Well I took the plunge as they say. Goodbye bankroll, it's coming home. I'm leaving $200 on FT and $70 on PS, which at best could be described as play money. Because at the moment I feel that's all I'm doing, except I'm doing it with money I care about. If I blow this money, I could well just quit all together, but I don't see that happening just yet. I will still be practising some bankroll skills.
I came to realise a couple of things about my game. I rely on luck a lot. Luck obviously has a part to play in poker, it's undeniable. The first luck is when you hold AK all in PF, he holds QQ. A winning session can be made or lost on that one hand, and in fact when you are "running hot", you can't lose these, when you are cold, you never have a chance.
Another luck though is gameplay. I understand some concepts, but overly simplify things I hear or learn, rather than deliberately getting the details out of something. Like someone mentions in a video that you should bet fold in a given situation. That is, bet the turn, if he raises fold. So next time you are in a similar situation you bet fold. Only you didn't try to work out why he bet folded there, so the reasons you do it may or may not be the same. Sometimes it's the right move still, sometimes not, theres the luck.
So luck + money = gambling. It's true. To get away from the gambling side of poker, you have to have all the knowledge of the whys and why nots. You take the gamble out, by putting in +ev. +ev shouldn't be guessed, it should be known and understood. +ev in any given situation comes down to hand ranges (so knowing the opponents very well), understanding hand strengths and how to extract money/protect hands etc and just knowing the maths behind all that. If I was to pick one thing I'm really bad at, it's knowing how to fold hands. I might play NL10 and just really fold it up to get my feel for folding back again.
I'm thinking of a couple of players that are more successful than me. They work very hard to be successful, and really don't have reasons to doubt their skills. I am not there, and will be stuck on a smaller bankroll (without luck) until I do get there. Sure I could see myself building a bankroll relatively quickly, but whats important is I'm going to work hard at doing things right next time I get serious about the game, and until then, just have some fun winning and losing some money in poker at these micro limits.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
State of the games
I thought I'd just my 2c in for the state of the games right now. I hear all the time comments about No Limit being stale, and that PLO is the way of the future with more action and more money for good players at it. So people are learning there. MTT tournaments also seem to be getting tougher, with most players now understanding stealing, restealing, and small ball concepts, so playing that 20-40BB game is getting tougher to do profitably. SNG's also have plenty of people willing study up push fold concepts, or at least understand a bit about bubble play and not going broke early with bluffs.
So it's a fairly educated age. Can games be beaten? Of course. Poker is a game of many skills, and those that have all or most of those skills are still favourites. One of those skills are understanding the game and their opponents better than the other way around. I think I fail here. My understanding of poker is decent, but I don't read every book or forum thread. And I can tell a loose spewy player from a nit, but if I play 1 hour with a player, I couldn't tell you how they played top pair weak kicker, and how they played a set. I see them take a line against me and put a general read on it, when he turned over a hand with a very similar line just 20 hands ago if I could be bothered watching.
Basically, if I was losing money (which I am right now) and couldn't find anything I could do better, I'd say the games are too tough, play for fun only. But the truth is, you can never state the games are too tough until you put everything in and still fail.
So it's a fairly educated age. Can games be beaten? Of course. Poker is a game of many skills, and those that have all or most of those skills are still favourites. One of those skills are understanding the game and their opponents better than the other way around. I think I fail here. My understanding of poker is decent, but I don't read every book or forum thread. And I can tell a loose spewy player from a nit, but if I play 1 hour with a player, I couldn't tell you how they played top pair weak kicker, and how they played a set. I see them take a line against me and put a general read on it, when he turned over a hand with a very similar line just 20 hands ago if I could be bothered watching.
Basically, if I was losing money (which I am right now) and couldn't find anything I could do better, I'd say the games are too tough, play for fun only. But the truth is, you can never state the games are too tough until you put everything in and still fail.
New directions
OK, so I'm sick of poker. Lets start from the start and move to the next step to enlightenment. Firstly, I was working hard at poker in the first 6 months of 2008. I dropped thoughts I was a superstar player waiting to happen, and moved onto another mindset, more I know nothing teach me all. Fun times, and a lot of improvement. I was popular in forums, had a nice blog going on CR, was getting active with other poker players, had a constantly improving bankroll and moving up the stakes pretty quick.
