Hi mate, thx for nice comments.

There seem to be lots of fish yes! I play at Stars so if you table select then you can get good tables at NL25.

There must be some skill difference because I had to drop back to NL10 twice (so far) and it seemed a lot easier there but that could be just a confidence issue I guess.

As I say, this is my 3rd visit to NL25 and I am so much better player than the first time (not saying much obv ).

I'm a reg at 25nl zoom (300k+ hands). When I first moved up from 10nl I thought the games were way tougher/more aggressive. After a decent sample I realized I was just leveling myself. I think if you play the same game at 10nl and 25nl, your results will be similar. Less fish at 25? Maybe..but still filled with fish and terrible regs. Enjoy

Schedule and Goals Update - 30.01.2013

Schedule 30th January 2014

08.00 - 11.00 = Busy at work and tax!!
11.00 - 13.00 = Update schedule then post marked hands.
13.00 - 17.00 = Catch up with group, comment on TPSP and 2+2 hands.
19.45 - 20.15 = AJ poker video.
20.45 - 22.30 = At the tables.
04.30 - 05.00 = Train.
05.10 - 05.15 = Do poker warm-up, read goals etc.
05.15 - 06.40 = At the tables.

Goal 1 - Play 65 hours in January - Played 61.7 hours which is 94.9% of target, month is 95.2% old, 12 mins behind!! I am really surprised to be this close. The last few days has been a bit of a blur (serious work issues!).

Goal 2 - Post weekly review to group -I have totally lost track of even whose turn it is - it could even be mine which might be handy!! Will find out what is going on...

Goal 3 - Post all marked hands to blog and Skype group - Not Done! Will get posting now...

Goal 4 - Comment on all of friends' hands in Skype Group (unless day off) - Done! I think I have managed to do this just.

Goal 5 - Get the book "No Bulls**t Six Max Poker" to level of unconscious competence - Goal complete. For next few days look into 3betting and cbetting before going hard core on one or the other! Have got lots of material now, thanks for helping me out people!

Goal 6 - Read The Mental Game Of Poker 2 - Page 164 of 191 (85.9%) 18 pages behind. Will read some today but will not rush just to complete goal at expense of learning...

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3 x
3 x

Something has affected goals the last few days. I am still close enough to complete most of them but I still have some work issues to resolve that are eating away at me. Still determined but work issue is very important!!

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Session

/bow

Sent from my HTC One mini using 2+2 Forums

Schedule 30th January 2014

08.00 - 11.00 = Busy at work!!
11.00 - 13.00 = Update schedule then post marked hands.
13.00 - 16.00 = Catch up with group, comment on TPSP and 2+2 hands.
16.00 for 24 hours = Rest from poker.

Goal 1 - Play 65 hours in January - Played 64.25 hours which is 98.8% of target, month is 98.4% old. Back ahead!! I am really pleased to have gotten here. Unfortunately I may not be able to play the rest of the month so may finish just 45 minutes short, let's see...

Goal 2 - Post weekly review to group -NFP. I have totally lost track of even whose turn it is. I could do with Simon being reviewed. Will find out what is going on...

Goal 3 - Post all marked hands to blog and Skype group - Not Done! Will get posting now...

Goal 4 - Comment on all of friends' hands in Skype Group (unless day off) - Done! I think I have managed to do this just.

Goal 5 - Get the book "No Bulls**t Six Max Poker" to level of unconscious competence - Goal complete. For next few days look into 3betting and cbetting before going hard core on one or the other! Have got lots of material now, thanks for helping me out people!

Goal 6 - Read The Mental Game Of Poker 2 - FINISHED IT!!!! This book is golden!! MGOP is brilliant and this is further reading that can only improve chancess of success in more than just poker. I strongly recommend both of these books. For your own sake though, STUDY them, don't just read them thinking its easy, be a pro.

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5 x
1 x

Real happy to get back to 5. My guess is it will finish this way and I will miss Goal 1 only just. See how we go...

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Session



Was going well till got outfished! Standard obv.

HH Work 31.01.2014

Mine #256 - Calling this readless? IP = good. Two tone = bad? (WT)

Mine #257 - 67s CO v BTN raised on flop A54tt (OESD only) by nit = fold? (WT)

GL Mate!

