Former MTG Player takes gap year from college to grind
11-16-2020
, 07:24 PM
Hi All!
I'm Noah, I'm a 20 year old from the US currently playing NL on pokerbros. I've ghosted 2p2 for a while but never really introduced myself to the community. Since I'm taking poker more seriously now, I thought a goals & challenges thread would be a great way to keep myself motivated.
I've always loved strategy games and played Magic: The Gathering religiously throughout high school. In Spring of my senior year I made a few thousand dollars playing online and in tournaments but was getting tired of the game and decided to quit.
I found poker in Summer 2018 and was a mostly losing player for about 18 months. When the Pokerbros boom happened in February 2020 I ran pretty well and was able to turn a $150 deposit into $4k, which I used to invest in PIO and a computer that was capable of running larger sims. Both of these have improved my game immensely.
I've been playing mostly full-time since covid sent me home from school in March, and I've so far managed to work my way up from .2/.4 to 2/4 and 3/6.
I'm planning on continuing to play online from the US for this spring, but am also considering trying to move to Central America/Southeast Asia (Mexico, Thailand, Cambodia, etc) to try and join a poker house.
Will try and post daily updates. Results so far are below.
BB:
USD:
Thanks for reading!
I'm Noah, I'm a 20 year old from the US currently playing NL on pokerbros. I've ghosted 2p2 for a while but never really introduced myself to the community. Since I'm taking poker more seriously now, I thought a goals & challenges thread would be a great way to keep myself motivated.
I've always loved strategy games and played Magic: The Gathering religiously throughout high school. In Spring of my senior year I made a few thousand dollars playing online and in tournaments but was getting tired of the game and decided to quit.
I found poker in Summer 2018 and was a mostly losing player for about 18 months. When the Pokerbros boom happened in February 2020 I ran pretty well and was able to turn a $150 deposit into $4k, which I used to invest in PIO and a computer that was capable of running larger sims. Both of these have improved my game immensely.
I've been playing mostly full-time since covid sent me home from school in March, and I've so far managed to work my way up from .2/.4 to 2/4 and 3/6.
I'm planning on continuing to play online from the US for this spring, but am also considering trying to move to Central America/Southeast Asia (Mexico, Thailand, Cambodia, etc) to try and join a poker house.
Will try and post daily updates. Results so far are below.
BB:
USD:
Thanks for reading!
11-16-2020
, 07:35 PM
#redline
GL noah
11-16-2020
, 10:41 PM
Thanks!
A couple interesting hands from today, would love to hear thoughts.
Assumed villains don't x/shove river enough here as a bluff, also should have some traps and other better hands to call.
In hindsight I think betting this turn is pretty horrible, we have decent showdown with our A-high, equity with gutter and getting raised again is very bad
Going to try and hit 6k hands this week. Back in summer I was playing around 45 hours/13k hands weekly but I took a break in September and haven't really been able to get back into that groove since.
A couple interesting hands from today, would love to hear thoughts.
Assumed villains don't x/shove river enough here as a bluff, also should have some traps and other better hands to call.
In hindsight I think betting this turn is pretty horrible, we have decent showdown with our A-high, equity with gutter and getting raised again is very bad
Going to try and hit 6k hands this week. Back in summer I was playing around 45 hours/13k hands weekly but I took a break in September and haven't really been able to get back into that groove since.
11-17-2020
, 06:53 PM
Played a fun HU session with a friend today, ran like god which was nice. There were some interesting dynamics that made for a couple unique hands.
Is there a preferred format for hand histories? The H2N images are kind of ugly if anyone has recommendations for how to make the thread more readable.
Is there a preferred format for hand histories? The H2N images are kind of ugly if anyone has recommendations for how to make the thread more readable.
Last edited by noahband; 11-17-2020 at 06:55 PM.
Reason: Addendum re: hand histories
11-27-2020
, 07:00 PM
November bros graph so far:
A few interesting hands
This hand from a private club that plays more like a deep live game (had TsTh). Villain seemed pretty competent, I thought our line looked nutted/underbluffed enough that we could get him to fold some 2p hands. Going to run this in Pio and see what bluff combos it prefers, some have suggested it's better to block pairs than JT twice.
