Some help from an unlikely friend...

August wasn't exactly my best month when you remember my previous post from a few weeks ago.
I was stucking in a stupid -10 BI downswing, wasn't playing my best poker and maybe 6-tabling wasn't helping it when I think about it.

I was actually playing more than I had ever played and raked in a few thousands in short order.
All of that is over now after I have gotten help from my former nemesis: PLO.
I've recently fallen back in love with the game and made a 180 degrees turn this month to finally be in the green! I have no clue how much PLO hands I've played, maybe 2k, with NL, that amounts of about 7k hands for the month.

So far my results have been really good, with very few losing sessions; and because of that my confidence is way up. One of the things I still need to work on is to no play with scared money. Every time I gather up a big stack at a table I tend to just leave not wanting to lose it. But having a big stack in PLO is such a huge edge and often short stacks are afraid to play against them because they can't just push all-in at any time.

Anyways, I've also unlocked $30 from FTP's Best Bonus Ever and I am now looking forward to their Take 2 Bonus as well as Stars' WCOOP Reload Bonus which I have yet to start completing.
Either way, August was good and I'm ready for September.

ronee

STEAMING!!!

I don't like to rant, but here are the two biggest hands of my night's session.
Had to quit right after.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4597111

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4597113

WTFAERZDR#%^%$&!!~!@$#@%#$^

ronee

Look out belooooww!

So far, pretty big downswing in August, maybe -10BI, and it's probably my worst downswing as far as I can remember.
Anywho, those kind of hands kind of sum up the bad beats, and I'm leaving out the crappy plays I'm making as well... :)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4556369

I've played over 2000 hands in just a handful of days, which has got to be a record for me.
I've also unlocked $10 from Full Tilt's Best Bonus Ever

ronee

One outer

I wasn't involved in this hand.
But man that's gotta hurt:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4516680

That guy was a total jackass too. He was tilting to death, raising every hand and insulting everyone who beat him in a pot.

I was on the receiving end of his last rant when I busted him with a set against his flush draw. He turned his flush but I rivered the FH, which is standard in PLO. I'd post the chat here but he's not worth it, although hoping that somebody dies ain't cool.

ronee

PLO is a streaky game

If I couple my NL and PLO gains, I end up with a small loss for July, maybe a buy-in or so.
I've run pretty bad in NL lately and I won't bother with my AA vs QQ busting preflop or KK vs AK, that's just standard I guess. That prompted a few tilted hands and light calls that I now regret.

I've identified a few leaks in my game as far as calling with marginal hands out of position and trying to hero-call when it's pretty clear I am beat. I'm definitely gonna work on that for my next sessions.

If I am not 6-tabling, I just play one table of PLO while watching TV or something. Last night's session was quite fun as I hit a couple of monsters, even though I only got paid off on the last one that's cool though.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4510459

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4510460

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4510461

EDIT: one last hand from my recent session. Sick sick sick.
I am up around $40 in my last 3 PLO sessions at $0.05/$0.10

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4513476

ronee

Slow days

After my rush last month, I had a horrific session earlier where I lost about -$30.
Most of that was due to tilting after losing a buy-in with TPTK and have a guy with second pair call my all-in on the turn and river trips.

Not that I am losing my confidence or anything, I have felt like playing live a little more lately.
The results have been great so far, as at one point I was up $60 in three weeks,...until I lost $15 last night. My g/f wanted me to pick her up so I just donked off the last game, calling a push with K3 suited.

Anyways, I have upgraded my internet connection (which is slow as hell in tahiti) and that should ben taken care of tomorrow. I thought it'd be ready tonight, in which case I would have put in a session but too bad. If all goes well, I'll be able to play 6-8 tables very soon, mainly at 0.05/0.10.

By the way, after Full Tilt Poker's horrible out-of-beta anniversary software update, I'm gonna stick to PokerStars for a while. Lots of people have been complaining about crashes, lags, invisible cards and UGLY ASS (really!) small cards (try to shrink your table and you'll know it's impossible to multi-table on FTP these days). Hopefully those will get fixed soon.

See you

ronee

Live poker has been...

Wow, I was gonna make a stupid post about how live poker has been boring me lately and how I'd rather stay home and play 4-tables than drive half an hour to play 30 hands of poker... Turns out I just finished a short session of 150 hands on Stars and boom!...won $21 just like that!

