KoningAlbert NL2 / NL5 ZOOM and occasional MTTs

I've been playing quite alright the last few days. I've adapted my play, have been more patient and have been picking out better spots to take a stab at the pot, bluffing.

Yesterday though, I had a few moments in which I relapsed into old habits costing me some money again.
I want to keep myself accountable for those mistakes. So take a look at my bad plays.

Hello !

nice blog ! :f_drink::f_drink::f_drink:

i will keep an eye on it

Originally posted by aafrancis
Hello !

nice blog ! :f_drink::f_drink::f_drink:

i will keep an eye on it
Thanks, I've just noticed you are also trying to work your way up. I'll definitely follow your progress...

I've just had a long session (at least for me it is was). I played about a 1100 hands of zoom poker.
Eventually I ended up break-even.

I really feel there were some tough spots. I really had the impression people were playing quite well, trying to bluff on hands.
This also made me wonder if I am not laying down some hands too easily.

Underneath a few interesting hands.

Aside from all this, I ended 4th in a unibet tournament for about 20$

BR stars: 78$
BR unibet: 144$

Winning money takes a long time, losing happens in the blink of an eye.

This is so true...

There is a saying, "You can't win if you fold" -- this is so true.
Also true, but less commonly said is: "You don't lose much if you fold"

This also

Winning money takes a long time, losing happens in the blink of an eye.

This is so true...

There is a saying, "You can't win if you fold" -- this is so true.
Also true, but less commonly said is: "You don't lose much if you fold"

This also

That first hand man, I think a piece of me dies every time this happens...
I mean once the BB and UTG call you are coming along anyways, and you hit the hand you want and the flop is dry and you only lose to JJ. I hope you said "nice hand" just to make the BB feel shit.

Hand 2
What range is he putting you on to bet that flop and turn this big? I think calling the turn is okay, I don't like raising, especially with how big he is betting. This is what I think your calling range looks like to him - A6s A7s 76s 78s 86s 89s 79s 45s 57s 65s 22 33 44 55 66 77 -> how do you play 88 > TT? you 3 betting these vs his UTG open? Maybe I'm looking at it wrong, but I call the turn and maybe check folding river to a bet.
If he shows up with 85s or T8s here I can understand, I open lighter UTG (calling lighter as well) if I am 200bbs deep with 1 or more players at the table. I'm hoping he has TT -> AA, but I don't think he does.

Hand 3
Check call river or check fold. He limp called pre, its normally suited cards or a high card and a low card suited or un suited.
You basically potted the turn and he called, he does have some floats Kx Qx Jx Tx but the hands that you lose to 99 96 46 56 67 68 69 A6s Q6s K6s and flushs Q, K, A, T, and then one straight QT.

Hand 4
I can't believe you shipped the river and I can't believe he called. If he is that aggro on a Ah flop I expect him to 3bet a good A pre, a Q would most likely call your bet, maybeeeee a set of 22 would cause players panic when they see 2 cards to a FD, I honestly expect him to have more pocket pairs here, its a sickness people set mining in 3bet pots. Why do you shove? For value or bluff to try and fold a Q? WTF does he think you show up with JT? FML where was this when I played today?

Hand 5
Bet that flop, you more likely to have the A than him especially since you OOP. From my POV when you double check it looks like you got 88 99 TT JJ, not a K, but also when he doesn't bet when you check the flop I don't give him credit for having a A, I'm thinking more FD or small pp on the turn.

Hand 6
The BB shouldn't be betting that flop with a calling station on the button.

These are my thoughts and today everything I thought was wrong, so don't take them to seriously.

GL at the tables.

What range is he putting you on to bet that flop and turn this big? I think calling the turn is okay, I don't like raising, especially with how big he is betting. This is what I think your calling range looks like to him - A6s A7s 76s 78s 86s 89s 79s 45s 57s 65s 22 33 44 55 66 77 -> how do you play 88 > TT? you 3 betting these vs his UTG open? Maybe I'm looking at it wrong, but I call the turn and maybe check folding river to a bet.
If he shows up with 85s or T8s here I can understand, I open lighter UTG (calling lighter as well) if I am 200bbs deep with 1 or more players at the table. I'm hoping he has TT -> AA, but I don't think he does.