Rolled low on river so decided to jam. Was thinking diamond flush draws with an 8 would be good river bluff shoves.
Pretty standard I think?
A few interesting hands
This hand from a private club that plays more like a deep live game (had TsTh). Villain seemed pretty competent, I thought our line looked nutted/underbluffed enough that we could get him to fold some 2p hands. Going to run this in Pio and see what bluff combos it prefers, some have suggested it's better to block pairs than JT twice.
Rolled low on river so decided to jam. Was thinking diamond flush draws with an 8 would be good river bluff shoves.
Pretty standard I think?
12-11-2020
, 02:18 AM
Rough sesh today. Ran into some coolers but also wasn't playing A-game.
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PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - ¥3/¥6 - 5 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat
UTG: ¥1,153.76 (192 bb)
CO: ¥489.15 (82 bb)
BU: ¥918.00 (153 bb)
SB (Hero): ¥940.27 (157 bb)
BB: ¥600.00 (100 bb)
Pre-Flop: (¥9) Hero is SB with K♣ T♣
3 players fold, Hero raises to ¥18, BB 3-bets to ¥54, Hero calls ¥36
Flop: (¥108) 2♦ A♠ 2♠ (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets ¥28, Hero calls ¥28
Turn: (¥164) J♣ (2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks
River: (¥164) T♦ (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets ¥82, Hero raises to ¥858.27 (all-in), BB calls ¥436 (all-in)
Total pot: ¥1,200 (Rake: ¥12.72)
Showdown:
SB (Hero) shows K♣ T♣ (two pair, Tens and Twos)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 32%, Flop: 12%, Turn: 7%, River: 0%)
BB shows Q♣ Q♠ (two pair, Queens and Twos)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 68%, Flop: 88%, Turn: 93%, River: 100%)
BB wins ¥1,187.28
Ran this in Pio afterwards and all KT combos call river, anything without spade mixing jam also. Villain found a pretty sweet call that's about breakeven according to Pio depending on his suits.
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PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - ¥2/¥4 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat
UTG: ¥777.67 (194 bb)
MP: ¥671.51 (168 bb)
CO: ¥774.84 (194 bb)
BU: ¥535.51 (134 bb)
SB (Hero): ¥595.56 (149 bb)
BB: ¥832.54 (208 bb)
Pre-Flop: (¥6) Hero is SB with A♦ A♥
1 fold, MP raises to ¥10, CO 3-bets to ¥30, 1 fold, Hero 4-bets to ¥75, 1 fold, MP calls ¥65, CO calls ¥45
Flop: (¥229) 2♠ Q♣ 5♠ (3 players)
Hero checks, MP checks, CO checks
Turn: (¥229) 5♦ (3 players)
Hero checks, MP checks, CO bets ¥152, Hero calls ¥152, MP calls ¥152
River: (¥685) T♣ (3 players)
Hero checks, MP checks, CO bets ¥547.84 (all-in), Hero calls ¥368.56 (all-in), MP folds
Total pot: ¥1,422.12 (Rake: ¥8.48)
Showdown:
CO shows 5♥ 6♥ (three of a kind, Fives)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 22%, Flop: 20%, Turn: 95%, River: 100%)
SB (Hero) shows A♦ A♥ (two pair, Aces and Fives)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 78%, Flop: 80%, Turn: 5%, River: 0%)
CO wins ¥1,413.64
MP in this hand is a huge whale. Checked flop because I thought both villains would fold without a pair/flush draw, and was thinking we could make more money with XR against random stabs (esp from MP) since there isn't much 5x or 2x in either range. AdAh also blocks all AQ combos as well as 2/3 of possible A5s/A2s. Still, maybe better to just bet here? Or check only with the ace of spades?
