Cheers! I'm also really enjoying it at the moment, let's hope it lasts!

70fpp satties cashed: 17/50

H1: not too bad given the stack sizes but i def think its a bet if you're full stacked. So check on flop seems fine, when he leads into me on turn i would prob just click it back, it may induce alot of spazz and he hates folding a queen to this, obv it sets up very easy size to get money all in on river. As played i think you get value from not that much, most of the good flushdraws are taken due to your hand + board, Q could easily fold to your raise but i think he snaps any Kx which also isn't much due to your hand but he prob plays alot of kings like this.

H2: Unnecessary vs this kind of player IMO, if you win the pot i'm sure you have the best hand very often, cant even see this kind of guy folding like AQ here. You have good SD value with A hi vs this kind of player id prob just try to get to the river

H3: I would bet i think he always bets Kx into you and dont see him playing Qx liks this. I would prob bet hsp pot and hope he looks me up light thinking im repping straight or nothing, if you get raised it sucks but i think its more +EV longterm. Most villains @ 5nl will only bet str8/fh/bluffs here so his call isnt bad vs most villains so i think its a decent spot to bet

H4: Hmm not sure whats happening here, you have trips vs a fish just bet turn big and bet river big, i expect him to call with worse 10x, pp etc, if he shows better thats ok too think your missing alot of value here. If he raises you at any time on turn/river i let it go even tho he would raise worse 10x sometimes

And then u jump to hand 6 :P missed 5

Hand 6: Yeah i like it as long as u shove all rivers

H7: Wp imo

TY for your comments on the hands mate. As you can see, the reason i struggle at poker is because i haven't yet learnt to count to 5!


First up, great news about Full Tilt. It’s one of those things where you never quite believe it until you have the money back in your account, but hopefully this time it will all get sorted. I’m not sure exactly how much I have on there, but from memory I think it’s around $200, which would be a very nice boost to the roll. I was just about to unlock some tidy bonus cash as well so I’d be surprised if that was still accessible, but I’m living in hope!

It will be interesting to see what redeposit offers Full Tilt will offer. I’d be really tempted to go back on there as I just luuuuurved the software, and playing on there was so much more enjoyable than anywhere else (Stars coming a close second in that regard, Party and Sky Bet, the other two sites I’ve spent some time on, coming a very distant 3rd and 4th).

Played a couple of short sessions, finally managed to run a little better at showdown and win some good sized pots without needing to bluff. Roll is now at $140 +T$35, so I’m inching closer to that $200 mark, when I’ll consider stepping back into 10nl (I’m still weighing up whether to do it at $200 or $250).

In the meantime I’ll be throwing in a few sessions of 2nl Zoom just to get enough points to keep Silver for August. I don’t want to play 5nl Zoom because a) it’s full of nits, and b) my HUD doesn’t work properly so I’ll be playing blind. At 2nl it’s ok because you can just assume everyone is terrible.

August goals:

I promised this thread would be goal free, so that’s how it’s going to stay, so as not to put pressure on myself – I know from past experience that setting these goals is detrimental to my play. I will however remind myself of a few key aims:

• Focus on improving. This is the one and only thing that really matters.
• Think about my decisions, and get used to trying to actually work through the hand rather than auto piloting. Try to have at least one hand each day where I make a correct decision because of properly thinking the hand through.
• Improve my tilt control.
• Stop checking HEM P/L during the session – this has started to creep back in again. I’m going to have to start fining myself again for doing it – that worked last time.

Let’s hope that this time next month I can point to some real improvement.

Here are a few recent hands:

Hand 1

Here’s a spot I like to continue in with my entire range – my cards basically don’t matter here. I don’t think he ever has anything when he raises the flop, but since I have position I like to call and see how he plays the turn. As soon as he checks I’m going for it, and I’m bombing most rivers too.

Poker Stars $5.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1841588
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

SB: $5.29 - VPIP: 20, PFR: 9, 3B: 0, AF: 3.0, Hands: 35
BB: $4.44 - VPIP: 23, PFR: 11, 3B: 0, AF: 1.5, Hands: 44
UTG: $3.14 - VPIP: 34, PFR: 13, 3B: 10, AF: 2.0, Hands: 32
MP: $4.68 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 9, 3B: 0, AF: 1.1, Hands: 69
CO: $6.86 - VPIP: 21, PFR: 12, 3B: 0, AF: 9.0, Hands: 34
Hero (BTN): $5.08 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 4, AF: 3.1, Hands: 221824

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BTN with 3 2
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.15, 1 fold, BB calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.32) 7 8 8 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.20, BB raises to $0.55, Hero calls $0.35

Turn: ($1.42) J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.90, BB folds


Hand 2

What’s your move on the river here – call or fold? Normally this type of donk from a passive player is the nuts, but here he can have plenty of worse hands he considers to be the nuts (i.e. lots of worse Ax), and even a few random spaz bluffs. I think this is a snap call here.

