Ovchica's blog

Happy New Year

2012-01-04T18:22:00.001+01:00

Happy New Year

2011-01-07T14:30:00.002+01:00

It's 33rd day since my last poker session :)

???

2010-10-07T11:08:00.003+02:00

I have absolutely no idea where to play and what game to play...

I'm a poker God!!!!

2010-09-11T21:40:00.004+02:00

Results from today's rush poker session:
-hands played: 1124
-won/loss: -$19.25 (38.5 BB)

AKs, AKo, AQs, AQo, QQ, KJs, KJo, JTs: - $49 (98 BB)

AQs & AQo, won when saw flop: 0/10

After 17061 hands, I'm still winning but only 0.32 BB/100. I guess I must be happy with this, at least I'm not losing...

Rush time

2010-09-03T11:51:00.002+02:00

Just received a $400 bonus offer from FullTilt which expires in 21 days upon accepting. This is basically free money plus I have rakeback so I guess it's time to play some rush poker again...

There is also a reload bonus on Stars...

And I have bonus on Betway...and Gnuf...

I wish I could lock myself inside for the next 30 days and just play poker...

HUNL 25

2010-08-26T21:29:00.002+02:00

This was unexpected :)

No, I'm not switching to heads up no limit. I'm clearing kickback bonuses on Merge network playing fixed limit. There is only 2 or 3 FL tables available and the rake counter is going really slow so I started to add one hunl $25 table when I feel I'm focused enough. Since Merge uses contributed method, rake is going much faster on hu tables. It looks like I'm running very good at the moment, I'm 4.25 BI up and I think I haven't played more than 2 hours in total. So far so good, hopefully I won't lose everything now that I've put this on my blog, like I usually do :)

Turning point

2010-08-25T10:51:00.011+02:00

Until last month, I was satisfied with myself and my life. I can not say I was very happy but I was satisfied. I have not graduated from college (graduate student with a couple of exams to the end), I don't have a job (live from poker) and I'm still free (because it suits me) but I do various activities that filled me up until now.

Then several things happened in a very short time that forced me to think about myself, which led to a firm decision to change my life. I'm not going into details, but suffice it to say that the main thing is actually one person, a girl (we broke up). Basically, I have firmly decided to change my habits and everything that's wrong with myself. My lifestyle from the last couple of years is now not good enough for me and I'm doing something to change it for the better.

First thing that will go way down on my list of priorities is poker. I'm totally indifferent about it, only reason I still play is because it's important source of income for me. In the beginning it was a challenge, to beat other players and prove myself I'm good in a game I never knew anything about but the last few years I have no fun playing poker. I'd much rather go out and play tennis, ride a bike, watch stars with someone than to sit in front of my computer and stare at the screen.

Another thing is handball. It was very important to me, I love it, I love to train every day but the current situation makes it far less enjoyable than it was 3 months ago, or ever before. I wouldn't mind if we stopped competing which I never thought I could say.

Basically, I'm at a turning point. Probably for the first time in my life, I know what I want and what I'm willing to sacrifice to get it.

LOL

2010-06-29T18:07:00.000+02:00

RIP bonuswhores

2010-06-25T14:41:00.000+02:00

Bonuswhores.com died this month. Well, they aren't really dead since they were transferred to another domain and changed its design but the new site is awful I have no intention to visit them ever again. Sadly, they were by far the best website with information about poker bonuses and my primary source for evaluating poker bonus quality.

If I remember correctly there was a saying on the old bonuswhores forum that God kills a kitten every time you don't clear your poker bonus. Unfortunately, one kitten will pay for my sins because I will have to abandon my Gnuf bonus. I have 8000 Gnuf points to collect in 2 weeks and so far I managed to collect only 2000 points in 75 days. There is just no way I can finish it in time.

Weather report

2010-06-23T13:54:00.008+02:00

It's raining, again. In the last 24 hours it fell more rain than the entire monthly average for June (monthly average is 60 litres; last 24 hours it fell 110 litres and June until today, it fell 205 litres). Apparently on some fields around Osijek it fell around 190 litres per square meter in only one day. It is also very cold. I think June 21st, the first summer day, was the coldest first summer day ever in Osijek, 1.1 degree colder that Christmas last year!!!

