New to the table. No reads. Felt like a good spot to fold. Had I not made a continuation bet there was about 17 cards that I would've been very scared of. Perhaps check flop, call turn/river.
Hand #205626627 at table: Table TH 440
Started: Tue Feb 14 21:08:36 2006
Schrades is at seat 1 with 372.90
kenflis is at seat 2 with 418.04
PingZen is at seat 3 with 398.00
shade66 is at seat 4 with 408.30
Mcfrugt is at seat 5 with 831.10
Mcfrugt posts the large blind 4.00
shade66 posts the small blind 2.00
I had quite a big downswing in 5/10 and I decided to move down to 2/4 and 3/6. I still have some kind of a roll for 5/10 but I now feel that I should have at least 50k before playing 5/10 regularly. I donked a couple of buy-ins by donkish plays but most of my downswing was caused by top 2 and sets getting pwned by flushes and straights. I still have a lot to learn because the game is somewhat different compared to mid-stakes and the number of donks has reduced greatly.
Pingviini's most typical mistakes in SH ring:
-I still tend to overplay my draws, especially OOP
-I play overly aggressive against weak player with strong hands making them fold too often
-->I dont also make big bluffs on river against the same weakies
-Pot size management is something I have to think more
- I have problems deciding whether CR'ing or leading OOP to aggressor is the best move with TPTK/overpair
I have been playing between 400 and 1k wherever I have been able to find good tables. I have had some trouble with some of the best 1k aggros and I have decided to avoid playing with them for now. I will do some research aside in order to find out their weaknesses and figure a better game plan because the style I am playing now is too weak against them.
Overall this year has been pretty good and I hope it continues to be like this, or better..
I played my first nl1000 hands yesterday for about 2h and won about $400-500. I will not regularly play there but if I am able to find good tables I will definitely take some stabs at it. You can also now comment directly to my blog by clicking "comments" below the posts..that is all.
This year has started pretty good poker-wise how it also ended and I just got bankroll big enough to play 5/10 according to my br management rules but I still wont be playing there for a while. I might take some stabs at it in some weeks but this werent suppose to happen this fast as I was supposed to start playing 3/6 now. In general I have been pretty satisfied in my game but I have seen the difference between the skill level of players and now I actually have to have a game plan of sorts against different players/player types. My next goals will be making specific game plans against certain opponents as I know some of their leaks. Now I just have to find some friendly FTR'ers to point mine so I can start pluggin 'em.
I also picked up SS2 today and will be reading it when I have some time. Perhaps reading the book will give me some new ideas.
I had a pretty nice first year playing poker and especially recently I have had some good results in ring, my mtt game has sucked bad recently and it has been really -EV to me.
In addition to making 2006 m0re interesting I made a little bet with Mannerboy. We are raising for $50k starting 1st of January (or if he has to go serve in teh military the one who has won most till then wins) The winner takes whopping $500
Hope you will have a good new years eve and good luck/plays at the tables!
I just looked at my older posts and saw that I was saying that I was not going to play 3/6 before the beginning of 2006. Well I was wrong. The competition is again clearly tougher than at 2/4 but not unbeatable by any means. I am pretty sure than I can beat the game with a decent winrate in a week or two. Results will follow. Right now I am up a mere buy-in after 10 hours of play. Not good..
I am back from holidays and it is time to play some sh nlhe ring again. I came home yesterday pretty tired but still decided to play some ring before going to bed, that was not a good idea. I dropped almost a buy-in just because of some smallish stupid plays and a little bit of back luck.
I have an edge when I feel sharp but that edge is gone if I do not feel that my brains are fully working. No need to waste time and money and I feel that I cannot play my A+ game. Go sleep or play some nickel 7CS if it is too early. I havent really watched any TV lately either, perhaps I should start doing that again
My BR is somewhat smaller than before xmas because I decided to buy some things for myself, you should not stop showing how much you care to the one you love the most
I started learning limit and now I have played some 2/4 on two nights in a row and it has went pretty well but I havent even reached 1k hands mark so it is waaay too early to say anything about my possible winrates. Quite a few people have been asking me what the heck am I doing playing limit when I could be playing SH nlhe ring as I used to and most likely making more money. Good guestion I gotta say I am already starting to think at leats a bit differently about the game and I have to deal with more "meta game" decisions, what ever they are LOL. This is good practise, that is what I am sure of. Otherwise I would've already quite because full limit ring is "a bit" boring after SH NL ring.
