Micro No Limit Grinder

7BI's under EV - Raging

2009-01-25T02:00:00.000-08:00

Well this seems to be the trend for me at full tilt at the moment.

I play well and build my stack up, i think i got it up to about $710, so i logged in yesterday and i started off with a limper and i checked bb. Damn! i hit the nut straight, ended up 4betting on flop, he calls, blank turn and we get it all in. He shows trips and catches quads on the river. $25 down.

Never mind, i manage to grind it back up, anyway to cut the day down i get the following hands beaten :

Two trips beaten by higher trips.
QQ beaten by KK (didnt put him on KK as he didnt 3bet pre)

I then find a complete donk who has a big bankroll, i have TPTK he calls flop psb then turn AI bet with 2nd pair and Flush Draw, and get its - sigh.
I then get TPTK, bet, he calls (with bottom pair 93s), he then catches a 2nd spade on the turn and calls AI again - sigh catches the flush. Finally i get my QJs in on T9x with the OESD and FD, but of course he flips over K9 of the same suit and we catch the flush. - sigh!

This guy was unbelievable, ive never seen anyone run so lucky/hot.

7BI's throwen away and im ahead or have a solid hand each time.

So my graph is now on a sad -$100, where as according to my EV i should be about $130. What can you do when your actually playing good poker but run like shit?

Biggest hand to date.

2009-01-22T12:20:00.000-08:00

Well just had a big heart attack with my biggest pot to date - 200BB's

http://www.holdemmanager.net
NL Holdem $0.25(BB) Full Tilt Game#10188899367

M8kinStacks ($63.85)
superoxik ($26.80)
Coded1985 ($47.60)
shamfar ($40.35)
im not a dou ($25)
MrPalov ($24.25)

M8kinStacks posts (SB) $0.10
Coded1985 posts (BB) $0.25

Dealt to Coded1985 As Ah
fold, fold,
MrPalov raises to $0.50
M8kinStacks calls $0.40
Coded1985 raises to $2.50
MrPalov calls $2
M8kinStacks calls $2

FLOP ($7.50) Jh Ad 7h
check,
Coded1985 bets $7
MrPalov folds
M8kinStacks raises to $25
Coded1985 raises to $45.10
M8kinStacks calls $20.10

TURN ($97.70) Jh Ad 7h 3d

RIVER ($97.70) Jh Ad 7h 3d Jc

Coded1985 shows As Ah
(Flop 67.3%, Turn 77.3%)

M8kinStacks shows Th 9h
(Flop 32.7%, Turn 22.7%)

Coded1985 wins $94.70

Even though i knew i was ahead and had outs to a FH but jesus my heart was going. From his point of view, he was a 28/16/3.0 over 100 hands. Chances are he had me on an ace or two pair, would you really call AI when your both this deep?? Thoughts?

So far at Full Tilt

2009-01-22T09:27:00.001-08:00

Before i start : Top light green line = EV Adjusted
Bottom dark green line = real line

Wow i havent posted in awhile, with work and trying to get used to full tilt i just didnt remember about the blog! Ooops!

Anyway, last blog i mentioned i was moving to Full Tilt, since the new year i think ive managed to put in a nice 22k hands which i think is good. However i started off awful, but it hten picked up and i was playing well.

Anyway you can see all of this on the graph, once i run well i run badly. And to be honest i havent been playing badly, just donks holding utter random hands and beating me, for example the first couple of hands today, folded to me on SB, i raise to $1, BB calls. Q47rainbow, i bet, he raises, i 3bet he's AI (he was about 70BB). Of course villain holds Q4o against my KK.

Anyway ive made some bad calls and paid for it, but overall im happy with my play. im currently on a profit of about $20, and according to my EV adjusted i should be on $160 which is about 6.5BI's.

I have also noticed that most players are around the 18-25 VPIP, with the occasional loose player.

Should i move to UB or somewhere else? Who knows

Oh and before i publish my post, when i started off yesterday in the first hour i flopped two flushes, but ofc both times villain had the higher flush.

So a quick question to anyone reading, can you ever fold a flush?

