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first of all sorry for all my shitty hands that i've been posting. i am going through the downswing of my life and during the time it was somewhat cathartic to post suck outs, etc. obviously posting hands where you got sucked out doesn't really help you get better....


as stated i am going through the downswing of my life. not to say it even compares to what other people are going through/have went through. i've never incessantly been sucked out longer than 3-4 days in a row. its been like 10 days of run bad and is exceptionally tough to go through. i'm not whining i'm just trying to convey my current state of distress.

i have been going through all my big pots, and i really am putting my money in way ahead. i don't think i am playing bad.

i've stated multiple times that i don't believe downswings to be even possible at nl10-50 just due to sheer edge but even now i stand corrected.

how did you guys who went through sick downswings (in the sense of duration) recover? how did u guys manage to even have the courage to log in and play?

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things were boring and impotent. now i have a raging hard on.


the "turk" is back! yea he's 6-10 and can shoot 3's. sometimes he dribbles too much and is too willing to take the big shot. he has me holding my breath, yelling and screaming. and occasionally blows me up with extacy. im glad we got rid of vince AND pietrus.

"old man" richardson. sigh he is so facking old. but another really solid 3 point shooter + he's really athletic. my main concern is if he can still pull the shit he used to be able to in his old age. i believe he's won the dunk contest once and continues to pull some impressive dunks from time to time.

gilbert "i have guns and will threaten to shoot you" arenas. definitely talented. followed in the footsteps of wade in the 0 guard position (looks for his own shot, passes out some 3's occasionally). definitely talented. him and richardson are definitely athletic enough. main concern with this guy is if he's coachable. if he will listen and follow suit. gilbert arenas is like the ultimate gamble as he can prob single handedly destroy svg's whole culture and defensive mind set by being a selfish little bitch. i wanna say dwight howard and nelson have alot of locker room/leadership presence. enough to overcome the retarded but talented idiot that is gilbert arenas. i wanna say he might be humbled and coming off the whole gun controversey may make him more mature and may divert him from taking everything for granted...but i can also see the potential for complete and utter disdain for authority... which svg requires, needs, to make the magic churn...

either way i'm fucking stoked since were no longer a dead team.

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about 2k under ev. i 'm playing so scared and so passive. it currently takes balls to even log in. i 'm clicking call way too often and getting destroyed by vbets. my aggression has all but disappeared. first "downswing" i 've ever experienced, and the worst part is that it was exacerbated by me trying to "make things happen."

gonna move down to nl100 for the rest of the month unless i get some sick run good. going to try and relearn basics, etc.

feelin like a busto

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there's no other way to get better.

you have to put in time.

you have to put in hours.

you have to keep thinking about the game.

there's no easy way out and i'm not really sure what i was looking for all this time.


so here's to hands, volume, hours, effort and hopefully the results i'm so desperate and eager to discover



any nl200+ player willing to share advices, share hands, trade coaching plz leave message or pm.
i think i'm going to make a video if there's enough ppl willing to leave feedback. i'd be very grateful + more than willing/happy to do the same

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part 3: a few final words

vacuum ev =/= real or true ev

opening Q5o against weak blinds although in a vacuum may be +ev may or may not be truly ev. there are a lot of intangible concepts here and therefore this entire section may somewhat be neglected, but i'll try to explain. if you are playing over 6+ tables and open a wide range that consists for example Q5o it may be +ev to just fold it and pay more attention to more quality hands or hands currently being played. you may have a hard time keeping up with an aggressive dynamic where the blinds have finally caught on and may be willing to 3 bet light. when playing mass tables there is always a risk of paranoia when you get 3 bet across tables and this may induce retardedness 1 every few thousand hands that will stagnate your winrate. also there is some argument that if you are easily tiltable and have a hard time resisting double barreling you should prob cut back on wide ranges.

hand reading
- accurate hand reading helps you bluff when your behind but more importantly helps you make razor thin vbets. piecing hand ranges together through information from pf, flop and turn is quite hard to do and will take alot of practice. i suggest playing 4 tables max and practice hand reading in uninvolved hands as well.

