Quarter pro

#4 DON'T PLAY WHEN NOT IN THE MOOD and PLAY IP

I'm a bit tilty atm because I had written quite a long post but of course I deleted it while multitasking before actually posting it. So this time I'll make it shorter.:spit:

After my last post I wasn't able to play for few days. Had some physical work to do around the apartment. Also I didn't mention it until now but we have a 4 month old baby so that's my main focus atm (and energy sucker ).
So after everything was finished and both my girls were sleeping I found some time for myself. I wasn't feeling fresh but I had time to play so I did. Since I'm crushing NL10 that's a piece of cake, right? Well...not really. To make the story short -> opened 2 tables (like usual) -> lost stack in first 5 min (not my favorite start of the session) -> started "outplaying the opponents with tricky play" (wtf is that man, that's a NO NO on micros) -> opened 2 more tables (first time since coming back:why: -> lost 3 more stacks -> finished my session after 30 min with 4 stacks down (I'm proud of myself not to continue in that situation).

So the next day I was refreshed and ready to crush. Easy peasy...well...think again.
I had 2 good tables opened but the only problem was bad players were sitting right behind me on both tables. So cold calling me, hitting like crazy and stacking me. But ok, no big deal. Leave the tables and find profitable ones.

In the last 3 days I've been doing that and we've made some progress. Don't overthink it and just play your usual game.

2 important things to take notes about:

1) Don't play when not refreshed and/or not in the mood
I'm not making a living through poker and it's much more fun and +EV to play when I "want to play" instead of playing when I "must play".

2) POSITION> SKILL
Even fish can outplay you when they have position on you. Make your life easier and find optimal tables where you can have bigger edge vs your opponents.

BR: $287

Originally posted by yaxkukmian
Also I didn't mention it until now but we have a 4 month old baby so that's my main focus atm (and energy sucker ).

Hey!
Congrats on the baby!

Enjoy his -- or her -- every moment!

Cheers,
VS

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

Originally posted by yaxkukmian
Also I didn't mention it until now but we have a 4 month old baby so that's my main focus atm (and energy sucker ).

Hey!
Congrats on the baby!

Enjoy his -- or her -- every moment!

Cheers,
VS

Thanks:f_biggrin:

We're definitely enjoying every moment with her:f_cool:

Congrats on the baby. Expecting one myself in a few months

As for playing refreshed and in the mood. Couldnt agree more! I myself have one approach for this. I often play in the evening, even after midnight after my girl and boy (still in her belly :f_biggrin:) go to sleep. So you can imagine that not every time I am energised. Sometimes I even have to force myself to open the tables. But when I do open them I play for like 15-20 minutes and wait if I get really tired or if get things going. Sometimes it happens that I start to be really interested in the game and focused despite being tired a few minutes ago and then I continue for 1-2 more hours. If I feel that now its not the time, I just close it. Yeah, just to prevent situations when one plays really tired and even biggest drunk fishes have edge over him

Originally posted by Dandiiik
Congrats on the baby.Expecting one myself in a few months Congrats.:appl: Enjoy it and remember to follow rule 80/20. 10% of advices you'll get will help you in 90% cases. And don't freak out from parents with "experience". Look at me already giving you advices:sifflote:

Originally posted by DandiiikAs for playing refreshed and in the mood. Couldnt agree more! I myself have one approach for this. I often play in the evening, even after midnight after my girl and boy (still in her belly :f_biggrin:) go to sleep. So you can imagine that not every time I am energised. Sometimes I even have to force myself to open the tables. But when I do open them I play for like 15-20 minutes and wait if I get really tired or if get things going. Sometimes it happens that I start to be really interested in the game and focused despite being tired a few minutes ago and then I continue for 1-2 more hours. If I feel that now its not the time, I just close it. Yeah, just to prevent situations when one plays really tired and even biggest drunk fishes have edge over him What's interesting is we all feel it when we're not in the zone but it's hard to just sit out. But after nice mileage it gets easier. Good luck with your progress.

