...too long actually. I’ve played more than 145 minutes and only 567 hands. My KK was running vs AA again. That was the 3rd time in 2 days. Start to bore me honestly. And I was 120BB deep again…
Anyway, I’m still a newcomer on PS so this was maybe the first session when I felt absolutely comfortable myself here. And I was playing my A game so I’m happy with that.
PS
I’ve lost 3 or 4 3bet pots on the flop or on the turn with AK type of hands so I need to review them tomorrow.
I started a day with a $827.28 BR. My plan was to hit the $900 and I counted a $20 bonus pack in it.
My 1st session was $43.58, then my 2nd $31.01, so I hit it before the bonus which is good. Then I've got that $20 too, so I finished on FT for today and I’m going to play on PS tonight.
FT
As you can see I’ve played only 638 hands summa, but that means 79.5+94.6 minutes, which is almost 3 hours. I’d like to play another 90 minutes session on PS… That’s my plan. And playing my A game there as well!
Today was really good. I’ve played my A game both of the time. I was agro enough, I had good reads and I’ve played my opponents very well I think. And I didn’t have any huge unlucky hands. I split once when I had a full house and villain hits his miracle 2.7% on the river but that’s okay. It’s just happens with everyone.
I just finished my first FT session for today. I played my A game again which makes me so happy! In August I’ve already played 37 sessions on FT (scoring: 29 A, 7 B and only 1 D – D is tilt and quit)! Okay a lot of sessions are just between 150 and 300 hands, but this is still an hour at least on 2-3 tables.
Bluff…
I had an interesting hand. There was a 17/11/41 guy on my left. I attacked his blinds all the time from the BTN and sometimes from the SB too. OOP he folded always but from the BB his 3bet vs SB is 50%.
I usually 4bet as a bluff from BTN vs CO, I don’t remember a hand where I did this from oop in a blinds war with a hand like this. I just thought that this is a good spot to try something new. His 3bet was small enough for me to make a light 4bet (I mean under 20BB). Easy fold if he likes his hand…
He called me, so I already give up my hand. The flop gives me a 2nd pair - which is clearly nothing here - so I wanted to check/fold it. But he checked back and I’ve hit that turn hard. I think if I bet here he folds every worst hand and call or raise me just with betters. My hand not a monster but he never ever puts me on a 6, I’m sure.
What kind of hand he could have?
I think with our history he could have 99-QQ, 50% AK, AQ, KQ here. With KK, AA and the other 50% of AK (AKs for example) he would be happy to shove pre flop. Maybe I’m wrong with this again. Maybe he folds 99, TT and KQ pre flop, or slowplays a monster, I don’t know.
I’m good here vs any flush draws + 99, TT, JJ, KQ, AQ and non flush AK, I’m dead vs QQ, and had 10 outs vs a flush.
I think a check/raise is a good option here. After two checks he would think that I have nothing, missed AK maybe or just a clear bluff. Don’t forget that I was very agro here, especially vs him.
Everything else is just a history now
He did what I wanted from him to and my hand was good enough to win this pot. I’m sure he made a new note about me :-)
I had my second session on Full Tilt. I was playing my absolute A game I think. The biggest problem was the second KK vs AA pre ai today… My whole day was weird in showdown hands. Was a day when you can do anything you are not gonna win an all in hand…
I’m happy with my day btw. Not with the result but with my game and my mental reactions. I was down with 5 buy in summa (FT + PS) but I wasn’t on tilt, I wasn’t angry at all. I was watching myself and I saw that I’m okay with that, I can handle it at this time, I can play my best game and doesn’t care about the result. Not a familiar feeling for me…
So, the second FT session started with the 168th hand at -$23.83
FT summa
My wosd was really good thanks for my 3bets/light 4bets/bluffes. These elements are growing up since the group coaching session. I’m not going to be an agro monkey but I’ve already felt the blood in this. And with more aggression my cbets got much more respect from regulars. Another good point!
FT and PS summa
Results
FT: 12,84
PS: 0
Flag Coaching Group
I was a winning player between 8th and 13th of August so Steve sent me the bill of the first coaching group and I pay it off already. That means -$29.35 in my BR on FT.
