I want to play more poker this year and I want to not go broke. I guess those are my goals.

I'm going to start at 1-3NL with 3k set aside for poker and see what happens.

I'm aiming to play once or twice a week on average but for the first couple months of the year it'll probably be once every other week.

I don't really care about moving up in stakes, that is a concern for future me who is hopefully not busto.

As for the why for these goals, 1) I should probably get out more; 2) poker is fun.

I tell myself im making this post for motivation but im pretty sure its just the inner me being an attention whore. Even money chance I update this twice and like all other new years resolutions I let it fade into nothingness.

Lettuce hope for the best.

first session friday.

gl me


P.S. if it is the future and I went busto and am reading this post, the following is for me:

Yikes,

Played for 12 hours today and dropped 5 buy ins. I played too wide from early positions and ended up with second best too often.

Gonna marinate on this session a bit,

I think I need to button how I play in late position. I think I’m calling too much in position with gapped suites connecting type hands when I don’t really have the implied odds to do so.

The thing is not that I’m losing lots f huge pots it’s that It was more of a losing by a thousand cuts.

My biggest losing hands were the following:

AJdd in late position with about 350.

Limp,limp,limp, I raise to 15 in sb,folds to mid position limper(has me covered times3)who calls, rest fold out

Pot 36;
Flop: 3s4cJs

Bet/call 25

Pot:84
Turn As

Bet 45 / v raise 100 / I call

pot: 284
River: 9d

Check/villain jams / I call

Villain tables K2ss
——-

Didn’t have info on the villain at the time.

played for about 7 hours yesterday, ended +595.

Worked on not calling out of position with hands that play better in position(ie suited connectors) and just tightening up my preflop hand selection.

Going to go back and play tomorrow and/or friday.

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hand from the day :

i'm in late position with AdAc, 400 effective

utg limp, utg+2 limp, I raise from CU to $15, button/BB/UTG/UTG+1 all call.

Pot: 70 (after rake)

Flop: Qc 3d 4d

checks to me, i bet $25 (i bet low for bad reasons lookng back on it.)

BB calls, rest fold out.

Pot: 120
Turn: 8s

check/bet $70 call

river: Kc

check to me

As played I checked because I don't get any value from missed flush draws(unless they have Kd), and I think the king hurts alot of the value i get from Qx. I thought about betting small enough that Qx would call but opted to check instead.

I know I should have bet flop bigger.

-----------
another hand:

SB-75
UTG-450
Hero(CU)-covers

Dealt QQ

UTG limps, folds to hero who raises to $20, folds to SB who raises to $45, UTG calls $45, hero ?


My instinct is to raise here to $150, SB is never bluffing and never folding and I think he probably has JJ+,AK type of range, UTG I don't think is slow playing a big hand because I was watching him count out chips and decide on a call and I felt like he was weak so I thought i'd raise for value thinking UTG is mostly going to fold, but even if he did there was the dead $45 in the pot and I got to see all 5 cards against the short stacked SB who I think im ahead of rangewise.

I don't like the idea of calling but maybe 150 is too much because I think he's gonna probably fold anyways so maybe a bit smaller so maybe he calls with something worse? unsure. I raised to $150.
---

I kept results out of the hands to hear thoughts(if anyone is reading, probably not) untainted by results. Will post later if requested

Played for 6ish hours and ended at -200.

Not too bad since in the first few hands of session this happened:

300 effective, H JTcc on the button,

UTG raises to 10, 2 callers, H calls, BB calls

POT 46

flop: Ts 6d Qc

Check,check,check,check, H bets 20, UTG calls, CO calls.

Pot: 106
Turn: 5c

Check,check,check

River: Ac

Check, CO bets 40, H raises to 80, utg folds, CO jams

Hero has about 200 behind, V covers.

I called and villain flipped K2cc for the nuts.

I was thinking that I blocked KJ/KT which were the K flushes that made the most sense. K9cc was a possibility and K5cc possible also. Folding 2nd nuts because of 2 combos feels bad especially with no info on villain at the time(though if this happened an hour later I prob fold based on things that happened after the hand).


Overall I felt good abou5 my play and I think the adjustments I made after last weeks disaster have helped a lot.

