This has been a very frustrating week. Most of all, I have been frustrated with my own play.
Monday - Thursday was very good: I won almost $150o. Unfortunately, on Friday and Saturday I managed to play horrendously and lose $1600. I am my own worst enemy, as I seem incapable of accepting losses. I play a more aggressive game, which is undoubtedly less-profitable and at higher variance. This is what keeps me around the break-even mark as a poker-player; no doubt about it.
The 4-day winning streak contained solid play at $1-$2. The only cooler (in my favour) came in the form of KK v QQ, and in this hand the villain could have probably lost less than a full buy-in if he had slowed down a bit.
The 2-day losing streak began with me losing an all-in pre-flop coup with AK v AA whilst playing 3-handed. This seemed to induce me to play much more aggressively than I had been as it was Friday night and as usual there were quite a few bad players around. With this in mind, I decided to take a shot at $2-$4.
Straight off the bat I lost a buy-in 3-barreling someone who made 2-pair with K8. To be fair, this nearly worked as he took an age before calling my big river bet.
Next I pushed too hard with 2nd-pair + gutshot against someone who (judging by his betting pattern) was never going to fold his top pair - there goes another $100 equity.
By this time my table image was that of a total donkey and I made matters worse when getting involved with A9 v AQ (tptk) when I picked up a gutshot on the turn. I was convinced that the pre-flop reraiser was pushing me around (it was his 3rd or 4th reraise from the blinds against me). I then put a short-stack all-in with my 1010 only to find he had AA, before restoring some credibility by getting paid off the maximum with a full-house against the nut flush.
Later, playing 4 handed I lost further when my Q8 (raised from the button) lost a decent pot against the BB's 32, with a 224 flop, turn 8 and 3 on river. I then donked off another buy-in with 97suited, getting busy from the BB when I turned a flush draw to go with my flopped straight draw, only to find the SB pre-flop raiser had trapped me perfectly with a set of 6s which he filled up on the river.
On Saturday, I played 4 big pots and managed to get my money in whilst in the lead in only one of them, so all in all a big improvement over Friday!
On Sunday I returned to winning ways, but again a week that started out really well ended up as a huge roller-coaster. The result of +$150 for the week pales into insignificance compared with the variance. I am really annoyed that I am not reporting a $1000+ win for the week.
I really need to rein in the aggression when I am losing. I just find it so difficult, especially when there are bad players, as there were on Friday and Saturday nights. I just want to get in there and play against them before they bust out to somebody else. I am sure there is some merit in this approach, I just need to temper it a bit.
One guy played so bad on Saturday that he would play about 50% of hands, call raises out position liberally and was passive post-flop: the dream customer, you would think. He lost his $400 eventually, but would have lost it a lot sooner had he not won about $750 from me. I won all the small pots and he won the 3 big ones.
First, I raised his big blind and bet him all the way on a J-high board with my QQ only to find that he had pocket AA. Next, I reraised from the BB with AK after a raise and his call from the button. I bet the K-high flop and again on the safe-looking turn, committing myself to the pot, only to find that he had spiked his set on the turn. Then I raised his limp from the button with A10, which he called with 10/8. On the flop of QJ9 I called his weak lead-bet before raising him on the turn when the A landed, drawing almost dead.
Sunday night was much better. I had had a chat with myself before playing. I decided that I needed to slow down my decision-making a bit. I was playing too much on auto-pilot and wasn't really considering all of what was going on. I realised I needed to pay more attention to what the other players were doing, what their tendencies and capabilities were. I had been concentrating too much on my own cards and prospects, and not enough on the rest of the game.
This is what I need to do, going forward. Also, more importantly, I need to keep it going when things are going against me.
I ordered a couple more books from Amazon yesterday: Professional No-Limit Hold 'Em, and a poker psychology book called (cant remember exactly) Your Own Worst Enemy. I am sure there will be some interesting concepts / tips in both books that hopefully will save me many hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars.
The biggest problem I have is with maintaing my objectivity whilst playing [more specifically losing]. This is something I can overcome with discipline and I guess the number one requirement in solving the problem is recognising it. I have read quotes from the great cash-game player Ben Roberts about "losing in poker is OK" and "its the quality of the decisions that counts". I am sure he is right.
