Well, I've gone back to playing omaha for the time being. I can't say anything bad about my experience of playing holdem and I'll likely mix it in with my games for the forseeable future, but I really think my "main" game needs to be pot limit omaha.
I have such a better frame of mind right now. My stats are better, I'm more aggressive, and I won a bit of money the last day or two. Holdem helped me with my aggression, for sure.
Played a bit today -- ended up with a couple of huge hands -- won a four buyin pot when I flopped the nut full house and all the money went in on the turn -- the other guy had a big hand too.. Here's the hand: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1998460
There was another big pot that I got lucky in -- if you look at it that way. I flopped the nut straight, with a redraw to a flush, and also a redraw to a higher straight. I was laughing when the money went in -- til I realized the other guy ALSO had the nut straight, but with a BETTER flush redraw....ooooops. (except that I hit the higher straight redraw for the stack!!!)
That hand's here: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1998463
Gonna play some more omaha tomorrow and see if I can turn it around for the end of the month. I'm almost done the Ironman bonus, so that is good. Omaha is much better on the rakeback too. I'm excited :)
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Preparation ftw?!
Haven't played hardly any poker in the past couple of days - it's tough to fit in many hands when I'm working 12hrs a day. I did manage to play a $2 rebuy the other night, and got pretty deep too. Went out 12th trying to make a push for the final table when KTs lost a 40/60 flip to A5s.
I am adopting a whole new mentality for tournaments now. I've been reading "Ace On The River" by Barry Greenstein, and he makes some very good points about the mental approach to the game. I'm no longer playing to "cash" in tournaments - I'm in for the top three finishes. Sure the time between scores might be longer, but the majority of the money is at the final table, so hopefully the "big" hits will make up for the higher varience.
Looking forward to putting in a LOT of hands in the next 5-7 days. Have some time off work, it's snowy and cold and miserable here, and I'm playing the best poker that I have been in months. Still have my year end ironman bonus to finish up -- I expect some great things in the next week or so!
I am adopting a whole new mentality for tournaments now. I've been reading "Ace On The River" by Barry Greenstein, and he makes some very good points about the mental approach to the game. I'm no longer playing to "cash" in tournaments - I'm in for the top three finishes. Sure the time between scores might be longer, but the majority of the money is at the final table, so hopefully the "big" hits will make up for the higher varience.
Looking forward to putting in a LOT of hands in the next 5-7 days. Have some time off work, it's snowy and cold and miserable here, and I'm playing the best poker that I have been in months. Still have my year end ironman bonus to finish up -- I expect some great things in the next week or so!
Friday, January 18, 2008
The Ebb and Flow
Had a terrible day on Wednesday, probably my worst single day of poker in the last six months. I was just getting crushed. Couldn't hold up a thing. Got two outed on a horrid river...I had 44 and called a small raise preflop, flop was T47, he bet, I called, turn was a 2, I check, he bets, I shove...He calls and shows KK. River K -unbelievable. Then I got in again shortly after as a massive favourite, with AJ on a J74 flop. Buddy calls me with 42 (seriously?) for his whole stack - river deuce - thanks very much full tilt poker. AA loses to QQ all in preflop...sigh...Not to mention I just kept getting coolered. I have 74, flop comes 568, other guy has 79 obviously.
I was easily at my lowest point of the month, felt like I couldn't do a thing right. Just at that point, I had a chat with a friend about having a positive attitude, maintaining focus, and keeping things in perspective. I took the rest of the night off and started fresh Thursday, doing everything in my power to have a more positive frame of mind.
Thursday could not possibly have gone better. I really felt in control of both my game and my emotions, and the results followed. I got down early in my session but didn't let it get to me. Waited patiently, made a few moves to pick up pots in sketchy spots, and then picked up a couple of big hands. Stacked a guy with QQ over 77 - 4bet a guy preflop with AKs waiting to get it all in but he folded, hit a set on another guy for most of his money. Felt awesome.
I really believe that at least some of the result was due to the change in attitude. The day before I'd have gotten angry and not had the patience to wait out the swing in the game. Going forward, it's this attitude that I will bring to the game every session.
I was easily at my lowest point of the month, felt like I couldn't do a thing right. Just at that point, I had a chat with a friend about having a positive attitude, maintaining focus, and keeping things in perspective. I took the rest of the night off and started fresh Thursday, doing everything in my power to have a more positive frame of mind.
Thursday could not possibly have gone better. I really felt in control of both my game and my emotions, and the results followed. I got down early in my session but didn't let it get to me. Waited patiently, made a few moves to pick up pots in sketchy spots, and then picked up a couple of big hands. Stacked a guy with QQ over 77 - 4bet a guy preflop with AKs waiting to get it all in but he folded, hit a set on another guy for most of his money. Felt awesome.
I really believe that at least some of the result was due to the change in attitude. The day before I'd have gotten angry and not had the patience to wait out the swing in the game. Going forward, it's this attitude that I will bring to the game every session.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Work Getting In The Way
Haven't played a lot of poker this week -- tough when I'm working my shifts. I've been trying to get minimum 100ftp points a day though, and in doing so, I've had some pretty decent results. Still sticking to NL holdem -- I kind of miss playing omaha, but the results at NL say I should have been playing this game all along.
