September Review

Again it looks like the biggest problem with my stats is I haven't played enough hands. I probably did 8k hands a week back when I first started this blog and now I'm struggling to do it in a month.

Overall I think the stats look pretty sexy, my flop AF and cbet% have gone back up to a respectable level.

My turn cbet% is going in the right direction but my river AF isn't great, although it's a small sample for that.

Besides that there's been little bits of fluctuation here and there but nothing terribly interesting. My VPIP/PFR has stayed around the same level as last month, maybe this is my new style.

My won $ without showdown is still negative but I'm not terribly bothered about that.

I've decided I'm going to set a new goal. I completed my previous goal and since then I've put in about 10k hands so maybe some motivation will do me good.

I'm going to try to hit $20k by Christmas. I've got experience at $400nl already so I don't expect to have any psychological problems with moving back up, etc. Balancing time spent studying the game with time spent playing is something I'll have to improve if I want to achieve this though.

Week 16

Bankroll is down to $5,443.

I played a session Monday after college, didn't run very well at all. I had a fish cooler me twice for 100BBs each in the space of 3 hands, and then hit and run. I didn't feel like I was playing that great anyway tbh.

On Tuesday Party launched their new software which fucked up SpadeEye so now I can't table select. I opened up a few tables just to try out the new style, I didn't like it very much, at least it's possible to go back to the "classic" view. I cashed out $500 as well.

Aaron (aejones) has just launched his new site, www.memoirsofaejones.com, for his audio files. He'd agreed to sell them to me individually before but we were both on holidays and lost touch so I PMed him again to see if I'd still be able to get them individually. He said it would be a bit of hassle but he'd do it and also offered to give me a substantial discount if I got all of them together since I'd inquired previously. I decided to take him up on the offer and get them altogether, it's putting a pretty big dent into my bankroll but I'll still be able to play 200nl and I don't really want to keep annoying him for each new chapter. I also played a $55 tourney on Stars.

Wednesday I watched a video and was able to get the $4k over to FullTilt to pay for the audio files, I listened to two of them. It's pretty difficult to keep concentration without something to watch and I can't read forums, etc. without having to rewind the audio every couple of minutes to pick up what I missed. It probably would have come out a whole lot better as a PowerPoint video, even if it was only a few different slides with summaries or whatever. Content is obviously excellent even though these first two were on preflop play which tends to be fairly dry and boring most of the time. I've also heard a lot of it before from various sources so it's, mostly, nothing groundbreaking but I guess it never hurts to have the fundamentals drilled into you again. There are, of course, one or two little gems which should have a significant effect on my winrate though.

Thursday I watched a video and listened to another two chapters of the audio files. Chapter 3, playing 3bet pots, was........thorough. That's probably the best way to describe it. It goes way beyond just dry texture vs. wet texture. A high boards vs. Q high boards vs. 9 high boards vs. etc, rainbow, two tone, mono tone, good cbet spots, good barreling spots, reacting to raises, bet sizing, how to play different hand strengths, typical hand ranges for villains in different spots, perceived ranges and probably some other stuff I've already forgotten. It was almost always brought back to balancing and reasons why given for the majority of things. I had to rewind several times because I'd constantly miss stuff.

Chapter 4, playing 3bet pots without initiative, was really good as well, possibly the best one so far. The conference calls aren't up yet but I'm really looking forward to them.

Friday I listened to chapters 5 and 6, which are on postflop play, and tried to get HoldemManager working with the new Party update but now I can't get HoldemManager to turn on at all which is fairly frustrating.

On Saturday I reinstalled the earlier version of HoldemManager. Party are after fixing their hand histories so it should work again as well as putting a player list in the lobby so hopefully SpadeEye should be updated soon. I listened to chapter 7, psychology with gp333 as a guest, I'm usually not big into the whole leveling thing but it was still really good. I also listened to chapter 10 on leading and dealing with leads since I had another coaching session with Tri that evening and that was one of the topics we were going to discuss.

The coaching session went well, we talked about the article he'd sent me called line variations, stuff on river checkraising, minraising/gayraising and donk betting. We looked at a few hand examples, discussed any questions I had and got into a big argument on 3betting. Our next session is on 3betting (and probably postflop play in 3bet pots as well) and, even though I've got 3bet theory coming out my ears at this stage, it will be nice to hear more of his thoughts on it as his approach is different to the one I use and both BobboFitos and aejones recommend (although their opinions are slightly different on some parts). So even though I had a big argument with him on it I'm going to try and keep an open mind about his approach even if I don't adopt it myself.

