Poker Blogs

I've updated with two new proleague commentaries

Kal vs Jaedong

www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5Rt79GcJws

Fantasy vs Anytime (40 minute pvt)

http://www.youtube.com/user/ibsubaihui#p/u/0/kcMrwbILcow

I hope to continue with 1-2 games per day :3 Thanks for watching :D


Comments (1)       read entire blog

I will be offering heads up coaching (yes, finally!) from next Sunday. Aimed at people wanting to start playing heads up or who are already playing heads up 0.25/0.50 to 2/4 and want to improve etc.

If you are seriously interested, please private message me your email address and I will send you a document of the details.

Anyone who has contacted me before about coaching, well now is your chance.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/user_pictures/a1be0.f12.jpg

Good luck,
f


Comments (9)       read entire blog

hey, ive been there for some time, took a long break from poker due to some life crisis Ive had, now im rebuilding both in life and in poker.

i was lucky to get sc2 beta key, but i really hate the game, loved starcraft so much, but sc2 beta sucks balls in my opinion.


if you think otherwise, and 'd love to get betakey on eu realm, just post here or in PM, im happy to sell it for $$$ on stars/ftp/whatever so i can rebuild

this key is registered to my battlenet account, on which i have diablo2 and starcraft anthology, but i will give you full acces to this account to the time beta expires. i wont be playing any of these games too.

post ur offers, im not that greedy




Comments (13)       read entire blog

Comments (1)       read entire blog

I started doing starcraft audio commentaries.

I've got THREE AWESOME MEGA COOL games uploaded now! I'm looking for any sort of feedback!!

I find it SOOOOO difficult to do this but I'm genuinely trying to practice and improve. It's really fun aswell :3

You can read about my progress at my blog:

http://terribleterribleaudiocommentaries.blogspot.com

You can access my videos at my youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ibsubaihui

For a short 10 minute game I recommend Snow vs Leta

THANKS FOR WATCHING OMG!!!!!!!!!!


Comments (2)       read entire blog

This is my April Metagame column I wrote for Baller Magazine (www.ballermagazine.com). If you want to read my other articles you can check out my previous blog entries. I originally wanted to name this POWER RANGERS but there might be copyright problems with that so in the actual magazine they're renaming it "Balancing Act" which isn't nearly as good. Since I don't have to fear anything on this blog I am gonna keep it as power rangers :D Remember to keep in mind that my target audience includes beginners, so this may not be entirely relevant to a lot of you. Cliff notes: I talk about why overbalancing is bad, then I talk a little about range protection.

====================
“Balance” is a word thrown around the poker community, often without much thought. On the surface, balance is as easy as making sure that whenever you raise a flop continuation bet, for example, you have a range with which you do it for value and a range with which you do it as a bluff. If you never raise as a bluff in this spot, and therefore your entire raising range is comprised of value hands (for instance, sets and two-pairs on an A 7 3 rainbow flop), you are considered unbalanced in this spot. Players like to think that optimal play and balance go hand in hand.

In an ideal world, this would be true, but often isn’t the case in practice. A great online high-stakes player once told me, “Think all you want about your line. Just remember that, in the end, you’re playing against a human being.” Your ranges might be unbalanced in a certain situation, but that doesn’t mean your opponent is cognizant of that fact; most players just aren’t as observant as you’d think. When it comes to balance, overcompensating can lead to suboptimal play.

To put this into a concrete example, consider this scenario: You’ve been playing for an hour now and have noticed a strange tendency that the player in Seat 3 has. Every time he calls a pre-flop raise out of position and then leads the flop, he has a hand that is at the very least two pair in absolute hand strength. He never considers folding after leading.

In the next hand, you raise pre-flop. Seat 3 calls out of position, and the flop is T 9 5 rainbow. Seat 3 leads. What is your range of hands with which you raise here?

