My poker blog

Hey Zebbu,

Welcome to the blogs.

It's a bit sad that your blog starts off with bad news, although on the bright side you probably learnt some valuable lessons which will ensure it never happens again.

An advantage of starting your blog will be the advice you get from players who have been through this before and have successfully rebuilt.

GL and hope your back at NL100 real soon.

Laz

Okay. Deleted my database, cleaned my pad, and bought a new office chair from IKEA. A frest start, that is. Also managed to squeeze in a decent profit on NL50 Speed Poker. So roll is a little over 3k€ now, when it gets over 4k€, I'll take a another shot at NL100.

That's the good news, here's the bad news: I really have huge tilt issues. Here's some things that make me tilt. As you can see, I don't really tilt vs. fish.

* Regs play in a way that makes no sense, and then hit some miracle card and don't get punished for it.

* Reg steals SB over 50% vs. me. I take it really personally. It's like he's saying "I think you're so bad that I can do this". Then I start spazzing out and show him I really am that bad.

* Regs 4bet/call for example TT vs. in spots where my range is QQ+ and AK and no bluffs, I have AK, and lose.

* There is some aggro reg, I have eg. AA, board is J62r, and I think I should c-call him down. And then the board gets really bad by the river, he fires the 3rd barrel, I know I should fold, but can't.

* My own mistakes.

* Running bad don't make me monkey tilt, but it makes me frustrated. And then when something I mentioned above happens a few times, I sometimes just lose it completely and spew away 5 bins before rage quitting.

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Well, I go play.

hi Zebbu,
I have same problems with tilt. I play really good when I am winning, but need some time when I lose good hand to recover...I think when you solve this problem you are rady t crush nl100

Originally posted by Zebbu
* Reg steals SB over 50% vs. me. I take it really personally. It's like he's saying "I think you're so bad that I can do this". Then I start spazzing out and show him I really am that bad.

There's a difference between a bad player and a player who is not protective of his blinds. I like to steal a lot myself, and I respect many of my usual "targets" as solid players.

So don't take it personally.

Well I guess you start running really good when you move down.

I was gonna fold this even if the 4th heart didn't come (and I didn't hit the straight flush), prolly on the river. Nitty, but I don't think anyone is bluffing 3 streets there when I donk a 4way flop, and raising sets and isolating yourself vs. flushes is not that good. Had he checked the turn I would have bet really small to prize im in with a set. But I hit my 2outer, was thinking about shoving turn before the river pairs the board and opponent hero c-folds? Then I started thinking that if I shove the turn he should actually fold his A-high flush.

IPoker, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 5 Players

SB: $150.75 (301.5 bb)
Hero (BB): $81.95 (163.9 bb)
MP: $65.83 (131.7 bb)
CO: $40.76 (81.5 bb)
BTN: $50.83 (101.7 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6 8
MP raises to $1.50, CO calls $1.50, BTN folds, SB calls $1.25, Hero calls $1

Flop: ($6) T 7 5 (4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $4, 2 folds, SB raises to $13, Hero calls $9

Turn: ($32) 4 (2 players)
SB bets $22, Hero calls $22

River: ($76) A (2 players)
SB bets $53.20, Hero calls $45.45 and is all-in

Results: $166.90 pot ($3.00 rake)
Final Board: T 7 5 4 A
SB showed A J and lost (-$81.95 net)
Hero mucked 6 8 and won $163.90 ($81.95 net)

There's a difference between a bad player and a player who is not protective of his blinds. I like to steal a lot myself, and I respect many of my usual "targets" as solid players. So don't take it personally.

Yea, I have a "fold SB to BB steal" in my HUD, and I steal a lot too vs. those who fold a lot, or play poorly postflop (mostly too high fold to C-bet).

However, when someone constantly raises my blind, I start to 3bet every hand, and then when I get 4bet, I'm like fok it, I shove my T4o. It's like a voice in my head is saying that even if I fold 62o to an SB raise, I'm getting taken advantage of. Funny thing is that vs. raises from any other position I don't get that feeling and can reasonably construct my fold, call, and 3bet ranges.

