Bankroll heating up...

Start date : Jan 14th
Start Bankroll: $500
Current Bankroll: $2494
Number of hands: 12,634

Running well at the moment. Variance is at a norm and the fish are abundant.





10k hands at $0.25/$0.50 at 14.17 bb/100 (note this is not ptbb/100)
21/12.8/2.7 ($vpip/pfr/af) <--- if anyone needs an explanation please ask.

So my first chapter is complete. I have put the hands in at the starting level and have plumped up the bankroll to be comfortable in moving up. $0.50/$1 shouldn't be too tough. I used to play at this level and higher so I feel I am aware of the adjustments I will need to make. I know that this is where you start to see more of the regulars and semi-pros, guys that make a decent ish income from playing online. With that said there are still a large amount of donkeys plodding around the virtual felt. I played the following hand late last night. I think I played this a bit spewy. My notes on this player were that he chases draws to pot sized bets.

$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem
6 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Stacks:

Hero		($98.00)
UTG+1		($149.87)
CO		($34.40)
BTN		($107.70)
SB		($150.60)
BB		($263.81)

Pre-flop: ($1.5, 6 players) Hero is UTG

Hero raises to $4, 3 folds, SB calls $3.5, 1 fold

Flop: ($9, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $6, SB calls $6

Turn: ($21, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $15, SB calls $15

River: ($51, 2 players)
SB bets $15, Hero goes all-in $73, SB folds

Final Pot: $81
Hero shows:

Hero wins $135.5 ( won +$37.5 )
SB lost -$40.00

Now my thoughts on this hand. Villain calls out of position an UTG raiser. I think Medium to low pocket pair or a drawy type broadway hand if hes really bad. The flop comes up dangerous but I can easily rep AK here. With a flush draw on the board I wouldnt give a free card if i held AK. I bet out, maybe a little small. $6 into a $9, I think this should be a $7 bet. SB calls. This should set of warning bells. I would have slowed right down if there were no straight or flush draws but this is in his range. Obv a K or a 9 and im dead in the water. The turn is a harmless 6. I dont think he would have called my flop bet with 66. he checks so I continue my chosen AK rep path. The call did worry me a little. Another non board changing card hits 4c. All draws have missed. He leads out for $15 into a $51......

Now call it poker sense, call it being in the zone, call it spewtard lucky fish ridiculous -EV play but it just seemed weak. It left me with enough stack to have some fold equity which was the only way I was going to win this hand. He could have a K, he could have a 9 he could have missed all his draws. He was out of positiong playing like he was drawing. So I pushed and he folded.

Spewy ?? Comments ?

I am leaving for Tokyo today so will not be able to play on AP. I have set up a new account on FT with some rakeback so will play a little on there. AP bankroll on hold. FT fish get ready to be eaten....

A little shorthanded pressure.

Bankroll $2098
I am now rolled for $0.50/$1

Shorthanded LAG
I have not posted much content over the past few days as work has kept me busy and away from the virtual tables. I played a few hundred hands last night when one of the tables broke down to just 3 players. I had been relatively tight at this table so I decided to switch to a more loose aggro style (LAG). I had a friend watching me so I really turned up the aggro level for fun. Most players dont adjust when the table gets shorthanded they still play their same game.

I started to raise every button, reraise in position and push players off with garbage hands on the flop. It was fun. I backed down when I hit aggression and put pressure on my opponents at every chance. One of the monkeys was getting really pissed. My PT had him at 73/5/1. He was the perfect target shorthanded. He would call the raise and fold to almost all cbets. At last I broke his game and made him do this.....

$0.25/$0.5 No Limit Holdem
3 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Stacks:

BTN		($7.75)
SB		($35.04)
Hero		($126.11)

Pre-flop: ($0.75, 3 players) Hero is BB

BTN calls $0.5, SB calls $0.25, Hero raises to $2.5, BTN raises to $5, SB folds, Hero raises to $23.5, BTN goes all-in $2.75

Flop: ($31.75, 2 players)

Turn: ($31.75, 2 players)

River: ($31.75, 2 players)

Final Pot: $16
BTN shows:
Hero shows:

BTN wins $15.2 ( won +$7.45 )
Hero wins $15.75 ( lost -$7.75 )
SB lost -$0.50


AT all in vs a shortstack may seem a little loose but he was getting so frustrated with me that I felt his tilt had widened his range and ATo was not a bad hand to have a go with. I was a 3:2 favourite and he hit his 4.

