Hi guys, hadn't been posting here for decades, thought this will be a good place to get some good feedback.

A little introduction: My name is Stas, 26 year old male from Tel-Aviv, Israel. Been playing poker for the past 7 years, last 4 of them NL. Playing mostly 6max, exclusively on PokerStars, between 100NL-400NL, multi-tabling 6-12 tables.

Up until a year ago I was slightly-winning player (0.6ptbb/100). Although being a slightly-winning-player usually equals terrible swings, I managed to never make even a single deposit (VERY strict BRM).

About hald a year ago I accidentally stumbled upon Phil Galfond's well here (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/19...visisted-88525) and understood that my game so far was mainly clicking buttons with the right ranges, and a very good mentality for a poker player.

Anyways, since reading the well, I decided to take things more seriously, started reading lots of theoretical stuff, and working a lot about my game and my psychology (state-of-mind, stop-losses etc.). Feeling great improvement each and every month, both in my understanding of the game, and in my understanding of how to live my life as a poker player.

In the last half year I played mostly 200NL-400NL with quite big winrates (INO obv) of 5ptbb/100 hands on a sample of ~200K hands.

Anywwwaaayyysss my current challenge is to be a profitable reg at 1000NL 6max by the end of 2012. Of course it's important to set yourself reachable goals, so if I finish 2012 by being a 600NL I won't feel like I had failed..

The BRM rules are quite simple and goes as following:

* Moving up the limits whenever I reach 30 full buy-ins (100bb) of next limit. For example - in order to move to 600NL I will need a 18K bank-roll.

* Moving down the limits whenever I reach 30 full buy-ins (100bb) of previous limit. For example - moving down from 400NL to 200NL whenever my bankroll decreases to 6K bankroll.

I will upload here weekly progress graphs, and some interesting hands I might encounter on the way. My main purpose from this thread is to receive some criticism on my own game, and to have a good and self-improving "poker talk".

GL to me :}

Some graphs to begin with... All win-rates in Big-Bets/100 hands (ptbb/100).

January [200NL]:


February [200NL]:


March [200NL]:


Since the beginning of 2012 [200NL] with ptbb/100:


Since my current database - September 2011 [200NL]:

First hand I'm uploading, mostly to get familiar with the pattern of how to upload hands to 2+2

Two villains involved, the one in the BB is "SnerkaDerka" (PTR profile - http://www.pokertableratings.com/sta...ch/snerkaderka) LAGish fishy player, runs on 34vp-23pfr, AFQ=46%. Around 30% call to 3bet pre, 56% fold to cbet flop.

The villain on the BU is "mikimiki88" (PTR profile - http://www.pokertableratings.com/sta...rch/mikimiki88) Decent-minus reg, runs on 24-20, AFQ=51%. call a CO open 11%, raises CO open 14%. when facing 4bet from CO, folds 40%, calls 20%, all-in 20%. cbet flop in a 3pot with position = 60%, folds to cbet-raise = 45% . GREATTT. And now for the hand...


PokerStars - $2 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

BB: $389.98
UTG: $269.35
MP: $193.89
Hero (CO): $223.84
BTN: $933.70
SB: $200.00

SB posts SB $1.00, BB posts BB $2.00

Pre Flop: ($3.00) Hero has 2 A

fold, fold, Hero raises to $4.40, BTN raises to $15.00, fold, BB calls $13.00, Hero calls $10.60

Flop: ($46.00, 3 players) 4 8 J
BB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets $25.47, BB calls $25.47, [color=red]Hero ??

glgl

seems like an easy call with nfd there?

well you cant fold there and if you raise u risk getting shoved on etc, and you'll blow up the pot w/o anything but a FD and 3 outs to an Ace that MIGHT me good. So calling there seems like the best option

A raise/call line is probably fine, sooo much equity and soo much dead money.
Basically, don't put peoples PTR profiles and sn's in posts. Don't want fish finding out about 2+2 by googling themselves.

OK, will put from now on only ranges and winrate of villains.

My 2cents on the hand I published:

Pre: BU with 14%, the fishy-BB mostly adding dead money to the pot and seldom have QQ+, and his presence at the pot is really good for me as it calms down a bit the BU from bluff-barreling.

Flop: Seems like the perfect flop for me, at least at the 20% top of flops. First thing that comes to mind "No Exit from this hand" At least not against the ranges I'm playing against. BU with a standard (yet smallish) cbet, which I read as a warning to me ("Be careful, I'm cbeting 2 players, one of them is a fish"). Fish BB *just* calls (seems very weak to me), there are 100$ (50bb) hanging there in the pot, just waiting for someone to take them. IMO against their ranges I'm a HUGE favourite in this situation (including the dead money) and thus obligated to raise.

