Session Summary

Blogging will be a lot less, but theres good news.

I have been very busy with a lot of other stuff. I have decided to put less time into Poker. I will still be playing plenty of hands, just that it will be less playing and blogging.

Here is what I will be doing:

The first blog post was on February 16th, today for me is April 1st.
The first blog post did not include any statements of my bankroll. The first time I mention my bankroll it was at 124$. My lowest was at 111$ and that was on February 20th, just 4 days after I had started blogging. Since then it has gone up until my latest session which was March 29th and the bankroll was at 171$.

I read a lot of books. They do not teach you how to play. They teach you the ABC poker but they do not teach you how to think the right way.

If you are interested in letting me teach you how to become a better player in the microstakes, write me an offer just saying $/per hour. I would only do hour sessions. That way you can decide whenever you have had enough. I do have free time and will continue to be playing. Its just that the time in the blog is too much if there is nothing to gain. I can teach you how to think more like a poker player at microstakes level and you will end up improving your game. I will point out mistakes in you game. You can see your mistakes and improve them by yourself and become a better player. I found them in myself. I know that there is always room for improvement and that I am not the best but I am sure a lot of people can need some help.

Get in touch with me through this email: oligrohe@yahoo.de

We can set it up from there.

Losing to Bad Beats

I played a session yesterday over about 1500 hands. The bankroll moved up to 171$. Nice.
I was playing really well and only lost to two bad beats.

One of them was really sick. slickchef was the player I got a really nasty bad beat. He was in late position and made it 16c. I thought about that he had AK or so. I had QQ in the SB and decided to push all in knowing I was going to get called. He had a small stack. He called. He showed A6 or A7 suited! I couldnt believe it. He hit his few outer A on the flop.
I wanted to jump from my balcony in on the 7th floor and see what happens. Pretty stupid I idea but I am sure many people would want to see that. Congrats the idiot just did it! He survived. Now I want to push him into a wall and then he is going to tell everyone he tripped. Unbelievable?
I have no idea if the ptr thing is right. However it does represent an idiot of some kind. Maybe you figure it out. I lack the intelligence to waste my time.

Finally Back

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 2329 hands and saw flop:

- a total of 409 out of 2329 (17%)
Pots won at showdown - 55 of 109 (50%)
Pots won without showdown - 165

Guess what? I am back at 1c/2c and I am winning. Bankroll is at 165$. I should have lost less and win more. I played good but was done after a 101% donk call.

kitygll got pretty damn lucky against me. He is some idiot. The biggest idiot moves all put together and you have him. I wonder what he expects me to have when I shove my whole stack against his big stack.
He min raised to 4c preflop. I had AA and there is no such thing for me as playing them bad. I went all in. Everyone fold but the min raiser. Big pot, and I was far ahead against his AQ. AQ? minraise? call all in? Seems that is the best that he can play. He made a straight and won the pot. My table where I have my laptop on had to suffer. I slammed my fist on it. Hard. Its painful to lose, but what the hell. That is the best he can play. Continue playing like that. He rarely plays and its all losing according to his ptr.

tomzsc is another player like the one above. Putting it all in when hes light years behind. Maybe even centuries. I dont know. I dont want to know. His ptr profile is just as cool as his game, down almost 2,000$ since October 2008. It goes all down hill.
Everyone folded. I limped on the button with 33 and the blinds played. The flop is 2h3h6. We got it all in here. This hand happened shortly after the one above and I was on tilt. He had 36 for top two pair. I flopped a set and was light years ahead again. I would not have been surprised to see a straight by the river to split the pot or he would catch a 6 to make a better full house. No, I won this time.

less poker but expect more to come

I want to play poker as much as possible. 24/7/365/1. That means all the time, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You dont want that. It makes it easier for me to improve my game because I am playing more.
I have not been at the tables much lately. I have been busy doing final exams. And you think the crisis in Libya is bad or the Tsunami/Earthquake/Radioactive chaos? Wait another week and the news will have a new crisis for you. The good news is that I will be getting a three month vacation starting this Saturday. I want to play a whole ton until the 31st, so I can keep that Silver Status and I want to get as much FPP. I forgot about the money. I want that too and add that to my bankroll.

losing 20$ in one pot

In one hand I had QQ and was in the small blind. Great hand, worst position. Someone in late position raised it to 15c and the button called. I made it 65c. That is big. They both called and I wanted to blow up. The flop is A29. I did not like the A but still fired. The first caller folded. The other guy called. He did not call with AK, or AQ, he had a set. He hit his 2 outer nonsense. I blew up on the turn. It was an A. I decided to go all in. Knowing I would be called. It was a terrible play. He had a fullhouse. I wanted quad Aces. I lost the almost 20$ pot and had enough. It was a blow up play, because the guy called the raise to 15c and then all the way to my 65c. Its donking. I can do that to. Now I want him to dig his grave before I shoot him. I gave him the shovel.

