Poker Background: I've been playing poker for about 3 years, a mixture of online microstakes, some home games with friends, and maybe 400 hours live cash & tournaments. I've never taken online that seriously though. I think microstakes was too little amount of money for me to care that much about (I would rarely play bigger than 25NL), and I just lacked the discipline to play well. I also always viewed online as more practice for live games, since online is so much tougher than live poker even at the micro stakes level.

Why do this challenge now? As dumb as it sounds, I want to prove to myself that I can beat microstakes poker, for a decent win rate over a decent number of hands. I also want to have more of a plan as far as getting better at poker, and I think a challenge like this will force me to take it more seriously, especially posting it publicly on a forum, to hold myself accountable and get feedback. I also finally downloaded PT4 a month ago, which has made a hugeeee change in online poker for me. Partially, it made it far more obvious who is VPIPing too wide, but also I found the graphs to be addicting! Before PT4, I would make bad calls where I thought I was behind but it was so little money, that I wouldn't care that much, but now I want my graphs to look good overall! Also, all-in EV is so helpful in actually seeing how good/bad you are running.

Challenge Format: I'm going to try and play at least 4 hours a week, multi-tabling up to 4 tables. My goal is to have at least 20 buyins saved before I move up a level, and a comfortable win rate over a number of hands (ideally at least 5bb/100 over 10k hands). I'm going to play 9max on ACR, since this is what I've always played (people always say ACR has some of the toughest cash games too). My end goal is to play more live cash and live tournaments, which is why I'm doing 9max vs 6max, but if there is good reason to switch to 6max, feel free to say so below. I will flag hands I'm unsure about as I go along on PT4. I will post them here and write a short analysis on them, and also look at them in GTOwiz to see what a good baseline for them is. A big goal on this challenge is to continue to plug leaks and increase my game, and using played hands to analyze how I played certain spots.

Current Bankroll: So, I'm making this post a little late, since I started this challenge around November 1st, when I got PT4. Currently, my ACR bankroll is at $192.54. So now, I am mainly starting to play 10NL when it is available (since ACR doesn't always have 4 tables of 9max games available, sometimes I will continue to play the lower stake games as well).

Here are my stats from 2NL from Nov.1st:



Here are my stats from 5NL since Nov. 1st:


And here are my 10NL stats (I did some shot-taking earlier, and some terrible calls when I was not mentally playing well, as seen from the big swings early):


I'm quite happy with my win rates at 2NL & 5NL over the sample size. I will post updates after every session that I play. Any comments/feedback will be appreciated!

GLGL

Just finished a session. 4 tabling 10NL. Played fairly well overall:



Middle of the day ACR tables are fairly nitty, with most people playing less than 20% VPIPs. However, the nitty regs you can steal blinds from. They also are not that aggressive, don't have well balanced checking ranges, and play fairly face up imo. Still, I found myself getting 4b a bit, and need to learn what to defend at what stack depth and in what postion. For example, in this hand:



I was debating flatting vs 3b, since villain had really nitty stats, but didn't want to play multiway with button and blinds behind. I also think that nitty players do not 4b bluff enough, with hands like A5s, suited broadways etc. BC of this, and bc they were only 100bb preflop, I decided to fold. GTOwiz has AJs as call at some frequency, to a 20bb 4b.

Here is another 4b that I folded to:


In this config, I thought I would call AQs and fold AQo. GTOwiz confirmed that given this action, so pretty happy with that reacted.

Finally, an interesting 3b that I had. I don't think I would have made this 3b earlier. In GTOwiz, you can actually squeeze from the sb with QTs at almost 50%, which is much higher than I thought when playing this hand. (I randomized like 33%). Thoughts on checking the flop? I did this exploitatively, since I had seen the fish player just bet wayyy too much when checked too, and I thought both of the players would likely have some broadway cards in their hands that may bet when checked to:

Well, here's an update of the last two days. Running almost 8BI below EV over two days lol:


I won't bore people with any bad beat stories, but here is a particularly funny one. At least the guy that slow played KK lost lol:


Here's a big flip I lost. I think its fine, as played. I was almost debating raising flop myself into the donker:


Crazy how much of BB/100 though is made against bad players though vs good regs. I know that's obvious, but for some reason its less obvious online, vs live. Here's a pretty funny hand I won. To be fair, I kinda like their line, and I probably have to fold almost all overpairs vs it, and just call with sets/2p. As played, I just didn't think they would have much 9x, and if they did GG:


Not that many interesting spots for me to study though. Current BR is at $188.8. I really do just like running it once and stomaching the variance. When other players loose flips, I feel like they play worse. I just laugh it off and look at my yellow line.

