the merger

I declared my Virgin Poker loses in my main small stakes database today as things were getting a little complicated. At the end of the day, i play roughly the same style on every site. I'm just trying to learn Poker after all.

Decided to try expanding my opening range a bit at PokerStars $0.05/$0.10 and it worked pretty well though I must admit I got a lot more playable cards. The extra aggression helped keep the game interesting too.

In the grand scheme of things, today's success is but a small drop in a very large ocean of Loss this month. I can only hope to improve as the days go by.

Not so fast!

Oh dear. I was tired. Probably shouldn't have played. Got frustrated at lack of good hands and started playing a few other cards too. I think even if I'd stuck to recommended hands I'd have had a losing session but I lost far more than I should have.

There were a lot of very loose players around. Should have made some money but instead I wiped $5.00 of my bank roll :(

Virgin Poker Fight Back

Well, I finally decided to be more patient and *try* to play properly at Virgin Poker. I have lost a lot of money there (in relation to the limits I'm playing) and it will take a while to win it all back if indeed I can win it back.

I've made a reasonable start over the last few days though - thanks to a few bad and very aggressive players and also a little luck. the luck was mainly today - I actually played too long and, being down on my session, went on tilt with K5 suited. Hit a flush draw on the river. Then I lucked out with an A-5 straight on another table and... finally getting myself a head(again) for the evening, decided it was time to call it a night!

I made a huge amount (again in relation to the limits) the other day after I ended up flush vs flush on the river. I had the nut flush so knew I could keep betting but the other guy didn't work that out and basically re-raised me until we hit the cap.

The cap is pretty darn high at virgin poker. I was really surprised at that but mustn't complain as it helped kickstart my upward swing.

Two tables at Hollywood Poker

Just had an interesting and challenging session on Hollywood Poker. Tried out the PokerTracker3 HUD this time rather than Holdem Manager (HEM) and, thanks in part to the latest beta update, I managed to find all the features I use in HEM apart from an easy way to filter the main PT3 db by players I'm currently pitted against on the virtual felt. 

In HEM, you can run the player filter restricted to players at your table so it's easy to get a full breakdown. I use it to find out who's running good at the table as this can indicate the better players.

Read a lot of useful posts on the 2+2 forums before heading to the tables.

e.g.:

• Microlimit Guidelines
• some notes on notes
  
• To the New, Aspiring Player

From the last link, here's a sobering quote:

1. You won’t get rich quick.
2. You’re not half as good as you think you are (severely understated).
3. To consistently make any money worth talking about, it takes more work than you’ve imagined (severely understated).
4. To consistently make any money worth talking about, it takes longer than you’ve imagined (severely understated).

and also:

PLAY LESS!

When you’re just starting, it doesn’t make sense for most players to be playing a ton of hands. If you’re not studying at least twice as much as you’re playing, you’re doing yourself a HUGE disservice. 

I'm pretty sure I'm reading more than I'm playing. The play is definitely very important though. I read loads before I started playing and almost none of it stuck. It's all just beginning to make sense!

Quick PartyPoker Session

having found out that PartyPoker offers the most tables at my current limit, I felt more justified going back there for a quick session today.

Recorded myself two-tabling for a while. Got some good hands initially and made a little then didn't do so well on the slow 10-handed table, losing 2 dollars. 

Closed the speed table whilst still ahead then my fiancee turned up - which turned out to be a good omen because I played less hands and slowly got myself back into the black.

Think the environment was ripe to continue the upward growth but it's time to devote some time to my significant other.

Eureka! PokerScout's GameFinder

It can be a little frustrating finding a seat for $0.05/$.10 Limit Holdem because it's not that popular in most virtual card rooms.

I don't really want to keep going back to Stars just because it's the biggest site and thus most likely to have action. Imagine my surprise and delight therefore when I discovered PokerScout's GameFinder!

You enter the game type, limits and preferred table size then PokerScout will tell you how many tables their are matching your criteria at the sites it tracks.

How cool is that?

the most surprising aspect of it was that PartyPoker has more $0.05/$0.10 games than PokerStars even though it's got a third of the traffic.

