So lazy..

I'm so lazy, I don't update this enough. So I'll start with a round up of November and December.

November was a grrrreat month. I went on one massive heater after scoring my first tourney win played 25nl until I hit 1k and then played 50nl for the rest of the month. I was beating 50nl at 5-6ptbb and grabbed 1.1k profit. So really good month, especially since my last month had been so poor.

December started badly, hit a 10bi downswing right off the bat, then recovered from that. I took some shots at 100nl, played really well but got eaten alive by some internet pros who cold called 3bets with J7o and turned two pair. That started a huge downswing, every time I sat down to play it would just be BAM cooler or BAM spew(they are the same right?????). In the end it cut my br from $2.1k to $900 in about a week. I moved back down to 25nl to rebuild and I eventually did, and now I am back at 50nl being a bit break even but that's better than losing.

I also hit Platinum VIP status which is great.

Now 2009 was a year that I went from 2nl to playing 50nl, logically then I will end 2010 at 1knl. But I realize that higher limits are harder yadda yadda yadda. I will try and be realistic with my 2010 goals.

2010 poker goals
[] Supernova VIP status
[] Move up to playing 400nl by the end of the year.
[] learn 6max/HU/PLO
[] $20k profits
[] Win a NLHE donkament
[] Really work on my game and preventing spew

January poker goals
[] Keep my Platinum status
[] $1k profit
[] Stop the spew
[] 40k hands

Cheers! GL at the tables! Wish you a lot of run good for 2010!

$1k balla, shot caller!

Hit the first big milestone:

















Sicktings. Feels so good, I'm really happy with how this month is going, I'm playing well I think. Not so pleased with the volume, I wanted to reach goldstar, but that seems a little out of reach unless I buckle down or move up.

I'm taking shots at 50nl, I figure I've got 20BIs so I'll move up. first session was ok, spewed a little, but I think I played ok. Was marginally up after 500 hands so can't complain.

Someone told me that the first $1k is the hardest, and I hope that's true!

End of month progress report and target setting.

I'll be making better use of my goals from now on, I feel if I don't just write crap like 're-learn how to beat 10nl'. As if I could ever gain any significant progress from that. I think it is better to aim to plug some leaks in my game, or play x amount of hands or such like.

Just a few news items. I won a PLO donkament for $344 which is sick because I haven't ever had such a big score. And it means that I am no longer just on the edge of 25nl/10nl I can play 25nl without having to move down after a bad session.

I don't consider myself great at PLO, but it's fun as hell and I have a decent idea of what starting hands are good and bad, realizing that it is not as simple as hold em. Some players don't get that 7789 is a more valuable hand than 7899. Why? because if you hit your set your more likely to be re-drawing to the nuts.

It's not about showdown value in non-shortstack PLO it's about equity and its equity TO THE NUTS. And always remember redraws! Play hands with potential for all these things and you'll do better.

So now after that diversion from what I wanted to say in this post, I finally get around to my goals thing.

October goals:

Cash Games:
-Play without tilting
Good God it's a fail

-Play less tables
My table count varies from day to day

-Re-learn how to beat 10nl
What the hell does that mean?

-Be back at 25nl
Check, though more luck than skill

Tournaments
-Play them sparingly
And profitably :)

Life
-Go out find friends
-Get a job
My life's a fail.

Here is October's graph:


You can't help but notice whereabouts I was on tilt lol.

I played a bit of NL50 HU which was fun. I was crushing it, until I didn't and I think you can find my -$100 session there.

My non-showdown winnings are pathetic, I've been told that that is normal for a micro stakes TAG, but I hate looking at it.

All in all a ****ty month, which could have been a good month if I had avoided tilt. Though it is easy when you can win a donkament to make up for your tilt.

So November goals are simply:

1. Get in 35k hands

2. Play your A-game more often than your T game

3. Work on four spots that are costing you money:
I)finding the fold button when I know I'm beat
II)stupidly static 3bet range
III)identifying villians better and exploiting them
IV)run good.

