Marco's blog

I have to play insane volume this year. Something like 2.5 million hands in cash games and decent volume in online tournaments.  

Two and a half million hands is a lot of hands. Think about it, I would have to play an average of 6849 hands/day for the entire year, with almost no room for vacations or sick days.  And no weekends!

Even for a good online grinder, that’s a lot of poker. It’s the kind of volume that the community associates with rakeback grinders (high volume players with very low winrate that eks out a profit through rakeback). Now me, I’m not interested in grinding only for rakeback.  I’m interested in crushing the games first, and happy to take any rakeback that comes with it afterwards.

 It remains to be seen how much money I can make if I play close to that amount in volume. It depends on my winrate and what stakes I’m going to be playing. Let’s assume I play 100nl and that I have a 3 BB/100 winrate. I could earn $1*2*3*(2.5 million/100) = $150 000. Add another $45 000 in rakeback at least if I play sick volume like that.

Realistically, though, my profit could vary greatly from that very rough approximation.  I could wuss out and play a lot let less volume. I could have a lower winrate than expected since most poker players think they’re better than they really are. I could have a better winrate; some good players are able to crush the lower stakes at a 5-8 BB/winrate.  Also, I shouldn’t be playing 100nl for very long since one of my goals is to quickly move up in stakes and play 200nl, 400nl, and bigger games as well. At higher stakes, though, I can expect my winrate to be somewhat lower. And that doesn’t even take into account any amount of money I could make playing tournaments.

So I’m not going to be thinking too much about the money. There are just too many unknowns and what ifs. Instead, I’ll focus on volume and my winrate, things that ultimately will affect my profit anyway.

So that’s it. I’m dedicating 2010 to poker and nothing else. As a way to motivate myself, I’m going to be playing a shitload of volume this weekend, like 20k-30k hands.  No New Year Eve’s party for me.

*cough cough*

I tell you, spending eight hours in a smoke-filled hotel room with no ventilation whatsoever and five chain smokers isn't exactly my idea of a good time. I mean, you couldn't even open the goddamn windows. But, I had a real good time anyhow. I wasn't about to let something unimportant like indoor air polution ruin my night out in Quebec.

I went there for a 150$ deepstack tournament which brought in close to 380 players from all over the province - the creme of the crop of the Quebec poker scene, only the finest, the elite, the big guns, osti. So I thought, eh, what's 150$ anyway? It's nothing! So I decided to take a shot at the big game.

Anyway, the tournament structure was very decent in relation to its buy-in. The blinds went up every 30 minutes, the blind escalation speed was moderate(could have been a lil' slower but it's not the end of the world), and the tournament lasted for two days.

But me, I lasted for about four hours. I really don't do well in these live tournaments. I can't even remember cashing in a mid-stake live tournament ever, so it's been a long time. I must be doing something wrong. It probably doesn't help that I hadn't slept all night the day before. I played online from Saturday night to Sunday morning, just before leaving for the tournament. Tournaments are so boring anyway. After that, some poker friends from Montreal and I played a friendly, kinda  smallish cash game all night long. I played pretty well and ran even better, I can't tell you how many gutshot I caught in that game, but it's a lot. Way too much. Now they probably think I'm an insane loose aggressive maniac, which I obviously am not.

Now back to the real thing. I didn't play much cash games onlne in the last couple of days. I came back yesterday, and almost instantly fell asleep and slept through the night. Then, this morning, I started playing a little, but I couldn't focus, lost one buy-in, didn't feel like playing, so I stopped after 600 hands. I fell asleep again this afternoon, and hopefully now I'm fully recovered. The coffee, the alcohol, the smoke, and the lack of sleep really takes a toll on your body. 

So I'm not even at 16K hands for this month yet. Gotta get back on track, time is running out real quick.

I don't play a minimum of 75K hands in online cash games per month on average for the next four months. So I have to play 300K hands before the end of this year. Easy!

There's only three reaons why I wouldn't quit poker if I don't achieve this goal: First, for personal or health reasons, like if I get really sick or if something occur in the familly. Second, I'm giving myself a bit of leeway for a month if I happen to replace the online grinding by some live sessions. And third, if I go batshitcrazy from not going out and being with people, and/or from starring at my monitors for 12+ hours a day.

Alright, so I'm quitting poker if I can't do that, but really, my real goal is to play over 500K hands during that same time frame. I'll continue playing poker if I don't reach that goal, sure, but I'd be very disappointed with myself. What can I say, I'm tired of letting other people make all the money while I sit there and do nothing.

