Ramble's Ramblings

Had some very pleasant results yesterday... even had a run where I cashed at 6 of 7 tables in a row... I felt like Thor! Was about +11 buy-ins at that point but finished the day around +6 buy-ins. Still pretty happy about it!

I may have just been running good, but I have been sleeping better this week then I have in a long time and that couldn't of hurt. I've also been sticking to the reduced number of tables (4 instead of 6) and I think this gives me just that extra second or two I need to make better decisions more often.

About to start my sessions for today and hope the upward trend continues, wish me luck!

Well I'd love to wish you luck, but you got squeezy and I wanted him!

On a more serious note, I do like that you'e sleeping better; it's tough to play anywhere near good if you have a poor sleep pattern I know.
Do you think it's your new diet helping, or a combination perhaps? Or maybe just a little rungood does the trick! ♠_cool:

Opps nearly forgot, good luck.

Mal.

Originally posted by gadget51
Well I'd love to wish you luck, but you got squeezy and I wanted him!

On a more serious note, I do like that you're sleeping better; it's tough to play anywhere near good if you have a poor sleep pattern I know.
Do you think it's your new diet helping, or a combination perhaps? Or maybe just a little rungood does the trick! ♠_cool:

Haha - I'll be sure to post a pic of squeezy when he arrives!

As for the sleep/diet affecting poker - probably both, but running good is probably the truth :P. The interesting thing is that I think the two feed into each other - the more rested I am, the more likely I am to put the effort into preparing nutritious food. Likewise, I think the better I eat, the better I feel (physically and mentally) and so I tend to go to bed earlier and sleep more soundly. I think that pattern exists a lot all around us - the healthier you are the easier it is to get healthier, the richer you are the easier it is to get richer (and of course the opposites are true as well).

Now for the absolute worst way I hate to lose a hand

Poker Stars, $1.32 Buy-in (150/300 blinds, 25 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 4 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

CO: 2,725 (9.1 bb)
BTN: 2,640 (8.8 bb)
Hero (SB): 3,246 (10.8 bb)
BB: 4,889 (16.3 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with T T
CO raises to 2,700 and is all-in, BTN folds, Hero raises to 3,221 and is all-in, BB folds

Flop: (5,800) J K K (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Turn: (5,800) J (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: (5,800) Q (2 players, 2 are all-in)

Results:

If he had caught an A - fine; if he made a straight - meh, whatever; caught 4 to a flush - frustrating but I'll get over it; but when the board drops 2 over-pair on me and he wins with best kicker....ARRRRRRrrrrgggghhhhhhhhhh :rage:

So the past 3 days have been pretty good poker wise (until the end of today where I basically cancelled out any winnings over the same period...). I am not too discouraged though as I feel I am playing much better. I was up 10+ buy-ins at one point each of the past 3 days but always managed to give most of it back by the end of the day.

This upswing started after a session review where I think I discovered a big leak. When I see an opportunity to iso-shove against a very big fish, I'm often licking my lips so much that I forget to really consider the player or two left to act behind me well enough.

The other thing I am discovering is that I am not pushing enough blind vs blind in the late stages... and honestly it is something that even though I recognize the spots now, I still can't seem to bring myself to do it... Case in point:

Poker Stars, $1.32 Buy-in (200/400 blinds, 25 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 4 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

BTN: 987 (2.5 bb)
Hero (SB): 5,368 (13.4 bb)
BB: 3,700 (9.3 bb)
CO: 3,445 (8.6 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 5 8
3 folds

Results:

So here I should literally be shoving any 2 cards and the BB should only be calling with 88+, that's it (about 3.2%). Even if I open up his calling range to 10% (77+, A5s+, ATo+), I'm still supposed to shove any 2 - quite profitably.

Of course I want him to fold, I'm only going after his blind. I'm hoping that he is smart enough to realize that if he calls and loses - either because I really do have a good hand or I suck out - that there is no consolation prize for him, he just lost to the "fish" shoving any 2 cards in to him ♠_biggrin:. Even if he does call and I lose the hand, I still have 4 blinds left, which puts me ahead of the short-stack by a bit so I am still favoured to make it ITM.

It's one of those things that I understand at a theory level, but putting it in to practice is so damn hard...

Originally posted by Ramble
So the past 3 days have been pretty good poker wise (until the end of today where I basically cancelled out any winnings over the same period...). I am not too discouraged though as I feel I am playing much better. I was up 10+ buy-ins at one point each of the past 3 days but always managed to give most of it back by the end of the day.

This upswing started after a session review where I think I discovered a big leak. When I see an opportunity to iso-shove against a very big fish, I'm often licking my lips so much that I forget to really consider the player or two left to act behind me well enough.

