Well I've almost got the first few videos for my 25nl series on Best Free Poker Coaching finished and hope to have them up soon. I think I'd call it more of an intermediate level series. From my own experience this is about where most winning 25nl and even 50nl regs are at. They typically have a really good understanding of fundamentals which puts them ahead of the average losing/breakeven player but sometimes have a bit of a disconnect between applying some concepts correctly and meshing their overall strategy.
So I'm going to try to demonstrate how a lot of those standard concepts work together to help the 25nl reg get to that next level in their game with this series.
The first video is going to be about the 3 types of advantages we have in poker and how to use them to make decisions about whether to play a hand or not along with player categorization and tendencies and what kind of adjustments we can make according to that information.
The second video will build on that and look more at hand selection and ranges versus different types of players. Based on this we can look at playing different types of hands against different types of players and having a plan for those hands that meshes our preflop actions together with our postflop plan.
The third video is still a little up in the air as to what I want to look at. Right now I'm thinking of going more in depth with our postflop plan in terms of equity and aggression. I imagine this will look at finding more spots to maximize value and steal pots using our equity. Probably more focus on hands like suited connectors and suited broadways that give us those equity shares where we can remain aggressive rather than the more binary hit or miss hands.
So look for those to come out soon on Best Free Poker Coaching. By the way, I need a name for the series, so if you have any ideas for that or other concepts you'd like to see, let me know!
200nl shot, fail
I'm obviously not ready for 200nl yet psychologically. I played pretty decent today and I think I can compete there, but I finished the session down "only" 1.5 BI after starting up 1.5 BI and I feel kind of sick about it. Thankfully that's all I was down after running 2nd flush into nut flush 3 hands in a row on the same table against the same 30/15.
Kept running into sets after that even though I pot controlled it pretty well and got away with not paying them much but then got a little frustrated about flush under flush and overpair vs set situations happening constantly and spewed my JJ overpair vs a BB (12/11 with 25% c/r) c/r on a low board. Decided it was time to quit after that when I was telling myself just fold to the c/r just fold, it doesn't matter just fold, but no i 4bet/call the flop, sigh.
Will try again next month.
Kept running into sets after that even though I pot controlled it pretty well and got away with not paying them much but then got a little frustrated about flush under flush and overpair vs set situations happening constantly and spewed my JJ overpair vs a BB (12/11 with 25% c/r) c/r on a low board. Decided it was time to quit after that when I was telling myself just fold to the c/r just fold, it doesn't matter just fold, but no i 4bet/call the flop, sigh.
Will try again next month.
Run Good Part Deux: MOAR!
Put in my 2nd best day ever yesterday. This wouldn't have happened due to my insta-MTT-tilt syndrome when I reg'd for the Supernova freeroll but then I decided to get it in with AQs on the 3rd hand so that I don't have to sit there all day. TT and AK hold and I'm out and I avoid the whole tilt scenario I get into after playing 4 hours to bust 50 from the bubble and decided to fire up 100nl instead of donkaments.
I unfortunately ran into the 1k hand breakeven stretch after the first 1300 heater. Lately I've been plateauing like this and deciding to quit. I don't check my graph while I play, but you can sense after a while that you're not getting anywhere besides accumulating FPPs. So I took a break and really didn't get back to the table and wish I would have. My reads were insanely good yesterday and the largest pot I lost was $22 at 100nl 6max. This makes for a wow-session considering I only managed to win full stacks 2x and ended up with 5 buyins - the other $100 was 50nl. For once I was the one pushing people off of 50BB pots and not creating dead money I intended to fold.
Favorite hand of the day. BTN is 21/19 and stealing 45% with a decent fold to 3bet % so I go for the 3bet and semi-bluff. Turn is amazing =)
Poker Stars $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 338502
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
CO: $100.00
BTN: $103.00
SB: $250.25
Hero (BB): $107.60
UTG: $152.35
Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with K
J
2 folds, BTN raises to $3, 1 fold, Hero raises to $10, BTN calls $7
Flop: ($20.50) 7
9
Q
(2 players)
Hero bets $12, BTN calls $12
Turn: ($44.50) T (2 players)
Hero bets $23, BTN raises to $81 all in, Hero calls $58
River: ($206.50) 9 (2 players - 1 is all in)
Final Pot: $206.50
BTN shows A Q (two pair, Queens and Nines)
Hero shows K J (a straight, Nine to King)
Hero wins $204.50
(Rake: $2.00)
I unfortunately ran into the 1k hand breakeven stretch after the first 1300 heater. Lately I've been plateauing like this and deciding to quit. I don't check my graph while I play, but you can sense after a while that you're not getting anywhere besides accumulating FPPs. So I took a break and really didn't get back to the table and wish I would have. My reads were insanely good yesterday and the largest pot I lost was $22 at 100nl 6max. This makes for a wow-session considering I only managed to win full stacks 2x and ended up with 5 buyins - the other $100 was 50nl. For once I was the one pushing people off of 50BB pots and not creating dead money I intended to fold.
Favorite hand of the day. BTN is 21/19 and stealing 45% with a decent fold to 3bet % so I go for the 3bet and semi-bluff. Turn is amazing =)
Poker Stars $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 338502
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
CO: $100.00
BTN: $103.00
SB: $250.25
Hero (BB): $107.60
UTG: $152.35
Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with K
J2 folds, BTN raises to $3, 1 fold, Hero raises to $10, BTN calls $7
Flop: ($20.50) 7
9 Q (2 players)Hero bets $12, BTN calls $12
Turn: ($44.50) T
(2 players)Hero bets $23, BTN raises to $81 all in, Hero calls $58
River: ($206.50) 9
(2 players - 1 is all in)Final Pot: $206.50
BTN shows A
Q (two pair, Queens and Nines)Hero shows K
J (a straight, Nine to King)Hero wins $204.50
(Rake: $2.00)
100nl 6m: Finally some run good!
