Don't 3bet 33 vs UTG.
2 barrel NFD + over since he calls all midpairs and all FDs. Might even fire 3 because he calls twice with pair + FD and only you can have the nuts.
Last two hands bet bigger on the turn and even with your sizing shove rivers. you got minraised on both and you didn't have big river shoves anyway. So just shove imo. Else it's bet/fold...
AMaA: The Good Life
:diamond:Follow me on Twitter @emanuelc16
The Education of a Modern Poker Player by TwiceT, jbpatzer & EmanuelC16
Good to see you back grinding.
Was reading through hands and have to say Manu is spot on.
33 vs UTG - set mine all day long.
Defo fire two barrels on the AJ hand.
I think KK OOP gets tough by river. I think turn size here is okay and either Ck/Cl or Bet/Fold the river (betting smaller than you did). I don't like the big bet/call line because you're running into sets so often in this spot.
On 78 you want his stack on river.
Haha.. Thanks guys. 33 3bet against utg gets folds a lot as 6max ppl fold a lot. I usually just look at the person's fold3bet stat before deciding whether to 3bet. But I guess that is a tad too aggro.
Yeah. After some evaluation, there is no way I can call that river bet. Everything that raises beats me. Unlike the 2nd hand where sets and worst flushes can still do shit like that.
I should really tone down the aggression a little. Have been way way too aggro recently. Guess I am heading back to my roots. Not good if I want to move up. Will review my play and perfect my play more before I start taking shots at nl50.
Oh well. That will have to wait till tmr cause for the rest of tonight, it's study for entrance exam, sleep and get ready for the grindcore after!
Use blockers to 3bet. You actually have more equity and playability + immediate card removal effect.
AMaA: The Good Life
:diamond:Follow me on Twitter @emanuelc16
The Education of a Modern Poker Player by TwiceT, jbpatzer & EmanuelC16
Zoom is a rake grinding machine. That's the whole point of zoom. Not saying that I don't enjoy it. But rake is super high on zoom. Because u always get action for some reason. Might be the high volume of fishies who likes to do shit and hit, or the fact that regs (including myself) like to outlevel ourselves.
But don't matter, Zoom is just another system and systems are there to be exploited. At least that's the mindset we poker players have grown to adopt. We will not go into whether this is the correct or wrong, but that is just how poker is. A game of exploitation- where people use all information they can and exploit the tendencies of our opponents.
Don't mind the random paragraph of crap. Just trying to motivate myself to put in more effort to be able to beat the system more efficiently and move up the stakes.
Well, today while reviewing hands, 2 hands appeared that I thought would be good to discuss and get some feedback on.
First one is to do with river overbets.
[converted_hand][hand_history]Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.
BTN: $24.75 (99 bb)
SB: $44.68 (178.7 bb)
BB: $20.69 (82.8 bb)
UTG: $17.64 (70.6 bb)
MP: $23.11 (92.4 bb)
Hero (CO): $25.78 (103.1 bb)
Preflop: Hero is CO with A♦ T♠
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.75, BTN folds, SB calls $0.65, BB calls $0.50
Flop: ($2.25) 8♦ T♦ K♠ (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $1.50, SB folds, BB calls $1.50
Turn: ($5.25) 4♥ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks
River: ($5.25) A♠ (2 players)
BB bets $14.25, Hero calls $14.25
Looks like a fish with 40/0 over 5 hands. I call hoping for worst 2pairs, Axs, fds. But then again, it looks like a value bet. Just hoping for the unsuspecting reg to call. Hmm..
And then we have this hand.
[converted_hand][hand_history]Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.
BTN: $33.94 (135.8 bb)
SB: $58.28 (233.1 bb)
BB: $25 (100 bb)
UTG: $13.48 (53.9 bb)
Hero (MP): $30.45 (121.8 bb)
CO: $26.47 (105.9 bb)
Preflop: Hero is MP with K♥ K♦
UTG folds, Hero raises to $0.75, 2 folds, SB raises to $2.50, BB folds, Hero raises to $6, SB raises to $14.50, Hero raises to $30.45 and is all-in, SB calls $15.95
Flop: ($61.15) 2♦ 8♠ J♠ (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Turn: ($61.15) 9♠ (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: ($61.15) 7♦ (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Results: $61.15 pot ($2.00 rake)
Final Board: 2♦ 8♠ J♠ 9♠ 7♦
SB showed A♥ A♦ and won $59.15 ($28.70 net)
Hero showed K♥ K♦ and lost (-$30.45 net)
[/hand_history][/converted_hand]
Villian was a 21/19/8,7 reg. And running into rockets seem to be more common on zoom than ring games AIPF.
Guess the main question I am thinking of is would you ever fold your premiums in zoom? Given the nittyness of the game, the fact that people know that and do shit like this:
[converted_hand][hand_history]Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.