Oh, and merry christmas to you all! Pingviini will be spending christmas with his family and will be back on wednesday or so. Be well and remember to eat enough
I actually played my first hands of 3/6 today, lost 1.5k pot 3-way AI but still managed to make whopping $31 profit! Isnt that something kids! I really had to step up because the competition does not seem to be that much harder and I have promised myself to try to develop as a player and playing with short stacks at 2/4 was not really a challenge to me anymore. There were some pretty good players too but I tried to avoid them, especially out of position. Also I have the BR for 4/8 and I did not want to have the 5/10 BR before even playing some 3/6 LOL
Quote of the day: "You do not have to be really good at poker, just be better than your opponents." - me
I have decided to learn limit to help my nlhe game. I am hoping to learn more about things like hand equity and putting people in (a range of) hands. Lets see how this happens. Suggestions for starting my limit career, please..
I have been running pretty descent lately, as long as I limit myself to playing 2 tables and have no distractions. Like last night I was playing a MTT and two tables of SH ring. Just didnt work out. I guess that I should play full handed while playing MTTs.
My br will diminish a bit because I purchased a Dell 2001FP and an amplifier and loudspeakers, it is nice to get something nice and not just get your BR bigger and bigger. I expect to be ready to play 4/8 tomorrow or on tuesday. and I still havent played a hand at 3/6. I guess I gotta try it tonight.
I am almost scared to think how much money I won last night, and how stupidly I lost half of it today. THOU SHALL NOT BLUFF A CALLING STATION FFS KIDS! I repped KK/AA two times against different guys, flop came Q high and board stayed that way and they called me down with KQ/AQ and my image wasnt even that laggy today. grr, I should be more careful with busted AK OOP. I think those cards have been the biggest losers to me. The tables I played at had an interesting mix of strong ABC players, normal crappy LAG's and normal fish. Too bad that I also didnt understand when the same guy was overbetting his good hands and checking/mini-betting his weak hands how to battle against him. I should've stolen more but I was just waiting for a better hand to move in against him. Didnt happen. Well, lesson learned I hope. It was actually pretty useful to observe a couple of players yesterday and today. I think I learned quite a bit from them..
Ok, one step further. My bankroll is now officially big enough for playing 3/6NL which I still wont be playing for a while. It took me about 44 hours 2 tabling to get there and I really dont feel ready for next stakes.
Some things I have learned along the way:
-position
-aggression
-people
-cards
perhaps in this order, not sure about this yet. Sounds stupid and simple but it is not. These are the key elements you have to consider when playing poker, they are especially important in a such aggressive and high variance game such as NLHE short handed ring. Bet when you have a draw, bet when you have a made hand, bet when you see weakness. Dont overdo this but selective, not random, aggression, in right spots will get you far.
I have also noticed that if I do anything else than play 2 tables fully concentrated my level or aggression and quality of reads suffer significantly and that means significantly less money in your pockets. If I start chatting with my friends or browsing FTR my game suffers a great deal. I try not to fall to that trap again.
After a really good run I have now had 3 days in the red. I have decided to save all the "big hands", win or lose, especially good or especially bad play and this time I will even evaluate those hands afterwards. I have made way too many rookie mistakes. I will try to post my best and worst played hand next time.
Yesterday I had 2 big hands. In first one I bluffed big and got insta-called by a trapper, second one still bothers me..
I am relatively new to the table.
I have about 440
EP about 240
Button has us both covered.
5 handed game 2/4NL
EP and button limp, I raise to 16 with AA and they both call
flop QQ5, I check, EP check button bets about 16 we both call (This is where the problems start, I decide to aim for a cheap showdown Neutral )
turn 2, I check, EP check button bets 'bout 24 we both call
River is Q (board QQ52Q) (My hand has to be good right. I bet about 74 to ~170, EP thinks for like 5 secs and calls half his stack, Button thinks for about 2 seconds and goes AI putting me AI for my rest ~$240. My line?
So today is the Independence Day of Finland. Congratulations to 88 years old Independent Lady!