shot taking
-do it often. do it aggressively. shot taking (for me at leasT) makes you a little bit more desensitized to money (which i think is somewhat neccessary). it helps you play your best game with no consequence for money when you move back down to your own limits. because it's like playing for chump change. it sorta removes a sense of fear and intimidation. also taking shots may help you realize that you aren't so bad after all. that the skill difference is marginal. playing for higher money may also motivate you to reach that limit in the future. when i reached 1/2 i was amazed that stealing the blinds yielded 3 whole dollars. 3 mcdoubles. real substantial monies vs nl25 where you win .35.

horizontal vs vertical learning
-lately i feel that my fundamentals have expanded. like you learn about hand strength. and then position. and then blind play. and then 3 betting from the blinds. and then calling 3 bets in position. and then 3 betting in position. and then how imba and unexploitable position can be. this is what i consider horizontal learning where you are learning somewhat newer information and newer skills. personally, i feel as though there is not that much more for me to learn horizontally. however vertically alot of my skills are laughable, shabby, and exploitable. vbetting includes much more than getting value over 3 streets for instance. i vary my bet sizes so infrequently, i reuse the standard lines i've developed and run them into the ground. i suppose you can consider it "creativity" but what it really comes down to is developing your current skills vertically so you are much better and adept at vbetting, 3 betting, etc. i can tell you for a fact that it still blows my mind how i don't vbet larger. although preflop/cbet sizes should be somewhat standardized there is still so much room to increase winrate through a little bit of thinking about the simplest thing, bet sizing.

although it may be somewhat relaxing to mindlessly grind away over 10 tables and solidify good strong lines and simple ranges, it behooves you to try your utmost hardest to think deeply about the game whenever possible and to try to max out all your current skills while still learning new ones.

lastly, the part no one wants to hear
-there is nothing wrong with playing poker as a hobby. furhtermore there is nothing wrong with being a losing poker player. there is something wrong though if the money matters. if money spent on poker should be spent elsewhere like family, bills and savings. i hope you are either smart enough to know when to quit, or have friends around you who love you enough to put themselves in hard and awkward spot to make it known to you of a potential problem. this is prob a somewhat delicate subject and this is all i have to say about that.


in conclusion, i hope this guide is helpful and having received lots of generous help and tips myself this is my way of paying it forward.

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if part 1 can be considered "basic game plan" than part 2 can be called "3 bet pots and exploitation." but really they are pretty much the same thing.

poker can be summarized by exploiting and adapting. a perpetual game of rock, paper, scissors. many games are like this. a popular one being starcraft. wrestling if you've ever done it or know anything about it. mma to a smaller degree.

its like pokemon. if he sends out a charmander then send out a squirtle.

our basic game plan covered in the last post works because it exploits opponents tendencies to make undisciplined calls. i feel as though this strategy should work fine and crush those limits in single bet pots. now onto 3 bet pots.

why 3 bet?
-opponent will call with lots of dominated hands
-opponent will fold a large majority of the time
-you have position and the proper skill advantage to win many pots post flop.

for the most part these are the main reasons to 3 bet a hand. @ micro stakes however opponents rarely call with dominated hands. opponents do however fold a large majority of the time. so what is the proper strategy for this?

something i've never heard anyone else do, that i myself used relentlessly at these limits is flatting AA KK QQ JJ in the blinds all day vs button opens. in my experience button opens are extremely wide and therefore many ppl fold to 3 bets. so why raise AA KK here? they rarely have a flatting range and most likely have a 4 bet range of AA KK themselves. 3 betting AA KK here is not that + ev. what is + ev however is flatting AA KK here against WIDE button opens. they will miss several flops and you can win flop cbets and turn cbets VERY often. to a lesser extent opponents will value town themselves over 3 barrels. and although very rare, you will be able to out cooler many players here with TOP SET. as stated this happens very rarely but nevertheless is an important segment in winrate.

