[Closed] Smileyphils SSS Adventure

11th February,
Session 1:
687 Hands
-$161.75

Fairly awful session, 8BI down. 3BI EV down.

So what do we do when we have a bad session?
Check our play;
Find leaks;
Improve.

I think a good way to improve would be to admit leaks so here are a few I thought about while I was playing and need to consider:

I should alter my preflop bet sizes to the situation, they are always 3BB + 1BB per limper.
I should alter cbet sizes to the drawy-ness of the flop.
I should consider not making a cbet more often against 1 villain and more often against 2 villains.
I call resteals too loosely (AT, 88 being hands that I find hard to evaluate).
I should work on my second barrels. I feel like I am being bluffed out of hands where I give up after my cbet.

Phil.

Good luck Phil, we might see each other on the tables on Stars 100NL!

11th February,
Session 2:
705 Hands
-$36.75

Slightly better session this time, 2BI down but only 1/2BI EV down.

I have started to consider cbet situations. Here is one where I was unsure and considered not making the cbet.

1) Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.5/$1 No-Limit Hold'em (7 handed)

Known players:
[tg]SB$158.30:///////;BB$21.25:///////;MP1$17.00:///////;MP2$41.75:///////;MP3(Hero)$29.90:///////;CO$8.50:///////;BU$100.00:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 9:d, 9:h.
MP1 calls $1.00, MP2 folds, Hero raises to $4.00, 4 folds, MP1 calls $3.00.

Flop: ($9.5) K:s, 3:h, Q:h (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $6.00, MP1 raises to $13.00(All-In), Hero folds, MP1 gets uncalled bet back.

Final Pot: $15.5.

Initial thoughts in play:
My stack is big because I just won a hand (I am about to leave).
Happy with the preflop play, standard raise against a limper, I have no real reads on him.
This flop hits his range pretty well I would say and I have no clean outs because a 9 completes a potential straight draw.
I think it is likely he will raise or call any draws and I really have low playability against either action. The only real hands he might fold are low pairs which are a small part of his range.

Conclusion:
I should leave the cbet here and try to check it down. I just didn't think fast enough in game to check behind this flop.

Phil.

hi there Smiley.
how many tables do you play?

hi phil nice blog, i think u played that hand ok considering u had no stats on the villan . how are the tables at stars nowadays since there must be a flood of sss players from ftp? is there many sss players on average at the tables?
i still play on FTP with 35bb buyin and im considering moving to stars. Im on a big downswing at ftp since mid december so maybe its time to bail. im losing money on holecards like KK and AKs which is rediculous imho but at least im still making small profit with rakeback.

Pashone:
I tend to play around 9 tables, I have a stack and can play quite a lot without noticing any problems. I find it a bit tricky to open new tables though sometimes because they "block" the existing tables.

Ishindar:
I'm struggling to find when to leave the cbet and not. Which stats would you look at in particular and how would you use them in a game situation? Could you give me an example of when to not cbet? I haven't found that the tables at Star have changed too much. I have never really played much at FTP but I imagine a 35bb strategy would require quite a few changes to the strategy.

13th February,
3 Sessions today totalling:
1300 Hands
+$41.45

Didn't play on the 12th because I went to Leeds for a wicked house party. Got home and although I was initally concerned that my late night might affect my play I felt up to playing my best.

The sessions went well.
2BI up although I am not really focusing on the results too much.
4BI up in EV (making my overall EV positive again!). Very nice to see.

Today I am going to make a quick list of things I have improved on recently:
I make good notes on what hands people like to limp with so that I can isolate better.
I am good at making resteals and not tilted when I am called by a better hand because I know the EV is mostly in the fold equity.
I can fold AQ/TT to a 3bet if I think villain is tight and I don't have the necessary pot odds.

It is important to acknowledge when you improve your game so that you are inspired to improve more and to have confidence in your game. I urge you to do the same if you haven't recently. Take a second to consider how you have improved in the last week/month/year.

Phil.

Originally posted by Smileyphil
I'm struggling to find when to leave the cbet and not.

I'd say get to now your opponents.Nowdays I really don't like playing against unknowns.Watching carefully every table makes grinding much easier.I play without stats so observation is everything ♠_evil: