Watched an interview with Andrew Robl a few days ago and he said that whenever he is close to tilting he thinks about what poker has given him. You said you made 3k euros in each of the last three months? Think how hard people work, doing jobs they hate to make that much money.
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And now AKQr board, I have AK, megafish has JT. I lose 150bb. 7 bins down - and no idea how I can quit playing.
Nggggghh. This run is so frustratinggggggg... 17 bins and 2,5k € under EV this month in 18k hands, and ran badly otherwise too - whenever I flop the nuts, I just wanna overbetshove the flop before the turn & river crush my hand. And I get tilted every session. And then I'm giving my money away with idiot monkeytilt plays.
Anyway, the anonymous tables are pretty soft. There are a lot of 35/20 regfishes, who never fold to C-bets or 3bets, and the regs are completely unbalanced with their bet sizings. And obviously I've leveled myself into calling their pot sized river bets, thinking they can't think that I'm bad enough to call when they shout it out loud that they got it.
I need to change my playing style. With Entraction there were usually 4-5 decent regs, 1 decent playing fish (the type that plays relatively well postflop, but plays too many hands preflop), and a 1 complete donkey.
But with Microgaming's anonymous 6max tables, there's maybe 1-2 nitty regs, 1 taggy reg, 1 laggy reg, 1 passive fish, and 1-2 40/20 fishes who never ever fold to C-bets & 3bets.
So.
1) I'm gonna play more laggy preflop (to get into more spots with fish), but more fit-or-fold postflop.
2) Since not much folding going on, I'm gonna 3bet mostly valuehands, and open raise hands that flop TP's, not hands that are good to barrel with. That is, ATo > 89s.
3) Vs. regs I'm gonna start flatting TT-JJ, since there's no dynamic to get them in preflop. Even AK in UTG & UTG+1 is a pretty questionable 4bet/call. However, I've noticed that regs are not 3betting that much, so I should open CO & BTN super wide when there's only regs left to act.
4) I'll continue if I think of something.
Wellz. I think I'm starting to get a grip on the new software & anonymous tables.
On another note, I think that with just playing a lot of hands you will get unconsciously better at playing - you sort of get a gut feeling when you face a certain situation cuz' ur brains has unconsciously developed the feeling through experiencing it many times before and seeing the results of different solutions.
Like for example a taggish reg 3bets you in UTG+1 and you have TT 100bb deep: you're thinking I can't fold this, but you're inner feeling is screaming to fold. Or you have 22-66 in UTG and u get a feeling of "nnnhhggggnn nah" - and just muck it. From now on whenever there is a tough spot I will just trust my instinct and forget about standard plays. (But obviously there are spots where I'm never folding/calling no matter what feeling I have.)
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Here's a hand. I have AJo. UTG opener is a reg, and the caller is a big fish. Obviously I could squeeze, but didn't cuz' 1) I don't want the fish to fold, 2) If I get called I have to play a big pot OOP with an easily dominated hand & we're 175bb deep vs. the fish, 3) The reg will probably play honestly cuz' of the fish.
I flop TP. Donking is obviously a good option too, but I decided to check. If the reg C-bets and the fish calls, I'm gonna C-raise: the reg might fold QQ+, and the fish will obviously call with worse. Well the fish folds, and I call the regs C-bet. Plan is to call flop & turn and then fold/call the river depending on board/timing/betsizing.
Turn goes check-check, and river brings a K. The reg bets, and I'm thinking of folding, but decide to overbetshove instead because 1) his range is pretty much capped to Kx (the only sets he can have is potcontrolled KK, and only 2pair KJ (which vs. my shove is only a bluffcatcher), and 2) it's anonymous tables where the play is much more straightforward and honest. So in a nutshell: if he's not gonna herocall (thinking I know he's range is capped so it's a good spot to bluff), he will call with 3 combos, and fold all his bluffs and KQ, AK, AA, QQ (a lot of combos, not gonna count).