I'm playing poker again. After 2 months break, I'm back at the tables with 10k hands this month and showing profit so far. I decided to do another kickback bonus on Chili so I'm playing FLHU 0.25/0.5, which is lower than I usually play but limit tables on iPoker are so unbelievably awful I had no choice but to play this limit if I want to finish this bonus. To show you how awful the tables actually are, players per flop percentage on 0.25/0.5 6max is rarely above 35% and it is normal to find tables with % less than 20. I usually don't even think about sitting down unless players per flop percentage is above 50% and you can find tables this good on other network even on much higher limits than 0.25/0.5.

The very first day I registered with Chili, I found a bot playing 0.25/0.5 FLHU so I complained to their customer support. Apparently, it is normal for a human being to simultaneously play 4 tables of HU fixed limit poker for 24 hours a day, every day and make a profit of 6 BB/100 over 150k hands with a rake of 8 BB/100. Not only that, they are also trying to tell me some players can actually 16-table fixed limit heads up with no problems whatsoever. I guess I'm stupid because I can't play quality heads up fixed limit poker on more than 2 tables at the same time.

I still can't believe iPoker was a fish pond only 2 years ago with best fixed limit tables online and now it's a nit fest filled with bots.

Who will stop the rain?

2010-06-02T10:45:00.004+02:00

I have nothing to report when it comes to poker. I've played 11 hours last month, made $19 profit and still have no desire to play although I haven't played serious poker for 2 months.

It's still raining. This is depressing, I think we had no more than 5 sunny days in last 3 weeks. My last bicycle ride was on sunday, 49km in 2 hours and 10 minutes. I came home 1 minute before another shower and it's raining since then. That's 3 days and according to forecast, it will rain until saturday morning. Only yesterday it fell more rain than the June average for entire month.

Rain, rain, go away,...

2010-05-17T16:41:00.004+02:00

...come again another day.

It's raining for 3 straight days now and it doesn't look like stopping. It already fell roughly 150l per square m. Please stop raining...

New bike

2010-05-07T13:25:00.003+02:00

Handball season is almost over, 2 more games to play and I'm free. In order to keep myself in shape and to have something interesting to do over the summer, I bought myself this little beauty:
Back to poker. I'm still not playing seriously like I used to. It's been 4 weeks now and it makes me worried because I have no desire to play at all. I'm perfectly happy without poker and all the stress that comes with it but to be honest, I could use the money. Don't know what to do in order to start playing again...

April

2010-05-01T10:22:00.005+02:00

It's time for another monthly update...

After an extended period of mindlessly chasing bonuses, I finally broke down. I've lost my entire thought process and begun playing like a zombie. Over my poker career, I had a few bad periods in the past when I wanted to quit poker but something like this has never happened before. My friend was laughing at me when I told him but I literally forgot everything I knew that made me a winning player. So after finishing with Betway, I decided to take a break. That was at the beginning of April, on April 4th and ever since that day, I haven't played a single serious session until 2 days ago. I tried to play but after 15-20 minutes I would usually realize I suck so I decided it's best to quit.

I tried watching some poker videos and one old session review from my friends coach, which got me thinking and I see sings of improvements in my game but I'm still not my old self. On the other hand, talking to my friend was a complete waste of both my and his time. When I told him, he probably thought I was joking so he wasn't helpful at all. I can't remember one good advice I've got from him other than the standard reply you get from NL donks all around the world, that I should switch to NL.

April goal check:
1) earn 704 Betway points on Betway
-done
2) maintain Silver star on Stars
-failed
3) earn at least 5000 Gnuf points
-failed
4) I found a good deal at another Microgaming room so I have to start playing there and hopefully I can rake ~$500 this month
-failed

---

Goals for may:
1) my only goal is to find my game and play again like I used to play

April results
-playing: -$102
-bonus: $1025
-rakeback: $0
-kickback: $0

Overall: +$922
Time played: 19h
Hands played: ~7000

March

2010-04-01T11:15:00.005+02:00

March was like a rollercoaster ride, I was up $430 after 4days, lost $350 next 8days, my PC crashed, up $200, down $180. Variance was brutal and I believe I was running awful. Hit something with AJs 1/27, QJs 3/37, hit a set on the flop 1 in 8.2 but losing 1.2 BB/100, losing with AQs, ATs, A9s, KQo, KJs, QJs and JJ.

March goal check:
1) earn 13404 Betway points on Betway
-failed, earned 12700
2) maintain Silver star on Stars
-done
3) finish FullTilt reload bonus playing FL Rush
-done
4) finish Europoker kickback
-done
5) hit more sets and lose with them less often
-done, but I've lost more than ever every time I was hitting sets more than I'm supposed to

---

Betway is almost finished, only 704 points left to collect. Still can't decide where to play next. All I know is I would like to move up.

