Shinedown brings sexy(poker)back

learning to accept

2012-02-04T11:11:00.001-06:00

I have had been on a bad run lately and had started to lose confidence in my play when I had decided to post some HHs on Cardschat.
I had realized I made some bad moves myself and now know that if someone calls my bets, they have hit the board or have me beat.
At the level I play(micro/$2NL full ring)my overpair on a drawing board is virtually useless as most of those fish will call any amount to chase the draw.
The fish will call anything from bottom pair and will chase all draws, including backdoor/gutshot straight/flush draws, sure the best approach against these players is to make them pay for their draws but what annoys me most is when I keep betting to the point where I'm basically pot committed and knowing they have hit their draw, now I have to fold after investing so much into the pot because the idiot hit his gutshot/backdoor draw.

Just because they might draw to the better hand, doesn't mean I have to change my betting pattern, I just have to keep making them pay to see the next card and have to accept that these players will always be there, but I am a better player than them and I will win more often than I will lose.

The following hands are hands that made me question my abilities to play poker but now realize after getting some feedback at Cardschat that I made the right moves and just got unlucky.

PokerStars Hand #74831492837: Hold'em No Limit ($0.01/$0.02 USD) - 2012/01/31 21:59:41 ET
Table 'Aethusa IV' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Shure 777 ($1.25 in chips)
Seat 2: Cronopiáceo ($0.77 in chips)
Seat 3: ludoman34 ($5.31 in chips)
Seat 4: LoxoscelesG ($1.59 in chips)
Seat 5: Heretic74 ($0.97 in chips)
Seat 6: Malbona ($1.60 in chips)
Seat 7: TTBS ($5.36 in chips)
Seat 8: szmalikos ($2.77 in chips)
Seat 9: Orion469 ($1.51 in chips)
TTBS: posts small blind $0.01
szmalikos: posts big blind $0.02
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Orion469 [Kc Kh]
Orion469: raises $0.08 to $0.10
Shure 777: folds
Cronopiáceo: folds
ludoman34: calls $0.10
LoxoscelesG: folds
Heretic74: folds
Malbona: folds
TTBS: folds
szmalikos: folds
*** FLOP *** [Jc 6c 8h]
Orion469: bets $0.20
ludoman34: calls $0.20
*** TURN *** [Jc 6c 8h] [Th]
Orion469: bets $1.21 and is all-in
ludoman34: calls $1.21
*** RIVER *** [Jc 6c 8h Th] [Jh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Orion469: shows [Kc Kh] (two pair, Kings and Jacks)
ludoman34: shows [9h Qs] (a straight, Eight to Queen)

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PokerStars Hand #74830295347: Tournament #558010962, $2.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level V (30/60) - 2012/01/31 21:18:36 ET
Table '558010962 29' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: rondon300 (5035 in chips)
Seat 2: julio2rj (3750 in chips)
Seat 3: Elevatio (4650 in chips)
Seat 4: BaGaSakOs21 (1855 in chips)
Seat 5: Orcking (5790 in chips)
Seat 6: solidersss (3000 in chips)
Seat 7: nelsons999 (2337 in chips)
Seat 8: Orion469 (3720 in chips)
Seat 9: A.Artamonov (8279 in chips)
rondon300: posts the ante 5
julio2rj: posts the ante 5
Elevatio: posts the ante 5
BaGaSakOs21: posts the ante 5
Orcking: posts the ante 5
solidersss: posts the ante 5
nelsons999: posts the ante 5
Orion469: posts the ante 5
A.Artamonov: posts the ante 5
Orcking: posts small blind 30
solidersss: posts big blind 60
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Orion469 [Qc Qs]
nelsons999: folds
Orion469: raises 180 to 240
A.Artamonov: folds
rondon300: folds
julio2rj: folds
Elevatio: folds
BaGaSakOs21: folds
Orcking: calls 210
solidersss: folds
*** FLOP *** [9d 7c Jd]
Orcking: bets 360
Orion469: raises 540 to 900
Orcking: calls 540
*** TURN *** [9d 7c Jd] [5s]
Orcking: bets 780
Orion469: raises 1795 to 2575 and is all-in
Orcking: calls 1795
*** RIVER *** [9d 7c Jd 5s] [Js]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Orcking: shows [Jc Ad] (three of a kind, Jacks)
Orion469: shows [Qc Qs] (two pair, Queens and Jacks)
Orcking collected 7535 from pot

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PokerStars Hand #74840427664: Hold'em No Limit ($0.01/$0.02 USD) - 2012/02/01 5:20:14 ET
Table 'Heze VI' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: BAMBLEBY ($1.38 in chips)
Seat 2: Magalodon/AL ($3.64 in chips)
Seat 3: diggerdog888 ($0.81 in chips)
Seat 4: Kaizen08 ($2.03 in chips)
Seat 5: Orion469 ($1.87 in chips)
Seat 6: kojar8 ($5.22 in chips)
Seat 7: expelok ($2 in chips)
Seat 8: monkyeysh ($0.69 in chips)
Seat 9: goga455 ($1.55 in chips)
Orion469: posts small blind $0.01
kojar8: posts big blind $0.02
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Orion469 [Ah As]
expelok: folds
monkyeysh: folds
goga455: calls $0.02
BAMBLEBY: folds
Magalodon/AL: folds
diggerdog888: folds
Kaizen08: folds
Orion469: raises $0.08 to $0.10
kojar8: folds
goga455: calls $0.08
*** FLOP *** [5h 7d 7h]
Orion469: bets $0.16
goga455: calls $0.16
*** TURN *** [5h 7d 7h] [7c]
Orion469: bets $0.40
goga455: calls $0.40
*** RIVER *** [5h 7d 7h 7c] [Ac]
Orion469: bets $0.86
goga455: raises $0.03 to $0.89 and is all-in
Orion469: calls $0.03
*** SHOW DOWN ***
goga455: shows [7s 3d] (four of a kind, Sevens)
Orion469: mucks hand
goga455 collected $2.97 from pot