Alright, long time no post. My old laptop was on its last legs, so I just recently got a new one. Played a bit more of 10NL today. I've been playing decent, but I need to be patient. I'll keep shot-taking at 25NL, even though I don't have the bankroll for that, and I just get whacked. Current BR is around $160ish. I'm a bit rusty from not playing that much recently. This session did not have that many interesting hands in it to be honest. I'm practicing lots of over-bet spots CO or BU vs BB, on high disconnected boards like AKx AQx. BB will so rarely have strong hands you can just overbet with anything and basically always take it down. Beyond that, I've been practicing playing more carefully oop and trying to control pots more. Anyways, here is graph from today. I will try to update more regularly now that I have a laptop that works again and stick to my pre-determined plan of playing 4 tables 10NL and analyzing hands afterwards:

Welcome back.

Best of luck with your sessions, and may your new laptop bring you many profitable sessions!

Best of luck man! Looking forward to following your journey

Short update. Played the $250 25k guarenteed at Hawaiian Gardens yesterday. I've played it a couple times before, like the structure (30k chips, 30 min levels until level 6, goes to 25min), and most of the players are regular, terrible, straightforward tournament players. I was pretty card dead through most of it unfortunately and didn't get that much going for me. I think against live players, some of the most consistently profitable lines are bet-folding, since live people just do not find bluff raises enough even to small sizes and consistently will just over-call with weak hands and draws. A couple hands:

30k effective stack 200bb, I AAhd UTG raise 600, UTG+1 call, button call, BB call. Flop QJ5hhd, I bet 1400 (could have gone bigger here? but am also working on keeping pots more manageable sizes, oop), only button calls. Turn is Kd, bringing backdoor flush draw. Kinda bad card, since T9, KJ, KQ are all now beating us. But button villain has been so wide, I think I can continue betting and probably fold to aggression. I bet 2k (maybe a bit too small, pot is like 5kish?), he quickly calls. River is a brick. I bet small again, like 3.5k, he calls, and I'm good. I think after I don't get raised on the turn, I could probably bet a bit bigger on the river, like 5k or 6k, since pot was 10kish, but I think he will call QT/Q9 at some frequency). The thing is, I am never bluffing with that line, ever, with that small sizing. But I don't think it matters much since I will just get called there by these player types and someone like him is not turning QT into a bluff on the river.

Hand right after this, 33k effective stack, 300bb, same villain as previous hand raises CO to 1300, maniac button calls. I'm in BB with black AQo, 3b to 5200, original raiser calls quickly. Flop is 532r. I think two overs, straight draw, I bet 3.3k. I considered checking here as well, which I think is also fine oop. Would be better to be with AQs and some bd flush draw. Villain calls. Turn is 2h, bring bd flush draw. I check, since I don't think I can get this villain to fold over pairs often, and I may be still beating some worse A highs, he checks back. River is 5h, completing back door flush. I check, and since he didn't bet turn, I actually expect to be chopping a good amount of time against other A high. He actually checks back and shows TT, wins. I think line is fine. this player particularly would hardly raise hands and often open limp, and I think I should have considered that a little bit more in his range. I still think 3b AQo is fine here given late position and button call, although I think calling at some frequency oop is also okay.

just a couple hands later (25kish effective, 300bb), same villain as previous two hands open limps now in MP, villain in CO does min raise to 700 (same villain had done small raise earlier with like K7o and had also raised much bigger with a decent pocket pair, so this min raise seems quite weak to me), SB calls. I have ATo in the BB. Don't want to necessarily flat and play 4 ways oop, with marginal hand, would rather squeeze or play heads up against weird min raise. I 3b to 3200. Open-limper folds, min-raise calls, now SB back-jams for ~12k effective, so like 40ishBB. This really feels like some sort of small pocket pair or something, but its also for a 40bb. I'm getting a pretty good price since like 9k more to win 18k (although I didn't think this through entirely in the moment), but I also think low stakes players will sometimes do this with AK/AQ they just call with preflop or even JJ/TT. I hate doing these big flips early on, so I tank fold. I also think ATo is just a little too light for this, maybe call here with ATs+ AJs+? Curious as to people's thoughts on situations like this, since they arise quite often in low stakes tournaments. CO calls and says he is behind lol, he shows QJS. SB shows 99. Board runs out T65brick brick and SB scoops. Results oriented I would have won. I think in retrospec, I should have thought more about the price I was getting in this spot, and probably called. I was also a little worried with the CO behind, just in case my original read was wrong and he was actually strong. I would have hated my life if I called, and then he back-jammed all in on me lol. Oh well.

