Its been awhile guys. I have successfully moved from the US to the Caribbean! pretty happy about how everything went and just been drinking and getting black on the beaches. Have not been playing alot for obvious reasons but after a few days of relaxing and understanding more about this area I have started my normal routine of lifting etc.. Played online for the first time in awhile today several times and it started off crappy at 10nl but progressively better. I am tired as **** b/c i am used to waking up early now but I have been checking out the casino and was not 2 impressed. It is extremely hard to get a work visa out here so gonna try to grind. This means contacting pokerstars and trying to get on that network, playing at the casino at the best times, and grinding lock cash games. We will see how everything goes. Will update some more HH's tom. Heres a few for the hell of it.

Spewing lol well I dont think its horrible just my bet sizing is


Merge $10.00 No Limit Hold'em - 3 players - View hand 1426382
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

SB: $10.45
Hero (BB): $10.00
BTN: $23.16

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is BB with 7 T
BTN raises to $0.30, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.90, BTN calls $0.60

Flop: ($1.85) A K Q (2 players)
Hero bets $0.90, BTN calls $0.90

Turn: ($3.65) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.80, BTN calls $1.80

River: ($7.25) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $2.70, Hero folds

Final Pot: $7.25
BTN wins $6.89
(Rake: $0.36)

timed out OTF


Merge $10.00 No Limit Hold'em - 4 players - View hand 1426383
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $10.00
SB: $9.90
Hero (BB): $11.50
CO: $7.36

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is BB with K A
1 fold, BTN raises to $0.30, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.20

Flop: ($0.65) 9 3 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($0.65) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.48, Hero raises to $1.25, BTN folds

Final Pot: $1.61
Hero wins $1.53
(Rake: $0.08)

First of all GL at your new place!

I would suggest to you find a "normal" job asap. It makes your life much easier if you know you have a fix income.

Are you alone or with friends?

Thanks man and im here temporarily. I am here w my g/f who got into vet school so her financial aid pays for the housing so I just have to pay for all the other expenses which is not that much. I am considered a VIP here so I can use everything on the campus and 95% of the VIPs here dont have a job. I will try to get one but we will see. I might make a new thread if I play alot of live.

Some other hands from last night....

Villain 16/12/3.8 over 668 hands and had 35% donk percentage
--> I think villain is more likely to donk w draws than TP/overpairs/sets b/c of board texture and how much he knows that I cbet. This is the only reason I flatted turn and given that it would be bad to fold to any river bets unless the flush got there. Only time I would have folded if he bombed river.

Merge $10.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1426612
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

MP: $15.64
Hero (CO): $19.94
BTN: $6.22
SB: $9.90
BB: $12.51
UTG: $10.86

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is CO with 9 9
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.30, BTN calls $0.30, 1 fold, BB calls $0.20

Flop: ($0.95) 7 4 2 (3 players)
BB bets $0.71, Hero calls $0.71, BTN folds

Turn: ($2.37) 7 (2 players)
BB bets $1.77, Hero calls $1.77

River: ($5.91) 3 (2 players)
BB bets $4.43, Hero folds

Final Pot: $5.91
BB wins $5.62
(Rake: $0.29)

Villain 29/22/1.9 over 162 hands but was giving me alot of problems pre on other tables and was playing weird postflop as well. There might be a chance that he was trying to target or exploit me since I was pretty fit or fold in most spots. He probably was just running good and was trying extract the most value but w/e. Decided to rep a draw bc of my line and bet sizing, I dont think its that bad.

Merge $10.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1426615
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BB: $11.69
Hero (UTG): $17.10
MP: $18.63
CO: $16.58
BTN: $10.06
SB: $10.00

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is UTG with 6 6
Hero calls $0.10, 1 fold, CO calls $0.10, 1 fold, SB raises to $0.40, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.30, 1 fold

Flop: ($1.00) A J 6 (2 players)
SB bets $0.66, Hero raises to $1.50, SB calls $0.84

Turn: ($4.00) T (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2.25, SB calls $2.25

River: ($8.50) 8 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero raises to $12.95, SB folds

Final Pot: $8.50
Hero wins $8.08
(Rake: $0.42)

The 99 hand: River seems to be a good fold but the question is if you can call OTT?!? A 16/12 does not have too many draws in his range...