I continued to play the LAG style and a few more players had just joined the table. A few hands later I found AA.

$0.25/$0.5 No Limit Holdem
6 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Stacks:

UTG		($99.75)
UTG+1		($30.19)
Hero		($127.03)
BTN		($44.35)
SB		($14.78)
BB		($18.50)

Pre-flop: ($0.75, 6 players) Hero is CO

1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $1, Hero raises to $4, 1 fold, SB calls $3.75, BB calls $3.5, UTG+1 calls $3

Flop: ($16, 4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG+1 bets $1, Hero raises to $12, SB goes all-in $10.78, BB folds, UTG+1 folds
(I bet out here. This is to protect against a flush draw and also to conceal the strength of my hand.)

Turn: ($39.78, 2 players)

River: ($39.78, 2 players)

Final Pot: $38.56
SB shows:
Hero shows:

Hero wins $37.88 ( won +$21.88 )
SB lost -$14.78
BB lost -$4.00
UTG+1 lost -$5.00

My bet on the flop won me the hand. By keeping the same aggression as I had with my bluffs he was never going to put me on an A. I cant really explain without showing all the hands to the build up to this pot but the pressure before had really put him on tilt.


Real world news - It's looking likely that I will have to go to Tokyo after this weekend for the next two weeks so my poker blog may turn into 'Ryverrat's Japanese Adventures' blog for a short time. Im sure I will find access to play on the laptop but with such an amazing city to explore I just might not want to.

10k hands

Start date : Jan 14th

Start Bankroll: $500
Current Bankroll: $1933

Number of hands: 10,360

The unsustainable winrate at .50/1 has been due to some big hands and also some very selective games. I will continue to play .25/.50 until the 10k hand mark and hopefully should be at $2000 bankroll. I will then move to .50/1 and drop back down if my bankroll hits $1500.

A few things that I see from these numbers....

At 27% is my Attempt to Steal blinds too low ?

At 28% is my VPIP in SB too high ?

The bulk of my hands i have played I am 20.5/12.45 (vpip/pfr) This number is ok but I should look to get these numbers closer together. Tighten up and be more aggro.

Anyone else highlight any areas that need attention ??

Squeezing the Nuts

I hit the $2000 mark and promptly fell back down settling at $1960. Ive played almost 10,000 hands. I feel that I am playing a little too loose at these levels and also leaving money on the table as shown below..


$0.25/$0.5 No Limit Holdem
5 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Stacks:

UTG		($83.63)
CO		($72.60)
BTN		($63.33)
Hero		($48.50)
BB		($92.45)

[CO posted $0.5]
Pre-flop: ($1.25, 5 players) Hero is SB

UTG calls $0.5, CO checks, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.25, BB checks
(A loose call. CO had posted blind and UTG had just called so i tried to get in cheap)

Flop: ($2.5, 4 players)
Hero bets $1, BB calls $1, 1 fold, CO calls $1
(lets try to build a pot and disguise the draw for when i hit)

Turn: ($5.5, 3 players)
Hero bets $6, 1 fold, CO calls $6
(Bam! time to squeeze the nuts. A small overbet, really trying to hide the fact ive just hit)

River: ($17.5, 2 players)
Hero bets $21, CO calls $21
(knowing now he has hit something I overbet for value)
Final Pot: $59
Hero shows:
CO shows:

Hero wins $55.55 ( won +$27.05 )
BB lost -$1.50
UTG lost -$0.50
CO lost -$28.50

Here's where my mistake was in the hand. By CO calling my over potsized bet should have told me had had a straight or at worst 2 pair. The bet should have folded any club flush draw. The 3 on the river changes nothing really. If anything it turns CO's 2 pair into a straight on the board. My bet size should have been all in. I missed out on another $20 or so. If he has an 8 he will call, with a straight on the board there's a good possibility at this level that he will also call. My bet of $21 was safe but I feel I missed out on some $$ there.

As mentioned I blasted my way past the $2000 mark due to this hand.

