Nothing much to report today. I played my highest volume day so far at around 1700 hands. I maxed out my skills by playing 6 tables at once, I may try and add another 1 or 2 tomorrow just to see how it feels.
I basically played 3 shorter sessions of about 500-600 hands each. Session 1, I crushed. Session 2, I got crushed. Session 3, I got back to about where I was at if I hadn't played session 2. Story of my life...
Daily bankroll picture. Aaaaaand bed. Goodnight.
What a shit week. For someone that is supposed to be off work with a messed up back and not exerting himself, a lot of people seem to think I need to lift/push/pull stuff and drive 6-8 hours a day to do it. All fricken week.
It's all good thought. The weekend is here. A little cleaning tomorrow with some poker thrown in. Sunday brunch at a buddies farm with some shooting of shit thrown in. It really is amazing how much better a $150 mix of 7.62, 12 ga and .22 can make you feel. You get a LOT of boom for $150 with those.
But before all that happens I felt like I should squeeze a second weekday session in for this week. Ran break even for the first 500 hands due to KK into AA and QQ into KK. Think I even had a JJJ vs AAA in there for good measure. Oh well. The last 250 hands went really well (probably to the tune of 250 bb/100 really well) and I ended up 5 or 6 BI's up.
I may come back for a late night session depending on how I feel, but I'm fairly medicated at the moment. It may be fun playing with half a pharmacy of opiates in you, but I'm not sure how profitable it is.
Just a quick update before I head out for brunch and cathartic explosions. The tables wtfpwned me this morning. If I had kings he had aces, if I flopped a straight I'd get raised all-in on the flop and he'd river a flush. It got so bad that I swapped from NL2 over to $1 DoN's. They managed to be slightly better, but I still had some rockstar moments.
IPoker No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 30/60 Blinds (5 handed) - IPoker Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com/
SB (t1,410)
BB (t1,360)
UTG (t1,850)
MP (t2,613)
Hero (Button) (t1,767)
Hero's M: 19.63
Preflop: Hero is Button with A
, 6
2 folds, Hero raises t150, 1 fold, BB calls t90
Flop: (t330) 3, 8, Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks
Turn: (t330) 5
(2 players)
BB bets t231, Hero raises t462, BB raises t979 (All-In), Hero calls t748
River: (t2,750) 3
(2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: t2,750
Results below:
Hero had A, 6 (flush, Ace high).
BB had Q, 3
(full house, threes over Queens).
Outcome: BB won t2,750
Followed 5 hands later by:
IPoker No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 50/100 Blinds (6 handed) - IPoker Converter Tool from http://flopturnriver.com/
Hero (MP) (t1,220)
CO (t1,400)
Button (t1,337)
SB (t1,610)
BB (t1,440)
UTG (t1,993)
Hero's M: 8.13
Preflop: Hero is MP with J, A
1 fold, Hero raises t250, 1 fold, Button calls t250, 2 folds
Flop: (t650) A, 9, 4 (2 players)
Hero bets t390, Button calls t390
Turn: (t1,430) K (2 players)
Hero bets t580 (All-In), Button calls t580
River: (t2,590) K (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: t2,590
Results below:
Button had K, J (three of a kind, Kings).
Hero had J, A (two pair, Aces and Kings).
Outcome: Button won t2,590
I realize that there was the possibility on the AJ hand that I was crushed from the flop, but I doubted it. AQ+ is going to re-raise from the button to a 2.5x raise. It's possible that he's sitting on A9, but unlikely. A4? No. More likely he has a 9 in his hand or a weak ace. The K comes up and K9 is well within his button call range, but in for a penny in for a pound. I still have the best of it most of the time, and I'm laying 3:1, 4:1 if he calls.
Not bad if I do say so myself. Considering I got my dick smashed for nearly 1,000 hands.
On a separate note; WTF rake? The DoN's are evil! 65.2% ITM (not bad if you factor in suckouts and card dead tourneys, at least for me at this point of my pokering). $2.98 in winnings, $2.67 in rake. Dude.
Nice work and nice progress, $100 will be here in no time if you continue like this,
Best of luck,
Fran
Thanks for the thumbs up Frankie. It's coming along nicely I think, if I could just get the dedication and time together to sit down for a week solid I think I could grind this thing out. If I could do the same until the end of the month, who knows where I'd be.
I played a bunch more of the $1 DoN's again today. Not a whole lot of volume, but 30 or so. The rake is just brutal with them, but they are sooooooooo soft you almost can't help make money.