Poker Stars $5.00 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 1841591
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (UTG): $8.12 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 4, AF: 3.1, Hands: 221824
CO: $3.51 - VPIP: 15, PFR: 4, 3B: 0, AF: 0.4, Hands: 27
BTN: $3.79 - VPIP: 12, PFR: 10, 3B: 5, AF: Infinity, Hands: 51
SB: $1.84 - VPIP: 15, PFR: 0, 3B: 0, AF: 2.0, Hands: 48
BB: $4.65 - VPIP: 88, PFR: 53, 3B: 33, AF: 1.7, Hands: 32

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is UTG with A T
Hero raises to $0.15, 2 folds, SB calls $0.13, BB calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.45) Q 9 7 (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($0.45) A (3 players)
SB bets $0.05, BB calls $0.05, Hero raises to $0.35, SB calls $0.30, BB calls $0.30

River: ($1.50) A (3 players)
SB bets $1.34, BB folds, Hero calls $1.34


Hand 3

This is a classic hand that shows the benefits of taking notes and getting reads. Normally facing his river shove I’d be thinking, ‘Typical he just rivered his 3 outer, I have to fold tp again. FFS.’ But because I was playing fewer tables and had actually been paying attention, I’d already seen him made these small donks with a draw before, and I didn’t think he’d play Qx this way on the flop. Therefore I could be far more confident that he didn’t have Qx but rather a busted draw on the river, and that allowed me to snap it off. I must remember this type of hand next time I want to open 12 tables just for the action.

Poker Stars $5.00 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 1841592
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): $5.00 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 4, AF: 3.1, Hands: 221824
UTG: $3.93 - VPIP: 15, PFR: 4, 3B: 0, AF: 0.4, Hands: 27
CO: $3.86 - VPIP: 12, PFR: 10, 3B: 5, AF: Infinity, Hands: 51
BTN: $1.89 - VPIP: 15, PFR: 0, 3B: 0, AF: 2.0, Hands: 48
SB: $7.58 - VPIP: 88, PFR: 53, 3B: 33, AF: 1.7, Hands: 32

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BB with J A
UTG calls $0.05, 2 folds, SB calls $0.03, Hero raises to $0.20, UTG calls $0.15, SB calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.60) Q 7 4 (3 players)
SB bets $0.15, Hero calls $0.15, UTG calls $0.15

Turn: ($1.05) A (3 players)
SB bets $0.15, Hero raises to $0.90, UTG folds, SB calls $0.75

River: ($2.85) Q (2 players)
SB bets $2.30, Hero calls $2.30

Final Pot: $7.45
Hero shows J A
SB shows 6 5
Hero wins $7.14
(Rake: $0.31)


Hand 4

Hmm, looking back at this one I’m not sure I like it as much as I did at the time. My thinking was that he didn’t have Kx because of his turn betsizing, and therefore by raising the turn (with equity – gutshot + probably live A) and then bombing this river, I could get him to fold a lot of middle pair hands. I don’t think he’ll have a monster here as I don’t think he plays random spades this way (plus it’s through the backdoor) and if he had 56 he’d probably let me know about it on the turn rather than small bet/call. He is a loose passive fish, but in my experience even loose passive fish will fold mp on this board runout more often than not.

Poker Stars $5.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1841593
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

SB: $2.73 - VPIP: 60, PFR: 0, 3B: 0, AF: 1.0, Hands: 10
BB: $5.16 - VPIP: 33, PFR: 28, 3B: 0, AF: 2.0, Hands: 18
UTG: $5.13 - VPIP: 44, PFR: 0, 3B: 0, AF: 4.0, Hands: 18
MP: $4.93 - VPIP: 21, PFR: 18, 3B: 7, AF: 2.7, Hands: 789
CO: $9.57 - VPIP: 5, PFR: 5, 3B: 0, AF: 1.0, Hands: 55
Hero (BTN): $5.00 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 4, AF: 3.1, Hands: 221824

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BTN with 5 A
UTG calls $0.05, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.05, 1 fold, BB checks

Flop: ($0.17) 4 3 K (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $0.10, Hero calls $0.10, BB folds

Turn: ($0.37) 7 (2 players)
UTG bets $0.10, Hero raises to $0.30, UTG calls $0.20

River: ($0.97) J (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $0.60

Played a couple of fairly uneventful sessions, won a couple of nice pots so bankroll is moving in the right direction.

Bankroll: $150 + T$35

I’ve played nearly 4000 hands at 5nl for about $55 profit so my winrate is somewhere around 26 bb/100 – obviously very pleased with that. Need to keep up the good work.

Here’s one hand I was really pleased with yesterday. This is a classic spot where I almost always miss value normally, because I just think, ‘phew, check back the river, get to showdown, it’s a scary looking board’, without actually thinking at all about what he could have. So this time I did think, and concluded that this guy won’t get to the river with much that’s very strong. On this board he’d be raising either the flop or turn with sets, and likely raising the turn with Q10 or KJ. He’d also very possibly 3bet AK pre, and this also might fold the flop. So the only hand I really worry about is KQ. On the other hand he can have hands like AJ/QJ/1010/A9/109, which may see the busted flushdraw and decide to look me up. So I think the river is definitely a bet/fold. (BTW I know my betsizing on the turn is a little on the small side, but I expected to get raised a lot, so didn’t want to bet/fold too big).