On Sunday I installed the update for SpadeEye and put in a decent session which went well. I listened to chapter 8, deep play with BobboFitos as a guest, and then put in another small session.

Next week I hope to finish the audio files and get through the conference calls which should be up soon. After that I'll go through the audio files more slowly and start taking some notes. It should be much easier to find things I want to ask about or have elaborated that way. It'll also make it easier to revise and refer back if I have it in print. Hopefully Party manage to not fuck up their software for a little while so I can actually get some hands in.

Week 15

Bankroll is up to $9,800.

I cashed out $700 on Monday. I started playing The Godfather on PS2 and ended up not getting any sessions in Monday or Tuesday. That was pretty stupid since I was close to clearing a $250 reload bonus but it looks unlikely I'll get it cleared now.

Wednesday I put in a decent session, running well with regs making loads of spewy plays at me. Didn't have time for a second session.

Thursday I was playing Godfather again and went to a going away party for a friend that night so I didn't get any sessions in. I was too hungover to play on Friday as well.

Played a small session Saturday evening, I felt really weird, didn't feel in control or in the zone at all. I was getting in unusual spots, not sure what to do half the time, having to think about basic decisions. I just decided to quit early, hopefully it's only temporary. I watched a video though. My CardRunners subscription ran out, I'm going to leave it for a while before renewing, it's pretty hard to keep up with 3 training sites.

Didn't play at all on Sunday either. It's been a pretty bad week for getting anything done, I still have to organize a time for my next coaching session. I'm back to college tomorrow, last year I only played at the weekends and I'm not sure if I'll be getting in any hands during the week this year either. I'll see how my timetable fills out and try to find some good times for a session or two.

Week 14

Bankroll is up to $9,675.

Monday I had a frozen raspberry, fresh strawberry, whole grain summer fruits, apple juice and honey smoothie. Session was going very well until I got nut flush draw + two overcards in vs. top set in a 3bet pot 200+BBs deep and didn't suck out. I was happy with how I played, felt pretty in control and was getting away with a lot of stuff.

Tuesday went o.k. again, felt like I was running well but seemed to be getting played back at a lot. Had a sweat session with SlowHabit in the evening, ran pretty well, had a lot of fun and learned a good bit too. One thing I realized is that I tend to just auto fire cbets when it's a good spot for it (good board texture or backdoor equity, etc.) and don't just give up a small pot or two every now and then. By doing that I would improve my image with the donks I'm pounding on and, because they're less frustrated, they'll play back at me a little less and let me pick up more pots in future. The other argument is that I should just pick up the EV now and worry about future implications later. It was nice having somebody sweat me, even though I timed out a good bit, verbalizing my thoughts before every action helped a lot.

I didn't get a chance to play on Wednesday as I had a meeting but I did watch a couple of videos. CR and DC seem to be releasing a load of good content the last couple of weeks, having a set schedule and using series seems to work really well. I still have a soft spot for Leggo though, I love that they answer my questions. Tri (SlowHabit) sent me an article called "Line Variations" for us to discuss in our next session. It talks about 4 different plays you can make and basically gets you to think about what you're doing instead of just being a robot.

I didn't play at all on Thursday either, I really need to put in two decent sessions tomorrow. I went back through some of the hands in the sweat session and sent them to Tri with a couple of questions and he emailed me back a few hours later. I watched a video in the evening. I'm being pretty lazy at the moment and I have a bit of stuff to do between getting UCCPokerSoc set up for next year, writing my 1000th boards post and searching my database for some hand histories for my next coaching session. But the games are usually very good on Fridays so I gotta get some hands in as well.

I couldn't get to sleep Thursday night. I watched a video, had a strawberry, banana, peach yogurt and tropical juice smoothie and went back to bed about noon on Friday, woke up a few hours later and played a long (for me) session. It started off pretty poorly, was getting sucked out on, value betting into better hands, etc. It turned around after a while, I coolered a nit with AA > KK 200+BBs deep which was very nice.

Saturday I watched the Liverpool vs. United match and managed to get in two sessions afterwords. I'm glad I got in a few more hands in the last two days. The sessions went well which is always nice.

Sunday I watched a couple videos and got in a decent session later on. I'm getting used to not knowing how I'm doing until the end of the week. I find that I'm quitting sessions because of how I'm feeling rather then how much I'm up or down which is a lot more profitable and a lot less stressful.

Week 13

Bankroll is up to $7,238.

Monday morning I played a small session, I've decided to take the $won and BB/100 off my HoldemManager because I find I let short term results effect me too much. At the very least it should make it more awkward for me to find out anyway. I'll put it back on at the end of the week when I'm posting my stats though. I went to the post office delivery office to collect my LeggoPoker tshirt and hoodie that arrived while I was on holidays and played a second session when I got back. I paid another $50 for hand histories for the next month and started a $250 reload bonus I was offered for being inactive for two weeks. The offer was for 50% up to $500 but I only have 15 days to clear it and I didn't want to have to force myself to clear a big bonus. This way I should be able to clear it pretty comfortably.

Tuesday morning I tried to do a video but struggled to get 4 tables running, by the time I did I wasn't in the mood to do it so went for a break instead. I bought a smoothie maker at Argos, I got the idea off RoadSweeper's blog. I bought some juices (orange, tropical and apple), wholegrain yogurts (plain, raspberry and summer berry), honey, oatmeal, frozen fruits (strawberry, raspberry and summer fruits) and some fresh fruit (oranges, bananas, pears, pineapple and melon). Going to try mixing things together and seeing what comes out :).

I started with orange juice, frozen summer fruits, a bananna and some honey. I found the frozen berries very bitter so I don't think I'll be trying this one again. I managed to get a video recorded during my second session.

Wednesday I had a frozen strawberry, plain yogurt, banana and oatmeal smoothie. With a small bit of orange juice and honey. Much nicer taste even though there was a bit too much oatmeal in it. Played a decent session and then had a frozen raspberry, raspberry yogurt, banana and apple juice smoothie. This one was very nice. Didn't get in a second session but watched about three videos.

Thursday I woke up pretty late as I'm in a bad sleeping pattern since coming home. I played a pretty long session in the afternoon and SlowHabit sent me his comments on my video in the evening. He feels like I pot control too much, put too much emphasis on showdown value and tend to auto pilot with strong hands without putting my opponents on a range first. So definitely some pretty important leaks to fix there. I didn't play a second session as I was going through what he sent me and asking follow up questions.

Friday morning I had a fresh strawberry, raspberry yogurt, banana and orange juice smoothie with a little honey. Very nice again although there were a bit too many seeds in it, probably from the fresh strawberries and the raspberry yogurt. I got in a decent session, felt I was cbetting a bit more and not caring as much about getting my bottom or middle pair to showdown. I tried to pay more attention to my opponents range when I had a big hand but I'm not sure I put enough thought into it. Didn't play a second session but watched a couple of videos.

Saturday morning I had a pineapple, pear, apple, orange, banana and tropical juice smoothie. Nice to have something a little different to the strawberry/raspberry combos. Only got in one session again, I really need to start getting up earlier and starting earlier.

Sunday I got started pretty soon after I got up but didn't get up until about 2. Played a decent session and ran pretty well.

Here's an interesting hand.

Party Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

SB: $370.35
Hero (BB): $203
UTG: $210.95
MP: $282.08
CO: $390.87
BTN: $106.50

Pre-Flop: Q A dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, MP raises to $7, 2 folds, SB calls $6, Hero calls $5

MP is playing 19/14/2.3 over 13k hands and the SB is playing 29/12/1.4 over 290 hands. MP is opening 17% first in from that position and the SB is calling opens 22% of the time.

I decide to flat because against MP I feel that squeezing would sort of be turning my hand into a bluff and with good relative position I'm going to have a lot of spots where I can check raise with overcards and back door draws. I could squeeze to isolate the SB and if he was a bit looser then I think the upsides of isolating him would outweigh the risks of turning my hand into a bluff against MP. I also expect MP and the SB to have dominated aces and queens a decent amount as well although that's a concept which would usually apply more to AJ/AT.

Flop: ($21) 2 T J (3 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks, MP bets $15, SB folds, Hero calls $15

I flop a gutshot and two overcards and check to the preflop raiser. MP cbets 71% of the time but has a turn cbet of 33% with a river cbet of 73%. I also have a note which says that he slowplayed in a limped pot and checked AQ on A76 as the PFR OOP. What this tells me is that this player will cbet with air very frequently, almost never follow up on the turn without a hand and will often check the flop with top or middle pair for pot control.