#5 NL 25... LET'S DO IT

This month I was playing in average about 60 min per day...so around 30-40h this month. Mostly I was 2 tabling and only this last week I added third table. Most of the time I played without HUD and just color marking opponents. Will do the summary of the month but I must say I'm a bit surprised and of course happy to build the BR in such a short time. I'm aware I might be on a heater so I won't let my guard down and will not jeopardize my BR if things don't go as I want.

The path is the same only steps will be a bit different. Anyone who's battling NL25 at Stars is welcome to share his/hers suggestions and maybe even some warnings regarding this limit comparing to NL10.

Take care of yourself and your close ones.:f_thumbsup:

BR: $306

#6 HOW TO BEAT NL10

I've been playing NL10 for a month or so and at first I was struggling a bit (not playing a hand in 4 years might have some role in it). After realizing few important things I started to play much more comfortably and with more confidence.

So here are my rules on beating NL10:

1) define your PREFLOP RANGE
At this limit you don't need to adjust your preflop range to your opponents. Use Equilab and write down your ranges or even better create visual charts to use them while playing.
Homework -> Open raise range from every position.

2) 3 BET RANGE
No need to be fancy. Use 80-90% value 3B range. Bluff range should be used only versus regs (don't try to bluff bad players). Don't worry about being "too obvious", players at this limit don't think about you.

3) FOLD TO TURN OR RIVER RAISE
Players on NL10 don't make super good reads and put you in tough spot. They hit and they want to get max value. So when you see raise on Turn and shove on the River don't level yourself into calling with TPTK. Even better fold on the Turn.
Exception to this rule are super bad players which love to bluff and make splashy moves. Against them you are allowed to break this rule.

4) OPEN FEWER TABLES
Many players like to open many tables so they can brag to someone else about playing x tables. What's your goal? Getting max rakeback? Playing 10 tables at the time? Or "just" making progress and giving yourself an edge over your opponents?
Since starting of this challenge I've been mainly playing 2 tables. Why? To watch how my opponents play and make notes on them so in the future I will be able to exploit their weaknesses. It's also much more fun since you don't click like a maniac. Thirdly, you have time to think about your play, your opponent's range and how to play on the coming streets.

5) POSITION + TABLE SELECTION
Even if you have big fish on your table you won't be able to take advantage of it if he plays most pots IP. Also if you have too many solid players on the table just sit out.

6) STRAIGHT FORWARD PLAY
Don't overthink it, just play straight forward. No fancy play please because this only brings free cards, less bb and more suckouts. This doesn't mean I recommend only bet bet bet line. Figure out the plan and the stick to it. Just don't be too excited when you hit your hand and give your opponent opportunity to beat your hand through "I'll check here because I have trips, he doesn't have FD".

7) NO SQUEEZE RANGE
You don't need any squeeze range. Just ignore that word. You 3b with your top range and that's it. Reason behind it that bad players will call you and you will find yourself in tricky situations when you shouldn't.

8) CBET
Very important topic. Work on this. More you understand ranges, what you open, what opponents defend, more accurately you will decide. Better understanding brings easier choices and that brings results.

9) STEAL
CO and BTN are the best positions at the table. Widen your range on those positions and play IP.

10) NO HUD???
Yep. Focus should be on your play and not the numbers which you think know and undestand. Those numbers can mean something but only after 2 conditions are met:
a) big enough sample (min 100 hands)
b) understanding and using the stats (seeing the stats is not the same as understanding and definitely not the same as planning the hand on later streets)

11) DON'T CALL 3B
This is one bad habit I got on NL10. Players play 3B pots straight forward and I was able to play many weaker hands profitably. Get a habit of folding or 4B.

Good luck at the tables.