I played over 15K hands so far this month. I'm a little behind, but I had computer issues in the first few days of this month, so I couldn't play as much.

Stay tuned for more updates.

God I hate it when players min-raise me. I have a pretty good idea what they usually make this move with: top pair with weak kicker to mid kicker. I'm talking about the bad players here, and I also mean on the flop, not the turn. On the turn, they usually are super strong.

Anyway, I was thinking about how to annoy my opponents more, and min-raising seemed like the best solution. Like, if the bet is 60, raise to 135, and if the bet is 80, raise to 185, and if the bet is 120, raise to 275, and so on. IMO, I want to be doing this with top pair big kicker, trips, semi-bluffs and bluffs. What I found out today is that I ended up bluffing way more than I thought I would, but it still worked.

Here's a few examples:

Ended up doing it with a weak kicker.

Seat 1: MrOcean1 (1,450)
Seat 2: Lord Kinbote (1,550)
MrOcean1 posts the small blind of 10
Lord Kinbote posts the big blind of 20
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Lord Kinbote [Ah 5c]
MrOcean1 raises to 40
Lord Kinbote calls 20
*** FLOP *** [7c Ts As]
Lord Kinbote checks
MrOcean1 bets 80
Lord Kinbote raises to 185
MrOcean1 folds
Uncalled bet of 105 returned to Lord Kinbote
Lord Kinbote mucks
Lord Kinbote wins the pot (240)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 240 | Rake 0
Board: [7c Ts As]
Seat 1: MrOcean1 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: Lord Kinbote (big blind) collected (240), mucked

---

With the semi-bluff. Great stuff.

MrOcean1 posts the small blind of 15
Lord Kinbote posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Lord Kinbote [2s 3s]
MrOcean1 raises to 60
Lord Kinbote calls 30
*** FLOP *** [As 9h 7s]
Lord Kinbote checks
MrOcean1 has 15 seconds left to act
MrOcean1 bets 60
Lord Kinbote raises to 145
MrOcean1 calls 85
*** TURN *** [As 9h 7s] [Js]
Lord Kinbote has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Kinbote bets 210
MrOcean1 calls 210
*** RIVER *** [As 9h 7s Js] [5d]
Lord Kinbote has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Kinbote bets 430
MrOcean1 calls 430
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Lord Kinbote shows [2s 3s] a flush, Ace high
MrOcean1 mucks
Lord Kinbote wins the pot (1,690) with a flush, Ace high

---

This one's beautiful.

Seat 1: Lord Kinbote (1,785)
Seat 2: kpxtweeks (1,215)
Lord Kinbote posts the small blind of 15
kpxtweeks posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Lord Kinbote [8c 8d]
Lord Kinbote raises to 60
kpxtweeks calls 30
*** FLOP *** [6d 6s Qc]
kpxtweeks bets 100
Lord Kinbote raises to 235
kpxtweeks folds
Uncalled bet of 135 returned to Lord Kinbote
Lord Kinbote mucks
Lord Kinbote wins the pot (320)

---

This one backfired a little. At least I shut down on the river, because I'm sure he calls me. He wasn't giving me much respect at all.

Seat 1: Lord Kinbote (1,535)
Seat 2: kpxtweeks (1,465)
Lord Kinbote posts the small blind of 25
kpxtweeks posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Lord Kinbote [6c Qc]
Lord Kinbote raises to 100
kpxtweeks calls 50
*** FLOP *** [Js 2d 7c]
kpxtweeks bets 100
Lord Kinbote has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Kinbote raises to 245
kpxtweeks calls 145
*** TURN *** [Js 2d 7c] [7d]
kpxtweeks checks
Lord Kinbote has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Kinbote bets 350
kpxtweeks calls 350
*** RIVER *** [Js 2d 7c 7d] [6h]
kpxtweeks checks
Lord Kinbote checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Lord Kinbote shows [6c Qc] two pair, Sevens and Sixes
kpxtweeks shows [Jh Th] two pair, Jacks and Sevens
kpxtweeks wins the pot (1,390) with two pair, Jacks and Sevens

---

Now here you see the effect that all these little raises have on a player.