Today is a bad day. I had a short session on FT (good play, but my cbets were running in hands), the server was off a few minutes before this so there were just a few tables..., I decided to play on PS a little. Another bad decision... Longer session, not a bad play either but man… I’m on the worst side of Fortuna’s ‘dick’ again. Or I’m just an idiot…
Let's see a couple of huge loosing hands from this session!
1. I know nothing about him (only 7 hands)
Do I need to check back the very draw heavy turn and call a reasonable river bet? Do I need to put more jacks and KQ in his range here?
2. KK vs AA pre ai... no need to talk about it
3. Villain is the target. I had only 14 hands on him at that moment (57/7) but I already saw some crazy plays from him. Later he went up to 81/14 so no question he is a fish.
Just a hand before this we both have AJ, we didn’t hit the K high board but he called my double barrels from oop with one over then we both checked the river and split the pot.
He wasn't agro ‘till this so his ch/minraise was a little bit scary to me. I think I missed a shove here but this move was so unexpected from him, I wanted a cheap SD and see what is that means.
Okay, so we had our first group coaching session. That was awesome I think.
I still have a lot of work on my aggression and post flop play overall: double barrels, third barrels, raises, cbets etc…
Pre: 3bets/4bets more in the right situations (BTN vs CO, BB vs SB), bluff more to balancing my numbers.
I’ve played a little since the group session. Really not that much, 6k hands or so… But I won so I’ll pay for the coaching :-)
BR plan
Steve has a BR-plan which looks very fair for me. If I want to take a shot at NL50, then the required minimum BR is $2k.
I just made a nice cash out and cut half my BR yesterday. My new bankroll is far from that $2k point. And I need average $750 (sometime just $500, sometimes $1k) cash monthly, so that’ll be a hard mission, but not an impossible one. But these cash outs will save my ass: I’m not going to play at NL50 ‘till I’m not ready for it!
With a nice amount of rakeback and a little bonus I can have an okay size of payment when I’m breakeven. But, to hit that $2k I need to be a winner. And that’s my main goal now. I don’t want to be a just a breakeven guy. That couldn’t be a target. My aim is 4-5 BB/100 at least. We’ll see how far I can go.
Daily routine
I’m a full time poker player now (which is weird at NL25 and with my knowledge) and I need to learn how to organize my days better because I’m not playing too much at the moment, I’m always running out of my time, and this is not good…
Bonuses
I’m not running for bonuses anymore, playing max 4 tables (if I feel good myself I can play max 6) or less, all depends on me and my circumstances. Playing better is the goal, not loosing just to hit those bonuses.
Luck is just not my friend nowadays (sometimes I feel that 'always')...
But there is still some good sign in my game, cause i'm playing my 'A' at least. And my WOSD is much better then before. Still not + but it's okay...
PS - today: only 1 big hand, I was 71-29 favorite when put the money in on the turn. Anyway, this hand couldn't put me on tilt so that's a good point.
FT - yesterday : same relation between EV and result. My wosd is not that bad here either and I didn't fell apart after those bad beats so I'm okay with this.
New month has started! July was a rollercoaster with a horrific start and a massive climbing in the end. Still minus (without rake back) but not as bad as it looked like after the first 2 weeks. Just as my private life… I can say that we are in much better shape and can handle our lost now.
Anyway, I’m in Steve’s new coaching group with 4 other lucky guys! Very excited honestly! In the past couple of months this is one of the best things that happen with me.
This is a profit sharing coaching group so I think Steve will be happy with my start at this time… Just as me actually :-)))
I really miss my Kings in July. I got them (81 times ‘till today) actually but I couldn’t win a pre ai with them. Whatever, what’s the opponent’s hand – some AA of course, but a lot of under pair or any trash, where I’m a huge favorite. It’s like a crazy joke. But it’s not that funny for me actually…
The first part of this month is very hard in poker (just as in my private life). I never ever had that many set vs over set or this much loss with my monsters in pre flop ai situations – not just vs sets but a lot of runner-runner flushes and straights.
But I need to learns and work more and more so there is no more time to talk about it. I just wanted to write out my frustration here and forget this whole thing then…
Here are my Kings in July
Today I had 22 KK - lost 4 all in with them (twice with set of Kings) and won only one (with set again)
I wanted to write some happy news here, and talking about my first ‘not loosing’ month, my plans, my goals… than I’ve lost somebody… he or she didn’t get a chance to born… but means so much to me and my wife.
