Flop-a-set-ometer

Flop-a-set-ometer is a program to see how lucky your are with flopping sets and set vs set situations (www.pokerluckometer.com). I really like it and especially when running good/bad it really gives you a good impression of how good you run.
In september I'm running not so good, although I flopped more sets then expected.
But I'm runnig very unlucky in big pots. For example when flopping a set with AA or 88 (which happened 8 times for both) I actually LOST money with it.

I also got dealt aces 62 times this month (expected 82) and got into a overpair vs set situation 8 times versus 2 times set vs overpair.
Over to the hand of the day:

This AA situation is really a good example of when to fold aces.
Villian in this hand is pretty tight and not really agressive, at least nothing out of line. He runs about 21/12/2.

EverestPoker Game #2069714860: Table Bamako-25 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 09:01:34 - 2007/09/13
Seat 2: BldZwtTrn ($409.20)
Seat 3: mimogrande ($606.00)
Seat 4: pandora28 ($405.40)
Seat 6: nicmouk ($468.65)
BldZwtTrn posts the small blind of $2.00
mimogrande posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Ah Ac]
pandora28 calls $4.00
nicmouk folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $16.00
mimogrande folds
pandora28 calls $12.00
*** FLOP *** [6d 7s 3c]
BldZwtTrn bets $27.00
pandora28 calls $27.00
*** TURN *** [6d 7s 3c] [9c]
BldZwtTrn checks

I check here because I think this opponent isn't calling with a lot of worse hands here when I bet. The only hand that I can get value from is 98/88 probably.

pandora28 bets $34.00
BldZwtTrn calls $34.00

He bets kind of small which makes me think he is either trapping or has a weak 7x/88/98 hand.

*** RIVER *** [6d 7s 3c 9c] [Qd]
BldZwtTrn checks

I'm not really sure if I like my check/call here. Against this opponent bet/folding is probably better, because he's never blufraising me here and I also think he will check all his mediocre hands behind but might call with it. Check/folding is also an option because I can't see much bluff hands here for him (most of them have some showdown equity and will check behind).

pandora28 bets $92.00
BldZwtTrn calls $92.00
*** SHOW DOWN ***
pandora28 shows [7c 7d]
BldZwtTrn mucks
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [6d 7s 3c 9c Qd]
pandora28 collects $340.00

Taking shots at NL1000

As some of you might know I sometimes play NL1000 as well. On those levels table selection is even more important then at lower stakes and yesterday I found a very good table. But again things didn't go very well.

My note on the player below was: Top pair is the nuts!....enough said.

EverestPoker Game #2064016511: Table Harare-0 - $5.00/$10.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:10:29 - 2007/09/11
Seat 1: sybs23 ($1,434.00)
Seat 2: BldZwtTrn ($970.00)
Seat 3: gonzal63 ($1,000.00)
Seat 4: North ($955.00)
Seat 5: NUMISOLI ($2,141.50)
Seat 6: I_NEED_IT ($2,873.75)
North posts the small blind of $5.00
NUMISOLI posts the big blind of $10.00
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Qh Qc]
I_NEED_IT folds
sybs23 folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $35.00
gonzal63 folds
North calls $30.00
NUMISOLI folds
*** FLOP *** [6c Jh 3h]
North bets $80.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $240.00
North raises to $800.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $935.00 and is all-in
North calls $120.00 and is all-in
Uncalled bet of $15.00 returned to BldZwtTrn
*** SHOW DOWN ***
North shows [Ad Jd]
BldZwtTrn shows [Qh Qc]
*** TURN *** [6c Jh 3h] [As]
*** RIVER *** [6c Jh 3h As] [5d]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [6c Jh 3h As 5d]
North collects $1,917.00

High stakes poker style

Hand of today is a hand from a live homegame I played yesterday.
We are playing 0,10/0,20 with 200BB buy-ins.
Just like in HSP we have a rule that if you win with 72o/72s you will get 2BB from every player.

So on to the hand.
It's 8-handed and I'm in MP with 72o (the ten of clubs is burned). 2 limpers in front of me and I make it 1,20 to go. I get 2 callers in the blinds and the limpers join the club. So 5-way to the flop.
Flop is TdTs6d and one guy from the blinds (40 behind) makes it 3 to go.
He plays quite agressive and is someone who bets/raises his draws.
2 limpers fold and I decide to call here, because raising here doesn't make much sense with a strong hand, so if I want to bluff, I'll have to do that on the turn like I would do with a strong hand.

