Time for a break

I've been playing poker now for about 5,5 months non-stop (since February 13th).
During this period I maybe took 5 days off (besides the weekends offcourse) and played for over 700 hours of poker. In those 700 hours hours I played 420K hands. So it's not really strange that I'm looking forward to a poker break.

So on sunday we wil leave for two weeks to Iceland. We've rented a car there and the whole trip is planned by an iceland specialist, because I've no idea what's nice to see there, but from what I've heard it's a very special country.
One of the things we're planning on doing is whale whatching in Husavik, which claims to be the best place in Europe to whatch whales.

Pokerwise everthing is still going great although in July I noticed that I'm playing break-even on NL200 for 30K hands, which could be variance but it could also mean that I'm not playing my best game there anymore cause I'm just way overrolled for it and losing a buy-in doesn't hurt me at all.
At NL400 my winrate over the last 50K hands is a little bit more then 5.

The problem with NL400 is that during the times I play it's just not possible to find 8 tables running. Occasionally I play in the evening/night and then there are a lot more games runnig so maybe I should change my playing scheme a little after my vacation so that I can play NL400 and a little bit of NL1000 only.

July only:
Hands played : 60,822
$ Won in cashgames : $15,403
PTBB/100 : 3,40 (6,10 @ NL400 and 1.30 @ NL200)
MT ratio : 7,35
Hourly win rate: $176,55

Playing a lot again

Finally an update again. Im trying to play a lot of hands this month.
Games are really soft somehow the last month. Some new players are playing the 400 tables but some of them are really terrible, so that's nice for me and therefor I'm trying to play at least 80K hands this month and so far I'm about half way.

Then somebody asked me something about setvalue in the comments. I think this is a very interesting subject as a lot of players are using it incorrectly.
When you hold a PP like 22 the chance that you will make a set on the flop is roughly 12% (1 in 8). So a lot of the time you read that if it will cost you less then 10% of your stack you should call a raise with 22.

The problem is that IF you hit a set you should stack your opponent like 90% of the time and that's not gonna happen for sure. Especially with the very agressive pre-flop games nowadays, re-raising ranges are much wider then just AA/KK.
The paradox of this wider range is that, in my opinion your calling range (especially OOP) should be smaller.
On the other hand when I real tight player (for example a 20/3/2 player) re-raises you, it's basically good to call with any PP or SC (as long as the hand has implied odds), so muck KQ as fast as you can for example).

Another example is when your in the BB and an agressive TAG, who steals 32%, opens from the button. It's probably -EV to call here with 22-66 if your planning on check/folding any non-set flop. Instead u should raise or fold here. The problem is that 88% of the time you check/fold the flop and of those 12% that u do hit a lot of the time the button is playing junk like K8s and you pick up his c-bet only.

July only:
Hands played : 35,659
$ Won in cashgames : $10,679
PTBB/100 : 4,27 (8.20 @ NL400 and 1.99 @ NL200)
MT ratio : 7,51
Hourly win rate: $204,84

Swingy day

Today was one of the most swingy days in a while.
Finally I played a lot again (5400 hands), but I was running so bad again in the morning. I lost 3 set over sets in about 1,5 hour. In the end of the afternoon I was down 8 buy-ins on NL200.....Then in the evening I played NL400 only (games are so much easier then, playing 8 juicy NL400 is easily doable. So I won 5 buy-ins back in the evening and ended the day about $250 in the plus...SHIPPPP IT.

'worst' month since I turned pro

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June was a swingy month again. I started the month with 30K hands of breakeven and then had a massive upswing. The last days of the month I've been playing not so great poker. Paying off river bets when I know I'm beat etc, etc...
Overall I still managed to make about $15K in about 100 hours of play, so that's about average (looking to hourly rate).

I also want to point out an interesting post on Brian Townsend's blog, he points out the difference between a mediocre and a great player. The example below is a very good one to think about.

"An example of this would be if you were playing someone HU and raised preflop. The flop came down Kh Qh 2c you hold A8o and bet the pot and are called. The turn brings the 5 of clubs and your opponent checks and you check. The river brings another five and your opponent bets pot. Many players would say I have ace high I fold and if they held QJo instead they might say I have middle pair I call. But the best players realize that these two hands have the same value on the river as an opponent value betting a queen is unlikely. I feel mediocre players would be more likely to call with the queen and top players would call equally with both hands. This is one of the little things that I look for when I am up against a new opponent, and to be honest very very few players call with QJ as often at A8 in that scenario, probably myself included, but the truly great ones call equally with both hands."

I tried to find an example of a hand like this in my own database and think the hand below is also a good example of were lots of players probably call more times with a hand like A6/99 (myself included) then with A high, but they both have about the same showdown value (not completely true, cause villian could be 'bluffing' with 77), but villian often has air or close to the nuts (an 8 or 34) here, he is not value betting mediocre hands on a board like this.

So I'm not sure you should call equally with A9/99 here, as 99 has some values against worse bluffing hands (77), but I do think that the balance between a call with 99 and A9 is far out of line with most players.

EverestPoker Game #1741766955: Table Bamako-6 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:44:58 - 2007/06/30
Seat 2: BldZwtTrn ($545.00)
Seat 3: merwin ($467.00)
Seat 4: marcko1983 ($400.00)
Seat 5: camaleones ($116.80)
merwin posts the small blind of $2.00
marcko1983 posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Ac 9c]
camaleones calls $4.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $18.00
merwin folds
marcko1983 folds
camaleones calls $14.00
*** FLOP *** [8d 6c 5h]
camaleones checks
BldZwtTrn checks
*** TURN *** [8d 6c 5h] [2d]
camaleones bets $28.00
BldZwtTrn calls $28.00
*** RIVER *** [8d 6c 5h 2d] [8h]
camaleones bets $70.80 and is all-in
BldZwtTrn calls $70.80
*** SHOW DOWN ***
camaleones shows [Tc Ks]
BldZwtTrn shows [Ac 9c]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [8d 6c 5h 2d 8h]
BldZwtTrn collects $237.60

June only:
Hands played : 64,050
$ Won in cashgames : $14,668
PTBB/100 : 4,01
MT ratio : 6,99
Hourly win rate: $143,80

I'm getting lazy....

I really should make more hours (see picture below for past week).

$100K

I did it! I passed the $100K winnings over 2007.
Since tuesday I'm having a huge upswing and my hourly rate for June is back to normal again ($150). When looking at my graphs you can cleary see that every once in a while I'm having a break even/downswing but that it always results in an upswing to bring me back to the mean.

I'm also playing on Stars again and to my suprise I can maintain a winrate of around 6 there as well (44K hands). So I'm really playing great this whole year.

$1 per hand (also known as upswing)

Just looked into my PT database and saw that I was up $1 per hand over my last 6 hours of play (hourly rate of $603,29 lol).
Upswings are fun, sorry for the short update, but need to play again ;-)

Barcelona and tilting

Barcelona

I've been back from a nice weekend in Barcelona. Been there with some friends not playing poker at all, which is fine sometimes.
We also went to the Barcelona vs Espanyol game which really was a weird game.
First there was the 'hand of messi-as' goal and then there was the really strange atmosphere in the stadium. For more then an hour they were virtual standing on top of the league but nobody was really celebrating. And then in the end they gave the victory away and to make it even worse, Madrid scored the equalizer as well, so probably no championship this year for them.

Messi Goal



Tilting

It's something I probably have never done in the last 400K hands, but I see 'good' players doing it all the time. For me it's actually a sign that a 'good' player is not that good at all, because having your emotions under control (that's what tilting is about, losing control and get emotional) is one of the most important things.

Here is a nice example of a guy who's just spewing chips to me:

This first hand is not that special, I show weakness and he (as usual) tries to take the pot.

EverestPoker Game #1663051575: Table Bamako-16 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:36:51 - 2007/06/13
Seat 1: stefantast ($675.10)
Seat 2: Cheeseman87 ($405.40)
Seat 3: kraker ($657.60)
Seat 4: matv37 ($197.00)
Seat 5: BldZwtTrn ($524.90)
Seat 6: nynja ($41.50)
matv37 posts the small blind of $2.00
BldZwtTrn posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Th Tc]
nynja folds
stefantast folds
Cheeseman87 raises to $12.00
kraker folds
matv37 folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $38.00
Cheeseman87 calls $26.00
*** FLOP *** [2c 2s 2d]
BldZwtTrn checks
Cheeseman87 bets $50.00
BldZwtTrn calls $50.00
*** TURN *** [2c 2s 2d] [4s]
BldZwtTrn checks
Cheeseman87 bets $130.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $436.90 and is all-in
Cheeseman87 calls $187.40 and is all-in
Uncalled bet of $119.50 returned to BldZwtTrn
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BldZwtTrn shows [Th Tc]
Cheeseman87 shows [7s 7c]
*** RIVER *** [2c 2s 2d 4s] [Kh]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [2c 2s 2d 4s Kh]
BldZwtTrn collects $809.80

Then the second hand about 15 minutes later....again not really special, if he has a draw he at least goes for it.

EverestPoker Game #1663182717: Table Bamako-16 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:03:20 - 2007/06/13
Seat 1: Audiotik ($450.00)
Seat 2: Cheeseman87 ($431.00)
Seat 3: clau78 ($40.00)
Seat 4: matv37 ($311.20)
Seat 5: BldZwtTrn ($751.10)
Cheeseman87 posts the small blind of $2.00
clau78 posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Qh Qc]
matv37 folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $14.00
Audiotik folds
Cheeseman87 raises to $52.00
clau78 folds
BldZwtTrn calls $38.00
*** FLOP *** [2d Tc 8c]
Cheeseman87 bets $80.00
BldZwtTrn calls $80.00
*** TURN *** [2d Tc 8c] [8h]
Cheeseman87 bets $190.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $619.10 and is all-in
Cheeseman87 calls $109.00 and is all-in
Uncalled bet of $320.10 returned to BldZwtTrn
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Cheeseman87 shows [9s Js]
BldZwtTrn shows [Qh Qc]
*** RIVER *** [2d Tc 8c 8h] [5d]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [2d Tc 8c 8h 5d]
BldZwtTrn collects $864.00

Then we end HU (lucky me) and he really starts to spew. The 4 hands below were basically behind each other, just some pre-flop hands in between.

Hand 1: Again showing weakness is a guarantee for action, his hand doesnt seem to matter....