Now it's time for sizing-thinking. I sat for about 10 seconds and thought about 2 things, 1) what do I do here with a set and 2)what is the optimal result I want to achieve.

The answer to 1) is that I raise on the lowish-side. This is because I anyway have a comfortable shove on the turn, and because I think BB can pay with a lot of hands to a lower raise, and then fold turn when unimproved.

Now, I clame that this situation is generally EV++ , but that in this specific situation it's even more than that (Meaning it's EV++++ lol).
Look at the effective stacks, I'm actually a short-stacker comparing to their current stacks. BU will feel very uncomfortable, let's say, Just calling/raising here and waiting for BB response.

Let me conclude my opinion for why is this a MUST-RAISE situation with an interesting question: Let say that you are the BU, and the same exact situation occurs. You have AsJs/QsQh to your preffering you cbet this "standard" flop, get called by BB-Fish, and a smart-earning-reg CR you very low. what's your action? I really think that I fold this almost always vs good-reg.

Anywayyss, Got back today to 400NL after a month's brake (Ran 14 buy-ins below EV last month, and wasn't playing my A-Game, so took some rest at 200NL )

The session started very much alike as the previous month, and after 400 hands I was almost at my stop-loss (5 buy-ins).



2 main hands from the first 400 hands and basically 80% of the losses are as followed:

Hand 1: Villain who squeezes is a VERY good LAG-type MSNL reg, maybe I could have avoided this somehow...


PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

SB: $1,020.30
BB: $1,369.52
Hero (UTG): $656.40
MP: $420.58
CO: $531.40
BTN: $415.70

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $4.00, SB posts ante $0.80, BB posts ante $0.80, Hero posts ante $0.80, MP posts ante $0.80, CO posts ante $0.80, BTN posts ante $0.80

Pre Flop: ($10.80) Hero has 5 5

Hero raises to $14.00, MP calls $14.00, fold, fold, SB raises to $50.00, fold, Hero calls $36.00, MP calls $36.00

Flop: ($158.80, 3 players) Q 5 9
SB bets $70.00, Hero calls $70.00, fold

Turn: ($298.80, 2 players) 7
SB bets $125.00, Hero calls $125.00

River: ($548.80, 2 players) K
SB bets $774.50 and is all-in, Hero calls $410.60 and is all-in

SB shows Q Q (Three of a Kind, Queens) (Pre 81%, Flop 96%, Turn 98%)
Hero shows 5 5 (Three of a Kind, Fives) (Pre 19%, Flop 4%, Turn 2%)
SB wins $1,367.20


5 minutes after this hand comes this one..

Hand 2: Fish squeezes from BB (his range is 2%, deff premium).


PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

Hero (CO): $587.84
BTN: $410.65
SB: $753.56
BB: $244.74
UTG: $723.20
MP: $430.00

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $4.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero has 2 2

fold, fold, Hero raises to $8.80, BTN calls $8.80, SB raises to $28.00, fold, Hero calls $19.20, BTN calls $19.20

Flop: ($88.00, 3 players) 2 9 9
SB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets $44.00, SB calls $44.00, Hero raises to $166.04, fold, SB raises to $725.56 and is all-in, Hero calls $393.80 and is all-in

Turn: ($1251.68, 2 players) 3

River: ($1251.68, 2 players) A

SB shows A A (Full House, Aces full of Nines) (Pre 82%, Flop 17%, Turn 9%)
Hero mucks 2 2 (Full House, Twos full of Nines) (Pre 18%, Flop 83%, Turn 91%)
SB wins $1,248.88

Sooo I was obv quite upset, but felt like I was really playing my A-Game, and hoped for a miracle before the coming of the stop-loss

Fortunately for me, a great streak of non-showdown-profits followed. Some key hands:


Hand 3: "slow-playing AK/hitting my 24" vs a good and aggressive reg


PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

BTN: $200.00
SB: $235.18
BB: $400.00
Hero (UTG): $400.00

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $4.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero has 6 7

Hero raises to $8.80, fold, fold, BB calls $4.80

Flop: ($19.60, 2 players) 5 K 3
BB checks, Hero bets $11.79, BB raises to $36.00, Hero calls $24.21

Turn: ($91.60, 2 players) 9
BB bets $70.00, Hero calls $70.00

River: ($231.60, 2 players) A
BB checks, Hero bets $134.96, fold

Hero wins $230.10


And before you jump that it worked this time, but is deff a losing move, 20 minutes after..

Hand 4: "Turning my AK to a bluff catcher" vs different very good and solid reg.

PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

SB: $182.76
BB: $655.46
UTG: $164.00
CO: $406.00
Hero (BTN): $791.94

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $4.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero has 3 7

fold, fold, Hero raises to $8.80, fold, BB calls $4.80

Flop: ($19.60, 2 players) Q 5 A
BB checks, Hero bets $11.79, BB raises to $42.00, Hero calls $30.21

Turn: ($103.60, 2 players) 9
BB bets $78.00, Hero calls $78.00

River: ($259.60, 2 players) 7
BB checks, Hero bets $141.78, fold

Hero wins $256.80

This is 2 really good examples of somewhat new-to-me weapon that I use, I call it "The power of Passiveness" When used non-frequently it can turn a huge profit + pay attention that in both hands I actually missed a TON of draws.

I'll finish with a sweet "I-See-Your-Cards" hand, vs. an amazing reg with a 5ptbb/100 winrate on large samples.

Hand 7:

PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

UTG: $432.06
MP: $614.10
CO: $655.46
Hero (BTN): $407.49
SB: $562.15
BB: $434.76

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $4.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero has J J

fold, MP raises to $10.00, CO calls $10.00, Hero raises to $44.00, fold, BB raises to $112.00, fold, fold, Hero calls $68.00

Flop: ($246.00, 2 players) T 8 5
BB bets $322.76 and is all-in, Hero calls $295.49 and is all-in

Turn: ($836.98, 2 players) 9

River: ($836.98, 2 players) 9

BB shows 5 4 (Two Pair, Nines and Fives) (Pre 22%, Flop 20%, Turn 11%)
Hero shows J J (Two Pair, Jacks and Nines) (Pre 78%, Flop 80%, Turn 89%)
Hero wins $834.18


If any of the situations interests you, please reply and I will be more than happy to discuss any leaks you might have noticed.

hand 2: I dont really see why you would raise on that board. that's a board where I dont think you need a raising range at all

hand 3 and 4: I think your names for the hands are pretty ridiculous. pretty standard floats and bets when checked on river both times.

hand 5: i like your call. if he does it alot and light is good. nh

will be following. GL man

subbed!

Hi there and thanks for input.

Hand 2: I thought about just calling the flop but BU sizing was so small, and board texture was kinda wet, so I thought if I start being aggressive on later streets I will appear way more strong than raising the flop with a funny sizing.

For example - if any card between 3-8 falls, and I come aggressive on turn, they might put me on a pair-type hand that hit a miracle card, or some random 9 slow-playing his hand. Not to mention scare cards for BB over-pairs (like A for TT-KK etc.) , not to mention flush card comes (almost 25%) and all the action slows down immediately. We are kind of deep (me and BB) so it seems like it would be way easier for him to shove an over-pair here (especially fishy-type players) than on later streets.

If you have different thoughts about this, I would like to hear what you gain with just calling here.

Hands 3+4: The names are on the funny-side, not serious hand-analysing I agree that these are not "super-non-standard" spots, but I don't think they are so standard, to the average reg on these stakes. Anyway I'm glad to see confirmation to the line I chose, so TX

hand 5: Actually, I don't think he does it a lot, but it just seemed as a perfect spot for a "super-reg" to exploit the situation (the details that are missing are that MP opens loosely, CO is a fish, and I 3bet quite a lot in this specific table).

Thanks for feedback guys, will upload more hands soon.

K, finished some exams at the UNI, and stopped being sick (tiny flew) so back to 400NL

Today's session was excellent, felt like playing my A-Game and making some nice moves.

The graph:


Some interesting hands from the sess -


Hand 1: JJ 3bet pre vs 42-25, norm-agg fish, 200bb deep


PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

Hero (BB): $1,091.08
UTG: $772.35
MP: $400.00
CO: $573.61
BTN: $475.58
SB: $156.00

SB posts SB $2.00, Hero posts BB $4.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero has J J

UTG raises to $8.80, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $36.00, UTG calls $27.20

Flop: ($74.00, 2 players) 6 T Q
Hero bets $44.85, UTG calls $44.85

Turn: ($163.70, 2 players) T
Hero checks, UTG bets $92.00, Hero calls $92.00

River: ($347.70, 2 players) 4
Hero checks, UTG bets $236.00, Hero calls $236.00

UTG shows 7 5 (One Pair, Tens) (Pre 17%, Flop 9%, Turn 0%)
Hero shows J J (Two Pair, Jacks and Tens) (Pre 83%, Flop 91%, Turn 100%)
Hero wins $816.90

The villain open about 30% of hands from UTG, calls more than 60% of them to a 3bet. Very wet board, seems like a standard cbet. Turn is not a nice card, he'll prob fold most of his range to a cbet, and put me in a problem with better. I chose to check-calling turn and river. River is of course the perfect blank.


Hand 2: Very interesting hand vs a very good reg.

PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

Hero (CO): $440.10
BTN: $758.76
SB: $400.00
BB: $160.00
UTG: $835.43

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $4.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero has 7 5

fold, Hero raises to $8.80, BTN calls $8.80, fold, fold

Flop: ($23.60, 2 players) 2 A K
Hero bets $14.20, BTN calls $14.20

Turn: ($52.00, 2 players) 9
Hero checks, BTN bets $38.00, Hero raises to $117.16, BTN calls $79.16

River: ($286.32, 2 players) A
Hero bets $299.94 and is all-in, BTN calls $299.94

Hero shows 7 5 (One Pair, Aces) (Pre 39%, Flop 32%, Turn 18%)
BTN shows J A (Three of a Kind, Aces) (Pre 61%, Flop 68%, Turn 82%)
BTN wins $883.40


Villain runs on 25-21, aggressive. 90% of the time the 3bets me pre with AA, KK, AK, so I decided trying to take the pot from the start. Pondered between check-raising the flop, but decided it would be more scary if I CR turn and shove any river. River is actually not that bad for me, and I was kinda expecting him to fold A with less than Q kicker.


Hand 3: 3-barrel bluff vs norm-pass fish

PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

UTG: $432.32
CO: $374.00
Hero (BTN): $415.92
SB: $308.89
BB: $400.00

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $4.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero has K T

fold, CO raises to $8.00, Hero raises to $32.00, fold, fold, CO calls $24.00

Flop: ($70.00, 2 players) Q A 3
CO checks, Hero bets $36.28, CO calls $36.28

Turn: ($142.56, 2 players) 4
CO checks, Hero bets $89.04, CO calls $89.04

River: ($320.64, 2 players) 5
CO checks, Hero bets $258.60 and is all-in, fold

Hero wins $317.84

villain calls about 70% pre, thought I can get value from FD, and get some dead-money from kicking away Q good kicker / A weak kicker, it turned out nicely. The main thing in this move is my sizing on turn, that allows him to call with any weak hand, and kinda forces him to shove good hands to protect and get maximum value from me.

As always, replies and thoughts about the hands are very welcomed.

Yesterday I had my first session at 400NL+600NL, due to shortage at 400NL tables + growth in my bankroll due to running good in the past week.
600NL is actually very similar to 400NL (unlike the HUGE difference between 200NL and 400NL), due to big similarity between the players (most 400NL regs play also 600NL, and very few 600NL regs are actually 600NL+1000NL regs).
I was very tired and wasn't playing my A-Game.



At the beginning of the session I was still doing OK and making some nice moves...

Hand 1: Call to 5Bet with position vs. very good reg


PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

CO: $416.65
BTN: $400.00
SB: $607.05
Hero (BB): $452.77
UTG: $483.49

SB posts SB $2.00, Hero posts BB $4.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero has J Q

fold, fold, BTN raises to $8.00, SB raises to $28.00, Hero raises to $72.00, fold, SB raises to $124.00, Hero calls $52.00

Flop: ($256.00, 2 players) T K K
SB checks, Hero bets $84.00, SB calls $84.00

Turn: ($424.00, 2 players) 5
SB checks, Hero bets $244.77 and is all-in, fold

Hero wins $421.20

Villain at SB 3bets 15% of his hands vs. BU, and doesn't let go easily to 4bet (55% fold, 27% call, 18% raise). I was very calm at the table at that stage, and expected to get credit. Usually I will fold here to a normal 5bet, but his sizing was very small and I get nice odds to call in position with a decent flopping hand, plus me calling should tell him that I'm not on a bluff-type-hand, and put some warning signs in his head.
Flop: Although it's a "scary" flop at first (AK, KQ, TT hits, AA is not going to fold etc.), after further thinking it seems like a good flop for my perceived range (plus I have here some decent equity vs. good hand, about 25%). His check firms my thoughts (obv he can have TT, KK, AK and check the flop, but it's not a big chunk of his range, not to mention c-c vs my sizing with KJ/AT/JJ/QQ etc.), and I choose a very small sizing (like I would do with AK, TT, KK) with the intention to fold to a shove. I believe that this bet, with this sizing, is ALREADY an EV+ move.
Turn: Ideal turn (I'm not sure what I would do to a blank turn, prob tank forever and try to chose between shoving and c-folding unless I improve), that makes my decision quite esay to a shove (nice fold equity + about 25% equity vs call), villain tanks and folds.