Can I rep a set here? Yes. If I had a set I would very often check this river to let him valuebet / represent the K - at least vs. regs. And it's a dry flop, I might very well c-call, c-call, c-shove if I had a set. Obviously I get a bad prize for my bluff, but I was pretty confident he just can't call if I shove.
Prima, $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
CO: $129.68 (129.7 bb)
BTN: $249.74 (249.7 bb)
SB: $26.33 (26.3 bb)
Hero (BB): $176.84 (176.8 bb)
UTG: $100 (100 bb)
MP: $197.50 (197.5 bb)
Preflop: Hero is BB with A
J
UTG raises to $3, MP calls $3, 3 folds, Hero calls $2
Flop: ($9.50) 2
6 J (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $6.50, MP folds, Hero calls $6.50
Turn: ($22.50) 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks
River: ($22.50) K
(2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $15, Hero raises to $167.34 and is all-in, UTG folds
Results: $52.50 pot ($2.62 rake)
Final Board: 2 6 J 7 K
Hero mucked A J and won $49.88 ($25.38 net)
UTG mucked and lost (-$24.50 net)
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Now to zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
Hi, thanks for the interesting post! I 'm also playing a lot of anonymous tables (not many other tables going). Took a shot at nl200 yesterday and the nitty regs are gone there 
What remains, is a table of LAGs and maniacs. Think I got raised in about 70% of hands postflop 
Anyway, looking forward to more of these hands/strategy posts!
Well. For the first time this month I'm on the green. Here's the month so far. Now I'm feeling almost positive when playing.
But. I certainly know there are people who have ran so badly that I shouldn't complain, but I can't help it. This is pretty frustrating. I haven't even had any "bad beats" - I think I've just lost every effin' preflop flip. And I can feel it too: when I have a QQ- vs. AK, I just "know" the A or K is coming, if not on the flop - I might even dodge the turn - but the river is always #¤&%.
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But that's that. I think the biggest winners in the anonymous tables are those who can 1) very quickly identify player types (reg and fish), 2) know how these player types play in different situations, and 3) know a strategy to play against these player types. There was a video I just watched from some russian guy (it was dubbed in English) that was very good: in the video it was explained how with just one hand (and even with only one checkback) you can pretty accurately deduce the player type he represents. And when you know the type, from that you know whether you should increase or decrease ur bluffing frequencies, what kind of 3-4betting strategies you have for him, how you should call down vs. him, and so on.
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Anyway, here's a hand where the "I don't rep anything" thingy that I do a lot (maybe too much with valuehands since I seem to get a lot of folds - which is obviously not good) worked. The table broke down and we were playing HU vs. some reg and he was 3betting standardish amount (20%, small sample of course) - so I was certainly ahead of his range (and stacking off range) with TPTK on T73r.
Prima, $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 2 Players
BB: $100 (100 bb)
Hero (SB): $128.48 (128.5 bb)
Preflop: Hero is SB with A T
Hero raises to $2, BB raises to $7, Hero calls $5
Flop: ($14) 7 3 T (2 players)
BB bets $8, Hero raises to $21, BB calls $13
Turn: ($56) 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $100.48, BB calls $72 and is all-in
River: ($200) 5 (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Results: $200 pot ($1 rake)
Final Board: 7 3 T 2 5
BB showed K A and lost (-$100 net)
Hero showed A T and won $199 ($99.00 net)
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Ok. Maybe a small session before zzzzzzzzzzzz.
Ok. Haven't played much. Spent Saturday with my floorball mates drinking / doing some other stuff. Had a horrible hangover and couldn't play on Sunday & Monday, and yesterday I was just lazy.
Today played about 500 hands. I can't seem to get easily in to the "zone" after a 4 day break: I'm nervous, playing scared money, and I find it hard to concentrate.
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Tradimo started, and I'm gonna try that out - however I'm not yet sure how I'm gonna divide my time between poker / trading. Maybe something like 4 days poker, 2 days trading, and 1 day off. And of course poker on weekends.