In terms of bad beats, I am becoming increasingly indifferent to losses after the money goes in. However, I still have trouble when I go from being a 80-90% favourite on the flop to drawing dead on the turn. This is something I must learn to deal with, as with decent stacks the majority of the money is remaining for bets on the turn and river. The only way to deal with this is to improve my hand-reading abilities.
Wish me luck!
Monday 30 July 2007
Monday 23 July 2007
More big losses, and more thoughts on luck
On Thursday I lost another $600 and Friday nearly $800 before managing to regain some composure and just about make a profit over 5 hours of play on Saturday and Sunday.
Total result for the week was a loss of $1540. On top of this, luck deserted me in the big pots too and I was down another $1000 in bad luck. This has made short work of my bankroll and it has gone down from a healthy $6k on Monday to today's level of $3.5k.
I dropped down to $1-$2 following Thursday's loss, except for one session of $2-$4 I played on Friday losing $400. During that session I had the biggest cooler of the month so far, losing with QQ v AA on a AQ2 flop, with us both having over $700 behind. I returned to $1-$2 where I promptly lost another buy-in with KK v AA and I remain at $1-$2 (certainly no higher) for the forseeable future.
I just reviewed my big losing hands and there are as many as 16 so far this month where I have put the money in the pot in a really bad situation. However, the good news is that only 3-4 of these hands were really bad, unjustifiable plays. There are a couple of marginal river calls in there that have paid off longshot hits for my opponent, but most plays have been generally not too bad.
This just goes to show how much luck there is in poker. Not only are there bad beats, but there are bad situations. I suppose the winning player is the one who wins more when on the positive end of these situations compared to the losses he suffers when on the receiving end. Sometimes, for example AA v KK in an aggressive game, there is no getting away from it and you must just accept it as part of the game. Other times, you play a marginal hand and flop an unreadable two-pair v the invisible set. On these occasions, you seem to get punished when you are already losing. You dont really, it just feels that way.
Part of the luck of the game is the timing of your luck. Its possible for someone to run badly at say $1-$2 and never win enough to progress to the higher limits. You never know; with good luck at the lower levels they could have flown through the levels and be playing $25-$50 within a year or two, picking up valuable lessons along the way before settling into a lucrative professional career.
I dont have a problem with luck, except for the fact that you cant predict its impact. You have to try and work around it. If that means moving down levels, or stagnating where you currently play then so be it. For me, that currently $1-$2. Wish me luck!!
Total result for the week was a loss of $1540. On top of this, luck deserted me in the big pots too and I was down another $1000 in bad luck. This has made short work of my bankroll and it has gone down from a healthy $6k on Monday to today's level of $3.5k.
I dropped down to $1-$2 following Thursday's loss, except for one session of $2-$4 I played on Friday losing $400. During that session I had the biggest cooler of the month so far, losing with QQ v AA on a AQ2 flop, with us both having over $700 behind. I returned to $1-$2 where I promptly lost another buy-in with KK v AA and I remain at $1-$2 (certainly no higher) for the forseeable future.
I just reviewed my big losing hands and there are as many as 16 so far this month where I have put the money in the pot in a really bad situation. However, the good news is that only 3-4 of these hands were really bad, unjustifiable plays. There are a couple of marginal river calls in there that have paid off longshot hits for my opponent, but most plays have been generally not too bad.
This just goes to show how much luck there is in poker. Not only are there bad beats, but there are bad situations. I suppose the winning player is the one who wins more when on the positive end of these situations compared to the losses he suffers when on the receiving end. Sometimes, for example AA v KK in an aggressive game, there is no getting away from it and you must just accept it as part of the game. Other times, you play a marginal hand and flop an unreadable two-pair v the invisible set. On these occasions, you seem to get punished when you are already losing. You dont really, it just feels that way.
Part of the luck of the game is the timing of your luck. Its possible for someone to run badly at say $1-$2 and never win enough to progress to the higher limits. You never know; with good luck at the lower levels they could have flown through the levels and be playing $25-$50 within a year or two, picking up valuable lessons along the way before settling into a lucrative professional career.
I dont have a problem with luck, except for the fact that you cant predict its impact. You have to try and work around it. If that means moving down levels, or stagnating where you currently play then so be it. For me, that currently $1-$2. Wish me luck!!
Thursday 19 July 2007
Dealing with losses after a winning streak
After a fantastic string of results I lost $600 yesterday.
