Poker Blogs

I played ~800 hands today, my interenet kept screwing around with me and it just was too much of a hassle to continue... Only managed to squeeze in ~800 hands only made $1300 which really sucks. First thing tomorrow I'm going to try and fix the problem because this is definatley out of line.


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Ok so I've decided to play 2 or 3 sessions per day as oppose to one long marathon session which is quite draining. Each session will be ~1000 hands and I should be realativley fresh for each one which is good.

Session 1:
984 hands
+$2850

Hands:
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/50510 (This guy is a station - I'm not going to race with him, when I could easily make my hand for free basicly and value bet it)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/50515 (I actually don't know this player but after the turn bet I thought he had AK or AA wasn't 100% sure, but after the river bet I knew I had him beat because AA would not push after this river. He knew he was beat and he knew he had to bet to win, unfortunatley I knew this too)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/50517 **lol
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/50523 Weird hand, I didn't think Daut would check AK on this flop. He played it very weird... I was actually contemplating fold because I couldn't think of a hand I could beat. Preety much a curiosity call.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/50524
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/50525

**Also on another note, you can check out Straate's blog or Cutsss, about 6-7 months ago we were all playing 0.25/0.5NL together, good to see other people having success.

** God damn the last 2-3 days my interenet keeps shutting on and off after 7pm - I assumed it would stop but it's still going on today, works for like 5 min then stops for 5 min and it alternaes like this... so I'll prob have to get a 2nd interenet service provider. ATM I'm using Rogers Cable, I'll probably get Bell sympatico DSL. This is really begining to get frustrating...


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Today in the morning I received four books : Harrington II and III, Ace on River, and the new Sklansky book. I spend some time today reading Ace on River and managed to read the whole thing, really interesting book. He does not discuss bland boring stuff that we all already know but focuses more on other aspects of the game no one talks about. Things like poker-lyfestyle, pschycology, mental awareness, how long to play, game selection etc... Really good read for any intermediate+ player.

This book really gives me a new found respect for Greenstein and other proffesional players. You do not know how much of an ameteur you are untill you compare yourself with one of these poker "giants". Really great stuff.

I was realy exepecting to put in some heavy hours today but I was really looking forward to checking this book out, the other three I will eventually read but not immiediatley. In fact I'm least looking forward to reading Sklansky, it's the equivalanent of reading an encyclopedia. I think I said I will play this week preety hard unless some kind of distraction presents itself and it has, but I didn't order anything else so I don't see anything distracting me from tomorrow to the end of the week, so starting tomorrow I will get back into the groove.


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The last few days I have not played much poker, I've been buisy with other things... I suppose the problem with being self-employed is that no one ever forces you to work, you must be self motivated. So the last 4 days or so I'm only up ~4-5k which is decent I suppose but no enough. Tomorrow I may go out too, but after that I will have a free week without distractions, so I will put in some very heavy hours. Hopefully I will log in 20k+ hands in this upcoming week since each hand I play is worth ~$1 I should be able to make 15-20k if I put in the required amount of time (hopefully). We will see.

Played a few hands today:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/49446 I probably shuld have reraised preflop I think. I have not played 6-max in a while since the majority of 3/6NL is 9-handed. But Pokerstars seems to be introducing more 6-max tables I guess people are requesting them so I may get back into this.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/49454 Standard bluff induce.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/49471
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/49537

I decided to play a little passive today. For whatever reason everyone just decided to play very aggresive so I played the opposite which is something I hardley ever do. I almost never check sets but everyone just kept firing after every check so I decided this was the optimal play.