One final spot, 25kish stack, 300bb. 2 limps, I raise JJ to 2500 on button to , 1st or second limper calls, old guy who plays ABC straightforward (also, I think I can just exploitatively raise better hands more. People will call too high of a price, with too much trash). Flop is K78dd, I bet 2k get value from worse pairs and diamond draws, he calls. Turn is a T. He checks. I debate betting again to called by diamond draws, and there are not many 2p here, but it would suck to get raised and have to fold now that I have a gutshot in case I'm behind a K, so I check back. River is a low diamond. He now checks again. I thought about betting here, since he was such a straightforward player I think he would have raised 2p+ on the flop and if he had a flush, he would have led the river. So, when he checks here, I think the best hand he will ever have is like KJo or something. I think I could bet small here like 3k or 3.5kish, and instant fold to x/r, but I chicken out and check back. He has 99, and I win with JJ. I do think these little spots to do thin value bets are so crucial though against player types. Like he may call there with a T or 8 to a small bet, thinking I have AQ or AJ or something. When you are not bluffed enough in spots like these, I think you can just bet small-fold to a raise.

Not much else happened, was decently card dead, missed flops multiway, and eventually shoved 55UTG+1 for 10bb and got re-jammed on by AKs and lost in a flip. I kinda hate shoving small pairs from EP, but blinds were coming up and I would have been down to 8bb. So is tournaments. The Gardens has their winter series coming up and I think my friend and I are going to enter into a couple of them, will probably write up some hands here.

I know this has been debated to death, but I'm curious onto peoples thoughts in tournaments of variable raise sizings based off of hand strength. Ie in the hand where I had AA, I could have raise to 1k, or 1.2k pre (like 5x or 6x) and likely still gotten called in spots. At the same time, when the old guys that limp every hand then raise like 8x, everyone folds, and they show a huge pocket pair, I just lol inside. One part of me hates this style of poker since its really not interesting, but I also feel like not raising bigger leaves value on the table since hands like KTo will still call when they both should be folds anyways.

I'm debating if I should just turn this into an overall poker blog, since I also play a little live cash and home games. At the same time, I think the more interesting spots and getting better from a theory perspective will come from continuing to grind micro-stakes cash. Since the style of play there is much tighter and more theory-based than any of the live stakes I play. Maybe I'll include some home game stuff if any of it is decently interesting and not just, yeah they're weak here and checked all streets so I can bet weak top pair for value here a lot of the time blah blah blah.

Alright, end of the day update. Here is my graph from play the last two days:

Honestly, I played pretty terribly I think. I got way too station-y and pretty tilted, which I don't normally do (felt like entitlement tilt). I also ran like 2ish BI under EV, which doesn't help. Mainly though, I think I was the one to blame. I didn't really plan out the sessions that well, and kinda just played. Going forward, I think I need to structure sessions much better mentally.

Also, not too many interesting spots. I'm having a hard time with PT4 on new laptop (Macbook Air), where it is taking up all the application memory and crashing out.

Here is an example of me running bad. I should be thankful though that people are cold calling 3b here:


But this was like the hand right after and I was playing extremely exploitative and just banking that they would not be able to fold a 4 or 89 (I thought there is a small chance that I am stacking myself against 66/77):


And here are examples where I need to learn to fold rivers. The AK hand I'm trying to have a more balanced checking approach, especially oop, since it is so hard to get value from oop. Just a little tilting that they had 44, since they shouldn't be raising that from UTG and then folding to my 3b. Their huge flop sizing was just so bluffy, so I don't think raising there accomplished anything. Still, I should learn to fold the river, especially when backdoor flush comes in. They won't have many bluffs, other than like KQ/QJ that barrels off, and people don't barrel off enough in A high 3b pots enough. Oh well:



This was an interesting hand. Like I mentioned previously, I really like piling money into SRP broadway boards, since SB/BB ranges are so capped. Here I turned the effective nuts. When they led huge on the river, I actually wonder if I could ever find a hero fold. They never have bottom set or KQ, since that would so often be raised on the flop. I just think spots like this have effectively 0 bluffs from opponents. They are never doing this with JT or something, ever. I really need to learn to fold more rivers, since opponents just do not bluff enough there at 10NL, ESPECIALLY in spots like these. Like when you over bet the turn and then the lead river, it is just always the nuts. Still, with a spade in my hand I called:


Also, more food for thought, with ACR being buggy all weekend, I actually signed up for Ignition and played a little there. I was only playing 5NL 6 max, but it feels like the players there are absolutely wayyyy worse than on ACR. ACR can be kinda tight and nitty, but people were opening like 5x with J9o and calling 3b oop with them etc.

I like your thoughts on the hands seems like you have a very good grasp on the game.

Good luck, yeah you'll probably do better anywhere that isn't ACR

What site do you play on? Yeah I had always heard ACR was tough, but maybe I will make the switch. The plus side is I feel that since it has tough it has encouraged me to think and get a lot better at poker as it is.

Another update, here are today's hands, played over a couple of hours. Middle of the day ACR action was decent:


I started off being stuck almost two BI, including this idiotic hand. I know I shouldn't complain about dumb play, but I almost got too tilted off of this, after calling a 3b and then donking for pot with air. I should have just raised flop looking back, but I've noticed donks in online becoming decently stronger recently, so just called. Perhaps could have folded turn, I just didn't think that was a card that would have changed anything on the flop:


I had a couple plays early on, that I quite liked. Maybe its not necessary, but I think this style of play is a interesting. Here, checking twice and then raising on the turn, and even betting when flush came in. I was prepared to bet-fold, since not sure what bluffs villain would have here, given this line, but they just called and I won!


And here is a river x/r I thought was interesting. When villain first bet on the flop, I thought they were geared towards overpairs (even though overpairs should really not be betting this flop texture multiway often). I need to look at this spot in GTowiz to see what common lines are. I considered leading turn as a bluff. After it checked through, I thought villain could also have club draws, when they bet river though, their sizing was so value like. I'm not sure how often I would play 89s/8Ts and sets this way. Anyways, people don't like to fold Aces lol:


And then here is a river bluff that worked, although A high may have been the best hand. After checking through on the flop and just calling turn, I think villain is capped at 1p holdings or a draw that comes (98, JT, spades etc.), and most people with c-bet with flush draws on the flop. I think the river its better to x/r than to call, and they folded pretty quickly so its likely they didn't even have a made hand.


And here is a really tough call that I made. Its funny, bc I was considering 3b, but then I thought its good to have some decent Ax in my call down range. I've talked before about over-betting high card boards with range advantage, and that's what they did here! Honestly, a pretty great bluff by them in my opinion. I have so few Kx here, since will rarely have AK, and not that much KT either and not all KQ/KJ makes it to the river. Honestly the sizing kinda gave it away, since I was like, they are only repping a K with this sizing, but would a K actually bet that much with this line? it will never get paid! But then, I was like what bluffs would they have, other than small pairs, since not everyone will overbet them in these spots. Honestly, not even sure if that's a good call long term, or just worked bc of the sizing vs this player. I would have hated a smaller sizing more actually lol.


Anddd here is a hand I'm dissapointed in that I didn't fold on the river. Yes 'fold pre' etc. I feel dumb for calling there, loosing to all flushes, and 9 combos of FH sets and AJ. I don't even know what villain would have to be bluffing with there that takes this line - KQo with K of clubs that calls turn? A5? I had notes on this player that they don't bluff enough (which the player pool doesnt), but still should have FOLDED. I just need to beat into my head that rivers are underbluffed spots at these stakes. I will say that I've gotten better at trying to identify villain bluffs before calling, the short timers on ACR make them difficult though.


I've also been trying to find value raises in more spots. Here is a hand I tried it on and value owned myself. maybe this line is too thin considering their bet size and that we don't beat enough 2p holdings? Maybe this would have been better if I had Aces up, I was just hoping to get called from a single paired A.