Poker Stars $5.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1842737
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

CO: $5.00 - VPIP: 13, PFR: 6, 3B: 0, AF: 2.3, Hands: 48
BTN: $5.65 - VPIP: 9, PFR: 6, 3B: 14, AF: 0.0, Hands: 35
SB: $7.53 - VPIP: 32, PFR: 26, 3B: 19, AF: 5.3, Hands: 132
BB: $5.07 - VPIP: 17, PFR: 9, 3B: 0, AF: 1.4, Hands: 118
Hero (UTG): $6.02 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 4, AF: 3.1, Hands: 223590
MP: $7.00 - VPIP: 20, PFR: 15, 3B: 0, AF: 1.3, Hands: 40

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is UTG with T K
Hero raises to $0.15, 4 folds, BB calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.32) J 4 9 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.20, BB calls $0.20

Turn: ($0.72) K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.35, BB calls $0.35

River: ($1.42) 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.80, BB calls $0.80

Final Pot: $3.02
BB mucks J Q
Hero shows T K
Hero wins $2.89
(Rake: $0.13)


Having watched a couple of Blue Fire videos, one other thing that I think needs an awful lot of work is my c-betting. Far too often I’m betting with no real idea why, and no clear plan for later streets. I need to be making better decisions with mp type hands in particular, and thinking more about villains’ tendencies when I fire, and how they will react. I think I should be looking to c/fold or c/c more than I do on certain boards, as at the moment I’m a little too ‘one and done’ in some spots. So I’m going to do some more reading up around this and really try to improve this area of my game.

I think I'm always calling here. He isn't raising PF at all so he could be betting AK-AJ here in which case you're done although AQ probably donks flop too or re-raises turn. I think you beat plenty of random Ax hands so I call.

Exactly my thinking mate. Unfortunately like all luckbox fish, he had a shockingly played AQ

Not good last night. Had one of those sessions where I couldn’t make a hand and everyone was playing back at me, and then when I did hit a couple of sets, both got outdrawn and I got stacked.

I’m afraid to say that then majorly derailed me from my A game (in fact it shunted me straight into somewhere around P game on the alphabetical scale). I was also watching the Olympics at the same time so stopped properly note-taking or getting reads, and just went back to button-clicking auto pilot.

I was on a couple of deep tables with some whales (one guy sitting there with a 1000bb stack and playing 60% of his hands) and I simply couldn’t hit a thing. Played way too loose passive against him trying to hit a miracle, and as a consequence my redline took a nose dive. Then got frustrated and stacked off silly-light a couple of times against other guys. Ended the session 1 ½ BI down.

Continued the theme of not playing well this morning, but managed to eek out a little profit.

Bankroll: $145 + T$35

70fpp satties: 17/51 cashed.

On the subject of stop-losses, I’d appreciate any advice from you guys as to how you actually implement it. Because I’m trying not to look at my P/L during a session, but if you don’t look at your P/L, how do you know if you’ve crossed whatever stop/loss threshold you’ve set for yourself? I think I need to implement one – last night being a classic example of what happens, and how badly my level of play drops, when I start running badly. If nothing else I may force myself to drop stakes if I can’t bring myself to stop playing altogether. I’m thinking of a very strict stop-loss of only 2BI – I just start playing so badly if I’m having a losing session. I’d appreciate any advice on how you implement a stop-loss properly.

Had a good session on Friday evening, and got close to the $200 mark, so asked Stars to lift the self-exclusion in preparation for stepping back up to 10nl. Then had a busy weekend so wasn’t able to play at all, and unfortunately I then had a rubbish session this morning so roll is back down to approx. $190. So I’ll carry on at 5nl until I hit $200, at which point I’ll step up.

Here’s the giraffe of all my recent 5nl play. As you can see my redline has tailed off a little but still not too bad. I’m running at around 27/21, winrate is still above 20bb/100 so all good.

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/4112/giraffeu.png

70fpp satties: 18/52 cashed.

Off topic, been really enjoying the Olympics. Luckily the predicted travel chaos hasn’t materialised (yet) so getting too/from work hasn’t been as much of a nightmare as we all feared. And on the plus side, Team GB have been absolutely crushing it. Was fantastic to see Ennis and Farah do their stuff and cope with the weight of expectation so brilliantly. Absolutely delighted for Andy Murray as well – I really hope this is the springboard for him to go and win a Slam. He’s got an incredible amount of talent. I play a lot of tennis myself, and have played one or two former (journeyman) professionals, and they are extraordinarily good. And then you watch a match between Murray / Fed / Rafa / Djok, and you realise that those guys are on a different level altogether, and the talent they have is mindblowing.