Good Luck!
I'm subscribed.
A rule I've adopted is a 2 buy in stop loss. I know this sounds light, but has been really good for me/I have the strong opinion that good players play poorly at times and don't recognize it in the heat of playing.
I have 9000+ hrs documented live hrs and this rule has really helped.

Got in 6 hours today and ended up +110, i’d Give my play a C-. There were several spots where I was very passive where I think I should have either a) been more aggressive or b)not in the hand at all.

Too tired to better explain what I mean, maybe will post later with hand examples. also I think I’m missing spots where I should be raising for value

As for a stop loss, I currently have it set for myself at -700(2 buy ins+100).

Things I learned yesterday:

when you want to set a stop loss of 700, don't bring 900 with you.

Second hand at the table, 300 effective.

I raise AA to 15 in early position, 1 caller, late position 3bets to 65, I jam (villain a MAWG who when I asked him if he had any blacks, 100 chips, in his stack; the way he counted out his stack made me believe he was calling anything), the 3bettor calls with KK, K pops up in the window.
---------

I rebuy and next hand I have AQ in the small blind.

4 limpers, CO raises to 15, fold to me in the small blind. I flat, 1 limper calls.

Pot: 52

Flop 4s 4h 7s

I check, check, preflop raiser makes it 25

I call, fold

Pot:102

Board: (4s 4h 7s) Qd

I check, preflop raiser bets 105 (allin), I call.

Here are the mistakes I think I made in the hand: 1) I think I should have 3bet pre if I was going to play. I am not sure why I didn't, probably because I was still shellacked from the previous hand. I think I was also thinking at the time that 3betting is just getting worse to fold better to call which I think is something to consider if i was on the button but in retrospect, out of position I think if im playing i should 3bet. Either way I don't think flatting pre is the worst mistake.

I think just flatting the flop is the worst mistake, especially with a player to act behind me. I think there is a decent chance i'm beating the original raiser, as I think its plausible for him to be cbetting air (alot of which im ahead of) but I think if im going to just flat, I need to be in position instead of out of it. It's funny how painfully obvious this is in retrospect but in the moment i certainly didn't have the clarity of mind.

As played I think the turn is a call. Sure he can have QQ+(10 combos) and maybe some kind of wild a4s(i think less likely). but I also think KQ is possible, and I believe flush draws are possible(i didn't have a spade).



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This hand I have 99 on the button(550 effective).

several limpers, LJ raises to 25, I flat, BB calls, limpers fold

Pot: 75

Board: 8 5 3

check, Original raiser bets 75, I decide to call, BB folds

Pot: 225

Board: (8 5 3) J

Original raiser bets 200, I fold

I think preflop is ok. I think this guy definitely can have all over pairs and I think its possible for him to have some kind of AK/AQ/AJ type of hand , which is why I called. I believed at the time that if he had just a high type hands he'd slow down on the turn based on how he's been playing(times when he had top pair and overcards came he'd slow down. With him not slowing down on the turn and the bet, I decided nines no good and got out of there. Maybe flop is a fold but in retrospect i don't feel bad about the call because I still think he's cbetting air there and unlike the previous hand i wrote about I have position.

--------------

I am on the button with j9s 300+ stack

5 limpers, I decide to raise to 20 on the button, BB calls (300+), v2 calls(300), v1 calls(45 after call)

Pot: 80

Board: J 9 4


checks around to me, I bet 50, folds to v1 who calls(allin)


I thikn raising the button here is fine to attack the limpers. Sometimes hands that dominate me will call but also I give myself a chance to take down the pot right there and if i dont take it down i'm getting hands that are better to fold and when I do get calls I have position. So I decided to raise. The rest of the hand plays itself out obviously.

runout: 6 2


----------------------

QJo in the BB

5 limpers, and i check in the blind.

pot: 17

Board: Jc Td 6d

check, I bet 10,v raise to 26, folds to me and I call.

Pot: 65

Board: (Jc Td 6d) 9d

i check, villain bets 45, i fold

notei had no diamonds)

Preflop I don't like attacking the limpers with this hand from the blinds, would rather raise a hand like this to attack limpers from the button or late position than blinds.

