Swings!

I've had a very up and down time in the last week. Some sick, sick swings but I'm glad to say I've come through it now!

It started on Sunday...

I managed to have a good start, winning a quick $150 in about 90 minutes. Then, in the evening I lost $350. I wasn't really getting into setup situations, just that the deck was hitting the rest of the players in the face and missing me totally!

On Monday, I went to France for a few days. My Dad was trying to organise broadband for our house there anyway, but good old French Telecom are so backward they still couldn't be bothered to flick a switch or send the modem, so I had to put up with dial-up. Lovely. Playing 5 tables with PT and PAHUD running was not a pleasure. Imagine being dealt the cards in slow motion about 50% of the time, and then seeing KK folded utg because of the lag. You get the idea!

Anyway, I dropped another $250 on Monday, without making serious errors as well. It was basically deja vu from the day before.

On Tuesday, I recovered it a bit, and made about $170 in a couple of hours. Again, the deck was quite cold but I felt I played really well overall, and ground the money out.

In these three days, I hadn't actually got stacked once, which shows how little I committed big money postflop. I couldn't even flop a draw, let alone sets etc..., and when I did hit the flop it would be in the scariest way possible.

It got worse. On Wednesday, I dropped $375 in 2 hours in the morning. I really felt I played well again, and deserved a lot better. I just kept losing pots of like $100 where I got into situations where I couldn't call after being winning on the card before.

I did get stacked once, with this hand. Steginge was a solid, but aggressive player. In the last couple of orbits, he'd reraised me twice preflop. That's why I went with my read that he was messing me about. Unfortunately he had the goods.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?386082

I went out for something to eat with my dad at lunchtime after this carnage, and came back and fired up 5 tables as usual. I then proceeded to own the people on my tables, and made back $330 in a couple of hours.

On Thursday, I made $375 in about 90 minutes, I actually hit flops and with there being so many nutters on $100 NL I actually got paid! I also got revenge over Steginge by doubling up with AA v his KK.

Played a little bit on Friday and today (Sunday), and won about 2.5 buyins between the 2 sessions, so I'm officially off running bad!

Here's my stats for 100NL since I moved up:

Hands: 11,124
VPIP: 16.99%
PFR: 12.33%
Amount Won: $893.42
BB/100 Hands: 4.02

It's not too bad so far. I ran bad for about a 4500 hand period, so I can't really complain about my stats so far. I've been feeling my way into this level, and made a conscious decision to play tighter until I feel comfortable. I've got a good database of notes and PT stats now, so I feel that maybe I can open up a bit more from now on.

Away from poker, I played Cricket on Saturday, we were bowled out for 112 which was terrible, I have really lost my way batting and I wish I could transfer my gambling discipline to my batting. Last season I hit 54 on debut but haven't got near it this season. I always get out to the shit bowlers after seeing off the decent ones, because I think they are so bad I just try to smash them around. Never works! My wicket keeping was loads better though and I was pleased with how that went, having not done it for about 10 years I was always gonna be rusty, hopefully I can continue improving at that. We managed to bowl them out for 72 though which was an amazing effort and won by 40 runs.

I watched England play Ecuador at a mates house, we had a BBQ which was cool, England were terrible yet again, if we play like that we have no chance against Holland or Portugal.

I'm off to Vegas tomorrow for a week of poker! I'm going with my mate Phill and some of his mates from the Canterbury Poker Club, and I'm playing in the $1500NLHE WSOP event on tuesday, as well as some other tournaments and plenty of cash games!

When I get back, I'm gonna do a trip diary and put it on here and probably cardrunners forum as well. It's gonna be cool!

Good luck everyone!

Going Well So Far @ 100NL

I've played 4,000 odd hands at 100NL since I moved up and it's generally gone well so far. I actually think the standard of player is worse than 50NL. At 50, all they seem to want to do is see flops and then let their hand go in the majority of cases when they don't catch their miracle, but at 100NL they seem to be more aggressive and bluff far more...Which I don't mind at all because when I play a big pot, I will have the goods.

