Pokernomics

vids

2008-04-07T07:15:00.003+01:00

2008-03-09T14:10:00.001Z

http://www.econstuff.com/Uploads/VBStars1-2.wmv

First Exam Tomorrow

2008-01-20T13:33:00.000Z

Tomorrow I have my first exam, Im not feeling too nervous as ive done a fair amount of revision, and with a bit of luck things should go pretty well.

I will be putting in some serious poker hours after exams, I hope to play 30k hands in the 4 weeks after my exams, should be interesting. My roll is around $6200 maybe a bit more, haven't checked for a bit. It was upto $6600 but I had a horrible session where I was just playing atrociously and managed to lose 2 BIs, it was the worst ive played in a while. I think those sessions are good for knocking you on your ass, they remind you that even tho youre doing well (at that time) you arent all that good and you can go from hero to zero in a moment.

First exam tomorrow, then Wed 23rd, then following Mon and Tues, then all done! there will be a few big nights out after exams, could get messy, then im looking forward to chilling out, watching some Lost episodes, may have to hook myself up with a playstation 3 if I can make some good money from poker after exams Who knows. Today is chill out day, maybe a little last minute revision, but mainly relaxing in the calm before the storm, for those doing exams, good luck, and as frankie says, 'RELAX'.

VB

Not enough hours in the day

2007-12-30T17:06:00.000Z

I was thinking today how it seems that days are so short at the moment, mainly due to the early sunsets. I looked up on the internet the length of days for London, UK, pretty close to me:

Date Sunrise Sunset Daylight Length Time*

Dec 22 '07 8:04 AM 3:54PM 7h 49m 40s 11:59AM

Dec 30 '07 8:06 AM 4:00PM 7h 53m 20s 12:03PM

Jun 20 '08 4:43 AM 9:21PM 16h 38m 22s 1:02PM

(* Solar Noon)

Source: http://www.timeanddate.com

The number of daylight hours are twice as much in peak summer than they are now. Would be easier if i had the 'feeling' of a longer day now. Makes revision and productive days harder when the 'evening' seems to come earlier, cant really explain why, evenings are usually times to relax and watch tv or see mates, and the earlier they seem to arrive, the less time there seems to be for revision. Is weird thing, and maybe im the only one who feels this way, hell maybe i just need to get a watch and stop living according to the solar clock.

Back to the flat tomorrow, tons of revision to do; hopefully get a few hands in when I get back.

VB

Xmas Wishes

2007-12-19T23:02:00.000Z

Hope everyone has an enjoyable xmas, I will be doing my best. Got alot of revision to do but will still be loving mince pies and xmas movies. Have a nice one guys. VB

Where Im At

2007-12-03T00:34:00.000Z

Im transitioning upto $1/2 but im on crypto which is in £ so £.5/1. So far im doing well in my shots, however today i just played 4 £50nl games even tho i have 25BIs for £100nl. I like the fact that I dont feel any ego or shame in playing a limit below where I can definitely win. I know that if I were to play £100nl and lose 2 or 3 BIs through sure poor luck it would affect me. I would like to get my bankroll to aound 30BIs before I properly move upto £100nl/$200nl, it is currently ~26BIs.

Today I played a little heads up, it went ok and I won about a BI. I was playing small stakes $50 and £50 nlhu, I feel i can only 2 table at the moment, I dont feel I am a good HU player by any means, I think with a little work I could beat the $50nl/£25 games fairly well, and in a month or 2 I could be a reasonable winner at the £50/$100 HU games.

I have realized that most top players are excellent heads up players aswell. I think there's many cross-benefits, and I wont go into them but basically; good HU player = good all round player.

Hopefully I can get BR over 30BIs (for £100/$200nl) by the time I break up for XMAS; around the 16th.

VB

"I Don't Blog Much Lately Cos I'm Too Busy"

2007-12-01T13:07:00.001Z

I heard myself saying these words the other day and realized what crap they really were. I have plenty of free time, so why have I not been blogging much lately;

1) I haven't been playing much, poor time management has meant I have been unable to log many sessions over the past 2 months. Ive played about 6k hands in Nov.

2) Not sure what to blog a bout. Before it was all about my sessions etc... but it becomes a bit moronic to keep complaining at how badly im running. Its part of the game, and the variance doesn't bother me that much anymore (doesn't mean there wont be the odd 'vent' post).

Well university is going well, having fun and doing almost enough work. I am looking to change my poker schedule, so that I play more in the morning, and hopefully very little in the evenings. By the time the evenings come, I feel pretty tired and generally cant be bothered to play that much. Being more tired also makes me more susceptible to mistakes.

Speak soon.

VB

Feels like a year since I last posted.....

2007-11-11T22:58:00.000Z

Im now 20, as of yesterday. Had a lovely birthday, and got to spend time with friends which was lovely.

This is my cake, it was white sponge with jam and cream filling.

I have not been playing much poker lately, had a ton of uni work to do etc... I moved some money onto crypto and have been playing there for a bit, software is ok, no resizable tables, but at least PAHud works. Doing well there so far but only played about 1500 hands there.

I will be hoping to find a better poker and blogging rhythm soon, as I enjoy it and wouldn't mind having a lot more disposable income.

Here are a few pics from my birthday, we all got pretty trashed (im wearing the cap);

- Me (right) and my large ex-England rugby flatmate.

- Uni friends Jack and Swannel; Jack's visiting GF Sophie.

VB

Why do people find poker so 'tought'?

2007-10-10T22:25:00.000+01:00

I mean tough in the mental and emotional sense. I have been thinking about why is poker so emotionally straining and I think I have a slightly better understanding, as I have platoed in my ability (i'm playing awesome atm) after my recent sobatical.

I think one of the problems is people overthinking in general. They forget that poker is a game of imperfect information and more-over, a game of variance. This means loosing $x doesnt necessarily mean you played the hand badly or incorrectly, and winning $x doesnt necessarily mean you played the hand correctly.

In my opinion I have been playing very well in the past 2 days (ill show you why later in post), however its very posible that I am not really playing that well, or that I am, but just as not as well as I think I am. Personally the more I play the more I learn/try to forget about how well i'm running; how big my BR size is, and just focus on the game. I dont overthink this as much as I used to. If I think i'm being bluffed I call the shove, if I think opponnent has goods i'm folding my 'monster'.

As you may have inferred I have also been thinking much more on the second level; 'what does my opponnent have'.

I'm amazed that ive been playing poker for 18 months and only just started thinking on the second level. This is a bit dissappointing but not too much so, I have been 'trying' to think on the second level for the majority of that time, but actually going with my read, trusting the range I have assigned to the villain, and then determining how my hand fairs against that range is something that has only just begun to 'flow'.

The flow of poker is another aspect I find is become more apart of my game as I mature as a player. The games (or specifically my style) tends to flow much better; its hard to explain what exactly that means; maybe i'm making fewer big mistakes, changing gears a bit more efficiently, beginning to analyse the table dynamics a bit more, categorizing opponents more quickly and efficiently, a slight increase in all of these attribures has cause by game to improve and untimately flow much better.

Todays session -

Been on a bit of a heater these last few days, everthing seems to go my way;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1573377
- His play was pretty crazy, he posted OOP the inst raised when action was on him. I cant see an A checking this turn, plus his river over-bet screamed AIR!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1573395
- Always nice.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1573399
- I had a big read on this guy. A couple of hands earlier he insta called my PFR and then just called my c/bet. The only hand I was worried about was JJ (I gues he could have a Q or 6 and be trapping but I cant see him betting 60 on turn w FH after just calling flop). AA/KK both raise flop IMO. I put him on A high; his turn bet was super fast, I honestly reckon I would have folded this hand 2 months ago, I wouldn't have thought it through and would figure "he's bet huge he must be doing this with a monster".

Work is taking up a bit of my time, so i'd be happy with 500hands/day atm, hopefully I can get a bit more than that in but we'll see.

VB

HSP Updates

2007-10-09T15:40:00.000+01:00

After a few requests im putting up the most recent HSP episodes, theyre in the HSP section.

VB

Update - uploading is taking ages, ep.6 is up. 5 will be soon, and 4 prob Wed. Some of the earlier episodes have expired, sorry.

Pokernomics 2 - The New Beginning

2007-10-08T23:35:00.000+01:00

Not really as profound as that, a simple 'I'm back after a 3 week sobatical' would have done, but I thought this was more intense.

2 main hands from todays session;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1565840
- I think Baluga theorem is the correct assumption here. I couldn't see villainplaying a heart flush draw like this, I figured maybe he had ATcc, but im still not a big fav, T9/TT/99/66/33 make up a huge part of his range here.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1565850
- Bit of a hero call by me. I didnt realise how good shape I was in; 70/30. Villain looked so much like he was drawing after only calling in position on flop. I think AK/AJ/66 all raise this flop, I can't really say what precisely made me call this, it was more that I couldnt work out any 'BIG' hand he plays this way. Maybe its a -Ev call by me, very possible, I had no reads, but I figured his line wasnt make much sense so decided to look him up.

I had to withdraw some of my BR to ease a cash-flow crisis, until my student loan arrives in my bank account (hopefully soon). Then I will be redepositing the funds to bring my BR back upto approx 35BI.

I haven't set my Oct goal yet, im a bit beat I didnt get a real shot of completing my Sep goal. I guess because this absence of internet has been so long, plus the fact my uni work is going to become much heaver from now on, I will have to repead my goal of reaching 30BI for 1/2 by the end of Oct, but ill think about where I can realistically be in 20 days and get it up in the 'goal' section.

Of course I havent been able to upload any HSP episodes, from what I hear most people dont need them anyway, http://www.thepokerbay.org/ has all the episodes and as far as im aware you just sign up and download them as torrents. But if people really want me to keep uploading, leave a comment and i'll try and find the time.

Good to be back guys, speak soon.

VB

Yes Yes! Internet, Finally!!!

2007-10-08T11:03:00.000+01:00

10 days without internet may not sound like much, but for me it is. Its not that I can't live without poker (altho I do miss it), its more not being able to check e-mails, use Facebook or Cardrunners.
Funny story regarding my internet provider, they informed me that as soon as my internet account is active I would receive an e-mail!?! WTF!
Anywhoo, I begin lessons today (for second year of uni), which will most likely be introductory and fairly light lessons. I must now more than ever exercise sound life control as I must balance work/socialising/tv/internet/poker with the high prioprity on work.

I will probably play some poker tomorrow or Wed. Haing not played in so long i'll have to ease back into it.

Ive been to the gym 5 of the past 4 days, I feel good about it and would have gone this morning again if I had not had a very rough nights sleep and felt too tired.

VB

Update

2007-09-30T14:21:00.000+01:00

i have moved into my new flat, but still awaiting internet, thank god University has free wireless around campus.

VB

No I Haven't Fallen Off A Cliff

2007-09-25T20:15:00.000+01:00

My laptop broke, which new hard drive which means goodbye PT database, goodbye 6 seasons of Sopranos (only watched first few episodes) goodbye months of customization, site bookmarks, etc.

Luckily I was able to save my music. Thank you iPodCopy. Thanks to this awesome piece of software, I was able to rip all 1900 songs off my iPod, but thats only the half of it. The meta-data was also transferable, so every song/artist/album name etc... was also there, along with the play counts, star rating, lyrics, additionl notes, etc... i.e. it was exactly as I had it before my laptop broke.

I love my MacBook, so vowed I would never put XP back on it again, it has corrupted 2 MacBooks now. I decided to invest in a Dell desktop, a Vostro 200, its a business desktop but

it will do the job for me;

Specs: 2ghz Intel Core 2 Duo

2 GB RAM

128mb Intel Graphics Card

250GB (7200rpm) HD

Wireless pci card (had to buy/fit myself)

The only thing I may do to it is but a better graphics card; I was looking at the nVidia GeForce 8600 GT - only costs approx 60 pounds and has dual DVi so I can run 2 monitors off it, which I think I definately will want to do in the next 6 months.

When I 4 table (i.e. work on improving my game, something ive been doing regularly) I like to have PT open so I can browse all players stats and look over how they have played certain hands, I find this really good for working on ones game, hoever its a little difficult with 1 screen, even 4 tabling.

All this computer hassel means today was the first day I have played poker in over a week. Im not that upset though, I have enjoyed spending time with my friends as summer draws out and everyone returns to university.

Today I only played 300 hands, as I was feeling tired and was worried I may spew after experiencing a nasty suck out.

Its not that I was a huge fav, and he won, its more the circumstances. I can accept losing AA vs KK but losing with 80% equity all in on turn, against some numpty with 3rd pair and 7 high flush draw really ticks me off:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1518534

I was impressed by one hand I played today:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1519565

- I felt he was looking to float me after he called flop. His call was fast and I had been fairly agressive. I called turn pretty confident I had the best hand and felt he would fire again so decided to check/call river.

I like that I felt in control throughout the whole hand, despite it being a non-standard line.