The end of Tower Gaming

2009-01-05T07:58:00.000-08:00

Well ive finally finished at Tower Gaming. The final half of my bonus was cleared and im in the middle of cashing out.

I started on Tower gaming with $200 and im now cashing out $623.

Just before x-mas i ran worse than i ever have. On New years day i left to go on holiday for the weekend, so today was the first day back, and i ran decently, no huge hands but i left the day on +$38.

Now im going to deposit somewhere else, this time with cashback. I will probably go back to Full Tilt.

So a fresh start and off we go!

P.S. New years eve i joined a MMT 6-handed on Full Tilt, and i didnt pretty well taking 8th place out of 200 for something like $30. Might try some others!

Taking the biscuit!

2008-12-24T14:43:00.000-08:00

Well currently playing 20nl at tower and a hand earlier where someone limped/min raised otb, i had AK. board comes 8K8, end up getting it in against j8s. Bad play by me but i couldnt put him on an 8.

Anyway, couple of hands later this hand comes up : http://www.pokerhand.org/?3628979

this seems to sum up my 20nl try so far. I play well and take down some short-stacks then get sucked out on by a donk.

Im still on a profit but not as much as i would like!

Anyway, tower hours is about to start so im off to see what its all about!

20NL here we go!

2008-12-22T13:07:00.000-08:00

Well first day of my holidays and it was quite a good day. Had quite a bit of tasks to do today so didnt get many hands in untill tonight.

As you can see from my graph, you can see what i was talking about in the last post - looking at it now and it doesnt look to bad. You can also see where i won 3 big hands in a close time.

Anyway, this morning when i was looking for a decent table i noticed i had a note on someone i played against last night - he was playing at about 81/3 last night and so i made sure to get on the waiting list. To my amazement he had a stack of $145 (at 20nl)!!.

I decided to start a new slate with him, just incase he'd been drunk last night or something, however i quickly noticed he was playing the same. Anyway i wont bore you but he ended up with $0!! Looking at HM the biggest pot i won against him was $11.60, however in total he had given me $64 (over last night and today). So for now, he's the player that has given me the most money.

Now thanks to this guy and playing well (biggest pot ive lost today is $9), ive built my bankroll up to $506, plus i cleared the first half of my Tower bonus, therefore my bankroll at the time of writing is a nice $606. The next limit up from 20nl at Tower is 30nl, which i could play, however im still not comfortable at 20nl so will keep at it.

Any suggestions on what you want to read in this thread, feel free to tell me, whether its hands, talk about player etc.

Quick Update

2008-12-21T12:36:00.000-08:00

First off, no graph for this post as my latest stats are on my laptop and im currently on my PC. Well as i discussed in the last post, i was hoping to move up to 20NL if i hit $400. Well i did end up hitting $400 and decided to take a shot at 20NL.

I didnt get off to the best of starts, with getting stacked a couple of times - flush over flush, flush over my straight. i think i hit a down of about $350, but decided to stick with 20NL unless i lost another BI. However over the next couple of 1000 hands i was slightly grinding up (slowly). Ive also had my AK vs AQ and him hitting the Q, both of us 100BB's. So ive had plenty of hands where ive got my money in good but it hasnt worked out.

Now i do notice a difference from 10NL but i cant quite put my finger on it. They tend to c/c the flop more and seeing more bluffs. This brings me to my latest couple of hands.

Firstly i got all my money in on 910J board with AA (he bet i raised he shoved, i called). The villan was a LAG and i put him on a SD w/ tp or trips ortwo pair, now i think normally id have layed this down, but as i had two children running around i called without thinking and ended up seeing 910 for two pair. However the turn came Q and the river came K. What a suck out! I suppose this makes up for the hands where i was on the other side!

A couple of hands later i made a flush(clubs) (ace on board, me holding j and 10). The same villan now bets river, i 4xraise, he shoves and i call. He turned over Kc4d. Now i dont know if he misread the hand or it was a tilt-bluff, but thats 200BB's he gave me!