I've been running really substandard in my 100nl 6max shots so far, plus I think I've been a little spewy in the 3bet/4bet/5bet wars and I'm trying to cut that out and it seemed to help a lot today lol. Not so surprisingly a little patience goes a long way against people that don't like to fold much and like to play back a little more.
I mean, "they're not playing back at you" yeah. But in terms of what they are willing to play back at you with becomes wider since they game is probably 3x more aggressive than 50nl 6max imo. It's not really playing back at you when they have a draw and choose to semi-bluff rather than c/c. That's just standard better play.
Some highlights from today:
Terrible looking "shortstack" table I know, but these aren't shortstacks, they're just 40/10's that ran out of money. My auto-post blind is turned off. Setmine FTW.
Poker Stars $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 333978
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
BTN: $20.50
SB: $171.40
BB: $153.65
Hero (UTG): $101.60
MP: $22.75
CO: $20.00
Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG with 6 6
Hero raises to $3, 1 fold, CO calls $3, BTN raises to $8.50, SB calls $8, 1 fold, Hero calls $5.50, CO raises to $20 all in, BTN raises to $20.50 all in, SB calls $12, Hero calls $12
Flop: ($82.50) 5 6 3 (4 players - 2 are all in)
SB bets $8, Hero raises to $81.10 all in, SB calls $73.10
Turn: ($244.70) 3 (4 players - 3 are all in)
River: ($244.70) 7 (4 players - 3 are all in)
Final Pot: $244.70
BTN shows K A (a pair of Threes)
SB shows 8 8 (two pair, Eights and Threes)
Hero shows 6 6 (a full house, Sixes full of Threes)
CO shows J T (a pair of Threes)
Hero wins $162.20
Hero wins $1.50
Hero wins $78.00
(Rake: $3.00)
This hand was pretty standard but gives you and idea of "not playing back" hand ranges that I tend to see a lot with a slightly higher than average 3bet/4bet %. He's playing completely correctly in stacking off according to my range imo lol except it should be pre.
Poker Stars $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 333982
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
SB: $242.50
BB: $104.00
UTG: $98.50
MP: $26.95
Hero (CO): $117.35
BTN: $104.85
Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is CO with Q Q
2 folds, Hero raises to $3, 1 fold, SB raises to $10, 1 fold, Hero raises to $30, SB calls $20
Flop: ($61.00) 6 7 Q (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $35.50, SB calls $35.50
Turn: ($132.00) 7 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $51.85 all in, SB calls $51.85
River: ($235.70) 3 (2 players - 1 is all in)
Final Pot: $235.70
SB shows J J (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
Hero shows Q Q (a full house, Queens full of Sevens)
Hero wins $232.70
(Rake: $3.00)
I mean, "they're not playing back at you" yeah. But in terms of what they are willing to play back at you with becomes wider since they game is probably 3x more aggressive than 50nl 6max imo. It's not really playing back at you when they have a draw and choose to semi-bluff rather than c/c. That's just standard better play.
Some highlights from today:
Terrible looking "shortstack" table I know, but these aren't shortstacks, they're just 40/10's that ran out of money. My auto-post blind is turned off. Setmine FTW.
Poker Stars $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 333978
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
BTN: $20.50
SB: $171.40
BB: $153.65
Hero (UTG): $101.60
MP: $22.75
CO: $20.00
Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG with 6
6Hero raises to $3, 1 fold, CO calls $3, BTN raises to $8.50, SB calls $8, 1 fold, Hero calls $5.50, CO raises to $20 all in, BTN raises to $20.50 all in, SB calls $12, Hero calls $12
Flop: ($82.50) 5
6 3 (4 players - 2 are all in)SB bets $8, Hero raises to $81.10 all in, SB calls $73.10
Turn: ($244.70) 3
(4 players - 3 are all in)River: ($244.70) 7
(4 players - 3 are all in)Final Pot: $244.70
BTN shows K
A (a pair of Threes)SB shows 8
8 (two pair, Eights and Threes)Hero shows 6
6 (a full house, Sixes full of Threes)CO shows J
T (a pair of Threes)Hero wins $162.20
Hero wins $1.50
Hero wins $78.00
(Rake: $3.00)
This hand was pretty standard but gives you and idea of "not playing back" hand ranges that I tend to see a lot with a slightly higher than average 3bet/4bet %. He's playing completely correctly in stacking off according to my range imo lol except it should be pre.
Poker Stars $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 333982
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
SB: $242.50
BB: $104.00
UTG: $98.50
MP: $26.95
Hero (CO): $117.35
BTN: $104.85
Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is CO with Q
Q2 folds, Hero raises to $3, 1 fold, SB raises to $10, 1 fold, Hero raises to $30, SB calls $20
Flop: ($61.00) 6
7 Q (2 players)SB checks, Hero bets $35.50, SB calls $35.50
Turn: ($132.00) 7
(2 players)SB checks, Hero bets $51.85 all in, SB calls $51.85
River: ($235.70) 3
(2 players - 1 is all in)Final Pot: $235.70
SB shows J
J (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)Hero shows Q
Q (a full house, Queens full of Sevens)Hero wins $232.70
(Rake: $3.00)
25nl Full Ring Video Series Ideas
I'm going to be doing a 25nl Full Ring series on Best Free Poker Coaching over the next few weeks and need some ideas. If there's anything you'd like to see, leave a comment and I'll try to incorporate it into one of the videos. I'll be starting off with some pretty basic stuff and hopefully move into slightly more advanced topics towards the end.