4. Don't enter tourneys you can't start and finish.

catch you laters.

Observe the sons of Ulster marching towards the Somme...

Since I haven't written much recently I'll fill you in. I have been playing 9 tables of 10nl atm. I had a few tilt sessions at 25nl and decided to move down to 10nl and beat that for a good clip. I am a bit undecided atm, I want to beat 10nl over at least 20k hands, however I also want to be moving up again. I'm beating 10nl for 11bb/100 over 8k hands (small sample).

Anyway I got a HUD, Poker Co-Pilot 2 for mac. It's pretty good imo. It's not as in depth as HEM or PT would be and it's missing a couple of stats that would be useful like turn and river stats. But seeing people's VPIP, PFR, AF, 3b%, F3b, CBET, FCBET is a good start.

Post of the week:
I'd have to say CMAR's ownage of Trapz. A hilarous essay long disortation when all he had to say was 'lol Trapz is gay lol' I don't know Trapz, and have no opinion on him whatsoever, but the post was hilarious.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=13661246&postcount=587

Quote of the week:

'that was sick...' - random nobody after someone hits a 19 outer on the river. I can't imagine a worse beat than that.

Hand of the week:

I am normally going to save this part for my own hands, but this time I'm going to have to award it to Antonius' K high call, just proves the other level of sickness that these players are on to the rest of us.

Nothing ever gets done...

Well I've put off posting on this blog for so long I've now got too much content to write.

I'm back in the UK now. Got back on Monday after a 24 hour flight *snore*, pretty boring stuff. But now I'm in a pickle because all my friends have gone university and I have a gap year to spend doing....

Anyway, since it's coming to the end of September it would be good to see if I've made good on the goals I set myself in August

Cash Games:
- Break out of this short break even stretch I am on.

I did, both through winning and losing money

- DO NOT TILT

Sadly not achieved :(

- Achieve silverstar hopefully by the end of August. I need 467 VPP by the end of August and that will only be done with a lot of grinding.

Failed because of internet crash, failed to get it for September, but that was always going to be a push.

- Post hands and situations I struggle with on 2+2 and continue to post advice for other users.

I spend too much time on 2+2 so I can say I've achieved that

- Stack aggrodonks

Where did they all go?

- Make good purposeful notes

Making a few, admittedly less since I got a HUD

- Probably most importantly sort out the lack of a HUD that I am currently suffering from.

Got poker co-pilot 2 on a 30 day free trial. HORAY! WAHOO! <_<

Tourneys
-Don't play 'em.

Successful here, I suck horribly at tourneys.

Life
- Pass the ski instructor course I am on

DONE!

- GET LAID!!!

:(((((((

I'm not able to play any poker atm, my laptop broke and the main computer in the house doesn't want to open Pokerstars for some reason. My dad is trying to fix my laptop so hopefully I can be back on soon. Any goals I make are on the presumption that I can get on poker again.

October goals:

Cash Games:
-Play without tilting
-Play less tables
-Re-learn how to beat 10nl
-Be back at 25nl

Tournaments
-Play them sparingly

Life
-Go out find friends
-Get a job

I think that's it for this month

Kiwi internet = 72o in SB

I think that I have played like 50 hands so far this September. Not out of preference but because my internet has just been too ****. I've got a new internet cable and it seems to be working better, I managed to get a small session in last night, 3 tabling 10nl and 1 tabling 25nl, which was a weird hybrid. It really screwed up my bet-sizing, but it was interesting to compare the differences in the limits. There is less limping in 25nl than 10nl, and a lot less limp calling, I'm sick of ramping it up to like 7bb and getting called 4 ways with ATo OTB and then completely whiffing the flop. Post-flop play is still the same pretty much, obviously it gets somewhat better as you move up, but I wouldn't say that there is much difference between the limits overall. Everyone pretty much sucks ass and most that don't play like 24 tables, so it's nice to play 4-8 tables and have a good edge.