I was also watching my mate (who is very underrolled for it) play 1/2 the other day and saw one of my 50NL donators sitting on his table with 300! So good times may be ahead too if I can move up again!

One other thing I picked up over the last few days was in a discussion on Cardrunners, people were discussing customising your PA HUD and adding things in such as % fold to continuation bets and their % raise/call them. I think this is so useful, if you miss the flop against some people you are just throwing money away c-betting as they will float on you with nothing, but you can value bet massively against these guys, and possibly even check raise them on the turn to get even more value, as you can be sure they will bet if you check. And all this info is available at the click of a button, that's so handy.

Here's my stats so far at 100NL. I wouldn't say I was running well (in fact I have had several sessions where I havent hit a card full stop), but there are so many donators on here that even without running particularly well you can maintain a good winrate.

Hands: 4,081
VPIP: 18.03%
PFR: 12.67%
Amount Won: $705.84
BB/100: 8.65

Here's some hands from the last few days - I'm going to use pokerhand.org to host the hands now to reduce the size of the posts and make them easier to read - thanks to CoxhEd, another CR member for telling me about this.

In this hand I thought I hit a dream flop and was begging for the short stack to fire. But on the turn, and especially the river I realised I may be in deep trouble against the deeper stack. This shows the benefit of position being able to control the pot size. I also think that many weaker players get stacked here, I was even debating whether I needed to call the river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?374808

This next hand I posted on the CR forum for debate. I really thought I was winning on the turn (villain was 44/11 and had shown some very marginal hands down), but on the river I really wasnt sure, but I had to call with decent pot odds. Out of interest, if he check raises me all in on the turn it's a far easier pass as I am not beating anything that does that.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?374814

This next hand I personally feel I played very well. The guy I was playing was very LAG and I felt that I needed to 3bet the flop to see where I really was, without committing myself with a huge bet. I felt that if he pushed, I was surely beat and could fold reluctantly, but if he called, there was a high chance he had KQ/AK (although especially AK could still push but surely it would be the worst hand that would), and I could push the turn with more certainty that I was winning (although a tricky player may play a set like that)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?374822

Here's a hand I got stacked with an overpair. The villain was a fish, very loose. I felt his range was sufficient that I would be a big favourite, which I was. When I pushed, he used all his time up and I knew I was winning. I think his play throughout is appalling, but he does have the right odds to call all-in, and sucked out.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?374824

This next hand has totally, totally shocked me. I'm going to post it anyway, and be honest here. I got it out of my poker tracker library to show how easy it is to fold TPTK against a tight player (he was 23/13). But I just noticed as I scanned the hand history he showed his hand as a total bluff! I didn't even see that at the time and just got on with it as a good fold against a tight player (although I'd probably call against a maniac) - I really thought he had 88.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?374827

I watched England make very hard work of T+T in the world cup earlier, we really need to improve in a big way if we are going to make any significant progress (past the quarter finals). After running them ragged coming on as sub, surely Lennon has to play from the start against Sweden. I may be a touch biased as a Spurs fan but I've never seen a youngster at Spurs who has so much potential to be a world class superstar.

I haven't been able to get the amount of hands in I would like this week, 4000 in a week is not enough, but I have been working hard trying to save for my Vegas trip (I go on 26th June for a week), and I'm also having a break in France with my Dad (a fellow poker addict!) from Monday till Friday staying at my parents house over there, so I am aiming to get 10k hands in over those 5 days as there's not too much to do there with it being in the middle of nowhere!

If I can maintain my win rate over the next couple of weeks I may start to give serious thought to devoting much more time to poker, and severely reducing the amount of time I go out working. For example, someone who can maintain a winrate of 5PTBBs/100 Hands at 2/4 would be earning about $160/hr via 5 tabling (about 400 hands/hr) - so about $5000 a week for 30 hours work. I think that's something to aim for in the longish term.

Good luck at the tables everyone!

