Aren't our Santas just the absolute nuts!? ♠_cool:
Speaking of which, it looks to me like you'll be staying indoors for a bit and roasting yours by the fire. Don't bother with the pics of that...
I hope the coachings help you to crush those villains! ♠_evil:
Mal.
nice little match we had there ramblr ♠_cool: ♠_cool:
Too bad we didn't end up playing HU at the endgame phase lol ♠_cry: ♠_cry: ♠_cry:
Originally posted by maythany
nice little match we had there ramblr ♠_cool: ♠_cool:
Wow - so did you find my bet-sizing strange when I was pot-size betting all the time when I should have been pushing?...
I hadn't played in a couple of days and the last thing I did on Friday was re-configure my bet-slider buttons and I guess I changed my MAX to POT and didn't realize until a hand where I was trying to shove-steal your big blind and then you raised me and I was like what the ?!?!? 
So funny too because I kept thinking I was miss clicking and I was going "man what is wrong with me, I've never miss clicked this much in my life"... 
:rolleyes:
Once I figured that out - I ended up shipping the other 2 tables ♠_thumbsup: ♠_thumbsup:
Not sure if you remember this hand...
Poker Stars, $1.32 Buy-in (100/200 blinds) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 4 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.
CO: 5,450 (27.3 bb)
BTN: 2,660 (13.3 bb)
Hero (SB): 2,780 (13.9 bb)
BB: 2,610 (13.1 bb)
Preflop: Hero is SB with K
K
2 folds, Hero raises to 450, BB calls 250
Flop: (900) J 2
J (2 players)
Hero bets 500, BB folds
Results:
900 pot
Final Board: J 2 J
Hero mucked K K and won 900 (450 net)
BB mucked and lost (-450 net)
Against most anyone else I would have shoved pre-flop, but for some reason I thought that if it looked like I was stealing you might shove-defend. Then on the flop I considered checking and letting you try to steal it again, but playing funny is how I lost to you before so just decided to bet out and take it down. Curious what you called pre-flop with, and if I had shoved pre, if you were calling with it?
Originally posted by gadget51
Aren't our Santas just the absolute nuts!? ♠_cool:Speaking of which, it looks to me like you'll be staying indoors for a bit and roasting yours by the fire. Don't bother with the pics of that...
)Originally posted by gadget51
I hope the coachings help you to crush those villains! ♠_evil:
So far so good:
Tourneys Played: 20 games
ITM: 50% (10 games: 5 x 1st, 2 x 2nd, 3 x 3rd)
ROI: 46.6% (+9.32 buy-ins)
(and I know, I know... small, insignificant, miniscule, microscopic sample size... don't burst my bubble 
)
Originally posted by Ramble
Originally posted by maythany
nice little match we had there ramblr ♠_cool: ♠_cool:Wow - so did you find my bet-sizing strange when I was pot-size betting all the time when I should have been pushing?...
I hadn't played in a couple of days and the last thing I did on Friday was re-configure my bet-slider buttons and I guess I changed my MAX to POT and didn't realize until a hand where I was trying to shove-steal your big blind and then you raised me and I was like what the ?!?!?
So funny too because I kept thinking I was miss clicking and I was going "man what is wrong with me, I've never miss clicked this much in my life"...Once I figured that out - I ended up shipping the other 2 tables ♠_thumbsup: ♠_thumbsup:
Not sure if you remember this hand...
Poker Stars, $1.32 Buy-in (100/200 blinds) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 4 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.CO: 5,450 (27.3 bb)
BTN: 2,660 (13.3 bb)
Hero (SB): 2,780 (13.9 bb)
BB: 2,610 (13.1 bb)Preflop: Hero is SB with K
2 folds, Hero raises to 450, BB calls 250Flop: (900) J
Hero bets 500, BB foldsResults:
Spoiler
900 pot
Final Board: J
Hero mucked K
BB mucked and lost (-450 net)
Against most anyone else I would have shoved pre-flop, but for some reason I thought that if it looked like I was stealing you might shove-defend. Then on the flop I considered checking and letting you try to steal it again, but playing funny is how I lost to you before so just decided to bet out and take it down. Curious what you called pre-flop with, and if I had shoved pre, if you were calling with it?
