Well, not really. Very much a status quo. I played about 4K hands and exactly made $1,75 this week. I think I played rather well. However, I think there were a few problems. First of all, I did not win a single coinflip and lost a few big pots where I hit trips on the flop and people pushed and hit their two-outer on the turn or river with pocket Kings or Queens. Second, people calling raises with rags OOP, like 73s and T7o and making a ful house or straight on the river. It seems to be the latest fashion to call with rags and to slowplay monsters. I see a lot of players limping and smoothcalling monsters out of position. For example with AQ, and an Ace on the flop, call the c-bet, check the turn and make a minibet on the river. The good thing the majority of players is not very good and do not know how to make a lot of money from the monsters. Looking at the pocket Aces and Kings I was dealt, it was frustrating to see that was folded around almost every time. Something like a sixth sense with the shorties, because if I raise from the same position, with the same amount, but with low suited connectors I get 4 callers or I am reraised. All-in-all I was a bit frustrated about this week's play. I just could not hit any big hands.
One of the possible problems? Pokeroffice does not have a table overlay. The solution? I really think it would improve my game on Titan when I use that overlay and have a better grasp on the player stats. So I am going to buy Pokertracker and download gametime+ to be able to have an overlay with real time player stats. That should enhance my game. A leak in my game, and I am not sure why it occurs, is that the first 10 minutes after joining a table I tend to loose money, which I consequently have to make up for the rest of the session. With the aid of table overlay I should be able to make some money because I already have stats.
Besides this, I have withdrawn money from Absolute and Pacific Poker and deposited on Titan. I got a 60% and $300 reload bonus. Main reason was that I did not play with the money on those two sites and it was basically dead money. Pacific Poker had the Pokerplayerforayear contest, but they somehow managed to change it. First I had to deposit $50 for each period, and now the freeroll for the next series is at Partypoker, which I should have downloaded through Pacific...?? They lost me there, and I withdrew my funds. I think it is wise, when having a relatively small bankroll, to focus on one or two sites, instead of having bits of money on multiple sites.
I have always been playing at four tables simultaneously and am now experimenting with six-tabling. So far, it took little adjustment. The reason was that, at times, I was distracted when 4-tabling 6-max and found myself surfing the internet. Playing 6-tables, 6-max with stats should keep the focus high. Moreover, when playing 6-tables you get dealt Aces and Kings 50% more often, which makes me think I am running hot.
Also Titan is running a "Dutch Titan series". Not sure what it is and how it works, but I think it is interesting, because of a big final tournament with a large price pot.
Furthermore, I still have to get some points at Titan and Stars to retain my VIP status. I assume that will work out fine.
Finally, I am not quite happy about my blog. I want to improve it a bit, because now it is some sort of log on how good or bad I am doing. I am hoping to make some more videos on cash games, hopefully with a view from a table overlay. I saw a video on cardrunners from "annoying bet", who plays 100NL on Partypoker, which was quite good, although the picture of the screen was very poor. He played super aggressive, which seemed to help and explained the table overlay stats. To further improve my blog I want to post two to five hands every week and explain, in detail, the decisions I made. If you have any further ideas, please let me know.
I got a comment on last article about donkbetting. The comment said, usually it is a move by donks with weak hands. I agree. However, I still think it can be used as a tool. The donkbet I do regularly make is when someone minraises, I call from the blinds and hit top pair or a good draw. I usually try to take the pot down there and then. But then again, a minraise preflop is basically a limp to me.
Quote of the Day
Monday, April 23, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
Donkbetting: a powerfull weapon
Just a little piece i wanted to share about donkbetting. I think it can be a very powerfull weapon.
I posted a hand recently in which the villain donkbetted and I had some discussion about the benefits or the stupidity of donkbetting. First let me explain the concept. Donkbetting can only occur when the initial raiser has position on at least one caller. Then the caller, who is out of position, bets into the initial raiser. For example, I have AA and sit on the button. I raise 4BB. The player in the small blind calls. Flop comes and he bets into me, the initial raiser. This is donkbetting.
Basically there are three reasons to donkbet: for value, for bluff or for semi-bluff. Fact is that a donkbet of 1/2 pot to potsize, looks really strong. You are always thinking, "what hand does he have that is so strong that he bets into me?". I find donkbets are often used by fish, usually shortstacked. Usually this donkbet does not look very strong since the bet is half pot at maximum. Against shortstacked fish, without a hand you usually can not bluff them out of the pot, when they hit something. Classic example is with AK. You raise 4BB, shortstacked (30BB) fish calls. Flop comes 39Jr. The fish bets. What do you do? You can not do an awfull lot. If you raise and the fish has hit anything (like middle pair, or has a low pocket pair) and he will push, you cant call here, but you are already potcommitted. Say you raise 3 times his bet and he pushes for the rest. The pot now is 46BB and youhave to complete 14BB. Tough decision… So it is a really strong weapon for some shortstacked fish. On the other hand, when you do hit, you usually get paid of if they play like this.
You can also use it when stacks are deep and you want to conceal your draw, so make a semi-bluff. For example I have AA and raise 4BB. Small blind calls. Flop comes 7d5dJs. Villain donkbets here potsize. What do you do? Initial thought is that he has a hand and bets strong to prevent the draw. The villain is tight aggressive, like 26/19/5. If you raise 3 times his bet the pot is already 40BB, with the possibility of a reraise. So you decide to double his bet. He calls. Turn comes 6h. The villain bets potsize. This is a difficult situation. You minraise again and he calls. On the river comes the third diamond, an Ace. He pushes. Difficult not to call here with trip aces. He shows QdKd. This can occur when stacks are deep.
Finally donkbetting could be valuable when you have a good view of your oponent's game. When the opponent has a high c-betting frequency in combination with a high preflop raising percentage, the possibility of a succesfull donkbet-steal is high. When the villain has a preflop raise percentage of 1 or 2, it is likely that a donkbet-steal is not succesfull.
However, all over, I think the frequency of donkbetting should be very limited. It can easily be used against you.
If you have any additions to this little piece of donkbetting strategy, please leave a comment.
I posted a hand recently in which the villain donkbetted and I had some discussion about the benefits or the stupidity of donkbetting. First let me explain the concept. Donkbetting can only occur when the initial raiser has position on at least one caller. Then the caller, who is out of position, bets into the initial raiser. For example, I have AA and sit on the button. I raise 4BB. The player in the small blind calls. Flop comes and he bets into me, the initial raiser. This is donkbetting.