Goals for april:
1) earn 704 Betway points on Betway
2) maintain Silver star on Stars
-I need ~8000 hands on 0.25/0.5 6max to achieve this; maybe go up to $0.5/$1
3) earn at least 5000 Gnuf points
-I'm trying to earn $500 signup bonus with same conditions as Betway bonus (need 10000 Gnuf points for $500 in 90 days)
4) I found a good deal at another Microgaming room so I have to start playing there and hopefully I can rake ~$500 this month

March results
-playing: $41
-bonus: $140
-rakeback: $25
-kickback: $160

Overall: +$366
Time played: 77h
Hands played: ~32000

2 out of 2

2010-03-28T23:35:00.003+02:00

2 donkaments this weekend, both times won something. Played in $35k RTR freeroll today on FullTilt, finished 151st out of 1318 players, 216 places paid. Won $42 :)

Donkaments

2010-03-28T00:18:00.001+01:00

I've got $50 cashout restricted bonus from Party and after losing $28 on fixed limit tables I was left with $22, enough for 1 tournament buy-in. So, 2 hours before my handball match, I decided to play in a $22 $1k guaranteed bounty donkament where each bounty was worth $5. I haven't played tournaments since..., well, I can't remember. There was 105 registered players and before I had to leave, I was in 6th place out of 13 remaining players, with 2 and a half bounties won. I gave my friend to finish the tournament for me and as soon as I left, he lost with a set of QQ to a set of AA, leaving me in 13th place. It was a nice result for someone who has never played a tournament with a buy-in bigger than $1.

Just to clarify something. I hate tournaments, they are boring and I never play them.

Almost there

2010-03-23T23:59:00.002+01:00

I decided to slow down after what happened to me recently so I played a lot less than at the beginning of the month. In first 5 days I collected 4150 points and in the next 16 days only 3800 points. Currently I'm at 15900 points and the requirement for the bonus release is 20250 points. With 12 days left to collect remaining points I should finish this bonus without to much trouble.

Today was a very good day. I made 66 BBs and I'm losing with KK, QQ, JJ and 99. I wish I had my old database to compare some stats but if I remember correctly, in my last downswing I was hitting sets or better on the flop more often than 1 in 8.5. As soon as my hit a set ratio falls below 1 in 10, I immediately show a profit (see my post from March 1st, same numbers, huge profit). Ridiculous but if that's the only way I can win, I wish I never hit a set on the flop again:

ps. Savvy finally confirmed my Europoker kickback after almost 3 weeks. Better late than never.

I'm tired of this shit

2010-03-13T01:23:00.002+01:00

First my PC crashed so I had to buy a new one. Since I never made a database backup, I've lost my entire PT3 database, of course, except for a few thousand hands from Stars and FullTilt Rush. On top of that, I can't win for a fucking hand since last friday. I'm down €155 in 2041 hands on Betway (that's right, my wr is -7.6 BB/100; I bet I couldn't lose at this rate even if I wanted to) I have in my new database, overall I've lost $346 in 8 days, playing fucking micro stakes, 25c/50c and €0.5/€1.

If it weren't for this fucking bonus on Betway I have to finish by the end of this month, I would stop playing for a week because I really can't take this anymore. I'm losing every other set I have to a fucking backdoor draws no one with 2 live brain cells would not only not chase but they would never call my preflop raise to begin with. On those rare occasions I hit my draws, I lose or split probably half of them and I miss all my big draws in big multiway pots. Retards are cold calling raises with 32 only to hit trips on the flop when I have AA or KK. Of course you can't fold on a 33x flop, who cold calls with a fucking 3 in their hand!!!! I'm currently down 390$ and I've cleared only 2/3 of this bonus!!!

Some random stats from Betway.
-hit something on the flop with QJs and QJo: 0/21
-hit something on the flop with AKs, AQs, AJs, ATs, KQs, KJs and QJs: 2/31
-won when saw flop with AQs: 0%

This is one sick game.

Fixed limit rush summary

2010-03-02T23:55:00.002+01:00

I'm done with my FullTilt reload bonus. I won't play there until they give me another bonus, rakeback is just not good enough incentive for me stay there permanently.

Hands played: 8318
Won: $126.45
Win rate: +1.52 BB/100

Rake paid (MGR): $144 ($174.75)
Bonus cleared: $100
Rakeback: ~$24

My experience with fixed limit rush is great (50c/$1 9max), I really liked it and can't wait to play there again. Players are beatable, rake is low and you can play a ton of hands per hour (I usually played 2 tables and have ~550 hands/hr).