I played quite badly. I convinced myself that one guy was a big bluffer and got creamed by him a couple of times when he had big hands. I pushed too hard to win pots I had no business being in. I saw too many flop and tried to outplay people who couldnt be outplayed. All round, it was a bad day at the office.
I'll describe the two WORST HANDS OF THE DAY and I'll leave you to wonder how I ever hope to win at this game. They are pretty bad.
(1)
I open for $12 in mid-position with A9, folded to the loose-aggressive 'bluffer' in the BB, who re-pops to $36. I call.
Flop comes A74 with 2 diamonds (of which I have none). He bets $36, I call. My thoughts are that my Ace could be good here, its only a small bet, lets see what he does on the turn.
Turn is an offsuit 10. He bets $108. I think "OK, you must have an Ace. But you might not. You could have a big draw with something like KQ diamonds. Fuck it: all-in $335."
He calls and I lose to his AK.
(2) I cant bring myself to go into the details, but basically I raise and call his limp-reraise with 44. Then I call down two small bets and a big one on the river and get shown a full house.
After I won $2500 in 9 days (21 hours) I thought I had a God-given right to win. Looks like I have been taught a lesson there. I must go back to playing well.
After a great streak its easy to think that all you have to do is sit down and you will win a buy-in. What I need to remember is that winning just one buy-in every 8 hours of play is a great result ($50 per hour = $35000 per year for me). I had been spoiled by my streak. I must get back to playing well, picking my spots carefully and playing winning poker.
I lost at least $500 more than I should have done today. As Mike Caro says, "the money you dont lose spends just as easily as the money you win".
I played quite badly. I convinced myself that one guy was a big bluffer and got creamed by him a couple of times when he had big hands. I pushed too hard to win pots I had no business being in. I saw too many flop and tried to outplay people who couldnt be outplayed. All round, it was a bad day at the office.
I'll describe the two WORST HANDS OF THE DAY and I'll leave you to wonder how I ever hope to win at this game. They are pretty bad.
(1)
I open for $12 in mid-position with A9, folded to the loose-aggressive 'bluffer' in the BB, who re-pops to $36. I call.
Flop comes A74 with 2 diamonds (of which I have none). He bets $36, I call. My thoughts are that my Ace could be good here, its only a small bet, lets see what he does on the turn.
Turn is an offsuit 10. He bets $108. I think "OK, you must have an Ace. But you might not. You could have a big draw with something like KQ diamonds. Fuck it: all-in $335."
He calls and I lose to his AK.
(2) I cant bring myself to go into the details, but basically I raise and call his limp-reraise with 44. Then I call down two small bets and a big one on the river and get shown a full house.
After I won $2500 in 9 days (21 hours) I thought I had a God-given right to win. Looks like I have been taught a lesson there. I must go back to playing well.
After a great streak its easy to think that all you have to do is sit down and you will win a buy-in. What I need to remember is that winning just one buy-in every 8 hours of play is a great result ($50 per hour = $35000 per year for me). I had been spoiled by my streak. I must get back to playing well, picking my spots carefully and playing winning poker.
I lost at least $500 more than I should have done today. As Mike Caro says, "the money you dont lose spends just as easily as the money you win".
Monday 16 July 2007
Conditioning the poker brain
On Saturday night I had a poker epiphany.
I sat at a new table with $400 and folded my rags for the first round or so. The player to my left was very active, involved in a lot of raised pot, a couple of which he had raised himself, but I was yet to see any hand revealed. He had me covered with about $550.
Then I picked up KK and raised to $16 pre-flop, called to my left and also by the small blind (the next most active player at the table). The flop came 10,8,2 with 2 hearts. I bet $36 and got min-raised to my left, folding out the small blind. I considered the possibility that he had out-flopped me, but concluded that he could have a wide range of hands here. I re-raised and we got all in on the flop. Two low spades came on board and I wondered briefly if my hand was good. As it turned out it wasn't. The villain had 84 of diamonds and had caught a 2nd pair on the river.
This isn't a bad beat story. I tell the story of this hand because of my reaction to it. Initially, I was annoyed and sat out, stood up, let out a big sigh and looked out of the window. Then, within a couple of seconds at most I had a chat to myself. It went along the lines of this:
"What are you doing. Why are you annoyed? You know the cards don't matter. What matters is getting the money in when in a good position. The outcome is out of your control. You win some, you lose some. Keep getting the money in this well and you are going to be a big winner. Get back in the game and keep making good decisions."