After that ive had Fullhouse over flush and flush over straight to get my bankroll to $440. I know a lot say not to concentrate on BR, but i like to keep an eye on it.

Ill try and post my graph soon.

For those who are interested i ran somewhere around 19/15 at 10nl and im close to 19/15 at 20nl aswell. I might post a screenshot of my stats sometime.

From a Cooler to a Heater overnight

2008-12-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

Well i started off yesterday after work and the cards just werent coming. Anyway i decided i wouldnt loosen up and just played my game. Anyway i started hitting some hands but of course, it was to be my day, villan always seemed to have the better of me.

The biggest pot of the night and ive ever had (at 10nl) was when someone raised and i called with 3.3. Flop came 396rainbow. He bet, i raised he 3bet, i called. Blank turn, he bet i raised, he went all in and i called. I had about $17 and he had $19. so the pot was 340bb's!. and of course he turned over 6.6 to beat my trips. I wonder whether i could have folded the hand, but i always come back with no.

Anyway after that i got called by 10.3 of diamonds against my A.A and of course he outdraws me. Also got beat by a runner-runner when he shouldnt have been in the hand after the flop. But what i keep reminding myself is that these are the type of people that give me their money when they dont hit. i ended the night with Aces and a third diamond came, he raised me, even though i was 70% sure he had the flush i still called out of frustration. I left the day about $30 down

So i decided to go to bed and sleep it off. Woke up today not feeling well so took the day off work, well what a decision. decided to play on the laptop in bed, watching some GMTV. To start with i thought it was gonna be one of those days as i got it all in with KK preflop against AA, but i hit that wonderful King to double up. Few hands later i got 10.10 against the same player. Flop came with 1043, and we got it all in again, him showing QQ. I felt sorry for the bloke as he was obviously on a cooler, but im not going to complain. Most of the day was the same, hitting nice hands and getting paid off, even got a straight flush draw (4spades on the board and he called a big river bet with no spade!). Also hit Quad Kings on the flop, lovely when you've got someone that will bet for you :)

There was only one hand which i lost a bit amount of money, which was trip sevens against Q3diamond and he caught the flush - and i paid it off stupidly. Anyway i finished the day up $70 which makes up for yesterdays cooler.

i started on Nov 22nd with $200 and luckily on $344 at the moment. im half way on clearing my $100 bonus, which is taking a long time as im at 10nl.

I also played a $2 SnG this morning, first hand was AKs and got it all in pf against AA, amazingly caught a king on the turn and river!! (Thats was the start of my heater).

Once i hit $400 or above im going to give 20nl ago.

Time for an update

2008-12-05T09:35:00.000-08:00

Havent posted for awhile, but heres my progress and to be honest im quite happy. On Wednesday i had quite a slow day where i couldnt hit anything. I gave up about 9.30 but decide at about 10.15 i would watch the new episode of Heroes and two-table untill it finished. Im quite happy that i did as i made some of the money back.

Then when i logged into TowerGaming to start yesterday (thursday) cards were starting to come. I ended up having about 3 or 4 big hands (The steep line on the graph) which i was happy with. After that i lost a bit after a donk called my PFR with 10.4 suited. Called flop pot size bet on a Flush Draw and called another psb (putting him all in) and caught the flush on the river (he was about 50BB's). Now i know we wont donks doing this but it annoys me so much when it pays them off.

Now i think my game is much better than it ever been at the moment, and i think the big difference is laying down top pairs. When i was running dry on Wednesday (and today) there were many spots where ive got Pair of Aces, King/Queen kicker and i get raised on turn. Usually id call these or go all in. However now im rethinknig and laying down hands like these - not all the time mind you, depending on opponent etc.

One of the biggest problems i had was this hand : http://www.pokerhand.org/?3543727

Now i had him on either AK/AA/KK, but decided he'd have shoved on flop if he'd have had AA or KK therefore decided to get it AI. Wasn't an easy call but i was happy :)

Havent ran great today, but i while probably put another 2hours in tonight.

PS : Played a $22 (free money on 888.com) tournament which had 3minute blinds - i won $25 but i cant believe people put their own money into these tourneys. I then played a $15 15minute blinds tourney and finished on the bubble. Decided i dont like MTT's half as much.