What a day

2010-03-01T23:52:00.005+01:00

Played 3711 hands today in 2 sessions, first one was 3.4 hours long, on Betway and Stars combined, MT (multi table) ratio 7.37 for entire session. The second session was shorter, 2.1 hours on Betway and limit rush on FullTilt, MT ratio 4.25. This is most likely the biggest number of hands I have played in one day in my entire poker career. And the best thing is, I was incredibly calm and focused for entire session, especially the first one. Here is the combined graph from today:

And a proof I was playing very good when I managed to make such profit with these numbers:

Overall, I did a great job today and I'm very satisfied with everything, the way I played, my results and the fact I earned 1030 Betway points today ("only" 12374 left to earn in the next 30 days).

February

2010-03-01T00:35:00.006+01:00

February was a good month for me, not so much in terms of $$ earned but because my game improved a lot compared to how I played in january. No books, no videos, only a pure will to play better and think more when making decisions. I still throw a BB every now and then when I shouldn't but it's much better than before.

February goal check:
1) maintain Silver star on Stars
-done
2) earn 10000 Betway points on Betway
-failed, only 3355 points in 5.3k hands
3) play some NL on Minted or FL on Betfair or EuroPoker
-done, almost finished kickback on Europoker, only 100 points left to collect
4) run better, please!!!
-hmmmm, I'm playing better, earning $$ but I can't say I'm running better than last month
5) play 15k hands
-done, played 26.2k (7k hands played on FL rush in just 3 days)

---

I will have to concentrate all my efforts on finishing Betway signup bonus this month. I usually table select and seat select like crazy but this time I will have to play even when tables are not good enough. At the end of the month, I should clear ~$1400 in bonus plus a few $$ in rakeback from last month, hopefully.

Goals for march:
1) earn 13404 Betway points on Betway
-my guess is I need ~21k hands
2) maintain Silver star on Stars
-I need ~8000 hands on 0.25/0.5 6max to achieve this
3) finish FullTilt reload bonus playing FL Rush
-$20 left so I guess I'll need a 2 hour session playing 2 tables
4) finish Europoker kickback
-only 108 points left
5) hit more sets and lose with them less often

February results
-playing: $244
-bonus: $210
-rakeback: $37
-kickback: -

Overall: +$492
Time played: 47h
Hands played: 26210

Fixed limit Rush

2010-02-28T00:09:00.007+01:00

FullTilt gave me a $100 no load reload bonus so I decided to try their new game called Rush. Rush is mostly played in no-limit format but in the last couple of days, they added 2 fixed limit tables, 1 table of 9max 50c/$1 and 1 table of 6max $1/$2. I don't like full ring but since it's the only 50c/$1 table available and there is very little traffic on 1/2 table, I had no choice but to play full ring. I will make a monthly update on monday or tuesday, but here are some interesting screenshots:

261 pairs is not a huge sample, but c'mon, this has to be a joke, right. Or there is something wrong with this PT3 report. Over my entire sample in PT3 database I have played ~188k hands, saw flop with 8.8k pairs and hit a set or better every 1 in 9.o times.

Can I really be so unlucky that I always have to run worse than I'm supposed to?

This small screenshot is from 2 sessions on Betway today. Losing AA 3 times out of 3 is certainly possible, but believe it or not, I have hit a set 2 times with those 3 pairs. Third time I've lost to JJ in a HU pot, he hit a set on the flop.

-----

No comment!!!

$0.5/$1 Limit Holdem - Rush
9 Players

Pre-flop: (1.5 SB, 9 players) Hero is Button A A
2 folds, MP1 raises, 1 folds, Hero raises, 4 folds, MP1 raises all-in, Hero calls

Flop: A K 2 (8.1 SB, 2 players, 1 all-in)
SB checks, BB checks, CO checks, Hero bets, SB calls, BB calls, CO raises, Hero calls, SB calls, BB calls

Turn: 5 (4 BB, 2 players)

River: K (4 BB, 2 players)

Final Pot: 4 BB
MP1 shows: K K
Hero shows: A A

So far so good

2010-02-14T17:24:00.002+01:00

Not much to write about. I'm more focused on studying than poker so I'm just trying to grind the existing bonuses with minimum variance. Half way through February I have already covered my last month loss even though I haven't played a single hand in 6 days this month. This makes me very happy but there is still room for improvement since I'm running awful at Betway. That was supposed to be my primary goal this month but I have played only 1.5k hands so far (goal was 13k).

