BR: 4622
First let me apologize for not posting for the last few days. OK to conform to the experiment's boundaries, I have now dropped down levels. I am playing 1-2 and 2-4 NL to recoup some losses. Had I followed proper BR management, I should have dropped to 5-10 at the $20,000 mark. I decided to gamble, and luck wasn't having it. Now I find myself even lower, and the recoup time will now be that much longer.
One good thing that comes from this is that I utterly destroy 1-2 and 2-4 NL games. The feeling and confidence winning gives a player can't be underestimated. I think a few weeks at these levels will once again strike home the fact that no matter how good a player is variance will always destroy his bankroll if he doesn't play within its means.
If I can, without "crying", let me summarize my last 3 weeks of HORRIBLE variance at the 10-20 NL level.
12 set over set situations.
Basically I either flopped an under set to a higher set or I flopped a set vs a higher pocket pair and that pocket pair hit a set on the turn or river.
5 flopped nut str8's.
I flopped the nut end str8 each time either vs a set or 2 pair situation, and each time I got burned by the river.
9 big pocket pairs got setted on.
Each time I held AA, KK, or QQ an opponent flopped a set on me.
4 flop top 2 pair vs a set.
Here I flopped top 2 pair, and the opponent flopped a set. For example, I hold AK and the flop comes A-K-4. The opponent has 4-4.
Now that's off my chest, I can focus on rebuilding my starting BR back up. It's not fun. Especially when I can just say fuck it, and just play higher because my total bankroll is much higher than what I started this experiment off at. The reason why I don't is I want to complete my goal within the boundaries I stated in my original post on P5's. Also if/when I do decide to only play cards, I CANNOT let what happened to me ever happen again. I can't let pride stand in the way of mathematics. If I don't have the correct BR, I can't play the level.
I will post daily on my happenings at the new levels.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Saturday, October 20, 2007
$2000 NL Poker Tracker Stats
also click here
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc160/War_Crimes/10-20PT.jpg
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
TBA
Sorry I have work I'm bringing home tonight with me. I will be posting thursday night. I will include the disc that happened last night. And some hh from PT now that I know how to post them here. Should be an interesting post.
I won last night btw~ $4000...and I ll have the new exact BR up tomorrow. Might play some tonight not sure.
Big account meeting with General Mills on Thursday morning.
I won last night btw~ $4000...and I ll have the new exact BR up tomorrow. Might play some tonight not sure.
Big account meeting with General Mills on Thursday morning.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Art That Transcends Time
The following is a piece of literature that I always find serenity in when I am running bad. I read this poem when I was in college, and it always seemed to closely apply to poker for me. Obviously it's not about poker, but any poker player can find great meaning in between it's lines. Enjoy....
[IF]
If you can keep your head when all about you
[IF]
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
--Rudyard Kipling
Need a Break
BR: 19,739
Another session from hell. I'm taking a week off to get my head straight or just going to play shorter sessions for a while. Can't take this at moment. Beat after beat after beat. I ll post some hand histories tomorrow at some point. I need the bs to pass and only time will let that happen. The worst thing is having your ATM's insult you when your running bad.
Another session from hell. I'm taking a week off to get my head straight or just going to play shorter sessions for a while. Can't take this at moment. Beat after beat after beat. I ll post some hand histories tomorrow at some point. I need the bs to pass and only time will let that happen. The worst thing is having your ATM's insult you when your running bad.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Weekend in Review 10/12/2007 - 10/14/2007
BR: $29,076
I'd like to start this post with addressing the comment I received on my last post. The question was "Do I take notes on the regular players in my game?" The short answer here is "Yes, I do." Let me explain what kind of notes I take on players, regulars and passer-byes alike.
The notes I like to take are specific notes that classify a player's "class" or level of thinking. The following are listed in no particular order of importance.
I have an abbreviation for each note. I increase the number next to each point every time I see the player make the same play. For example, If Player A lead out into the preflop raiser with a set "x" times that is recorded vs how many times he has checked his set "x" times; for in position and out of position circumstances.
1) How does the player play his sets?
This is an important note to have on player ASAP. What I look for is, does he lead out on a flop when he hits a set? Was it HU or FR? OR does he check it to the preflop raiser? HU or FR? Does he wait for a CR on the turn , ect.
2) What does the player do with his draws ( flush & str8 draws)? In position, does he lead out,bet, semi-bluff them? The same now for out of position?
3) What draws have I seen this player call or go allin with in the past?