Had to check my database, I had QTo and considering there were 3 players with 13-14 BBs on the bubble I am mostly calling and playing postflop.
On that flop I can't really represent anything and your bet sealed everything. If you checked, I would have checked behind.
I still remember the hand you majorly sucked out on me! Remember that 99 vs my AA hand? lol
I remember you 3xing me on the sb when I was <10bbs if that's what you mean with the pot size bet slider option then yeah I did notice.
in case you didn't remember.
Poker Stars, $1.32 Buy-in (100/200 blinds) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 7 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.
MP1: 1,395 (7 bb)
MP2: 2,370 (11.9 bb)
MP3: 1,405 (7 bb)
CO: 1,750 (8.8 bb)
Hero (BTN): 2,300 (11.5 bb)
SB: 1,935 (9.7 bb)
BB: 2,345 (11.7 bb)
Preflop: Hero is BTN with A A
2 folds, MP3 raises to 1,405 and is all-in, CO folds, Hero raises to 2,300 and is all-in, 2 folds
Flop: (3,110) 9 4 Q (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Turn: (3,110) A (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: (3,110) 9 (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Results:
3,110 pot
Final Board: 9 4 Q A 9
MP3 showed 9 9
and won 3,110 (1,705 net)
Hero showed A A and lost (-1,405 net)
Originally posted by maythany
in case you didn't remember.
I remember that hand, didn't realize it was vs you though! I remember glancing back at the table and seeing that we both had trips and saying "well, that sucks"... then realizing I actually had quads and goin "ooooooohhhh yeah!!!!!" (this was one of the tables I went on to ship - couldn't have done it without you ♦ )
Just got my PokerStrategy Swag from the November Marathon - very happy. We're having a home game in a couple of weeks and I plan on showing it off! The Duckie is gonna be my card protector!
Haven't had much time for playing or updating my blog with the holiday madness, but I expect things to settle down starting tomorrow. I only got 12 games in this week, finished ITM 50% and still have a negative ROI... FML 
I hope to get another Santa coaching in with alxpoker91 this week sometime and see what else I can learn from his experience. I think I've been applying his last advice fairly well - but we'll see what he says :).
Goodbye 2013, it's been an experience.
Real Life
In real life, 2013 was a roller coaster of a year for me with some of the highest highs and lowest lows of my nearly 40 years on this rocky space-ship called Earth. I am looking forward to 2014 and hope the ride is a little smoother from here on out.
Poker Life
In poker life, 2013 was a re-birth for me after not playing for a couple of years. I am astonished by how much the game has changed at the micros in that period of time. The general poker abilities of the average micro-stakes player has improved considerably. The very basics of position, open and calling ranges and late stage push-fold play, that I used to crush the micros with only a couple of years ago, is now pretty much common knowledge.
Although the past 3 months (when I started playing again) haven't been the most successful from a results point of view, I am happy with a lot of things.
In 2014, I plan on continuing on with all of the above, as well as:
You'll notice that moving up stakes isn't listed as one of my goals - if I am successful with the goals above, then moving up stakes just becomes a natural progression.
Now for the end-of-year results:
Tournaments Played: 1123
ITM: 36.7%
ROI: -2.26%
Hours Played: 192
Winnings/Hour: -$0.20 (pretty cheap hobby really - looking on bright side 
)
Hours of Study: ~75 (almost all in the last 600 games - now look at graph for LOL)
Yesterday, I was lucky enough to do a session review with pauln - somehow 4 and a half hours went by... I think we only reviewed like 70 hands or something but it was a lot of fun and I think we both learned a bit. (I learned about poker, he learned that I'm clueless... ♦.)
Today, I had my second Santa coaching with alxpoker91 - it was really great. We built on the last coaching and he pointed out a few areas that I (still) need to focus on. I feel I have a much better understanding of those areas now and where my strengths and weaknesses are with them. He's really good at getting you to think about ranges and stack sizes and how that influences when and how to apply pressure versus different opponents.