EverestPoker Game #1663239923: Table Bamako-16 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:14:41 - 2007/06/13
Seat 2: Cheeseman87 ($532.45)
Seat 5: BldZwtTrn ($1,159.10)
Cheeseman87 posts the small blind of $2.00
BldZwtTrn posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Ad 9s]
Cheeseman87 raises to $12.00
BldZwtTrn calls $8.00
*** FLOP *** [3h As Ks]
BldZwtTrn checks
Cheeseman87 checks
*** TURN *** [3h As Ks] [4d]
BldZwtTrn bets $16.00
Cheeseman87 raises to $48.00
BldZwtTrn calls $32.00
*** RIVER *** [3h As Ks 4d] [3d]
BldZwtTrn checks
Cheeseman87 bets $100.00
BldZwtTrn calls $100.00
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Cheeseman87 shows [8c 2c]
BldZwtTrn shows [Ad 9s]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [3h As Ks 4d 3d]
BldZwtTrn collects $319.00

Hand 2: Same story

EverestPoker Game #1663248374: Table Bamako-16 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:16:22 - 2007/06/13
Seat 2: Cheeseman87 ($388.00)
Seat 5: BldZwtTrn ($1,329.10)
Cheeseman87 posts the small blind of $2.00
BldZwtTrn posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Tc Td]
Cheeseman87 raises to $12.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $36.00
Cheeseman87 calls $24.00
*** FLOP *** [3c 5c Ks]
BldZwtTrn checks
Cheeseman87 bets $55.00
BldZwtTrn calls $55.00
*** TURN *** [3c 5c Ks] [Jc]
BldZwtTrn checks
Cheeseman87 checks
*** RIVER *** [3c 5c Ks Jc] [Qc]
BldZwtTrn checks
Cheeseman87 bets $155.00
BldZwtTrn calls $155.00
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Cheeseman87 shows [Ts 7d]
BldZwtTrn shows [Tc Td]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [3c 5c Ks Jc Qc]
BldZwtTrn collects $491.00

Hand 3: Standard

EverestPoker Game #1663256984: Table Bamako-16 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:18:04 - 2007/06/13
Seat 2: Cheeseman87 ($402.00)
Seat 5: BldZwtTrn ($1,572.10)
Cheeseman87 posts the small blind of $2.00
BldZwtTrn posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Kd Kc]
Cheeseman87 raises to $12.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $38.00
Cheeseman87 raises to $102.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $452.00
Cheeseman87 folds
Uncalled bet of $350.00 returned to BldZwtTrn
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BldZwtTrn mucks
*** SUMMARY ***
BldZwtTrn collects $204.00

Hand 4: For the first time he gave up on the river, would have been a tough call there.

EverestPoker Game #1663263270: Table Bamako-16 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:19:18 - 2007/06/13
Seat 2: Cheeseman87 ($408.00)
Seat 5: BldZwtTrn ($1,666.10)
Cheeseman87 posts the small blind of $2.00
BldZwtTrn posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[6s 4s]
Cheeseman87 raises to $12.00
BldZwtTrn calls $8.00
*** FLOP *** [8d 3h 5s]
BldZwtTrn checks
Cheeseman87 bets $15.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $44.00
Cheeseman87 calls $29.00
*** TURN *** [8d 3h 5s] [4h]
BldZwtTrn bets $69.00
Cheeseman87 calls $69.00
*** RIVER *** [8d 3h 5s 4h] [8c]
BldZwtTrn checks
Cheeseman87 checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BldZwtTrn shows [6s 4s]
Cheeseman87 shows [9h Kc]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [8d 3h 5s 4h 8c]
BldZwtTrn collects $249.00


June only:
Hands played : 28,944
$ Won in cashgames : $3,761
PTBB/100 : 2,88
MT ratio : 6,77
Hourly win rate: $85,68

Running bad

What I was afraid of after a great moth is happening again.
I'm running bad. The most irritating thing is that I'm running the worst at NL1000. I played about 700 hands in total there, when I saw some juicy tables, but lost about 3-buy ins. A sign of runnig bad is that I'm losing with 6 PP's (including aces), where normally all PP's are decent winners. I'm also losing with AKo and AQo, which are also one of the biggest moneymakers.

So this happens when running bad:

POKERSTARS GAME #10279613638: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($1/$2) - 2007/06/05 - 03:57:41 (ET)
Table 'Tethys III' 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: kstatefan10 ($327.75 in chips)
Seat 2: flair21 ($324.25 in chips)
Seat 3: maw150 ($112.65 in chips)
Seat 4: j2rd3n ($226.95 in chips)
Seat 5: AKA_PSV ($177 in chips)
Seat 6: luxuryjun1 ($219.90 in chips)
maw150: posts small blind $1
j2rd3n: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to AKA_PSV [As Ac]
AKA_PSV: raises $6 to $8
luxuryjun1: folds
kstatefan10: raises $16 to $24
flair21: folds
maw150: folds
j2rd3n: folds
AKA_PSV: raises $40 to $64
kstatefan10: raises $263.75 to $327.75 and is all-in
AKA_PSV: calls $113 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [4d Qc Jh]
*** TURN *** [4d Qc Jh] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [4d Qc Jh Td] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
AKA_PSV: shows [As Ac] (a pair of Aces)
kstatefan10: shows [Ad Kh] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
kstatefan10 collected $354 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $357 | Rake $3
Board [4d Qc Jh Td 9c]
Seat 1: kstatefan10 showed [Ad Kh] and won ($354) with a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 2: flair21 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: maw150 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: j2rd3n (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: AKA_PSV showed [As Ac] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 6: luxuryjun1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

POKERSTARS GAME #10279472791: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($1/$2) - 2007/06/05 - 03:34:49 (ET)
Table 'Echepolos' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: holdemty1 ($283.70 in chips)
Seat 2: luxuryjun1 ($200 in chips)
Seat 3: AAA_flop_777 ($156.60 in chips)
Seat 4: PurpleNGold ($572 in chips)
Seat 5: saadleb ($62 in chips)
Seat 6: AKA_PSV ($216 in chips)
holdemty1: posts small blind $1
luxuryjun1: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to AKA_PSV [As Ah]
AAA_flop_777: folds
PurpleNGold: folds
saadleb: calls $2
AKA_PSV: raises $8 to $10
holdemty1: calls $9
luxuryjun1: folds
saadleb: folds
*** FLOP *** [2s Tc 5d]
holdemty1: checks
AKA_PSV: bets $16
holdemty1: raises $30 to $46
AKA_PSV: calls $30
*** TURN *** [2s Tc 5d] [Js]
holdemty1: bets $148
AKA_PSV: raises $12 to $160 and is all-in
holdemty1: calls $12
*** RIVER *** [2s Tc 5d Js] [7s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
holdemty1: shows [9s Ts] (a flush, Jack high)
AKA_PSV: mucks hand
holdemty1 collected $433 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $436 | Rake $3
Board [2s Tc 5d Js 7s]
Seat 1: holdemty1 (small blind) showed [9s Ts] and won ($433) with a flush, Jack high
Seat 2: luxuryjun1 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: AAA_flop_777 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: PurpleNGold folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: saadleb folded before Flop
Seat 6: AKA_PSV (button) mucked [As Ah]


Really hate my river bet in the hand below, even tough it is against a complete donk (the reason I'm sitting), I really should have check/called there.

EverestPoker Game #1630196884: Table Harare-2 - $5.00/$10.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 13:26:53 - 2007/06/06
Seat 1: BldZwtTrn ($970.00)
Seat 2: dino1984 ($2,358.50)
Seat 3: merwin ($1,000.00)
Seat 4: kasskara ($1,800.25)
Seat 5: BATAK91 ($1,338.00)
Seat 6: mateuscadarn ($990.00)
kasskara posts the small blind of $5.00
BATAK91 posts the big blind of $10.00
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Ac Ah]
mateuscadarn folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $35.00
dino1984 calls $35.00
merwin folds
kasskara folds
BATAK91 folds
*** FLOP *** [6s Th Qs]
BldZwtTrn bets $65.00
dino1984 calls $65.00
*** TURN *** [6s Th Qs] [2h]
BldZwtTrn bets $170.00
dino1984 calls $170.00
*** RIVER *** [6s Th Qs 2h] [9c]
BldZwtTrn bets $400.00
dino1984 raises to $800.00
BldZwtTrn calls $300.00 and is all-in
Uncalled bet of $100.00 returned to dino1984
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dino1984 shows [Jc Ks]
BldZwtTrn shows [Ac Ah]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [6s Th Qs 2h 9c]
dino1984 collects $1,952.00

EverestPoker Game #1630311940: Table Harare-5 - $5.00/$10.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 13:56:05 - 2007/06/06
Seat 1: kasskara ($1,730.02)
Seat 2: d3fault ($1,252.00)
Seat 3: Ernesto_777 ($1,005.00)
Seat 4: Bullitos ($1,279.50)
Seat 5: BATAK91 ($1,159.75)
Seat 6: BldZwtTrn ($975.00)
Ernesto_777 posts the small blind of $5.00
Bullitos posts the big blind of $10.00
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[5h 5c]
BATAK91 folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $35.00
kasskara folds
d3fault calls $35.00
Ernesto_777 folds
Bullitos folds
*** FLOP *** [Th 3c Ts]
BldZwtTrn checks
d3fault bets $60.00
BldZwtTrn calls $60.00
*** TURN *** [Th 3c Ts] [5d]
BldZwtTrn checks
d3fault bets $150.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $455.00
d3fault calls $305.00
*** RIVER *** [Th 3c Ts 5d] [Ks]
BldZwtTrn bets $425.00 and is all-in
d3fault calls $425.00
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BldZwtTrn shows [5h 5c]
d3fault shows [Kd Kc]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [Th 3c Ts 5d Ks]
d3fault collects $1,962.00

Best month ever

May was my best month ever. I didn't play that much hands (67K), but I was just playing great and running hot for the whole month. One example of runnig hot is that I got dealt aces 309 times (about as much as expected), but only lost a full buy-in with it 2 times. That's probably a combination of being very lucky and sometimes know when to make a good laydown. Same goes for kings, got them 313 times and lost a full buy-in only 3 times.
But you really know when u run hot, when a hand like this takes place:

EverestPoker Game #1592096042: Table Bamako-1 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 13:27:28 - 2007/05/29
Seat 1: Don.Escobar ($95.70)
Seat 2: pataya78 ($393.80)
Seat 3: Vincent84 ($398.20)
Seat 4: edio100 ($365.50)
Seat 5: BldZwtTrn ($400.00)
Seat 6: Xena79 ($483.70)
edio100 posts the small blind of $2.00
BldZwtTrn posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[6h 9s]
Xena79 calls $4.00
Don.Escobar calls $4.00
pataya78 folds
Vincent84 folds
edio100 calls $2.00
BldZwtTrn checks
*** FLOP *** [6s 9d 9c]
edio100 checks
BldZwtTrn checks
Xena79 checks
Don.Escobar bets $16.00
edio100 folds
BldZwtTrn calls $16.00
Xena79 calls $16.00
*** TURN *** [6s 9d 9c] [9h]
BldZwtTrn checks
Xena79 checks
Don.Escobar bets $75.70 and is all-in
BldZwtTrn calls $75.70
Xena79 calls $75.70
*** RIVER *** [6s 9d 9c 9h] [6d]
BldZwtTrn bets $291.10
Xena79 raises to $388.00 and is all-in
BldZwtTrn calls $13.20 and is all-in
Uncalled bet of $83.70 returned to Xena79
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BldZwtTrn shows [6h 9s]
Xena79 shows [As Ac]
Don.Escobar shows [Ad 2d]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [6s 9d 9c 9h 6d]
BldZwtTrn collects $291.10
BldZwtTrn collects $605.60

May only:
Hands played : 66,769
$ Won in cashgames : $25,012 (some tourney cash and bonus as well)
PTBB/100 : 7,29
MT ratio : 5,69 (lots of HU on 2 tables)
Hourly win rate: $187,73

Awesome new program, some strategy and still a good month

It's been a while since my last post, so this update will be a little longer then normal with some strategy tips as well.

First I got a tip from a friend of mine about new poker software.
It's called PokerEV (http://www.pokerevsoftware.com/) and it calculates the amount of Sklansky dollars that you win (or lose) compared to the real dollard you've won (or lose).
For example when you go all-in with AA vs KK for $100, then you essentially make $80, because that's your equity when the money goes in.

This program is still in a beta phase, but I think it's really a ground braking program. It really gives you a good look into how you're running.
The only thing it doesn't show is, if you're for example cold decked (hitting set over set).

So I tried this program for the hands I played in May and what I thought is true, I'm running hot. I made about $2K more then I should have if you look to my equity when the money goes in. (ignore the green line)



And when I looked further it was very clear that I was running good when hitting sets. This basically means that I won some set vs straight/flush situations at least more then I shoud have.



The players behind the numbers....

The most important thing for me to be a good 6max player is knowing how to interpret the PT statics for the different players.
Basically those statistics are some sort of profile for me.
The statics I use are:

VPIP = percentage hands played
PFR = hands raised
AF = agression total
WTSD = went to showdown
W$SD = won at showdown
ATS = Attention to steal

A profile of a good player for example looks like:

20/17/3 or 25/20/5
The main thing about these players is that they want to have the initiative in a hand. They're aware of the importance of position and play their draws and made hands agressive. If you can avoid them do it and otherwise sit to their left.

20/10/2
These players are probably also good winners, but they are a little bit more passive and not so agressive in position with re-raises. This are players who are not a real problem at your table, but also don't give their money away. You need to have a good hand to play a pot with them. You want to sit to their left as well.

25/8/3
These players are probably very small winners. They mostly win from the really bad players. Biggest problem with this players is that they call to much and overvalue TP hands. They get themself in difficult spots by calling with QJo in the blinds for example.

30/26/5
You don't see this players very often, but there are some on pokerstars for example.
It's probably a very difficult style to play but also to play against.
These players are insane agressive pre-flop, especially on the button. Calling for set value is usually not an option against those players, because their re-raising junk like Q8s on the button.

40+/5/1
This are the players who u want at your table. Theyre raising premiums, don't know position and call with any ace. Valuebet the hell out of them and don't try to bluff them because they not laying down TP.

Another important statistic is the steal percentage. This tells a lot about how good someone is using his position. Someone who is stealing about 10-15% probably isn't paying attention to blind stealing and position. So he probably has a hand.
But on the other hand, players who are stealing 25%+ are aware of stealing and probably do this with a lot of hands like K8o.
Playing a hand like 77 from the blinds against a button opener is a nice example of the importance of this statistic. Against the first player it's probably better to call and play for set value. Against the second, calling isn't really an option.

Hope this brings some insight of how I use these stats.

May only:
Hands played : 57,615
$ Won in cashgames : $20,113 (some tourney cash and bonus as well)
PTBB/100 : 7,47 (7,78 @ NL200)
MT ratio : 5,60 (lots of HU on 2 tables)
Hourly win rate: $178,84

Still running hot and playing good.

So far may is going very well. I'm on track to beat by best month ever.
I'm also playing at Stars again the next two weeks. They have a very sweet promotion running till May 22th. You can earn double VPP and FPP points, there's a $150 deposit bonus and a small chance on playing a milestone hand.
As still have a lot of VPP points I'm trying to get Supernova again. So far I'm almost back to Platinum this month, just by playing 4 days.

After my last break even swing I tried to change some things into my game and so far it seems to really work well. I think it's very importanted to always study your game and try to fix leaks. I can't go into details about it, because know a lot of opponents are reading this blog, but I think it's working fine so far.

May only:
Hands played : 32,992
$ Won in cashgames : $11,601
PTBB/100 : 8,90 (10,37 @ NL200)
MT ratio : 5,04 (lots of HU on 2 tables)
Hourly win rate: $173,28 (with a 35% lower MT ratio!)

Some hand reading, giving a bad beat and a swingy month...

KAMPIOENEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

April was a strange month. The first two weeks were really irritating. At some point I was really thinking that I did something wrong. The last two week however where one big upswing. Hitting sets and even hit a 2-outer for a $2000 pot.
I'm also playing some HU and I've to say that I'm really succesful at it and with the right opponents it's a LOT more profitable then 6-max, but that offcourse is pretty obvious, because you have the fish for yourself instead of sharing it with 2/3 other decent players.

Hand reading is one of the most importants skills you need to have when playing against thinking opponents. It's something that comes with experience and is all about recognizing patterns.

An very simple example is the hand below:

EverestPoker Game #1453915790: Table Bamako-10 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 02:05:52 - 2007/04/28
Seat 1: HoTsTePPa ($386.00)
Seat 3: jorg66 ($166.30)
Seat 4: BldZwtTrn ($1,012.30)
Seat 5: vilja ($477.00)
vilja posts the small blind of $2.00
HoTsTePPa posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Kh Kc]
jorg66 calls $4.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $18.00
vilja calls $16.00
This is a regular player who is not really good, but probably a winner. Plays a 27/10/4 game and can make some strange bluffs. He calls my raise from the blinds and the most reasonable hand to do that with is probably some PP 22-JJ for him as well as some SC's and maybe a hand like AQ/AJ.
HoTsTePPa folds
jorg66 folds
*** FLOP *** [3s Td Ac]
vilja checks
His range doesn't change by checking this, because I think he's checking close to any hand here (set/ace/pp/air)
BldZwtTrn checks
I'm probably betting this flop a lot, but in position I sometimes try to mix it up and get some value if vilja doesn't have an ace (most likely).
*** TURN *** [3s Td Ac] [2d]
vilja checks
By checking again I'm about 100% sure that he doesn't have an ace or a set. So his range now his 44-99 (T) and some non-pair hands.
BldZwtTrn checks
I check again knowing that he has 2 outs at best and that he's capable of bluffing the river with his AF of 4.
*** RIVER *** [3s Td Ac 2d] [8d]
vilja checks
Another check, his range hasn't changed.
BldZwtTrn bets $33.00
Standard value bet that hopes from a call from a lower one pair hand.
vilja raises to $143.00
This raise looks like a raise from someone who is on the second thinking level. He probably knows my hand (JJ-KK/ air), and is trying to bluff me of it. But if he would have thought on the third level, he would have known, that I know that he has not much as well by checking 3 streets OOP. The only hand that could make some sense is 88, but I doubt he would C/R that as I could easily check behind.
BldZwtTrn calls $110.00
I make an easy call, knowing that there is a very small chance of 88 but most likely a bluff giving his AF of 4.
*** SHOW DOWN ***
vilja shows [7d 7s]
BldZwtTrn shows [Kh Kc]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [3s Td Ac 2d 8d]
BldZwtTrn collects $328.00


A read went wrong.....(http://lison.blogg.se for those who speak swedish ;-)

EverestPoker Game #1454334802: Table Harare-7 - $5.00/$10.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 08:17:02 - 2007/04/28
Seat 1: Shadddyyy ($1,123.22)
Seat 2: Timvd18 ($969.00)
Seat 3: W.BLAKE ($913.75)
Seat 4: BldZwtTrn ($1,042.00)
Seat 5: Lison ($2,243.57)
Seat 6: hyahhoo ($1,266.75)
BldZwtTrn posts the small blind of $5.00
Lison posts the big blind of $10.00
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Qc Qs]
hyahhoo folds
Shadddyyy folds
Timvd18 folds
W.BLAKE folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $30.00
Lison raises to $90.00
This guy was playing a 45/30/4 game, which is very LAG. So I figured he's doing this with a LOT more then AA/KK/AK here in a blind war.
BldZwtTrn raises to $255.00
Lison calls $165.00
He called the 4-bet pretty quick. So i figured he's range to be something like TT+, AK and some bluffs he don't want to give up (small SC's)
*** FLOP *** [8d Kh Kc]
BldZwtTrn checks
I obviously check here, as betting has no value.
Lison bets $450.00
He instantly betted $450 in a $520 pot. From his range of hands that beats me I think he never does this with AA, and doubt he would do it with AK, cause he has no reason to get me out of this pot and by betting close to the pot here, he knows I'm committed if I call and the only hand that maybe calls here, if he's thinking is AA, so AA/AK didn't make sense here for him.
BldZwtTrn raises to $787.00 and is all-in
So I decided to value push here, cause I thought my hand was good.
Lison calls $337.00
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BldZwtTrn shows [Qc Qs]
Lison shows [Kd Ac]
But I was wrong....
*** TURN *** [8d Kh Kc] [Qh]
But I'm a luckbox.....
*** RIVER *** [8d Kh Kc Qh] [Ts]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [8d Kh Kc Qh Ts]
BldZwtTrn collects $2,081.00

April only:
Hands played : 71,061 (20% NL400)
$ Won in cashgames : $16,318
PTBB/100 : 4,33
MT ratio : 6,09
Hourly win rate: $139.47

Nice video of the best PSV defender ever....Alex (video starts after 1.03 minute)

[ ]

Quick update

Things are going well again. The last two weeks I've made a nice profit even though I couldn't play as much as I want to. I've played about 60K hands this month and this is far below my goal of around 90K-100K per month. Seems like my work ethics could be better although playing 100K hands a month is far more difficult then expected it to be when I started.