Wellz.
November was what it was. Did end up making over 2k€ profits with RB + FDB so it's cool. I bought a new computer and I'm too lazy to post the results from my laptop right now - I'll do it when I'll use it the next time.
However it was the first time in the last 6 months that my bankroll didn't increase - that is, my living expenses exceeded my winnings. But that's no biggie since there was the trip to Cologne (800-900€), a new display (250€), and a new computer (500€). But I'll try to nit up my life during December anyway.
Feels like a fresh start though - gonna start with a fresh database cuz' all my hands were from 24hpoker on Entraction/IGM or from anonymous tables. So no point in exporting the hands.
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Now to the tables to make some big €'s.
Hey man, just finished reading your blog GL controlling your tilt you have said that you have tried 3BI stop lose have you tried using Tilt Breaker you can set and amount for stop loss and it quits you when you hit it.
Ok that's that. I'm seriously thinking about quitting my poker career. I just can't take it anymore. Well, only problem is that I really don't know what else to do.
A while ago I took a 10 day break, and was full of high hopes. Well, I played well, but couldn't really win any flips like I couldn't win them before. I'm running over 40 bins under EV in the last 40k hands now. Kinda hard to win that way.
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I started to play about 8 hours ago. I lost 400-500 € very quickly to coolers and some to tilting. Then I grinded 7 hours straight and was almost break even, started playing NL200 too. Then these 5 hands happen in under 50 hands and under 5 minutes. After that I tilted some more money away.
Prima, $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 3 Players
Hero (BB): $259.90 (130 bb)
BTN: $329.43 (164.7 bb)
SB: $204 (102 bb)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 5 5
BTN raises to $6, SB folds, Hero calls $4
Flop: ($13) 7 8 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $8, Hero raises to $24, BTN calls $16
Turn: ($61) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $47, BTN raises to $299.43 and is all-in, Hero calls $182.90 and is all-in
River: ($520.80) 3 (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Results: $520.80 pot ($3.00 rake)
Final Board: 7 8 5 3 3
Hero showed 5 5 and lost (-$259.90 net)
BTN showed 7 7 and won $517.80 ($257.90 net)
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Prima, $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 3 Players
Hero (BB): $224.85 (112.4 bb)
BTN: $671.05 (335.5 bb)
SB: $267.20 (133.6 bb)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 3 5
BTN raises to $4, SB calls $3, Hero calls $2
Flop: ($12) 2 4 6 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, BTN checks
Turn: ($12) 8 (3 players)
SB bets $6, Hero raises to $21, BTN raises to $61, SB folds, Hero raises to $220.85 and is all-in, BTN calls $159.85
River: ($459.70) 4 (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Results: $459.70 pot ($3.00 rake)
Final Board: 2 4 6 8 4
Hero showed 3 5 and lost (-$224.85 net)
BTN showed 5 7 and won $456.70 ($231.85 net)
SB mucked and lost (-$10 net)
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Prima, $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 5 Players
MP: $193.45 (96.7 bb)
CO: $223.80 (111.9 bb)
Hero (BTN): $322 (161 bb)
SB: $212.95 (106.5 bb)
BB: $193.55 (96.8 bb)
Preflop: Hero is BTN with 8 7
MP raises to $4, CO folds, Hero raises to $14.50, 2 folds, MP raises to $32, Hero calls $17.50
Flop: ($67) 8 A 7 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $31, MP calls $31
Turn: ($129) 9 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $259 and is all-in, MP calls $130.45 and is all-in
River: ($389.90) T (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Results: $389.90 pot ($3.00 rake)
Final Board: 8 A 7 9 T
MP showed A A and won $386.90 ($193.45 net)
Hero showed 8 7 and lost (-$193.45 net)
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[Apparently too many images, anyway I had 89s on BB and got it in vs. SB's AK on QJTs, opponent flatted my 3bet with AK. And then I had KK in 4bet pot vs. TT on T22s. These were on NL100, but 130bb+ deep.]
