August Thread

Didn't play at all last month really, this is going to be my first month basically playing full time (no expenditure + part time job + tiny baknroll = not really playing for a living).

Goals for this month
[]Hit Silver Star in a week (00:00 08/09/2013)
[]Play 1k 6max hypers and profit
[]Clear Deposit Bonus & Next Stellar Reward
[]Grind my way to 20BI's for 10NL after hitting Silver Star (preferably 4/6 tabling 5NL)

(I'm assuming anyone can make this thread, sorry if not)

You just beat me to making this thread

August went really well. Back at 50nl feel like im playing my A game a lot.



Got just under 11k VPPs while missing out on the first week of august and playing 50/50 25nl/50nl.

Goals for September.
[ ] 20k VPPS - high enough target but its still only just over 100 hours play. i'd still be happy with ~17k which would leave me with 30k to get over 3 months for SN.
[ ] Finish off 'There will be homework' DC series and star a new series.
[ ] Finish off reading Expert No limit holdem and order some more books from amazon
[ ] At least 10 hours study per weak.
[ ]Work on my most prominent leaks(blind play and river play).

Gl everyone

In. Best of luck with September guys!

At the 55k hand mark how bad did you start to doubt your abilities? Got any tips for dealing with BE stretches or downswings?

And goals.

[] move up to 10NL
[] When/if downswings occur, persist.
[] Work on my game, ldo.

Didn't play enough last month, only got in 23k hands. Won $100, EV $250.

Goals from August:

[ ] Run hotter than the sun - unfortunately not
[ ] 40k hands - nowhere near
[ ] Make $500 - NOPE

Not a failed month though, I got well out of MU (if we're including FPPs, which seems reasonable), worked on my game a little and feel I'm spewing a little less.

Edit: Goals:

[ ] 40k hands
[ ] Run like Gamma's end of August
[ ] Be more aggressive in turn and river spots vs regs
[ ] Rip off and learn from more DC videos

Still spewing a little though, as demonstrated by these hands from the last session of August:

1) River shove is terrible, I can only hope to fold out QQ.

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): $29.56
SB: $25.45 (VPIP: 10.64, PFR: 6.38, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 47)
BB: $35.98 (VPIP: 5.26, PFR: 5.26, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 19)
UTG: $25.41 (VPIP: 28.30, PFR: 26.42, 3Bet Preflop: 6.25, Hands: 53)
MP: $25.00 (VPIP: 22.86, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 36)
CO: $25.00 (VPIP: 20.20, PFR: 17.17, 3Bet Preflop: 2.78, Hands: 101)

SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has A T

UTG raises to $0.75, fold, fold, Hero raises to $2.25, fold, fold, UTG calls $1.50

Flop: ($4.85, 2 players) 3 8 7
UTG checks, Hero bets $2.54, UTG calls $2.54

Turn: ($9.93, 2 players) J
UTG checks, Hero bets $5.21, UTG calls $5.21

River: ($20.35, 2 players) 2
UTG checks, Hero bets $19.56 and is all-in, UTG calls $15.41 and is all-in



2) I thought the flop c/r on this board looked mega-FOS and played the hand this way before realising that I block basically all his bluffs.

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $25.00 (VPIP: 10.81, PFR: 8.11, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 38)
SB: $76.74 (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 12)
BB: $25.19 (VPIP: 20.24, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 5.71, Hands: 85)
UTG: $55.48 (VPIP: 18.28, PFR: 17.20, 3Bet Preflop: 11.11, Hands: 93)
Hero (MP): $37.65
CO: $60.81 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 20)

SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has A K

UTG raises to $1.00, Hero calls $1.00, fold, fold, fold, fold

Flop: ($2.35, 2 players) J 9 2
UTG checks, Hero bets $1.47, UTG raises to $4.25, Hero calls $2.78

Turn: ($10.85, 2 players) K
UTG bets $7.00, Hero calls $7.00

River: ($24.85, 2 players) Q
UTG checks, Hero checks



Now some hands I just want feedback on:

3) Easy river jam vs fish?

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $12.15 (VPIP: 15.31, PFR: 7.81, 3Bet Preflop: 1.43, Hands: 328)
SB: $20.51 (VPIP: 100.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 1)
BB: $32.87 (VPIP: 26.47, PFR: 20.59, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 34)
UTG: $28.95 (VPIP: 38.25, PFR: 16.94, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 187)
Hero (MP): $30.96
CO: $24.31 (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 6)

SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has A A

fold, Hero raises to $0.75, fold, fold, SB calls $0.65, fold

Flop: ($1.75, 2 players) 6 Q 9
SB bets $0.90, Hero raises to $2.80, SB calls $1.90

Turn: ($7.35, 2 players) 8
SB bets $1.00, Hero raises to $5.50, SB calls $4.50

River: ($18.35, 2 players) 2
SB checks, Hero bets $11.56, SB calls $11.46 and is all-in



4) I think this line is fine. Flop bet is sort of a merge, I think I can get some value in some spots but I think it's around about a 0EV play in a vacuum. The thing is I'm betting this spot with basically all my air so it's good as a default to have a few more hands to balance it than Kx+. 77 is a check here though I think. Turn and river are because, well, I'm betting the flop with all my air (Ax is air rather than SDV against two others here), so this can easily have hit me and he should never really have Ax here with the PFR left to act behind when he calls the flop (except for A8s sometimes). River is because he can call the turn with Kx but shouldn't be calling the river with anything really.