Well I'm full of energy & good feelings.

So with winnings & RB & FDB, over half of the 2k€ downswing is covered. Yey!

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A hand.

IPoker, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

BB: $98.19 (196.4 bb)
Hero (UTG): $93.24 (186.5 bb)
MP: $45.95 (91.9 bb)
CO: $56.14 (112.3 bb)
BTN: $186.36 (372.7 bb)
SB: $20.25 (40.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with J K
Hero raises to $1.50, 4 folds, BB raises to $4.50, Hero calls $3

Flop: ($9.25) 5 J 8 (2 players)
BB bets $6, Hero calls $6

Turn: ($21.25) 6 (2 players)
BB bets $16, Hero calls $16

River: ($53.25) 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $66.74 and is all-in, BB folds

Results: $53.25 pot ($2.66 rake)
Final Board: 5 J 8 6 7
BB mucked and lost (-$26.50 net)
Hero mucked J K and won $50.59 ($24.09 net)

Not sure whether I should 1) call this pre (well we're deep, I hate folding when deep, and it's suited! Opponent's a reg with a 6% 3bet vs. UTG, and he's 3betting from BB, which makes it likely he has a polarized range here) 2) call turn (well I can't fold TP, and he knows he can rep a strong hand 3betting vs. UTG, hence he might be inclined to fire the 2nd barrel), 3) turn this into a bluff OTR (well if he's folding QQ+ I should).

Game theory wise I have AK, AQ and AJ, KJ, QJ, JT of spades (6 combos), T9s (4 combos) and 99 (6 combos) for value (not sure if I should jam sets, if he's folding QQ+ as we hope, I can't). So for bluff I need about 6 combos to make it a -EV call with QQ+. So turning JTs, QJs and KJs into a bluff seems good. Well I don't really play like that, I just felt like he was gonna fold the overpairs so I pulled the trigger. I also play like 22/16/6 with AF of 2, so I assume people think I'm an ABC tag. Which I am, but that gives room for big bluffs. Had opponent check-called a flush OTR I would have felt pretty owned.

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Ok. Summer's coming. I'm really digging Taio Cruz's sunglasses. Our heads are the same shape, so I think they would look good on me.

Well, that's that for now.

hi, sorry to walk in but it seems that you have kind of a pattern.

you start a new blog, you are "full of energy & good feelings", you play well and you ship the monies for a while. it's nice to read your thought processes in these hands you post.
then you suddenly hit some downer which quickly escalates into severe tilt, you can't really find a way out of it and you lose like half your roll in a super huge session or something.
after that you're like "WTF did just happen, well whatever, take it and move on". repeat.

seems like tilt buster would indeed be a great investment for you.

Nice results,

I also find myself having mental game problems often, it's actually very important issue to work on.

I'm in for the journey,

Best of luck,
Fran

hi, sorry to walk in but it seems that you have kind of a pattern. you start a new blog, you are "full of energy & good feelings", you play well and you ship the monies for a while. it's nice to read your thought processes in these hands you post. then you suddenly hit some downer which quickly escalates into severe tilt, you can't really find a way out of it and you lose like half your roll in a super huge session or something. after that you're like "WTF did just happen, well whatever, take it and move on". repeat. seems like tilt buster would indeed be a great investment for you.

Yea, this has happened 3-4 times already...

But I think this time it's different!

Kiss kiss bang bang. Rungood continues.

Here's a hand. I got lucky, although I don't like opponents betsize OTR, especially when the flush comes in. When he bets so big, I a) won't raise even the nutflush, b) think twice before turning anything into a bluff (mainly AT or A6 with the Ah), and c) might herofold even KQ. So in his shoes I'd bet halfpottish, and call a raise. Now he puts himself in a spot where very few hands beat him, but he still only has a bluffcatcher with his boat. Could I fold? Maybe.

