A stranger is being shown around a village that he has just become part of. He is shown a well and his guide says "On any day except Wednesday, you can shout any question down that well and you'll be told the answer" . The man seems pretty impressed, and so he shouts down: Why not on Wednesday? and the voice from in the well shouts back: Because on Wednesday, its your day in the well .

I was going to do a well after the end of the challenge for the microstakes forum, but sparing a major turn of tides in the last day and some change (in which case i will take arms at 25 nl), it looks like its going to be a victory. When the FR forum was united i wanted to wait a bit longer to do one, but what the hey now that we are split no harm no foul in doing one for you guys down in teh micros imho.

Shoot.

Why can't you beat NL50?

Basics

Poker Story?

Where you From?

Age?

Fav Movie?

Major hump us uFR players need to get over to be successful in your opinion?

This is a very interesting question, one that i don't really understand myself. However there is a couple things to note on it (as far as i saw.

A) I ran really really bad. Something to the tune of -10 buyins in equity over 50kish hands, combined with a lack of sets and etc.

B) It went on for so long it became a psychological issue.

C) My game was not where it needed to be to be very succesful at it.

The irony here is that when i moved up to NL 100, i actually changed me game drastically. Up to NL 25 i was limping all pocket pairs, and playing a 19/8 style of game, and then i saw good players raising all pocket pairs and just picked up on it. I started Cbetting way more, double barreling more, just generally getting very very aggressive a lot more, and it really clicked for me at nl 100.

Now i dont really know what to say about nl 50, i mean i never really beat it but now there is really no need to (Assuming i win the challenge my br will be about 6k), but its definitely something that didn't go smooth in my career, 50k hands of -1.7 ptbb/100 will get you pretty angry in a hurry.

I think Mike Kelly said something to the tune of "nl 50 is Rider's kryptonite" which i suppose i could agree with. However im sure if i was to really go back and give nl 50 another guy i could be a winner there, but there is really no point in playing in that game.

Well my poker story isnt really a particularly interesting one, other then perhaps how short it has been going for. Ive said my story a couple times but ofc ill retell it for the well.

I played poker for the VERY first time probably somewhere in mid 2006, but this is like 5$ with friends a couple of times, and a couple of 20$ online investment to pacific poker that lost me the invested money (lol). I felt really upset with poker and was always completely broken so i gave up on it.

April rolls around and for some reason i get interested in poker again, but this time im determined not to lose my money. I start reading books at the local bookstore, and i see this strange 2+2=4 with cards thing, i mean wtf is that. So of course i go online and there is this massive confusing forum where wtf can i dew there is so much going on. I find my home in the beginners and MTT forums and off i go. I have a bunch of random money from my parents (living alone, ill explain more of that later i suppose). So i decide to put in some more money and really have a go at it from there. At this point i also buy Pokertracker and PokerAce because my best poker friend told me to (That means you ThePokerKing).So i put in 45$ (Gay epassporte ganks 5$ of course), and am on my way to poker glory.

And then i lose it again. Now im really upset, ive lost like 120ish to online poker, im angry, this is rigged. I make a post like omg plz help me in the beg forum of 2p2, it all seems to be coming to an end. Then i start playing the 4/180's on stars, and it was profitable. I still believe those are the best way to start off your poker dreams. So i win one and ive got like 250 in my roll. So ofc, i go to nl 25, and i start to lose teh moneys. (6 maxes). Down to 180, i go to nl 50, and i have a beat i will honest to god, never forget. The HH is on my other computer.

I am dealt TT OTB at a six max 50 nl table. UTG calls, CO calls, i raise to 3$, UTG reraises to like 9ish, CO and myself call. Flop is T64. UTG bets like 5$(?) CO calls, I..... shove for value. UTG instacalls and CO folds. Turn 2. River A. And he shows AA and scoops a 120$ pot. It was gut wrenching, i have never hurt so bad.

So now i am going to be a SnG/MTT player, i make some BOMB math posts about ICM calculation (had to be some of my first real posts here, if anyone could find those id be thankful.). So i grind 1/2 cent while i play 4.40's, so i can afford them. After a while with almost no success i realize, hai wait a second, this 1/2 cent fr thing has been treating me teh good. I look at the graph and sure enough i have been grinding out steady profit. So i vow to be a FR player from then on.