Correct play dictates that the worst hand you raise here should be roughly 5-5—perhaps even T-9, but that may be dominated by sets. Balance would dictate that, if your value raising range in this spot is top two pair and better, you must also raise with air or draw-type hands. This would usually be true—if your opponent actually knew that your range was that strong. In this situation, however, raising a holding worse than T-9 would be a disaster for your stack. If you raise QJ (a very powerful draw on this board against most holdings), you risk putting yourself to an expensive decision if Seat 3 decides to re-raise. You have no hope of bluffing any two pair or better hand on this flop, so raising air in order to bluff would be a disaster as well. Even with pocket Aces, you’re never ahead of Seat 3’s range according to your read, so you should either fold or call, depending if you have sufficient pot odds and implied odds to “chase” with your aces.

There are other circumstances in which you can disregard balance. If you’re playing online and know your opponent is playing over 12-24 tables at a time, he probably isn’t paying attention and making intricate notes of your ranges in various spots. Likely, he’s just playing the strength of his hand and not bluffing very often. Thinking “this bluff should work because I can have a set here, too” is chip suicide if your opponent has no intention of folding. Counter his tight strategy by bluffing in spots where his range is weakest, e.g. when he raises pre-flop and checks a 9 8 7 two-tone flop to you. Stack him in spots where his range is strongest, e.g. when you make sets against his top pairs and overpairs.

How you balance depends on how your opponents perceive you. You do not need to balance against those who do not pay attention or care about critical hand reading. If you find yourself playing a high stakes game against some really tough regulars, your emphasis on balance should increase. Beyond how your table perceives you, consider the metagame, how every other player at your stakes or venue perceives each other to be playing.

I can’t speak for live casino games because the play styles vary tremendously and my expertise is in online cash games, so bear with me if you don’t play online. Mid-stakes online cash games are some of the most aggressive games in the world. Most regulars are rather competent, and most make enough to support a very comfortable living. Due to that, they know certain tricks, or common lines to take that are generally ways to make money in small pots through sheer aggression. A common line might be:

Aggressive regular (AR) opens from the button like he always does. Weak player (WP) calls from the big blind with a wide range of hands. The flop is 7 5 3. WP checks, AR bets, and WP calls. The turn is an overcard—let’s say an Ace. WP checks, AR bets, and WP immediately folds.

Being a competent player, AR knows that this is a spot where he’ll pick up the pot a very high percentage of the time. What’s WP’s range? It’s likely made up of mid pair type hands like 7-6, 6-5, 4-3, 22, 44, 66, 88, etc. He knows that the bulk of the made hands that can comfortably call the flop cannot stand additional heat on the turn ace as the strength of those mid pair hands dramatically decrease. Note that AR doesn’t even need to have a made hand at this point to take down the pot. He could just as easily have Q-2 for absolute junk. However, it’s the perception of the weak player (“He might have Ace-King! He’ll definitely bet again on the river, so I should fold my 88 now”) along with the perception of the aggressive player (“That card has got to make his entire range uncomfortable. I’ll bet again and take it down.”) that allows this to be such a profitable spot for AR.

You can use these perceptions to your benefit by protecting your range. How can WP protect his weak range here? Instead of check/raising his strong hands like two pairs and sets or straights on this flop, he can choose to check/call them. There are multiple benefits to this slowplay, but the one we’re most concerned with when talking about ranges is that WP now doesn’t have to fear a bad board run off like 7 5 3 A K, which would otherwise make a hand like 76 feel very uncomfortable on the river facing many bets. Slowplaying a big hand like a set allows you to put in a check/raise on later streets when your opponent thinks your range is weak overall. If you end up showing your hand down one way or another, it prevents an observant opponent from barreling you in the future, as he knows he may be barreling into a monster.

Protecting your range is actually a byproduct of balance. Although it’s not what people immediately recognize as balancing, I consider it to be more important because it’s your weak made hand range that tends to be the hardest to play. For those that weren’t happy with my examples, use your own experience to realize what common perceptions your opponents may have. Optimal poker isn’t necessarily balancing your ranges for balance’s sake, but rather knowing when you should and shouldn’t based on your opponent’s perceptions—or lack thereof. Remember that, in the end, you’re playing against a human being.



Comments (9)       read entire blog

http://www.liquidpoker.net/user_pictures/0e760.boing3.png

March NL200:
http://www.liquidpoker.net/user_pictures/05f54.month.png

Running really good! I haven't been winning like this since I first took shots at NL50 a long time ago. I feel that I've improved a lot as a poker player in the last month, and I've been using HEM again to patch up some leaks.