We have a weak but hidden draw , two overcards and a modest amount of showdown value. The K is a pretty disguised out which, if he does have a big hand, he'll have trouble getting away on. If I hit an A or Q my hand will often be best and I might be able to get a small amount of value on the river if the turn checks through, if he does bet the turn it would put me in an awkward spot, I think I'd probably call and fold the river but it would be close.

If the turn and river does get checked through I may have the best hand against a suited connector type hand. I think check raising is reasonable as well but this is a type of draw I'd prefer to play passively whereas something like As7s I'd usually play aggressively although that's also a hand that can be played passively.

Turn: ($51) 8 (2 Players)
Hero bets $38, MP folds

The 8 is a hidden bluff out which means that even though I was drawing to a gutshot, I can represent that I was drawing to a flush draw, so all the spades give me more outs to try and win the pot. If I check I would never check raise as I doubt he's going to bet the turn thin at all, I wouldn't be surprised if a turn bet was a flush only.

So I expect the turn to check though a lot of the time but a river bet isn't going to be that great as a bluff because he can be pot controlling any number of made hands which will happily pay off one river bet to show down their hand but may be more inclined to fold the turn fearing another bet on the river. So by donking the turn I can leverage my stack.

I would probably bluff any spade card and probably bet really small on a A/K/Q/9 to gain a crying call from a J but I think check folding an A/Q would be o.k. too. I wouldn't bet any board pairing card but other cards would be closer and more timing/feel dependent.

Results: $51 Pot
Hero mucked Q A and WON $86.45 (+$64.45 NET)

Looking at my graph for the week it's been very breakeven, just up and down accross the 0 line the whole time. I've got a sweat session on Tuesday which I'm looking forward to. I also highly recommend getting a smoothie maker, I've always struggled to eat enough fruit so it's a great help.

Late August Review

Sorry this got so delayed but between getting sorted after coming home, bad sleeping patterns and basically just being too lazy to upload all the photos I haven't gotten around to it until now.





There isn't really enough hands to do anything more specific but a couple things to note:

My steal % has dropped pretty significantly which has caused my VPIP and PFR to both drop about 2%, might be a lack of confidence or maybe the games are a little more aggressive.

My flop cbet% is down about 5% which I'll explain tomorrow in my weekly review is probably a leak and what I plan to do about it. My turn cbet and river cbet are both up significantly which, although it's going to be correlated to my lowered flop cbet%, I'm pretty pleased about.

My W$WSF has gone up a little, which is pretty good considering I'm down this month and was up considerably last month. I think this is caused by firing more double and triple barrels. I've finally been getting a little better at pulling the trigger on my triple barrels.

My WtSD has gone up, most likely because of my lowered flop cbet%, I'll get to that tomorrow. Although my lowered AF might also indicate that I'm calling too much. And my W$SD has gone down because I'm not running hot any more :(.

My 3bet% went up slightly, especially from the BTN. I'm happy with that although I think I may have been 3bet isolating the maniacs a little too loosely in some spots. I'm going to tone that down a bit.

I got the latest installments of Bobbo's Bible while I was on holiday, I've read them twice so far.

So here's a few photos from Fuerteventura. There was clear skies and hot sun almost every day bar 1 or 2 slightly cloudy days. Luckily we were close to the ocean so there was a nice breeze all the time, although it did pull a bit of sand with it every now and then.

Here's me and Lauren at a steakhouse we went out to on the second night. We didn't go out every night because we didn't want to get sick of it too early and other times we'd have to get an early start if we were going somewhere or else we were too tired after coming back.

Any time we passed one of these cars or horses or whatever else Lauren wanted to go on it.

This one was at a three story shopping center we went to. Despite all the shops there wasn't a huge amount of great clothes there.

Here's a few shots from a zoo we went to, it was a huge outdoor place and the sun was scorching which made walking around to see the all the animals pretty tough but we slogged through.

There was a swimming pool three doors down from us and even though there was usually a decent amount of people there it was never packed so we didn't have any trouble finding places to lie down.

This was at a European restaurant.

Me and Lauren posing.

Me and Jennifer after drinking too much.

We were coming back from a nice local restaurant and decided to have a go on the trampolines; my one was really digging into me, I think I ate too much.

We went to a big water park on the last day, all the sun tan got washed off and we all got badly burnt. Here's some action shots.

Talk to you tomorrow.