Turn is another 6 and he now bets 7 into a pot of 12. He has about 30 behind after this bet and I cover. The hands I put him on are some PP (most likely 77-99)/diamond draw or maybe a 6. I think he never has a ten here. I also think he will fold everything besides the 6 offcourse, because by raising I'm basically saying that I have at least JJ, so after long consideration I say all-in.

No instacall by him so I'm probably good here. Turns out he had a flushdraw and because were playing deepstacked he didt get the odds to call here (only if he knew I had 72o offcourse), but he put me on KK/QQ.
So he makes the fold and I show 72o and feel like Phil Hellmuth bluffing Mike Matusow off KK for a second with the only difference that this was a $20 pot instead of $50K.

Staking, new site and bad week

Last week was not a great week for me, pokerwise and personally.
Those things happen and I'm happy that I still made a profit even though I didn't play my A game at all.

I also finished a staking deal with a pokerfriend of mine. I think this is something I might do more in the future. It turned out to be a positive thing for both of us.
He was able to play his normal NL100 game instead of grinding his way up and I made a nice profit on my stake investment.

Secondly I started playing at a new site as well. Got a very nice deal to play there.
By playing there I generate a nice income just by playing. This way I'm able to lower my variance in my income and also have a chance of choosing between different sites when playing. I think this is becoming, more and more important as a good game selection can have a huge (positive) effect on your winrate.

No hand of the day for today but hope to start with it again next week.
Thanks for reading.

Worst day ever...

Yesterday was my worst pokerday ever. I managed to loss about 9 buy-ins in 2K hands.
I was playing bad and running bad (most 'downswings' are a combination of that).
Seems like I made the wrong decision in every single big pot, could not win a single coinflip and got rivered a bazillion times.

The hand below shows what I mean, even though this guy was a complete (passive!!) donk I still should have folded the river, but this is what happens when you run bad and play bad.

EverestPoker Game #2034909497: Table Bamako-9 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 11:46:17 - 2007/09/05
Seat 1: fox34 ($509.40)
Seat 2: BldZwtTrn ($384.20)
Seat 3: MarcusAS ($382.00)
Seat 4: muli85 ($990.70)
Seat 5: fgfg2710 ($440.75)
Seat 6: veus ($466.70)
muli85 posts the small blind of $2.00
fgfg2710 posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Qs Qc]
veus folds
fox34 calls $4.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $18.00
MarcusAS folds
muli85 folds
fgfg2710 folds
fox34 calls $14.00
*** FLOP *** [2c 4s 8c]
fox34 checks
BldZwtTrn bets $36.00
fox34 calls $36.00
*** TURN *** [2c 4s 8c] [7d]
fox34 checks
BldZwtTrn bets $79.00
fox34 calls $79.00
*** RIVER *** [2c 4s 8c 7d] [6d]
fox34 bets $272.00
BldZwtTrn calls $251.20 and is all-in
Uncalled bet of $20.80 returned to fox34
*** SHOW DOWN ***
fox34 shows [8s 5s]
BldZwtTrn shows [Qs Qc]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [2c 4s 8c 7d 6d]
fox34 collects $771.40

The sexiest move in No limit poker....

The massive overbet on the river....

EverestPoker Game #2025530974: Table Bamako-12 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 10:23:44 - 2007/09/03
Seat 1: uitvreter ($507.50)
Seat 3: BldZwtTrn ($469.00)
Seat 5: zin16 ($1,176.80) -> fish
Seat 6: ala456nic ($204.90)
BldZwtTrn posts the small blind of $2.00
zin16 posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Kh 6h]
ala456nic folds
uitvreter folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $12.00
zin16 calls $8.00
*** FLOP *** [Ks 4h Qc]
BldZwtTrn bets $16.00
zin16 calls $16.00
*** TURN *** [Ks 4h Qc] [5h]
BldZwtTrn bets $33.00
zin16 calls $33.00
*** RIVER *** [Ks 4h Qc 5h] [Th]
BldZwtTrn bets $408.00 and is all-in
zin16 calls $408.00
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BldZwtTrn shows [Kh 6h]
zin16 shows [5s 4c]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [Ks 4h Qc 5h Th]
BldZwtTrn collects $936.00

Flopping quads is always fun....