Then something interesting happened. I got the idea I was "ready". With my BR higher than ever before, I thought I could start to earn off poker. I changed my game to HU SNG's at this point, and stopped really learning and working, more just having fun. My results at HU SNG's are still very good, it's more the other games that have cost me a lot of money since then. In fact, I'd say it's likely 90% of the money I've lost since then was while I was drinking too. I drink about 3-4 nights a week usually, so I should be playing solid poker 4 nights, drinking and playing one night just for fun, and drinking and not playing at all other nights, but instead drinking brings on the gamble, and I play higher stakes and inevitably lose.
So I'm in a downward spiral, what to do? There is a part inside all of us which wants to take the easiest path, but in situations like this the easiest path is to just keep playing like notheing happened, and I think that's the worst option. Something has happened. I've lost money, I've lost confidence, I face an uncertainty about my playing ability, probably due to the fact I'm not a very good player. It may sound cool to say, I'm just going to keep grinding, but lets face it, something needs to change for the better.
Quitting for a while is an option. I don't particularily like this, as I've gone away a few times recently without poker, and it hasn't helped at all. In fact I feel like it's been the cause. If I walk away for a while, I can safely say it's to avoid poker, not to refresh my poker brain.
So the only other option is to dig my way out. Yes I'm in a hole, I'm digging through to China. Work harder at the forums, watch more videos, stay disciplined in playing times, treat the downswing with contempt and work to make it go away, rather than just playing and hoping it goes away. Behind any big performance is a lot of hard work. A semi famous pole vaulter when asked about nerves said "All I can do is smile when I get to the competitions, because I know I've done all the work I could have at training." How much work have I done at poker to improve my skills? Could I have done anything more to be a better player so far? If the answer is yes, then how do I even expect to beat other players who also don't do all the hard work, and other players that do the hard work?
So I'm here at the bottom now, knowing a few reasons why I'm here, even having a decent plan to get out. What do I do from here? Do I really want to do that work? The answer is. I'm not sure? It's safe to say I do want to do that work, but I'm not sure if poker has enough of me right now that I'm willing to give it everything. I can honestly say, I don't know what to do after this weekend, which will more than likely be fairly poker free and booze filled :)
Then something interesting happened. I got the idea I was "ready". With my BR higher than ever before, I thought I could start to earn off poker. I changed my game to HU SNG's at this point, and stopped really learning and working, more just having fun. My results at HU SNG's are still very good, it's more the other games that have cost me a lot of money since then. In fact, I'd say it's likely 90% of the money I've lost since then was while I was drinking too. I drink about 3-4 nights a week usually, so I should be playing solid poker 4 nights, drinking and playing one night just for fun, and drinking and not playing at all other nights, but instead drinking brings on the gamble, and I play higher stakes and inevitably lose.
So I'm in a downward spiral, what to do? There is a part inside all of us which wants to take the easiest path, but in situations like this the easiest path is to just keep playing like notheing happened, and I think that's the worst option. Something has happened. I've lost money, I've lost confidence, I face an uncertainty about my playing ability, probably due to the fact I'm not a very good player. It may sound cool to say, I'm just going to keep grinding, but lets face it, something needs to change for the better.
Quitting for a while is an option. I don't particularily like this, as I've gone away a few times recently without poker, and it hasn't helped at all. In fact I feel like it's been the cause. If I walk away for a while, I can safely say it's to avoid poker, not to refresh my poker brain.
So the only other option is to dig my way out. Yes I'm in a hole, I'm digging through to China. Work harder at the forums, watch more videos, stay disciplined in playing times, treat the downswing with contempt and work to make it go away, rather than just playing and hoping it goes away. Behind any big performance is a lot of hard work. A semi famous pole vaulter when asked about nerves said "All I can do is smile when I get to the competitions, because I know I've done all the work I could have at training." How much work have I done at poker to improve my skills? Could I have done anything more to be a better player so far? If the answer is yes, then how do I even expect to beat other players who also don't do all the hard work, and other players that do the hard work?
So I'm here at the bottom now, knowing a few reasons why I'm here, even having a decent plan to get out. What do I do from here? Do I really want to do that work? The answer is. I'm not sure? It's safe to say I do want to do that work, but I'm not sure if poker has enough of me right now that I'm willing to give it everything. I can honestly say, I don't know what to do after this weekend, which will more than likely be fairly poker free and booze filled :)
Too many leaks, can't be saved
It's worth noting I suck at poker. I went into last night with a plan, executed perfectly, tilted, lost a lot of money :) And alcohol was involved too :(
So, pretty tired, but fairly focused, I made a goal to clear 100 FTP points and get my Silver medal Iron Man, and call it quits. I did make a goal to play as well as anything by then and be up hopefully. I also figured I couldn't just "stop" if I was playing well, so I was going to then crack open a drink or two and donk off on some ultra low stake, maybe even on pokerstars.