Actually, I just did a check: at $1/$2, PokerStars has 3 times more fixed limit tables than PartyPoker so it depends on the bet size.

Watching a donkey

I spent most of my freetime yesterday watching the recorded footage from Titan poker and indexing it for future reference. Pleased with the video results but not at all pleased with some aspects of my play.

didn't get to play poker last night but watching the videos felt like playing.

Talking to myself at Titan

Tried video commentary for this session. Went okay until I started to get tired but found it very useful as I spotted a few things during play that I wouldn't normally. Having to talk about the hand forces you to think about it more and try to justify actions. Found it very useful for talking through odds calculations.

Was lucky to run into a few fish tonight that kept the game juiced up. The players on iPoker seem more casual at $0.05/$0.10 level.

One player was being very successful at 6-max by seeing most flops with any hand and only continuing past the flop if they hit something. they made a heap of money whilst I was struggling to stay afloat.

At one point I thought it was going to be another $2 loss for the evening but I clawed it back just at the end.

putting a brave face on it

The results so far aren't looking good. Over 1000 hands, I'm running at -8bb/100 and this is equating to around losing 50p per hour.

My VPIP has come down. I generally run at about 20-25 VPIP which goes up a bit heads up or less than 6 max. Perhaps it shouldn't for 5/6 players but to be honest, I don't think it will make much difference at the moment. The big leak is just the same as it was a few days ago. Even though I know what it is (going to far with weak hands), I'm struggling to correct it.

virgin back

turns out Malta's fibre optic link to Sicilly was severed, bringing down access for the Boss network.

All back again now. I can go lose money there whenever I want :P

Virgin Poker out of action

Poker site down?!? Never mind, plenty of alternatives. 

controlling VPIP

After Sunday, I got my account on Virgin Poker sorted and loaded a few quid there. the lowest limit they had was .10/.20 (double what I usually play) and I donked loads of chips - my biggest lost in one session (almost 5 euro?).

the day after I had a go on Everest and lost again.

In both cases, the previously identified leak was still the biggest culprit - going all the way to Showdown with top pair weak kicker or worse.

My VPIP has been consistently over 30% - regardless of position - and I couldn't seem to bring it down so today I revised my hand-chart to include clearer advice about what hands can be played from each position.

then I went back  to Party Poker and, after a short time on a table with a very lucky gambler (suspect cheating as everyone else disappeared very quickly when he started winning what seemed to be an unusually high number of hands) who took maybe $1.50 from me (at .05/.10), I opened up two speed 10 max tables and settled into a nice rhythm. My VPIP leveled at around 25%. Much better!

Played about 140 hands, some of them heads-up. Pretty pleased with this but still a lot of work todo to get even overall.

I'm excluding Virgin Poker because I don't want the big loss skewing my figures - especially not when it's an a different currency (Euro).

steaming! the truth begins to sink in...

Wow! WHAT A FRUSTRATING SESSION!

I keep playing hands I shouldn't play. I keep going to the river with top pair or worse. What the hell is wrong with me!?!

I'm sooo mad. I spent half the day deciding which site to put some more money on (in the end PokerStars was the only one with a small enough min deposit and facilities to take the paysafe cash that I had) and then spent ages deciding on a new site to try (answer : Virgin Poker).

Virgin's payment system seems to have taken my money then told me the transaction had failed - so the money is gone from my account but not registered on theirs. eh?!?!

Still, my play on CDPoker is the most annoying part of today. 2 hours. lost just over $2.00. clawed my way back once to within $.50 of my starting stack but donked it all again.

wow. even the $0.05/$0.10 tables are tough for me. This is not good.

Starting to think I'll have to set myself a stoploss figure at which point I should quit poker. Maybe I make a decision after 10,000 hands.

and then there was a party at my expense

Oh well, just when I thought it was safe to consider moving up a level, I went on a donking spree.

So frustrating, there were some much bigger fish at the table but I ended up losing all my money. Should have got up after maybe 70  hands. Played far too long and really didn't care in the end.

So, that's wiped out all the wins of the last two days leaving me with a bigger mountain to climb over all.