In retrospect I didn't play the hand well... There weren't any draws on the board, so he should definitely have some sort of hand. I was putting him on an overpair, I ignored 66 and 77 since I had already some of those cards. I didn't put him on 22 because why would he take such an aggressive line on a board that is this dry... The only hand I thought he could beat me with was 99.
Ofcourse I know I'm beat on the river. He turned over 22.

Check call river or check fold. He limp called pre, its normally suited cards or a high card and a low card suited or un suited.
You basically potted the turn and he called, he does have some floats Kx Qx Jx Tx but the hands that you lose to 99 96 46 56 67 68 69 A6s Q6s K6s and flushs Q, K, A, T, and then one straight QT.

When I posted the hand, I already hinted at the fact I played that hand badly. What could he possibly call those bets with... It was a clear check fold at the river...

I can't believe you shipped the river and I can't believe he called. If he is that aggro on a Ah flop I expect him to 3bet a good A pre, a Q would most likely call your bet, maybeeeee a set of 22 would cause players panic when they see 2 cards to a FD, I honestly expect him to have more pocket pairs here, its a sickness people set mining in 3bet pots. Why do you shove? For value or bluff to try and fold a Q? WTF does he think you show up with JT? FML where was this when I played today?

To be honest this was a misclick. I wanted to fold on the flop. But when he checked on the turn, this looked very unlogical, Why would he check a turn, when he has AA or QQ or AQ... The reason I went all-in is because my perceived range is also very strong. Even if he had KK... can you call that bet on the river? In my mind he can't.
When I reviewed the hand, I really felt his flop play is actually quite interesting. HE should have let the hand go afterwards though.

Bet that flop, you more likely to have the A than him especially since you OOP. From my POV when you double check it looks like you got 88 99 TT JJ, not a K, but also when he doesn't bet when you check the flop I don't give him credit for having a A, I'm thinking more FD or small pp on the turn.

You are right, I should bet that flop, but sometimes I bet the turn instead of the flop to potcontrol, but after some thought, these aren't the hands to do that with.

Hand 6
The BB shouldn't be betting that flop with a calling station on the button.
Haha true, but I believe I had some stats on him. He CBets 100% and his turnbet was 0. I just didn't want to blow up the pot.

Thanks for the feedback! It really makes me think about these hands more thoroughly!

Ok, I actually not feeling very happy with my cashgame play. It feels like I'm not making any progress. Every time I feel I'm doing a good job, I have those annoyingly big losing sessions, that sometimes make me want to stop trying to learn this game.

Especially since I'm doing quite alright when I play MTTSNGs. I don't know what my ROI is exactly, but it has to be quite big, because I don't play those tournaments all that often and I've already won a few and reached the final table several times too.
In the past, over a long stretch of tournaments I had an ROI of about 24% , which I was told is quite good.

Anyway, that is mainly the reason why I hate playing cashgames, It frustrates me I don't have the time to put in some MTT hours, which made me switch to cashgames. I would think that a good player should have a winning session at NL2 every single time (which I clearly can't) and it makes me feel incompetent.

Ah well, summary:
BR stars: 70$
BR unibet: 206$

Originally posted by KoningAlbert
I would think that a good player should have a winning session at NL2 every single time (which I clearly can't) and it makes me feel incompetent.

this reminds me of something. a few years ago, when i was already an established NL50 reg, i launched a few NL10 tables, just to crush some souls.
i ran so fucking bad holy fucking shit, worse than i ran last month ♦ i was annoyed and dragged it for some thousands of hands, it didn't get any better. i didn't ever even have a partial run that bad in higher limits since

Originally posted by Tomaloc

Originally posted by KoningAlbert
I would think that a good player should have a winning session at NL2 every single time (which I clearly can't) and it makes me feel incompetent.

this reminds me of something. a few years ago, when i was already an established NL50 reg, i launched a few NL10 tables, just to crush some souls.
i ran so fucking bad holy fucking shit, worse than i ran last month ♦ i was annoyed and dragged it for some thousands of hands, it didn't get any better. i didn't ever even have a partial run that bad in higher limits since
That is interesting, thanks for sharing it. What is your explanation of it of why it went the way it did?
(You are really lucky that the worst run you ever had, was on such a - from your point of view - low limit.)