The other thing I am discovering is that I am not pushing enough blind vs blind in the late stages... and honestly it is something that even though I recognize the spots now, I still can't seem to bring myself to do it... Case in point:

Poker Stars, $1.32 Buy-in (200/400 blinds, 25 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 4 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

BTN: 987 (2.5 bb)
Hero (SB): 5,368 (13.4 bb)
BB: 3,700 (9.3 bb)
CO: 3,445 (8.6 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 5 8
3 folds

Results:

Spoiler

500 pot
BB mucked and won 500 (275 net)

So here I should literally be shoving any 2 cards and the BB should only be calling with 88+, that's it (about 3.2%). Even if I open up his calling range to 10% (77+, A5s+, ATo+), I'm still supposed to shove any 2 - quite profitably.

Of course I want him to fold, I'm only going after his blind. I'm hoping that he is smart enough to realize that if he calls and loses - either because I really do have a good hand or I suck out - that there is no consolation prize for him, he just lost to the "fish" shoving any 2 cards in to him ♠_biggrin:. Even if he does call and I lose the hand, I still have 4 blinds left, which puts me ahead of the short-stack by a bit so I am still favoured to make it ITM.

It's one of those things that I understand at a theory level, but putting it in to practice is so damn hard...

Never underestimate fish :f_cool:

Poker Stars, $1.32 Buy-in (100/200 blinds, 25 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 4 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

BB: 4,170 (20.9 bb)
CO: 155 (0.8 bb)
Hero (BTN): 6,010 (30.1 bb)
SB: 3,165 (15.8 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with J 4
CO folds, Hero raises to 5,985 and is all-in, SB folds, BB calls 3,945 and is all-in

Flop: (8,490) 7 K 3 (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Turn: (8,490) K (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: (8,490) T (2 players, 2 are all-in)

Results:

Shorty was "sit out" throughout the bubble and he literally had half a blind left so it was unnecessary risk for his part to say the least. The 8-5o may be a push according to sng and whatever, BUT! We gotta make sure our opponent is actually aware of ICM and be pretty risk averse too.

What do you think Ramble? My first hand review on a game that I played and my analysis on whether my play was +EV or not.

Originally posted by maythany
What do you think Ramble? My first hand review on a game that I played and my analysis on whether my play was +EV or not.

Nice vid maythany! ...but to answer your question at the end of the video... I'm still folding there, especially into 2 players... lol... even though you proved it was the right play! (and I wonder why I'm not a winning player ).

Played just a few games today - wasn't really feeling it and ended up down a buy-in. So I decided to spend more time on the session review today and I noticed two things from a Push/Fold perspective:

1) A very high percentage of my Pushes are good according to ICMizer.
2) But... I am folding a lot of spots where I should be Pushing or even calling a Push.

So based on those 2 statements it seems I am playing the Push/Fold stage too tight.

I've been doing a lot of practice with the ICM Trainer recently and reviewing the Push/Fold Charts in the bronze strategy section in great detail... hopefully that will help loosen me up a bit and I'll start seeing results soon.

Another good day, and this time I quit while I was ahead so I could do another detailed session review.

I need to figure out how to better narrow down my review hands though...
Hands played today: 1325 hands
Hands filtered for review through HM2: 477
Actual Hands reviewed: 151
Play Time: 5 Hours
Review Time: 5 Hours OMFG!!!

I will say though that each time I do a detailed session review like this, I do get a much better appreciation for ICM and Push/Fold ranges. I'm starting to be able to recognize different situations and make good decisions.

Formula to Success
I think I am figuring out a formula for success though and not to get too technical or too deep in to the math behind it, but it goes something like this...

Oh yeah, and catch that Ten on the river too - that definitely helps!

Hahaha - so this morning I thought I would try out the 6-max games for fun and to shake things up a bit...

I don't know what happened...

It was like I was all hopped up on cocoa puffs with a fire-cracker about to go off in my butt...

I just went crazy and played the worst, fishiest, bluffiest poker I have ever played in my life... EVER!!! Weird... oh well... back to the 9-man!

The other day my wife commented that I should post more food pics... So here is one of some yummy nachos I made...

Chicken, Yellow and Green Onion, Yellow and Red Pepper, Cremini Mushrooms, Broccoli, Salsa, and a mix of Old Cheddar and Havarti Cheese on Whole Grain nacho chips...

I've been doing very well at keeping the healthy eating up, but would love to get some delicious, vegetable-heavy and nutritious recipe ideas from anyone.

I have been slacking on the treadmill the past 2 weeks though, so need to start that up again - I'm going to try to start doing it first thing in the morning and build it into my daily routine.

I've also decided that I am sticking to 4-tables instead of 6 for the foreseeable future - I not only play a bit better, but I enjoy the game more. It also has the benefit that it is tougher for me to make SilverStar status with only 4-tables, so the pressure to go for those few extra sessions a month is off.