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PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - ¥3/¥6 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat
UTG: ¥1,200.00 (200 bb)
MP: ¥720.92 (120 bb)
CO: ¥709.81 (118 bb)
BU: ¥768.28 (128 bb)
SB: ¥1,194.00 (199 bb)
BB (Hero): ¥600.00 (100 bb)
Pre-Flop: (¥9) Hero is BB with K♦ 7♥
4 players fold, SB raises to ¥18, Hero calls ¥12
Flop: (¥36) K♠ 7♠ 2♥ (2 players)
SB bets ¥12, Hero raises to ¥45, SB calls ¥33
Turn: (¥126) A♥ (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks
River: (¥126) 5♣ (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets ¥189, SB raises to ¥756, Hero calls ¥348 (all-in)
Total pot: ¥1,200 (Rake: ¥12.72)
Showdown:
SB shows A♦ A♣ (three of a kind, Aces)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 87%, Flop: 25%, Turn: 100%, River: 100%)
BB (Hero) shows K♦ 7♥ (two pair, Kings and Sevens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 13%, Flop: 75%, Turn: 0%, River: 0%)
SB wins ¥1,187.28
This hand kind of a trainwreck. Think I've got a pretty big knowledge gap in some of the flop raise lines.
On turn, the A turn threw me since all our 2p value raises are now behind a good chunk of villain's range. I immediately started thinking about how capped we were and projected that onto opponent (big weakness of mine).
On river I assumed he was fairly capped after checking, and justified calling shove because all the draws miss and I thought we were close to top of range/looked weak.
In real life we need to be good here 29% of the time no one bluffs anywhere close to that much. Median is probably less than 5%. Silly call.
12-15-2020
, 05:10 PM
Couple interesting hands from ACR these last few days, have been trying to click the fold button more.
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Winning Poker, Hold'em No Limit - $2/$4 - 5 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat
UTG: $406.00 (102 bb)
CO: $400.00 (100 bb)
BU (Hero): $505.00 (126 bb)
SB: $415.10 (104 bb)
BB: $404.00 (101 bb)
Pre-Flop: ($6) Hero is BTN with 6♣ A♣
1 fold, CO raises to $8, Hero 3-bets to $30, 2 players fold, CO calls $22
Flop: ($66) 6♥ J♦ 7♦ (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $20.79, CO raises to $45.58, Hero raises to $101.57, CO raises to $370 (all-in), BU (Hero) folds
Total pot: $269.14 (Rake: $3)
CO wins $266.14
Didn't like our spot if we just called flop so decided on 3bet/fold.
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Winning Poker, Hold'em No Limit - $1/$2 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat
UTG: $213.10 (107 bb)
MP: $240.00 (120 bb)
CO: $432.33 (216 bb)
BU (Hero): $295.07 (148 bb)
SB: $297.95 (149 bb)
BB: $243.90 (122 bb)
Pre-Flop: ($3) Hero is BTN with A♥ A♣
1 fold, MP raises to $5, 1 fold, Hero 3-bets to $14.75, 2 players fold, MP 4-bets to $39, Hero calls $24.25
Flop: ($81) J♦ 7♣ 3♣ (2 players)
MP bets $21.25, Hero calls $21.25
Turn: ($123.50) K♥ (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $48.76, MP raises to $128, BU (Hero) folds
Total pot: $221.02 (Rake: $3)
MP wins $218.02
Couldn't imagine too many bluffs from villain that leave 24bb behind into pot of 180bb on turn. We also block Ac (for a few possible bluff combos) and half the AK (for when he might be value owning himself). Obviously we can never fold in pio-land but I just thought we'd run into JJ/KK here so often.
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Winning Poker, Hold'em No Limit - $1/$2 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat
UTG: $229.35 (115 bb)
MP: $511.65 (256 bb)
CO: $345.13 (173 bb)
BU: $203.47 (102 bb)
SB: $203.00 (102 bb)
BB (Hero): $200.00 (100 bb)
Pre-Flop: ($3) Hero is BB with A♠ T♥
2 players fold, CO raises to $4.20, 2 players fold, Hero calls $2.20
Flop: ($9.40) K♠ J♥ K♦ (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $6.23, Hero calls $6.23
Turn: ($21.86) 7♣ (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $15.30, Hero calls $15.30
River: ($52.46) T♦ (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $23.60, Hero raises to $174.27 (all-in), CO calls $150.67
Total pot: $401 (Rake: $3)
Showdown:
BB (Hero) shows A♠ T♥ (two pair, Kings and Tens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 26%, Flop: 14%, Turn: 9%, River: 0%)
CO shows A♦ K♥ (three of a kind, Kings)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 74%, Flop: 86%, Turn: 91%, River: 100%)
CO wins $398
Mandatory punt for this post
Thinking at the time was that villain had more bet/folds with the small river size but it seems easy to overdo it here and also totally possible he's trying to induce. FWIW I'm playing AQ/TT (when we flat pre) and KJo the same way. Not sure if we have a raising range on the turn, if we don't then 77 is pure here also.
