10NL shot went well! Up nearly 1 stack after only 300 hands... Should be up more but ran into an UTG dude playing 65/35 with trip 4's vs. my overpair! He opened 34o UTG?! Ah well, I hope he keeps playing like that Don't think I could have saved my stack there

Wanted to play more but got a phone call mid session! Im finding 3bet+ pots pretty scary and big but other than that, no obvious differences! I shall play some more over the coming days

In other news, I messaged Bwin support the other day to see how long my account has been inactive so I can retag it... No reply... Hmmm

Checking in!

Life has been hectic the past week! In a good way though, lots of socialising and decent weather to enjoy here in Ireland so haven't been grinding too hard

However, I've been still trying to work a little bit on my game each day! I just finished Blackrain79's "Crushing the Microstakes" book... To be honest, I don't think I got much from it as it's pretty much all about the importance of getting value, which I already knew... It was a bit basic but that's fine as it's an introductory guide to making money at 2NL/5NL. My technical game is what needs some study

As you know, I've recently moved up to 10NL. I'm currently breakeven over 2k hands which is fiiine. Hoping to get in a nice session later so updates to come

Day off work on Thursday for Paddy's Day so maybe a day of grinding? ...... Let's be honest, most likely a day of drinking haha It would be a crime for an Irish man not to have at least one beverage! We'll see

Oh, and also mid month graph to be posted shortly! I don't want to jinx it but rumour has it I'm in the green which is a nice change from last months horrors

STAY TUNNNEEED

Mid month:



MEH!

Can't seem to run good at all! So much randomness on 888 and can't seem to get on the good end of it =/ At least I'm in the green (Although barely)

After moving to 10NL, it hasn't gone so well... Everybody is SUPPPPERR aggressive Wasn't expecting that much of a difference! A lot of people with 10+ 3bet %! Also, nobody ever folds... Most people with less than 50% fold to cbet??? Any tips for playing against these guys?

Confidence ain't doing too well over the past month with the game... Very swingy when it comes to motivation! I really hope I can turn this all around... It's been a while since I went a nice gradual winning streak

PS. HAPPY ST PATRICKS DAYYYY!

10nl isn't aggressive. How many hands do you have on these players? Fold of less than 50% otf is where it is supposed to be at.

Advice: build solid cbet ranges that can't be exploited easily and don't get into battles. Don't over adjust bassed on less than a few hundred hands.

You may never actually have gradual winning streaks when looking at a sample of less than 15k hands.

You paragraph about randomness and run good suggests mentally rely on run good to make money which is what fish think

What studying do you do ATM?

About 10k hands overall so decent samples on a few people. Honestly, the 3bet % is through the roof haha Far more aggressive for me

What site do you play out of interest?

You are indeed right about the cbet %! I didn't know it was optimal to be that low I feel I'm decent at 2nd barrel spots when I don't have much but they're not working at all

The sample that I have been struggling with has been 100k hands! Ever since I moved to 888. Around a 2bb/100 winner over that sample compared to a 7bb/100 before on Bwin (170k hands). 888 is just soooo random.. I get into so many random spots with whales that make no sense. Ranges are out the window haha The regs are crazy aggressive and don't fold. And I haven't hit a flop in like 8 years so I'm just getting walked over lately =/ But the weird thing is, value should be plentiful with these whales... But I just can't get a value hand! Top pair seems super rare.. Maybe I'm just running bad. Not entirely sure. Obviously bad play must be involved too

It's just the confidence is low. I think I'm overfolding in spots too which I need to sort out

Hand history reviews, books, videos, forums etc. I'm still looking for the perfect routine. I'm following yours which you posted in another thread of mine, it's good so far, just gotta make sure I make time for my study

STOP BEING A BITCH COLLY

Onwards and upwards! I'm in the green for the month so I should be happy! Could be much worse

Hi Colly, great thread bro! I just moved up to 10NL as well after playing a ton of 5NL. I completely agree with you being the games are much more aggressive with 3 betting and 4 betting, I can't imagine what the aggression at 25NL+ is like. I am slowly adjusting to it by table selecting a little more carefully.

At 2NL and 5NL most people are only 3 betting premium hands and 4 betting the nuts. I think once you figure out your 4bet bluff ranges you'll be fine.

I'm currently playing on stars, I know the competition is tough but I like learning and becoming a better player. I have yet to consider playing on another site but may be interested in hearing some of your experiences.

Thanks for dropping by @squadgrinder! I'm following your journey too, great to see you're doing well!

Yeah I definitely need to work on my 4bet bluffs!

I found BWin/Party Poker great! But I left there due to the changes they were going to implement... Banning HUDs, stopping table selection etc. It turns out they didn't ban HUDs in the end after the amount of people complaining... So I'm contemplating moving back. Also, I'll be eligible for the rake race if I do so

888 is full of bad players but literally every session feels insane haha I find myself so confused when I'm getting min 4bet and all this other crazy shit. So confused a lot of the time. I'm sure value would be plentiful when you hit your hands but if you're not running too well, it's hard to stay calm and play your A game to minimise losses

I've played 10nl on stars, 888, pkr and ipoker. The games are not aggressive :') 50nl is not that aggressive really when you see what people do at 200nl+.