POKERSTARS GAME #11788249682: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($1/$2) - 2007/08/31 - 04:22:25 (ET)
Table 'Scheila II' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Kalidh ($200 in chips)
Seat 3: AKA_PSV ($215.90 in chips)
Seat 4: patriciorey ($166.45 in chips)
Seat 5: Hiltonian ($244 in chips)
Seat 6: Kingofclubz ($200 in chips)
Kalidh: posts small blind $1
AKA_PSV: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to AKA_PSV [4c 5s]
patriciorey: calls $2
Hiltonian: folds
Kingofclubz: folds
Kalidh: calls $1
AKA_PSV: checks
*** FLOP *** [5c 5d 5h]
Kalidh: checks
AKA_PSV: checks
patriciorey: checks
*** TURN *** [5c 5d 5h] [Kd]
Kalidh: checks
AKA_PSV: checks
patriciorey: bets $4
Kalidh: calls $4
AKA_PSV: raises $10 to $14
patriciorey: folds
Kalidh: raises $40 to $54
AKA_PSV: calls $40
*** RIVER *** [5c 5d 5h Kd] [8h]
Kalidh: bets $144 and is all-in
AKA_PSV: calls $144
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Kalidh: shows [9c Ac] (three of a kind, Fives)
AKA_PSV: shows [4c 5s] (four of a kind, Fives)
AKA_PSV collected $404 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $406 | Rake $2
Board [5c 5d 5h Kd 8h]
Seat 1: Kalidh (small blind) showed [9c Ac] and lost with three of a kind, Fives
Seat 3: AKA_PSV (big blind) showed [4c 5s] and won ($404) with four of a kind, Fives
Seat 4: patriciorey folded on the Turn

Nut draw in a re-raised pot

Yesterday I got an interesting call when I pushed the nutdraw in a re-raised pot.
I thin my play in the hand is totally standard, but I was kind of suprised about the call of my opponent who is a regular at this tables and with which I played a lot.

EverestPoker Game #2003266942: Table Bamako-7 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 10:49:24 - 2007/08/29
Seat 3: BldZwtTrn ($454.20)
Seat 4: Panettiere ($382.00)
Seat 5: Misbehave ($374.50)-> 19/15/2 (1000+ hands)
Seat 6: MARC49 ($426.50)
Panettiere posts the small blind of $2.00
Misbehave posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Qs As]
MARC49 folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $14.00
Panettiere folds
Misbehave raises to $44.00
BldZwtTrn calls $30.00
The pre-flop play here is standard, I open on the button and got re-raised by a regular who knows my range is quite big here. So I figure my AQs is good here (worse aces are in his range here) so I make the call.
*** FLOP *** [8s 5c Ks]
Misbehave bets $48.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $200.00
I flop the nut flush draw and make a raise here which obviously commits myself here.
Misbehave raises to $330.50 and is all-in
He makes the push after running his timebank down.
BldZwtTrn calls $130.50
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Misbehave shows [Kh Th]
BldZwtTrn shows [Qs As]
*** TURN *** [8s 5c Ks] [8h]
*** RIVER *** [8s 5c Ks 8h] [3h]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [8s 5c Ks 8h 3h]
Misbehave collects $749.00

So he made the call with KTs. Which is about as good as 99-QQ on this board. His explanation was that I never have a king here and although this is probably true 95% of the time it's still a bad call vs my range here.

So what is my range here....well I could offcourse have the nutflushdraw (AQs/AJs and maybe ATs), or have hit a nice combodraw with some small SC's (76s, 87s, 97s, 98s). But the most scary hands for him are offcourse AA/88 and 55 (less likely probably with <90BB stacks).

So hit pot-odds are $282/$750 (he knows I'm not folding there). So that's about 38% what he needs here vs my range to make this push +EV.

Lets see how this works out in pokerstove. I decided to let 55 out, as I'm not calling 100% here with small PP. Against this range he has about 32% which is not enough to make this call +EV or he has to think that I'm on a total bluff here a lot.

So although he thinks correctly that I probably don't have a king here this still doesn't make this a call, because he is basically flipping at best, because if have the nut draw, I have an extra ace as out and if I have a lower draw I very often have a pair here as well.

