In depth post

Well, my run hit the walls with a -$700 session last night. Looking at the hands, it's clear that I'm obsessing a little too much (but not by far) about putting in x amount of $ and then folding.

$1/$2 No Limit Holdem • 5 Players

Generated by weaktight.com.

UTG	IAMMAVERICK	$254.50
CO	WHAT_WHOSAID	$214.70
BTN	CATWOTISADOG	$617.35
SB	JIFF1014	$469.45
BB	SSANGYONG	$208.10

• Pre-Flop ($3, 5 players)Hero is BTN
• 

2 folds, CATWOTISADOG raises to $6, 1 fold, SSANGYONG raises to $21, CATWOTISADOG calls $15

• Flop ($43, 2 players)
• 

SSANGYONG bets $21.50, CATWOTISADOG calls $21.50

• Turn ($86, 2 players)
• 

SSANGYONG checks, CATWOTISADOG checks

• River ($86, 2 players)
• 

SSANGYONG bets $64, CATWOTISADOG goes all-in $574.85, SSANGYONG calls $101.60

• Final Pot: $826.45

• CATWOTISADOG shows
• 

• SSANGYONG shows
• 

• SSANGYONG wins $413.70 (net +$205.60)
• CATWOTISADOG collects $409.25 (net -$208.10)

In the above hand, my commitment decision should not actually have been made on the flop, but rather any bets that go in subsequent to the flop. My guide should be after I've put in 10% of the effective stacks, then any more bets constitute commitment. In this particular hand I should also have clearly just folded the flop.

$1/$2 No Limit Holdem • 4 Players

Generated by weaktight.com.

CO	JIBTONIC	$116.62
BTN	CATWOTISADOG	$480.38
SB	LIUHAMPTON	$265.55
BB	FJL206	$209.15

• Pre-Flop ($3, 4 players)Hero is BTN
• 

1 fold, CATWOTISADOG raises to $6, 1 fold, FJL206 calls $4

• Flop ($13, 2 players)
• 

FJL206 checks, CATWOTISADOG bets $7, FJL206 raises to $24, CATWOTISADOG calls $17

• Turn ($61, 2 players)
• 

FJL206 bets $46, CATWOTISADOG calls $46

• River ($153, 2 players)
• 

FJL206 bets $133.15, CATWOTISADOG calls $133.15

• Final Pot: $419.30

• CATWOTISADOG shows
• 

• FJL206 shows
• 

• FJL206 wins $416.80 (net +$207.65)
• CATWOTISADOG lost $209.15

Here I have a case of don't reward the nit. The flop call is mandatory of course, but given his nittiness I think this becomes a turn fold as we have passed the commitment threshold. Calling river after the turn is mandatory too of course, but the mistake is made on the turn.

$1/$2 Ante $0.50 No Limit Holdem • 4 Players

Generated by weaktight.com.

CO	IM_CANDYGIRL	$200
BTN	BIPPOCOSTA	$71.16
SB	MISTERMARCO	$601.47
BB	CATWOTISADOG	$323.70

• Pre-Flop ($5, 4 players)Hero is BB
• 

2 folds, MISTERMARCO raises to $8, CATWOTISADOG raises to $24, MISTERMARCO calls $16

• Flop ($50, 2 players)
• 

MISTERMARCO checks, CATWOTISADOG bets $30, MISTERMARCO calls $30

• Turn ($110, 2 players)
• 

MISTERMARCO bets $65, CATWOTISADOG goes all-in $269.20, MISTERMARCO calls $204.20

• River ($648.40, 2 players, 1 all-in)
• 

• Final Pot: $648.40

• MISTERMARCO shows
• 

• CATWOTISADOG shows
• 

• MISTERMARCO wins $645.90 (net +$322.20)
• CATWOTISADOG lost $323.70

This one above is interesting. This particular villain always raises nutted hands on the flop, and I don't give his turn lead a huge amount of credit. I'm fine running a bluff, but what I missed in this hand is that he would be bad enough to bet call all kinds of draws. Thus, I should've floated the turn and then shoved the river.

I made some other mistakes, all of which are easily noticeable and rectifyable.