A Quick, Very Profitable Session

I played $100NL this afternoon and had an amazing session - very quick though. I don't really know why I stopped, I just got a massive buzz out of winning a huge pot and thought I would just bank my profit. I think that's something I need to address, particularly if I move up stakes - the fact that if I do well early I quit and take the money - something psychological there I think.

Here's My Stats for this afternoon:

Hands: 399
VPIP: 18.30%
PFR: 14.29%
Amount Won: $353.48
BB/100 Hands: 44.30

I made a conscious decision to play fairly tight before the session. I managed to win some decent pots before topping it off with a big pot with big stack v big stack.

Here's a couple of hands:

This one, I tried to exercise pot control in position, which I did. A lot of people would be reraising on the turn, but I think you are only getting called if you are beat in that spot. He was a massive donator who lost a nice sized pot to me the hand before too. He had over $250 in front of him and went busto in 15 minutes...

Game #2650724724: Hold'em NL ($0.50/$1) - 2006/06/10 - 17:51:39 (UK)
Table "Toffees" Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 1: cicci99 ($141.44 in chips)
Seat 2: Vegaslou ($17.70 in chips)
Seat 3: glen76 ($181.90 in chips)
Seat 4: richNYC ($86.50 in chips)
Seat 5: Fruitypro ($174 in chips)
Seat 6: Johnp2509 ($55.30 in chips)
Johnp2509: posts small blind $0.50
cicci99: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Ah Ks]
Vegaslou: calls $1
glen76: calls $1
richNYC: calls $1
Fruitypro: raises to $8
Johnp2509: folds
cicci99: folds
Vegaslou: folds
glen76: calls $7
richNYC: folds
----- FLOP ----- [5c As 4c]
glen76: checks
Fruitypro: bets $14
glen76: calls $14
----- TURN ----- [5c As 4c][8h]
glen76: bets $19.90
Fruitypro: calls $19.90
----- RIVER ----- [5c As 4c 8h][Js]
glen76: bets $20
Fruitypro: calls $20
----- SHOW DOWN -----
glen76: shows [5d 3d] (A Pair of Fives, Ace high)
Fruitypro: shows [Ah Ks] (A Pair of Aces, King high)
Fruitypro collects $124.30 from Main pot

You can see why I liked playing with him!


I was chipping away, winning some half decent pots before this hand arose.

I had no hesitation in putting him all in on the turn... He was a 69/3 maniac.


Game #2650983104: Hold'em NL ($0.50/$1) - 2006/06/10 - 18:31:05 (UK)
Table "Toffees" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: cicci99 ($162.44 in chips)
Seat 2: Timeless4 ($39 in chips)
Seat 3: Vicman ($155 in chips)
Seat 4: richNYC ($75.05 in chips)
Seat 5: Fruitypro ($298.85 in chips)
Seat 6: rine 21 ($21.51 in chips)
Fruitypro: posts small blind $0.50
rine 21: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Ks Kh]
cicci99: raises to $3
Timeless4: folds
Vicman: calls $3
richNYC: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $15
rine 21: folds
cicci99: calls $12
Vicman: calls $12
----- FLOP ----- [Kd Ad Td]
Fruitypro: bets $35
cicci99: folds
Vicman: calls $35
----- TURN ----- [Kd Ad Td][5h]
Fruitypro: bets $105
Vicman: calls $105 and is all-in
----- RIVER ----- [Kd Ad Td 5h][2s]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [Ks Kh] (Three of a kind, Kings, Ace high)
Vicman: shows [Qs Qd] (A Pair of Queens, Ace high)
Fruitypro collects $323 from Main pot


Finally a smallish pot I took down. This shows that with some situations, I will raise with far from premium hands. I had position and betting lead preflop, plus a nice flop to go with it. He went berserk at me in the chat for raising pre flop with this lol! I checked on the river for pot control, I am not sure its a great move though. He wouldnt have called anyhow though.