IPoker, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 5 Players

Hero (BB): $50 (100 bb)
MP: $78.20 (156.4 bb)
CO: $92 (184 bb)
BTN: $50.75 (101.5 bb)
SB: $53.81 (107.6 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 8 K
2 folds, BTN raises to $1, SB folds, Hero calls $0.50

Flop: ($2.25) K K 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $1.50, Hero calls $1.50

Turn: ($5.25) T (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $3.50, Hero calls $3.50

River: ($12.25) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $8.50, Hero raises to $44 and is all-in, BTN calls $35.50

Results: $100.25 pot ($3 rake)
Final Board: K K 6 T 8
Hero mucked 8 K and won $97.25 ($47.25 net)
BTN showed 6 6 and lost (-$50 net)

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Here's another hand, where a reg turns his hand face up. I think he has 44 90% of the time when he skips C-bet and raises turn. So I 3bet the turn. And if he for some reason has something like QJ or Kx that just plays weird, he's prolly not gonna fold it? Well, who knows. And maybe he has a FD sometimes, and the 3rd diamond was a bit uggh, but since I thought he has 44 so often I shoved anyway.

IPoker, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 4 Players

SB: $11.60 (23.2 bb)
Hero (BB): $52.62 (105.2 bb)
CO: $45.09 (90.2 bb)
BTN: $218.47 (436.9 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q 9
CO folds, BTN raises to $1.25, SB folds, Hero calls $0.75

Flop: ($2.75) J T K (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($2.75) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.92, BTN raises to $6.80, Hero raises to $17, BTN calls $10.20

River: ($36.75) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $34.37 and is all-in, BTN calls $34.37

Results: $105.49 pot ($2.00 rake)
Final Board: J T K 4 6
Hero mucked Q 9 and won $103.49 ($50.87 net)
BTN showed 4 4 and lost (-$52.62 net)

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Right.

Feel like I dodged a bullet here.

IPoker, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 4 Players

Hero (BB): $53.42 (106.8 bb)
CO: $50 (100 bb)
BTN: $50.50 (101 bb)
SB: $49.25 (98.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with T K
CO raises to $1.25, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.75

Flop: ($2.75) 8 3 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $2, Hero calls $2

Turn: ($6.75) T (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

River: ($6.75) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $9, Hero calls $9

Results: $24.75 pot ($1.23 rake)
Final Board: 8 3 9 T Q
Hero mucked T K and lost (-$12.25 net)
CO showed A 7 and won $23.52 ($11.27 net)

Opponent's a reg, with a 21% open from CO. I check the river, cuz all the hands that are gonna call a bet are gonna bet themselves. I don't see him having any two pairs+, and Qx should fold to a bet. So I check, and he overbets. When he does that, he has either KJ, a flush, or a bluff. If I raise the river, KJ's gonna fold (probably), bluffs are gonna fold, and flushes are gonna call (and NF shove). But since he raises 21% from CO, he doesn't have many, if any, worse flushes (J9, 76, 65, 79, maybe) but prolly all nutflushes in his range. So yea, pretty sure it's a call vs. overbet, even with the 2nd nuts. I think overbetting is fine by him, I would have made it bigger myself. Another option is to bet really small to get 1) crying calls, 2) to induce a bluff, or 3) to get worse flushes to value raise.

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Ok. Zzzzzzz.

^nice hand sir, and nice thought process.

Thanks!

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On another note, today played 4k hands break even with having to bet-fold flopped nuts on the river all the time, before losing 4 bins in about 50 hands - and after I lost AK vs. KQ all in pre, kinda lost it again. Started throwing my plush toys all over the room and swearing in my mind (can't wake the neighbours). It's just ridicilous how easily I tilt. I mean, sometimes the run-good has to stop, right? Luckily (?) Tilt Breaker forced me on a break. Still 20 minutes to go.

Was ready to hit the sack, but now I wanna win the money back so bad.

Nah, I'll go to bed. But let's write something.

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I like this hand.

Greenstein is kinda nittish (but super solid, I've never seen him make big mistakes), so Veldhuis realizes Ivey is 3betting him light very often here, and decides to cold 4bet with good blockers. Unfortunately for him, Ivey knows Veldhuis realizes this, and assumes he's 4betbluffing a wide range in this spot, and jams. (Well, I think it's a spew with 52o nonetheless.)

