2-4 Disaster!

Well... The inevitable happened and I ran absolutely shocking for 2 Days at the highest limit I play and went from being +2k to -2k and $400nl... Whilst playing only the most special specimens of human evolution that exist in the world today. Unfortunately Disco had the fun task of witnessing it all and listening to me bitch and moan, whilst I was getting owned/playing sub par/running like aids.

Here are all the pots I lost over the last few days >50bb at 2-4:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?6198853

http://www.pokerhand.org/?6198854

http://www.pokerhand.org/?6198855

http://www.pokerhand.org/?6198856

http://www.pokerhand.org/?6198857

http://www.pokerhand.org/?6198858

http://www.pokerhand.org/?6198863

http://www.pokerhand.org/?6198864


Converseley this is the pots >50bb I won over the last 2 days at 2-4:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?6198860

http://www.pokerhand.org/?6198862

http://www.pokerhand.org/?6198866


GRIM GRAPH:

Luckily I bought 20% of Simon at 25-50NL and he did what he does and won a BI there, so gave me a buffer $1k and I cleared a $400 Bonus on PKR, which helped ease the pain a tiny bit.

I also, played some 100nl 6max to clear a PKR bonus.

I'm going to keep all results and banroll together, because it's too complicated keeping it seperate and I'm going to be bumhunting some 6max games if/when I make it to 2-4+, because it would be stupid not to.

Overall since challenge started I can't complain, I've been running hot, esp at the 1-2 Euro tabs on KO, which has been a great site for me with results and action.

Euro 2,9k = about $4,120... So Euro tabs do make a big difference.

Here's my results since I started:

Here's what my roll looks like with RB and bonuses and everything included:

STARS:            $4,273
PKR:                $2,908
KO:                  $7,620
PARTY:           $2,141
NETELLER:    $2,062

TOTAL:          $18,986


So, not far off doubling my starting roll, but I was well over that point 12 hours ago, so obv in a bit of a grim mood atm, despite running well since starting.

Plan going forward = Stay at 100nl to 2-4nl... only playing abs muppets and only playing 2-4 in low variance games untill I climb out my hole there.. Although I would normally shot take at 3-6NL sat around $20k, it's likely I won't do that until I'm out of my 2-4 hole, which might take a while.

I am also, going to start withdraing some of my roll here and there (probs when gets above $20k), esp if I'm only playing 2-4 and lower.

Not gonna do any hand analysis, because I cba... I might go over blocker bets sometime soon, because me and disco were talking about them yesterday and I think they're a v important/under used tool vs bums, esp HU.

Peace,

Mark

August Week 1 Results

Quick Blog Update.

August so far has been smooth sailing and my 2-4NL shot so far has gone well, mostly down to playing absolute complete 100%, grade A retards.

RESULTS:

I've only played aroun 5k hands, due to other stuff going on, but I haven't struggled to find action at all.

I had one -$600 day or so, but when ure playing guys like this: http://www.pokerhand.org/?6174274 and this: http://www.pokerhand.org/?6176532 and this: http://www.pokerhand.org/?6176535 It's tough to lose 2 days in a row.

GRAND TOTAL BANROLL:

Stars:      $3,477
Party:      $1,976
KO:        $6,169 (4,377 EU)
PKR:      $4,335
Neteller:  $1,000

TOTAL = $16,957   (+45% to $400 PKR bonus and 80% to Party $200 bonus).

EZ Game,

Mark

End of July Report

Yo,

This entry is going to be quite long, as it's the end of month report... From now onwards I'll be doing short updates every week or so (or less if i haven't played much), which will just include results and possibly some hands/thoughts. I'll then be doing a longer end of month report like this one.

RESULTS:

Oh No - Look at my redline... But hang on, look at my winrate.

In all seriousness playing against the type of fish I find most profitable (bad/stations/make nonsense bluffs/ etc...) I have always had a negative redline, always. It's not usually quite this extreme, but I put that down to variance, not wanting to start of this challenge losing and the fact that I'm playing only fish (when I play regs HU my redline is invariably positive, but still less than my blue line).

Obviously I've ran good, most obviously in EV terms. I haven't lost many flips and the EV has been exagerated by villains getting it in v v bad vs my range, but ending up flipping and me just not losing those flips. Having said that I've obviously run well across the board, as 32bb/100 is obviously not my true winrate, neither is 24bb/100 (my EV winrate). It's basically been pretty smooth sailing besides one nasty -$1,1k day.