Some concepts I'm thinking about covering:
The 3 Advantages
Player Tendencies and Hand Selection
Isolation, Cbetting and Texture
Bet Sizing
Basic hand reading
Equity and Aggression
Each subsequent video will build on the concepts of the last and my goal is to provide an overall framework for how to turn the 25nl Full Ring game into your personal ATM =)
I'll keep this post updated as I think of more topics I want to cover.
Some concepts I'm thinking about covering:
The 3 Advantages
Player Tendencies and Hand Selection
Isolation, Cbetting and Texture
Bet Sizing
Basic hand reading
Equity and Aggression
Each subsequent video will build on the concepts of the last and my goal is to provide an overall framework for how to turn the 25nl Full Ring game into your personal ATM =)
I'll keep this post updated as I think of more topics I want to cover.
New Full Ring Coaching Site
There seems to be a lot of demand and short supply of Full Ring NLHE video content and Best Free Poker Coaching is going to be a great resource for this. I joined the other 7 coaches there and we will be making full ring videos and offering coaching. These guys are just amazing and I've learned a ton from them so make sure you check it out. There's some great deals too like gift cards and licenses to Poker Tracker 3 or Holdem Manager with the purchase of package deals.
I've been looking to get into coaching for a while now and this is the perfect opportunity for me and I think making videos will be a lot of fun and help me improve my own game as well.
Other than that I've been playing a good mix of full ring, 6max as well as getting into some PLO 6max which I find extremely fun to play and so much more complex in a lot of ways. It's nice to keep things fresh with a number of different games that I can beat and I'm starting to see equity and play making spots in some games that are more common in others.
Put in a nice 6 tabling session of PLO25 today and ran pretty well: +7 buyins over 700 hands. I decided to purchase the HEM Omaha addon yesterday and I'm using my NLHE HUD but I'm not really sure that it's all that useful beyond identifying fish via VPIP as per usual. Air is so minimal from 99% of the players that I've encountered so far and I guess that's expected in a game that's about making the nuts with a redraw to the nuts.
I started off with some really fishy stats of 38/17 and was cold calling 33% - I don't know for sure if this is fishy or not and have no idea what "standard" is. But I'm starting to notice a lot more good spots to isolate and I'm starting to understand the preflop equity a bit more so those numbers are slowly merging - I'm now running 35/23 but still have no idea if this is proper strat or not. I'm going to see how much of this game I can figure out on my own, it's a good complicated math problem.
The rest of the month has been a bit of a roller coaster... er... make that 2 way escalator, of winning money at my regular game, taking shots, running sub-standard during shots, repeat - but I'm still happy with the results as I'm learning quite a bit during my shot taking sessions.
So yeah, make sure you check out Best Free Poker Coaching and all the coaches there!
I've been looking to get into coaching for a while now and this is the perfect opportunity for me and I think making videos will be a lot of fun and help me improve my own game as well.
Other than that I've been playing a good mix of full ring, 6max as well as getting into some PLO 6max which I find extremely fun to play and so much more complex in a lot of ways. It's nice to keep things fresh with a number of different games that I can beat and I'm starting to see equity and play making spots in some games that are more common in others.
Put in a nice 6 tabling session of PLO25 today and ran pretty well: +7 buyins over 700 hands. I decided to purchase the HEM Omaha addon yesterday and I'm using my NLHE HUD but I'm not really sure that it's all that useful beyond identifying fish via VPIP as per usual. Air is so minimal from 99% of the players that I've encountered so far and I guess that's expected in a game that's about making the nuts with a redraw to the nuts.
I started off with some really fishy stats of 38/17 and was cold calling 33% - I don't know for sure if this is fishy or not and have no idea what "standard" is. But I'm starting to notice a lot more good spots to isolate and I'm starting to understand the preflop equity a bit more so those numbers are slowly merging - I'm now running 35/23 but still have no idea if this is proper strat or not. I'm going to see how much of this game I can figure out on my own, it's a good complicated math problem.
The rest of the month has been a bit of a roller coaster... er... make that 2 way escalator, of winning money at my regular game, taking shots, running sub-standard during shots, repeat - but I'm still happy with the results as I'm learning quite a bit during my shot taking sessions.
So yeah, make sure you check out Best Free Poker Coaching and all the coaches there!
Tired... but I just have to post this hand
Trapaments gone wrong.
I'm super tired right now, it's 3:30am here but I feel the need to brag a little after I loled really hard on the turn and into the next orbit. 50nl 6max deep effective stacks. This guy is running 58/40 with 15% 3bet and I've just been waiting to pounce (again). I'm obviously going for a flop c/r with the intention of getting it in on the flop. He decides to get trappy instead.
Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 317903
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
CO: $62.75
BTN: $74.95
Hero (SB): $85.75
BB: $98.85
UTG: $51.90
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with T K
3 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, BB raises to $3.50, Hero calls $2
Flop: ($7.00) J 2 Q (2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks
Turn: ($7.00) A (2 players)
Hero bets $6, BB raises to $95.35 all in, Hero lols $76.25 all in
River: ($171.50) K (2 players - 2 are all in)
Final Pot: $171.50
Hero shows T K (a straight, Ten to Ace)
BB shows J J (three of a kind, Jacks)
Hero wins $169.50
(Rake: $2.00)
I'm super tired right now, it's 3:30am here but I feel the need to brag a little after I loled really hard on the turn and into the next orbit. 50nl 6max deep effective stacks. This guy is running 58/40 with 15% 3bet and I've just been waiting to pounce (again). I'm obviously going for a flop c/r with the intention of getting it in on the flop. He decides to get trappy instead.
Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 317903
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
CO: $62.75
BTN: $74.95
Hero (SB): $85.75
BB: $98.85
UTG: $51.90
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with T
K3 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, BB raises to $3.50, Hero calls $2
Flop: ($7.00) J
2 Q (2 players)Hero checks, BB checks
Turn: ($7.00) A
(2 players)Hero bets $6, BB raises to $95.35 all in, Hero lols $76.25 all in
River: ($171.50) K
(2 players - 2 are all in)Final Pot: $171.50
Hero shows T
K (a straight, Ten to Ace)BB shows J
J (three of a kind, Jacks)Hero wins $169.50
(Rake: $2.00)
October so far
My far better than average beginning of the month shows no signs of slowing down for NLHE FR. I'm back playing a ton of FR and making the move up to 100 a lot more often and an insanely high winrate at 50nl to help supplement me.
I've noticed a lot of new regs at 50nl and it's fun getting reads on new people and having to take extra notice at their lines and ranges. It's kind of funny that I've been playing looser at FR than I was at 6max. I'm not sure what the reason behind that is but I imagine that I am seeing a lot more opportunities to value bet and take pots away from people postflop and therefore I'm playing more and more hands in position. Having a lot of fun too that way - making myself play as close to optimal as possible and finding the most +EV lines based on numerous variables.
I have been throwing in some Omaha off and on trying to learn that game and I think I've got the basic strat pretty much nailed down. Running amazingly terrible there right now though:
Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 6 players - View hand 316532
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
BB: $27.70
UTG: $38.60
MP: $103.60
CO: $11.90
BTN: $52.45
Hero (SB): $50.00
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with 7 A 6 A 67% Equity
UTG calls $0.50, 2 folds, BTN raises to $2.25, Hero raises to $7.75, 2 folds, BTN calls $5.50
Flop: ($16.50) 5 8 6 (2 players) 69% Equity
Hero bets $15.70, BTN calls $15.70
Turn: ($47.90) J (2 players) 82% Equity
Hero bets $26.55 all in, BTN calls $26.55
River: ($101.00) 7 (2 players - 1 is all in)
Final Pot: $101.00
BTN shows 8 K K 9 (a straight, Five to Nine)
Hero shows 7 A 6 A (two pair, Sevens and Sixes)
BTN wins $98.00
(Rake: $3.00)
villain says, "had to try"
People are amazingly bad at this game and I think it's going to be super profitable. Unfortunately I'm down 6 buyins total due to running into these kinds of beats over and over - longterm this is going to be a huge money maker.
I've noticed a lot of new regs at 50nl and it's fun getting reads on new people and having to take extra notice at their lines and ranges. It's kind of funny that I've been playing looser at FR than I was at 6max. I'm not sure what the reason behind that is but I imagine that I am seeing a lot more opportunities to value bet and take pots away from people postflop and therefore I'm playing more and more hands in position. Having a lot of fun too that way - making myself play as close to optimal as possible and finding the most +EV lines based on numerous variables.
I have been throwing in some Omaha off and on trying to learn that game and I think I've got the basic strat pretty much nailed down. Running amazingly terrible there right now though:
Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 6 players - View hand 316532
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
BB: $27.70
UTG: $38.60
MP: $103.60
CO: $11.90
BTN: $52.45
Hero (SB): $50.00
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with 7
A 6 A 67% EquityUTG calls $0.50, 2 folds, BTN raises to $2.25, Hero raises to $7.75, 2 folds, BTN calls $5.50
Flop: ($16.50) 5
8 6 (2 players) 69% EquityHero bets $15.70, BTN calls $15.70
Turn: ($47.90) J
(2 players) 82% EquityHero bets $26.55 all in, BTN calls $26.55
River: ($101.00) 7
(2 players - 1 is all in)Final Pot: $101.00
BTN shows 8
K K 9 (a straight, Five to Nine)Hero shows 7
A 6 A (two pair, Sevens and Sixes)BTN wins $98.00
(Rake: $3.00)
villain says, "had to try"
People are amazingly bad at this game and I think it's going to be super profitable. Unfortunately I'm down 6 buyins total due to running into these kinds of beats over and over - longterm this is going to be a huge money maker.
September
September turned out to be my best month ever after bonuses. I'm starting to consistently put together some big sessions day after which is nice compared to putting in only a couple of nice heaters a month. Getting more and more of a handle on my preflop and postflop game and working hard on merging them into a cohesive overall strategy.
I'm looking to start beating 100nl+ 6max in October. I've had an incredibly rough time there so far both running way below expectation and getting outplayed badly by a lot of people. I'm thinking that's going to change shortly and my work should start paying off. Hopefully after this month I won't be looking back.
I'm up to 80k hands of 6max so far and still loving it. I'm mixing in some FR here and there but I'm using those sessions more as experimental sessions to try out some lines since I can sit around and wait for hands and pick my spots more judiciously without having to worry about spending much on blinds.
So yeah, learning lots of new stuff like always. Feels like trying to get over that hill of skill and understanding table dynamic for small stakes right now - a lot like how it took me a lot of shots to beat 50nl last year. I don't think it'll take me nearly as long to figure it out this time, skill sets tend to grow at an exponential rate ime.
Favorite hand of the day: I'm trying out some SLOB (steal limps out of the blinds). Hand has almost no postflop value most of the time OOP but I can win weak limps and can take down pots with cbets if I steal. Flop looks about as good as it gets for me with small top pair and back door flush draw so I cbet enough intending to call the shortstack if he shoves (he has $12 left) and not wanting to freeze up the betting if he does. The turn onwards was supposed to be a give-up but then I said, "Well, I do have some showdown value and 'lol-pot-odds' on a wet board..."
Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 308544
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
Hero (BB): $50.00
UTG: $15.75
MP: $16.15
CO: $87.95
BTN: $48.50
SB: $50.00
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with K 6
UTG calls $0.50, 3 folds, SB calls $0.25, Hero raises to $3, UTG calls $2.50, SB calls $2.50
Flop: ($9.00) 3 4 6 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $6, UTG calls $6, SB calls $6
Turn: ($27.00) 9 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG bets $2.50, SB calls $2.50, Hero calls $2.50
River: ($34.50) 3 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG bets $4.25 all in, SB calls $4.25, Hero calls $4.25
Final Pot: $47.25
Hero shows K 6 (two pair, Sixes and Threes)
UTG shows 7 J (a pair of Threes)
SB shows 5 5 (two pair, Fives and Threes)
Hero wins $45.00
(Rake: $2.25)
And October's off to a decent start (understatement):
I'm looking to start beating 100nl+ 6max in October. I've had an incredibly rough time there so far both running way below expectation and getting outplayed badly by a lot of people. I'm thinking that's going to change shortly and my work should start paying off. Hopefully after this month I won't be looking back.
I'm up to 80k hands of 6max so far and still loving it. I'm mixing in some FR here and there but I'm using those sessions more as experimental sessions to try out some lines since I can sit around and wait for hands and pick my spots more judiciously without having to worry about spending much on blinds.
So yeah, learning lots of new stuff like always. Feels like trying to get over that hill of skill and understanding table dynamic for small stakes right now - a lot like how it took me a lot of shots to beat 50nl last year. I don't think it'll take me nearly as long to figure it out this time, skill sets tend to grow at an exponential rate ime.
Favorite hand of the day: I'm trying out some SLOB (steal limps out of the blinds). Hand has almost no postflop value most of the time OOP but I can win weak limps and can take down pots with cbets if I steal. Flop looks about as good as it gets for me with small top pair and back door flush draw so I cbet enough intending to call the shortstack if he shoves (he has $12 left) and not wanting to freeze up the betting if he does. The turn onwards was supposed to be a give-up but then I said, "Well, I do have some showdown value and 'lol-pot-odds' on a wet board..."
Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 308544
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
Hero (BB): $50.00
UTG: $15.75
MP: $16.15
CO: $87.95
BTN: $48.50
SB: $50.00
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with K
6UTG calls $0.50, 3 folds, SB calls $0.25, Hero raises to $3, UTG calls $2.50, SB calls $2.50
Flop: ($9.00) 3
4 6 (3 players)SB checks, Hero bets $6, UTG calls $6, SB calls $6
Turn: ($27.00) 9
(3 players)SB checks, Hero checks, UTG bets $2.50, SB calls $2.50, Hero calls $2.50
River: ($34.50) 3
(3 players)SB checks, Hero checks, UTG bets $4.25 all in, SB calls $4.25, Hero calls $4.25
Final Pot: $47.25
Hero shows K
6 (two pair, Sixes and Threes)UTG shows 7
J (a pair of Threes)SB shows 5
5 (two pair, Fives and Threes)Hero wins $45.00
(Rake: $2.25)
And October's off to a decent start (understatement):
New Look
,
Labels:
Update
I thought I'd try out a new look for my blog. Unfortunately I forgot to save the old template first, so my blogroll got deleted in the process. I can't remember everyone who was on it, so if I'm missing you just leave a comment! Also leave a comment of your opinion on the new look.
Other than that 6max has been going exceptionally well. I thought I would have significantly less volume but that's not the case after running some numbers on hands/hour. I try to put in a few sessions with 6 tables to work on stuff a few times a week and the rest of the time I'm able to easily keep up with 12 tables and if my brain is working even as many as 18 - leading to actually more volume than FR.
It's pretty much turning out to be my best month ever and I haven't really noticed any significant variance. Apparently 6max variance is supposed to be much much higher than in FR because the game is more aggressive, but I think the whole thing is a bit overrated for micro games. I think this is due to the fact that variance is reduced by having a higher winrate, and my 6max winrates are 2-3 times higher than what my FR equivalents are. I can see variance being a bigger issue at small and midstakes where winrates are going to converge a little closer to the FR winrates.
So far it's around 75% 6max, 25% FR and will probably be close to 100% 6max next month. I'm having a bit of an issue with my mouse so if anyone has advice I'd love to hear it. I have a wireless bluetooth based Logitech Revolution MX which has, by far, the best configuration of any mouse I've ever seen for poker and gaming and general browsing. The problem is that it's starting to freeze for half a second every once in a while which is kind of bad when you're trying to multitable.
Edit: A fun 50NL 6max hand I played yesterday. Even though it's spew I like to call it a soul read. Action plan: c/f turn. Actual action and read: "Hey wait, this guy is FOS. Arrr-in for value?!?" =)
Good times - Squeeze gone wrong, then worse... then wait... squeeze gone right!
BTN: $90.95
SB: $13.95
Hero (BB): $59.85
UTG: $24.45
MP: $71.55
CO: $10.80
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with K 9
3 folds, BTN raises to $1.75, 1 fold, Hero raises to $6, BTN calls $4.25
Flop: ($12.25) 2 A 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $7, BTN calls $7
Turn: ($26.25) K (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $16, Hero raises to $46.85 all in, BTN calls $30.85
River: ($119.95) A (2 players - 1 is all in)
Final Pot: $119.95
BTN shows Q J (a pair of Aces)
Hero shows K 9 (two pair, Aces and Kings)
Hero wins $116.95
(Rake: $3.00)
Other than that 6max has been going exceptionally well. I thought I would have significantly less volume but that's not the case after running some numbers on hands/hour. I try to put in a few sessions with 6 tables to work on stuff a few times a week and the rest of the time I'm able to easily keep up with 12 tables and if my brain is working even as many as 18 - leading to actually more volume than FR.
It's pretty much turning out to be my best month ever and I haven't really noticed any significant variance. Apparently 6max variance is supposed to be much much higher than in FR because the game is more aggressive, but I think the whole thing is a bit overrated for micro games. I think this is due to the fact that variance is reduced by having a higher winrate, and my 6max winrates are 2-3 times higher than what my FR equivalents are. I can see variance being a bigger issue at small and midstakes where winrates are going to converge a little closer to the FR winrates.