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PokerStars Hand #74729407965: Tournament #558010251, $1.00+$0.10 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2012/01/30 7:31:47 ET
Table '558010251 115' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: pepsi_tashev (3500 in chips)
Seat 2: taurus0566 (5580 in chips)
Seat 3: Treik90 (2200 in chips)
Seat 4: olmmom (4845 in chips)
Seat 5: 4KOT4 (3000 in chips)
Seat 6: nd92tmb (2705 in chips)
Seat 7: hash plant99 (6580 in chips)
Seat 8: Orion469 (2710 in chips)
Seat 9: danapower (1720 in chips)
taurus0566: posts small blind 25
Treik90: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Orion469 [Ks As]
olmmom: folds
4KOT4: folds
nd92tmb: folds
hash plant99: folds
Orion469: raises 100 to 150
danapower: folds
pepsi_tashev: folds
taurus0566: calls 125
Treik90: folds
*** FLOP *** [9c Kd Qs]
taurus0566: checks
Orion469: bets 300
taurus0566: calls 300
*** TURN *** [9c Kd Qs] [Kh]
taurus0566: checks
Orion469: bets 2260 and is all-in
taurus0566: calls 2260
*** RIVER *** [9c Kd Qs Kh] [8c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
taurus0566: shows [Js Ts] (a straight, Nine to King)
Orion469: shows [Ks As] (three of a kind, Kings)
taurus0566 collected 5470 from pot

I also realize that these players have no idea about pot odds and think that just because they have outs, the amount to call to see their cards doesn't matter to them, even if they are not getting the right odds to make the call.

In the mind of a fish

2012-01-29T00:08:00.000-06:00

I have done some observing and have noticed a few things about a fish.
They have no idea about the maths involved when playing poker and care not to learn them, they don't care if that was a correct move or not, all they think is "It's there or it isn't".
A fish will often call you down to the river with second pair, a draw or better against the pot odds so you can't use the pot odds against them because they are clueless about such things, so you really can't bluff a fish by giving them improper odds to make a call because they have hit the board or are going to try to hit on further streets with their draw.

A fish will often call to most raises in LP with most connectors provided that there are 3 or more that made the call of the initial raiser.
Why? you may ask, because they think "I have a 56 and there are a few others who called before me, they must have high cards so that means my low cards are still in the deck".
Yes, this is how they think.

A fish will often call off small pairs in hopes of hitting a set even when they should be in push/fold mode and most will call an all-in regardless of your table image because they don't see that you have only pushed when you were strong, they only see the pair in their hands.
If they win the hand by badbeat and you lash out against them, they will say, "You should have bet more pre-flop and I would have folded", they lie, they would never have folded.

The best way to play against a fish is to make them pay for their cards and hope they don't hit, they will often call off most if not all their chips with a flush/straight even when the board is paired

Fifty50 Games @ pokerstars

2012-01-26T01:53:00.000-06:00

I really enjoy playing these games as I can have a positive ROI in these about 40%+ of the time.

My strategies for these are simple, I start by using the PS player search feature to see who's multi-tabling, those are the players I'm attacking with loose raises, as we all know that multi-tablers will be playing only strong hands most of the time.
I will play tight against all others but paying attention to how they play.

If I happen to get a nice chip lead early on, I will start playing more speculative hands like suited connectors and A9s+, provided it's at the right price and I'm in position.

As I do with all games I play, MTT/STT, I will go by Harrinton's "M" factor whereas you take your chipstack/blinds+antes = "M", so if my "M" is close to or lower than 10 I am in push/fold mode as I am in the same mode if any raise I make would put me below 10.

The only thing that really annoys me about these fifty50 games is that there are too many donks in these which at times, mess around with my ROI.

I hope to post here again soon, GL at the tables all :)

The game has changed

2012-01-22T07:49:00.000-06:00

I have been noticing a few changes in the game lately, the one change that makes me sick but also makes me happy at times is when players min-raise from early position with premium hands.

These raises are also made with most PP(pocket pairs), at times are hard to put the player on a high or low PP, but if you pay attention to who makes these min-raises you might just be able to put certain players on a range.

A few LAG players will play this way, which IMO is a big leak as they allow too many people in the hand who like to play speculative hands like suited connectors, I for one love to play broadway suited connectors against these min-raisers as long as my stack doesn't take more than a 5% hit even if the min-raiser is making the min-raise with a stack that he should have went all-in pre-flop with, which BTW is indicative of a huge holding.
That is a leak on my part at times when I don't take effective stacks into account when deciding to make the call.

