Great overall Session, with the only glaring negative being a -$21 pot with 99 vs AA and a board of AK9 rainbow. After some raising back and forth he went all in for $21 and I called. Meh.
Session: +$23 -- 606 Hands
Overall: $368.15 -- +$133.05 -- 5022 hands
Monday, December 31, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Shaky Start Falls Apart
Logged the worst session of my short career today at NL25. Quad tabling as usual, I got in a couple of tough all in situations with TT against KK, and then again with QQ against KK. Unfortunately these situations were not counteracted by any wins, so I ended up going MAD negative. Full stats are shown below.
I also decided due to tonight to make a new rule. If I am down 2 buy-ins at any point in a night, I will call it a night even if I think the tables are soft and I can make money. The reasoning is I may think I am up to it, but be physically and mentally off my game. For example tonight I played from 2 am - 4 am while very tired, and although I don't THINK it affected my decisions, it very well may have.
Session: -$64 -- 297 Hands
Overall: $345.25 -- +$110.15 -- 4416 hands
I also decided due to tonight to make a new rule. If I am down 2 buy-ins at any point in a night, I will call it a night even if I think the tables are soft and I can make money. The reasoning is I may think I am up to it, but be physically and mentally off my game. For example tonight I played from 2 am - 4 am while very tired, and although I don't THINK it affected my decisions, it very well may have.
Session: -$64 -- 297 Hands
Overall: $345.25 -- +$110.15 -- 4416 hands
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Shaky Start Turns Around
Quad-Tabled NL25 for ~400 hands.
Lost a buy-in in about 20 minutes when I pushed with AKo and a 742 board. Got called by QQ and lost it. The player was short stacked however, and doubled through me. The very next hand I pushed PF with JJ, because the SAME player had called from Late position and I wanted him to think I was tilting. He called and flipped over 8T hearts. He ended up catching the flush to bust me out of my first buy-in.
However I turned it around in the long run, ending with a positive session. I was also able to clear the second $20 of my $200 bonus, so although technically I only ended up $11, my account was credited with $31. :)
Session: +$11 -- 398 Hands
Overall: $409.65 -- +$174.65 -- 4117 hands
Lost a buy-in in about 20 minutes when I pushed with AKo and a 742 board. Got called by QQ and lost it. The player was short stacked however, and doubled through me. The very next hand I pushed PF with JJ, because the SAME player had called from Late position and I wanted him to think I was tilting. He called and flipped over 8T hearts. He ended up catching the flush to bust me out of my first buy-in.
However I turned it around in the long run, ending with a positive session. I was also able to clear the second $20 of my $200 bonus, so although technically I only ended up $11, my account was credited with $31. :)
Session: +$11 -- 398 Hands
Overall: $409.65 -- +$174.65 -- 4117 hands
Played an afternoon session quad-tabling for the first time (NL25). I didn't find it all that more intense than tri-tabling, and so I think I will make the switch permanently. I would play more, but my laptop resolution wouldn't be able to keep all of the tables open at once, and pokerACE writing over all the tables slows my computer down a LOT when tables are stacked on screen. It's hard enough to raise as it is while pokerACE is constantly acquiring focus on other tables and writing stats.
Overall a good session, pretty standard. Didn't run into any difficult situations, and got average cards. I got 4 Big PP (TT+) in 251 hands, which is a little less than average (5 in 221 by my calculations).
Session: +$20 -- 252 Hands
Overall: $378.55 -- +$163.55 -- 3718 hands
Overall a good session, pretty standard. Didn't run into any difficult situations, and got average cards. I got 4 Big PP (TT+) in 251 hands, which is a little less than average (5 in 221 by my calculations).
Session: +$20 -- 252 Hands
Overall: $378.55 -- +$163.55 -- 3718 hands
Playing early on a weekday
I just logged a 50 hand session, which I ended because I realized the tables are TERRIBLE at this time of day. I was up and tri-tabling when I rechecked www.tableratings.com for how soft my tables were. The highest rating given to a NL25 table was 54, whereas on a good night I'm sitting at 3 tables rated over 100.
I think that it is a necessary skill of a good player to NOT play in this situation, no matter how much I FEEL like playing right now.