I’m really feeling inspired to hit the gym harder than ever as well. Last week I was very good – I was carrying a bit of a back injury, and the easy option would have been to give myself a few days off and play some poker at lunch. But I pushed myself through it, which is what I need to be doing (whilst being conscious not to aggravate the injury). I’m really conscious that, being over 30, I’ve only got a limited amount of time to be in great shape, so I want to make the most of it. I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life, but there are still areas of improvement. My weight is still hovering around 12 stone, and I’ve not been able to shift it above that for years now, even though I feel like I do have more muscle mass than ever. I’m trying to up my calorie intake throughout the day, but I’m still hampered by the gym I use being truly the most spectacular pile of sh*t ever. I’ll start off by saying that I only go there because it’s cheap, and it’s really close to work so I can get maximum time in there during my lunch break. But it is just so dire. No squat rack, no proper bench press, no Olympic bars, dumbbells only up to 38k, no proper plates – the weight discs they have are only 5k, and they’re those ones filled with sand so they leak and none of them are even in weight, which makes doing any barbell exercises basically impossible. I’m getting more and more inventive with creating new exercises and using dumbells in different ways, but it’s still pretty limiting.

Still, I love training and I’d rather be in that gym than not in a gym at all. I’m going to set myself a goal (it’s a non-poker goal so it’s ok) of hitting 12 ½ stone by Christmas. If I can do that I’ll be about where I want to be.

So anyway, back to the reason we’re here. Here are a few hands:

Hand 1

Good river bluff? I decided not to raise the flop because I have a ton of equity, and I think that with position, I’ll be able to see what he does on the turn. I expect him to be one and done on this flop a lot here, so if I flat the flop, he’ll probably c/f a lot of turns. If I raise the flop, however, I think I fold most hands that I have 60% or so equity against (tp, overpairs) and he only continues with the hands I really don’t want to see – higher FDs, pair+SDs, pair+FDs, sets, 2p, QJ. So I elected to flat the flop.

On the turn I think he carries on betting all of his big made hands, including turned two pairs (A10/A9/A8) so now I think he has a draw or a medium strength made hand – at best KK-JJ, but perhaps K10/K9/Q10, J10, etc. there are lots in his range, and all the flush/str8 draws.

On the river I expect him to c/c with a fair portion of his range – any 10x, maybe 9x, KK-JJ, a less likely Ax, but I also think that he has enough missed draws and medium strength hands he’ll reluctantly fold a fair % of the time. The reason I think I have to bluff here is that I’ll lose close to 100% of the time if I check back, whereas if I bluff (with the sizing I used) I only have to get him to fold around 40% to break even, which I think he will given the amount of missed draws he has that he’ll struggle to hero with. Thoughts?

Poker Stars $5.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1846963
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

MP: $18.87 - VPIP: 17, PFR: 17, 3B: 0, AF: NaN, Hands: 6
Hero (CO): $5.00 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 4, AF: 3.1, Hands: 226345
BTN: $3.87 - VPIP: 0, PFR: 0, 3B: 0, AF: NaN, Hands: 6
SB: $6.27 - VPIP: 17, PFR: 16, 3B: 0, AF: 5.0, Hands: 76
BB: $15.15 - VPIP: 12, PFR: 7, 3B: 1, AF: 9.0, Hands: 188
UTG: $9.98 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 0, AF: 2.3, Hands: 129

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is CO with 6 5
UTG raises to $0.10, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.10, 3 folds

Flop: ($0.27) 9 T 8 (2 players)
UTG bets $0.19, Hero calls $0.19

Turn: ($0.65) A (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $0.40, UTG calls $0.40

River: ($1.45) A (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $1.05,


Hand 2

Hands 2 and 3 are against the same villain. He seems fairly tight, and reasonable, so I think he’ll have a fold button.

I float the flop because I have equity, and I think he cbets most of his range here, whether he has a piece or not. I could raise, but I prefer to use position and look for weakness or a good scare card on the turn.

The turn brings the flush, which obviously I can have, and he slows down. He can have the flush himself (though he may well bet it) and he can have sets/2pair/AQ (which again may bet) which aren’t folding yet, but he can also have plenty of one pair hands that may fold.

When he calls the turn and then checks the river I don’t ever expect him to have the flush, but he’s very likely still ahead, so I think I have to bet the river. He may call with AQ/sets, but I think this guy will be able to fold everything else, so I think the bet will work enough to be +EV. Thoughts?

Poker Stars $5.00 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 1846966
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

SB: $5.00 - VPIP: 17, PFR: 13, 3B: 1, AF: 2.6, Hands: 208
BB: $11.13 - VPIP: 47, PFR: 18, 3B: 5, AF: 1.6, Hands: 60
UTG: $4.65 - VPIP: 55, PFR: 19, 3B: 5, AF: 1.6, Hands: 47
CO: $7.84 - VPIP: 17, PFR: 12, 3B: 2, AF: 2.5, Hands: 1241
Hero (BTN): $11.44 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 4, AF: 3.1, Hands: 226345

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BTN with 9 J
1 fold, CO raises to $0.15, Hero calls $0.15, 2 folds

Flop: ($0.37) T K J (2 players)
CO bets $0.24, Hero calls $0.24

Turn: ($0.85) 4 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $0.60, CO calls $0.60

River: ($2.05) 8 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $1.45


Hand 3

Very next hand against the same villain. I raise the flop because I doubt he has much most of the time. When he calls, his range is Qx, AA/KK, JJ-66, flushdraws. I bink on the turn, so bet for value, because I’d bet all my bluffs here. When he c/c the turn I’d now narrow is range to Qx, flushdraws (quite a few with A), maaaybe a stubborn KK/JJ-66.