I agree with basically everything regarding your NL10 beating rules. Here are some of my additional thoughts:

1) Defining a default preflop ranges is of course essential. But I would definitely adjust them to my opponents. For instance against a fish you want to 3bet a linear range for value whereas against a reg you might add some bluffs and make it more polarised.
2) Agreed (follow up on the first point). 3) Agreed. 4) Totally agreed. But Pokerstars solved this for me with their 4 table cap
5) Agreed. It might even be good to sitout when there are more than 2 fishy players at the table. You get to too many marginal spots almost every time you play. But I cant force myself to do this
6) Agreed.
7) Partially agreed. I think you dont have to have specified squeeze ranges for every situation but on NL10 you should already be looking for good spots to squeeze even as a bluff. Typical scenario is - you are BB, BU opens, SB calls. Buttons range is extremely wide and he should be overfolding (considering he is not a loose fishy player of course) and you might end up against SB IP or collecting the dead money. Do it with hands with good postflop playability and you have yourself a profitable spot.
8) Totally agreed. Understanding the logic behind Cbetting is crucial at the micros.
9) Agreed.
10) Partially agreed. I think that adding the most basic stats like VPIP and PFR cannot hurt. It helps with putting players into categories and adjusting your play against them. Of course if someone has 20 numbers in their HUD and makes a river decision according to check/raise river stat after 50 hands, that is where you can get into trouble
11) More or less agreed. I have been struggling with this myself. I wouldnt say dont call 3bet at all but just pick only the best spots when you are in position and you have a hand with good playability.

Originally posted by Dandiiik
I agree with basically everything regarding your NL10 beating rules. Here are some of my additional thoughts:

1) Defining a default preflop ranges is of course essential. But I would definitely adjust them to my opponents. For instance against a fish you want to 3bet a linear range for value whereas against a reg you might add some bluffs and make it more polarised.

You need time to understand these different ranges, when and how to apply it. That's the reason I said not to think too much about your opponents. Every player who wants to progress and plays 10k or 20k hands gets the feeling for the limit the play. Only then you can start making adjustments to your opponents and game dynamics.

Originally posted by Dandiiik
7) Partially agreed. I think you dont have to have specified squeeze ranges for every situation but on NL10 you should already be looking for good spots to squeeze even as a bluff. Typical scenario is - you are BB, BU opens, SB calls. Buttons range is extremely wide and he should be overfolding (considering he is not a loose fishy player of course) and you might end up against SB IP or collecting the dead money. Do it with hands with good postflop playability and you have yourself a profitable spot.

Good example and good arguments. What usually happens is people tend to use squeeze too much and when faced with calling they cbet flop and then they shut down without a plan.
My advice for NL10 is not to think about "good spots to squeeze" but rather on other key areas.

Originally posted by Dandiiik10) Partially agreed. I think that adding the most basic stats like VPIP and PFR cannot hurt. It helps with putting players into categories and adjusting your play against them. Of course if someone has 20 numbers in their HUD and makes a river decision according to check/raise river stat after 50 hands, that is where you can get into trouble Ok, will give you that:D Using HUD with up to 8 stats is allowed:f_cool:

Thanks for your input. Good to see you're crushing, just continue:f_thumbsup:

#7 NL25 NOT GOING WELL

I've been playing NL25 for the past 10 days. I just can't find the right groove and feel the game. Of course there are some fishes but comparing to NL10 it's pure reg fest. I've been playing my regular game but I have a feeling regs are abusing me and my play is too obvious. It's kinda frustrating when you're going +2BI and -2BI for the last 5 days. Not moving anywhere and even worse is that feeling that you don't exactly how to adjust.

Few facts that affect my average play:

not getting enough sleep -> I'm only playing after 22h when I'm tired. At the moment there is no possibility to play any other hour. Will have to work on my schedule to find some other playing hour.

not working on my game -> in the last 14 days I didn't find time to analyze even 1 hand + haven't read any poker related topic. Just "play play play" is not good long term solution so if my play is to do this part time I will have to create a better plan (divide it into smaller parts)

no corona no people -> yep, I suspect this is also a big factor. A month ago it was always good time to play while now I see less traffic and much less fishes.

not caring -> "I'll just play for one or two hours"...not so good of a plan. I get it that poker is my hobby atm but that's just wrong attitude.

This post is intended for one reason only - giving myself a slap to start moving again. Not just at poker but on all other areas as well.

BR: $503