BTN: $110.77 (443.1 bb)
Hero (SB): $24.13 (96.5 bb)
BB: $50.23 (200.9 bb)
UTG: $26.45 (105.8 bb)
MP: $14.36 (57.4 bb)
CO: $53.96 (215.8 bb)
Preflop: Hero is SB with A♦ K♦
2 folds, CO raises to $0.75, BTN raises to $1.75, Hero raises to $4.75, 2 folds, BTN raises to $110.77 and is all-in, Hero calls $19.38 and is all-in
Flop: ($49.26) T♣ 9♦ T♠ (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Turn: ($49.26) 7♦ (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: ($49.26) 7♣ (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Results: $49.26 pot ($2.00 rake)
Final Board: T♣ 9♦ T♠ 7♦ 7♣
BTN showed T♦ A♣ and won $47.26 ($23.13 net)
Hero showed A♦ K♦ and lost (-$24.13 net)
[/hand_history][/converted_hand]
So what would your pushing range be against regs?
Thought now that I was playing zoom, it would be good to change to a title that contained Zoom in it. So there my new title shall sit. I have not been updating for a long time partly cause I have been lazy and partly cause school work has taken a portion of my time and I wanna grind.
To summarise my Zoom adventures so far -> grinded nl25, up down up down up up and then decided to shoot nl50. Might look like I am not having proper bankroll management but I do have the BR to shoot and that's what I did. I thought about grinding out a higher BR before I shot nl50 but was feeling good so decided to just do it.
While I thought I played well, I still lost 4BIs at nl50. Decided to post so hands to get some thoughts in.
Hand 1
Poker Stars, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Hero (BTN): $53.87 (107.7 bb)
SB: $15.25 (30.5 bb)
BB: $125.51 (251 bb)
UTG: $60.45 (120.9 bb)
MP: $31.43 (62.9 bb)
CO: $124.16 (248.3 bb)
Preflop: Hero is BTN with A♣ A♦
UTG raises to $1.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $4.50, 2 folds, UTG calls $3
Flop: ($9.75) K♣ 8♣ 3♦ (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $6, UTG raises to $12.50, Hero raises to $46.81, UTG raises to $55.95 and is all-in, Hero calls $2.56
Villian was 17/8 over 13 hands. The range I assigned him was AK, KK+, maybe sets, weird FDs and that's why I shoved. I am most likely never folding there.
Hand 2
Poker Stars, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Hero (BTN): $52.88 (105.8 bb)
SB: $48.22 (96.4 bb)
BB: $101.44 (202.9 bb)
UTG: $79.24 (158.5 bb)
MP: $50 (100 bb)
CO: $76.78 (153.6 bb)
Preflop: Hero is BTN with A♣ A♠
UTG folds, MP raises to $1.50, CO folds, Hero raises to $5, 2 folds, MP calls $3.50
Flop: ($10.75) T♣ J♠ 8♣ (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $8, MP raises to $45 and is all-in, Hero calls $37
Another flop decision. This time, this board hits opponents range so hard with TKTK, multiple draws, Snap call imo.
Hand 3
Poker Stars, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Hero (BTN): $57.16 (114.3 bb)
SB: $50 (100 bb)
BB: $56.41 (112.8 bb)
UTG: $58.99 (118 bb)
MP: $48.50 (97 bb)
CO: $73.39 (146.8 bb)
Preflop: Hero is BTN with K♥ K♦
UTG raises to $1.25, MP calls $1.25, CO folds, Hero raises to $6, 3 folds, MP calls $4.75
Flop: ($14) 9♥ 2♠ 6♦ (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $10.02, MP raises to $20.04, Hero calls $10.02
Turn: ($54.08) A♣ (2 players)
MP bets $22.46 and is all-in, Hero calls $22.46
I called flop planning to call any turn. TT, JJ or QQ could overplay itself as I thought he can't have AA seeing how it would be AIPF with this guy being 18/13. Any chance of a fold here?
Oh well, I will grind up my roll a little again, then shoot nl50. Personally, I don't think nl50 is much tougher than nl25. Just need to get my rungood. But that is not an option we choose. So its back to nl25 to rebuild and recover.
Focus is the name of the game.
Hand 1 I perfectly agree.
Hand 2 he looks draw heavy so I call there too.. never with crushing equity but ahead enough.
Hand 3 I agree again.
Just unlucky mostly for the 4BIs imo. Maybe you dont know the opposition well enough yet and misplayed some small-medium pots.
AMaA: The Good Life
:diamond:Follow me on Twitter @emanuelc16
The Education of a Modern Poker Player by TwiceT, jbpatzer & EmanuelC16
An other member actually made this comment somewhere on this board, but I cant find the quote so I will just paraphrase:
The thing with 50NL Zoom, in a 3 bet pot, if you get raised, it is always a set.