I sat down happy that I had regained any lost composure, that I wouldn't be affected by losing the big pot. I played another 40 minutes or so, but didnt get anything going and left when the table composition changed. The bad player who stacked me was replaced by a rock and another loose player was replaced by a dangerous loose-aggressive type: time to go. I played another 40 minutes at another table, losing about $90 with no major dramas. I then won about $230 at another table (in only 10 minutes) when I got the money in really well in consecutive pots (top two pairs v top pair/gutshot, then KK v QQ). I called it a night there, as the wife was due home after a night out with the girls.
I totted up my results for the night and calculated that I had won a measly $25 for 3 hours play. Adjusting for luck, however, I had won $650.
I had earlier finally convinced myself that the luck didn't matter, so instead of being annoyed at playing 3 hours for $25 I was actually really pleased that I had 'won' $650.
Its like in business, there is profitability and there is cash-flow. Saturday night was profitable, and I could go to bed knowing I had won $650. On the cash-flow side, I hadn't been paid yet and so would have to wait to get the money (or, it could be argued that I had already been paid up front for this pot, because I had been running well lately).
The trick to this game, for me anyway, is looking at profitablility and cash-flow as two separate items. I was profitable, therefore all was well. The only time cash-flow matters is when lack of cash affects the ability to stay in action, or affects the way I play.
To prove the point, the next night I won $300+ largely due to one big hand where I re-raised a really loose-aggressive player pre-flop with AJ. On the rag flop I overbet the $80 pot, setting him all-in for $180 which he correctly called with pocket 7s. I caught a Jack to outdraw him. The luck factor on this hand was $312+. I went to bed that night knowing that I never actually won anything; I just had a positive cash-flow of $300.
I need to condition my poker brain to ignore the cash-flow and concentrate on playing profitably.
I sat at a new table with $400 and folded my rags for the first round or so. The player to my left was very active, involved in a lot of raised pot, a couple of which he had raised himself, but I was yet to see any hand revealed. He had me covered with about $550.
Then I picked up KK and raised to $16 pre-flop, called to my left and also by the small blind (the next most active player at the table). The flop came 10,8,2 with 2 hearts. I bet $36 and got min-raised to my left, folding out the small blind. I considered the possibility that he had out-flopped me, but concluded that he could have a wide range of hands here. I re-raised and we got all in on the flop. Two low spades came on board and I wondered briefly if my hand was good. As it turned out it wasn't. The villain had 84 of diamonds and had caught a 2nd pair on the river.
This isn't a bad beat story. I tell the story of this hand because of my reaction to it. Initially, I was annoyed and sat out, stood up, let out a big sigh and looked out of the window. Then, within a couple of seconds at most I had a chat to myself. It went along the lines of this:
"What are you doing. Why are you annoyed? You know the cards don't matter. What matters is getting the money in when in a good position. The outcome is out of your control. You win some, you lose some. Keep getting the money in this well and you are going to be a big winner. Get back in the game and keep making good decisions."
I sat down happy that I had regained any lost composure, that I wouldn't be affected by losing the big pot. I played another 40 minutes or so, but didnt get anything going and left when the table composition changed. The bad player who stacked me was replaced by a rock and another loose player was replaced by a dangerous loose-aggressive type: time to go. I played another 40 minutes at another table, losing about $90 with no major dramas. I then won about $230 at another table (in only 10 minutes) when I got the money in really well in consecutive pots (top two pairs v top pair/gutshot, then KK v QQ). I called it a night there, as the wife was due home after a night out with the girls.
I totted up my results for the night and calculated that I had won a measly $25 for 3 hours play. Adjusting for luck, however, I had won $650.
I had earlier finally convinced myself that the luck didn't matter, so instead of being annoyed at playing 3 hours for $25 I was actually really pleased that I had 'won' $650.
Its like in business, there is profitability and there is cash-flow. Saturday night was profitable, and I could go to bed knowing I had won $650. On the cash-flow side, I hadn't been paid yet and so would have to wait to get the money (or, it could be argued that I had already been paid up front for this pot, because I had been running well lately).
The trick to this game, for me anyway, is looking at profitablility and cash-flow as two separate items. I was profitable, therefore all was well. The only time cash-flow matters is when lack of cash affects the ability to stay in action, or affects the way I play.