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): $46.72
SB: $22.45 (VPIP: 37.50, PFR: 37.50, 3Bet Preflop: 16.67, Hands: 16)
BB: $52.68 (VPIP: 56.25, PFR: 3.13, 3Bet Preflop: 6.67, Hands: 32)
UTG: $11.87 (VPIP: 12.50, PFR: 12.50, 3Bet Preflop: 33.33, Hands: 8)
MP: $25.93 (VPIP: 22.62, PFR: 15.48, 3Bet Preflop: 6.67, Hands: 87)
CO: $29.45 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 4)

SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has 9 9

fold, fold, CO raises to $0.75, Hero calls $0.75, SB calls $0.65, fold

Flop: ($2.50, 3 players) 8 3 K
SB checks, CO checks, Hero bets $1.57, SB calls $1.57, fold

Turn: ($5.64, 2 players) A
SB checks, Hero bets $3.55, SB calls $3.55

River: ($12.74, 2 players) 7
SB checks, Hero bets $6.69, SB calls $6.69



4) Should fold this turn, right, given that I have more 9x in my range than he does?

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $98.08 (VPIP: 100.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 1)
SB: $69.57 (VPIP: 15.73, PFR: 14.61, 3Bet Preflop: 9.09, Hands: 89)
BB: $30.76 (VPIP: 17.22, PFR: 14.90, 3Bet Preflop: 6.14, Hands: 309)
UTG: $32.60 (VPIP: 45.45, PFR: 36.36, 3Bet Preflop: 50.00, Hands: 11)
MP: $32.59 (VPIP: 20.51, PFR: 7.69, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 39)
Hero (CO): $27.74

SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has 8 8

fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.75, fold, SB raises to $2.50, fold, Hero calls $1.75

Flop: ($5.25, 2 players) 4 9 6
SB bets $2.50, Hero calls $2.50

Turn: ($10.25, 2 players) 9
SB bets $6.00, Hero calls $6.00

River: ($22.25, 2 players) A
SB bets $58.57 and is all-in, fold



5) Not sure whether b/f or x/jam turn is better here (assuming a range of AA-TT we don't have odds to call off, he snap-flatted the flop raise so that further excludes boats from his range).

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $20.88 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 1)
SB: $24.75 (VPIP: 26.67, PFR: 6.67, 3Bet Preflop: 25.00, Hands: 15)
Hero (BB): $58.33
UTG: $36.48 (VPIP: 27.78, PFR: 11.11, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 18)
MP: $27.86 (VPIP: 14.77, PFR: 12.13, 3Bet Preflop: 5.91, Hands: 977)
CO: $19.68 (VPIP: 71.43, PFR: 42.86, 3Bet Preflop: 40.00, Hands: 7)

SB posts SB $0.10, Hero posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has Q K

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to $0.75, fold, Hero calls $0.50

Flop: ($1.60, 2 players) 2 4 6
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.75, Hero raises to $2.41, BTN calls $1.66

Turn: ($6.42, 2 players) 4
Hero bets $4.04, BTN raises to $17.72 and is all-in, fold



6) When they rep three combos they always have it but I call anyway. I basically have the nuts on the turn (hand-reading yo) and he should bet this turn card pretty wide so I'm going for a turn c/r.

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $70.19 (VPIP: 33.02, PFR: 24.13, 3Bet Preflop: 11.49, Hands: 651)
Hero (SB): $77.18
BB: $21.79 (VPIP: 23.08, PFR: 7.69, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 14)
UTG: $25.00 (VPIP: 22.22, PFR: 22.22, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 10)
MP: $44.09 (VPIP: 19.15, PFR: 15.60, 3Bet Preflop: 5.83, Hands: 287)
CO: $40.50 (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 4)

Hero posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has T A

fold, MP raises to $0.75, fold, fold, Hero calls $0.65, fold

Flop: ($1.75, 2 players) 7 T Q
Hero checks, MP checks

Turn: ($1.75, 2 players) A
Hero checks, MP checks

River: ($1.75, 2 players) 8
Hero bets $1.10, MP raises to $4.00, Hero calls $2.90



7) Nits are getting nittier. Flop cbet is because he normally has some equity here and he's folding 88% to cbets.

