Walking before running

Warning: Drunk post about ladders..

Well, this is a very sombre (and yet drunk) post. A thread called 'This is how i go broke' really got me thinking about my future in poker. This guys basically bitching about how hes always depositing, then losing his whole BR playing well over his head 'cuz i cant be bother with brmanagment'. I respnded basically telling him he was a idiot, and had no excuses for not winning, and it struck me that just over a month ago i WAS that guy. I lost a whole deposit on Party, and my FT account is crippled, all beacause i was a shite player. This then made me look at where i am now, and the improvment is vast. Dont read this wrong, im not saying im anywhere near a consistant and good player, i still consider my self firmly on 'Rung 1' of my poker ladder, but at least ive got off the floor now! Through CC and my own work ive actually managed to create a winning game. Now to be fair, its only a 2NL and 5NL atm, but my BR is actually growing (well not today..) which is almost scary in a way. It means that ive got to choose wether i want to continue learning and putting that extra effort in that the 'donk' poster refues to do and move up the levels, or sit 'content' where i am. Pretty much a no-brainer..

After these deep musings i had to reel myself in a little, i was ready to go get an account on stox, buy 50+ books and turn pro. Obviously not a realistic short-term goal. So then i started thinking about the phrase 'You have to learn to walk before you can run', and i realised it plays such a huge part in early poker players careers. Its hard after watching Rex take down yet another $2600 in tourney (thats his second plus a sunday warm up csah, congrats rex!) not to think 'well ill just satty into a big tourney like the 100K, take it down and bobs yours uncle!'. But these players started where we all start, at the bottom of their own ladders, and just because theyve gone up rungs in their ladder, doesnt mean we should skip rungs on ours. This is a drunk post, but what i think im trying to get at is that i finally realised today how 'long-term' poker really is. Who cares if i drop $20 today, when looking at the bigger picture that wont even be a blip on my graph.

Trun around

Well i haven written in a little under a week, but ive been really with jobs around the house. Parents house is being extended so im helping around with whatever i can do, at the moment mainly painting and decorating. Anyway, ive only been able to play about 3-4 hrs every afternoon, but ive been running really well. Getting PokerTracker again has just improved my game my leaps and bounds. Ive made $50 at the 2NL tables since last Teusday, which i think is pretty damn good. However my stats are worrying me, im obviously playing as a nit at this level, however thinking about this, ive decided that its probably the only way to make consistent profit at this level and the best way to seperate the donks from their FR winnings. Anyway this success has led to think about moving up levels. I posted on CC and got some excellant advice from Jagsti basically saying that everyones different and only I'll know when its time to move. I decided to stay at 2NL until ~$220, but last night a CC ring game started at 5NL, so i sat down with a full stack, and left an hour later +$25. I was catching some SICK cards, and some nice suckouts. I think im gonna carry on playing 5NL for a while, and if a drop down 3-buy ins ill drop back down and grind it out. These winnings have been supplemented with $25 PS kindly gave me for a successful collusion report, this just proves why PS is the best site on the web. Anyway this is my graph (theres a big spike at the end which is kinda hard to see but is the CC ring game):










Right, i though id include some hands from the CC session. Id include some 2NL hands, but its all ABC stuff and pretty dull.

Okay this hand was my big winner (sorry Freak), and i really tanked the turn-shove. The way i saw it, i was either WB or slightly ahead. I just couldnt figure a hand apart from AA or KK that would shove the turn that beat me, as i figured a hand like AhKh would flat call and slow play. I also though i was ahead of hands like Ah10x or Jh9x. Still not sure if it was the right long term call but it worked here:




The beautiful 7-2 game. Zach said i had the best hand either way :)



Any finally, a runner-runner to take some chips form Zach. I c-bet the flop, then checked behind on the turn as i figured i was behind something like AQ, JJ ect. Hit the runner-runner straight, and over bet the pot to try and rep 7-2 trying to buy the pot.

Phew, good news at last

Well its been a while since my last post,and this has mainly been due to a massive downswing pissing me off at the end of sessions and me just shutting down and going to bed. It started about a week and a half ago, and now (thank god) i seem to be past it. The turning point seemed to be the arrival of my new laptop! Its awesome, bigger screen, double the RAM and just soo much better then my desktop. It also meant i could re-install PT and get my HUD back. Anyway the downswing cost me a massive 30$, that might seem small, but at 2NL that represents most peoples entires BR. Luckily im more then rolled for it so it doesnt seem to have dented my armour at all and now im on a bit of a heater im managed to recover my losses

Fuck that. Just lost a buy in AA vs QQ rivered... HSIT

Still running like shit.