I promise Ill blog more, I move into my flat this week, should be good.

p.s. September goal is never going to happen now, i'll play a bit but my flat wont have internet till Oct probably. Along with the fact I havent been able to play for 8 days I would be happy with a 4k BR by the end of September.

Rinse and Repeat

2007-09-16T02:06:00.000+01:00

I took the day off today, saw some friends, and generally did not think about poker at all. Feels nice to have the control to completely switch off from poker for a whole day.

I will making much more effort over the coming weeks to spend more time improving my game, personally that involved 6 things:

-Watching CR vids

-Browsing forums

-Reviewing PT stats

-Play heads up (much lower limit)

-Playing 2 tables at current limit and playing super focused/intense sessions for only 45 mins at a time, watching every hand that is played (awesome for improving hand reading).

-Dropping down limits to work on leaks, and figure different ways of playing hands.

I have never really exercised the final point, but I definitely give it stock. I will be soon hoping to spend some time in the lower limit games, finding out how different high variance plays and see how opponents react, etc.

Heads up poker as far as I am concerned is the ultimate test. I give a 2/4NL HU player substantially more credit than a 2/4 6-max NL player. This is true for all limits however; any winning HU player must have a greater level of discipline than 6-max players as HU variance is so huge.

FR players struggle to transition to 6-max. Many 6-max players struggle a HU. Bu a HU player will be VERY successful at 6-max, and somewhat successful at FR.

Playing HU is excellent for improving hand reading, as well as learning to make decisions of much more marginal Ev outcomes.

Im nackered after not getting to sleep until 5am, and still getting up at 9am (well got out of bed at 9:40).

I enjoyed a lovely lunch with a good friend of mine on a roof garden, above a pretty trendy cocktail bar. This was an absolutely lovely experience. Especially since all my uni friends will be off in 1-2 weeks.

I greatly enjoy seeing my 'college friends', and hope to able to do it more before we all part ways for the next academic year. Preparations for a large gathering round my new flat (in Southampton), on the 22nd, and then out to town afterwards which should be awesome.

Im never really sure what ratio of poker : life i should write in this blog, I think as time goes on I will write more about my life 'outside of poker'. I will hope to show people how important it is to be doing other things beside poker; i.e. university work, socialising, going gym.

As I have said before, my long-run life goal is to become a successful person, being successful will require discipline from all aspects of my life, these I will discuss in the blog.

Im super tired, so this blog prob made no sense,

Toughest $10 I'll Ever Earn

2007-09-15T00:54:00.000+01:00

Well that was fun. The poker gods really didn't want me to make a profit today, well, guess what; ha.

A lot of hands so I wont bore you too much, just a few.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482637
- Misplayed IMO, I should have just called his turn raise. His line looks so strong, I have no fold equity here.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482642
- This hand just sucked. I really don't know how bad my turn line is. TBH I put him on AsKx or AsAx so had to go with it imo, but i'm prob wrong.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482651
- Shitty river, I hate these spots. But its my fault, I didn't think about how hand would play on river and bet an awkward amount. Flop re-raise should have been 30; turn should have been 65.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482659
- Yey, lets give the worst possible flop for me! Donkfish once again.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482664
- Im not sure what to do here.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482672
- I thought he was all in on turn, didn't realise he had a bit left, doesn't make much difference tho.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482676
- "Thou shalt not be making a profit on this day"

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482681
- No fold-equity against fish, duh.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482688
- Nice

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482696
- Another setup from the gods, damn you.

And how exactly did I defy the gods. Here's how;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482701
- By sucking out big time, yey!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482706
- By value shoving donks.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482708
- By shouting out their exact hand while I value bet the river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482712
- By taking advantage of favorable implied odds, and the fish's tenancy to overplay big pairs.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482718
- By getting them to put all their money in drawing dead.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482721
- By taking them to 'Value Town'.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1482727
- By playing people even worse than me, ha (why the hell did I check this flop).

My backs pretty tired after 8hrs of poker, wish I had one of those Aeron chairs, but with a £700 price tag, think I may just get a nice leather one (around £100).

I feel pretty happy I was able to break even today, at one point I was down 3.5 BIs so it was nice to bring it back.

If I was playing my best, I think I would have made at least $100, maybe $150-$200, my reads were off and I messed up some pretty big hands, K9 one for example.

Well BR is back to where it was a few days ago. Its days like today that remind me how deep a BR I need to feel comfortable, at my low point my BR was down to $2850, thats close to having to drop down to 50nl. Hopefully I can string some nice sessions together and move BR along, its been stuck around here for a while.

Well i'm nackered; later.

VB

Discipline

2007-09-13T13:22:00.000+01:00

I just finished a 250 hand session, I played really bad, and was lucky to recover early losses and ensure I only lost 1 BI, could have been much more.

I am happy that I was able to walk away. I was playing awfully and was able to calmly observe this. I did not tilt, and get pissed off that I was throwing money away, I accepted that today was not my day and walked.

I had an awesome day yesterday, winning about 3 BIs; I sucked out a few times and generally played mediocre but ran awesome. I think its super important to recognise when you run well/suck out huge, as that way you're more accepting when things don't go your way, you realise that you got super lucky and so will someone else, and if you play well, people will suckout on you alot more than you on them (as you will be getting your money as a fav more often).

My BR is down to $3200 after this mornings session. I'm nearly at a bankroll level where I will feel very comfortable (~35 BIs).

Down a Bit

2007-09-11T22:56:00.000+01:00

Managed to lose 2 BIs today, first was KK vs QQ, villain flopped a Q. Tough to get away from, I generally put villain on AA/KK/QQ/AK when he calls my large 3-bet pf. Flop: Q63, I bet 2/3 pot and he min raises, I don't know if I should be getting away from these, I mean his line looks like AA/QQ but is folding here -Ev, im not sure.

Other hand was a horrible river line by me, I flopped top 2 on a JT3 flop, led flop and turn (both blanks), got called twice. River brings 7, I bet 2/3 pot and he shoves for about 3.5x. I think I should be folding this, he either has a set or rivered straight, I of course call and he had 98.

BR down to 2900, kinda sucks but I stopped playing straight after JT hand, was super unhappy with my call. I was feeling pretty tired so didn't play anymore for the rest of the day.

Ive realized lately that 'winning money' at poker is not about having winning sessions. Money saved is money earnt. So when I walk away from the table cos i'm playing bad, essentially I have saved money that I probably would have tilted away. By quitting when i'm tilting/playing bad I have in an indirect way increased my LR winnings.

Hopefully I will play better tomorrow and have the discipline to walk away if I don't.

Some Cool Web-Sites

2007-09-10T00:32:00.000+01:00

Just been browsing my favourites and figured i'd share some with you.

www.pandora.com - this site is awesome, basically you enter music you like and it uses advanced algorithm to find other songs which you may also like.

www.wefeelfine.org - a very cool idea; basically this site runs off a piece of software which constantly scans the net for recent blog entries. Using the collected data, the software can determine how people are feeling. The look of this site is second to none, all the flying coloured dots are different blog entries just click on one to read. Check out the different analysis in bottom left, personally I like looking at mounds and metrics.

www.howstuffworks.com - a great site if you were ever curious how most things work.

Every Simpsons Episode - (aka url is too long to type) as of today this site has pretty much every Simpsons episode available for download through Rapidshare.

Something Interesting Has Happened - When It Rains It Pours

2007-09-09T22:17:00.000+01:00

Well that was a nice session. I will allow a screen shot to explain:

As you can see I managed to win over 4 BIs a 100NL and a BI at 50NL. I accidentally clicked on a 50NL table hence I only played a few hands, but luckily the last had I played I managed to win a nice pot:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1463854
- I'm not sure how correct my push was tbh. I think he's calling the shove with enough hands that I beat to make this +Ev, most Kx and flush hands are paying me off.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1463864
- The aspect of this hand I dislike is how it was not planned or thought through, it was very much on instinct, especially the river calls. In retrospect I think villain could def be playing a set like this. My thought process was that I didn't want to inflate the pot on the flop, and when he bet 20 on turn I figured a raise to say 50-60 is either going to fold out all the hands I beat and get a shove from all the hands that have me crushed (giving me a horrible decision for $20 more).

My thought process was as follows;

Pre-flop is standard, 1 limper and I raise it up in position.
Flop: I flop pretty good, but villain seems to be a weak player, and plays alot of hands. I elect to control the pot by just calling.
Turn: Villain fires another bet, at this point I figured I was beat like 60% of the time. I put villain on T9/T7 (although I doubt T7 bets 15 on flop)/QQ/JJ/TT/99/55/77/air (effectively). My call was based on the fact that jamming would fold out most hands I beat, and I still wasn't sure where I was.
River: I failed to improve, I was hoping for a K or 5, either would have put me ahead of anything but a set/straight. Villain fires 50 into an 85 pot. A set is definitely doing this but so is air and QQ/JJ, I considered how my line may look to him, and decided that as I have played this hand so weak, I have induced greater bluff equity and therefore I called.

I was fairly new to the table so didn't have many reads on player but he did seem to be mixing it up alot. I think my line was ok, but not as +Ev as raising flop.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1463908
- I dont like the way I played this. I put villain on a flush as soon as he potted turn, hes always calling a turn raise, and my line is super strong when I just call like this, plus the shorty is always getting it in, even w/ TP. I should have made it 30 to go on turn, maybe he shoves if not, jam river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1463951
- Again im not liking this call, but when you play these Euro sites, you see just how bad these players are. In the session I think this is fine, villain is pushing alot of hands here, they are just so bad.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1463960
- I checked turn to make my hand seem weaker, I think 2nd best hands will pay off more if you take this line.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1463980
- Got a bit unlucky here, 65% equity edge for a 250BB pot.

To sum up how well im running, my biggest losing pot of the day was this one:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1463989
- A pretty horrible river, but I still only lost $21.

It feels good to win nearly $500 in a day, but I don't really think of it as money, its still just 5 buy-ins.

20 more BIs will take me to 5k, along with rake back and my bonus I would make my September goal. Im still not comfortable at 100nl, bank-roll wise, I think I will need at least 35 BIs to feel comfortable.

Hopefully I can carry todays momentum on tomorrow and rack up a few more buy-ins and properly establish myself as a 100NL player.

VB

(BTW I have added Episode 2 of HSP, I will be adding Episode 3 probably Tuesday)

Improvements

2007-09-09T10:02:00.000+01:00

I have managed to improve my life choices and have been waking up much earlier, usually between 9-10am, not bad so far. I definitely want to get this down to pre-9am, and I think I will be able to over the next week or so.

I'm still rebuilding the losses from the downfall, My BR is currently ~$2.5k, I played a little 100nl yesterday and it seemed to go ok.

Ill blog soon, when something interesting happens.

VB

Sort Life Tilt = Sort Poker Tilt

2007-09-06T15:54:00.000+01:00

So I dropped down to 50NL on Tuesday after a frustrating day on monday. Well in many ways it was good i dropped down; I was still annoyed at mondays session, and proceeded to lose 8 BIs (at 50NL) in a 3k session (4 tabling).

The good think is that even though I had over 25 buy-ins for 100NL I still was able to move down (that is the only positive to come out of Tuesdays session). I did so more for confidence reasons and maybe a little for BR reasons. I felt another bad day at 100NL may mean my roll drops down to say $2000, and that would really hurt.

My play on Tuesday was awful, I decided to jump into three 50NL HU games to start off, quickly became frustrated and threw away 3 BI. I then moved to 6 max where I proceeded to lose 5 more BI over the course of a (split) 6 hour session. Yesterday I took a day off as I normally do, after a heavy loss.

My life needs sorting out to be honest. I have not been going to sleep until 4am and waking at 2 pm every day, and with uni re-commencing in 4 weeks, its time to sort out my life. My goal is to become a 'successful person', and a successful person is a productive person. I cannot be productive with my current sleep pattern. Yesterday and today I have forced myself to get up at 9am, and I this is a trend I will be continuing, even if I cant sleep, I will be awaking at 9am (I am lazy, but my insomnia is partly genetic or whatever you want to call it, I just have trouble switching off at night, yes i'm a teenager and a student so it's to be expected a bit, but I definitely feel I have more problems sleeping than most).

To be good at poker/economics or any field, you must spend time improving, but time isn't enough, it must be PRODUCTIVE time. You must feel awake and be alert; having enough energy to complete productive tasks is a vital aspect of a successful person.

I was/am hoping September to be a productive month, I am still capable of completing my September poker goal of moving upto 1/2NL although this setback has dented the possibility slightly. But my long term poker goal is not as defined, it is to improve and obtain a greater understanding of the game, to become a 'solid winning player', and moreover become in full control of my 'poker lifestyle', controlling tilt/setting a stop-loss/not playing when i'm tired/getting my rest/eating properly/ etc... Many of the things that a good poker player exhumes are simply good life choices, and sound life choices will reflect in my university results just as much as poker. As ive already said, excelling in anything, poker or otherwise required discipline and sound life management, you can bet the CEO's of the wealthiest 500 companies arise at 8am everyday, before reading the paper and promptly arriving at work for a productive day.