Seat 1: Lord Kinbote (1,875)
Seat 2: kpxtweeks (1,125)
kpxtweeks posts the small blind of 15
Lord Kinbote posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Lord Kinbote [As Tc]
kpxtweeks has 15 seconds left to act
kpxtweeks raises to 60
Lord Kinbote calls 30
*** FLOP *** [3c 9c Ah]
Lord Kinbote checks
kpxtweeks bets 60
Lord Kinbote raises to 145
kpxtweeks calls 85
*** TURN *** [3c 9c Ah] [2c]
Lord Kinbote bets 210
kpxtweeks raises to 920, and is all in
Lord Kinbote has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Kinbote calls 710
kpxtweeks shows [7s 7h]
Lord Kinbote shows [As Tc]
*** RIVER *** [3c 9c Ah 2c] [3h]
kpxtweeks shows two pair, Sevens and Threes
Lord Kinbote shows two pair, Aces and Threes
Lord Kinbote wins the pot (2,250) with two pair, Aces and Threes

---

Annoyed opponents get frustrated, and frustrated players make mistakes. Now I just got to be careful not to over-use this one, and everything should be alright.

I haven't been playing much online lately, but after making a 1$/2$ NLH video(which should be up tonight), I felt like playing a little bit. I finished up about two buy-ins after playing for a little over two hours.

I started pushing people around immediately. Lost the first time, won the second time.

Seat 1: Lord Kinbote ($197)
Seat 2: jstmoney ($394.95)
Seat 3: Jade RedStone ($322.85)
Seat 4: GoAvalanche ($203)
Seat 5: kamikazeshell ($102.25)
Seat 6: F4HSS ($164.40)
Jade RedStone posts the small blind of $1
GoAvalanche posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Lord Kinbote [Ts Ac]
kamikazeshell raises to $6
F4HSS calls $6
Lord Kinbote has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Kinbote raises to $25
jstmoney folds
Jade RedStone folds
GoAvalanche folds
kamikazeshell raises to $102.25, and is all in
F4HSS folds
Lord Kinbote has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Kinbote has requested TIME
Lord Kinbote folds
Uncalled bet of $77.25 returned to kamikazeshell
kamikazeshell mucks
kamikazeshell wins the pot ($59)

Seat 1: Lord Kinbote ($200)
Seat 2: jstmoney ($392.95)
Seat 3: Jade RedStone ($321.85)
Seat 4: GoAvalanche ($208)
Seat 5: kamikazeshell ($133.25)
Seat 6: F4HSS ($157.40)
Lord Kinbote posts the small blind of $1
jstmoney posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Lord Kinbote [Ad Td]
Jade RedStone raises to $7
GoAvalanche folds
kamikazeshell calls $7
F4HSS folds
Lord Kinbote raises to $30
jstmoney folds
Jade RedStone folds
kamikazeshell calls $23
*** FLOP *** [4d Kd 5h]
Lord Kinbote has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Kinbote bets $50
kamikazeshell raises to $103.25, and is all in
Lord Kinbote calls $53.25
kamikazeshell shows [Ks Qc]
Lord Kinbote shows [Ad Td]
*** TURN *** [4d Kd 5h] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [4d Kd 5h Qd] [Ts]
kamikazeshell shows two pair, Kings and Queens
Lord Kinbote shows a flush, Ace high
Lord Kinbote wins the pot ($272.50) with a flush, Ace high

---

Here, after he calls on the flop, I don't see how I can push him out of the hand when the six hits the turn. It's a good card for me, but I don't think it makes him fold much of anything he calls me with on the flop. But I get to have a free river, and that's still very good for me.

Seat 1: Hasnen ($203)
Seat 2: WhatWizard ($171.25)
Seat 3: CreepyDonk ($299.60)
Seat 4: Lord Kinbote ($197)
Seat 5: ctmark98 ($103)
Seat 6: Roland Specht ($220.35)
ctmark98 posts the small blind of $1
Roland Specht posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Lord Kinbote [Kc Jc]
Hasnen folds
WhatWizard folds
CreepyDonk raises to $6
Lord Kinbote calls $6
ctmark98 folds
Roland Specht folds
*** FLOP *** [9c 5d 5h]
CreepyDonk bets $10
Lord Kinbote has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Kinbote raises to $31
CreepyDonk has been disconnected
CreepyDonk has 15 seconds left to act
CreepyDonk has reconnected
CreepyDonk has 15 seconds left to act
CreepyDonk calls $21
*** TURN *** [9c 5d 5h] [6c]
CreepyDonk checks
Lord Kinbote has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Kinbote checks
*** RIVER *** [9c 5d 5h 6c] [2c]
CreepyDonk checks
Lord Kinbote has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Kinbote bets $60
CreepyDonk calls $60
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Lord Kinbote shows [Kc Jc] a flush, King high
CreepyDonk mucks
Lord Kinbote wins the pot ($194) with a flush, King hig

---

I like the way I played this one. First, my check on the flop in position totally threw him off. The reason why I do this is because I'm not going to get much action on a flop like this against a tight/aggressive opponent unless I'm beat, and if he hits something on the turn, say a jack, he might pay me off.

