what date is this happening? i dont play on full tilt but will if event is good
ok thank u for drawing my attention to this, 5k guarentee great tourney
deffo playing
Thought i'd update this as i have a lot of thoughts on the game more recently that i would like to share.
Its been a while , i've still been playing but i think i got ahead of myself.
I mean i was crushing 0.25/0.50, im up around 1k, this made me confident as it would anyone so i moved to 0.50/1 whenever games where going.
Such a difference...i think it may have been just the money but i was getting bluffed a lot more, opponents fighting for every hand and because it was more money to me i tightened up a lot and didnt play my usual fearless game.
Then one day happened. Played with a player i now know to frequent high stakes holdem, badugi, triple draw on pokerstars. He sat at the table and we began playing heads up. Needless to say he got it very good against me. I thought i held my own quite well. I was up $20 through most of the game and had expanded my bluffing frequency to where i thought it was optimal...not getting too technical but basically he was check calling jack low post draw and folding most weak queens. Against this it would therefore be optimal to bluff when i pair my top 2 cards and if i pair my third then occasionally..if called i get value in future and he will expand his calling range, so i expand my valuebetting range. serious metagame lol
Anyway like 90 hands into the session i get dealt my first pat 8 which is 86432. Im on the button and i raise, he 3 bets, i 4 bet. Its useful to know that i 4 bet bluff before and showed him. I find against good players like him that my first 4 bet will get a lot of respect so i show to obviously loosen him up when i 4 bet in future. It also makes me unpredictable. Anyway he takes a while. I had 4 bet to like $19, he makes a 5 bet of like $57. Its so large so i know he either has a very good pat like a 9 or better, or a nut draw. Or complete air. He rarely has a 10 or jack unless he is overrepping his hand which i suppose he is very capable of. But an 86 heads up unfortunately is to hard to get away from, coupled with the fact i showed a 4 bet bluff. I call looking for value against his overrepped hands/postdraw bluffs this also makes me look like i could be drawing to the nuts and he may pat slightly weaker. Anyway he pats as do i and he shoves for last $40 or so, i call he has 85432. Disgusting.
so i reload and im steaming. unfortunately although i feel my thought processes through a hand are good, when i lose when its out of my control i lose it. Thats my main problem with poker, always has been, always will be unless i learn yoga or something lol.
Anyway typical me blows another $300 to him on a series of stupid bluffs/ valuebetting in bad spots and not respecting his raises. So i was down over $450 which i had built up playing my A game. needless to say i hated the game for a while and withdrew the rest of my bankroll. thats when i stopped updating this.
Im back though, been playing 0.25/0.50 for last 4 weeks or so and im up like $400 which is nice.
this is a sick long post but im going to continue as planned to give some of my strategy to people for cash games, heads up sngs and tournaments.
I want people to learn this game as i really do think its so profitable and long as you dont play highstakes regs
GL at the tables
Very nice post, kept me very interested all along I read it. Keep updating, excellent thread.
This wont be a long post but i have some useful tips I'm starting to implement to try to get over my major tilt problem.
1. Put a limit on stakes you can play:
This is a lifesaver for me, i play 0.25/0.50, and when things aren't going well or i get over confident, i go to to 0.50/1 which is out of my bankroll. So i have the responsible gaming option at pokerstars restricting me until i feel at least my bankroll is healthy enough to move up rather than my mindset.
2. Stick to what you are good at:
I'll be honest, the only game I'm long term profitable in is 2-7 single draw at the said stake. everything else is either small profit or average loss. I love to try new games, especially when i get bored as i love all forms of poker, but i find my self jumping into Omaha games, variance kills me, and I tilt even more.
3. Think long term about every decision:
When I'm at a table and I call and my maniac opponent has the top of his range I flip out. Its getting better with experience but I need to learn that I'm playing in a profitable way and sometimes I have to lose. Its poker right?
4. Stop loss:
I've been thinking about it and i really do think its the one thing that no poker player has truly mastered. I mean I watch poker shows often enough and you see the pros after losing a big pot just raise every hand. I think its just that feeling of wasting your time if you're down a few buy ins. Need to work on this.
Anyway just a few of my thoughts on tilt management. I really do feel that if i follow these i might actually reach i higher level in this game
GL at the tables
Thought i'd update this as im bored+have no money to play poker until wednesday
Just checked my profit since July 1st and i have a total of £336 extra in my bank account, dont really know what the conversion is to $$$ but overall im happy. I guess i could have made a lot more but im finding it hard sitting for more than 2 hours at a time. Some nights im fine and the hours fly in, others i just dont focus and cant wait to stop playing which isnt good at all.
I posted in the forum after being angry when a player beat me in one hand and understandably people didnt have any sympathy. Made me realise i do have mindset problems. So goal for this week is to read a mindset book which i think will help me.
I am going to talk about the adjustment needed for different players. The point im trying to make is that to profit from cash tables you need to watch the action closely and pick up who is good or bad.