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Day 1

I didn't post here yesturday because I was running an extremley long session I logged in ~4500 hands (which is the most I've ever played I beleive) or so and the resut was incredible. -$3000 Which compared to the size of my bankroll is very small but it was demoralizing watching everyone of my hands get outdrawn or having my KK run into AA etc.. The last few weeks I've been running standard meaning my good hands hold up a solid % of the time a few bad beats here and there but nothing unexpected. Today was the complete opposite 80% favorate meant I'm losing 80% of the time... something I much rather get behind me as soon as possible
and move on to the next day
A lot of hands today you gotta see it to beleive it I still won a ton of hands because I'm an action player and no matter what happens I will get my share but I didn't get the share I deserved today.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47534 (Really weird line by him - I think I should have folded to the 3-bet)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47763 (He got trapped preety hard but of course the 4 outer hits)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47773 (This hand really pissed me off because if you look at the stack sizes if I hit my 8 or the flush I win his entire stack. Because he has the Ah he will not fold if a third heart falls. In fact this is a terrible flop call by him in my opinion I'm reraing into 2 people, this is almost never a bluff most of the time I will have a 2 pair or a set here. Hell even if the ten made trips on the river or I somehow got 2 pair I would have bet $500-600 and I garuntee he will call)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47734
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47749
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47702
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47701
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47690
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47633
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47550
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47551 (I probably should have folded here, a push is ok because no matter what they have I have outs, but BarnDogWins is a really tight player, He's not flatcalling with a flush draw because I have the Ad so he has to have a set or overpair + the check raise form the other guy... eh this is a gamble gone bad I suppose)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47555
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47571 (I'm really proud of this call, calling all in 6 high flush in unraised pot = really marginal play in fact this is the lowest possible flush if he has ANY other flush he beats me but I actually put him on QQ-AA because he limped UTG I thought about it very long)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47574
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47584 (I'm wasn't good enough to fold this, I will have to later on it's so clear I am beat, only donkies call value bets)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47596
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47601
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47617
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47620 (I think this was terrible, if I was playing this hand today I would probably fold. I suspect this was a frustration call I mean there's no hand that he keeps betting with that I beat)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47651
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47641 (Rigged 1 outer)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47652
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47675
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47692
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47722 (I actually put him on king high flush draw with no pair, really gusty play because it's an unraised pot)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47748







Day 2

Today I logged in ~3k hands, unbeleivably first 1k hand or so were like yesturday all over again... the bs just kept coming but I decided to grind it out and finished the day +$2700 even after starting the day -$1500. I made some absolutley insane reads today. I usualy make alot of good reads in general but I don't trust them as often as I should today I decided to trust my gut a little more. I still made some bad calls I will continue working on this

Felt like a great poker session, here are some hands:
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47977 (**** BIGGEST LAYDOWN OF THE YEAR*** Folding KK preflop is almost the equivalent of folding set vs set, it's just something that no one ever does. Especially with my image, people play back at me with all sorts of garbage. I'm not 100% sure if he had AA because he did not show or tell me afterwards but this fold felt correct)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/48088 (Good call if you think about it there's almost no way I'm losing here, the reasoning I posted: People dont raise ACE-JACK under the gun, or if they do they don't call a reraise with it. Only hand that he can raise with that beats me that he can call a reraise preflop with is JJ, so if he didn't have quads I have him beat.)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/48082 (Standard A on river)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/48011 (Again another bad play by me.. I felt he was block betting AK and I could extract more value, but when he reraises me I should have folded I think, I don't think he 3 bets with just the 6, he must have the nuts here I felt he did but I called anyway)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/48016
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47990 (I don't know if my line is good here, I put him on QQ, JJ or AA, so I was either way ahead or way behind, I suspect I should have potted flop and reevaluate based on his actions)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47991 (Not a big pot, but funny )
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47976 (Even after he hit his 2 pair I'm still the favorate omg but obviously I don't catch up)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47993 (Ok so I under'bet every street... It's somewhat of a drawless board only KJ really scares me, every time I'm not aggresive enough I seem to loose... I see the pattern )
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47961 (I post this because I folded the nuts standard fold thou)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47942
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47966 (If he reraises me on the flop he avoids this entire hand, mistakes can be very costly)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47972
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47975 (Worst played KK I've seen in a while, wtf is he doing playing here)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/48000
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/48013 (JaBlue is insane I check to induce a bluff, this guy really does not know when to stop)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/48031 (I assumed it was a split... I can't beleive he bet the river, I should have just shoved the turn I think this guy would have called it's incredible)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/48070 (I only make this play against good players, Daut44 is one of the few people who falls under this category this guy is very discplined)