Hand 2: calling pre from SB vs early open from an agrro-fish


PokerStars - $6 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

BB: $630.20
UTG: $714.96
MP: $576.00
CO: $600.00
BTN: $600.00
Hero (SB): $600.00

Hero posts SB $3.00, BB posts BB $6.00

Pre Flop: ($9.00) Hero has A 8

UTG raises to $12.00, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls $9.00, fold

Flop: ($30.00, 2 players) T 3 8
Hero checks, UTG checks

Turn: ($30.00, 2 players) 7
Hero bets $18.04, UTG raises to $66.00, Hero calls $47.96

River: ($162.00, 2 players) 5
Hero checks, UTG bets $204.00, Hero calls $204.00

UTG shows 9 Q (High Card, Queen) (Pre 39%, Flop 37%, Turn 25%)
Hero shows A 8 (One Pair, Eights) (Pre 61%, Flop 63%, Turn 75%)
Hero wins $567.20

Villain is a very loose aggro-fish, runs 54-25, AFQ= 52%, opens nearly 40% from UTG.
Flop: nice flop, I was aiming for a Check-Raise, villain checks behind to my surprise.
Turn: Excellent turn, that gives me a nut-draw. I lead turn (as I would have done on any turn) and again to my surprise, villain raises (quite big). I believe that most of the time he would cbet his sets/two-pairs/over-pairs on the flop, so I put him mostly on some type of pair+draw on the turn hand, and he have almost a full buy-in behind, so I don't want to blow the pot out of position. I call with my equity + bluff catcher (the intention to call any blank river).
River: I consider the river to be a blank mostly, and he bets a big over-bet, which I put him on either total air, either a hand like 46/69/55. Easy call if I follow my plan until the end.

Hand 3: Flush-Draw vs. 2 thinking and good players


PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

BTN: $448.53
SB: $525.06
Hero (BB): $406.00
UTG: $404.00
MP: $665.57
CO: $464.30

SB posts SB $2.00, Hero posts BB $4.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero has 2 K

UTG raises to $10.00, fold, fold, BTN calls $10.00, fold, Hero calls $6.00

Flop: ($32.00, 3 players) 8 8 6
Hero checks, UTG bets $18.33, BTN calls $18.33, Hero calls $18.33

Turn: ($86.99, 3 players) J
Hero checks, UTG checks, BTN bets $48.00, Hero raises to $125.30, fold, fold

Hero wins $180.19

Pre: Standard in my game (I call almost any suited hand from the blinds after two players are already in).
Flop: I hit a FD, but I'm not the nut-flush + it's a paired board, so I feel less comfortable to CR flop and continue betting turn and river. UTG opens 18%, and cbets about 36%, and doesn't give up easily when played back to. BU has 11% call 2bet, so this flop hits him nicely (88,66, AX hearts). I decide to just call and see how the hand continues.
Turn: Seems like a blank that's not supposed to improve anyone. UTG checks (cbet turn = 40%, cr turn = 11%), BU floats (I have him on 5/6 float turn), with a somewhat smallish sizing, I decide that by Check-Raising now I can represent 68/66/88/A8 etc, and that the UTG will have to fold almost 90% of his range to my CR. If BU calls me I probably check-fold river.


From the middle of the session I started playing bad, and making bad decisions, and the peak was the next (and last) hand, after which I ended the session.

Hand 4: PokerStars - $6 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

CO: $732.40
Hero (BTN): $606.00
SB: $268.10
BB: $972.40
UTG: $828.62
MP: $600.00

SB posts SB $3.00, BB posts BB $6.00

Pre Flop: ($9.00) Hero has 2 6

fold, MP raises to $15.00, CO calls $15.00, Hero calls $15.00, fold, BB calls $9.00

Flop: ($63.00, 4 players) 6 J 5
BB checks, MP bets $38.15, fold, Hero calls $38.15, fold

Turn: ($139.30, 2 players) 5
MP bets $106.47, Hero calls $106.47

River: ($352.24, 2 players) A
MP bets $111.00, Hero raises to $222.00, MP raises to $440.38 and is all-in, Hero calls $218.38

MP shows A A (Full House, Aces full of Fives) (Pre 82%, Flop 49%, Turn 77%)
Hero mucks 2 6 (Flush, Ace High) (Pre 18%, Flop 51%, Turn 23%)
MP wins $1,230.20

UTG is a solid reg, I have 115 hands on him, where he opened 0 out of 14 UTG, 1 out of 17 HJ (6%), cbet flop 1 out of 3 (33%), AFQ=38%.
Pre: As mentioned standard for my game.
Flop: I hit the nuts UTG cbets, I put him atm on JJ+, maybe AKs. At his point I should Raise his cbet and go all-in with my 50% + his folds when I raise 4 players. As mentioned previously, I'm playing bad, so I just call.
Turn: pairs the board, UTG cbets high sizing, I take out of his range JJ, AKs, and leave him with QQ+, mainly KK and AA. At this moment the right decision is to FOLD. Obv I play bad, so I convince myself that if I hit the 6 (hihi) I stack him, so I call again.
River: Here comes my flush, which according to my range-building gives him the full-house 50% of the time. He cbets super-low (which screams AAAAAAAAAAA, because he's prob check-calls, or check-folds his QQ, KK), my first instinct is to FOLD. After that I start to "think" about it, and convince myself that if he sometimes have some random bluff or some AK then I get the right odds to call, and from here I somehow min-raise him and then of course comes the biggest mistake of the hand, which is calling his shove. hihi.
Show-Down, "sit out at next bb" in all tables, and quickly I sit at the living-room, smoking my "I'm-so-disappointed-from-myself-after-session-smoke"

As usual, replies will be greatly appreciated.