Although the NL200 games are still my main place, I've also been playing some NL1000.
The reason I'm playing more 200 then 400 is because I think my hourly is better on 200 then on 400. There are also more tables availabe of 200 and the average stack is usually deeper (too much shortstacks on 400).

The reason I played the NL1000 tables is because I think my hourly over there could be way higher then on NL200/NL400. From what I've seen now the level of play is not that much higher then on NL400, but offcourse it's very important which players are sitting. I already found some (regular playing) fish and I think that's one of the most important things when playing these levels. You should always do table selection. So far I haven't been lucky on NL1000 and I'm down a little more then a buy-in.

April only:
Hands played : 59,026 (20% NL400)
$ Won in cashgames : $9,135
PTBB/100 : 3,8 (5,8 @ NL200)
MT ratio : 6,85
Hourly win rate: $78,99

Bit of an upswing

For those who where worried about my bad run, I think I'm having a little bit of an upswing the past 5 days. Even had a set over set for 200BB.
Patience is really the key even if you're running worse then you would ever expect, if you're a good/winning player that upswing will come, just don't start tilting/playing bad.

My first 2 months of being a pro

It's now 2 months ago since I started my career as a full time poker pro.
Most things went as expected but offcourse there are always things that you don't expect when you make the decision.

Positive things:
- lots of free time
- I don't get bored with poker even though I play ~100K hands a month
- Still eager to learn and study on my leaks
- Still have the discipline to play NL200/NL400 even though I'm way overrolled
- Nice income

'Negative' things
- It's pretty hard to 8-table 8 hours per day 5 days a week
- It's difficult not to get your mood affected by swings
- Being alone all the time (offcourse not all the time, but 80% of the time)

Then the hard facts for these 2 months of playing poker:

Since 11 february:
Hands played : 191,831
$ Won in cashgames : VW Golf TDI 2.0
PTBB/100 NL200 (75% hands) : 5,24
PTBB/100 NL400 (25% hands) : 2,93
MT ratio : 6,92
Hourly win rate: $127,31

Last but not least:
Thanks for all the support and comments that are coming in every post.
Since my last post I had 2 nice sessions so hopefully this will be the start of an upswing. And I'm thinking about another strategy article to write about, but still don't know about what part.

Other stupid facts:
Biggest losing hand (absolute): J3o (Never played that hand, so it's just from losing blinds)
Biggest losing hand that I've voluntary played: A9s
Biggest winners: 99+, AQo+, AQs+ and 97s (my favorite hand)
Most dealt PP: 77(901 times)
Less dealt PP: 66(842 times)
Most dealt hand total: 72o (1840 times, not a joke)
Less dealt hand total: 87s (524 times)

Saga continues

I never thought a break even streak as I'm in now was possible.
Almost 50K hands without profit. It's really puts my confidence to the test.
Maybe to get some confidence back I'm posting 7 hands here where I played a big pot and I'd like to get some advice on them. Please tell me which hand u would have played different. The hands will not only be losers/bad beats, just some random big pots.

Hand 1:
EverestPoker Game #1375788953: Table Suva-8 - $1.00/$2.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 11:21:13 - 2007/04/10
Seat 1: TheLoon ($223.75)
Seat 2: PetterLund ($217.70)
Seat 3: BldZwtTrn ($200.00)
Seat 4: Roedy ($207.90)
Seat 5: HertigTorulf ($256.70)
Seat 6: ChasseurAlp1 ($196.15) ->>> 40/7/2 (not a good player)
TheLoon posts the small blind of $1.00
PetterLund posts the big blind of $2.00
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Qc Kh]
BldZwtTrn raises to $7.00
Roedy folds
HertigTorulf folds
ChasseurAlp1 calls $7.00
TheLoon folds
PetterLund folds
*** FLOP *** [Th Qs Kc]
BldZwtTrn bets $13.00
ChasseurAlp1 calls $13.00
*** TURN *** [Th Qs Kc] [4s]
BldZwtTrn checks
ChasseurAlp1 bets $16.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $69.00
ChasseurAlp1 raises to $176.15 and is all-in
BldZwtTrn calls $107.15

Hand 2:
EverestPoker Game #1375371931: Table Bamako-4 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 08:51:43 - 2007/04/10
Seat 1: Kaffedopp ($394.00)
Seat 2: BldZwtTrn ($414.00)
Seat 3: Memorax ($686.90)
Seat 4: erikzamboer ($794.90)
Seat 5: nickalex ($562.00) ->>> 54/4/2 (big fish)
Seat 6: bertje49 ($72.99)
BldZwtTrn posts the small blind of $2.00
Memorax posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Ac Ad]
erikzamboer folds
nickalex calls $4.00
bertje49 folds
Kaffedopp folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $16.00
Memorax folds
nickalex calls $12.00
*** FLOP *** [Kd Ts 6h]
BldZwtTrn bets $27.00
nickalex raises to $54.00
BldZwtTrn calls $27.00
*** TURN *** [Kd Ts 6h] [4h]
BldZwtTrn checks
nickalex bets $144.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $344.00 and is all-in
nickalex raises to $492.00 and is all-in
Uncalled bet of $148.00 returned to nickalex

Hand 3:
EverestPoker Game #1371988436: Table Suva-26 - $1.00/$2.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 14:29:44 - 2007/04/09
Seat 1: tang10 ($205.05)
Seat 2: King_Hassan ($185.00)
Seat 3: bandito000 ($197.00)
Seat 4: VITRONI ($358.15) ->>> 40/7/2 (bad player)
Seat 5: xXxname ($223.45)
Seat 6: BldZwtTrn ($200.00)
xXxname posts the small blind of $1.00
BldZwtTrn posts the big blind of $2.00
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[5h 6h]
tang10 folds
King_Hassan calls $2.00
bandito000 calls $2.00
VITRONI calls $2.00
xXxname calls $1.00
BldZwtTrn checks
*** FLOP *** [5d 6c 9d]
xXxname checks
BldZwtTrn bets $6.00
King_Hassan folds
bandito000 folds
VITRONI raises to $12.00
xXxname folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $39.00
VITRONI calls $27.00
*** TURN *** [5d 6c 9d] [3c]
BldZwtTrn checks
VITRONI bets $88.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $159.00 and is all-in
VITRONI calls $71.00

Hand 4:
EverestPoker Game #1371939358: Table Bamako-5 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 14:18:29 - 2007/04/09
Seat 1: stoufette ($413.00) ->>> unknown player
Seat 2: PokerNL1978 ($126.50)
Seat 3: denise86_ ($563.90)
Seat 4: immortal8 ($485.30)
Seat 5: BldZwtTrn ($400.00)
Seat 6: PokerRuler ($400.00)
stoufette posts the small blind of $2.00
PokerNL1978 posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[3c 3h]
immortal8 folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $14.00
PokerRuler raises to $46.00
stoufette calls $44.00
PokerNL1978 folds
BldZwtTrn calls $32.00
*** FLOP *** [Ks 3s Th]
stoufette bets $367.00 and is all-in
BldZwtTrn calls $354.00 and is all-in
PokerRuler folds
Uncalled bet of $13.00 returned to stoufette
stoufette collects $848.00

Hand 5:

EverestPoker Game #1372592610: Table Suva-20 - $1.00/$2.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:39:34 - 2007/04/09
Seat 1: BUBAL ($114.50) ->>>> fish
Seat 2: BldZwtTrn ($590.00)
Seat 3: islandfrog ($251.95)
Seat 4: pietkeur ($210.30) ->>> fish
Seat 5: Mindelf ($194.00)
Seat 6: Aasisdebaas ($200.70)
Aasisdebaas posts the small blind of $1.00
BUBAL posts the big blind of $2.00
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Jh Jd]
BldZwtTrn raises to $7.00
islandfrog folds
pietkeur calls $7.00
Mindelf folds
Aasisdebaas folds
BUBAL calls $5.00
*** FLOP *** [8c 4c 9d]
BUBAL bets $22.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $70.00
pietkeur calls $70.00
BUBAL folds
*** TURN *** [8c 4c 9d] [6s]
BldZwtTrn bets $184.00
pietkeur calls $133.30 and is all-in
Uncalled bet of $50.70 returned to BldZwtTrn


Hand 6:

EverestPoker Game #1371284830: Table Suva-15 - $1.00/$2.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 11:40:10 - 2007/04/09
Seat 1: BldZwtTrn ($360.67)
Seat 2: Leodium ($200.00)
Seat 3: Mindelf ($261.20)
Seat 4: chato04 ($231.94) ->> good/TAG player
chato04 posts the small blind of $1.00
BldZwtTrn posts the big blind of $2.00
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[5c 6c]
Leodium folds
Mindelf raises to $7.00
chato04 calls $6.00
BldZwtTrn calls $5.00
*** FLOP *** [7s 8c Qc]
chato04 checks
BldZwtTrn bets $14.00
Mindelf folds
chato04 raises to $50.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $171.00
chato04 raises to $224.94 and is all-in
BldZwtTrn calls $53.94

Hand 7:

EverestPoker Game #1358583569: Table Suva-1 - $1.00/$2.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 14:03:01 - 2007/04/06
Seat 1: Mr_Ace_Ass ($299.85)
Seat 2: Itto ($599.15)
Seat 3: Waw ($200.00)
Seat 4: pokerhein ($576.26) ->>> 23/20/3 (good)
Seat 5: BldZwtTrn ($195.00)
Seat 6: Aegerti ($165.70)
BldZwtTrn posts the small blind of $1.00
Aegerti posts the big blind of $2.00
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Ad Kc]
Mr_Ace_Ass raises to $7.00
Itto folds
Waw calls $7.00
pokerhein calls $7.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $35.00
Aegerti folds
Mr_Ace_Ass calls $28.00
Waw folds
pokerhein calls $28.00
*** FLOP *** [5s Th 5d]
BldZwtTrn checks
Mr_Ace_Ass checks
pokerhein checks
*** TURN *** [5s Th 5d] [Ac]
BldZwtTrn checks
Mr_Ace_Ass checks
pokerhein bets $75.00
BldZwtTrn calls $75.00
Mr_Ace_Ass folds
*** RIVER *** [5s Th 5d Ac] [9h]
BldZwtTrn checks
pokerhein bets $264.00
BldZwtTrn calls $85.00 and is all-in
Uncalled bet of $179.00 returned to pokerhein

Difficult week

The past week was the worst since I started to play full time.
I'm basically break even since last thursday (8 days of poker).
Its still not a really big downswing since my lowest point was about 8 buy-ins below my highest, but it's just frustrating to play 30K hands and not win a single dollar.