4) What type of hand will the player call or go allin preflop with (noting stack size in # of bb's)?
5) How does the player play his BIG POCKET pairs? Will he drop a buyin on them to a low flop when someone has out flopped him?
These are my top 5 notes I take on players. Please note that just because a player did X in the past doesn't mean that same player will do X at this moment. But the notes will provide a quick flash of possible lines a player is taking against you.
I am going to treat weekends, namely FRI-SAT-SUN, as 1 session and devote 1 post to the entire weekend. If you think this isn't a good idea please leave a comment. In the future these week-ending posts will probably be longer than this one, once I get my hand histories up for discussion.
Friday night I went out to eat and didn't return home until roughly 2:30 am. I logged on shortly afterwards and picked up ~+$1500 ( sorry I cant remember the exact amount, but this is a very close estimate). Nothing special, got JJ vs 10-10 on a low flop. The rest is history.
Saturday night was a nice long session that started off bad when I lost a middle set of 777 to a set of AAA that someone slow played preflop in a 4 way pot. Go figure huh? Dumb bastard, but hey it worked out for him because I in no way am folding middle set on a A-7-x flop 4 way with no preflop raise( -$2200). About 3 hours in, I caught a few great hands ( sorry I cant remember them all. That's what the hand histories will help me do shortly. I apologize.), and was ~+$6800 for the night!
With such a nice session on Saturday, I was ready to tear up Sunday. I started early, and was playing short-handed for about 1 hour or so. I was playing vs two really loose-aggro players 3 way. Namely Tuftsballer (fckn donk) and SheehanMatt. Tufts woke up with 10-10 vs My AQs that I 3 bet him preflop with. Flop came J hi, I C-bet a potbet. He called. I checked -checked the turn ( my mistake ). When a another J rivered I went allin and he called. 1 buyin gone. Then soon after I lost a buyin to SheehanMatt with 10-10 vs his 77 when he flopped a set on a low flop. I over played my 10-10, but vs a loose nut like him it was very likely I had the best hand when the $$$ went into the center. So I was 2 buyins in the hole about 2 hrs into my session when the tables began to fill up with players.
It just wasn't a good night for at all. I ended up losing 2 1/2 more buyins by the night's end. I wasn't happy to say the least. In a few days I will have some hand histories up for each session. Sorry about the short summaries thus far.
What I learned from this weekend, and probably have known for some time, is that I'm not a great short handed player ( less than 4 players ). At 4 players and 5 players I am good. Beyond 5 players is my best game by far. The problem with 10-20 NL is that so very often games break or shrink and then fill again 1-2-3-4x a session. So it's a constant full - short game which means the dynamics of the game change constantly over a given session. My thinking is probably going to be play out my free hands and sit out till it fills again and/or play a full 5-10 NL game in the meantime. It's hurting my bottom line, and that's unacceptable.
I'd like to start this post with addressing the comment I received on my last post. The question was "Do I take notes on the regular players in my game?" The short answer here is "Yes, I do." Let me explain what kind of notes I take on players, regulars and passer-byes alike.
The notes I like to take are specific notes that classify a player's "class" or level of thinking. The following are listed in no particular order of importance.
I have an abbreviation for each note. I increase the number next to each point every time I see the player make the same play. For example, If Player A lead out into the preflop raiser with a set "x" times that is recorded vs how many times he has checked his set "x" times; for in position and out of position circumstances.
1) How does the player play his sets?
This is an important note to have on player ASAP. What I look for is, does he lead out on a flop when he hits a set? Was it HU or FR? OR does he check it to the preflop raiser? HU or FR? Does he wait for a CR on the turn , ect.
2) What does the player do with his draws ( flush & str8 draws)? In position, does he lead out,bet, semi-bluff them? The same now for out of position?
3) What draws have I seen this player call or go allin with in the past?
4) What type of hand will the player call or go allin preflop with (noting stack size in # of bb's)?
5) How does the player play his BIG POCKET pairs? Will he drop a buyin on them to a low flop when someone has out flopped him?
These are my top 5 notes I take on players. Please note that just because a player did X in the past doesn't mean that same player will do X at this moment. But the notes will provide a quick flash of possible lines a player is taking against you.
I am going to treat weekends, namely FRI-SAT-SUN, as 1 session and devote 1 post to the entire weekend. If you think this isn't a good idea please leave a comment. In the future these week-ending posts will probably be longer than this one, once I get my hand histories up for discussion.