Anyways, thats all for now. I'm still struggling with having a balanced checking range/getting value from OOP, but I think thats just how that goes, especially with how nitty ACR player pool is.

Seems like you're very results oriented for those hands, like first hand if the turn was a 3 and they barreled off I think you wouldn't say raising flop is good.

99 doesn't seem terrible fine but it's extremely player dependent. in a SRP donking for pot is very strong, 3bp must be worse.

K9s hand way too thin OTR but happen to be against one of the few hands that calls and loses.

88 hand donk is fine but you wouldn't be bluffing at all, and never donking turn is probably a good simplification. River XR is way too thin again, worse than in theory since people might not even bet 7x.

AdQc seems good call may be better.

AJ definitely -EV unless people really don't value bet this size (they shouldn't). Seems easier to do than bluffing for this sizing when you actually have a lot of KQ/KJ/KT and a ton of 2p that could call.

K9s good raise, there's so many hands you beat that call, and not a lot beating you (possibly none if people are betting based on strength) so even bigger would be fine.

Global poker has 10nl as the minimum stake and people get free money to play so it's really closer to 2nl. No hand histories though which sucks.

Thanks for the feedback, good comments all around. Yeah the 99 hand I was being self aware, more just annoyed that someone donked with air in 3BP, binked the turn, and then I paid them off. Yes, if the turn was a brick and not a club, I was going to continue to call/maybe shove like I did.

AdQc I considered a call, but I didn't want to loose to a random bluff or pair. I also thought a river x/r will fold out a good many of their pairs, at some frequency.

Interesting on the AJ hand. I think the sizing just really through me off, since it was a 2x pot sized bet. I can see in theory that being a -EV call, and to that sizing just call all Kx holdings and fold everything else?

The 88 hand, I was raising as a bluff, was not a value raise.

I still thing that most people don't bluff enough, so you can bet fold on many streets and not get too punished for it. I need to continue to learn to not call large river bets - people just are so rarely bluffing.

Okay, here is my graph from the last day or two. I played okay, but I continue to pay off large river bets, when people just do not bluff enough. I really need to drill it through my stupid skull to really not pay off river bets for people with sub 20% VPIPS.


Additionally, here is a hand I played incredibly terribly. I need to drill it through my head that people just don't 3b light, especially vs UTG opens. I think I just see all the dead money involved and think I just always need to squeeze, when that is likely not always optimal. Maybe in this situation, just squeezing AKs+ & QQ+. I went all in on the flop bc I thought with overcards and gut shot to the nuts, that considering how big the pot was, I would have at least 20% equity. Since I didn't think preflop 3b had KK/AA, since they would have shoved it in preflop. Still, I think a bit of a punt on my part and forcing the action too much. In reviewing lots of hands and spots on GTOwiz, one thing I've started to learn is how much more nuanced AKo is. It is often just called in 3b postions (or folded even). I think blindly I used to always think it was a mandatory 3b or 4b, but that is definitely not true.

Yatahay Network - $0.10 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

UTG+1: 31.3 BB
MP: 60 BB
MP+1: 100.5 BB
CO: 94.1 BB
BTN: 41.3 BB
SB: 149.2 BB
BB: 126.4 BB
Hero (UTG): 158.4 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Kh As
Hero raises to 2.8 BB, fold, MP calls 2.8 BB, fold, CO raises to 12.7 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 11.7 BB, Hero raises to 37.2 BB, MP raises to 60 BB and is all-in, CO calls 47.3 BB, BB calls 47.3 BB, Hero calls 22.8 BB

Flop : (240.5 BB, 4 players) 6s Jc Td
BB bets 66.4 BB and is all-in, Hero raises to 98.4 BB and is all-in, CO calls 34.1 BB and is all-in

Turn : (407.4 BB, 4 players) Kd

River : (407.4 BB, 4 players) Kc

MP shows 5s 5h (Two Pair, Kings and Fives)

Main Pot [240.5 BB]: (Pre 19%, Flop 8%, Turn 0%)

CO shows Qc Qh (Two Pair, Kings and Queens)

Main Pot [240.5 BB]: (Pre 40%, Flop 62%, Turn 3%)
Side Pot#1 [102.3 BB]: (Pre 51%, Flop 69%, Turn 3%)

BB shows Ad Qd (Straight, Ace High)