It's not only bad luck that caused that downswing (althought the quads against my set/boat at the same time at two different tables was amazing).
I also did make some bad plays offcourse, but I also noticed that the players are getting better and that there is not as much fish as before.

I also talked to two other Dutch regular players and they were experiencing the exact same thing. So as I was afraid off.....poker is just like the stock exchange (although not so fast yet)....when there are price differences (high fish to regular ratio) the marketmaker (regular) steps in and takes the profit. As the ratio decreases, winrates for regulars will drop and variance will increase.
Offcourse the good players will always make profits, but winrates of 8+ are just not possible over a long stretch of time.

April only:
Hands played : 18,087 (20% NL400)
$ Won in cashgames : $1,245
PTBB/100 : 2,08 (yihaaa)
MT ratio : 6,40
Hourly win rate: $25,09 (SHIIIIIIIIP IT!!!)

March Graph

This is my March graph, with a nice downswing at the end, although still my best month ever.

Back on track

After a slow start of the month, the last 2 weeks have been really good, especially on NL400. I've won on 16 days in a row now, for an amount of 1K per day. So the goal that I've set at the beginning of the month is still achievable although I don't think that I can play 100K hands this month. So far I played 79K and I'm up a little bit more then 20K.

Furthermore, I don't have much to write about, maybe some readers have some questions or things they like to know and I can try to write something about it.

March only:

Hands played : 78,926 (25% NL400)

$ Won in cashgames : $20,271

PTBB/100 : 5,15 (5,23 @ NL200)

MT ratio : 6,75

Hourly win rate: $145,82

Raising for information

This is not technical chart from the stock market in the nineties but my profit graph on Everest.



Raising for information is something I hear a lot op players say when I ask why they are raising a certain (scary) flop. Usually it's a terrible thing to do and I don't like the reasoning at all. Raising should be for value, isolation, to let draws pay or to bluff, but not to get information with a hand that has showdown value.

Its difficult to find a lot of examples but it's usually a situation when your raised on a scary flop (paired board is the best example as there are not a lot of draws).

For example the hand below:

POKERSTARS GAME #8579094315: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($1/$2) - 2007/02/23 - 03:24:32 (ET)
Table 'Caprera' 6-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: AKA_PSV ($235.50 in chips)
Seat 2: hard2tel ($199 in chips)
Seat 4: LUVTHEGUTTY ($179 in chips)
Seat 5: Zadan ($225.45 in chips)
Seat 6: jgonzales ($151.35 in chips)
Zadan: posts small blind $1
jgonzales: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to AKA_PSV [Ac As]
AKA_PSV: raises $6 to $8
hard2tel: folds
LUVTHEGUTTY: calls $8
Zadan: folds
jgonzales: calls $6
*** FLOP *** [Qh Qs 6c] -> This is what you could call a 'scary flop' for aces.
jgonzales: checks
AKA_PSV: bets $14 -> Make a normal c-bet
LUVTHEGUTTY: folds
jgonzales: raises $16 to $30
AKA_PSV: calls $16 -> This is a situation where raising is absolutely terrible, a lot of players are not raising a Queen here and are raising the flop for information themself with a lower pair or as a total bluff to scare me. By re-raising I make all worse hands fold en better hands call....
*** TURN *** [Qh Qs 6c] [5d]
jgonzales: bets $26
AKA_PSV: calls $26
*** RIVER *** [Qh Qs 6c 5d] [5s]
jgonzales: bets $24
AKA_PSV: calls $24
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jgonzales: shows [Ts Td] (two pair, Queens and Tens)
AKA_PSV: shows [Ac As] (two pair, Aces and Queens)
AKA_PSV collected $183 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $185 Rake $2
Board [Qh Qs 6c 5d 5s]
Seat 1: AKA_PSV showed [Ac As] and won ($183) with two pair, Aces and Queens
Seat 2: hard2tel folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: LUVTHEGUTTY (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: Zadan (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: jgonzales (big blind) showed [Ts Td] and lost with two pair, Queens and Tens

Then my month so far. I'm back on track. Due to the not so good start of the month I will probably not make my 25K goal, but I'm still doing good. Especially on NL400 I'm finally a little but more lucky.
For March my winrate on NL200 over 50K hands is 5 and @ NL400 I'm now at 4 over 15K hands.

March only:
Hands played : 64,682 (20% NL400)
$ Won in cashgames : $15,438
PTBB/100 : 4,76 (5,01 @ NL200)
MT ratio : 7,09
Hourly win rate: $136,09

100K hands @ NL200

I've done it. I played 100K hands at NL200 on Everest. Offcourse I'm playing NL400 as well, but during daytime there aren't a lot of tables availabe so I'm mostly playing NL200.

My winrate over this 100K hands is 7,11 PTBB/100. For a long time I stayed above 8, but the last 40K went a little bit slower. It's always difficult to say if it was because I had luck in the first 60K hands or if I were unlucky in the last 40K.

I also looked at blocks of hands within this 100K sample to get to know something more about swings. Here's what I found out:

If I look at blocks of 5K hands my winrate is between 0,35 and 14,72
If I look at blocks of 10K hands my winrate is between 3,26 and 11.88
If I look at blocks of 20K hands my winrate is between 4,57 and 10.08
If I look at blocks of 50K hands my winrate is between 5,46 and 8.72

The conclusion of this is that a sample size of 50K becomes somewhat significant, but before that it's pretty meaningless. (I also only looked at fixed blocks of hands and if I had looked at variable blocks the swings would be bigger for sure)

March only:
Hands played : 44,405 (20% NL400)
$ Won in cashgames : $8,068.09
PTBB/100 : 3.94 (4,45 @ NL200)
MT ratio : 7,08
Hourly win rate: $101,14

March is starting slow

The beginning of March was not so great as the end of February.
In a session on NL400 I lost 5 buy-ins in less then a hour!!
And the funny thing was....I played almost without a mistake.

But when people can't laydown AJo....and I'm not hitting my draw its getting difficult.

***** Hand History for Game 1188815248 *****
0/0 TEXASHTGAMETABLE (NL) - THU MAR 01 19:58:22 EDT 2007
Table Bamako-0 (Real Money) -- Seat 2 is the button
Seat 1: PLaToN ( $15.36)
Seat 2: algouz ( $496.24)
Seat 3: BldZwtTrn ( $369.84)
Seat 4: FishHoven ( $646.22)
Seat 5: d3fault ( $394.0)
Seat 6: chillyah ( $399.52)
BldZwtTrn posts small blind (2.0).
FishHoven posts big blind (4.0).
Dealt to BldZwtTrn [ Qd, Kd ]
d3fault folds.
chillyah folds.
PLaToN calls (4.0)
algouz calls (4.0)
BldZwtTrn raises (18.0) to 20.0
FishHoven folds.
PLaToN calls (11.36)
PLaToN is all-In.
algouz calls (16.0)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 5s, Td, Ad ]
BldZwtTrn bets (40.0)
algouz raises (80.0) to 80.0
BldZwtTrn raises (208.0) to 248.0
algouz calls (168.0)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 2h ]
BldZwtTrn bets (101.84)
BldZwtTrn is all-In.
algouz calls (101.84)
** Dealing River ** : [ Th ]
** Summary **
Main Pot: $50.08 | Side Pot 1: $705.96 | Rake: $3.0
Board: [ 5s Td Ad 2h Th ]
PLaToN balance $0, bet $0, lost $0.0 [ Qs Kh ] [ ]
algouz balance $0, bet $0, collected $756.04, net +$0 [ Jc Ah ] [ ]
BldZwtTrn balance $0, bet $0, lost $0.0 [ Qd Kd ] [ ]

Or when people push there (obvious) draw with a massive overbet and still hit.

***** Hand History for Game 1188828232 *****
0/0 TEXASHTGAMETABLE (NL) - THU MAR 01 20:00:52 EDT 2007
Table Bamako-6 (Real Money) -- Seat 1 is the button
Seat 1: Sebboss ( $450.88)
Seat 2: d3fault ( $396.0)
Seat 3: BldZwtTrn ( $394.0)
Seat 5: Ernesto_777 ( $981.96)
Seat 6: Malene76 ( $951.84)
d3fault posts small blind (2.0).
BldZwtTrn posts big blind (4.0).
Dealt to BldZwtTrn [ Jc, Ac ]
Ernesto_777 folds.
Malene76 folds.
Sebboss folds.
d3fault calls (2.0)
BldZwtTrn raises (8.0) to 12.0
d3fault calls (8.0)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 3h, Jd, 7h ]
d3fault checks.
BldZwtTrn bets (17.0)
d3fault raises (70.0) to 70.0
BldZwtTrn calls (53.0)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 9d ]
d3fault bets (314.0)
d3fault is all-In.
BldZwtTrn calls (312.0)
BldZwtTrn is all-In.
** Dealing River ** : [ 4h ]
** Summary **
Main Pot: $785.0 | Rake: $3.0
Board: [ 3h Jd 7h 9d 4h ]
d3fault balance $0, bet $0, collected $787.0, net +$0 [ Qh 9h ] [ ]
BldZwtTrn balance $0, bet $0, lost $0.0 [ Jc Ac ] [ ]

Or when the deck is just as cold as ice....

