pots (aka tilt), you're progress as a player will be stagnant. You may improve, but the results will not show. The lesson I took away from the marathon session was that the only thing in your power is to make the correct play EVERY time. Bad beats will happen. If you cant handle them, go cry to your mommy- I'm sure she'll understand. Over the course of 100k hands, you'll endure many bad beats. If each bad beat puts you on tilt or even slightly alters your play for the worse, it will certainly show on your bottom line.
Mental toughness is a key in this game- more than you'd imagine. After taking a beat, you have three options: 1. Go on monkey tilt, 2. quit, or 3. play optimal poker. Personally, I prefer the latter. I see it as a challenge. Its a challenge I take pride in. After four years of wrestling for a nationally ranked high school wrestling team and two years of Division I, I think should be able to handle a little bad beat. This is a bit of a rant, but I hope it makes sense.
I am proud of the session I put in last night. I played 1.5k hands and merely broke even (+$35). However, within the first 250 hands I endured the following beats/ coolers. These are not posted for cry baby purposes. If you continue reading, it correlates with the remainder of the educational value of my post.
1. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1590392 Villain was 85/17/.6
2. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1590407 Villain was 66/35/1.6
3. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1590415 Same villain as hand 1.
4. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1590420 Villain is 30/9/1
These were hands that took place during the first 250 hands. Granted, I could have easily went on tilt, but instead I chose to play optimal poker. Over the course of the next 1.5k hands I managed to bounce back. I wasn't winning huge pots, either. It was weird because I checked my account balance at one point in time and I was nearly even. I couldn't believe it. Granted I was upset during the immediate time that they happened- Im human, but I quickly eliminated all negative thoughts and focused on "making the correct play every time." Emotional control turned what could have been a disastrous night into a slightly profitable night.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Marathon Session
Last night/ early this morning I played a marathon session of 4k hands. It is the longest session Ive ever played. I 6-8 tabled and had alot of fun. The reason I played for so long was because I wanted to top my BR off at 6k. I came within $50 several times and got knocked down. Eventually, I made it happen and Im happy with the way things went- up 4.25 BI.
As a side note, with the help of Verneer I have established a goal. The goal is for my BR to exceed 10k by the New Year. Once I achieve this landmark, Verneer feels that I will have officially established myself as an overall winner at 200NL. The challenge started this past Thursday. My roll at the time was 4.4k. Some hands...
1) Villain is 16/7/.9 and a river AF of 5. Check turn for pot control. Only hands Im legitimately afraid of are JT, 99, and 55. He leads the river and I immediately discount the probability of 55. It was a tough call to make, but I checked the turn for this exact purpose- I didnt want to call a huge bet with tptk. By betting the turn I dont think I get value from hands that Im ahead of anyway. I tanked it when he lead into me. He could show up with JT, 99 here but his river AF suggested he was betting more hands than just the nuts. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1587303
2) Favorite hand of the session. Villain is 40/16/1.2. I have a note on villain from previous experience at 50NL basically stating he's donk. His turn min c/r is strong, but with 8 outs to the nuts, its an easy call. Value shove the river. He snapped called. This put me over my 6k goal (6.2k). http://www.pokerhand.org/?1587451
As a side note, with the help of Verneer I have established a goal. The goal is for my BR to exceed 10k by the New Year. Once I achieve this landmark, Verneer feels that I will have officially established myself as an overall winner at 200NL. The challenge started this past Thursday. My roll at the time was 4.4k. Some hands...
1) Villain is 16/7/.9 and a river AF of 5. Check turn for pot control. Only hands Im legitimately afraid of are JT, 99, and 55. He leads the river and I immediately discount the probability of 55. It was a tough call to make, but I checked the turn for this exact purpose- I didnt want to call a huge bet with tptk. By betting the turn I dont think I get value from hands that Im ahead of anyway. I tanked it when he lead into me. He could show up with JT, 99 here but his river AF suggested he was betting more hands than just the nuts. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1587303
2) Favorite hand of the session. Villain is 40/16/1.2. I have a note on villain from previous experience at 50NL basically stating he's donk. His turn min c/r is strong, but with 8 outs to the nuts, its an easy call. Value shove the river. He snapped called. This put me over my 6k goal (6.2k). http://www.pokerhand.org/?1587451
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Bankroll Aggression
With 22 buy ins for 200nl, Verneer gave me the green light to 3 table for an hour. I ran red hot and won 3.5 buy ins over a bit less than 300 hands. I won 2 buy ins at 100nl. Biggest cash game night ever for me. It felt good; at the same time, I realize that it is only the beginning to a long road ahead. I am excited for the future.