Successful people succeed in making sound life choices; this is why I will be doing my best to control my life choices and give myself the best possible change to be a successful person, in poker,employment and life.

End of rant.

My bankroll fell to $2200 after Tuesday, I received $100 bonus yesterday and made $80 this morning. Therefore i'm around $2400. It will take some good luck and sound play to reach my September goal, not to mention lots of hand. I think my bonus and rake-back will play a huge part. If i play 40k hands total in September I should amass $1k of rake back and about $500 of bonus for the month. im basically going to have to win 20 BIs at 100NL once I move up, which ill be doing 'when I feel I should' I think 24 buy-ins is enough (to take a shot with) but I will need to regain my confidence along with my winning game before I will be moving back up.

VB

I Should Have Stayed In Bed

2007-09-03T21:20:00.000+01:00

Felt a bit lousy today but decided to play a little; at first I decided to set a stop-loss as I wasn't feeling 100%, maybe -2 BI or +2 BI, but I couldn't decide so I just said I would quit when I feel I should. Well the session started awesome, I won a big hand with KK and a few other nice pot to take an early +2 BIs. But they I misplayed (IMO) a hand for a 260BB pot, and then decided to keep playing, eventually ending the session down 3 BIs (from beginning of day). Although I must not look at it like this, im pretty fucked off, I was up to over 3k roll early on, and ended around $2500, it feels like ive had a -5 BI session.

2 of the buyins I lost were completely avoidable;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1441253
- I had this player pegged as a 'NIT', I just hate how I stacked off here, I just called turn which says I don't think my 2pr is good enough to win, and then decide to call a shove when I don't improve, bye bye BI.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1441260
- NH DONK. No explanations, I was pissed and hoped he was bluffing, when he shoved, I somehow felt committed and called.

I did not get paid off with any hands I hit today, I definitely ran badly in terms of getting paid off, but even so, I think I should not have lost any more than 1 BI today.

In a game of such marginal situations, losing 2 buy-ins from pure poor play, will seriously damage my win rate.

After today I am back to $0 at 100NL, hopefully I can learn from these shitty experience, and not make stupid mistakes in the future, although I know I will.

Atm, all im hoping is that I don't have a losing day tomorrow, I don't wish to dwell on it, but losing a few BI tomorrow may mean me dropping down which I seriously don't want to do.

I would seriously like to become more disciplined, I know hindsight is 20/20, but If I had stuck to my decision to quit after winning/losing 2 BIs, I would have a 3k roll right now, not be worrying about moving down, had a fairly enjoyable day reading or watching TV and not boring you with how much I can suck sometimes. But hey..............................thats poker.

VB

One Month Move Up - Day 2

2007-09-02T21:21:00.000+01:00

Played 1000 hands today, and managed to win nearly 2 buy-ins. Here are some hands:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1437588
- I think this is a fairly standard stack off, I felt he was pretty darn strong when he calls my pre-flop 3-bet; I think I could possible have led and maybe gotten away from it, if he shoved, but im stacking off here 90+% of the time.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1437594
- Tough spot on river, but I think I have to call, the trouble is I cant really think of a hand that I beat that he would do this with. To be honest my thought at the time was 'I have a full house, call'. This is wrong, I need to forget my hand (in isolation) and consider if I feel villains range is ahead of my hand, here I think it is; his range is, JJ/44/66/22 or very weirdly played AA/KK/QQ, now unless he made a very unusual line with an over-pair, im beat.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1437607
- I don't mind my play too much here, I think he has a T/weaker K/missed flush draw alot of the time, the only real hands that beat me are 22/KT.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1437615
- Couldn't have gotten it in any worse, I think this play is fine though; villain is folding a T and often a Q here.

Out of the red and into the green......

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1437620
- Very tricky line from villain, his river shove sort of looks like 98; IMO he butchered his hand.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1437625
- I liked just calling turn here, I figured id get a Q to call if I took this line, never figured I'd get a call from 99.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1437629
- Pretty standard.

I had a super tough decision here; http://www.pokerhand.org/?1437637, villain was very talkative in chat, and kept saying he was bluffing, this was my first hand I played with him, so I felt I had to give him credit. I find most players who appear 'annoying' generally overbet their big hands to make them look weak. I have to give this guy credit here I feel, however I was probably going with it the next time.

VB

Poker Setup

2007-09-02T00:11:00.000+01:00

I will soon be moving into my new flat (for Uni/College), and will have to once again setup my monitor/laptop etc... I would like to invest in some things to make playing poker easier and more comfortable, in time I would like to invest in a Mac Pro (desktop-top) and 2 large Dell or Apple monitors; however this will set me back a fair few $$. For now I will be looking to purchase a new mouse and possibly a nice new ergonomic chair.

Poker Setup Ergonomics and Functionality

This link has some good info on poker setups, I really like the chair, however they cost around £400 so I dont think I'll be able to get one of those in the foreseeable future, I may just get a nice comfy office chair.

As for the mouse, I am looking into the Razor Deathadder, it looks pretty sweet.

Anywhoo, just thought id share this info; check out the 'pokeronamac' site (first link), got some good stuff on it.

VB

100NL Time!

2007-09-01T17:02:00.000+01:00

Just played my first (proper) session of 100NL. I played terribly to start off with; I was a bit intimidated by the 'absolute size' of the raises, and was being run over. I managed to win a nice pot with a FH and a few other nice sized pots, once I settled down, I felt my play was good, I was able to turn two early lost buyins into nearly a +1 BI session.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1433678
- Really dislike how I played this, his range is crushing me, if I am going to play this TPTK to the river, I HAVE TO raise pre-flop. I think I should be folding turn IMO, no reason to lose a big pot here.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1433682
- Standard vs short-stack.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1433683
- Im still unsure about this hand, villain was playing 35/7/0.5, he has such low agression factor I think this fold but atm I think its the best play. Ill be talking about this hand with some superior beings and see what they think.

Now for the hands I actually won; YEY!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1433693
- Im not sure if I should be raising turn here, I wanted 'jobbik88' to put in his last ~$15, so I think flat calling ok. I dislike my river line, my hand is so well defined when I basically min raise here, I think by shoving i'm getting him to call a much larger percentage of the time; I put him on an over pair but I may very well have let 87 (flopped straight) get away from their hand here.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1433699
- Lunacy from villain.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1433702
- Big suckout, this was early in the session.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1433704
- I put villain on Jx or Ax after turn call, I figured most Ax and all Jx hands are going to have to call this river bet.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1433712
- Nice!

With all this hands I won, it seems as though I should have had a better winning session, but there were loads of small pots early on in the session I lost just from playing scared.

I think ill take the rest of the day off from poker. Pretty tired from going out alot lately.

VB

Todays Session

2007-08-29T20:11:00.000+01:00

Only real hand I won was a big suckout;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1423539
- Villain played it pretty good, I guess I should have bet more on flop, if I make it say 8-10 on flop i think turn shove is fine, but by only betting 6 on flop I think I should only be calling this turn bet.

Nice to suckout tho.

BR is near enough back to where it was before my nasty downswing; should have some nice bonus coming in today and also my Rake Back this month should be a decent amount.

Basically I want to win about 4 more buy-ins before I move upto 100NL. With rake back and bonus along with those 4 buy ins, my BR will be 2700-2800, which I think is enough for Betfair. On Full Tilt I may wait until 3000-3200 but provided I don't have a horrible first couple of sessions at 100nl I should be ok.

I'm super eager to get to 100NL as soon as possible so I can have a better chance of completing my 1 month move up (to 200NL); im reckoning ill need to play about 40k hands to make the move (provided no horrible downswings), the Betfair software makes multi tabling hard, but I should be able to manage 1300 hands a day 4-5 tabling.

I'll be posting my 50NL stats (for Betfair) as soon as I move upto 100NL, hopefully in the next 5 days.

VB

UPDATE

Just played another session, ran pretty good, got into a super tough spot with AA, still not sure bout it;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424240
- Either way I think its pretty close, straight and flush draws missed, so I guess I could have check called, but it just didn't seem like he was on a draw. He's not calling my flop bet with (just) a gutshot, its unlikely he picked up flush draw on turn and just called; I decided to block bet/fold and even though he min raised, I stuck to my plan and pitched it. I think this is something I'm definitely thinking more about, its irrelevant how much money I have invested if I'm 99% sure I'm beat (unless I'm getting 99:1 on a call). I just couldn't think of a hand he plays this way that I beat; the only hand I beat is KK/QQ but I can never see a 50nl player smooth calling pf then calling down flop and turn.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424265
- I was so close to folding this pf, I was committed to the hand when I called pf, he didn't have enough chips to set mine against, I had to jam on this flop after investing $7 pf.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424276
- This hand just played itself.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424285
- Betfair donks.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424286
- Signs of a good session.

Well thats 4 posts in 1 day, a new record for me, yey.

VB

(Btw green links are hands I won and red links are hands I lost.)

New URL and Site Design

2007-08-29T15:22:00.000+01:00

As you may have noticed I have changed the design of the site, I am hoping to change it a little more but that depends on how well I am able to master HTML code.

The site's URL has also changed, although you can still access this blog from http://pokernomics.blogspot.com, the primary blog URL will now be, www.pokernomics.co.uk.

I have added the High Stakes Poker post link to 'Links', just click on 'High Stakes Poker - S.4' and you will be directed to the post containing the HSP download links. I will hoping to put up the HSP links on the day they come out, but due to time differences across the pond, I may have to wait until the following day.

VB

High Stakes Poker - Season 4

2007-08-29T11:38:00.000+01:00

I'll be uploading season 4 of HSP for your viewing pleasure, I personally believe it to be the best poker on TV in terms of realism and educational enrichment. (All links are megashares)

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 5

Episode 6

AK - my nemesis

2007-08-28T19:10:00.000+01:00

I've always struggles with AK, on my previous PT database (~40k hands) I believe I was a small loser with AK. Im am winning with it on my new new database, but its still causing me problems;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1419749
- I think this spot is sort of OK, but still don't think im a big fav much of the time.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1419755
- These are always tough, but essentially I up against a set or a draw, id be interested to know how many people fold AK in this spot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1419759

- A strange hand from villain; his line screams strength, I figured he had 66. I think I played this hand fast enough to fold on this turn; baluga!!

Anyway all those hands were from yesterday, today I had a slow session to start, kept getting re-raised. I used to (and sometimes still do a little) get super aggravated when you sit down and face alot of aggression, I felt people were just bluffing me off constantly, but the truth is, the players don't change their strategy much for 'new' players, if the players are being aggressive, its usually because they have the goods, the players aren't thinking highly enough to try and tilt me by being hyper-aggro as soon as i sit down.

I won 1.5 BI today after ~800 hands, again today I played more TAG and limped in much less, seemed to work pretty well.

VB

Got some back

2007-08-25T20:24:00.000+01:00

Very slow day, had to really fight to turn a profit today, and whooo, $18 after 880 hands. My stats today were the most 'normal' (tag/lag) they have been at betfair. Im still working out the best way to beat this site, i've often been running around 18/11, these stats are not impressive, but often the games are so loose I tend to limp in position with many broadway cards and pocket pairs as I feel with 4/5 to the flop, I will get paid off post flop most of the time. Today the games were weak/lose pf, and weak/aggressive post, I tagged it up abit, and would have had a nice session if I didn't overplay AK and stack off light with TPTK vs trips on K88 flop; basically when a weak player flat calls (or check calls) flop, then min raises (check min raises) your over-pair/tptk is no good; standard beluga theorem really.

I think my hand reading has improved alot lately, ill post some examples later, but ive been more disciplined in folding overpairs (esp TT/JJ/QQ) on the flop when I know villain has KK/AA.

My nightmare session was also the most poker i've played in one sitting in a long time maybe forever. Maybe that was a factor in my losing, but I don't think it was a massive one. I played 1800 hands straight (4-6 tabling); about 5 hours. I feel I misplayed a few hands, I lost value a few times by not betting (enough) which sucked, also tilted away a BI with that QJ hand, frustrating, but its a pretty vital aspect of growing as a poker player, in the past, the times I feel I have improved the most is when I just come out of a downswing, when i'm more attentive and hungry to win, I pay more attention at the tables and am generally more critical of my game.

I think its so important to accept losses/running bad; it never gets 'better or easier; if anything, tougher opponents and more marginal spots are going to make future downswings more devastating but learning to accept them, may be THE most crucial factor in long term poker success.

I've played 15k hands at Betfair and am running a little over 4ptbb/100 hands, acceptable but definitely think I can be around 6.

Hopefully I can continue to improve and accept the losses that are inevitable and essentialy vital to my poker development.

VB

Nightmare Session

2007-08-23T18:13:00.000+01:00

Started off playing poorly, then tilted off a BI. Then started to play better, but cards didn't do me any favors.