Oops?

2008-11-27T13:39:00.000-08:00

Played about 3 hours or so last night and i was running pretty dry. Nothing seemed to be working out, i dont think i could hit the side of a bus! However i did get one big hand, but a couple of hands later i made two bad decisions, the first was where i thought my AKo was good on x7K board, even though i got c/r. Ended up all in with villan having pocket 7's. Finally i had the good old KK vs AA.

I ended up last night with my bankroll down to about $203.

After work i thought id clock in some hours and i seemed to be running as cold as yesterday. However after about 200hands i started to get some hands. One beautiful hand where villan 1 limp/call and villan 2 calls from sb. I had 10.10. Checked to me on flop and both players call, everyone checks turn. River comes a 10 with no Straights of Flushes. Villan 2 overshoves AI for about $9 into a pot of something like $2. Villan 1 calls, and shows AA and Villan 2 shows Q3 for two pair. Lovely Jubbly!

So ive been running much better since then and have just finished with a bankroll of $216 even thought PT says im on a profit of $20 - go figure.!

You can see all this from the graph. Im pretty annoyed with yesterdays play, mainly because of the two big hands i lost, otherwise i played well.

Now i think i need to work on the "I know im beaten but ill call anyway" and the "Top Pair isn't always good". So in the following weeks im going to work on laying down TPTK when c/r more.

Lets see ey!

Calling it a night.

2008-11-24T13:11:00.000-08:00

Just finished for tonight and i ran pretty well untill the end when i ran card-dead.

Have been watching the WSOP while playing 2-tables and i havent had many hard decisions to make apart from player 3betting pf, one guy shoving and back to me with AKs. Ended up calling and being up against QQ and JJ. Luckily i hit my K on the river.

Up to $225 for tonight so not too bad.

Not the best of starts.

2008-11-24T10:23:00.000-08:00

Well after starting the other day i was feeling good, untill the 500th hand where i was down almost $50! (5BI's)

Heres a couple of the big hands where i lost, feel free to comment.

1 - http://www.pokerhand.org/?3495535
2 - http://www.pokerhand.org/?3495537 - Slightly tilted here and sub-consciously knew i was beat but didnt want to believe it.
3 - http://www.pokerhand.org/?3495544
4 -http://www.pokerhand.org/?3495547
5 - http://www.pokerhand.org/?3495550 - runner runner, as you do.
6 - http://www.pokerhand.org/?3495552

Personally i dont think any are that bad apart from the 2nd. But im sure some are hence why i need people opinions.

Anyway after that i started playing well and am now on a profit of $5.

A bit tired after work (maths high-school teacher) so might try and get another hour or so in before giving up for tonight.

So it begins.

2008-11-23T11:57:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my new Poker Micro No Limit Grinder. Heres my story so far :

Played poker for the first time a couple of years ago online just before the big hype (playing MTT on skypoker). However soon forgot about it and gave up.

Ive always watched poker on TV (WSOP, WTP, etc) and decided in the summer to get back into poker.I started off where i left off with skypoker and MTT. After reading and joining 2+2 i soon noticed i should try a different site and try out cashgames. Without reading anything about BR management or rakeback and bouses i started off wth $50 at Titan Poker. I played 10nl and broke even.

I then learnt about rakeback so joined Full Tilt with my $50 from Titan.I managed to build this up to $250 but ended up being cocky/stupid and tried out 25nl (ignoring the BR management rules). As you'd expect i lost $200 and ended up back at 10nl. I ended up losing the rest, redepositing $50 and losing that aswell.

After taking a week off and reading posts i decided to sign up to PokerStars with $50 and play 0.02/0.04. With the bonus and playing well i built the $50 into $170.

I then signed up with another $50 on PartyPoker (through pso in order to get 6months of stoxpoker). Once i cleared the bonus i was on $160.

Now ive withdrawen from boths site and deposited $200 into TowerGaming with the 100% up $200. And so it begins...

Ill be posting my BR update and some interesting hands i get into.