RESULTS BREAKDOWN:

ROLL:

Stars     = $2,025
Party     = $2,635
KO       = $5,356 (EURO 3,784)
PKR     = $3,464
Neteller = $1,000

TOTAL = $14,480


TOTAL HANDS PLAYED = 9,269

TOTAL PROFIT                 = $4,480

TOTAL WITHDRAWN      = $0

Notes: 

- Left more on KO (even in euros) because thats the site i'll be primarily withdrawing from straight to my bank account, rather than going euro - $$$ - £££ and redepositting there also costs me xchange rate fees.

- 28% towards clearing a $200 bonus on Party

- 33% towards clearing a $400 bonus on PKR

- rakeback owed on PKR and KO

That's the results out the way.

I have done several things that, over the course of the first 10k hands have probably hindered my winrate by at least 3bb/100:

1. Played more than 3 tables at once. My play falls by quite a bit when I go from 3 villains to 4 different villains. I will only be playing 3 tabs max from now on, unless there's at least 2 v basic opponents.

2. Talked to you guys on Skype whilst playing. From now on if I have action, I'll just type "brb" and go offline on Skype. I'll return when the action leaves.

3. Played when real life tilted. The day that I lost $1k or so, I played after I had an argument and definitely didn't play my A game, and was basically going into the session pre-tilted (i also obviously ran bad that day too).

4. Got bored with playing $100nl. I have defs felt the feeling of not caring enough about $100nl in general, as it's obviosuly pretty low for me and it sometimes results in a lack of concentration.

So, I'm going to work on these off the table adjustments to hopefully keep my winrate high.

TAKING A $400NL SHOT:

I am going to take a 3 BI $400nl shot when I next play, below is the breakdown of how I'm going to approach it:

- I will continue to sit at $100nl and $200nl tables, but less $100nl tabs on sites like Party and PKR (unlimited tables) and replace those with $400nl tables.

- I will not be sitting at 400 EURO tabs on KO for the time being, it's a much bigger game and for your first shot is pretty uneccessary.

- I will only be playing players who are v clear losers and that aren't giving me any trouble. Any high variance villains or break even opponents will be avoided for my first shot.

- If my roll falls below $13,000 OR I lose 3 BI at $400nl (even if I'm winning lower), I'll discontinue my shot, at least for a few days and come up with a plan for when I take my nest $400nl shot.

SOME HANDS:

It's v difficult for me to find interesting hands, when I'm playing PURELY against absolute fish and my redline is so negative, the best I can do is a few hero calls and me saying "well, he's a station I have top pair, so i 3/4 pot it 3 times here.. ermm, yeah I won"

Here are 2 of the more interesting hands I could find:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?6168676

Villain was c-betting 77%, betting turns 44% and betting turns when he didn't bet the flop almost always. On the turn I was going to check call and c/r the river (as he would follow up on his turn bluff on most rivers. He checks back and I decide I have to lead riv to get value from Ace high or 33-66 etc... (std) when he raises (he did it v v quickly)... I was sure that in his mind he had the nuts.

His hand range, therefore, is something like this: 77, 88, 78, 79, 56, 6T, TJ, big 7s (K7, A7). For someone who's c-betting 77%, you would expect him to be c-betting all these hands on this flop, however, he'd already shown the perpensity to slow play lock hands to the river: http://www.pokerhand.org/?6168667 he checks back twice and bets $7.50 into $10 on the river (PKR hands don't convert properly he made it $5 pf and i called $3 more, $10 going to flop).

I decided after some deliberation that I had to 3bet for value, incase he'd slowplayed a bare 7 or made one of the straights I talked about. I was, however, doing this with a plan in mind, I was 100% folding if he shoved this river, as I thought he would neevr be shoving a straight and knowing that he c-bets 77%, but also slowplays when he flops lock hands. This would've been a pretty easy (although painful) fold if he were to shove the river. As it's PKR i didn't get to see what he had, but i'd guess it was A7 type of hand.


http://www.pokerhand.org/?6168688

This ones a lot simpler. This guy hadn't 3bet a hand yet (55 hands in). He also hadn't c/r a flop yet. He was calling from BB 62%.

Now obviously I have tonnes of equity vs anything on this flop when I c/r, but with the above facts in mind, I think he never has a worse draw than me (the fact the Ad is out there AND I have the 6d makes this even less likely) and he's neevr bluffing. So he has a pure valure c/r range of something like: AJ+ (slightly discounted), 55, 44 (discounted), A5, A4, 23s. with 64dd I'm around 45% vs that range and if you chuck the possibility of him ever having worse draws or bluffing then, it would be fine to 3bet the flop here with your hand. I just don't think though, with the info that we have, that that is the best line. I think peeling the flop c/r, we are going have a much better picture of what sort of hand he has by his turn sizing or if he checks and be able to make much more profitable decisions later in the hand than on the flop.

