So, I ended the year on a down session, New Years Eve, shouldn't have played given I had just driven for about 12 hours straight, but I hadn't had the chance to play for a few days and I was jonesing for it.

I took a look at my year overall last night at home. It turns out in terms of play, I was down $65 dollars for the year NOT counting rakeback, just pure play, dissapointing but not surprising considering some of the choices I made (HU play and NL200 play). I made $3140.75 through PokerStars "rakeback" and $405 from FullTilt rakeback so positive, though modest, year overall from a monetary perspective, also a positive year from the perspective of getting back to playing decent stakes (started year playing NL10 after a huge downsing) and also I improved my game dramatically this year as well. I cashed out 2k during the year for actual personal consumption which was cool because I had never actually cashed out any money in the past.

Also collected about 69,200 VPP's for the year so respectable considering the stakes I was playing at beginning of the year.

Looking back, my strengths were FR games NL100 and below, broke even 6max NL100 and below, pretty much broke even at Omaha, and lost about 1600 at NL200 during my shots and another 2k at NL50 HU play.

I will try to post a graph pic and breakdown tonight of all the different games/stakes I played in 2010 from HEM.


2011--------------
I'm going into the new year with a decent bankroll:
Pokerstars --- $2371
800 more fpp's until my $650 bonus so basically a $3k bankroll on Stars
FullTilt --- $1456
TOTAL BANKROLL = $4477

I'm currently playing the following stakes and have a lock on Platinum Star each month now at Stars:
NL100 FR and 6max
PLO50 FR and 6max
HU - only playing $10 HU S&G's in order to stop the HU spew but still build experience at the same time. I have a plan to get back to HU cash.

Looks like I need 8,333 VPP's per month to hit one of my goals for this thread, Supernova, by the end of the year. I don't think that should be too much of a problem as long as I'm playing at least NL100. Once I hit that goal each month, I will play remainder of each month on FT. Should be able to play more and more FT as I get to higher and higher stakes which should allow me to better table select and probably play both sites at the exact same time to insure I have the best tables to play on, especially as good tables to play on become more scarce as the stakes rise above NL50.

I'm excited about this new year, I still think I can hit my goals set out in this thread if I stay disciplined with my bankroll and shore up my weaknesses like HU for instance.

Bankroll Considerations:
I have decided to wait until my bankroll is at 10k before attempting another NL200 shot. I figure this will take another 2 months or so of grinding NL100 based on my current winrate. While my FR game is strong enough to hold my own at NL200, I'm still going to wait as my BR is simply too small to take the swings right now. This gives me time to completely solidify my NL100 game and lockdown a strong 6max strategy, hopefully can get it locked down like my FR strat is.

I plan to probably setup another Leakfinder or normal coaching session with SplitSuit soon to further shore up my FR and SH strat.

Regarding HU, will continue to play HU S&G's and I'm going to get a HU specific coach as well, probably from Deuces Cracked if I can find a decent one to get me started. I need a thorough analysis of my HU game, I have read and understand lots of HU strategy, but I need someone to plug up some major leaks and insure my fundamentals are strong. Will be setting this up sometime this month hopefully.

I have cut out pool league twice a week now so for at least a season (roughly 4 months) so I will also have more time to play. Have been reading a book about winning, called, "Playing to Win - Becoming the Champion" by David Sirlin. It's been interesting so far, some basic info for sure, plus some stuff that brings up a question about shortstacking poker games (even though this isn't at all a poker book), but he is also pulling from The Art of War, by Sun Tzu, which I have read several times, but not in several years. Was kind of struck, once again, by the simplicity of the principles in The Art of War and how well they apply across the board to competitive gaming, especially poker.

As an example, Sun Tzu's Five Essentials for victory:
1. "He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight." -- Playing too long, playing when tired, playing when tilting etc.
2. "He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces"
3. "He will win whos army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks"
4. "He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared." -- play when they're tired and tilting
5. "He will win who has military capacity, and is not interfered with by the sovereign."

Number 1 and 4 are huge and they're things I've been very poor at, things that I think Tommy Angelo talks about, albeit, from a different angle, in his books/teachings. Anyways, enough philosophy, lets get to it.

My first session this year, Sunday night, was +366 so we're off to the races!

Imo with the mix of games you played last year, it would probably be +EV to stick to one like FR but seeing as your a recreational player mixing up for fun/learning isn't going to be a huge problem. I guess it's kind of an oppurtunity cost scenario with HU, you might lose some learning the game but once you have you can make a lot out of it.

SN looks like a good goal. I like the idea of playing both sites as well, thinking of being able to make SN as well as black card/iron man or making SN and once you have achieved 8.4k VPP in the month playing FT as well? Like playing stars until you hve 8.4k VPP in that month and then adding in FT?

I'd defnitely be interesting in hearing your feedback on the coaching experience, someting i'm thinking about as well but really know nothing about yet.

Cutting out pool? Are you insane? Shows good work ethic/dedication though and the extra hours will defenitely help.

Tommy Angelo definitely talks about playing when tited/tired, quitting etc, the art of war looks like a very interesting book. Have you read anything by Robert Greene, the 48th law/the 50th law which 50 cent helped write.

Looks like a great plan so far and a good start so good luck as always, we all know you can do it!

Hey thought i would drop in and say hello and wish you all the best for the coming year. Im just trying to get in to HU so maybe we can bounce HH`s about and things to help each other. Its slow going at the moment as im on a bit of a spew fest and downswing at the moment so HU has taken a back seat.

