Just over 1000 hands played for a buy-in return. Played pretty well overall but butchered one hand:
Full Tilt - $0.25 NL RUSH - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3: http://www.pokertracker.com
BB: $25.00
UTG: $14.67
UTG+1: $31.89
MP: $36.17
MP+1: $32.44
Hero (LP): $27.49
CO: $29.17
BTN: $29.23
SB: $27.80
SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25
Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero has Ac 3c
fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.75, CO calls $0.75, BTN calls $0.75, SB calls $0.65, BB calls $0.50
Flop: ($3.75, 5 players) Tc 4c Th
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, CO bets $1.50, fold, SB calls $1.50, fold, Hero calls $1.50
Turn: ($8.25, 3 players) 2c
SB bets $4.30, Hero calls $4.30, fold
River: ($16.85, 2 players) 8s
SB bets $9.10, Hero calls $9.10
SB shows 9c Jc (Flush, Jack High)
Hero shows Ac 3c (Flush, Ace High)
Hero wins $33.30
-------------------------------------
Yeah, basically super nitty call on the river; while my opponent was playing around a third of hands pretty passively he would only conceivably continue on the flop with TT or 44 or random flush draws. Those random suited connector type flush draws make up a far larger percentage of combos than TT or 44 so I should have shipped immediately on the river. At the time when I was thinking about the combos I included 22 or 88 which would actually be really unlikely holdings. So I missed out on around 2/3 of $11 worth of money :(
So, I'm playing pretty well but still making mistakes. However I feel that every session improves me as I see and play more and more hands so my confidence is growing pretty quickly. In just over a year I've grown my bankroll considerably, and I think that I should be ready to play some hands at 0.25/0.50 FRNL Rush in the spring. Really looking forward to that, and hopefully my development does not plateau. GL!
Monday, 29 November 2010
Rush Week
Just logged in to get some hands in for Rush week. Player pools seem to have increased by around 20% on normal across the limits for Rush poker cash games, and from my first 100-200 hands the games appear to be really juicy. Just a quick heads up, moneyz to be made! GL
Sunday, 28 November 2010
Posting sooner than expected...
...because I just won an $11 Rush tournament for $423!! Awesome result, awesome feeling. I think that could be the best I've ever played in a tournament, not just because of the result but I won some big pots by hand reading as well as I have ever done. I think I timed my gear switches to perfection too; when I was short on the money bubble I managed to stay alive stack wise by picking my spots; doubled up a couple of times until I had a way better than average stack and by this stage we were on the final table bubble. This was when I started opening every hand that was folded to me and re-stealing in good spots; I must have grown my stack by over 100% during this stage and then was chip leader at the final table. The table conditions were not too great to be honest, most of the chips were sat in the two spots to my immediate left. But luckily those players were much too passive and by the time a couple of levels had passed the situation wasn't as bad and I was able to switch gears and loosen up again. When it got short handed the players were not adjusting either so I returned to a loose aggressive style. Overall, I can't think of any spot I messed up. Very happy, since that result has increased my bankroll by about a quarter! I may get addicted to tournaments if this run good continues...! Here are two pots that I played (pokerhandreplays seems to be broke, sorry):
Full Tilt - $11+$1|1000/2000 NL RUSH - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3: http://www.pokertracker.com
BTN: 9,076.00
SB: 14,758.00
BB: 54,837.00
UTG: 23,770.00
UTG+1: 26,021.00
Hero (MP): 60,561.00
MP+1: 36,360.00
CO: 44,617.00
BTN posts ante 250.00, SB posts ante 250.00, BB posts ante 250.00, UTG posts ante 250.00, UTG+1 posts ante 250.00, Hero posts ante 250.00, MP+1 posts ante 250.00, CO posts ante 250.00, SB posts SB 1,000.00, BB posts BB 2,000.00
Pre Flop: (5000.00) Hero has Ks Qd
fold, fold, Hero raises to 5,000.00, fold, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 3,000.00
Flop: (13000.00, 2 players) 6d 6s As
BB checks, Hero checks
Turn: (13000.00, 2 players) 2c
BB bets 2,000.00, Hero calls 2,000.00
River: (17000.00, 2 players) Qc
BB bets 6,000.00, Hero calls 6,000.00
BB shows 5s 2s (Two Pair, Sixes and Twos)
Hero shows Ks Qd (Two Pair, Queens and Sixes)
Hero wins 29,000.00
---------------------------------------------------------------
Not much difficult here, I have the best unpaired hand and his turn bet sizing makes calling mandatory. Similar story on the river.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Full Tilt - $11+$1|3000/6000 NL RUSH - Holdem - 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3: http://www.pokertracker.com
SB: 78,238.00
BB: 122,909.00
Hero (BTN): 68,853.00
SB posts ante 750.00, BB posts ante 750.00, Hero posts ante 750.00, SB posts SB 3,000.00, BB posts BB 6,000.00
Pre Flop: (11250.00) Hero has 5c 4c
Hero raises to 12,000.00, fold, BB calls 6,000.00
Flop: (29250.00, 2 players) 7c Qc Jh
BB checks, Hero checks
Turn: (29250.00, 2 players) 9s
BB bets 18,000.00, Hero calls 18,000.00
River: (65250.00, 2 players) Qd
BB checks, Hero bets 38,103.00 and is all-in, fold
Hero wins 65,250.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------
In this hand I didn't want to be check shoved on, so I decided to see if I could realise my equity by taking a free card. Villains' turn bet just seemed weak by the size and timing. I wonder if raising all-in might have been better than flatting... I might have folded a few hands that had decent equity. However calling getting obvious odds to draw to the flush and then he quickly checks the river. I'm now convinced he has nothing so an obvious shove.