I know that we didn’t do anything wrong but it still hurts.
Oh, and pokerlife sucks too these days… I hate Full Tilt for some reasons and PS too (because of those 20-50bb tables)…
I still try to look up the bright side of life… not an easy mission…
Yeah, after 2 days off I think I played my A-game last night. I wasn't too fresh, so the session ended when I reached the daily 200 ftp for the Iron level.
The nitty small blind's ch/raise was a clear sign for me. Was a weak fold or not?
Questionable move
The fish won a 2 outers just a few hands before this vs the BTN. The guy on my right raised him in every hand since then – like a player who is on tilt. I thought this is a good hand to reraised them. Honestly I wasn’t happy with my 4bet size. I decided to go all in with my AK so a 4bet shove could be better. If I did it, the QQ had a chance to fold it. Maybe…
I didn’t have too much time to write for a long while. We are very busy in our private life with my wife. Buying a new home for example – we are moving soon :)
As I said I didn’t have too much time, but I‘m still playing - more than ever before actually. The reason is the iron man promotion on Full Tilt. I’m in the 13th month in a row which could means about $2000-$2500 bonus in 2010. I will get little bit more in the next year and reach the max bonus avaible in 2013.
So this one + weekly rakeback means that I can leave my daily job (from this May) if I’m playing minimum a breakeven game. It has more risk than I’d like to, but our life changed and I need to try it.
On NL25 I really need to play more, much-much more. That means I need to be a grinder or a huge winner. I need to be very honest with myself, so the 2nd option (winner) is still too far from me. The 1st one is easier and the risk is lower (because of the starting range and the long term).
Oh and I put $600 in PS too, so I start to play there – just for the first deposit bonus of course :)
My main goal is still to be a winner in the long run. When I’ll have more free time (full time in this case) I can grind and learn. This is my plan and we’ll see what can I do.
So the blog will reborn from May and will be updated daily.
The last 3 session were awesome. I had an upswing before but I was lucky that time. This is the first one when I’m playing my best and the result is coming too.
And I had a lucky hand (4 outer) against a maniac opponent. I try to remember but I’m almost 100% sure that this is the first one in a month or so. Another sign of an upswing…
Another big step! Yesterday was my worst day ever, I mean in result: - 4,5 bi. BUT: I wasn’t mad or sad at all. I played every big hand as a unique one – no fights or vendetta. This time there were some coolers and unlucky hands. But I’m very proud of myself because there were no hard feelings. I slept like a baby after all.
I’m not saying that I’m sure I played my A game but I wasn’t on tilt. That was a short session (680 hands or so). I think this could be happens with everyone sometimes.
I lost an all in with KK vs AA, another one with my flopped straight vs an agro monkey’s flush, another w AK vs QQ (board: AAJ Q T), another with flopped two pairs vs oesd + flush draw, etcetcetc…
Wasn’t a funny session but I tried my best and I’m happy with it.
Let me show you a few interesting hands from this session!
1. Str vs Agro’s flush
Honestly I think I played it good. I don’t think that I can fold this ever against a player like him. He could play like this with so many hands and only flushes betas me. Please, let me know if I’m wrong!
2. Top 2 pairs vs draws
Any thoughts?
3. AKs vs QQ - my fault I think!
Same agro! He won that str vs flush hand too. But this one was earlier. On the flop I didn’t want to give him a chance to fold, that’s why I just called. The plan was let him betting on every street then stack him off. Then Q came. Honestly I didn’t like that turn card. He is an agro guy but jacks, queens, tens are in his pre flop 3bet range too. The river gave me a straight and because of my turn check he could betting on the river with his airs or weaker hand again (flush draws for example), that’s why I called that 1/3 pot bet. What do you think?
4. Questionable fold
This one was just the 6th hand on this table and I had no history with these guys. I think I lost a lot with this type of hand a couple of month ago. I never believe them and they almost always had me with their flopped sets.
The question is that: what kind of hand is good enough to call an early raiser’s cbet on that flop then raise his double barrel to all in on that turn? Could it be just a draw or a slowplayed monster? Or this is a clear flopped sets? Then why shove it? If hi just call, he has a chance to win my whole stack on the river.
5. KQ vs 25/1’s AK
What do you do against a calling station from position with this hand?