The 66 hand: Did you limp/call UTG?!? Why? I would have raised more OTF and def. bet more OTT as played. River is fine as played.

I've just realized you're playing NL10... What are your (first) impressions?!?

Good luck mate, sure you'll be fine.

99- Do you think villain has more draws in his range or more 7x hands? I think draws for sure.

66- I mix it up depending on gameflow. I was being 3b alot in EP so dont think its that bad. It also disguises my hand for obvious reasons and I could have bet more but I dont like bombing turn after having those intentions of making my hand look like a draw.

And yes finally taking shots at 10nl haha! Finally you realizeddd and I find it to be the sameish but just a higher limit. I think I am playing pretty well considering whenever I used to take shots I would do into nit mode. Been good at playing my standard game and thinking accordingly.

Thanks. I hope I do well.

GL on your journey OP, seems like you're really dedicated to your goal :]

this read is was great read. Good luck OP.

Sub!

Nice thread OP, Im going to keep checking back on this one.

With the 66 hand i def wouldnt limp call UTG, you say it disgues your hand, but I think it does the complete opposite, normally whenever anyone limps UTG its a PP below 8s, or like some kind of suited connector. There is heaps more value in raising as you can obviously win the pot PF, as well as having the initive postflop. Also def bet the turn bigger to chage draws, if he is caling $2.25, with a FD he will probably call $3.25 too... just my opinion.

But gl and gogogo!

good luck! i believe in you!

Well, OTT I expect him to check back w/ some of his draws when the board has got top paired. On the other hand he seems to be quite aggro so he can have some draws too.

This.

Ty buddy and just trying to get it done

Sounds good, nice to have a follower that plays 25nl

ty ty. For the 66 hand I think it only disguises my hand for a basic thinker and anyone who is a decent reg should be able to pinpoint what is going on here. Given that tho on this board I like my line cuz its either 66/FD/air. I do agree with turn bet sizing tho. Thanks.

Keep checking in, I hope it goes well.

Yeah thats a good point but lets say he has a draw isnt that a good barrel card for him given my perceived range? I think he thinks I have 2 overs/88-TT/7x here alot and since another 7 rolled off its unlikely that I have a 7.

2-3 tabling at 10nl has been going well but went down a few BI's yesterday and realized how bored I am while playing such low volume. Most of the time I have facebook/2+2/youtube opened up and just browsing through. I lost ~20 yesterday and a few hands im not sure how I played but I am feeling no reason to take shots and just grind it out from 4nl. Starting this monday I plan to wake up by 7:30am everyday, eat half a dozen of eggs go to the gym, and grind for 5-6 hours monday to friday. I will play some over the weekend but not as much since my gf doesnt have class then. I am going for straight volume and once I realize what my peak is w/o auto-piloting I will stay at that level and gradually go up.

Results from 8/31

Session 1: 10nl
107m
295h+4.96

Session 2: 10nl
68m
307h-21.71

Session 3: 4nl
60m
619h+4.96

Thin vbet ftw

Merge $10.00 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 1428899
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $10.52
SB: $13.43
BB: $10.25
UTG: $10.55
Hero (CO): $21.23

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is CO with 7 Q
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.30, BTN calls $0.30, SB raises to $0.60, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.30, BTN calls $0.30

Flop: ($1.90) 2 4 7 (3 players)
SB bets $1.26, Hero calls $1.26, BTN folds

Turn: ($4.42) 9 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2.50, SB calls $2.50

River: ($9.42) 4 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Final Pot: $9.42
SB shows 6 6
Hero shows 7 Q
Hero wins $8.95
(Rake: $0.47)

I thought about folding, Im not lying either. But we have KK I guess hoping to be up against AK/QQ even tho AK might flat 3b there sometimes....