***** Hand History for Game 1188806098 *****
0/0 TEXASHTGAMETABLE (NL) - THU MAR 01 19:56:33 EDT 2007
Table Bamako-11 (Real Money) -- Seat 6 is the button
Seat 1: Djegum ( $377.36)
Seat 2: jean-mary974 ( $230.52)
Seat 3: BldZwtTrn ( $421.0)
Seat 4: Sebboss ( $394.0)
Seat 5: Spevel81 ( $444.0)
Seat 6: torp35 ( $420.28)
Djegum posts small blind (2.0).
jean-mary974 posts big blind (4.0).
Dealt to BldZwtTrn [ As, Ad ]
BldZwtTrn raises (14.0) to 14.0
Sebboss calls (14.0)
Spevel81 folds.
torp35 folds.
Djegum folds.
jean-mary974 folds.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Ts, Qc, Ac ]
BldZwtTrn bets (25.0)
Sebboss raises (85.0) to 85.0
BldZwtTrn calls (60.0)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 6h ]
BldZwtTrn checks.
Sebboss bets (130.0)
BldZwtTrn raises (322.0) to 322.0
BldZwtTrn is all-In.
Sebboss calls (165.0)
Sebboss is all-In.
** Dealing River ** : [ 7c ]
** Summary **
Main Pot: $791.0 | Rake: $3.0
Board: [ Ts Qc Ac 6h 7c ]
BldZwtTrn balance $0, bet $0, collected $27.0, net +$0 [ As Ad ] [ ]
Sebboss balance $0, bet $0, collected $791.0, net +$0 [ Kc Jc ] [ ]

***** Hand History for Game 1188987563 *****
0/0 TEXASHTGAMETABLE (NL) - THU MAR 01 20:32:12 EDT 2007
Table Bamako-11 (Real Money) -- Seat 4 is the button
Seat 1: glasleer ( $80.76)
Seat 3: BldZwtTrn ( $615.36)
Seat 4: Sebboss ( $850.42)
Seat 5: Spevel81 ( $393.94)
Seat 6: tonicherm ( $120.1)
Spevel81 posts small blind (2.0).
tonicherm posts big blind (4.0).
Dealt to BldZwtTrn [ 9c, Ac ]
glasleer calls (4.0)
BldZwtTrn raises (18.0) to 18.0
Sebboss calls (18.0)
Spevel81 folds.
tonicherm folds.
glasleer folds.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 6d, 9s, As ]
BldZwtTrn bets (33.0)
Sebboss raises (100.0) to 100.0
BldZwtTrn calls (67.0)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Jd ]
BldZwtTrn checks.
Sebboss checks.
** Dealing River ** : [ 7d ]
BldZwtTrn checks.
Sebboss bets (200.0)
BldZwtTrn calls (200.0)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $643.0 | Rake: $3.0
Board: [ 6d 9s As Jd 7d ]
BldZwtTrn balance $0, bet $0, lost $0.0 [ 9c Ac ] [ ]
Sebboss balance $0, bet $0, collected $643.0, net +$0 [ Ad Ah ] [ ]

Or when I have a perfect read, but people still call against the odds...

***** Hand History for Game 1192397851 *****
0/0 TEXASHTGAMETABLE (NL) - FRI MAR 02 15:15:50 EDT 2007
Table Suva-10 (Real Money) -- Seat 2 is the button
Seat 1: Macspower ( $264.9)
Seat 2: Xena79 ( $219.92)
Seat 4: vagram ( $200.0)
Seat 5: BldZwtTrn ( $208.6)
Seat 6: Masterpolo ( $188.26)
BldZwtTrn posts small blind (1.0).
Masterpolo posts big blind (2.0).
Dealt to BldZwtTrn [ Qc, Ah ]
Macspower folds.
Xena79 folds.
BldZwtTrn raises (5.0) to 6.0
Masterpolo calls (4.0)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 3h, 8c, 3c ]
BldZwtTrn bets (8.0)
Masterpolo raises (16.0) to 16.0
BldZwtTrn raises (44.0) to 52.0
Masterpolo calls (36.0)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Th ]
BldZwtTrn checks.
Masterpolo bets (24.0)
BldZwtTrn raises (150.6) to 150.6
BldZwtTrn is all-In.
Masterpolo calls (106.26)
Masterpolo is all-In.
** Dealing River ** : [ 9c ]
** Summary **
Main Pot: $373.52 | Rake: $3.0
Board: [ 3h 8c 3c Th 9c ]
BldZwtTrn balance $0, bet $0, collected $20.34, net +$0 [ Qc Ah ] [ ]
Masterpolo balance $0, bet $0, collected $373.52, net +$0 [ Ac 5c ] [ ]

Or when you're sets get outdrawn...

***** Hand History for Game 1197517701 *****
0/0 TEXASHTGAMETABLE (NL) - SAT MAR 03 15:16:37 EDT 2007
Table Suva-18 (Real Money) -- Seat 6 is the button
Seat 1: tang10 ( $374.11)
Seat 2: obut ( $346.09)
Seat 3: croate ( $54.4)
Seat 4: leotaq ( $134.12)
Seat 5: BldZwtTrn ( $261.44)
Seat 6: DaniStar5 ( $389.02)
tang10 posts small blind (1.0).
obut posts big blind (2.0).
Dealt to BldZwtTrn [ 9d, 9s ]
croate folds.
leotaq folds.
BldZwtTrn raises (7.0) to 7.0
DaniStar5 calls (7.0)
tang10 calls (6.0)
obut folds.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Qd, 9h, 4h ]
tang10 checks.
BldZwtTrn bets (16.0)
DaniStar5 calls (16.0)
tang10 folds.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 4s ]
BldZwtTrn checks.
DaniStar5 bets (32.0)
BldZwtTrn raises (105.0) to 105.0
DaniStar5 raises (334.02) to 366.02
DaniStar5 is all-In.
BldZwtTrn calls (133.44)
BldZwtTrn is all-In.
** Dealing River ** : [ Qc ]
** Summary **
Main Pot: $528.88 | Rake: $3.0
Board: [ Qd 9h 4h 4s Qc ]
BldZwtTrn balance $0, bet $0, lost $0.0 [ 9d 9s ] [ ]
DaniStar5 balance $0, bet $0, collected $656.46, net +$0 [ Qh Ks ] [ ]

Well overall, I still made some good money, I just had a few sessions that were very unlucky. But thats the variance u have to deal with.

March only:
Hands played : 16,005 (15% NL400)
$ Won in cashgames : $2,606.35 (lost money on NL400)
PTBB/100 : 4,33 (5,57 @ NL200)
MT ratio : 7,57
Hourly win rate: $104,05

2007 only:
Hands played : 124,653
$ Won in cashgames : $32,606.93
PTBB/100 : 6,19 (7,97 @ NL200)
MT ratio : 6,77
Hourly win rate: $154,38

My edge

In the comments someone asked me what I think my edge against (most) other players is and why I'm winning and some others not....

This is a question I ask myself a lot as well and also makes me a little afraid.
I have a background in the financial world and one of the things you learn there is the efficient market theory. In a lot of ways the pokerworld is comparable to a stock exchange but somehow in the pokerworld the world is not efficient at all.

All the information is available to everybody but somehow, there are people who don't use all those information. Some people just don't care because they wanne gamble. Others don't have the time to study the game and so on.

The thing that makes me afraid is that making so much money as easy as with poker HAS to make the 'market' more effecient in the long run. Players are gonna get better and losing players will leave the market. The question is.....what is the long run in poker (6 months or 3 years?????)

Offcourse not everyone can be a winning poker player, some skills that you need to have to be a winning player are:

* Having great discipline (the most important thing I would say)
* Analytical (good with numbers)
* Eager to learn and improve your game
* Flexible (able to adjust to different situations)
* Mentally stable

And remember this:
* Winning players see a bad beat as a reason to play more poker and losing players see a bad beat as a reason to quit poker.

Then my first month as a pro....although I only played 2,5 weeks this month, due to my holiday, I still exceeded my expectation by far.

February only:
Hands played : 65,980
$ Won in cashgames : $19,447.33
PTBB/100 : 6,85
MT ratio : 7,17
Hourly win rate: $183,26

GOALS MARCH 2007:
Play 100K hands with a profit of $25K

Best day ever....

It's getting a little bit boring but today was my best day of poker ever.
I played for 7 hours and a total of 4,995 hands.
And this were my profits:

NL400 Everest +$ 2,228.79 19,02 PTBB/100
NL200 Everest +$ 1,250.94 18,79 PTBB/100
NL200 Stars +$ 382,85 5,13 PTBB/100

Total +$ 3,862.58 13,75 PTBB/100

I also include my new updated and very sick low variance graph of NL200 since January 12.

2007 only:
Hands played : 99,177
$ Won in cashgames : $27,918.29
PTBB/100 : 6,70 (9,2 on Everest, 4,0 on Stars)
MT ratio : 6,61
Hourly win rate: $163,25
Current BR: $53K

Cleaning out the tables

Yesterday evening I had some time to play again. Since I'm pro I don't play much in the weekend anymore but it always strikes me how big the difference is. So once in a while I play to get a little extra profit.
In the session from yesterday I probably stacked more people (lots of shorties offcourse) then Jamie Gold during the last WSOP ;-)

Most of this was on tables were I was HU and people kept taking shots at me.
It always strikes me that almost all the regulars on Everest are leaving the table immediately when they're HU or 3-handed against me.
But anyhow, this night I got my money in almost always as a favorite against the shorties and the strange thing was that I won nearly all of this all-in situations. I think that I won more then 10 60/40 situations in a row. Which on itself is offcourse very lucky but I made the right decision every single time and that's what matters.

On one table I was HU with a fullstack (non regular) and I really got him tilting of his whole stack. Check this 3 hands that did the job...

First one is probably a standard HU hand. Also note that his POT bet on the river was instant, which made it an easy call for me.

***** Hand History for Game 1161428831 *****
0/0 TEXASHTGAMETABLE (NL) - SAT FEB 24 02:51:47 EDT 2007
Table Suva-23 (Real Money) -- Seat 5 is the button
Seat 4: BldZwtTrn ( $494.42)
Seat 5: caton ( $259.16)
caton posts small blind (1.0).
BldZwtTrn posts big blind (2.0).
Dealt to BldZwtTrn [ Th, Ah ]
caton raises (5.0) to 6.0
BldZwtTrn raises (16.0) to 18.0
caton calls (12.0)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Kd, 8d, 9c ]
BldZwtTrn bets (25.0)
caton calls (25.0)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 3h ]
BldZwtTrn checks.
caton checks.
** Dealing River ** : [ Tc ]
BldZwtTrn checks.
caton bets (86.0)
BldZwtTrn calls (86.0)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $255.0 | Rake: $3.0
Board: [ Kd 8d 9c 3h Tc ]
BldZwtTrn balance $0, bet $0, collected $255.0, net +$0 [ Th Ah ] [ ]
caton balance $0, bet $0, lost $0.0 [ Qh Ad ] [ ]

This second hand is almost identical.