Main Pot [240.5 BB]: (Pre 11%, Flop 19%, Turn 96%)
Side Pot#1 [102.3 BB]: (Pre 12%, Flop 19%, Turn 96%)
Side Pot#2 [64.6 BB]: (Pre 21%, Flop 22%, Turn 99%)

Hero shows Kh As (Three of a Kind, Kings)

Main Pot [240.5 BB]: (Pre 30%, Flop 12%, Turn 1%)
Side Pot#1 [102.3 BB]: (Pre 37%, Flop 12%, Turn 1%)
Side Pot#2 [64.6 BB]: (Pre 79%, Flop 78%, Turn 1%)

BB wins 387.1 BB


Here is my graph of 10NL since I got this new computer. Honestly, not that great. I think my tilt control and intention has not been that great, and I've paid off too many large river bets, where people just significantly underbluff:



Here is one interesting from yesterday. I actually thought about checking back the river, since I just was not sure what I would get value from, especially when I had the diamond draw, the board was paired, and a straight flush was out there. Still, people just call way too wide, so I bet, preparing to bet-fold. Even not being results oriented, I still think a check back on the river is fine, since I'm hoping a lower flush or a staight will pay off, which is unlikely, and pre-flop raiser has a lot of full houses in range that are slow played. Interesting runout though:


One thing I continue to struggle with is how to play over-pairs/strong value in EP vs a late position caller in a SRP, especially on low, dry boards. For example, I raise AA in UTG and button calls, flop is low and disconnected like T74r. I know on low boards, we should be checking a lot. As I've looked at more and more spots on GTOwiz, especially from OOP, we should really be checking quite frequentyly. However, I feel like we miss out on a lot value. Or, villain will take a stab, turn will check through, I lead river and they fold. I think checking from out of position implies, villain will barrel something like 56s unimproved for 3 streets, but this rarely happens. Instead, people will check back turns to realize their equity. Maybe this is just the eternal crux of playing from OOP is that its hard to get value. Instead, its maybe better to be really unbalanced and just bet, bet, bet, and over-fold to turn/river raises, since those are so underbluffed in general. Not sure if anyone has any suggestions on spots like these or resources to look at.

Anyways, happy new years!

Quick hand from today that I thought was interesting. I'm learning 6max, so my ranges still aren't great. I thought that AJo can mix a small amount as a bluff vs UTG (which is wrong, this should be a clear fold, I randomized 25% 3b). I thought it was a good hand to triple barrel bluff with, holding Ad. The river was the interesting decision. I thought holding Ad, villain has very few flushes on river, and is really weighted towards Qx hands. I didn't think villain should be calling that many AQo hands, so not many 2p available. I thought it was thin, but I thought a jam there would be find at some portion of the the time, maybe get a crying call from KQ/QJ. I also wasn't sure what bluffs I would have here that triple barrel. Anyways, I got snapped lol

Looking at this in GTOwiz actually, saw many mistakes. AJo is a fold pre. On this flop, most common bet size is about 1/3. Interestingly, even on flop, villain should start folding out some TT/JJ. I always struggle to know when I should fold 2nd pair to just a single bet. Also interesting, to a turn barrel, villain should even start to fold out some Qx without a diamond. Wild that you are supposed to fold out top pair there.

On the river, even AK begins to check at a large frequency. Only things going all in are AA/QQ/AQ, flushes, and your airball bluffs of 45/65. Also interestingly, Villain can actually lead jam AQ here from OOP:


Anyways, not sure how much I will continue to play 6Max. It does seem to be more action, and it forces people to play way more hands, which I think means its a harder game. There are always more 6Max games running so I might consider switching over to it. I really need to work on more Blind vs blind play, along with 3b calling ranges from the SB and proper 4b bluffs/value.

Okay, I played a little bit more and ran it up a ton on some very soft tables. I cracked AA 3 times lol, although each time they played it pretty horribly, by basically min 3betting or 4betting and allowing me an insane price to come in and see flops lol. I put them all here for your viewing pleasure. It warms my heart since each villain had insanely nitty stats too lol.