Board: Ks 8s 5c
Dead:
equity win tie pots won pots tied
Hand 0: 32.591% 32.59% 00.00% 5485 0.00 { KhTh }
Hand 1: 67.409% 67.41% 00.00% 11345 0.00 { AA, 88, AsQs, AsJs, AsTs, QsJs, JsTs, Ts9s, 9s8s, 9s7s, 8s7s, 7s6s }

---
16,830 games 0.005 secs 3,366,000 games/sec
Board: Ks 8s 5c
Dead:
equity win tie pots won pots tied
Hand 0: 32.591% 32.59% 00.00% 5485 0.00 { KhTh }
Hand 1: 67.409% 67.41% 00.00% 11345 0.00 { AA, 88, AsQs, AsJs, AsTs, QsJs, JsTs, Ts9s, 9s8s, 9s7s, 8s7s, 7s6s }

Just a fun HU hand

This hand brought my opponent on tilt. After this one he donked away 2 other buy-ins with KQo vs QQ preflop all-in and with 76 vs AJ on a AJ7 board (no flushdraw).

EverestPoker Game #1999506152: Table Athens-5 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 14:47:43 - 2007/08/28
Seat 1: BldZwtTrn ($513.60)
Seat 2: BestEverest ($643.00)
BestEverest 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[Th Qh]
BestEverest raises to $12.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $36.00
BestEverest calls $24.00
*** FLOP *** [Ts 4c 5h]
BldZwtTrn checks
BestEverest checks
*** TURN *** [Ts 4c 5h] [3h]
BldZwtTrn bets $54.00
BestEverest raises to $108.00
BldZwtTrn calls $54.00
*** RIVER *** [Ts 4c 5h 3h] [Jh]
BldZwtTrn checks
BestEverest bets $155.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $369.60 and is all-in
BestEverest calls $214.60
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BldZwtTrn shows [Th Qh]
BestEverest shows [3c 3d]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [Ts 4c 5h 3h Jh]
BldZwtTrn collects $1,026.20

Cooler friday....

The hand below just shows how I was running today....

EverestPoker Game #1980551793: Table Bamako-0 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 07:09:05 - 2007/08/24
Seat 1: BldZwtTrn ($474.30)
Seat 2: BigSpender80 ($461.00)
Seat 3: Y.K.YU ($154.40)
Seat 4: krushhead ($400.00)
Seat 5: Bilbao1 ($22.00)
Seat 6: elseignor ($347.20)
krushhead posts the small blind of $2.00
Bilbao1 posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[As Ac]
elseignor raises to $8.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $30.00
BigSpender80 raises to $72.00
Y.K.YU folds
krushhead folds
Bilbao1 folds
elseignor folds
BldZwtTrn calls $42.00
*** FLOP *** [Kc 4s Qd]
BldZwtTrn checks
BigSpender80 bets $88.00
BldZwtTrn calls $88.00
*** TURN *** [Kc 4s Qd] [Qh]
BldZwtTrn checks
BigSpender80 checks
*** RIVER *** [Kc 4s Qd Qh] [Ad]
BldZwtTrn bets $314.30 and is all-in
BigSpender80 calls $301.00 and is all-in
Uncalled bet of $13.30 returned to BldZwtTrn
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BldZwtTrn shows [As Ac]
BigSpender80 shows [Qs Qc]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [Kc 4s Qd Qh Ad]
BigSpender80 collects $933.00

King high baby!

Just a fun hand for today.

EverestPoker Game #1974604107: Table Suva-19 - $1.00/$2.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:21:36 - 2007/08/22
Seat 1: BldZwtTrn ($234.35)
Seat 2: cashonline ($42.35)
Seat 3: hampolito ($225.70)
Seat 4: Goalifant ($96.80)
Seat 5: targa8170 ($108.50)
Seat 6: garrincho54 ($451.95)
Goalifant posts the small blind of $1.00
targa8170 posts the big blind of $2.00
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Kc Tc]
garrincho54 folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $7.00
cashonline folds
hampolito folds
Goalifant calls $6.00
targa8170 folds
*** FLOP *** [4c Js Qc]
Goalifant bets $12.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $52.00
Goalifant calls $40.00
*** TURN *** [4c Js Qc] [7d]
Goalifant checks
BldZwtTrn bets $120.00
Goalifant calls $37.80 and is all-in
Uncalled bet of $82.20 returned to BldZwtTrn
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Goalifant shows [9c 8c]
BldZwtTrn shows [Kc Tc]
*** RIVER *** [4c Js Qc 7d] [5d]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [4c Js Qc 7d 5d]
BldZwtTrn collects $192.60

Tricky play goes wrong....

