Love & Hate Poker

Weekend was fucked, had issues getting my girlfriend out of my place (well it wouldn't be that hard to kick her out, but I want to keep her for at least little bit longer, you know what I mean...). So pretty disappointed with both my performance and volume. I also do not enjoy this limit overall anymore, but I committed to some volume on each limit so yep. Probably gonna be my last week at nl50 (if I won't screw up big, as playing 78o in nonsense spots but then again I have troubles folding pre, just can't do it xD)

also one thing... Dear zBender, I do not mean to be rude, but I keep up my "duties" without any reminders and I also have no idea why they show up at 4pm Sunday, every other week?
What is the "idea" behind? Some of us have grind schedule from wednesday till sunday, so...

Originally posted by Lat3ralus
Yes, that's me.

Then I know who you are hah funny world, I was his student before company even existed (alongside with one of nowadays famous tourney players and Steven (Iamachamp), I still jumped into the community here and there during your time so I remember your progress, good job )

Slowly but surely climbing... For monday not bad

GL at the tables

Hello, yesterday I chose to have day off, was very nice weather so decided to take my girlfriend for bike trip. Sadly we managed only half of the desired route since she was already mad - we went for mountain biking and she really hated uphill part so ye, not best planning on my side. I did enjoy it very much tho
Today came back to the tables, had decent day results wise, finally it felt like winning some money:

Few hands from today

1. interesting... Love these expensive bluffs

2. how?

3. the fuck was this?!! Even fish must see, right? Oh I know! He did not have 4 color deck and thought he made a flush Otherwise I have no explanation for this...

Also managed to have coaching session session with student and it went... Well, lets just say I really love being told by nl5 (close to nl10 finally) player that "I only win because at GG people cannot see my stats". I mean, when I am giving advice, especially for free, to the player few limits bellow me and I am being told something like this, it kind of... hurts? I dont know what the emotion is here really. I do advice my student to play only the way I am/was playing, I shared my blueprint and I really hold nothing back, but I almost felt like I needed to defend myself, but honestly did not know how.
So first of all I would like to say that I am not mad or anything, it might be frustrating to have series of unlucky hands and knowing you would play differently than I advised so I understand frustration. At the same time, if you look at my results, I had 10 Bis swings on baby stakes almost on daily basis, heck I had couple of 20 BIs swings, at nl10. As a result I completely demolished the limit so rly, donnow what else can I say.
But I was thinking and as a result I made decision to take money out of GG and move my roll over Stars (that is where Patrick is playing) and see how games are over there. I do believe Stars will have tougher games, because GG felt like full of fish.
And since my roll allows that I will jump into the nl100 pool, I mean I am almost rolled for nl200, I just wanted to play at least 50k hands per limit but at the end of the day who gives a shit...
I do not know how long will GG take to send me my money but I assume it will not happen till tomorrow so I will throw in nl50 report tomorrow and consider limit beaten.

GL at the tables and wish me luck on another network

Looking forward to NL100 updates! Very interesting! Maybe hold hands while riding bicycles? But there could be too many cars for that in your country, I don't know. Best of luck! I myself avoid Stars and GG, they are known to be very reg-infested.

So pbb because you coach for free your advice is taken as unfounded...
I feel frustrated in your place as it seems to me your student does not comprehend what he has atm.

Overall graph:

Few cents to add:
Firstly I would like to say that despite having 8,5/100 winrate, I honestly do believe that higher winrate is achievable. And I mean way way higher one. Although I do not demonstrate it with my results, I must say that firstly I did not table select at all and secondly, well it is still a game and I like to have some fun at the tables. Every fun costs money so yep I certainly did not chose "most +ev" lines, simply because I like to try new stuff out, see how far can I push my opponents and also, if you never try new stuff, you never know

Table selection at GG
There is always like 50+ tables running at this limit and some of them are so good, it is not unusual to spot 55+ VPIP players clicking buttons. I believe that if you target just those games, you can still put in reasonable volume (=having at least 4 tables running) and achieve very good winrate just doing that. But even without table selecting, there is always fish at the table. If there is none, bad regs will do the job for you and just sit out and table breaks. I am not a fan of this practice, but I do not make the rules so not much else to say. I believe that people do this on other networks too, maybe even more severely.

Rake at GG
well I think it is high. I paid 11,8 bb/100 in rake, which I think is almost ridiculous. At the same time, this might be compensation for games being the way they are. I mean even regs are making like 5bb mistakes all over the place, so despite rake being high, games are still very beatable. I also paid this much rake because of the way I like to play, I just hate to fold.

Playstyle at GG
As mentioned above (and multiple times in this blog), I do hate on those 19/15 players a lot. At the same time I honestly believe that rake structure is the reason people play this way. Simply because fishes gonna be fishes and from regs point of view, there is simply no reason to put yourself into those close spots, especially when rake can shift winning spot into losing big spot pretty fast. So despite nit style might be boring for all the participants (and also the player itself), it might just happen to be most +ev playstyle at GG. So there you go "more rake is better" bullshit just forces nitting around in my opinion.

