The 2NL grind continues, come hang out on stream!

https://www.twitch.tv/neverbluffpoker/

Another few evening streams in the books, overall I thnk i'm a little down during streams but believed I played well and only made a few miss-steps each session. Felt we got our money in good a lot of the time with runout's just not going our way and In my last stream a fish I was targeting (90/6) hit the flop hard with our KK. This fish was calling down mid pairs and RR all-in withdraws so no way I was folding KK. Here are the 2 hands them:

Hand 1
Against this person don't think I'm folding KK here plus they are only half stacked so i think we just get it in and hope they don't have a set.

PokerStars - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 42.5 BB
SB: 41 BB
BB: 128 BB
UTG: 195.5 BB
MP: 121.5 BB
Hero (CO): 100 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K K

fold, fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, BTN calls 3 BB, fold, fold

Flop: (7.5 BB, 2 players) J 3 T
Hero bets 7 BB, BTN raises to 14 BB, Hero raises to 51 BB, BTN calls 25.5 BB and is all-in

Turn: (86.5 BB, 2 players) 5

River: (86.5 BB, 2 players) 9

Hero shows K K (One Pair, Kings)
(Pre 84%, Flop 67%, Turn 82%)
BTN shows Q 4 (Flush, Queen High)
(Pre 16%, Flop 33%, Turn 18%)
BTN wins 83.5 BB


Hand 2
Same villain as first hand, based on first hand(and other showdowns from this villain) again don't think I can fold here

PokerStars - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 100 BB
BB: 209.5 BB
UTG: 104 BB
MP: 201 BB
CO: 115.5 BB
Hero (BTN): 100 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K K

fold, fold, CO raises to 4 BB, Hero raises to 13 BB, SB calls 12.5 BB, fold, CO calls 9 BB

Flop: (40 BB, 3 players) 7 5 9
SB checks, CO checks, Hero bets 26 BB, SB calls 26 BB, fold

Turn: (92 BB, 2 players) T
SB bets 1 BB, Hero raises to 61 BB and is all-in, SB calls 60 BB and is all-in

River: (214 BB, 2 players) 9

SB shows 9 9 (Four of a Kind, Nines)

Hero shows K K (Two Pair, Kings and Nines)

SB wins 206.5 BB

I played a small session this morning and had one interesting hand that I'm sure is a miss-play. The hand in question was my 2p verse what is very likely straight on the turn for the villain. Can we use the idea of a villain at 2NL never folding a straight for implied odds for calling the 3bet on the turn if we plan on shoving the river if we hit our boat? Again think it's a miss-play but thought it was interesting.

PokerStars - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (SB): 100 BB
BB: 105 BB
UTG: 116.5 BB
CO: 69.5 BB
BTN: 98.5 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has J 8

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, BB calls 2 BB

Flop: (6 BB, 2 players) Q 8 K
Hero checks, BB checks

Turn: (6 BB, 2 players) J
Hero bets 5 BB, BB raises to 15 BB, Hero calls 10 BB

River: (36 BB, 2 players) J
Hero bets 82 BB and is all-in, BB calls 82 BB

Hero shows J 8 (Full House, Jacks full of Eights)
(Pre 39%, Flop 67%, Turn 9%)
BB shows T A (Straight, Ace High)
(Pre 61%, Flop 33%, Turn 91%)
Hero wins 193 BB


Sessions: +$2.73 ($0.98 from Challenge Chest/Free Casino Spins)
Overall: +$39.18
BR: $134.87

More streaming 2NL Fun, continuing the grind to 100NL

https://www.twitch.tv/neverbluffpoker

Finally a nice positive session stream with a few nice pots and nice plays. I think I got away from hands I was likely beat, some nice check backs, and good calls as well. Below are the hands I found interesting:

Hand 1
Villian is VPIP 22, PRF 10 over 50 hands. The check/raise from what looks to be a decent player yells trips/2p. It's probably a pretty nitty fold but in 2NL I find plays like this probably have TPTK beat.

PokerStars - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 99.5 BB
BB: 100 BB
Hero (UTG): 155 BB
MP: 100.5 BB
CO: 78.5 BB
BTN: 102.5 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K A

Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, fold, SB calls 2.5 BB, fold

Flop: (7 BB, 2 players) T 8 A
SB checks, Hero bets 5 BB, SB raises to 23 BB, fold

SB wins 16.5 BB

Hand 2
Similar hand but Villian is 60/5 over 21 hands. Not folding this against this type of player though could have 2 pair/trips but for .70c more it's an easy call. Probably should have maybe done a 1/2 pot bet instead just in case the 3-bettor is slow playing a bigger hand like AA/KK/A10 (though unlikely due to me holding blockers).

