I'm creating this journal as a means to hopefully improve my poker game. I'll be posting stats from my sessions and some individual hands where I either think i've played badly on and just need to be told off, or perhaps a bad beat hand when i need to vent. I hope this proves a good read to those who choose to Before I get onto the actual journal part, a bit about my poker life:

I've always been interested in cards and gambling in general, from when i was five and would play with relatives to making bets with friends on anything and everything to playing online poker. I learned draw poker when I was young and played it for fun every now and then, but apart from that my poker knowledge was limited until a few months ago when, staying over at a friends house, the tv was tuned to the WPT and one of my friends began explaining the rules of this "new game" Texas Hold Em' to everyone. I was immediately interested and started watching the show more closely, the betting, the gameplay and strategy, it was all very interesting. After this I spent a while watching more episodes and eventually found myself searching the web for tips on my game. I stumbled upon PokerStars and began playing the play money tables there for a while. I would 3-4 table and I was playing almost every hand, hoping to "get lucky". After a bit of reading I learnt things like starting hand selection and began playing much tighter. At this point i'd classify my style of play as Tight-Passive.. the perfect rock.

I spent a month or so on the play money tables before deciding to deposit. According to a few sites i'd been to, "Party Poker" was the best place to play because so many people were poor players. So I deposited $50 at Party and began playing the NL25 tables. I was a break-even player at this point. I'd play SNGs and Ring games and switch between, trying to win but losing just as much as i won. Slowly but surely I got a bit better, and found my BR up to about the 250 mark. I then bought PT and that's when I found this forum. I did a google search for the best PT guides and found Excessions' huge tutorial for PT and found it very helpful.

I played about 30k hands at the NL25 limits and recorded a winning of about 5 PTBB/100. Not bad for a beginner, but certainly not optimal. Reading this forum I learned things like continuation bets, the importance of aggression, limping in with PPs, and the other well advocated tips the wise members of this forum propose.

I decided to move up to NL50 and that's about where I am at this point of my poker career. I've skipped a few unimportant stages, such as bonus whoring and trying out a few other sites, as that doesn't particularly concern my poker playing abilities. I've played about 5,000 hands @ Party NL50, and so far my PTBB/100 is an unimpressive 1.5. I have identified my main problem is FPS (fancy play syndrome) as i'm trying to play advanced poker against fish, maniacs and calling stations, which does not work at all. My total aggression (not including preflop) is about 7, and I can't seem to stop betting out on the flop AND turn when I think I can push someone off their hand. I've decided i'm going to play straight ABC poker and hopefully stay disciplined enough to not stray from this strategy. If it looks like i'm not playing ABC poker, please give me a nudge back on track.

My goal is to book 30k hands (another 25k) at NL50 and have my winrate to at least 5PTBB/100 for those hands. While I know 10+ is certainly achieveable, it's a bit unrealistic to expect that type of winrate considering I play 4 tables at once. I'm playing on the MultiPoker skin at the moment and have approximately $1,000 in my bankroll. Depending on how I do after these 30k hands, I may move up to NL100 (bankroll permitting).

My current stats after 5k hands at Nl50 (any advice? I know this is a small sample size and i've suffered a few bad beats that have had a huge impact on my winrate, but if there's anything major please point it out).



Well I think that's about it for now. I'll post my first proper entry in a few hours when I play my first session. Other than that.. Thanks for reading!

All up tonight was a great night, however the start of this session was unbearable. Approximately 600 hands without hitting a set was brutal, but what made it worse was hitting a set shortly after these 600 painful hands and losing it to a straight flush. I lost to 2 straight flushes tonight, both about $10 each. This all came good though when I made my own straight flush later into the night and stacked someone who couldn't let go of his A high flush (on a paired board I might add). That was the turniing point and I hit 3 sets in a row soon after, netting a nice ammount. The cards continued to come and I felt I was playing well - making good laydowns and also a few good calls against some LAGgy opponents. I did tilt on one hand though, raising it to 4BB with 72o OTB and when only the short stacked SB called, I pushed him in on the flop 49J rainbow only to see him turn over 94. Luckily I only lost about $10 in this case, and I have to wonder what play was worse, my raising with 72o or his calling with 49! lol.

Here are my two favourite hands of the night, purely because I put my opponents squarely on a hand and was right both times.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ Hero (10 handed)

saw flop|saw showdown

SB ($71.80)
Hero ($138.17)
UTG ($70.15)
UTG+1 ($40.55)
UTG+2 ($62.55)
MP1 ($41.27)
MP2 ($39.41)
MP3 ($88.12)
CO ($29.62)
Button ($58.55)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , . SB posts a blind of $0.25.
3 folds, MP1 raises to $1, 5 folds, Hero calls $0.50.