Every f**king time!
And it's not even close.
They just have it...
Fold your over pair, the maybe 3% chance it is actually good will never make up for the 97% of the time you are crushed.
That quote isn't true for me so I strongly disagree...
AMaA: The Good Life
:diamond:Follow me on Twitter @emanuelc16
The Education of a Modern Poker Player by TwiceT, jbpatzer & EmanuelC16
@manu and dailydollarpro: thanks for the input! I agreed with the evaluation and I think the raise of cbet does not neccesarily mean sets. It's really opponent dependent.
@wriggers: wouldn't it be better if u tell me where is good to go? I have not planned that trip so any input would be warmly welcomed!
So on I go with my rebuilding process. So far so good, about halfway to my next shot at 50 again. I am going to keep at this till the darn upswing comes and shoot me to healthy nl50 bankroll. I am more determined then last time to make this work. No more silly excuses and laziness.
Had a chat with cgf last night and he said something that really got me thinking. Basically, he said "why are you asking me to evaluate your Premium hands losses? Not much u can do about those. And it was so true. Those hands that loses the most money are usually premiums. And usually it's not something that you can do much about. Instead of seeking self validation, I might as well look for spots that occur almost everytime.
Example: u steal with 33, bb calls, dry flop 259r, u cbet, he raises.
What the hell are u gonna do now? And even before that, was it even a good cbet?
It's these kinda of marginal plays that will get us asking, as cgf said, the "right" questions.
And so that's how it is. Time to study. No point putting the biggest losses and asking for evaluation. All it serves to do is 1. Reinforce u got unlucky. 2. Usually nothing u could do better. 3. Right from the beginning, the play was not planned properly.
Rant over. Now time to relax on my ice train as I head to Paris for the weekend. Will be grinding as much as time allows, but it's the traveling that is the priority atm!
P.s. there are demonstrations going on in Frankfurt this weekend. Some group called bloccupy or something. And how they are gonna do it is so cool. They are gonna "block" the area the financial institutes "occupy". Hence the cool name. In my opinion, they should stop wasting time and find a job instead. Oh well, who am I to comment. Cheers.
Typing this in a hostel in Prague. No poker these few days because of travels. Was at Budapest, flew to krakow and overnight train to here. Did not bring my laptop as I though eastern Europe would not be safe (just ask Manu). Hahaha..
Anyway, these few days away from the tables are making my fingers itching to click buttons. Another 2 more full days here and I can cure that itch. Till then, I guess I can do some school work so I can grind when I am back home. Shall watch some videos and think through spots before I get back. Study study study as I cannot play play play.
Seriously? Not even one time?
BTN: $38.96 (155.8 bb)
SB: $31.72 (126.9 bb)
Hero (BB): $24.65 (98.6 bb)
UTG: $26.13 (104.5 bb)
MP: $77.49 (310 bb)
CO: $25 (100 bb)
Preflop: Hero is BB with T♠ A♠
UTG calls $0.25, 3 folds, SB completes, Hero raises to $1.25, UTG calls $1, SB calls $1.00
Flop: ($3.75) 9♠ 7♠ Q♥ (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2.50, UTG raises to $5.50, SB raises to $30.47 and is all-in, Hero calls $20.90 and is all-in, UTG calls $19.38 and is all-in
Turn: ($76.91) K♦ (3 players, 3 are all-in)
River: ($76.91) K♠ (3 players, 3 are all-in)
Results: $76.91 pot ($2 rake)
Final Board: 9♠ 7♠ Q♥ K♦ K♠
SB showed 8♠ Q♠ and lost (-$26.13 net)
Hero showed T♠ A♠ and lost (-$24.65 net)
UTG showed Q♣ K♥ and won $74.91 ($48.78 net)
[/hand_history][/converted_hand]
Sums up my mood now for the session that just past. But its alright. Losing money sucks. But losing the correct mindset would suck even more. Have not been playing poker much this month mainly due to the fact that I had 2 presentations. Thankfully, those are done now (couple of hours ago) and I can focus. On rebuilding my roll. Again.
Really tempted to just claim my VIP rewards for the year and shoot nl50 but that would not really be wise as I am not even really crushing nl25 yet. Oh well. Shall continue on grinding and learning. Hopefully, all the bad bumps will stop and I will start flying up money wise.
2 more months till the end of exchange! Got to get my engine going!
My blog was on page 7!!! That is too damn far from the front!
Have not blogged in a long long time. Mainly due to the fact that I have not grinded for a while. Just resumed by grind 1 week before. Back at nl25 zoom.
Exchange was over, I came back, started school, helped out in friend's business. All these distractions stopped me from focusing on my game. However, now, poker will be taking the front seat again. Conveniently happening when my mid term exams is set to start next week. ♦
Poker is going well. I think I am starting to use stats more efficiently. Still losing some value here and there but at least I am now noticing them. And starting to adjust my play. Donkey plays still do happen but now more rarely. E.g. No longer triple barrel bluffs with no equity at all.