256: I think I call readless (otf) and play it aggresively ott or otr. We have wider range and IP. We can representing ATC. If we can't defend this, then what kind of hand we can defend vs raise otf??

257: I fold because we are OOP. if it was K45 (instead of "A") I might be call.

Just got to the last page of you thread. I will follow from now on.
gl!

Thanks very much!

Thanks for answers Sangy, still working on these myself!!

Wow! You will sleep well amigo!!

I have decided to study Janda's Applications Of No Limit Hold'em.

I spoke to a few people before choosing this book to study next so thanks for everyone's input! A few people did point out some problems I might encounter by studying it and I thank them especially for that and I hope they/you don't think I am ignoring you!!

Of course I will remain open minded and if at some stage I decide it is not beneficial to me right now then I can ditch it!!

My main reason for studying it is not to start changing my play style in any way but more to understand more about the game and possibly the mathematics of it. Hopefully it will help me understand why we do certain things in certain spots too.

I envisage encountering lots of strategies/concepts that I don't understand. Whenever that happens I will break away from the book (assuming the book does not explain it itself) and find resources that will help me to understand it more until I feel ready to carry on again.

Just do it.....

Studying Janda - Day 1

A CAUTION: At the beginning of the book there are a few notes of a precautionary nature. A lot of the book will be about continuing in hands to prevent villains bluffing with all of their holdings. This will mean we will/would bluffcatch a lot. Obviously this will not be the optimal line against "timid" players who never bluff and players who only value bet the top of their range. I think this is what a lot of people were telling me to be aware of too!

INTRO: I will quote "Players who understand theory well will usually be the players best able to recognize and exploit their opponents mistakes and also to make sure that their opponents are not able to easily exploit them". I am not worried about being exploited at my games yet but I am interested in being able to use this to recognize not just peoples mistakes but why they are actually mistakes. I think there is a good chance this will suit my learning style.

BASICS:
Calculating Pot Odds: Now this is stuff that I know but I will be honest and say that each time I have to think about this it takes me too long too figure out the necessary maths. This is bad, I should know this to the level of unconscious competence. It is time to break away already!!!

With regard to calling. To calculate pot odds we look at the size of the pot and the cost of calling. If Player A bets $40 into a $60 pot Player B is faced with (possibly) calling $40 to win $100. The pot odds are $100 to $40 or 10 to 4. For the call to be profitable he must win 28.57% of the time (worked out x = 4/(4+10). I am not a maths geek but I would guess this comes from 0 = (x * current pot size) - ((1-x)* cost of calling).

To help me get this tied down I am going to do four examples.....
1. On the river player A bets $24 into a $35 pot.
Player B is getting pot odds $59 to $24 so to be profitable he has to win more than 24/(24+59) = 0.289 = 28.9% of the time.

2. On river player A bets $22 into a $22 pot.
Player B is getting pot odds of $44 to $22 or 2 to 1 so to be profitable he has to win more than 1/(1+2) = 0.33 = 33% of the time. (hmm interesting!)

3. On river Player A bets $11 into $31 pot.
Player B is getting pot odds of $42 to $11 so to be profitable he must win more than 11/(42+11) = 0.2075 = 20.75% of the time.

4. On river Player A overbets $25 into a pot of $15.
Player B is getting pot odds of $40 to $25 or 8 to 5 so to be profitable he must win more than 5/(8+5) = 0.385 = 38.5% of the time.

I just found this in my database....



So already I am thinking Player B can't seem to do worse than 50%!!! This must mean something about how often Player A can bluff but its hurting my head just now!!

For anyone interested I write my notes out first like this....


and this....



(thanks to my 2 year old boy for the help!!)

Next is odds for bluffing..... (but I am going out for a steak now so will catch up later )

Tl;dr
Srsly, nice work tho, will read later

That's not an easy task. GL mate!!

Thanks! I wouldn't bother reading it though mate!!

Thanks!! I think I like "not easy" hahaha!!!

Your two year old is very good at math and has nice handwriting.