Friday night I went out to eat and didn't return home until roughly 2:30 am. I logged on shortly afterwards and picked up ~+$1500 ( sorry I cant remember the exact amount, but this is a very close estimate). Nothing special, got JJ vs 10-10 on a low flop. The rest is history.
Saturday night was a nice long session that started off bad when I lost a middle set of 777 to a set of AAA that someone slow played preflop in a 4 way pot. Go figure huh? Dumb bastard, but hey it worked out for him because I in no way am folding middle set on a A-7-x flop 4 way with no preflop raise( -$2200). About 3 hours in, I caught a few great hands ( sorry I cant remember them all. That's what the hand histories will help me do shortly. I apologize.), and was ~+$6800 for the night!
With such a nice session on Saturday, I was ready to tear up Sunday. I started early, and was playing short-handed for about 1 hour or so. I was playing vs two really loose-aggro players 3 way. Namely Tuftsballer (fckn donk) and SheehanMatt. Tufts woke up with 10-10 vs My AQs that I 3 bet him preflop with. Flop came J hi, I C-bet a potbet. He called. I checked -checked the turn ( my mistake ). When a another J rivered I went allin and he called. 1 buyin gone. Then soon after I lost a buyin to SheehanMatt with 10-10 vs his 77 when he flopped a set on a low flop. I over played my 10-10, but vs a loose nut like him it was very likely I had the best hand when the $$$ went into the center. So I was 2 buyins in the hole about 2 hrs into my session when the tables began to fill up with players.
It just wasn't a good night for at all. I ended up losing 2 1/2 more buyins by the night's end. I wasn't happy to say the least. In a few days I will have some hand histories up for each session. Sorry about the short summaries thus far.
What I learned from this weekend, and probably have known for some time, is that I'm not a great short handed player ( less than 4 players ). At 4 players and 5 players I am good. Beyond 5 players is my best game by far. The problem with 10-20 NL is that so very often games break or shrink and then fill again 1-2-3-4x a session. So it's a constant full - short game which means the dynamics of the game change constantly over a given session. My thinking is probably going to be play out my free hands and sit out till it fills again and/or play a full 5-10 NL game in the meantime. It's hurting my bottom line, and that's unacceptable.
Friday, October 12, 2007
My Conscious On the Rail
BR: $30,539
Last night's session was fairly short (12am - 3am). This wasn't my choice though. The 10-20 NL games on Bodog.com just seemed to disappear 2 hrs after I started. All three full ring games were 4 man or less within a hour basically.
I was profiting $6000 roughly before the tables went short handed. I favor a full ring over a short one any day, but on each table there was a player worth staying around for. I eventually closed out each table as the player I was playing for left. Until I was only playing 1 table for the last 35 min of the session.
The first bad beat I took was flopping a set of 888 3 handed vs a pr of AA, and the other player gets runner runner FH to serve me my first bad beat of the night. The hand cost me $1700. It was at this point an onlooker from the rail suggested I call it quits for the night. I appreciated his comment because it brought to mind my first post, namely GREED.
As I began to think about GREED and what the onlooker said, I re-evaluated my situation. I was up roughly $6000 again and the tables were 4 handed or less. Why not call it a night? It's not like I don't need to log a win, right? So I played for about a hour longer. Of course I dropped a buyin over that time period. I got it AI on the flop with and opened str8 draw and Nut flush draw vs the player's set of 444. I turned the nut flush and picked up a str8 flush draw as well. Only to see the river pair and give my opponent a boat(-$1300). So once again GREED was a factor in lower profit. I turned out being ahead $4631, when my wife blew a fuse doing laundry, ending my session.
I would like to say thank you to my onlooker from the rail. Thank you for being my conscious.
Last night's session was fairly short (12am - 3am). This wasn't my choice though. The 10-20 NL games on Bodog.com just seemed to disappear 2 hrs after I started. All three full ring games were 4 man or less within a hour basically.
I was profiting $6000 roughly before the tables went short handed. I favor a full ring over a short one any day, but on each table there was a player worth staying around for. I eventually closed out each table as the player I was playing for left. Until I was only playing 1 table for the last 35 min of the session.
The first bad beat I took was flopping a set of 888 3 handed vs a pr of AA, and the other player gets runner runner FH to serve me my first bad beat of the night. The hand cost me $1700. It was at this point an onlooker from the rail suggested I call it quits for the night. I appreciated his comment because it brought to mind my first post, namely GREED.