Normally, I would raise on the turn, so as to not give him a free river as well, but with my flush draw, I thought few cards could hurt me, so I checked again. Afterwards, my raise with the nut flush is obvious on the river, but notice how I make sure to raise close to pot, because I think that if he has anything, he's not going to put me on the flush, and he'll call. Conversely, if he has nothing, he folds anyway. There's not point in making a smaller 'value' bet.

I got lucky, he had AQ. But in the end, even if I don't suck out, I lose the least amount of money possible when I play it like I did.

Seat 1: ImTheChickenBR ($514.05)
Seat 2: Lord Kinbote ($355)
Seat 3: yanjiegou2007 ($200)
Seat 4: paranoia0816 ($205)
Seat 5: KJ_JD ($277.80)
Seat 6: ktai6666 ($136.45)
ktai6666 posts the small blind of $1
ImTheChickenBR posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Lord Kinbote [As Ts]
Lord Kinbote raises to $7
yanjiegou2007 folds
paranoia0816 folds
KJ_JD folds
ktai6666 folds
ImTheChickenBR calls $5
*** FLOP *** [8s 5h Ac]
ImTheChickenBR checks
Lord Kinbote checks
*** TURN *** [8s 5h Ac] [Js]
ImTheChickenBR bets $10
Lord Kinbote has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Kinbote calls $10
*** RIVER *** [8s 5h Ac Js] [9s]
ImTheChickenBR bets $14
Lord Kinbote has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Kinbote raises to $60
ImTheChickenBR has 15 seconds left to act
ImTheChickenBR calls $46
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Lord Kinbote shows [As Ts] a flush, Ace high
ImTheChickenBR mucks
Lord Kinbote wins the pot ($152) with a flush, Ace high---

---

I called it quits after this one. Standard set over set. But it's alright, I'm still made money over all, and I still played very well during my session, so this one didn't bother me all that much.

Seat 1: i4ni ($200)
Seat 2: Cosey ($379.10)
Seat 3: FATASS1990 ($128.30)
Seat 4: Lord Kinbote ($311.45)
Seat 5: FeiereiAlda ($34), is sitting out
Seat 6: Krab357 ($40), is sitting out
Cosey posts the small blind of $1
FATASS1990 posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Lord Kinbote [4h 4c]
Lord Kinbote raises to $7
i4ni calls $7
Cosey calls $6
FATASS1990 calls $5
*** FLOP *** [6s 4s Tc]
Cosey checks
FATASS1990 checks
Lord Kinbote bets $15
i4ni has 15 seconds left to act
i4ni raises to $48
Cosey folds
FATASS1990 folds
Lord Kinbote has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Kinbote raises to $172
i4ni raises to $193, and is all in
Lord Kinbote calls $21
i4ni shows [6c 6d]
Lord Kinbote shows [4h 4c]
*** TURN *** [6s 4s Tc] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [6s 4s Tc 2c] [Jh]
i4ni shows three of a kind, Sixes
Lord Kinbote shows three of a kind, Fours
i4ni wins the pot ($412) with three of a kind, Sixes

Forget about it. My opponents give me absolutely no respect at all when it comes to HU sngs. They call me down with anything..

[x] two overs 

[x] sucker flush draws

[x] mid pairs with bad kickers.

[x] ace high. Believe me, it's true... 

As if I'm bluffing 60% of the time. Look at this(from earlier):

Seat 1: Lord Kinbote (1,640)
Seat 2: doinmax (1,360)
doinmax posts the small blind of 10
Lord Kinbote posts the big blind of 20
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Lord Kinbote [Ac 9d]
doinmax raises to 40
Lord Kinbote raises to 140
doinmax calls 100
*** FLOP *** [Js 6h Qh]
Lord Kinbote bets 180
doinmax calls 180
*** TURN *** [Js 6h Qh] [Tc]
Lord Kinbote has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Kinbote bets 360
doinmax calls 360
*** RIVER *** [Js 6h Qh Tc] [Qs]
Lord Kinbote bets 960, and is all in
doinmax calls 680, and is all in
Uncalled bet of 280 returned to Lord Kinbote
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Lord Kinbote shows [Ac 9d] a pair of Queens
doinmax shows [Jc 8c] two pair, Queens and Jacks
doinmax wins the pot (2,720) with two pair, Queens and Jacks

I'm not saying this is my best move ever, but damn, he called me down with J8!

