I'm not gonna delete it

It's 6max, duh FR is for donks

I included some total stats in the 2nd or 3rd post. So far the win rate is around 4 for the first 13 k hands...if it stays that high I'll be ecstatic.

Competition? I'll have more conclusions at the end of the month...how's that?

Interesting read, I look forward to seeing more in the future. Nice to see you shrugged off the rocky start.

Mar 6

For some reason the tables really suck today...network says lots of players, but apparently NONE at my level...so I'll go golfing...it's REALLY warm (for the season) and sunny, so off I go.

I played VERY poorly today. I was on my A++ game for the first 1k hands, then something slipped and I started making small, then BIG mistakes.

Big Hands.

1: I overplayed overpairs twice for stacks...This is a mistake that I NEVER make and I pride myself on my ability to play overpairs - one of the cornerstones of my game. I tend to know when to get away, when to pound, and how to extract max value. However, today it went awry and I made mistakes that I generally never do.

AA in BB, FIRST hand at this new table and sb limps, I make it 8. J76r, he checks, I make it 11 and he check min-raises. I call. Turn T of the J suit. He makes it 30 and I call trying to either get to a cheap showdown or see what he's up to. River 2o and he open pushes...I put him on something like J9/79/69...a busted draw...or a monster. I called, he had 77 for a set. Comments?

2: 5th hand at a new table, red AA OTB and I open raise to 8, only the BB calls. Flop 845 two tone black. He check raises my 12 to 53 and I push...wtf was I thinking?! He had 88 obv. This is the sort of mistake I NEVER make...that should've been an instafold on the flop.

3: BAD BEAT...wowza. Button is an uber donk, I love him...he open steal raises to 8, I 3 bet to 28 in the BB with red AA. He calls. Flop T64 two tone (2 diamonds), I check, he bets 55, I push for 170 total (115 more) he calls. Turn 7, river 5...his T8o with the runner runner straight drags...guh! Reload!

That's it for losses/poorly played hands. Just the first 2 really...the 3rd was 100% bad beat since I checked planning to CRAI and my plan worked perfectly...except that the dealer hates me!

Big winning hands:

4: 235 effective stacks. Ac9c in BB, button open min raises, I call and we're HU. Flop Ah9s8s two tone . I lead 7 into 10, he calls. Turn 3o, I lead 19 into 24 (3/4 pot, my standard bet), he MIN raises, I make it 115. He calls, I push the 5s river, he calls, I win. Thoughts on the push? If he has the flush, I'm not folding given the action: flop call but turn min raise still on the draw? Strange way to play a FD...I don't want to check and give up a value bet in case he has A8 or AT+ since he could fear the flush...so I think betting is best here. He mucked his hand, MHIG.

5: HERE'S an interesting one. AsQs OTB, bad loose CO raises to 8, I 3 bet to 28, he calls. He started with 166, I cover. We're HU, 432r flop (no spades), he check-min raises my 42 to 84...leaving 54 behind. I just call...I'm putting it in on the turn NO MATTER WHAT, so I'm curious whether I should've just pushed...I think I should've. Turn K, he pushes, I call. River A...he had QQ. Hmmm. Thoughts?

The others were standard, AA vs KK, set vs TPHK etc.

Here's the graph:

Hand 1 - Easy easy river fold. Overbet shove on a dry board? 89 got there aswell, the only real busted draw he could have is 45. I like your play up till the river.

Hand 2 - I prolly call his flop bet and re-evaluate on the turn. Most players won't bluff twice so if he has air he'll give it up. If you're flop CBs are getting CRed a lot, I like the push.

My flop CBs don't get CR'd a lot. I should've gotten away...that's also an unusually large CR...so that should've suggested something. thnx The first one just looked like it COULD be a bluff...I'm still ashamed that I got stacked

Good journal BK, and guess what? It's got poker content!

I suck at poker, honestly.

I had a great session, made 600 in an hour. That's not the problem...I don't suck at poker because I play bad - I play quite well for the style that I play. I don't suck at poker because of bad BR management - one of the best parts of my overall game, IMO. Nope, I suck at poker because I have a VERY hard time playing when I'm up a lot...particularly when I'm up a lot at the beginning of a session.

What are my thoughts? I think the money means too much...far too much, right now. The stakes aren't too high...it's not THAT way that the money means too much. I can lose 1k and be 'okay' with it in one sense, but REALLY not OK in another sense. I'm not okay in that I'm the principal "bread" winner in the house ATM since my fiancee is still finishing her undergrad degree. She works as much as she can part time (in good paying jobs - 15/hr or so), but we're ecstatic if she brings in 1k in a month...whereas we need 3k from me every month. Only between 1.5-2k to meet obligations, and the rest is to pay debt (paying for our upcoming wedding) and when the 'debt' is gone, it's money for saving for a down payment for a home.