And to the best of my ability, i have. Of course ive donked off heaps of money to other stuff, ive managed to stay pretty much on course playing Full Ring Poker. It has been a steady ascension, i beat nl 2 for 28ptbb/100 over 25k, nl 5 and nl 10 i didnt play a ton of because ironically i won TWO Sunday million sat's at about the same time (those 3$ rebuys are so unbelievably soft), and then beat nl 25 at a good clip (officially 6 ptbb but that has back when i was donking money off in it in there a bit), and then was a loser at nl 50. Since then ive played 110k hands at 100 nl and beat it for almost 3 ptbb, and 50kish at 200 which ive beaten a bit over 2 ptbb.

I was born in Pasadena, but i lived most of my life in San Diego. However i went to middle school in Boulder City (right outside vegas), and went to hs in Raleigh. I now go to UNCW in NC (ldo).

I am 19 years old.

I hate movies but if i had to pick gladiator is like the best thing ever imo.

The biggest problem i see uNL players have is that they dont get aggressive with their bankroll. You are NOT at uNL to make heaps of money, you are there to move up. Take an aggressive 16ish buyin shot and if it doesnt go well then go ahead and move back down. uNL will always be there, but your goal isnt to be there forever.

That said i almost always waited until just about 20 buyins (i think i took one 18 buyin shot), but my problem is and always has been withdrawing money. I am a sucker for wanting the money i make and i need to get over that, or perhaps i would be much further on my path today.

favorite color?

favorite food?

favorite drink?

why did you have to pick such a ***** area to get a degree on?

favorite hand?

favorite poker moment?

favorite sport?

Sesame Chicken. If anyone ever orders me some sesame chicken and it shows up at my door i will probably track you down and hug you.

Non alcoholic - Mount Dew
Alcoholic - Octoberfest (Sam Adams) but Guinness gives it a good run.

Political Science? Meh it will prob change to communicatins anyway.

Hm tricky one. I remember winning a 180 once by getting all in vs this guy who had been just going all in every hand in the HU. I had J9, i raised otb he calls. Flop is T92, he just shoves. He had been doing this every hand, i was like ok lets go sir im sick of this. I call, he flips JJ. Turn 4 River NINE IMO SHIPADEE SHIP IT.

When i broke 1k playing nl 25 for the first time (no, not in one day, although that is really really up there [probably no 2]). I really felt like i was finally doing things right.

Favorite sport: Football.

You play a very aggro style at the micros, which seems to work.

What size cbets do you do in general? does this matter as to position or number of opponents?

How often do you double barrel? Obv this depends more on the flop and opponents, but does position come into it?


I have a problem in that i fold too often once my cbet is called/when the cbet at me and i missed. What tips can you suggest for me?

Who are your top three most inspirational posters in either of the FR forums?

I would also like to ask about doubhle-barrelling. How do you decide whether to fire second barrel? While my cbets worked very well, I mostly struggled in those (rather rare) occasions, when I attempted second barrel. I think I lost more than won on second barrels.

My recipe for cbet size is 50 cents less then the current pot, unless it wasnt raised pf or it was 3bet pf. I find this to be optimally, you get a ton of folds, and its good for consistency. I wont fire a cbet if there are 3 opponents without a hand. Its just too risky. Ill fire one from almost all position on 3 way flops tho, you get too much respect in these circumstances i find.

TBH at the micros you should be double barreling for value, i do this a lot. I very rarely double barrel with complete air unless the board dictates that it would work very well. (For example you are vs a thinking opponent and have xx hand (doesnt matter) they limp from mp and call your button raise. Flop is 2Q2, they check, you bet, they call. Turn is an Ace, they check. Sure maybe they are tarping you with quads. But whats their range here? mainly 33-88 and they dont believe you have hit. Now they are not going to continue here with that hand range. QJ (but they prob would of raised KQ pf) will also have a tough time here.) I probably double barrel spots like this on paired boards a lot.

But overall you dont really need to worry about it. If you have TP bet all streets for value, and just hope he keeps calling down. Position is very important in double barreling, a check/call is much different then a call. A call in position is much more likely to be a wide range of holdings then a c/c, in my experiences.

As for cbetting then folding, you should feel like you do it too much. that menas you are doing it right imo. You cant win every pot and sometimes they are going to take it from you. Think about their hand range and act based on that, but dont double barrel just to take down pots.

As for when they cbet against you, try to be more diligent in spots with like TT on a Q76ss board, here you are much more likely to be good then you think when they bet a cbet at you.

As for inspirational posters I like

1) RyanCMU because he always is trying to help people, thats a pretty big thing to be doing when you yourself have the ability and own up the games

2) I find The mains story the most inspirational, but then again he is a luckbox to win that 8$ rebuy.