Nice start to the year and hope it continues.

In the short term, playing many different games, is not as good for my EV, however, I'm trying to get better at the game of poker as a whole, including all forms or structures, like HU, 6max, Cash, and eventually even Tourney's as well as all games, Omaha Hi is just the first one I'm picking to add on top of holdem, therefore, branching out a bit is ok I think. The plus side is that learning these other games/structures does help with your primary game you play to make the cash, at least in the longterm.

Yeah, basically, I'll be adding in tilt on top of Stars as I can, after reaching minimum supernova goal each month. I'm doing this for several reasons, I can't put in the volume needed to come anywhere even halfway to elite so no bother worrying about it, and adding in FT gives me more options, plus with my loose style, might be better from a rakeback perspective as well since it's a contributed rake. Also, I think the FT games might be better given that I don't touch the 20-50bb games on Stars at all and won't either, so the regular games or rush games at FT might be better/softer for me in general.

I don't know how much volume you need for ironman or black card on FT, but I'm guessing I'd need to be playing at least NL400 to make it, given I have a very finite amount of play I can put in each month and a big chunk of it has to be on Stars. How do those compare to the volume required for Supernova on Stars?

Coaching is huge, everyone can learn a game, but how long do you want to take to learn it? Save yourself some time, and maybe even make more from an opportunity cost perspective by getting some help. You don't see any professional athlete achieving great success without help, usually from a young age, like elementary school, poker is no different. That's the way I look at coaching and it has been immensely helpful to me so far in poker.

Pool, I'm just a little burnt out on, plus, with the amount of effort I put into poker right now, I can't really excel to the level I'd like in pool and that's not how I like to go about things, I don't like to half ass my passions so that is why I'm taking some time off with it.

Have not read any Robert Greene. What are his book(s) about?

Thanks for the well wishes, I'm sure you'll be out of the downswing in no time, glad to hear you're not tilting at least while downswinging. Looks like you have a way I can't do to play lower HU on some other sites that are only offered in Europe. For now, I'll be HU S&G'ing it but that's ok, at least until I get coaching, don't need to spew anymore money off there like I did in december

I'm sure we can both share HU learning tips along the way, hell, you could just watch me play HU and do the opposite and it would probably be a winning strategy

Good luck to you too in 2011, I follow your thread closely, you had a great 2010, looking forward to seeing what you can do this year!

Oh there has been plenty of tilting in the last few days. Its a work in progress though and wont just sort its self out overnight but im happy with the coaching so far.

On FT you would get ironman quite easily i would imagine depending how often you play. When i was 8 tabling NL100 FR i was just about getting Black card but i did have to put quite a bit of volume in. Its 100 Day average of 500 points but if you were to play Rush then you should be able to get it easy. I can usually do 500 points in about an hour but if you play looser then you would get it quicker and the Rakeback is about $10 per hour. Im not sure the benefits are that great for it at NL100 though. Im guessing if you make it to NL200 then it will really tell with the points and Ironman+ and Rakeback.
On the downside once you have played Rush and go back to normal tables it all seems a bit slow, which i guess is good for reads and things but it can turn you into an action junkie.

You make some good points about mixing up games and how it helps to improve our primary game/core poker skills. Are you looking to get into tournaments more this year as well as HU?

I have no idea how the volume compares for FT vs stars, black card vs SN, it's always an interesting topic to discuss but I don't think there's enough solid information out there to give super accurate figures given all the variables that can affect volume/how you play the volume etc.

I've never looked at coaching in that way before, I always thought about it as a thing to do when your at a brick wall with poker. Do you have any recommendations for when to get coaching, I always thought of 25/50nl as the kind of stakes where coaching can really propel you as a player.

I think cutting down on pool to play more poker is a great idea, one passion can always override another. I wonder if it's a big problem for professional players if they discover something else that they love.

I haven't read any Robert Greene but his books are along the same lines of The art of war, how to play oppenents/competetion etc.

gl as always.

I played quite a bit of FT Rush, NL50 near the beginning of 2010, maybe March and April, when PS was trying to figure out a short stacking strategy. It IS addictive, especially considering how many hands you can get in such a short time period. I'd probably wait until NL200 to start making any sort of a go at the FT milestones, but maybe I should look into it more, I don't even know what it is you get with the blackcard etc... I just don't want to HAVE to jump back and forth between the sites every day in order to reach a goal, I don't even play everyday so that would be tough.

You're right in that tilt doesn't just go away with a few lessons, even after listening to lots of Jared's stuff as well as Tommy Angelo's, I still get tilt occasionally, but it is less severe, and much less often, not to mention I've implemented things like playing shorter sessions and stop losses that help quite a bit to stop the bleeding when you do go on tilt.

Probably won't play too many more tournaments, you have to play tourney's on Sunday in general, and I usually spend time on Sunday's with my family instead.

A good coach will evaluate your game and figure out what your weaknesses and strengths are and go from there. Because of that, you can begin coaching at any point imo, they will speed up the learning process no matter what stage you're at by giving you a third party perspective and helping you where you need help. If you're a beginner, they will help you with your fundamentals and shoring up leaks, if you're an expert, they can figure out what you should be spending your time on improving or seeing things about your game you're unable to yourself. IMO, if you're serious about the game and you want to get better and you don't want to take forever to do it, all serious players should have a coach.