I want to play again at the 1c/2c, because of those huge pots. My bankroll and my skill allow me to play there, but why not build up more skill and then get going big at the 2c/5c? That is what I want. I never wanted to play at 2c/5c until I have about 300$. I want to grind myself up there.

Winning

Look at a winner

A quote I came up with: Winning doesnt happen at the end. It has to happen all the time!

Get what you dont want for a while. This will eventually motivate you to learn and do things that will save you from getting what you dont want. Obviously you dont want bad beats, but there is nothing you can do about that. You want to cry, then cry. The good news is you are still a loser. I want to win. You will never see me whine much about any hand that I lose with.

I dont know why, but most people want to call. Understand that this allows you to bet big when you have the best hand. If they have a small hand, they dont want bets and they dont want to call. They want to fold. Give it to them, if you see that opportunity. You want to win the pot. All these small pots will add up to a nice share of additional ammo in your bankroll.

You want to play consistent. This means you raise and bet the same amount. Make it three or four times the BB. Always. Do it with AA and do it with 72. Or other hands you feel comfortable with. If you make it six times the BB when you have AA and four times the BB when you have 78 suited, its boring. Its obvious. Its for losing players. Its for scared players. Its simply bad poker. The winners want you to play like that. Change your style

2c/5c session

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 1518 hands and saw flop:

- a total of 223 out of 1518 (14%)
Pots won at showdown - 31 of 57 (54%)
Pots won without showdown - 121

The 2c/5c tables are fun. My bankroll went to 175$ today. Nice.

I had three hands with massive pots that went to the showdown. I won two and lost one. All hands were sick, with some wild brilliance. Everything that you would want in order to play good poker.

The first one was with partychaly. I had KK and was in the small blind. I want to win if I have KK. Everyone folded and it seemed as if the round would go without action. I wanted to limp. I could have gone crazy but chose not to. The player in the big blind was trigger happy. He seems to be a consistent player according to pokertableratings. I had noticed that he always raised preflop to oblivion whenever people limped. So I wanted him to do it again. He did, making it 25c or even 35c to go. Now I shoved and get called instantly. He had AK suited. I had him where I wanted him, drawing to a few outs. He didnt hit. Nice.

The next hand was with sakisM. I had 22 and limped UTG. There was another limper and then sakisM had to raise big time. I know that usually people will show you big hands on the river when they make moves like that. I want to hit with my 22, so I called. The other guy decided to call as well. The flop came down 1024, all off suit. I was first to act and led out quite big. The other guy folded and sakisM called. The turn was an 8 or so. I thought for a while. With an over pair he would have raised unless hes scared of something. Maybe hes slow playing a set. I went for the first option. He wanted to call, so I wanted to shove. He called and showed AA. No more catching and I had the second felt booked for the session. Nice.

The last hand was the sickest with freesu1349. Even my opponent said it was sick a sick play. I was in mid position and there was limpers. I wanted to limp too with my 22. Then freesu1349 raised big to 35c. He got called by one limper and then it was my turn. I decided he had AK or AQ and tried to protect it. My 22 were ahead. So I went all in. It was a rather quick all in. He went into the tank for a while and finally called. The other guy folded.
freesu1349 showed QQ. He had me crushed. Not so nice, because I did not hit.
In the chat he mentioned that he put me on AK. That is what I put him on. I wanted to put this much pressure, because I thought it would be a tough call with anything but QQ, KK, AA. It was even though for him with QQ, because he thought I had AK. This would have been a huge race. I wanted to race against his AK, not against QQ.
Anyways, I am glad to see I am already getting credit here considering its just the second session at the 2c/5c. I want to own these stakes too, so expect more pressure to come.

Its nice. I want this!

Playing at 2c/5c

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 924 hands and saw flop:

- a total of 143 out of 924 (15%)
Pots won at showdown - 17 of 35 (48%)
Pots won without showdown - 71

Bankroll is at 165$. I had a bit of a painful session not catching some bog draws. I was the one seeking the action by betting out and bet both the flop and turn, because I was also the raiser preflop.

I had a few interesting hands where the people knew I was bluffing but with a tiny bit more pressure on them they were going to fold, because they were weak.