This is against an opponent who has a 5% ROI in over 2700 games, and a profit of about 11K. These are nice stats. I dunno, maybe I have a timing tell or whatever, but I doubt it. He just called because he gives me absolutely no respect at all. I can't possibly look any stronger. I re-raised preflop out of position, and then bet THREE times after the flop. All sizeable bets.

I thought the turn was a great card for a 2nd barrel. Not only am I representing a lot of hands(AK, KQ, AQ, 1010-AA, KJ), but I also have good outs with the open-ended str8 draw. His call on the flop was pretty weak as well, so I thought it was a good opportunity. On the river, well, I'm just trying to complete the story, but he didn't believe me. I probably should have shut down on the river and give up.

This is all part of a trend I've been noticing in the past few months - more calling stations in the games. I think it's mostly because a lot of them don't know how to deal with aggressive players that can bluff a lot. Over time, calling people down more often becomes part of their game. It becomes their normal strategy, and it's totally exploitable. I just have to tighten up my re-raising range pre-flop, and decrease my bluff frequency, and make them pay when they call me down.

Also, I think that my bet sizes might be giving me more action than I really want. I like to bet 155 into 250 pots, or 165 into 280 pots, and so on. These may look too much like I'm trying to take down pots, so they open up their calling ranges against me. I'm currently testing different bet sizes and I'll see how they react to it. Maybe I'll be able to develop a new betting strategy that I can use to increase my edge. Instead of always betting the same amounts whether I'm bluffing or I have the nuts, maybe I can switch around more often depending on the information I have on the players. This might increase my edge just a little bit. Anyway, it's worth looking into.

And I'm not talking about the kind of tilt where you go apeshit and play a ton of poker out of your bankroll and lose a ton. I'm talking about the kind of tilt that makes you question whether you should just quit the game. The kind of tilt that makes life miserable to the point where I'm not getting any joy out of anything.

I mean, WTF? I'm playing $100 sngs here... Those aren't suppose to be hard to beat.

Look @ this:

Seat 1: Lord Kinbote (1,960)
Seat 2: fantoms (1,040)
Lord Kinbote posts the small blind of 15
fantoms posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Lord Kinbote [Ad Th]
Lord Kinbote raises to 75
fantoms raises to 120
Lord Kinbote raises to 400
fantoms raises to 1,040, and is all in
Lord Kinbote calls 640
fantoms shows [Qs Jd]
Lord Kinbote shows [Ad Th]
*** FLOP *** [2s Qh 9c]
*** TURN *** [2s Qh 9c] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [2s Qh 9c Ts] [Kc]
fantoms shows a straight, King high
Lord Kinbote shows a pair of Tens
fantoms wins the pot (2,080) with a straight, King high

---

Ok. So you're probably asking why the fuck would I call a shove after 4-betting a min re-raise. Mostly, I was just pot committed, but in reality, I insta-called.

I knew he wasn't that strong. He had min-raised quite a few times, and from a previous hand that went to showdown(see 2nd HH), I could easily make the assumption that the pre-flop min re-raises were weak.

---

He didn't actually min-raise here, but it shows how bad of a player he really is.

Seat 1: Lord Kinbote (1,055)
Seat 2: fantoms (1,945)
fantoms posts the small blind of 15
Lord Kinbote posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Lord Kinbote [Kh 9c]
fantoms raises to 60
Lord Kinbote calls 30
*** FLOP *** [Kd 4s 6s]
Lord Kinbote checks
fantoms bets 120
Lord Kinbote raises to 325
fantoms calls 205
*** TURN *** [Kd 4s 6s] [Jc]
Lord Kinbote has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Kinbote bets 670, and is all in
fantoms has 15 seconds left to act
fantoms calls 670
Lord Kinbote shows [Kh 9c]
fantoms shows [Ts Ad]
*** RIVER *** [Kd 4s 6s Jc] [8c]
Lord Kinbote shows a pair of Kings
fantoms shows Ace King high
Lord Kinbote wins the pot (2,110) with a pair of Kings

Then this:

Seat 1: Lord Kinbote (1,465)
Seat 2: fantoms (1,535)
Lord Kinbote posts the small blind of 25
fantoms posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Lord Kinbote [As 2h]
Lord Kinbote raises to 125
fantoms calls 75
*** FLOP *** [3h Ah 7d]
fantoms bets 250
Lord Kinbote raises to 1,340, and is all in
fantoms calls 1,090
Lord Kinbote shows [As 2h]
fantoms shows [5h Kh]
*** TURN *** [3h Ah 7d] [Qh]
*** RIVER *** [3h Ah 7d Qh] [Qd]
Lord Kinbote shows two pair, Aces and Queens
fantoms shows a flush, Ace high
fantoms wins the pot (2,930) with a flush, Ace high
Lord Kinbote stands up
fantoms stands up

---

He didn't min re-raise me preflop, so I can assume he has a weak hand. What's more, his pot bet on the flop reeks of the flush draw. The all-in shove is pretty standard here given the information I have on the guy. But I still fucking lose.

It's not really that game in particular that pisses me off. It's all of them. Even when I apply my 'foolproof' logic to every situation, it seems like it's not enough.

It should be enough. I know for a fact that I have an edge over 99% of my competition when it comes to HU sngs, and I'm only leaving the 1% off because I don't want to come off as arrogant lol ;).

But it's true. I don't know anyone that plays the game like I do. The better players avoid me; I avoid them. It's a win-win situation. So I play against what's left, which is mostly comprised of average to bad players.

I told myself I was going to play huge volume during the summer. Then I catched the flu and I was out for a week or so. Now, I just don't feel like playing anymore.

This post is all about hand histories I have collected from my HU games this week. I've had disappointing results with my HU game for a long time now, so there's more work to be done. I want to become one of the best HU players in the world, cash and sngs, and this is how I'm going to do it:

1. I have to play a bigger volume. I'm not putting in nearly enough hours to make significant money. If I want to move up in limits, I have to make more money.

2. I have to pinpoint the holes in my game, and eliminate them as soon as possible. In order to do that, I have to save as many relevant HH as possible and review them often. At first, I wanted to make it a daily review, but after thinking about it for a while, I realized it would simply be too time consuming. Instead, I will do it approximately once a week. Like Patriple7 told me, it gives me the benefit of recognize bad recurring patterns in my game by having a bigger picture, so it's a win-win situation.

3. I have to learn my opponent's game. Two reasons come to mind: It gives me an edge when I move up in limits if I play against them, and I might actually learn a few things I can use myself.

4. I have to improve my stamina. I've always had a hard time playing poker when I am losing. Last time I tried playing huge volume even when I was losing, I ended up tilting away a lot of money, and that's not acceptable. I think I'll simply try to increase my stamina little by little over time, and eventually I'll have the ability to play long hours without tilting, even if I'm losing, hopefully. I have a 2 buy-ins stop-loss right now. What I'll do is increase that to 3 buy-ins until I get comfortable. Then 4 buy-ins. And so on.

---

Let's get to work!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812350

From my experience, players usually min-raise preflop like that with A high or a big hand. Since I have position and I get good odds to call, I usually flat call with a lot of hands. I think my mistake was on the flop; leading would probably be the best move. I get him to fold a lot of hands, make him chase with A high or lower pair, and I get a better read if he has a big hand. I take control of this hand.

My check-call just doesn't accomplish anything, and I stay at the mercy of his aggressiveness - he can still bluff me out of this hand easily. I don't like check raising since I'll run head-on into a strong hand very often.

Given the range I gave him preflop, I don't think it's profitable to call on the river. That's why I folded.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812374

Check-raise for value on the river maybe? I dunno. If he has the flush, he probably bets the flop. If he has a pair on the flop, he probably bets it too. If he has a 10, if probably bets the turn. So on the river, it's unlikely that he has the flush or 2-pair, so he's either bluffing or he has the K. If he has the K, he either has AK, KQ, KJ, K9, K8, K3 o K2. I think he probably bets with K6 with the open-ended. Does he call with KJ or less to a value re-raise? I dunno. The call is probably is not a bad choice.

Also, is betting on the turn profitable. If he doesn't bet the flop, and he doesn't have a 10, it's probably real hard for him to call or do anything here on the turn if I'm aggressive. Let's not forget that I actually have the best hand here anyway.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812393

Too early to take the coinf flip? I mean I still have 1000 chips if I lose, and I get a chance to eliminate the guy. The shove makes it look like 2 overs or a low to mid pocket pair. I think it's a borderline call. Maybe if he had more like 700-900 it would be better.