Another thing I have noticed is alot of players are making calls for over half their stack to an all-in with holdings like suited aces, suited connectors, suited one gappers and all PPs without paying attention to what type of player is pushing all-in pre-flop.

When it comes to pushing all-in in micro-tournies when SS(short-stacked), you should have a strong holding, something along the lines of A9s+ and 88+, if this seems too nitty, then call me "The big nit".I'm not sure when my next post will be, thanks for reading my blog and as I had said before, all comments and criticisms welcome.

Sorry

2011-01-18T05:46:00.004-06:00

Sorry to those who have been following my blog but as you can tell I have not been on here for a very long time.
I will try to be on here more but do not have much to blog about ATM, but I will put up another pic of a hot babe for you to enjoy.

It has been too long

2009-04-12T04:42:00.002-05:00

Just like the title implies, it has been too long since I last updated my blog.

Nothing really new to update you all on, my game had gone to shit lately and am on the verge of quitting for awhile, I may be the victim of tilt in a big way.
My cash game is not going too well and my tourney game...well....just sucks.
You read about it all the time at cardschat, about the numerous badbeats and about how other members, including myself try to enforce to those players that it's not the site, it's the amount of bad players that give them badbeats.
I'm not saying I'm starting to believe the mumbo-jumbo about the site is out to get me or the site is rigged, I'm just getting really fed up with the amount of poor players knocking me out of tourney's by calling my raises with suited and unsuited connectors, and flopping a draw or 2pr to overtake my high PP and continue to call any c-bets I make and hitting when they don't even have the odds to do so.
I know those are the players we want to be up against, but when you have 3-4 of those players at the same table, it is very hard to overcome them most times and this is where the feelings of tilt come in.
I play micro tourneys and don't mind if I lose to a badbeat on occasion, but when when I receive tourney ending badbeats 3-5 times in a row, it just tilts me and puts my confidence out of whack.

I am still reading HOH vol.2 and am learning a few more moves I can add to my arsenal(not that it would make much of a difference in micro-tourneys),it's always good to add moves to your repertoire.

I really am considering making a bank account solely for the purpose of saving money to play poker with, make bi-weekly deposits of about $50 for $100 a month for like a year and just make one lump sum deposit just so I have a BR I could really feel comfortable playing with.

Anyways, sorry it has been so long since I updated but with life going on, I really don't have time to update weekly.

Thanks for reading this boring blog, I will try to do more with this blog content-wise in the near future.
Please feel free to give me ideas on how I could spice this blog up, all advice and criticisms will be considered.

Phishing victim

2009-01-28T00:25:00.008-06:00

Recently, I had become a victim of a phishing attack on Cardschat.
I received a PM from a member who I thought was trustworthy, asking me if I could coach him in ring games, where he supplied a link where he first brought up the subject of coaching, which I had thought was a valid link since it had actually been brought up by another member and thought he had asked in the general forum, but when I clicked the link I was directed to what I thought was a cardschat page, which said I didn't have privileges to see the page and was required to log in again, and since cardschat was suffering some cache problems I never thought anything of it so I went to log on again and it was then my cardschat account was stolen.
At this point I made another account to PM a mod about what happened and after some investigating by the mod, I was notified I was a victim of a phishing attack and she would put a temp ban on my account until they got it all sorted out.
2 days later, I'm still waiting.

Moral, do not open any links you receive, go back to your browser and look it up directly from your browser.
I had to find this out the hard way.

Anyways, my cash game is taking swings, good and bad and have made a small profit in ring games but as of late, my tourney game is suffering which has brought my ROI down into the negative for the first time this year, I had started the new year off in the positive, playing my first tourney of 2009 2 weeks ago.
I had a positive ROI(50%+) for the first week of playing but now I am in the negative, I don't know if this is natural variance but I don't like it, it's throwing my confidence down a little.

I have been experimenting with 25NL and have been keeping my own and getting lucky on a few hands from the blinds and have realized that being somewhat new at this level I will have to pay more attention to it than I would if I were playing 10NL.
There are those players who don't see much of a difference between 10NL and 25NL but there is and even if it's only a slight difference, it's a difference and that is it's easier to get ppl to lay down once you show a couple good hands, what I mean is that C-bets are respected slightly more than at 10NL, min-raises are feared a little more as are min-bets and your standard bet sizing is more respected.
As I have just been experimenting with this level, it will take some time to get use to this level and see a good win-rate.
But as I can hold my own, I think my win-rate will be something I can be proud of given time.

I made a bad move and got lucky but it was only 3BB to call.
Reason for my low stack: experimenting with this level

I look to flop a monster or a monster draw and in the above case, I flopped trips which was well hidden by my bet sizing IMO.

Anyways, I will try to post more hands as this is a way you can get into my head.....lol.

BTW, do not leave links in your comments as I will not open them.

PEACE OUT HOMIES.

Back in it

2009-01-20T02:31:00.003-06:00

I have been reading and I'm almost done HOH vol.1.
I have learned more about starting hands and pot/implied odds which has given me the confidence to play larger buy-ins($11) than what I'm use to($1-2), just this past Sunday, I tried the $200k guaranteed on stars for the first time and finished ITM (2982), not a big win but almost doubled my buy-in(profit). Not bad considering there were over 29k in entrants, I think I would have done better if I had noticed the blind structure which didn't occur to me until 1st break.
I will do much better on my next try.