The river isn’t the best card as it improved a few of his hands – Q10, 1010, KJ for example, and he could have AK / AJ / A10 / A3, but I think this is a clear value bet as he will look me up lighter because a) the flush missed and b) I folded him on the river in the previous hand. Would you bet or check back this river?

Poker Stars $5.00 No Limit Hold'em - 4 players - View hand 1846964
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

CO: $5.05 - VPIP: 17, PFR: 13, 3B: 1, AF: 2.6, Hands: 208
BTN: $15.64 - VPIP: 47, PFR: 18, 3B: 5, AF: 1.6, Hands: 60
SB: $7.52 - VPIP: 17, PFR: 12, 3B: 2, AF: 2.5, Hands: 1241
Hero (BB): $12.42 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 4, AF: 3.1, Hands: 226345

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BB with A 9
2 folds, SB raises to $0.15, Hero calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.30) 5 3 Q (2 players)
SB bets $0.20, Hero raises to $0.60, SB calls $0.40

Turn: ($1.50) A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.00, SB calls $1

River: ($3.50) T (2 players)
SB checks, Hero ???


Hand 4

An example of how I am trying to get a little more aggressive and value bet more thinly against fish.

I flat pre because I want to keep all his rubbish in, and I have position, and don’t really want to build a huge pot when I have a relatively average hand. On the flop he can have a ton of worse hands here, rather than just Qx or better, so I think this is definitely a raise for value. If he re-raises, I’m done with the hand.

The turn is a total blank, so, especially when he checks, I bet to charge all his random draws / one pair hands. I could go a little bigger but there’s always a chance I’ll get c/raised here, and there’s a chance he has Qx, so I don’t want to value town myself by really bombing the turn, and I want to encourage him to call with a pair of 4s or whatever.

On the river I think betting is now a little too thin. He could have 3x, and he’ll likely fold all his worse hands to another bet, but he’s never folding Qx. Would you get greedy and try to squeeze out a little value with a bet of $1 or so?

Poker Stars $5.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1846965
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BB: $10.00 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 18, 3B: 4, AF: 2.7, Hands: 67
UTG: $7.30 - VPIP: 59, PFR: 38, 3B: 14, AF: 2.0, Hands: 115
MP: $6.05 - VPIP: 21, PFR: 16, 3B: 7, AF: 1.1, Hands: 68
Hero (CO): $12.03 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 4, AF: 3.1, Hands: 226345
BTN: $5.00 - VPIP: 15, PFR: 13, 3B: 4, AF: 11.0, Hands: 168
SB: $5.17 - VPIP: 20, PFR: 16, 3B: 10, AF: 1.5, Hands: 89

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is CO with J A
UTG raises to $0.15, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.15, 2 folds, BB calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.47) 3 Q J (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $0.20, Hero raises to $0.50, BB folds, UTG calls $0.30

Turn: ($1.47) 5 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $0.90, UTG calls $0.90

River: ($3.27) 3 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero ??

H1 - I don't mind the river bet. Looks like a nice value bet. Easy fold if he comes over the top and if he calls we take a note and use our image next time when we have a made hand.

H2 - As played I think you're river bet is ok for the reasons you stated but I'm not loving the PF call with J9o v the villains CO open and don't really like the flop call either. I think a lot of the cards that improve our hand on the turn are likely to make him even stronger again.

H3 - I'd check behind here with SD personally (if for no other reason than to see what he's playing and whether he's steaming with junk after you folded him out previously) but you know I'm a nit.

H4 - What's his river agg and has he shown he can c/r here? I'm likely checking behind as this player isn't folding any Q and if he shoves on us it just sucks. Not sure I like raising the flop either. He looks super aggro so could shove and force us out but might keep betting with worse or slow down if we just call.


Yeah, yeah - I'm a nit and need to look for more value. You're the LAG :-P

Cheers mate.

H2 – I did think as I did it that the whole hand was a little risky. Luckily got away with it on that occasion but probably not a +EV play overall.

H4 – I did check back – as you say, I just would have puked if I’d have been c/raised, and I didn’t think he had very much worse that would call even a small bet.


I’ve lifted my 10nl self-exclusion and started my shot at that level (I’ve made sure the exclusion for 16nl and above is still in place. I want to try to move up properly and gradually this time).