As I began to think about GREED and what the onlooker said, I re-evaluated my situation. I was up roughly $6000 again and the tables were 4 handed or less. Why not call it a night? It's not like I don't need to log a win, right? So I played for about a hour longer. Of course I dropped a buyin over that time period. I got it AI on the flop with and opened str8 draw and Nut flush draw vs the player's set of 444. I turned the nut flush and picked up a str8 flush draw as well. Only to see the river pair and give my opponent a boat(-$1300). So once again GREED was a factor in lower profit. I turned out being ahead $4631, when my wife blew a fuse doing laundry, ending my session.
I would like to say thank you to my onlooker from the rail. Thank you for being my conscious.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
The Comeback Kid
BR: $25,908
Last night started (7:30pm) off well enough. I was up a full buyin within a hour. Then the recurring nightmare began with this hand.
I was playing a short handed 10-20 NL table. A very loose player was in the game, and I figured to let him take the lead in every hand against me. When I woke up with a hand I let him hang himself. Top pair is a AI situation for this player shorthanded. This hand came up....
WarCrimes: AKs
LooseCannon: A10
He opened the pot from the button for the normal $70 preflop bet. I called in the SB with my hand. We took the flop HU.
Flop: 10-A-2 There was a 4 fl out....not my suit.....=(
Anyhow I check that flop. He bets out $120, and I CR 3x his bet to $350 to go. He goes AI on top....to which I insta call....find myself dead to 3 outs or a running miracle broadway.
The reason I call the AI is because it's a short handed game. TPTK is a great hand. Besides that I was playing vs a really loose player that values TP and decent kicker in high regards. If he had AJ , AQ , A8, A9 ect there he makes the same play. Plus if he had something like Q-Js or K-Js ect, he pushes that draw on me. It boils down to a bad beat, but I was satisfied with my play there.
Anyhow that hand started the nightmare all over again. As it turned out, over the next 3 hours I lose 4 more buyins! Cards are just against me, STILL! At this point I am really starting to question my play. Do these guys have a line on me? I mean every semi-bluff or play was getting picked off or contested with a re-raise. JEEBUS! The majority of my losses was do to plain 2nd best showdowns.
Around 12:00am the poker gods provide me with sweet glorious redemption. Is it not well deserved after the nights I 've been getting?
SET!= buyin vs QQ
SET!= buyin vs tptk
These two hands happened on 2 different tables within 10 minutes of each other. This boost was all I needed to come back for the night ahead $300. That isn't much for this level by but it felt like I won $30,000. Finally a win! I promptly saw my last hands before the blinds, and shut down for the night.
*Also if anyone knows how I can convert or make BODOG hand histories able to be posted reader friendly please leave me a comment. I would really like to get the HH's up to discuss ect. I just haven't as of yet been able to find a decent way to post them where someone can make sense out of them.
Last night started (7:30pm) off well enough. I was up a full buyin within a hour. Then the recurring nightmare began with this hand.
I was playing a short handed 10-20 NL table. A very loose player was in the game, and I figured to let him take the lead in every hand against me. When I woke up with a hand I let him hang himself. Top pair is a AI situation for this player shorthanded. This hand came up....
WarCrimes: AKs
LooseCannon: A10
He opened the pot from the button for the normal $70 preflop bet. I called in the SB with my hand. We took the flop HU.
Flop: 10-A-2 There was a 4 fl out....not my suit.....=(
Anyhow I check that flop. He bets out $120, and I CR 3x his bet to $350 to go. He goes AI on top....to which I insta call....find myself dead to 3 outs or a running miracle broadway.
The reason I call the AI is because it's a short handed game. TPTK is a great hand. Besides that I was playing vs a really loose player that values TP and decent kicker in high regards. If he had AJ , AQ , A8, A9 ect there he makes the same play. Plus if he had something like Q-Js or K-Js ect, he pushes that draw on me. It boils down to a bad beat, but I was satisfied with my play there.
Anyhow that hand started the nightmare all over again. As it turned out, over the next 3 hours I lose 4 more buyins! Cards are just against me, STILL! At this point I am really starting to question my play. Do these guys have a line on me? I mean every semi-bluff or play was getting picked off or contested with a re-raise. JEEBUS! The majority of my losses was do to plain 2nd best showdowns.
Around 12:00am the poker gods provide me with sweet glorious redemption. Is it not well deserved after the nights I 've been getting?
SET!= buyin vs QQ
SET!= buyin vs tptk
These two hands happened on 2 different tables within 10 minutes of each other. This boost was all I needed to come back for the night ahead $300. That isn't much for this level by but it felt like I won $30,000. Finally a win! I promptly saw my last hands before the blinds, and shut down for the night.