- http://www.pokerhand.org/?1402341

- http://www.pokerhand.org/?1402349

- http://www.pokerhand.org/?1402356

- http://www.pokerhand.org/?1402360

- http://www.pokerhand.org/?1402362

- http://www.pokerhand.org/?1402365

- http://www.pokerhand.org/?1402368

- http://www.pokerhand.org/?1402370

- http://www.pokerhand.org/?1402375

MLB TV

2007-08-23T02:09:00.001+01:00

I don't know how many people in England enjoy baseball, but those who do, I suggest you get MLB TV. Its a subscription service; $20/month or $50/year and it broadcast basically every baseball game. There are at least 8 games on a night and usually 15. The games can run pretty late, the majority of them finish around 2-3am GMT, but there are usually a couple of earlier games.

A screenshot of the 'Mosaic' feature (above), it allows you to watch upto 6 games at once, or you can chose to watch just one game (below);

Quality is fairly good, not TV quality, but probably Video quality. Definitely acceptable. They also archive every game, so you can watch any game you may have missed, you can watch full game, extended highlights or condensed highlights.

You will need broadband to use it, but not necessarily super fast broadband, 2mb should just about cut it.

Poker:

Today I lost about 1 1/2 buy ins, wasn't playing great, but some losses were unavoidable, AA and KK flopped overpairs with both, and both times villain flopped a set; both times villain only had 1/2 stack.

The only full BI I lost was with AK; in BB, button raises to $2, I 3 bet to $6.5 he calls, flop - Kh 7c 3c, i check he bets $7, I make it $20 and he shoves. He has KcJc and managed to hit his flush on turn. I was a 60/40 fav but I have been running so well lately I sort of deserve a bit of variance.

VB

Being Lazy

2007-08-21T23:52:00.000+01:00

Been pretty lazy lately, both in terms of poker and life. Sleep has always been a problem for me, and getting up is the root of it. I sleep in too late, then my whole day is out of sync.

Done next to no poker homework, and although I feel pretty confident with my game at 50nl, its super important to keep improving and learning.

Things have continued to go my way, im not sure if things are completely going 'my way' or that i have improved alot and its starting to show, I guess its both, im definitely running better, but after over 10k hands on betfair I have maintained a solid winrate of over 7ptbb/100.

Today I had another nice session; playing nearly 800 hands and winning $89. I played poorly in a few spots but generally I think my play was good, I made a few nice calls which I feel happy about;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1396339
-In these spots I tend to just go with them, on FT I think villain has goods more often, but on Betfair I can never really fold here, I shoved knowing 70-80% of the time he doesn't have a K.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1396348
-Again, im folding this hand on FT probably, but with so many maniacs, you pretty much have to call in these spots on Betfair.

Just reviewing my session stats I realize how many sets/FH i hit, I didn't get paid off at all, but in 800 hands I flopped sets of AAx3/QQ/99/77, turned sets with 66, flopped full houses with AA/66; so I guess I could have had a much bigger session, but I don't let those things bother me as much, I focus much more on each hand, and not the total hands at the end. I think I could have got paid off a bit more if my image was loser, today I ran at 16/10, but with no PAHud on Betfair, plus most 50nl Betfair players don't know what vpip means, i think the gain in EV from a loser image would be less than the losses from being over aggressive (c/bets etc...)

Well BR is up to $2200, trying to play around 1k hands a day so I can move on up. I very much doubt ill be able to reach my August target of a 4k bankroll, but I think if i continue as I have been a 3k BR is definitely doable.

I will be hoping to do a 1 month move up in September.

If I play 30k hands in September (at 100nl) and run at 4ptbb/100, that will be $2400. Hopefully my bonus and rakeback will make up the rest.

I will not be moving up to 100nl until I have at least $2500, and most likely not until I have $3000. My move up to 200nl will be when I have $5500-$6000.

VB

Thoughts...

2007-08-12T02:00:00.000+01:00

Haven't played any poker for last 2 days; I feel I have 'grown' as a player as of late. My mental state is much better, I no longer tilt as much as I used to and am usually smiling (at villains insane play) when I Iose a 90/10. Much of this is due to my deep bankroll, but I also have improved with the poker/real life switch. Top players can play monster sessions, take huge financial swings, and then walk away, back to other daily/sociable activities unaffected. Spending this summer with my parents, has helped this aspect of my poker development. They already dislike poker, and I feel that if i can take a more professional (less emotional) approach to it, they will respect it more. This ability to 'switch off poker' is a characteristic all top players possess.

Another aspect of my game not directly related to plying, but more so than the 'poker switch', that I have made some improvements on but much more to go is my general control whilst at the table. Decision making has become less based on 'instinct and emotion' and more on calculated thought processes.

Playing less tables allows me to actually put players on a range; although I am still a complete novice at determining hand ranges; then deciding how to act upon what likely range the villain has, I often am unable to completely think through this.

At the moment this skill is less important as the opponents on the current site I am okaying on, are very poor (compared to FTP, and in general) and so their ranges are so wide. But it is something I will be working on as soon as I move upto 100nl.

My stats are still pretty good, i may post my stats, but last time i ran hot and posted my stats I went on a massive downswing, so Ill see. Im running around 8ptbb/100 after 5k hands. I really need to get a move on with these hands. Especially if I hope reach my august goal of a 4k bankroll. Im thinking a few 2k hand days are in order.

The software on the new site is pretty slow so 2k hands (playing 4-5 tables) will take about 4-5 hours. Not too bad provided i get up and get on with it.

Not sure how much I have mentioned in this blog but i have a pretty hard time getting to sleep in general, "chronic insomnia" as it is known, its nothing too serious, it just pisses me off sometimes when I want to have a productive following day, and i just can't wake up 'cos i didn't get to sleep until 4am.

On that night I better try and get some sleep, it's 2:30 and I wanna have a productive day tomorrow with poker and reading a ton of Economists ive not gotten round to reading.

VB

Minor dent, but still going well.

2007-08-07T23:50:00.000+01:00

Played a bit today managed to win a BI at 6 max, however lost a little playing heads-up. Dont think ill play much heads until im playing 100nl; then ill play 50nl HU. The swings are so sick and you need a big roll.

Took a pretty horrific beat last night for a 300bb pot, got it in on flop with me having bottom set and he having over pair, I was a 91% favorite bit he caught a runner-runner straight and took it down, it sucked, but im actually pretty surprised I haven't had any at Betfair before this, the players are atrocious and im getting my money in as a huge favorite every time, every now and then they're ganna get their big suck out. These hands don't bother me too much, infact I was so happy to get the money in so good, loosing didn't worry me (if that makes any sense). What tilts me more is when they hit a crazy 2 pair on turn, and I have TPTK and I call their big river bet 'hoping' they have TP no kicker.

Anyway, thanks to my deep(ish) bank roll, its only a minor dent.

VB

Bigger Bankroll

2007-08-06T17:36:00.000+01:00

My bankroll has been increasing quite alot lately. I have been running pretty hot, and am feeling confident with my game.

This morning I played about 500 hands and lost a little, 2 big hands:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1339539
-Set over set; nothing can be done.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1339541
- Im pretty happy with how I played this. QT was definitely a surprise, but most villains will have either a draw, or a hand like AJ. JT is possible as well as 98, so im not too sure what the best way to play this is, his flop call made it look like he was drawing, i guess he played it well.

My BR is around 30 buy-ins for 50NL, it feels so nice, to be able to lose a couple of buyins and not have it dent your roll too substantially. At FT, I generally only had 20 BI so a bad day where i lost 4/5 buy-ins would send me on life tilt.

I've only played 3600 hands at Betfair and so far I running about 10ptbb/100, I hope I can maintain this win rate over the long run however I doubt it. Players are awful, so I think 5-6ptbb/100 is where I should be.

My approach to each session has also changed, I feel more confident going into a session, 'knowing' im better than most of my opponents, and that I have a (fairly) deep bankroll so I can afford to take a few hits. I feel less emotional variance, which is a nice change from the previous 2 months.

VB

So far

2007-07-28T20:08:00.000+01:00

Things going well. Nice to play in games I have a large edge in. Games are much softer than FTP, but I definitely don't feel upset that I haven't sampled these games before, I have learnt so much from playing the FTP games and as a result i'm able to play these easier sites with a big edge. I will hoping to get my 4k bankroll by then end of August and then i'll decide how much further i will go with the 'Eurosites', if they're still insanely soft I may have to keep them as my main playing ground, but I will definitely be putting money back on FTP over the next couple of months, playing the tough games where the difference between a winning and losing player comes down to making tough marginal plays/reads really improves my game.

So far i have been on a heater (about time after my horrible downswing over the past 2 weeks). Hope to ride it and breeze past these lower limits.

Ill put up some hands in a bit.

VB

Poker Sucks, but at least im motivated

2007-07-25T22:57:00.000+01:00

I wont bore you. Im moving my BR to Betfair poker, all $1100 of it, yey. I was reading Gambler2k4's old blog and he said goals are very important, so here's one.

-Have a BR of $4k by the end of August, tough but do-able.

Ill do my best to keep my blog up to date.

VB

When things go your way....

2007-07-21T23:48:00.000+01:00

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1286716

An example of how well i ran in todays second session. Everything worked out for me, managed to win a big 300BB pot with bottom set.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1286717

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1286721
Pretty happy with my value bet on river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1286723
Another one of those marginal shove calls, i figure he does this with more than an A seeing as I seem weak with my flop check.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1286729
More nice value

Everytime i post a winning session i seem to have like 2 weeks without winning another one. I hope it is different this time.

VB

Better Session

2007-07-21T15:43:00.000+01:00

Been busy lately seeing friends and working on plugging some leaks so haven't had a chance to blog.

Just finished a short 500 hand session, played alright. Most interesting hand was on last few hands with TT;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1285534

My poker tracker isnt working properly so the stats dont seem right, however at the table PAHud displayed the villains stats at about 35/24/7. I'd seen him play a lot of pot and call re raises liberally. His call on flop surprised me, i couldn't figure any real hand he would do this with; AA/KK/QQ/44/22 are usually raising me here given the texture of the board; I checked turn and he bet pot. He bet this amount fairly quickly and without much thought, i figured AJ is never playing it like this, so im either up against a weirdly played set/over pair or a draw. His quick flop call made it look like he was drawing/ looking to float, i figure often enough i was ahead her and decided to push.

I will definitely be asking some mates if they think this is a good play, in retrospect i think he turns up with a set here a lot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1285549

When you first see this $$ will hit your eyes, but amazingly i got no action vs 3 opponents, humph.

VB

Fewer Tables = $$

2007-07-16T20:39:00.000+01:00

So i played a 4 table session today and went well. I also played a little last night, only 2 tables.

I have been focusing on PAHud stats and trying to use the information efficiently which i found i didnt have time to do when playing 6+ tables. I will definately continue to play fewer tables; hopefully no more than 4.

With a decent win rate, i will be able to move up fairly quickly (approx 30k hands per limit if running at 5BB/100) plus i will be more happy with my win rate; which has become of increased importance to my confidence as a poker player.

Having good/very good poker tracker stats (records) is very important to me as it is the only true evidence for superior play. I would very much like to consistently beat the games I play for 5BB/100 hands or more (instead of 2BB/100 but 8 tabling).

I find i pay much more attention with only 4 tables and i feel even after todays session i have learnt alot more than many 8 tabling (rushed) sessions.

I feel my game has gotten a bit better, but there is still a lot more effort i can make in terms of reading forums and watching videos.

I have also tried to refrain from checking my balance during a session. I have found this very helpful and would like to maybe go several sessions without checking.

VB

AF

2007-07-14T17:59:00.000+01:00

Poker Tracker/PAHud agression factor info:

http://www.overcards.com/art-AF.php

Man i wish i could win!

2007-07-13T19:49:00.000+01:00

You know the story;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1259970
(so pissed at this hand; i didn't realise how deep staked he was, i figured my $32 bet would commit him but I didnt see he was sitting with $70; should have shoved flop)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1260110
(more crappy play)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1260113
(Donkfish sucks out as a 90/10 dog)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1260115
(Loose a flip)

Now lets look at the hands I actually won:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1260118
(Pretty close call, i think he has a Q a fair amount of the time, not sure if the call is +EV)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1260123
(standard vs fish)

Feel pretty disillusioned ATM, was close to just throwing my BR into 100 or 200nl and gambling. Just getting tired of losing sessions. Don't think i've had 2 consecutive winning days for like 5 weeks, ill make a bit of effort plugging leaks and improving for the rest of July, but if nothing happens i may just take my money to one of the softer sites and gamble it up, i just cant stand this shit anymore.

VB

Under the weather

2007-07-12T22:54:00.000+01:00

Been feeling pretty rough today, so didn't manage to play.

It seems the 1K challenge has become a 2 horse race; as only myself and Fishingmonk are taking part. He has informed me that he is off on holiday next week, so i should coast but unless things pick up and start improving i may still lose.

Games seem to be getting tougher and tougher to beat. 6 months ago, watching Wiggins and Caby crush 2/4 and 3/6 on the CR videos made me feel that i could easily play there in a couple of short months; especially when they say things like "you don't have to be particularly tricky to beat this stake" and them constantly remarking how bad some of the competition was.