This hand taught me to not make bluffs in obvious spots vs. good players. So I've really toned down my cold4betbluffing in CO-BB positions, and use a widened valuerange instead vs. players who are loose and somewhat paranoid but good enough to think like Ivey is thinking here. Instead I use my taggish image, and cold 4betbluff vs. earlier positions (assuming the 3better is 3betting more than the nuts vs. early positions). I mean if you are in UTG with AK or QQ, and you get 3betted and then cold4betted by a 22/16/6 TAG, I think folding feels like the best option.

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This is a cool hand too. Dwan knows he's rarely good on the flop after Greenstein bets (but blocks pocket tens), and also knows Eastgate has a 2 after he calls (and since he called the BB, he has all the low 2x in his range too). So both Eastgate's and Greenstein's hand is face up, and Dwan realizes they both expect to him to shut down with his bluffs on the turn. So he bets, probably pretty convinced they are gonna fold the hands he hopes them to fold (weak 2x and JJ+). Greenstein's call is pretty bad on the flop here though. Even if Dwan is bluffing, Eastgate is not gonna call the raise with Tx, and he would squeeze JJ+ pre.

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There was another Dwan hand, vs. Patrik Antonius, but I can't find it. If I remember correctly, someone raised pre, Antonius called 56s in SB, and Dwan called 32s in BB. Flop was J62r. Original raiser C-betted, Antonius raised, and Dwan raised Antonius (original raiser folded Jx). Antonius obviously felt he couldn't call 3way with Dwan left to act, and raised with a 5outer + a blocker to set and 2pair. Dwan probably felt Antonius wouldn't raise a set, and reraised again with his own blocker. Then Antonius felt Dwan is repping super narrow and might just call with a set (although if they are leveling so much, raising would make sense), and called the raise. Then it was checked down, Antonius scooped the pot, and Dwan was like wow - but he surely realized why Antonius called him.

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Ok.

Well, roll is now 4k€ (or at least it will be, when the Gemstone money comes). However, I think I'll stick to NL50 for the rest of the month. I should get good money from Betfair's Natural Born Grinders Race and PS's private race, and then I'll be able to play a bit more relaxed @ NL100.

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Ran bad elsewhere. Last hockey practise of the season, and I twisted my knee. Happened once before, probably needs a surgery. Can't really bend my leg. Well, more time to play poker.

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A hand. Not sure whether I should shove the flop or just call and go broke on a non-club turn and maybe Q & J. Opponent was a 22/18/6, 61% ft3bet reg, and considering I'm tight, he's not likely to raise KQ. So he doesn't have many value combos (TT, maybe 44 and KTs, if he calls them pre), but not that many draws either (AQ, AJ, KQ, QJ of clubs). However he raises so big that I read that as a sign that he doesn't want me to call - that is, as a draw. Also shoving prevents me from making bad folds/calls on the turn, but that's not really a good reason to do anything.

IPoker, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

BB: $25.49 (51 bb)
UTG: $75.82 (151.6 bb)
MP: $29.93 (59.9 bb)
CO: $50 (100 bb)
Hero (BTN): $61.20 (122.4 bb)
SB: $50 (100 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with A A
2 folds, CO raises to $1.25, Hero raises to $4, 2 folds, CO calls $2.75

Flop: ($8.75) 4 K T (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $5, CO raises to $17, Hero raises to $57.20 and is all-in, CO calls $29 and is all-in

Turn: ($100.75) A (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: ($100.75) T (2 players, 2 are all-in)

Results: $100.75 pot ($3 rake)
Final Board: 4 K T A T
CO showed Q A and lost (-$50 net)
Hero mucked A A and won $97.75 ($47.75 net)

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This was v. a 21/19 reg who barrels 73/62/58. I flop a set, don't want to c-raise, cuz' relatively dry board, he barrels the turn so often, and I get the samish amount of money from OP's anyway (I think it's likely he folds the river if I c-raise and barrel 3 streets on a dry board, but he will bet them 3 streets given a blankish runout). Turn brings the ace which is great - he will valuebet it or represent it. So no reason to raise the turn either. River is a Q, and had he bet big, I would have just called. However vs. a half pot bet I feel like I have to shove and hope he thinks I'm turning something into a bluff. He had AQ, and obviously a lucky runout for me - however his AQ is pretty much the same hand as any Qx here, since I'm never raising worse for value (Qx cuz he can't call with Khigh or 8x, cuz I might turn something better into a bluff). Not sure if I like his betsize, it would be great with AA, QQ or JT, but now I kinda can play perfectly vs. it.

