Well, I mean, it wasn't completely stupid, it was just kinda uneccessary. QQ vs KK AI pf after I 4bet cold (monkey raises, reg 3bets), and KK vs a flushdraw that minraised me on the flop and got there on the turn, where I c/r AI with the king of the suite - which makes no sense cause I thought he had either a flushdraw or some kind of 2p/set, which of course means I can't continue on the turn. Oh well.
Not really a crushing blow but hopefully I won't play as badly tomorrow.
So I've been playing some 3/6 HU and I've pretty much gotten pwned. I've been running bad too but I think that 2 out of 3 ppl I've played a lot of hands against have had an decent enough edge on me. I think I actually might be down for the month, although not by much because I started out pretty good and ran good in omaha too, but it's still a bit annoying. The good thing is that I feel like I'm improving a lot and after a short break I'll have to take (studies) I'll get back and pwn it up again. Whatever, mid stakes are a lot of fun and I'll have more time to play this spring, now I pretty much just want to get back home for Christmas.
Thoughts on Moving up in stakes - Entry #3by MARSHALL28, December 09
I’m leaving for Vegas in about an hour, and I’ve had more requests for this so I just thought I’d say screw it and put it up even though I think quite a bit of it is constantly regurgitated and it might be a little boring. So to everyone that wanted this .. enjoy.
I’ve had a serious lack of input coming in from outside sources about things that have sparked my interest in poker recently. I think a lot of this has to do with how soft the 400nl and 600nl games have been on stars lately. The weaker the opponents, the more necessary it is to play ABC poker. The more necessary it is to play ABC poker, the fewer interesting situations you will inevitably get into. So because of this, I thought I’d answer a question I’ve been asked quite a bit lately—What is it that helped me to improve so quickly from SSNL to MSNL? Just before I do that though, I want to remind anybody that’s interested that I am available for coaching from 50nl up to 200nl. I have three students now who I would definitely say have been improving, and if you are struggling, I’m pretty sure it’d really be worth it for you to give it a shot. Please PM me if you are interested. (To you haters out there, it’s probably not worth it to read this post if you are beating 400nl or better).
So anyways, about 4 months ago I was struggling to beat 100nl. I had actually spent about 8 months initially trying to beat 50nl. I must have gone bust about six times after building my roll up to at least 3k each time. And what they wanted to know was, what is it that I’m doing differently now that I wasn’t doing before?
I’m going to try to cover pretty much everything that I think has helped me to improve my game.
Keep records. I keep an excel sheet detailing every session I play. The top of it is listed in columns as follows: Date; Time In; Time Out; Time spent; Money In; Money Out; Net; Total Hands played. I separate these from 6max to heads up to tournaments. This way I know what games I’m struggling at and which games I’m doing well in. Of course pokertracker will do this for you, but this has some other advantages that pokertracker doesn’t allow. I do this religiously, as soon as I open up a session, I input the time I start and the bankroll I started with. I believe that by doing this everyday, it reminds me that I do this for a living and that when I open up the poker tables, it’s time for work, and it’s not time to mess around. I hate logging losing sessions, and I actually find that when I’m playing while away from my home computer without this excel spreadsheet, I tend to take the game much less seriously. This is also good to have for tax purposes, and if you are thinking about purchasing a big priced item, as you have a good idea as to how much you are making monthly, and hourly. I’d also recommend that you calculate exactly how much you are making by the hour, take that number and write it down, then put it up on your bulletin board, or somewhere you can see it every day. Then realize that that’s how much your time is worth when you are sitting at the poker table, or doing any other random task that isn’t helping you to achieve your goals. I really believe it will help a lot in time management, and to keep you off of tilt. It’ll also help you to…
Maintain your focus. I know you’ve heard it a million times, so I won’t spend much time on it, but it’s just so essential to being a winning player. While I was struggling at 50nl, I would 8-table for 3 hours at a clip, sometimes even up to 6 or 8 hours in a row—this got me no where. Some people do have uncanny abilities to multi-table and take all information in without missing much, but if you’re like me, as I assume most of you are, this is not going to help you learn the game. Nowadays, my sessions usually won’t last more than an hour. I average about 1.5 sessions a day, and I make so much more money than I ever did mass tabling.
Free yourself from distractions and give yourself permission to succeed. My distraction was a girlfriend. I struggled and struggled and struggled while I was with her. I couldn’t beat 100nl, and I had been trying for months. Right after we broke up is when I started to focus all my attention on improving my poker skills, I guess I always had an excuse to not be good—and as long as I had that excuse, the majority of my focus wasn’t on beating poker. Coincidentally (or not), we broke up roughly 4 months ago, this was pretty much exactly when I began beating 100nl. I’m definitely not advocating giving up on your relationships, but I really believe that you can’t succeed until you’ve made the choice that you are going to succeed and nothing is going to stop you. I had always chosen to be with my girlfriend over succeeding, so as soon as we broke up, I gave myself permission to succeed. It’s definitely true that you become whatever it is you think about, and if you are constantly thinking about doing well, chances are the results will follow.
