FAST NL50! $200 --> $2000 in 1 month. what next?

hey yougotfelted51, welcome back to blogging! Get going then where are your goals?

In the past few days I decided to switch to playing on stars. I was getting sick of having a 10 second timebank, and not having a hud while playing speed poker on titan.

The first few sessions have been fairly profitable so far, around 6 BI or so.

Here is one hand where I had a ridiculous river spot and I still am not 100% sure of my fold... what do you guys think? Villain is 67/0 over 3 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.

Hero (BTN): $50.03 (200.1 bb)
SB: $33.05 (132.2 bb)
BB: $39.84 (159.4 bb)
UTG: $30.26 (121 bb)
MP: $34.58 (138.3 bb)
CO: $47.17 (188.7 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with A K
UTG folds, MP calls $0.25, CO folds, Hero raises to $1.25, 2 folds, MP calls $1

Flop: ($2.85) T 7 Q (2 players)
MP checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($2.85) J (2 players)
MP bets $1, Hero raises to $4.58, MP calls $3.58

River: ($12.01) Q (2 players)
MP bets $28.75 and is all-in, Hero folds

Results:

Most of the time he is value shaving in this spot so you are probably beat. And overbet shav on micros is usually nuts (Tomaloc can confirm you that ;)). So I think it's a good fold.

interesting spot here vs unknown.
i flat flop in the hand but now i believe that to be a mistake.
he can obviously have more here than TT/66/KT, and we may even get KT to fold to a 3bet on the flop.

Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

Hero (BTN): $28.12 (112.5 bb)
SB: $56.05 (224.2 bb)
BB: $25 (100 bb)
UTG: $41.66 (166.6 bb)
MP: $43.63 (174.5 bb)
CO: $44.88 (179.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with J Q
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.50, SB calls $0.40, BB calls $0.25

Flop: ($1.50) T K 6 (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $1.08, SB folds, BB raises to $3.77, Hero calls $2.69

Turn: ($9.04) Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($9.04) A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $8.75, BB folds

Results:

Yeh interesting hand, against complete unknown I would raise all the time because alot of players will call down with worse draws and you still have good equity against top pair/top two etc

Doesn't mean this is correct as I'm struggling with nl20 as well :-)

interesting hand came up in today's session.
blind vs blind, vs unknown, no hands on villain who is 2 tabling

with what range do you think sb calls down with on f/t/r?
what range do we give to hero on f/t/r?

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: $81.61 (326.4 bb)
SB: $47.88 (191.5 bb)
Hero (BB): $48.21 (192.8 bb)
UTG: $21.60 (86.4 bb)
MP: $33.85 (135.4 bb)
CO: $25 (100 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with
4 folds, SB raises to $0.75, Hero calls $0.50

Flop: ($1.50) 4 5 7 (2 players)
SB bets $0.75, Hero raises to $2.97, SB calls $2.22

Turn: ($7.44) T (2 players)
SB bets $3.75, Hero raises to $12.07, SB calls $8.32

River: ($31.58) 5 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $32.42 and is all-in, SB calls $32.09 and is all-in

havent been able to play as much as i wouldve liked these past few days. my university had its homecoming on saturday and then i had a big project to finish up.
was able to put in 800 hands today on stars, was up a decent amount and my redline was breakeven, so i am happy about that ♦

a few interesting hands from today's session:
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: $36.44 (145.8 bb)
SB: $28.74 (115 bb)
BB: $42.29 (169.2 bb)
UTG: $21.46 (85.8 bb)
Hero (MP): $28.69 (114.8 bb)
CO: $15.30 (61.2 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP with J J
UTG folds, Hero raises to $0.75, CO calls $0.75, BTN folds, SB calls $0.65, BB folds

Flop: ($2.50) T 3 8 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.36, CO calls $1.36, SB folds

Turn: ($5.22) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $2.74, Hero calls $2.74

River: ($10.70) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $5.62, Hero calls $5.62

Results:

here villain is playing 11/6 over a small sample, preflop call is marginal, flop is easy. but turn is interesting. i debating making it around 8.5, as overpairs with diamonds may call/jam over, as well as sets, and he really can only have the AQdd/AJdd regarding flushes in his range...

Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

Hero (BTN): $52.86 (211.4 bb)
SB: $29.44 (117.8 bb)
BB: $62.98 (251.9 bb)
UTG: $21.88 (87.5 bb)
MP: $32.50 (130 bb)
CO: $25.75 (103 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with Q K
UTG raises to $0.50, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.50, 2 folds

Flop: ($1.35) T 5 J (2 players)
UTG bets $0.96, Hero calls $0.96

Turn: ($3.27) 9 (2 players)
UTG bets $2.34, Hero calls $2.34

River: ($7.95) A (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $5.76, UTG calls $5.76

Results:

only played an hour due to my terrible internet connection.
around + 2 BI, had to fold a bunch of two pair hands and big pairs unfortunately

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: $29.51 (118 bb)
SB: $10 (40 bb)
BB: $25 (100 bb)
Hero (UTG): $110.41 (441.6 bb)
MP: $48.54 (194.2 bb)
CO: $38.29 (153.2 bb)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A A
Hero raises to $0.75, MP calls $0.75, 4 folds

Flop: ($1.85) 5 2 T (2 players)
Hero bets $1.34, MP calls $1.34

Turn: ($4.53) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $3.89, Hero calls $3.89

River: ($12.31) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $42.56, Hero folds

Results:

was able to fit in two 1 hour sessions today, ended up +35. not too many interesting hands except for this one

villain playing 27/0 over 11 hands up to this point.

wondering if i can bet river, and if so, what sizing would be optimal to get calls from Qx/TT/99

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: $29.68 (118.7 bb)
SB: $21.06 (84.2 bb)
Hero (BB): $41.46 (165.8 bb)
UTG: $28.13 (112.5 bb)
MP: $25.80 (103.2 bb)
CO: $42.04 (168.2 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A Q
2 folds, CO raises to $0.75, BTN calls $0.75, SB calls $0.65, Hero raises to $3.50, CO calls $2.75, BTN folds, SB calls $2.75

Flop: ($11.25) J J Q (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, CO checks

Turn: ($11.25) 4 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $4.51, CO folds, SB calls $4.51

River: ($20.27) 3 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $33.45 and is all-in, SB calls $13.05

Is there any particular reason you didn't bet the flo? It might be different for zoom but on standard tables I often get value from plenty of worse pairs (small pocket pairs kt etc..), the other part I find profitable is that a lot of players seem to raise really light when I bet these kind of flops and you re-raise and take it down on the flop.

As played I would bet smallish on river to get calls from worse hands . I would fold AQ to a shove on this river because the only hands that would be doing this are the nutty hands pretty much. I find it easier on river having bet flop and turn because you will have more information about villains hand on river.

Let me know what you think though

@adamall
in the AQ hand i dont bet flop as i do not believe any worse hand can call me. CO is fairly decent reg, who folded a lot to cbets, so he never has Jx here, but he wont call my cb with worse than AQ. all his pp will snap fold flop.

the fish in the sb can certainly call with worse, but i basically have to decide on flop where i want to get potentially 2 streets of value.

i decided to check with the intention of check calling co(as he never has KK+ here, and there are only 1 combo each of QQ/JJ left), and also to be able to potentially induce sb to bet the turn with air/weak holdings if flop checks around.

had a big session today, 6.5 hours and 5k hands!

however it was pretty brutal, flopped lots of big hands, raised and 3bet some of them, but then had to fold on turns and rivers.

+20 result which is pretty pitiful for the time i put in, but i came back from down 4 bi which was nice

was really frustrating to have to fold bottom set on river vs fish who overplayed hands, but it seemed the only logical thing to do.
i wonder if i can bet turn though?