I know I had mentioned that I was going to read HOH vol.1 twice and read vol.2 before I made my next deposit but I missed the action and have a little more knowledge, which I know will be a big help to my game.
I really will not go into any details of what the book had laid out but will tell you that small PPs(22-77) are not worth playing from many positions unless limped or folded around to you in LP.
I will tell you though,that if HOH vol.2 is as good as vol.1 I will totally kill the tourney circuit on stars this year when all the knowledge sinks in.
And I would like those who are reading this and have not purchased these books yet to do so, you will not regret it.

As of this post I have an 18% ROI with a 38% ITM for Jan 2009 whereas I had a -65% ROI with a 17% ITM for Jan 2008.
For those who don't know where I got these stats from, I got them from Officialpokerrankings.com

I know there are a few who look through my blog but I would like more feedback on how I could improve this blog to make it more visitable, all input welcome.

Educate myself

2008-12-31T02:58:00.004-06:00

Since joining the best poker forum on the net(which has been about 2-3 yrs ago) my poker game had made an improvement, but not as much as I would have hoped for, and I attribute that to my lack of knowledge or should I say my lazy approach to the game.
There is so much to learn by reading all the articles on cardschat that I have decided to quit playing poker for awhile and focus more on educating myself in all aspects of poker by reading.
I had picked up HOH 1 and am half way through that volume, but will re-read that volume and then start on volume 2(which I received for Christmas).
The reason I'm going to do this is that I have made numerous deposits at various sites and have made 2 withdrawals under $200 each but must have deposited 10x that amount since I started depositing and I can't just throw my money away like that.
I do enjoy playing poker and hope to make it an extra source of income, but in order to do this, I have to really educate myself more and once I feel educated enough to make a deposit, I will be playing much more serious poker.
As for my blog here, I know there are a few of you who read this(much appreciated) and like what you see, and for you, I will not fail to disappoint, I will update my progress on the knowledge I have gained as to keep posting pics of my sexy ladies.

With tonight being New Years eve, I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year.
If you go out tonight, drink responsibly and please take a cab or have a DD with you.

My resolution: To become a better poker player through education and to make an extra source of income from poker.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-22T02:49:00.004-06:00

Just posting to wish all who read this a Very Merry Christmas and all the best in the new year.

Hello again

2008-12-13T10:15:00.003-06:00

To the few that read this blog, I thank you for being loyal.
I haven't been making any special gains in levels as I had hoped for and hope that my move to SnG's treat me better than FR and MTT have been as of late.
I actually think that my play has been deminishing since I started using a HUD.
Not being able to interpret the info I think is my main problem,I know that a low VPIP is good to tell me how tight or loose a player is but that is where I am stuck.
I have no real idea how to interpret PFR/AG properly when it comes to hands I'm in, the HUD is way too confusing to me and until I am able to interpret the data properly, my game will suffer.
If you are reading this and understand HUD stats better than I do, please enlighten me.
I NEED SERIOUS HELP.

I think I have decided to make a level jump.

2008-08-04T22:38:00.004-05:00

The following are my last 6 of 7 tourney stats from the low level tournie's at pokerstars.
It may be a small sample, but have a new found confidence at this level as I can't seem to have this kind of success at the micro level tournie's.
I find my reads easier and more accurate at the low level as compared to the micro level, sure the donks are there but not as many as you would find at the micro level(I find anyway).

PokerStars Tournament #99190746,
No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
3519 players

228 hands played and saw flop:
- 4 times out of 25 while in small blind (16%)
- 14 times out of 27 while in big blind (52%)
- 12 times out of 176 in other positions (7%)
- a total of 30 times out of 228 (13%)
Pots won at showdown - 5 out of 8 (63%)
Pots won without showdown - 15

293: Orion469 (Winnipeg), $28.15 (profit $17.15)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PokerStars Tournament #99190550,
No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $5.00/$0.50
4293 players

331 hands played and saw flop:
- 10 times out of 37 while in small blind (27%)
- 18 times out of 38 while in big blind (47%)
- 31 times out of 256 in other positions (12%)
- a total of 59 times out of 331 (18%)
Pots won at showdown - 13 out of 20 (65%)
Pots won without showdown - 31

54: Orion469 (Winnipeg), $36.50 (0.17%) (profit $31.00)

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PokerStars Tournament #99190466,
No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $5.00/$0.50
2007 players

231 hands played and saw flop:
- 8 times out of 26 while in small blind (31%)
- 7 times out of 27 while in big blind (26%)
- 24 times out of 178 in other positions (13%)
- a total of 39 times out of 231 (17%)
Pots won at showdown - 7 out of 11 (64%)
Pots won without showdown - 20

143: Orion469 (Winnipeg), $13.05 (0.13%) (profit $7.55)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PokerStars Tournament #98771253,
No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $5.00/$0.50
4761 players

217 hands played and saw flop:
- 6 times out of 25 while in small blind (24%)
- 6 times out of 25 while in big blind (24%)
- 19 times out of 167 in other positions (11%)
- a total of 31 times out of 217 (14%)
Pots won at showdown - 12 out of 17 (71%)
Pots won without showdown - 10

427: Orion469 (Winnipeg), $9.52 (0.03%) (profit $4.00)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PokerStars Tournament #98771213,
No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $5.00/$0.50
2511 players