Mate, i started reading the same book. Also the main reason being same as you do ( My main reason for studying it is not to start changing my play style in any way but more to understand more about the game and possibly the mathematics of it. Hopefully it will help me understand why we do certain things in certain spots too. ) I guess this piece of gold will help us envolve alot. But i think we will need to read it at least 2x to get maybe half of whats in there.

Studying Janda - Day 2

BASICS: Calculating Pot Odds (Continued).
With regard to bluffing... when we make a bet into the pot we can work out how often our bluff has to succeed. Using same example if we bet $40 into a $60 pot we are getting pot odds of $60 to $40 or 6 to 4. For our bluff to be outright profitable we need villain to fold 4/(6+4) = 0.4 = 40% of the time.

Four examples to help get it tied down....
1. The pot is $55. If I bet $40 I am getting pot odds of $55 to $40 so my bet needs to work at least 40/(55+40) = 0.421 = 42.1% of the time to be profitable.

2. The pot is $28. If I bet $15 I am getting pot odds of $28 to $15 so my bet needs to work at least 15/(28+15) = 0.349 = 34.9% of the time to be profitable.

3. The pot is $76. If I bet $27 I am getting pot odds of $76 to $27 so my bet needs to work at least 27/(76+27) = 0.262 = 26.2% of the time to be profitable.

4. The pot is $48. If I bet $62 I am getting pot odds of $48 to $62 so my bet need s to work 62/(62+48) = 0.564 = 56.4% of the time to be profitable.

Note - A potsize bet needs to work 50% of the time and a half pot bet needs to work 33% of the time.

UNDERSTANDING EQUITY
Equity represents the odds that a hand will win at showdown against an opponents hand or range. Important: Just because a hand has higher equity it does not make it more profitable. Janda talks about an example comparing A9o against 98s on the button versus a decent player's MP opening range. A9o has higher raw equity than 98s but we rather play 98s, so why is this?

1. Retaining Equity Against Strong Ranges
We play hands that have high equity against villains betting and check-calling range. Hands that have high equity versus the hands that villain will frequently fod by the river are less useful.

With A9o... it is too weak to try to check 3 streets to win at SD and whenever we do bet its equity is seldom realised because villain will fold all weaker hands anyway. Also on the flop we rarely beat any of villains value betting range (or even his check-calling range) AND we are unlikely to improve when we are behind. Lastly, when we do flop a pair it is unlikely our villain is calling multiple streets with worse.

With 98s... again we are very unlikely to be ahead of villain's flop value betting range BUT we often flop FD, or SD or a pair with 5 outs - all these have the potential to beat villain's value betting range and check calling range. Also, 98s utilises its equity well when it flops a draw but does not flop a made hand because we can semi bluff on turn or river when checked to with equity.

Summary for Retaining Equity: Suited connectors are preferable here as when we make the best hand it will be strong enough to beat villain's value betting range and his check calling range, alos when they don't hit but become semi bluffs they will make villain fold better hands so their equity will not be wasted.

Nice thread, best of luck!
I still don't get though - how did you achieve your current sleeping cycle?

Yeah he whips my butt at both!
Agree with all except "2x", I am guessing more in the region of 50x
Thanks for kind words. Well I guess its combination of lots of things. I get up and get active immediately, I drink tonnes of water when I wake up, get lots of (natural if possible) light when I wake up, don't drink alcohol anymore (well once per week) and don't smoke anymore. It took some "training" and I guess a little willpower at first but now its just natural for me. I have not used an alarm for over 12 months now and I think I average 5.5 hours I guess (before this I slept 8 hours per night like they tell you!!).