I tried out a $2 DoN for sport, and there was me and another player with a VPIP in double digits. Needless to say that was an easy win. I know I can't judge by 1, but I think I'm going to maybe mix 1 of the $2's in with 5 of the $1 and see where that leads. At $60 I might just switch totally to the $2 if they are beatable at the same 75%+ I've been playing at.
PS. I adjusted my game to the DoN 4 or 6 up format and gaining the extra 10% in win rate was as easy as not playing like I was at a cash table. I caught myself about to fold QQ to a light 4 bet in a 4 up game. After a head shake I called down his JJ. Minor adjustments make all the difference.
Also I know everyone harps on it, but here's another voice for anyone grinding out the lower stakes... watch the effective stack sizes. You can literally almost know beforehand what is going to happen 80% of the time just by basic HUD stats and stack sizes. At least at these stakes.
And a couple hands for giggles.
IPoker No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 10/20 Blinds (6 handed) - IPoker Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com
MP (t1,500)
Hero (CO) (t1,490)
Button (t1,665)
SB (t1,480)
BB (t1,530)
UTG (t1,335)
Hero's M: 49.67
Preflop: Hero is CO with 7, 8
UTG raises t70, MP calls t70, Hero calls t70, 3 folds
Flop: (t240) 9, 6, 5 (3 players)
UTG bets t90, MP raises t180, Hero raises t609, UTG raises t1,175 (All-In), 1 fold, Hero calls t656
Turn: (t2,950) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)
River: (t2,950) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: t2,950
Results below:
UTG had 7, 7 (full house, sevens over fives).
Hero had 7, 8 (straight, nine high).
Outcome: UTG won t2,950
And with this one, I got called every name in the book. He was explaining odds to me. Telling me I don't understand anything about poker. How I shouldn't have called(?). He didn't accept my argument that if he wasn't a 65/6 fish that limped the button, he wouldn't have lost. But what do I know, he's obviously a poker pro.
IPoker No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 10/20 Blinds (6 handed) - IPoker Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com/
Button (t1,260)
SB (t1,970)
Hero (BB) (t1,270)
UTG (t1,470)
MP (t1,760)
CO (t1,270)
Hero's M: 42.33
Preflop: Hero is BB with 4, Q
2 folds, CO calls t20, Button calls t20, SB calls t10, Hero checks
Flop: (t80) Q, J, 6 (4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t48, CO calls t48, Button calls t48, 1 fold
Turn: (t224) Q (3 players)
Hero bets t135, CO calls t135, Button calls t135
River: (t629) 10 (3 players)
Hero bets t378, 1 fold, Button calls t378
Total pot: t1,385
Results below:
Button had J, A (two pair, Queens and Jacks).
Hero had 4, Q (three of a kind, Queens).
Outcome: Hero won t1,385
Yeah the rake is a killer in dons, but they are pretty soft down there, I also tried out up to 5€ Or something bi's and remember how bad player pool was; without basic ICM knowledge..
I shouldn't have said anything.
IPoker No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 50/100 Blinds (6 handed) - IPoker Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com
UTG (t1,410)
MP (t1,510)
CO (t2,050)
Button (t1,140)
SB (t880)
Hero (BB) (t2,010)
Hero's M: 13.40
Preflop: Hero is BB with J, J
1 fold, MP raises t231, 2 folds, SB calls t181, Hero raises t1,910 (All-In), 1 fold, SB calls t649 (All-In)
Flop: (t1,991) Q, Q, 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)
Turn: (t1,991) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)
River: (t1,991) 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)
Total pot: t1,991
Results below:
SB had J, 9 (full house, nines over Queens).
Hero had J, J (two pair, Queens and Jacks).
Outcome: SB won t1,991
IPoker No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 20/40 Blinds (6 handed) - IPoker Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com
BB (t1,460)
UTG (t1,580)
MP (t530)
CO (t2,450)
Button (t1,470)
Hero (SB) (t1,510)
Hero's M: 25.17
Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, Q
UTG calls t40, 3 folds, Hero raises t180, 1 fold, UTG calls t160
Flop: (t440) 6, 5, 9 (2 players)
Hero bets t308, UTG raises t680, Hero raises t1,002 (All-In), UTG calls t630
Turn: (t3,060) 6 (2 players, 1 all-in)
River: (t3,060) A (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: t3,060
Results below:
Hero had Q, Q (two pair, Queens and sixes).
UTG had A, 6 (full house, sixes over Aces).
Outcome: UTG won t3,060
IPoker No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 10/20 Blinds (5 handed) - IPoker Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com
Button (t3,730)
Hero (SB) (t1,440)
BB (t1,510)
UTG (t980)
MP (t1,340)
Hero's M: 48.00
Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, K
2 folds, MP raises t100, Button calls t100, Hero calls t80
Flop: (t300) Q, 7, K (3 players)
Hero checks, MP bets t140, 1 fold, Hero raises t432, MP calls t292
Turn: (t1,164) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets t815, MP calls t808 (All-In)
River: (t2,780) A (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: t2,780
Results below:
Hero had Q, K (two pair, Kings and Queens).