Well chuffed, GL all!
PS just started following James Atkins' blog, and he posted a brilliant spoof video that made me cry with laughter (not sure who the original creator is):
Full Tilt - $11+$1|1000/2000 NL RUSH - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3: http://www.pokertracker.com
BTN: 9,076.00
SB: 14,758.00
BB: 54,837.00
UTG: 23,770.00
UTG+1: 26,021.00
Hero (MP): 60,561.00
MP+1: 36,360.00
CO: 44,617.00
BTN posts ante 250.00, SB posts ante 250.00, BB posts ante 250.00, UTG posts ante 250.00, UTG+1 posts ante 250.00, Hero posts ante 250.00, MP+1 posts ante 250.00, CO posts ante 250.00, SB posts SB 1,000.00, BB posts BB 2,000.00
Pre Flop: (5000.00) Hero has Ks Qd
fold, fold, Hero raises to 5,000.00, fold, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 3,000.00
Flop: (13000.00, 2 players) 6d 6s As
BB checks, Hero checks
Turn: (13000.00, 2 players) 2c
BB bets 2,000.00, Hero calls 2,000.00
River: (17000.00, 2 players) Qc
BB bets 6,000.00, Hero calls 6,000.00
BB shows 5s 2s (Two Pair, Sixes and Twos)
Hero shows Ks Qd (Two Pair, Queens and Sixes)
Hero wins 29,000.00
---------------------------------------------------------------
Not much difficult here, I have the best unpaired hand and his turn bet sizing makes calling mandatory. Similar story on the river.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Full Tilt - $11+$1|3000/6000 NL RUSH - Holdem - 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3: http://www.pokertracker.com
SB: 78,238.00
BB: 122,909.00
Hero (BTN): 68,853.00
SB posts ante 750.00, BB posts ante 750.00, Hero posts ante 750.00, SB posts SB 3,000.00, BB posts BB 6,000.00
Pre Flop: (11250.00) Hero has 5c 4c
Hero raises to 12,000.00, fold, BB calls 6,000.00
Flop: (29250.00, 2 players) 7c Qc Jh
BB checks, Hero checks
Turn: (29250.00, 2 players) 9s
BB bets 18,000.00, Hero calls 18,000.00
River: (65250.00, 2 players) Qd
BB checks, Hero bets 38,103.00 and is all-in, fold
Hero wins 65,250.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------
In this hand I didn't want to be check shoved on, so I decided to see if I could realise my equity by taking a free card. Villains' turn bet just seemed weak by the size and timing. I wonder if raising all-in might have been better than flatting... I might have folded a few hands that had decent equity. However calling getting obvious odds to draw to the flush and then he quickly checks the river. I'm now convinced he has nothing so an obvious shove.
Well chuffed, GL all!
PS just started following James Atkins' blog, and he posted a brilliant spoof video that made me cry with laughter (not sure who the original creator is):
Free Moneyz at Full Tilt
Should play a few thousand hands this week, I'll be attempting to manage 100 ftps per day from Monday to Sunday so that I can get free $50 cash. The promotion is called Rush week, and I like free money. Might try and play a few Rush tourneys as well if I get free time. Will post more later in the week.
Monday, 22 November 2010
I must have pleased someone today...
Just a quick session, and a very quick four buy-ins won. Sick hand coming...
Actually pokerhandreplays reminded me that I had non trivial equity in this hand because aces were outs too, but still. Nice suckout, huh? It wasn't until I just reviewed the hand that I also realised villain open raised to 8bb. The flop shove was a ridiculously large overbet as well, and I can't ever fold trips top kicker in that spot. So looks like I may be enjoying a heater for the first time in a couple of months so I need to play as much as possible and enjoy it while it lasts! GL
Sunday, 21 November 2010
EEEEEgggh - OOOOOORrrgh - Donk Betting Tilts Me
So just played another couple of tournaments after that horrible play I made, and again I raise from the button get flatted and quickly donked into and I have top pair. Now I know there's only a pot sized bet left so decided that I'd let him donk off with his entire range on the turn. The board was AQ9r and the turn was an innocuous 5. So I snap called the turn and he had pocket 55. WTF????!!!! I seriously need to develop a sound strategy for donk betting, it tilts the hell out of me.
