Today was a bit of a grind. I wanted to spend the day trying out different moves at the $11 games, to learn how the average opponent reacts to donkbets, weak cbets, monkey-aggro 3betting, and so on. This led to some interesting swings...but I kinda expected this because when you try out stuff you're bound to crash 'n burn once in a while.
The most important lesson I learned today, is that at this level, elaborate bluffs just burn money against the average opponent. A lot of them make crazy call-downs with bottom pair, even if the board is super-drawy and you've bet strongly for 3 streets. The best strategy seems to be to just play straight-forward, be tight on the BB, and valuebet strongly when you hit.
Here's an example of how bad the players at this level are, and how crazy they go if they hit any part of the board, even with a ridiculous weak kicker:
***** Hand History for Game 25268429846 ***** (Poker Stars)
$3000.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, February 23, 06:04:02 ET 2009
Table 143075609 1 (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Seat 1: Hero ( $2065.00 USD )
Seat 2: Villain ( $935.00 USD )
Villain posts small blind [$15.00 USD].
Hero posts big blind [$30.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Ah Kd ]
Villain raises [$75.00 USD]
Hero raises [$270.00 USD]
Villain calls [$210.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7c, 9d, Ks ]
Hero checks
Villain bets [$635.00 USD]
Hero calls [$635.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jc ]
** Dealing River ** [ Qs ]
Hero shows [Ah, Kd ]
Villain shows [Kh, 3d ]
Hero wins $1870.00 USD from main pot
First he calls a 3.5x 3bet with K3o, and then goes all-in on the flop because he hits top pair and doesn't know what else to do. Reverse implied odds...even if he hits his king (which unfortunately for him he did), his pot-sized bet will only be called by better hands.
Anyway, I feel I learned A LOT today. I played a few $22 regulars who dropped down to the $11 games, and they didn't seem any better than the average $11 player. Overall, I feel very comfortable playing and expect to move up relatively quickly.
I also spend 2.5hrs watching (more like "studying") videos, which in my opinion helps immensely in learning quicker.
Current bankroll: $411.2
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Long overdue update
Well, it's been a while...but I was super busy and didn't get to play much.
The snowboard vacation rocked, and I did a lot of snowshoe trips. I took my laptop along, and managed to tag into a super-weak wireless connection. However, I told myself I wouldn't play because I'd just disconnect and lose money...but sometimes I don't listen to myself, so disconnecting and losing money is exactly what I did. Didn't bother me all that much though, had too much of a great time snowboarding.
Anyway, once I came back, there was a letter in my mail from the company I work for. I got super excited thinking it's the bonus pay notice. Turns out it was a letter of redundancy...great start into the new year. So I've been super busy the past month wrapping up my last few projects, and trying to get a new job. Finding a job in finance/consulting in London isn't an easy thing thanks to the financial crisis. Anyway, I now have 2 offers which would have me start in May, and both would result in a significant pay raise compared to my old job. So overall I'm quite pleased...having good contacts in this business definitely helps. Anyway, until May, I'm on an extended vacation. So plenty of time to play poker, go out, snowboard some more...and generally enjoy life!
Poker wise things are finally turning around as well after having donked of some money playing drunk and with a crappy connection during my vacation. I never redeposited, but was down to $50 at one point. Since then I've worked it up to again, and winning a $5 HU tournament definitely helped.
I moved to the $11 full-time now, and thanks to all the free time I have, I'll be putting in a lot of volume. Once I hit $550, I'll get started on the $22s.
On a side-note, I've signed up with TheSNGacademy to benefit from Primo's videos, and love the content so far. I've also joined HUSNG.com because their lineup is awesome: xSCWx, RyPac13, Croixdawg, an Skates!!! I bought xSCWx's old video pack, so joining HUSNG.com was a no-brainer. And it looks like Hokie will produce a few guest videos as well...so well worth the money. I've paid for HUSNG.com with poker winnings, which is pretty cool.
Current bankroll: $362 (+$165 I spent on HUSNG.com)
The snowboard vacation rocked, and I did a lot of snowshoe trips. I took my laptop along, and managed to tag into a super-weak wireless connection. However, I told myself I wouldn't play because I'd just disconnect and lose money...but sometimes I don't listen to myself, so disconnecting and losing money is exactly what I did. Didn't bother me all that much though, had too much of a great time snowboarding.
Anyway, once I came back, there was a letter in my mail from the company I work for. I got super excited thinking it's the bonus pay notice. Turns out it was a letter of redundancy...great start into the new year. So I've been super busy the past month wrapping up my last few projects, and trying to get a new job. Finding a job in finance/consulting in London isn't an easy thing thanks to the financial crisis. Anyway, I now have 2 offers which would have me start in May, and both would result in a significant pay raise compared to my old job. So overall I'm quite pleased...having good contacts in this business definitely helps. Anyway, until May, I'm on an extended vacation. So plenty of time to play poker, go out, snowboard some more...and generally enjoy life!
Poker wise things are finally turning around as well after having donked of some money playing drunk and with a crappy connection during my vacation. I never redeposited, but was down to $50 at one point. Since then I've worked it up to again, and winning a $5 HU tournament definitely helped.
I moved to the $11 full-time now, and thanks to all the free time I have, I'll be putting in a lot of volume. Once I hit $550, I'll get started on the $22s.