Okay so, this part should be a little more interesting, I’m going to explain what I think you need to do about your game to move up in limits and improve your skill quickly.
The first thing is PLAY TIGHT! Beating micro stakes and small stakes is all about grinding. There is a reason you are playing these stakes and aren’t beating higher limit games, it’s because you don’t have the fundamentals to do so. So this is where you need to spend the time developing them. It’s true, grinding is boring. Grinding has to be the worst, but it’s necessary. Thinking about this actually reminds me of a scene from the movie Boiler Room. The one where Ben Affleck is talking to all of the trainees about to work at the firm, the dialogue goes like this…
“Your first six months at the firm are as a trainee... you make one hundred and fifty dollars a week. After you're done training, you take the Series Seven test. When you pass, you become a junior broker and you'll be opening accounts for your team leader. After you open forty accounts you begin working for yourself and then... sky's the limit. Now a word about being a trainee. The other brokers, your parents, whoever: they're gonna give you shit about it. And it's true, a hundred and fifty a week is not a lot of money, but pay no mind. You need to learn the business and this is the time to do it. Once you pass the Series Seven none of it will matter.
Your friends are shit. You're gonna tell them you made twenty-five thousand last month and they're not going to believe you. Fuck them! Your parents don't like the life you lead? Fuck you Mom and Dad! As a trainee you will be building a foundation for yourself. Think of it as the foundation to a building. Right? Gotta build the foundation before you can put up your skyscraper. You know what I built? (takes out a model). The fucking twin towers. Now go home and think about whether this is for you. If you decide it isn't, nothing to be embarrassed about. It's not for everyone. But if you really want it, then give me a call on Monday and we'll talk. Just don't waste my time. Alright. That's it.”
This is the same way I look at grinding micro and small stakes, and subsequently the reason for why I advocate what I do.
Don’t withdraw your funds. I’m sure some of you have to, but if you can do anything to keep this from being necessary, you will become much better much quicker. The reason for this is that you won’t be able to develop the skills you need in poker at small stakes. You get better by playing against better players, if you are always stuck playing people who have never played the game before, how much better can you expect to get?
Move up in limits as quickly as possible, and take shots often. This is very important. I really think the only thing necessary to moving up in stakes is being comfortable risking a larger amount of money. The more you are comfortable risking, the easier it will be to transition. Now I’m definitely not saying to use a 10 buy in bankroll for each limit. But if you seem to be doing well at the limit you are at, give it a shot and move up. The key here is to make sure you are able to move down after losing 2-3 buy-ins. If you aren’t capable of doing that, then you need to wait until your bankroll is bigger. The other reason I think it’s a really good idea to take shots is that maybe you will get lucky and run well when you do move up. If this is the case, you will become very comfortable very quickly with the limit, and this will in turn give you the confidence to beat those players. This is the reason good players will move down whenever they are doing poorly. They want to rebuild their confidence by playing against weaker players. And having confidence in yourself is probably the most important thing of all.
The last thing I’d recommend you do is hire coaches. Poker is the type of game where there are many correct ways to play, and the way you’re playing may be working out right now, but I think it’s really important to get outside perspectives. Even if the coach isn’t that much better of a player than you, I’m sure he thinks about the game in a very different way, and to have an open mind about what he tells you I think will help immensely in your attempt to become a better player. Don’t just hire one coach, hire many. There are a lot of them out there now, and some very good ones who will coach SSNL for like just 125$ or less. This is a deal considering a lot of these players are making 300$ + an hour just playing. Over the time they are sweating you, you might be able to pay for the hour of coaching just with your profits from the session in which he sweats you. I also think this is a very good idea for when you are taking a shot at a new limit, is to hire a coach to walk you through it, somebody who has already made the move successfully. Well, without getting into specifics about how to think about the game, there isn’t really much else I can think of including. GL.
Another part of the bad beat jackpotby Oddeye, December 09
2nd time I hit it, it's nice I can't complain but I wish I'd have been on more table has this is 260$ par table (4tables). I played sometimes this weekend and ran pretty bad but I guess that was my paycheck for the hardwork. Got 12k total by now and school is almost done(Monday to Wednesday gonna be hella shitty tho) so its going well. Hope I'll keep progressing and you too GL.
Chopped the 50+8€ deepstack at the local cardroom for about 800e, which is quite a nice edition for my real life bankroll. Also I can use the money to party in Vienna on New Years'.