I played a MTT after a long pause last night. I decided to try $30RA on Party and finished 37th/436 and profited a whopping $129. I actually think playing the MTT was -$EV to me because during the 2 hours I played both MTT and ring I was just breaking in ring due to the lack of reads, I just couldnt get reads from all the tables, good thing I knew some of the players beforehand. So I broke even for about 2 hours yesterday but the rest 2.5h were golden again profiting about $1500. If my records are right my bankroll is at 13797 and I expect to have a bankroll big enough for 3/6 before the end of the week!
I have been running good playing nl400 lately, well not good, friggin' hot I might say! Even though I once tilted "a bit" and made stupid plays worth over 4 buy-ins in less than an hour and today having some bad beats I am over half way through 2/4NL _bankroll wise_, this after about 17 hours of play. I wont most likely be playing 3/6 this year because I still have a lot to learn at this level. I am getting better and better controlling my emotions and keeping my head cool but that is still something to get better at. Just take your hand of the mouse and think, think, think when you are faced with a tough decision!
I have won about a buy-in per night in nl400. Last night I was running really good before I lost a $900 pot to another aggro who happened to have a higher flush than I did. (I had 46s against his AQs) It was really my own fault because he hadnt really been out of the line previously and after the third club fell on turn he CR'ed me big, the board paired too so I guess I should've just folded but.. Well, live and learn. I still have too much respect for the money but I am starting to lose respect for it little by little . It is just funny how you have to forget the money in line and just play for the chips, if you are too worried about putting $100 on a stone cold bluff that game just isnt for you.
Some things I have changed or thought about more in my game so far some of which are quite obvious but yet we ignore/forget them from time to time:
- When new to the table take your time to observe the players
- Don't force things (unless you spot someone who is particularly weak)
- Don't play weak either, if they are constantly making mini-bets at the pots raise 'em
- If you have been aggro dont try to move them from their TPNK, dont bluff, just value bet and raise
- Making +EV plays at short stacks is easy with ok draws like oesd and flush draws, just put them to the test, if they call you are almost always getting proper odds anyway!
- Three single most valuable things are position, aggression, and reads. Use them but dont over use them.
I have now played some nl400 SH in the last couple of days. The players dont suck nearly as much as they did in 200. I have now lost about one buy-in which is a good result given the cards and flops I have had. Actually I have been rather happy with my play. Losing money doesnt bother me that much because I know that this is just a normal downswing and that everything will be alright again.
One thing is for certain, I will not be able to keep my ridiculously high win rate at this level. I am still pretty sure that my hourly rate will be higher once I get used to this money and cards will hit me hard. One thing is for sure though, this is the way that will improve me a lot as a poker player. It is mandatory to watch other players and learn to make tough calls and moves. OR I will have to drop down. Time will show but I am confident. That is all this time.
No more 1/2NL. I finally got my BR back to the track and will be playing nl400 SH from now on. During these 2 weeks I played nl200 I made some moderations to my game. I will from now on play tighter PF meaning no more raising 57o and A2o UTG and I am also more willing to go with my reads. I know that I should play more carefully OOP with AK/AQ and sorts but it is just so nasty to bet on the flop get called, check and fold on turn.. gotta work on that.
Every time I have stepped up (or down) the mone has become an issue. I am really not sure if my bankroll would allow me to play 3/6NL after a month I would actually play there. Just gotta get used to these stakes before stepping up.
I have been running really hot this month. Overall I have played 48 hours at multiple sites mostly two tabling and I have made little over $4k. Not too shabby I would say.
I am almost there. Less than $200 and I am officially good for nl400 again. So it took me little more than 10 days to get that missing 2k for the game. Well..
I have been playing rather good lately. My reads, which used to be the worst part of my game, have become pretty good lately, at least for most of the time, it is hard to read the unreadable
I still tend to make the same mistakes; when facing a big pot I dont take enough time to review the hand, I still overplay AK/AQ OOP (I guess I should start just checking/completing from the blinds..) and I dont believe when villains 3-bet on the flop against my over pair.
I am pretty disappointed that I am not able to play as much poker as I would like to. During the past 25 days I have only played 45h of ring, mostly 2 tabling. I have to grind this final case work before I graduate which will take me 3 more months to finish. Sitting 8-4 in an office and then starting to play isnt the best possible combination because it takes a while before I can fully concentrate on playing poker after work but I just gotta get used to it..