This is almost always a raise for me, but since I was going to be heads up with the villian who I knew will minraise with any two cards and try to steal with less, i decide to slowplay the kings.

Flop: ($2.25) , , (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $1, Hero calls $1.

Perfect flop. I have the nuts, there is no flush draw and only a marginal straight draw. I decide i'd rather win a big pot than lose a small one so I simply call and hope for a rag.

Turn: ($4.25) (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $3, Hero raises to $6, MP1 raises to $9, Hero raises to $15, MP1 calls $6.

I love this card more than I loved the flop. I still have the nuts here and decide to build the pot a bit. I'm never one to check-raise the minimum, however i've done this exact play twice against this same opponent knowing he had nothing (i didn't either) but he folded both times, so I thought he'd think I was trying to steal it from him again. When he min-raised me back however I figured he must have some kind of hand, perhaps top pair or a straight draw. I'm not too worried as I still hold the nuts and i put in a bigger bet, he calls. w00t.

River: ($34.25) (2 players)
Hero bets $10, MP1 calls $10.

Okay so this is the perfect card. I don't know too many times where a flopped set is still the nuts by the river. This player is definitely LAGgy and i'd seen him fold to all-in bets on the river before, so I decide to value bet it (he didn't have too much left anyway) and he calls.

Final Pot: $54.25

Results in white below:
Hero has Ks Kc (three of a kind, kings).
MP1 has Kd Qc (one pair, kings).
Outcome: Hero wins $54.25.

I love the fact he was practically dead the whole way

Next hand almost paid for pokertracker itself. The villian had not raised once in over 400 hands, so when he raises here to 6xBB i think "AA". I call with my my mid SCs hoping to crack his monster. Low and behold...

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (10 handed)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 ($37.95)
MP2 ($54.20)
MP3 ($54.72)
CO ($49.10)
Button ($36.98)
SB ($44.95)
BB ($54.75)
UTG ($73.15)
Hero ($118.78)
UTG+2 ($67.20)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with , . SB posts a blind of $0.25.
1 fold, Hero calls $0.50, 6 folds, SB (poster) raises to $2.75, BB calls $2.50, Hero calls $2.50.

Flop: ($9) , , (3 players)
SB bets $3, BB folds, Hero raises to $10, SB calls $7.

Turn: ($29) (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $15, SB calls $15.

The king slightly scared me as I thought he might hold KK with the King of Hearts here, but when he simply called I figured he must have AA.

River: ($59) (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $25, SB calls $16.95 (All-In).

Final Pot: $100.95

Results in white below:
SB has As Ad (three of a kind, aces).
Hero has 8h 7h (flush, ace high).
Outcome: Hero wins $100.95.

=========================================================

Ok so I ended up playing a few more hours after this and suffered two terrible beats one after the other on the same table, losing me two full buy-ins. The first was KK vs 23s losing to two-pair, and the other was AKs vs 77 losing to 4 of a kind on the river. After these two, my winrate is less then average for my 8 or so hours of effort. Terrible. I hate going to bed feeling like this, but what can ya do.. This type of crap has been happening for so long now, it's getting hard to take.

Overall Stats of Day One

Hours: 7.82
VP$IP: 20.13
PFR: 5.30
PFA: 3.36
Total Hands: 1942
Total Won: $67.79

3.50 PTBB/100
$8.48/hour

Put in a few hours this morning taking a break for lunch only. The session again started off slowly but after a while this really turned around and I stacked someone with my JJ who couldn't let go of an unimproved AK. Overall, great session Hands of the day below:

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (10 handed)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 ($49)
MP2 ($48)
Hero ($45)
CO ($44.80)
Button ($60.90)
SB ($50.35)
BB ($44.22)
UTG ($46.25)
UTG+1 ($55.80)
UTG+2 ($58.95)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with , . SB posts a blind of $0.25.
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $2, 3 folds, Hero calls $2, 4 folds.

Flop: ($4.75) , , (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $3, Hero calls $3.

Turn: ($10.75) (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $10, Hero raises to $25, UTG+1 calls $15.

River: ($60.75) (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, UTG+1 calls $15.

Final Pot: $75.75

Results in white below:
UTG+1 has Ad Ah (two pair, aces and sixes).
Hero has 6d 6s (four of a kind, sixes).
Outcome: Hero wins $75.75.

Winning with 27 is always fun..

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ Hero (8 handed)

saw flop|saw showdown

Button ($38.25)
SB ($25)
Hero ($83.40)
UTG ($47.25)
UTG+1 ($66.60)
MP1 ($110.90)
MP2 ($8.75)
CO ($71.75)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , . SB posts a blind of $0.25.
3 folds, MP2 calls $0.50, 1 fold, Button calls $0.50, SB (poster) completes, Hero checks.