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Winning Poker, Hold'em No Limit - $2/$4 - 5 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat
UTG: $406.00 (102 bb)
CO: $400.00 (100 bb)
BU (Hero): $505.00 (126 bb)
SB: $415.10 (104 bb)
BB: $404.00 (101 bb)
Pre-Flop: ($6) Hero is BTN with 6♣ A♣
1 fold, CO raises to $8, Hero 3-bets to $30, 2 players fold, CO calls $22
Flop: ($66) 6♥ J♦ 7♦ (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $20.79, CO raises to $45.58, Hero raises to $101.57, CO raises to $370 (all-in), BU (Hero) folds
Total pot: $269.14 (Rake: $3)
CO wins $266.14
Didn't like our spot if we just called flop so decided on 3bet/fold.
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Winning Poker, Hold'em No Limit - $1/$2 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat
UTG: $213.10 (107 bb)
MP: $240.00 (120 bb)
CO: $432.33 (216 bb)
BU (Hero): $295.07 (148 bb)
SB: $297.95 (149 bb)
BB: $243.90 (122 bb)
Pre-Flop: ($3) Hero is BTN with A♥ A♣
1 fold, MP raises to $5, 1 fold, Hero 3-bets to $14.75, 2 players fold, MP 4-bets to $39, Hero calls $24.25
Flop: ($81) J♦ 7♣ 3♣ (2 players)
MP bets $21.25, Hero calls $21.25
Turn: ($123.50) K♥ (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $48.76, MP raises to $128, BU (Hero) folds
Total pot: $221.02 (Rake: $3)
MP wins $218.02
Couldn't imagine too many bluffs from villain that leave 24bb behind into pot of 180bb on turn. We also block Ac (for a few possible bluff combos) and half the AK (for when he might be value owning himself). Obviously we can never fold in pio-land but I just thought we'd run into JJ/KK here so often.
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Winning Poker, Hold'em No Limit - $1/$2 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat
UTG: $229.35 (115 bb)
MP: $511.65 (256 bb)
CO: $345.13 (173 bb)
BU: $203.47 (102 bb)
SB: $203.00 (102 bb)
BB (Hero): $200.00 (100 bb)
Pre-Flop: ($3) Hero is BB with A♠ T♥
2 players fold, CO raises to $4.20, 2 players fold, Hero calls $2.20
Flop: ($9.40) K♠ J♥ K♦ (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $6.23, Hero calls $6.23
Turn: ($21.86) 7♣ (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $15.30, Hero calls $15.30
River: ($52.46) T♦ (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $23.60, Hero raises to $174.27 (all-in), CO calls $150.67
Total pot: $401 (Rake: $3)
Showdown:
BB (Hero) shows A♠ T♥ (two pair, Kings and Tens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 26%, Flop: 14%, Turn: 9%, River: 0%)
CO shows A♦ K♥ (three of a kind, Kings)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 74%, Flop: 86%, Turn: 91%, River: 100%)
CO wins $398
Mandatory punt for this post
Thinking at the time was that villain had more bet/folds with the small river size but it seems easy to overdo it here and also totally possible he's trying to induce. FWIW I'm playing AQ/TT (when we flat pre) and KJo the same way. Not sure if we have a raising range on the turn, if we don't then 77 is pure here also.
Last edited by noahband; 12-15-2020 at 05:11 PM.
Reason: Added separation between hands
12-17-2020
, 08:08 PM
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Rough last couple days. Session on Monday started out really well, then I lost a large pot against a fish playing 90/35 and ended up giving it all back. I think it's likely that entitlement tilt was a significant contributing factor although of course hard to know for sure.