Those are spots that I want to explore a bit in the next few sessions at the 2c/5c. I also want to remember the players, because I am preparing to go up against them. I had a good first session even when I lost. I played the poker I want to be playing. That the cards are not coming is not my fault and it is just the way poker goes. When I catch I would be winning bigger pots, instead of losing those semi small ones. Ill master this level with ease since it is not so different from the 1c/2c. The players are a bit better. Just a bit. I want to be much better. I want to be better than you at this game.

Todays session

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 302 hands and saw flop:

- a total of 47 out of 302 (15%)
Pots won at showdown - 5 of 10 (50%)
Pots won without showdown - 19

This was a super short session. I ran terrible and played bad. Bankroll dropped to 171$ in just those few hands. I decided to quit immediately.

I wanted to fold several big hands but I was not able to push through. So I lost. The money mainly went to two people I would consider touch players. They play often and a lot. Strong and bet. Just solid poker. I forgot to take their name but I am sure I will mention both of them in a later post when I write about my competition.

short session

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 960 hands and saw flop:

- a total of 140 out of 960 (14%)
Pots won at showdown - 20 of 46 (43%)
Pots won without showdown - 79

My motivation to play poker is as high as before. I played a small session today but it was not a great session. I lost a bit due to bad luck and I was tired and I am busy with a lot of other stuff. Also since I have not played the past few days I tried bluffing a bit more, which ended up costing me here and there. The bankroll is at 176$.

One of my goals is to defend the Silver VIP status, which will be easy. I have 148 points left and still 2 weeks until I have to get that full and I know I wont be able to get to Gold this month anyways, so there is no need to push sessions to the maximum.

However there was one hand I found interesting and I played it with one of my favorite players marcel2311. It was a small pot and I dont remember the action preflop and on the flop. I had a hand like 35os in the BB and I think marcel was in the SB. There was also limpers. I made a straight on the turn, but there was also a flush possibility and marcel bet. I just called and the others folded. The river was another heart. I did not have one. My straight looked beat. The board was something like A3427. marcel checked the river and I decided to bet a decent size into the pot, but it was still small. Maybe a 10c bet. marcel decided to call. He had A2.
Very interesting call. He called to see, not because he thought his 2 pair was good. A call that he had to made to know more about my game. It was also a good bet by my considering I could have been beat easily. I tend to pay off sometimes too. Its good to know in such small pots how the player plays certain hands. He knew I could have had nothing. I like bluffing small pots.
In his spot I think I would have bet the flop with the A to know where everyone is at. If you get called from the guys who limped in position you can be sure your A2 (in general with a low kicker) is not good. Then on the turn when it completes the straight as well as the flush, it is basically and easy check fold. Then again he did have to pair on the turn. I would have seen how much my opponents would bet in the spot and possibly call to try to hit the full house.
But yeah, interesting hand I think.

Night session

I ended up playing about 3,000 hands. I forgot to take down the statistics, but it was another profitable session logged bringing the bankroll to 179$.

It great to see the progress I have been making. My bankroll is growing and growing with basically every session. Whenever I lose I really put effort into finding out why. I find playing at the 1c/2c is getting easier and easier. I want to make more money. I think I will move up to the 2c/5c on Pokerstars soon.

There are about 4 or 5 regulars at the 1c/2c that challenge my game here and there but I am not really improving a lot anymore at this level. My game there is at a point where I can only learn how to lose less in big hands. Then again I dont see myself folding a full house or bottom set on the flop when the chips go all in. Ill make it back in no time anyways at the 1c/2c. This is why I will move up and put more money at stake. Maybe there I will start to learn it there and even erase those kinds of mistakes.

I guess the hand where I came to this conclusion was when I had KK vs a guy AA. He was a good player too and he admitted I lost the absolute minimum on that hand. I honor the comment but to be honest I dont want to lose. I called off because I can make it back blablabla. I need to move up and stop that losing until the good players at the stakes I am playing tell me I am losing the minimum.

I think I will also write a blog about who the people are that challenge my game still at the 1c/2c. I enjoyed playing with those guys. Great competition and I hope they move up too when they are ready so we can continue being a bit of a pain in the ass to each other knowing want to be better than the other. My only goal left at 1c/2c is to bring the bankroll to a level where I can afford 24 tabling at the 2c/5c. My buy in there is 12.5$. This means I will need 300$. More on bankroll management: Bankroll Management

Why bad players lose

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 4507 hands and saw flop:

- a total of 691 out of 4507 (15%)
Pots won at showdown - 98 of 154 (63%)
Pots won without showdown - 321

In this session I basically raced all the way to 178$. Then my set ran into a bigger set. We both flopped it. The other guy had an even bigger stack than me.
In another hand I made a straight and someone made a better straight with the same card we had to hit. Disaster strikes. He also had a huge stack and I lost major on this one too and dropped down to 170$. Then I had to take a break. Once I continued played, the felting continued and I finished the session at 176$. I have been having big upswing sessions lately. I hope it continues.