Time played: 20h
Hands played: 10368
Profit: $341

January

2010-02-01T00:45:00.008+01:00

With a loss of $295, january was my worst month ever. To be fair, it is mostly because I cleared almost no bonus or rakeback in january, except $10 stellar rewards from Stars and another $90 in kickback bonus.

Goals for february:
1) maintain Silver star on Stars which means earning 750 VPPa in a month
-I need ~8000 hands on 0.25/0.5 6max to achieve this
2) earn 10000 Betway points on Betway (need ~20000 BP for ~$1000 bonus until april 4th)
-I played 4.8k hands in january, earning 3500 BP so I guess I will have to play ~13k hands this month
3) whenever there is no action on Betway, play some NL on Minted or FL on Betfair or EuroPoker
4) run better, please!!!

January results
-playing: -$408
-bonus: $10
-rakeback: $13
-kickback: $90

Overall: -$295

ps. I have to organize my time. I'm a university graduate and have to concentrate on finishing my education this year. This means poker is not my first priority this year (its probably number 3 or 4) so if I don't succeed in achieving my yearly goals, I won't be to disappointed as long as a make a few hundred $$ each month.

What a joke...

2010-01-31T18:23:00.003+01:00

...this game is. Another 2 hour session 4 tabling NL10€ on Minted poker, won €2, weeeeeeeee! Since they don't support PT or HEM, I wrote down on a piece of paper whenever I had something.
Results:
1) 4 open ended straight draws = hit ZERO times
2) 2 flush draws = hit ZERO times
3) 1 flush draw + picked up an open ended straight draw on turn = missed
4) 1 flush draw + gutshot = hit, but had no fucking action, whatsoever, everyone folded

Had 31 pocket pairs
Hit a set: 3 times
1) 33 on a AJ3-K-Q board, against 2 players, idiot slowplayed AA
2) hit a set with 66 vs a shortstack = no fucking action
3) 88 on a 877-T-5 board, against 4 players, someone had a 77 for quads

Luckily, I've lost with big pairs only once, so I somehow still managed to end this farce with a profit.

So fucking unreal!!!

No limit and why I hate it

2010-01-31T13:19:00.007+01:00

Couple of days ago, I created a new account with rakeback on Minted poker through RakeTheRake, deposited €100 with the intention of playing NL occasionally when I have the time and there's no good fixed limit tables available on sites I'm usually playing at. I have to admit, I'm not the best no-limit player in the world but even I should be able to beat awful players from Everleaf network, right? Wrong.

Went all-in preflop 3 times so far:
1) AA vs QQ, board Qxx-x-x
2) AA vs KK, board xxx-K
3) TT vs 99, 9xx-x-x

So, 3 all-ins preflop, chance of losing all of them: 0.58%

So far, after 6-7 hours of playing NL10€, I've hit 0 sets (except when I was playing shortstackers with less than 1/3 buy-in), I've hit 0 flush or straight draws (well, I don't count super small pots when you're in the blind and no one raises preflop, everyone have nothing and action goes check-check until the river) and lost one flopped trips with 76s (board 662 rainbow) against a fucking 2 outer in a 3way super huge pot.

I don't think I have seen a good player on this poker room so far. If only I could hit something and not lose every fucking time I have an overpair.

Starting bankroll: €100
Current bankroll: €85.13
Won/lost: -€14.87

Open letter to poker Gods!

2010-01-29T22:44:00.005+01:00

Dear Poker Gods,

FUCK YOU!

Cheers

OMFG

2010-01-27T19:12:00.006+01:00

January will most likely be my worst month ever. Here is a preview of what you can expect in a few days. Microgaming network, 4.3k hands:

Yes, this is correct, I'm losing with a fucking straight after 4.3k hands. Playing micro limits. Against morons who cold call K3o and other crap.

Until last saturday, everything was fine. I was running way below expectation but I was winning overall, although just a few $$ (thanks to a kickback bonus I have cleared). I have cleared a few hundred $$ in bonus and rakeback on several poker rooms which will be paid to my accounts in february and march, so I had every reason to be satisfied although not very happy. Suddenly, on friday someone turned the doomswitch for me and I can't win anymore.

You can live with losses, you can live with bad beats but when your 24 winning months streak is broken and you still have 4d before the end of the month and you know you can't do anything to change that, it's a huge blow for your self confidence.