Maybe I'll take a look at some of his Robert Greene's books as soon as my reading schedule opens up, but right now I have about 6 books to read first on my list. Thanks for the suggestion though!

Last night's report:

+318 at NL100 FR and SH across about 700 hands.

I also won 3 out of 4 $10 HU S&G's, I kept one of these tourney's going while playing the regular cash games.

Of interest last night, my redline was shooting up the whole time I was playing, usually it's even or down a bit. I wonder if this is because I was playing 6-9 tables so I could play the HU S&G too so I was better able to focus than when I play the normal 9-12 ring games.

@MartL -- was thinking about your run-bad recently and I remembered something I read onetime on a 2+2 thread regarding the red line where the poster commented that people that play tighter/rely more on showdown winnings, will be more negatively affected by all-in variance. In other words, if you're winning 0 or actually losing money with the red line, and all of your winnings come from showdowns, when you're running bad (while getting your money in good) it can really hurt you temporarily, much more than someone who has an even or positive red line. A really good LAG for instance, who loses on the blue line but wins all of their money from bluffing and the red line, will be very little affected by showdown variance. Something to keep in mind for your own play as I think you play a little tighter and mentioned a downward sloping red line at one point. I think ronfar3 is another example of this, if you read his blog (http://www.pairtheboard.net/2010/10/...onth-ever.html) from the past few months, he has run terribad, but it's probably because he's going through a really nasty patch of variance and he wins mostly (I'm guessing based on his nittiness) from showdown winnings.

Didn't play last night, our pool team made the playoffs and we won last night too so on to the finals for our division next week. THEN I'll be finished with pool for a season.

In the past, I would have come home and played anyways and just stayed up late, trying to break those bad habits and get on a consistent sleep schedule. I think that may have lasting good effects on my longterm by being well rested most of the time and consequently, probably avoiding getting sick as much too.

We'll see how it goes, hard to measure if it is working, even if it is, since it's so subjective but I feel like this will be a good thing for me if I can stick with it...

Good luck!

Thanks!

Last night, 1/6/11

+437 over 1400 hands at NL100 FR and SH games
also, won 4 out of 7 $10 HU S&G's
Cleared the 2nd $10 Stellar Awards bonus plus finally had more than the 50k fpp's I needed for the $650 bonus and went ahead and purchased that as well.

Still not convinced I have a lock on the $10 HU S&G's enough to move up yet. A couple of the players I played were very weak and were easy to exploit. Against the better players, I wasn't breaking them down and exploiting them as well as I would have liked or expected so I definitely need more practice. That said, if I keep beating these games like I have over the next few sessions, I will probably move up to $20 HU S&G's soon.

Still waiting to hear back from the Deuces Cracked coach I solicited for HU coaching so hopefully will hear something from him soon, I'm anxious to get started on that coaching ASAP.

Weekend report:

I played about 4700 hands this weekend, unfortunately down 5 buyins roughly after those 3 sessions. I ran sorta bad at times, set vs set, all in EV running ragged, BUT, I think I was playing badly at times too, made some questionable calls. Will post a few hand histories tonight when I get home. There's definitely some places I could have minimized my losses or possibly even turn losing sessions into winning sessions.

Last night, ran into some more EV problems, but down another $80 at the end of session. I'm definitely playing badly. I was thinking about it a lot and am trying to get three streets of value against regs with overpairs and then getting sticky when they have me beat, wtf am I doing At least I now know some of exactly what I'm doing. Will post a few cool hands and some I wasn't so sure about from the past week or so, I emailed myself these hands last night.

So first, the good/cool hands.


Poker Stars $100.00 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter By DeucesCracked Poker Videos

UTG+2: $220.80 - VPIP: 71, PFR: 10, 3B: 0, AF: 4.1, Hands: 51
MP1: $237.00 - VPIP: 34, PFR: 12, 3B: 4, AF: 1.8, Hands: 537
MP2: $100.00 - VPIP: 12, PFR: 9, 3B: 4, AF: 1.7, Hands: 3588
CO: $247.90 - VPIP: 17, PFR: 13, 3B: 8, AF: 3.5, Hands: 430
Hero (BTN): $250.00 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395002
SB: $157.80 - VPIP: 18, PFR: 12, 3B: 3, AF: 0.6, Hands: 285
BB: $291.85 - VPIP: 14, PFR: 10, 3B: 5, AF: 1.5, Hands: 155
UTG: $272.70 - VPIP: 20, PFR: 15, 3B: 2, AF: 4.5, Hands: 219
UTG+1: $100.00 - VPIP: 14, PFR: 9, 3B: 3, AF: 2.7, Hands: 4054

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BTN with A K
2 folds, UTG+2 raises to $2, 3 folds, Hero raises to $5, 2 folds, UTG+2 calls $3

Flop: ($11.50) 4 T T (2 players)
UTG+2 bets $3.00, Hero raises to $9, UTG+2 calls $6

Turn: ($29.50) 8 (2 players)
UTG+2 bets $6.00, Hero calls $6

River: ($41.50) K (2 players)
UTG+2 bets $13.00, Hero raises to $26, UTG+2 folds






Poker Stars $100.00 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter By DeucesCracked Poker Videos