So my plan started better than expected. At time of clearing the points, I was up over $250, and back to even over the last week or so, which has been a roller coaster. It was really just no sick hands. I didn't suck out or even hit draws after getting it in, I was usually just getting it in good or as a coin flip, and getting it my way, mostly me getting it in good. There is a certain element of luck in getting it in good as well of course, as some of the hands, I would have played the same if I held the villains hand.
Anyway, I stuck to my word, cracked open a beer and remembered what I loved about poker. I played a bit of NL25, which was a little higher than what I'd meant by ultra low stake, but the games were fairly fun. There wasn't a lot of big action, but I lost about 2BI's due to mainly a couple of big cooler spots. I felt I played OK.
Officially calling it quits on serious poker, I started donking on PS. I played a couple of 18 man SNG's, but really I wanted to play HU still, so went in some $5 4 man SNG's. I played way too aggro, so double the stakes to get back my lost BI's and won that one. I doubled again and lost, so doubled again (probably not really double anymore) to $50, my normal stake. I played 2 there and lost, and a third and won, but all three I was getting it in good and getting punished for it. This was the start of tilt. I'm not anywhere near rolled for $50 SNG's on stars, so I decided to go back to FTP and try a couple. I did and lost, then saw a -15% ROI player at the $100 table, lost to him, twice. All the time getting unbelievable suckouts and coolers against me. JJ-KK may as well be fold PF, because every A2-A7 hand that gets it in with me hits an ace like clockwork. Also FTP turned all coins into one sided coins, making it impossible to hold on with 99 vs QJ or hit anything with KQ vs 66. I played mostly -10% or worse ROI players, but still managed to exploit them and get beaten. That is I'd get it in with top two pair against their lone flush draw on the turn, and still get beaten by a flush.
So. The net result is I'm down a lot today. That session netted 1 win out of the last 8 SNG's, including a couple of $100, of which I feel I only badly misplayed a couple of hands all up. It has completed the feelings that were building up, which is I'm sick of poker. this has been the whinge post, wait a few minutes for the next post which will be far more interesting describing where poker goes from here.
So, pretty tired, but fairly focused, I made a goal to clear 100 FTP points and get my Silver medal Iron Man, and call it quits. I did make a goal to play as well as anything by then and be up hopefully. I also figured I couldn't just "stop" if I was playing well, so I was going to then crack open a drink or two and donk off on some ultra low stake, maybe even on pokerstars.
So my plan started better than expected. At time of clearing the points, I was up over $250, and back to even over the last week or so, which has been a roller coaster. It was really just no sick hands. I didn't suck out or even hit draws after getting it in, I was usually just getting it in good or as a coin flip, and getting it my way, mostly me getting it in good. There is a certain element of luck in getting it in good as well of course, as some of the hands, I would have played the same if I held the villains hand.
Anyway, I stuck to my word, cracked open a beer and remembered what I loved about poker. I played a bit of NL25, which was a little higher than what I'd meant by ultra low stake, but the games were fairly fun. There wasn't a lot of big action, but I lost about 2BI's due to mainly a couple of big cooler spots. I felt I played OK.
Officially calling it quits on serious poker, I started donking on PS. I played a couple of 18 man SNG's, but really I wanted to play HU still, so went in some $5 4 man SNG's. I played way too aggro, so double the stakes to get back my lost BI's and won that one. I doubled again and lost, so doubled again (probably not really double anymore) to $50, my normal stake. I played 2 there and lost, and a third and won, but all three I was getting it in good and getting punished for it. This was the start of tilt. I'm not anywhere near rolled for $50 SNG's on stars, so I decided to go back to FTP and try a couple. I did and lost, then saw a -15% ROI player at the $100 table, lost to him, twice. All the time getting unbelievable suckouts and coolers against me. JJ-KK may as well be fold PF, because every A2-A7 hand that gets it in with me hits an ace like clockwork. Also FTP turned all coins into one sided coins, making it impossible to hold on with 99 vs QJ or hit anything with KQ vs 66. I played mostly -10% or worse ROI players, but still managed to exploit them and get beaten. That is I'd get it in with top two pair against their lone flush draw on the turn, and still get beaten by a flush.