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I seriously felt like it was somekind of a dream or a movie that I was watching during these hands. Like is this really possible anymore..?
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Here's a link to this months results. NL100 until I dive at the end.
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Anyway, I really have had enough. I feel completely hopeless. Every time it feels like my run is gonna turn, I get hit in the face like this. I'm break even for the last 1,5 months, even though EV is +5k€. I have no idea how to keep going, I really am completely crushed. I know I could make A LOT of money if I could just keep my head together, but I can't. And now I'm gonna feel like shit for at least a week. And I really can't play NL100 anymore, since I just lost about 10 bins in 5 minutes, and the thought of grinding them back feels just hopeless and completely frustrating. So I'm gonna play NL200. Hopefully I run better or I'm gonna go busto.
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Sorry about whining, I do realize that's all I do nowadays.
Don't play NL200, worst thing you could do... your edge is smaller there, your bankroll is not good enough, and you simply won't be able to play good poker, because of the emotions you are experiencing, because of a smaller edge variance it's going to be even more brutal... make your self a favour and take a break, then start from where your bankroll allows you and rebuild (NL50 if that is).
About the last hands you posted:
1) What worst do you expect to see there? If he had a semi-bluff with FD or Pair+draw don't you think he is shoving you on flop where he actually has some decent eq? Being 130BB, after he calls your raise on flop, you can't really expect to see much worst there after he shoves turn, you`ll almost never see overpairs or two pairs because of how the hand went and you have somewhat deeper stacks,and again FD`s even less. It's hard to fold sets, but if there is a spot, that would be it. I don't like the call, it can be considered a cooller because it's a set vs over set but i wound't make the call unless i have some reads on how villain plays.
2) Well this hand was a reall cooler, not much else to do but go broke.
3) Well i never played NL100 so all i can offer is my opinion on the hand. I strongly recommend you post these hands in the evaluation section. Calling a 4bet with 87s is something i would only do with reads, other then that... after the way the hand played out you can asume he will go broke there with AQ,AK so i don`t mind putting in the stack.
I`m going to repeat my self, don't play NL200... not now, it's something you will simply regret later on, because in time you`ll probably want to play again, and then you`ll start with a new bankroll and it will last way longer to rebuild, than what it will take now. After your break, when you`ll start playing again, make sure you use proper BRM and don't look in the bloody cashier, and don't look at how many BI`s you are under EV, because that's just a small aspect of how variance influences the results.
Take a break, and when you come back... forget about what was before, try to enjoy the game like when you first started playing, i think that's probably the only way to achieve great results.
I wish you all the best, good luck!
+1 at not play NL200
Your mindset has obviously taking a hit, if you keep running bad, its going to be a lot harder to continue when you're losing 2x faster.
you're +EV on NL100,why not just grind it out? or even move to NL50 to build your confidence back?
I know im not any one to be giving you advice, but wouldn't want to see anyone tilt off there moniez NL200 is obviously not the best move in this spot.
Yea I realize on the first hand I'm usually beat, but it vs. a 45/20 something player, so he might overplay something there. And the 87s was a tilt call, but after flopping two pair I don't really see how I could get away from it.
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And actually I'm a lot more positive after sleeping. I still feel a bit empty, but I know I'm gonna grind it back.
About moving to NL200, actually I've never made a conscious decision to take ashot or move up - everytime I've moved up it's because I've tilted and wanted to win the money back faster. And I do have over 50 bins to NL200. And I think I'm gonna play better there - that is, I'm gonna be really focused and not gonna make any spews because it's more money. So I'm gonna take at least a 5 bin shot there.
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Originally posted by Zebbu
And actually I'm a lot more positive after sleeping. I still feel a bit empty, but I know I'm gonna grind it back.
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Great! 