Hero (BTN): $250.00 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395002
SB: $152.10 - VPIP: 38, PFR: 13, 3B: 0, AF: 1.5, Hands: 8
BB: $250.00 - VPIP: 11, PFR: 8, 3B: 1, AF: 10.5, Hands: 331
UTG: $16.85 - VPIP: 30, PFR: 0, 3B: 0, AF: Infinity, Hands: 10
UTG+1: $351.85 - VPIP: 88, PFR: 52, 3B: 11, AF: 2.0, Hands: 88
UTG+2: $123.95 - VPIP: 11, PFR: 8, 3B: 3, AF: 4.3, Hands: 779
MP1: $392.90 - VPIP: 14, PFR: 11, 3B: 4, AF: 2.5, Hands: 4152
MP2: $21.90 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 11, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 75
CO: $278.30 - VPIP: 18, PFR: 14, 3B: 5, AF: 3.7, Hands: 1452

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BTN with J K
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $4, 4 folds, Hero raises to $10, SB calls $9.50, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls $6

Flop: ($31.00) T K J (3 players)
SB bets $12.00, UTG+1 calls $12, Hero raises to $33, SB calls $21, UTG+1 calls $21

Turn: ($130.00) 8 (3 players)
SB bets $8.00, UTG+1 calls $8, Hero raises to $83, SB calls $75, UTG+1 calls $75

River: ($379.00) 4 (3 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 bets $120.00, Hero calls $120, SB folds



HH Convertor wouldn't work on this, these convertors are so buggy, damn it's tilting.

***** Hand History for Game 1111111111 ***** (Poker Stars)
$100.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, January 06, 10:41:17 ET 2011
Table Itzigsohn III (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Seat 2: Player2 ( $250.00 USD ) - VPIP: 33, PFR: 23, 3B: 11, AF: 2.5, Hands: 752 - VPIP: 18, PFR: 13, 3B: 3, AF: 3.3, Hands: 948 - VPIP: 20, PFR: 12, 3B: 3, AF: 1.8, Hands: 2481
Seat 3: Player3 ( $71.70 USD ) - VPIP: 41, PFR: 0, 3B: 0, AF: 3.5, Hands: 44 - VPIP: 0, PFR: 0, 3B: NaN, AF: NaN, Hands: 2 - VPIP: 15, PFR: 12, 3B: 3, AF: 3.2, Hands: 3085
Seat 4: Player4 ( $372.25 USD ) - VPIP: 26, PFR: 24, 3B: 8, AF: 3.7, Hands: 331 - VPIP: 15, PFR: 5, 3B: 0, AF: 2.0, Hands: 20 - VPIP: 12, PFR: 9, 3B: 4, AF: 2.1, Hands: 1027
Seat 5: Player5 ( $188.55 USD ) - VPIP: 33, PFR: 33, 3B: NaN, AF: 2.0, Hands: 3 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 19, 3B: 9, AF: Infinity, Hands: 59 - VPIP: 17, PFR: 0, 3B: 0, AF: 0.0, Hands: 18
Seat 6: Hero ( $333.20 USD ) - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395002 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395002 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395002
Hero posts small blind [$0.50 USD].
Player1 posts big blind [$1.00 USD].
Player1 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player2 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player3 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player4 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player5 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Hero posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ 9s 9h ]
Player2 folds
Player3 folds
Player4 folds
Player5 raises [$3.00 USD]
Hero raises [$8.50 USD]
Player1 folds
Player5 calls [$6.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Th, 5c, 7s ]
Hero bets [$14.00 USD]
Player5 calls [$14.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ts ]
Hero checks
Player5 bets [$20.00 USD]
Hero calls [$20.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Kd ]
Hero bets [$27.00 USD]
Player5 raises [$145.35 USD]
Hero calls [$118.35 USD]
Player5 shows [8s, 8d ]
Hero shows [9s, 9h ]
Hero wins $375.90 USD from main pot

Now, the bad/questionable hands, dammit these convertors are so tilting, I guess I need to download another version of HEM I'm guessing:

