RedBarracuda - it's a fish

subota, 21.04.2007.

Few short thoughts...

I am struggling and breaking even for the last 2 weeks or so... I don't know if it's my poker or any other circumstance that is the reason for the struggle but it doesn't change the fact that it's been very hard.
I have been playing NL10 and breaking even and even losing some. I tried playing NL25 6-max and I got outdrawn few times and lost there also, and then I snapped and went on one NL50 6-max table and entered with $15 which is not something I like to do, but as chance wanted I got payed there for everything I didn't get to turn into profit at NL25 and NL10. I sat at the table and made those $15 into $90 in 50 hands. I don't plan on playing this way or sitting at the tables above my bankroll any more and I certainly urge everyone else not to do it because it's an EV- process. I myself did it because I was getting desperate and it was the last money I had left at that particular site (I keep my roll at Moneybookers) so I decided to gamble, and that's what it really was, a huge gamble hoping to make a fast profit based on the previous bad beats and maybe bad plays.. I basically thought that it can't run that bad any more and that it's better to try and get into the rush on a higher level cause the profit there is also better. As I said, I will not do this again because I don't think that I can really make any progress and profit like that. Any other time, and I would be at $0 at that particular site..
***
Even though my poker isn't really working for me right now, I still have to praise all the people at Bet The Pot Forum that helped me improve my microstakes game and what is more important, they helped me realize what is really important and EV+ for me.. I just need to start REALLY using their advices, even though I think I am getting better at that..
***
Also, I will try and find myself some bonuses to grind out at these micro stakes in order to ensure that even if I break even or lose while I play, I will still have my "bad beat insurance" in the form of bonuses.. I never really appreciated much people who hunted bonuses just for bonuses, but I don't consider myself that kind of a player and I will use them only to cover my losses and of course to give me extra boost when needed...

srijeda, 11.04.2007.

Hand replays... just to fill the blanks..

I am playing quite a lot of online poker now so I am not writing anything.. heck, I don't even feel like writing.. Still, I feel that it's my obligation to write at LEAST something here, and I figured that posting hand replays might be a good idea since it both helps me think about the play, and it also might help someone else somehow.. I also added a direct link to Full Tilt Poker's "Tips From the Pros" archive which is also good thing to read. As for this post, there will be some winning hands, some losing hands from yesterdays tilt factor and some hands that I think could have been played better... Let's start..
***
Hand 1,
I just sat at the table and was BB with . MP short stack raised to .40 and LP called. I also called since I just sat down and wanted to see what happens. Ahhh, I flopped . Great!! I check.. MP checks, but LP bets .40. I just call thinking I will attack on turn. MP folds. Turn is and I thought this is not a scarry card at all, I can make my move for guys stack here. I check, he bets .40 again which should rang some bells in my head since pot was $2.15 at that moment. I didn't think about it, I raised to $5. Guy pushes all in and I call. River is and LP shows me for his sevens full of nines over my twos full of nines..
I was thinking about this hand a bit more and I realize that I should have folded this PF because I have seen a lot of times that BB comes in the play, flops something big, and loses his whole stack because of his bad starting hand. Heck, I once had and limped from the button because it was folded to me. I flopped set of aces but checked to the river where 2's paired to give me a boat. This guy in BB checked PF with and since I was checking behind him until the river, he picked up a boat of his own.. Two's full of sevens. He lost his whole stack on the river... My point is.. don't get carried away if you flop something big with a mediocre/bad starting hand. Rather try to control the size of the pot, especially if in position to do so, and be glad that you got anything out of it. Losing a stack or sizeable amount of money with bad hands is what everyone should avoid at all cost..
***
Hand 2,
I was in SB with . It was folede to the button and he made it .30 so I called and BB called. Flop was . Thinking that I am in front, I bet $1, BB folds and Button raises to $2. I raise to $5 and he pushes. I call and he has .
I think I should have folded this PF also... No need to get involved in a three way raised pot with mediocre hand. From flop to all in, I don't think it was that bad, I just had to fold it PF.
***
Hand 3,
Now for a serious mathematical mistake here, although I didn't know that at the time...
I had in LP. I limp. Flop is and SB and BB check. MP (same guy from the hand 1, just at different table) bets .10, I raise to .60, blinds fold and he calls. Turn is giving me an OESFD.. MP checks, I bet .90 into $1.60 and he goes all in for $8.50. I immediately call and river comes . He shows me and takes the pot down.
Now, I said I made a mistake, and I did.. I should have folded to his turn raise since I was actually way behind him in this hand and I thought that I am way in front with the straight and flush and straight flush draw and all... However, given the cards we both held on turn, I actuall had only 25% chance to win this hand while he had 61% while the rest was for the split.. I mean, I think I would probably do the same thing again since I really thought I am in front, but also, luck had it that we were against . Also, I made a mistake of losing a stack in an unraised pot which I must avoid at all costs..
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Hand 4,
I had in LP. MP TAG raised to .40. Everyone folded and I called. BB also called. Flop came . BB checks, MP bets .50, I call and BB makes it $1.50. MP folds and now I make it $16 for the BB. BB had $15 left.. He thought for some time and folded making a comment that "AK isn't enough?". I took the pot but felt bad about the way I did it. I wanted this guys stack right away and I overraised his raise partly because I thought he will bite and call, and partly because I was affraid of the flush draw, thinking that he was semi-bluffing with the check-raise. I guess that a re-raise to $3 or $4 would be in order and would kind of commit his stack in case he would have called that raise....
***
There goes for today.. I don't have much more to write about except to mention that I was extatic yesterday because Chelsea managed to win away at Valencia in Champions League and are now through to semi finals. I can see Chelsea in the finals this year even though they are against Liverpool who plays really solid footie in CL, and they have Rafael Benitez for a manager.. I personaly think that Rafa Benitez is one heck of a manager for European games, but lacks the focus that Mourinho has for domestic competitions. I can see Chelsea winning the tie, partly because I think it will be a revenge for 2 years ago when Liverpool won the CL by beating Chelsea in the semi-finals, and partly because Chelsea has a great team that doesn't forget all that easy if someone beats them once. Just look at Barcelona... Anyway, looking forward to the tie.. Cheers!