So. The net result is I'm down a lot today. That session netted 1 win out of the last 8 SNG's, including a couple of $100, of which I feel I only badly misplayed a couple of hands all up. It has completed the feelings that were building up, which is I'm sick of poker. this has been the whinge post, wait a few minutes for the next post which will be far more interesting describing where poker goes from here.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
My boat is slowly sinking
Well, pretty poor night results wise. I was up right near the end of the session, but let it slip to finish about where I deserved. Early on I was motivated to grind some NL50 6 max. My idea was to tighten up even more post flop, and just stop the hero calls on the river without reasons. Interesting start, I couldn't find a table :) Nothing opened in 5 minutes, so I played a SNG and won that. I then found heaps of tables and opened 2. 2 hands later I have a flush and am getting bet into for my stack, up another $50. Good start.
Things went backwards from here. Now for one, I was mostly happy with some plays I made. I made the bluff of the year on a LAGGY player, but he 3 bet shoved me on the turn, so it was obviously bad timing. When I folded, this turned on his bluff sensor, and he continually 3 bet me PF. I should leave, but wanted to stack him, and found my KQs being 3 bet, and then 5 bet. Normally, this is very bad play, but I couldn't get it out of my head that he was not holding a great hand. We were 150BB's deep too, so it was almost a crying call, he turned over 98s, same suit as me, so I got it in 65% favourite and naturally lost. Yes, I felt tilted, as I was about even overall until that point on the NL50 after getting 3 bet a bit and losing a couple of pots. I had a pretty bad run when I think of it, because for about the 5th time I got stacked when I had TPTK, but it seems other people win huge pots with these hands. I also flopped the nutz, only to have a guy call me down and hit a boat on the river. Same guy also tied a pot with me where I had best hand until the river gave us both the same boat. None of this should bother me that much, but when it's all on top of each other, it does. I left, down about 4 BI's I think.
I think overall in 6 max my hand reading is getting quite good, but I'm very lost when it comes to 3 betting. I'm almost over my curse of not calling hero calls, and of course the first hero call laydown I made, he showed the bluff to tilt me further. Still I think in general people bluff their stacks very seldomly and making hero calls is -ev without very solid reads. I think I need to leave tables where I'm getting 3 bet a lot, and instead look for tables where that doesn't happen, maybe even move down to NL25 until I get some more confidence.
I returned to SNG's, and played well, ran pretty well. Until I didn't. Basically I was getting hands in good a lot, but then when the run stopped, those hands didn't hold up. Like A9 vs A6 all in PF, KQ vs QT all in PF, KK vs A8o all in PF, and JJ vs 76s all in PF. It took a lot of variance to stop me winning big there, and I was still up for the whole session until the end, where I dropped my last 3 in a row (including a couple of bad beats, and a cooler) and called it a night. So I ended my session, down around $140 unfortunately. I will add one big winning hand. I flopped two pair with KT on a KT9 board, and got it in against a looser player, he had QJ unfortunately. It's a cooler I thought, as the blank comes in on the turn, and ten rolls off on the river. OK, so I don't always run bad :)
I suppose I should write these nights off to variance, but it's all variance right now. I run good for 5 minutes, then get stomped on for 2 hours every night.
I'm now one night off Silver Iron man status. As a side note, I made some predictions about poker earlier in the year, and it said to be playing NL100 by September 1. I feel like I got distracted with all the things I did in between, but definitely feel I'd be capable with a little practice and a bankroll. Unfortunately I'm not bankrolled, and moving down seems more likely than moving up right now, what a shame. Once I get my Iron Man status I may take a couple of days off any serious play, as I need a weekend free of the shit poker is bringing me right now.
Things went backwards from here. Now for one, I was mostly happy with some plays I made. I made the bluff of the year on a LAGGY player, but he 3 bet shoved me on the turn, so it was obviously bad timing. When I folded, this turned on his bluff sensor, and he continually 3 bet me PF. I should leave, but wanted to stack him, and found my KQs being 3 bet, and then 5 bet. Normally, this is very bad play, but I couldn't get it out of my head that he was not holding a great hand. We were 150BB's deep too, so it was almost a crying call, he turned over 98s, same suit as me, so I got it in 65% favourite and naturally lost. Yes, I felt tilted, as I was about even overall until that point on the NL50 after getting 3 bet a bit and losing a couple of pots. I had a pretty bad run when I think of it, because for about the 5th time I got stacked when I had TPTK, but it seems other people win huge pots with these hands. I also flopped the nutz, only to have a guy call me down and hit a boat on the river. Same guy also tied a pot with me where I had best hand until the river gave us both the same boat. None of this should bother me that much, but when it's all on top of each other, it does. I left, down about 4 BI's I think.