On a side-note, I've signed up with TheSNGacademy to benefit from Primo's videos, and love the content so far. I've also joined HUSNG.com because their lineup is awesome: xSCWx, RyPac13, Croixdawg, an Skates!!! I bought xSCWx's old video pack, so joining HUSNG.com was a no-brainer. And it looks like Hokie will produce a few guest videos as well...so well worth the money. I've paid for HUSNG.com with poker winnings, which is pretty cool.
Current bankroll: $362 (+$165 I spent on HUSNG.com)
Sunday, 21 December 2008
Off to Switzerland
Going to leave for the airport in 10min, only managed to squeeze in 1 more game for now. I'll try to play another 10 games or so once I arrive, depending on whether I go out with my bro' once I arrive or not.
Running ridiculously hot, but the sample size is kinda small, so I'm not expecting this to last forever. Current ROI at the $6.5 and $11 is at 64%, with an average profit of $4 per game, good times...
Current bankroll: $155
Running ridiculously hot, but the sample size is kinda small, so I'm not expecting this to last forever. Current ROI at the $6.5 and $11 is at 64%, with an average profit of $4 per game, good times...
Current bankroll: $155
First Post \o/
First post!!! Kinda got inspired by great poker blogs by HokieGreg, ChicagoRy, and PrimodialAA.
I've been playing poker for 8 months now. My job's quite demanding, so I couldn't really put in a sick amount of hours per day...but I joined DeucesCracked and read a lot of posts on 2+2 to learn the basics. In the past 8 months, I've deposited about 3-4 times, the usual $50 like most have probably done when they started off. Ran it up to 2-3k a few times playing way out of my bankroll, mostly through 6max NL Holdem and NL HU cash. I was forced to cash out my entire roll (~$3.6k) in November because some idiot copied my debit card stealing all my money (including overdraft) and I had to somehow pay for bills and rent until the bank reimbursed me.
Got the money back, but decided I want to try and start from the bottom again and set myself a bit of a challenge. In short, I want to become really good at HUSNGs. The reason is that I can't bring myself to multitable 6max (got no patience for that), and I've always preferred HU over all other games. I intend on mixing in some PLO HUSNGs once my bankroll's good again. Hopefully this blog will help me stay motivated...I've deposited today, and will at least try to stick to somewhat proper bankroll management this time.
Initial depostit: $100
Current bankroll: $149
I know I can easily beat the $6.5 and $11 turbos unless I play intoxicated (which I've done multiple times before unfortunately), so this is where I'll start off. I intend on playing those stakes until I hit $450, at which point I will mix in some $22 by bumhunting and finding some -5% ROI players. I'm not really in a rush, but I hope to move up quickly to a level where the money actually means something to me. I played 13 games today, with a ROI of 62% (yes, ROI, not games won)...of course that's totally sustainable. I didn't run really that hot card wise, it's just that the competition at this level seems horribly week compared to let's say 50NL HU even, and I tried to play my A-game. Only got in 2hrs today, still preparing for my vacation trip.
Anyway, I can play until the 27th this month, at which point I'll be off for 3 weeks to go snowboarding in Switzerland with my brother. I might have internet at our flat there, but we'll bring a giant bag of weed with us, and I promised myself not to play intoxicated anymore...we'll see if I'm strong enough to resist ;)
Here's a pic from the view I'll have every morning when I wake up as of the 27th:
I've been playing poker for 8 months now. My job's quite demanding, so I couldn't really put in a sick amount of hours per day...but I joined DeucesCracked and read a lot of posts on 2+2 to learn the basics. In the past 8 months, I've deposited about 3-4 times, the usual $50 like most have probably done when they started off. Ran it up to 2-3k a few times playing way out of my bankroll, mostly through 6max NL Holdem and NL HU cash. I was forced to cash out my entire roll (~$3.6k) in November because some idiot copied my debit card stealing all my money (including overdraft) and I had to somehow pay for bills and rent until the bank reimbursed me.
Got the money back, but decided I want to try and start from the bottom again and set myself a bit of a challenge. In short, I want to become really good at HUSNGs. The reason is that I can't bring myself to multitable 6max (got no patience for that), and I've always preferred HU over all other games. I intend on mixing in some PLO HUSNGs once my bankroll's good again. Hopefully this blog will help me stay motivated...I've deposited today, and will at least try to stick to somewhat proper bankroll management this time.
Initial depostit: $100
Current bankroll: $149
I know I can easily beat the $6.5 and $11 turbos unless I play intoxicated (which I've done multiple times before unfortunately), so this is where I'll start off. I intend on playing those stakes until I hit $450, at which point I will mix in some $22 by bumhunting and finding some -5% ROI players. I'm not really in a rush, but I hope to move up quickly to a level where the money actually means something to me. I played 13 games today, with a ROI of 62% (yes, ROI, not games won)...of course that's totally sustainable. I didn't run really that hot card wise, it's just that the competition at this level seems horribly week compared to let's say 50NL HU even, and I tried to play my A-game. Only got in 2hrs today, still preparing for my vacation trip.
Anyway, I can play until the 27th this month, at which point I'll be off for 3 weeks to go snowboarding in Switzerland with my brother. I might have internet at our flat there, but we'll bring a giant bag of weed with us, and I promised myself not to play intoxicated anymore...we'll see if I'm strong enough to resist ;)
Here's a pic from the view I'll have every morning when I wake up as of the 27th:
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