To prove the point, the next night I won $300+ largely due to one big hand where I re-raised a really loose-aggressive player pre-flop with AJ. On the rag flop I overbet the $80 pot, setting him all-in for $180 which he correctly called with pocket 7s. I caught a Jack to outdraw him. The luck factor on this hand was $312+. I went to bed that night knowing that I never actually won anything; I just had a positive cash-flow of $300.
I need to condition my poker brain to ignore the cash-flow and concentrate on playing profitably.
Friday 13 July 2007
A moveable feast
My plans shift all the time.
First, I started 4-tabling full ring 50c-$1, then I switched to 6max, now I have switched sites and am playing 6max $2-$4. However, I am only playing one table at a time.
The reasons for this change are many
- higher win-rate should result in lower variance
- more 'poker' decisions as there are less multi-tabling grinders at $2-$4
- most of my online poker experience is at $2-$4
- I enjoy playing one table more than I do playing many tables
- long-term game improvements more likely playing one table
Obviously, I have some bankroll issues. My starting bankroll for the month was only $3,300. This only gives me 8 buyins at $2-$4. I need to get off to a good start or go back down if I lose. Otherwise, its gonna be BUSTO.
So far, so good. The standard is generally poor. There are a couple of weak-tight players kicking about at most tables but there are quite often one or even two very loose players. Sometimes these are of the 'dream' passive types, but I dont mind if they are aggressive as long as they are way too loose. I have run well for 10 days or so (again, continuing my good fortune) and the bankroll stands at approx $5,000.
I intend to go easy on the withdrawals while the bankroll is on the low side, as inevitably I cant run well forever. However, I do still plan to make a withdrawal at the end of the month.
Wish me luck!
First, I started 4-tabling full ring 50c-$1, then I switched to 6max, now I have switched sites and am playing 6max $2-$4. However, I am only playing one table at a time.
The reasons for this change are many
- higher win-rate should result in lower variance
- more 'poker' decisions as there are less multi-tabling grinders at $2-$4
- most of my online poker experience is at $2-$4
- I enjoy playing one table more than I do playing many tables
- long-term game improvements more likely playing one table
Obviously, I have some bankroll issues. My starting bankroll for the month was only $3,300. This only gives me 8 buyins at $2-$4. I need to get off to a good start or go back down if I lose. Otherwise, its gonna be BUSTO.
So far, so good. The standard is generally poor. There are a couple of weak-tight players kicking about at most tables but there are quite often one or even two very loose players. Sometimes these are of the 'dream' passive types, but I dont mind if they are aggressive as long as they are way too loose. I have run well for 10 days or so (again, continuing my good fortune) and the bankroll stands at approx $5,000.
I intend to go easy on the withdrawals while the bankroll is on the low side, as inevitably I cant run well forever. However, I do still plan to make a withdrawal at the end of the month.
Wish me luck!
Tuesday 3 July 2007
Lucky me!
Totting up the results for June, I have realised how easily it is to be fooled that you are a good poker player.
My actual winnings for the month were $1,585 (which works out at about 4.5BB/100). It would be easy to think that I had played really well and I could go pro within the month. However, analysis of the big pots (>50 big blinds) shows that I got lucky to the tune of $800 or so. All of a sudden this makes the results a lot less impressive.
I took a 'salary' payment of $580 from my account, so I start July with just over $3,300 in the bankroll. I am going to start playing $1-$2, but restrict my buy-in to $100. Also, I am going to play only 1 table, which I will carefully select, and I am going to try to learn to focus 100% on the game whilst playing, to see if I can improve my reading abilities. I am convinced that this is going to be productive in allowing me to move up in limits, improve my game and ultimately improve my win-rate.
My actual winnings for the month were $1,585 (which works out at about 4.5BB/100). It would be easy to think that I had played really well and I could go pro within the month. However, analysis of the big pots (>50 big blinds) shows that I got lucky to the tune of $800 or so. All of a sudden this makes the results a lot less impressive.
I took a 'salary' payment of $580 from my account, so I start July with just over $3,300 in the bankroll. I am going to start playing $1-$2, but restrict my buy-in to $100. Also, I am going to play only 1 table, which I will carefully select, and I am going to try to learn to focus 100% on the game whilst playing, to see if I can improve my reading abilities. I am convinced that this is going to be productive in allowing me to move up in limits, improve my game and ultimately improve my win-rate.
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