Some hands that show you what kind of session I had yesterday.

Some questions though...

Originally posted by KoningAlbert
Some hands that show you what kind of session I had yesterday.

Some questions though...

If you posted each hand in the hand discussion forum, you'll likely get several more detailed reponses.

I'll make a few comments though...

Originally posted by KoningAlbert
Do I bet bigger on the flop?
Do I just c/f from the turn on?
Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is SB with A♦ K♦

Hand #1:
In the A♦:K♦: hand you get a crappy flop, but I like the CBet, since it is equally likely to miss opponent also.
OTT I like firing the second barrel, since opponent pretty much must fold unless they hold a decent-sized club
When the call, it is x/f river, which you did.

Originally posted by KoningAlbert
Is this a fold?
Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is CO with A♥ K♠

Hand #2:
With no reads on opponent, I call. When I was a kid we used to flip coins for dollars -- this was even before $1 coins.
This is no different except for the amount. You would not have asked if you had got a K or an A on the runout.

Originally posted by KoningAlbert
What do you do with these hands... I really find this hard to play.
Do you 4bet preflop?
On the flop, do you donk or maybe c/r?
I was b/f river, is that even a good idea?

Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is UTG with 9♠ 9♦

Hand #3
Agreed. The middle-pocket-pairs are the toughest. Pocket 7s through Ts on a low board are Way-Ahead/Way-Behind hands, and the classic advice there is play for pot control.
So you played it well.
I think the river might be x/f though. bet/fold is a bit optimistic, but there are better hands that could fold, and perhaps even some worse that could call. However I'm 🐔and would tend to x/f this river.

Originally posted by KoningAlbert
Should I have 2nd barrelled?
I know I should have folded on the river, but I was mentally broken because of everything happening earlier on in the session...
Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is UTG with Q♠ Q♥

Hand #4
If you CBet this turn, you need to fold to a raise.
If you're going to fold on later streets, save your chips and fold this turn.
This hand -- and the 99 -- I'm really hoping to see expert opinions on.

It sounds from your comments that somewhere during this session, your mental game slipped a bit.
If that's correct, it might be a good idea to periodically assess your mental game, and end a session early if it starts to slip.

Cheers,
VS

Originally posted by monteCarlol
That is interesting, thanks for sharing it. What is your explanation of it of why it went the way it did?
(You are really lucky that the worst run you ever had, was on such a - from your point of view - low limit.)

big pot negative variance. coolers, big bluffs not going through, didn't stack anyone.
when we are running well or average, we forget that losing a lot through no real fault of your own is a real possibility, even when you crush the games ♦

on the other hand, i don't recall ever having a 20 buy-in downswing in my life (though many came close) - we could say 30, to be safe. i only play in games where i know i have a reasonable edge, that's over a few million hands.

AKs: give it up on the turn and hope that a worse ace checks it down.
AKo limp/jam: for 50bb i call, fold it for 100bb, they have AA KK in range
99: what you need to understand is that it's basically never a value bet on the river. when he doesn't bet the turn, it'll be usually KK-TT and some Ax bluffs pot controlling and complete air that's giving up (and you beat), so either size up to try to bluff KK or just take the loss.
QQ: the card is good for your range, but not so good for your hand. bet turn small like 1/3 and probably check/fold the river on that card, as the most obvious draw (78) got there and you have a spade blocker.
QTs: if villain is maniac, i might throw a check/raise somewhere. against normal limper as played i'm probably folding the river, he has almost all nutted hands in his range
TT: it's fine if they can have 99-22 (and call due to "putting you on AK"), but it's probably better to bet small in order to get value from overcards, and yeah playability will suck. TT will always be thin as pure value as villains will always have JJ and even QQ, i like villain's trap with AA as well
AJs: it's ok. 3-bet preflop is probably better in tougher pools
AKs: i'd donkbet small, preflop aggressor won't cbet a lot (we block his semi-bluff range as well) and might even feel compelled to raise with a vulnerable overpair such as what he had. also, 4-bet preflop would be standard - we don't mind taking BB's dead money

Originally posted by KoningAlbert
Ok, I actually not feeling very happy with my cashgame play. It feels like I'm not making any progress. Every time I feel I'm doing a good job, I have those annoyingly big losing sessions, that sometimes make me want to stop trying to learn this game.