I like to categorize players in 4 different ways
1.Fish/newbie- this player doesnt have a clue. he will call big raises and draw 2 out of position, he may pat pairs, he may think he is playing 5 card draw(happens often)
How to beat- generally i try to involve myself a lot with this player playing weaker than average hands as im usually ahead of his range anyway.
2. Average player/passive- This player is usually quite solid but they have problems which is why they rarely make a lot of money. They will check behind a losing hand too often which is ok sometimes but often there is opportunity to bluff.
How to beat- Against this player i think position is important, i will often 3 bet a lot of Jack pats, as well as good 1 card draws as they will either fold or call and draw or reraise their strong pats. I make money from them folding and calling to draw...they will often then check whether they hit or not so i will value bet 96+ or check behind.
3. Average player/aggresive- This player is better than category 2 as they will attempt to bluff which is successful however they will need to bluff in better situations to improve..they may bluff 3 handed post draw which is an awful play as they will be successful a lot less than is profitable.
How to beat- Funnily enough against these players i like to either be in position with pat hands or be out of position with strong draws. That way if we both draw and i hit a strong pat, i can check to them to induce their bluff in which case i can raise.
4. Winner- these players are in a category which i hopefully class myself..they make profit most of the times they sit down at the table and are more observant about theri opponents..they bluff/valuebet a decent range and are generally hard to play against.
How to beat- My biggest advice against playing these types of player is to avoid them and only get involved with strong hands or if in position. They will usually play a good game predraw as well as postdraw and the last thing you want is to be out of position with a pat 10 and after checking to them they make a 90% pot bet. Try to spot these players early, they usually buy in for the max and always make +ev plays which is how to beat 2-7.
This post is soo long but hopefully anyone reading understands the importance of playing the player in 2-7..Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Gl at the tables
Decided to update this as a hand came up today which had me thinking a lot and thought i would share it.
Effective stacks: $25
Ok so UTG minraises and a reg who i know quite a bit calls from the cutoff... small blind then 3 bets to $4, im in big blind and fold. the initial min riaser folds and its left to the reg to make a decision whether to call $3.
The reg folds and says after the hand that he had 8642, so im going to look into a few things and ultimately come to a decision as to whether the call/or fold is more profitable.
When deciding to call and draw in 2-7, first u have to assess your opponents range. This opponent has played a few times before, i currently dont have any notes on him but i know his game is definitly not bad at all. therefore we can rule out anything worse than a Queen pat or draw to an 8. Im going to breakdown this range to see what a call would be profitable against.
Profitable calling V opponents range:
If he has a draw to an 8 or better (because of dead money from initial raise and big blind).
if he has a pat jack (dead money again makes it profitable)
^^in both above circumstances you are favourite, although if he has an 8 draw its also profitable for him.
Part of range where calling is bad:
if he has 9 or better. Obviously he is big favourite and so calling is bad.
The problem is knowing if in long term the range u are beating is larger than the range u are behind so that u can make the most profitable decision. This guy hasnt 3 bet a lot, and also from small blind means he probably has a 10pat or (most likely) a 9 pat.
Now you may think this is a fold, however im going to talk about implied odds factoring into the call. Im going to look at implied profitability against a 9.
Currently there is 12 cards you can hit to beat him ,thats four 3's, four 5's and four 7's. Therefore on average we will hit 12/47= 25% (not accounting for opponents cards). We also need total pot size post draw to calulate our bet size if we hit to make it profitable. Pot size would be $9.50.. now 75% of the time we wont hit and so we have a loss of $9 accounting for 3/4 calls where we lose..Now if we hit out inital profitability will be $6.50. As you might begin to see we only need to bet more than $3 to make the call profitable against a 9. When in actual fact its likely that he will call a bet of around $5-$6. Now you will think great, always draw to 8's in raised pots, but its not that simple..
There are gonna be times where he has an 8 or better in which a draw to an 86 is a massive dog,
Versus an 876 for eaxample, if you hit an 86 or better than there is a good chance you will stack him so implied profitablility is high, however if he has an 85 and you make an 86 then you will get stacked..In fact doing the math, its more likely you will get stacked than him so generally you dont want to get you chips in the middle(ur obv not folding any 8 though).
Its also important to assess whether he will check call/check fold raised pats. If he check calls too much you can valuebet more. if he check folds too much then you can bet when you miss which is expected 75% of the time. Obviously its all player dependant but in that situation i think a call is more profitable. then the times i hit, i bet 75% of pot, if he calls with a 9 or worse then its profitable/if he folds then i can bluff a higher percentage of the time when i miss.
Hope that gave an insight into my thought process, thanks for reading if you did, Gl at the tables...
Updating this ancient blog!!!
So I'm back playing 2-7 single draw after like 6 months out of the game. I had changed to playing sngs as they are easier and always running and ended up over $1000 playing mostly $1.50 hypers.
Ive gotten sick of them though. Volume needed to make anything is huge so im back and lately playing my best ♦
Gonna post a hand from tonight's session even though i finished down a buy in
Hand:
3 handed. Blinds $0.25-0.50
♠_cool:Hero is Button $65
:rolleyes:Villain 1 is SB $60
:tongue:Villain 2 is BB $58
Im dealt a somewhat magnificent!!