I need to figure what is the limit for me to take a coin flip. It will certainly depend on how aggressive my opponent is, and my overall edge against him if I fold. I don't need to call against a player that gives me a lot of respect since I can chip him down easily as oppose to a calling-station. Also, I think the blinds were moving up to 25/50 very soon, so it definitely affects my decision. If the blinds are getting very close to getting high, no matter what I do, I'll have to make a move eventually.

This call isn't bad IMO.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812419

Yup. I get no respect at all. I think I hate myself for not betting on the river, but does he even give respect then. I wasn't taking notes with my HH when I started out. He might have been huge station and that's why I didn't bet, but still, I think I should have taken a stab at this.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812424

Ok. I see where this was going. This is such a bad move considering the information I have on the guy that came from the previous hand. He his definitely a station, and I'm not going to make him fold on the river here.

First off. I raised the flop because I figured that he was limping preflop with weaker hands, and raising with better ones, so the odds were that had shitty cards and was trying to steal the pot. I use this move all the time. I bet the turn because I figured I might as well represent it to the max, plus I have outs now that I have a pair, but he still called. I over-reached on the river. I remember this hand, and I remember how I knew he would call me if I bet, but I still did it, trying to convince myself I could make him fold even the ace.

The best move would have been to shut down on the turn IMO. He's obviously not giving me any respect, and the call on the flop reaks of top pair. I shoudl save my chips for a better situation. I really sucked with this one...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812461

This is a tough situation. I don't like my call on the river because I'm basically calling for a split. If I check the river, I think I should probably fold to a bet. Instead, I should have bet 200 into 380, gotten more info out of it, and saved 55 chips most of the time. If he re-raises, he probably has the goods. if he calls, he's calling for a chop and he's the one making the mistake.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812473 

I've discussed this hand with Patriple7 already. It was the fourth time in ten hands or so that he shoved over me like that. I decided to take a stand, and I had the worst of it of course. I don't know, I guess the call is very marginal.

I could have countered his strategy by stopping to raise preflop, and just limping and playing the flop. I guess I got a little frustrated. The guy wasn't really playing badly either, but I had just doubled up with a good hand, KK versus 77 I think. I thought there was a tilt element to the shoves that I had to consider. Still, I think I could have handled this differently by playing less aggressively for a few hands. Let things settle down, and see how he reacts.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812491

WTF right? I guess I thought I had a 'read' on the guy. It's still early in the game though(first blind level), and I have no reason to believe my K is good there. It's a bad call and I lost some EV there. Just bad.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812502 

Another example of me overreaching. I know that when I raise out of position, and I get called, a big portion of the calling range is ace high. I know that. Still, I don't mind c-betting on the flop because I make them fold pockets, and other hands like KQ and QJs they might be calling me with. Here, there's no flush or str8 possibility, so I have to give him credit for the ace. My bet on the turn is just me spewing chips, and I need to fix that.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812516

The more I think about it, the more I think I should have folded on the flop. I felt he was strong since the min-raise was very unusual for him. I feel he would have put me all-in with a weaker hand. It appears like I have pot odds to call, but I only really have pot odds if I'm up against J8, which is the case right here. Nevertheless, I think I'm facing trips, a bigger 2-pair, top pair with bigger kicker more often then not here.

It might a tight fold, but I think it would have been the +EV play to make, even if I'm very short staked. I got lucky.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812530

I think it's a good fold.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812534

I should have went all-in on the turn I get beat by AQ, but so what. At least I'm not giving the free card, and he doesn't get the odds to call with the flush draw - 550 in 1190 to call if I go all-in on the turn.

On the river, I almost wanted to fold since the only hand I could see myself winning against was A9.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812553

Interestintg spot. I'm thinking value-betting if I hit the flush, and check calling if I don't. 

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812568 

No respect. I lke my move, but to be honest, I wasn't expecting to go all-in versus A4. I have to call preflop obv.

My problem with this hand is that he went all-in with something I wasn't expecting, which means the ranges I was assigning to him were probably wrong, which means I might not have been paying attention enough.

Or maybe he just saw right through my raise.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812576

As I'm looking at this one, I'm thinking that the float on the flop might have been a good strategy. I could either have the three of a kind, and raise on the turn with it, or the flush draw, and raise on the turn with it. It would have been extremely hard for him to call even with K on the turn. Of course, if he gives a lot of action I can fold easily. I'm probably losing more chips on this particular hand regardless, but in the long run, I think it's the best way to go. Especially if my opponent has shown that he can fold, and if my image is appropriate.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812595

If I'm going to do that, I guess I might as well bet on the flop and look strong. If I check the turn again, he probably bets, and I have a tough situation again. Fuckin JJ.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812610

He was very aggressive. I don't think three of a kind is a big part of his range at all, but two pair definitely is. And low pockets, high pockets, and A high were all possibilities. I'm also getting very short stack, and I know that the guy is extremely aggressive, so it would have been very hard to play a short stack strategy agains him. I don't mind coin flipping here, as long as it's really a coin flip. 