IPoker, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

BB: $54.27 (108.5 bb)
UTG: $54.26 (108.5 bb)
MP: $60.07 (120.1 bb)
CO: $27.80 (55.6 bb)
BTN: $50 (100 bb)
Hero (SB): $50.50 (101 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8 8
UTG folds, MP raises to $1.50, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.25, BB folds

Flop: ($3.50) 4 9 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $2.75, Hero calls $2.75

Turn: ($9) A (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $6, Hero calls $6

River: ($21) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $10, Hero raises to $40.25 and is all-in, MP calls $30.25

Results: $101.50 pot ($3 rake)
Final Board: 4 9 8 A Q
MP showed Q A and lost (-$50.50 net)
Hero mucked 8 8 and won $98.50 ($48 net)

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Have no idea what's happening here. First he bets big 4way, and then pots the turn. Okay, if he has a FD on flop, it kinda makes sense to bet so big that everything worse than Jx folds. But why is he potting the turn? Makes absolutely no sense. If he has 77 (why the big flop bet), why would he want to make Jx or flushes herofold? Only hands I could think of was a small flush betting big for protection, or Jx that didn't want to get shoved on and bets big so it's easier to bet-fold. Was thinking about shoving to make him fold those. Well, didn't do it, and made the nitty yet IMO correct fold. I actually think he saved me a lot of money with his "I beat weak Jx!" -betsizes. Or then he really owned me.

IPoker, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

BB: $53.86 (107.7 bb)
UTG: $50 (100 bb)
MP: $68.58 (137.2 bb)
CO: $50.84 (101.7 bb)
BTN: $59.40 (118.8 bb)
Hero (SB): $59.22 (118.4 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with J K
UTG folds, MP raises to $1.50, CO folds, BTN calls $1.50, Hero calls $1.25, BB calls $1

Flop: ($6) 7 J J (4 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, MP bets $4.80, BTN folds, Hero calls $4.80, BB folds

Turn: ($15.60) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $15, Hero folds

Results: $15.60 pot ($0.78 rake)
Final Board: 7 J J 2
MP mucked and won $14.82 ($8.52 net)
Hero mucked J K and lost (-$6.30 net)

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Well I'll watch Star Trek Into Darkness as a way to cool off, and then zzzzzzzzzzzz.

1st hand, I would also just go and shove that flop after $17 raise..
2nd hand is wp no need to raise the flop vs that aggressive guy; really nice turn and river cards btw :)..
3rd hand, I guess you would raise any non- spade turn- that was the plan? Yeah he puts you in pretty hard spot OTT, I guess cry fold is the best option..

Great blog, subscribed! I enjoyed the highstakes hands that you linked! Good analyzis about them. On the hand where Durrrr bluffs huge in that family pot I dont think he is repping much as I doubt he would raise a set of tens there, just calling with a set seems so much better. That being said I dont like the play by eastgate folding the turn If he thinks Dwan has him beat. Maybe he was more worried about greensteins hand putting him on TT, as he overplayed the aces on the flop?

Thanks! Where do you live Veini, you seem to be Finnish too..?

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Haven't played at all, since my hockey team had an end of the season party last saturday and was hungover till monday evening. I also got a pink eye somehow, and an MRI scan showed that I have a torn meniscus in my knee. So now I walk like a cripple and can't keep my eyes open in a bright light. Have been almost three days in my apartment watching movies with sunglasses on and the curtains tightly shut. Livin' the life. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be ableto play at least a little, having some serious withdrawal symptoms already.