subota, 07.04.2007.

Shrinking the Blogroll for quality

I decided that I will have only 10 poker blogs on my blogroll to the right. The reason for this is that I don't want to have a long list of poker blogs that no one will ever take a look at (beside myself). What I want to do is have a top-10 poker blogs listed. Top-10 will be chosen based on what I as a sole judge think about the blogs that go into top-10 category. This inevitably means that if I find and read a blog that I think is very usefull and written good, someone will be kicked out of top-10 and new blog will kick in. This doesn't mean that I have stopped reading those blogs or that I don't appreciate the effort or think there is not much to learn from them. It just means that some other poker blog might have more valuable information that I think is worth sharing and looking at. I know that someone's ego might hurt a bit because his/hers blog is removed from the list but to be honest, I don't care, since as I said, I will keep reading the blogs that I read now and am doing this only because I think valuable information should be easy to reach. This also doesn't mean that I am offering some kind of competition or whatever just to get on my top-10 blogs because that would be just plain stupid and big-headed from me and I really don't want anyone to think about it that way. As stated, I want the top-10 blogs to be really a resource for every poker player; blogs that will give usefull information, direction, advice etc...
So, starting now, I have 10 blogs on the list... I hope you will understand what is the reason for doing this and if someone feels that they should remove me from their blogroll because I removed them first, no problem, go ahead and do it... My responsibility is to try and provide quality, if not through my own posts, then to at least provide link to someone elses...

srijeda, 04.04.2007.

My PT stats and linked theory..

I haven't posted in a while now and there is a good reason for that... I played a lot of online poker in last week or so and I didn't really have the nerves or time to write anything very interesting or even mildly interesting. However, I decided to post now because in the meantime I came across one excellent Poker Theory article that really is food for thought and I really think that people should read it ... and not only once since it might be a little hard to grasp on first touch. I am adding the article to my must read section also...So, the article was written by Razboynik and the actual article called "G-bucks" is here. The theory is based upon David Sklansky's term and idea of "Sklansky Dollars" and I dare say that expands on it and is definitely worth reading, so... go, read, now...
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Another thing that I realize I could do is post my results from Poker Tracker every 10,000 hands or so. I guess I will be posting the results for first 10,000 hands for a level and as I progress the next PT stats post might me at 30,000 hands or even more.. I think the gap will be widening as I progress because it won't be too interesting to read about the same limit and progress every 10,000 hands. Anyway, to shorten the story and summarize it... I'll post my results when I feel like posting them, both on a high and on a low.. Since I started playing NL10 recently because of my bankroll, my first posts will be from NL10 and hopefully as I progress and earn more bucks I will be steady going through levels and in some time there might be even PT NL400 posts.. This of course takes time, but it might be an interesting adventure for me, and one year from now it will definitely be interesting to see (at least for myself) where I was and how it was there. I won't be blacking out any stats because I don't have anything to hide, and hopefully this won't be used against me somehow in the future.. Of course, all comments are welcome..
Here are some screen shots from my standings on this day..

This is how it breaks down when you look at the position play..

This is it for now... cheers!

<	travanj, 2007					>
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