***** Hand History for Game 1111111111 ***** (Poker Stars)
$100.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, January 11, 02:00:09 ET 2011
Table Ganymede VIII (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Seat 1: Player1 ( $168.60 USD ) - VPIP: 46, PFR: 4, 3B: 0, AF: 1.4, Hands: 28 - VPIP: 14, PFR: 10, 3B: 4, AF: 2.7, Hands: 3607 - VPIP: 22, PFR: 17, 3B: 7, AF: 2.1, Hands: 455 - VPIP: 15, PFR: 13, 3B: 7, AF: 2.6, Hands: 3034 - VPIP: 57, PFR: 15, 3B: 10, AF: 1.8, Hands: 75 - VPIP: 15, PFR: 9, 3B: 8, AF: 1.3, Hands: 141 - VPIP: 22, PFR: 17, 3B: 7, AF: 2.1, Hands: 455
Seat 2: Player2 ( $584.85 USD ) - VPIP: 20, PFR: 15, 3B: 2, AF: 4.5, Hands: 219 - VPIP: 48, PFR: 40, 3B: 0, AF: 3.0, Hands: 25 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 7, AF: 3.4, Hands: 321 - VPIP: 16, PFR: 12, 3B: 1, AF: 1.7, Hands: 461 - VPIP: 12, PFR: 9, 3B: 4, AF: 1.7, Hands: 3588 - VPIP: 16, PFR: 12, 3B: 1, AF: 1.7, Hands: 461 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 7, AF: 3.4, Hands: 321
Seat 4: Player4 ( $379.25 USD ) - VPIP: 22, PFR: 15, 3B: 6, AF: 3.1, Hands: 648 - VPIP: 18, PFR: 13, 3B: 3, AF: 3.3, Hands: 948 - VPIP: 18, PFR: 11, 3B: 0, AF: 1.0, Hands: 38 - VPIP: 27, PFR: 7, 3B: 3, AF: 1.6, Hands: 94 - VPIP: 18, PFR: 14, 3B: 5, AF: 2.7, Hands: 1146 - VPIP: 27, PFR: 7, 3B: 3, AF: 1.6, Hands: 94 - VPIP: 18, PFR: 11, 3B: 0, AF: 1.0, Hands: 38
Seat 9: Hero ( $250.00 USD ) - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395001 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395001 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395001 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395001 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395001 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395001 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395001
Player7 posts small blind [$0.50 USD].
Hero posts big blind [$1.00 USD].
Player1 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player2 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player3 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player4 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player5 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player6 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player7 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Hero posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Qd Qh ]
Player1 calls [$1.00 USD]
Player2 folds
Player3 folds
Player4 raises [$5.00 USD]
Player5 folds
Player6 raises [$17.00 USD]
Player7 folds
Hero calls [$16.00 USD]
Player1 calls [$16.00 USD]
Player4 calls [$12.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5d, 2h, 9h ]
Hero checks
Player1 bets [$151.40 USD]
Player4 folds
Player6 folds
Hero calls [$151.40 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8h ]
** Dealing River ** [ As ]
Hero shows [Qd, Qh ]
Player1 shows [6h, 7h ]
Player1 wins $369.90 USD from main pot


***** Hand History for Game 1111111111 ***** (Poker Stars)
$100.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, January 11, 02:15:17 ET 2011
Table Luna IV (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Seat 1: Player1 ( $109.85 USD ) - VPIP: 14, PFR: 10, 3B: 4, AF: 2.7, Hands: 3607 - VPIP: 22, PFR: 17, 3B: 7, AF: 2.1, Hands: 455 - VPIP: 15, PFR: 13, 3B: 7, AF: 2.6, Hands: 3034 - VPIP: 57, PFR: 15, 3B: 10, AF: 1.8, Hands: 75 - VPIP: 15, PFR: 9, 3B: 8, AF: 1.3, Hands: 141 - VPIP: 22, PFR: 17, 3B: 7, AF: 2.1, Hands: 455
Seat 2: Player2 ( $104.55 USD ) - VPIP: 48, PFR: 40, 3B: 0, AF: 3.0, Hands: 25 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 7, AF: 3.4, Hands: 321 - VPIP: 16, PFR: 12, 3B: 1, AF: 1.7, Hands: 461 - VPIP: 12, PFR: 9, 3B: 4, AF: 1.7, Hands: 3588 - VPIP: 16, PFR: 12, 3B: 1, AF: 1.7, Hands: 461 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 7, AF: 3.4, Hands: 321
Seat 4: Player4 ( $100.60 USD ) - VPIP: 18, PFR: 13, 3B: 3, AF: 3.3, Hands: 948 - VPIP: 18, PFR: 11, 3B: 0, AF: 1.0, Hands: 38 - VPIP: 27, PFR: 7, 3B: 3, AF: 1.6, Hands: 94 - VPIP: 18, PFR: 14, 3B: 5, AF: 2.7, Hands: 1146 - VPIP: 27, PFR: 7, 3B: 3, AF: 1.6, Hands: 94 - VPIP: 18, PFR: 11, 3B: 0, AF: 1.0, Hands: 38
Seat 6: Hero ( $118.25 USD ) - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395001 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395001 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395001 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395001 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395001 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395001
Player9 posts small blind [$0.50 USD].
Player1 posts big blind [$1.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Kd Kc ]
Player2 raises [$3.00 USD]
Player3 folds
Player4 folds
Player5 folds
Hero raises [$9.00 USD]
Player7 folds
Player9 folds
Player1 folds
Player2 calls [$6.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8s, 2d, Qc ]
Player2 checks
Hero bets [$12.00 USD]
Player2 calls [$12.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8h ]
Player2 checks
Hero bets [$28.00 USD]
Player2 raises [$83.55 USD]
Hero calls [$55.55 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 2h ]
Player2 shows [8d, Td ]
Hero shows [Kd, Kc ]
Player2 wins $207.60 USD from main pot