And talk about running hot, I got pocket rockets TWICE in 50 hands!
Session: +$6 -- 50 Hands
Overall: $358.95 -- +$143.95 -- 3464 hands
I think that it is a necessary skill of a good player to NOT play in this situation, no matter how much I FEEL like playing right now.
And talk about running hot, I got pocket rockets TWICE in 50 hands!
Session: +$6 -- 50 Hands
Overall: $358.95 -- +$143.95 -- 3464 hands
Monday, December 24, 2007
Another Great Positive Session
Just wrapping up another good session tri-tabling NL25. Ran very good, setting up twice with Pocket Pairs, and flopping a full house once. See the bottom for session details.
I feel that I am getting more confident in my preflop play, and more consistant in my flop play. Pre-flop I feel that I know what I am doing. I am comfortable stealing with sub-par hands, 3-betting with more hands than AA-KK, and folding deceptively bad hands out of position (KJ, KQ, even AJ). As some have reminded me, playing ABC poker should be more than enough to beat the NL25 game. On the flop I understand the value of CB-ing, and who has control based on the pre-flop raise situation and position.
All in all, I feel that my actions are more confident even when I lose a large pot. I feel no shame in folding a steal attempt, and getting past that initial hurdle of classical conditioning is what was holding my poker skill back. Being able to lose a pot but still feel confident that my play was correct is one of the most important skills in poker.
Where I need to go from here is a tough call. I understand some more advanced concepts such as squeezing and floating, but don't feel it is necessary to use them, and is probably even -EV, at the level I'm playing (NL25). So the next step is obviously not to learn more advanced techniques. I also never really believe that the next step is to continue grinding to move up in stakes because I should never be satisfied with my current ability. In conclusion I think that I should begin to vary my CB amount (currently it's pretty consistantly 3/4 pot) based on factors such as
The one trap I don't want to fall into is running good for a while and mistaking this for being a great player. I feel this is the biggest mistake new poker players make, as it leads to tricking yourself that bad habits are good moves, and loses you a lot of money before you figure out where you are going wrong.
But it does feel great to run good :)
Session: +$32 -- 267 Hands
Overall: $352.60 -- +$137.60 -- 3414 hands
I feel that I am getting more confident in my preflop play, and more consistant in my flop play. Pre-flop I feel that I know what I am doing. I am comfortable stealing with sub-par hands, 3-betting with more hands than AA-KK, and folding deceptively bad hands out of position (KJ, KQ, even AJ). As some have reminded me, playing ABC poker should be more than enough to beat the NL25 game. On the flop I understand the value of CB-ing, and who has control based on the pre-flop raise situation and position.
All in all, I feel that my actions are more confident even when I lose a large pot. I feel no shame in folding a steal attempt, and getting past that initial hurdle of classical conditioning is what was holding my poker skill back. Being able to lose a pot but still feel confident that my play was correct is one of the most important skills in poker.
Where I need to go from here is a tough call. I understand some more advanced concepts such as squeezing and floating, but don't feel it is necessary to use them, and is probably even -EV, at the level I'm playing (NL25). So the next step is obviously not to learn more advanced techniques. I also never really believe that the next step is to continue grinding to move up in stakes because I should never be satisfied with my current ability. In conclusion I think that I should begin to vary my CB amount (currently it's pretty consistantly 3/4 pot) based on factors such as
- Dryness of Board
- Opponent stack sizes
- Opponents flop aggression (check-raising more...)
- Opponents suspected range based on VPIP and PF play
The one trap I don't want to fall into is running good for a while and mistaking this for being a great player. I feel this is the biggest mistake new poker players make, as it leads to tricking yourself that bad habits are good moves, and loses you a lot of money before you figure out where you are going wrong.
But it does feel great to run good :)
Session: +$32 -- 267 Hands
Overall: $352.60 -- +$137.60 -- 3414 hands
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Just finished my best session to date: 2 hours, 400 hands, +$53 -- tri-tabling NL25 of course.