In this hand, I make a tricky play against an agressive/good player.
The final all-in call was very thin, but I thought I had at least 12 outs, but I was wrong and was drawing dead.

EverestPoker Game #1967136494: Table Bamako-6 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 11:57:50 - 2007/08/21
Seat 1: BldZwtTrn ($404.90)
Seat 2: MARC49 ($381.50)
Seat 3: vilja ($407.60)
Seat 4: wadi777 ($200.60)
Seat 5: enyogo ($405.80) > 21/17/3
MARC49 posts the small blind of $2.00
vilja posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Ac 7c]
wadi777 folds
enyogo raises to $14.00
BldZwtTrn calls $14.00
MARC49 folds
vilja folds
*** FLOP *** [3c 6s 4d]
enyogo bets $26.00
BldZwtTrn calls $26.00
*** TURN *** [3c 6s 4d] [6c]
enyogo bets $60.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $155.00
enyogo raises to $365.80 and is all-in
BldZwtTrn calls $209.90 and is all-in
Uncalled bet of $0.90 returned to enyogo
*** SHOW DOWN ***
enyogo shows [4c 4s]
BldZwtTrn shows [Ac 7c]
*** RIVER *** [3c 6s 4d 6c] [8d]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [3c 6s 4d 6c 8d]
enyogo collects $813.80

Hand of the day - how to punish a min-raiser.....

EverestPoker Game #1962901902: Table Bamako-7 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 14:09:17 - 2007/08/20
Seat 1: ronnnick ($468.34)
Seat 2: Calamar79 ($883.60)
Seat 3: NOreturn ($1,212.40)
Seat 4: JopieMan ($483.10)
Seat 5: BldZwtTrn ($400.00)
Seat 6: Luigi38 ($762.50) -> 32/14/2 (550 hands)
Calamar79 posts the small blind of $2.00
NOreturn posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[As Qs]
JopieMan folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $14.00
Luigi38 calls $14.00
ronnnick folds
Calamar79 folds
NOreturn folds
*** FLOP *** [Ks 4h Jd] -> pot $32
BldZwtTrn bets $25.00
Luigi38 raises to $50.00
BldZwtTrn calls $25.00
*** TURN *** [Ks 4h Jd] [5s] -> pot $132
BldZwtTrn bets $25.00
Luigi38 raises to $50.00
BldZwtTrn calls $25.00
*** RIVER *** [Ks 4h Jd 5s] [Th] -> pot $232
BldZwtTrn bets $286.00 and is all-in
Luigi38 raises to $648.50 and is all-in
Uncalled bet of $362.50 returned to Luigi38
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Luigi38 shows [4d 4c]
BldZwtTrn shows [As Qs]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [Ks 4h Jd 5s Th]
BldZwtTrn collects $803.00

Furthermore this month is going great again. I'm making some changes in my game again, because I had the feeling I had some leaks.
Especially on NL400 I'm running and playing hot as hell. For this month my winrate is over 14 PTBB/100 (10K hands) and over my last 25K hands I'm still over 10 PTBB/100. No way that I can maintain this, but for the moment it's fun.

Just a fun hand...

Low content today, just trying to push this donk of his weak ace, which is what I thought he had, but it turned out to be a nice value push....

EverestPoker Game #1952026148: Table Bamako-0 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:21:28 - 2007/08/17
Seat 1: guibarbieux ($370.00)
Seat 2: SHARKwhite ($426.00)
Seat 3: BldZwtTrn ($946.90)
Seat 4: petros66 ($405.70)
Seat 5: Stekel100 ($340.59)
Seat 6: raminator ($457.20)
BldZwtTrn posts the small blind of $2.00
petros66 posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Qc Qs]
Stekel100 calls $4.00
raminator raises to $18.00
guibarbieux calls $18.00
SHARKwhite folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $80.00
petros66 folds
Stekel100 calls $76.00
raminator folds
guibarbieux calls $62.00
*** FLOP *** [5d As Th]
BldZwtTrn checks
Stekel100 checks
guibarbieux bets $22.00
BldZwtTrn calls $22.00
Stekel100 calls $22.00
*** TURN *** [5d As Th] [2h]
BldZwtTrn checks
Stekel100 bets $22.00
guibarbieux calls $22.00
BldZwtTrn calls $22.00
*** RIVER *** [5d As Th 2h] [9h]
BldZwtTrn checks
Stekel100 bets $12.00
guibarbieux folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $250.00
Stekel100 calls $204.59 and is all-in
Uncalled bet of $33.41 returned to BldZwtTrn
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BldZwtTrn shows [Qc Qs]
Stekel100 shows [Jd Jc]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [5d As Th 2h 9h]
BldZwtTrn collects $824.18