Basically there are three reasons to donkbet: for value, for bluff or for semi-bluff. Fact is that a donkbet of 1/2 pot to potsize, looks really strong. You are always thinking, "what hand does he have that is so strong that he bets into me?". I find donkbets are often used by fish, usually shortstacked. Usually this donkbet does not look very strong since the bet is half pot at maximum. Against shortstacked fish, without a hand you usually can not bluff them out of the pot, when they hit something. Classic example is with AK. You raise 4BB, shortstacked (30BB) fish calls. Flop comes 39Jr. The fish bets. What do you do? You can not do an awfull lot. If you raise and the fish has hit anything (like middle pair, or has a low pocket pair) and he will push, you cant call here, but you are already potcommitted. Say you raise 3 times his bet and he pushes for the rest. The pot now is 46BB and youhave to complete 14BB. Tough decision… So it is a really strong weapon for some shortstacked fish. On the other hand, when you do hit, you usually get paid of if they play like this.
You can also use it when stacks are deep and you want to conceal your draw, so make a semi-bluff. For example I have AA and raise 4BB. Small blind calls. Flop comes 7d5dJs. Villain donkbets here potsize. What do you do? Initial thought is that he has a hand and bets strong to prevent the draw. The villain is tight aggressive, like 26/19/5. If you raise 3 times his bet the pot is already 40BB, with the possibility of a reraise. So you decide to double his bet. He calls. Turn comes 6h. The villain bets potsize. This is a difficult situation. You minraise again and he calls. On the river comes the third diamond, an Ace. He pushes. Difficult not to call here with trip aces. He shows QdKd. This can occur when stacks are deep.
Finally donkbetting could be valuable when you have a good view of your oponent's game. When the opponent has a high c-betting frequency in combination with a high preflop raising percentage, the possibility of a succesfull donkbet-steal is high. When the villain has a preflop raise percentage of 1 or 2, it is likely that a donkbet-steal is not succesfull.
However, all over, I think the frequency of donkbetting should be very limited. It can easily be used against you.
If you have any additions to this little piece of donkbetting strategy, please leave a comment.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Quitting poker
My weekly update:
Quitting poker
I see more and more people quitting poker, or at least that is what I think happened. On the other hand lots of new fish is swimming to the tables. I am wondering if other people notice the same. There are two indications people are quitting. The first is that I see a lot of bloggers, who used to update their blog weekly or even more often, have stopped doing so. Lots of blogs I used to read have not been updated for a while. Did you guys quit? Dizzie, Claudiorat?
The other, more worrying indication is my buddy list. Over the past couple of months I marked loads of players as buddies(aka fish). When playing on Titan I usually run a player, buddy search to see where my money is at. While I must have registered at least 100 players I am lucky if my search finds one or two buddies. Obviously it is not unthinkable that the fish gets tired of loosing money. But hey, it is just a game.
Blogging
Good thing is that more and more pokerplayers are blogging their results. Whatever limit you play at, there will be other pokerplayers blogging their results at that limit (or no limit of course). Last week I noticed Jorryt van Hoof (aka thecleaner11) has started a blog. It is already worth your time to pay his blog a visit. Some other interesting celibrity blogs, where poker stories and hand explanations are worth reading, are: Brian Townsend, Gus Hansen and Taylor Gaby.
Interesting blogs of the not so celebrities, but very worthwhile reading: Snake, Claudius and Mikelitt.
If you know any more interesting blogs, please leave a comment.
Update
I entered the 250K tournament yesterday. It did have a huge overlay as predicted. Overlay was about 70K. About 440 players entered the event. My tournament was not to good. I was carddead for the first hour. I had to lay down AK against a reraise all-in and a call preflop. I won my first hand only after about 45 minutes. I did get some ok hands, but whenever I had a hand it got folded around or I was pushed out of the hand. I never got over my starting stack of 3000 chips. I remained stable at 2500 chips by stealing blinds. Final hand was where the aggressive CO raised 3xBB and I was in the BTN and reraised all-in for a bit more. And my KJ was no match for his KK. I was out 180-ish.
Cashgames are picking up somewhat. I am up almost $1K for this week, which is almost exclusively thanks to cash games. I had no big beats and played pretty basic poker. I am getting annoyed by the shortstack donkies. I was at a table with Goliat12 who made the most insane calls and kept sucking out. Calling reraises with Q2 and calling first and second barrels with a Q high flop and ending up winning against AK. I saw him betting and reraising with bottom pair and sucking out and winning almost every hand. Unfortunately I never got in a good hand against him. I see more and more shorties playing like this, waiting for a lucky double up or two. So I rather enter a table where everybody has 100+BB, than a table with two shortstacks.
Most amazing hand of the weekend was the following:
NL Texas Holdem – ($0.50/$1.00)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: marcpr ( $ 116.25)
Seat 2: theDot ( $ 83.50)
Seat 4: EdmeC ( $ 137.94)
Seat 5: DjMaz ( $ 75.40)
Seat 6: Donfish ( $ 49.35) Look @ the screenname!
theDot posts small blind [$ 0.50].
EdmeC posts big blind [$ 1.00].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to EdmeC [7s] [2h]
DjMaz folds
Donfish calls $1
marcpr folds
theDot calls $0.50
EdmeC checks
** Dealing Flop ** [2c] [7d] [Qc]
theDot checks
EdmeC checks
Donfish bets $3
EdmeC raises $6 to $9
Donfish raises $12 to $21
EdmeC raises $18 to $39
Donfish goes all-in $10.35
EdmeC calls $10.35
** Dealing turn ** [2c] [7d] [Qc] [3c]
** Dealing river ** [2c] [7d] [Qc] [3c] [7c]
** Showdown **
EdmeC shows [7s] [2h] (Full House, Sevens full of Twos)
Donfish shows [Ad] [Ah] (Two pair, Aces and Sevens)
I would almost never laydown two pair against a shortie, unless there is a very clear read. For the same reason I would never lay down trips against shorties, unless there is a four-flush on the table, and even then...
Looking at the 100NL game at Titan there are a few regulars, who are doing well. There are no players I would not play against. I know there are a few players that do not like playing me, which is fine. One actually left the table, after I sucked out against him (QQ against AA, where I hit my flush on the river, without going all-in), and said "You are sick EdmeC". I love it. Sometimes it is frustrating if people can not lay down their TPTK. An example: I had A2o on the BTN and raised 4BB and got called by the SB. The flop came A42r. He donkbets, I raise, he reraises, I push and he calls after his timebank almost runs out. He shows AQ and gets a Q on the river. He then says: "You are a fish", "You raise with A2o??". Hmmm.
Good luck @ the tables.
Quitting poker
I see more and more people quitting poker, or at least that is what I think happened. On the other hand lots of new fish is swimming to the tables. I am wondering if other people notice the same. There are two indications people are quitting. The first is that I see a lot of bloggers, who used to update their blog weekly or even more often, have stopped doing so. Lots of blogs I used to read have not been updated for a while. Did you guys quit? Dizzie, Claudiorat?