PokerStars - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 101.5 BB
SB: 92 BB
BB: 236.5 BB
Hero (UTG): 106.5 BB
MP: 77 BB
CO: 101.5 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has K A

Hero raises to 3 BB, MP calls 3 BB, CO calls 3 BB, fold, fold, BB raises to 11 BB, Hero calls 8 BB, MP calls 8 BB, CO calls 8 BB

Flop: (44.5 BB, 4 players) K 3 2
BB checks, Hero bets 30 BB, MP raises to 66 BB and is all-in, fold, fold, Hero calls 36 BB

Turn: (176.5 BB, 2 players) T

River: (176.5 BB, 2 players) 3

Hero shows K A (Two Pair, Kings and Threes)
(Pre 72%, Flop 82%, Turn 93%)
MP shows 6 K (Two Pair, Kings and Threes)
(Pre 28%, Flop 18%, Turn 7%)
Hero wins 170.5 BB

Hand 3
My favorite hand of the night (even though I lost). My thoughts on the hand, leading out with a large bet due to the web board, I c-bet the turn 2/3 for to protect against straight/flush draws. On the river we check back, we do this because missed draws are not calling, AK/AQ/AJ call beat us, full boats are raising us if we bet. Only possible hands that may call a bet that we have beat are some Ax combos which I don't think is enough to warrant a bet.

PokerStars - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): 100.5 BB
SB: 136 BB
BB: 96 BB
UTG: 83 BB
CO: 67 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has T A

fold, fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, BB calls 2 BB

Flop: (6.5 BB, 2 players) A 9 8
BB checks, Hero bets 5 BB, BB calls 5 BB

Turn: (16.5 BB, 2 players) A
BB checks, Hero bets 10.5 BB, BB calls 10.5 BB

River: (37.5 BB, 2 players) 3
BB checks, Hero checks

BB shows Q A (Three of a Kind, Aces)
(Pre 73%, Flop 79%, Turn 86%)
Hero mucks T A (Three of a Kind, Aces)
(Pre 27%, Flop 21%, Turn 14%)
BB wins 36 BB


Session: +$2.72 ($0.50 from Challenge Chest)
Overall: +$41.90
BR: $137.59

AT river check hand.

Bet smaller flop, turn fine and bet/fold river small.

You value own yourself some % but at 2NL there are way too many AX hands not to value bet but 9x May hero or TT poorly played JJ


AK is a call after CR. It’s 2cNL. You are IP call and play a turn. This isn’t just nitty, it’s bad. Also your sizing makes it super bloated on a wet board with TPTK and puts you in odd spots when you get C/R. Yeah I get it you think he’s decent, he’s not, he’s playing 2NL. If he was decent your hand is telegraphed as AX and he can just punish you with C/R for values and if you fold so much it’s going to be bluffs.


You have to play some turns and suck up you may be folding turn and perhaps you get stacked on A or K turns.


By sizing up all the time you’re going to get put in terrible spots all the time and level yourself into folding TP/OP hands. Let the fish get value bet to death by good sizing and punish them when they get out of line with the top of your ranges. AK is a bluff catcher here but now you still have to play a turn.

Good luck

I size up here because of the well-connected board, I want to get value with people drawing to the flush/straight as well as protect my top pair. If this was a dryer board I would be fine with betting smaller. There is some Ax in their range that call but with the paired board and the missed draw that won't call a bet I elected to check this one back.

I could probably size down a little but the fold here is very specific to the player and stakes I'm playing. Out of the 25k hands this run I have played at 2NL the number of times I have been check/raised I could count on one hand. Every time they had a very nutted hand leaving me with the second-best hand at showdown. With the stats on this player and our previous interaction, I'm fine with folding here.

Either way, start shot taking 5NL with $100+

The plan is to take a second shot at 5NL @ $150 (30 BI) with dropping back down at $125. Got another $12 to grind which hopefully I can do in the next 4-5 sessions . I thought about going with 20BI but feel a little better with the extra buffer.

Good luck. I’m doing a similar challenge in the micros. Plenty of people giving away the pennies.

Thanks man, yep lots of people punting off stacks . GL with your grind as well.

I'd feel very comfortable shot taking 10NL w/ $100+, I don't see the reason to not shot take 5NL. Play is very very similar you adjust almost nothing except maybe sizing.