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PokerBros, Hold'em No Limit - ¥2/¥4 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat
UTG: ¥760.00 (190 bb)
MP: ¥1,651.76 (413 bb)
CO: ¥360.00 (90 bb)
BU (Hero): ¥786.60 (197 bb)
SB: ¥682.66 (171 bb)
BB: ¥922.24 (231 bb)
Pre-Flop: (¥6) Hero is BTN with K♥ J♥
UTG calls ¥4, 2 players fold, Hero raises to ¥20, 2 players fold, UTG calls ¥16
Flop: (¥46) A♠ A♦ K♠ (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks
Turn: (¥46) A♣ (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks
River: (¥46) Q♦ (2 players)
UTG bets ¥46, Hero raises to ¥148, UTG raises to ¥740 (all-in), Hero calls ¥592
Total pot: ¥1,526 (Rake: ¥12.48)
Showdown:
UTG shows A♥ 3♣ (four of a kind, Aces)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 55%, Flop: 98%, Turn: 100%, River: 100%)
BU (Hero) shows K♥ J♥ (a full house, Aces full of Kings)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 45%, Flop: 2%, Turn: 0%, River: 0%)
UTG wins ¥1,513.52
This is the hand vs. the fish. Given his range was so wide and he was folding at high frequency to flop cbets, I checked back instead of rangebetting in hopes that he'd catch more of a piece (we get at least 1 street from any pair he hits). Used same logic on turn, then on river leveled myself into thinking that he could play a K like this.
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PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - ¥2/¥4 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat
UTG: ¥1,056.94 (264 bb)
MP: ¥800.00 (200 bb)
CO: ¥778.00 (195 bb)
BU (Hero): ¥532.06 (133 bb)
SB: ¥714.54 (179 bb)
BB: ¥725.38 (181 bb)
Pre-Flop: (¥6) Hero is BTN with A♥ A♦
UTG calls ¥4, 2 players fold, Hero raises to ¥16, 1 fold, BB calls ¥12, UTG calls ¥12
Flop: (¥50) 9♣ 6♦ K♥ (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets ¥25, Hero calls ¥25, BB calls ¥25
Turn: (¥125) 7♦ (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets ¥125, Hero raises to ¥491.06 (all-in), BB folds, UTG calls ¥366.06
River: (¥1,107.12) T♦ (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: ¥1,107.12 (Rake: ¥12.48)
Showdown:
BU (Hero) shows A♥ A♦ (a pair of Aces)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 87%, Flop: 25%, Turn: 18%, River: 0%)
UTG shows K♦ 9♠ (two pair, Kings and Nines)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 13%, Flop: 75%, Turn: 82%, River: 100%)
UTG wins ¥1,094.64
Really lost for what to do in spots like this against recreational leads. Is raising flop better to get value against draws/Kx? Should we be raising turn at all? I feel like I might have a better idea having played longer with a specific fish, but all I had seen from this individual was preflop limping for a couple orbits.
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PokerBros, Hold'em No Limit - ¥2/¥4 - 2 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat
SB (Hero): ¥483.33 (121 bb)
BB: ¥977.67 (244 bb)
Pre-Flop: (¥6) Hero is SB with J♣ J♥
Hero raises to ¥10, BB 3-bets to ¥40, Hero 4-bets to ¥92, BB calls ¥52
Flop: (¥184) K♣ T♥ K♥ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets ¥46, BB calls ¥46
Turn: (¥276) 6♦ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets ¥110, BB calls ¥110
River: (¥496) 7♣ (2 players)
BB bets ¥248, Hero calls ¥235.33 (all-in)
Total pot: ¥966.66 (Rake: ¥6)
Showdown:
BB shows Q♥ K♦ (three of a kind, Kings)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 44%, Flop: 93%, Turn: 95%, River: 100%)
SB (Hero) shows J♣ J♥ (two pair, Kings and Jacks)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 56%, Flop: 7%, Turn: 5%, River: 0%)
BB wins ¥960.66
Can we fold here against villain who has played fairly standard over 20-30 hands of HU? I assumed not since I think we're ripping strong Tx for value on river but maybe it's a spot where there aren't bluffs.