196 hands played and saw flop:
- 4 times out of 23 while in small blind (17%)
- 11 times out of 21 while in big blind (52%)
- 13 times out of 152 in other positions (9%)
- a total of 28 times out of 196 (14%)
Pots won at showdown - 8 out of 9 (89%)
Pots won without showdown - 11

232: Orion469 (Winnipeg), $12.55 (0.09%) (profit $7.05)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals of all tournie's combined
--------------------------------
1203 hands played and saw flop:
- 32 times out of 136 while in small blind (24%)
- 56 times out of 138 while in big blind (41%)
- 99 times out of 929 in other positions (11%)
- a total of 187 times out of 1203 (16%)
Pots won at showdown - 45 out of 65 (69%)
Pots won without showdown - 87

placing based on an average - 230 out of 3418 (7%)

Total buy-ins - $33.00
Total won - $99.77
Total profit - $66.77 (ROI=202%)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Based on above numbers, I think I have done well at the low level and think I will frequent this level more often.
I also have a couple problems that I need to fix:
1 - Stealing blinds
2 - Playing position properly
These two are my biggest leaks I need serious help on if I want to make the FT more often and hope someone reading this can help me out.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post as it took quite some time to compose.

3rd place finish

2008-07-30T15:39:00.005-05:00

I have made another final table today for a whopping $220.20 profit on a game that cost me $2.22 to enter(weird).
Looks like 2 might be my lucky number of the day.
I'm still debating if I should play another tourney or take a break, and a break sounds good.
The following are my tourney stats from PS along with my Screen of my finish, I'm Orion469 to those who don't know me.

416 hands played and saw flop:
- 18 times out of 62 while in small blind(29%)
- 29 times out of 62 while in big blind(47%)
- 35 times out of 292 in other positions(12%)
- a total of 82 times out of 416(20%)
Pots won at showdown - 18 out of 28(64%)
Pots won without showdown - 41

Been a long time

2008-07-24T05:47:00.003-05:00

I havn't been posting in here regularly because I have been on a bad downswing over the past couple weeks and I finally think it has come to an end.
As you all know, I play at the micro levels and finally FT'd for a 6th place finish for $75.10, a profit of $72.90.
One hand where I doubled my stack, not impressive in any sort of way.

The next hand really brought me up in the tourney chipwise.

Like villian thought his 2pr was good, go figure.

This next hand increased my chipstack, again not too impressive as the villian was not that great of a player and made me wonder how he got this far.

I had been playing at this table for quite some time now and villian looked pretty solid, raising in position, shown down some good hands, but for some reason I had put him on AK/AQ and had a good idea I was ahead because A7 was not with-in his range, don't get me wrong, it did cross my mind for a second.

The following hand was just plain stupidity on my part, I had seen villian play inferior hands and I thought I had the better hand, really was hoping villian was holding QJ/KQ

Suffice to say that I had placed 6th in this tourney and I'm sure I would have taken first if I had not screwed it up.
That's how it goes, one mistake this late in tourney is a killer.

Later all, hope to see you again soon.

Bluffing micros online

2008-07-01T23:32:00.004-05:00

Some students of the online game recommend never bluffing. They make a good case-and I think it's a solid one-that simply waiting for good cards and then playing them aggressively is a sufficiently profitable strategy. Since most players call too much, it only makes sense to exploit their flaw by pushing your good hands and throwing away the rest.
If you come out raising cheesy hands on a tight table, you might be able to steal a few hand but eventually players will get tired of this. Best bet: just wiat for good cards. Wait and push.
I'm not saying to completely throw bluffing out of your arsenal, just bluff those players who you know will be easily pushed off hands by any reads you have on these players.
Sure there are timid and scared players that may fold to your bluffs, but these same players will call most itmes and let them, we play better hands than them and soon we will be taking all their money with selective aggression.
If you find yourself in a game where selective aggression is not working,then you're in the wrong game and time to move on, there is a more profitable game out there.
The most important ingredient in selective aggression is discipline and the ability to be patient and wait for the right cards.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and hope you walk away with a better understanding of why bluffing doesn't work as well as you had been hoping.

Tilt

2008-06-17T15:20:00.003-05:00

I have decided to write my views on the topic of tilt.

Everybody has different views on the topic of tilt and my views are simple, if you find that you tilt easily and don't control or try to control it, you will be a losing player in the long run, it doesn't matter how good of a player you are, if you can't control your emotions at the poker table and type obcenities at the table, you let players know your on tilt and those better players will exploit this for all it's worth, take for instance that just yesterday a player on my table had went on tilt when he recieved a loss by a calling station that hit the flush, but this is besides the point,he made a few comments that let me and others know he was on tilt, but I seemed to be the only one who really noticed this and took him for $20+ dollars a couple of hands later when I hit my set on the flop and he had TPTK.
His TPTK was not a hand he would usually get married to, but because of his condition(tilt) he just couldn't lay it down.

You see, if your on tilt, find a way to control it when at the table, learn to accept that you will recieve badbeats from time to time.
If you can't seem to accept badbeats then sitout for awhile, walk the dog, go for a walk, even go to your favorite poker forum and vent, you'll be surprised at how how controling tilt helps you keep your BR at a steady incline.