The other, more worrying indication is my buddy list. Over the past couple of months I marked loads of players as buddies(aka fish). When playing on Titan I usually run a player, buddy search to see where my money is at. While I must have registered at least 100 players I am lucky if my search finds one or two buddies. Obviously it is not unthinkable that the fish gets tired of loosing money. But hey, it is just a game.
Blogging
Good thing is that more and more pokerplayers are blogging their results. Whatever limit you play at, there will be other pokerplayers blogging their results at that limit (or no limit of course). Last week I noticed Jorryt van Hoof (aka thecleaner11) has started a blog. It is already worth your time to pay his blog a visit. Some other interesting celibrity blogs, where poker stories and hand explanations are worth reading, are: Brian Townsend, Gus Hansen and Taylor Gaby.
Interesting blogs of the not so celebrities, but very worthwhile reading: Snake, Claudius and Mikelitt.
If you know any more interesting blogs, please leave a comment.
Update
I entered the 250K tournament yesterday. It did have a huge overlay as predicted. Overlay was about 70K. About 440 players entered the event. My tournament was not to good. I was carddead for the first hour. I had to lay down AK against a reraise all-in and a call preflop. I won my first hand only after about 45 minutes. I did get some ok hands, but whenever I had a hand it got folded around or I was pushed out of the hand. I never got over my starting stack of 3000 chips. I remained stable at 2500 chips by stealing blinds. Final hand was where the aggressive CO raised 3xBB and I was in the BTN and reraised all-in for a bit more. And my KJ was no match for his KK. I was out 180-ish.
Cashgames are picking up somewhat. I am up almost $1K for this week, which is almost exclusively thanks to cash games. I had no big beats and played pretty basic poker. I am getting annoyed by the shortstack donkies. I was at a table with Goliat12 who made the most insane calls and kept sucking out. Calling reraises with Q2 and calling first and second barrels with a Q high flop and ending up winning against AK. I saw him betting and reraising with bottom pair and sucking out and winning almost every hand. Unfortunately I never got in a good hand against him. I see more and more shorties playing like this, waiting for a lucky double up or two. So I rather enter a table where everybody has 100+BB, than a table with two shortstacks.
Most amazing hand of the weekend was the following:
NL Texas Holdem – ($0.50/$1.00)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: marcpr ( $ 116.25)
Seat 2: theDot ( $ 83.50)
Seat 4: EdmeC ( $ 137.94)
Seat 5: DjMaz ( $ 75.40)
Seat 6: Donfish ( $ 49.35) Look @ the screenname!
theDot posts small blind [$ 0.50].
EdmeC posts big blind [$ 1.00].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to EdmeC [7s] [2h]
DjMaz folds
Donfish calls $1
marcpr folds
theDot calls $0.50
EdmeC checks
** Dealing Flop ** [2c] [7d] [Qc]
theDot checks
EdmeC checks
Donfish bets $3
EdmeC raises $6 to $9
Donfish raises $12 to $21
EdmeC raises $18 to $39
Donfish goes all-in $10.35
EdmeC calls $10.35
** Dealing turn ** [2c] [7d] [Qc] [3c]
** Dealing river ** [2c] [7d] [Qc] [3c] [7c]
** Showdown **
EdmeC shows [7s] [2h] (Full House, Sevens full of Twos)
Donfish shows [Ad] [Ah] (Two pair, Aces and Sevens)
I would almost never laydown two pair against a shortie, unless there is a very clear read. For the same reason I would never lay down trips against shorties, unless there is a four-flush on the table, and even then...
Looking at the 100NL game at Titan there are a few regulars, who are doing well. There are no players I would not play against. I know there are a few players that do not like playing me, which is fine. One actually left the table, after I sucked out against him (QQ against AA, where I hit my flush on the river, without going all-in), and said "You are sick EdmeC". I love it. Sometimes it is frustrating if people can not lay down their TPTK. An example: I had A2o on the BTN and raised 4BB and got called by the SB. The flop came A42r. He donkbets, I raise, he reraises, I push and he calls after his timebank almost runs out. He shows AQ and gets a Q on the river. He then says: "You are a fish", "You raise with A2o??". Hmmm.
Good luck @ the tables.
Friday, April 13, 2007
New video and update
Video
As you see, and as I have promised, I have uploaded another video. The purpose was to do two Double Shootouts, played at Pokerstars. I entered a $11,70 Double Shootout for a $215 Sunday Million ticket and a $16 Double Shootout for a $650 WSOP Qualifier ticket. As you probably know, you can, when you win a ticket, unregister from these tournaments and receive T$ instead. The purpose of the Double Shootout is to win the first round, which is a 10-max Sit and Go and subsequently win a ticket in the second round, the final. The level of play is not to high and you will see a lot of suck outs and somewhat strange plays. I entered two turbo events, which does not improve the level of play. The video also shows some cashgaming and a $3 rebuy for a Sunday Million ticket. The total video lasts about 1,5 hours.
I have not yet reviewed the video, but to the best of my memory I did not make to many questionable plays in the DS or $3 rebuy. I have some doubts about one or two cash game hands. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to leave a comment. I will then post the handhistory of a specific hand (please provide me with the time the hand occurred) on this blog and give my opinion on it.
I am sure the sound and video quality is better (though somehow still not optimal) compared to the last video. Note that I silenced a small part of the video after about 7 minutes when I had to answer the telephone.
Link to the video
Update
Since I still have computer issues with my main computer (the thing keeps shutting down, while playing) I do not have any accurate statistics. However I can tell you that since the beginning of the month I am up over $800. Still this month has not been great. I had five loosing days and 7 winning days. Fortunately the daily losses never passed two buyins. Cashgames are picking up a bit. I think I was/am experiencing a cold run. For cashgames on Titan I am still down 3 buyins compared to 11 March. Needless to say that is awful. The main winnings come from 50NL at Pokerstars and Pacific and from tournaments at Pokerstars. On Pokerstars my bankroll grew after the $270 deposit on 6 March to $1,8K now.
Looking at the tournaments I will only play the Sunday Million again when my bankroll passes $10K. It takes a considerable chunk out of my bankroll to play that tournament. Nonetheless it is a great tournament to play with a great blind structure, which I intend to play more often in the future. I am looking forward to the $400 $250K gtd on Titan this Sunday. It will have a huge overlay. There are not too many players that are willing/able to pay $400 for that tournament on iPoker and so far about 190 players have qualified. It needs 625 to meet the guaranteed amount.
As you see, and as I have promised, I have uploaded another video. The purpose was to do two Double Shootouts, played at Pokerstars. I entered a $11,70 Double Shootout for a $215 Sunday Million ticket and a $16 Double Shootout for a $650 WSOP Qualifier ticket. As you probably know, you can, when you win a ticket, unregister from these tournaments and receive T$ instead. The purpose of the Double Shootout is to win the first round, which is a 10-max Sit and Go and subsequently win a ticket in the second round, the final. The level of play is not to high and you will see a lot of suck outs and somewhat strange plays. I entered two turbo events, which does not improve the level of play. The video also shows some cashgaming and a $3 rebuy for a Sunday Million ticket. The total video lasts about 1,5 hours.