MP had K, A (two pair, Aces and Kings).
Outcome: MP won t2,780
There goes about $5 CAD of the bankroll. Not a bad way of losing 25% of the tournaments you've played today.
Back to the grind I guess.
Today has picked up where yesterday left off. 85/50 maniacs shoving with barely double digit equity preflop and hitting.
IPoker No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 75/150 Blinds (4 handed) - IPoker Converter Tool from http://flopturnriver.com
UTG (t874)
Button (t1,674)
SB (t2,524)
Hero (BB) (t3,928)
Hero's M: 17.46
Preflop: Hero is BB with K, K
UTG raises t300, 2 folds, Hero raises t750, UTG calls t574 (All-In)
Flop: (t1,823) J, 6, 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)
Turn: (t1,823) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)
River: (t1,823) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: t1,823
Results below:
Hero had K, K (two pair, Kings and fives).
UTG had 8, K (flush, King high).
Outcome: UTG won t1,823
Oh well, I'm not letting it get to me. In fact I decided that I would have to switch gears and find a game better than I've been playing. I've been on the study, watching a bunch of videos for session reviews. So far it's been fairly hit or miss in its' application, but I'm putting that more on the stakes than anything.
Much like the hand I just posted, there's nothing I can do about it. If I'm sitting with middle pair and buddy just won't fold out his K high and binks the river, what can I do? Nada. I read and played it properly.
Case in point. What are the thoughts on this?
IPoker No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 20/40 Blinds (5 handed) - IPoker Converter Tool from http://poker-tools.flopturnriver.com/Hand-Converter.php
UTG (t1,770)
MP (t1,100)
Hero (Button) (t1,790)
SB (t1,330)
BB (t3,010)
Hero's M: 29.83
Preflop: Hero is Button with 10, 10
UTG calls t40, 1 fold, Hero raises t120, 2 folds, UTG calls t80
Flop: (t300) 8, K, 9 (2 players)
UTG bets t40, Hero calls t40
Turn: (t380) K (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets t200, UTG calls t200
River: (t780) 2 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks
Total pot: t780
Results below:
Hero had 10, 10 (two pair, Kings and tens).
UTG had Q, K (three of a kind, Kings).
Outcome: UTG won t780
Preface: I'm not happy with the pfr amount. I would have like to see another 25-40 in there. On the flop I figured everything hit his range, so just calling the min bet wasn't horrible as that is either going to be a draw, KK or air almost all the time. K comes on the turn and I almost totally discount KK or any K from his range, so I bet out a bit. I'm happy with the amount as if he's sitting on 89 (or the K as he was) I get a chance to see a river cheapish, have a chance to win from a fold and make him pay to see his draws.
When the river bricks and he checks again my spidey sense goes off. 8 or 9 is going to bet I think. I'm pretty sure that a decent ace is even going to bet here. So I check behind. I figure at this point I'm either not getting called or crushed.
My goal today is to play 100 DoN's. I'm at 30 right now, so it's going fair. If I drop below $25 I'll go back to grinding NL2 I think, but even after the shitty beats I'm still fairly happy with my play so far.
Couple poor choices, but it happens. AQs into AKo isn't the worst mistake I ever made. Or calling a donk 3bet shove from a maniac with AK (he had 44 btw). I can live with myself on those.
It hasn't let up. Hand after hand of this:
IPoker No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 75/150 Blinds (4 handed) - IPoker Converter Tool from http://flopturnriver.com
SB (t2,225)
BB (t2,044)
UTG (t2,635)
Hero (MP) (t2,096)
Hero's M: 9.32
Preflop: Hero is MP with 9, K
Hero raises t375, 1 fold, BB calls t300, 1 fold
Flop: (t900) 3, 9, 4 (2 players)
BB bets t1,669 (All-In), Hero calls t1,669
Turn: (t4,238) 6 (2 players, 1 all-in)
River: (t4,238) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: t4,238
Results below:
BB had 5, A (flush, Ace high).
Hero had 9, K (flush, King high).
Outcome: BB won t4,238
What else can I do but call, expecting to be good? It is getting painful being breakeven due to this. Can't gain any fricken traction at all.
Well it's been a couple days, and it was pretty much horrible. I couldn't buy a win. AA vs 78o AI pre-flop. Of course the flop is 883 and an ace doesn't come up.