Especially since I'm doing quite alright when I play MTTSNGs. I don't know what my ROI is exactly, but it has to be quite big, because I don't play those tournaments all that often and I've already won a few and reached the final table several times too.
In the past, over a long stretch of tournaments I had an ROI of about 24% , which I was told is quite good.

Anyway, that is mainly the reason why I hate playing cashgames, It frustrates me I don't have the time to put in some MTT hours, which made me switch to cashgames. I would think that a good player should have a winning session at NL2 every single time (which I clearly can't) and it makes me feel incompetent.

Ah well, summary:
BR stars: 70$
BR unibet: 206$

I feel the same sometimes that I can't win, it happens when I am on a down swing and when the down swing is caused by my bad play instead of beats and coolers etc. I built my roll using tournaments and sng and cash and now that I am focusing on cash it feels like I am not making the kind of progress that I did earlier on. I've only got 1 tournament win so far but have had a few final tables and that helped the BR grow. I lost just under a buy in yesterday and am down 6 for the month so far. I also don't have time to play MTT as they start at the times when I am most busy and cash games you can hop in and hop out. My biggest issue is tilt, yesterday I told myself to focus on how I am feeling during my session and stop focusing on my opponents, I have a bunch of rivals since I shit talk my opponents in the chat, I've turned that off completely now to just try and focus on the game and not get myself emotionally involved in the game. The other thing is I feel like I am failing if I decide today I won't play cash and play sng instead, its like I got my ass whipped and am running away. And I can't even look at SNG tables right now as there is one reg that tilts the fuck outa me, so bad but is always winning, you have no idea how much I wanna wipe my ass all over their shit laptop/pc. Shit I am literally titled right now thinking of the asshole.
You know what I can't help you, but hopefully my self inflicted misery makes you feel better.

@Tomaloc @ Vorpal: Thanks for the feedback!

@jiffy: you gave me back some confidence, with your silly peptalk, if you were even trying to

anyway, with that renewed confidence I was ready to crush the tables...
unfortunately, luck was not on my side....

Originally posted by KoningAlbert
@Tomaloc @ Vorpal: Thanks for the feedback!

@jiffy: you gave me back some confidence, with your silly peptalk, if you were even trying to

anyway, with that renewed confidence I was ready to crush the tables...
unfortunately, luck was not on my side....

Shit man, just looking at your graph tells me we have something in common, we are both getting much better at loosing

Originally posted by KoningAlbert
@Tomaloc @ Vorpal: Thanks for the feedback!

@jiffy: you gave me back some confidence, with your silly peptalk, if you were even trying to

anyway, with that renewed confidence I was ready to crush the tables...
unfortunately, luck was not on my side....

1 advice??? Don't see the RESUILT every seasion......not good for mental game

@aafrancis: something I indeed should have done today.

After my bad run, I managed to grind myself up steadily to about 80$ again, so I was feeling quite confident and pleased with myself.

Today, I had a whole day to myself, so I thought this would be a nice day to really get myself into the game... Oh boy, could I've been more wrong....

This should, by far, be the worst session I've ever played in every way possible...

I think you could say, that this was the first time I played on tilt, with disastrous consequences.
It all started with being 3bet all the time. not hitting a decent flop for about 90% of the hands, obviously everyone folding whenever I did hit something. No single draw managed to get there, obviously other people's draws never missed. When I actually managed to struggle myself to a showdown on the river, the river card made my opponent's hand just that tiny bit better than mine.

Ofcourse, I can continue ranting on about how bad things were going, but to be honest I was not running that much below EV. I for one, wasn't playing my best of poker either, mostly because I got to a tilt mode, and second, I should have stoppped earlier on. It was quite clear from the start that this wasn't going to be my day.

Now, when I reviewed my hands, I don't think my tilt was that bad because the hands I lost were not played that badly; I think I was getting carried away with calling to much 3bets, floating a bit too much...

Anyway, I think you'll all understand that this is a perfect cocktail for burning money, ... which I did.

I dropped 11, I repeat... 11 BI on 2NL. And I feel a bit ashamed again that I don't do better.

I hope, that whenever I do hit some flops and some draws in the future, that the pokergods will be distributing all the money to me.