***** Hand History for Game 1161451993 *****
0/0 TEXASHTGAMETABLE (NL) - SAT FEB 24 03:00:20 EDT 2007
Table Suva-23 (Real Money) -- Seat 4 is the button
Seat 4: BldZwtTrn ( $519.06)
Seat 5: caton ( $218.72)
BldZwtTrn posts small blind (1.0).
caton posts big blind (2.0).
Dealt to BldZwtTrn [ Qd, Th ]
BldZwtTrn raises (5.0) to 6.0
caton calls (4.0)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Qh, Jd, 6h ]
caton bets (12.0)
BldZwtTrn calls (12.0)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Kd ]
caton checks.
BldZwtTrn checks.
** Dealing River ** : [ 2s ]
caton bets (36.0)
BldZwtTrn calls (36.0)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $105.0 | Rake: $3.0
Board: [ Qh Jd 6h Kd 2s ]
BldZwtTrn balance $0, bet $0, collected $105.0, net +$0 [ Qd Th ] [ ]
caton balance $0, bet $0, lost $0.0 [ Jh 8c ] [ ]

And this is the final one. My raise on the flop is ugly by the way, it should have been a push, but I was almost timing out there and so this stupid min raise came out that offcourse committed me.

***** Hand History for Game 1161455023 *****
0/0 TEXASHTGAMETABLE (NL) - SAT FEB 24 03:01:31 EDT 2007
Table Suva-23 (Real Money) -- Seat 4 is the button
Seat 4: BldZwtTrn ( $569.06)
Seat 5: caton ( $165.72)
BldZwtTrn posts small blind (1.0).
caton posts big blind (2.0).
Dealt to BldZwtTrn [ 5s, 5h ]
BldZwtTrn raises (5.0) to 6.0
caton raises (16.0) to 18.0
BldZwtTrn calls (12.0)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 4c, 6h, 3c ]
caton bets (36.0)
BldZwtTrn raises (80.0) to 80.0
caton calls (44.0)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 8d ]
caton bets (67.72)
caton is all-In.
BldZwtTrn calls (67.72)
** Dealing River ** : [ 4h ]
** Summary **
Main Pot: $328.44 | Rake: $3.0
Board: [ 4c 6h 3c 8d 4h ]
BldZwtTrn balance $0, bet $0, collected $328.44, net +$0 [ 5s 5h ] [ ]
caton balance $0, bet $0, lost $0.0 [ Ah 2c ] [ ]

At the end of this session I won about 2K which was almost $1 per hand.

My winrates @ NL200 are really spectacular at the moment. For example:

My winrate during the last week was 11,54 PTBB/100 (14K hands)
My winrate in february is 9,13 PTBB/100 (36K hands)
My total winrate @ NL200 8,99 PTBB/100 (57K hands)

This really shows that my game is still improving here. Offcourse I had some luck during the last week, because I think my long term winrate (100K+) should be somewhere close to 8.

2007 only:
Hands played : 93,915
$ Won in cashgames : $23,375.56
PTBB/100 : 6,23 (8,8 on Everest, 3,9 on Stars)
MT ratio : 6,57
Hourly win rate: $143,38

Still going strong

Poker is till going very well. I was just checking some of my PT stats in 2007 (80K hands) and it really looked nice. I won money with every single PP for example. So it seems that the small changes in my strategy have worked ok.
And with the hands that I put money in there are only 6 (KJo, ATo, 87s, T8s, A5s and J9s) with which I lost more then 1 buy-in ($200). And there is just one of these with which I lost slightly more then $400 (J9s).

This morning I played a session at Pokerstars again ( didn't play there for almost a week). The first 30 minutes I really had to adjust to the hyperagressive pre-flop game there on NL200 (compared to Everest). Overall it's a lot more difficult to play there, but there are still plenty of fish there as well.

Some hands from the session:

POKERSTARS GAME #8547736654: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($1/$2) - 2007/02/21 - 04:10:00 (ET)
Table 'Amphios II' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: 369Dan ($330.10 in chips)
Seat 2: ayoria ($393.45 in chips)
Seat 3: BaronVonBer ($103.55 in chips)
Seat 4: AKA_PSV ($722.30 in chips)
Seat 5: $GM$AN$EY$ ($324.60 in chips)
Seat 6: xxGooilersxx ($197 in chips)
369Dan: posts small blind $1
ayoria: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to AKA_PSV [Qh Ad]
BaronVonBer: folds
AKA_PSV: raises $6 to $8
$GM$AN$EY$: folds
xxGooilersxx: raises $18 to $26

This guy (27/21/1) was 3-betting almost all the time from the blinds against a steal or from the button, but never showed a hand down. AQ is not really the hand you want to play in re-raised pot, but this time I decided that is was time to take a stand and as he was not that agressive postflop so I called.

369Dan: folds
ayoria: folds
AKA_PSV: calls $18

*** FLOP *** [2d 5c Qc] -> Flops looks perfect, but the problem is that there's not one hand that is paying you off if you bet here, so I decide to check.

AKA_PSV: checks
xxGooilersxx: checks
*** TURN *** [2d 5c Qc] [6s]

AKA_PSV: checks > As he didn't bet the flop I don't think I'm have to be afraid of the flushdraw so I check again to get maximum value out of worse hand (mostly bluffs, but also hands like JJ/TT).
xxGooilersxx: bets $42
AKA_PSV: calls $42

*** RIVER *** [2d 5c Qc 6s] [8c]

AKA_PSV: checks -> The third flushcard falls, so again betting is stupid as he will not call with a worse hand.
xxGooilersxx: bets $129 and is all-in
AKA_PSV: calls $129

This call took me a while, but his push just didn't look like it wanted a call. I also thought that he would have bet the flop with a flushdraw, so then it must be a bluff, because spots like this are most of the time the nuts or a total bluff.

*** SHOW DOWN ***

xxGooilersxx: shows [2s Ks] (a pair of Deuces)
AKA_PSV: shows [Qh Ad] (a pair of Queens)
AKA_PSV collected $394 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $397 | Rake $3
Board [2d 5c Qc 6s 8c]
Seat 1: 369Dan (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: ayoria (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: BaronVonBer folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: AKA_PSV showed [Qh Ad] and won ($394) with a pair of Queens
Seat 5: $GM$AN$EY$ folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: xxGooilersxx (button) showed [2s Ks] and lost with a pair of Deuces

POKERSTARS GAME #8548009223: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($1/$2) - 2007/02/21 - 05:06:52 (ET)
Table 'Henan' 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: ayoria ($288.70 in chips)
Seat 2: cerebos ($201.50 in chips)
Seat 3: smidebrandt ($246.05 in chips) >>> 76/47/3 uberdonkey
Seat 4: AKA_PSV ($275.75 in chips)
Seat 5: Acid Fire ($584.15 in chips)
Seat 6: SmittyUF ($189 in chips)
SmittyUF: posts small blind $1
ayoria: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to AKA_PSV [As Ks]
cerebos: folds
smidebrandt: calls $2
AKA_PSV: raises $8 to $10
Acid Fire: calls $10
SmittyUF: folds
ayoria: calls $8
SmittyUF is sitting out
smidebrandt: raises $24 to $34
AKA_PSV: raises $241.75 to $275.75 and is all-in
Acid Fire: folds
ayoria: folds
smidebrandt: calls $212.05 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [5d 2h 7s]
*** TURN *** [5d 2h 7s] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [5d 2h 7s Td] [6h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
smidebrandt: shows [8h 8c] (a pair of Eights)
AKA_PSV: mucks hand
smidebrandt collected $510.10 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $513.10 | Rake $3
Board [5d 2h 7s Td 6h]
Seat 1: ayoria (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: cerebos folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: smidebrandt showed [8h 8c] and won ($510.10) with a pair of Eights
Seat 4: AKA_PSV mucked [As Ks]
Seat 5: Acid Fire (button) folded before Flop
Seat 6: SmittyUF (small blind) folded before Flop


2007 only:
Hands played : 79,194
$ Won in cashgames : $20,950.98
PTBB/100 : 6,36 (8,4 on Everest, 4,2 on Stars)
MT ratio : 6,40
Hourly win rate: $147,40

Another Quick update

Hands played : 109,689 (since 27/11/2006, 2 screens)
$ Won in cashgames : $21,722.81
PTBB/100 : 5,50
MT ratio : 6,25 (some laptop 4-tabling)
Hourly win rate: $111.81
Current BR: $41,259

2007 only:
Hands played : 65,395
$ Won in cashgames : $16,260.88
PTBB/100 : 6,01
MT ratio : 6,30
Hourly win rate: $137,82

My first 24 hours as a 'pro'

Today was my first day as 'poker pro'. I played a ton of hands (9,622 + FTOPS 6 max). As much as I played today I will probably never do again, but I had to catch up a little bit after not playing for like 10 days so today was a monster session.

But at the end of the day I was up $2,732.29 for a nice hourly rate of $162 (how the .... did I play 16,8 hours....). I also played the FTOPS 6max tourney and as usual was out somewhere in the middle after losing every single coinflip and not getting any cards at all (I hate donkaments) so thats -$216.

If I can maintain this hourly rate, I will be more then happy. Because after all I'm still only playing NL200 and I really feel that my winrate there in comparison with the low variance is best for me.

I close this nice first day with a very nice graph.....

Quick update

Today is my first day as a 'pro', but before getting really to work, I will go to Val Thorens for a week to do some skiing.
So this is the last update for at least a week.

Hands played : 90,247 (since 27/11/2006, 2 screens)
$ Won in cashgames : $17,254.09
PTBB/100 : 5,36
MT ratio : 6,12 (some laptop 4-tabling)
Hourly win rate: $106.49
Current BR: $37,061

Best hands:

AA/KK/QQ/JJ/AQs/AQo/66/98s/ATs/AKs

Worst hands:

87s/97s/76s/J9s/T8s/64s/QJs/A7s/94s/54s

My best month ever

2007 couldn't have started any better then this. Starting February 12 I will be playing poker full-time (playing at least twice as much hands as I'm doing now) so this is a great start of this very exciting new year for me.

Two reasons for this great month are probably a good game selection and also some important improvements I'm currently making into my game. Studying my game is very important and I'm always looking for leaks that can be fixed and even when I'm winning, I probably have lots of leaks that can be fixed easily at the stakes I'm currently playing (NL200/NL400).