It sounds mentally like you are fucking yourself to be honest

Range construction is important regardless of the games. You can create value heavy ranges for these types of games to maximise an edge just the same as balancing them at higher stakes.

Which books are you reading? I would say in general poker books are either out dated or just not helpful. The helpful Ines out there are very complex and unnecessary for 10nl. How do you do your hand history analysis? What videos are you watching? Do you note down what you learn from the video? How many hours do you spend studying compared at playing?

It's a very common pattern for people to study a fair bit go on an upswing and think they have got it and stop studying. They then begin to win less, break even, lose and wonder why. The answer of course is simple, they were winning whilst improving and when at a higher frequency with their game. As they stop learning and improving the back end of their game returns more often making their sessions more random with higher varience and lower win rates as they are playing a lower kevel.

Moving back down to 5NL... Going on another crazy swing at the moment so it's only right

I feel I'm playing well but keep getting destroyed

Vs. a 50/5 whale... Min raise turn is killer but surely can't fold against such a bad player? He could have weaker Kx + draws... And river he bets less than 1/3rd pot... had to call right? Would you have played it any differently?




Another one here... Can we fold the turn raise vs. a 37/4 player?



@CrazyCookie I'm reading Ryan Fee's 6 Max Guide currently and I have Harrington On Online Cash Games after which is meant to be decent for note efficient note taking and database analysis. I definitely agree there's a lack of current books

I check out all different types of vids ranging from general sessions to 40+ minute concept vids. A lot of hand reviews too. I have started taking notes on the vids recently.

For every 3 hours-ish I would probably do 1 hour study which isn't enough. Need to pick that up! It's tough running a full time job and finding decent time to get both play and study to where I want it to be unfortunately. But I definitely think I can improve on where I'm at now. Back to the drawing board

I would call the first hand on the turn and fold river unimproved, even given you hold double Ks! (chuckle).
Second one i would just muck turn, not too difficult since I'm not even catching the nuts on the river if I hit.
Just the way I would do it is all.

I'd stick this on my screen if I were you mate, until it sticks to your brain, 'A raise on the turn at micros is the death rattle for my hand.' Not 100% of course but near as dammit. It took me ages to 'get it,' believe me.

A turn min raise is tough to get used to and playing bad players it's easy to give their bets and raises less respect, but the fact remains, a raise on the turn is virtually always for value, albeit on occasion perceived value, but value nonetheless.

As an aside, I love it you can drop to nl5 without a blink even though you're saying you're playing good, nice job a muchos kudos points for that one, seriously.

@Pwll Thanks for stopping by the thread!

I would usually throw away my first hand but against this mega whale, I couldn't help myself haha I think some players do this with the craziest of stuff.. And given the price, I convinced myself it was the right play but not I'm not sure haha

The 2nd hand, again against a whale, I couldn't turn down that price Same story! Over pair and loads of random hands shoving a decent amount of the time. Maybe I need to throw pot odds out the window sometimes against these usually passive players when they show strength.. But I can't imagine that being correct either! Hmmm IDK AHH

Thanks man! It's not really about the money for me at these low limits for me, it's just the enjoyment of the game, so if I feel more comfortable at 5NL for now, I think it's best I play there to regain confidence (and bankroll)

So... I moved back down to 5NL to play a session tonight and it went great It felt soooo good! Needed that for the shaky confidence! Where was that run good at 10NL?




Hit a straight flush too! Easy game eh?



I decided to convert my reward points on 888 as some bullshit change is being implemented soon! Not much but a little to add to the bankroll after the beating it's taken recently

Hey, nice graph bro! Why aren't you 3 betting 99 facing a BTN raise? I'm nearly always 3 betting this especially in 5NL

Thanks! I usually 3bet around 80% of the time in this spot but villain was super aggressive in 3bet pots, he really likes to fight for them. Wasn't fancying playing a big pot OOP if any overcards came on the flop. If it was TT+ vs. this dude, I would definitely raise

LIFE UPDATE

Tonight's plans... STEAK MOTHERFUCKERSSS...

With what sauce? Medium-rare or medium-well done? So many questions. Serious stuff

BBQ was the sauce of choice for those of you that have been losing sleep over the anticipation

Poker has been going well since I moved back down to 5NL! Rebuilding confidence Much needed!

4 day week in work due to Easter WOOP! Hopefully get some nice volume in

In other news.... For you car lovers... Came across these the other day in the local town!












Which one shall I buy when I grind it up?

Sick pictures bro! Good to hear your running well at 5NL. I saw your post earlier about Black Rains book. I thought it was a great read and definitely helped my game but I was much more of a beginner at that time. I see what your saying about focusing more on your technical game. Are you reading books or watching any videos to improve? Just looking for some recommendations

Ha why were those cars there? Something on?

@Jon-PokerVIP , Simples, the sign says 'Ladies Gym', 'nuff said really.

Nice you're getting your confidence back colly, think you'll do just fine. Oh and I'll take it well done and with the BBQ please; just can't be doing with singed raw meat, yeauch.

@Jon-PokerVIP I have no idea It was outside a really fancy restaurant so guessing there were some lads meeting up haha Gumball 3000 kicks off from Dublin next month, I shall be there! Can't wait to see all them sexy momo's

@Pwll Cheers! BBQ is the way. Not a fan of peppered. God... I'd love a steak right now