My internet breaking down is also annoying because I signed up to DC to take advantage of their free trial, downloaded a few series but wasn't able to make the most of it because of the internet crash. What I've got seems top class and will definately be extremely awesome, but not getting the volume that I expected, kinda sucks my big hairy ass.

I passed my ski instructor exam. It's awesome to be able to describe my self as a certified NZSIA ski instructor. I just scraped it, but as I didn't have the required experience, I think it is a good achievement. I also met a girl that I got on really well with, went out on a couple of nights out with her and her friends, but then found that I have no way of contacting any of them, so that is a bit rubbish.

Anyway, I've rambled on too long.

Peace out.

Low volume week

I have not been able to access the internet over the last few days. The internet in the apartment I am staying in just stopped working. This sucks for my push for silverstar which is kaput. I played a couple of sessions before the internet broke and did ok, pretty boring tbh.

Started playing today at 10nl but quickly grew tired, decided to take a 4 buy in shot at 25nl even though I am underrolled for the limit I thought it might be time. I did really well, obviously not enough hands to determine whether I am ready for it but play-wise I did pretty good. I made sure I took my 10nl game to 25nl, something I think is essential when moving up. I played pretty LAG, but only because I kept getting good cards.

Ran like God ldo, for example:

http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/786824

That was my first underset in like 3 months and I sucked out LOL!

and a few hands later

http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/786825

Does the fish want to limp call 72s and crack my TPGK? NO WAI!

Bankroll is at $508, it's nice to break the $500 dollar barrier for the first time in my poker 'career'. Not a BBV brag obviously, but it still feels good.

Peace.

Break through the $400 wall!

Finally have been able to break past $400 and stay there! I have recently been building up to around $405 and then losing a few buy ins to $375. This has been happening over and over. I played a longer session than usual but with less tables, I really tried to work hard on my game and improve in spots that was costing me money (i.e. when to c-bet, identifying villain's weakness, pot control etc.) and I think it helped. I made so many notes about randoms today, something that is ultra important since I am HUDless. I was donated a few buy ins by aggrodonks and ran pretty well, so that's all good.

I really feel like I could have just got this in on the flop against this uber-nit, because that was my plan at the start of the hand, to run like God and mine his ass. But I went for the slow-play, probably cost me $6.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed)

saw flop

UTG+1 ($12.65)
MP1 ($10.95)
MP2 ($11.25)
MP3 ($4.30)
Hero (CO) ($15.35)
Button ($11)
SB ($10.60)
BB ($9.90)
UTG ($5.70)

[b]Preflop[/b]: Hero is CO with 2 hearts, 2 spades
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.10, 1 fold, MP2 bets $0.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.50, 4 folds

Flop: ($1.25) 3 diamond, 2 diamond, 3 spade (2 players)
MP2 bets $0.90, Hero calls $0.90

Turn: ($3.05) 6 heart (two players
MP2 bets $1.60, Hero calls $1.60

River: ($6.25) 8 diamond (2 players)
MP2 bets $2.90, Hero raises to $12.35 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $12.05 | Rake: $0.55

Oh well.

I am way behind in my goal to get silverstar by the end of August, I need to seriously grind it out over the next few days to achieve it.

Another thing a player came to my table today, and I had a look at his notes and it read:

'****ing donk idiot fish
mother****er donk ass bitch'

I wondered what terrible thing he must have done to me. LOL.

In other matters, I need to sort out this socially awkward thing I've currently got going on. It's like my mind refuses to hold a long conversation with anyone. I seem to be better at talking to boys, but still have problems talking to girls. This is not good for my goal of getting laid. Egh.

Peace out guys!