Well the shit-spew continues. I managed to actually recover my BR from the downswing two days ago, and today..blah. Im playing as i usually do, with the difference im buying in for the full amount and i cant win a hand. A good example: Flop the bottom end of a straight, so i throw in a big re-raise and get one called. The turn pairs the board, villian over bets the pot, i push and ofcourse he calls. Turns over top set, so im looking pretty good, until the river bringing him four of a kind... I wasnt even irritated, i just smile now. Then the wanker has the nevre to go 'new your were full of it, cant bluff a master'. I didnt even bother replying..just closed down that game. As well as that todya ive run top two pair into riverd set, and gone straight vs better straight. If that wasnt bad enough im not getting my good hands folded around to me, or only making ~10c of them... All my c-bets are now getting re-raised , and i cant remember the last time i hit a flop.. Ive been dealt so many PPs today, havent hit a SINGLE set. A chase flused and OESDs to no effect... i hope this shit ends soon, i cant breake the 150$ barrier.

Running like shite...

Well last night and today have been shit. Been playing for like 3hrs today and im down a good $10 at the 2NL tables. It seems to me i just cant win a hand for a significant amout. Ill pick up small pots here and there, then lose a stack for something like JJ vs 35 (and then had the guy thank me for the cash, what a fucking wanker, i said 'np, just keep calling my pf raises with 35 and ill soon have that back off you' absolute twerp. Ive been up against AA three times with JJ, QQ and AK. Had my aces cracked by JJ rivering a set, which was folled by 'YESS, i love donk money'. Im starting to fucking lose it, im down to playing two tables as im tired of having to rebuy.

DOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSSWWWWWWWWWIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG

Shit

Anoter good session

Well had another good session 4-tabling 2NL, left with a good 10$+ profit. The day started badly with me losing a couple buy-ins in situations i really didnt have to throw money away. Took a good long break, and came back that evening. That session also started badly with me throwing away half a stack on a silly river-hit. However the session turner around when i was on the winning side of a AA vs KK (sorry ice). From there the whole session turned around, got dealt QQ 4 times in 10 mins of 4 different tables, took more then a few stacks through set mining, and in one case quad mining. Not too many interesting hands, pretty standard play but ill show a couple:

My quads, i think i could have got more value on the turn if id bet but on the river i didnt think he was calling much more then a min rasie.



Second hand, standard set mine taking a stack of a straight chaser

First real stab at 5NL

Well i had a session of 2NL earlier today and i was still running well, playing good and left with 6$ profit after a hour (lost a big pot in the 3rd last hand). Decided it was time to have a lookey into 5NL, so i picked a table with a large plr/flop percentage and large average pot size. Straight away i noticed the action was alot faster, and apparantly looser. Seemed a very fishy table to me, so i started off very tight, and won a couple small pots. Then the fish swam away and the whole table started playing tight, i noticed this quickly (was only playing this table so i was pretty focused), and immediatley opened my range. I soon realised i could bully/out-play most of my opponent post flop. Anyway after ~40mins i got tired of poker and left, with a nice 4$ profit for the session.

Anyway some interesting hands.

Right this first one i know i didnt play particlary well but i wasnt going to lay down a open-ended straight flush (and royal) draw to anything less then a all-in. The limp in PF was weak, i was still playing v.passive and probably a little scared as i just moved up. The pot odds obv werent in my favour on the turn (i dont think, i reckon i had about 13-14 outs to win and some more to tie) and i know i got lucky on the river but still, a nice hand.



This second hand i played a bit dodgy, and got pretty lucky. The raise PF was as i was sure i could out play post-flop (winning was getting to my head i think and i was a little big for my boots). The calls on the flop and turn looked weak and as if we was chasing (obv the flush), so i figured id represent the K and on the river i was fairly certain he wasnt calling a signifcant bet. (BTW this wasnt 6-max, just come people had just sat out)

I dont want to leave 2NL

Hit my first $100

Well my BR is up to $100 on PS after 3 weeks of 2NL. Slow profit yes, but im still learning so much about cash ring games, and poker in general, that i feel its a massive milestone for me! Once i get up to $120 ill have a nosey into 5NL and see what its like, im hopeful its not too different from 2NL, just more money involved.



















The hand which finally broke the barrier (ive been up and down id been up and down the 90's for a couple hours)