Grinding the 100s made life REALLY stressful. Imagine needing to pull down 30+ buy-ins EVERY MONTH. Well...I did...every month except January when I ran super super bad...and even then it was 2200. So, under the CONTINUED nagging of Shobute, I'm never going to give up trying to move up...the standard of living change JUST from 100 to 200 NL is monstrous. Making 6-10k/month (6, I think standard, 10k, I think a good month for me) means that I can save money in 2-3 months such that I don't have to WORRY about month-to-month fluctuations and, MUCH more importantly, day-to-day fluctuations. Like I said, the 1k or whatever doesn't faze me one bit in so far as money is just our tool...it comes and goes PRETTY readily. And the swings over the short term are quite large - just like the stock market - but when we zoom out on our graphs, it's amazing how steady the rise is...amazing.

So, what is paramount for me is to get to a point where the day-to-day, and even the month-to-month swings are meaningless...once I'm there, I think I'll have NO problem staying in a session like today's till the end...if I'm up 700 early, I won't be worrying about breaking even at the end and feeling DOWN 700, instead I'll be MUCH more free to attempt to be UP 2k in one session. So, that, probably even above the balla amount of money solid 200NL can bring in, is my main motivation for moving up - to relieve stress. Sounds funny doesn't it? Most people drop DOWN to relieve stress...I MOVE UP

On to the hands, sorry if that was tl;dr, but I think it was insightful.

Not a SINGLE significant loser. Biggest loss was a 120 pot where I minimized my losses for sure...another 100 pot where I tried to limp-reraise AA and it went bad...but I lost the absolute min - bet when I was ahead, got to a showdown and induced a bluff (when I was actually behind anyway...so he wasn't bluffing, but calling 17 on the end with 50 in the pot when he COULD be bluffing, is easy).

Winners!

1: I thought this was interesting - who thinks I'm set-over-setted here?

22 in CO, UTG limps, I make it 8, SB is the only caller. Flop T92r, he check calls my 14 bet. Turn 7 of the 2 suit. He leads 24 (half pot), I think...make it 72. Thoughts?

He MIN 4 bets to 120, I just call...I'm going to stick my money in on the river no matter what I think...and I just call?! I HAVE to stop doing this!! Who folds to his 100 push into 288 on the river? Anyway, 4 brings a backdoor flush, he pushes, I call...his 97 is no good.

Here are my thoughts...His turn LEAD told me he didn't have a set. If he CHECK min raised the turn, I'd have only called and looked for a cheap showdown...the LEAD takes set out of play for me...cuz the standard play is to CR. This is why I raised the turn and was happy to get it in. Thoughts?

2: AA UTG with the CO posting a dead SB, I make it 10 and only the BB calls...he's a TAG. He starts with 172, I cover. 558 two tone. He check-calls 16. Turn offsuit T, he CRAI's my 37 bet...HERO?

The only hand I fear here is 88/TT. He won't have a 5 in this spot having to call 8 pf HU OOP, being a TAG. I also don't think 88/TT will crai with what he thinks is the nuts...he'd more likely CR smaller trying to get value...maybe a CMR, at most I think he makes it 90 or so....so, since I think I'm way ahead of his range, I, obv, call. He had JTs for turned TP and a flopped FD. He should've CR'd the flop with that hand. I don't mind his turn CR SO much, but it's 108 for me to call into 236 and he only has 8 diamonds (the Ad gives me a boat), 2 Ts and 3 Js...for 13 outs and ONE street to hit it. Also, looks like he doesn't have much fold equity since I'm betting 3/4 pot flop AND turn...not to mention a 5x pfr. My hand screams overpair. Thoughts?

3: HERE's an interesting one too. AA in mp and sLAG utg min raises, I make it 14 SB cold calls, as does UTG. Flop QQ2 two tone, two of my suit. SB checks and UTG leads half pot 22. Okay, this is NOT a Q...NEVER a Q. In a reraised pot a Q is either check-calling the flop then trying a turn CR, or CR the flop...NEVER a lead. Leading is stupid if he has a Q since he folds out nearly all of the hands that he's CRUSHING. So, he doesn't have a Q. Now, I'm WORRIED about SB since a Q is certainly possible. So, I only CALL instead of raising. Just calling also gives UTG more rope to hang himself. Thankfully sb folded, and the turn is my suit 5. He checks, Hero?

Betting here has little value. I've developed a LOT of outs if he was semibluffing a FD that just got there, AND if I'm still good, villian has even MORE rope since if he was worried about ME having a Q with my flop call, my turn check behind will make him think that I don't have one...if I had a Q, I'd be betting scared of the FD. Offsuit 3 river and he QUICKLY fires pot (88)...I call. ZERO reason to raise here...and the call is set up by the rest of the hand...I think he's got either 33-99 or AIR. EIther way, He's not calling a push.

He had KTs of the completely wrong suit...he had 100% air. Thoughts?

Those are the interesting hands.

Here's the graph:

If I win 3 buy ins right at the start of a session, I quit very early also. I see no problem with that. Mental happiness is a big part of playing well. If it bothers you because you dont get your hours in when you win big, just quit and play another shorter than normal session later in the day.