Time to take things seriously... (tl:dr)

I started this blog thinking that I'd be updating it regularly, well it has not turned out that way. But guess what I've got the same thoughts now. I think that if I add some structure to the posts I will be more motivated to post. I will be posting some goals to achieve each month and blog my progress in achieving these goals, as well as any observations and strategy that I pick up along the way.

I apologize if this post is too long, I usually have a concise writing style and often don't write enough (as shown by my mediocre exam results). This post will be long for the simple volume that I have to go through.

I started playing poker when I was 16 playing a home game with mates. I had no clue how to play and neither did they. I was so very annoyed when I was the first out, like always I set myself up with high expectations of how I am going to do and am disappointed when I don't succeed first time. But hey, that's part of my life tilt problems and I will sort that out sometime. Me and my mates have continued to play this home game throughout our school years (probably about one a week).

As with most people learning to play poker, if left to their own devices they get strategy all wrong. Limping suited junk is standard and slowplaying weak trips is the only way to play. As I played more I started to fold out a lot more, I would raise with what I thought were strong holdings and would play straight forward after the flop. But I was still losing! I was losing more than before! How could this be? I am playing good cards and my mates were sucking out on me with junk! I started reading poker articles online and was baffled by the content; 'folding KTo to a raise? NO WAI!' I was reading strategy thinking I was getting better, but come the game and I still lost more than I won.

This is where internet poker came in. I started playing for play money on thefreepokerroom.com just because I was bored. I really started to implement the strategy that I got from the internet at the home game and results improved. A couple of weeks later, I deposited on FTP about $20. I was still mistrustful of internet poker but I figured I can't lose much if I only deposit $2o. I ran it up to $80 playing 2nl and tourneys (thought I was a balla). However I when I hit my first downswing I went on monkey tilt and was found playing 50nl (thats how I usually tilt) and screwed that money away.

I started reading FCP (cos negreanu ldo) and from that I found 2+2, and noticed how much thought these winning players put into their hands. While I had read about EV, floating, FE etc. I had never thought about it while playing (my mind was saying I got top pair, raise lol). While I was busto I was reading and improving my game without hardly playing a hand. When I next deposited it was on PS for $80 and I ran this up to $190 11 tabling 2nl. I had learnt to play poker with a plan and that showed in $$$.

After finishing my initial heater I had a long break even stretch with occasional losses in tourneys that really frustrated me, I was again found playing 100nl and while I didn't lose it all this time I lost half a stack which was devastating for my bankroll. During exam time I didn't play a hand of poker (thank God!) and afterwards I wasn't that interested in online poker anymore.

It was during this time however that I started crushing the home game. I was winning so much and was shooting up our little league. I noticed that my opponents were making SO many mistakes and I had learnt how to exploit them. It was a fun and new experience! I had an edge at a table! I was no longer tilting nor limping! Thus I decided to give online poker another shot. I deposited $150 extra on PS and started 8 tabling 10nl and that is basically where I am now.

My bankroll is at $396 currently grinding 10nl full ring.

Now for the goals that I plan to acheive before the end of September:

Cash Games:
- Break out of this short break even stretch I am on.
- DO NOT TILT
- Achieve silverstar hopefully by the end of August. I need 467 VPP by the end of August and that will only be done with a lot of grinding.
- Post hands and situations I struggle with on 2+2 and continue to post advice for other users.
- Stack aggrodonks
- Make good purposeful notes
- Probably most importantly sort out the lack of a HUD that I am currently suffering from.

Tourneys
-Don't play 'em.

Life
- Pass the ski instructor course I am on
- GET LAID!!!


I think I'll end the post there. If anyone's still listening.

Peace out! See you at the tables (I'm the one getting outplayed by the fish).

Hello

Just wanted to introduce this blog. I will be posting my poker results, for everyone's amusement. I am currently playing 2nl with the donks, which is very easy but sometimes frustrating.

My bankroll is at $124.55 on PokerStars and hopefully I can start building that up and moving up the limits! I certainly don't want to be playing 2nl for much longer.