Game #2650857834: Hold'em NL ($0.50/$1) - 2006/06/10 - 18:08:06 (UK)
Table "Saints" Seat 2 is the button.
Seat 1: keld10 sits out
Seat 2: Ddaaass ($84.62 in chips)
Seat 4: MAN123UTD ($114.50 in chips)
Seat 5: Fruitypro ($109.50 in chips)
Seat 6: Top_dj ($171.75 in chips)
MAN123UTD: posts small blind $0.50
Fruitypro: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [5c 3c]
Top_dj: folds
Ddaaass: folds
MAN123UTD: calls $0.50
Fruitypro: raises to $5
MAN123UTD: calls $4
----- FLOP ----- [3d 2d 3h]
MAN123UTD: checks
Fruitypro: bets $7
MAN123UTD: calls $7
----- TURN ----- [3d 2d 3h][Ks]
MAN123UTD: checks
Fruitypro: bets $15
MAN123UTD: calls $15
----- RIVER ----- [3d 2d 3h Ks][7h]
MAN123UTD: checks
Fruitypro: checks
----- SHOW DOWN -----
MAN123UTD: shows [Td 8d] (A Pair of Threes, King high)
Fruitypro: shows [5c 3c] (Three of a kind, Threes, King high)
Fruitypro collects $52 from Main pot


I watched England beat Paraguay 1-0 in the World Cup this afternoon, not too bad a result seeing as it was very hot, not ideal conditions. But a win is a win and a professional performance which didnt give them any chances. Argentina looked a bit good tonight though...

Good luck at the tables everyone!

I did it! First Level Of My Challenge Completed!

Today is a momentous moment for me... I managed to move up to $100 NL.

It's taken about 6-7 weeks and 29,095 hands to do it but I feel pretty pleased with my efforts.

Overall my BB/100 Hands was only 5.24 but I feel pretty confident I can at least run at that at $100 NL if not improve on it. Having watched my brother @ $100NL I think there are actually more maniacs on there! I also think I ran bad at $50NL over at least half the hands.

Today, I played very well at $50NL to get to my goal.

Here's my stats:

Hands: 1329
VPIP: 17.23% (Again I got terrible cards)
PFR: 12.64%
Amount Won: $194.59
BB/100 Hands: 14.64

This was despite getting stacked with set v flush draw mid session against a guy who really owes me big time...

Here's some interesting hands.

In the first one, the guy went sick at me in the chat when I called and won, saying how can I call without a club... I told him to write 'maniac' in my notes, lol!

Fact is he must have forgotten I stacked him twice on tuesday when I caught him bluffing both times! I knew he had a flush draw at best. I find people shit themselves when they flop top pair on a 3 flush flop, fact is your opponent is 6% to flop the flush so why do people automatically hate it??? Interestingly, against a tight player this is an easy fold, but against him I couldn't call quick enough...

Game #2626663424: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/06/08 - 10:44:27 (UK)
Table "Lundu" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: droopys ($24.67 in chips)
Seat 2: rAAx ($58.71 in chips)
Seat 3: Nettocs ($24.65 in chips)
Seat 4: Fruitypro ($45.45 in chips)
Seat 5: twista ($10 in chips)
Seat 6: taishan ($113.60 in chips)
taishan: posts small blind $0.25
droopys: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [As Kh]
rAAx: raises to $1.50
Nettocs: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $6
taishan: folds
droopys: folds
rAAx: calls $4.50
----- FLOP ----- [Qc Ac 9c]
rAAx: checks
Fruitypro: bets $8
rAAx: raises to $52.71 and is all-in
Fruitypro: is all-in $31.45
Returned uncalled bets $13.26 to rAAx
----- TURN ----- [Qc Ac 9c][Jc]
----- RIVER ----- [Qc Ac 9c Jc][7s]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
rAAx: shows [7h 6s] (A Pair of Sevens, Ace high)
Fruitypro: shows [As Kh] (A Pair of Aces, King high)
Fruitypro collects $88.65 from Main pot


This second hand is similar to the first, but the player is tight and very aggressive, and always sucks out on me! I knew I was winning on the flop but he got his money in with the worst of it and won. I don't mind that.