I think overall in 6 max my hand reading is getting quite good, but I'm very lost when it comes to 3 betting. I'm almost over my curse of not calling hero calls, and of course the first hero call laydown I made, he showed the bluff to tilt me further. Still I think in general people bluff their stacks very seldomly and making hero calls is -ev without very solid reads. I think I need to leave tables where I'm getting 3 bet a lot, and instead look for tables where that doesn't happen, maybe even move down to NL25 until I get some more confidence.
I returned to SNG's, and played well, ran pretty well. Until I didn't. Basically I was getting hands in good a lot, but then when the run stopped, those hands didn't hold up. Like A9 vs A6 all in PF, KQ vs QT all in PF, KK vs A8o all in PF, and JJ vs 76s all in PF. It took a lot of variance to stop me winning big there, and I was still up for the whole session until the end, where I dropped my last 3 in a row (including a couple of bad beats, and a cooler) and called it a night. So I ended my session, down around $140 unfortunately. I will add one big winning hand. I flopped two pair with KT on a KT9 board, and got it in against a looser player, he had QJ unfortunately. It's a cooler I thought, as the blank comes in on the turn, and ten rolls off on the river. OK, so I don't always run bad :)
I suppose I should write these nights off to variance, but it's all variance right now. I run good for 5 minutes, then get stomped on for 2 hours every night.
I'm now one night off Silver Iron man status. As a side note, I made some predictions about poker earlier in the year, and it said to be playing NL100 by September 1. I feel like I got distracted with all the things I did in between, but definitely feel I'd be capable with a little practice and a bankroll. Unfortunately I'm not bankrolled, and moving down seems more likely than moving up right now, what a shame. Once I get my Iron Man status I may take a couple of days off any serious play, as I need a weekend free of the shit poker is bringing me right now.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Still here
Been funny times (I'm not really laughing though). I'm seriously mixing my games up way too much. On a given night of playing poker I'll play up to 10 HU SNG's, an hour or so of 2-3 tabling NL50 6max, and maybe an hour of HU NL50 cash. I've almost lost the desire to just sit down and focus on one form of poker, instead looking for a thrill, which I get somewhat by playing different games.
My HU SNG's are going pretty well overall. Since my last blog, I hit a huge horror stretch, where no matter how many times I got my hand in good, it was never holding up in pressure pots. Like I'd work hard to get a 2:1 chip lead, get it in with AQ, get called by KQ, he'd hit his king. Very big favourite, very big loser when it counted. I tried not to be results oriented, but I did let it affect my play for sure. Since then I've gotten back on track, and am now a small winner at HU SNG's $55 turbos overall. I now check OfficialPokerRankings, which is like a free SharkScope, which gives me an idea of who to push smaller edges against, and who to wait for easy paydays. For the most part players are losers at HU SNG's, where it's common enough to see players -15% ROI over a decent sample. Don't ask me why these people bother, but they constantly show up at my tables. So when it's a 5-15% winner, I treat it as a difficult job to win, and I do make higher variance plays to try to steal a win, or in fact tilt the other player. Overall, my biggest leak right now is calling too many flops and turns with draws or medium made hands. I get poor results from calling, still rarely get paid when I hit, so it's clearly -ev. Still the times I bet or fold end up much more +ev, and I'm pretty happy with most of my plays these days.
So I am still down since last post, and it's due in part to alcohol and game selection. For some reason I thought I was due a shot at NL100 6 max, even though I'd hardly been playing much around then. My patience was 0, and I needed to be a part of every pot, and try to win every pot I was in, similar to HU. Unfortunately in 6 max people far more often have a hand, and getting it in with JJ overpair vs a PF 3 bettor who's happy to get it in post flop is actually spewy (although I had worse plays), and yes he does have KK more often than not. I also hit a few coolers/bad beats which hasn't helped, as I feel I've run pretty bad. I settled back to NL50 and am starting to get a good feel again, just trying to grind up a bankroll again now.
Points wise I'm cruising for Silver Iron Man this month, but see it hard to get gold in the near future. My bankroll just hasn't got the strength to play the levels required to constantly get to 200 points a night, even though 150 isn't a problem. My FTP points are flowing nicely, and as I'd heard, CardRunners now supports 3 months and 6 months subs. If I kept buying one month memberships until I could afford 6 months, I'll have saved up enough points to buy 6 months by roughly late November. If instead I choose the 3 months (which is the same rate of FTP points to CR months) it will be more like early October. The first option comes later but leaves me paid up to May next year, the second comes a little earlier but only leaves me paid up to January, and let me decide what to do from there. I guess I'll look at how I'm going on FTP by the time I qualify for the 3 month subs, and assess from there, but at this point I'd definitely like to aim to knock off 6 months if I could.