I've noticed I've been drastically underestimating my fold equity in some spots as well as giving too much credit to certain regulars. The spots that are difficult for me to really improve on are when regs rep an extremely polarized range, so in the event you run into the nuts, you don't really know if a certain call was good or not. But lately I've been keeping notes on the frequencies on how often they do it, so I've definitely made a big jump there.

It's also nice to run good


Comments (6)       read entire blog

Here are some 50NL hands i played today...

+ Show Spoiler +

this was such a fuckin ugly riv spot...i have to call this down correct?
___________________________________________________________________

+ Show Spoiler +

can i find a fold on the riv??
___________________________________________________________________


+ Show Spoiler +

do i get called by anything other than a 10 here???
___________________________________________________________________


+ Show Spoiler +

this is obv play for stacks...99% sure
___________________________________________________________________


+ Show Spoiler +

i hate myself for not betting this turn...b/f is way better than c/c ???
i could be behind here or does anythone else think he can be drawing





Comments (8)       read entire blog

exalted, u still need more stars?
fuck im moving almost everything away from pcboi, the guy obviously sux lol
sending first to cool midstakes lper regs haha
def wont send first to non gosu lpers, so scammers dont bother ok?



Comments (16)       read entire blog

Still buying SC2 account or key for friend

$100 for account, $150 for key

SOMEONE!!


Comments (2)       read entire blog

Okay, so yeah. I've been pretty unsuccessful in trying to sell these, so this will be my last attempt. I've got 1.2million, trying to get 6.50$ for them. Send me a PM or something if you'd like to complete the trade, and for your viewing enjoyment some more pictures of various sexy girls below
http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/9708/001porncarlibankssheert.jpg

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/4972/1234567x.jpg

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/7638/123456hm.jpg

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/7153/12345ht.jpg

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/9850/1234bi.jpg


Comments (0)       read entire blog

Almost 15k hands
Unecessary dip cuz im a retard
plan to pick up the pace finish month with 40k hand minimum.
Rakeback+Stellar for the month = +100$
I would love the results to be around 900$ profit for the month but ya you know...http://www.liquidpoker.net/user_pictures/b7cd3.March Half way.jpg


Comments (0)       read entire blog

2,000 hands in 7.23 hours just today from my sick 4,000 hands per weekend challenge!
Only 1650 hands remaining for tomorrow...sweet!
+ Show Spoiler +

I am very happy with volume, I haven't played 2K hands per day since my 30k hands 4tabling challenge begun on February 5th.
Only some 6k hands to go now!

After that I will re-evaluate if I should move up or not, and I will either move up to NL100 or 6-9 table at NL50 to keep my SN.



Comments (6)       read entire blog

So i decided to rebuild my roll from $10 at the start of this month, like in schindlers list when the nazis have to rebuild that building because of the incompetent jew. Well i'm probably the incompetent jew, was making pretty terrible plays like calling with KTs to an utg+1 raise.

Anyway here's a graph. Im still getting further and further away from the ev line, which is pretty stupid to even mention, because things like that won't ever change no matter what you do.

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/5016/evgrrrr.jpg


Micros is actually really fun. Because i can open raise with 7xbb size and people call with worse.

I saw a movie recently called "the room" and it changed my life, and perception on what could be done in cinema. This movie is amazing. I recommend everyone to watch it.

Also, i'm gona stop posting in these forums so much because my post quality is border mental retardation. Whenever someone gives advice to someone i will post the opposite a lot just to be different. It's like i post to incite chaos.

Hope to make it to nl25 by end of month. Then im gona shift my roll to a European website and grind $3k worth of bonuses once my roll is at $1k~


Comments (4)       read entire blog

Finally got my internet problem fixed when we switched to verizon. Started grinding again yesterday after only gettin in like 3k hands in the first 11 days. Sessions have been pretty standard. Heres some fun from today.