I've been killing it on Stars lately (brag alert!) and I am up $40+ in less than 300 hands on that site. Coupled with my Full Tilt winnings from this month, I am up $81 for June, woot!
This almost makes me wanna stop playing until July 1st rolls around :D

A few hands for you:

I was hoping for a fold and I was able to suck out on the river.
I think it's the right move given my fold equity and 50/50 is what I was hoping for.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4398869

That sucked hard! I am just happy I didn't reraise him all-in.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4398870

The biggest pot I played tonight.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4398872

Lol, what a hero call. I had 2 seconds left before I finally clicked "Call".
I just relied on his click-tell (he instabet after my river check) and it just looked like a please-please-fold-to-me-pretty-please bet.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4398873

Laters!!

ronee

A good start to the month

So far June has been really great as far as Hold'em goes.
In 1000+ hands I've banked just about $50 which hopefully keeps going.

I've been playing more on Full Tilt recently and it's been treating me good.
Some of the hands:

He left without a word right after, can't blame him. I knew he had a big pair, but still don't know if I would have been able to fold on the coming river bet.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4366908

Lost to a good friend here. I'll get him back next time around XD

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4366913

Mmmmmmmkay, thanks!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4366919

Just me at my tilting best...I'm just kicking myself over this dumb move.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4366922

"I have a bad feeling about this". I really did...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4366925

Well, that sucked!!!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4366928

A winning flop for once :D

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4366932

A lucky river for me and all is good.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4366936

ronee

Ban me from Pot-Limit Omaha!

I love PLO, the game is great, the action is awesome and shoving with multiple draws is something Hold'em can't offer.

Too bad I suck at this game....

I had a session of 3 NLHE tables and one 1 PLO tonight
The NLHE was 0.10c/0.25c and PLO was 0.5c/0.10c.

Would you believe me if I told you I was stupid enough to lose $24 on PLO and win the same amount on NLHE? Which all adds up to a break-even session $^#^%^$#%&^&

Please, someone ban me from this awesome game!

ronee

A good session

Recently I've been trying to get back into playing PLO (I know...) and I've been experiencing playing 3 tables of NL and one of PLO at one time.
This last session I played kind of mirrors my overall results, in about 100 hands, I lost $6 at PLO and won $13 at NL.

To the big hands:

This hand played itself. Was afraid he turned the straight but he took a while before calling so it was obvious I was good.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4227496

I guess he's trying to make some kind of Jedi call...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4227499

Was that a good move? Even for a short-stacker like me at PLO?
My guess was that it was a good spot to double up, but I don't know better.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4227503

ronee

Month recap

Hey there

Not much online poker those past two weeks for me, lots of stuff going on and work ouf course.
I was able to play a lot at the beginning of April and racked up 1300 hands in short order but didn't put in another session after that, which all added up to a small profit.

Luckily I ended with a small bang after I finished 1st twice in our live SNGs this past week, which makes me feel good about my play.
I have been experimenting with a more loose/aggressive play recently and it's been working quite well I gotta say. Not that my former style wasn't working or anything, but being a tight player is just plain boring. Right now I tend to raise more from any position with a much wider range of hands and just try to outplay after the flop and make the right calls.

Hopefully the next post won't be as boring and I'll have a few HHs for you ;)

ronee

The worst poker night of my life

April 1st is over, but it still feels like the joke is on me, as I am running absolutely horrible.
So far this month, I am about even online but still feel like I should be up a bundle more, if I didn't have Aces cracked or QQ getting called AIPF vs Jh5h (for his whole $5 stack!) and the dude hitting a backdoor flush.

But tonight really tops it all because I have a really sick feeling to my stomach.
In a live SNG with $10 BI, I was the clear chip leader with 7 left and kept doubling up the short stacks with gems like these.

AA vs K8, board reads 64523
99 vs 22, he rivers a 2
KQ vs K8, he turns a flush
AK vs KQ vs 99, the board is rags

What can I do seriously? Even with that last double up, I think I was even or ahead in all of them, so there is not much I can do anymore.
After all this, the shorter stack (which I doubled 3 times) was the runaway chip leader as I left shortly after busting, a meaningless A3 vs AT which fizzled...against that same guy obviously.

Even through all this, I think I got respect from everybody at the table since they all acknowled I was just running bad.

It just sucks to lose.

ronee

Volume is the *key*

I've been running bad the past month.
After a great start to the year, I am barely even in live games (I don't keep track but whatever, this is about right).
I then proceeded to lose most of my winnings playing on Full Tilt and some more at PLO.
Obviously I still suck at Omaha and take full responsability for playing when I don't even have any sort of edge.