On a personal note, Fall Break was an awesome time. Nothing too rowdy, but I spent alot of time with close friends and family. I went up to a party at Rider U on Saturday night. A good friend of mine has a nice house there and he did it right. Monday night I got together with my high school crew. The girls from my grade all live together in a house in Manayunk, PA- they go to Philly U. Relatively low key night but still good fun. I worked out with my little brother a couple of times. We have wrestling mats in our garage and we went at it a few times. Hes getting alot tougher, but still cant take me down. He has yet to ever take me down, but when he does I will be very proud of him. Because when he does, I will know that I have done my job. My sister came back from Villanova (sophomore) on Sunday to visit. I hadn't seen her since I left so that was nice. We get along well.
Some hands:
1. I only had 12 hands on him at the time. He was running 55/25/1.2. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1574844
2. Villain is 38/9/.6 over 400 hands. His river AF was 4. Turn and river play?
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1574850
On a personal note, Fall Break was an awesome time. Nothing too rowdy, but I spent alot of time with close friends and family. I went up to a party at Rider U on Saturday night. A good friend of mine has a nice house there and he did it right. Monday night I got together with my high school crew. The girls from my grade all live together in a house in Manayunk, PA- they go to Philly U. Relatively low key night but still good fun. I worked out with my little brother a couple of times. We have wrestling mats in our garage and we went at it a few times. Hes getting alot tougher, but still cant take me down. He has yet to ever take me down, but when he does I will be very proud of him. Because when he does, I will know that I have done my job. My sister came back from Villanova (sophomore) on Sunday to visit. I hadn't seen her since I left so that was nice. We get along well.
Some hands:
1. I only had 12 hands on him at the time. He was running 55/25/1.2. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1574844
2. Villain is 38/9/.6 over 400 hands. His river AF was 4. Turn and river play?
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1574850
Friday, October 5, 2007
Back to 100nl
This past week was midterm week, aka hell week. Its one of the most dreadful weeks of the year. A shit load of work in a short amount of time. Its comparable to a tsunami. You see it coming, but you cant run and you cant hide. Its going to hit you hard, and when it does, its no surprise. I feel confident with the way things went.
Im heading home for fall break this weekend. Im very excited to spend time with fiends and family. Not too sure that Ill have time to play poker, but Ill try to log some hands.
I had some free time last night so I decided to log some hands. First I played a 1.3k hand session. It didnt go very well. I dropped 4 buy ins. Ouch, I was pissed. After a two hours of chilling out, I decided it was time for another go at it. This time I would only 4 table, rather than the usual 6 table. Over 800 hands I won 3.25 buy ins. It felt really good to make a strong comeback. I had quite a few trouble hands from my sessions.
1) Villain is 67/13/.8 over 425 hands. I think I played this too passively. If I lead the turn, do I call a shove? http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554504
2) Villain is 42/14/.75 over 100 hands. Is this turn call a spew? http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554521
3) Villain is 67/48/3.8 over 100 hands. He was an avid bluffer. I went for a turn c/r but he checked behind. Whats the optimal line here? http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554532
4) Villain is 47/19/.8 over 150 hands. Hes taken this line against me before, to which I laid down an over pair. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554539
5) Villain is a good regular 20/17/5.2 over 1.9k hands. His flop AF is 10. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554551
6) Villain is a terrible donk at 65/16/1 over 125 hands. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554559
7) Villain is 44/17/.9 over 50 hands. Flop, standard. Turn, ew. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554565
8) Acehole is 20/13/1.5 over 150 hands. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554576
9) Acehole again. Bad river call? http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554595
10) Acehole was owned me, lol. Lead into with TPTK. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554611
Im heading home for fall break this weekend. Im very excited to spend time with fiends and family. Not too sure that Ill have time to play poker, but Ill try to log some hands.
I had some free time last night so I decided to log some hands. First I played a 1.3k hand session. It didnt go very well. I dropped 4 buy ins. Ouch, I was pissed. After a two hours of chilling out, I decided it was time for another go at it. This time I would only 4 table, rather than the usual 6 table. Over 800 hands I won 3.25 buy ins. It felt really good to make a strong comeback. I had quite a few trouble hands from my sessions.
1) Villain is 67/13/.8 over 425 hands. I think I played this too passively. If I lead the turn, do I call a shove? http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554504
2) Villain is 42/14/.75 over 100 hands. Is this turn call a spew? http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554521
3) Villain is 67/48/3.8 over 100 hands. He was an avid bluffer. I went for a turn c/r but he checked behind. Whats the optimal line here? http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554532
4) Villain is 47/19/.8 over 150 hands. Hes taken this line against me before, to which I laid down an over pair. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554539
5) Villain is a good regular 20/17/5.2 over 1.9k hands. His flop AF is 10. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554551
6) Villain is a terrible donk at 65/16/1 over 125 hands. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554559
7) Villain is 44/17/.9 over 50 hands. Flop, standard. Turn, ew. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554565
8) Acehole is 20/13/1.5 over 150 hands. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554576
9) Acehole again. Bad river call? http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554595
10) Acehole was owned me, lol. Lead into with TPTK. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1554611
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