I have not yet reviewed the video, but to the best of my memory I did not make to many questionable plays in the DS or $3 rebuy. I have some doubts about one or two cash game hands. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to leave a comment. I will then post the handhistory of a specific hand (please provide me with the time the hand occurred) on this blog and give my opinion on it.
I am sure the sound and video quality is better (though somehow still not optimal) compared to the last video. Note that I silenced a small part of the video after about 7 minutes when I had to answer the telephone.
Link to the video
Update
Since I still have computer issues with my main computer (the thing keeps shutting down, while playing) I do not have any accurate statistics. However I can tell you that since the beginning of the month I am up over $800. Still this month has not been great. I had five loosing days and 7 winning days. Fortunately the daily losses never passed two buyins. Cashgames are picking up a bit. I think I was/am experiencing a cold run. For cashgames on Titan I am still down 3 buyins compared to 11 March. Needless to say that is awful. The main winnings come from 50NL at Pokerstars and Pacific and from tournaments at Pokerstars. On Pokerstars my bankroll grew after the $270 deposit on 6 March to $1,8K now.
Looking at the tournaments I will only play the Sunday Million again when my bankroll passes $10K. It takes a considerable chunk out of my bankroll to play that tournament. Nonetheless it is a great tournament to play with a great blind structure, which I intend to play more often in the future. I am looking forward to the $400 $250K gtd on Titan this Sunday. It will have a huge overlay. There are not too many players that are willing/able to pay $400 for that tournament on iPoker and so far about 190 players have qualified. It needs 625 to meet the guaranteed amount.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Donkbetting
Just a midweek post with two random cash game hands. If you have any thoughts, please give me your opinion when you would have played it differently. I do not have the 100% exact HH, but I tried to reproduce the hands as good as possible.
NL Texas Holdem – ($0.50/$1.00)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: biggussnickus( $ 61.65)
Seat 2: iflopg00t( $ 292.45) Good player. 30/18/5
Seat 3: vitek12( $ 186.06)
Seat 4: KillPoker ( $ 67.00)
Seat 5: EdmeC ( $ 166.95)
Seat 6: dontwiat4me( $ 24.68)
iflopg00t posts small blind [$ 0.50].
vitek12 posts big blind [$ 1.00].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to EdmeC [Ad] [Ah]
KillPoker folds
EdmeC bets $4
dontwiat4me folds
biggussnickus calls $4
iflopg00t calls $3.50
vitek12 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [4d] [10d] [3h]
iflopg00t bets $9
EdmeC raises $9 to $18 -> awfull, but I am not sure how to handle the donkbetting
biggussnickus folds
iflopg00t calls $18
** Dealing turn ** [4d][10d][3h][8c]
iflopg00t bets $24 -> again a donkbet
EdmeC raises $24 tp $48
iflopg00t calls $24 ->I just can't see where he is going. Something like AT??
** Dealing river ** [4d][10d][3h][8c][Ad]
iflopg00t goes all-in $212.45
EdmeC calls $86.95 -> can't really fold here with trip aces
Edit:
** Showdown **
iflopg00t shows [Kd][Qd] (Flush, Ace high)
EdmeC shows [Ad] [Ah] (Three of a kind, Aces)
Really want your thoughts on donkbetting. So betting against the initial raiser. I see it more and more, and I actually never do it myself. Do you use it? How do you use it and how do you deal with it when another player donkbets and you don't have the nuts?
NL Texas Holdem – ($0.50/$1.00)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: sohotridge( $ 100.65)
Seat 2: nygges12 ( $ 95.45) No read
Seat 3: biggussnickus ( $ 82.05)
Seat 4: Leriksson( $ 107.00)
Seat 5: that4that( $ 54.75)
Seat 6: EdmeC ( $ 106.95)
nygges12 posts small blind [$ 0.50].
biggussnickus posts big blind [$ 1.00].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to EdmeC [6d] [7d]
Leriksson folds
that4that folds
EdmeC bets $4
sohotridge folds
nygges12 calls $3.50
biggussnickus folds
** Dealing Flop ** [4d] [5d] [8s]
nygges12 checks
EdmeC bets $6 -> flop the nutstraight and a flushdraw. 2/3 pot bet
nygges12 calls $6
** Dealing turn ** [4d] [5d] [8s] [7h]
nygges12 checks
EdmeC bets $18 -> $18 in $21 pot
nygges12 calls $18
** Dealing river ** [4d] [5d] [8s] [7h] [Ad]
nygges12 goes all-in $67.45
EdmeC calls $67.45
Edit:
nygges12 shows [Jd] {Qd] (Flush, Ace high, Queen kicker)
EdmeC shows [6d] [7d] (Flush, Ace High)
All-in all I think I played the first hand really poorly. The second hand was ok. There is an ace on the river, so the flush is less likely. Besides that, the possibility he had two diamonds was not to big, because of the five diamonds already in play. The first hand I did give the villain the correct odds to call my minraises, although the donkbetting is ugly. The second hand he did not have the odds to call the turn bet, but did.
So please leave a comment on the hands and the donkbetting question. I appreciate it.
NL Texas Holdem – ($0.50/$1.00)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: biggussnickus( $ 61.65)
Seat 2: iflopg00t( $ 292.45) Good player. 30/18/5
Seat 3: vitek12( $ 186.06)
Seat 4: KillPoker ( $ 67.00)
Seat 5: EdmeC ( $ 166.95)
Seat 6: dontwiat4me( $ 24.68)
iflopg00t posts small blind [$ 0.50].
vitek12 posts big blind [$ 1.00].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to EdmeC [Ad] [Ah]
KillPoker folds
EdmeC bets $4
dontwiat4me folds
biggussnickus calls $4
iflopg00t calls $3.50
vitek12 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [4d] [10d] [3h]
iflopg00t bets $9
EdmeC raises $9 to $18 -> awfull, but I am not sure how to handle the donkbetting
biggussnickus folds
iflopg00t calls $18
** Dealing turn ** [4d][10d][3h][8c]
iflopg00t bets $24 -> again a donkbet
EdmeC raises $24 tp $48
iflopg00t calls $24 ->I just can't see where he is going. Something like AT??
** Dealing river ** [4d][10d][3h][8c][Ad]
iflopg00t goes all-in $212.45
EdmeC calls $86.95 -> can't really fold here with trip aces
Edit:
** Showdown **
iflopg00t shows [Kd][Qd] (Flush, Ace high)
EdmeC shows [Ad] [Ah] (Three of a kind, Aces)
Really want your thoughts on donkbetting. So betting against the initial raiser. I see it more and more, and I actually never do it myself. Do you use it? How do you use it and how do you deal with it when another player donkbets and you don't have the nuts?