One thing I realized though in poker is, volume is the key to everything.
You might be 2% better than your opponent, still, you won't be making money after one night of play.
I have seen so much shit the past few weeks, like K6 pushing on the river of a KK6-T-rag board only to get called by KT. What about last night with JT committing all his money on the turn when the board read KQ9-Q-K and his opponent calling with Q-rag.

So for a change, I decided to 6-table tonight. Although my connection barely held up and I got disconnected temporarily twice, I was able to put in 250 hands in about an hour.
Guess what, I had AA twice in the first 10 mins, and they got cracked twice, preflop by JJ and on the flop by a straight draw.

I lost $12 very very quickly and I was starting to feel depressed and thinking 'this is just not my day', but still I stuck with it and I am glad I did.
Luckily when you play multiple tables, you just don't have time to feel sorry for yourself and think about your mistakes (which is what hand histories are for, but I don't bother to be honest). So I just kept my head in the game and kept grinding, grinding, kept reloading, busting and being busted.

At that time, I didn't even know what my bankroll was exactly and probably didn't want to know the result from this disastrous session.
I loaded Poker Tracker anyways, imported the 259 hands,... the sessions read this:
-$9.35
-$0.05
-$2.95
+$5.90
+$4.70
+$2.10

In the end, I came out a +$0.35 winner, ridicoulous. But still a lot better than if I were just 2-tabling, don't you think?

If you don't multi-table, you're just losing money.

ronee

Crazy game this poker

Whew, March got off to a rocky start where I was losing a ton on Full Tilt. Like I said, this site seems to love action and I have been on the receiving end of the beats, as the hands below can attest. If I had won only a few of those I'd be in the black but as it turns out, after about 700 hands into the month I probably won't be able to replicate February unless I go on a sick heater.

I was able to climb back up and find myself down only 2 BIs for the month. I recently ended a session where my KK on a Jhh board were cracked by a guy calling my all-in on the flop with the nut flush draw. Oh well.

Straight for all = action.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?3944610

Aces cracked
http://www.pokerhand.org/?3944612

Broadway cracked
http://www.pokerhand.org/?3944614

cya

ronee

My february numbers

So february is over and the total tally is pretty good, even for a micro-stakes grinder like me :D

I didn't put in as many hands as I wanted (1k+ seems about right) but so far I made maybe $25 in NLHE cash online, $8 in HORSE online, and about $30 in live SNG/cash.
Obviously I am due for a downfall but the later the better hehe.

My graph below represents my NLHE online cash results for the month and I absolutely like the shape of it.


ronee

I get rivered twice,...and still win!

I was invited to a cash game thursday night, some of the people there I had never seen before, including one girl.
The game was a 0.05/0.10 NLHE game with a buy-in anywhere from $5 to $20.
I figured 100xBB would do the trick and would allow a lot of play so that's why I bought in for $10 and also did the other 7 players.

The VERY FIRST HAND of play was quite a shocker to say the least.

- I raised in MP with KcQc and everyone seems to think I'm getting overly aggressive already lol.
- The player next to me calls and everyone folds
- The flop is a MAGICAL 6c8cAc so I bet PRAYING he has an Ace or a club, he calls.
- The turn is a 6 which pairs the board. I kind of hate but I still bet about half the pot and he calls fast.
- River is a Fucking Ace! And I absolutely PUKE because I know for sure he has an Ace at this point so I check.
- To my surprise he checked also and showed AJ for the nuts....weird.

The hand of the night happened maybe during the second orbit of play.

- Lots of limpers and I decide to see a flop for cheap with 34o and we are maybe 6 players in.
- Flop is 256 rainbow which of course gives me the nuts.
- EP bets half the pot, I raise and get 3 callers, included the EP raiser.
- Turn is the Ac which puts a second club on board and EP again bets big, maybe $2.
- I decide to wait no longer and push. Most likely in this loose game, most drawers and TPTK-holders would call to see the river; thus my push wouldn't be such +EV on the river.
- MP agonizes for a long time (so do I) and finally calls.
- LP thinks also but tells me he can't possibly fold and calls.
- EP resigns himself and folds.
- I show the nuts, MP shows Qc8c and LP shows Ac3c which is awesome for me. EP reveals he had 78 later.
- The river is a harmless King and I am sitting with a stack of $40 in front of me.

Honestly in that hand I don't think MP should have called, but maybe LP because he definitely had odds at this point.
I find that a lot of new players attach too much value to their hand and don't seem to worry about what the opponent might be holding.
This is probably good for me because in honesty, this is the kind of game you want to be sitting in, with people chasing every card.
But if they hit (cf next hand) that just sucks for me.