In one hand my KK ran into AA again. I was UTG and made my standard 6c raise. I had one called and the BB Letzdosmtng raised to 22c. I knew he had AA. He had a huge stack and it was intimidating to me. So I decided to call. The flop was complete rubbish and he checked. Remember a few days back where I announced in chat that my opponent had AA and I decided to go all in with my KK on the flop that was checked to me. Not this time. I checked. The turn was a blank. He bet, I called. The same goes for the river. I called him down.
Me and him spoke about the hand. I told him I knew preflop I was beat. He said he is amazed. Usually people go all in with that stuff preflop. I was able to lose the minimum and he even mentioned this. Its such improvements that make you a winning player. Had I moved all in, I was going to lose a lot. This way I lost a lot less. I told him in the chat I was going to fold next time. I doubt it.

After people got their money in really bad spots against me and I won, I decided to laugh at them and see their reaction. That is what bad players deserve. They should feel bad. To be honest, I feel like an idiot. I realized these guys dont even understand anything. They blame their call on the fact that it is only a 1$ pot. In other words, worth nothing. That is why those guys will never play for thousands of dollars. I want to, they do not. Those guys dont even understand that you have to stop losing this 1$. I like their dollars. If they want to throw their dollar away, Ill be there to take it.
These guys also do not understand its not the dollar that made them call. Its their game, that made them call. How will you plug a leak that you dont care/know about? Never. It makes no difference for a blind man if hes in the dark or if the sun is out. He has to know where he is going.
Those guys are sitting at the tables waiting to go broke. Nothing else. Get them. Felt them. Take their dollar. They dont care and come back with another one. And another one. And another one. Great.
I thought about letting one specific player know about this blog. I knew I was going to write about this carelessness. I decided hes not worth it. He doesnt care. "If you want to become rich, you should know the value of 1$". Even 1c. I also told him that in the chat. No, I didnt. I added "and you seem broke". He never replied.

Yes, I also dont care about a dollar. I dont care about 1000$. I dont care about a million $. Money is a nice tool that has the characteristic to make more money.
I am just not willing to give it away. I want 100$. Bigger pots. Higher skill. Tougher competition. Will those guys ever get out of 1c/2c? Maybe when they play High Stakes Poker Home Game Edition 3c/6c.

Midnight session

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 2650 hands and saw flop:

- a total of 440 out of 2650 (16%)
Pots won at showdown - 49 of 96 (51%)
Pots won without showdown - 186

This session was last night (Saturday early morning). It brought the bankroll up to 166$.

First day in 2011 without poker

This happens about as often as nuclear bombs are dropped. Not so often. I enjoy playing poker. Today I was just too busy doing this and that. Now I am planning on going out and enjoying my start of the weekend. I had a great week all around.

A good thing about not playing is that you will not lose. Wrong. You miss out on experience. This is costly. I want to play everyday, because there is something to learn in every hand.

I will be at the tables tomorrow for sure. I want to play a big session if the cards are right and I play well. I want to win, remember?

I knew he had it

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 1798 hands and saw flop:

- a total of 243 out of 1798 (13%)
Pots won at showdown - 32 of 63 (50%)
Pots won without showdown - 130

Today I also played a good session. I made a few lay downs where I thought I had the best hand but I did not make the call on the river. I wanted to stick to my gut feelings more often today and folded. I also did this with several calls where I ended up having the better hand and taking down the pot. All this and 24 tabling required focus and it is tiring, but so worth learning how to play it good because you just have action all over the place. The bankroll is up to 165$.

Since I lost yesterday to a straighflush, guess what I got today? A straighflush. Nice.

Here is another hand I played. My KK ran into AA. The guy with AA limped UTG and I sit next to him on his left. I decided to make it 24c to go. Everyone folded and he reraised to 46c and had about 1$ behind. That is where I knew he had AA. Nobody but an idiot plays AA in a more obvious way. I just called and hoped for the K on the flop. That did not happen. He checked. What a retard. Here comes my "brilliant" play. I said in the chat that he had AA, I even said I knew he had AA. I went all in with my KK. Of course he called and had AA. I could not suck out and lost. I am the idiot, but a highly educated one.

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