NL Texas Holdem – ($0.50/$1.00)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: sohotridge( $ 100.65)
Seat 2: nygges12 ( $ 95.45) No read
Seat 3: biggussnickus ( $ 82.05)
Seat 4: Leriksson( $ 107.00)
Seat 5: that4that( $ 54.75)
Seat 6: EdmeC ( $ 106.95)
nygges12 posts small blind [$ 0.50].
biggussnickus posts big blind [$ 1.00].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to EdmeC [6d] [7d]
Leriksson folds
that4that folds
EdmeC bets $4
sohotridge folds
nygges12 calls $3.50
biggussnickus folds
** Dealing Flop ** [4d] [5d] [8s]
nygges12 checks
EdmeC bets $6 -> flop the nutstraight and a flushdraw. 2/3 pot bet
nygges12 calls $6
** Dealing turn ** [4d] [5d] [8s] [7h]
nygges12 checks
EdmeC bets $18 -> $18 in $21 pot
nygges12 calls $18
** Dealing river ** [4d] [5d] [8s] [7h] [Ad]
nygges12 goes all-in $67.45
EdmeC calls $67.45
Edit:
nygges12 shows [Jd] {Qd] (Flush, Ace high, Queen kicker)
EdmeC shows [6d] [7d] (Flush, Ace High)
All-in all I think I played the first hand really poorly. The second hand was ok. There is an ace on the river, so the flush is less likely. Besides that, the possibility he had two diamonds was not to big, because of the five diamonds already in play. The first hand I did give the villain the correct odds to call my minraises, although the donkbetting is ugly. The second hand he did not have the odds to call the turn bet, but did.
So please leave a comment on the hands and the donkbetting question. I appreciate it.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Tournaments up, Cash games down
I just can't seem to get a proper winning streak in cash games lately. The level of play is definitely growing. Since the beginning of the month I am still 3 buyins down. So that is no good at all!!!
On the other hand: Tournaments are picking up. I won a double shootout for a $650 WSOP ticket, for which I unregistered. I must say I was really lucky in that one. I had two suck outs. One of which was unbelievable. I wanted to steal the blinds with 53s. I raised for half my stack from the button. Flop came 68Tr. I pushed and got called by K6 in the SB. Turn was a 5, river a 3. Another one with A8 against AT, when I hit two pair on the flop. Furthermore I was lucky heads up, because of the donk I played against. He made the most insane plays. We were heads up for the ticket and with my stack slightly larger than his he raised, I pushed with A5 and he called with J3s. I think that is -EV! Won the ticket.
Yesterday was a tournament day. I played a wide range of tournaments on Pokerstars. Started with a $4,40 freezeout, $3 rebuy, $55 freezeout, $11 freezeout and the Sunday Million. First two I was out well before the money. The $55 freezeout I was out in level one. Below is that hand. Not a bad beat, but I can't possibly fold here.
$50+$5 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2007/04/08 - 15:06:13 (ET)
Table '46772511 124' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: jpjjj (1430 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 2: hoozie000 (1700 in chips)
Seat 3: Leor2 (1390 in chips)
Seat 4: mf8480 (1530 in chips)
Seat 5: Edme79 (1410 in chips)
Seat 6: bigbenton (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: Tarasio (1580 in chips)
Seat 8: Arrjay (1490 in chips)
Seat 9: AilSpider (1470 in chips)
Leor2: posts small blind 10
mf8480: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Edme79 [Jc Js]
Edme79: raises 60 to 80
bigbenton: folds
Tarasio: folds
Arrjay: calls 80
AilSpider: folds
jpjjj: folds
hoozie000: folds
Leor2: calls 70
mf8480: folds
*** FLOP *** [Qc Jd 3s]
jpjjj has returned
Leor2: checks
Edme79: bets 200 Nice I have trips
Arrjay: folds
Leor2: raises 360 to 560 He raises with what? QJ or 33?
Edme79: raises 770 to 1330 and is all-in Obvious push
Leor2: calls 750 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Qc Jd 3s] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [Qc Jd 3s 2d] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Leor2: shows [Qd Qh] (three of a kind, Queens) O M G
Edme79: shows [Jc Js] (three of a kind, Jacks)
Leor2 collected 2880 from pot
So much for the $55 freezeout. The $11 freezeout on Pokerstars was good. I reached the final table and got a deal with 5 people left. There were three shorties and two big stacks and I was one of the shorties. I won $650 with that. Good deal. We left $300 in the pot and I got out in fourth place, which made the deal a good one. The tournament was awesome. I was down to 312 chips with 110 (out of 850) left, and got back to 12000 and average, just 8 hands later. Nice.
The Sunday Million started of well. Before the first break I was up to 28K, but from then on I never got a decent hand. I made one or two dumb plays, when my stack got down to 10K. Got all-in against a very aggressive big stack and he hit a 3-outer on the river.
This week I will try to make a profit in cashgames. On Sunday I will play the 250K event on Titan, for which I won a ticket. There are some other pokerrelated things I am working on. I will keep you posted. One of them is that I am hoping to get another video up this week.
So much for now. Happy Easter.
On the other hand: Tournaments are picking up. I won a double shootout for a $650 WSOP ticket, for which I unregistered. I must say I was really lucky in that one. I had two suck outs. One of which was unbelievable. I wanted to steal the blinds with 53s. I raised for half my stack from the button. Flop came 68Tr. I pushed and got called by K6 in the SB. Turn was a 5, river a 3. Another one with A8 against AT, when I hit two pair on the flop. Furthermore I was lucky heads up, because of the donk I played against. He made the most insane plays. We were heads up for the ticket and with my stack slightly larger than his he raised, I pushed with A5 and he called with J3s. I think that is -EV! Won the ticket.
Yesterday was a tournament day. I played a wide range of tournaments on Pokerstars. Started with a $4,40 freezeout, $3 rebuy, $55 freezeout, $11 freezeout and the Sunday Million. First two I was out well before the money. The $55 freezeout I was out in level one. Below is that hand. Not a bad beat, but I can't possibly fold here.
$50+$5 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2007/04/08 - 15:06:13 (ET)
Table '46772511 124' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: jpjjj (1430 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 2: hoozie000 (1700 in chips)
Seat 3: Leor2 (1390 in chips)
Seat 4: mf8480 (1530 in chips)
Seat 5: Edme79 (1410 in chips)
Seat 6: bigbenton (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: Tarasio (1580 in chips)
Seat 8: Arrjay (1490 in chips)
Seat 9: AilSpider (1470 in chips)
Leor2: posts small blind 10
mf8480: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Edme79 [Jc Js]
Edme79: raises 60 to 80
bigbenton: folds
Tarasio: folds
Arrjay: calls 80
AilSpider: folds
jpjjj: folds
hoozie000: folds
Leor2: calls 70
mf8480: folds
*** FLOP *** [Qc Jd 3s]
jpjjj has returned
Leor2: checks
Edme79: bets 200 Nice I have trips
Arrjay: folds
Leor2: raises 360 to 560 He raises with what? QJ or 33?