Merge $10.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1428901
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

MP: $15.04
CO: $3.30
Hero (BTN): $10.00
SB: $9.15
BB: $10.00
UTG: $9.97

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is BTN with K K
1 fold, MP raises to $0.30, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1, SB raises to $2.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $10, SB calls $6.65 all in

Flop: ($18.70) 3 Q 3 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Turn: ($18.70) A (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($18.70) 5 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $18.70
Hero shows K K
SB shows A A
Hero wins $0.85
SB wins $17.77
(Rake: $0.08)

Wasnt sure about this hand, is this fine? Villain hasnt been 3bing all that much like 3.5% or little higher over small sample.

Merge $10.00 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 1428902
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BB: $10.00
UTG: $2.25
Hero (CO): $10.30
BTN: $17.95
SB: $12.04

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is CO with Q Q
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.30, 2 folds, BB raises to $0.95, Hero calls $0.65

Flop: ($1.95) 3 8 6 (2 players)
BB bets $1.30, Hero calls $1.30

Turn: ($4.55) 7 (2 players)
BB bets $3.03, Hero raises to $8.05, BB calls $4.72 all in

River: ($20.05) 2 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $20.05
BB shows K K
Hero shows Q Q
Hero wins $0.30
BB wins $19.05
(Rake: $0.70)

Total unknown, sigh....

Merge $4.00 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 1428903
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $4.00
Hero (SB): $4.06
BB: $4.04
UTG: $5.31
CO: $3.94

Pre Flop: ($0.06) Hero is SB with K Q
1 fold, CO raises to $0.12, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.10, 1 fold

Flop: ($0.28) 3 K T (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $0.18, Hero calls $0.18

Turn: ($0.64) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $0.46, Hero calls $0.46

River: ($1.56) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $1.17, Hero folds

Final Pot: $1.56
CO wins $1.49
(Rake: $0.07)

I've always respected your strat posts in uNL, came to PGandC and saw you had a thread. GLGL EV and ship September!

When you beat 25nl, are you going to keep moving up?

Appreciate it man, follow my progress! I need some steady followers haha. I plan to put alot more volume in September. I mean the last few months I have like 48k hands or so and I def will at least double that if not more this month. Assuming I get to 25nl, I will keep moving up but once I get past 50nl im gonna adjust my BRM so instead of having like 30BIs for a new level it will be more like 40BIs. Need to be rolled for 10nl first tho.

Yeah I'm following, gonna go through this thread more thoroughly when I get back from work. Do you know if Merge has some sort of rakeback program or VPP/FPP type program like stars? The rake completely rapes at the micros, FPP bonuses made up like 3/4 of my roll at stars and I'm thinking of depositing at Merge.

If you're calling the turn, why fold the river?

Merge has some rakeback deals but I moved to the caribbean recently so trying to head back onto pokerstars. I play on lockpoker and I think its one of the better softwares but def not comparable to stars or ftp. There are alot of regs even at the 4nl level but its still obv doable. What stakes would u play btw?

Well OTT I think some draws are still barreling as well as KJ K9 type hands that give up by the river. Sometimes bad player will overvalue second pair type hands but they would also give up on the river or gaybet river.

Probably 10nl with a starting br of 250-300.
From some of your hands on the first page of this thread, I'm a little confused with villain play on this site. Idk if you had a read or it was variance something but there are hands at 4nl where villain c/r turn or river with TP.

Aight nice, let me know if you decide to go through with putting that on merge. Which hands were u talking about? Ill take a look now to see if I can find ne of those ur talking about.

Wont be able to play much until sunday prob but once monday comes im gonna be playing alot more. Should be able to double my graph in terms of volume, hopefully money wise too.

Session 1: 4nl
103m
1481h-12.94

Session 2: 4nl
34m
459h-3.53

Session 3: 4nl (thought I was gonna have more time but decided to do house chores)
10m
117h+1.96

Sigh.. This one hurt
--> against a reg 22/16/10.1 and hasnt raised cbet yet over 331 hands so gave him respect

Merge $4.00 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 1429221
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

SB: $12.61
BB: $4.00
UTG: $7.79
CO: $4.90
Hero (BTN): $4.00

Pre Flop: ($0.06) Hero is BTN with K K
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.12, SB calls $0.10, BB calls $0.08

Flop: ($0.36) 2 8 7 (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $0.28, SB raises to $0.89, BB folds, Hero folds

Final Pot: $0.92
SB wins $0.88
(Rake: $0.04)

Getting owned
--> villain was 31/17/2.3 over 661 hands and obv calls too much and think he can be doing this w alot of worst aces.