Hopefully I can get some games in tonight and build on what I've learned.
I'm also reading the mental game of poker 
it's a great book!
We gotta have a three way session one day! That sounds like fun!
It's been a week since my last update so I figured I better get on it...
After my review session and Santa coaching last week I decided to take a step back from the tables and think about what I was being told and why I was having a hard time applying it.
This led to me re-examining ALOT of my game - from opening ranges, to Push/Fold phase, to getting distracted and spending 2 days evaluating different hand ranking systems... :facepalm:, to slowly developing my own... double- :facepalm:, to abandoning that, to purchasing a silver membership with the very last of my skrill funds (thanks Skrill for abandoning Canada with no explanation - Frakers)... to shaving my head because I was tired of pulling my hair out... lol.
Probably the biggest part though has been looking at how I enter a raised pot pre-flop. My play has been pretty basic - 3-Bet or shove my premium hands and fold everything else. I felt like this was an area that needed a ton of improvement.
So this past week has been about really building a pre-flop strategy from the ground up, and now I need to retrain myself to break my old automatic habits... my 'unconscious competence' as Jared Tendler would put it... and start applying my new strategy consistently to see what needs to be tweaked. This is harder than you'd think.
The good news - I've tested it out a bit (only 14 games so far) but the results are encouraging - ITM 43%, with an ROI of 30%... I know no way is that sustainable, but I'll take it as a good start!
Got a chance to play a bit tonight as plans fell through with friends...
Results are still looking up since my pre-flop revamp... ♦ (despite a brief bout of tilt at one point that led to me making a horrible tournament life-ending call on not one, but two tables...). Luckily I snapped out of it pretty quick. Need to keep reading The Mental Game of Poker...
Tourneys Played: 39
ITM: 41%
ROI:14%
I have a review session planned with a couple of guys tomorrow - looking forward to it!!!
Hi Ramble,
Nice blog. Seen you around the forums.
Just read through most of this and realised your an old sod like me. I also play STTs. Currently grinding 3.50's on Stars after spending years playing this and that. Working hard on my game and looking forward to a productive 2014. Best of luck to you too pal.
Good session mate.. really enjoyed it.
I'm trying not to implement too many new things into my game at once (something I know you empathize with). Every session throws up so many new ideas, I'm going to have to make a list and limit myself to a couple of new changes a week.
There was a strategy article on pokerstrategy I looked at a while ago that was a fantastic introduction to post flop bet sizing, looking at SPR and stuff like that.
I think this is the article http://www.pokerstrategy.com/strategy/bss/1581/1/ but I can't see it anymore as it's a silver article, so it may be the wrong one.
Have a good week!
Yesterday
So yesterday I got about 20 games in, and although I feel like I played well in 95% of them, I had horrible results. I just kept running into the top of opponents ranges or getting in as a huge favorite against a fish only for him to hit on the next street... My mental game stayed very strong throughout though - so I was very pleased with that.
ITM: 32%
ROI: -17%
Today
Undeterred, I continued to plug away today with another 20 games and the results were much better. I am getting more familiar with the ranges I developed and am getting better at recognizing spots where I can play back at opponents.
ITM: 50%
ROI: 23%
Overall, I am very happy with my play so far this month. I feel that both my strategy and my mental game have improved a bit. I also finally got my All-in EV line to go positive for the first month in a long time, and I am running 8 buy-ins below it!!!
Still lots of work left, but looking forward to it! ♦
Another session of 23 games today, feel that I played well for the most part (a couple of spots I marked for review)... but the results just aren't there...
ITM: 39.1%,
ROI: -7.1%... 
It boggles my mind that you can finish in the money almost 40% of the time and still be losing like that... Damn You Rake!!!
It's funny because for the month so far, my ITM is 39.5% and ROI: +0.7% - so a difference of less than +0.5% ITM translates to almost +8% ROI (in this case) ... LOL 
I just couldn't let my day end on that note...
Threw in 6 more tables and finished ITM in 3 of them so that brings my day's results to:
Tourneys Played: 29
ITM: 41.4%
ROI: 3.75%
I should sleep much better now! ♦