My goal for this session has to be continue with the commitment stuff, but be more aware of folding early VS nits, and keep trying to throw creative lines in there.

dan

Update

Thought I may as well include a graph of how I've fared in the two days so far. I don't know what I plan to make before hitting 400nl, maybe no number, but definitely a good few more sessions of playing like this.

dan

Small Pots, Many of them, Big Improvement

My current style and effort seems to be finally paying off. I lost 8 pots all session in the $20-$100 range, and won 24 of them. Thus, the fact that I had 3 large winning pots (over $400) and large losing pots still translated into a session total of $358.

Same goals as before now, and if I manage to keep sticking to them then it's very possible that my default winning game is back to it's pomp. I won't be rushing back to 400nl yet though, it's very important to get a decent sample size of winnings under my belt and confidence totally restored before I do.

dan

Good Start

skyward red line- 5
nits not ever rewarded- 8
in general, just being more aware of reg 'animal types' and what this means- 5
no PF spew- 6
not too many ridiculous call downs to affect the above- 8
some creative play in there- 9

Played very well on the whole, although the red line was nothing to shout about. I'm feeling around 12 levels higher in my train of thought than I was 2 weeks ago, and just need to play more sessions like this to continue recovering back to the player I was.

With the same goals as stated above, and no fundamental new leaks discovered, it's onto the next session.

dan

Back from Ireland, 4th Session Plan

•skyward red line
•nits not ever rewarded
•in general, just being more aware of reg 'animal types' and what this means
•no PF spew
•not too many ridiculous call downs to affect the above
•some creative play in there

Just worth reminding myself of my session goals before I embark on my first April-proper session after Ireland. There's probably some non-tangible things that I should put as well, such as not getting dispirited if I start badly, etc.

I'm feeling really up for this month after a few weeks of really thinking about my game and it's problems. Again though, no predictions; but plenty of effort and thinking and evaluating and re-evaluating.

200nl to start off the month, until I feel a proven winner again at that level.

I need to get a session under my belt to get back into the swing of critiquing and analysing. A small 45 minute taster coming up........

dan

Winning 3rd Session

If I keep this up, I might actually be in danger of getting some confidence back. Let's not speak too soon though!

I was gifted probably $500, and I bluffed off a similar amount, but finished net of $575 so all's good.

This blog is called Dan's April. Dan's April would be considerably enhanced if I could crack this Irish satellite I'm currently playing in. I'm going to open up 3 other cash tables as well though to keep my focus. Gameplan for the Irish is simply to give nothing away, to make some hands and let go the high variance small edges.

Cash plan is again to not put any non-sd money in, to not reward the nits and to watch the PF spew.

dan

Session 2

the red line should be extremely skyward- 10
•not too many ridiculous call downs to try and affect the above (early planning)- 7
•nits not ever rewarded- 7 (nothing really came up)
•in general, just being more aware of reg 'animal types' and what this means- 6 (work in progress)
•no PF spew- JJ+ for the most part- 6, QTs nonsense
•some creative play in there.- 10

Good session. Wow, I really feel like I'm getting it back. Being aware of the non-sd element just helps an absolute ton, and means you're constantly planning the hand around the PSR.

I just need to be careful of PF spew, even though I felt he was 4bet folding a lot, I should have a much stronger idea of this before I shove in QTs.

Session 3 now. I've played over 1000 hands of 200nl, but will probably keep going until I've reached 5000.

dan

First Session Success

So, first session of the new month worked out well in terms of attitude and goals.

•the red line should be extremely skyward- 10
•not too many ridiculous call downs to try and affect the above (early planning)- 9
•nits not ever rewarded- 7 (nothing really came up)
•in general, just being more aware of reg 'animal types' and what this means- 6 (work in progress)
•no PF spew- JJ+ for the most part- 10
•some creative play in there.- 10

So, $438 won, and just pleasing that I didn't win a single stack at showdown. I did win $171 in a big pot where I was planning to shove all in at some point from the get-go.

$1/$2 No Limit Holdem • 6 Players

Generated by weaktight.com.

