Fuck micro stakes

So if theres one thing I'm a master at, it's playing with my whole roll on the table for the highest limit I can afford. It's how I started playing. Depositing $200 and sitting down at NL200 seemed like a good idea at the time afterall, I mean what else would I want to do with $200, play .5/10 cent? Laugh... Over the years I've managed to increase my BRM to the 5 BI or so mark, so at least now I'm playing with 5x the funds as I used to. And of course winning 3-4 BI's in a single session is like the greatest day ever and proves I play good making 400% ROI, so naturally I should cash out and save some again for later. I'm down something like -1.26/BB which clearly proves I'm a losing player so I quit poker until I paid off some debts and did some more soul searching.

But tonight I could not handle it any longer. My withdrawal symptoms became too great and all I could think about was the NL200 game downtown running in an hour, and how gawd awful these players were. Just last night I was watching my wife Holly grind NL2 online and just kept facepalming at all the hands people were calling her with. I just sat back for a few moments and said "wtf this is so easy, I know how to beat these fucks. Just, fuckin play solid. Dont even come with a gameplan, just play fuckin solid. Wtf does solid even mean? Fuck if I know, just fuckin do it".

So all I can do is sit there in my office today picturing the various joe blows at the live table and imagine that we are really playing online at an NL2 table. And then it was done. I sent a text asking if they had a seat available for me and that I would be there in about half an hour. The entire trip I just kept imagining the live table was the stars table. The felt in front of me would look just like the digital felt online. When I took a seat, I wouldnt be playing this like it was live, I would be imagining I was playing NL2 online, and each face across the table from me was nothing more than another retarded avatar of some guys baby/and or dog.

I bought in for $200, which was all I brought with me. You see I couldnt really afford to be playing right now. I had to win. I really needed this money, and considered playing tonight no different than putting in extra hours at the office for more pay. I needed the money. And from 7pm-10pm I proceeded to go from a $200 stack to a $980 stack. I warned everyone early that I was rusty and just gettin back in the game and would be leaving early tonight. If I bust i bust, and if I crush I crush. Luckily they all like me and dont mind a slight hit n run. Of course thats not to say the whole table groaned when I asked the host to rack em and cash me out. But there were like 20 people there tonight anyway so they probably all forgot within the next 5 minutes anyhow.

So I pocketed nearly $800 tonight one-tabling NL200 live. A heater or whatever, doesnt matter, goddamn I needed the money. So what am I gonna do with it? Well I'm debating putting $400 down for a single buyin of NL400 online. Or maybe play the NL500 live game this weekend. Maybe just 1 BI of NL200 online will be enough. Or maybe I'll just sink it all towards credit card debt/holly's birthday or something.

I dunno, but clearly I can buy in for 100BB's at any game and just pwn it up, so all I really need to make sure I have is $200 laying around in case I somehow bust what I earned. Me busting what I earned is totally irrelevant though, even if it exceeds the 1 BI rule. If I lose it all, I simply pull 200 more out of the bank and play. All previous withdrawals are erased, and each night is a clean slate. There shall be no auditing of my buyin history, each day is a new day. If you find all of this confusing, PM me and we'll discuss proper degen theory and I'll offer some live coaching on how to properly buy in at a table and run it up, and how to properly lose it all and have it mean absolutely nothing.

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Comments (20)

The "I FUCKING QUIT!" milestone. Everyone has one, I finally reached mine. Done with everything remotely poker related for a long time. Cyall round.

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Comments (4)

Ehhhhhrrrm.... Behold, my NL50 HU results thus far



Should I like, quit faster than anyone has ever quit anything before? I'm only down 5 BI's, but look a that EV my god.

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Comments (10)

Cashing out that is. Made my first 2 cashouts in a year this week, totaling $600, hyuk! I rolled myself 40 BI's for NL50 HU with the intention of getting coaching from f4zi. But we could never get a time scheduled for a lesson so I watched a few HU vids to acclimate myself with the game and just decided to take a shot on my own, I mean if I kill it, then who needs coaching? FTP only allows for $600 deposit at a time so even though I had allocated $2000 for it, thats all I ever had in my account. I grinded up to $1388 when I made the sequential cashouts, namely just because I wanted to see what I felt like to cashout for once again lol. Figured might as well make it $600 so I'm technically freerolling the rest, although I made sure never to actually look at it in that manner.

