Last couple of weeks i've been in the worst run of my life. Besides getting outdrawn a ton i get cold decked a lot and set-ups are everywhere.
I've always known variance could be huge while playing poker, but i never realised it could be this bad. I'm running 13 buyins below expection according to PokerEV, which is huge. I've always been a very consistent winner at poker, with the occasional bad periods, but never have i been so unlucky as now.
This explains the lack of updates as i normally hate people whining about their bad luck so i don't like doing too much of my own.
A long the way i might have made a few mistakes but mostly i've been playing very well. Poker get's tough when you're opponents keep hitting every flush, your kings keep meeting aces and you miss every board when you 3-bet your AK untill you do hit and some1 hits their 3-outer with their weaker ace on the turn.
I will only grow stronger from this experience and can't wait for the tide to turn in my favour once more.
Oct 19, 2007
Sep 30, 2007
Variance
Last couple of days i've been running badly. I've run my hands through a fun little gadget called POKEREV. This determines how much Sklansky bucks you have won and comparing this to the real money you've won, hence giving you an estimate in how lucky you've been.
I've been VERY unlucky these last few days. Winning 4 buyins less than i should have.
That's variance right there. Good thing is, i've been getting my money in holding the best of it mostly, bad thing is they didn't hold up :)Can't wait till i'll be at the other and of the spectrum at a certain time.
I've been VERY unlucky these last few days. Winning 4 buyins less than i should have.
That's variance right there. Good thing is, i've been getting my money in holding the best of it mostly, bad thing is they didn't hold up :)Can't wait till i'll be at the other and of the spectrum at a certain time.
Sep 27, 2007
Challenge update
I had a good day today for my challenge. i won about 4 buyins, which is nice considering i've been running pretty bad lately.
I started out well with lvl 4 of my challenge winning 3 buyins fast. But then i hit a cold streak and i have to a admit, i've been making some costly mistakes aswell. I dropped down to minus 4 buyins, almost reaching minus 5 buyins from where i would have been forced to drop down to lvl 3.
Fortunately i've been able to turn things around and now i'm up 5 buyins and looking healthy once more.
When i started my challenge i initially planned to play the entire challenge on Everest poker but i decided i could play the 100nl on any site, as long as it's a regular 100nl 6max game. Reason for this is mainly because i wanna practice good table selection
So now i play at Party poker and CD poker aswell which really helped my winrate. I have a very nice deal with CDpoker which gives me some nice extra cash on the side. If anyone would like such a deal aswell just send me an email and i'll see what i can do.
I've decided that after lvl 4 i will need to win 20 buyins to advance to the next lvl as the challenge will become increasingly harder and i want to practice somewhat better bankroll management.
Good luck at the tables!
I started out well with lvl 4 of my challenge winning 3 buyins fast. But then i hit a cold streak and i have to a admit, i've been making some costly mistakes aswell. I dropped down to minus 4 buyins, almost reaching minus 5 buyins from where i would have been forced to drop down to lvl 3.
Fortunately i've been able to turn things around and now i'm up 5 buyins and looking healthy once more.
When i started my challenge i initially planned to play the entire challenge on Everest poker but i decided i could play the 100nl on any site, as long as it's a regular 100nl 6max game. Reason for this is mainly because i wanna practice good table selection
So now i play at Party poker and CD poker aswell which really helped my winrate. I have a very nice deal with CDpoker which gives me some nice extra cash on the side. If anyone would like such a deal aswell just send me an email and i'll see what i can do.
I've decided that after lvl 4 i will need to win 20 buyins to advance to the next lvl as the challenge will become increasingly harder and i want to practice somewhat better bankroll management.
Good luck at the tables!
Sep 20, 2007
Table selection
I decided i'd do a post about table selection. Something i have never been very active in in the past, which has always been a 'leak' in my game.
Good table selection is very important for your winrate and becomes increasingly so as you start to play higher levels.
An old saying in poker is: What if you're the 6th best player in the world? great right? But what if you're at the table with the top 5 in the world? All of a sudden you won't fancy the table any more i'd reckon.
