I am an ex losing limit player, going to give 6max nl a shot...

Read and reread lots of post on here, so thanks to eveyone who takes the time to help up FNG's learn this game...

First Day...2 tables of 6max 25nl



I was real happy about my play. I made a few bad calls, but I made a few good ones too. Tried hard to make notes, but most people didn't stick around long enough to pick anything up worthwhile...

Second day...

Good day for me. Had several players today that were at my table the duration, so I was able to get some decent reads.



Is this a standard fold at 25NL from an EP raiser, regardless of what he showed down this time(QJs)

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (6 handed) from (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($24.75)
BB ($64.85)
UTG ($7.75)
MP ($4.30)
CO ($14)
Hero ($73.10)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, Q.
UTG raises to $1, 5 folds.

Final Pot: $1.35

Results in white below:
No showdown. UTG wins $1.35.



The good...

This guy was 20/17/4.7 over 150 hands. I called his raise because of his stack size only, hoping to catch.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (5 handed) from (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG ($25)
MP ($73)
Button ($26.15)
SB ($10.95)
Hero ($80.65)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5, 6.
1 fold, MP raises to $1, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.75.

Flop: ($2.10) 8, 6, 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $1.25, Hero raises to $3.5, MP calls $2.25.

Turn: ($9.10) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $7.25, MP calls $7.25.

River: ($23.60) A (2 players)
Hero bets $11.5, MP calls $11.50.

Final Pot: $46.60

Results in white below:
Hero has 5h 6c (straight, eight high).
MP has Td Ts (one pair, tens).
Outcome: Hero wins $46.60.


The best...


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (5 handed) from (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($66.50)
BB ($7.75)
UTG ($3.95)
MP ($30.55)
Hero ($42.05)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 3, 3.
UTG calls $0.25, MP calls $0.25, Hero calls $0.25, SB raises to $2, 1 fold, UTG folds, MP calls $1.75, Hero calls $1.75.

Flop: ($6.50) 3, 2, 2 (3 players)
SB checks, MP bets $3, Hero raises to $7.5, SB folds, MP calls $4.50.

Turn: ($21.50) 5 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $7.75, MP calls $7.75.

River: ($37) 9 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $24.8 (All-In), MP calls $13.30 (All-In).

Final Pot: $75.10

Results in white below:
MP has 4h 4d (two pair, fours and twos).
Hero has 3c 3h (full house, threes full of twos).
Outcome: Hero wins $75.10.

At one table I was running at 131ptbb/100 for 190 hands. I am dreading the day it will go the other way, I know that it will...

Nice little run. For some reason the first hand with AQ either the converter messed up or you missed part of it when you copy/ pasted it to your journal. The 2nd hand I will make a little comment on. I really would avoid calling raises OOP with hands like 56o. Granted when people are willing to give you a stack with a medium overpair with a 4 card straight on the board and then push the river when the overcard hits is always nice. A lot of new NL player make a lot of their mistakes in the SB and BB, from limit it probably feels like you are already most of the way in so why not call the raise. The problem is when you first start playing NL extracting value from tricky hands like suited connectors out of position can to tougher. The fact that you are getting a .25 cent discount should really have no bearing on your decision to call/ fold. Ask yourself if you would have called his raise from UTG if you knew it was going to be $1 to go. When i was playing 6 max my VPIP from the Sb was in the 35% range. Good luck

Repost of the AQ hand that I folded preflop...

Is this standard with no reads???

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (6 handed) from (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($24.75)
BB ($64.85)
UTG ($7.75)
MP ($4.30)
CO ($14)
Hero ($73.10)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, Q.
UTG raises to $1, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $1.35

Results in white below:
No showdown. UTG wins $1.35.

UTG showed QJd after hand as folded, that aside...with an UTG raise should I be folding AQ with no reads??

Thanks for the advice about the sb play...I am playing a bit too loose at 64% VPIP. Most of the tables I will call with connectors if it is just a completion. I will try and tighten up.

I am losing pretty bad from the SB as I pushed two drawing hands like made hands but my draws didn't get there. I should probably give up in those situations.(Pushed is a bad word as I bet them like a made hand, I bet them to showdown, but I didn't shove)

I am going to tighten up quite a bit out of the SB... Thanks for the advice.

Another 300 hand session 2 tabling. I broke 1k hands with this session...

I would like to think that I am starting to get a feel of this 25NL 6max stuff, but I know better

Had one hand where I was at a loss as to what to do.

EP raised to .75
MP raised to 2.25
Here I sit with JJ. I did probably the worst thing that I could do... I called
EP raised to 5 something
MP Pushed
I folded

I should have just let it go preflop I guess with the bet and raise to me.

Other than that, I had a decent session, I had my first set over set win tonight. I had about 45 and the other player had about 37. I got it all in on the turn and I showed trip 7's and he mucked trip 4's.

That felt good.

My brother got married over the weekend, so I didn't have too much time for poker...

I have added a third table for the last 1200 hands in my graph. It doesn't look like it is affecting my play too much...I will admit that sometimes I get caught on 2 or all three tables at once, and I can't keep up, otherwise it seems to be alright. Maybe it is too soon for a third table, FPP's dont add very fast when at these limits, and I want to keep my VIP status next month. It is only silver status, but the freerolls at this level are better than nothing.

Overall my play is decent for only 2300 hands into my NL journey...I have been pretty much playing small ball poker. I have been pretty unsuccessful in several of my stack shoves, in the fact that my semi bluffs were called and my hand didn't get there...See below for a hand I played.

I know that I am probably playing these situations badly, but it wiill take time to learn the finer points of stack play...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (6 handed) from (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP ($48.30)
CO ($44.40)
Button ($9.35)
SB ($26)
Hero ($19.80)
UTG ($9.05)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, J.
UTG calls $0.25, 2 folds, Button calls $0.25, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: ($1) 5, J, Q (4 players)
SB bets $1, Hero calls $1, UTG raises to $4.25, Button folds, SB raises to $19.25, Hero raises to $19.55, UTG calls $4.55 (All-In), SB calls $0.30.

Turn: ($27.40) K (3 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($27.40) 8 (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $48.90

After having my "Lets lose to sets day" a couple of days ago, it feels good to have a few hands hold up...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (5 handed) from (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero ($19.20)
BB ($38.30)
UTG ($20.60)
MP ($9.55)
Button ($47.10)

Preflop: Hero is SB with J, A.
UTG calls $0.25, MP calls $0.25, 1 fold, Hero completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($1) A, T, 8 (4 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $0.5, UTG raises to $1, MP calls $1, Hero raises to $11.25, BB folds, UTG raises to $20.35, MP calls $8.30 (All-In), Hero calls $7.70 (All-In).

Turn: ($48.70) 5 (3 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($48.70) Q (3 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $48.71

Results in white below:
Hero has Jc Ac (flush, ace high).
UTG has Ah Kc (one pair, aces).
MP has Ad 6c (one pair, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins $48.70. UTG wins $1.39.

I didn't get drawn out on with a set on a draw board...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (5 handed) from (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($57.90)
BB ($40)
UTG ($86.80)
Hero ($53.70)
Button ($66.25)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 9, 9.
1 fold, Hero raises to $2, 2 folds, BB calls $1.50.

Flop: ($4.25) 9, 8, 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $4, BB calls $4.

Turn: ($12.25) 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $10, BB calls $10.

River: ($32.25) A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $17.5, BB folds.

Final Pot: $32.25

Results in white below:
Hero has 9d 9h (three of a kind, nines).
Outcome: Hero wins $32.25.

And I even luckboxed into a big hand...

This hand, he was pretty aggressive and playing back at me quite a bit the few hands we were at the same table...I feel that he could have done the same thing with a much weaker hand and that is why I played back at him...Hit my dream card on the turn...


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (5 handed) from (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Button ($57.65)
SB ($24)
BB ($86.80)
Hero ($68.40)
MP ($66.25)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with T, A.
Hero raises to $2, 3 folds, BB calls $1.50.

Flop: ($4.25) Q, 5, K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $4, BB raises to $9, Hero raises to $24.5, BB calls $15.50.

Turn: ($53.25) J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $41.9 (All-In), BB calls $41.90.

River: ($0) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $137.05

Results in white below:
BB has Qd Qc (three of a kind, queens).
Hero has Th Ah (straight, ace high).
Outcome: Hero wins $137.05.

I don't play as many hands as a lot of you, but I was starting to get worried...I am glad I am back in positive territory again...

I played about 700 hand in today 2 and 3 tabling NL50. I now have about 16 buy in's for NL 50 and I think that is enough. If I fall back down under 10, I will jump back down to NL25 and rebuild...

With the last hand of the day, my AA got cracked after I pushed on the flop and a guy turned two pair on the turn for about half my stack....Sh! t happens I guess...

Other than that, I think I only made two mistakes today that I know of...they both involved calling a river bet when their draw got there. I knew it, or should have recongized that their draws got there...I think this is a leak that I need to fix. Maybe it is not so bad as I was getting over 3 to one to call both times. One time I had trips, the other was top and bottom pair.


Other than that, I am having a hard time getting my sets to pay off for me. I flopped quads twice today and got those paid off by pot bets on the flop and turn, they both folded the river.





I made one big bluff today...I thought I was ahead as he played his hand like an over pair, but he said he folded two pair...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) from (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

MP ($49.25)
CO ($65.20)
Button ($158.65)
SB ($53.95)
Hero ($148.45)
UTG ($11)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, Q.
2 folds, CO raises to $2, 2 folds, Hero raises to $5.5, CO calls $3.50.

Flop: ($11.25) 4, 6, J (2 players)
Hero bets $10, CO calls $10.

Turn: ($31.25) A (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $20, Hero raises to $132.95, CO folds.

Final Pot: $71.25

Results in white below:
No showdown. Hero wins $71.25.

This one hurt...

Of course it has to be the guy who has close to the same amount of chips I do...

this put me back into negative territory again.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (5 handed) from (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

SB ($31.10)
BB ($35.45)
UTG ($84.35)
MP ($48.50)
Hero ($91)

Preflop: Hero is Button with T, T.
UTG raises to $2, 1 fold, Hero calls $2, 2 folds.

Flop: ($4.75) 9, T, J (2 players)
UTG bets $3, Hero raises to $12.5, UTG raises to $30, Hero raises to $89, UTG calls $52.35 (All-In).

Turn: ($169.45) A (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($169.45) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $169.45

Results in white below:
UTG has Jc Jd (three of a kind, jacks).
Hero has Ts Tc (three of a kind, tens).
Outcome: UTG wins $169.45. Hero wins $6.65.

In less than 4 months, i will be moving to Edmonton Alberta Canada for 5 years...

It will be nice to have 3 casinos only 20 minutes away as well as being able to play on the non-american sites for a few years.

I know that I have gotten my money in behind a few times, but for the most part, I have gotten my money in ahead...

My biggest problems is still stack play...Maybe I am making a fuss over nothing as this should even out over time, but all of my big downswings have been getting my money in on big draws and sets...They just haven't gotten their or I have been drawn out or been behind.

I think I have been doing well on the small ball poker and I should just avoid the stack play for the next 20k hands and develope my postflop game...

I am reading killer poker right now...After that I have Angel Largay's book to read. I hope that can help my game a bit.