Of course it was only a matter of time before FTP showed their true colors. I was simply in run hot mode at the start because I hadnt deposited in awhile. After 4000 hands it was time for FTP's auto-balance system to spread the wealth to other fish, and I promptly lost the remaining money with nut flushes, flopped sets, 2 pairs, and several TP hands all to runner runner this and that. With $150 left I sat at a NL200 table to chase it back, sat around for about 40 hands when this happened:

Submitted by : NewbSaibot

Full Tilt Poker Game #20064116100: Table Mop (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:57:26 ET - 2010/04/14
Seat 1: Hero ($182.65)
Seat 2: ADCampbell ($218.90)
Seat 3: MidgetB ($200)
Seat 4: chocolateNuts ($200)
Seat 5: asdfx1 ($310.40)
Seat 6: ABear44 ($203)
asdfx1 posts the small blind of $1
ABear44 posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #3

Holecards(Odds)
Dealt to Hero
Hero raises to $6
ADCampbell folds
MidgetB has 15 seconds left to act
MidgetB folds
asdfx1 folds
ABear44 raises to $20
Hero calls $14

Flop(Odds) (Pot : $41.00)

   
ABear44 checks
Hero bets $30
ABear44 calls $30

Turn(Odds) (Pot : $101.00)

   
ABear44 checks
Hero bets $70
ABear44 raises to $153, and is all in
Hero calls $62.65, and is all in
ABear44 shows
Hero shows
Uncalled bet of $20.35 returned to ABear44

River (Pot : $366.30)

   
ABear44 shows two pair, Jacks and Tens
Hero shows a pair of Aces
ABear44 wins the pot ($363.30) with two pair, Jacks and Tens
Hero is sitting out

Summary
Total pot $366.30 | Rake $3
Board:
Seat 1: Hero showed and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 2: ADCampbell didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: MidgetB (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: chocolateNuts is sitting out
Seat 5: asdfx1 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: ABear44 (big blind) showed and won ($363.30) with two pair, Jacks and Tens

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So I became friends with a host at a local card game I used to play at every week a few months back. As a typical live player he knew relatively nothing about online play, or even poker in general, even though he hosted a game. That isnt to say he didnt dump $12,255 online as of today, but you get what I'm saying. So being the nice guy that I am, and one of the only live players I actually hang out with, I gave him the keys to the castle. I introduced him to cardrunners, dueces cracked, HEM, the forums, free e-books, retail e-books, the works. I just wanted to help a brotha out. Naturally he didnt do a damn thing with it and from that time he has lost an additional 3-4 grand, oh well, FAIL.

So I brought Holly (my wife) to his game one night for fun, and after we left for the night she immediately commented how she was suspicious the dealer and HIS wife, who also happens to play, were colluding. She just said they were in way too many pots raising each other till someone folded, then dumping hands on the river without a showdown. I disagreed simply b/c

1) they both suck
2) there are too many stations for them to successfully pull this off

Anyway, she actually told me she wouldnt even play there again she was so certain lol. Well, I didnt pay too much thought into it, although they do always sit directly across from each other. I dont know much about effective colluding so not sure what the most optimal situation would be.

So just moments ago Holly is looking up their PTR stats for a nice goodnight laugh, as they are pretty horrible, and even I laugh after how much info I shared with him to help them improve, and she notices that one of their accounts is a nemesis of the others in ring games. You can see how many hands you have played vs someone in PTR and it shows them at like 350 hands vs each other. What makes this even more damning is the fact that as I got to know this guy and he realized I knew a lot about online play, he actually began asking me if I knew how to cheat, and where to get poker bots to play lol. I reminded him even a building full of cray super computers cant play NLHE for shit, but now it's all falling into place.

Soooooo, what do you think? Are they cheating scum? What other reason would they be playing with each other online at the same tables for? Plus they have expressed an interest in cheating, they host their own home game, and holly already labeled them cheaters from the first night! Hmmmmmmzzzz.... Me personally, I dont think I'll ever play at their game again.



Oh yea, I was supposed to post pics of our new cars like weeks ago. If the weather didnt suck, I was too lazy, so here are some taken today!

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Comments (23)

I had dual monitors and HEM isolated to monitor #2. I removed a monitor and now have 1 monitor, and HEM keeps vanishing off to the fucking side acting like theres a 2nd monitor. Anybody know how to fix this shit? I cant click a fucking thing.