That being said, I was pushing it probably too much for these games:

but I must say I still had fun. If I wasn't winning, then I would've tighten up and table select better. If I would give an advice on how to play in these games, I would say "tight is right". I mean they rake even 3bets preflop and they rake it big, so what is the point really (except having those "fun" spots that people generally hate to face)

I also like to play more aggro style overall, but since games were so fishy I opted for more chill approach and went more showdown bound style. At least at reg tables. I think there is difference between reg tables and rush games, pretty significant one. Overall level of regs at rush is way higher than on regular tables. I mean these stakes (50 reg) felt like nl10 rush (level of regs).
So if you are playing rush at GG and you struggle, I would suggest you to switch to normal tables and enjoy swimming in the sea full of fish. But stay tight, because rake will eat you alive!!!

Some final words might be that despite all the rake insufficiencies I did enjoy the network, it is very friendly and convenient, it has very good software, all the good stuff. I also hope I will perform decently on Stars now, will see how it goes.

Good luck at the tables

So I moved over Stars and that itself was frustrating - firstly had to wait for GG cash out, then depositing on Stars - apparently I didn't play there for too long and some changes have happened, so they allow me to deposit only $1k usd a month. I feel unwell on short roll, I mean it is only 10 BIs...
Then there was "initial setup" and getting used to stuff, since now I am allowed to have hud I will be using Hand2note, best tool out there in my opinion and it is free.
Anyway I started with 2 zoom tables to test out waters and I like it:

Nobody knows who I am so I was getting away with too much shit, so welcome to the game was very nice, took 4 stacks home. Regs think I am fish or what since they have no history with me so they just pay me off too light. I hope this will last looong, it feels rly good
One funny side note is that, I feel I recognize some names from days I used to grind Stars it was years ago but still. Sadly I have no labels from those times but I am sure I know some nicknames...

Originally posted by taavi1337
Maybe hold hands while riding bicycles? But there could be too many cars for that in your country, I don't know.

Ahahaha this one made my day, good one brother I took her to the woods so no cars, just the fact she had to move was the trigger

Originally posted by Fredjen
So pbb because you coach for free your advice is taken as unfounded...

Ye I feel when there is something for free, people just do not value that at all. Lesson learned

Will be back for Sunday grind for sure, GL at the tables

so you won 4 stacks at NL100 ? that's impressive. don't worry about transfers, keep most on Skrill if you need to transfer a lot i guess. congratz on winnings!

Got rekt today

I didn't play best poker, not the worst either. Made some mistakes ofc, some of them really hurt, like this one:

I fucked up big time, I mean, I believe turn is overfolded so that is fine, but because turn is overfolded then river must be give up. I decided to fire because 1. I saw a diamond and I had A diamond and 2. I told myself that he can still fold hand like QJ or some random AT with backdoor that hit turn pair and decided to call turn, or JJ... Just retarded logic, I got what I deserved.

Originally posted by taavi1337
so you won 4 stacks at NL100 ?

Well yeh, obviously... Not today tho

GL at the tables

Originally posted by N3bojsa
So I moved over Stars and that itself was frustrating

Can you clearify the reasoning behind switching from GG Poker to Pokerstars?

Good luck at the new tables! ♠_cool:

Solid grind today, really fucking solid! Missed every draw, couldn't make a hand... You know how it goes when you run like garbage. I feel like people are weak, solid but weak, yet didn't translate it into results. I see way too many missed value bets by my competition, especially on the river, you know those spots where people rather check behind very good hands that ain't nuts... Or not turning weak SD value into bluffs despite having fantastic runouts.
All those spots should pay off for me in the long run, hopefully not too long.

For graph lovers here is mine from today:

Tomorrow I can deposit more $$$ finally, I will do so right away. Not that I have no money to play with, but being short on roll on site makes me uncomfortable.
That's it from me today, already looking forward for tomorrow grind

Originally posted by Timmaywin
Can you clearify the reasoning behind switching from GG Poker to Pokerstars?

Good luck at the new tables! ♠_cool:

Hello and welcome! Thanks, good luck to you too, in regard to your site switch question...

Short answer:
- if you scroll up, you will find the trigger (alongside with other reasons, but maybe I didn't state them all explicitly)

Long answer:

GL at the tables

Hi N3bojsa,

So I am moving up from nl25 rush, hopefully for good.

Very well. I wish you success. I hope you continue in the same spirit. I advise you to review the opponents and their manners. Every limit has its attractions
GL HF!

Originally posted by AlmightyTT
Hi N3bojsa,

So I am moving up from nl25 rush, hopefully for good.

Very well. I wish you success. I hope you continue in the same spirit. I advise you to review the opponents and their manners. Every limit has its attractions
GL HF!

Man that was over a limit ago but thanks for both advice and nice wishes

On Tuesdays, no money in poker, everyone solid:

I deposited another 1k so I feel safer at the tables... The more I deposit the more I win

I am off today, GL at the tables

Hi! I took yesterday off, instead of workout and nice grind I opted for getting big ass cake, rolling couple of... yea and just chill whole day. I just wasn't in a mood really.