I peel, turn, esp when he checks = gin. Riv although it's a bad card for me, I'm ahead now 88% of the time vs the range Ive given him above (clue: way more hand combos of AJ-AK-23-A5, than 44(imposs now), 55, A4 that filled up.

OK! Hopefully future blogs won't be this long/take me this long to write, but I think it's worth reading.

Mark

Start of HU challenge, Day 1 + intro

So, I'm starting this blog for all you stakees.

It will contain all my results playing HU, my bank roll and where it is, what stakes I'm playing, screenshots of my HEM and any other info I think will be useful. My roll on each site will have RB and bonuses built in, some are updated daily, some weekly, some monthly, but i'll put my end roll's as exactly what they are (so if there's some small discprepencies, that's what theyll be).

I'm starting this challenge with a $10k roll, playing $200nl and $100nl. I will be playing/game selecting and moving up/down in stakes exactly as if the $10k roll was all I had, I'll be taking shots, as and when I feel my roll/recent performance warrants it. I'll be withdrawing from my roll as and when I would normally, but trying to keep in as much of it as poss for accelerated growth (I realise a lot of the time you don't have this luxury, although some of the time you do), but as I'll be playing a lot fewer hands and I'm doing this simply to make the point that it can be done it shouldn't affect the end result at all and won't have an affect on the winrate (atleast not a positive one, as I'll be moving up quicker).

From the 8th August onwards, I'll have a full time job, a GF, be running the stable, playing in my normal games and be doing up/moving into a new house, as well as this challenge, so will be v v busy but will try and put in 10k hands/month for this HU challenge, as if I was playing full time I think 30k hands would be a realistic/easy target to acheive.


STARTING ROLL:

Stars      =  $1,500
Party      =  $2,500
KO        =  $4,000 (EURO 2826.50)
PKR      =  $2,000
Neteller  =  $0

TOTAL =  $10,000

I've put more on KO, as the sites plays in euro's and kept more on Party and less on Stars, because on Party you can open as many tables as you want (so need a bigger amount on the site) and on Stars you can only open one per limit.

Day 1 Results:

It started off pretty frustrating for the first 700 hands or so where I was basically doing a lot of folding and was down a BI or so, but then I started to hit a lot of hands at good times and just bet massive 3 times, everytime for the most standard lines ever and ran v hot overall for a nice first day.

Not many interesting hands (I forgot to tag them anyways), just a lot of this sort of stuff vs stations:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?6161318

http://www.pokerhand.org/?6161327

The only thin call down I made was this one:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?6161338

This was the 8th hand we played and he'd already 3bet once, he also had 2 comments saying he was a HnR. The key decision here is obviously the turn. A lot of the time I would just fold the turn here (or with specific reads, call turn and fold a lot of rivers - fwiw you don't HAVE to call all rivers if you call turn here, that's just a silly myth that doesnt apply to fish with leaks), but I think with the info I had at the time, it makes it less likely he has a v strong hand (it being his 2nd 3bet in 4 oportunities means he probs has a wide 3bet range) and I wouldn't expect him to be betting an 8 or 99-JJ on the turn with this sizing, but would expect him to fire this turn again as a bluff, his turn betsizing also seemed pretty weird and he bet pretty quick. I also almost certainly have 6 clean outs. I decided to flat and call almost all rivers (I would probably fold an ace or King river). The river made me hesitate for a second as it's the ultimate brick (apart from 35 thats discounted obv)and i timed down a while, to re-go thru my reasoning, but his turn/riv timings defs leant me towards a call, which was obviously my reasoned plan anyways and I only have to be right about 1 time in 3.5 to make the call profitable.

I'll tag some more interesting hands next week hopefully and post them here.


As some of the winnings were in euro's the final tally was actually +$1,158, I also got a little RB from KO and two $10 bonus clears from Stars, which added a bit.


NEW BANKROLL:

Stars      =  $1,858
Party      =  $2,501
KO        =  $4,322 (EURO 2826.50)
PKR      =  $2,514
Neteller  =  $0

TOTAL =  $11,195



TOTAL HANDS PLAYED = 1,373

TOTAL PROFIT                 = $1,195

TOTAL WITHDRAWN     = $0


I'll be updating this weekly or so with some HH and other strat dotted here and there and doing a proper summary at the end of each month.

Mark