I’m giving myself a 10 BI shot. Drop $100, and I’ll move back down to 5nl – obviously I hope that won’t happen. Psychologically it feels really good to know I have a good, well-rolled shot at this stake. All my shots before have been 3 or 4 BI shots and it adds extra pressure to know I have to immediately drop down if I make a couple of mistakes or get coolered a couple of times. So hopefully I can approach this in a more relaxed frame of mind, knowing I can stay at 10nl for a while.

Played a short session this morning, 2/3 tabling. I’m still going to be looking to play a little looser and see how that goes. I feel like I’m starting to get a little more comfortable playing marginal hands, but there’s a long way to go before I can say I really understand this style. Managed to finish ½ a BI up thanks to coolering some guy set over 2pair.

Here’s one interesting hand.

Villain is TAG. He hasn’t looked especially agro so far, but I have no reads yet – I was only with him on this table for a little while, and most of my stats come from previous sessions when I wasn’t making notes.

When he c/raises the flop he’s repping basically only a set. I don’t expect this guy to have any 2pair combos, and hands like 86s/43s are probably less likely as well. But I looked at it and thought, would you raise a set on such a dry flop? I didn’t think he would. So I called, intending to call most turns. In my experience in these spots, if villain is bluffing he’ll fire the turn, but very rarely do they have the balls to fire the river as well. So my plan was to call a turn bet, but lay it down if he bet the river as well.

So the turn is basically a blank, and I continued with my plan. When he checks the river, I feel like we have the best hand almost always, but I’m not sure we can bet here and get called by worse. I think his range is basically air or something like 44/66 he turned into a bluff. Occasionally he’ll have hit the Q with an AQ/KQ type hand.

Would you play the hand any differently? Would you bet the river, and if so why?

Poker Stars $10.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1847693
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

CO: $9.70 - VPIP: 21, PFR: 11, 3B: 0, AF: 2.0, Hands: 19
BTN: $10.47 - VPIP: 24, PFR: 16, 3B: 5, AF: 1.6, Hands: 1320
SB: $10.70 - VPIP: 18, PFR: 14, 3B: 5, AF: 1.6, Hands: 341
BB: $5.00 - VPIP: 23, PFR: 19, 3B: 18, AF: NaN, Hands: 26
UTG: $9.45 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 18, 3B: 0, AF: 2.0, Hands: 71
Hero (MP): $20.49 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 4, AF: 3.1, Hands: 227284

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is MP with 9 9
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.30, 2 folds, SB calls $0.25, 1 fold

Flop: ($0.70) 7 5 2 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.40, SB raises to $1.20, Hero calls $0.80

Turn: ($3.10) 8 (2 players)
SB bets $1.70, Hero calls $1.70

River: ($6.50) Q (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

I think you played this hand fine mate.

Flop kind of depends on how aggro he is or how much pressure you expect to face on the turn but based on what you've given I think you played this well.

You may get a call from A7/A5 type hands but probably fold them out. His turn bet seems kind weak of and he checks the river so a set feels unlikely but not impossible but I think you get called by TT/JJ type hands. 44/66 should be folding and draws generally miss. Nut shell - I think you only get called if you're behind. Well played.

Yeah i have to say i didn't think this one thru enough at the time, didn't even consider JJ/1010 as a possibility, but he showed up with JJ. Very strange line for him to take with it - imo he's almost turning it into a bluff with this line. He can basically only hope to get value from my 1010/99, which is a tiny part of my range - he got lucky that i had 99 here.

Still going ok at 10nl. In many ways I think it’s more reg filled than 25nl – I normally have to open then sit out up to 10 tables before I find a decent one, which is annoying. It seems that you get more gamble happy fish at the higher stakes – presumably they think playing a $10 table isn’t worth it, they want to gamble bigger! So I’ve just got to plod on and try to grind it up so I can take some shots higher up.

Step two of my anti-tilt plan has now been implemented. I’ve imposed a max weekly deposit limit of $50. As this takes a week to amend, it will be a while before I can change it, so hopefully it will act as a deterrent to tilting, as I’ll know that if I spew it all off, I won’t be able to play again for a week! And if I do spew anyway, it now limits the amount of damage I can do.

Step 3 of the anti-tilt plan will be to withdraw most of my roll so I only have a few BI on Stars at any one time. I’m just waiting to turn my T$ into cash before I do that – hopefully I’ll have a chance to play a load of sngs at the weekend. The idea is that if I only have about $50 in my account, and can only deposit another $50 that week, it will totally limit the amount I can spew off, and will force me to drop stakes if I do want to keep playing.

(Obviously if and when I move up, I’ll have to amend these limits slightly so I have enough in my account to actually sit at a couple of tables).

I’m long past thinking that I can control my tilt with my own willpower and self-discipline. Quite clearly I can’t, so employing Stars’ metaphorical security guards to pin me down, hog-tie me and stop me redepositing when I’m on tilt is the only way! I have no shame

A few hands from the last couple of sessions.

Hand 1

I decided that this guy would have raised, Jx, FH or 98 by/on the turn, so on the river I think he either has a busted FD or some kind of one pair hand he’s getting stubborn with, and I think I can get him to fold if I barrel, especially on the K which should be a little scary for him. Thoughts?