Love the thread, not much a fish like myself can contribute but im subbed and will be following your journey

I really like your analysis of hands and the way you use stats, I'm definely impressed and I'll follow you

Can you share your hud / popup config ? I've been working a lot on mine and always looking to improve it

Good luck !

Today's session was played right after a lesson I was giving to my friend-student (I'm trying to teach him cash poker from scratch, currently we are only at the basics of CAP game), while he was sitting and watching beside me. Usually when I play and talk I do a lot of stupid moves and lose cash, but fortunately for me today was good



A few interesting hands...

Hand 1: Big Over-Bet river shove vs. a good 600NL&1000NL reg

PokerStars - $6 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

SB: $645.20
BB: $837.20
UTG: $600.00
MP: $760.30
CO: $141.00
Hero (BTN): $600.00

SB posts SB $3.00, BB posts BB $6.00

Pre Flop: ($9.00) Hero has A Q

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $13.20, SB raises to $60.00, fold, Hero calls $46.80

Flop: ($126.00, 2 players) 5 Q K
SB bets $60.00, Hero calls $60.00

Turn: ($246.00, 2 players) 2
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($246.00, 2 players) 4
SB bets $525.20 and is all-in, Hero ???

Villain is a decent solid 600NL-1000NL reg +300K at PTR. runs on 24-20, 59% afq, 10% 3bet flop vs. button, 77% fold to 4bet, 23% all-in to 4bet. 81% cbet flop on a 3bet-pot (after a 3bet has occurred.. how do you call this in "poker" language?? In Israel I think we just call it "a 3bet-pot"), 60% fold to cbet-raise, 20% call, 20% re-raise.
50% cbet turn, 1 from 1 occasions that was facing a turn cbet-raise he didn't fold.
0 out of 2 cbet river. 1 of 1 when checked river and faced a bet, he called.
4% CR turn. That's a lot of data

Hand 2: Nuts on the river, pondering if I could get more value, vs NANONOKO


PokerStars - $6 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

MP: $645.20
CO: $565.52
BTN: $707.66
Hero (SB): $600.00
BB: $1,447.13
UTG: $711.88

Hero posts SB $3.00, BB posts BB $6.00

Pre Flop: ($9.00) Hero has Q A

fold, MP raises to $21.00, fold, fold, Hero calls $18.00, BB calls $15.00

Flop: ($63.00, 3 players) 3 A 4
Hero checks, BB checks, MP checks

Turn: ($63.00, 3 players) Q
Hero bets $32.50, BB calls $32.50, fold

River: ($128.00, 2 players) Q
Hero checks, BB bets $84.00, Hero raises to $258.71, BB calls $174.71

Hero shows Q A (Full House, Queens full of Aces) (Pre 61%, Flop 62%, Turn 9%)
BB mucks K T (Flush, Ace High) (Pre 39%, Flop 38%, Turn 91%)
Hero wins $642.62

Villain (the famous NanoNoko) runs on 28-23, 53% AFQ, 5% squeeze from the blinds, river AFQ = 42%. Won wen bet/raise river = 73%. I think I'm perceived as a semi-loose aggressive player, especially on the turn, who likes to lead out turn on checked-flop-pots. My student sat next to me and said - nice CR, now shove (we were just talking about a leak I know for sure that I have - I have almost no Over-Bets in my game, which is bad), I told him shoving is too much, but now (maybe result-oriented) I think that a check-shove river is a really cool move.

Hand 3: Interesting situation on the flop


PokerStars - $6 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

SB: $252.00
BB: $509.55
UTG: $600.00
Hero (MP): $850.04
CO: $1,429.04
BTN: $633.88

SB posts SB $3.00, BB posts BB $6.00

Pre Flop: ($9.00) Hero has Q J

fold, Hero raises to $15.00, CO raises to $54.00, fold, fold, BB calls $48.00, Hero calls $39.00

Flop: ($165.00, 3 players) T Q J
BB checks, Hero bets $112.18, fold, fold

Hero wins $162.20

Villain on CO is again Nanonoko, some stats that are missing - 6% 3bet from CO, 66% flop cbet when in position at 3bet-pots.
Vaillan on the BB is a big-fish, runs on 40-21, 42% AFQ, I have him on 2 out of 3 call to 3bet on our 77 hands together What do we do on the flop? donking/check-raising/check-calling? what are the plans for turn and river?