My HU SNG's are going pretty well overall. Since my last blog, I hit a huge horror stretch, where no matter how many times I got my hand in good, it was never holding up in pressure pots. Like I'd work hard to get a 2:1 chip lead, get it in with AQ, get called by KQ, he'd hit his king. Very big favourite, very big loser when it counted. I tried not to be results oriented, but I did let it affect my play for sure. Since then I've gotten back on track, and am now a small winner at HU SNG's $55 turbos overall. I now check OfficialPokerRankings, which is like a free SharkScope, which gives me an idea of who to push smaller edges against, and who to wait for easy paydays. For the most part players are losers at HU SNG's, where it's common enough to see players -15% ROI over a decent sample. Don't ask me why these people bother, but they constantly show up at my tables. So when it's a 5-15% winner, I treat it as a difficult job to win, and I do make higher variance plays to try to steal a win, or in fact tilt the other player. Overall, my biggest leak right now is calling too many flops and turns with draws or medium made hands. I get poor results from calling, still rarely get paid when I hit, so it's clearly -ev. Still the times I bet or fold end up much more +ev, and I'm pretty happy with most of my plays these days.
So I am still down since last post, and it's due in part to alcohol and game selection. For some reason I thought I was due a shot at NL100 6 max, even though I'd hardly been playing much around then. My patience was 0, and I needed to be a part of every pot, and try to win every pot I was in, similar to HU. Unfortunately in 6 max people far more often have a hand, and getting it in with JJ overpair vs a PF 3 bettor who's happy to get it in post flop is actually spewy (although I had worse plays), and yes he does have KK more often than not. I also hit a few coolers/bad beats which hasn't helped, as I feel I've run pretty bad. I settled back to NL50 and am starting to get a good feel again, just trying to grind up a bankroll again now.
Points wise I'm cruising for Silver Iron Man this month, but see it hard to get gold in the near future. My bankroll just hasn't got the strength to play the levels required to constantly get to 200 points a night, even though 150 isn't a problem. My FTP points are flowing nicely, and as I'd heard, CardRunners now supports 3 months and 6 months subs. If I kept buying one month memberships until I could afford 6 months, I'll have saved up enough points to buy 6 months by roughly late November. If instead I choose the 3 months (which is the same rate of FTP points to CR months) it will be more like early October. The first option comes later but leaves me paid up to May next year, the second comes a little earlier but only leaves me paid up to January, and let me decide what to do from there. I guess I'll look at how I'm going on FTP by the time I qualify for the 3 month subs, and assess from there, but at this point I'd definitely like to aim to knock off 6 months if I could.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Good bluff spots
I just finished a week away from poker. Well not quite a full week, but close enough. The start was due to a weekend away with mrs, the next couple of days was due to overloaded work schedule eating into personal time. Overall though it was good to spend some time away from the beloved game.
The itch came back hard last night. And it was the 6 max itch. It has to be said, my game needs a lot of improvement, and Rayz (sp?) made an interesting comment about live vs online experience. The onliners generally laugh at the number of hands played in a year for a live pro, and claim to hit a similar number in a week 6-12 tabling. Rayz said while you may be playing 500+ hands an hour online, you don't learn from most of those hands. He has a long time to think about every hand live, and therefore learns a lot each time he plays.
I agreed 100% with him. When all you get time for is to click raise or call, you aren't giving each decision it's proper respect, and once the hand is over, you've made 5 other decisions anyway, so you don't get time to reflect on it's outcome. So why multitable? Money. Once you are good enough to beat the game, playing for highest expected rate means a lot. Making 6BB/100 at 6 tables is a better rate than making 8BB/100 at 4 tables, so it's worth the table upgrade. Personally I want my bankroll to improve, but I'm not playing for money yet. I am playing to improve. So for now I'll keep my HU to one at a time, and 6 max to 2 tables at a time.
I was rusty after a week off and a few weeks away from serious 6 max, and playing NL50. It started off rough, with a big misclick costing me 1/2 a BI and the next 20 minutes doubling that loss on two tables. But with time fish arrived and turned my tables into very profitable ones, and gave me a + 2BI night. I can attribute a lot of my success last night to HU play. It really opens your eyes to poker, and allows you go after each pot more aggressively. And not only with betting either. Calling/checking becomes a bluffers tool once he understands game flow, opponents and board texture.