Just couldnt fold it even tho I wanted to:

Submitted by : YouGoTGoT

PokerStars Game #41105764333: Holdem No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/03/13 13:44:36 ET
Table Gianfar II 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Hero ($50 in chips)
Seat 2: MehrTs ($50.75 in chips)
Seat 3: blarry1974 ($20.35 in chips)
Seat 4: Olyunchick ($55.45 in chips)
Seat 5: duda111 ($67.20 in chips)
Seat 6: monbeste ($104.35 in chips)
monbeste: posts small blind $0.25
Hero: posts big blind $0.50

Holecards(Odds)
Dealt to Hero
MehrTs: folds
blarry1974: calls $0.50
Olyunchick: folds
duda111: calls $0.50
monbeste: calls $0.25
Hero: checks

Flop(Odds) (Pot : $2.00)

   
monbeste: bets $2
Hero: calls $2
blarry1974: calls $2
duda111: calls $2

Turn(Odds) (Pot : $10.00)

   
monbeste: bets $4
Hero: calls $4
blarry1974: folds
duda111: calls $4

River (Pot : $22.00)

   
monbeste: bets $19
Hero: calls $19
duda111: calls $19

Showdown
monbeste: shows (a straight flush, Seven to Jack)
Hero: mucks hand
Hero said, "lol"
duda111: mucks hand
monbeste collected $76 from pot

Summary
Total pot $79 | Rake $3
Board  
Seat 1: Hero (big blind) mucked
Seat 2: MehrTs folded before Flop (didnt bet)
Seat 3: blarry1974 folded on the Turn
Seat 4: Olyunchick folded before Flop (didnt bet)
Seat 5: duda111 (button) mucked
Seat 6: monbeste (small blind) showed and won ($76) with a straight flush, Seven to Jack

PokerStars Game #41106042188: Holdem No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/03/13 13:50:14 ET
Table Gianfar II 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Hero ($50 in chips)
Seat 2: MehrTs ($50 in chips)
Seat 3: blarry1974 ($15.35 in chips)
Seat 4: Olyunchick ($50 in chips)
Seat 5: duda111 ($58.50 in chips)
Seat 6: monbeste ($148.85 in chips)
monbeste: posts small blind $0.25
Hero: posts big blind $0.50

Holecards(Odds)
Dealt to Hero
MehrTs: folds
blarry1974: folds
Olyunchick: folds
duda111: raises $1 to $1.50
monbeste: folds
Hero: raises $3 to $4.50
duda111: calls $3

Flop(Odds) (Pot : $9.25)

   
Hero: bets $5.50
duda111: calls $5.50

Turn(Odds) (Pot : $20.25)

   
Hero: bets $12
duda111: raises $36.50 to $48.50 and is all-in
Hero: calls $28 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($8.50) returned to duda111

River (Pot : $100.25)

   

Showdown
Hero: shows (two pair, Aces and Kings)
duda111: shows (two pair, Aces and Nines)
Hero collected $97.25 from pot

Summary
Total pot $100.25 | Rake $3
Board  
Seat 1: Hero (big blind) showed and won ($97.25) with two pair, Aces and Kings
Seat 2: MehrTs folded before Flop (didnt bet)
Seat 3: blarry1974 folded before Flop (didnt bet)
Seat 4: Olyunchick folded before Flop (didnt bet)
Seat 5: duda111 (button) showed and lost with two pair, Aces and Nines
Seat 6: monbeste (small blind) folded before Flop

I got banned from the high stakes poker forum by baal for disagreeing with him


Comments (12)       read entire blog

As some of you guessed from my last blog post...

takin some shit out of my distrib

rake 2 high fucking players 2 pathetic

they deserve more value weighted raping

these fuckers dont deserve the true distrib

expect miniscule cost to actual EV bb/hand as rake 2 fucking high

jeah


Comments (12)       read entire blog

Wrote an article. 10 points to whoever can guess what kind of drugs I am on!