Poker Stars $10.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1848625
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

CO: $20.78 - VPIP: 28, PFR: 17, 3B: 5, AF: 4.0, Hands: 58
BTN: $8.39 - VPIP: 43, PFR: 17, 3B: 13, AF: 2.0, Hands: 30
SB: $12.99 - VPIP: 48, PFR: 28, 3B: 6, AF: 3.9, Hands: 86
BB: $5.00 - VPIP: 11, PFR: 6, 3B: 0, AF: Infinity, Hands: 36
UTG: $10.00 - VPIP: 13, PFR: 9, 3B: 0, AF: 2.0, Hands: 92
Hero (MP): $10.53 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 4, AF: 3.1, Hands: 227928

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is MP with A T
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.30, CO calls $0.30, 3 folds

Flop: ($0.75) J 7 J (2 players)
Hero bets $0.40, CO calls $0.40

Turn: ($1.55) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.90, CO calls $0.90

River: ($3.35) K (2 players)
Hero bets $2.20


Hand 2

I just love floating – it works a treat at these stakes, and on this board he’s mostly got nothing. I’d fold to a double barrel, as he’d bet every made hand again, but when he checks I’m going for it. If he check calls I’d be tempted to bomb all non rivers.

Poker Stars $10.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1848626
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

SB: $10.00 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 17, 3B: 0, AF: Infinity, Hands: 42
Hero (BB): $10.00 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 4, AF: 3.1, Hands: 227928
UTG: $20.12 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 19, 3B: 0, AF: Infinity, Hands: 26
MP: $23.78 - VPIP: 33, PFR: 0, 3B: 0, AF: 0.0, Hands: 6
CO: $10.00 - VPIP: 18, PFR: 17, 3B: 14, AF: 4.1, Hands: 315
BTN: $14.93 - VPIP: 15, PFR: 10, 3B: 3, AF: 3.7, Hands: 182

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is BB with 4 5
4 folds, SB raises to $0.30, Hero calls $0.20

Flop: ($0.60) 9 2 9 (2 players)
SB bets $0.40, Hero calls $0.40

Turn: ($1.40) J (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.90


Hand 3

The perfect example of what normally happens when I flop a set. This was villain’s first hand, so ignore the below stats, as I knew absolutely nothing about him. Would you shove the river yourself? Is anything worse really calling if we do? I guess I could bet bigger on the flop/turn here, but let’s be honest, flop/turn crush an unknown’s range here as well for calling the bet and 3bet (QQ, JJ, AK, AQ, loads of other xx combos, 98) so I might not be good even before the disgusting river.

On the river, I’d expect a lot of people to check back 2pair/sets/tptk type hands here, even 9x, so when he shoves for me it’s nuts or bluff. And given that plenty of his busted flush draws probably have A and rivered the straight, I don’t think he shoves the river with worse enough for me to call, even despite the crazy pot odds I’m getting.

Would you do anything significantly different on any/all streets?

Poker Stars $10.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1848627
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (MP): $13.51 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 4, AF: 3.1, Hands: 227929
CO: $11.81 - VPIP: 18, PFR: 13, 3B: 3, AF: 1.4, Hands: 135
BTN: $8.15 - VPIP: 61, PFR: 6, 3B: 0, AF: 1.2, Hands: 18
SB: $3.91 - VPIP: 44, PFR: 6, 3B: 17, AF: 0.8, Hands: 18
BB: $6.43 - VPIP: 22, PFR: 11, 3B: 0, AF: Infinity, Hands: 18
UTG: $5.52 - VPIP: 26, PFR: 19, 3B: 0, AF: 1.0, Hands: 31

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is MP with T T
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.30, 1 fold, BTN calls $0.30, SB raises to $0.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.20, BTN calls $0.20

Flop: ($1.60) J 4 T (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.10, BTN calls $1.10, SB folds

Turn: ($3.80) Q (2 players)
Hero bets $2.72, BTN calls $2.72

River: ($9.24) K (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $3.83, Hero folds


Hand 4

Are we happy to value bet this river? If not, do we c/c or c/f?

Poker Stars $10.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1848628
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

UTG: $11.63 - VPIP: 20, PFR: 17, 3B: 3, AF: 4.9, Hands: 401
Hero (MP): $10.25 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 4, AF: 3.1, Hands: 227929
CO: $10.15 - VPIP: 21, PFR: 16, 3B: 0, AF: 0.0, Hands: 43
BTN: $9.70 - VPIP: 9, PFR: 7, 3B: 3, AF: 4.0, Hands: 85
SB: $21.09 - VPIP: 24, PFR: 16, 3B: 5, AF: 1.6, Hands: 1354
BB: $10.00 - VPIP: 28, PFR: 10, 3B: 0, AF: 4.0, Hands: 50

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is MP with K A
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.30, CO calls $0.30, 3 folds

Flop: ($0.75) 4 T J (2 players)
Hero bets $0.40, CO calls $0.40

Turn: ($1.55) K (2 players)
Hero bets $1.00, CO calls $1

River: ($3.55) 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.90


Hand 5

Against this guy I’m happy to call the 3bet ip, and I think the flop float is justifiable, as I expect him to bet again with all his overpairs/top pair/sets etc on the turn, so I can easily fold. When he checks, I’m betting to get value from a random 10x, AK/AJ which will probably call with gutshot/overs, and random 99 or whatever.

