Made some money - finally

It's been pretty rough the last while - grinding for breakeven $0/hour.

Today worked out alright. Finished up 4 buyins and my non-SD winnings were actually on the plus side. From what I understand and based on my own graph, this does not happen very often in uFR due to all the calling stations you can't force off of hands.

Had one guy running 30/0/3 immediately to my left that was critiqueing every hand I showed down whether it was against him or not. I snapped off his bluff in BvB with AJo on AKKxx for 1/2 a buyin when he potted the river and proceeded to lecture me about why I should not be calling there, lol. He then tried 2 more bluffs for another 1.5 buyins and each time asked me how I could make those calls. Exploitable? This was the first time that I actually found chat to be +EV and I kept him going saying stuff like "now you're just calling my steals with anything to try to bust me, lol" etc. and he tilted quite hard when I snapped him off or he called and I had it. Very enjoyable.

Here's an example of the value of not shoving AA/KK preflop especially when villain's range is wide. If I shove here, he could easily fold, but by just calling I look weaker and he probably puts me on AK/JJ/QQ a lot of the time because KK+ would just shove right? No. This lets me get their whole stack with AA/KK even when they're 3 and 4 betting light a lot more. I obviously do this less with KK/QQ to avoid letting an Ace peel the flop, but it still works pretty good if you think their range is TT+ or some SCs because then a JJ overpair is never folding and they'll shove if they think you missed with your AK. Very important not to do this with deepstacks as getting the money gets tougher so aim for an SPR of 3 or 4 or less.

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

MP1: $5.15
MP2: $24.70
CO: $26.35
BTN: $27.40
SB: $30.75
Hero (BB): $24.65
UTG: $13.05
UTG+1: $25.00
UTG+2: $42.15

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BB with A A
7 folds, SB raises to $1, Hero raises to $3.25, SB raises to $8, Hero calls $4.75

Flop: ($16.00) 8 6 3 (2 players)
SB bets $22.75 all in, Hero calls $16.65 all in

Turn: ($49.30) 7 (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($49.30) K (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $49.30
SB shows Q A (high card Ace)
Hero shows A A (a pair of Aces)
Hero wins $46.90
(Rake: $2.40)

Another fun hand. This shows the importance of pushing your strong hands fast, especially against calling stations. If he's got nothing he's folding anyways and this actually looks weaker and more like a top pair hand than if I check-raise so he's more likely to call down with his top pair and let me control the betting. It also sucks if you check the flop and a 3 flush hits the turn, because your action is going to slow way down.

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

MP1: $22.05
MP2: $6.65
CO: $25.95
BTN: $5.50
Hero (SB): $28.25
BB: $15.00
UTG: $11.80
UTG+1: $17.15

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is SB with 7 7
UTG calls $0.25, UTG+1 calls $0.25, 1 fold, MP2 calls $0.25, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.15, BB checks

Flop: ($1.25) Q 7 A (5 players)
Hero bets $1, BB folds, UTG folds, UTG+1 calls $1, MP2 folds

Turn: ($3.25) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $3, UTG+1 calls $3

River: ($9.25) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $24 all in, UTG+1 calls $12.90 all in

Final Pot: $35.05
Hero shows 7 7 (a full house, Sevens full of Threes)
UTG+1 mucks J A
Hero wins $33.35
(Rake: $1.70)

Hopefully this keeps up and I can salvage the month.