My last hand from the latest session. Even I wouldnt normally play 740 UTG. I know I know, I should've bet the turn to extract something from the draws as well but but at least I am pretty proud of going AI instead of a value bet. Here it is ladies and playboys!
Enjoy!
Agenten is at seat 1 with 199.60
zorcla is at seat 2 with 73.00
Saalis is at seat 3 with 264.00
tajj is at seat 4 with 127.10
juanmi46 is at seat 5 with 88.80
zorcla posts the large blind 2.00
Agenten posts the small blind 1.00
Lately I have once again the importance of good concentration when playing poker. Almost every time when I have played when tired or otherwise not fully concentrated I have had a losing session. I have had this same thing happening to me so many times that I will not allow myself to waste 100 or 200 bucks by just donking them in 30mins.
Today I was pretty tired so I just had a nap, made some coffee and voila! I felt really confident in my game, had good reads and made 2,5 buy-ins in 1,5h. Not bad!
For those of you that have issues with tilting or other downsides of playing poker I highly recommend reading "zen and the art of poker" by Larry W. Phillips. It deals with tilt, getting into the rhytm, not forcing things etc. I have really benefited from the book. Worth a try..
I am still playing nl200 but I am pretty close to playing nl400. One or two more winning sessions and I will be there. I will have to do some more BR management study and then possibly adjust my BR standards that I feel to be pretty strict for the games I am playing. Move up when you have 25 buy-ins for the next level and move down when you have under 20 buy-ins in the level you are currently playing.
I have been running pretty swingy lately. At some point, I was running incredibly hot when I was just bullying the tables and that super aggro mode was left on even when it wasnt working. I have to pay closer attention to each tables and players dynamics. I am also trying to save the biggest hands of session for later analysis. So far I have, again, identified a leak that I basically already knew. Getting involved in pots too big without solid holdings especially OOP
Also, I have been reading Theory of Poker for like 3 months now. I should finish the damn book before my InterPoker promotion gift, Super System 2 arrives. Even though short handed NL holdem isnt even close to science, I have picked up some good stuff from the book. Reading gabefish's "blog" reminded me of that.
I was supposed to get money, move up in stakes and win more money. Well I just lost some buy-ins in nl400 and I went about $50 under 8k so because of the BR management rules I set for myself, I decided to move down to nl200. First session of the day ended up with a downfall of 1 buy-in. I took some time off, felt really confident, got some really good reads and I was overall playing really good poker, results, 2 tables of SH nl200 for 1,5h and +$1k.
Something I would like to discuss is how do you "get ready to play poker", do you have some things you always do before you start your session, particular music you listen to, same (type of) clothes you wear?
I havent really had any swings lately, other than upswings atleast Yesterday I faced swings that made me once again understand why some people are playing high stakes limit or MTT's or SnG's or whatever instead of high(ish) stakes NL ring. The day started off pretty good, I played 1.5h 2 tabling short handed nl400 as usual and I ended up about $500. The second session didnt start good at all, I lost some pot to smallish bad beats which didnt make me feel that good. I was aggressive as usual but these guys werent buying my re-raises and I was still trying to bully my way through even though it obviously wasnt working at all. Results: more bullying and 1,5h later I was down about a grand in one session! I gotta tell you I wasnt really happy with myself and even though it was "only" 2,5 buy-ins it is still a thousand dollars for one session! I felt about the same when I was at $777 playing dman challenge when all I neede was lowsy $23, I finally lost about $600 in one hand and I felt pretty sick afterwards, my stomach started aching then and it started aching yesterday. So I am having trouble putting the money behind and just playing for chips, buy-ins or percentages of my BR. I have to start thinking that way so that I can play my best. My BR is still little over 8k so I will still play 2/4NL. Today is another day..
I am trying to organize a home game for tonight, would be fun to play some live after a long pause from live games. Drinking beer with friends and playing poker is so much fun
I am already starting to think at leats a bit differently about the game and I have to deal with more "meta game" decisions, what ever they are LOL. This is good practise, that is what I am sure of. Otherwise I would've already quite because full limit ring is "a bit" boring after SH NL ring.
. I bet about 74 to ~170, EP thinks for like 5 secs and calls half his stack, Button thinks for about 2 seconds and goes AI putting me AI for my rest ~$240. My line?