So far it's around 75% 6max, 25% FR and will probably be close to 100% 6max next month. I'm having a bit of an issue with my mouse so if anyone has advice I'd love to hear it. I have a wireless bluetooth based Logitech Revolution MX which has, by far, the best configuration of any mouse I've ever seen for poker and gaming and general browsing. The problem is that it's starting to freeze for half a second every once in a while which is kind of bad when you're trying to multitable.
Edit: A fun 50NL 6max hand I played yesterday. Even though it's spew I like to call it a soul read. Action plan: c/f turn. Actual action and read: "Hey wait, this guy is FOS. Arrr-in for value?!?" =)
Good times - Squeeze gone wrong, then worse... then wait... squeeze gone right!
BTN: $90.95
SB: $13.95
Hero (BB): $59.85
UTG: $24.45
MP: $71.55
CO: $10.80
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with K
93 folds, BTN raises to $1.75, 1 fold, Hero raises to $6, BTN calls $4.25
Flop: ($12.25) 2
A 8 (2 players)Hero bets $7, BTN calls $7
Turn: ($26.25) K
(2 players)Hero checks, BTN bets $16, Hero raises to $46.85 all in, BTN calls $30.85
River: ($119.95) A
(2 players - 1 is all in)Final Pot: $119.95
BTN shows Q
J (a pair of Aces)Hero shows K
9 (two pair, Aces and Kings)Hero wins $116.95
(Rake: $3.00)
Book Reviews
Wow I've learned a lot in the past 2 weeks. I read Hilger and Taylor's Poker Mindset and Schoonmaker's Poker Winners are Different along with watching a lot of videos. I have a completely different outlook with regards to the realities of variance and it has really focussed me on all that matters at the table: making correct decisions.
Poker Mindset started out with the best mental framework I have found for this game. They do a wonderful job of describing just exactly what variance is and how to think about all the down sides there are to it. They don't go into a lot of detail about the upsides of variance because no one really has an issue with that lol. I used to worry about every buyin I lost and feel extremely upset about suckouts and coolers because I had already spent that money before it was even shipped to me ;-)
I got rid of my fear of downswings by realizing I have an oversized bankroll. I got rid of the tilt that showed up after each beat and caused spew by getting rid of that feeling of entitlement. I good sentiment in the book is that our society has become based on this feeling of entitlement: kids passing classes they have no business passing, affirmative action in our post secondary education, every team in the kids' baseball league wins a trophey etc etc.
"You are not entitled to anything at the poker table except cards and a seat if you have the money and the time." It's the only game that, imo, resembles real life as it should be. You can try your best and make all the correct moves and shit still happens and you can't do anything about it but learn and move on.
At the same time, the Law of Large numbers states that if you make the correct moves over a large enough sample, you absolutely must win. So while winners are not entitled to win this hand here or there, they will end up with all the money in the end making this a perfect merit based system. Looking at the game this way has made it a lot more enjoyable for me first because it fits so closely with my real life ideals, and second because this stack here and those five stacks there don't mean anything when I know for a fact that I will eventually win money while my opponents lose money regardless of what happens in this hand. The only goal then becomes to make correct decision after correct decision.
That said, while the first few chapters revolutionized my mindset, I found the rest of the book rather bland. I mostly consisted of a lot of definitions of different tilt inducing scenarios without a whole lot of solutions other than to refer yourself back to the poker mindset and I felt like I was reading a glossary. I realize it was mostly filler because a 30 page book on how to think like a winner just wouldn't sell even though that's all that would be required here.
I then read Schoonmaker's book Poker Winners are Different. I thoroughly enjoyed this book as I have his others. Each chapter had me try to objectively rate myself on a number of different topics. It was one of the more realistic poker books I've read. All the math and strat based books assume you are going to play tilt and emotionally free poker, but this one says that is just not going to happen all the time. I was quite happy with a lot of my ratings in the book but it got me to point out a few huge leaks in my thought process and forced me to look at them and think about ways to fix them. For example, I played sub-optimally in bigger games for a number of reasons, and I don't study nearly as much as I should be and I'm now taking action to correct these leaks.
I've been watching a lot of videos lately to try to improve my game and a lot of concepts are really starting to mesh really with my overall strat. I realized just how much value I was missing postflop even though I thought my postflop game was really decent. It was A LOT of value (understatement) and I think that a lot of people pass up truckloads of value for the safe haven of showdown. When I think about it now, you know, this is micro stakes, people aren't messing around when the c/r the turn so why are we ever worried about being bluffed off the best hand?
I think I would like to make a 25nl 6max video and try to highlight some of the postflop value that I've been finding.
Poker Mindset started out with the best mental framework I have found for this game. They do a wonderful job of describing just exactly what variance is and how to think about all the down sides there are to it. They don't go into a lot of detail about the upsides of variance because no one really has an issue with that lol. I used to worry about every buyin I lost and feel extremely upset about suckouts and coolers because I had already spent that money before it was even shipped to me ;-)
I got rid of my fear of downswings by realizing I have an oversized bankroll. I got rid of the tilt that showed up after each beat and caused spew by getting rid of that feeling of entitlement. I good sentiment in the book is that our society has become based on this feeling of entitlement: kids passing classes they have no business passing, affirmative action in our post secondary education, every team in the kids' baseball league wins a trophey etc etc.
"You are not entitled to anything at the poker table except cards and a seat if you have the money and the time." It's the only game that, imo, resembles real life as it should be. You can try your best and make all the correct moves and shit still happens and you can't do anything about it but learn and move on.