***** Hand History for Game 1111111111 ***** (Poker Stars)
$100.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, January 11, 02:33:50 ET 2011
Table Shapleya VIII (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Seat 1: Player1 ( $100.00 USD ) - VPIP: 57, PFR: 15, 3B: 10, AF: 1.8, Hands: 75 - VPIP: 15, PFR: 9, 3B: 8, AF: 1.3, Hands: 141 - VPIP: 22, PFR: 17, 3B: 7, AF: 2.1, Hands: 455
Seat 2: Player2 ( $115.00 USD ) - VPIP: 12, PFR: 9, 3B: 4, AF: 1.7, Hands: 3588 - VPIP: 16, PFR: 12, 3B: 1, AF: 1.7, Hands: 461 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 7, AF: 3.4, Hands: 321
Seat 4: Player4 ( $209.60 USD ) - VPIP: 18, PFR: 14, 3B: 5, AF: 2.7, Hands: 1146 - VPIP: 27, PFR: 7, 3B: 3, AF: 1.6, Hands: 94 - VPIP: 18, PFR: 11, 3B: 0, AF: 1.0, Hands: 38
Seat 6: Player6 ( $114.70 USD ) - VPIP: 21, PFR: 15, 3B: 3, AF: 1.6, Hands: 766 - VPIP: 14, PFR: 12, 3B: 7, AF: 4.5, Hands: 1700 - VPIP: 14, PFR: 9, 3B: 2, AF: 2.6, Hands: 535
Seat 9: Hero ( $135.95 USD ) - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395001 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395001 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395001
Player6 posts small blind [$0.50 USD].
Player7 posts big blind [$1.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Kc Kh ]
Player8 folds
Hero raises [$3.00 USD]
Player1 folds
Player2 folds
Player3 folds
Player4 folds
Player5 folds
Player6 calls [$2.50 USD]
Player7 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9s, 7d, Qc ]
Player6 checks
Hero bets [$5.00 USD]
Player6 raises [$15.00 USD]
Hero calls [$10.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7s ]
Player6 bets [$25.00 USD]
Hero calls [$25.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Jd ]
Player6 bets [$71.70 USD]
Hero folds
Player6 wins $71.70 USD
Player6 wins $84.00 USD from main pot


***** Hand History for Game 1111111111 ***** (Poker Stars)
$100.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, January 10, 01:27:59 ET 2011
Table Henan VII (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Seat 1: Player1 ( $129.80 USD ) - VPIP: 19, PFR: 16, 3B: 8, AF: 2.5, Hands: 1272 - VPIP: 42, PFR: 22, 3B: 7, AF: 1.2, Hands: 102 - VPIP: 13, PFR: 6, 3B: 0, AF: 1.8, Hands: 119
Seat 2: Player2 ( $689.00 USD ) - VPIP: 29, PFR: 23, 3B: 12, AF: 5.1, Hands: 467 - VPIP: 29, PFR: 23, 3B: 12, AF: 5.1, Hands: 467 - VPIP: 11, PFR: 8, 3B: 1, AF: 3.3, Hands: 463
Seat 4: Player4 ( $96.50 USD ) - VPIP: 41, PFR: 27, 3B: 11, AF: 2.8, Hands: 144 - VPIP: 41, PFR: 27, 3B: 11, AF: 2.8, Hands: 144 - VPIP: 27, PFR: 20, 3B: 0, AF: 3.5, Hands: 51
Seat 5: Player5 ( $100.90 USD ) - VPIP: 22, PFR: 17, 3B: 7, AF: 2.1, Hands: 456 - VPIP: 22, PFR: 17, 3B: 7, AF: 2.1, Hands: 456 - VPIP: 15, PFR: 13, 3B: 7, AF: 2.6, Hands: 3034
Seat 6: Hero ( $252.10 USD ) - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395002 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395002 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395002
Player5 posts small blind [$0.50 USD].
Hero posts big blind [$1.00 USD].
Player1 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player2 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player3 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player4 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player5 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Hero posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Ac Ah ]
Player1 folds
Player2 folds
Player3 folds
Player4 raises [$3.00 USD]
Player5 folds
Hero raises [$8.00 USD]
Player4 calls [$6.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8d, 9d, 2c ]
Hero bets [$15.00 USD]
Player4 calls [$15.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7h ]
Hero bets [$25.00 USD]
Player4 raises [$72.30 USD]
Hero calls [$47.30 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 4c ]
Hero shows [Ac, Ah ]
Player4 shows [5s, 6d ]
Player4 wins $191.30 USD from main pot


***** Hand History for Game 1111111111 ***** (Poker Stars)
$100.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Sunday, January 09, 12:03:00 ET 2011
Table Akiyama VI (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Seat 2: Hero ( $366.30 USD ) - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395002 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395002 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395002 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395002
Seat 4: Player4 ( $287.20 USD ) - VPIP: 33, PFR: 27, 3B: 23, AF: Infinity, Hands: 33 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 7, AF: 2.6, Hands: 1485 - VPIP: 33, PFR: 27, 3B: 23, AF: Infinity, Hands: 33 - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 7, AF: 2.6, Hands: 1485
Seat 5: Player5 ( $327.35 USD ) - VPIP: 32, PFR: 16, 3B: 16, AF: 1.6, Hands: 79 - VPIP: 47, PFR: 27, 3B: 4, AF: 3.8, Hands: 55 - VPIP: 32, PFR: 16, 3B: 16, AF: 1.6, Hands: 79 - VPIP: 47, PFR: 27, 3B: 4, AF: 3.8, Hands: 55
Seat 6: Player6 ( $99.00 USD ) - VPIP: 73, PFR: 34, 3B: 0, AF: 2.0, Hands: 77 - VPIP: 14, PFR: 10, 3B: 11, AF: Infinity, Hands: 51 - VPIP: 73, PFR: 34, 3B: 0, AF: 2.0, Hands: 77 - VPIP: 14, PFR: 10, 3B: 11, AF: Infinity, Hands: 51
Player6 posts small blind [$0.50 USD].
Player1 posts big blind [$1.00 USD].
Player1 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Hero posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player3 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player4 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player5 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player6 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Ad Qd ]
Hero raises [$3.00 USD]
Player3 folds
Player4 folds
Player5 folds
Player6 calls [$2.50 USD]
Player1 raises [$13.00 USD]
Hero calls [$11.00 USD]
Player6 calls [$11.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2d, 3s, 3h ]
Player6 checks
Player1 checks
Hero checks
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ac ]
Player6 checks
Player1 bets [$15.00 USD]
Hero calls [$15.00 USD]
Player6 folds
** Dealing River ** [ Th ]
Player1 bets [$53.00 USD]
Hero calls [$53.00 USD]
Player1 shows [Ah, Tc ]
Player1 wins $176.20 USD from main pot
Hero doesn't show [Ad, Qd ]



