Grinding 25NL for the rest of the month

I'm going to pad my bankroll playing 25NL again for the rest of the month and perhaps the first week of October. Then I am going to take another shot at 50NL. I would ideally like to work with a 40 buyin minimum which I am sitting at right now for 50NL.

Today and last night went quite well. 4 buyins last night in 3 hours, 5 buyins today in 1 hour. I was surprised to finish up for the session last night after starting out getting dealt 3 monster draws that I shoved on the flop and bricked 6 cards in a row with 45-60% equity each time. I have nearly recovered from my epic failure at 50NL at the beginning of the week. I'm at work, so I'll post some HHs in this post from today when I get home.

10NL video is going to have to wait until next week when I'm on day shift. I can play quite well in the mornings and there's lots of tables going, but putting my thoughts into words when I'm still kind of half asleep in terms of motor skills isn't the best idea.

Some hands from this afternoon's session:

I think this hand is a good example of pot control. Villain was 15/10/2 and I put him on a pocket pair or a flush draw - but I reduced the chance of the flush draw since I have Ah. I obviously lose value on the turn if he has a flush draw, but the thought of getting check-raised there makes me sick. I could have bet $6 on the turn and gotten c/r by a set or c/c by a pocket pair. But that pocket pair is folding the river anyways but he will probably c/c $6 on the river if I check behind the turn. So I save my stack when I'm behind and I make the same amount when I'm ahead.

By checking here we accomplish several objectives:
1) We keep the pot smaller with a small hand.
2) We still win ~$6 when we have the best hand.
3) We keep most of our stack when we're behind.
4) We induce a river bluff.
5) We get to see a showdown for $6 and a chance of winning instead of paying $6 on the turn and possibly not getting to showdown.

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $24.30
Hero (MP): $25.00
CO: $10.55
BTN: $25.40
SB: $22.40
BB: $25.00
UTG: $65.15

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is MP with A A
UTG calls $0.25, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1.25, 2 folds, SB calls $1.15, 1 fold, UTG calls $1

Flop: ($4.00) 4 2 9 (3 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $2.75, SB calls $2.75, UTG folds

Turn: ($9.50) 3 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($9.50) 8 (2 players)
SB bets $6, Hero calls $6

Final Pot: $21.50
Hero mucks A A
SB shows 2 2 (three of a kind, Deuces)
SB wins $20.45
(Rake: $1.05)

This hand is against a 70/20/4 drooler. limp/call preflop and 1/2 PSB donk on the flop is just asking "Am I good?" I just call to say "Yes." Turn is a brick and safe to raise for value here and before he knows it he's called a small reraise and he's committed. River is kind of a sick card but his range is really wide and he'll have a lot of Jx besides just QJ.

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $24.25
BB: $24.40
UTG: $22.20
UTG+1: $25.20
Hero (MP1): $25.50
MP2: $32.75
CO: $4.30
BTN: $24.65

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is MP1 with A A
UTG calls $0.25, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1.25, 3 folds, SB calls $1.15, 1 fold, UTG calls $1

Flop: ($4.00) 4 J 6 (3 players)
SB checks, UTG bets $1.75, Hero calls $1.75, SB folds

Turn: ($7.50) 7 (2 players)
UTG bets $2.50, Hero raises to $6.50, UTG calls $4

River: ($20.50) Q (2 players)
UTG bets $3.75, Hero raises to $16 all in, UTG calls $8.95 all in

Final Pot: $45.90
UTG mucks J K
Hero shows A A (a pair of Aces)
Hero wins $43.70
(Rake: $2.20)

I really debated folding the turn here. I just kept thinking this has to be AhQx and I also induced a bluff from any Ahxx hand though so I made the call. Unlucky river for him. I don't know what's up with everyone at 25NL cold calling QQ preflop making it multiway. Not smart.

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP2: $18.90
CO: $7.90
BTN: $29.15
SB: $30.10
BB: $9.25
Hero (UTG): $24.80
UTG+1: $3.95
MP1: $24.10

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is UTG with K K
Hero raises to $1, 1 fold, MP1 calls $1, MP2 calls $1, 3 folds, BB calls $0.75

Flop: ($4.10) Q 6 4 (4 players)
BB bets $0.25, Hero raises to $3.50, MP1 folds, MP2 calls $3.50, BB folds

Turn: ($11.35) 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $14.40 all in, Hero calls $14.40

River: ($40.15) J (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $40.15
MP2 mucks Q Q
Hero shows K K (a flush, King high)
Hero wins $38.20
(Rake: $1.95)

I'm kind of torn on how to play these hands where I have a very good top pair plus a very good flush draw. I think there is a fine line in that you definately want to keep them in because you're probably already holding the best hand and if you hit your draw you will be holding an even better best hand so your equity is huge. I suppose my thought process is that I might get 1/2 a stack with top pair, but if I can get them to hit a lower flush or if they have a set and I hit I get their whole stack. Ideally I get this in on the flop if at all possible but I would actually prefer to play the turn and river a lot of the time because I'm not scared of a whole lot of cards except for the fact that they can kill my action and I seem to be better at extracting value on the turn than on pushing the action on the flop with my style.

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+2: $5.00
MP1: $34.75
MP2: $26.05
CO: $15.00
BTN: $33.85
SB: $24.40
BB: $16.25
UTG: $22.55
Hero (UTG+1): $25.00

CO posts a big blind ($0.25)
Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is UTG+1 with Q K
1 fold, Hero raises to $1.25, 1 fold, MP1 calls $1.25, 3 folds, SB calls $1.15, BB calls $1

Flop: ($5.25) Q 7 2 (4 players)
SB checks, BB bets $1, Hero raises to $4, MP1 folds, SB folds, BB calls $3

Turn: ($13.25) T (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($13.25) 9 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $12.50, BB calls $11 all in

Final Pot: $35.25
BB mucks Q J
Hero shows Q K (a flush, King high)
Hero wins $33.55
(Rake: $1.70)