I control tilt by accepting that there are worse players out there that wiil practically give me thier money and some will put a badbeat on me, but for every hand that I recieve a badbeat on I win 10-15(maybe more) hands to that one I lose with proper play.
My mind says "I will get it back from others" and I DO NOT chase the money I have lost but look for the most opportune time to take it back if the opportunity presents itself, which is more satisfying than taking it from others. In this I mean that if you find yourself with a monster hand and flop the nuts against the same player who took your money earlier with a badbeat, then to win against this same player is so satisfying, almost orgasmic in a sense.

One final thing before I go, if you find yourself at a table with a tiltfish, do not leave it, exploit the player for all it's worth, if you find yourself on a table with a known tiltfish, try to induce his tilt.

Peace, much <3 for CC

Taking notes

2008-06-10T13:55:00.005-05:00

We all know that the only way to read an online player(without software such as pokertracker) is watching for betting patterns which most of us do, but there is something that is as vital to take into account when it comes to Online reads, and that is notetaking.

"I take notes when I play poker" some might say and I'm sure you do, but how many players have you noted? , Have you taken the time to take notes on the whole table?, one at a time while not in a hand? or have you gone the lazy route and take a note here and there(I have)?

But it is important for you to take notes on as many players as you can.

During a course of about an hour or so I had taken several notes on one player who was really aggressive, seemed standard TAG until I had looked through the notes I had taken on him and found him to be quite loose:

ULI___~

-calls a 4xBB in LP1

-calls a 4xBB bet from MP2

-calls a 3xBB bet from UTG2

-raised 5xBB from CO

-calls 4xBB raise w/QJos

-limped on the button w/A4os>.

Just from the following notes, which are short and still need work, I found that marginal and premium hands made me money because of his habit of betting 4xBB with any suited face cards.

Sure, PAHud can do this for you but without knowing what hands he/she bets with, it's an educated guess at best, with notes on a player you can cut his/her range down to just a few hands based on the size of the bet and position of villian, notes will tell you more on a particular player than PAHud would(IMO), I'm not saying that PAHud is not good to have, but when combined with the physical notes you have taken on players you will win more.

Even without PAHud, you still have an advantage over most players simply because most are just too lazy to take the time to take notes.

The most important notes you should be taking are notes on yourself, if you don't have notes on yourself, your playing on instinct which is not too good for your game, you make mistakes and later ask yourself why, if you don't keep notes on yourself you will find it hard to plug any leaks in your game.

"What kind of notes should I be taking?" you might be asking, and I will tell you "Everything you see any villian doing" from his first bet into the pot and every other action an each street. "How will this help me if he doesn't show?", not to worry because he will show his cards eventually if you keep taking notes then you will see a distinct pattern start to emerge, a pattern you can later exploit.

much love for CC

Are you really ready for the online game compared to B&M?(cont'd)

2008-05-27T14:53:00.007-05:00

If you had read my last post you are now exercising the advice there, now let me add some more when comparing the Online game to B&M.

As you all know, your mood greatly affects your decision making when playing poker, whether Online or B&M, but there is a big difference and if you know what it is then good for you, you are on your way to making money online. For those who don't, let me explain, In a B&M environment you keep your emotions in check as not to give away any reads to your opponents, in a sense, these same B&M opponents also help you cool down from the worries of life's little problems most times and because of this you are able to play a good if not a great game of poker as opposed to Online play where you have no real outlet to help you control your emotions, there is just you and the monitor. "Who really cares if I have problems, they can't get any reads from me anyway, they can't see me" you start thinking and this is where your BR starts going down, you have to be in the right state of mind when playing Online because there is no outlet to let your feeling dissipate to.

Badbeats are also a BR killer, in a B&M environment, you have time to cool down between hands after suffering a badbeat as opposed to online where you are still fuming well into the next 4-6 hands, where your not in full control of your thoughts yet, and during this period of emotional distress, you will be tempted to play the same type of crappy hand against the donkey who took your money with 58os(has happened to me). You can't let this happen, after a badbeat may I suggest that you sit out the next 4-6 hands or how ever long it takes you to cool down and get yourself back into the right state of mind(poker state of mind).

Take control of your emotions before they control you (which is harder to do Online than in a B&M environment) or your Online BR will suffer.

Much love for CC, Peace. :)

Are you really ready for the online game compared to B&M?

2008-05-26T15:51:00.004-05:00

If you think you are ready, I would say most of you may not be.

There is a difference in playing poker online than there is in a B&M and I don't mean the obvious of speed and limited reads, I'm talking about the mindset of switching from B&M to Online.

When your on your way to the casino to play poker you are consciously readying yourself for the game, you know what level your going to play, you know how long your going to be there and you know how much $ you are going to take with you.

Once there you are within the atmosphere of a casino/poker room you feel comfortable with your surroundings.

You are now ready to play a good game of poker free from distractions and able to put your full concentration at the table.

Unlike the above scenario, in an online game all it takes is a couple clicks of the mouse and your in your favorite poker room, but are you ready to play a good game? free of distractions?, no your not and if you think you are, most of you are sorrily mistaken.

First off you are not in a casino/poker room atmosphere, you are at home, school, Internet cafe or work(worst possible place to be IMO when playing poker online).

There are just too many distractions which will take up a good portion of your concentration from the game at hand and this will effect your play considerably.