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: $8.75 (35 bb)
SB: $25 (100 bb)
BB: $53.30 (213.2 bb)
UTG: $30.97 (123.9 bb)
MP: $85.70 (342.8 bb)
Hero (CO): $43.75 (175 bb)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 3 3
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.75, BTN folds, SB calls $0.65, BB folds

Flop: ($1.75) 3 7 6 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.26, SB raises to $2.73, Hero raises to $8.14, SB calls $5.41

Turn: ($18.03) Q (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($18.03) 4 (2 players)
SB bets $16.11 and is all-in, Hero folds

Results:

I've had a pretty positive start to October, and it is time for some new goals:

avg 1.5k hands per day starting October 8th
post 5 hands in no limit discussion forums per session
watch two videos a per week
post in blog 1 time per session
make monies???

well today i accomplished almost all of my goals.
1.2k hands
5 hands posted
post in blog
+ 2BI

I'm from Canada and am trying to find the best time to play on Stars. most players on the site are now European I would imagine, so around 3-9pm my time is best to play..... I think

Anyone else out there have an opinion on what times Stars is the fishiest?

just had a brutal session, 30 mins, -$85
knew i probably shouldnt have played as I was feeling tired, got unlucky in some spots, but played pretty poorly in others

i have had lots of schoolwork this week and not much time to spare.
was able to put in approximately 1500 hands yday, with about 1.5 BI profit.

wouldve been a much better day if two hands didnt occur

i spazzed in a 3b pot vs a 50/13 fish on 44492 when my initial plan was to xf

and then this....

vs villain who just 4b jammed 99 into my KK a few hands before...

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: $25 (100 bb)
SB: $25.10 (100.4 bb)
Hero (BB): $48.73 (194.9 bb)
UTG: $42.44 (169.8 bb)
MP: $25 (100 bb)
CO: $24.50 (98 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K K
UTG raises to $0.75, 4 folds, Hero raises to $2.25, UTG raises to $3.87, Hero raises to $8.25, UTG calls $4.38

Flop: ($16.60) 7 2 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $9.03, UTG calls $9.03

Turn: ($34.66) T (2 players)
Hero bets $31.45, UTG calls $25.16 and is all-in

River: ($84.98) A (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results:

still super busy with schoolwork
however i have managed to scrape in 1.5k hands a day so far this week, and hope to put in another session after class tonight, and spend a lot of the weekend grinding.

unfortunately this week (starting monday) hasn't been so kind to me, through 4878 hands i am down $21, which means it is time to work harder and step it up

another interesting session, i certainly don't feel like im playing my best, and my non-showdown winnings are terrible this week

however i am up a bit for the week which is always nice i guess, and am only 600 vpps away from a $125 bonus on stars.

this hand was an interesting one, no reads on villain other than he is 1 tabling zoom and playing in 1 tournament, so i assumed he was somewhat fishy.

river line is pretty thin and i debated checking back, but in the end i felt there were just too many hero calls that villain could make in this spot

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: $12.41 (49.6 bb)
SB: $25 (100 bb)
BB: $25.22 (100.9 bb)
UTG: $32.48 (129.9 bb)
MP: $24.65 (98.6 bb)
Hero (CO): $36.82 (147.3 bb)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q Q
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.75, 2 folds, BB calls $0.50

Flop: ($1.60) T 6 4 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.16, BB calls $1.16

Turn: ($3.92) 6 (2 players)
BB bets $2, Hero raises to $7, BB calls $5

River: ($17.92) K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $27.91 and is all-in, BB calls $16.31 and is all-in

put in 2800 hands today, and eeked out almost 2 BI. I also cleared a $50 bonus which was nice. Admittedly I did not play my best in a bunch of spots. If I could just eliminate the 3 or 4 pots a session where i go against my read and either mindlessly barrel or call in a terrible spot things would be much better!

here was an interesting hand from today's session.
villain is 30/22/18.2 3b over a small sample of 18 hands
7.0 agg factor

flop i put villain on lots of top pair hands, 2 pair hands, 99, maybe QQ, and then open enders and gutters.

i figured the majority of the time villain would not xr sets on such a dry board, and i called turn with the intention of calling most rivers, as I didnt think villain would use turn sizing with bluffs.

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: $27.72 (110.9 bb)
SB: $18.91 (75.6 bb)
BB: $72 (288 bb)
UTG: $26 (104 bb)
Hero (MP): $38.37 (153.5 bb)
CO: $34.69 (138.8 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP with A Q
UTG folds, Hero raises to $0.75, 3 folds, BB calls $0.50

Flop: ($1.60) Q A 9 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1, BB raises to $2.25, Hero calls $1.25

Turn: ($6.10) 5 (2 players)
BB bets $5.75, Hero calls $5.75

River: ($17.60) 2 (2 players)
BB bets $16.75, Hero calls $16.75

Results: