Shit...........................................................................

Right when I was starting to put things together, they pull the plug.  I had a releases coming up, I had 100 dollar rakeback weeks starting up, Ironman was almost at month 6 gold status, and I was getting ready to move up again.  I am definitely going to have some long boring fucking nights when the wife and daughter are asleep. I am considering playing at Bodog, but hell I may just wait for online poker to open up here in the states and just study the game in the meantime so when I am able to play again I will be a better player.  (And yes I do see this coming, considering that the US is trying to find every which way to make money now.)

It really depresses me though, of all the long hours of studying the game and learning the ins and outs, that I am no longer able to experience the high and lows of the game anymore because of ignorant people wanting a cut of the action. 

Anyway, since I have nothing ti blog about for the time being I will be blogging a bit less.  The bankroll sits at $950, just $50 away from my goal, and if I can get it off the site I will definitely look into some other site, but I am not sure if that would be wise..  I think after some time passes I will look into the safety and legality of these other sites...

Quick Post... 900

Had a monster night, hit 900 last night.  I was only playing Rush NL5, but I won almost 15 buyin for the night.  I upped my aggression this week, trying new things at these lower stakes trying to figure out new things to try at the NL10 ring games.  I have 70 left on my release so 1000 is right around the corner.

Surpassed 800, 100 Release, Rakeback, 25 Take Two

I have a bunch of free money coming in currently.  My rakeback took a hit due to buying those cash game tickets, but if all goes well I will be near 1000 in a few weeks.  This means I turned nothing, into 1000.  I did well again last night at the NL10 tables making two buy in's in about 500 hands.  I mostly played Rush though, and I know I said I quit, but they gave me a 100 release and I needed to make some quick FTP. I broke even at Rush, not folding when I should.  Everytime, that little voice in my head is going FOLD FOLD FOLD, but my damn hand seems to find a way to the call button, which it followed by a couch punch or some horrible profanity. 

People may think I am crazy, but I know my ability and I know my bankroll management and deep down a year from now I think I could be playing NL100.  I really have been putting in the time and I learn more and more everyday.  My bankroll definitely will need to be in the 10k range a year from now, but if you stay a consistent winner when moving up the stakes you are going to grow that bankroll faster and faster with the added rakeback/Ironman/ and eventually blackcard bonuses. 

See you all at the tables and if you are a 40/3,  50/25,  8/2,  please sit down and play with me!

Quitting Rush...

Do not get me wrong, Rush has been very good to me, but after I started playing 10NL full ring last night I simply could not believe how many people gave their money to me. I am dumbfounded that I didn't play this more and as to why I have been so wrapped up into RUSH I have no idea.  I get better reads, I make more money, and I was only playing 6 tables last night. (Was on a small Monitor)

 I only made 50 last night, playing for two hours.  It just really feels good to see people push all-in preflop with QQ again, because in Rush this is a definite all-in fold. I also enjoy the pace of the game more, which allows me to really think about certain steal spots.

Anyway, I am probably going to play 10-12 tables tonight and see how it goes.

March in Review, Downswing

I made around $200 last month..  Not a bad month for the stakes I was playing, but ever since I have moved up I am running into a bit of a Downswing. 

I am currently 90 dollars below EV for the month of April..  I am down a total of $50 over all, but have almost that in rakeback, so I am currently sitting at a 25k hand break even.  It has been brutal.  Every 35% flush flop push has gotten there, KK losing to AK every time and even when I get a fish to push with garbage preflop they hit.  I had a 42 suited push against QQ preflop and he hit the flush, I had a K 10 offsuit push against AA and he hit two pair, I had KJ push to a 3 dollar 4 bet I put on him and he hit runner runner J, carcking AA.   I have had set over set as well with me floppin it while they hit theirs on the turn. 

I am not losing my cool though, well atleast for the most part..  I am just grinding through it, eventually it will all even out.

.5 .10 Rush

The only difference between 5NL Rush and 10NL Rush is simple, the swings and bet sizing.  I played around 1500 hands and made 1 dollar last night at NL10, but I should have made almost 30, but I stationed three hands that I should not have.  KK <  JJ, I new he had the set, but let him value bet me all the way to the river.  AA < JJ, exact same thing, and finally calling my two pair to the river with two other players..

These three hands cost me around $28 dollars, if I found the fold button, I would have made 20 easy.  I get really confused with over pairs sometimes, (AA,KK,QQ) especially on the flop of whether I am ahead or not, to the C-bet Re-raise. 

I do not see myself playing 5NL rush unless i decide to 8 table rush in the future to add more income, which is a possibility if I get table ninja.  I see just at 1500 hands an hour currently, so I could potentially see 2500 every hour if I decide to do this.  I am a firm believer in the law of large numbers and the more hands you see the less variance you notice. 

Anyway, hopefully I can run 6-10bb/100 at NL10.  I have been at almost 12bb/100 at NL5 rush the last 100k hands. 

700 club!!!!

I need to move up, and been taking stabs here and there, but I have two 100 releases coming up and going to have those active when I move up!

600 club finally.

Update

I had a baby girl so I have not been able to blog as much as I would have liked!  Anyway, I was on a 50k break even stretch, but I finally made it through and have been posting some consistent winnings again.  I have been doing a ton of reading and have turned some losing sessions into break even, and some break even into some winnings sessions. 

Studying this game is the only way you are going to get better and understanding why good players do the things they do is key to making it in this pool of ever smaller fishes and more and more Sharks.  I have put in almost 20k hands the last three days and I am p around $100, aka 20 buy ins.  I have grown as a player through this 50k stretch and realized that some of it was me and some of it was the cards. 

Anyway, I am going to be moving up to .5 .10 again soon, hopefully this one goes a bit better than last lol.

Study

I am very very thankful for this downswing that I am coming out of because I learned more from it than I learn on
most days.

Things I Learned from this Downswing

1.) It made me analyze my game so much more and it made me study up on spots I was very unsure about.
2.) Figured out a huge CBet leak that was very unnoticed.
3.) Realized after analyzing I am running almost 100 under EV from the last 20k hands.
4.) Color coordinated my HUD with percentages so I can actually just look at colors now and know the type of player that they are.  (This is amazing and I recommend you do it)


I am actually excited now because of the extra knowledge that I have gained and the ability now to close the leak and realize that a majority of what has been going on lately is rotten luck along with improper opponent sizing.

The Downswing.........

I guess it was bound to happen, but I am currently down around $60 for the weekend and I played almost 15k hands.  NL10 is a much more interesting game than I expected and I am not use to the swings that happen in the bankroll.  I have a bunch of learning to do about the new game and regulars, but it sure would have been nice to run a little bit better.

So, I lost around $40 at NL10, so I moved back down to build up confidence and made $20 of it back, but then hit another down swing and I am currently sitting around $450 in the bankroll with two NL5 Rush losing sessions of $15 dollars each.  I got it in good, they just didn't hold.  Such is the game of poker though.

There is a spot that I need to look into that I do not entirely understand about the game and that is simply C-betting.  I think I have a decent three bet game, but C-betting I noticed I may be doing a bit to much.  I have a feeling that I C-bet almost 90% of the time and that is entirely way to much, but in Rush you almost have to because most of the players do not have a read on you at all.  However, when I am playing four tables of Rush you really do start to just play and go through th motions and stop putting people on ranges until the C-bet is called and I think that this is a HUGE problem in my game.  I need to either curve back the tables, and play two tables of Rush for a while and really work on Hand Ranges and take my time with hands, or move back to just regular old Full Ring.  I really think that I am just in the middle of a Down Swing and when this happens we tend to think that we are a problem, but considering these are the first two losing sessions I have had in a row for quite sometime I tend to think that I am doing  just fine.

Anyway, I am going to build the bankroll up again and take another stab at NL10 this weekend if I am at $500.  I should be getting almost $30 back in rake back so I just need to win about 4 buyins by Friday.

Good Luck at the Tables,

Traggy

First night of .05 .10 Rush

Made a bunch of mistakes that I have corrected.  Need to curve back the C-bets, because people will call you down with air in position to steal more was the first thing that I noticed and the other thing I have noticed is there are some solid bluffs that really make you think, but people tend to make plays ignoring their preflop actions.  I made $20 and with all of the mistakes I made I am very happy with the results.  The money I lost making stupid plays on wet boards cost me easily 40, and the KK < AA times 2 that I ran into as well.  I do not feel great about the session, but this is very doable.

 Oh, hit a Royal! 


Full Tilt Poker $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - View hand 1173133
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $6.08
SB: $12.39
Hero (BB): $19.23
UTG: $9.46
UTG+1: $12.08
UTG+2: $17.09
MP1: $5.77
MP2: $22.20
CO: $10.41

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is BB with Q J
4 folds, MP2 raises to $0.70, CO calls $0.70, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.60

Flop: ($2.15) T 6 A (3 players)
Hero checks, MP2 checks, CO bets $1.50, Hero calls $1.50, MP2 calls $1.50

Turn: ($6.65) K (3 players)
Hero bets $1, MP2 folds, CO calls $1

River: ($8.65) 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $6.80, CO calls $6.80


Yeah the dollar bet was dumb, but I really wanted to show lol

Bankroll hit $500 last night.

Just a quick post, made about $25 last night and that my friends means I am officially at $500 and this weekend is going to be the time I move up. 

Tips for myself:

Don't overplay big pocket pairs
Watch for set miners, which I have a feeling is going to be a ton more of, especially the 3 bet callers.
Make the big lay down.
Make the big lay down.
Make the big lay down.
Make the big lay down.
Fold when you are beat.
Make the big lay down.
Fold
Fold

Wish me luck!

Feb. So far

Only been able to play around 20k hands this month, but I am doing pretty well.  I am approaching $500, which I will most likely hit in the next week and I think I will be moving up and try .5 .10 Rush.  I am going to allow myself 8 buy ins of lose before I move back down and hopefully I can play break even until I get my feet wet and know the new players.  Notice the dips, those hands were for huge pots.  Lost KK < AK for a 40 dollar pot and another was a flush over set with the board pairing on the river.

3k hands 6 Bucks later..........

I know people do not care about hearing about every session, but I am writing these to remind myself that I have seen these things before and to shake em off when they pop their ugly heads up. 

I lost with KK for stacks 4 times last night and AA three times.  For a total of over 50 dollars in potential winnings.  I could throw QQ in there too, but I only ran them into AA, who limped once. 

I have never had so many big paired sets hit for my opponents in my life.  JJ > AA; J on flop,  KK > AA; K on flop; QQ > AA; Q on flop, etc.  Statistics went out the damn window last night lol. 

Lessons to be learned;

I can calls these hands before I push, but I still push anyway.  Especially the KK > AA; K on flop.  I decided to see a flop to show that I had maybe AK instead of aces so I smoothed called his 4 bet.  I figured him for QQ, KK, and AK.  Most likely KK since he reraised my three bet from UTG and was a pretty tight player.  I am going to stop doing this smooth call shit, because I overplayed the damn hand because of it. The stacks would have gotten in and I would have lost, but I would have gotten it in good instead of knowing they had a set and getting it in bad.  It just blows your ming though when that miracle card hits and you can not bring yourself to believe it.  The JJ hand was the exact same thing.  Twice in one night I tried to get cute, and instead I cost myself money, and I bet the JJ would of folded if I shoved preflop...  Oh well.  Least I made money.... 

Well, sometimes playing wrong is right???!?!?!

I ran almost 6 buy ins above EV yesterday.  I don't even want to post a graph, but I made terrible decisions and got paid, three of which was runner runner....  for juicy pots too...  See, I feel a bit bad even, but it is definitely nice to be on the other side of the sphere from time to time because it generally puts things in perspective about the game in its entirety.  

HOWEVER,

I am not sorry for people calling my three bets light and flopping unreadable hands.  Those of you that I re-sucked out on can definitely kiss my ass.  Especially, Mr. 44 set miner with an almost 5 times the big blind three bet smooth call from UTG+1.  I am very glad I hit the runner runner straight with the TP TK board, with your pretty little 4 hitting the flop to boot.


Hope it was your entire roll.. ;)

Anyway, played around 3k hands and made about $25.  The only good thing that I can take away from that session in the fact that the times I got it in bad, besides once, I generally could not find away to lay the hand down, but in turn resucked and won it anyway!

Staircase! 400 club!

Yay!  Did a quick 1k hands tonight!  This is why I love rush! 

Made about 15 last night.

Played about 2000 hands last night and made three buy ins.  I keep having these monster pot suck out hands that keep nailing me and it is always that damn 35% flush draw idiot.  Good news however, I have not been running into sets quite as much and have really began learning some upper level ideas for the game. 

I am 5 dollars away from breaking into $400, which is great because I had my highest winning month last month and it was $200 dollars.  $300-$400 went very fast for me and I can tell I needed to move up in stakes a long time ago.  However, I will be moving up again in about another $100 and see how I fair at the .05 .10. Stakes and I have a feeling I am going to have to be a bit more tight in order to make money in rush, but we shall see.  I will let the cards do the talking for me.

Running below EV lol

Interesting night!

I had a decent night, but I ran about 5 buyins below EV, which is an odd feeling at the tables.  I made around $30, but I could of made around $60-$70.  My table reads are beginning to get better and I have really started to force myself to analyze hands when I have a monster and to take that extra second to put them on a hand before I push the money in.  Everyone needs to do this when playing and when you can start guessing ranges, I found two time last night that a huge over shove on 4th got paid twice because I figured the hands out and knew that my opponents could not fold their holdings. 

I also really started hammering people with extremely low showdown frequency and c betting the absolute shit out of them, and in turn people with High showdown frequency I have been value betting the shit out of and getting paid more and more from these fools calling down second pair.  These two stats in a HUD during Rush is sickening.  I am about to add a 4th table to Rush, I think I have a great grasp on three and the extra rack will be great to receive.  I had my first $20 rake week and I had the highest month of  winnings at micro poker in my career, making almost $200 at .02 .05.  Not even three months ago, the understanding of the game that I now have has greatly increased, and I am generally staying out of trouble at the tables, ensuring that I do not make those ill timed bluffs.  I am greatly enjoying the game more and more everyday and really do hope that one day I can do this for a living, but I have a very long way to go.  A side supplemental income on the side of around a grand or two a month would also be great and I do believe that I can get there very easily from the .25 .50 levels.  The goal though is $1000 online from nothing and I am almost half way there. 

Broke even last night.

Laying down the big hands.  I have been calling out the hands that beat me and calling anyway a ton and it cost me a $20 dollar profit las night from these ridiculous calls.  I have to start laying down to those big river bets, where they made there impossible card, or the guy that calls my re-raise with pocket twos when I have aces and stacks me on the flop of K J 2.  Set miners are a mother fucker, but it is a great way to make money in rush. However, I have got to sniff this shit out a lot faster than I have been. 

Anyway, I need to fold more and I will.  Tonight, I am going to make the effort of laying down the big hands that are beat and start plugging this leak I have acquired.  I will stop overplaying KK and AA postflop and I will have my 99 hold up against a uber aggressive China man for a 15 dollar pot when he calls my all in preflop with KQ offsuit from the small blind.  Damn luckbox...

Still a Rushin!

Played around 4000 hands last night, hit a bit of a down stretch, but in the long run I made another $50.  I am currently sitting at $340 and should get almost another $20 in rakeback.  When I hit $500 I am going to be moving up to .05 .10 rush and see if it is just as juicy. 

Have not ran this well in a long time, but I wonder if it is that or the reads that I have been getting on certain players in Rush Poker.  I have really been able to make a ton of money off of resteals, because there are so many three bet fishes in Rush Poker that it is unreal.  I have never had so much success 4 betting with shit in my life.  I have also noticed that the position players have huge ranges, which allows an exploitable check raise steal with an unconnected board by bluffing the set mine.  It is really a funny scenario and very profitable.


Anyway, good luck and if I am at your table say hello! I love to chat!

Rush and hit $300

I three tabled Rush today for 5000 hands.  I made almost $60 today.

Just wanted to post some pretty pictures.

 

Day two!

Well, I played another 3k hands at .02 .05 last night and made about 12 dollars.  Shrug.  I am running at around 4bb/100  at this level and definitely have a few leaks that need plugged and that mostly revolves around folding to resistance with Top Pair and value betting better.  AKos is still raping me, but I did a bunch of reading to review some fresh ideas about it and low and behold everyone has the same problems with it that I have.  I am about to start mixing the play up at this level since I have my feet wet now and start making plays that I normally would not make.  The HUD got me a huge pot and lost me one as well, because I made a few plays completely based off of it. 

Hand one I was dealt 99, guy to my left was an uber aggressive donk with a high VP so I raise a bunch full knowing that he was going to call with his sb because he defended everytime.  Flop came 345.  I bet, he pushes, I insta call.  He turned over A 6 and I scoop. 

Delt KK, UTG +1, I raise, guy to my left reraises me, and he was a bit nitty.  I think to myself I am most likely in the lead so I just smooth call, but just in case he has AA I Will get a feel on the flop.  (Big Mistake)

Flop came all low, and I pet 3/4 the pot and he calls.  I instantly start thinking JJ or QQ or AA.  J comes out, so I check to see what he does and appear like I gave up on the hand and he bets a 3/4 pot on me and I smooth call.  Junk comes on 5th, and I check because the only hand I beat here is QQ and I know that with his range here I have a 33% chance of winning and he bets a small value bet on the river.  I instantly think QQ and re raise him all in and he calls.  Flips over JJ.  I knew it when it hit and ignored the sirens in my head because you can never believe when that miracle two outer comes for your opponent when you are slow playing.  I made up every excuse in order to re raise and push in for myself and all I did was stack myself.

Moved Up Last Night!

Moved up last night and by the end of the night I was up a freaking buy in after 2000 hands.  It was very Nitty last night and I made about 20 dollars worth of bad calls.  KK ran into a KQ flush, got confused from the reraise on the flop.  He really hid the draw with the reraise, but I sniffed it out only only dropped 3 bucks on the hand.  I felt like there are definitely more steal attempts at the level and the three betting was top notch for the most part.  My bet sizing is a bit off, I need to fix that.  I think I am going to stick with the 3/4 pot flop and 4th bets, and the normal sized 5th bet depending on board texture.  I actually need to tighten up I guess at this level because jesus christ was everyone nitty.  I hardly saw anyone with a 20% or above VP and the PFR was at the 3-4 % level on a bunch of people, so I obliged and stole the blinds all night.

It is definitely a different game at this level, but I can beat it.  I think I am going to stay were I am for now and see what the ride will be like.  I am going to head home tonight and analyze the hands from last night and see exactly how much I leaked, especially overplaying top pair, and how many times I lose with AK three betting, because again I noticed that everyone calls the three bets down now.

Moving up

I have really gathered a great feel for the HUD and have really turned up the winrate.  I have been running at around 10bb/100 at .01.02, and have around $240.00 currently.  Once I hit $250 it is time to head on up to .02.05 and see how well I can do there.  I have had success there in the past, but like I said the run bad will hit the bankroll much harder than down below.  Those all in +EV that do not hit will take a toll if there are to many of them.  I am probably going to start out at 6 tables and work my way up to 8 or so and most likely will be a bit TAG with three bets in key spots, but I have a feeling I am going to be a bit nitty at first until I get a feel for the game.   The players, even at this level, are drastically different than at .01.02.  The way to make money at this level is stealing blinds and pots early and attempting to stay out of showdown unless you float a monster. 

Anyway wish me luck!