therefore 3 betting hands like KT, A2-A7 in the blinds against a button opens is a good adjustment since they rarely flat and only 4 bet nuts.

wait so my 3 betting range is polarized to only garbage handS? my answer to that is pretty much. there are obviously always exceptions. but for the most part i 3 bet bluff almost exclusively @ nl50 and below.

squeezing
-squeezing is when you 3 bet an opener and a caller.

so given that the original opener is somewhat late pos or has a wide range what are good hands to squeeze here? take a moment to think of a range that most exploits this. (there are multiple right answers)

+ Show Spoiler +

i don't think my game is anything special and by no means is my range suggestion here the ultimate guide or say all. it is just my preference and my comfort zone over playing many hands @ micro stakes.

final note about AK.

its the nuts. or is it?
most lpers will prob be disgusted in my suggestions here AK is the most over played hand at micro stakes. the fact that you have blockers to AA KK and are flipping with QQ often makes it profitable to ship in at higher limits. however shipping AK against nits @ micro stakes is not a good idea. you will very often see AA and KK. i remember when i played micro limits i was happy or relieved to see QQ's. ducy this is a problem?

AK makes VERY strong top pair hands Kxx Axx board that you will get LOADS of value. i don't mind calling AK in the blinds 3 way or on the button 3 way. there is SO MUCH value in flatting dominating weaker kickers.

final note 2: reads
- you usually need only basic reads the 2 most important ones in my opinion is barreling frequency and calling frequency.

1-barrel monkeys (they cbet all flops and only 2 barrel with strong draws or top pairs)
- my personal favorite, exploit by calling with anything on the flop and fold weaker hands to a turn barrel. bluff or bet river when checked to. or? c/r the flop often (try figuring out a decent range here)

2 barrel fiends
- flat stronger hands like AA KK and AK. when you flop a good hand like an overpair a strong top pair hand or sets, just c/call 2 streets or c/r turn. or c/call turn bet river small to induce.

calling stations
-check back med pairs and A highs. (although once you get better you can actually vbet both these hands with proper reads)
-barrel strong pair hands


gl to you. obviously i hope my short guide can help you some through some of the specific guidelines, but

-do read other guides
-do constantly think about poker (ranges, exploitation strategy, potential future leaks in your game against stronger opponents, reads, how to get reads, what one hand showodown may say about opponents overall game plan/strategy/way of thinking.

the following articles didn't help me much till much later but i think these were pretty well written and informative (in order of what i think to be most important)

http://www.liquidpoker.net/pokerartic...at,_Why_and_How_-_Basic_Game_Approach

http://www.liquidpoker.net/pokerartic...84/The_Exploitive_vs_Optimal_Approach

http://www.liquidpoker.net/pokerarticle/449093/Paradigms

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woops

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basically making this guide because i had a pretty tough time getting up here and there and just wanted to make it a little bit easier for those willing and those dedicated or dumb enough to try out online poker

this assumes some minimal knowledge of poker. i also want to get across that i am not really an ass irl but i feel like the advice that must be given should be given as an ass.

so you've been playing micro stakes poker for however long. who cares. yea you're probably a break even player who can do fancy stuff like 3 bet bluffing and floating. but look at where it's gotten you. no where. play for days and days and days just to be a break even player. lol.z.

at nl 10- nl 50 everyone has a hard time folding preflop. including you apparently. it's simple game theory really. it's simple rock, paper, scissors. the opponents you face have an unbelievable retarded urge to call any 2 pf, and with any pair on the flop over multiple streets. ENGRAVE THIS IN YOUR MIND. how do you counter this? by raising suited connectors? lol. by incorporating a wide 3 bet range? lol. by bluffing? lol. by completing your ranges with balance? lol. by opening a really cool range on the button like J5o? lol.

stop playing retarded hands and just play strong broadway cards. some large percentage of the time like 80%, you are going to show a pair @ show down. it's important that these are quality broadway cards that can get value over 2 streets.