KK - 4-way on drawy board

Today a difficult spot with KK. I was kind of card dead on this table and so my image at that moment was probably very tight. I got KK and opened on the CO and got 3 callers behind. The flop is one, you don't like to see in a 4-way pot. On to the hand:

EverestPoker Game #1944569830: Table Bamako-0 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 10:39:32 - 2007/08/16
Seat 1: KvGalen ($653.16)
Seat 2: bifffeno ($1,256.25)
Seat 3: BldZwtTrn ($388.00)
Seat 4: immortal8 ($912.50) -> 26/19/4
Seat 5: dane76 ($403.95) -> 50/15/2
Seat 6: petros66 ($368.88)
dane76 posts the small blind of $2.00
petros66 posts the big blind of $4.00
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BldZwtTrn[Kd Kc]
KvGalen folds
bifffeno folds
BldZwtTrn raises to $14.00
immortal8 calls $14.00
dane76 calls $12.00
petros66 calls $10.00
*** FLOP *** [7c Tc 8d]
dane76 checks
petros66 checks
BldZwtTrn bets $40.00
Obviously I have to bet here and I make it $40 which is kind of low, this should have been $50 I think because the pot is $56 here and the board is as drawy as possible.
immortal8 calls $40.00
He instantly calls my bet. This makes me think he has a mediocre hand (AT) or a drawy hand (9/XdXd).
dane76 calls $40.00
This is a guy who will call with any draw/any pair here probably
petros66 folds
*** TURN *** [7c Tc 8d] [4d]
dane76 checks
BldZwtTrn checks
The turn makes one straightdraw (unlikely one) complete and adds another flushdraw to the board. My position is kind of crap here though.
I decide to check and raise (shove) when Immortal bets, as he is agressive enough to make a bet here on the button.
immortal8 checks
*** RIVER *** [7c Tc 8d 4d] [7d]
dane76 checks
BldZwtTrn checks
This river card is good card for me although it completed a backdoor flush draw (which is unlikely here). So I'm about 90% sure I have the best hand here, but I'm not sure if betting is the best option here. I still think both players have a flushdraw/9 or a Tx hand.
Instead of checking I could also make a 'fake' blocking bet here, hoping for a raise, but that's kind of tricky with the backdoor flush and paired board. Another option is a normal value bet that hopefully gets pair by a Tx hand. I chose to check, but the hand was checked out.
immortal8 checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dane76 shows [9h Qc]
BldZwtTrn shows [Kd Kc]
immortal8 shows [Jd Qs]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [7c Tc 8d 4d 7d]
BldZwtTrn collects $173.00

Today I'll post a hand against a player who is considered one of the better cash gamers in the Netherlands, Jorryt van Hooft AKA 'TheCleaner11'. He was sitting on 3 NL200 tables on Pokerstars and I've never played against him, so decided this would be a nice time, as he normally plays higher.

During this session we only played 2 big pots against each other and this is the second). He was playing a tight game and I haven't seen him do anything out of the ordinary. He seemed to be playing ABC poker and was not really agressive, just standard. On to the hand:

POKERSTARS GAME #11499183957: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($1/$2) - 2007/08/15 - 10:26:59 (ET)
Table 'Autonoma' 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: Tobsen ($40 in chips)
Seat 3: TheCleaner11 ($289 in chips) -> 17/14/2,5 (500 hands)
Seat 4: tigerti ($99.20 in chips)
Seat 5: AKA_PSV ($362.55 in chips)
Seat 6: onweed__ ($203.20 in chips)
onweed__: posts small blind $1
Tobsen: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to AKA_PSV [Ks Ad]
TheCleaner11: raises $6 to $8
tigerti: folds
AKA_PSV: raises $20 to $28
Standard re-raise in position here
onweed__: folds
Tobsen: folds
TheCleaner11: calls $20
He seemed to play tight OOP, but as we are almost 150BB deep I expect him to call with any PP and probably some SC's as well.
*** FLOP *** [Qs Ac 6d]
TheCleaner11: checks
This doesn't mean much
AKA_PSV: checks
I decide to check this flop to control the pot and because he might try to steal the pot this way and when he's drawing he probably has 3/5 outs at best.
*** TURN *** [Qs Ac 6d] [Jh]
TheCleaner11: bets $47
He makes a bet a little bit smaller the the pot.
AKA_PSV: calls $47
By checking the flop I induced a bet from him here, so this is an easy call. He could be doing this, thinking I missed the flop.
*** RIVER *** [Qs Ac 6d Jh] [6h]
TheCleaner11: bets $99
Now it gets interesting. As I called the turn, he knows that I have some sort of hand so he either has a very strong hand (AQ/JJ) or he is trying to get me off KK/AK, with a hand that has no showdownvalue against these.
AKA_PSV: calls $99
My call here is very thin, also because he was playing very tight, but by checking the flop I under represented my hand and he may try to push me off KK.
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TheCleaner11: shows [Jd Js] (a full house, Jacks full of Sixes)
AKA_PSV: mucks hand
TheCleaner11 collected $349 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $351 Rake $2
Board [Qs Ac 6d Jh 6h]
Seat 2: Tobsen (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: TheCleaner11 showed [Jd Js] and won ($349) with a full house, Jacks full of Sixes
Seat 4: tigerti folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: AKA_PSV (button) mucked [Ks Ad]
Seat 6: onweed__ (small blind) folded before Flop

A new hand of the day

As promised, a new hand of the day:

PokerStars Game #11479202603: Hold'em No Limit ($1/$2) - 2007/08/14 - 03:13:18 (ET)
Table 'Zomba' 6-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: Javanut ($197.05 in chips)
Seat 2: Weir ($233.25 in chips)
Seat 3: UnderRated ($208.60 in chips)
Seat 4: AKA_PSV ($198 in chips)
Seat 5: Cooled_U_Off ($785.65 in chips)
Seat 6: djogolf ($236.05 in chips) -> 46/25/3 ~ 70 hands
AKA_PSV: posts small blind $1
Cooled_U_Off: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to AKA_PSV [2h Ah]
djogolf: calls $2
Javanut: folds
Weir: folds
UnderRated: folds
AKA_PSV: calls $1
I complete here in the SB. Standard play here.
Cooled_U_Off: checks
*** FLOP *** [6c 5h Qh]
AKA_PSV: bets $4
I bet out with the nutflushdraw, which is pretty standard again.
Cooled_U_Off: folds
djogolf: raises $10 to $14
The player who limped UTG raises me. As he seems pretty agressive, I assume he will raise me here with a draw (87/flush)/55/66/AA or some random bluff). A queen seems unlikely as he limped pre-flop.
AKA_PSV: calls $10
In unraised pots I don't like to re-raise a lot with draws, so I decide to call, I'm ahead against his drawy hands and behind versus 55/66/AA, but have outs to the nuts and enough implied odds.
*** TURN *** [6c 5h Qh] [2c]
AKA_PSV: checks
Only one draw is completed now, but I don't think 43 is in his range, so for me this is a blank. I could bet here, but against an agressive villian I don't want to be blown of my hand when he raises me.
djogolf: bets $16
He bets out less then half of the pot. I'm now fairly sure that his range is heavily skewed towards a draw.
AKA_PSV: calls $16
Again I make the call, because I think I'm ahead here a lot (I'm guessing around 40-50% of the time) and still have great implied odds if he has a set or AA.
*** RIVER *** [6c 5h Qh 2c] [6s]
AKA_PSV: checks
Besides the third flush card or a 2, this is about the best card for me. I beat his whole drawing range and some bluffs and 66 is also not so likely anymore.
djogolf: bets $54
He bets the pot here. At this moment I think he has 66/55 or some draw. A bet like this (I told this before) is almost always the nuts or nothing and as I'm ahead of his range I call.
AKA_PSV: calls $54
*** SHOW DOWN ***
djogolf: shows [Th Jh] (a pair of Sixes)
AKA_PSV: shows [2h Ah] (two pair, Sixes and Deuces)
AKA_PSV collected $171 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $174 Rake $3
Board [6c 5h Qh 2c 6s]
Seat 1: Javanut folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Weir folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: UnderRated (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: AKA_PSV (small blind) showed [2h Ah] and won ($171) with two pair, Sixes and Deuces
Seat 5: Cooled_U_Off (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: djogolf showed [Th Jh] and lost with a pair of Sixes



I'll finish the day with some stats of a new NL400 'regular' on Everest. He's a highly agressive swede who 6-tables and seems to have very deep pockets....