On the river … do we value bet? I wasn’t convinced anything worse would call. I doubt he now calls with AK/AJ, he could have something like KQ/QJ, he could certainly have 10x. He miiiiight call with 99/77, but I’m not convinced. So I felt it was better to check back here.

Poker Stars $10.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1848629
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $4.30 - VPIP: 33, PFR: 25, 3B: 0, AF: Infinity, Hands: 12
SB: $11.03 - VPIP: 27, PFR: 18, 3B: 7, AF: 4.0, Hands: 78
BB: $38.16 - VPIP: 9, PFR: 7, 3B: 3, AF: 4.0, Hands: 85
UTG: $3.25 - VPIP: 13, PFR: 10, 3B: 0, AF: Infinity, Hands: 126
MP: $9.35 - VPIP: 17, PFR: 11, 3B: 3, AF: 1.3, Hands: 89
Hero (CO): $10.15 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 4, AF: 3.1, Hands: 227929

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is CO with J J
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.30, 1 fold, SB raises to $0.70, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.50) 8 3 Q (2 players)
SB bets $1.07, Hero calls $1.07

Turn: ($3.64) T (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.80, SB calls $1.80

River: ($7.24) T (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Just a quick question, which satellites do you play? I haven't been able to see the 235FPP sattys around anywhere. They have 250FPP sattys but they are uncapped in terms of entrants.

H1 - It actually looks like YOU have a busted FD here in some spots. He can probably call wider than you think IMO. I would bet 0.60 OTF and then x/f the turn. His AF is pretty high (small sample), so I am inclined to believe he is more likely to slow play a big hand. I don't think he would check call with a FD too much.

The K is a great card to barrel on though. If he has 8x or 7x he could find a fold.

H2 - Looks fine, not sure I love calling with small SCs though, not enough value in 1 pair hands these can make. 3bet/fold IMO. How often does he raise in the SB first in? FT3B in blinds? The J hits your range though and I don't think he checks a 9 unless to raise then it's an easy fold. You have no SDV so can't check behind. Looks like an aggro villain so I do get a bit suspicious when they check the turn with a hand that looks like it has to be nuts/air. I.e. he either checks here with a 9 or nothing. He bets almost all his draws and PP OTT I think. If we had a hand with weak SDV I would check behind to avoid being bluff x/r off our hand because we has more air than nutted hands (though won't bluff x/r all of it obv).

H3 - More OTF, more OTT. River is gross with Ahx making a straight, I might b/f small to get calls from worse like 2 pair. He looks like a mega fish. Just bomb it OTF and OTT.

H4 - river is as big a brick as it gets. c/c to snap off bluffs and you have a pretty strong hand. Or b/f.

H5 - WP, not getting value from any worse OTR except maybe 99 but he not 3bet that pre, it plays better with a call IMO. His 3bet from the blinds is probably like 10% so never folding pre. He probably knows exactly what kind of hand you have though (I'm assuming you don't call 3bets too often).

Showing stats with the winner bolded is a bit RO too.



200th post

TY for your reply mate, really enjoyed your analysis. Agree that hand 1 is a bit dodgy – I wasn’t entirely happy with it at the time. I don’t think it’s hugely –EV but if it’s +EV it’s probably not by a lot.


The satties are under the sit n go tab. Filter it for FPP buy in as well and you should see them. I’ve done all the numbers and the 70fpp satties work out to be fractionally better value than the 235fpp ones, but there’s not much in it, and obviously it takes longer to play through the same number of points doing the 70fpp ones. I’ve seen the 235 ones at various times of the day, but I’ve only seen the 70 ones at around 6-7pm GMT, so a lot of the time they won’t be there.


I always wondered why it bolded some stats and not those of everyone in the hand. Now I know! I’ll make sure it doesn’t do that in future.

Well I had a bit of a shocker last night. 3 ½ BI down in about 300 hands. I felt at the time I was playing crap, and looking back over some of the hands it was a combination of playing really badly and running really badly. So that undid all the profit I’d made at 10nl up to that point.

This morning was better, managed to make $16 profit. Will have a look for some interesting hands later.

70fpp satties: 19/54 cashed.

Tonight I’m hoping to be able to play a few sngs and start converting my T$ so I can make a withdrawal and implement the final stage of my tilt-prevention plan. Last night showed it needs to be done sooner rather than later, I don’t want to risk a 3 BI losing session turning into a 10 BI losing session.

In the meantime, for those of you who’ve expressed an interest in the HG, it’s looking like taking place this Saturday (11th) at 1pm GMT. I’ll PM further details …