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Comments (5)

So I've been goofing around at the CAP tables again on FTP but for different reasons this time. The first time I played these it was simply because the tables were so ridiculously crowded with fish you couldnt lose. My hourly was higher playing CAP200 than it would have been playing NL400. But then I ran into some new breed of short stackers who also populate the tables and lacked the knowledge to adjust. Eventually I agreed with poker theorists that the lack of EV made it a waste of my time.

But lately I've been discovering some new leaks, #1 of which is that I just get it in too damn light too damn often. I'm always 3bet/4bet jamming my Ax flush draws, OESD's, and valuetowning myself with TPTK. So I dove back into the CAP games again with the intention of using them for their purpose, to "limit your risk of ruin" as FTP puts it. I dont mind only winning a 60BB pot with a fullhouse because it's helping train me how better to see my draws and TP type hands through. Basically, it's helping limit my risk of ruin lol. I've always commented on myself that I tend to win lots of small pots, but always lose the big ones. A good smallball type player should know how to dodge big pot losses, but I'm not there yet. But I'm still really confident in my preflop and flop game. It's the turn/river that always gets me.

And here comes the fish. While playing today, I was sitting at a table full of nits. I just joined at random and didnt really care. My stats were actually 50/30/3 at 200 hands. None of them ever adjusted. My steal must have been like 70% would I would just minraise the BTN every time and get folds. But I wasnt making much either. I would win a bunch of small pots and lose an allin on the flop or preflop thanks to the CAP limit. Luckily the cap kept me breakeven. Then along comes some obvious fish. Raising 6xBB from all positions, min3betting pre, and jamming any pair on the flop. It only took 3 hands before I was all over him, after witnessing him limp call preflop with Q6o. And heeeeeeeere comes teh money! I went from breakeven at 200 hands to finishing +3.2BI's at 46BB/100, all off one single player.

He eventually just left, and there went my earnings. While I managed not to get stacked again, I never won much after than. Just raise raise raise, they fold fold fold, then I get 3bet and see it's pretty obvious I have to fold. Who'd a thunk that a nit wouldnt be 3betting or calling light? Shocking.. Sad thing is I still remember reading some HSP's blog once that basically said, even if there is one fish at a table full of nits, that table is +EV.

Sooooooo... guess I'll start working on my table selection more. While playing loose as fuck vs nits is fun and all, at least from a boredom point of view, and playing loose vs fish is stressful, from a variance point of view; observe the fish and ADJUST ADJUST ADJUST! There is no 1 way to beat a fish. You dont necessarily have to tighten up or play by anyone else's set of rules to beat them. There is a certain level of respect held for players who teach themselves the game, as with all things in life. Since I havent read a book or guide or watched a video in ages, I have no particular memory of how certain pro's explain how to beat certain players. All I have right now is my own common sense. Keeping this unbiased perspective to the game might be good for me.

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Comments (2)

So I had some liquid assets to jumpstart my poker career past the micro stakes. I diverted some of this towards live play and ended breakeven after 3 weeks before I got rattled from a series of losing sessions breaking my confidence. I havent played since, which really sucks because I am too competitive of a player to let something like that get to me. It was just the monetary loss. The money finally meant something to me at NL200 so losing $1000 in one night was like "holy fuck".

Then, out of nowhere, I suddenly got the urge to buy a new car. Why you ask? Well a little dealer hustling, plus a lot of greed. I went to have my car serviced and decided to look at some new rides for my wife. I drive an 07 Altima which I bought brand new from the lot back in 07, and while searching for a car for her, I suddenly fell in love with a fully loaded version of what I currently drive. I was able to trade in my current car for the fully loaded 2010 model without it changing my payments at all, other than restarting them.

So I just bought a brand new 2010 Nissan Altima 2.5SL with leather heated + power seats, wood trim finish, 7" GPS nav system with DVD playback, bluetooth phone and streaming mp3, xm satellite, and all the other good shit that comes with a new car. Of course I couldnt go to the dealership and buy myself a brand new car and leave my poor wife still struggling with her piece of shit 10 year old saturn with leaking sunroof, mildew stank interior, sunbaked paintjob, and blown out stereo speakers. That would just be wrong.

So I bought her one too. Not quite as good as mine. But I bought her a 2010 Nissan Sentra, which is basically like a mini version of the altima, which is perfect for her, as she would look kinda funny driving a car as big as mine. It's not fully loaded, but it's mostly there. Bluetooth phone/mp3, ipod docking station, sunroof, no gps or anything fancy like that. But the electronics are well equipped. Cant even remember if it has leather lol, but probably not. It's a nice little car. She always wanted one in Teal, but unfortunately all they had was greyish silver. Hope she likes it, she hasnt even seen it yet lol. But I know my wife, and she'll absolutely love it, save for the less than stellar car color, which AINT ALL THAT BAD. I mean fuck, I kinda like smoke grey myself, but it's just not that femmy.