Psychology
OK, so how does a fish think when he sees a flop and decides to donk? Well, either he thinks his hand is good - no matter what it is - or he thinks making you fold is the way to win at poker. He is not sophisticated enough to know that it's better to let his opponent bet a wide range by checking. On the flip side, there is very very rarely ever a fish that will also donk his strong hands - they love to slow play - so we can almost always put only pairs and bluffs and draws in his donking range, which gives us a capped range. In this instance it makes sense to bluff raise often when we have equity. If we do not have equity it is difficult because if he thinks his hand is good he will not fold. This includes draws. In the final table instance earlier my raise was bad because I was bluffing against a big stack that had me covered and I was risking too much by shipping (by ICM maths) given I only had 25% equity or so when called. It would have made more sense to float and get the money in if I hit on the turn.
Timing
I think it is also useful to evaluate donk betting using timing. If a habitual donk bettor thinks before betting I find that it's usually a made pair or draw type hand and the very quick bets is often a pure bluff (a premeditated action) or sometimes a low pocket pair that is being turned into a bluff.
Strategy?
Raise or fold with nothing - tend to raise if his preflop calling range is wide
Raise with big hands - make him pay for draws or get value from pairs that won't fold
Raise with good draws - fold out his random shit and build a big pot for when we hit
Call with medium hands (inc. implied odds draws like the final table hand) - let him continue to fire with his whole range, and raise when we hit
Anyway, sorry for the rambling strategy post, this was more to do with getting some tilt off of my chest rather than a proper strategy article. But if you are struggling against donk bettors post a comment with your observations. GL
Psychology
OK, so how does a fish think when he sees a flop and decides to donk? Well, either he thinks his hand is good - no matter what it is - or he thinks making you fold is the way to win at poker. He is not sophisticated enough to know that it's better to let his opponent bet a wide range by checking. On the flip side, there is very very rarely ever a fish that will also donk his strong hands - they love to slow play - so we can almost always put only pairs and bluffs and draws in his donking range, which gives us a capped range. In this instance it makes sense to bluff raise often when we have equity. If we do not have equity it is difficult because if he thinks his hand is good he will not fold. This includes draws. In the final table instance earlier my raise was bad because I was bluffing against a big stack that had me covered and I was risking too much by shipping (by ICM maths) given I only had 25% equity or so when called. It would have made more sense to float and get the money in if I hit on the turn.
Timing
I think it is also useful to evaluate donk betting using timing. If a habitual donk bettor thinks before betting I find that it's usually a made pair or draw type hand and the very quick bets is often a pure bluff (a premeditated action) or sometimes a low pocket pair that is being turned into a bluff.
Strategy?
Raise or fold with nothing - tend to raise if his preflop calling range is wide
Raise with big hands - make him pay for draws or get value from pairs that won't fold
Raise with good draws - fold out his random shit and build a big pot for when we hit
Call with medium hands (inc. implied odds draws like the final table hand) - let him continue to fire with his whole range, and raise when we hit
Anyway, sorry for the rambling strategy post, this was more to do with getting some tilt off of my chest rather than a proper strategy article. But if you are struggling against donk bettors post a comment with your observations. GL
Some Goals for the Week
Going to try and play ~100 games of Rush MTT this week at $4.40 a go. Simply as an exercise to see how I get on. I'll post a graph at the end unless I run horribly and give up like I normally do on a challenge I set myself! Seriously though, if I just concentrate on numbers and don't look at results I should be able to get to 100 no problem at all by 4-6 tabling. This is a really small sample size in truth so providing it doesn't go terribly I may extend the run to Christmas and try and do five hundred or so. I've seen some good ROIs on the forums so if I can somehow make $1 a game that will be a nice increase to the bankroll. In those times when I don't have a spare hour and a half I'll still play some 25NL cash to keep myself warm to those games too. Hand histories? Oh, go on I might do that too.
Edit: I think I just made a pretty big final table mistake with seven runners left. I was second in chips and there were two very short stacks, so I should just have tightened up and waited for them to bust and move up in cash spots. The ICM didn't justify me taking any risk at all given how much equity I had locked up. But this player kept calling my raises and donking half pot every single flop. I had folded until the incident but then got a rainbow board with two overcards and gutshot and shipped over his donk. This time, he had an overpair and it held up. I think I let tilt and recklessness get the better of me. Pretty disappointing. Must take more care in final table spots!!!
Edit: I think I just made a pretty big final table mistake with seven runners left. I was second in chips and there were two very short stacks, so I should just have tightened up and waited for them to bust and move up in cash spots. The ICM didn't justify me taking any risk at all given how much equity I had locked up. But this player kept calling my raises and donking half pot every single flop. I had folded until the incident but then got a rainbow board with two overcards and gutshot and shipped over his donk. This time, he had an overpair and it held up. I think I let tilt and recklessness get the better of me. Pretty disappointing. Must take more care in final table spots!!!
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