I decided to just bet out on the flop for value. The villain who raised me is a bit wild. He calls alot pre, doesn't fold draws, and over plays made hands. He can raise here with a combo draw,set, 2 pair, 1 pair, or air. It is not uncommon for him to min raise or little more than min raise on any street post flop. He can literally have any two cards here. When you raise his minraises he plays straightforward and will probably fold anything thats not better than top pair (exception is that he is never folding flushdraws/oesd). I felt it would be better to call with the intention of check/calling all non diamond turns and evaluating rivers.

Turn comes arguably one of the worst cards and I decide to check fold. If i had a diamond in my hand maybe I call but I didn't so i don't entertain the thought. I could be ahead but I can also just be smoked. I think there are better hands to bluffcatch here.

my last session i ended -450.

notable hands:

v1: 120, v2: 300, me: covers

v1 limps UTG for $3
v2 UTG+1 raises to $30 (standard has been 12-16 so this was a large sizing)
folds to me on the button with KK and i flat*
blinds fold and UTG calls.

flop : J 6 8 (2 spades)

UTG jams for 90ish
UTG+1 asks for count, and then cuts out the chips and calls
hero goes all in for 300**
UTG+1 calls.

*I didn't 3bet and maybe that was an error. The guy played like this similarly (large preflop raise several hands previously with AA and raised another hand smaller preflop(didnt show) so I put him on something like QQ+, maybe JJ, MAYBE AK but probably not. Blinds were tight players and I wasn't worried about them calling and the guy UTG had 40BBs and I was fine with him coming along(maybe this is another error). I thought this was an ok spot in position to disguise the strength of my hand and just calling.

**I figured utg could have anything from a draw to a set, and I thought UTG+1 could have QQ/AA or maybe AK/AQss(though unlikely based on preflop sizing). Maybe shoving is wrong though because I thought if he did have AA he'd be in a bad spot and might fold but in retrospect he's probably never folding an overpair. Calling felt like the wrong option because I felt like i'm either going with this hand or not at this point and I was not folding.

hand result:


Another hand, same villain. 150 effective

4limps to me in SB with 67dd, i complete and BB checks.

flop: a,6,7 (2 spades, one is the A)

I lead out for 15
villain raises to 50

I don't think this villain is ever in the history of ever limping AA, and i block 66/77. A6/A7 is possible but if so its most likely suited so there are only a few combos of that and there are several possible combo draws. I think its less likely he has Kxss because I think most people aren't raising that as a bluff.

call/allin/fold?

Decided to play a tournament yesterday to switch things up. Got there an hour early and played some 1/3 and ended +40, then in the tournament (160) I finished 5th for 830 making a total of +720 for the day. Not a bad way to end the month but overall I’m at about -1500 for January.

Here’s to a better February

Played a session for about 7 hours and ended -90.

One interesting hand, made a thread about it in the live low stakes section. https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1.../#post55802263

Everything else pretty standard, a couple big pots that didn’t go my way or made huge hands and couldn’t get value.

Played another 7 hour session and ended +405;

Lots of runbad and some suboptimal bluff attempts but it all turned around when this older super aggressive guy who isn’t there to fold doubled me up for a 800+ pot when I had quads and overbet jammed it on him when I knew he was never ever folding his full house (trips were on board), will post some hands later

Played for about 4 hours and everything went right. Ran super hot and kept getting max value. Very fun table, everyone loosening up doing johnnie walker black shots. When all the looser action players left I was up to about +635 and decided to cash out and jump in the tournament. Lasted 3 hands there (max late register) and went home +495 for the night.

Played 8 hours and ended -500.

Some play bad and some runbad. Two instances I called people down aggressively light and was right once.

Once was when a super agro guy bet 3 streets on a TTQA9 board after raising pre and all the bets were very small relative to the pot which I read as weak from him based on history. I didn’t think he had a T and I didn’t think he’d value bet 3 streets with Ax and not Qx so I called him down with bottom pair and he ended up having T2.