6. And a little one finally
Is there any way out from this hand or did I play it well?
Here I am! The last couple of weeks were too busy to blogging, but I’m still playing if I can.
I had a coaching session in the end of October – after those horrible days. Steve give me some advices how to recover my play.
My only objective now (in November) is to play my ‘A’ game regularly! If I can then we (Steve and me) can start making my A game better.
What I need right now is a session score chart. I used Steve’s one and made some changes. So here is mine:
Session Scores for Recovery - I try to be as rigorous as I can
E Game – Check results and continue session E Game – More then 6 table D Game – Check results and quit D Game – Bluffing Calling Stations for a stack D Game – Not respecting turn check raises (except aggro monkey) C Game – Chatting C Game – Folding Frustration B Game – Lack of pre-flop aggression B Game – Auto piloting A Game - Use Starting Hand Charts (for my pre flop A game) A Game – Post Flop Focus: cbetting, board textures, opponents style (preflop range, post flop aggression frequencies) A+ Game – Reviewing Session
Yeah, I need hand charts again. I reviewed my session and I saw that I started to play too loose from early positions and not enough agro from late. Then nobody respected my cbets which could be very frustrating.
1. When was my last session review? I have no idea!
2. How many hands did I review in October? Just a few…
3. Did I change something when I realized that my play went wrong? No.
Etc.
How do I want to be a better player? Good question...
If you are familiar with the Full Tilt, then I’m sure you know how their bonus system is working. I’m talking about that iron man thing. It’s not a huge amount when you are playing higher levels but it could be a lot of money if you are a micro stakes beginner. Actually I’m in the 9th month in a row. In this half year (July-September) every month is gold, which means $75 bonus after each in the next January. Why am I writing this? Because this is how I’m playing 25 days every month and 700-800 hands daily. The problem is, if I do this, I don’t have more freetime to learning, reviewing etc…
To do list for the next couple of weeks
1. review the 2 coaching video (Steve) which I have
2. review my last 20-25 sessions or so
3. try to find my leaks
If I cannot change my game I’ll go broke. I have 2 more month to crashing this level and be a solid winner on NL50. Without this I need to close the door and forget this whole poker world. I know that my whole problem sounds ridiculous and foolish for you guys, who are playing on higher levels. But it’s really not the funny here…
Oh and I take a day off from poker today. Tomorrow is coaching day. Please, cheer me on!
No, I’m not just weak or something like that. I’m as bad as a poker player can be.
Forget that f*n EV, it’s about -10 buy in now in October. But who the f* cares about it? I’m playing like a robot, I mean my mind is empty. Sometimes I’m a calling station, sometimes a bet/folding guy. I’m losing session after session. There is no different. I’m the fish at the tables.
Today was a joke too. I played 16.76/12.88!!! Gee man, I was 18/14 or so before the coaching. The first couple of lessons were: be more aggressive! The main goal: TAG style. And now I’m playing 16/12. That’s LOL. Hurts me a lot but that’s LOL.
Yes, I started like a God after the 3rd coaching, then had some incredible bad luck in a row. But everybody has it sometimes. And this little unlucky streak was enough to broken my whole self-confidence, my style, my game. I think this means that I really didn’t have those, I just thought for a moment that I found them, but I never had.
I lost about 30% of my BR and my fear is that I have just a one way ticket at this time.
I started to use this Poker Table Ratings (PTR) site. Found a lot of weak players (funny when I’m saying this about others) and I’m using this when I’m looking for tables. It sounds like a real help, but I don’t feel that…
So the conclusion is as simple as short: I’m playing my worst poker ever. I said it before too I know but that was nothing compared to this.
Let me show you something
And there was no unlucky hands today. This is the pure bad play. And've I got what I deserved for it.
I think here are a little self-pity, anger and some emptiness. Nice mix…
Originally I wanted to go up to NL50 in this month. When I started to play after the 3rd coaching session everything went well and I thought I’m ready for the next step. Honestly I’m still feeling that, but my BR is so thin and I need to pay for the HEM and for the next coaching session, so this step recedes away.
After a few thousand hands I was up and I had huge self-confidence, I felt that the world is mine. Then I made some mistakes plus I’ve paid off same luckfest guys too - you can see that in my EV graph.