Thoughts:
Trust my instinct more I'm making a lot of good reads but I end up paying people off anyway which is not a good thing


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Well it is Sunday so for anyone interested here are my PT stats the last 4 days or so. This coming week I will play a lot more hands, any distractions should be out of the way. Im hoping to log in ~15k or so which would mean a little over 2k a day. 9-10k a week is ok but in order to build my roll I will definatley need 15k+ a week so it's definatley important to log in more hands. No more slacking off

For whatever reason maybe the rain outside or something I just wasn't feeling poker but I did not want to slack off and not play... so I decided to do a short 800 hands session. Made ~$2100 quickly and just called it a day. I should probably continue today because the general play on weekend is really weak and you can make a killing but that's fine I will always get them later. I can feel my play becoming better though - I am making less "donk calls" and getting better at identifying situations which I can make a play eg. detecting weakness. But I am still not extracting a lot of value from my made hands perhaps it's because I always move all in, but I also do this with big / missed draws so my overall play is consistant. Not sure weather or not I should try to value bet I will think about this a little more I suppose.

Not many hands, I actually never played any all in pots today so I will post hands that I thought were interesting.
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47263
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47265
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/47264


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Well yesturday I was cold decked so naturally to balance that out I should have a killer day today no? Today I played ~1500 hands +$4382 preety good results. I'm happy with the way I played just about every hand except one, I called all in preflop with AKo for 150bb's... I had my reasons but I'm not sure if this was correct felt really marginal he ended up having KK and I failed to improve $1800 pot :/ Everything else is running smoothly I'm slowly perfecting my hypo-aggresive style I still make a lot of bad plays and have leaks to correct. I think I will continue to play 3/6 for the remainder of the month even though I currently have the bankroll for 5/10 but I'm making good money at these stakes + I feel I have a lot of work to do on my game. Besides 2-5k a day is not bad anyway. I'm not complaning I just try to aim very high never limiting myself.

There are other players who do move up stakes very fast using 20 buy in rule or something close to that. I do not do this, I think my slow route (100+ buy ins) is more safe and it enables me to collect a lot of usefull experience along the way. Had I moved to 5/10 playing tight-aggresive I would probably have never discovered this hypo-aggresive style and I would be winning marginally and be stressed out grinding against other tight players. Amazingly enough I'm still maintaining a double digit ptbb/100 which is good If I can do this for a sample size of 50k+ hands I think that would be one hell of an accomplishment.

A couple of hands from today's session:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46754 (Weird I had this guy pegged as a tight player, this hand made me change my opinion of him)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46755
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46757
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46764
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46772 (This is the AK hand)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46786
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46804
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46818
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46823 (Nice mini reraise =) )


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im doing very very very well on 2/4. better than i thought =) running just short of 10bb/100, but only have played 15k hands so far at 2/4. 2moro i plan on having another very hardcore session. =D


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Haha it was bound to happen I guess, KK vs AA, QQ vs KK etc... a lot of real BS going on today, + I was losing just about every coinflip possible. I don't think it is possible to win with the cards I was dealt today :D So I finished +50 for the day or in other words - break even.
On another note today's session felt weird, I dont think I was playing my best (or at least that's how it felt) I didn't actually make many terrible calls but something did not feel right today, I can't quite explain it.
Some memorable hands:


http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46428
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46440 (It's funny when you'r running bad your kings always run into aces lol)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46443
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46445
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46446 (I think I should have folded the flop, this hand didn't feel right)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46448
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46450
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46455 (This one is weird I'm not sure if I played this correctly or not, he obviously can't have AK I coulnd't put him on a hand and I decided to call out of curiousty - my hand has decent showdown value not great though)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46464
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46477 (I played this poorly - I should have reraised harder on the flop and won the hand right there)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46490
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46491
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46489 (I think I played this hand well, absolutley impossible to put him on KK, I was 80% sure I had the best hand by the river here. He played his hand terribly this guy is an extrmley weak player now I know)