The other time was when a guy raised to 10 on my BB, got 4 callers and I called with 56. 753 flop(flush draw possible), I check he bet 20 into 50, folds to me and I called, 9 turn and I x/call 40, 3 river and I x/call his all in for 90. He had QJ with busted flush draw. Based on his play I don’t think he sizes that small on flop with actual value(overpairs) esp with so many callers and flush draw. Might have just got lucky though, need to think on it.

6 hours today and ended +600

Only notable hands was one with AK where I 3bet someone’s 25 open to 100 and then called his shove of 230 total(130 more). I hit a K on the river which beat their JJ and got berated for a bit about how I’m never getting called with worse. I mention n this hand because several hands later with 400 effective, I had JJ, UTG made it 10, 5/6 callers, I made it 100, got 2 callers (UTG and guy from prev hand; UTG had me covered and other guy had 200-300 before hand was dealt), J98 flop, 3 way all in, JJ holds and UTG mucks and other player shows T8. Yeah, never getting called by worse. (Note: yes scenarios were different but that doesn’t make the justice I felt internally radiate any less)

There are definitely spots where I’m leaking chips like a faucet. 70%of them are probably position related. 30% probably me calling too much on later streets because I have the uncanny ability to construct a scenario where I think it’s good and convince myself of that when it’s really just bad.

Played. All day yesterday and ended -280.

Made +50 playing 4/8 limit for 90 minutes because it had open seating and I was early for the satellite I was going to play.

-200 in the satellite. Crashed and burned very hard.

-130 in 1/3 afterwards

Hand: AQ in late position, I raise to 25 after several limpers, SB calls (we both have 300 to start hand).

Pot 50
Flop: 8c 7c 2x

Check/check

Turn: Ax

Check/ I bet 25 / call

River: 2x

Sb jams 200 into a 100 pot.


SB sees flops with any suited connecting cards with up to 3 gaps so I’m not Cbetting that board. All draws bricked and if he’s slow playing a monster there are only 9 possible combos(77,88,A2s) and I’m unsure they would be slow played 2 streets on that board.

Earlier he overbet jammed on the river, 300 into a 180 pot and I folded a big hand and he claimed to have a rivered gutterball straight.

I eventually call and he has 24 offsuit.

Maybe I should have found a fold.

2 sessions; first down 190, the other up 580.

Nothing really interesting hand wise.

I feel like I’m playing better than I was when I started this. I’ve almost completely recovered from the hole I dug myself into on session 1 which is good.

It looks like you're already adjusting to a suggestion I had based on your earlier HH, raise bigger when you're isolating limpers. So many people are going to call you otherwise and you don't want to be heading to the flop multiway holding AA.

Good luck!

Played 8 hours and ended +450

Ran well at beginning of session/end middle I was card dead

Only hand I regret is calling someone’s turn shove with QQ on a jT74 board. They were a tighter player and I think I could have found a fold.

Raised to 12 pre utg, got 4 callers ,

J74 flop, bet 35 into 50, bb calls; T turn, check to me and I bet 50; jammed on for 180 more.

Also think I should have bet turn more in retrospect.

+150 today.

First Friday to end up with a win. I’ll take it.

Rough one today -590.


Had 4 12+ out draws that bricked (in a 1 hour period)

One that I played aggressively:

63dd in the bb, 2 limps, sb completes , I check

Flop

7d 4s 2d

Checks to Limper who bets 15, sb calls, I make it 50, limper folds and sb calls (150 behind).

Turn 9c

Sb checks and i make it 130. Sb tanks and calls

River 2c

X/x

Sb had j7

Another rough one, -900;

Sevens will haunt my dreams.

Posting hands / thoughts later

i have 310 with AhKd from utg+1

utg limps, i make it 15, Utg+2, LJ, BB call.

Kd, 10c, 7d

check to me, I bet 40, UTG+2 (had 300 to start hand and first hand at table) raises to 100, folds to me and my action.

the pot is 200, 60 for me to call, UTG has 185 behind

im pretty sure this is a shove? I block the nut flush draw, but I think there are alot of other draws possible. Just calling seems like the worst decision since half the deck is pretty much not a great card. I think this is a spot where you either commit to the hand or don't.

I’ll probably shove here if it’s his first hand at the table. I’m assuming you had Ad Kh?

Yeah, wrote it backwards