I was talking to a CR member who is a pretty good player, and he said that he is fearing the move up from 1/2 to 2/4; and he is being coached by a top online pro.

FruityPro one of the CR legends (currently on a poker sabbatical) had only just moved up to 2/4 before he took a break, and he was playing for a living. If people playing 2/4 and even some 1/2 are doing so as a living you've got to believe they spend some serious time working on their game.

Although FullTilt is pretty tough to beat, and I could definitely find easier games; as becoming a better player is my primary goal I think it's good that I stick out the tough competition.

As of late i have lost alot of focus, ive been bitching about beats and not focusing on improving my game. I will do my best to spend time plugging leaks and become a more solid player. Whining about suckouts is just a waste of energy and time, if i spent that time reading 2+2 or thinking about the game it would be of much greater use to my game.

VB

Playing bad, running worse

2007-07-10T20:22:00.001+01:00

Really starting to get pissed of with the way things are going. Nothing seems to go my way.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1250958
(I cant be bothered to put these on 2+2 cos i know ever1 would cay c/bet! c/bet!, but thats bollocks, i've crushed the deck; and got no reason to believe villain has got this hand)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1250966
(Should have raised turn, but was hoping short stack would do it for me)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1250975
(Straight up bad play; should have made big flop bet)

I'm down to like 880; not a good start.

VB

1K Challenge

2007-07-10T12:34:00.000+01:00

For the remainder of July I will be competing in a 1K challenge. Basically you see how much you can turn 1K into; the winner receives $100 from each and every entrant.

Last time FruityPro ran one (March); Hookem148 made 5k profit excluding winning fees.

Fishingmonk (the host) has set up a blog which i've added to links; it will track progress of all players involved. I will also be blogging as much as I can, hopefully this challenge will motivate me to blog more.

Below are the rules, taken from the !KChallenge blog.

First 1k Challenge Begins Today

The first 1k Challenge that I will be running begins today at noon EST. There are currently 3 participants with registration open until Friday the 13th. The challenge will run until 11:59pm EST July 31, 2007.

Entrants: Fishingmonk, VB_Show, Zaitsev
se, any game, any level.
3) Challenge will last 1 month or until the end of current month.
4) Each player is to email Pokertracker screenshots with progress once a week to me for verification of progress. I will create a leaderboard so we all know who's in the lead, # of hands played etc etc for each player.
5) Participating players will not include bonuses and/or rakeback in their monthly profits, as this is a cash game profit challenge.
6) The player who accumulates the largest cash game profit in the challenge period will win $100 from each other participant.
7) Screenshots of account balance and transfer history must be provided upon request (private information including address, name, email address may be blurred from screenshot).

If you would like to signup please fee
Rules:

1) All participating players will begin with $1,000 bankroll on any site that they choose.
2) Players may play any Cash Games they chool free to leave a comment, email me at 1kchallenge@gmail.com, post on my cardrunners thread, or PM me at Cardrunners (Fishingmonk)

- Fishingmonk

VB

What are SSNL players doing wrong?

2007-06-30T19:07:00.000+01:00

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=10999768&an=0&page=0&vc=1

(5BI) Session

2007-06-30T00:01:00.000+01:00

So ill show how I managed to lose 5 BIs in 1200 hands. I'll begin with the biggest pots.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1219655
(Money was going in, but I think I should have bet closer to pot on the flop; NH villain)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1219660
(These are always tough; I don't think a set ever plays it this fast, and I couldn't put him on 2pr from his PF call, so I think I played it about right)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1219666
(I think turn call was a mistake, I reckon a flop raise would have been better)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1219680
(This hand is a little interesting, i'd been super aggro with this table, c/betting loads; I figured if I checked the flop and bet turn if blanked i would prob get raised, as soon as he raised turn I knew i was check-calling river bet, he played it well and I would have saved money betting flop; but i think this thought process will be profitable)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1219685
(Standard play vs donk)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1219688
(I'm 60/40 when money went in)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1219692
(I think I played this hand fairly well; river call i think -EV but villain played the hands very weird just calling flop and small betting turn but I still think river bet should be a fold)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1219702
(I was fairly happy with this lay down but not certain of my turn action; I think either way it costs me the same, however I figured betting $12ish on turn is only going to get called; most people will slowplay a flush here, so I went for pot control and figured check-calling will prob scare villain(s) with AQ and get a showdown)

Other than these; I really didn't manage to find any hands, of 1187 hands I only won 7 pots over $20

Here are the only 2 big pots I won;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1219719
(interesting way for money to go in, I figured he may have an ov/pr but he seemed fairly nitty and I didn't want him to make a solid fold)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1219727
(This guy was a bit of a maniac, and I induced his over bet on turn)

So definitely not an easy session. My play was pretty high variance, and when nothing goes your way it kind of sucks and results in sessions like this.

I think I misplayed a few hands, but I don't think I made any massive mistakes, maybe I lost a BI in total on mistakes but definitely no more than that.

I was able to quit the sessions when I was at my lowest, which was super tough; I was able to talk to a CR member on AIM straight after which I cant tell you how much it softens the blow. Just talking through hands and about general poker stuff, calmed me down.

I took today off, and tomorrow ill prob watch a CR vid or two and browse the forums. Sun im going paint balling so will doubt ill get much play in.

For July i'm going hard core. My initial goal was to play 120k hands; I doubt i'll achieve that as when I move up (to 100nl) i'll prob only play 4 tables until i feel comfortable at that limit. I think 60k hands in an absolute minimum for July.

By the end of July, my goal is to be consistently beating 100nl, and have a BR of around 4k.

VB

Table Selection

2007-06-29T11:41:00.000+01:00

http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=51554&highlight=table+selection
Pretty good post on table selection.

Lost 5 BIs yesterday, feel pretty crappy about that, alot of 1/2 BI pots i misplayed. Everything I tried didn't seem to work either, just one of those day.

I'll post hands later today. Will be taking a few days off, been playing a lot lately, and need a break to do other stuff and maybe a bit of poker homework.

VB

Bloody Variance

2007-06-26T17:34:00.000+01:00

Today goes from bad to worse.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1209240
(Coolered)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1209242
(3:1 fav on flop)

I really want to get the PokerEV software thats coming out soon, it tells you how well or badly you are running. I feel fairly confident i'm running badly (over past 5k hands).

BR: $1100

VB

Skill > Luck

2007-06-26T14:56:00.000+01:00

I've been playing pretty well lately. Just finished a winnning session but pretty frustrated.

2 big pots. The first one I made a big suck out on;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1208926
(In my opinion this is a setup hand; i'm never getting away from this, i figured he may have 22, but if so I still had outs. Money was going in with me a 16% chance to win)

Now here's what frustrates me, I get unlucky in that pot and suck out, yet in the next hand I completely outplay my opponent, get him to bluff off all his chips, and he sucks out;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1208928
(Here I was 90% to win on flop, Ok i'm going to lose 1 in 10, but the fact i slow played and got him to bluff off hist stack, really hurt).

VB

Poker Tracker Stats

2007-06-24T22:18:00.001+01:00

Here's a good post for poker tracker analysis:

PT Stats

VB

Why I dont like donkaments

2007-06-24T01:26:00.000+01:00

I had this $26 tourney token on FTP and decided to buy into tonights 19k guarunteed. I wasn't taking it too seriously, this hand reminded me why;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1201494

On flop I was a 98% to win the hand; and still 78% fav on turn.

Donkaments!

VB

Tough Session

2007-06-23T00:36:00.001+01:00

Just finished a very tough session, play was super aggressive at FTP. Lot of people wanting to play for stacks and so managed to lose 2 buy ins in big pots.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1198839
(Tough break here, was about 75% to win pot on flop)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1198845
(I knew I had almost no fold equity against this guy, but I think this a fairly standardly played hand. It was 50/50 on flop, I reckon he folds ~10% of the time, plus it help my image)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1198850
(Not very proud of this hand, his call on flop is terrible, but at the end of the day 90% of the chips went in with me as a 70/30 underdog)

These hands were all played very fast and its inevitable that im going to experience high levels of variance playing them like this.

I'm am definitely going to have to adjust to the more aggressive games that can be found on FTP, my only big hand of the session, was a very close call, and I pushed out of frustration from so many people c/betting and floating:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1198856
(If this is what you have to do to win a buy in on FTP maybe Party wasn't that bad after all)

VB

Another 2 buy ins

2007-06-22T19:48:00.000+01:00

Made a little over 2 buy ins today, in only like 100 hands, felt pretty tired today so decided to stop playing pretty quickly, but not after winning this monster 3-way pot:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1198081

Made a big value bet on river in next hand, turned nut flush and played it pretty weird for me, guy tanked and eventually called:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1198095

Here's a graph of my Full Tilt Progress so far:

BR: $1208

VB

Progress

2007-06-22T12:51:00.000+01:00

Had an awesome session yesterday, BR nearly at $1100. Just read an interesting article on 'Merging Your Range' (link below):

Merging Your Range

VB

Ups and downs....

2007-06-21T10:03:00.000+01:00

Played a big sessions last night at dropped 2 buy-ins. One big hand cost me where I made a squeeze play and got sucked out on when I turned trips:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1194222
(Maybe I deserved to get sucked out on; squeeze plays are almost never profitable at this stake, my flop bet is only getting called by a hand that beats me (in general), I got lucky and got it in a a big fav)

Anywhoo, ganna try and have a big day (3000 hands or so)

VB

What a difference a day makes.........

2007-06-20T21:38:00.000+01:00

Good day (so far), won 4 buy ins, pretty much everything going my way. Decided to throw a buy i away early by shoving AK on dry board with almost no fold-equity vs 1010. All of the other pots i lost were med sized and were often me pushing big draws but not hitting).

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1192565
(Things going my way)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1192569
(Very questionable push by me, but things were just going my way)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1192574
(50/50 going my way)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1192579
(Seen this guy make a massive PF shove with KQo, still a questionable call)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1192583
(Another 50/50)

I hate to think about what would have happened if i had been running like my previous comple of sessions today. I probably would have lost about 6-8 buy-ins. Leaving me with about 10 BIs for 50NL.

As things are i'm up to $977.

FTP bonus starting to come through, got $20 the other day, another 20 today, they do take it out of mgr though. If you work it out you basically get 27% rakeback plus 73% of the bonus you collect.

So if my MGR (without deductions is $1000) i'll get $270 plus 73% of whatever bonus i've received.

Rakeback hasn't updated yet, but the way things are going I doubt ill get $1000 of rake back (~$4000 MGR) by end of month, more likely to be around $400.

VB

Crappy 70/30s

2007-06-19T21:53:00.001+01:00

Was playing pretty terribly the other day; stacked off with TPTK twice (below):

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1189265

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1189267

Pretty terrible play in both spots.

I have been working on my TPTK hands, and have seen a drastic improvement my play of them.

My general play seems ok, unfortunately I seem to be on a bit of a down swing; here is a list of hands i didn't suck out:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1189273
(Here I think I could have been up against a bigger pair, however I felt 99+ would have pushed on flop; I cant see JJ just calling my flop bet, a high variance play by me, but I was 90% folding a flop/turn shove).

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1189285
(Probably -EV pre-flop call, but played it fast which was definitely correct).

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1189300
(A super tough turn call here. I think the time spent thinking about my TPTK hands payed off in this spot. I think a good player may play a set or AJ like this however, with a flush out there, I have to believe AJ/44 pushes on flop).

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1189321
(Here I don't like my play; I think my turn call is justified as he is never shoving here with a flush, I figured AT re-raises flop and AJ is just a cooler; by playing it this way I was able to get him to bluff off his chips with a weaker ace).

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1189340
(I'm a 60/40 fav on flop and only a 40/60 underdog on turn; I felt I had little fold equity on flop but felt raising was the best play nonetheless).

Aswell as these I got KK vs AA but nothing I can do about that.

So unfortunately things not going my way, but i am very happy with my play and feel I am outplaying many of my opponents.

to be nice I'll finish with a hand I won; unusual AA vs QQ hand; money went in over 3 streets.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1189357

VB

Perspective...

2007-06-13T00:40:00.000+01:00

Has been a frustrating day, Full Tilt have cracked down on multiple accounts, have had to create a new neteller account, and they charge 2% to withdraw and another 2% to transfer (i.e. a big cut of my roll).

Felt pretty frustrated until this evening when i was flicking through the tv and saw a programme on children with leukemia. It broke my heart to see these poor kids go through that, and it really put my problems in perspective, laughably so.

I will be pledging 1% of my total annual poker profit to a Leukemia charity at the end of the year. I will pledge each year to a various charity.

I think its important to remember how lucky we really are, it will also put my downswing and off days into perspective.

VB

Moving....

2007-06-12T16:42:00.000+01:00

I signed up for Party Poker rakeback last month, and played a little before exams. It seems Party is shutting down all the 'rakeback affiliates' so it looks like ill lose my May rakeback ($100ish). Sucks but could be worse, luckily i found out now, rather than after playing 60k+ hands in June and wondering why my $1000+ rakeback hasn't arrived.