Had one good hand today where I picked up a stack -- I threebet preflop with Aces, and got called by two guys (at a 6 handed table). Flop was 4 6 9 rainbow - the small blind bet in to me, and I went all in -- the guy on the button called. The small blind tanked for a few minutes, typing incessantly in the chatbox what a sick laydown he was about to make, etc, etc, then folded.
Button showed KK - Small blind said he had QQ. Wow - won't be often that you see that at a 6 handed table, AA v KK v QQ. I'm just glad I was the one with the aces...
I'm done work now until Friday, so I should have a chance to put a good number of hands in. Have to get working on clearing the year end ironman bonus. Might mix in a tourney or two as well, if I can freeroll in off of NL profits.
Had one good hand today where I picked up a stack -- I threebet preflop with Aces, and got called by two guys (at a 6 handed table). Flop was 4 6 9 rainbow - the small blind bet in to me, and I went all in -- the guy on the button called. The small blind tanked for a few minutes, typing incessantly in the chatbox what a sick laydown he was about to make, etc, etc, then folded.
Button showed KK - Small blind said he had QQ. Wow - won't be often that you see that at a 6 handed table, AA v KK v QQ. I'm just glad I was the one with the aces...
I'm done work now until Friday, so I should have a chance to put a good number of hands in. Have to get working on clearing the year end ironman bonus. Might mix in a tourney or two as well, if I can freeroll in off of NL profits.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Mixing it Up
The last couple of days have been great. I'm really enjoying playing No Limit, and the results have been very positive. Pretty much back to even from my early month plo losses, so that's huge for me.
Also played a session of 2/4 Razz tonight for the first time in a very long time. I really enjoy that game, and people are horrible at it. May have to do some more of that in the days to come. Won $102 in around an hour there, and never really ended up in any bad spots in big pots. Lost one decent one where I had a guy chasing in bad shape all the way to the 7th card and caught a miracle card to beat me. His mistake for paying bets and raises to chase the whole way -- oh well -- now I have a note on him. I'll get all my bets back by value betting him to death some other time.
Hope I can keep it going!
Also played a session of 2/4 Razz tonight for the first time in a very long time. I really enjoy that game, and people are horrible at it. May have to do some more of that in the days to come. Won $102 in around an hour there, and never really ended up in any bad spots in big pots. Lost one decent one where I had a guy chasing in bad shape all the way to the 7th card and caught a miracle card to beat me. His mistake for paying bets and raises to chase the whole way -- oh well -- now I have a note on him. I'll get all my bets back by value betting him to death some other time.
Hope I can keep it going!
Monday, January 7, 2008
Holdem, Day 1
I'm having fun playing holdem. More importantly, I'm having fun playing POKER. It's been a while since I've said that. I might have to change up games every once in a while to keep things fresh.
For my first day, I played ~850 hands at $25nl, and made six buyins. I don't know if I'm just getting insanely lucky, or if the play is just THAT bad. People seem to stack off with anything. When I get called and I have a marginal hand, I still have that feeling of "oh no..here comes the nuts" from my omaha days, but they keep showing these crappy hands.
I don't know how the points/rakeback are accumulating, there's something wrong with FTP's software tonight, but whatever. I've figured out that on a per hour basis, I'll be able to get twice as many hands in holdem as I was in omaha (Holdem tables avg 80 hands/hr, and I can 6 table fairly easily -- 480/hr. Omaha avg'd 60/hr, and I was 4 tabling -- 240/hr) so hopefully that should make up for dropping to the lower limit.
Hopefully I can keep up the hot start for a bit longer. Last month's rakeback should be coming in soon too. I'm still committed to playing 10,000 hands at $25 before even thinking about moving up, whether I get to $2500 or not. If I'm gonna have leaks to analyze and buyins to lose learning lessons, it might as well cost $25 each time instead of $50...lol
-------------------------Click below for graph---------------------------
For my first day, I played ~850 hands at $25nl, and made six buyins. I don't know if I'm just getting insanely lucky, or if the play is just THAT bad. People seem to stack off with anything. When I get called and I have a marginal hand, I still have that feeling of "oh no..here comes the nuts" from my omaha days, but they keep showing these crappy hands.
I don't know how the points/rakeback are accumulating, there's something wrong with FTP's software tonight, but whatever. I've figured out that on a per hour basis, I'll be able to get twice as many hands in holdem as I was in omaha (Holdem tables avg 80 hands/hr, and I can 6 table fairly easily -- 480/hr. Omaha avg'd 60/hr, and I was 4 tabling -- 240/hr) so hopefully that should make up for dropping to the lower limit.