I don't want to go in great detail about the things I'm changing to my game, but it's mainly based on position, dealing with 3-bets and check-raising on turn with different kind of hands.
I also notice that my reading skills are getting better and better which is obvious when you're playing more, but it is just nice to see that it improves your winrate over time.


Below some hands from yesterday when I had a nice session on Party:

#Game No : 5624047286
***** Hand History for Game 5624047286 *****
$200 NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, January 28, 17:43:26 ET 2007
Table Table 125784 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: Sumpfbeeba ( $524.85 )
Seat 3: rol1111 ( $23.03 )
Seat 4: helena21 ( $118.17 )
Seat 2: PayStation4 ( $228.60 )
Seat 5: IneedPot_ ( $215 ) -> regular standard TAG
PayStation4 posts small blind [$1].
rol1111 posts big blind [$2].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to PayStation4 [ Qh Qc ]
helena21 folds
IneedPot_ raises [$8]
Sumpfbeeba folds
PayStation4 raises [$25] -> standard
rol1111 folds
IneedPot_ calls [$18]

** Dealing Flop ** [ Jh, Qd, Kh ] ->drawy flop, but I think I'm ahead of his range which I think is 88+ (22-77) / AQ+ / some SC's (T9)

PayStation4 bets [$36]
IneedPot_ calls [$36] -> I don't think he has a set here, but probably has some outs with his A/T or he flopped the straight.

** Dealing Turn ** [ 8h ] -> completes flush, but I'm not to scared here about a flush because there are not much possibilties on the flush here as the J and K are out already and I think he would have raised a combo draw like AhQh.

PayStation4 checks -> this looks really weak, and when he bets (which I think he does on this board) with some draw or a pair with a draw he will be comitted to call if I C/R.

IneedPot_ bets [$80]
PayStation4 raises [$160]
IneedPot_ is all-In [$73]

** Dealing River ** [ 7c ]
PayStation4 shows [ Qh, Qc ]three of a kind, Queens.
IneedPot_ doesn't show [ Th, Ts ]a pair of Tens.
PayStation4 wins $7 from side pot #1 with three of a kind, Queens.
PayStation4 wins $430 from the main pot with three of a kind, Queens.

Stacking the same (dutch) fish twice in 12 minutes....

#Game No : 5624154404
***** Hand History for Game 5624154404 *****
$200 NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, January 28, 18:18:46 ET 2007
Table Table 125784 (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 4: helena21 ( $243.07 )
Seat 2: PayStation4 ( $494.88 )
Seat 6: Paddo80 ( $93.40 )
Seat 1: SelfSaboteur ( $209.95 )
Seat 5: EatTh1s ( $398 )
Seat 3: maykel33 ( $237.05 )
maykel33 posts small blind [$1].
helena21 posts big blind [$2].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to PayStation4 [ Td Kd ]
EatTh1s folds
Paddo80 raises [$4]
SelfSaboteur folds
PayStation4 calls [$4] -> On the button I'm calling this
maykel33 calls [$3]
helena21 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3d, Jd, Ts ]
maykel33 bets [$15]
Paddo80 calls [$15]

PayStation4 calls [$15] -> Raising here against a fish (and shorty) is not necessary, you don't have fold equity when they have a hand and when you hit they pay you off anyhow

** Dealing Turn ** [ 6d ]
maykel33 bets [$50]
Paddo80 folds
PayStation4 raises [$100] -> A nice mini-raise to suck him in
maykel33 calls [$50]
** Dealing River ** [ 6h ]
maykel33 checks
PayStation4 bets [$100] -> by min-raising turn I now can get his whole stack without overbetting

maykel33 calls [$100]
PayStation4 shows [ Td, Kd ]a flush, King high.
maykel33 doesn't show [ Th, 3h ]two pairs, Tens and Sixes.

No comments needed on this one.....

#Game No : 5624186549
***** Hand History for Game 5624186549 *****
$200 NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, January 28, 18:30:23 ET 2007
Table Table 125784 (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 4: helena21 ( $201.57 )
Seat 2: PayStation4 ( $704.88 )
Seat 6: Paddo80 ( $93.20 )
Seat 1: SelfSaboteur ( $200 )
Seat 5: EatTh1s ( $392 )
Seat 3: maykel33 ( $198 )
Paddo80 posts small blind [$1].
SelfSaboteur posts big blind [$2].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to PayStation4 [ Ah Jd ]
PayStation4 raises [$8]
maykel33 calls [$8]
helena21 folds
EatTh1s folds
Paddo80 folds
SelfSaboteur folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ Jh, Js, 4c ]
PayStation4 bets [$10]
maykel33 raises [$25]
PayStation4 calls [$15]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3h ]
PayStation4 checks
maykel33 bets [$100]
PayStation4 calls [$100]
** Dealing River ** [ Kd ]
PayStation4 bets [$67]
maykel33 is all-In [$65]
PayStation4 shows [ Ah, Jd ]three of a kind, Jacks.
maykel33 doesn't show [ Td, Ks ]two pairs, Kings and Jacks.
PayStation4 wins $2 from side pot #1 with three of a kind, Jacks.
PayStation4 wins $396 from the main pot with three of a kind, Jacks.

Hands played in January: ~42,000
Won in cash games : $ 10,300
Bonus received : $ 450
Winrate @ NL200 : ~ 6 PTBB/100

Current Bankroll : ~$35,000

Short update

Just a short update for now wth some nice stats and a very nice graph...

Stats since 27/11/2006 (2 screens / 8-tabling)

Played hands: 70,342
$ won : $11,730.55
PTBB/100 : 4,78
MT Ratio : 6,18
Hourly rate : $94,77

Current Bankroll : ~ $31K

Most Profitable 10 hands: Biggest losers
1. AA 6.33 BB/hand 1. 97s - 0.98 BB/hand (not my favorite anymore...)
2. KK 3.05 BB/hand 2. 87s - 0.97 BB/hand
3. QQ 2.87 BB/hand 3. 76s - 0.67 BB/hand
4. JJ 2.37 BB/hand 4. KJs - 0.55 BB/hand
5. 98s 1.54 BB/hand 5. A7s - 0.42 BB/hand
6. KQs 1.48 BB/hand 6. 54s - 0.38 BB/hand
7. AKs 1.45 BB/hand 7. 64s - 0.33 BB/hand
8. AQo 1.25 BB/hand 8. A4s - 0.32 BB/hand
9. 66 1.24 BB/hand 9. A6s - 0.31 BB/hand
10. TT 1.23 BB/hand 10. 86s - 0.31 BB/hand

So yeah....I love suited connectors....

Then a real nice graph on which you can see how stable my profit is growing in the long run. This is a graph of my last 100K hands.

Another new site...

Finally an update again. This weekend I decided to give Everest a try. Heard some good stories about it, but I always hated (and still do) the software and hate the fact that you can't use pokertracker/gametime there. They also don't have any bonuses or rakeback so I wasn't expecting much....but wow Everest is just total different poker.

I started with $2500 on NL200 and there are just no good TAG's at all. You have some regulars, but most of them suck and are probably only winning because 60% just don't understand poker at all. I think I played around 6,000 hands there the last 2 days and there are maybe 3 to 4 players at most that would be winners at PokerStars NL100.

The difference is just huge. The main thing on which you notice it, is the betting sizes. No one seems to know what a proper raise is even though there is a bet pot button. Some people also don't have a check button, but just keep betting $2 in a $40 pot. The funniest thing was when the pot was about $35 on the river with 3 players (including me) in it. The board was something like AQ877 and someone betted $2, I called with 33 (im never ever folding for $2 in such a pot) and the third person made it $4 (woohooo scary), so the first person folded and I (offcourse) called. and he showed KJ....well I think this sums it all up.

I also was all-in (for about $150) with AK vs A7 (he called my all-in).
So there is a big chance I will play some more poker on Everest.
I ended my 2 sessions with just over 2 times my buy-in on Everest ($5020).

Current BR: ~$27,500

First session of 2007 and some BR management

In my first 2007 session I had a terrible start.
Lost $500 within 10 minutes. The first pot was wit AKs against KK pre-flop all-in.
I knew this player was verry agressive and so I called his all-in after my 4-bet,
this time he had a hand. The second big pot was with QQ pre-flop all-in against AK.
Again against a very aggressive player who pushed all-in after my 4-bet and with A and K on the flop my queens were no good.
And the last one (50BB) was with KK vs AA which went all-in on the flop.

After that I made a huge comeback and ended the session up $1100 in about 2200 hands.
Biggest pot ($700) was one were I had AA and my opponent AK on a A high flop.
I also had a AA vs KK again but this time in my advantage. Overall I was pretty happy with my game although I noticed that there are some tough players on Stars. I tend to have the most problems with the 22/20/6 type of players. When they enter a pot it's almost always with a (re) raise, they probably are re-raising almost any pair on the button, which is very tough to play against, especially OOP.

Bankroll management and winrate

Another topic I was thinking about lately was BR management in corresponce with your winrate.I read a lot of forums and then it's very common to hear players say "I'm a 6 PTBB/100 winner". Most of the time those players, played about 50,000 hands and they think the winrate they had during that stretch of hands is 'their winrate'. In fact, when you've been winning 6 PTBB/100 over 50,000 hands you're longterm winrate is with 99% confidence between 1,38 and 10,62!
So the only thing you can conclude is that your at least a winner, but that's about it. Another example: you can tell with 99% confidence that you're winning between 3 and 4 PTBB/100 when you have a winrate of 3,5 PTBB/100 over 4,5 million hands!!

What has this to do with bankrollmanagement? You always hear that you need at least 20 buy-ins so you have little risk of going broke. But to get this to work you at least need to be a winner, otherwise a 100 buy-in BR is not even enough offcourse. But when can you say that you're a winner?? As told earlier it takes 50,000 hands of 6PTBB/100 winning to be sure you're a winner AT THAT LEVEL, but it takes 100,000 hands of 3,5 PTBB/100 winning to be 99% sure.
Also a winner at NL50 doesn't mean that you're a winner a NL100. Even a winning player over the past year, might be a loser this year because this year because of the much tougher games....

So a sufficient bankroll might not be the reason to move up, for me it's time to move up when I have shown over enough hands that I'm a more then normal winner (3+ PTBB/100) at a level. Yes this might take me 100,000 hands per level, but at least gives me the confidence (99%) that I'm a winner at that level.

ps: Calculations have been done with StDev of 40 (my Stdev), but this is somewhat on low side (some people I heard of had one of 60). You can look your StDev up in Pokertracker BTW.