88 hands later

Had a go on PokerStars today at the same limits as OnGame ($0.05/$0.10)  this time at a speed 6 max table. played 88 hands in around an hour.

Enjoyed the game. traded a few short comments with a player called "gerry.gi". it's quite good when you have a little conversation at the table as it makes the whole experience seem more human.

Play dried up towards the end as all the major fish disappeared (around hand 55) and it was just me and the sharks. I made my excuses and left before anyone took any big chunks out of my stack :P

OnGame Claw back!

Wow! What a session! 2 hours 40 minutes at Hollywood Poker on a $0.05/$0.10 limit table.

Wasn't expecting such a tough field. Lost $1.50 in the first 30 hands and then tightened up my game and spent the next 65 hands clawing it back. Woah.

This time everything is recorded in Hold'em Manager (HM) so I can go back and review what went on.

Really pleased with the report features in HM. If you've got the HUD running, you can generate a player report that only includes players at your table(s). this is great to find out who the winning players are so you can avoid donking too many chips in their direction. Also helps to determine the fish to shark ratio (i.e. is there still any food other than yourself). 

I spent a lot of the session well in the bottom half of the bb/100 rankings but by the end I was in the top 50%... just!

Was surprised to see that 36 players came and went during the session. It didn't seem that many but I suppose you're focused on the hands not on the player churn.

treading water at bodog

played at Bodog for about 2 hours at $.05/$0.10. Basically ended up where I started.

Had a good run to start with- picked a good table and was up $1.00 in no time at all.

that table got down to 2 or 3 players so I moved to a full ring table... and it started out real good. Got up to $6.50 from $5.00.. then it all went pair shaped.

Yet again no analysis software so I can't tell if it was just  a change in the players at the table or if I'd been lucky or I got loose. I definitely was playing more than the recommended hand-range. I think a big problem was overplaying the strong hands and walking into traps.

ah well. practise practice.

Should start playing somewhere where I at least get rakeback. 

In the dark at Pacific

I went to Pacific this evening to practise what I'd read in Small Stakes Hold'em.

Played 2c/4c and started out with lots of "junk hands" (didn't play them). Also, I didn't hit any flops with the better hands - taking me from $2.30 to $2.00 in my first stint. 

took a break to visit the girlfriend. When I got back, I put $1.50 in play. money started to go up gradually but every now and again I'd play a few hands I shouldn't. so, I decided to open another table to reduce the urge to play more hands.

It seemed to work. I put $.50 on the second table and doubled it (thanks in no small part to AA with a helpful x99 flop and some very loose aggressive villains). Also, I loosed my game more on the second table because it was very short handed (4 max). 

Meanwhile the $1.50 went up above $2.00.  I ended the session with $3.75 (combined total).

As I didn't run any hand-capture software I'm in the dark about how I played.  I'm not particularly fussed in this case because Pacific isn't one of my favourites and I've no intention of putting any more money there. I use it as an "off the record" training ground where anything goes... until the deposit runs out.

Preparing for a return

What with the terrible play last month and being very busy at work, I've taken a break from poker apart from reading the occaisional magazine article and listening to the two-plus-two podcast.

Have gone right off tournament play.

Had been reading "Gambling Theory and Other Topics" by Mason Malmuth on and off and quite liked his style though it's a bit heavy going. Recently I switched to reading "Small Stakes Hold'em" (Ed Miller, David Sklandsky and Mason Malmuth)  instead. I love this book!

It's the first time I've seen a whole chapter on pre-flop play concepts - e.g. what kind of thought processes go into deciding how much you can raise pre-flop with any particular hand and still be profitable. It goes into a lot more subjects than just plain old "Pot Odds".

This book is definitely opening my eyes wider. More of the stats in Holdem Manager make sense now - even after just reading the pre-flop play section. I was able to review my performance with particular hands against the advice in the book. For instance, I didn't know what "Cold Calling" meant until today!

I'm eager to try out what I've read so far so will be hopping back into cash games soon - probably tomorrow.

Holdem Manager is excellent. I think I'll start a new database for this attempt and really make an effort to analyze my play.