Studying Janda - Day 2 (continued)

2. Hand Signalling to see additional cards.
On the flop we usually know immediately whether we want to continue or not, e.g. with suited connectors we will see what we need to make the best hand and ew are likely to continue with pair+, flush draw, straight draw and 3 straight and 3 flush. Therefore, if we will only fold SC's when we have low equity it does not matter that we do not see the river as we were so unlikely to outdraw anyway. Other hands do not give us such a chance to call the flop AND give us the chance to outdraw the villain, e.g. pocket pairs on the flop often only beat bluffs and although we do improve to sets 10% by the river (did not know this) it is not enough equity to justify a call. Janda then explains why 9h8h is a better hand to call with than 66 on a flop Kc 7s 3h... Althought they both have similar equity, there are 22 cards that can come on the turn that can improve 98 to either a pair with 5 outs, a straight draw or a flush draw. So on the turn 46.8% of the cards that can come will allow us to to call again and hope to make the best hand by the river (or bluff sometimes when we miss). While there is the chance of hitting our set on the turn with 66 all those times that we miss we have to fold to a turn bet (so even if the river was a 6 we don't even see it!).
So... 9h8h is a superior hand there as we can often call a turn bet and outdraw our opponent on the river (or bluff) and with 66 we can't.

3. Hand equity Distribution on Different Board Textures.
Hands which flop or turn either a large OR a small amount of equity are betther than hands that always flop or turn medium equity. In other words it is better to have a hand that flops 100% equity once and 0% equity twice than a hand that flops 33.3% equity three times even though the average is the same. Imagine being given pot odds that require us to have 40% equity to call profitably... with the marginal hand we are folding decent equity all of the time wheras with th the other hand (100% or 0%) we never have this problem.

Good work amigo

I laughing at your note book (err...... I mean the paper book, not computer). I can't believe you really hand write it !!

You are truly inspire.

My thoughts on Janda - I started out reading the book in the same way you have done, making detailed notes on everything. By the middle of part 2 I realised I was just pretty much rewriting the whole book, yet getting little that was actually useable in any real life game.

The book appears to promise to use theory to show us how to play in all different spots. However what really happens is that he presents some theory based on toy-games. When he tries to transfer this theory over into a real game, he will make some statement about how "it's impossible to calculate", which should actually be written as "it's extremely hard to calculate and I don't know how to do it, but it is theoretically possible". Then when he creates an actual game strategy, he will base it vaguely around the theory that he's covered, but will mainly just use standard poker logic and lots of assumptions to replace the maths that he doesn't understand. Note I'm not deriding him for not understanding the maths, a lot of this stuff is so complex that the best mathematicians in the world may not be able to solve it right now. It's more the fact that (outside of part 1, and as far as I can see) he does not manage to come up with any objectively true theoretical models that can be applied directly to a real life game.

I guess my point is, don't worry about taking detailed notes throughout and understanding all the theory inside-out, remembering the numbers and all the equations etc. Having a general idea of the theory and understanding the principles behind it are much more important than knowing the detail imo. The way I'm reading it now is to just read through without taking notes, but marking the most important pages or paragraphs. When I'm finished I feel l'll have a much better idea of what is useful and what isn't, and I can go back and study the sections that are useful.

Summary For Month January 2014

Goals Review

Goal 1 - Play 65 hours in January - Played 64.25 hours which is 98.8% of target. Very happy with this as lost sometime in the last week due to pretty serious problem at work!! Giving it a !!!

Goal 2 - Post weekly review to group -Posted my reviews on time. The group seemed to lack drive to do much in the week where I have been focussed on work although the guys seemed to be chatting poker tonnes so its no worries!

Goal 3 - Post all marked hands to blog and Skype group - Only missed a few at the end so I am very happy with my work on this overall.

Goal 4 - Comment on all of friends' hands in Skype Group (unless day off) - Done! I think I have managed to do this just.

Goal 5 - Get the book "No Bulls**t Six Max Poker" to level of unconscious competence - Goal completed. I spent some time looking into where I go next with study too.

Goal 6 - Read The Mental Game Of Poker 2 - FINISHED IT!!!! This book is golden!! MGOP is brilliant and this is further reading that can only improve chancess of success in more than just poker. I strongly recommend both of these books. For your own sake though, STUDY them, don't just read them thinking its easy, be a pro.

Results and Summary

Results



Graph in BB



Summary

Possibly my most productive month ever in terms of strategy improvement and getting my processes in order to achieve long term success.

Hi mate, I really appreciate your input on this, thanks for taking the time to write me those thoughts. I will take that on board and when i get to stuff that, like you say, looks like it will not help I will either slow down on the note taking or at least come to you and see your opinions (assuming you don't mind please).

Thanks again amigo.