I guess the main thing that is helping me is the moving out of the auto-pilot mode. I now tell myself that I have to take at least 10 seconds before each post flop decisions AT LEAST. Really helps as I used to just barrel barrel barrel like a monkey. More thinking is going on now and am trying to get my roll up just a little more to shoot nl50 again.
Just thought I would pop in and drop in a post. Maybe I would drop another post when I take my shot at 50. I do not know if I still want to continue maintaining a blog here. So many changes have happened in pokerstrategy and less and less friends are active here. Oh well.. We shall see..
Guess who's back. Haha..
Decided to get back into the grind so decided to restart my blog so as to keep my motivation to keep grinding.
Seeing that my last update is in Sept, I guess I shall just pen what has happened till this point of my life.
So I grad from uni in Dec. Woohoo! I think. Was not really like super happy seeing my real plan in life does not include anything to do with my degree. Managed to do so with cum laude while putting in 50% effort as compared to my peers is quite an achievement I guess. Graduation ceremony was the thursday before. Went cause the parents wanted to. And that marked the end of my official study life.
Went for my grad trip in Australia. That was quite awesome. Driving in the outback and seeing nature was fun(except for the millions of flies). Did not really like sydney and melbourne. I guess after Europe, cities just lose their appeal as they can never be as old as those in Europe.
For those who knew me, I was attached for the entire uni life, broke up with the gf last month after 3+ years. I would be lying if I said it did not hurt like a bitch. But as my friend said. 1 month for every year together. So in another 3 months, I would be all ready to chase skirts again. (Hopefully sooner. ♦)
I was also running a business from when I graduated to now. Its a fnb business mainly catering to schools. A lot of lessons learnt from that venture. I am now looking at a way to remove myself from it. Mainly because of my business partner. It appears that he is not as reliable as I once thought and when you cannot trust your partner, you might as well not continue.
This brings me to poker. Which after all that the other things I have tried, never seems to leave my life. It can be so exasperating at times, but I know I am smart enough to study, learn and master the system. And so that is what I would be doing. Will commit to at least 4 hours a day to poker. At the current moment, I am grinding nl25 zoom 2 tabs mainly cause I don't have stats (HEM2 is screwing up on me). So I am taking a leaf from Manu's book and grind standard at nl25.
It has been quite fun, but throughout my sessions there is always the "OMG. I NEED MY STATS TO MAKE THIS DECISION." moments. Usually ends up in a nitty fold but its alright.
Will start my grind and hopefully, by the end of the year, I will be a winning nl100 player, ready to fly to Europe to party. 
Originally posted by NIVEKii
Can you explain the fnb business?
Basically I have a central kitchen that makes a dessert that is considered "healthy" and therefore I can supply it to schools. The good thing is that there is no other competition at the present moment. So in that sense, that is my edge. But in business there are many other factors to consider... So... yeah. Might be pulling out soon.
Funny hands..
Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.
BTN: $23.38 (93.5 bb)
SB: $175.06 (700.2 bb)
BB: $45.33 (181.3 bb)
UTG: $33.18 (132.7 bb)
MP: $69.98 (279.9 bb)
Hero (CO): $31.75 (127 bb)
Preflop: Hero is CO with 9
9
UTG raises to $0.75, MP folds, Hero calls $0.75, BTN calls $0.75, 2 folds
Flop: ($2.60) 6
T 2 (3 players)
UTG bets $1.50, Hero calls $1.50, BTN folds
Turn: ($5.60) 3 (2 players)
UTG bets $3, Hero raises to $7.50, UTG calls $4.50
River: ($20.60) 5 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $14.25, UTG calls $14.25
Results:
$49.10 pot ($2 rake)
Final Board: 6 T 2 3 5
UTG mucked J A and lost (-$24 net)
Hero showed 9 9 and won $47.10 ($23.10 net)
Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.
BTN: $16.07 (64.3 bb)
SB: $172.01 (688 bb)
Hero (BB): $24.65 (98.6 bb)
UTG: $58.55 (234.2 bb)
MP: $30.21 (120.8 bb)
CO: $48.59 (194.4 bb)
Preflop: Hero is BB with J
A
2 folds, CO raises to $0.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, CO calls $1.25
Flop: ($3.60) J 6 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $2, CO calls $2
Turn: ($7.60) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $6, CO calls $6
River: ($19.60) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $14.75, Hero calls $14.75
Results:
$49.10 pot ($2 rake)
Final Board: J 6 8 7 Q
Hero showed J A and won $47.10 ($22.60 net)
CO showed T A and lost (-$24.50 net)
Don't think its +ev to play like this but both felt so bluffy..