K :heart:10 :spade:7 :spade:6 :diamond:5
Hero raises to $1.50
SB 3-bets to $3.50
BB Calls
Hero 4-bets to $13.50
SB Calls
BB Calls
To the Draw!!!! Pot is $40.50
SB draws 1
BB draws 1
Hero stands pat!
SB checks
BB checks
Hero goes all in for $51.50
♠_grin: ♠_grin: ♠_grin:
SB folds
BB folds
I am poker god!
I suppose its easier to explain than just show. I have history with the SB and i know he will 3 bet, quite small, pat 10's out of position. However i was planning to fold but when BB comes along with just a call i feel i can 4-bet squeeze to $13.50, get SB to fold and then if BB calls/draws/checks. I can bluff pat and bet big repping like a 9 or better which will be profitable as he wont always make an 8 or better.
SB calling kinda annoys me as he obviously had like a 10/8 so he's drawing to the 8. But I'll continue with my plan if they both check as they will usually bet big if they hit knowing that i can 4 bet Predraw then play check/check with pat 10's/9's.
To my delight it goes check/check however there's a good chance one of them has made a 98 or 97 and may check call a $25 bet. I decide to go for the over shove. It looks like i was 4-betting for value Predraw so I'll continue with that line. I don't think they can call with a 9 here often and i'm folding out everything worse. I may also see hero folds of bad 8's but its unlikely they would check an 8 after the draw.
So that's my thinking anyway. Maybe I was just lucky. Easy game
NL 2-7 TD always scares the crap out of me..
I'm glad to see you back though!
Will you be picking the blog back up properly again?
Oooooo! NL27SD is such a maths game. I will follow, and try to catch up with the previous pages when I have time. Do you play HU SnGs at all? I need some tips for these.
Thanks for responding!!
I'll try and update every few days if an interesting hand comes up for sure.
@jbpatzer You'll find the $1.50 sngs for 2-7 SD are super easy. Just play aggro from button like in holdem. Half the people playing at this level have either done so by mistake or just playing to try it out. Just try to avoid the Regs at first <they are usually eastern European>
great blog, subscribed.
just a quick question, i had i little look and i didnt see any 1.50 hypers. did u mean HU turbos? or am i missing something.
cheers.
sorry i meant holdem 6 max hypers is what i'd been playing...
But there are $1.50 HU sngs for 2-7 SD that are definitley worth looking into
Read this blog, opened up a .25/.50 table, won $10 in about 5 hands before losing my internet conection...
True story
So just finished the best week I've ever had in poker...
Finished with a roll of $997 after beginning the week with $100.
Withdrew $447 so have $500 to play with this week., Which for 2-7 SD at 50nl isn't too bad at all.
Feel Ive improved so much and my confidence is sky high. Built my roll to its highest ever point of $1213 and decided to enter the $215 SD weekly tourney. Players were super aggro but I held my own until this hand...
Play is 5 handed: Blinds 80/160 ante 40
UTG 3940
CO 11030
Button 16505
SB (hero) 4135
BB 2314
UTG raises to 320
CO folds
Button folds
SB goes all in for 4135 9 :heart:7 :spade:6 :spade:2 :diamond:K
BB folds
UTG calls
SB draws 1
UTG draws 1
SB shows 9 :heart:7 :spade:6 :spade:2 :diamond:J
BB shows 8 :diamond:6 :club:4 :spade:3 :club:2
UTG wins 7880
I guess my shove was quite loose but UTG was a tourney reg and i felt he could only call with a 9 or better and maybe a 7 draw. The 8 draw isn't bad either, its just i hadn't got out of line the whole tourney until then. I figured if i got the fold then i would be in a position to cash at least as the 2 big stacks were very aggro and not giving much away.
My shove from SB looks strong. Maybe a 10 or better or a decent draw. He gambled, calling with the draw and got there so it just wasn't meant to be.
Hopefully next week I run half as good as I did this week and maybe i can get a holiday booked. Plan is to go to Ibiza!!!!!
That HH is confusing the heck out of me..
UTG opens, you shove, BB folds, UTG calls..
UTG and SB both draw, so we're still correct here!
SB(you) and BB at showdown.. wtf?
BB wins.
I also want to fold predraw and win
That man has to teach me his black magic!
Originally posted by dogma18
LOL give me a break..Don't know of a hand converter for 2-7 so doing it myself.!
or
First one for sure, second one, may well do the trick as it manages 5CD.
Decided im going to try my best to go to Ibiza on the 16th of September!!!
I know setting monetary goals is the worst thing you can do but i think i can do it.
Hers a list of things to buy.
1. Passport- £77.50
2. Flights- £350(trying to find cheaper, but not the best time of year to get cheap flights)
3. Hotel £250
4. Spending money £800
5. Beach clothes £100
Total- £1577.50
Wow now that i have that written down it seems a lot, i gotta run good!
Current bank balance £160
Poker balance £540
I need to keep money in to play with but i need to raise money for flights, hotel by end of this month to get it booked.
Using bank balance to get passport this week.
Wish me luck and run good!!!