$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem
6 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Stacks:

UTG		($217.33)
UTG+1		($188.02)
Hero		($122.70)
BTN		($207.85)
SB		($76.15)
BB		($12.40)

Pre-flop: ($1.5, 6 players) Hero is CO

UTG calls $1, UTG+1 calls $1, Hero raises to $6, 3 folds, UTG folds, UTG+1 calls $5

Flop: ($14.5, 2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $9, UTG+1 calls $9
(Cbet is a little loose on a very drawy board but I could rep a big pocket pair and im in position)

Turn: ($32.5, 2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero checks
(I go for the free card, the benefit of position)

River: ($32.5, 2 players)
UTG+1 bets $7, Hero raises to $40, UTG+1 raises to $112, Hero goes all-in $67.7

Final Pot: $247.90
UTG+1 shows:
Hero shows:

UTG+1 wins $4.3 ( lost -$122.7 )
Hero wins $244.4 ( won +$121.7 )
UTG lost -$1.00

He probably should have just called my overbet but nothing that wrong with pushing with the 2nd nuts.

I will post some PT screenshots showing a very unsustainable winrate at $0.50/$1 in my next post. If I can break the $2000 mark I can start playing the $0.50/$1 more. At present I am only playing if i see a really high % per flop number and this has worked a dream. I am aiming at playing 5000 hands per month and I am slightly ahead of that target so far..

Graphs and stats on the next post..

Poker de Nom Bubble Time

I played at Poker deNom on Tuesday http://www.pokerdenom.com/ in their weekly $100 rebuy game. This is the second time ive played here and am still impressed by the venue. The dealers are very professional, the tables are very spacious and the decor is great, very Casino Royale.

This week saw were 31 runners. 8000 chips with a starting blind level of 25/50. Blind levels double every 20 mins and I seem to remember that by the end of the rebuy period this equaled blinds of 800/1600. The first few hands saw an AA vs AA vs KK in one hand with the winner hitting quad QQQQ the next hand. This put a few players on tilt early and with the play so loose and being very card dead I couldnt get involved. I flopped 2 pair in the blinds with 45o and made a few thousand chips. With 30 mins before the break I found 55 in the Big Blind and the guy to my right had the same stack size of around 7000.

I think the blinds were 400/800. Its folded to him and he min raises 1600. I push hoping to take the 2000 in the pot. He stops and thinks. He comments that ive only played 3 hands all night..... he says he would easily call against anyone else.... he says he must be way behind..... so he calls!

He turns over AJ, a hand that could be easily dominated. I understand that we are still in the rebuy period but that wasnt his reason for calling. AJ was a premium hand to this player. The Jack came on he river forcing me to rebuy.

The prize pool (approx..)
1st $2100
2nd $1100
3rd $600
4th $100

I enter the freezeout period at the same chip level as the start of the night 8k. I again have to tighten up, given no option to steal comfortably. The table was broken, down to 20 players. A while later I had been treading water and managed to steal a few small pots to stay alive. UTG I find 99. the blinds are 800/1600 and they go up the next hand. I push and UTG+1 reraises to 15k to isolate me. F*ck, bad timing. UTG+2 calls for all his chips 15K.. Oh dear. everyone else folds
99
KK
TT

TT ? bad call I think. He hits a T on the flop but I river the straight. I triple up for my only suckout of the night. With chips in hand I could start to finally play some poker. I started attacking the medium stacks and putting in a few reraises to steal pots. A few hours later I make it to the final 5 with an average stack. Bubble time. The two shorties double up, one through me SB (k2) vs my BB (A9) , he called the SB and I reraised him all in for half my chips. K on the flop and I need to start playing again.

I look for the next opportunity to push all in. I see a K7s that I think I should have open pushed but folded.

Next hand im UTG and the blinds are now 8k/16k. I have 40k in chips left. Other stacks are around 40k-80k ish. I look at A6o. I open push and get called by TT and AA. out on the bubble for $0.

So did I play this hand correctly ?

My thoughts....

If I fold then next hand I am pot committed. I would have 40% of my stack in the big blind. 16k / 40k = 40%. I have no fold equity the next hand and would have to hoe it is folded around to me, unlikely.

I have fold equity at the moment with probably the best hand. I probably have the best hand with an A but may look desperate playing from this position knowing im the Big Blind next hand.

I have an increased fold equity as we are on the bubble.

Im going for 1st place and not to limp into 4th.

I believe this was the right decision at the time, I was just unlucky to run into two premium hands. Anyone play this different ??