You have to free yourself from any distractions that may affect the way you play, this means having the poker site the only thing you have open on your screen (if you do get bored, feel free to surf the net or read posts/blogs but be sure to not put much thought in writing any replies as this will take alot of your concentration off the game at hand), you have to tell those around you that you cannot be disturbed now, and create the expectation that you are not to be frivolously disturbed. Impress upon them that the money online is every bit as real as the money you'd put put into a live game. Make it clear that this in not play and it is not a game but a serious attempt, seriously constructed, to suck money from the Internet.

Now make it clear to yourself.

In short, you have to fully immerse into the cyber-poker table and free yourself from as many distractions as you can.

Carefully chose your table and time and money you want to spend on the table and do not make your session too short (hit and run) or too long (marathon).

Hope you enjoyed this post.

Much love for CC, peace.

Switched poker sites

2008-05-20T17:30:00.002-05:00

I had moved to partypoker about a month ago, just shortly after my last post, I put in a $53 deposit through EFT and hit party's 100% bonus which I cleared after about a week or more and placed first in a small tourney for another small sum which had brought my BR up to about $190 which I donked away $150 over the course of almost 2 weeks and have been hovering ever since.

I know what I'm doing wrong but am having a hard time correcting it, which is playing for set value too often against a significant raise, but it is something I'm working on right now.

Another problem is I am playing the .02/.04 tables and I do hold my own there but have not been able to win consistently, I win few hands on a loose table and then they all tighten up, so I decide to try and make some moves and slowly lose some of what I have won at the table.

I'd hate to leave a table with a small profit but may have to leave when I double my buy-in.

Until next time :)

Patience and Discipline

2008-04-09T03:11:00.003-05:00

Well, my BR at UB is gone and I'm back at stars grinding it out at $2NL and have been taking some advice to heart, my own, about patience and discipline.
We all know that there are donks at the micro-limits that slow you down when trying to increase your BR and we all know that there are certain times we call donks when we think we have the better hand, and we end up losing because we don't think he plays proper poker,we think this is not with-in his range and this is where most fail (including me) to increase their BR.Just because it isn't with-in their range doesn't mean we have to donk off all our chips and this is where discipline comes in, even if we believe we have the better hand but there is a slim chance that he may be holding the nuts, lets not totally discount it and check the street and call/fold based on the size of the bet.Some may think this is playing weak/tight and sure it is, but how else are you going to learn discipline, you have to start thinking like a poker player.I have tried playing different starting hands, un/suited connectors, Ax suited from different positions when there is a chance for me to limp in and call my PP when I don't hit the flop when given the odds and have found that to be a negative for my BR just because I didn't think these players were good enough to play better hands.Patience has given me some nice numbers over <> hands which i know is of a low sample of hands but I had just started keeping track of my play using PT3 beta.As you can see by the graph, I had lost my patience after hand 545 when my 3's over 5's were beaten by K's over 5's and started gaining my composure around hand 673 and have been slowly and patiently increasing my BR this session.
Later all, until next time, sorry for not updating more often but I havn't had much to talk about.

Free money

2008-04-04T00:21:00.002-05:00

I had opened up UB to play the CC freeroll on wednesday to find that UB or an unknown source had deposited $10 into my UB account and have now brought it up to $44.81.

On to something totally different, I have gone busto on PS and won't be depositing on there for awhile, I think my problem was my table selection when it came to ring games as I am much stronger when it comes to tourneys which will be my focus for the month of April.

I have found that I do better at the ring games on UB specifically $10NL but will still spend more time on tournies than ring games.

Until my next post......peace :)

Update from last entry

2008-03-23T14:20:00.003-05:00

I will try to update weekly.

As of last post I had $4o in my pokerstars account, It regrets me to inform you that I have suffered a little downswing which had brought my BR down to $13 as of yesterday morning, but have brought it up $22 since then.

Have been playing the $0.01/0.02 for a gain of $4 more.

Played a $3+.30 tourney yesterday morning, around 4am est with 917 entries just to go out in 41st.

Here's the hand that I went out in:

Villian had made a 4xBB raise preflop which I had see him do twice bfore, both hands went to showdown whan he flopped TPTK in one hand and 2pr in another, both times he had been holding strong aces and I based my call on this read.

PokerStars Game #16160058808: Tournament #81587636, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XII (600/1200) - 2008/03/22 - 07:11:56 (ET)Table '81587636 31' 9-max Seat #6 is the button

Seat 1: ruudko (18891 in chips)

Seat 2: booflich (35266 in chips)

Seat 4: Orion469 (29253 in chips)

Seat 5: Saint August (8228 in chips)

Seat 6: Mabo1403 (13405 in chips)

Seat 7: Lemming112 (17260 in chips)

Seat 8: moglie81 (44340 in chips)

Seat 9: arohenoh (38019 in chips)

ruudko: posts the ante 125

booflich: posts the ante 125

Orion469: posts the ante 125

Saint August: posts the ante 125

Mabo1403: posts the ante 125

Lemming112: posts the ante 125

moglie81: posts the ante 125

arohenoh: posts the ante 125

Lemming112: posts small blind 600

moglie81: posts big blind 1200

*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to Orion469 [8h 8c]

arohenoh: raises 3600 to 4800

ruudko: folds

booflich: folds

Orion469: calls 4800

Saint August: folds

Mabo1403: folds

Lemming112: folds

moglie81: folds

*** FLOP *** [6c 6d 6s]

arohenoh: bets 9600

Orion469: raises 14728 to 24328 and is all-in

arohenoh: calls 14728

*** TURN *** [6c 6d 6s] [Js]

*** RIVER *** [6c 6d 6s Js] [Qc]

*** SHOW DOWN ***

arohenoh: shows [Qd Qh] (a full house, Queens full of Sixes)

Orion469: shows [8h 8c] (a full house, Sixes full of Eights)

arohenoh collected 61056 from pot.