My river play - which was the main question in the 3rd coaching session - is still not as good as it needs to be, so I need to find the way to fix it and build it up. Sounds very easy, but trust me, it’s not that.
Oh, about the next level and the next step! I don’t want to go in the deep sea without any help and any background. When I’ll move up I’ll have a huge DB on that level, and I think the first few sessions I’ll open up just one or two NL50 tables and 3 or 4 NL25 just for the safety’s sake…
We’ll see. I need to talk about it with my coach before.
As I wrote it in July the pokertableratings is tracking low limits too! They found me on Full Tilt at this April, so they don’t have my whole DB but they’ve got enough hands to see what kind of player I am. I know sometimes they miss the essential hands of our sessions (I remember, my best day was 4 bi+, but PTR show -$3 in the end) but on a long term their stats are showing you the truth.
Before we started this whole coaching with Steve I checked what PTR wrote about me.
They have this Grader which is very interesting. Now I show you what it said about me before the coaching and how it looks like now, after 3 sessions with Steve. Don’t forget that the new report card includes my old hands to. This means about 48k old and 54k new hands?
Here is my old report card
And my new one
There are still a lot to do, especially with my river and showdown play, but this one is a very good feedback for me too…
So when Steve is telling me that I’m on the right direction and I already made some huge steps he is not just talking but he is right.
We had the 3rd coaching session with Steve and he found two huge and coherent leaks in my game - again.
The first one: my betsize is usually too small and because of this the pot couldn’t be enough big to stack my opponents off on the river when I’ve got the best hand.
The other one: I miss a ton of value on the river with good hands. For example I have an overpair, I (raised pre flop, then) bet the flop and the turn. After my opponent called me all of these streets I have no idea where I am. I think if I bet he will call me just with better hands, so I check – in position too… Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? And a lot of times (especially because of my shy betsizes) they’re calling me with TPTK or weaker hands.
We reviewed my hands where I made these mistakes. Man, those mean minimum a buyin in every session that I played. And that’s the minimum.
When you can’t win enough with your huge hands, but lose a lot when you are behind that could be very frustrating. I didn’t find the reason on my own. Now I know what the key is.
Here is a very good example – I’ve played this after the coaching
Without Steve’s advices I bet smaller on the turn then check that river (or bet a 2/3 pot, maybe…if I brave enough) and win a medium pot.
So the difference is huge: you win 30-40 BB or you win 100. It’s not the same!
I’m still too result oriented but honestly my stats are much better then ever before. My aggression has grown up, my cbets are much higher so I can say that I’m on the right way and everything depends on time. If I’ll be patient the result will come too.
Steve is giving me the basics session after session, so the ball is on my side. We can build something big on these if I’m growing up for my dreams.
The main goal is still to improve my aggression, especially my cbetF! But you can see the growth already.
Just to remember: my cbetF was under 50% before the coaching intro session with Steve. Right now it is 76% and there is still some room to make it better - I had session where it was 94!!!
My WSF was under 38% all the time, right now (last 10k hands) it’s about 42%, which is my best I think. There are a lot of details but I don’t have too much time to talk about it right now (I’m working actually).
Instead of my clever, useful and blessed words here are some data of my play :-)
The only thing that I couldn’t change is this roller coaster. But I know sooner or later the result is coming too…
Yesterday was The Day when Steve tried to make the next step in his impossible mission: teach me how to play some good poker :-)
My biggest problem is still the aggression: I don’t have enough. My AFq is a little bit better then before, but not enough, just as my cbets.
AFq
PT3’s AFq is not equal with HEM’s Agg so I don’t know where I am in that, but it must to be better too.
Before the first coaching AFq was 41.10, between the two sessions this number was 47.15, and yesterday - after the coaching - it was 51.37!
CBetF
Before Steve: 49.65 Between: 65.01 Yesterday: 81.25!
CBetT: 42.40 - 47,81 – 50.00
WSF
And thanks for the level of my aggression the W$WSF can be better too: 36.93 – 38.80 – 43.86
Here are my stats from yesterday – I know it is incredible short term, but look at these numbers (not the result!) - actually my steal wasn't enough...
I’m hopping that I can play like this ‘till the next coaching session, not just right after this one. I need to learn the way how to not loose that - after a few days - what I already build in my game
Oh, and finally I was very lucky in one hand!