In the afternoon I did some backend work, meaning I worked on my HUD. I don't really overcomplicate it and use many stats, but there are few that I like to use.
Overall I feel like stats are overrated, I mean most players play the same way, fishes are fishes not much else to say about them. And those few regs that are capable of stuff, well all know who those players are so there is no real need for "having stats" all the time...
But stuff like BvB open limp feels useful, as some players are using open limp strategy already at nl100, although I am not really sure how good it is, I mean rake still feel little bit too high for that. I might be wrong about this tho. So I just pinned few stats that I like to have to my hud

Results wise I am happy with how things ended, I made some profit despite making few plays that I hate myself for, but I guess that is just poker...

GL at the tables

Hi,
good results.
Would you share your HUD-Stats?
Which Stats do you use?
How many hands are needed to use them?
Which numbers are good, which are bad?
What are the exploits you make?

GL at the tables
Talisker

Originally posted by Talisker74
Hi,
good results.
GL at the tables
Talisker

Hello Talisker, welcome and thanks let me address your questions one by one...

Originally posted by Talisker74
Would you share your HUD-Stats?
Which Stats do you use?
Talisker

I am not gonna share my hud, nor all stats that I am using. But can give you general idea alongside with few tips, how I approach "using hud" (and would suggest you to do the same to actually improve)"

- I see you are playing baby stakes, so you should be using baby stats. Get familiar with most simple ones - VPIP, PFR, some sort of aggression, Cbets and fold to Cbets. That is enough. At your stakes, you will never get good enough sample on opponents, so you just care about most basic stuff.

Is your opponent playing 50% of hands, or is he playing 15% of hands? Is he type of opponent that will always Cbet no matter what? Or is he the guy that plays very passively? You see, you don't really need sample for that, after 20 hands you kinda know, if he played 0 hands in those 20 then he is probably nit and folding a lot... But if he played 12 out of those 20 then chances are he will be playing way too many hands.

Don't just follow stats blindly or wait for "good sample", but rather look for connections, try to read between the lines. Try to connect showdowns with stats that you have on players. To give you few examples:
If your opponent very passive (low VPIP, low PFR, low aggression overall) and gets aggressive, then what does it mean? Well, he has good hand. If such a player is check raising you, you don't need to know his check raise frequency. He is overall passive, so he will be passive in this node as well (extremely likely).
Passive players are passive in all nodes of the game tree, aggressive players are aggrr in all nodes. You rarely see player who is passive everywhere, in all lines, but in one spot (for example river bet), he will be aggressive, that is not how humans think/work. Instead of trying to find stat for each situation, look at overall player profile and you will get correct answer most of the time.

Originally posted by Talisker74
Which numbers are good, which are bad?

All stats are good, it is not stats that are good/bad, it is way you use them. As I said, I am not looking for individual stats but rather try to categorize player profile. Of course, the higher you play, the better your opponents are and strategies they play change.
At your stakes, people make many preflop mistakes (alongside mistakes in all parts of game tree). On higher limits, people play "good" poker preflop, so preflop mistakes barely exist. So it makes little sense to look for preflop mistakes at my stakes, but I try to look for stats that might tell me what strategy they are playing.
Simple example: BvB open limp. At baby stakes, if player has open limp in BvB, it is very likely due to lack of knowledge and he is just playing his hand / is bad. At higher stakes it is more likely that opponent is doing this intentionally an there is thought out strategy behind it. Some players do implement BvB open limp at my stakes as a part of their strategy and I want to know who those guys are. Why? Because if I am in BB and I face steal from player who has open limp range I play my BB differently than I would play vs player who doesn't have open limp range...

Originally posted by Talisker74
What are the exploits you make?

All that I can think of really. If I see possibility to exploit I always take it. Of course I am wrong frequently, but that is part of the game, not all your exploits will work. But I try, learn from my mistakes and next time I try to do better job.

Hope this helps, good luck at the tables!

Hi N3bojsa,

wow thank you for your detailed answer.
I have the approach => first play my standard game
=> second, i try to categorize players in differnt player types and try to expploit them due their overall play stay
=> third, i try to exploit them due to their personal stats

I wrote down the player types and stats i use in my blog.
I my upswing continus i will be able to move up to the next limit during this month...
but lets see how it will go in.

GL at the tables
Talisker

Hello Friday, how are you doing? Decent day, not gonna lie

I am off for today, going to the theatre with my GF...

Originally posted by Talisker74
I have the approach => first play my standard game
=> second, i try to categorize players in differnt player types and try to expploit them due their overall play stay
=> third, i try to exploit them due to their personal stats

Hi, your approach sounds reasonable, but again, don't overvalue stats. They can provide you with lots of information, but there is also lots of information at the table, if you pay attention. People have timing tells, some players play too many tables and so on... If you pay attention, you really don't need stats that much...

GL at the tables

Solid results, good to see someone crushing NL100 for living