What it comes down to, is that with good table selection you greatly enlarge your chance on winning money when playing poker. Sometimes this means you will have to pass on a table as it comes up, just because it ain't soft enough. Wait for a better table where you'll have more chance of winning money. Well, how do i destinguish between a good and a bad table to be at? It's even possible to find a great table, but with the seat you're at it's NOT! Here are some things to look at when trying to find a good table:
1: The percentage of players who see the flop. This is a good indication of the general looseness of the table. The looser the table, the weaker the average hand is you're up against. So high % is good( > 35%) low % is bad. (the lower the % the more you're be able to steal)
2: The average size of the pot. Too many nits at a table and your EV isn't very good. Sure you'll be able to steal a lot of pots from them.
3: short stacks. Short stacks hurt your win-rate. Sure they're usually very bad players, but assuming you are a good player you want to have people with big stacks making mistakes for their entire stack against you. There's no room to outplay a shorty, just push or fold for them.
3: Acknowledged weak players in the game: This is why you should be making good notes when you play! there's nothing better than a maniac or huge donk at your table.(remember to isolate them)
4: limpers: The more limpers, the more passive the game is. Passive games are good partially because you can try and draw cheaply as you can charge them for their draws. Basically you control the action. That's always a good situation to be in!
5: position. You'll want to have position (have them to your right) on loose/aggressive players and have short and/or tight players on your left.
So when your at a table:
Signs you're at a good table:
* Multiple players limping in
* Position on a loose and aggressive player
* Players calling raises after trying to limp with weak hands
* Players showing weak hands outside of the blinds (Ace-little offsuit, unsuited connectors, etc.)
* Outragous raises on top quality hands (so I know when to fold.)
* Players limping or only raising to $1 with top quality hands
* You see a friendly donator at your table.
It's probably time to find another table when:
* 1 or fewer players limp a couple times in a series of 8-10 hands. Getting down to just the blinds is a very bad sign.
* Maniac with position on me by 1 or 2 seats. Dealing with his (re)raises can be trying and the check + call counter to that is a pain. Also, I'm less likely to be the last to act when I'm in late position, but don't have the button.
* I can't pick out the weak players at the table
* Many of the weak players go all-in on a single hand suicide pact, then several leave.
* Multiple strong/tight players. Particularly filling seats left by weak players.
* No one is calling my pre-flop raises with weak hands. If I can regularly take the blinds with a $2 pre-flop raise, I'm probably at the wrong table.
* I have position on the short stacks.
Always keep re-evaluating! A good table can turn into a bad table in an instant! Just find yourself another table where you're more likely to make money. It's not a bad idea to keep scouting for good tables while you're playing.
Good luck on finding those gold mines!
Good table selection is very important for your winrate and becomes increasingly so as you start to play higher levels.
An old saying in poker is: What if you're the 6th best player in the world? great right? But what if you're at the table with the top 5 in the world? All of a sudden you won't fancy the table any more i'd reckon.
What it comes down to, is that with good table selection you greatly enlarge your chance on winning money when playing poker. Sometimes this means you will have to pass on a table as it comes up, just because it ain't soft enough. Wait for a better table where you'll have more chance of winning money. Well, how do i destinguish between a good and a bad table to be at? It's even possible to find a great table, but with the seat you're at it's NOT! Here are some things to look at when trying to find a good table:
1: The percentage of players who see the flop. This is a good indication of the general looseness of the table. The looser the table, the weaker the average hand is you're up against. So high % is good( > 35%) low % is bad. (the lower the % the more you're be able to steal)
2: The average size of the pot. Too many nits at a table and your EV isn't very good. Sure you'll be able to steal a lot of pots from them.
3: short stacks. Short stacks hurt your win-rate. Sure they're usually very bad players, but assuming you are a good player you want to have people with big stacks making mistakes for their entire stack against you. There's no room to outplay a shorty, just push or fold for them.