The 2NL grind continues, come hang out on stream!

https://www.twitch.tv/neverbluffpoker/

It was a fairly good stream and did end up overall. I could have been better but a stacked off in one hand with the second nut flush vs the nut flush. Not 100% on the call here would like your thoughts:

PokerStars - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: 218.5 BB
CO: 98 BB
Hero (BTN): 105 BB
SB: 69 BB
BB: 122.5 BB
UTG: 100.5 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A T

fold, fold, CO calls 1 BB, Hero raises to 4 BB, fold, BB calls 3 BB, CO calls 3 BB

Flop: (12.5 BB, 3 players) 2 5 J
BB checks, CO checks, Hero bets 4 BB, fold, CO calls 4 BB

Turn: (20.5 BB, 2 players) K
CO checks, Hero checks

River: (20.5 BB, 2 players) Q
CO bets 90 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 90 BB

CO shows A 6 (Flush, Ace High)
(Pre 29%, Flop 21%, Turn 28%)
Hero shows A T (Flush, King High)
(Pre 71%, Flop 79%, Turn 72%)
CO wins 193.5 BB

Session: +$0.90 ($0.56 from Challenge Chest/Bounty Freeroll)
Overall: +$42.80
BR: $138.49

Hand 3 in post #79. I agree with the previous comment to make the flop smaller. For one, don't worry overly much about the draws. For another, take in mind when you choose smaller sizings, you can also make smaller cbets when you whiff (i.e., bluff more cheaply).

The hand in #88: I don't like that cbet. Your over plus the backdoor FD is a bit too weak multiway IMO. As played, double-barrel turn for a large bet sizing.

fold AT, multiple*pot jams where hero's range has a lot of strong absolute strength hands are an exploit with the nuts like 90% of the time at micros

Ya, agree on both accounts. Def. should of double-barrelled if I bet the flop.

I thought long and hard about it like you said they most likely have it. Just, really hate folding the second nuts lol.

Following, good luck.

I sent you a message on Twitch. Really like your overlay, was wondering where you got it from.

Thanks man, responded to your message

5NL Round #2, continuing the grind to 100NL

https://www.twitch.tv/neverbluffpoker

Sorry for the lack of updates it's been a busy week and hasn't played that much. Over the last week a bit I did manage to grind the BR up to $146.28 playing 2NL, bonuses, and a small 5NL session (was getting frustrated in 2NL). Then on 2+2 I got a freeroll for $8.88 to bring me past the $150 for 5NL. So now that I'm officially over the 30BI mark I streamed my second shot of 5NL today. It went pretty well and didn't get into many tough spots and think I made a few nice laydowns. I did notice I played a little tight then I normally would such as not opening some Ax hands in HJ/CO and some lower suited Ax in UTG/HJ. Here are a few interesting hands in the session:

Hand 1 - BvB
Stats on Villain is 32/26 and I could see him 3-betting light. Decide to check/raise the flop because he would be continuing a lot here. When he shoves it just doesn't feel right with only 1/3 pot bet so I call as I'm beating a lot of Ax and only crushed by A6/A9/66/99.

PokerStars - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 100 BB
Hero (SB): 100 BB
BB: 100 BB
UTG: 107.2 BB
MP: 218.4 BB
CO: 113 BB

Hero posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K A

fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, BB raises to 9 BB, Hero calls 6 BB

Flop: (18 BB, 2 players) A 6 9
Hero checks, BB bets 5.2 BB, Hero raises to 21 BB, BB raises to 91 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 70 BB and is all-in

Turn: (200 BB, 2 players) 2

River: (200 BB, 2 players) K

Hero shows K A (Two Pair, Aces and Kings)

BB shows K 7 (One Pair, Kings)

Hero wins 191.6 BB

Hand #2 - Nut Straight
Did I lose value here by not shoving? Figured he had an A for sure and didn't want extra rake on a chop.

PokerStars - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 100 BB
Hero (BB): 100 BB
UTG: 149.2 BB
MP: 101 BB
CO: 98.6 BB
BTN: 174.8 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has J A

fold, fold, fold, BTN calls 1 BB, SB calls 0.6 BB, Hero raises to 4 BB, BTN calls 3 BB, SB calls 3 BB

Flop: (12 BB, 3 players) Q 7 T
SB checks, Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: (12 BB, 3 players) K
SB checks, Hero bets 8 BB, fold, SB calls 8 BB

River: (28 BB, 2 players) J
SB bets 19.8 BB, Hero calls 19.8 BB

SB shows 8 9 (Straight, King High)
(Pre 40%, Flop 42%, Turn 0%)
Hero shows J A (Straight, Ace High)
(Pre 60%, Flop 58%, Turn 100%)
Hero wins 64.8 BB

Hand 3 - Weird Line By Me
OPP and being the 3-better decide to lead out the flop, and then double barrel on the turn. Now because it was an inflated pot and the BTN was SS when we get to the river we pretty much have no fold equity. So probably bet sizing is wrong on the turn. I decide to put him all-in up hoping he has a draw or maybe fold out AK.