I got unbelievable lucky though. I raised it all in with 5bbs left with 66 utg+1 after a guy (with 3 bbs left limped). The guy behind me folded 88, the guy behind him folded TT. The guy under the gun with 3bb had limped TT and called. I flopped a set, so he was drawing dead, which is always nice. Then I got it all in with like 8bbs and 12 people left AQ vs QJ and vs AA for a smaller sidepot, board came 9TxK).
I can moderatedly assume I was the best player though. People just kept throwing away 88/99/TT etc against my raised, although they had like 5 bb left.
10 made the final table and the only girl at the table busted early (bummer, she was fiiiiine).
7 made the money and it took forever to get down to that. I didnt get any hands at all. Pretty much everyone hat less then 15, so I pushed AJ once I think, but that was it. Finally we got it down to 7, so people loosened up a bit, but still were unbelievable weak/tight. I got some hands and chipped up nicely (still staying under 10 bb for most of the time though). With 3 players left and none having more than 100bb I pushed KT from the button for like 70k blinds at 6000/12000. Normaly rather loose SB folded JJ (wtf?). I "bulldozed" 3 handed play until I raised to 40k with 23o from the button because the SB had gone to the toilet. Unfortunately the really weaktigh BB pushed A5 for 20k more so I couldnt really fold and doubled him up.
Then I had a nice suckout once again. I check/pushed Js4c ond a 4s7sks board against KJ. AFter that we were all pretty even with about 130k each, the blinds being at 8000/16000. Then the rather loose player asked for a chop, because it was already like 3:30 am. I had KK in the hole at that time and disagreed. I won the blinds and antes, but a hand later I casually told them I had reconsidered, so we chopped it 3 ways.
I should save the money to buy a car, because I took the bike there and its a good 30min ride through the mountains
(fucking austria, mountains everywhere).
I don't know how old this is, but one of my friends showed it to me, and I think it is one of the most amazing videos I have ever seen. Enjoy!
One of the most amazing things I have ever seen/heard. I wish PSU had guys like this out on the street on the way to class... I'd def ship a few bucks to hear something like this.
2nd day is a weakshit deal though, gamecube with free paper mario, thousand year door
1st day was dope, ps3 with blu-ray remote and a game for $400. not bad
they have other deals also, i just bought oblivion 4 for $20. they have time crisis 4 for ps3 for $60, which is $30 off (yesterday they had it for $50, sick)
50NL has been an emotional rollercoaster ride for me, with tilt inducement around every bend. I ran pretty good earlier in the week and got up to a bankroll of nearly $2200, but have since gone through crazy swings and ended up going nowhere fast. I know I'm capable of beating this level for a whole lot more than 2 ptbb/100, but tilt control and discipline are continuing to be monumental leaks for me. I'm getting better at folding big pairs in bad spots, recognising how board texture should affect my decisions, and just reading people in general, but when the flush card hits the river after I pot it twice with an overpair, and they min-raise my blocker river bet, I invariably either fold and go on tilt at my bad luck or call and go on tilt at my bad play. I know they made two mistakes by calling pot-sized bets on a draw, and I'm raking in the Sklansky Bucks, but I still tilt. Then I spew. I think everybody that raises me is pushing me around and that I can push everybody off their hand. I'm getting a little better at just shutting down Stars when I feel a big tilt session going on (so I lose 3 BIs instead of 16), but it's still affecting my winrate in a big way.
95% of players at 50NL play their hands ridiculously face-up, and when I'm playing well, I can read their souls with suprising ease. I can call people down on three streets with A hi because I know they're FOS, or I can fold a pretty strong boat because I put my opponent on quads (he was nice enough to show), but when I get c/r on a dry flop by a fullstack while holding AA or KK, it does something to my brain, and I lose all logic and sense. And it's always a set. Always. Even on drawy boards, it's a set. But I convince myself that the guy with 0.5 AF is pulling a move or that he has to have TPTK or similar, and I shove. And it's always a set. So I try "flatting and re-evaluating on the turn" and they always pot it, and now I'm in the exact same spot except now the pot's a bit bigger and my decision means more. And it's still always a set. Or I fold and I wonder if that WAS the one time my opponent was bluffing in his entire life.
So I've decided to actually do something about it. I've cashed out half my roll on Stars, which I've done for two reasons: 1) to discourage myself not to move up to 100NL and 2) to actually enjoy the fruits of poker. $1000 is only about €650 (seriously, you people need to do something about your currency), but it should allow me to buy some nice Christmas presents for some friends and family, and maybe something for myself. I've also self-excluded myself from Stars for 24 hours to take a break from playing. Most of my friends are in college (I technically still am too, but I don't actually do anything. I already have a degree so I don't really care about this one all that much. It's really just a way for me to get free trips abroad with the college's debating society), and it's exam time, so with everyone busy, I've had a lot of free time, and I've found myself pretty much playing poker full-time every day for about two weeks solid (I've played 52K hands in that time, which is about as much as I played for the previous two months). And it's certainly not helped the situation. So a day off sounds like a good idea, and hopefully it'll refresh me.