At the same time, the Law of Large numbers states that if you make the correct moves over a large enough sample, you absolutely must win. So while winners are not entitled to win this hand here or there, they will end up with all the money in the end making this a perfect merit based system. Looking at the game this way has made it a lot more enjoyable for me first because it fits so closely with my real life ideals, and second because this stack here and those five stacks there don't mean anything when I know for a fact that I will eventually win money while my opponents lose money regardless of what happens in this hand. The only goal then becomes to make correct decision after correct decision.
That said, while the first few chapters revolutionized my mindset, I found the rest of the book rather bland. I mostly consisted of a lot of definitions of different tilt inducing scenarios without a whole lot of solutions other than to refer yourself back to the poker mindset and I felt like I was reading a glossary. I realize it was mostly filler because a 30 page book on how to think like a winner just wouldn't sell even though that's all that would be required here.
I then read Schoonmaker's book Poker Winners are Different. I thoroughly enjoyed this book as I have his others. Each chapter had me try to objectively rate myself on a number of different topics. It was one of the more realistic poker books I've read. All the math and strat based books assume you are going to play tilt and emotionally free poker, but this one says that is just not going to happen all the time. I was quite happy with a lot of my ratings in the book but it got me to point out a few huge leaks in my thought process and forced me to look at them and think about ways to fix them. For example, I played sub-optimally in bigger games for a number of reasons, and I don't study nearly as much as I should be and I'm now taking action to correct these leaks.
I've been watching a lot of videos lately to try to improve my game and a lot of concepts are really starting to mesh really with my overall strat. I realized just how much value I was missing postflop even though I thought my postflop game was really decent. It was A LOT of value (understatement) and I think that a lot of people pass up truckloads of value for the safe haven of showdown. When I think about it now, you know, this is micro stakes, people aren't messing around when the c/r the turn so why are we ever worried about being bluffed off the best hand?
I think I would like to make a 25nl 6max video and try to highlight some of the postflop value that I've been finding.
A lot of learning going on
Thought I'd add a quick update here. In the past week I finished reading The Poker Mindset by Hilger and Taylor. I was planning to write a review on it but decided to put that off until I've finished Schoonmaker's Poker Winners are Different - I'm about half way through that and want to compare them.
Other than that poker has consisted of 100NL 6max shots going super-bad and 50NL 6max and FR grinds going super-good. 50NL to 100NL 6max seems like a lot bigger jump than the FR equivalent and I'm quite surprised at either my terrible game selection or a huge jump in opponent skill level. The dynamic is quite different but I don't want to go making huge adjustments yet. I think it's a range problem that I'll have to do some math work on.
I'm just glad I have gotten the majority of my tilt under control and those -3 BI 100NL sessions don't turn into -6 BI monkey tilt adventures anymore and I can get my composure back to easily grind it back at 50NL every time.
Other than that poker has consisted of 100NL 6max shots going super-bad and 50NL 6max and FR grinds going super-good. 50NL to 100NL 6max seems like a lot bigger jump than the FR equivalent and I'm quite surprised at either my terrible game selection or a huge jump in opponent skill level. The dynamic is quite different but I don't want to go making huge adjustments yet. I think it's a range problem that I'll have to do some math work on.
I'm just glad I have gotten the majority of my tilt under control and those -3 BI 100NL sessions don't turn into -6 BI monkey tilt adventures anymore and I can get my composure back to easily grind it back at 50NL every time.
Winrate, VPP and FPP Calculator v.2.1
,
Labels:
calculator,
Software
Hey guys, I made a few changes and updates to my old excel calculator.
Version 2.1 can be found here.
The new one simplifies a few items and also includes new calculations for milestones, rakeback equivalent, and exchange rates. The milestone calculations currently only work up to the 600k VPP milestone since Stars skips the 700k mark bonus (and people that make 700k VPPs make me sick anyways :p ). I especially like using this calculator for long term calculations where I make my session length the amount of hours I would play in a month or year.
Same as the last one, only fill in data in the white spaces. Formulas are all open for you to re-configure for yourselves.
Let me know if you think any of the resulting data is incorrect or unnecessary or irrelevant. I'm thinking of removing some of the stuff on the left hand winrate calculator side.
Version 2.1 can be found here.
The new one simplifies a few items and also includes new calculations for milestones, rakeback equivalent, and exchange rates. The milestone calculations currently only work up to the 600k VPP milestone since Stars skips the 700k mark bonus (and people that make 700k VPPs make me sick anyways :p ). I especially like using this calculator for long term calculations where I make my session length the amount of hours I would play in a month or year.
Same as the last one, only fill in data in the white spaces. Formulas are all open for you to re-configure for yourselves.
Let me know if you think any of the resulting data is incorrect or unnecessary or irrelevant. I'm thinking of removing some of the stuff on the left hand winrate calculator side.
A case of runbad: false alarms imo
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Labels:
50NL,
6max,
Downswings,
Thought Process
Swongs are fun. First you can not win a hand if your life depended on it. Then someone flips a switch and you can't lose a hand.
Last night my life was pretty miserable at 50NL 6max with people consistently drawing to 2 pair vs my top pair, sets on wet boards seeing the grossest all-draw-completing turn and river cards. My line seemed to be b/f, b/f, c/f every time I attempted to valuebet. And every single coinflip was lost after getting my money in first on every single one of them. Ship the 5.5 BI below equity in 2k hands.
I am now able to keep this in perspective though and I can confidently say I did not tilt at all during that stretch. I actually made notes on those hands and created counter-strategies to pwn these donks. I felt really good about my play of that session after reviewing.
3 hours later this morning, I fire up some tables again. Every session, every hand = a fresh start. 20 minutes later (and after starting off down another buyin) I make it all back. Didn't change my strat. Didn't think I must be doing something wrong. There's an enormous amount of luck in the short term, but absolutely none in the long term and I'm confident that my game is a long term winner. I think people are too quick to change what they're doing when they're downswinging and can do some permanent damage, or at least some damage that is very hard to undo and will probably cause them to take longer to recover.