PokerStars - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (SB): 155.8 BB
BB: 108.8 BB
UTG: 110.4 BB
CO: 292.8 BB
BTN: 80.4 BB

Hero posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has A Q

UTG raises to 3 BB, fold, BTN calls 3 BB, Hero raises to 13 BB, fold, fold, BTN calls 10 BB

Flop: (30 BB, 2 players) 4 J 8
Hero bets 10 BB, BTN calls 10 BB

Turn: (50 BB, 2 players) 4
Hero bets 30 BB, BTN calls 30 BB

River: (110 BB, 2 players) 5
Hero bets 34.8 BB, fold

Hero wins 105.4 BB

Hand 4 - Free Money
Villain 60/40 and just seems to want to get it all in the middle

PokerStars - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 79.6 BB
Hero (BTN): 140 BB
SB: 100 BB
BB: 105.6 BB
UTG: 115.6 BB
MP: 113.2 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K K

fold, fold, CO raises to 6 BB, Hero raises to 16 BB, fold, fold, CO calls 10 BB

Flop: (33.4 BB, 2 players) 4 4 6
CO bets 16 BB, Hero raises to 92.8 BB, CO calls 47.6 BB and is all-in

Turn: (160.6 BB, 2 players) T

River: (160.6 BB, 2 players) Q

CO shows A J (One Pair, Fours)
(Pre 29%, Flop 13%, Turn 7%)
Hero shows K K (Two Pair, Kings and Fours)
(Pre 71%, Flop 87%, Turn 93%)
Hero wins 154 BB

Hand 5 - Hero Call
His bet on the river just didn't make sense. I think he leads out with the K so the only possible card is maybe a 10 or hit the straight.

PokerStars - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: 100 BB
Hero (CO): 166.2 BB
BTN: 38.6 BB
SB: 243.8 BB
BB: 207.6 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has 9 8

fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, SB calls 2.6 BB, fold

Flop: (7 BB, 2 players) K 2 9
SB checks, Hero bets 3 BB, SB calls 3 BB

Turn: (13 BB, 2 players) T
SB checks, Hero checks

River: (13 BB, 2 players) 5
SB bets 9.8 BB, Hero calls 9.8 BB

SB shows A J (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 64%, Flop 26%, Turn 23%)
Hero shows 9 8 (One Pair, Nines)
(Pre 36%, Flop 74%, Turn 77%)
Hero wins 31.2 BB


Session: +$13.39 ($0.20 from Challenge Chest)
Overall: +$72.86
BR: $168.55

H1: You should be 4-betting preflop.

H2: I think is ok. You could try over-betting the turn and hope someone has a pair+draw type hand, or something they'll be sticky with. River, you gotta bet an amount that will get calls. If you shove, you're probably not getting called by anything worse. Most players will be afraid you have an Ace.

H3: Not sure I like triple-barreling (as a bluff) against a fish. Of course, you probably have the best hand a good percentage of the time lol. But that just means it's probably not the best idea to barrel. You know, the whole "not folding out anything better and not getting calls from worse" bit.

H4: 3Bet bigger!

H5: Can't really comment on this one without knowing what kind of player the villain is. Could be someone trying to steal the pot. If it's a tighter opponent, I'd lean more towards someone trying to get some extra value. I think someone could easily have a king there; not sure why it wouldn't make sense unless you have other stats/reads on him that you left out.

H1: Personally don't 4-bet AK that often, tho BvB maybe a good spot
H2: Seeing the hand ya I probably bet, the bet just felt like an A and didn't want to rake myself. Over betting turn maybe ok but again could be losing value and folding out hands that would call a smaller bet.
H3: Probably right, not sure what else he could have except a J or 4 that would call. Personally I just didn't what him to bet and have to make a decision to hero call or not with A high.
H4: Think I went smaller due to the large open by the villain and wanted them to stay in the hand. I think either play is fine against them.
H5: This villain (41/29) plays TP very aggressively even OOP so almost 100% of the time is going to lead out with the K. So I elect to call as I think my 9 very well may be good.