An excellent tool I have in my belt now comes with bluffing and board textures, in particular opponents betting when your opponents can't bluff. For example, lets say you cbet and the board comes out Td8d7h, and he calls. The next card is a Jc, completing a pretty obvious draw. This spot may look so drawy, but think about what happens if you bet. Lets say he has 77/87/65/AA. He can't raise any of those hands, the only hand he could raise is a 9x hand. OK, so because we've taken out a huge range for him to raise, what can he call with? Maybe 77, probably not 87/65, probably not even AA. So if he's going to fold so many strong hands, what sort of fold equity do you have? You have a lot. Especially a small bet, which costs next to nothing, and can look strong is brilliant. He doesn't call with most hands, and when he raises he obviously has the hand. If he bluffs/semi bluffs, good on him, but it's a terrible spot to bluff.
Another hand Qd8h2c. Very dry. You cbet he calls. The turn is a 3h, super dry board. Now you can bet here, but it is a super dry board, so he'll be more inclined to call a bluff with a wider range. He might call with Qx/JJ/TT/99/98/AK etc. He really doesn't see you hitting much of that board, so if he thinks you can bluff a bit, he'll be more likely to call or even raise here without a hand.
So I'm looking out more and more for spots where my 1/2 pot bet/minraise bluff will pick up the pot a lot of the time he doesn't have the obvious big hand.
The itch came back hard last night. And it was the 6 max itch. It has to be said, my game needs a lot of improvement, and Rayz (sp?) made an interesting comment about live vs online experience. The onliners generally laugh at the number of hands played in a year for a live pro, and claim to hit a similar number in a week 6-12 tabling. Rayz said while you may be playing 500+ hands an hour online, you don't learn from most of those hands. He has a long time to think about every hand live, and therefore learns a lot each time he plays.
I agreed 100% with him. When all you get time for is to click raise or call, you aren't giving each decision it's proper respect, and once the hand is over, you've made 5 other decisions anyway, so you don't get time to reflect on it's outcome. So why multitable? Money. Once you are good enough to beat the game, playing for highest expected rate means a lot. Making 6BB/100 at 6 tables is a better rate than making 8BB/100 at 4 tables, so it's worth the table upgrade. Personally I want my bankroll to improve, but I'm not playing for money yet. I am playing to improve. So for now I'll keep my HU to one at a time, and 6 max to 2 tables at a time.
I was rusty after a week off and a few weeks away from serious 6 max, and playing NL50. It started off rough, with a big misclick costing me 1/2 a BI and the next 20 minutes doubling that loss on two tables. But with time fish arrived and turned my tables into very profitable ones, and gave me a + 2BI night. I can attribute a lot of my success last night to HU play. It really opens your eyes to poker, and allows you go after each pot more aggressively. And not only with betting either. Calling/checking becomes a bluffers tool once he understands game flow, opponents and board texture.
An excellent tool I have in my belt now comes with bluffing and board textures, in particular opponents betting when your opponents can't bluff. For example, lets say you cbet and the board comes out Td8d7h, and he calls. The next card is a Jc, completing a pretty obvious draw. This spot may look so drawy, but think about what happens if you bet. Lets say he has 77/87/65/AA. He can't raise any of those hands, the only hand he could raise is a 9x hand. OK, so because we've taken out a huge range for him to raise, what can he call with? Maybe 77, probably not 87/65, probably not even AA. So if he's going to fold so many strong hands, what sort of fold equity do you have? You have a lot. Especially a small bet, which costs next to nothing, and can look strong is brilliant. He doesn't call with most hands, and when he raises he obviously has the hand. If he bluffs/semi bluffs, good on him, but it's a terrible spot to bluff.
Another hand Qd8h2c. Very dry. You cbet he calls. The turn is a 3h, super dry board. Now you can bet here, but it is a super dry board, so he'll be more inclined to call a bluff with a wider range. He might call with Qx/JJ/TT/99/98/AK etc. He really doesn't see you hitting much of that board, so if he thinks you can bluff a bit, he'll be more likely to call or even raise here without a hand.
So I'm looking out more and more for spots where my 1/2 pot bet/minraise bluff will pick up the pot a lot of the time he doesn't have the obvious big hand.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Ups and Downs
Yep, worst possible end to July, best start to August, both at the tables and away.
I thought I played well two nights ago, but luck didn't go my way. I should have crushed is but lost minor amount due to just getting rorted. 3 times in July I got it in on a flop as AA overpair vs another 1 pair hand, like AA vs K8 on a 853 board, 3 times I lost these coin flips (where I'm about 80% favourite). Anyway, luck was one way traffic. I was very happy with my survival skills, and I think I was choosing my spots pretty well.