2010

2010-01-05T23:19:00.006+01:00

I'm probably boring with these screenshots but I have to vent somewhere. This is from a 5.3k hands sample played this year on Stars and 0.2k hands played on a new Microgaming site ($1000 bonus, with good release requirements). Just looking at these stats makes me puke but that's not all. From 5 flopped full houses, I've lost 2 and I've lost another 3 times when I had a set. So it's actually even worse than it looks.

I'm losing with 99 and I'm break even with KK, JJ, TT & 88. Few more retarded stats:
AQs hit a flop - 0/10
ATs hit a flop - 1/13
KJs hit a flop - 0/8

So, the start of this year is awful, I'm down ~80 BBs, most of it on 0.25/0.5 on Stars. Overall, I'm not happy with the way I'm playing but I'm satisfied with my results considering the fact I'm running way worse than I should.

This hand perfectly describes my year so far:

$0.25/$0.5 Limit Holdem
6 Players

Pre-flop: (1.4 SB, 6 players) Hero is Button 4 4
2 folds, CO calls, Hero calls, SB calls, BB checks

Flop: 4 6 6 (4 SB, 4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, CO checks, Hero bets, SB calls, BB calls, CO raises, Hero calls, SB calls, BB calls

Turn: 3 (6 BB, 4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, CO bets, Hero bets, SB folds, BB calls, CO 3-bets, Hero 4-bets, BB calls, CO calls

River: 3 (18 BB, 3 players)
SB checks, CO bets, Hero calls, SB calls

Final Pot: 23.1 BB
CO shows: A 6
Hero shows: 4 4
BB shows: Q 3

New year goals

2010-01-04T16:49:00.002+01:00

My poker goals for this year:
1) play 15 000+ hands a month, 180 000+ hands total
2) at least 1 BB/100 at 0.5/1 and 1/2
3) take a shot at 2/4
4) make at least $12 000
5) maintain SilverStar status
6) run better than last year

Fcuk you PokerStars

2010-01-03T00:52:00.003+01:00

Played 2300h this year, I can't hit anything on the flop and miss all my big draws in multiway pots. So frustrating. On the bright side, I lost only 20 BB's.

2009 - hit flop with pair

2009-12-31T18:40:00.000+01:00

Fixed limit 6max, Microgaming

Fixed limit 6max, Stars

Total for all poker rooms

Only hands that saw flop, of course. Terrible nubmers.

2009

2009-12-31T18:20:00.004+01:00

Fixed limit HU, iPoker, mostly $0.5/$1 and few $1/$2 hands - 25449 hands

Fixed limit 6max, Microgaming, €0.5/€1 and €1/€2 - 30899 hands

Fixed limit 6max, Stars, $0.25/$0.5 and $0.5/$1 - 16557 hands

Total graph for all poker rooms - 88682 hands

SilverStar

2009-12-31T18:19:00.001+01:00

Dear ovchica,

Congratulations! You have achieved SilverStar VIP status.

Christmas update

2009-12-26T23:27:00.005+01:00

These stats are from two poker rooms I'm currently playing at:

PokerStars 0.25/0.5 6max
Hands: 8307
WinRate: +3.39 BB/100
Rake: 2.68 BB/100
MT ratio: 4.78
VPP earned: 747.78

Microgaming €0.5/€1 6max
Hands: 4368
WinRate: +1.77 BB/100
Rake: 3.04 BB/100
MT ratio: 2.73
Raked hands: 2005
Bonus cleared: $220

Playing limit on Stars

2009-12-06T11:59:00.004+01:00

Smart Euro players don't play on Stars and FullTilt. They don't have good bonuses, rakeback and the competition is tough compared to other available networks/poker rooms. That's why I never played on Stars again after clearing the signup bonus. But this month, I decided to come back and try to earn FPPs while playing 0.25/0.5 shorthanded limit when there is no action on Microgaming network or the tables are not good enough. I knew it won't be easy to achieve even SilverStar and it would probably be a waste of time but I gave it a try and here are the results from the 5 days of playing 0.25/0.5 between 4 and 9 tables at the same time (MT ratio 5.4).

I did some calculations and comparisons and it looks like my current win rate of +9.4 BB/100 is equivalent to a win rate of roughly +0.94 BB/100 on 5/10 6max (in order to make the same amount of money like I did on 0.25/0.5). If I was playing 5/10, I assumed I would never play more than 3 tables at the same time so I wouldn't have played 4k hands in the same time but only 2k.

I know, 4k hands is a small sample, I could be on a heater, etc. Results are great, so let's hope I can keep the current win rate and become a Stars regular.