I was kinda feeling guilty about utilizing such a large part of my funds to just play poker with, at least with the potential for failure. I'd never get over myself for sinking 8 grand into poker and having nothing to show for it, especially when my loved ones need things, like a new car.

So where does this leave me? Well, since I took poker money and "cashed it out", ala "imaginary cashout", I still have some left to play poker with. I'm going to contact f4zi and get some HU training, but I dont really want to discuss that in case I turn out to be a huge embarrassment and waste of his time. Yea thats right, I respect the man so much that I would feel like i wasted *his* time paying him money to coach a loser. We'll see though.

Pics coming soon.

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Comments (6)

So I bought a new monitor today but found out I was out of milk so I smashed the mother fucker. Hah, j/k, but got you to read my blog.

In reality, I just went busto playing live..... sigh.. I dunno what happened. Lost a big hand after repopping a lagtard BTN raiser (they have these live? Whats the world coming to) with AJ and he calls my cbet on a JT3 board with A3.. turns trips but I turn nut flush draw, i c/r him allin and fail to connect. Some other loose passive but nitty postflop player decides he's going to squeeze a 5way raised pot with 98s in the CO and I get stuck in the middle with JJ. Fold flop, just bleeding chips is all. Later I try to bluff him off his gutshot but he rivers bottom pair for the win. And again when he floats flop with AK high. I had to call him out on that one since he was the initial raiser and I 3bet him. He said "I had to defend my hand", and I'm just like "wtf?" How do you defend by check-calling with air?

Nothing particularly spectacular though. Just a bunch of chip loss from missed draws and shit.

I'm glad this happened though. I thought I was going to have to dedicate myself to live play so I'd have an edge at the stakes I want to play instead of grinding it out at nonsense micro stakes. Since live is just as variance heavy as online, and since I apparently dont have any edge, I might as well go back to playing online. I'll just spend the rest of my poker career donking off at NL400 once a month until I run hot.

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Comments (4)

Was playing around at NL5 to build my confidence to get back into online play. Playing live has been great, but I only get like 5 hours of sleep per night so I'm usually too exhausted to drive 30 minutes and put in the hours. I simply have to be able to play online as a full time poker player.

Anyway, the following happened vs a 70/40 monkey who I already had a note on that he just randomly bluff's stacks off for no apparent reason.

Submitted by : NewbSaibot

Full Tilt Poker Game #19117450711: Table Zoom (6 max) - $0.02/$0.05 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:27:29 ET - 2010/03/09
Seat 1: BigSteveGCAZ ($14.35)
Seat 2: SASSY 216 ($19.72)
Seat 3: dr carega ($1.49)
Seat 4: StreetKore ($2.30)
Seat 5: Hero ($12.69)
Seat 6: 10Messi10 ($4.13)
dr carega posts the small blind of $0.02
StreetKore posts the big blind of $0.05
The button is in seat #2

Holecards(Odds)
Dealt to Hero
Hero raises to $0.17
10Messi10 folds
BigSteveGCAZ calls $0.17
SASSY 216 folds
dr carega folds
StreetKore folds

Flop(Odds) (Pot : $0.41)

   
Hero has 15 seconds left to act
Hero checks
BigSteveGCAZ bets $0.41
Hero raises to $1.20
BigSteveGCAZ calls $0.79

Turn(Odds) (Pot : $2.81)

   
Hero bets $2.81
BigSteveGCAZ calls $2.81

River (Pot : $8.43)

   
Hero checks
BigSteveGCAZ bets $8.43
Hero raises to $8.51, and is all in
BigSteveGCAZ calls $0.08

Showdown
Hero shows a flush, Ace high
BigSteveGCAZ shows a flush, Ace high
BigSteveGCAZ wins the pot ($23.76) with a flush, Ace high

Summary
Total pot $25.45 | Rake $1.69
Board:
Seat 1: BigSteveGCAZ showed and won ($23.76) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 2: SASSY 216 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: dr carega (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: StreetKore (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Hero showed and lost with a flush, Ace high
Seat 6: 10Messi10 didn't bet (folded)

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