First one (I think the best play though is just to call the flop 3b though, since they will just jam every turn card there. My flop 4b all in is just so insanely nutted):

This one was pretty fun lol. I almost thought about raising flop myself, but don't think I'll have many raises to that large of size. Turn, I wasn't really afraid of villain having flushes, since I don't think they play AKs/AQs this way, there hand just screamed AA/KK lol:


This one villain played slightly better, but they were still so too greedy! Just make it a regular size 4b and I hate my life, and make size it so that your are shoving turn lol:


And one more terrible min 3b to warm your heart where I won a huge pot. If they had normal 3b to like 12BB out of the SB I snap fold pre:


I did have one cooler. Maybe I could have folded to min 3b on the turn since that is just so nutted lol but my thinking is there are not that many K high flushes BB will have (which is a mistake, since they may have every combo of suited K, not just KT/K9s). Was bound to loose a lot of money on that runout anyways:


Anddd I'm pretty embarrassed about this one, but this is a pretty terrible punt my me. I was reading about doing some sort of donk bet strategy, but also having weak hands mixed with value AND having a donk 3b-bluff strategy as well. Anyways, the result was this atrocity of a punt. I don't hate flop or turn, but definitely should have shut it down river. 7 is an absolutely terrible card since heavily decreases value combos and 2p. I had this guy labeled as a fish (although, I'm definitely the fish in this hand), who will probably never fold an overpair here except on a terrible runout). Anyways, enjoy my punt:

Here are the hands from today. I played decently well, other than a couple of mistakes, and ran not great in some big spots.



Here is a huge hand, I think I misplayed. Villain was a LAG nit. I think they had stats like 41/11/5. They would play a ton of hands in position and would stab alot if checked to, but they would never put in stacks light and I never saw them do any crazy bluffs. There was a previous hand where I 3b and they cold called on the button. I flopped top set dry board. Checked to them on flop, checked through. Turn came and they turned a set, I bet, they raised immediately, and I jammed. I guess point is, not many people are putting in stacks light. I think my flop 4b size could be a little smaller. I think I could honestly even fold this flop. There are just so few 4b raises on flops like this that are a bluff, especially multiway with a player left to act. I just discounted lower sets bc they 3b me (although it was an insanely small 3b). Oh well, you live and you learn. I feel I should just auto-fold to bets over 50bb without 2pair plus and that would just print money lol:

Hands from today. Poker has felt a lot easier in the last couple days. I took some time off, so maybe that is why. I think I'm folding more when people put in huge bets, it feels easier for some reason though:


Still running not that great, down like 6BI under EV on my new computer.

Here is a hand from today, I'm thinking about. After it checked to me on the river - is my bet too thin? When I didn't get jammed on the turn and since the flop was not 3b, I really thought one of my opponenents had a flush draw that missed, and the other had a Jx which I beat. I really though most 9x would x/r on the turn. That villain that just smooth called was extremely passive though, so maybe I should have been that surprised.

Maybe going for thin value is better than being scared and checking back? I could have gone smaller and snap folded to a raise. Oh well:



My current w/r at 10NL is 6.6BB/100 9 handed, which feels okay (it would be ~12ish if I was running at EV though). I'm also continuing to learn and playing more and more. My current BR is finally close to what it was when I started this blog lol its at ~$179, since I stupidly shot took before I was ready at 25NL and it went really poorly. I said I would move up when I have 20BI saved (which is $500), but if I play like 50k hands at 10NL and am a proven winner of at least 5BB/100, I may just move up anyways and just add to it with my own money instead of waiting for BR to increase.

We need to size down on the turn and river as we want to keep betting. In this way, opponents call more of the weaker Jx.

In your case, opponents come to the river with a fairly narrow and strong range, so I favor a checkback on the river.

Thanks for the advice. My thinking was that since it was multi-way and since both opponents are OOP I would likely have gotten x/r on the turn with all 8x and T9 holdings, since the river will check through a lot. When no one led the river, I thought I could go for some thin value, preparing to bet-fold. I still think that is the correct thinking, but I definitely should have sized down more.

Agree with the above about bet sizing. In this hand I would flat flop with the AJ multiway, board is very dynamic meaning there's so many turn cards that are bad for us. Any club, Q K 9 T even 6/7 aren't great. We don't want to bloat pots like this with single pairs and little redraw potential. We are also potentially raising/barrelling off vs the nut straight/sets/2pairs on flop. As what happened in the hand even supposed good cards for us often aren't when up against multiple opponents. Prob some other reasons not to raise but those are the main ones that come to mind. GL with the grind