In hindsight, I should have laid this down to his flop bet considering how deep we were in a tourney.

You live and learn, the next tourney I play, i think I'm going to have to take it down as so to make my blog look more appealing to me, not that the girls don't already do it. :)

Until next week unless I hit a huge upswing.

Peace.

I'm back

2008-03-14T06:41:00.004-05:00

I hope you all have enjoyed the pics I have been putting up with every post.

I had taken a break from real money poker for a little over a month now and have decided to jump back in(the freerolls are just too sick).

I have made a small deposit on Pokerstars ($40) and will try my hand at the ultra-micros(.01/.02 nl) with min buy-in and grind the $40 to about $80 then start playing the short handed(6 seated) SnGs.

I will keep you all updated on my progress.

Until next time :)

My take on freerolls

2008-02-12T19:27:00.003-06:00

I have found that there is not really too much of a strategy when it comes to freerolls.

I have been playing the freeroll circuit for quite awhile now and have found that any success in any freeroll relies on the cards and the table(reads), position rarely ever comes into play as there are those players who do not have an understanding of pot/implied odds in relation to position, but then again you all know that already and if you don't, your setting yourself up for a stressful time at the freeroll tables if you don't accept the fact that there are alot of bad players that will call off an insane amount of chips on a draw or even top pair.

I would like to continue this but I'll have to finish when I get home.

Some will say that you should loosen up your starting hands in freerolls, But I disagree, if you loosen up your playing below your normal play which will inadvertantly carry onto the real money tables.
Sure freerolls induce bad play but you don't have to let it, just play your game as usual but only letting yourself change gears when the timing is right, cards/position/reads.
There are a few decent players in freeroll and if you loosen up your starting hands you will definately run into a better hand.
You play tight and keep looking towards the noobs that go allin every hand and think to yourself "This player is gong to double/triple me up soon enough".
All it really comes down to is that you don't underestimate your enemy, no matter what level of game you play and you'll last longer in freerolls.

Failed but will try again.

2008-02-04T07:45:00.002-06:00

I have failed at my first attempt in trying to accomplish my "New" goal and am currently trying the first goal again.
I have made a $25 deposit on UB and have heard that the way to make money on UB were through the SnGs, So I have tried them(10 seater, $1.10) and found that they are easy, played 5 and cashed in 3.
Not alot of money but I know it's going to be a long hard grind and I am willing to give it a serious try this time around.
I have the disipline to do this if I try hard enough but I do lack patience at times, just as you have at some point during a game.

I will keep you all updated on my progress.

Feel free to comment on my layout, content.

If you feel my blog could use something else feel free to let me know.

Time for a new goal

2008-01-29T13:04:00.001-06:00

I didn't last long in failing to accomplish my goal due to some bad plays and the donk factor, I was trying my goal at UB and having a $21 BR didn't help.

My BR only allowed me to play the .01/.02 limits and if you play there you well know that 80% of the table are made up of players who bring a dime onto the table and go all-in with any ace or PP which got very frustrating so I had moved to the .05/.10 table which surpassed proper BR management.

I have realized that I have alot to learn about disipline when it comes to BRM.

ATM, due to some other financial obligations, I won't be able to deposit at any sites soon so it's off to the freeroll circuit, which will be good for me in learning disipline when it comes to BR.

My new goal is as follows:

Play in as many freerolls as possible.

Make it ITM as often as possible until I feel comfortable with my BR.

Stay away from the pennie tables at UB.

When comfortable with my BR, play as many SnGs that my BR will allow.

If I go broke repeat steps 1 through 4.

Hope you all have luck in achieving your personal goals.

Peace.

2008-01-26T00:27:00.001-06:00

I am not the best player out there, but I can hold my own on a table with the average player, the only problem is trying to grind it out at limits that my BR will only allow me to play at.
Those of you who are grinding it out at the micro's know what I'm talking about, the donks who constantly play any two suited cards that have called your 4-5xBB when your holding a large PP and chasing thier flush to the river when the odds are against them.
I know that those are the players that you will money from time and time again, but it just gets infuriating when you double or even triple your buy-in just to have half taken away by one of these donkey's.
Anyway, I will continue to grind it out at the micro's on one site until I can deposit at another.
ATM, my BR at the one site is $21 and have decided on a plan to bring it up to $200 before moving up limits.
This my go against BR management rules but once I hit my initial goal, I will feel more comfortable at a higher level.
Wish me luck.

My first post

2008-01-23T02:15:00.001-06:00

I know some of you see the heading and may say to yourself "How is this guy bringing sexy(poker)back?".

Well, I have not decided exactly how I'm going to do this, but it will be a challenge.

I would like to start out by saying welcome to my blog(which is still under construction)

I will be adding new content within the next few weeks and will try to make visiting my blog eye-pleasing.