Flopped quads

2009-11-29T00:52:00.005+01:00

One interesting hand from today's session:

€0.50/€1 Limit Holdem
6 Players

Pre-flop: (1.5 SB, 6 players) Hero is CO 8 8
UTG raises, 1 fold, Hero 3-bets, 2 folds, BB 4-bets, UTG calls, Hero calls

Flop: 8 8 A (12.5 SB, 3 players)
BB bets, UTG raises, Hero 3-bets, BB calls, UTG 4-bets, Hero calls, BB calls

Turn: J (12.2 BB, 3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets and is all-in, Hero calls, BB calls

River: T (15.1 BB, 3 players, 1 all-in)
BB bets, Hero raises, BB 3-bets, Hero 4-bets, BB calls

Final Pot: 23.1 BB
UTG shows: 2 2
Hero shows: 8 8
BB shows: 10 10

In a 300h session today, I'm losing with full house, straight and three of a kind, I had only 1 flush and I still managed to win 35 BBs. I love this game!!

More graphs

2009-11-27T11:58:00.005+01:00

Here is the PT graph from the period I mentioned yesterday, since october 16th. I've been playing on Prima network forever but I never had a nice upswing like this one.

Some interesting stats from the entire Prima/Microgaming sample, 26.3k hands:
Hit flop with pair: 1 in 9.6 (only when saw flop; should be 1 in 8.5)
Hit flop with 22-55: 1 in 11.9 (or 17 in 202)
Dealt AA: 104 (I've got dealt only 1 pair less times than AA, it was 22, dealt 103 times; should be 119)
Dealt KK: 145
Flopped something with AQs: 1 in 5.8 (or 12/70, should be 1 in 3.3)
Flopped something with AJs: 1 in 5.9 (or 15/89, should be 1 in 3.3)

Swine flu

2009-11-26T17:24:00.005+01:00

Ever since that last update, I played only shorthanded fixed limit on Microgaming and Cake networks and was doing great. On Microgaming, I have 7.1k hands since October 16th and I'm running at +3.9 BB/100 playing 0.5€/1€ tables. Overall, I have +0.43 BB/100 on a 25.9k hand sample. Rake is 3.09 BB/100 (MGR 4.27 BB/100) so this win rate is actually good and I'm satisfied with it. This is my favorite network and I hope I won't run out of good bonuses any time soon.

I gave up on HUNL, at least for now. Its simple, no limit is not my game so I will have to play FL until it dries up completely. FullTilt gave me a $100 bonus so tried to play there for half an hour on 0.25/0.5 tables only to confirm what I already knew. There is no point for Euro players, especially FL players, to play there. The games are awful, so much worse than anywhere else, even Stars looks like a goldmine compared to FullTilt (at least 0.25/0.5 limit).

Almost forgot, I had a swine flu last week. I had a high temperature for 1 day with no other symptoms other than headache and that's it. Either my immune system is really good or this flu is no worse than a normal flu. To be honest, I'm disappointed, I expected it to be far worse :)

Heads up no limit

2009-10-15T18:11:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I had a good day at the HUNL tables. Finally. Plus 2 buy ins. It's not that great but I'm happy since it's a nice change to finally win something after losing all the time. I play on Party with only 6 BI bankroll which is not recommended, of course, but I don't want to make a deposit. To be honest, it's not recommended to play on Party at all because of their ridiculous rake. My goal is to feel the game and see if I'm good enough to play HUNL and then I can go somewhere else and play seriously. Right now I'm table selecting like mad, I play only shortstackers and really weak players who don't raise preflop and quitting everyone who raises their first 2-3 small blinds.

Overall, I'm 1 BI down after 2250 hands. I'm losing with three of a kind, mainly because of this hand:

SB - $15
Hero (BB) - $50.85

Pre-flop: ($0.75, 2 players) Hero is BB 3 3
SB calls, Hero checks

Flop: J T 3 ($1, 2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $1, Hero raises to $3, SB goes all-in $13.50, Hero calls $11.5

Turn: 6 ($30, 2 players)

River: K ($30, 2 players)

Final Pot: 9.5 BB
SB shows: A Q
Hero shows: 3 3

This was the only hand where I had trips and we went all-in.

Some interesting stats:
AA lost $15
AKs lost $15
JJ lost $27 (2 preflop all-ins, against Q3o and Q9o, lost both times; first against runner runner flush and second time he hit 2 Q, on flop and river)

Overall, I know I'm not playing well enough and to be honest, I'm not trying to study this game at all, just trying to feel the game since I don't have time to study poker right now. But I will, as soon as possible.