3: Acknowledged weak players in the game: This is why you should be making good notes when you play! there's nothing better than a maniac or huge donk at your table.(remember to isolate them)
4: limpers: The more limpers, the more passive the game is. Passive games are good partially because you can try and draw cheaply as you can charge them for their draws. Basically you control the action. That's always a good situation to be in!
5: position. You'll want to have position (have them to your right) on loose/aggressive players and have short and/or tight players on your left.
So when your at a table:
Signs you're at a good table:
* Multiple players limping in
* Position on a loose and aggressive player
* Players calling raises after trying to limp with weak hands
* Players showing weak hands outside of the blinds (Ace-little offsuit, unsuited connectors, etc.)
* Outragous raises on top quality hands (so I know when to fold.)
* Players limping or only raising to $1 with top quality hands
* You see a friendly donator at your table.
It's probably time to find another table when:
* 1 or fewer players limp a couple times in a series of 8-10 hands. Getting down to just the blinds is a very bad sign.
* Maniac with position on me by 1 or 2 seats. Dealing with his (re)raises can be trying and the check + call counter to that is a pain. Also, I'm less likely to be the last to act when I'm in late position, but don't have the button.
* I can't pick out the weak players at the table
* Many of the weak players go all-in on a single hand suicide pact, then several leave.
* Multiple strong/tight players. Particularly filling seats left by weak players.
* No one is calling my pre-flop raises with weak hands. If I can regularly take the blinds with a $2 pre-flop raise, I'm probably at the wrong table.
* I have position on the short stacks.
Always keep re-evaluating! A good table can turn into a bad table in an instant! Just find yourself another table where you're more likely to make money. It's not a bad idea to keep scouting for good tables while you're playing.
Good luck on finding those gold mines!
Sep 18, 2007
site update
hi,
i updated my site a bit, so it will be somewhat easier to read. I plan to take this even further but i already like it better now. Pls take part in the poll, so i know what my readers would like to see on my site.
Thanks!
i updated my site a bit, so it will be somewhat easier to read. I plan to take this even further but i already like it better now. Pls take part in the poll, so i know what my readers would like to see on my site.
Thanks!
Sep 12, 2007
BAAAAAAAAD session!!!
Just stopped a session early, because i was running so bad. check out the stats:
Bam, dropped 4 buyins in only 329 hands. I was getting hammered by a mega-donk. This guy was shoving with total air and chasing impossible draws. After initially dropping several buy-ins of which i wasn't fortunate enough to win anything, i got pockets tens:
here
normally i would think very hard about calling this allin bet, but against this guy it was a no-brainer. He had pushed his 2 previous hands aswell and was raining all his hands.Unfortunately for me he got Jacks this time and obviously i didn't win.
The donk is now running hot suckout out and bluffing everyone. Then comes the next hand:
here
Standard raise with Aks, especially to isolate the mega donk. I hit my TPTK on the flop, which on this board isn't a monster, but against this type of player it is.
No funny business, just valuebet ur ass off. On the turn i maybe should have overbet the pot, instead of just pot it. On the river comes a bad card for me, and he shoves. Against normal player i probably would lay this down, but against this guy, i only had to be right roughly 1 out of 3 times to make the call right. As this guy had been shoving a LOT with air the orbits before it was an easy call. And the donk shows J3... nice hand!
In the meanwhile, it wasn't just these few hands that went bad, but every big bluff failed. Some guy hit a 2-outer with his underpair, while i was trying to push him of his hand, and a lot of hands like that. All-in-all, i was running bad.. period. Then came the hand that made me quit the session as i had enough.
here
The hand before this one, villain had 3-bet me and another guy out of the pot preflop. Now i find Aces on the button. I raise and he reraises me. Nowm i'm in an extremely profitable situation. I have position on someone, who rerasies me while i have aces. Partially because this guy is somehwat shortstacked, i choose to flat call him, forcing him to play his hand out of position instead of letting me bet. He checks the flop and now, i know he has a weak hand, probably Ax. He would probably have bet any pp in that situation and probably a flushdraw too. So now, i do something i don't usually do, I decide to play my aces even weaker and check behind.