Game #2628224684: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/06/08 - 14:53:07 (UK)
Table "Lundu" Seat 3 is the button.
Seat 1: Fruitypro ($48.40 in chips)
Seat 2: mumsingen ($72.82 in chips)
Seat 3: Davegry ($50 in chips)
Seat 4: GAZZA69 ($51.75 in chips)
Seat 5: Pallefar ($14.77 in chips)
Seat 6: Mrteddie ($37.35 in chips)
GAZZA69: posts small blind $0.25
Pallefar: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [6h 6d]
Mrteddie: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $2.50
mumsingen: folds
Davegry: folds
GAZZA69: raises to $4.50
Pallefar: folds
Fruitypro: calls $2
----- FLOP ----- [6s Ts 8s]
GAZZA69: bets $7.50
Fruitypro: raises to $22
GAZZA69: raises to $36.50
Fruitypro: raises to $43.90 and is all-in
GAZZA69: calls $7.40
----- TURN ----- [6s Ts 8s][7s]
----- RIVER ----- [6s Ts 8s 7s][Qh]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [6h 6d] (Three of a kind, Sixes, Queen high)
GAZZA69: shows [Kc As] (A Flush, Ace high)
GAZZA69 collects $94.30 from Main pot


This next hand got me to the next level... Obviously I loved the flop but hated the turn... Any thoughts by anyone on the call of the overbet? I think I am winning about 80% of the time here. I called pretty quickly. I don't see someone playing a boat like this! I had already stacked him on another table with QQ on a low flop v his flush draw after he pushed on the turn. My bro was watching and told me to call which I did at the last second of the QQ hand!!!


Game #2628524124: Hold'em NL ($0.25/$0.50) - 2006/06/08 - 15:28:37 (UK)
Table "Lundu" Seat 6 is the button.
Seat 1: Fruitypro ($75.37 in chips)
Seat 2: mumsingen ($71.32 in chips)
Seat 3: Davegry ($20.74 in chips)
Seat 4: Cucos11 sits out
Seat 5: Pallefar ($42.44 in chips)
Seat 6: drizner ($49.27 in chips)
Fruitypro: posts small blind $0.25
mumsingen: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Qd Ad]
Davegry: folds
Pallefar: foldsd
rizner: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $2.50
mumsingen: calls $2
----- FLOP ----- [Kd 3d 4d]
Fruitypro: bets $3
mumsingen: calls $3
----- TURN ----- [Kd 3d 4d][3c]
Fruitypro: bets $7
mumsingen: raises to $65.82 and is all-in
Fruitypro: calls $58.82
----- RIVER ----- [Kd 3d 4d 3c][8s]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
mumsingen: shows [3s 2d] (Three of a kind, Threes, King high)
Fruitypro: shows [Qd Ad] (A Flush, Ace high)
Fruitypro collects $139.64 from Main pot


I then tonight played some $100 NL. To be honest, I played appallingly. Probably the worst for at least a month. Miraculously I won $18 in 713 hands. I just wasn't paying attention to PT numbers, stacks etc and had no focus. I was tired and I think that was the reason. I really wanted to play $100 NL tonight and probably shouldn't have. I also got my 25 pounds bonus from William Hill from playing $100 NL tonight which was nice.

One thing I did notice is the size of continuation bets you have to put in at this level. Say a player raises to $4 and I am in the BB with AK, I would reraise to $16. If he calls the pot is $32ish and my c-bet will be in the region of $25. If you miss the flop and get your c-bet reraised a few times it could be expensive! Still, that's what your bankroll is for.

I also made the worst call I have done in months. I was fuming with myself after I built up a couple of stacks to lose it making a shocking call all-in.

Here's a nice hand against a maniac. Again, versus a tight player I have to slow down but against someone like him, I get all my money in. After he called on the flop I knew he had a queen with a worse kicker. How he can call all-in is beyond me.