Anyways, I'll be back to the tables on Monday.

Who does the cooking around the house? lol

hey just spotted your blog..I think your are my student from Christmas coaching and wanted to say HI and what do you think about starting to do the coachings earlier?

Originally posted by alxpoker91
hey just spotted your blog..I think your are my student from Christmas coaching and wanted to say HI and what do you think about starting to do the coachings earlier?

Sweet - I didn't expect to be matched up yet. Hi, my schedule is pretty flexible for the rest of December, I'm sure we can find some time. I'd love to start earlier. I'm just on my way to bed, so I will PM you tomorrow and see if we can figure a time out over the next few days if that works for you.

Really cool of you to volunteer your time and help out a fellow community member this way.

Now that the November Marathon is over, could a Mod move this thread to the Blogs section?

Thanks!

No worries, Ramble

Only played 20 tourney's the past 2 days, but very happy with results so far.

ITM: 55%
ROI: 30%

Taking the pressure of hitting volume goals away has really helped me just focus on playing well and gives me more time to review hands and improve further. I'm sure I can't maintain that record, but as long as that green line keeps trending upwards I'm smiling...

A hand that I enjoyed today - Limper's Paradise:

Poker Stars, $1.32 Buy-in (25/50 blinds) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

BB: 860 (17.2 bb)
UTG+1: 1,635 (32.7 bb)
UTG+2: 1,165 (23.3 bb)
MP1: 1,575 (31.5 bb)
MP2: 1,525 (30.5 bb)
MP3: 1,535 (30.7 bb)
CO: 1,295 (25.9 bb)
BTN: 1,795 (35.9 bb)
Hero (SB): 2,115 (42.3 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 5 2
2 folds, MP1 calls 50, MP2 calls 50, MP3 calls 50, 2 folds, Hero completes, BB checks

Flop: (250) 3 6 4 (5 players)
Hero checks, BB bets 100, 2 folds, MP3 raises to 300, Hero raises to 2,065 and is all-in, BB folds, MP3 calls 1,185 and is all-in

Turn: (3,320) K (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: (3,320) 5 (2 players, 2 are all-in)

Results:

BB and MP3 are both fairly cautious players with VPIP/PFR stats something like 14/7. So when BB bets and MP3 raises I am hoping BB has a hand he wants to gamble with (i.e. A6-->A3) and certain MP3 does (hoping with his pre-flop limp he has a pocket pair 77-->33 that hit the board nice). But how should I play this?

I fear if I just call MP3's raise and BB flats behind me and a scary cared comes on the turn that they are going to check-fold to me. If I push now, I might lose 200 chips from BB, but hopefully one or both will call and I'll win a lot more... luckily MP3 granted me my wish! What do you guys think of this line and my thinking?

Poker Stars, $1.32 Buy-in (25/50 blinds) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

BB: 860 (17.2 bb)
UTG+1: 1,635 (32.7 bb)
UTG+2: 1,165 (23.3 bb)
MP1: 1,575 (31.5 bb)
MP2: 1,525 (30.5 bb)
MP3: 1,535 (30.7 bb)
CO: 1,295 (25.9 bb)
BTN: 1,795 (35.9 bb)
Hero (SB): 2,115 (42.3 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 5 2
2 folds, MP1 calls 50, MP2 calls 50, MP3 calls 50, 2 folds, Hero completes, BB checks

Flop: (250) 3 6 4 (5 players)
Hero checks, BB bets 100, 2 folds, MP3 raises to 300, Hero raises to 2,065 and is all-in, BB folds, MP3 calls 1,185 and is all-in

Turn: (3,320) K (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: (3,320) 5 (2 players, 2 are all-in)

Results:

Spoiler

3,320 pot
Final Board: 3 6 4 K 5
BB mucked and lost (-150 net)
MP1 mucked and lost (-50 net)
MP2 mucked and lost (-50 net)
MP3 showed T T and lost (-1,535 net)
Hero showed 5 2 and won 3,320 (1,785 net)

looks good, and yeah too many scary turns so your play is the only play IMO.

So yesterday was a wintery one here... the view out my kitchen window... guess I won't be using the BBQ today...

In other news, I had a free coaching from my Santa this morning. Thanks alxpoker91!!! It was great once we finally got started (sorry for being a skype dummy - lol), and I look forward to our next one.

That's right folks - alxpoker91 is such a nice guy that even though he is already coaching 4 people as a Santa, he has offered to do another session with me next week - now that is really giving back to the PokerStrategy Community!!!

thanks for the kind words man

let's not talk about skype because I couldn't make it work either ♦

that is a nice winter there.I think we'll gonna have a Christmas without snow