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Well I'm continuing to polish my style adding a few hands to my arsenal little by little and wow it's really working out well. I did make some absolutley terrible calls today that I currently regret. Sometimes you get this guy feeling your beat but you can't get yourself to fold and after you call he shows exactly what you thought he had and you'r sick to you'r stomach about it.. That happened today I had a bad feeling this tight player flopped top boat vs my trips and I just completley donked off my money...
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46112


** I made a note earlier to trust my instincts and they were telling me to fold, but somehow I convinced myself he could have AA/KK which given the pre-flop action is completley impossible this is a terrible play because he would reraise with AA/KK I think I'm behind here 80% of the time if not more, terrible.

A couple of hands from today :
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46083
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46123
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46129
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46133 (I'm really proud of this one, I played it very well)
http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/46140

Today I played 1371 hands 34% VPIP (9 handed) 23% PFR 13.49ptbb/100 +$2300 Preety decent stuff my win-rate is almost double what it used to be since I've changed my style... that's insane . I'm also going to make an effort to correct my sleeping patterns I'm going to bed very late and waking up 2-3pm, which is something I am not proud of, I will try and wkae up at least 10-11am, not right away, I will try to wake up a little earlier each day (maybe 15min) untill I eventually reach my desired goal.

Also I will try and make it so when you click on a link it takes you to the site, I'm not sure how to do this at the moment, but once I figure it out I will update it.


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basically was even on 2/4 til yesterday...i also played a lot today. made like 2.5k between today and wed. 2/4 is a lot diff. than 1/2...and i actually like it a lot. i think its really going to help me as i get to higher limits, because i see a ton of different situations. anyways, im hoping to play some 3/6 6max next week, if this wkend continues to go well.

stars got new software and also u can 12 table now =D

im really happy about this. they also added a 5k NL limit !!!


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Well the past few days there's been a lot of stuff going in my house that has prevented me from playing eg. painting walls (the room smells like paint and I'd prob get high or something if I stay in there too long :/) so I was unable to play today and maybe tomorrow as well . I do not want to start slacking off however... once this is finished I plan on putting in some heavy hours.


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I'm gonna spend a lot of time perfecting the new style I have chosen to play. Loose aggesive is a very difficult style because you must constantly play pots with marginal holdings. Ever since I've been playing loose aggresive (for whatever reason) I've been taking a ton of bad beats but I've been getting action with my good hands too which seems to make up for the bad beats.
Since my switch my new stats are:
31.71 VPIP
12.35 ptbb/10
22.26% PFRaise

+ I'm winning ~80% of the hands I play which is good. My showdown % is only 44% but I win a ton of uncontested pots. Today I played ~1550 hands +$2200. I will try to play a longer session tomorrow, hopefully 2000+ hands.

This new style is still somewhat incomplete I think, I need to play a few more sessions like this to see if I can maintain this. Althought as is, I thik I should be able to achieve this because it's not like I'm running well, I still loose set over set, overpair vs overpair etc... I am losing more pots than ever but I'm almost winning a lot more so on a break-even day where the cards don't slap me in the face I should be able to do very well. I hope

I also wanna give props to fumbo420 and xxthejokerxx for inspiring me to develop a new style. I'm not as crazy as Joker or as tight as Fumbo but somewhere in between. Even though you probably don't read this I gotta give credit where it is due.