***** Hand History for Game 1111111111 ***** (Poker Stars)
$100.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Saturday, January 08, 11:43:54 ET 2011
Table Wetherill IV (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Seat 1: Hero ( $257.45 USD ) - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395002
Seat 2: Player2 ( $336.85 USD ) - VPIP: 34, PFR: 21, 3B: 8, AF: 1.7, Hands: 582
Seat 3: Player3 ( $250.00 USD ) - VPIP: 24, PFR: 18, 3B: 2, AF: 4.2, Hands: 286
Seat 4: Player4 ( $251.25 USD ) - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 7, AF: 2.6, Hands: 1485
Seat 5: Player5 ( $340.25 USD ) - VPIP: 47, PFR: 27, 3B: 4, AF: 3.8, Hands: 55
Seat 6: Player6 ( $117.10 USD ) - VPIP: 14, PFR: 10, 3B: 11, AF: Infinity, Hands: 51
Player5 posts small blind [$0.50 USD].
Player6 posts big blind [$1.00 USD].
Hero posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player2 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player3 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player4 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player5 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player6 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Qc Qh ]
Hero raises [$3.00 USD]
Player2 folds
Player3 folds
Player4 calls [$3.00 USD]
Player5 folds
Player6 calls [$2.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Jc, 6s, 6h ]
Player6 bets [$7.00 USD]
Hero calls [$7.00 USD]
Player4 calls [$7.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Td ]
Player6 checks
Hero bets [$17.00 USD]
Player4 calls [$17.00 USD]
Player6 folds
** Dealing River ** [ 9s ]
Hero bets [$27.00 USD]
Player4 calls [$27.00 USD]
Hero shows [Qc, Qh ]
Player4 shows [6c, 4c ]
Player4 wins $116.70 USD from main pot


***** Hand History for Game 1111111111 ***** (Poker Stars)
$100.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Saturday, January 08, 12:27:33 ET 2011
Table Ianthe III (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Seat 1: Player1 ( $573.20 USD ) - VPIP: 19, PFR: 15, 3B: 7, AF: 2.6, Hands: 1485 - VPIP: 22, PFR: 14, 3B: 4, AF: 1.3, Hands: 672 - VPIP: 14, PFR: 10, 3B: 3, AF: 2.0, Hands: 714
Seat 3: Hero ( $250.00 USD ) - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395002 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395002 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 395002
Seat 4: Player4 ( $263.70 USD ) - VPIP: 23, PFR: 13, 3B: 7, AF: 1.2, Hands: 609 - VPIP: 12, PFR: 10, 3B: 4, AF: 2.4, Hands: 2923 - VPIP: 9, PFR: 7, 3B: 5, AF: 1.7, Hands: 328
Seat 5: Player5 ( $100.00 USD ) - VPIP: 22, PFR: 20, 3B: 10, AF: 6.0, Hands: 148 - VPIP: 14, PFR: 11, 3B: 7, AF: 3.0, Hands: 654 - VPIP: 24, PFR: 22, 3B: 8, AF: 3.0, Hands: 133
Seat 6: Player6 ( $136.05 USD ) - VPIP: 36, PFR: 18, 3B: 4, AF: 5.2, Hands: 84 - VPIP: 15, PFR: 12, 3B: 5, AF: 3.0, Hands: 788 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 21, 3B: 8, AF: 2.3, Hands: 149
Player5 posts small blind [$0.50 USD].
Player6 posts big blind [$1.00 USD].
Player1 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player2 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Hero posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player4 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player5 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
Player6 posts ante of [$0.20 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ 9s 9c ]
Player1 folds
Player2 raises [$4.00 USD]
Hero calls [$4.00 USD]
Player4 folds
Player5 folds
Player6 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ Kh, 7c, 9d ]
Player2 bets [$7.00 USD]
Hero calls [$7.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5s ]
Player2 checks
Hero bets [$13.00 USD]
Player2 raises [$30.00 USD]
Hero calls [$17.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 4c ]
Player2 bets [$85.00 USD]
Hero calls [$85.00 USD]
Player2 shows [8h, 6h ]
Player2 wins $251.70 USD from main pot
Hero doesn't show [9s, 9c ]

So I setup my first HU coaching session for this Friday night, maybe I'll get to play some HU cash this weekend, would be a lot of fun. Really looking forward to these coaching sessions, I contracted for 5 sessions with the coach so I should at least have a good grasp on the fundamentals and patches on my biggest leaks by the end of this series. Will make some updates after my first session when I start playing HU cash again.

Just out of interest how many HU hands have you managed to get in recently? Im just wondering as im struggling to get any sort of decent quality in, mainly due to my FR game going belly up, and ive probably got some coaching coming up in Febuary and i dont really want to go in to it blind with hardly any hands.

You will have to keep us informed with how they go as its still something i want to get into but at the moment im tiedup with my FR probs a bit.

All the best.