Merge $4.00 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 1429222
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BB: $12.65
UTG: $4.00
CO: $4.00
BTN: $5.06
Hero (SB): $4.08

Pre Flop: ($0.06) Hero is SB with A K
1 fold, CO calls $0.04, BTN raises to $0.16, Hero calls $0.14, 1 fold, CO calls $0.12

Flop: ($0.52) 2 2 3 (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($0.52) A (3 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $0.26, BTN folds, Hero raises to $0.80, CO raises to $1.34, Hero raises to $3.92, CO raises to $3.84

River: ($8.36) 4 (2 players)

Final Pot: $8.36
CO shows 3 3
Hero shows A K
Hero wins $0.08
CO wins $7.87
(Rake: $0.41)

--> Villain was giving me alot of trouble and was a tricky player. Given the board texture , he knows i will cbet that 100% of the time and I know he will stab 100% when checked too but I dont think he thinks that I think of check raising as a bluff. lol @ leveling....
He was 22/18/8.2 over 552 hands FWIW

Merge $4.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1429224
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

UTG: $5.44
MP: $4.10
Hero (CO): $4.00
BTN: $4.35
SB: $1.46
BB: $2.80

Pre Flop: ($0.06) Hero is CO with T A
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.12, BTN calls $0.12, 1 fold, BB raises to $0.20, Hero calls $0.08, BTN calls $0.08

Flop: ($0.62) 9 2 9 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets $0.36, BB folds, Hero raises to $0.95, BTN folds

Final Pot: $1.34
Hero wins $1.28
(Rake: $0.06)

--> Villain 18/13/5.4 over 114h.... Think villain can have slowplayed AK here as well as alot of Kx combos w one diamond, villain is obv never bluffing here.

Merge $4.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1429225
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

MP: $3.15
CO: $9.64
Hero (BTN): $4.00
SB: $4.02
BB: $14.92
UTG: $3.83

Pre Flop: ($0.06) Hero is BTN with T K
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.12, 1 fold, BB raises to $0.25, Hero calls $0.13

Flop: ($0.52) 2 K 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($0.52) T (2 players)
BB bets $0.34, Hero raises to $1, BB raises to $2.68, Hero raises to $3.75, BB calls $1.07

River: ($8.02) T (2 players)

Final Pot: $8.02
Hero shows T K
BB shows 7 A
Hero wins $7.62
(Rake: $0.40)

H1 standard fold multiway, I find that it's good not just to fold and move onto the next hand but also to think about what your c/r range is if you're SB in that spot and the situation is slightly different (HU, 872tt etc).

H2 3bet pre, idk how to think in a non results oriented way (put results in a spoiler?) but I'd probably flat the turn 3bet unless you've seen him spaz with Ax TPWK before. His line doesn't make sense for non Ax hands, but then again, neither do most lines in Baluga hands.

H3 lol do most solid regs at Merge min3b? I'm just c/f flop because I don't think villains fold to the c/r with any PPs( what I think they usually have when they min3b at the micros), and he's betting flop multiway as well. Also you rep air/FDs.

H4 fold pre, your hand is easily dominated. KQ/KJ are much easier defends and I assume you flatted here because he was 3betting you pretty often (if villain had not 3b me before I'm snapfolding even with pot odds and position because we have massive RIO). An important thing to remember about defending your opens vs wide 3bettors is that not every wide 3bet range is equal. Range composition matters very much, eg flatting KJ is good vs a polarized range with light 3b hands (JJ-AA, AQ+, Axs, Kxs) but horrible against a depolarized range with (TT-AA, AJ+, KQ) whereas it's the opposite way around with stuff like 98s, 76s etc. I can't judge the player pool of Merge, but iirc only at around 25nl did regs start to polarize their 3b ranges.

H1- I agree and that is why I folded b/c we get value from hands that call and villain is not the type of player to overvalue a overpair and kudos to him if he has air.