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w00t

good day today. i played a lot ended up 2k. restored my confidence. monday i will start doing half 1/2 half 2/4. im thinking about just 6 tabling at first to adjust to 2/4 and the new regs. yesterday was crazy i made 1k b4 noon, then lost it all in an hour. well today made up for that, and im happy i can finally go to 2/4 =D


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wow what a rollercoaster. only played 1k hands 4-6 tabled. just wanted to check it out. lost 2 set over sets, 1 for 800 1 for 1k+. was up 200, then down 700, then up 700 then even. ended up even, w/my 2 setups so im not too upset about it. anyways ive been talking to a few 2/4 regs and i think im going to just stay at 2/4. my new home =D


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Sure my results are decent but I have a feeling after one month of pure tournies I will have no more desire to play tournies anymore... I much perfer cashgames - I consider myself a cashgame player first and foremost. Even if I do bring in one big cash I don't see myself doing this longer than I have to.

I'm not giving up or anything like that... but I won't spend my whole day trying to grind these low-mid buy in tournies which have almost meaningless payouts ($2-3k for first place = dirt change) It's really difficult to come top 2-3 in a tourney but that's where the money is located, 6th outa 1300 is just a waste of time. So I will return to cashgames and only play higher buy-in tournies.

Iv'e worked very hard becoming a good cashgame player - Not to say I can't play both but I really do enjoy the cash more, the profit is more consistant and I feel I'm accomplishing something as I move up stakes, whereas I can play the biggest online tourney and loose QQ v TT and just sit there thinking "WTF", gotta wait for next week for another chance... If you play well the results will come with time, that's for certain. If I keep putting in my money with the best of it in these tournies eventually I should have a big score, but I doubt that big score will be much larger (if at all) than consistant grinding at the cashgames.


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I'm reflecting on some of the hands I've gone broke with. Often I went against my guy feeling and just made the "correct play" which has resulted in me busting when this could have been avoided. I remember Phil Ivey saying "We all know about probabily and stuff like that, but eventually it gets down to, does he have it or not?"
I think this is the answer I will be asking myself more often as opposed to making "correct" plays. My results have been decent so far, but I have very high expectations and am always looking for ways to increase my skill level. I think this will help, trusting my instinct more often and having no regrets.


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I didn't do any playing today just went out did some shit, tomorrow will be the same - So for the next two days I'm just gonna chill and get ready for the upcoming month. I made 1200 TLB points in just 2 days of playing - I think next month I should be able to win the TLB at least once - So you'll see my preety face at the bottom of Pokerstars HUD next to Joe Hachem. :D
I figure in 7 hard days of playing I should be able to get just under 3000 points, that would be ~420 a day which seems more than achievable.


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So I played several tournies... had really good results

4rth in the $10R +$4128
2nd in the $55 +$900
8th in the $22 + $93
9in in the 22 + 61


Solid day, weird thing is, this is the most money I've ever won in one day, and it's the first day I ever spend playing tournaments... This is sick. I was initually inspired to play because 2 of the last 3 winners of the last sunday Million were my fellow 2/4 and 3/6NL grinders. Apparently cashgame players are good in every aspect of poker .
I will try and post some hands later its 5:30 am getting kinda late im tired.


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Eh I had one decent result today the rest are not really worth talking about.
Today I played the $300+15, $150+12 , $30+3, $5+.5 and a few $22 and $55 sit and go's.
I think I played very poorly in the $315, I accumulated a decent stack early on and then I made one bad call that I think I should have been able to get away form... I made the mistake of going broke with one pair - Which is something I hardley ever do. I also donked off my chips in the $10 rebuy with a low pocket pair when I really felt I was beat but I could not get away from it because 33% of my chips were in play... but that's no excuse.
Only half-decent finishes are 2nd in the $5+.5 ~650 profit and 21th in the $30+3 ~130
I actually outplayed the guy heads up in the $5+.5 but he won every single all in pot - he won 4 in a row, after each one I chipped away got a big chip lead and lost another coinflip. Really satisfied with the way I played there.
My net for the day is a grand total of $84, what a fantastic day.

Thoughts:
-Play solid tight poker
-Trust my instinct and make the correct play as oppose to just playing the numbers and calling because of pot odds.


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