Hand of the day + some pictures of Iceland

This is my first try to post a hand of day. Because it was my first day after my holiday I decided to start slowly with just 6-tables in the morning (mostly NL200) ,4 tables in the afternoon and a little bit of HU on 2 tables in the evening.
All together I played about 2,000 hands, so thats a nice start of the week for me.

But now the hand of the day, it's a hand that I could have played different on every street:

EverestPoker Game #1932159216: Table Bamako-15 - $2.00/$4.00 - No Limit Hold'em - 14:49:50 - 2007/08/13
Seat 1: BldZwtTrn ($661.90)
Seat 3: hcw69 ($40.00)
Seat 6: Fatty_Tuna ($751.40) ->>> 37/27/5 (mostly 3-4 handed)
Fatty_Tuna 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[Ac Kh]
hcw69 folds
Fatty_Tuna raises to $12.00
BldZwtTrn raises to $36.00

I make a standard re-raise here with AKo. I could have made it a little bit more, as we are playing 160BB deep and he's not folding a lot to 3-bets.
Fatty_Tuna calls $24.00
*** FLOP *** [8c Qc Kd]
Fatty_Tuna checks

Standard check by him, this tells me nothing, as he is probaly checking his whole range here.
BldZwtTrn checks

I decide to check behind, this is offcourse not standard at all, especially not on such a drawy board, but he was a player who would fire a lot when I showed weakness and he probably nevers expects me to check AK/AA here.
*** TURN *** [8c Qc Kd] [Kc]
Fatty_Tuna bets $72.00

He bets pot on a perfect turn card for me. His range is still huge here, as he probably thinks I'm having a King here close to never and this is a perfect card for him to bet on, as he could easily represent a king here.
BldZwtTrn calls $72.00

I obviously have 2 options here, raise or call. By raising he will fold all his bluff hands and a hand like JT and probably also (A)Q. He will certainly call with any K/flush/boat, but against those hands I can get the money in on the river as well, so a call seems better here against his range.

*** RIVER *** [8c Qc Kd Kc] [Jc]
Fatty_Tuna bets $216.00

Again he bets the pot as I make my nut flush. I have $340 behind and have 2 options again.

BldZwtTrn calls $216.00

Raising seems ok on first sight, but what worse hands will he call with or can he fold better hands? There's a 4-flush on the board and the highest club he can have is the Tc. So the only hand that is worse here and could make a heroic call is Tc9c.
But most of the time in this kind of situation, agressive villians have the nuts (KK/KQ/KJ/88/JJ) or nothing here.
So I conclude that he's only calling a raise here with a T high flush or better hands and decide to call.
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fatty_Tuna shows [Ad 4s]
BldZwtTrn shows [Ac Kh]
*** SUMMARY ***
Board: [8c Qc Kd Kc Jc]
BldZwtTrn collects $647.00
Then some Iceland pictures to finish this first day

We went on a boat trip on this lake full of ice bergs, which was also part of the James Bond movie 'Die Another Day' with the Aston Martin racing on the ice here.



Iceland is full of waterfalls:



Then the last thing for today, my weblog is now on www.pokerweblogs.com and it would be nice if you could vote for my blog if you like it offcourse.

Back home

After 2 weeks of vacation I'm back home. Iceland is a very nice country but it's really empty and quiet, even in Reykjavik on a saturday. Besides Reykjavik the rest of the country is just rough nature and some small villages with 2,000 inhabitants at most. Seen some nice things and probably post some pictures later on, but it's also nice to be back in a city where something happens.

Another funny fact about Iceland....in 2007 there has been one (Yes you read it correct) murder and it was big news as you can expect.

Then some poker again. I'm considering to post a hand of the day for every day I play. It's always difficult to find some interesting hands to post, but I think that most people like it more then just some results (or am I wrong?). So I'll try to post the most interesting hand of the day and this could be a hand that I played terrible or just very good, but it could also be just a very funny one.

Hope to post some pictures and a first hand of the day later on.

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