I guess ill be moving to Full Tilt. Competition is harder but there we go. Rake back is 27% (Party was 25%), plus i'll get the $600 bonus on my new account. They also have full tilt points (miles better than Party points).

I don't think the move will hurt my profits too bad, maybe 5-10% less winnings but hopefully FT points will provide a little cushion.

Cashed out to Neteller today, hopefully be able to start FTP tomorrow. Will need to step up with hands if i want to be rolled for 100NL by end of month.

VB

Done....

2007-06-10T23:47:00.000+01:00

Finished my exams on thursday. Went out for a big night, and managed to get completely lost on short walk home, luckily got found a street i recognised and stumbled back to my flat at 4am. Moved most of my uni stuff out Fri morning.

Ive moved back home and today set up my screen/laptop.

Only managed about 200 hands today before I felt too tired to play on. Still recovering from exams, but I think I will be able to have some good sessions tomorrow.

My first goal is to play 120k hands in 4 weeks. This may be a tough ask but we'll see.
I'm back down to 50nl as tough pre-exam poker took my BR down to $1000. Hope to be back to 100nl by the end of the calender month.

VB

Still Revising....

2007-05-24T03:01:00.001+01:00

Still hitting the revision pretty hard, exams start on thurs 31st.

Looking forward to some big poker sessions after them.

Will prob next blog after exams (7 June)

VB

Tight is Right....

2007-05-14T00:03:00.000+01:00

Just played 300 hands, and won nearly a buy in. After this time off, and doing some homework (talking to other player/watching CR vids/ browsing forums) I have decided to tighten up. Players just aren't folding to my c/bets, bluffs almost never work as players love to slow play down here.

I ran at 16/13.5/4.7.

The AF is pretty high, but it makes life easier. I folded JJ preflop twice, after people 4-bet me huge, and its just a much easier decision when you haven't been playing LAG and you have to factor in them 4-betting you light.

I'm still -$411 for the month, I hope to make it back to break even before exams.

VB

Update....

2007-05-13T19:22:00.000+01:00

Not been playing much lately, mainly doing revision or just chilling out. I find breaks from poker are pretty important and always play better after one. Especially since ive been on a big downswing, it it has affected my play quite a bit.

Been trying out the MAC version of Poker Stars. Its pretty standard at the moment, they only have play money tables, but when its all finihed it should be awesome; now all we need it a MAC version of poker tracker and i'll be good to go. (Below is a screenshot of the MAC alpha PS client:

Probably won't play too much poker until after exams (7 June), at which time I will probably move BR to Full Tilt, so I can whore bonus/whore rake back and hope to have some winning sessions.

My post exam plan:

- Deposit on FT
- Play 50k hands in 4 weeks (by 7 July)
- Collect (approx) $1.4k in rakeback; from my 50k hands (at 100NL)
- Collect $600 bonus
- Run at 4BB/100 hands (minimum) after the 50k hands (4BB @ 100nl is $8; $8 x 500 (lots of 100 hands) = $4000)

RB + Bonus + winnings = 1400 + 600 + 4000 = $6000

So my goal is to make $6000 in the 4 weeks after exams, which will give me a bank roll of approx $8000.

Pretty ambitious I know, but I reckon I can do it.

VB

Humph....

2007-05-09T19:34:00.000+01:00

Another break-even session, it's starting to bore me how i never seem to win a session. PT stats are just ridiculous now, too embarrassing to publish. I got in a few tough spots and thought I made some OK reads, but still lost the odd pot which I shouldn't have.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1078302
(Not really sure what to put villain on here. I was possibly drawing dead on turn and don't think I should have made this play, the only hand i can draw out on is an overpair)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1078311
(No idea what to do here, I put him on Q10 on turn, I guess I misplayed it but i don't really know to be honest).

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1078318
(RAISE FLOP, RAISE TURN MORE!)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1078322
(One of the few hands I think I played just about optimally. I figured AK w/spade (he said KK).

This blog hasn't seen many winning hands lately so here is one.....

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1078330

I'm finding revision less stressful than poker atm.

VB

Progress has been made.....

2007-05-06T22:39:00.000+01:00

I played pretty well today. I decided to move down to 50NL and grind it up again, I played 6 tables as playing 4 made me impatient waiting for hands and I started to bluff too much.
My 50NL stats are a disgrace, and i'm determined to bring them up to within acceptable limits before I move up to 100NL again (getting my BR back to $2500 in the next 10,000 should do that).

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1068633
(Pretty much my only misplayed hand; villain was 17/5/1. I knew he had AA/KK but called preflop and actually said "i'm felting a blank flop". It's hands like this that I will need to work on in terms of discipline. Why call when i'm 95% sure he's got AA/KK or poss QQ, the only hand I can beat that he does this with is AK (1 out of 4 possible hands) JUST FOLD!)
I want to send out a thanks to FruityPro for looking over my hands from my previous post; offers some very valuable guidance, so thanks.

I'm fairly happy with my discipline over this downswing/bad play period. I've accepted I messed up a bunch of hands and have moved down. Not because I dont think I can beat 100NL (I know I can when I play well) but just the knowledge that if I were to play now and lose 3/4 or maybe even 5 buy-ins just from poor luck, I may loose-my mind and consequently my whole bankroll. Even if i did walk away then, it's not worth the emotional variance.

My BR is up over $1900 (after being down to $1800).

V_Bizzles not playing well...

2007-05-05T23:10:00.000+01:00

It appears my new account is cursed. Below are today's stats (my first day using my new account).

Losing about $500 makes today my biggest losing day ever. Not feeling good. I'm going to go through the major hands, and determine whether I lost money through being unlucky or playing bad, often it will be a mixture so ill associate a % of 'unluckiness' and assign it a monetary value proportionate to the pot size.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1065608
(One of the earlier hands, in retrospect there's not alot I can beat; only TT AK or AQ, I think he may bet here as a bluff say 30% with AK or AQ. But theres not much i'm beating here - I think river call was unnecessary. Lost from misplaying = $20)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1065630
(I think I should have raised more pre-flop, to say 5 or $6. With his short stack even if I lead and he shoves i'm still calling, my only real mistake in this hand was my weak pre-flop raise. Misplayed penalty = $10)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1065645
(This was a tough one; Villain seemed tag (18/4/3). At the time I put my opponent on a flopped set, but I dont think he just calls with a set, maybe a combo-draw or possibly even 88/77/66. I think I'm ahead quite alot here and this fold was -EV. I reckon i'm ahead over 50% of the time here, therefore 50% pot equity. Loss from misplaying = (50% of pot) $43)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1065691
(Here I played really badly, and got pretty unlucky. Even though playing the hand optimally would still have probably resulted in same outcome, I think I completely misplayed the hand. I should have folded pre-flop, I should have led the flop or c/folded, I should have raised the turn, I should not have a decision at river; either i'm pot committed by big turn action or I folded before river. For being in a situation I never should have found myself in I will fine myself all the money I lost in this hand. Loss from misplaying = $67).

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1065714
(I shouldn't have been in this next hand either, but lets analyze the play first. I should raise the flop (IMO) calling is very weak, and I need to know what i'm up against. I think there is a case for calling but if I call I will have to play my hand weak as it is less disguised. By calling I show weakness i.e. i'm drawing. The turn is fairly brutal; now the only hands i'm beating are AK/AT/QJ/KK. AT and QJ are very unlikely given pf action. i think my call was correct on turn, my hand was defined as a draw and the flush just got there, he knows this and bets a medium bet....why? I think my river play was the biggest mistake, I should have led for $15 and folded to a shove. He played it well, but I lost more than I should have. Loss from misplaying = $15)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1065745
(I's recently called the villain down with KK on an A high flop as he seemed weak, and sure enough he was drawing to flush that never came. Here I think my push is justified. The only reserves I had was that I was 80% sure he's call my shove, because he was over-aggro; I was a 52% fav tho. Loss from misplaying = $0)

Then i moved to a table with a guy called 'Vancouver224', seemed fairly trick, and took 2 buy ins off me; 3 big hands with AK;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1065759
(Flop raise is too small; I should have raised to $50 and called shove/shoved turn. By raising to $50 he can't call profitably. Loss from misplaying = $48)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1065771
(I should have known better than to raise this tricky player on river with a paired board. Loss from misplaying = $20)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1065785
(continuation bet I think is fine, after that is just terrible. Flop bet. Loss from misplaying = $17)
That my AK stats shot to hell.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1065793
(burning money. Loss from misplaying = $29)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1065796
(I don't dislike flop and turn play too much. River is c/fold. Loss from misplaying = $16)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1065802
(The villain had recently gone broke with JJ on a Q high flop vs AQ. Here I think my shove is justified).

Thats -$246 just from misplaying.

Sorry for such a long post but I need to sort this out, if I keep playing like this I will be broke in a week.

VB

Why I hate tournaments.....

2007-05-04T22:36:00.000+01:00

Just played the Full Tilt $14,000 guaranteed double stack tourney. I'm not a MTT specialist but I did play pretty well in this tournament. I won a big hand in second hour when i flopped a set, and just played big stack poker to take my chips to around 60k. With 40 players left (out of 675) I was in 10th, then this.....

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1062501

So sick, I had not given a bad beat to anyone, the worst was me making my open ended vs top pair early in tournament; but i had like 40k and he had about 10k.

I feel so gutted; I won a massive $47 for my 3 1/2 hours of poker.

VB

V_Bizzles

2007-05-04T16:32:00.000+01:00

I've moved to another account on Party. My new name is V_Bizzles.

VB

What could have been a monster day....

2007-05-04T02:47:00.000+01:00

Down about 1.5 buy ins after today. It could have been a monster day, but every time I won a big hand, I lost an even bigger one.

This next hand was at the beginning of my session. It's pretty weird, I think my call is questionable; from what I knew of the villain, I couldn't see him pushing AA/KK here, AK makes sense, but if he shoves AQ/JJ/TT i'm miles ahead; AK is the only hand he can realistically shove here that I don't have dominated. I was still a 57% fav, but didn't suck out this time.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1060085

I think getting away from this next situation is near enough impossible at these stakes. Many times ive been on the verge of throwing my hand away and decided to gamble, only to find he's on air or a weakpair. Here I think I may have been able to get away on flop; he makes this bet with AA/KK/JJ maybe AK; only one of them I'm crushing, 2 have me crushed, and AK im a good fav. The player is a semi-regular, in retrospect I think folding the flop bet would have been very possible.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1060093

I have often found playing 2pr to be very difficult, personally its probably my worst hand to play. Its a good hand, but its not really good enough to play for stacks.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1060109
this was a super tough lay down, and even now i'm not sure it is the right one. I was swayed by his stats; 17/7/1. Such a low aggression factor, was the reason I decided to fold. I put him on KQ or poss a set of 5s.

and finally.............
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1060116

Pretty much the cherry on the cake. I like how I played this hand though, wouldn't change my line here.

Besides losing these 3.5 buy ins; I lost quite a few small-medium sized pots which i'm not happy about. Week-ends seem to bring out the hyper-aggressive (recreational) players, who just love to make massive over raises. I think there were 3/4 continuation bets I made that I shouldn't have made, just against aggressive players that I knew were probably calling.

Feeling a bit down after this session, not super depressed; but this is the first real losing session i've had at 100NL, and it just sucks to look at your account balance ofter a losing session.

I'm fairly result orientated, and prior to this session I was running at 9BB/100 hands over my 6K hands at 100NL. Now its down to 7BB/100 hands.

One of the main reasons i'm feeling pretty down, is that i'm pretty low on money these days. I've pretty much reached my overdraft limit, and with no other money coming in; poker is becoming more and more important as an income. I don't like feeling pressured at the poker table; i'll see how it goes; if i can settle back down i'll keep on going, but if it starts to affect my play, I may have to withdraw the $1000s I invested and move back down to 50NL; fingers crossed that doesn't happen.

Not the most uplifting post, but at least its 'real'. Been going to the gym quite a bit, trying to get in-shape for beach season.

Probably play some more tomorrow, got a 4 day week-end, but got a big piece of course-work to do, so i'll see how I go.

VB

Latest Stats....

2007-05-02T02:16:00.000+01:00

Here's my stats fro 100NL. Been running pretty well, but definitely think I can maintain a +5BB/100 hands.

Here is my running total at party. I moved up to 100NL after around 14,000 hands on Party. As you can see the 50NL was just giving me nothing. (You can see the effect of my mistake with AQ by the big dip around 17,500).

Here are my monthly summary stats. My average BB/100 of 2.79 is definately bothering me, but March is the main reason for this. It is also important to consider that this is only 35K hands, I think, this gives a pretty good indication, but definitely not a concrete one.

Goals: (1) By July 1 2007 have a $6000 bank roll, 1/2 baby! (8 weeks)

(2) After 60k hands have an average BB/100 greater than 4.

In regard to playing poker, uni has had me pretty busy lately, but I hope to have a few good sessions the week-end.