H2- I mix it up a lot w AK cuz we have to fold to a 4b and I feel as though some bad players will be unknowingly 4b bluffing w AQ/KQ/JJ/random stuff b/c they are just fish or v inexperienced. I really dont find ne difference in sticking it in OTT or flatting the 3b and calling a shove OTR (doesnt induce b/c villain is never taking this line as a bluff).

H3- The reg didnt m3b my mistake, the reg was on BTN meanwhile the fish m3b. Looking at the hand now I think I made a mistake and I should just cbet or c/f (kinda like c/f better b/c if I cbet I should barrel alot of turns for a cbet to be profitable). I think c/r is okay but not the best solution on this board texture b/c he will be flatting w/ a wide range of hands.

H4- I flatted b/c of price and b/c villain was 3bin me here and there and had position. Think I should have just folded pre.

Been playing alot more tables than what Im used to. I think its messing with my winrate as expected but I think I just need some more practice. Dont mind doing this when im overrolled for 4nl and it will help me get in alot more volume in the next few months. I was doing 6 and doin 2-3 when taking shots at 10nl so its no wonder the transfer to 14 tabling is difficult. I can handle it for sure I just need to get used to looking at stats quicker and making some bet sizing quicker. Think I overplayed a bunch of hands today but I learned from my mistakes and running bad atm but that will change.

Results for 9/4

Session 1: 4nl
33m
308h+6.51

Session 2: 4nl
40m
434h+3.29

Session 3: 4nl
78m
948h-8.67

Session 4: 4nl
56m
901h-13.08

Played about 2.6k hands today and was playing well until my last session. I went from 12 tabling to 14 tabling but dont think that was the reason for some mistakes. I think I just overplayed some hands and some b/c of variance. Wish me luck for this month ill need it, down like 26 bucks this month

against unknown....

Merge $4.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1432763
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

MP: $8.27
CO: $3.94
BTN: $3.71
SB: $2.74
Hero (BB): $4.08
UTG: $2.90

Pre Flop: ($0.06) Hero is BB with K J
3 folds, BTN calls $0.04, SB calls $0.02, Hero raises to $0.20, BTN calls $0.16, SB calls $0.16

Flop: ($0.60) T K 3 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.40, BTN calls $0.40, SB folds

Turn: ($1.40) 5 (2 players)
[color=red]Hero

How do we proceed?
--> UTG is essentially a unknown being 25/6 over 53h
--> CO 28/19/5.9 Ft3b 0% (3)
Merge $4.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1432768
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

CO: $4.00
BTN: $3.88
Hero (SB): $4.19
BB: $3.20
UTG: $10.33
MP: $4.37

Pre Flop: ($0.06) Hero is SB with Q Q
UTG raises to $0.12, 1 fold, CO raises to $0.34, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.32, 1 fold, UTG calls $0.22

Flop: ($1.06) 4 9 7 (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $0.12, CO calls $0.12, Hero raises to $0.80, UTG calls $0.68, CO calls $0.68

Turn: ($3.46) T (3 players)
[color=red]Hero

--> Villain 34/29/8.9 over 464h raises donk bet 75% of the time (reason I donked was b/c I thought it was a limped pot)
Merge $4.00 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 1432770
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

CO: $6.18
BTN: $9.59
SB: $4.00
Hero (BB): $4.06
UTG: $7.90

Pre Flop: ($0.06) Hero is BB with 9 8
2 folds, BTN raises to $0.08, SB calls $0.06, Hero calls $0.04

Flop: ($0.24) 7 8 8 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.16, BTN raises to $0.45, SB folds, Hero calls $0.29

Turn: ($1.14) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.72, Hero

--> Villain 23/13 over 80 hands no real reads pretty much unknown


Merge $4.00 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 1432771
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $3.95
Hero (SB): $4.00
BB: $4.02
UTG: $2.08
CO: $7.09

Pre Flop: ($0.06) Hero is SB with J A
2 folds, BTN raises to $0.14, Hero calls $0.12, 1 fold

Flop: ($0.32) A 9 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($0.32) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.21, BTN calls $0.21

River: ($0.74) J (2 players)
Hero bets $0.60, BTN raises to $3.60