[Closed] the transformation of a fish to shark

Sounds like you have the right attitude!
Good luck!

btw it would be a good idea to post hands you have trouble with in the hand evaluation forums

Darkzzz

Thank you Darkz ^^.
I played poker yesterday and I think I had some bad luck, but also made the wrong decisions. I will post some hands.

The bad luck I encountered:
-I had AA ->preflop all in, the other person had AA as well
-AA on the big blind a , nobody called (this is probably common "bad luck")
-on the turn, 567 9 was on the board. After some raising and reraising I went all in, because I had the 8. However, my oponent had an 8 AND a T!
-after a non-draw heavy flop with value Card J, I went all in. I was called by someone who had QJs. Of course, the Q fell on the river.

Bad decisions I made:
-playing along too much, not having the best hand. "Calling everything" . I especially lost some money by playing not tight enough on 2 or 3 occassions.

Oh yeah, you were the friend I was talking about in my first post, but I guess you could have guessed allready XD.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity again to watch my buddy Darkzzz. He also saw that I was in a bit of an unlucky streak, and after one after another lucky fish hitting their streets on the river with crappy cards, rendering our hands useless, we really had to giggle about it.
However, luck turned and we were able to make a small profit. After he left, I made some more.

Lessons learned:
-do NOT limp!
-play in position.

Even though I had bad luck lately, I could have kept my losses within reason by not limping and playing in position. Because of the unlucky streak, I got sceptical and was playing looser than I should have.

Today I made a small revenue again, by applying these lessons.

I kept on losing on NL10, and after tilting a bit after several bad beats, I decided to start playing at NL5. So far, I'm doing better here. I'll keep you updated.

I have taken one bad beat too many. YES on the river. I have no confidence anymore. Maybe after a while. honestly don't know.

Keep on playing/studying alot! Things will turn around I believe in you!

Poker Stars $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - View hand 1435876
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (UTG): $1.24
UTG+1: $0.49
MP1: $0.86
MP2: $2.38
CO: $0.99
BTN: $0.98
SB: $0.78
BB: $0.80

Pre Flop: ($0.03) Hero is UTG with A A
Hero raises to $0.04, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.04, 5 folds

Flop: ($0.11) 3 T K (2 players)
Hero bets $0.10, MP1 calls $0.10

Turn: ($0.31) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.30, MP1 raises to $0.72 all in, Hero calls $0.42

River: ($1.75) K (2 players - 1 is all in)

Your Pre Flop raise was extremely low m8.. First of all you had AA and second you were UTG! What you were thinking?

On these limits nobody is going to notice when you bet bigger with your strong hands. So I would open your premium range for at least 4BB sometimes with huge fish for even 5BB.

The hand you posted last is a clear fold in my opinion. When he raises on the turn he almost certainly has you beat. Either a set, two pair or even a straight or flush.

Don't play 18 or even 10 tables at a time if you want to learn the game. I mean, your goal is to study and learn from your mistakes. With 10 tables you simply don't have the time to think each decision through. At maximum I would suggest you play 6 tables but preferably you should rather play only 4 at a time. This way you can think about each spot and learn how to get reads on your opponents.

Against his stack, I really wouldn't fold, especially if it's NL2.. There is a lot of worse hands, that NL2 players can call you with. But the preflop raise was too small for sure. I like post-flop sizing, though. Also, if you play Big Stack Strategy, you need to have Big stack at the table, that means 100bb - 2$ on the NL2.

I agree with what BrinkyBill said about number of the tables. I really advice you to play up to 4 tables, and observe the action even if you aren't in the hand. Take notes! Also, read, read, read and then re-read, re-read and re-read once more all silver articles. And don't forget about columns and quizes too. They're very interesting and important too.

Good luck.

Originally posted by DukeXIII
Your Pre Flop raise was extremely low m8.. First of all you had AA and second you were UTG! What you were thinking?

I was thinking: on this limit it doesn't really matter what I raise. Brunson limps- reraises this hand if UTG. Still, I applied normal preflop bets today (the discussed hand was yesterday), but -this is probably not very good poker- I did it on feeling. Today, it worked for me. But I will keep in mind that not every day will be like today, when I get 4 of a kind two times.

Originally posted by BrinkyBill
On these limits nobody is going to notice when you bet bigger with your strong hands. So I would open your premium range for at least 4BB sometimes with huge fish for even 5BB.