Edme79: raises 770 to 1330 and is all-in Obvious push
Leor2: calls 750 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Qc Jd 3s] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [Qc Jd 3s 2d] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Leor2: shows [Qd Qh] (three of a kind, Queens) O M G
Edme79: shows [Jc Js] (three of a kind, Jacks)
Leor2 collected 2880 from pot
So much for the $55 freezeout. The $11 freezeout on Pokerstars was good. I reached the final table and got a deal with 5 people left. There were three shorties and two big stacks and I was one of the shorties. I won $650 with that. Good deal. We left $300 in the pot and I got out in fourth place, which made the deal a good one. The tournament was awesome. I was down to 312 chips with 110 (out of 850) left, and got back to 12000 and average, just 8 hands later. Nice.
The Sunday Million started of well. Before the first break I was up to 28K, but from then on I never got a decent hand. I made one or two dumb plays, when my stack got down to 10K. Got all-in against a very aggressive big stack and he hit a 3-outer on the river.
This week I will try to make a profit in cashgames. On Sunday I will play the 250K event on Titan, for which I won a ticket. There are some other pokerrelated things I am working on. I will keep you posted. One of them is that I am hoping to get another video up this week.
So much for now. Happy Easter.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Some hands
Three problematic hands from the last few sessions. The first two are similar. If you have any thoughts on these hands please leave a comment in the designated section.
NL Texas Holdem – ($0.50/$1.00)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: longitude ( $ 61.65)
Seat 2: TheN000b( $ 92.82)
Seat 3: carlssen12 ( $ 186.06)
Seat 4: KillPoker ( $ 42.00)
Seat 5: EdmeC ( $ 96.95)
Seat 6: BerrryKat32 ( $ 85.68)
BerrryKat32 posts small blind [$ 0.50].
longitude posts big blind [$ 1.00].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to EdmeC [Ad] [Kd]
TheN000b folds
carlssen12 bets $4
KillPoker folds
EdmeC raises $10 to $14
BerrryKat32 folds
longitude folds
carlssen12 calls $10 -> Calls after waiting long
** Dealing Flop ** [4d] [Jd] [2h]
carlssen12 checks
EdmeC bets $20 ->standard c-bet
Carlssen12 raises $20 to $40
EdmeC calls $20 -> Pot is $89,50 and I have to call $20. Have to hit in in 4,5 times which is about the odds for hitting the flush on the turn.** Dealing turn ** [4d] [Jd] [2h] [Kh]
Carlssen12 goes all-in $132.06
EdmeC calls $42.95 and is all-in -> Pot is about $130 and have to call $42. Got TPTK and nut flush draw.
** Dealing river ** [4d] [Jd] [2h] [Kh] [3c]
** Showdown **
Carlssen12 shows [Ah] [Ac] (One pair, Aces)
EdmeC shows [Ad] [Kd] (High card, Ace)
Almost the same situation:
NL Texas Holdem – ($0.50/$1.00)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: kazambasa ( $ 21.00)
Seat 2: vertigo1 ( $ 99.50)
Seat 3: allwaysthenuts ( $ 115.06)
Seat 4: EdmeC ( $ 106.55)
Seat 5: JuicyBall ( $ 242.00)
Seat 6: Rico123 ( $ 45.68)
kazambasa posts small blind [$ 0.50].
vertigo1 posts big blind [$ 1.00].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to EdmeC [Ac] [Kc]
vertigo1 folds
allwaysthenuts bets $4
EdmeC raises $10 to $14
JuicyBall folds
Rico123 folds
kazambasa folds
allwaysthenuts calls $10 -> Calls after almost timing out
** Dealing Flop ** [Jc][3d][6c]
allwaysthenuts checks
EdmeC bets $20 -> standard c-bet
allwaysthenuts raises $20 to $40
EdmeC calls $20 -> Same response as the first hand
** Dealing turn ** [Jc][3d][6c] [Qd]
allwaysthenuts goes all-in $61.06
EdmeC calls $52.55 -> Got nut flush draw, nut straight draw and two overcards. Pot is $150 and have to call $52.
** Dealing river ** [Jc][3d][6c] [Qd] [5s]
** Showdown **
Allwaysthenuts shows [Kh] [Kd] (One pair, Kings)
EdmeC shows [Ac] [Kc] (High card, Ace)
I really find it difficult to get away from these two hands with my draw. I think I made the correct move by calling, although pushing on the flop might have been even better. I posted the hands on pokernews forum. Link to the thread can be found here.
Another interesting hand:
NL Texas Holdem – ($0.50/$1.00)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: FruitBiscuits ( $ 101.00)
Seat 2: feelitsgood ( $ 89.50)
Seat 3: lyalya ( $ 114.06)
Seat 4: EdmeC ( $ 195.65)
Seat 5: Waffel ( $ 112.00)
Seat 6: Expekt12512( $ 105.00)
EdmeC posts small blind [$ 0.50].
Waffel posts big blind [$ 1.00].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to EdmeC [Qc] [Qd]
Expekt12512 bets $4 -> Only note is that I saw him raise UTG with 56s
FruitBiscuits folds
feelitsgood calls $4
EdmeC raises $15.50 to $16
Waffel folds
Expekt12512 calls $12 -> Calls after almost timing out
feelitsgood calls $12
** Dealing Flop ** [10c][5d][2d]
EdmeC bets $30 -> 2/3 pot bet
Expekt12512 goes all-in $89.00 -> Instant all-infeelitsgood folds
EdmeC ???
Should I stay or should I go? Link to forum thread can be found here.
NL Texas Holdem – ($0.50/$1.00)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: longitude ( $ 61.65)
Seat 2: TheN000b( $ 92.82)
Seat 3: carlssen12 ( $ 186.06)
Seat 4: KillPoker ( $ 42.00)
Seat 5: EdmeC ( $ 96.95)
Seat 6: BerrryKat32 ( $ 85.68)
BerrryKat32 posts small blind [$ 0.50].
longitude posts big blind [$ 1.00].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to EdmeC [Ad] [Kd]
TheN000b folds
carlssen12 bets $4
KillPoker folds
EdmeC raises $10 to $14
BerrryKat32 folds
longitude folds
carlssen12 calls $10 -> Calls after waiting long
** Dealing Flop ** [4d] [Jd] [2h]
carlssen12 checks
EdmeC bets $20 ->standard c-bet
Carlssen12 raises $20 to $40
EdmeC calls $20 -> Pot is $89,50 and I have to call $20. Have to hit in in 4,5 times which is about the odds for hitting the flush on the turn.** Dealing turn ** [4d] [Jd] [2h] [Kh]
Carlssen12 goes all-in $132.06
EdmeC calls $42.95 and is all-in -> Pot is about $130 and have to call $42. Got TPTK and nut flush draw.