Some inspiration for the people that are downswonging right now, it can change just like that if you stick to your winning strat:
Last night my life was pretty miserable at 50NL 6max with people consistently drawing to 2 pair vs my top pair, sets on wet boards seeing the grossest all-draw-completing turn and river cards. My line seemed to be b/f, b/f, c/f every time I attempted to valuebet. And every single coinflip was lost after getting my money in first on every single one of them. Ship the 5.5 BI below equity in 2k hands.
I am now able to keep this in perspective though and I can confidently say I did not tilt at all during that stretch. I actually made notes on those hands and created counter-strategies to pwn these donks. I felt really good about my play of that session after reviewing.
3 hours later this morning, I fire up some tables again. Every session, every hand = a fresh start. 20 minutes later (and after starting off down another buyin) I make it all back. Didn't change my strat. Didn't think I must be doing something wrong. There's an enormous amount of luck in the short term, but absolutely none in the long term and I'm confident that my game is a long term winner. I think people are too quick to change what they're doing when they're downswinging and can do some permanent damage, or at least some damage that is very hard to undo and will probably cause them to take longer to recover.
Some inspiration for the people that are downswonging right now, it can change just like that if you stick to your winning strat:
About Me (About Time)
I realized I've never really done anything about who I am in the year or 2 since I started this blog. There was a thread similar to this and I posted so I might as well post the pics here too now that I have them online.
I graduated from university a few years back with a Bachelor of Arts, major in geography and minor in history. Planned to continue into the Education program but, lol, I only found out in the last semester of year 3 that there were 1500 applications for 300 spots. And about 90% of geography students had the same plan as me and they only need so many geography teachers. The next year backlogged as I graduated from highschool the same year as Ontario stopped teaching grade 13 and had 2 graduation classes. My province was the only one accepting students from outside the province so we get an influx of people from everywhere while no one else accepts anyone resulting in 5000 applications for 300 spots. gg education.
On to a regular job. It is about the highest paying + complete benefits for a non-education-requirement job (global corporation FTW) in the area so I can't really complain although it gets super boring and it's shift work.
I live in a small town of about 10k people with a neighbouring town of about 12k. Nice and quiet and a lot of people know each other - that whole small town thing. Here's some pics of my house, cat, daughter, town etc.
I graduated from university a few years back with a Bachelor of Arts, major in geography and minor in history. Planned to continue into the Education program but, lol, I only found out in the last semester of year 3 that there were 1500 applications for 300 spots. And about 90% of geography students had the same plan as me and they only need so many geography teachers. The next year backlogged as I graduated from highschool the same year as Ontario stopped teaching grade 13 and had 2 graduation classes. My province was the only one accepting students from outside the province so we get an influx of people from everywhere while no one else accepts anyone resulting in 5000 applications for 300 spots. gg education.
On to a regular job. It is about the highest paying + complete benefits for a non-education-requirement job (global corporation FTW) in the area so I can't really complain although it gets super boring and it's shift work.
I live in a small town of about 10k people with a neighbouring town of about 12k. Nice and quiet and a lot of people know each other - that whole small town thing. Here's some pics of my house, cat, daughter, town etc.
Getting smacked by the deck
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Labels:
100NL,
50NL,
Thought Process,
Update
I've been running good and bad at the same time. Weird contradiction. I'm getting smacked by the deck in terms of cards where I can valuebet postflop, but at the same time pocket pairs are only hitting sets 3% of flops and I am not holding in all-in situations nearly as often as I should be - down 6 BI in all-in equity over the last 15k hands. Also running into random 2 pairs in 4bet pots is a little annoying (AA vs K8o ???).
That said, I am getting dealt a ton of value by the deck and getting a ton of flop and turn cbets called when I actually have it which seems like all the time and this has turned out to double my average winrate for 50NL and 100NL this week despite my run-bad in terms of all-in and sets.
I've also almost completely stopped big spews, no more I-know-I'm-beat-spite-calls and me being as tilt-free as I've been in a very long time. Just solid range/equity thought process 99% of the time. I hope I can stay in this state of mind. Taking notes on donks when I get sucked out on again sure beats thinking about how am I going to "outplay" him next time - read: spew.
I used to spew a buyin for every beat I took which leads to some unnecessary downswings. A lot of the magnitude of those swings can be diminished if I can think grind grind grind grind beat... and then choose grind again instead of spew since spew usually leads to more spew.
10k more VPPs to go to retain Supernova for the year. I've been playing mostly 50NL and 100NL FR to finish this up and haven't played 6 max much in the past week. I'm half way to finishing up 50NL there if I'm sticking with the 10k hands + good winrate rule.
That said, I am getting dealt a ton of value by the deck and getting a ton of flop and turn cbets called when I actually have it which seems like all the time and this has turned out to double my average winrate for 50NL and 100NL this week despite my run-bad in terms of all-in and sets.
I've also almost completely stopped big spews, no more I-know-I'm-beat-spite-calls and me being as tilt-free as I've been in a very long time. Just solid range/equity thought process 99% of the time. I hope I can stay in this state of mind. Taking notes on donks when I get sucked out on again sure beats thinking about how am I going to "outplay" him next time - read: spew.
I used to spew a buyin for every beat I took which leads to some unnecessary downswings. A lot of the magnitude of those swings can be diminished if I can think grind grind grind grind beat... and then choose grind again instead of spew since spew usually leads to more spew.
10k more VPPs to go to retain Supernova for the year. I've been playing mostly 50NL and 100NL FR to finish this up and haven't played 6 max much in the past week. I'm half way to finishing up 50NL there if I'm sticking with the 10k hands + good winrate rule.
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