The next night was a disaster. Again coin flips (QQ vs A2 AIPF, 70% favourite?) were't going my way, so in a very unlucky spot I decided to cool it for a bit and play some 6 max. Talk about running and playing bad. First hand dealt, I get 44 and hit a set on the flop, but of course so did he, 1 BI down. I continued to get my money in bad or with monster draws. I actually think my HU game was partially responsible, because KQ on a Qxx board is the nutz in heads up, but in 6 max it's up against AQ for stacks :) So I finished off the night at HU cash, and lost money some cooler money there too, and made a comback playing about as good as I could. All up, when I finally checked my balance it was down $350 for the night, which was probably close to $500 at the worst point.
I'm happy to report I didn't even give this loss a 2nd thought Friday and had a great day with my family (sons birthday). It's major tilt control when you have a big loss/gain and it doesn't affect your mood tomorrow. Anyway, I fired up just enough SNG's to clear my first 100 point day for the Iron Man in August, and was up a little after that. I started checking ROI's, and only one player was a profitable HU player, for a little under $1000 profit. Everyone else was a 2-15% loser, some playing 100's of games at a 14% loss! Why? Anyway, headed over to HU cash, and I owned souls. The first one was little more than running like god. If he had a set I had a straight, if I had a set, he had top two pair, etc. He eventually quit me down 2 BI's. Next couple of players I evened out against, and then decided to be silly and join a game with $22. I lost it, and rebought for $20. Well by the time I left the table I was on $320 after owning 3 players. I didn't run like god either, there was just some major soul owning. I was making 2/3rd BI bluffs at some points, and this profit includes some of those not working too.
All up I'm back in the black after a big swingy patch, but it's safe to say I'm loving HU cash now. Getting people tilted seems to be my niche :) I completed bronze iron man too (woohoo) and am probably just going to aim for silver this month if I keep playing HU all month. HU cash is much slower at getting points, so I might grind SNG's still, and finish my nights at cash, or at least that's the current plan. I'll probably start a couple of theory posts about HU cash soon, but for now I'm off for a long weekend with the wife, so this is the last of anything poker related for 3 days
I thought I played well two nights ago, but luck didn't go my way. I should have crushed is but lost minor amount due to just getting rorted. 3 times in July I got it in on a flop as AA overpair vs another 1 pair hand, like AA vs K8 on a 853 board, 3 times I lost these coin flips (where I'm about 80% favourite). Anyway, luck was one way traffic. I was very happy with my survival skills, and I think I was choosing my spots pretty well.
The next night was a disaster. Again coin flips (QQ vs A2 AIPF, 70% favourite?) were't going my way, so in a very unlucky spot I decided to cool it for a bit and play some 6 max. Talk about running and playing bad. First hand dealt, I get 44 and hit a set on the flop, but of course so did he, 1 BI down. I continued to get my money in bad or with monster draws. I actually think my HU game was partially responsible, because KQ on a Qxx board is the nutz in heads up, but in 6 max it's up against AQ for stacks :) So I finished off the night at HU cash, and lost money some cooler money there too, and made a comback playing about as good as I could. All up, when I finally checked my balance it was down $350 for the night, which was probably close to $500 at the worst point.
I'm happy to report I didn't even give this loss a 2nd thought Friday and had a great day with my family (sons birthday). It's major tilt control when you have a big loss/gain and it doesn't affect your mood tomorrow. Anyway, I fired up just enough SNG's to clear my first 100 point day for the Iron Man in August, and was up a little after that. I started checking ROI's, and only one player was a profitable HU player, for a little under $1000 profit. Everyone else was a 2-15% loser, some playing 100's of games at a 14% loss! Why? Anyway, headed over to HU cash, and I owned souls. The first one was little more than running like god. If he had a set I had a straight, if I had a set, he had top two pair, etc. He eventually quit me down 2 BI's. Next couple of players I evened out against, and then decided to be silly and join a game with $22. I lost it, and rebought for $20. Well by the time I left the table I was on $320 after owning 3 players. I didn't run like god either, there was just some major soul owning. I was making 2/3rd BI bluffs at some points, and this profit includes some of those not working too.
All up I'm back in the black after a big swingy patch, but it's safe to say I'm loving HU cash now. Getting people tilted seems to be my niche :) I completed bronze iron man too (woohoo) and am probably just going to aim for silver this month if I keep playing HU all month. HU cash is much slower at getting points, so I might grind SNG's still, and finish my nights at cash, or at least that's the current plan. I'll probably start a couple of theory posts about HU cash soon, but for now I'm off for a long weekend with the wife, so this is the last of anything poker related for 3 days
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