Monthly update

1/2 HU:
20h, +17, +41.88 BB/100
0.5/1 HU:
9115h, +$318, +3.49 BB/100
Total hands HU:
9135h

Another good month, what else can I say. Most pro HU players say that the rake is unbeatable at this level. I've not only beat the rake, but I've made a profit of +3.28 BB/100 after 16.5k hands. Rake is huge, 7.9 BB/100 but with good rakeback, I'm making a decent hourly profit at these stakes.

Total: +$338
Bonus: $50
Rakeback: $425

Current bankroll: $3786 (+$813)
Last month bankroll: $2973

Comeback

It could have been my worst day ever since switching to HU, but lucky for me, I didn't tilt and had almost complete control of my emotions. This is a great improvement and hopefully its permanent. How did I manage to lose almost 80 BB's? Well, only 1 player was waiting at my limit and I knew him as we already played ~250 hands together. He's an aggro donk who plays everything from 0.5/1 to 2/4 and I was crushing him until this session. I didn't want to sit with him (I never sit down when there's someone waiting) so I opened a new table and in a couple of seconds he sat down with me. I couldn't refuse to play, I had a read on him and I'm so much better player so I thought I'll crush him again.

Well, I was wrong. He was running so hot it was unreal. I kept rebuying hoping he will run out of luck but unlucky for me, it didn't happen. He was crushing me like a muppet and I was eventually down 80 BBs against him when I quit. Every time I had big pocket pair, he had a bigger pocket pair. Every time I hit a top pair, he had either top pair with better kicker or he hit a two pair by the river. On those rare occassions when I hit my draw, he had a bettter draw and the same card helped both of us. It was unreal. His went2sd was 42% and won@sd 70% over 110 hands. The strange part was and the best indicator how well he run, his wwsf was 62% but this time, he didn't play his usuall retarded aggressive game, which could explain such a large wwsf %. Instead, he almost never raised and was very passive postflop. He obviously changed his game for me and this time it was tougher for me to play against him but I'm still sure he was just incredibly lucky.

When I quit him, I sat down on another table but I was watching him at two tables he was playing. He was crushed by two opponents (one of them is really awful, I call him "my muse" because he's losing at a rate of 27 BB/100 over 3.2k hands when playing against me) and they both sat down to play with me after he left their tables. I beat both of them so I guess I've got my money back :)

January update

1/2 HU:
-
0.5/1 HU:
4843h, +$201, +4.15 BB/100
Total hands HU:
4843h

Few days ago someone asked me why do I make videos from my sessions? Well, I make them so I can analyze my game later when I have time or I can send them to my friend for a review. Its very helpful if you have someone who can analyze your game. While sitting at the tables, you can't see your own mistakes and even when you analyze your sessions, its very likely you won't notice every stupid thing you do. Someone else, who isn't or wasn't involved in a game has a much better perspective and can see some things you can't.

I'm 1k hands short from my monthly goal but that's ok, there's still enough time to play the required number of hands. I'm crushing 0.5/1 again and if I continue like this, I should make a profit of ~$1k by the end of January. One thing bothers me, I have almost no desire to go up to 1/2. Don't know whats wrong, since there's no reason for me to not be successful at higher limits but I still have fear of moving up. I know, its irrational fear but its there.

Total: +$206
Bonus: $30
Rakeback: $144

Current bankroll: $3353 (+$380)
Last month bankroll: $2973

10k hands sample

This is my 10k hands sample graph from $0.5/$1 flhu tables. In first 5k hands I run like a poker God with a win rate of over 6 BB/100 but this time, my results were far worse. I'm basically break even in last 5k hands and its because I played really bad, failing to adjust to my opponents and exploit their weaknesess. Of course, I could blame the cold deck but in reality, I'm the guilty one. If nothing else, I should stand up and leave the table if I run into a tricky opponent and find someone who is easier to beat.

My win rate is still a solid +3.14 BB/100 with a sick rake of 7.98 BB/100, which means I'm beating my opponents for a fantastic 11.12 BB/100. According to PT3, I can say with 95% confidence that my true win rate over this sample is between 2.64-3.63 BB/100. If I could keep this win rate or even slightly lower than this on next limits when I move up, I'll be playing 10/20 in no time :)

January - goals

December:
1) play at least 15000 hands
1a) play at least 5000 hands at 1/2, 1-2 tabling
1b) play remaining 10000 hands at lower limits, up to 4 tabling

Failed! Only 9.5k hands instead of 15k. I just can't play. I have the time but I always find something else to do instead of playing poker. I'll have to work on that.

2) work on further improvement of mental control and avoiding tilt
3) work on postflop game
4) watch StoxPoker videos
5) clear a few kickback bonuses

Success!

6) make at least 1 video each week playing $1/$2
7) review each $1/$2 session

Partial success!

January goals
1) play at least 12000 hands
2) crush $0.5/$1 flhu and move up to $1/$2 by the end of January
2a) increase my win rate to at least +3 BB/100 without rakeback
3) $1000 profit
4) work on my game, watch videos, study,...
5) make a video or two

Monthly update

1/2:
95h, +$21, +11.18 BB/100
0.5/1:
3195h, +$100, +3.12 BB/100
0.25/0.5:
526h, -$4, -1.49 BB/100
Total hands:
3816h

1/2 HU:
132h, -$57, -21.50 BB/100
0.5/1 HU:
5702h, +$135, +2.37 BB/100
Total hands HU:
5834h

I had a few bad sessions last couple of days and my win rate was cut in half. I could blame the cold deck, but I'm sure I haven't played my best game. In a HU game, I need to adapt to my opponents and exploit their weaknesses but I obviously failed. They were aggressive, they were sucking out on me every other hand while capping turn as a 19:1 underdogs but I still think I could have played much better. Im now at +2.37 BB/100, with rakeback and bonus +7.03 BB/100, which is still good considering the huge rake but I'm sure I can and should do better at these stakes.

Total: +$195
Bonus: $164
Rakeback: $172
Kickback: $220

Current bankroll: $2973 (+$751)

2009

Happy New Year everyone.

Last year was a good year for me, at least when it comes to poker. On a scale from 1-10 I'd say it deserves a 6. What's most important in poker is profit and I've made more in 2008 than in 2006 and 2007 together so I'm happy with that fact. Especially since I play the same stakes as I did last 2 years and I've spent ~10% less time playing poker than in 2007 and ~20% less time than a year before.

I'm not happy with the fact I'm still playing only $0.5/$1 and only occasionally $1/$2. This is very frustrating since I was a successful $1/$2 player 3y ago when I started but now, whenever I move up, I'm running so cold it forces me to move back to $0.5/$1. Moving up will be my number one priority in new year, at least in poker.

Other than poker, it was a lousy year, I'd give it a 4. I'm a sports fanatic and spending first 6 months last year rehabilitating from ACL injury was a nightmare. Not because it was difficult, but because I wasn't able to play for my team and we were fighting for a promotion (which we achieved, but thanks to league reorganization).

Here are my poker goals for 2009:

1) succeed at FLHU and move up to $10/$20 before 31.12.2009.
2) achieve a win rate of >3 BB/100 at each level (without rakeback and/or bonuses)
3) play at least 150 000 hands
4) eliminate tilt from my game