First Week

I'm using the term "week" pretty loosely here since it's only been 2 days. However, I've decided to do my updates on Sunday nights and I had a couple of interesting days getting settled in so I might as well put it up.

Posting stats over 2K hands is a little meaningless but I'll throw them up anyway. If there's any other stats you'd like me to add just let me know.



Next week I'll put up position stats as well as there should be a much bigger sample. I'll probably put up a graph too. The bankroll is up to $3749.

I spent most of Saturday morning setting up the HoldemManager hud. I had a bit of trouble getting SpadeEye to datamine in the background while I was playing though, it kept on lagging up the whole system. Since HoldemManager's hud won't launch on the table until a hand's been played that's going to be a nuisance, somebody please correct me if I'm wrong. Tables where all the players are unknown are great for finding fish so I'll probably have to clean up all the crap on my computer.

I had a good start to the day, running up a little over 5 buy-ins. I went for a break to get some lunch and started up another session. This one didn't go so well and I dropped about 4 and a half buy-ins. There were some coolers, second nut flush < nut flush and top two pair < bottom set on draw heavy board. There were also some bad beats, AA < KK and AKo < AKs both AIPF.

That may have tilted me slightly but I think the real reason I did so poorly was tiredness. I've mentioned before that I've had problems playing tired but if I want to get in any decent amount of hands I'll probably need to put in a second session a day. I think I'll have to start taking proper breaks, go to the gym, take Lauren (my daughter) to the park, etc. and hopefully come back refreshed. Otherwise I'll have to start taking midday naps and if the summer is any bit warm that's going to be uncomfortable and difficult.

I spent Sunday morning cleaning off my hard drive and most of the afternoon playing. Made about 4 buy-ins and decided to have a break. SpadeEye seemed to be working much better. I brought Lauren into town to pick up some stuff and got a 4 pack of red bull which should help to get the most out of the last few hundred hands each day. I left the computer to defragment while I was away but when I came back it still wasn't finished so I didn't get a chance to put in a second session.

















I'll probably have to reformat the whole thing eventually but that's a lot of work so meh.

RoadSweeper mentioned that I should discuss some hands. I can't remember too many interesting ones but I thought this hand was somewhat interesting.

Party Poker, $0.50/$1 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP: $104.83
CO: $118.23
BTN: $73.83
Hero (SB): $100.50
BB: $100
UTG: $113.63

Pre-Flop: 3 A dealt to Hero (SB)

3 folds, BTN calls $1, Hero calls $0.50, BB checks

Button's playing 71/15/2.4 over 150 hands. BB is unknown. I think calling here is fine, maybe a little marginal and if I wasn't in the mood to play it I might fold.

Flop: ($3) 8 9 3 (3 Players)
Hero bets $3, BB calls $3, BTN folds

I flop a pair so I lead out. I look for pretty much any excuse to bet in limped pots so bottom pair top kicker is as good as any. I'll often have the best hand but won't usually be called by much worse. It's more of a bet to take down the pot and a sort of 5 out semi-bluff if you will. Check calling would be fairly awful. The board's pretty wet so if I hadn't flopped anything I'd usually check fold. Check folding wouldn't be bad here either anyway.

Turn: ($9) K (2 Players)
Hero bets $7, BB folds

I get called on the flop by the unknown BB. His range probably includes any 8 or 9, as well as flush or open ended straight draws. If he's really bad it could be wider then that with any pair, gutshots and complete floats or if he's really nitty he may even fold some of the 8s.

The king is a pretty interesting card. If he has a pair of 8s or 9s I'd expect him to check behind if I check and maybe do the same with some of his straight draws. If he bets it's likely to be a flush or strong pair+. I'd expect to get to showdown a good bit if I check but I don't think I have too much showdown value.

In the end I decided to turn my hand into a bluff. I expect him to fold all 8s or 9s on this board as well as his straight draws. There's a chance he raises a flush draw on the flop and a flush or pair of kings is definitely in my range here.

Results: $9 Pot
Hero mucked 3 A and WON $15.05 (+$11.05 NET)

So a couple of things to sort out and problems to address. Overall I was kind of happy with my game, it's changed a lot in the two month break so naturally there'll be some teething problems. A lot of times I wasn't really thinking about my opponents' ranges that much and sort of auto-piloting but hopefully, once I'm more comfortable with my new style, I'll have more brain power available for reads.

Anyway, the stuff I got today included a dvd and a bottle of wine so I better head away before my girlfriend drinks it all.