There were a couple times I seriously considered just giving up and walking away as the BR dipped to below $10. I'll admit that I tilted some of it off, but I seriously can't take a VPIP of 50%+ seriously when he's raising the button and I'm holding AQs. Of course he had aces or AK almost every time. Oh well.
Time to rededicate myself. I think some of the video study I was doing wasn't beneficial to my game as it was geared towards much higher stakes. The plays that are solid there just aren't going to work on NL2 or $1 SnG's as the players are just not able to read into your bet/sizing/board texture. Semi bluffs hardly work, and unless you hit, you're just going to be out the investment.
I would say that I've decided to tighten up (and I have a bit), but more to the point I've just decided to take the free money via ramped up aggression at any available spot. BB is folding a min raise from SB more than 50% of the time, so I'll take that thank you. Limpers gonna limp? Have some raise and reraise.
I'll post some pictures and graphs when they aren't so embarrassing. Ciao for now.
PS I got Bronze VIP on 770. I guess Silver is within reach if I can reassert myself and get back on track.
And I think I might actually be on track to reach Gold status here at PokerStrategy. That would make me happy.
So if you take the profit from the graph and subtract that from the current bankroll, you'll see just how bad it got and how close I came to failing/having to start over.
Glad that didn't happen.
So I'm back below $10. I won't bother posting hands or graphs and such.
How do you guys manage to keep at it when it is just bad beat after bad beat? I swear I'm maybe maybe 50-50 on turns where I'm 85%+. I understand it is part of the game and stuff happens, but cmon. I'm not a massive crusher. I can beat the game pretty easily and maintain a winrate in low double digit bb/100...provided I'm not sucked out on every big hand.
Ok I lied. Here's a couple hands that tilted me. I lost a bit after these to minor tilt, but it was just calling the turn type stuff. I had a hand to be there, I just should have folded it before the river.
IPoker No-Limit Hold'em, €0.02 BB (6 handed) - IPoker Converter Tool from http://poker-tools.flopturnriver.com/Hand-Converter.php
MP (€1.46)
Hero (CO) (€3)
Button (€0.47)
SB (€1.38)
BB (€1)
UTG (€1.30)
Preflop: Hero is CO with A, K
1 fold, MP (poster) checks, Hero raises €0.08, Button raises €0.39, 3 folds, Hero raises €0.62, Button calls €0.08 (All-In)
Flop: (€0.99) 5, 7, Q (2 players, 1 all-in)
Turn: (€0.99) K (2 players, 1 all-in)
River: (€0.99) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: €0.99
Results below:
Button had Q, A (three of a kind, Queens).
Hero had A, K (two pair, Kings and Queens).
Outcome: Button won €0.93]
IPoker No-Limit Hold'em, €0.02 BB (2 handed) - IPoker Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com/
BB (€0.87)
Hero (SB) (€2.74)
Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K
Hero raises €0.05, BB calls €0.04
Flop: (€0.12) 2, J, A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets €0.07, BB raises €0.14, Hero calls €0.07
Turn: (€0.40) K (2 players)
BB bets €0.20, Hero raises €1.30, BB calls €0.47 (All-In)
River: (€1.74) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: €1.74
Results below:
Hero had K, K (three of a kind, Kings).
BB had K, 10 (straight, Ace high).
Outcome: BB won €1.63
Well, there is no way to avoid variance 
But, if your play is +EV you should be fine long term, which is exactly why we need to implement the right bankroll management.
Best of luck and don't give up :),
Fran
Needless to say, I went busto. Playing under 20 BI's is rough. I'm trying to get back in the game, but it isn't treating me nicely.
I also might have reached the limit of the 9up freeroll SnG's? Keeps telling me something about restrictions. Oh well, I'll try something else.
Played a few freerolls on FTP. More of the same garbage. 2 and 3 outers to end my tournament life. I guess I just have to keep trying to get the chips in good. Hard to stay positive though when you get this:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 60/120 Blinds (9 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from http://poker-tools.flopturnriver.com/Hand-Converter.php
MP3 (t975)
CO (t705)
Button (t1,295)
Hero (SB) (t2,230)
BB (t2,630)
UTG (t945)
UTG+1 (t5,340)
MP1 (t1,015)
MP2 (t3,760)
Hero's M: 12.39
Preflop: Hero is SB with J, 2
7 folds, Hero calls t60, BB checks
Flop: (t240) 2, 2, 7 (2 players)
Hero bets t120, BB raises t735, Hero raises t1,975, BB calls t1,360
Turn: (t4,430) 7 (2 players)
River: (t4,430) 6 (2 players)
Total pot: t4,430
Results below:
Hero had J, 2 (full house, twos over sevens).