Whenever you hate poker, just don't play anymore untill you really look forward to playing again. Just read in Phil Galfond's well on 2+2 that how you deal with downswings is what defines a poker player!
Still don't recommend moving to NL200 now, put in like 10-20k hands at NL100 first, if it goes well and you feel confident than you can give a shot at NL200... that's what i would do. I`m not sure your are emotionally prepared at all for bad variance at NL200.
Well I did play some NL200, but only if the table was soft.
And it wasn't a long downswing. Graph:
Have played about 25 hours in the last 3 days. I only play 6 tables at most, so not that many hands - but still I'm pretty exhausted. Maybe I'll take a day off tomorrow (today, but I'm going to bed now, 05.36 am. Finnish time).
This is a strange hand.
Prima, $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 4 Players
Hero (SB): $210.98 (211 bb)
BB: $230.71 (230.7 bb)
CO: $100 (100 bb)
BTN: $262.27 (262.3 bb)
Preflop: Hero is SB with J Q
CO raises to $2.50, BTN folds, Hero calls $2, BB calls $1.50
Flop: ($7.50) 9 A 8 (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, CO checks
Turn: ($7.50) T (3 players)
Hero bets $5, BB raises to $10, CO raises to $27, Hero raises to $60, BB folds, CO calls $33
River: ($137.50) A (2 players)
Hero???
BB is a big fish, so quite happy to see him raise my bet on the turn - I might get it in 200bb deep vs. 67 or J7. However, the reg on the button raises the fishes raise. I raise again, fish folds, and the reg calls, leaving 40bb behind. WTF? What worse hand calls me if I shove the rest in (my range on the turn is pretty much only the nuts considering how the hand was played), but does he really bluff if I check, ever? Well I'm not folding for 40bb - but if there was a pot sized bet left I think it would be a pretty tough spot if he shoved the river.
[EDIT: I think the reg has to have a made hand with a redraw since he 1) raises the fish here (=made hand), and 2) calls my raise (=redraw). And if he thinks I have only the nuts, TT (only set he can have) is a draw. Other hands he could have are Td8d, 67 with a FD (and maybe J7 with a FD, but maybe he gets that in). Jd9d, Adxd maybe, but would he raise the turn with those? Maybe with Adxd to get a free SD, but why wouldn't he C-Bet that...]
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These hands were vs. regs. I 4betshove something else than small pocket pairs hoping they will put me on small pocket pairs. I think this is usually not so good a play, however vs. a squeeze and BB vs. SB people are pretty paranoid. However both calls I get are just insanely ridiculous. J8o? Maybe he was tilted.
Prima, $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
SB: $29.59 (29.6 bb)
BB: $21.50 (21.5 bb)
Hero (UTG): $101 (101 bb)
MP: $107.08 (107.1 bb)
CO: $94 (94 bb)
BTN: $177.49 (177.5 bb)
Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q Q
Hero raises to $3.50, MP calls $3.50, CO raises to $14, 3 folds, Hero raises to $101 and is all-in, MP folds, CO calls $80 and is all-in
Flop: ($193) K 3 4 (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Turn: ($193) 7 (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: ($193) T (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Results: $193 pot ($3 rake)
Final Board: K 3 4 7 T
Hero showed Q Q and lost (-$94 net)
CO showed J K and won $190 ($96 net)
Prima, $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 4 Players
CO: $35 (35 bb)
BTN: $124.68 (124.7 bb)
Hero (SB): $100 (100 bb)
BB: $100 (100 bb)
Preflop: Hero is SB with Q A
2 folds, Hero raises to $3, BB raises to $11, Hero raises to $100 and is all-in, BB calls $89 and is all-in
Flop: ($200) Q K K (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Turn: ($200) T (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: ($200) 5 (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Results: $200 pot ($3 rake)
Final Board: Q K K T 5
Hero showed Q A and won $197 ($97 net)
BB showed 8 J and lost (-$100 net)
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Rock and roll.