** Dealing river ** [4d] [Jd] [2h] [Kh] [3c]
** Showdown **
Carlssen12 shows [Ah] [Ac] (One pair, Aces)
EdmeC shows [Ad] [Kd] (High card, Ace)
Almost the same situation:
NL Texas Holdem – ($0.50/$1.00)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: kazambasa ( $ 21.00)
Seat 2: vertigo1 ( $ 99.50)
Seat 3: allwaysthenuts ( $ 115.06)
Seat 4: EdmeC ( $ 106.55)
Seat 5: JuicyBall ( $ 242.00)
Seat 6: Rico123 ( $ 45.68)
kazambasa posts small blind [$ 0.50].
vertigo1 posts big blind [$ 1.00].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to EdmeC [Ac] [Kc]
vertigo1 folds
allwaysthenuts bets $4
EdmeC raises $10 to $14
JuicyBall folds
Rico123 folds
kazambasa folds
allwaysthenuts calls $10 -> Calls after almost timing out
** Dealing Flop ** [Jc][3d][6c]
allwaysthenuts checks
EdmeC bets $20 -> standard c-bet
allwaysthenuts raises $20 to $40
EdmeC calls $20 -> Same response as the first hand
** Dealing turn ** [Jc][3d][6c] [Qd]
allwaysthenuts goes all-in $61.06
EdmeC calls $52.55 -> Got nut flush draw, nut straight draw and two overcards. Pot is $150 and have to call $52.
** Dealing river ** [Jc][3d][6c] [Qd] [5s]
** Showdown **
Allwaysthenuts shows [Kh] [Kd] (One pair, Kings)
EdmeC shows [Ac] [Kc] (High card, Ace)
I really find it difficult to get away from these two hands with my draw. I think I made the correct move by calling, although pushing on the flop might have been even better. I posted the hands on pokernews forum. Link to the thread can be found here.
Another interesting hand:
NL Texas Holdem – ($0.50/$1.00)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: FruitBiscuits ( $ 101.00)
Seat 2: feelitsgood ( $ 89.50)
Seat 3: lyalya ( $ 114.06)
Seat 4: EdmeC ( $ 195.65)
Seat 5: Waffel ( $ 112.00)
Seat 6: Expekt12512( $ 105.00)
EdmeC posts small blind [$ 0.50].
Waffel posts big blind [$ 1.00].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to EdmeC [Qc] [Qd]
Expekt12512 bets $4 -> Only note is that I saw him raise UTG with 56s
FruitBiscuits folds
feelitsgood calls $4
EdmeC raises $15.50 to $16
Waffel folds
Expekt12512 calls $12 -> Calls after almost timing out
feelitsgood calls $12
** Dealing Flop ** [10c][5d][2d]
EdmeC bets $30 -> 2/3 pot bet
Expekt12512 goes all-in $89.00 -> Instant all-infeelitsgood folds
EdmeC ???
Should I stay or should I go? Link to forum thread can be found here.
Monday, April 2, 2007
A hectic month
Unfortunately I can not show any detailed figures about the last month, because my main computer (with Pokeroffice database) is at the computer guy. I brought it in for some memory upgrade and he probably wrecked the thing, because it did not work anymore. The thing will be repaired and upgraded halfway through this week, so as for now I have no figures about the number of hands and bb/100. However, I will try to evaluate the month to the best of my knowledge.
Evaluating March
Increase bankroll to $5,250
Failed on doing that. I had two big loosing days and could not win a lot during the other days. I went from $3,484 to $4,817. Still it was my best month so far, but like January and February it should have been better. I made a switch to 6-max and am positive this is better for my bankroll. Full ring is really about waiting and taking the occasional shot at a big pot. 6-max is more about stealing blinds, (re)raising and being far more aggressive. Mikelitt helped me improving the 6-max game and I will probably not return to full-ring any time soon.
When I look at the distribution of my bankroll it is in 5 different sites.
• $25 on Partypoker (some bonus with which I will play one $22 tournament and see where it goes);
• $50 on Absolute Poker (rakeback I received after withdrawing my funds);
• $450 on Pacific Poker (will come back on the later in this post);
• $1,000 on Pokerstars (half of which is in T$, and I quadrupled the deposit I made at the start of the month);
• $3,300 on Titan Poker.
I have to see what I do with the money on that is in Absolute. I am aiming to increase my stack on Stars, Pacific and Titan through ring games.
Qualify for major online tournaments
I did qualify for major tournaments. I got about five $215 on Pokerstars by playing qualifiers. However I unregistered and they are added to my bankroll. Furthermore I qualified for the $250K gtd on Titan poker, which is a $430 ticket. This tournament I will play 15 April. I just hope there is another huge overlay. So far about 100 players qualified. The tournament needs 625 to breakeven. I think that number will never be reached.
Finish at least three MTT (150+ entrants) in top 3
Did not do that. I did not even reach one final table. However, I played far less tournaments than in February. I cashed a few times and the satellites were ok.
Qualify for live tournaments
Unfortunately I did not accomplish this goal. I tried some sub-qualifiers for the WSOP, but never got passed stage 1. It is a goal which will be on my list for April as well.
Get sufficient points to play Pacific Poker freeroll for WPT ParisAccomplished the goal. Pacific Poker is really like fishing in the fishdepartment of your local store. Unbelievable what donks play at that site. Just never bluff and the money will come to you. You will suffer some bad beats, but they will not match the money you receive from the fish. Pacific Poker has upgraded the software and now offers a multitable feature without overlapping windows. You can tile the windows and play up to 4 cash tables simultaneously. It still needs a lot of improvement, because the screens are not very clear, layout can be improved and there is no warning sign when a table times out. However it is better compared to what they used to offer.
Get sufficient points to enter Pokerplayerforayear series final in April
I did not meet this goal. I did not even try, because it would take too much time and I am better off playing cashgames, while I would need tournament and sit and go entries that include fee to qualify for the series final. Backdoor is winning the freeroll to the WPT in Paris. I might just do that.
Attain 5BB/100 hands at 100NL
I do not think I got 5BB/100 hands on 100NL. Halfway through the month I was running 8BB/100 hands but I suffered some bad beats (will not bother you with the details) that corrected the score to about 3BB/100.
Play 15K hands
I probably played some more hands than 15K. Not sure though, because my database is currently unavailable.