BB had 7, K (full house, sevens over twos).
Outcome: BB won t4,565
Or after several hours of play and being short stacked from a bad run out you get the ever popular KK vs Ax with the A on the flop...
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 500/1,000 Blinds (9 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from http://poker-tools.flopturnriver.com/Hand-Converter.php
Button (t35,827)
SB (t16,229)
BB (t64,866)
UTG (t18,175)
UTG+1 (t22,922)
Hero (MP1) (t4,308)
MP2 (t25,801)
MP3 (t10,781)
CO (t15,405)
Hero's M: 2.87
Preflop: Hero is MP1 with K, K
1 fold, UTG+1 raises t3,000, Hero raises t4,183, 5 folds, BB calls t3,183, UTG+1 calls t1,183
Flop: (t13,049) A, 3, 6 (3 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 bets t1,000, BB calls t1,000
Turn: (t15,049) J (3 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 bets t1,000, BB raises t59,558, 1 fold
River: (t17,049) 8 (2 players)
Total pot: t17,049
Results below:
BB had A, 4 (one pair, Aces).
Hero had K, K (one pair, Kings).
Outcome: BB won t18,174
Now this one wasn't my hand, but I felt the pain for the guy with the aces. This garbage was happening all day. The calls and run outs were absurd in alot of cases.
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 120/240 Blinds 25 Ante (8 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from http://flopturnriver.com/
BB (t660)
Hero (UTG) (t7,788)
UTG+1 (t2,745)
MP1 (t1,610)
MP2 (t550)
CO (t660)
Button (t10,925)
SB (t6,511)
Hero's M: 13.91
Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, 6
2 folds, UTG+1 calls t240, MP1 raises to t1,585 (All-In), 1 fold, CO calls t635 (All-In), 2 folds, UTG+1 calls t1,345
Flop: (t4,245) 6, 3, 5 (3 players, 2 all-in)
Turn: (t4,245) 10 (3 players, 2 all-in)
River: (t4,245) A (3 players, 2 all-in)
Total pot: t4,245
Results below:
UTG+1 had A, A (three of a kind, Aces).
MP1 had Q, K (high card, Ace).
CO had 4, 7 (straight, seven high).
Outcome: UTG+1 won t1,900, CO won t2,345
Just a quick update. Nothing much to report.
I still am getting a message that says the 9max 0.05 SnG's are restricted. Guess you might only be able to play a certain amount? I'm sure if that's the case then I hit that amount. I was pretty much 15+ tabling them at one point like a robot.
Entered the PokerStrategy freeroll yesterday. Got ITM with a decent stack, then had to sit out to go and get my daughter from school. Came back to being blinded out in 40something? Anyways thanks for the 36 cents, I'll put it to good use.
I'll update again when I can get myself settled with some sort of playable stack.
Laters.
Wow, it doesn't seem like it's been since May that I've updated this.
What has happened in the last couple months:
- I was unable to get any traction at all on the challenge throughout May
- June 6 I went for back surgery, spending a week in hospital and another month not being able to sit for anything but short stretches.
- For giggles I loaded up Unibet and played a few freerolls (see item #1 and it pissing me off)
Still can't sit and play for huge amounts of time, but I can manage a small MTT. As of tonight I'm at around $95 CAD after exchange. Guess I just needed a change of scenery.
I'll post some pictures and junk later. Really wish that Unibet allowed tracking software because some of the graphs would be sick (I quintupled up a cash table tonight in less than 20 minutes), and my SNG and MTT RoI would be through the roof with the freeroll wins and challenge freebies.
Oh well.
Still makes for some fun.
Hey that back operation doesn't sound very nice for grinding poker on a pc, are you sure you're up to it? I suspect it helps to have something to concentrate on though.
I do think it's nice you got a bit of a roll going again though and nice to have you back blogging again.
Looking forward to seeing '...some pictures and junk...' ♠_love:
Best regards and take it easy,
Mal.
Picture and junk!
So that's totally free money. I'm happy. Going to keep on going on Unibet for at least this month and see where it takes me. Basically I'm looking to be back at work by September and don't feel like moving. ♦
I have played a few hands here and there on 770, and am up to about 1.5 BI's at NL2 ...
Joy.
Essentially I'm logging in during the wee hours of the morning when they have their cash freerolls and late reg'ing 2-3 of them. I usually min cash. I'll get a couple in a row again and find a few hands on a cash table after that at some point I guess.
Still wishing I could export hand history from Unibet, but oh well.
PS. The August challenge is lame. Get dealt pocket aces 15 times for a BI ticket of the stakes you are playing? Bleh.