I'm really interested in this hand because of the following hand, which I played about a month ago, and that still bothers me:


PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

CO: $166.00
BTN: $472.64
SB: $925.35
BB: $212.63
Hero (UTG): $875.44
MP: $492.94

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $4.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero has T Q

Hero raises to $10.00, MP raises to $36.00, fold, fold, SB calls $34.00, fold, Hero calls $26.00

Flop: ($112.00, 3 players) J K A
SB checks, Hero checks, MP bets $88.00, SB calls $88.00, Hero calls $88.00

Turn: ($376.00, 3 players) 3
SB checks, Hero checks, MP checks

River: ($376.00, 3 players) 6
SB bets $260.00, Hero raises to $751.44 and is all-in, fold, SB calls $491.44

Hero shows T Q (Straight, Ace High) (Pre 30%, Flop 87%, Turn 77%)
SB shows A Q (Flush, Ace High) (Pre 70%, Flop 13%, Turn 23%)
SB wins $1,876.08

both villains are very good solid regs.

I find that having someone (even a newb) watching and explaining your moves is so helpful. Great start and I'm looking forward to watching your progress! GL

My on-screen HUD consists of somewhat the standard AFQ, 4bet after RFI, VPIP, PFR, Attempt to steal blinds, and fold Steal to blind re-raise.

My pop-up config is somewhat more impressive and includes stats on every street (pre, flop, turn and river) and some break-down by position (standard pos vs pos repeating situations like SB vs BB, CO vs BU etc).

I'm currently working on some "instructive videos", will publish them soon on my site (not sure if I can write down the address here but it appears on my profile), there will be better explaining of different stats I use frequently.

Glad to hear my hand analysis is being appreciated, and would be happy to discuss any thoughts that you might have on various hands

Summary of 200NL for the year of 2012:

Hopefully I won’t get back to 200NL in the future, so this seems like a great end-point for me (The first 3 places are 9max regs, and the 4th place, the only 6max player above me, is in the middle of a down-swing in April)…

Some positional stats from 200NL, since the beginning of the year and until 8/4/2012 (when I moved up)..

Well, finally I got me some bad sessions, after a couple of days of not playing, I got back to the tables a bit rusty.

Yesterday's session was ok:



and today's was not OK I could lose less if I would recognize earlier that I'm not playing good




Tons of interesting and hard hands, I chose only 4-5 for this post not to be long as *something really long*..

Hand 1: Turn raise for value on drawy board vs a semi-tight-fish


PokerStars - $6 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

Hero (CO): $1,283.18
BTN: $1,096.94
SB: $512.26
BB: $600.00
UTG: $613.78
MP: $657.57

SB posts SB $3.00, BB posts BB $6.00

Pre Flop: ($9.00) Hero has Q A

UTG raises to $12.00, fold, Hero calls $12.00, fold, SB calls $9.00, fold

Flop: ($42.00, 3 players) K 5 T
SB bets $18.00, fold, Hero calls $18.00

Turn: ($78.00, 2 players) 7
SB bets $30.00, Hero raises to $105.17, SB calls $75.17

River: ($288.34, 2 players) 4
SB checks, Hero checks

SB shows J Q (High Card, King) (Pre 32%, Flop 29%, Turn 16%)
Hero shows Q A (High Card, Ace) (Pre 68%, Flop 71%, Turn 84%)
Hero wins $285.54

Flop is draw-heavy, I believe that with a turn raise in position I can get better hands than mine to fold + take some nice equity from drawing-hands + actually still have some outs for myself.

Hand 2: Weird play by me with AKs, I still am really confused with this hand, vs good reg:


PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

Hero (MP): $400.00
CO: $298.25
BTN: $389.00
SB: $200.00
BB: $151.02
UTG: $451.30

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $4.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero has A K

UTG raises to $12.00, Hero calls $12.00, CO calls $12.00, fold, fold, fold

Flop: ($42.00, 3 players) K 7 T
UTG bets $30.00, Hero calls $30.00, fold

Turn: ($102.00, 2 players) A
UTG bets $72.00, Hero calls $72.00

River: ($246.00, 2 players) 4
UTG bets $337.30 and is all-in, fold

UTG wins $243.20

Don't really know what to say about this hand. Would really appreciate opinions here..