In a foggy situation, it seems to me there are three guiding lights, each a different hue, they mix together and resonate to a spotlight that cuts through the fog where you shine it.
The first thought-lamp is about the past, its information gathering. A great wave, teeming with information-fish washes over us, that there is so much going on yet we understand so little, its passes quickly, qucik now! Grab instances of concepts!
Stack sizes and out position at the table, hey! these little fish will be useful, snatch them out of the wave, and stash them happily in your trousers. The action-up-to-now, small preflop rasie, a re-raise, flop check - whoa thats a big, easy fish, docily he goes into your shirt. take care to remember you have him there. That puffer fish! He looks bigger than he is but you need him. He is the players' tendancies, deflate him down to size, put him in your shirt. If he blows himself up again just deflate him again. There goes bet-sizing, he is good to have, a humble fish that serves well.
Crazy cloured fish, they are metagame and timing. Yes of course catch them, but don't take too much notice of their lively wriggling. They want to distract you from the big fish who will give you the most: that action-up-to-now fish in your shirt.
All of these really filter in the net to the 2: hand action, and tendancies, and they equal what he is representing, and that is a specific range of hands.

The kaedoscopic light that shows paths: creativity. Rasie call or fold. These are first and biggest branches of the tree. This thought wants to be in you, but it speaks softly, stop and listen.
Raise call or fold. Every branch is worthy of your looking along it... perhaps a golden treasure of EV glows out there on a higher branch?
Not all these branches are equal, fold is the last resort, it is a dead branch, it drops off the tree.
Raise is great. So much happens up the raise-branch. Branches of sizing, the smashing overbet, the impassive standard, the annoying mini-bet. Then spring more green shoots, chances to represent the tree-nuts, and win the hand. Every tree gives its everything for its nuts. So go up the branches where the nuts would most likely be. A call might lead to more nuts. It depends where you are on the tree. What am I representing?

The third is the light that binds, the seed of the star, I speak of the ONE GOAL. It is EV+ .
What good is your idle curiosity-goal, what good is your moments-pride goal. Don't let that super-lively fish metagame have much of your attention. Let all petty arrogances fall! Do not hold up the wrong light.
And who can forgive that you dull your star with your emotions? If it will not shine its brightest, then do not decend into the fog.
Stop, pause a moment. Blow on it, give it fuel, let this goal burn bright in your mind! POSITIVE MONETARY RETURNS. Give away nothing, let your star drive you. Though your sea of information gathering, through the kaliedoscope of branches, let only the best and most relevant resonate with this star! This one pluse! This focused beam builds and burns! EV+. ROI. POSITIVE NUMBERS.
That you must weigh and measure is the heaviest thing, but should you honestly evaluate it, should you realisitcly, specifically evaluate it, your one light will then: blaze. A Dazzling white light shall peirce the fog, and you will know where to step.
Then just summon the boldness to shove that hobgoblin blinking in your lightbeam

Three thoughts:
-Gather all the information fish that jump out of the table as the hand plays
-Starting from raise, call, fold; how can the branches of this hand play out.
-Pause; go over everything you just thought and filter it to a pure realisitc EV.
Boldly make that move



Comments (5)       read entire blog

Started off with a quick heater this session, managed to be up as high as 115 in less then 1hr 1/2. I really wished I stopped at that point but you know, you always want to keep going. Basically I'm not gonna go into detail because all of you heard the same stories. Basically fucking up 115/ retarded shit all at once + insane tilt rush/ down 100$.

Up until now I've been able to control my tilt where I just bitch about shit online but in a long time in a while I've tilted to the point where I started crazy spewing. I am really hating this shit right now.

Last hand of the session before I was like "OK, enough of this fucking bull shit"

Fucking villain maintaining 18% 3 bet and he has to fucking hit trips when I 4 bet and have a hand.

Submitted by : LikeASet

Flop (Pot : $0)
LikeASet: bets $7.25
AidenRoot: calls $7.25

Turn (Pot : $0)
LikeASet: bets $18.05 and is all-in
AidenRoot: calls $18.05

Showdown
LikeASet: shows two pair, Queens and Jacks
AidenRoot: shows a full house, Queens full of Eights
AidenRoot collected $62.45 from pot

Summary
Total pot $65.45 | Rake $3
Board
Seat 1: AidenRoot button showed and won $62.45 with a full house, Queens full of Eights
Seat 2: gnobbern small blind folded before Flop
Seat 3: Aseno Norasi big blind folded before Flop
Seat 4: jwd5 folded before Flop didn't bet
Seat 5: julien25 folded before Flop didn't bet
Seat 6: LikeASet showed and lost with two pair, Queens and Jacks