Yes, you are right. That is a valuable tip.

The hand you posted last is a clear fold in my opinion. When he raises on the turn he almost certainly has you beat. Either a set, two pair or even a straight or flush.

Yes, that would be correct against normal opponents. However, the opponent was quite a fish. I thought he would have hit his K with not the best kicker. I was right; he had KJoff in the hole.

Don't play 18 or even 10 tables at a time if you want to learn the game. I mean, your goal is to study and learn from your mistakes. With 10 tables you simply don't have the time to think each decision through. At maximum I would suggest you play 6 tables but preferably you should rather play only 4 at a time. This way you can think about each spot and learn how to get reads on your opponents.

Again, you are right. However, today I had a lucky day. It was as if I could SEE. I think every poker player probably knows this feeling. It was as if I could understand when an opponent had a hand or not and I won a lot (for my doing). I was playing at 16 tables. I realise that another time I may not be as lucky, and play on 6 tables.

Originally posted by staktas
Against his stack, I really wouldn't fold, especially if it's NL2.. There is a lot of worse hands, that NL2 players can call you with. But the preflop raise was too small for sure. I like post-flop sizing, though. Also, if you play Big Stack Strategy, you need to have Big stack at the table, that means 100bb - 2$ on the NL2.

Yes it was too small. I stopped playing the Big Stack Strategy for now and begun playing the the Small Stack Strategy. The BSS did not work for me. I think it's more difficult than the SSS.
I wonder if the BSS is better for higher limits. Because on this limit, NL2, most people are small stacked. I wonder if it is any use to bring more money to the table, while you can win only so little. I have a theory that BSS works better on higher limits. What are your thoughts on this?

I agree with what BrinkyBill said about number of the tables. I really advice you to play up to 4 tables, and observe the action even if you aren't in the hand. Take notes! Also, read, read, read and then re-read, re-read and re-read once more all silver articles. And don't forget about columns and quizes too. They're very interesting and important too.

Good luck.

Thank you for these tips. I will pick up my readings tomorrow. So far I have read 3 poker books. Taking notes is something I am a big fan of, but multi-tabling on lots and lots of tables prevents me from doing so. That's also something to keep in mind as a disadvantage to multi-tabling.
However, about taking notes, I often wonder if I will see my NL2-opponents again someday. Because I fear that a lot of them won't be able to sustain. And there are a lot more tables. At the higher limits the same people play on a smaller number of tables every day (or every night). There, you will perhaps get a better chance to get to know your opponents.

Originally posted by Darkzzz
Keep on playing/studying alot! Things will turn around I believe in you!

Thank you! I will do my best :f_biggrin:.

(I saw this post only today... I guess I haven't been here for a while! )

It has been a while since I have updated my blog. But I am still alive and playing ♦. Right now, I have played 18k hands on NL2, and starting to slowly climb. However, I cannot rest on my laurels, for the simple fact I am running severely ABOVE EV.
With the period before, where I was running bad all the time and scoring severly under EV, this is something that certainly brightens my mood.
In that down perion I was a worse player than I am today. I was running bad, but I am convinced I could have reduced my losses if my play was slightly better at that point. Because I notice have grown in poker ever since I have taken it up as a standard hobby since July. I am making better decisions. Today I actually had a really good session where I called some bluffs and knew when to fold.

My winrate at this point is 9.49 bb/100. Because the poker variance is, after almost 70 K hands, in my favor, I am sure that this number could drop any time soon, when my luck stops (but this number will probably remain positive ). And then it could build up slowly again, as I become a better player. It is nice to improve, even though I am taking the small steps rather than the big leaps that I intended in the first place ;).

With the intention of starting some interesting discussions (and receiving most welcome feed back!) I will post some interesting hands in my blog.

Poker Stars $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players - View hand 1455942
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

MP: $1.00
CO: $1.68
BTN: $3.00
Hero (SB): $1.55
BB: $0.80
UTG: $2.15
UTG+1: $2.01

Pre Flop: ($0.03) Hero is SB with A 4
3 folds, CO calls $0.02, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.10, BB calls $0.08, CO calls $0.08

Flop: ($0.30) 9 K 3 (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, CO checks

Turn: ($0.30) 4 (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, CO bets $0.04, Hero calls $0.04, BB folds

River: ($0.38) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $0.08, Hero calls $0.08

Good to hear that you're doing well! Are we going to see you grinding NL5 soon?