Besides the stated goals halfway through the month Titan announced they were adding another VIP level; the Diamond VIP. I qualified for that by attaining and average of 60K points over the last three months. Just 65 players qualified for Diamond VIP level and the top player each month receives a WSOP seat. I do not think I will qualify for the WSOP, since there are players that play far more and 8 tables simultaneously. However the loyalty cash bonus will go up from a $180 maximum to $400 maximum. This still does not compensate for the rakeback I would receive at other sites, hence I like the site and the players are not Pokerstars quality either.
At Pokerstars I qualified for the Silverstar VIP status. I just try to get a bigger bankroll by playing cashgames and will try to retain my VIP status. Goldstar status will probably only be achievable when switching to 100NL on Stars.
Looking back at the first quarter of 2007
Especially when looking at my bankroll graph I see a lot of swings. Januray had a $600 downswing, in February there was a $1,000 downswing and in March there were two $700 downwings. Only the very last swing was when I was still happy about my game, because I made the right moves, was unlucky and lost all coinflips.
I am happy about the switch to 6-max, which makes the game more interesting and more fun to play. Looking at tournaments I am not enthusiastic about small buyin tournaments. When I play for 5 hours and finish 25th in an $11, 850 player MTT, then I could have made more money in cashgames.
Goals for April
• Increase bankroll from $4,784 to $6,700
• Qualify for and play major online tournaments
• Qualify for major live tournaments
• Get a top 3 finish in a MTT (150+ entrants)
• Retain VIP statuses
• Attain 6BB/100 hands at 100NL 6-max
• Play 20K hands
I am also planning to record some more and better quality videos. If you have any suggestions on what you want to see, please leave a message in the comments section. Later this week I will post some problem hands and hope to get some feedback on those.
Furthermore there will be fewer bad beat stories. Got a comment on that and I think it makes sense. I will try to post some hands linked to topics like 3-betting, c-betting, etc.
Evaluating March
Increase bankroll to $5,250
Failed on doing that. I had two big loosing days and could not win a lot during the other days. I went from $3,484 to $4,817. Still it was my best month so far, but like January and February it should have been better. I made a switch to 6-max and am positive this is better for my bankroll. Full ring is really about waiting and taking the occasional shot at a big pot. 6-max is more about stealing blinds, (re)raising and being far more aggressive. Mikelitt helped me improving the 6-max game and I will probably not return to full-ring any time soon.
When I look at the distribution of my bankroll it is in 5 different sites.
• $25 on Partypoker (some bonus with which I will play one $22 tournament and see where it goes);
• $50 on Absolute Poker (rakeback I received after withdrawing my funds);
• $450 on Pacific Poker (will come back on the later in this post);
• $1,000 on Pokerstars (half of which is in T$, and I quadrupled the deposit I made at the start of the month);
• $3,300 on Titan Poker.
I have to see what I do with the money on that is in Absolute. I am aiming to increase my stack on Stars, Pacific and Titan through ring games.
Qualify for major online tournaments
I did qualify for major tournaments. I got about five $215 on Pokerstars by playing qualifiers. However I unregistered and they are added to my bankroll. Furthermore I qualified for the $250K gtd on Titan poker, which is a $430 ticket. This tournament I will play 15 April. I just hope there is another huge overlay. So far about 100 players qualified. The tournament needs 625 to breakeven. I think that number will never be reached.
Finish at least three MTT (150+ entrants) in top 3
Did not do that. I did not even reach one final table. However, I played far less tournaments than in February. I cashed a few times and the satellites were ok.
Qualify for live tournaments
Unfortunately I did not accomplish this goal. I tried some sub-qualifiers for the WSOP, but never got passed stage 1. It is a goal which will be on my list for April as well.
Get sufficient points to play Pacific Poker freeroll for WPT ParisAccomplished the goal. Pacific Poker is really like fishing in the fishdepartment of your local store. Unbelievable what donks play at that site. Just never bluff and the money will come to you. You will suffer some bad beats, but they will not match the money you receive from the fish. Pacific Poker has upgraded the software and now offers a multitable feature without overlapping windows. You can tile the windows and play up to 4 cash tables simultaneously. It still needs a lot of improvement, because the screens are not very clear, layout can be improved and there is no warning sign when a table times out. However it is better compared to what they used to offer.
Get sufficient points to enter Pokerplayerforayear series final in April
I did not meet this goal. I did not even try, because it would take too much time and I am better off playing cashgames, while I would need tournament and sit and go entries that include fee to qualify for the series final. Backdoor is winning the freeroll to the WPT in Paris. I might just do that.
Attain 5BB/100 hands at 100NL
I do not think I got 5BB/100 hands on 100NL. Halfway through the month I was running 8BB/100 hands but I suffered some bad beats (will not bother you with the details) that corrected the score to about 3BB/100.
Play 15K hands
I probably played some more hands than 15K. Not sure though, because my database is currently unavailable.
Besides the stated goals halfway through the month Titan announced they were adding another VIP level; the Diamond VIP. I qualified for that by attaining and average of 60K points over the last three months. Just 65 players qualified for Diamond VIP level and the top player each month receives a WSOP seat. I do not think I will qualify for the WSOP, since there are players that play far more and 8 tables simultaneously. However the loyalty cash bonus will go up from a $180 maximum to $400 maximum. This still does not compensate for the rakeback I would receive at other sites, hence I like the site and the players are not Pokerstars quality either.
At Pokerstars I qualified for the Silverstar VIP status. I just try to get a bigger bankroll by playing cashgames and will try to retain my VIP status. Goldstar status will probably only be achievable when switching to 100NL on Stars.
Looking back at the first quarter of 2007
Especially when looking at my bankroll graph I see a lot of swings. Januray had a $600 downswing, in February there was a $1,000 downswing and in March there were two $700 downwings. Only the very last swing was when I was still happy about my game, because I made the right moves, was unlucky and lost all coinflips.
I am happy about the switch to 6-max, which makes the game more interesting and more fun to play. Looking at tournaments I am not enthusiastic about small buyin tournaments. When I play for 5 hours and finish 25th in an $11, 850 player MTT, then I could have made more money in cashgames.
Goals for April
• Increase bankroll from $4,784 to $6,700
• Qualify for and play major online tournaments
• Qualify for major live tournaments
• Get a top 3 finish in a MTT (150+ entrants)
• Retain VIP statuses
• Attain 6BB/100 hands at 100NL 6-max
• Play 20K hands
I am also planning to record some more and better quality videos. If you have any suggestions on what you want to see, please leave a message in the comments section. Later this week I will post some problem hands and hope to get some feedback on those.
Furthermore there will be fewer bad beat stories. Got a comment on that and I think it makes sense. I will try to post some hands linked to topics like 3-betting, c-betting, etc.
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