Hand 3: CR turn with ton of outs, questionable shove on the river, vs a good reg


PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

BTN: $388.26
SB: $565.39
BB: $400.00
Hero (UTG): $406.00
MP: $409.75
CO: $400.00

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $4.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero has Q T

Hero raises to $10.00, MP calls $10.00, fold, fold, fold, fold

Flop: ($26.00, 2 players) 9 8 K
Hero bets $15.64, MP calls $15.64

Turn: ($57.28, 2 players) A
Hero checks, MP bets $40.00, Hero raises to $131.86, MP calls $91.86

River: ($321.00, 2 players) T
Hero bets $248.50 and is all-in, MP calls $248.50

Hero shows Q T (One Pair, Tens) (Pre 43%, Flop 34%, Turn 9%)
MP shows 2 A (One Pair, Aces) (Pre 57%, Flop 66%, Turn 91%)
MP wins $815.20

I think that the turn is a really good move by me, considering the ton of equity I have + ton of floats that he should have when I "give up" on turn + he can't have nutish hands in his range (AA,KK,AK etc.) while I can still represent them.
River shove is maybe a bit over the top, would love some opinions here as well.

Hand 4: Prob the only hand that I like, maximizing value vs fish on a dry board


PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

BB: $419.97
UTG: $508.20
Hero (MP): $402.00
CO: $355.95
BTN: $475.94
SB: $197.76

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $4.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero has Q Q

fold, Hero raises to $10.00, CO calls $10.00, fold, fold, fold

Flop: ($26.00, 2 players) 2 2 J
Hero bets $15.64, CO calls $15.64

Turn: ($57.28, 2 players) 2
Hero checks, CO bets $25.00, Hero raises to $81.96, CO raises to $140.00, Hero raises to $376.36 and is all-in, CO calls $190.31 and is all-in

River: ($717.90, 2 players) 6

Hero shows Q Q (Full House, Twos full of Queens) (Pre 81%, Flop 92%, Turn 95%)
CO shows 7 7 (Full House, Twos full of Sevens) (Pre 19%, Flop 8%, Turn 5%)
Hero wins $715.10

We both know that we both prob don't have the 2, and I think it's gonna be really hard for me to extract 3 streets of value with my position, so I decided to try and go to a "brain game" mode vs him, happily for me it worked.

Hand 5: Violence vs decent-non-believing-reg who hates to fold


PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

MP: $301.52
CO: $406.00
Hero (BTN): $424.18
SB: $400.00
BB: $287.76
UTG: $905.81

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $4.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero has A J

UTG raises to $8.00, MP calls $8.00, fold, Hero raises to $37.00, fold, fold, UTG calls $29.00, fold

Flop: ($88.00, 2 players) 5 5 4
UTG checks, Hero bets $53.67, UTG calls $53.67

Turn: ($195.34, 2 players) T
UTG checks, Hero bets $106.30, UTG calls $106.30

River: ($407.94, 2 players) 3
UTG checks, Hero bets $227.21 and is all-in, fold

Hero wins $405.14

I think that at least 80% of the time when I find myself in a similar situation I have some really good hand, so figured I'd represent it.

And for a dessert, two hands that I think shows a repeating situation where you can extract some small value, and it's a shame to give up on it. Prob to most regs it will seem kinda obvious, but I think lot's of people don't maximize on these spots...

Hand 6:

PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

CO: $423.70
BTN: $910.82
SB: $409.34
BB: $31.53
Hero (UTG): $406.00
MP: $193.77

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $4.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero has J T

Hero raises to $10.00, fold, fold, BTN calls $10.00, fold, BB raises to $16.00, Hero raises to $60.00, fold, BB calls $15.53 and is all-in

Flop: ($75.06, 2 players) Q Q A

Turn: ($75.06, 2 players) 7

River: ($75.06, 2 players) 3

BB shows 2 A (Two Pair, Aces and Queens) (Pre 51%, Flop 82%, Turn 91%)
Hero shows J T (One Pair, Queens) (Pre 49%, Flop 18%, Turn 9%)
BB wins $72.26

Hand 7:

PokerStars - $4 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

CO: $285.20
BTN: $400.00
SB: $16.04
Hero (BB): $427.57
UTG: $423.75
MP: $406.00

SB posts SB $2.00, Hero posts BB $4.00

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero has 4 K

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to $12.00, SB raises to $16.04 and is all-in, Hero raises to $44.00, fold

Flop: ($44.08, 2 players) 4 T 7

Turn: ($44.08, 2 players) 8

River: ($44.08, 2 players) 7

SB shows 6 5 (Straight, Eight High) (Pre 44%, Flop 52%, Turn 100%)
Hero shows 4 K (Two Pair, Sevens and Fours) (Pre 56%, Flop 48%, Turn 0%)
SB wins $42.10


As always, any comments or thoughts are very much welcomed.

Great thread and analysis so far, good luck with your challenge.

It'd be cool to see a hand history review video posted with a few of your hands if possible.

Keep up the good work.

TY.
I'm working now on some vids, I believe that the first one will be released by Wednesday latest.