The turn brings another spade and he bet's pot. I now know i have the best hand, and push him allin and he calls with his flushdraw. And of course, another spade falls on the river. Now, some of you might say, why don't you just bet the flop and nothing of this would have happened. To them i can say is this. I play play poker to win money, not win pots. I still stand fully behind the way i played it. Heck i got some1 to put all his money in with only 20% chance of winning the pot. I'll take those odds any day. Sometimes you have to gamble, with giving people a free card or a chance to bluff. And sometimes that goes wrong. So be it.
Good thing about this session is, i did not tilt one bit. I kept playing very good the whole way, but sometimes there's just nothing you can do.
Bam, dropped 4 buyins in only 329 hands. I was getting hammered by a mega-donk. This guy was shoving with total air and chasing impossible draws. After initially dropping several buy-ins of which i wasn't fortunate enough to win anything, i got pockets tens:
here
normally i would think very hard about calling this allin bet, but against this guy it was a no-brainer. He had pushed his 2 previous hands aswell and was raining all his hands.Unfortunately for me he got Jacks this time and obviously i didn't win.
The donk is now running hot suckout out and bluffing everyone. Then comes the next hand:
here
Standard raise with Aks, especially to isolate the mega donk. I hit my TPTK on the flop, which on this board isn't a monster, but against this type of player it is.
No funny business, just valuebet ur ass off. On the turn i maybe should have overbet the pot, instead of just pot it. On the river comes a bad card for me, and he shoves. Against normal player i probably would lay this down, but against this guy, i only had to be right roughly 1 out of 3 times to make the call right. As this guy had been shoving a LOT with air the orbits before it was an easy call. And the donk shows J3... nice hand!
In the meanwhile, it wasn't just these few hands that went bad, but every big bluff failed. Some guy hit a 2-outer with his underpair, while i was trying to push him of his hand, and a lot of hands like that. All-in-all, i was running bad.. period. Then came the hand that made me quit the session as i had enough.
here
The hand before this one, villain had 3-bet me and another guy out of the pot preflop. Now i find Aces on the button. I raise and he reraises me. Nowm i'm in an extremely profitable situation. I have position on someone, who rerasies me while i have aces. Partially because this guy is somehwat shortstacked, i choose to flat call him, forcing him to play his hand out of position instead of letting me bet. He checks the flop and now, i know he has a weak hand, probably Ax. He would probably have bet any pp in that situation and probably a flushdraw too. So now, i do something i don't usually do, I decide to play my aces even weaker and check behind.
The turn brings another spade and he bet's pot. I now know i have the best hand, and push him allin and he calls with his flushdraw. And of course, another spade falls on the river. Now, some of you might say, why don't you just bet the flop and nothing of this would have happened. To them i can say is this. I play play poker to win money, not win pots. I still stand fully behind the way i played it. Heck i got some1 to put all his money in with only 20% chance of winning the pot. I'll take those odds any day. Sometimes you have to gamble, with giving people a free card or a chance to bluff. And sometimes that goes wrong. So be it.
Good thing about this session is, i did not tilt one bit. I kept playing very good the whole way, but sometimes there's just nothing you can do.
Sep 10, 2007
Lvl 3 stats and graph
As promised, here are my stats for lvl 3 of my challenge:
As you can see i finished the lvl pretty fast. Only 6664 hands for a winrate of 11.27ptbb/100 is very good. I feel i have been running pretty hot during this lvl. Not so much in the way i was lucky, but i came across a few very bad players and managed to win a LOT from them. Besides that. i didn't get sucked out on a lot and managed to hit several draws. When you have all these things going for ya, you get winrates like these.
Here's the graph:
As you can see i finished the lvl pretty fast. Only 6664 hands for a winrate of 11.27ptbb/100 is very good. I feel i have been running pretty hot during this lvl. Not so much in the way i was lucky, but i came across a few very bad players and managed to win a LOT from them. Besides that. i didn't get sucked out on a lot and managed to hit several draws. When you have all these things going for ya, you get winrates like these.
Here's the graph:
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