PokerStars - $0.25 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $11.95 (VPIP: 15.68, PFR: 7.69, 3Bet Preflop: 1.31, Hands: 348)
SB: $23.57 (VPIP: 17.26, PFR: 13.40, 3Bet Preflop: 7.46, Hands: 316)
BB: $10.18 (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 2)
UTG: $66.73 (VPIP: 20.80, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 16.36, Hands: 125)
MP: $31.91 (VPIP: 51.43, PFR: 28.57, 3Bet Preflop: 6.25, Hands: 35)
Hero (CO): $91.57

SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has 5 4

fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.75, BTN calls $0.75, fold, fold

Flop: ($1.85, 2 players) 9 4 9
Hero bets $1.16, BTN calls $1.16

Turn: ($4.17, 2 players) 5
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: ($4.17, 2 players) 3
Hero checks, BTN checks

August Goals
[ X ] Get back to 24 tabling 10nl

September Goals

[ ] Get the roll to 24 table 25nl
[ ] Be profitable at 25nl
[ ] Play 200 k hands
[ ] Get Platinum Star

I didn't at all really. I was at 25nl and I knew I could beat 50nl(I was beating it at 1bb/100 but 3bb/100 EV this year or something like that) so I knew i was crushing 25nl since there is such a big difference between the levels. I had just got DB coaching and got a lot of positive reinforcement but also a few things to work on which would add a huge amount to my WR when i fixed them.

When your on a BE/losing stretch, try to always look on the positive side. Look at your graph from last year and then look at your current one. In my case I came a long way and knew I had improved leaps and bounds and you could see that in the graphs. Or I sometimes to load my graph for the year and say "i'm winning over a huge sample so there is no way i'm not winning now, its just variance." In the case of this month I was really content throughout most of the month since I was improving my game so much and I knew it was only a matter of time.

Do some study!!. When you do study and have something to implement into your game you start to forget about the results and concentrate on improving(which is the most important thing).

Great insight, thanks.

I'm thinking that we should always doubt our abilities... so that we can continue to grow

Pokerstars should ban the fish emoticon. What's the point of it? I see it used so often at the micros even towards winning players. Why do something which can potentially drive away customers?

Anyway, this session just gone was a bit boring. Down 40bb's, meh whatever. Won a few flips which were good though, and had some people X/J their air into my set.

August was the worst month for me since I dropped half my roll bout this time last year too!

Wasn't going to post a graph, but it's only right to post them when ur losing, as well as winning



Appreciate the feedback all you guys gave me on the video I made. I may do another one if that's ok as I still feel I'm nowhere near my A game and I can't really work out why.

Made a deposit to get the reload bonus, so actually have 21BIs for 25nl, but think I'm gonna stick with 10-16nl where I know I can win until I get my game/confidence back.

Guess we're all here for a Gamma month right?!

Not gonna set any specific goals, other than grinding the bonus out. Just wanna start making more good decisions again.

Gl everyone

August goals:
[x] 20k hands of 2nl 6max, mostly zoom. - Made 50k hands at 2nl and 10k at 5nl.
[x] Get completely comfortable playing 6max. - I feel pretty comfortable now.
[ ] Watch 15 training videos. - Only watched 5... Probably should have studied more and played less.
[x] Post hands in this thread and discuss hands posted by others in here.
[ ] Run at least 20 miles/week. - The weather ruined one week.
[x] 4th month without smoking - This was actually quite easy.

September goals:
[ ] 25k hands at 5nl zoom. I don't have nearly as much spare time on my hands as in August so this might actually be tight.
[ ] Watch at least one 8 video DC series, probably the Thin Red Line. (Trying to be more realistic than last month..)
[ ] Finish reading Easy Game vol.2 and read the Poker Blueprint.
[ ] Run at least 20 miles/week (though it keeps getting more likely that the weather ruins some week)
[ ] 5th month without smoking

My graph for August after taking a 4-5 month break from poker. All 5NL Zoom, 8.4bb/100, time to move up I think..

Goals for August -

[ ] 25k hands - 22k hands
[x] +300 profit - Made 330, but by finishing 3rd in a donkament and breaking even in cash
[ ] Not run bad while shottaking NL25. - Fail.

Month in currency


Month in BB


September Goals -

[ ] - Play 25k hands
[ ] - Crush NL10 once again
[ ] - Study more once papers end

Gl to everyone.

Think I saw you there this morning? Was donking around, haven't played Zoom in ages. So many people fold to 3bets, it was great fun!