One thing I thought I would quickly talk about is aggression. I have been playing 100NL for about 2 weeks and am feeling pretty comfortable. I have definitely noticed a higher skill level.

One of the main things i've been experimenting with is opening up my 3-betting range pre-flop. I find in most 100NL games, any large 3-bet is so transparrent that I have thrown AK and even JJ pretty quickly because you know he's never doing that with trash. On the other side, callers tend to have a fairly wide range (too wide to call in my opinion) often including small pocket pairs, set mining.

3-betting light is definitely something I continue to implement in the right spots. In position it also allows you to make continuation bets representing AA/KK.

WORD OF WARNING - This move is likely to work best against aggressive players who know exactly how strong 3-bets are. Against a lunatic, I would rather save my money pre-flop, play small-ball.

-3-BETTING LIGHT IS VERY DANGEROUS AGAINST LOOSE PLAYERS, AND OUT OF POSITION.

VB

I'm still here.........

2007-04-30T01:03:00.000+01:00

Sorry for not posting for a while, been pretty busy at uni.

Just started hitting some awesome cards lately, feels good to run well, but makes me dread if i can run this well, how badly will I run in the future. I think my 10BI downswing was about as bad as it should get provided I don't go mental and tilt away my bank roll.

Even though i'm running well, it still doesn't mean I can't make mistakes, and indeed I did make a very large mistake in what was the biggest pot of my life. I feel so ashamed to look back at this hand but it's important that I do, as Daniel Negreanu one said; "Making mistakes in poker is fine, not learning from them, is not!"

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1048008
(Pure and simply I didn't think. I was 4 tabling which I usually don't do; I generally like to play 3 tables. I figured maybe he had a weaker A. I think my turn bet can be justified, but calling his re-raise is awful, and from there it was 'game-over').

After posting this hand on 2+2 and CR I was introduced to the 'Baluga Theorem' (see link); pretty good theory, I wish i'd read this before playing the hand.

One aspect of poker that I have only recently become aware of is 'image' and how it dictates everything that happens at a poker table. I will take you through a situation where image cost me.
After the AQ hand I took some time off to think about my problems with laying down hands; looking through tough spots on forums, and realizing it wasn't that difficult a lay down, I just need to improve. In this next hand I think I played it fairly well, I would maybe have like to make my flop re-raise to maybe $16-$18, but it's ok. I figures his range was QT, KJ or K9. I doubt he's limping pocket pairs, and he's unlikely to dow this with a drawing hand; maybe T8s.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1048042

Now, how this relates image. After laying down this hand I've showed I'm capable of getting away from a tough spot, compounded by losing a 330bb pot the day before, and my opponent had a 200bb effective stack, I have to admit I was a tad unsettled. I wanted to cash out but decided to stay a few more mins.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1048035
Pre-flop is standard, but when he leads for $14 this is a no brainier raise for any descent players. My thinking at the time was that raising to $35 is often going to get him to shove, and if he calls it build quite a large pot. In retrospect I was gutless and that isn't like me I missed a perfect opportunity to win a big pot, more than likely all his chips, but I was too afraid, and that mindset will cost me big.

Deep stacked such as the above hand, is generally an awesome time to win lots of money off other big stackes; it is imperative that I get over this little problem, now!

I've got loads more to say, but my sleeping pills are kicking in and i'm basically falling asleep at this computer. Ill write another post tomorrow.

VB

Quick Update

2007-04-26T01:56:00.000+01:00

Things are still pretty good; this move up has tought me so much about poker, I am determined to improve rapidly and am putting in as much effort as my time schedule will afford.

BR had grown to $2375

My play of late had been ok. Making a few stupid errors, bluffing in wrong sports, but generally i'm doing well.

My plan for poker over the next few weeks is to continue to play 100NL and begin cashing out $100-$200 sums, once my BR reaches the $3000 level. I would like to pay back my investment, before I move up to 200nl.

VB

So far so good....

2007-04-24T00:21:00.000+01:00

Played a pretty aggressive session earlier on. Was mixing it up quite abit, and people were playing back at me almost every time. I never enter a table with the intention to play aggressive, but it was the nature of the table, and I generally flourish against people playing aggressive against me. Many weak players fail to understand how to play aggressively and still play well, they generally play too aggressive, or play aggressively in the wrong spots.

The hand below I feel fairly happy about, I played it just as a weak/overly-aggressive player would play a bluff, making a small continuation bet on flop, then betting a large amount on river, to make it look like a steal.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1028525

In isolation this next hand looks just like an awful shove from villain (which in many ways it was) but, this hand was the result of an overly aggressive image I had given off over the previous hour at the table, id shown down a few bluffs, and shown that I could 3-bet light pre-flop with marginal hands.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1028537
(He'd seemed a fairly predictable player, and put his range on AK/AQ, but was nice to see that I was in a much better position than that, and had him drawing to a J or runner runner Ts).

I won two buy-ins; session stats were 17/14.

I feel my play is much more solid; in todays 500 hand session, my biggest losing pot was $36 ($17 net-loss), and this was where I shoved with my K high flush draw on flop and short stack called me with top pair; so still not a bad spot to lose money in. Unlike the session stats for old session where my biggest losses were usually 25-50 big blind pots that I either was bluffing out, or refused to fold my marginal hands.

I now take more time before calling marginal hands, I analyze my opponents stats and make the best decision based on the information I have. I even folded AJs (on the button) to an UTG raiser today; 3 weeks ago I would have called without even thinking; now however, my decision was more calculated (below was my thought process); Hand Below

I analyzed hist stats, and saw he had a very low PFR, I hadn't seen him too active. I then considered my image, in such a spot I would rather have either a monster hand (obviously) or alternatively a hand like 67s or 78s. With these hands I can get away from them easier however still consider c/betting, and i will generally be in a better situation as AJ is more likely to be dominated). My aggressive image will mean people will be playing fast pots with me, and AJ is not a hand I want to play a big/fast pot with. Taking all this into consideration, including how I was trying to tighten up my image at that point, along with a few other factors, was how I reached my decision not to call. I could honestly write a about a page on why I believed folding was the best play at the time, and I don't think a call would have been necessarily a bad play, but with the loose image I had, I either had to keep going with it, which would mean a raise with the AJ would be better as it allows more pot control for c/bets, or slowdown, fold this hands, ands tighten up my image a little.

I feel I will still have to play ABC "Sklansky" poker until my bankroll is around $3000. I am finding playing tighter is definitely better at improving your game; just from the practicality of playing less hands = more free time inbetween hands = more time to analyze opponent stats, and see previous hands/how they played out.

At the moment I am 3 tabling, I feel very comfortable with this, and see no need to change it for the time being. (I tried a short 50NL 6 tabling session the other day and it was pretty crazy, but I thought that when I started playing 3/4 tables. Now I feel I can play 4 tables 95-90% optimally at 100NL. It does depend on the games, in aggressive games I usually just play 2 because alot of money can be made just by picking your spots.

Well I think thats enough for today.

Currant Bankroll: $2288

Still climbing, but I definitely feel i'm outplaying people in 100NL. Just need to play tight for now.

About 2 months ago, I said that by the summer, my bank roll will be $6000. I've got some work to do, but in 8 weeks I reckon I could easily do it.

As revision and exams approach, poker will have to take a backseat for a while; definitely something that sucks, as I love to play so much, but once I finish in June, I have 3-4 months of poker immortality (rents just got unlimited 8mg wireless broadband too : ).

This is pretty much the longest post every written by myself. Its late and i'm up early for lectures. Maybe time to knuckle down with the studies for a week or so.

VB

Moving on up...

2007-04-22T01:22:00.000+01:00

Ok, so with the awesome pound-to-dollar exchange rate, I have decided to transfer $1000 (495 pounds) into my Party account to get things going. This is a pretty big gamble which I hope will pay off. I feel I am outplaying my opponents at my current level and the thought of having to grind it out for the next 1/2 months at 50NL just to get the bank-roll to play 100NL; so I can move up and play against only slightly less-worse players, just depresses me.

I just finished my first serious .50/1 session (I have taken a few shots before but usually on tilt after a bad .25/.5 session), and it went fairly well. My play was solid and I made a few plays on people which was nice. I feel these players are better than I thought they would be, which is actually better for me; it means they are more thinking players, and so are more likely to lay down marginal hands in marginal spots.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1022261
(This was one of the hand that cemented my decision to move up prematurely; this was insane to see K high taking down this pot, I think my laydown was absolutely routine and i posted it on the CR forum and everyone agreed this should be folded to turn min raise every time).

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1022270
(From my .50/1 session, its nice to play against people you can actually bluff, I put villain on A9/K9, and his fold here is a no-brainer from any thinking players eyes).

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1022277
(Another bluff by me; not trying to brag, just showing how different the play is compared to 50NL. Just a simple post-oak bluff, I figured him for hitting his 9 on turn, or possibly TT-QQ however unlikely).

50NL was pretty rough over the last few days; so winning 1 buy in at 100NL my bankroll is at: $2033 (including $1000 added today).

VB

In the right direction...

2007-04-19T04:00:00.000+01:00

Began to rebuild my roll; definitely sucks to have lost 1/3 of it, but I can undoubtedly say I've learnt from the experience and that is the main thing; personally I think making mistakes in poker is fine, but not learning from the is definitely not.

One of the most interesting hands on my quest to rebuild my roll came with KK. I posted the hand on the CardRunners forums and got some very good feedback, much of it mixed, as I think for a small stakes game the hand involved a fairly high degree of poker theory and hand ranging.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1013119
(Personally I think my river shove was justified; the post-flop play was dictated by the pre-flop play. My raise to $18.5 pre-flop narrowed his range (in my eyes) to AK or a big PP; therefore a flop of AA5 plus my KKs, greatly reduced his AK possibility, I therefore figured him for TT-QQ. I think he misplayed his hand here pre-flop but redeemed himself post. I think TT-QQ calls my river bet, and AK is an extremely unlikely holding; if he's got AQ or Ax I have to pay him off, In the long run my play is +EV in my opinion; the card just fell his way this time.

Roll is up to $1050

I've definitely been much more risk averse in my play, as I try to rebuild my roll. I think this risk-aversion cost me in this next hand. His stats were very loose and aggressive, I kill his range, which is most likely top pair. Should have called, but after a 10 BI downswing, I just didn't want to see QT and more money slip through my fingers.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1013141
(Hero claimed KQ and this is probably true).

VB

Big Loser....

2007-04-18T12:57:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, I suffered my biggest losing day ever. Losing about 5 buy ins (ontop of the downswing I was already in) compounding my losses to 10 buy-ins over last 7 days.

This is a very serious issue.

Much of the losses was my fault. My attempts to play a more solid game, began to get me frustrated when no-one was prepared to pay off my big hands; and when I do get a big hand, flop always crushes me.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1010306
(Here was a hand that really frustrated me. I was making many large pre-flop raises, charging people to see the flop, and every time they outflopped me. In this case I figured him to have TT-QQ when the AA5 diminished his chances of having an A; he played it well though. Its when i've been waiting patiently, making solid laydowns and then this stuff happens that I start to tilt).

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1010321
(Hands like this out-of-position are going to really cost me; now and in the long run).

Well roll is down to $970; fairly devastated about the big loss, but may have lost it all if I hadn't have stopped playing.

Down but certainly not out.

VB

Playing better...

2007-04-17T18:57:00.000+01:00

I feel im playing a much better game after my break. I have been reading lots of hands in the forums, and have realized I needed to tighten up my game, especially in early and middle position.

I fear tilt is still an issue, but i'm trying my best to control it; however at times it can be very difficult.

I just finished a session, in which i began 2 tabling to try and concentrate and focus my hand reading and especially laying down of marginal hands.

Session play was reasonable, cards didn't fall my way, but when they do i'll be raking it in. the hand below was the hardest one to take, was one of the last of my session I felt I would tilt money away if I kept playing.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1007627
(not super happy about my play here, I think better players may be able to get away from their 2pr here, my hand is pretty defined when I can just call this flop, then min-raise turn. I think raising to about 15 on flop would be better).

Had a lot of hands like the one below lately; people just trying to give me their money, but the gods said no.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1007633

One hand I have definitely struggled with in my poker career is AK, I tend to overvalue it, and it often costs me money (see below).

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1007645
(Just burning money here, no need for c/bet).

I've been trying to trust my instinct more, and when I feel im ahead, just going with it. In this next hand I felt ahead on the flop, and doubted the 6 helped him, no need to slow down with value bets.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1007660

I like the way I played AK in this next hand, I played it slow fearing a J, and block bet river, I knew once he raised that all I could beat was a bluff.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1007662

Still a lot to work on but I feel im becoming a more solid player.

Bank roll down to $1219

VB

Changes

2007-04-16T01:02:00.000+01:00

In light of my previous remark to 'plug leaks', I have been spending much time on the CR and 2+2 forums, just reading and thinking about various hands.