A quick PokerStove analysis gave me about 45% chances of winning against his range, which included flush draws, str8 draws, ace high, hands like J10, pocket pairs, 2-pairs, etc.

Obviously, I don't have the pot odds to call, but if I fold, I get down to 590. I know from the time shown in the HHs that I have that the blinds are going to move up very soon to 25/50, which puts me very close to a push/fold strategy. Realistically, I will probably end up going in a 45-55 against him anyway, so I think it's a good call. 

This is more of game theory question. Is my winrate higher if I make a -EV call here but get a chance to have a bigger stack, or is my winrate better if I fold and play a push/fold strategy? Against him, I'm leaning for the former, but I really don't know the answer definitevely. I'm going with my guts. 

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2812674

It's early in the game, and I don't have a read on the guy. With no flush possibility, I'm thinking he has top pair. Raising to 245 might have been better. If he calls me, I'm pretty sure he has tp, and I can shutdown, and use the info later in the game. I don't really lose that many chips really, and he might just be playing me.

---

Holy shit. I only skimmed through my first notepad - I have 5 of them - and it took me about an hour and a half to do this. I think it's worth it though; it gets me thinking more about my game, and about strategies. I have a lot more work to do.

Also, I started to take notes with my HHs in order to have a better perspective when I review them. I'll write my impressions on the hand and the player when I save the hand, so I have more info to work with later on. I think it's the better way to do things since it's easy to forget what happened in a game 5 days later.

I played a little session tonight. Played one 2-4 NL HU cash game and one 3-6 NL 6-max cash game. I ended up making a small profit of like $450, but who cares right. I played solid poker throughout the session, making little to no mistakes.

I saved this hand because I think it's my best play of the night:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2551779

He seemed to be a good player, but nothing great. The fact that he called my out of position raise after limping shows that he's not that great, but he wasn't being either. After playing for a while against him, I picked up on the fact that he could think about hands and fold.

What I like is how I took advantage of the flush possibility on the river to make a value bet bluff. I played it like I wanted him to call on the river, 60 into 140, and that's very scary.

I don't see how he can call there with K medium kicker too. After showing strenght preflop and postflop, he has to at least put me on top pair good kicker. Another reason why I like this play is that if I get called, and he sees my hand, he won't give me any respect for the rest of our session, which I can use to my advantage by playing tighter, and maximizing the value of my good hands.

One more thing, the reason why I didn't think he had the flush is that I couldn't see him trying to draw on me. From what I had seen so far, he seemed like a player that knew that chasing the flush draw isn't a good strategy, so I thought he would either fold on the turn or raise on the flop or turn if he had that.  

Anyway. I just wanted to share this one with you guys. Later!

I grinded down this clown to about 400 chips in a $200 HU sng. The blinds were 15/30, he min-raised, and I pushed all-in with A9. I was playing very aggressively. He seemed to be thinking about it - call or fold - and at that point, I thought I had him, until he called and showed AA.

Now this is a piece of shit move. It's one of the most disrespectful thing you can do to a poker player, and I called him out on it. That's when he noticed that I was Canadian.

Anyway, I still managed to chop chop the hand with him. The board gave us both the same str8. KARMA IS A BITCH MOTHER FUCKER!

Moving along. He managed to chip up, and the blinds were getting pretty high, 30/60 I think. I was raising often in position, applying pressure, and he offered little to no resistance. I was in total control.

Then, he put me all-in twice in 3 hands after I had raised in position. Both times, I made it seem like I was thinking about calling since I didn't want him to think that I was raising with just about anything just to steal the blinds. After my first fold, he called me a pussy. After my second fold, he said that I must be from quebec...

Right after that last comment, he min-raised preflop, and I called with Q9. The flop came Q 9 7 rainbow. I checked, and he bet pot.  This is where I totally owned him. Quickly, I wrote VIVE LE QUEBEC! in the chat box, and shoved all-in. Total over-bet, just like if I was on tilt. He called and showed Q6... I won.

Well, I'm not even from Quebec, but I live there, and I'm french, SO YOU CAN LMB YOU SLOWROLLING PIECE OF SHIT AND KEEP DONATING!