Game #2631561144: Hold'em NL ($0.50/$1) - 2006/06/08 - 20:31:29 (UK)
Table "Random" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: Swanny005 ($123.75 in chips)
Seat 2: Slowbet ($83 in chips)
Seat 3: scritz1 ($114 in chips)
Seat 4: Fruitypro ($118.18 in chips)
Seat 6: Moridin ($66.75 in chips)
Moridin: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Ac Qh]
Swanny005: folds
Slowbet: calls $1
scritz1: folds
Fruitypro: raises to $5
Moridin: folds
Slowbet: calls $4
----- FLOP ----- [2c Td Qd]
Slowbet: bets $10
Pokerflj joins the table at seat #5
Fruitypro: raises to $30
Slowbet: calls $20
----- TURN ----- [2c Td Qd][7s]
Slowbet: checks
Fruitypro: bets $48
Slowbet: calls $48 and is all-in
----- RIVER ----- [2c Td Qd 7s][5c]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Fruitypro: shows [Ac Qh] (A Pair of Queens, Ace high)
Slowbet: shows [6s Qs] (A Pair of Queens, Ten high)
Fruitypro collects $164 from Main pot


Finally, here is the hand where I made the terrible call. For some reason, I was obsessed with him being on a flush draw which missed. He was a maniac too. He hit a boat on the river:-(


Game #2631150114: Hold'em NL ($0.50/$1) - 2006/06/08 - 20:02:50 (UK)
Table "Toffees" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: Tez_007 ($48.75 in chips)
Seat 2: scritz1 ($91 in chips)
Seat 3: Frankwood ($99.74 in chips)
Seat 4: Bippbapp ($84.19 in chips)
Seat 5: 4kingace ($47.87 in chips)
Seat 6: Fruitypro ($98.50 in chips)
4kingace: posts small blind $0.50
Fruitypro: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Fruitypro [Ks Qs]
Tez_007: folds
scritz1: folds
Frankwood: calls $1
Bippbapp: raises to $3
4kingace: folds
Fruitypro: calls $2
Frankwood: calls $2
----- FLOP ----- [Qd 4d 9c]
Fruitypro: bets $7
Frankwood: calls $7
Bippbapp: folds
----- TURN ----- [Qd 4d 9c][3h]
Fruitypro: bets $18
Frankwood: calls $18
----- RIVER ----- [Qd 4d 9c 3h][9s]
Fruitypro: checks
Frankwood: bets $71.74 and is all-in
Fruitypro: is all-in $70.50
Returned uncalled bets $1.24 to Frankwood
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Frankwood: shows [9h Qh] (A Full House, Nines full of Queens)
Fruitypro: shows [Ks Qs] (Two Pairs, Queens and Nines, King high)
Frankwood collects $197.50 from Main pot


Any comments/critique welcome as usual!!!

I'm out playing machines tomorrow, so probably won't be able to get any hands in. If I am not too tired in the evening and don't go out into town I may write a strategy article I have been thinking about regarding table selection.

It's also the World Cup starting tomorrow! Come on England! I think we have a real chance to win the tournament but I think it's between Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France and us. If we can get Rooney fit we have a massive chance. I did all my predictions for a league I am doing with some mates and it worked out that Brazil won in my tournament ladder, with England losing to them in the semis.

The Last Weeks Play

I haven't been able to play at lot in the last week, but have had some pretty volatile sessions overall - I have been trying to play a bit more LAG in position but I am not sure that's why, I haven't got into big trouble with that.

Overall I did pretty bad for the time I did play, here's my stats for the week:

Hands: 5139
VPIP: 18.84%
PFR: 13.23%
Amount Won: $70.35
BB/100 Hands: 1.37

Not great numbers I know, but a small profit is better than nothing I guess.

I am also getting done on exchange rate conversions at the moment. Basically I deposit in pounds and play in dollars, consequently my dollar figures are dropping without me even playing at the moment due to the exchange rate! Treat! Still, at least I am very close, maybe 1 or 2 sessions away from moving up levels.

I'm also going to step up my playing activities and try to get minimum of 10,000 hands a week in from now on, and update the blog every day I play. Wish me luck!