I had some outs but I really don’t like my play here – this hand is going to the group to discuss
My downswing has finally ended with that horrific day. Since then I played some okay sessions with small winnings (actually I lost another KK pre flop ai – 3rd in a row – this time vs AQs, and I lost with my set vs an overset which is okay – more then 2 buy ins again).
I reviewed that 3,5k hands long “streak”, the table selections, the stats of my opponents etc. I can tell you that I already found some leaks and made some conclusions.
Let’s talk about them a little bit!
If you can show some big hands and win with them then your opponents will respect you, so your cbets, 3bets, 4bets can works and makes you a very good money. Poker can be so easy... But when you have nothing, or you have big hands but loosing with them, your opponents see that and nobody will give you credit anymore. In this case you need to change your table or your style. If you don’t do it you are dead.
Maybe 3.5k hands are not that much but it seems to me incredible long to have nothing. Of course I had some monster PPs, sets, fulls, straights, flushes, but there were no action on them. I won all of them pre flop or on the flop. Everybody saw that I couldn’t win whatever what I had so they didn’t respect me. They reraised me all the time and I folded, or I’ve got 2-4 callers and my cbets were already dead.
My biggest fault was that I didn’t change anything just played like a robot. And of course after a few loosing session like these I lost my ‘A’ game too and I did not cbet (3bet, 4bet) where it would have been needed (just because the voice in my head said: why do you put more money in it when you have nothing and you are sure they will reraised or call you…).
The funny thing is: when I had that unlucky day and lost that much with my showdown hands my boring downswing has ended. I got the control back and it feels much better.
Maybe I didn’t play as bad as I thought so, but I never had a streak like this before and I couldn’t handle it.
Cheers, rotyi
ps: sorry for my bad English but I’m too tired to correct this post now…
My last update was a long time ago… Since then I played my best day ever, had a beautiful streak then something happened and now I’m sitting in the middle of my worst downswing ever. Here it is
Looks like I just couldn’t win a hand, whatever what do I have. I’ve already learn that how to fold my TPTK or monster PPs against good opponents. But I still double up maniacs day after day with these type of hands. In this “streak” I’m in red with straights, sets, pairs etc.
I tried to play my positions, cBets when it’s possible (maybe a little bit less then before), double barrels too. Just didn’t worked, they always 3 or 4beted me, so I folded a lot without SD, I think that’s why my wsf is so ridiculous.
I played a session today too. The start was “brilliant”: in the 20th hand I went all in pre flop with my Aces and last my whole stack against Queens. But the EV was beautiful... LOL
Anyway I felt that I can come back if I’m playing my A game (I mean what I call "A") and I was right. I didn’t care too much about the result, just looked for fishy opponents and tried to win their money.
I know, it’s just another short term, but I’m happy with my play and that feels really good.
After my horrific day I reviewed my game again and tried to learn from my faults and more about TAG style. Actually (at this time) I don’t worry too much about results ‘cause dollars should be secondary ‘till I can’t play the correct way.
I had only one huge (buy in) SD loss which was a KK vs AA pre flop ai (about the 2500th hand).
I started to play less from oop and more from late positions. I fold more KQ, AQ etc type of hand when somebody re-raises me from position. I realized that this one is saving me a lot.
If I can play this way in the next couple of weeks then I’ll be ready for the next coaching session I think and (if Steve says yes) maybe for the next level (NL50) too. We’ll see...
I still have a lot of leaks so need to working on them.
Today is different. I played 415 hands and lost 2,5 bi. I played okay except one hand I think.
First of all I lost a huge pot pre flop ai with my Aces vs Queens. Then (20 minutes later) I made a very big (130 BB) mistake.
Two pair vs …
After the BB just called pre flop in a 3way pot then called again on the flop I thought that he has just a pair or a draw – worst case a str with Q9s and I didn’t care too much about the short SB because we played for the side pot at least. But I was wrong and after he 4bet shoved me I should fold my bottom two pair – especially because we were both deep. I have no ideai why did I call him. There is no excuse :-(
And here is another beauty from the end of this session
I was ready to go all in on the flop but I didn’t want to scare him off. That’s why I just minraised him and waited for his shove to call. Actually he surprised me with that bet/call move...
What do you think about this hand? I was almost 80-20 favorite on the turn...
I will play another (half) session tonight and I hope that that one will be better