I also found and used a new resource for this session: www.tableratings.com. It gives ratings for the "softness" of tables in realtime, so before sitting down I used it to find out the top 8 "soft" tables on Full Tilt's NL25 table list. Then I datamined (and waited on wait lists for) these tables for 20 minutes before I sat down.
Overall: $320.65 -- +$105.65 -- 3142 hands
I also found and used a new resource for this session: www.tableratings.com. It gives ratings for the "softness" of tables in realtime, so before sitting down I used it to find out the top 8 "soft" tables on Full Tilt's NL25 table list. Then I datamined (and waited on wait lists for) these tables for 20 minutes before I sat down.
Overall: $320.65 -- +$105.65 -- 3142 hands
It's funny I should have started this blog when I did, as it's so close to Christmas I've been too busy to get any playing in! Currently I've played a total of 2700 hands and am +$51, about two buy-ins at the NL25 level. PT puts my VPIP at 17.5%, and my PFR at 13%, which I feel is a good place to be because I'm playing 9-handed.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Plans to keep this Blog
Hey, I decided to start this blog for my own reference to track my poker play, here is a short introduction to who I am, and what my goals are.
I'm 20 and attending school at Northeastern University in Boston for Computer Science. I just landed my first COOP job, so this spring I'll be working 40 hours a week for Art Technology Group, doing Java programming.
I've played poker on and off for 3 years, mostly home games with a couple trips to casinos and stints online. I was moderately successful online, but over a very small sample size of games, and turned $25 into $200 very quickly. I would rate this turnover at about 90% luck. After that I proceeded to slowly lose the $200 at all manners of poker including SNGs, MTTs, and cash games, mainly playing NLHE, but with a little PLO and Razz thrown in for fun. About 4 weeks ago I decided to learn how to play the game correctly, and try to be a winning player in the long term.
I purchased PokerTracker and PokerAce, which are programs for keeping track of statistics seen on certain poker sites and showing them over the tables in real time. Now when I play I have a database of thousands of hands showing me things like VPIP, PFR, and Aggression factors for the players I'm playing against.
I believe that to be successful at poker, you should set non-monetary goals; monetary goals you can both gain ground towards and shy away from, and this can get frustrating. When tilting this can even prompt you to say "hell, maybe if I play at higher limits, I can just win x dollars". For that reason I'm playing 10,000 hands of NLHE, and then analyzing my play. That way I have a goal I'm always moving towards, and a point where I can analyze my play with a reasonable level of accuracy.
My game of choice is NL25 HE on FullTiltPoker, where I recently deposited $200 (8 buy-ins). Currently I have logged 2500 hands and am sitting at $312. From now on I hope to post after each session I have, so I can keep track of how I'm doing!
I'm 20 and attending school at Northeastern University in Boston for Computer Science. I just landed my first COOP job, so this spring I'll be working 40 hours a week for Art Technology Group, doing Java programming.
I've played poker on and off for 3 years, mostly home games with a couple trips to casinos and stints online. I was moderately successful online, but over a very small sample size of games, and turned $25 into $200 very quickly. I would rate this turnover at about 90% luck. After that I proceeded to slowly lose the $200 at all manners of poker including SNGs, MTTs, and cash games, mainly playing NLHE, but with a little PLO and Razz thrown in for fun. About 4 weeks ago I decided to learn how to play the game correctly, and try to be a winning player in the long term.
I purchased PokerTracker and PokerAce, which are programs for keeping track of statistics seen on certain poker sites and showing them over the tables in real time. Now when I play I have a database of thousands of hands showing me things like VPIP, PFR, and Aggression factors for the players I'm playing against.
I believe that to be successful at poker, you should set non-monetary goals; monetary goals you can both gain ground towards and shy away from, and this can get frustrating. When tilting this can even prompt you to say "hell, maybe if I play at higher limits, I can just win x dollars". For that reason I'm playing 10,000 hands of NLHE, and then analyzing my play. That way I have a goal I'm always moving towards, and a point where I can analyze my play with a reasonable level of accuracy.
My game of choice is NL25 HE on FullTiltPoker, where I recently deposited $200 (8 buy-ins). Currently I have logged 2500 hands and am sitting at $312. From now on I hope to post after each session I have, so I can keep track of how I'm doing!
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