Hopefully I can keep up the hot start for a bit longer. Last month's rakeback should be coming in soon too. I'm still committed to playing 10,000 hands at $25 before even thinking about moving up, whether I get to $2500 or not. If I'm gonna have leaks to analyze and buyins to lose learning lessons, it might as well cost $25 each time instead of $50...lol
-------------------------Click below for graph---------------------------
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Omahahahaha to the Back Burner
I've decided I need an omaha break. After five months of playing that primarily, I need some time away from it. I started this month on a crappy downswing that just doesn't seem to be letting up, so rather than keep putting in hands and donating money, I'm gonna play some holdem for the time being.
I'm starting out overrolled really, but until I get comfortable, I think that's the smartest way to do it. I have ~75 buyins for the limit I'm playing now. After the first 10k hands or so, I'll reevaluate where I think I should be. I think ~50 buyins is a comfortable level for me so for right now, I'll grind at $25 until I can get to $2500, then think about taking the move up to $50, depending how I'm doing.
Played my first session last night, after getting some advice from the regulars on the fullcontactpoker board. I'd forgotten how many hands you fold in that game (as opposed to omaha, where most any combination of 4 cards looks playable). The benefit to that, however, is that I can play six tables, as opposed to the four I was playing at omaha. I have to see how that translates out as far as earning ironman points and rakeback, but it looks pretty comparable to omaha in that I got $1/100 hands at $25nl. I'm not sure about the ironman points though, I'll have to track that with tonight's hands.
Had some good results too (for a change). Made 2 buyins over a 300 hand span, and played what I thought was pretty solid. I spewed off a buyin early with a bad preflop call, but I learned from it, and won't make the same mistake again, so it was worth the $25. I posted some hands and questions, and as usual the guys on the forum had some good advice. I'll continue to use that to mold a NL game, and see how we do.
Oh, and stay away from tournaments....lol.
I'm starting out overrolled really, but until I get comfortable, I think that's the smartest way to do it. I have ~75 buyins for the limit I'm playing now. After the first 10k hands or so, I'll reevaluate where I think I should be. I think ~50 buyins is a comfortable level for me so for right now, I'll grind at $25 until I can get to $2500, then think about taking the move up to $50, depending how I'm doing.
Played my first session last night, after getting some advice from the regulars on the fullcontactpoker board. I'd forgotten how many hands you fold in that game (as opposed to omaha, where most any combination of 4 cards looks playable). The benefit to that, however, is that I can play six tables, as opposed to the four I was playing at omaha. I have to see how that translates out as far as earning ironman points and rakeback, but it looks pretty comparable to omaha in that I got $1/100 hands at $25nl. I'm not sure about the ironman points though, I'll have to track that with tonight's hands.
Had some good results too (for a change). Made 2 buyins over a 300 hand span, and played what I thought was pretty solid. I spewed off a buyin early with a bad preflop call, but I learned from it, and won't make the same mistake again, so it was worth the $25. I posted some hands and questions, and as usual the guys on the forum had some good advice. I'll continue to use that to mold a NL game, and see how we do.
Oh, and stay away from tournaments....lol.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Putting In Hands
Started the new year on a tear. Played a 500 hand session that was a bit all over the place, but ended up with good results, up just over two buyins. Thennnnn the wheels came off. It's amazing how swingy this game can be.
Got in for another session just after midnite. For whatever reason, I started getting second-best handed. Great hands and crap hands are both easy to play...It's the ones that you get stuck in and don't have the nuts, and know you're probably beaten but can't make yourself fold that make this game tough.
In fairly short order, I went from up two buyins to DOWN two buyins, but whatever, I know the swings will even themselves out over the month.
Today in fact, I made a buyin back in another 300 hand session, so for the first couple days of the month, I've played ~1200 hands and am down just over a buyin, which is nothing in the grand scheme of things.
I feel good that I've put in this many hands already on the first couple of days. I'm not really worried about the results -- I'm well on my way to getting the full year-end ironman bonus cleared. When my December rakeback comes in, I'll be in a very comfortable spot as far as bankroll for my level, back above 50 buyins.
That confidence I'm hoping should translate in to a solid month. Now I just have to work on keeping my aggressive mindset and avoiding those nasty $1100 downswings like I ran in to last month...lol
Got in for another session just after midnite. For whatever reason, I started getting second-best handed. Great hands and crap hands are both easy to play...It's the ones that you get stuck in and don't have the nuts, and know you're probably beaten but can't make yourself fold that make this game tough.
In fairly short order, I went from up two buyins to DOWN two buyins, but whatever, I know the swings will even themselves out over the month.
Today in fact, I made a buyin back in another 300 hand session, so for the first couple days of the month, I've played ~1200 hands and am down just over a buyin, which is nothing in the grand scheme of things.
I feel good that I've put in this many hands already on the first couple of days. I'm not really worried about the results -- I'm well on my way to getting the full year-end ironman bonus cleared. When my December rakeback comes in, I'll be in a very comfortable spot as far as bankroll for my level, back above 50 buyins.
That confidence I'm hoping should translate in to a solid month. Now I just have to work on keeping my aggressive mindset and avoiding those nasty $1100 downswings like I ran in to last month...lol
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