Haha, I actually saw you but I wasn't sure whether your forum name had the '100' on it so I wondered whether it was the same guy. I fold to a huge % of 3bet's myself

Similar month for me:

Shot in 10nl failed, but i kept pushing.
This month i'm gonna clear the WCOOP bonus and decide between 5nl/10nl. School started so not that much volume anymore.

MFW an 80/0 fish continuously check/folds when you have any sort of decent holding, while they call down with 4th pair against everyone else.



Gonna have to put some effort into being motivated to play now. Down 7 buy ins this month alone.

Sample sizes! Continuously, it probably happened like 3 times. You need to spot these gaps in your logic and start pulling yourself up on them. Will do wonders for your game.

had a bit over 80 hands against him, probably saw something like 30 flops, none of which netted me any large profits.

So you still believe a guy calling with any part of the board just magically decided to pick on you and not give you any money? It's much more likely that he just wasn't hitting the flop at all or you were doing something bad which stopped him putting money in the pot.

You need to start working on your mental toughness, if you don't, when you lose your edge as you move up it'll crush you. Look at that graph Gamma posted for example.

No, I don't think he was making moves on me or something, I just think I was unlucky that he missed when I hit or vice versa when he'd call down with absolute rubbish against other peoples hands.

Mental toughness is something I need to work on though for sure. Apart from the leaks I have, of course.

@ TDA
h3: looks good. You block flushes and get called by all Qx and possibly 9x if he is a mega fish.
h4 part 1 : Like your thought process and bet sizing OTR.
h4 part 2: Yeah don't think he is dubbing with air. club draws make up a small part of his range. He expects you to fold very little here.
h5: i'd B/F. XR X/J looks exactly like what you have. You don't X/jam any boats here do ya
h6: prob would have just bet turn. hnad is really strong but vulnerable.

How are people struggling so much at 10nl?

I'm bewildered, if anyone is struggling at 10nl/5nl hit me up at skype and we can talk hands

Made this really questionable fold. I didn't want to start the month like the previous one. I didn't want to know what would happen if he had a set here. So nitty fold, but i think it was worth it. Ended the first session of the month 16bb/100 in profit, although small sample. Have a plan of playing only 6 (+2) tables this month and creating a PGC for it.

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: $10.00 (VPIP: 20.77, PFR: 18.46, 3Bet Preflop: 4.35, Hands: 134)
UTG: $7.87 (VPIP: 55.56, PFR: 22.22, 3Bet Preflop: 18.18, Hands: 28)
MP: $14.32 (VPIP: 23.81, PFR: 19.05, 3Bet Preflop: 8.00, Hands: 65)
CO: $10.10 (VPIP: 28.57, PFR: 28.57, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 7)
BTN: $10.00 (VPIP: 28.57, PFR: 28.57, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 7)
Hero (SB): $10.80

Hero posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has K A

UTG calls $0.10, fold, fold, BTN calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.50, fold, fold, BTN calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.20, 2 players) A 3 4
Hero bets $0.70, BTN raises to $2.14, fold

BTN wins $2.48

h2: Not sure about this river call... Also wasn't sure whether MP can raise here or not.

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: $7.38 (VPIP: 83.33, PFR: 66.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 12)
CO: $10.00 (VPIP: 32.12, PFR: 28.57, 3Bet Preflop: 12.61, Hands: 307)
BTN: $3.92 (VPIP: 38.94, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 115)
SB: $10.00 (VPIP: 11.11, PFR: 8.89, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 45)
BB: $8.40 (VPIP: 20.63, PFR: 20.63, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 63)
Hero (UTG): $15.66

SB posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has A Q

Hero raises to $0.35, MP calls $0.35, fold, BTN calls $0.35, fold, fold

Flop: ($1.20, 3 players) J T 5
Hero checks, MP bets $0.40, BTN calls $0.40, Hero calls $0.40

Turn: ($2.40, 3 players) 7
Hero checks, MP bets $0.50, BTN calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.50

River: ($3.90, 3 players) Q
Hero checks, MP bets $2.00, BTN raises to $2.67 and is all-in, Hero calls $2.67, fold


h3: He seemed like one of those fishes who want to go broke. That was my read, he made some spazzy moves prior to this

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (UTG): $11.23
CO: $10.00 (VPIP: 13.51, PFR: 8.11, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 77)
BTN: $10.00 (VPIP: 20.83, PFR: 8.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 25)
SB: $5.98 (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 4)
BB: $11.25 (VPIP: 34.48, PFR: 27.59, 3Bet Preflop: 12.50, Hands: 30)

SB posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has K K

Hero raises to $0.30, fold, fold, SB calls $0.25, fold

Flop: ($0.70, 2 players) T Q Q
SB checks, Hero bets $0.40, SB calls $0.40

Turn: ($1.50, 2 players) 7
SB bets $5.28 and is all-in, Hero calls $5.28