*Also if anyone knows how I can convert or make BODOG hand histories able to be posted reader friendly please leave me a comment. I would really like to get the HH's up to discuss ect. I just haven't as of yet been able to find a decent way to post them where someone can make sense out of them.
When It Rains It Pours
BR: $25,608
Sorry I missed a post, but I was on cooler from hell. Tuesday night was a terrible night of cards for me. Nothing I could do was right. Every move got picked off, and the monsters I made were coming in at 2nd best all night. I ended up losing 5 1/2 buyins that night. This constitutes the worse night of cards I experienced at the 10-20 level.
Was it only the cards?? I would like to say "YES, THOSE FUCKERS WERE RIGGED!", but we all know that's not the case. Reflecting on that night, 48 hrs later, I have to confess that after the 3rd buyin was lost so was my A game. Were the cards terrible? You bet, but part of playing your A game is knowing when the night is done for you.
It's sort of ironic that I go on a downswing soon as I decide to start my blog. I am confident that this will pass, and the winning will start.
note: The BR listed is the BR i ended that night with.
Sorry I missed a post, but I was on cooler from hell. Tuesday night was a terrible night of cards for me. Nothing I could do was right. Every move got picked off, and the monsters I made were coming in at 2nd best all night. I ended up losing 5 1/2 buyins that night. This constitutes the worse night of cards I experienced at the 10-20 level.
Was it only the cards?? I would like to say "YES, THOSE FUCKERS WERE RIGGED!", but we all know that's not the case. Reflecting on that night, 48 hrs later, I have to confess that after the 3rd buyin was lost so was my A game. Were the cards terrible? You bet, but part of playing your A game is knowing when the night is done for you.
It's sort of ironic that I go on a downswing soon as I decide to start my blog. I am confident that this will pass, and the winning will start.
note: The BR listed is the BR i ended that night with.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
40 min Lunch Break
BR: $36,728
Well after last night's failure, I decide to play some 5-10 NL 6 max during my lunch hour. I'm glad to say I picked up $1882 playing my LAG.
Well after last night's failure, I decide to play some 5-10 NL 6 max during my lunch hour. I'm glad to say I picked up $1882 playing my LAG.
Out of the Starting Gate!
BR: $34,846
Well I wish this could be a happy 1st post, but it's not. Where to start....
Before I post any hands from my session, let me start with saying GREED is probably my worst flaw as a player. 20 minutes into my session I was + $5800.
Not a bad start right? I think the point is that it was 20 minutes into my session, and I wasn't ready to stop playing. I had the table in control and I was playing very well.
2 hrs later I am + $2300. At this point I should have called it quits. I got 1 suckout, and I made a play that didn't work. I stayed for another 2 hrs roughly and not only lost that profit, but then lost ~$5000 from my starting bankroll!
So in 5 hrs I go through a 5 buy-in swing, that was totally avoidable, had I not let GREED have it's way with me.
On the topic of GREED, in retrospect I would like to say that 2 1/2 buy-ins 20 min into a session is a blessing. It may be the tip of the iceberg on a stellar night, but more times than not it may be your peak. You may run colder after such a short hot run. In the future, I will treat such things as a personal holiday. "Hey, I won 2 1/2 buy-ins, I am taking the night off..." is the mind set I will from now on practice.
On to the HH's....
Well I wish this could be a happy 1st post, but it's not. Where to start....
Before I post any hands from my session, let me start with saying GREED is probably my worst flaw as a player. 20 minutes into my session I was + $5800.
Not a bad start right? I think the point is that it was 20 minutes into my session, and I wasn't ready to stop playing. I had the table in control and I was playing very well.
2 hrs later I am + $2300. At this point I should have called it quits. I got 1 suckout, and I made a play that didn't work. I stayed for another 2 hrs roughly and not only lost that profit, but then lost ~$5000 from my starting bankroll!
So in 5 hrs I go through a 5 buy-in swing, that was totally avoidable, had I not let GREED have it's way with me.
On the topic of GREED, in retrospect I would like to say that 2 1/2 buy-ins 20 min into a session is a blessing. It may be the tip of the iceberg on a stellar night, but more times than not it may be your peak. You may run colder after such a short hot run. In the future, I will treat such things as a personal holiday. "Hey, I won 2 1/2 buy-ins, I am taking the night off..." is the mind set I will from now on practice.
On to the HH's....
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