UTG	LIUHAMPTON	$223.85
UTG+1	MALONEYBABE1	$141.75
CO	SMELLS_FUNNY	$200
BTN	CATWOTISADOG	$467
SB	VEGAS-007	$423.75
BB	VAUN	$27

• Pre-Flop ($3, 6 players)Hero is BTN
• 

1 fold, MALONEYBABE1 calls $2, 1 fold, CATWOTISADOG raises to $9, VEGAS-007 raises to $31, 1 fold, MALONEYBABE1 folds, CATWOTISADOG calls $22

• Flop ($66, 2 players)
• 

VEGAS-007 bets $36, CATWOTISADOG calls $36

• Turn ($138, 2 players)
• 

VEGAS-007 bets $42, CATWOTISADOG calls $42

• River ($222, 2 players)
• 

VEGAS-007 bets $62, CATWOTISADOG goes all-in $358, VEGAS-007 folds

• Final Pot: $642

• CATWOTISADOG wins $638.50 (net +$171.50)
• VEGAS-007 lost $171
• MALONEYBABE1 lost $2

First of all the guy had a wide 3bet range, and then his small bet on this wet a flop for me took out tons of overpair type hands. I didn't want to raise/ fold though (red line carnage and can be rebluffed), so to play it profitably I either had to call twice then shove river, or call twice then shove over a third bet. I rep flush draws and 9x pretty well, so happy with this.

Other than that I managed to avoid losing large pots, especially non SD ones.

Second session coming up, probably just an hour or something.

dan

Dan's April

I start off every month predicting that this one is going to be different, I'm going to do $20k+, etc. This month I'm making no such predictions. Instead, I want this month to form part of the journey back to the above goals, and I'll be doing that through several small steps.

First of all, my current problems do not stem from mindset or other non-tangible poker things. I have been doing, and will continue to do going forward, things like 2 hour max sessions then a review. I've been eating before playing, sleeping when too tired, and for the most part avoiding tilt.

My major worry right now is that the technical aspects just aren't there. Or, if they are there, they're not coming to the fore when I need them most, as in when I'm actually playing.

So, technical aspects. I'm going to start this month with a renewed interest in my red line. Typically, what that means is the following:

• I don't put much money into a pot (a single call of a PF raise, then one bet on the flop either cbetting or calling a bet) unless I'm either going with the hand to showdown, or planning to 3 barrel bluff.
• I don't bluff in big pots without the right of last initiative.
• In big pots with a marginal hand and sensing weakness, then shove all in.

Now, the above can cause me problems. It can cause me problems when I find myself in a big pot, without a hand, and probably no FE. I shove all in anyway, but usually this can be spew if I'm not repping anything. What I constantly need to be aware of on the flop is the PSR, and whether calling flop/ shoving turn, or jamming flop is viable given stacks and everything else. Basically what I'm trying to say is that the decision has to be made extremely early.

To make decisions like the above easier, I need to concentrate a lot more on people's 3bet ranges from the blinds and tendencies thereafter. Do they cbet AK on a low board? Do they bet once then give up? What do they percieve as my range?

Another technical aspect to be aware of is: don't reward the nit. If TradebyDay raises on the flop, and I have AA, it's just a fold. Don't reward the fact he literally never puts in money without the goods by paying him off, ever.

In terms of PF, I need to keep up the constant pressure, but ease off from 3bet/4bet jamming 77 etc. I used to pride myself on being one step ahead of this game, and by doing stuff like the above I just play into their hands.

One last thing, I need to get more creative in certain spots. Now, I don't know what that means exactly, but I do know it means opening up my mind more in certain spots, taking weird lines with hands and repping bluffs with my big hands.

Before anything else, I'm going to play at least 1000 hands of 200nl. A number of goals:

• the red line should be extremely skyward
• not too many ridiculous call downs to try and affect the above (early planning)
• nits not ever rewarded
• in general, just being more aware of reg 'animal types' and what this means
• no PF spew- JJ+ for the most part
• some creative play in there.

Those are my goals for the 1000 hands. This will be made up of around 3-4 sessions most likely.

So, about to play session 1. I'll play then review the hands here, and grade myself out of 10 for the each of the afformentioned bullet points.

April starts here.

dan