Flop: ($2) , , (4 players)
SB bets $0.5, Hero raises to $2, MP2 calls $8.25 (All-In), Button folds, SB calls $7.75, Hero calls $80.90 (All-In), SB calls $16.25 (All-In).

Turn: ($117.65) (3 players, 3 all-in)

River: ($117.65) (3 players, 3 all-in)

Final Pot: $117.65

Results in white below:
SB has Js 7s (one pair, sevens).
Hero has 7d 2d (two pair, sevens and twos).
MP2 has 9c 9h (one pair, nines).
Outcome: Hero wins $117.65.

Overall Stats for Day Two

Hours: 6.28
VP$IP: 20.19
PFR: 8.41
PFA: 3.36
Total Hands: 1451
Total Won: $137.03

9.44 PTBB/100
$21.80/hour

Within the first 10 minutes of tonight's session, I run into this hand:

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (9 handed)

saw flop|saw showdown

SB ($13.25)
BB ($26.25)
UTG ($49)
Hero ($49.25)
MP1 ($56.05)
MP2 ($49.50)
MP3 ($112.90)
CO ($39.25)
Button ($45.64)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with , . SB posts a blind of $0.25.
1 fold, Hero calls $0.50, 1 fold, MP2 raises to $1.25, 5 folds, Hero calls $0.75.

Flop: ($3.25) , , (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $2, Hero raises to $6, MP2 calls $4.

Turn: ($15.25) (2 players)
Hero bets $8, MP2 calls $8.

River: ($31.25) (2 players)
Hero bets $15, MP2 raises to $30, Hero calls $19 (All-In), MP2 calls $4.

Final Pot: $99.25

Results in white below:
Hero has 4h 3h (straight, seven high).
MP2 has 9d 8d (straight, nine high).
Outcome: MP2 wins $99.25.

Ouch. I didn't see that coming at all, was it a bad play? Perhaps I should've folded preflop. Oh well. From there it just got worse. Flopped the exact same hand as above and lost it to a full house. Flopped a flush and lost it to a higher flush. Lost a set over set. Down about $200 for the night. Will post exact stats tomorrow.

Okay so after takinga fairly heavy hit, I decided to try my hand at a few other types of games. Needless to say, I made $100 at PLO and another $100 playing nl200 6-max. God i'm terrible when it comes to staying within my bankroll, but hey, i love to gamble. My bankroll is back up to around about $1200 and i'm now trying my hand at 7 card stud hi/lo. Will post results later.

Stats for Day Two (session two)

Hours: 1.305
VP$IP: 24.54
PFR: 13.50
PFA: 5.10
Total Hands: 326
Total Won: (-$145.45)

[b]Other stats[/b[

Won approx $80 playing PLO8
Won approx $60 playing 6max NL200
Lost approx $25 playing 7card stud hi/lo (due to bad beats)

Yesterday I went over to a friend's place for a home game of poker. There were 6 of us there most of the time and we played a mix between SNGs and ring games. We played $10 buyin with $0.10/$0.25 blinds. I started off kinda bad, going down 2 buyins really quickly with a few LAGy calls/raises, however 18 hours and a LOT of poker later, I finished up 11 buy ins. Very pleased with that effort. Aside from that, i've just started playing a bit more stud. It's amazing the amount of river cards that kill you in this game, you wouldn't think it's more than holdem but it sure feels like it is. I'm thinking of putting in a big session of NL50 tonight just to get some hands in, will post results later.

Hi Godlike. Didn't notice another Aussie here until you posted on my journal. Tthought I would look and see if you had one as well. Good to see your posted hands. I play a lot on UB and can't get the convertor to work for them. Will post a few hands when/if i can figure it out.
I've got the bankroll to move up to the NL $50 but haven't got the confidence yet. I am still learning and improving at the $25 tables. At Party I have a +8bb/100 hands but at UB and the Crypto sites I am only barely breaking even. When I can get them up to 8bb/100 hands I will feel a lot more comfortable moving up.
Good to see that the Wests Tigers won the league but I suppose living in Brisbane that you are a Broncos fan.

Yeah I am, i was backing the Cowboys too since they're QLD but oh well. I haven't used this journal in a while actually, i've been posting my progress in my 1,000 Heads up match thread: . I also have the BR to play NL50 and I was playing it for a few months however i've been playing NL25 for the past few days too and i've been having a great success rate. I'm not sure if it's simply luck or bad opponents but i'll find out when I have a big enough sample size of hands.