I honestly considered quitting at this point but I just decided it wouldn't be fair to everyone to bolt with $40 after just a half hour of play (or less).
Plus the two players I busted decided to rebuy for $5.
The only other big hand I had after that was....a crueler.

- KK in early position I raise and get a caller.
- Flop is 349 I bet $2, she calls.
- Turn is a 6 I bet $2 she calls.
- River was a crushing 7 and she checks. I am not sure what to do there but I put her on AT-AJ and decide well, she might think I was bluffing all the way and decide to call a bluff with Ace high.
So I bet (idiot! you're only gonna get called by a hand that can beat you!) $2 and she just flat calls (ORLY) with A5 for the straight.

My stack did take a big hit after that hand, and I didn't have much to play with either.
I tried to limp in with gapped connectors or suited cards and didn't hit much for the rest of the night. Plus a couple of short stackers were starting to shove it.
We finally ended the game at 10:15pm and I was the big winner with a $31 stack, which.....is kind of disappointing lool.

Dang, if only I had left.

ronee

Full Tilt's got something against me...or not.

There was a time when I really used to think that FTP had some kind of 'action hands' RNG or some shit like that. Everytime you'd see huge hands against each other, like just now I saw AA vs KK preflop in a cash game and everytime I'd be on the losing end of things.

Well, today I just played 2 tables for a few hands and the ones below reflect my session as I basically came out slightly positive, which is a small consolation prize.

Don't think I could have folded on the river either way.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?3907909

No other way to play that hand and it worked out for me :D. I'm surprised he didn't slow down on the river to be honest. (Methinks FTP has action switch!)
http://www.pokerhand.org/?3907917

I'm also up a little more on Stars since last time, maybe a buy-in or so. That amounts to about 1k hands for the month which is still not a lot I know but I plan on playing more.

Regards,

ronee

So far so good!

A good start to the month so far. I have only put up 680 hands up to now but I am only beginning.
I've played a mix of FL/NL, HORSE cash and I've been winning in all of them, which makes me feel good.

As far as Hold'em (the only thing PokerTracker handles) I am running at 11bb/100 which I am told is a good winning rate so I'm pretty satisfied with that.
Up $12 and I'm not even including my HORSE winnings which may total $8 or so.

Well I could have been up a lot more if not for those stupid hands :P

A cooler:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?3897718

I'd take this one any day of the week and I'm gonna hit one of those days:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?3897734

ronee

Look who's baaacckkk!!!

Hey there, it's been a while!

I'm not sure anybody actually reads this but I'll just keep doing this for my own good.
Talking about my own play might be therapeutic who knows?

Anyways I haven't been playing a lot lately. I started a new job and it has me waking up early and coming home late almost everyday. So far I like it a lot, and it's a far cry from my former job where I did nothing all day except play poker lol. So because of that, not so much poker, not enough sports (I can barely make it to badminton now) and I completely gave up the gym.
Like I said, work is taxing but I also have lots of stuff going on at home that keep me away from the tables. Add to that that my girlfriend wants my week-ends to be centered around her and it's hard to play cards haha (not that I'm complaining).

So I started to get the itch to play again and started making the same mistakes I used to.
I still suck at PLO that's for sure and tried to take a shot at 0.10/0.25 for a few giggles and lost about $40. Honestly I don't think my play was bad, but I just didn't get luck when I needed it.
For example I had an open-ended flush draw on the flop and he shoves/calls with two pairs. The rivers gives me a flush but he also gets a full house.
Or I have 88xx and flop is 78Q. Turn is another 7 and I check/call the whole way to trap him. I check/shove the river and he instacalls with QQxx. I was really hoping for 78xx or something but what else could you do?

That taught me that I have no bankroll management whatsoever and this is something that is going to change from now on. I devised some idiotic Excel sheet that will tell me which levels I can play depending on my bankroll. The rules for now:

- Buy into cash games with 60xBB (shortstacking no more)
- 25 BIs needed to play a cash game of NL and 50 BIs for PLO
- NO MORE PLO until I read some books and articles.
- Multitabling will be important. Because if you don't multitable in online poker, you're just losing money.
- 45 BIs needed for SNGs
- 100 BIs needed for MTTs

For now I will start with 0.05/0.10 cash games on either PS or FT, whichever.
I plan on sticking to that plan and see what comes out of it, hopefully something good.

On a side note, I've been doing pretty good in live games with finishes of 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, 1st and....6th LOL. Being card-dead ain't fun.

Until next time...

ronee