3) I find mlane inspirational because it always keeps a good perspective on how bad i really could have it.

- Thoughts on skill level difference between $50nl and $100nl? I'll be taking shots at $100nl probably starting today or tomorrow.
- Thoughts on playing on FT vs PS? I get rakeback on FT and I don't know if I'm missing out on a lot of value by playing on Stars.
- What is your layout for tables? I'm pretty sure you posted somewhere else about this before but I can't find it. I'm currently tiling 8 tables and feel I could play more, it's just that I don't have the room for it.

Thanks.

second barreling isnt something you should be doing too much at the micros, if they call they likely have a hand. I would c/f a lot of turns after a cbet missing at the micros. Dont worry about it, eventually there will be a time for double barreling.

Wich limit do you think you can leave only with $ from poker?

Do you think that a player grinding NL25 8 hours a day can attempt tp play NL100 quickly?

Do you think a player who is 15/10 in 25NL can keep the same style in NL50 and NL100?

I think nl 100 is quite a bit stronger then nl 50 because you get to the point where people are now playing for a decent living (i suppose it depends on your standards of what a decent living is), and there are a lot more day in and day out grinders. But i really wouldnt be too worried, with your diploma in 2p2 education you should be good to go at 100.

I have played both, and i think stars kicks ftp's ass for several reasons. First off, while 27% rakeback is no doubt very good, once you get to nova stars ends up being better. Second, I HATE full tilts tables. The chips look terrible, the avatars are teh gay, the site lags, etc etc etc its just a terrible experience. Stars has a professional support team, a great site layout, good looking tables, etc etc, there really isnt any loss there. I would highly recomend nl 100 at stars if you are planning on being a very high volume player.

My layout at college is dual moniters with 12 tables slightly over lapped. Think six tables per screen, 2 columns per screen, 3 tables per column with tables meeting symmetrically in the middle. When i play more then 12 i just double stack them.

At my house in San Jose i play with ghetto ass 24 tables and like 4 tables showing, yeah its pretty gangsta.

What if you don't hit supernova (in regards to the FTP vs PS comments)? Realistically, I'll probably only be able to hit goldstar status and even that's only if I move up to 100nl and be able to stick around due to the relatively low volume of hands I'll be able to play compared to all you crazy people.

Personally, I'm playing on PS for some of the same reasons you mentioned, which is that I love PS's layout and absolutely despite FT's, but I was wondering if aesthetic purposes are worth the money I'm losing from not playing with rakeback.

Not hitting nova makes it meh, as far as pure money goes FTP is better but i hate FTP with a burning passion so thats my opinion.

(And you should be able to hit nvoa fwiw)

Just out of curiosity, how many hands would it take at 50nl to hit nova and at 100nl? I'm a med student and I play a decent amount of live poker so I just don't know if I have enough time to commit to a year-long goal like that.

probably like 250k hands at 100 and like 400 at 50 but those are rough guestimates the well is in short supply on vpp knowledge.

Yeah.. I probably wouldn't be able to do that. Last month was, by far, the highest volume month I've played in 4 or 5 years and I didn't even crack 20k. Maybe if I continue to run hot and get up to 200nl by May it'll work out. I'd really like to pick up a monitor so I can play more tables. I'll probably stick to 2 tables when taking my shots at 100nl but, at 50nl, I feel I definitely could add more tables.

What do you spend your fpps on and do you have any big MTT (live or online) scores?

TBH i blow my fpps on random stuff. For example this year i bought

Xbox elite (for my brother)
PS3
Pokerstars leatherjacket and assorted wear
a couple of 285$ bonuses anda bunch of 50$ ones

I currenltly have like 70k fpps tho so im hoping to save for teh 1500 bonus.

I have no big mtt scores, won a 12$ 180 turbo once, and thats about it.

How good do you think you are on a scale of 1-10?

What is your favorite thing about the forums?

What is your least favorite thing about the forums?

If you had a genie, what would your three wishes be?

cool.

- What is your biggest pot won?
- biggest pot lost
- worst downswing (buyins)?
- What do you think is your best poker quality? and where do you lack?
- How many hands do you average a month?

thanks.

1) Why do you play full ring vs 6max? (or do you play both)
2) What PAHUD stats do you use?
3) How many tables do you feel it is optimal to play at each level? (I am currently 18 tabling NL25 FR)
4) What do you see yourself doing from a poker aspect in 2008?

what time of day do you like to play/for how long/why?

Favorite and least favorite thing about poker?

What is your favorite non-premium hand?


Thanks for doing a well. They are always interesting imo.