I feel this will be one of my new improvement tools. I'm sure it is for many, but I will be hoping to spend at last 30 minutes a day just reading hand-histories on these pages. These are extremely useful. for three reasons;

A) It will show me how other players are playing their hands.
B) Much of the comments/feedback is often very good. (I usually weight the quality of feedback on the number of posts by comment-maker; i.e. those with more forum status or more postings, will generally have more experience.
C) It helps to get a general idea of how players at your level think (these players will generally be the tougher ones at your limit as they seem to be wanting to improve and most donks never bother).

Not only do I read these forums, but after every session, I will be posting all the hands which I feel I MIS-PLAYED (not just lost), both on the forums and on here (BTW any feedback would be welcomed).

My searching on the 2+2 forums has led me to some excellent essays (linked below); read these essays if you want to improve!!

Success and Failure

Mentality, Image and Changing Gears

6 Max Fundamentals for SSNL Players

All of theses are extremely good, and are a must read for anyone who wants quit whining about bad-beats and actually improve as a poker player.

In light of my previous posts, and after learning so much about poker (and to become successful at it); I WILL improve my self as a player by becoming more integrated with the vast learning resources available.

- Read 2+2 and CR forums regularly, to read analyse and comment on hands.

- Post any hand I feel I have misplayed (even if I won $2, or lost 50c; any hand I feel I did not play optimally will be posted).

- Reading books; I have HOH 1 & 2, plus NLH Theory and Practice. I have skimmed through them but I will now focus on small sections of the books, and try to apply the concept to my game before moving on (to another concept).

- Card Runners videos. Due to the nature of their medium (video) I often find myself enjoying watching. This is pointless, I will be focusing during my CR video's, making notes on concepts, as well as trying to predict whole cards based on action.
(One think I do like to do is to firstly mute the video, then I pause the video when cards are dealt and determine what I would do, I play and pause again on flop, and as the action falls to "video maker" I decide what I would do, etc... I can then re watch the video with sound to see how I should have played it. I feel this is a much more active way of learning from the CR videos).

By the way, for those of you who aren't currently members of Card Runners (see links) you really are missing out. I still have a long way to go, but I can definitely say Card Runners has helped my game more than any other poker educating resource. It is a must for anyone who is/wants to take poker seriously.

So from now on, my whining over running bad, and bad beat stories will end. I will be analysing my play and why it was bad (or maybe sometimes good) in this blog. Lifestyle issues i.e. how poker is affecting my lifestyle, I will also discuss.

The gauntlet has been thrown down, and I will answer, and answer with vigour.

VB

Plugging Leaks....

2007-04-15T15:54:00.000+01:00

Ive just arrived back at Uni and have decided to spend some time plugging my leaks. I will have plenty of free time this term to work on my game.

I feel my biggest leak is that I call down too lightly. I pay off way too many hands on the river, and it's really costing me.

After a nice run of cards, im in a downswing. Nothing disastrous, usual QQ vs AA set up hands, and people rivering me.

Bankroll down to $1300

VB

Steaming....

2007-04-14T22:06:00.000+01:00

Still steaming after an extremely frustrating session.

First I lost a big hand with QQ, money went in on turn with a J 9 2 7 board, he had AJ and spiked a J on river, for a $100 pot.

Then I got some cards and was around $80 up for the session, until my last hand of the session.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?998516
(So frustrating, should have raised on flop, and maybe could have got away from it; shoddy session).

VB

Party Time....

2007-04-13T22:51:00.000+01:00

All funds on Party now, and things are going pretty good. Just won 3 buy-ins, basically getting slapped in the face with the deck. Made every flush/straight; turned sets and made nut straight against second nut straight (below), things just went my way.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?995719
(Unlucky for opponent, not much he could do here, he played it well though; nice to be on the good end of these).

http://www.pokerhand.org/?995722
(Another example of how well I'm running on Party).

This next hand was a very unusual one; I undoubtedly should have thrown it away, from pre-flop action I knew no-one had KK but definitely suspected 77; I figured often its going to be 2pr, over-pair or flush', leaving me outs. Luckily the guy with 77 only had 40BB so I won the healthy side pot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?995734

Withdrew $120 yesterday, as I have been going out alot lately, and bank balance was starting to worry me.

Current bankroll: $1517

VB

Winning session...

2007-04-11T22:48:00.000+01:00

Just had a nice winning session (on Party of course), won 3 buy-ins, pretty standard play; I've continued to be more agressive at these stakes, my session stats were;

VPIP: 23 PFR: 19

http://www.pokerhand.org/?989283
(Prob one of the only interesting hands from my session, was seriously considering folding on turn, but player seemed pretty weak; just one more example of why bluffs don't really work at the limits, luckily I had a hand this time).

http://www.pokerhand.org/?989301
(Easy money).

Below are my recent UB and Party winnings; as you'll see, Party is fairing much better for me at the moment. (UB money is on its way to NETeller, then onto Party).

Current bankroll: $1300

VB

Breaking even....

2007-04-11T17:30:00.000+01:00

I keep failing to have profitable sessions, continually breaking even. I'm playing fairly well, but I'm overplaying my draws and its seriously costing me.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988262
(Here i figured he could have a set but hoped for QQ, I hate the way I called his all in on turn, its rarely a profitable call and I'll try to refrain from making this mistake again. I think with draws like this its best to be the aggressor. The next hand I feel displays this, wrong outcome, but I prefer the way the money went in compared to above).

http://www.pokerhand.org/?988272
(I think many players will lay down AA here, and hands like AQ or KQ will often fold here too; he made a big call here and props to him for that).

Whether playing draws like this for stacks is something I'm still not sure of, I think as long you are the aggressor, and therefore will force many tight players to fold the (for now) best hand, it is a profitable play. I feel the first hand is definitely the way not to play a big draw, weak calls when behind, will only cost me money in the long run.

Here's my Poker Tracker stats for todays session, more LAG than I have been playing.

VB

Variance

2007-04-10T13:34:00.000+01:00

Running so bad on UB, thought I would try and play through but no luck, absolutely no luck (except on one hand).

Been playing more heads up lately as the competition is so juicy, in this game, my opponent was an absolute donk, here's what I mean;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?983997

http://www.pokerhand.org/?984000

This guy was playing atrociously, 3 betting me like 10x my raise pre-flop, just terrible, so i knew he would pay me off with my big hands so I decided to sit back, limp more with mediocre hands and wait for the big all-in pre flop, and it came, however luck wasn't with me:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?984008

http://www.pokerhand.org/?984013
(This hand may seem marginal, but against this maniac, I knew I was well ahead of his range)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?984018
(Again I was well ahead of his range, just unfortunate to run into KK)

After losing around 3 buy-ins i tried to play some cash. I got some help in this hand, but I knew he had to have a hand like JT to make his big re-re-raise on flop;

http://www.pokerhand.org/?984031

I've been making far too many elaborate bluffs lately. These lower stakes players will almost never fold, 'value bet more, don't bluff in big pots';

http://www.pokerhand.org/?984039
(I do love this play however, unfortunately it went straight over my opponents head, I don't think a decent player could ever make this call, my min raise on turn should definitely indicate strength. I thought id represented the flush to perfection, and I think I did, I guess I'll have to wait till 1/2 or 2/4 to make plays like this).

I decided to stop playing UB after this, im just not making a profit, and my impatience with the tight players is really costing me (in bluffs). Went over to Party, and just cut up the competition won 4 buy ins in 400 hands, 2 of which came in this monster draw that I hit. I think both players played it badly, their calls on turn (especially K4 is just awful);

http://www.pokerhand.org/?984046
(Not sure if I played this hand optimally, I wanted to sweeten the pot as I had such a big draw, it worked out perfectly for me, but against aggressive opponent money would definitely have gone in a little less messy).

Well I'll be cashing out of UB as soon as my rake-back comes in (around 15th) then all into Party.

After this high variance session, my bankroll is around: $1150

I cashed out $50 from party after the session. I'll write why I think it's important to cash out some money on a regular basis in a little bit, but got some stuff to do now, plus I think I've written enough for just now.

VB

Pokernomics

2007-04-08T15:11:00.000+01:00

For those of you who haven't heard, Steven Levitt (author of Freakonomics) is currently conducting research for his up-coming title 'Pokernomics' (see www.pokernomics.com).

You may contribute your hand histories for the cause (see website for more details), and I encourage you to do so. A scientific study on poker will undoubtedly have some authority in the fight against the ban of online poker (especially when written by a bestselling economic thinker).

I am greatly looking forward to this book. I feel it will educate those who still consider poker to be a 'seedy game of luck', however, in my experience these skeptics don't seem to be the most academically astute people, and so are unlikely to read non-fiction such as 'Pokernomics'.

VB

Dent in the roll....

2007-04-07T16:59:00.000+01:00

Had a pretty awful UB session yesterday, threw away money quite literally, in one hand I tried to represent a flush, against a guy holding a full house, never a good idea.

I feel my play has definately worsend on my UB account, much tighter competition has led me to become impatient and play way too many hands. After the failed bluff (above), I went into tilt mode and raised a bunch of crappy hands, one was 89o; I raised $2 pre-flop, got re-raised to $6 total, I called, as did another guy, flop comes 10 7 6 (rainbow) dream flop; gets checked round to me, I bet $8 to represent a steal, and everyone folds. This hand illustrated just how tight UB has become; making a profit is becoming so much more difficult (compared to Party and other sites).

I think I may play solely on Party for a bit, not only for the softer games, but also for withdrawing options, getting money off UB is next to impossible, cheques take 2-6 weeks to be delivered, NETELLER requires you send them copy of passport/drivers licence and takes 3-5 working days (plus NETELLER charges like 4%). Whereas Party will allow withdraws straight back to my bank account, much better. (The one down side is Party have no rake back scheme, and the bonuses have just changed so clearence will be based upon the accumulation of Party Points, not raked hands (making clearing about 10x longer)).

I may play some SitnGo's on UB as the structure is very good, especially heads-up, but i doubt ill play any cash there until im playing at least .50/1, more likely 1/2.

Anywhoo, got some Uni work to do, done almost nothing over the whole of easter, may play a Party session tonight, but i'll see how it goes.

VB

In the office....

2007-04-06T19:34:00.000+01:00

Grinding UB.

(In my Uni halls)

VB

Late night session

2007-04-06T05:29:00.000+01:00

Just got home from a night out, had a short (3 tabling) session of about 350 hands.

This hand was pretty stupid and I just got way too enthusiastic with it, the hand I posted earlier where the donk called all the way down with QQ against my AK when a K hit flop definitely was running through my mind, but the raise on flop should have had alarm bells ringing, and his large turn bet was obviously a sign of real strength. Its hands like this that can seriously damage growing bankrolls....

http://www.pokerhand.org/?971236

VB

Here we go.......

2007-04-05T21:29:00.000+01:00

Just finished a mixed session, ended up making half a buy in, but made a few dubious plays. Got hit in the face with the deck to start of with;

In this hand i decided to make a probe bet to see where I was on flop, as soon as I met resistance I was shutting down, except for a little help on river. I was pretty sure 'lifting111' had a king so sized my bet to tempt his call.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?970029

Not too sure what my opponent was doing in this next hand, pretty rudimentary TPTK, his calling my raise on flop was very questionable and putting any more money in on turn and river is just atrocious.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?970035

After these I found myself in a few tight spots, this next hands shows this pretty well. I was fairly sure he had AA, KK or QQ by his pre-flop aggression, when I hit K on flop I figured it was AA or QQ (more likely AA though). My plan was to check-raise him all in but he beat me too it. I reckon if he bets around $25-$30 and I shove for $40 more it makes his call pretty hard, and a weak player will often fold here. Unless he has a set i'm definitely priced into calling; vs AA its a little better than 60/40.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?970049

This next hand came towards the end of my session, and by now I definitely had a LAG immage, which made it so much harder to lay down. I should have bet more on such a draw heavy board, and the turn was either a fold or raise I feel. I think I was beat here though, I dont see this player 3x my river bet with nothing, no matter how LAG I was playing.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?970083

For this session I ran at 23 VPIP and 16 PFR. A little too much limping for my liking.

VB

Welcome

2007-04-05T16:42:00.000+01:00

Hello, my name is Charlie,

I am 19 years old (I will be 20 on Nov 10 2007), and currently study Economics at Southampton University (Hampshire, England). I have been playing poker online for 3 months and am hoping to one day become good at it. I will be documenting my various sessions, uploading hand histories, and generally discussing my play as I attempt to climb up the ranks.

My current bankroll is $1000.

I play mostly on Ultimate Bet under the name 'Pokenomics', and sometimes on Party Poker under 'Mug_Me_Off'. My banroll provides me with 20 buy ins for $50NL which is what I currently play. I will hope to grow my 'roll' to around 25 buyins for $100NL (i.e. $2500) before I move up. 25 buy ins is about the minimum for a No-Limit Hold'em bankroll (especially short-handed, which is what i play the majority of the time).

So i hope you enjoy the blog, and the rollercoaster ride that will inevitably result.

VB