I have played about 20k HU hands in the last year, the majority of that was in December. This month, I have only played HU S&G's, I usually play one of these while also playing 6-9 FR/SH tables. Dunno how many hands I've played consequently while playing these HU S&G's but I've probably played 25-30 HU S&G's this year.

There's plenty of history for this coach to pick me apart I think with this many hands and with a NL50 HU cash winrate of, embarrassing to say, (-12BB/100 . If he gives me the green light after our session, I may try to play a little HU this weekend after our lesson, we'll see.

Will definitely be posting info on how things go with it here.

Took a break last night, played WOW instead of poker, picked up three levels at least

Should get back to playing on Thursday, we're in our division's playoff's tonight in pool so probably no poker for me tonight.

Looking forward to my lesson Friday night in HU, need to get Mikogo and/or teamviewer installed.

That's about it to report...

Sending out GL wishes to MartL, he's in a downswing, he needs some rungood!

Cheers

+945 last night in 2100 hands of NL100 FR and SH.

Puts my monthly results somewhere around 1300 and my hourly at $50 for the month (without rakeback)

I was playing really well, hand reading well and getting lots of thin value from reg's because of it, and for some reason, even some decent players where calling me down very light. Also had some fish pay me off for big, big pots. My worst hand was -70 as I was getting away from my over pairs when I felt like I was beat so that helped too.

Also of course ran super hot or wouldn't have won that much. Good session, need to put in more like that going forward.

I looked at my FR vs SH results for the month. There's no question I'm better at FR or that FR is just a lot easier, I think it's a little bit of both, but I'm concerned about my SH results. I'm up about 19 buyins at FR across 5800 hands and down about 6 buyins at SH across probably 3000 hands. Obviously that's a small sample on both. Really looking forward to the HU lesson tonight. If I can get decent or good at HU, that should help out my SH game a LOT and there's obviously lots of room for improvement there.

I'm trying to teach my brother in law how to play, he's grinding NL2 atm. Looking forward to an actual coaching session with him using Mikogo as he's playing way too passively pre-flop. That being said, he's still roughly breaking even across about 5k hands so it could be worse. With a little more coaching, I think I can get him on track and winning big as he's a disciplined guy and discipline is one of the most important characteristics of a winning player imo.

Really looking forward to a possible change in the Stars cash game structures. I've been a pretty vocal opponent in the short stacking threads in the past, and would love to see them make a change that at least splits the fish equally amongst the short stacking regs and the FS regs, as it is right now, the SS reg's have many more fish at their 20-50bb games than we do at the normal and deep games. There's several threads discussing it in the "zoo" if anyone's interested. Supposedly any changes will be announced by the end of Jan so my anticipation is high because this could definitely affect my bottom line a lot, not to mention hopefully pushing the game away from SS'ing which minimized the skill of the game, which nobody wants.

I think that's all to report, will write an update sometime after my coaching session...

Hey just seen this so thank you.

Nice work last night and for the month looks like you are pretty much in the zone at the moment so well done.

Thanks! I'm in the zone for FR for sure, 6 max, not so much but I'm trying. I really think any improvements I make in my HU play through coaching will have a direct positive effect on my 6max game so we'll see, first lesson tonight.

Sounds like you're back on track after a good coaching session yourself. Glad to hear it, hope you have a good weekend!

So, I had my HU coaching session this weekend, it was extremely helpful, though, to be honest, I'm not sure why it has made such an extreme change in my game from big time losing to winning well so far just after that one session.

We discussed hand strengths, looked through some of my worst hands from before, told me to back off on aggression some, looked at my stats (which where mostly correct overall). Figured out my biggest leak was calling at the wrong times on the river especially. My went to showdown % was pretty much spot on, but my win @ showdown % was over 10% lower than it should have been. So I've gotten to showdown about the right amount, but was choosing the wrong time to do so, calling down a lot when I was beaten.

He also suggested that for this point in my HU game, I need to be a little bit more selective with my opponents, probably need to adopt a 75% fish/25% reg schedule. This weekend I played a few weak regs, but most of them wouldn't play me and I pretty much just played fish (might have to do with why I won so much over the weekend).

I won $450 total, so 9 buyins and took a couple of people for all the money they had or at least they quit me. Last night, was up against the weakest player I've ever played, super aggro donk who 3bet 42% pre-flop and his button open was 10 bb's and frequently his 3bet was 24bb's (over my 3bb button raise). I basically adopted a very tight style playing premium hands and pocket pairs only along with some SC's when we got really deep, which we did towards the end of the session. All I had to do was peddle the nuts and let him bet because he bluffed so much it was crazy. Doesn't prove much, given how bad he was, but I finished the session up with this monster 1300bb hand below after which he promptly quit!

Will see how things go playing some better players this week, I have another session with the coach Friday night.


Poker Stars $50.00 No Limit Hold'em - 2 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter By DeucesCracked Poker Videos

BTN/SB: $324.40 - VPIP: 46, PFR: 42, 3B: 42, AF: 3.8, Hands: 1209
Hero (BB): $337.60 - VPIP: 25, PFR: 20, 3B: 6, AF: 3.3, Hands: 401353

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with J Q
BTN/SB raises to $5, Hero calls $4.50

Flop: ($10.00) 4 3 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN/SB bets $9.50, Hero calls $9.50

Turn: ($29.00) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN/SB bets $66.00, Hero calls $66

River: ($161.00) K (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN/SB bets $243.90, Hero calls $243.90