Hey mate, can you please explain this to me in more detail. I'm only just starting to learn about ranges.

could almost have said this myself . If you're doing it with limpers in the pot you are creating a bigger pot and quite unlikely to have the best hand if they call your raise.Not going to go into the merging your range issue yet though simply because it doesn't really apply at these stakes.

When we play poker we want to think about our hand as one in a certain range of hands that we would play in the position that we are in.
For example say im playing 10NL FR 100bb effective stacks, and im UTG. The range of cards i would probably be playing would look like 77+, AQs+, KJs+, hypothetically .
This is like the top 7% of hands or something.
Inversely when im on the button and its folded to me my range might look like the top 40% of hands which would be 44+,A2s+,K2s+,Q4s+,J7s+,T7s+,97s+,87s,A3o+,K7o+,Q8 o+,J8o+,T9o. lol.
Our standard stratergy should be focussed around playing a certian range of cards in different sitautions, and generally speaking our range should be linear when we are opening or raising limpers.

With the 89s example, if you were to be playing optimally for the situation, you would be exploiting your opponents by raising a stronger range of hands than they would be limping right?
If you are going to raise 89s with two limpers, logically you should be raising them with the top 29% minimum, because 89s is the bottom of the top 29% of hands. This range looks like 55+,A2s+,K5s+,Q7s+,J8s+,T8s+,98s,A7o+,K9o+,Q9o+,J9 o+.
If your doing this your range is incredibly weak. Two very bad things can come as a result of this.
1. You flop a pair vs villain whose range of cards could very well be stronger than yours. You lose money.
2. You Cbet too often with this weak range which means your cbet range becomes so weak that villain can exploit you be calling your cbets with very marginal holdings (i.e 1 pair type hands).
You should always consider what range your opponent has and what does your range look like when you take a certain action. Try to think in 'ranges of hands' and decisions become much easier. Also balance is a big part of this but thats a discussion for another time i think

Anyways tl;dr, play tight in donkaments

That's gold to me mate. Thank you.

Not too long and definitely did read.

Sorry to hijack your blog temporarily Meale.

Not a problem, Boomeranda. Glad to see the other guys are helping you out as well! Okay, I really need some advice from you guys now.




That's my last session (accidentally split it into two graphs). I really worked super hard to get back to zero and said that when I did, I'd stop. Just not happy with how I'm playing. Lost over $30 in the last few thousand hands. Now take a look at my previous 7 sessions.



Now, that is one ****ing sexy red line. I'm playing like a god non-showdown and I know it. Punishing restealers hard and c-betting well. The problem is that whatever I'm doing non-showdown is causing me to lose more often than not when I reach showdown.

My question really is, should I keep going with this current style of play? By that I mean, keep that red line high and hope the blue line sorts itself out? Maybe it's just a downswing? I mean, if I was hitting the all-in EV, I'd be profiting $10 right?

Not sure if I need to make a change but if I do, I don't want to wait too much longer. So, should I tighten up to the point I'm back to where I was before (neutral/slightly negative red line)? Or tighten up just enough to lessen my current godmode red line but save some face at showdown?

Cheers lads!

Oh and here's my 5NL graph to date. It illustrates how the orange line might indicate a downswing.

Lol sample size, but I think you might have some easily fixable leaks. If your play fr 5 nl there are some things you should always keep in mind. Villains don't fold a lot when the get a piece post flop. That's what why blue line is valuable at the lower limits. I would just consider whether you are two/3 barrelling too often. Also remember to adjust to certain villain types and tendencies as you may not be play dynamically a lot (ie not adjusting to fish/ regs). I'd like to see some hand histories where you think you are making mistakes.

#redlineporn

There are too many hands to post. I generally always seem to have a decent hand. TPTK, two-pair, sets, AA, etc. But I'm always beat marginally. This is just looking back through my biggest losses of tonight BTW. Sometimes I get carried away because I legitimately cannot put them on a hand, I will admit. But I mostly feel a lot of it is just BS luck. Like flopping top two pair (AQ), calling down, calling down, and they hit their king on the river for a better two pair. Or the same sort of thing will happen where I'm called down by 23s where they suck out via flush on the river. Or how about getting KKKK beaten by a royal LOL!

I'm going to go back to battle now. Going to look to barrel less but still keep working that red line.

Its probably just variance, keep grind on the mind.

I sure hope so. I'm probably going to go through til 12 or until I get too tired to continue. Will report back in soon!

Whats your SN on stars i might rail you while i grind

harveymeale, but I'm on ninja mode so GL finding me.

Edit: Just fixed it for you.

Stupid play of the day. -_-

Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

MP1: $3.37
MP2: $3.76
CO: $5.20
BTN: $2.07
SB: $3.25
BB: $4.30
Hero (UTG): $6.02
UTG+1: $5.39
UTG+2: $6.53

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is UTG with T T
Hero raises to $0.15, 6 folds, SB raises to $0.25, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.55) 7 9 Q (2 players)
SB bets $0.05, Hero raises to $0.25, SB raises to $3 all in, Hero calls $2.75

Turn: ($6.55) 9 (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($6.55) 6 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Omg how could you? ^

That is why the micros are profitable; people can't lay down top pair

He had top pair, not me! It was the min-bet on the flop that did it. :/

...And here's the result. Good to see I got a buy-in back lol.



Although my VPIP/PFR will argue otherwise, I played much tighter. More or less how I played before my recent looseness. And I managed to keep a neutral red line which is nice. Guess I'll just keep going with this 'style' tomorrow.

have you been bluffing rivers , barrelling air etc. Great for improving your red line so its climbing nicely , they fold their air but your blue line turns into your old redline and disappears through the floor. You are making big bets with nothing so you lose big pots and win small ones .
if your steal and cbet with junk doesnt work ...just give up don't try to make them fold cos they won't . If the blinds don't fold to your steals , stop fricking stealing annd tighten up on the button/co and value bet the hell out of them. Especially if you've been caught stealing with junk that hits a hand you can showdown. they'lll remember that hand .

The thing is, I'm really only firing second/third barrels when I have a hand. It always seems to be the second best hand. :/ I think I'm finding myself barreling where I shouldn't when the villain has a tight image and a scare card for their range comes up. Trying to represent too much.

I don't know when or how I lapsed into such looseness. My last session yesterday was back to my 'old style', I just need to keep playing like that I think.

I think 2 things might be applicable to this situation. Balugawhale once said a long time ago that we should always seriously consider the strength on one pair hands on the turn. Don't overestimate the strength of these hands and usually they won't be worth 3 or even sometimes 2 barrels.
Secondly we should always remember that board texture changes everything. A set is a good hand, but it's basically the bottom of our range on a 4 flush board.

Yep. I laid down KKK on a 4 flush board last night. :'(

Good play, when you make plays like that reassure yourself because you essentially just made money.

I find myself struggling to lay down overpairs when I 'think' someone is bluffing. Lost JJ to 444 earlier. He limped pre too. I think I just get to a point in a session where I'm having to lay down so many 'good' starting hands that eventually I find myself having to look. My discipline has gone to **** lately.