seriously why do you <3 suited connectors? because you can flop a pair of 7's with 78 on K73 board? are you gonna barrel that? so you can flop a flush draw loL? and barrel some flush draws to the river against calling stations?

the point of poker isn't to be cool, or unexploited or to feel like a man when you 3 bet. it's to win some fucking monies. who cares how you do it? who cares how polarized your ranges are? who cares how transparent your strategy is? if it works it works and you never have to move to lvl 2 play. just stay @ lvl 1 till someone else adapts or adjusts.

hint: + Show Spoiler +

a few random tips:
+ bet big and close to pot for value. usually ppl are gonna click call or fold w/e the bet size
+ call in position with as many pocket pairs as possible. 99-QQ can often flop an overpair as well as sets. sets at this lvl are wonderful considering how you will get paid by a variety of hands.
+ when you have the nuts on the river sometimes it will be hard to get stacks in. don't be silly and overbet jam. it is ABSOLUTELY crucial and important that you get good value on the river when the pot is inflated. mistakes post flop are magnified. ie you have AK on an AK355 board. the pot is about 50bb (you have 25 percent of your stack in). betting 35-40 bb is much better than shoving and potentially pushing a fish away. (although a fish prob calls here, not the best example but the point is to TRY your HARDEST for 3 streets of value. VARY bet sizing). A large percentage of your profits and winrate will come from good river bets. Consider the pot until the turn. you've seen 4 cards and you've only invested about 25 bbs. so even if you make mistakes on the flop/turn when you make a mistake on the river it can cost you 35-40 bbs. and these mistakes will be made by your opponents usually in the form of CALLING.


also if someone is giving you a hard time in general pick up your money and leave. don't have a dick waving contest with someone through the internet. and if you ARE going to stay because your actual poker skills probably suck, folding preflop is most likely a small mistake and calling and seeing flops tends to be much bigger mistakes. (mainly because aggression/initiative is unbelievable strong in poker. even over aggro tards can win a decent amount if no one adjusts)

so basically learn to vbet. and know when to vbet. and know how much to vbet. and then go learn some more ways to vbet. and completely forget about bluffing. ever.

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just ended a 2/4 shot, some random ramblings, stream of conciousnesss

humbled
-lost a bit at 2/4 (combo of a few suck outs, light tilt graduating to mild tilt)

something i realized recently is that everyone at 2/4 and prob 1/2 know how to play solid. i think for the most part of my time at micro stakes/low stakes nlhe my greatest strength was playing in position with a wide range of hands while dabbling in 3 bet pots.

i played 2/4 today with just 2 tables with alot of focus. my 2 specific tables played relatively passive and although the time came for me to be the aggressor (in multiple spots) i simply passed as i didn't want the variance. however because i did this i was essentially passing up my edge. i don't feel like i have that much of an edge in these games in single raised pots.

there is alot of room for growth. i think i have all the experience and knowledge to win at 1/2 and 2/4. but the biggest problem is that piecing everything together. parallels can be drawn from single and 3bet pots, position is always key, stack/pot ratio is always in mind. like i think i know nearly all the considerations, it's just a matter of putting all the information together and reaching a thoughtful conclusion. its like learning alg 1 and 2, calc, differential equ, linear algebra and then going on and producing a thesis or a theorem of your own. it's using everything you've learned up until now to read deeper on every flop, and narrow people's ranges and pin point game flow like temperature.

playing 2 tables of 2/4 really opened my eyes as well as expanded my mind. yes it was uncomfortable but the new stimuli was sought for, and my heart hasn't pounded so hard in a very long time.

also what is your buy in rule at nl400? 25? 30? start taking shots at 20?

also it's x-mas and i may share a few tips on how i broke away from micro stakes over the course of the month.

also sc2 is as addicting as sc1

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thanksgiving was a wonderful break.

i feel fully recharged.

Let's do it real wideeeeeeeeeeee!

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