I haven't decided yet if I'll take tomorrow off poker completely, or maybe spend a little time reviewing my play or watching some videos from other players. When I get back to poker, I think I need to review the amount of tables I play. I thought 8 tables worked for me, but have discovered that it gives me enough time to consider more advanced plays, but not enough time to consider them properly, leading to mistakes and spew. Thus, I have to decide to either drop to 4 tables and really focus on player reading etc., or move back up to 12 and grind robotically. One will make me a better player, but the other will probably make me more money, in the short-term at least.
Wow, this was long. Apologies for that. See you on the tables tomorrow night, or maybe Monday.
19,538 VPPs collected
24,313 VPPs to go http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/561/day8eh9.jpg
Had no idea I was up that much early on, but had another of those AA vs KK vs KK hands so I guess that explains it. Very very carddead for the middle stages, and started getting a headache/felt hungry/a little tilty towards the end.
Should probably bring some kind of snack/fruit/energydrink (lol) with me before sessioning
Didn't feel like I played great so I guess I'm happy to still be up almost 3 buyins. Need to fold BB less, need to steal BB more.
Annoying hand:
3rd hand at table, he does the classic 'timebank..... SHOVE'. I soooo wanted to fold. Given that he's 12/8 I'm not sure betting this flop is the best move, probably check behind and go for value turn river. http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/331867
I'm gonna get berated for this hand but... http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/331735
I actually tanked the river ;P A million to one with a set but thought he had JT
Oh well, I'm glad I ended up calling!
The rise, the fall, and the helpful strangerby Frosty, December 08
Seeing as this is my first blog post, I'll add a little backstory.
I'm a regular student from the Netherlands, 19, in my second year.
During the summer, with some of my friends, I discovered poker. Together, we donked away lots of money on online sites we got for free, it's lots of fun to pull stupid stuff, especially when alcohol and friends are involved
We're also watching almost any tv-show about poker that airs here, even though they're always between 0 and 2 am. (Damn tv programming )
We also started playing some live tourneys together, for pocket change, sng's with 5 euro buy-in or so. Most of my friends aren't very competitive though, but I started reading lots of poker theory online, and liquidpoker.net, since I knew it from teamliquid.net. Needless to say, it's helped me tons, and I keep pwning my friends in those little sng's we do
About 2 months however, I took up the idea to start playing online, seriously this time, not just donking away all the money. With a bit I still had left on CDPoker and TitanPoker (around 10$ combined) I tried out some strats I read on the net, and I gradually got into it. Seeing however as it wasn't a real bankroll to start with, I kinda eliminated the rolls on dubious all-ins.
After that, now confident of my game at microstakes, I signed up for a promotion on PartyPoker. I got 25$ free, and I would get another 50$ if I completed the requirement of 200 partypoints. I quickly saw microstakes here weren't a real challenge either, and that my strategy (basically just being an ubernit, somewhere around 12/11 or so) worked perfectly fine.
However, most people know poker has variance. Most people have proper bankroll management to counter variance. I know the rules, there's just not much you can do when you only have a 30$ roll, which means you have 7 buy=ins for the smallest limit.
The competition here is soft, and money is easily taken from them. Lady Luck, however, is hard, and easily takes money away from me. I so far have lost a streak of around 10 90% favorite situations. As I said, 10 buy-ins is always a problem, but normally you'd just move down a limit. Here, it's not possible. I just tried to combat it by trying not to tilt, and having relatively short sessions.
Sadly, it did not work.
So now, I'm busto, after around 2 weeks of playing.
I just lost my last few dollars, with a very loose guy reraising from the button, me reraising and him pushing. I obviously called with my QQ, and he showed 46o. Lady Luck showed a cruel grin and laid down a full house for him on the flop. I did not improve, and watched his greedy hands hoard my chips. After refreshing the account part of my poker client, I sadly watch to see Balance: $0 USD In play: $0USD Partypoints: 122. I did not even get to complete my full bonus promotion.
Normally, I have the perseverance of ... well, something that's really persevering, but I think I have to throw in the towel this time. I have no money left, and in real life I'm a student without a job, and poor.
The only option is to get staked, for which I would pay liberally at the end of the month, but no one here knows me enough to prove I'm not a scammer, which is understandable, of course.
So this has been my short, but enjoyable journey. I loved reading the liquidpoker forums, as they are full of interesting and hilarious topics. I love the game, and all its intricacies, but I will have to resort to playing it live with my friends, who are sadly enough not as interested in the game as I am.
So long, and thanks for all the fishes. And donks.
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