Downswing again

2009-10-03T21:07:00.002+02:00

Ever since that royal flush I've got a month ago, I can't win anything. Not only on Cake but on other networks as well. It's like someone turned on the doomswitch for me. Watch the hands from Cake network I'm losing with since 5th september, sample size 3.3k hands:

AKs, AQs, AJo, AJs, ATs, A9s, A9o, A8s, A8o, A7s, KTs, KTo, QJs, QJo, QTs, QTo, JJ, JTs, JTo, J9s, J9o, TT, 99, 88....

Hit something on the flop:
AKs - 1/14
AQs - 0/6
KQs - 2/10
KJs - 1/11
QJs - 1/7

Nobody believed me I could run this awful but thanks to poker trackers last update, I can now import Cake hands to my database and finally prove everyone I'm not crazy.

September was supposed to be a great month for me but turned out to be a shit month. It was the 3rd biggest losing month in the last 4y. When I say losing, I mean losing by playing. Thanks to bonuses and rakeback, I'm still winning. I've actually won 2 times less money at the end of the month than what I've won in the first 4 days of the month, before that royal flush. Sick.

My friend switched from limit HU to no limit HU. He was doing pressure on me to switch to no limit HU so we could study together but I didn't want to, because I hate no limit. I have only 2 losing months in the last 4y and both times, I was playing no limit. But I couldn't win at limit so I gave it a try and went to Party HUNL 50 tables. I was running so hot I managed to earn 20 buy-ins in just a few days. I wish.

I played ~800 hands and here are the only 6 hands I went all-in preflop with:

QQ vs AJs, flop JJx
QQ vs 88, flop 8xx
KK vs AJs, flop Jxx-A
JJ vs Q9o, flop AQx
AQs vs K9o, flop J64-9
AKs vs Ad6c, flop QsTd2d-3d-4d

All-in performance graph says I've lost -$155 but my expected loss was only -$40. There is either something seriously wrong with my no limit game or I'm extremely unlucky. I hope its the first thing because I can do something about it once I identify the mistakes. If its the second thing, well, I'm doomed.

Royal flush

2009-09-05T13:57:00.007+02:00

Last night I've hit a Royal flush for the 5th time since I play poker and 1st time on a site with royal flush bonus. Doyles room gave me $250 just for having this hand. Thank you Doyle!

I don't play much lately and that's why I'm not writing on this blog as often as I used to. We have handball trainings every day and I usually play before going to trainings. When I come home I'm to tired to play or even think about poker so I just relax, eat something and go to sleep.

Right now I'm clearing a kickback bonus on DoylesRoom through PokerSavvy. If you want more info on these bonuses, check this blog: Kickback bonus guide I'm playing 0.25/0.5 6max limit on all available tables. It doesn't matter if the table has 5 or only 1 player, I will play everyone. I know I'm to good to play these stakes but the players are awful so it's easy money for me without variance, which is what I need at the moment.

I'm also done with 32Red welcome bonus so I'm looking for a new poker room in Prima/Microgaming network. Their bonuses are great for small stakes limit player but ever since the Tusk and Eurolinx/BetOnBet fiasco, you have to be very selective when it comes to playing on this network.

I'm playing tennis again, after almost 15 years. My friend asked me if I wanted to play against him and I said yes, so I took my 19y old ProKennex racquet and we went to a local tennis club. In our first match, he beat me 6-0, 6-2, 6-7. This was his 4th or 5th match this year but he also didn't play for 15 years. It was very embarrasing for me since he is a little bit overweight, he's out of shape and hasn't run for more than a decade. In our second match, I won 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 :) I can't wait to play again.

Summer

2009-08-15T20:46:00.003+02:00

Ever since mid July I've been playing poker probably once a week. The weather was nice so I decided to spend my summer outside. Before preseason trainings started, I was going to the gym 3 times a week and was riding a bike 2 times a week. Once we made a 102km in one day which is a 6hr ride. It was great, we went to nature's park Kopacki Rit and had close encounters with a herd of deers and few boars with piglets. The route is called Pannonian Peace Trail and is 75km long, connecting Osijek in Croatia and Sombor in Vojvodina (Serbia).

Preseason in my handball club started on July 30th. We have trainings 6 times a week at 6:30 PM and the only free day we have is Sunday so I really can't find the time to play poker. I usually play a 1-1.5 hour session in the afternoon, from 5 PM and sometimes in the evening after 9 or 10 PM. Now I can't play in the afternoon and when I come home, I'm beat and all I can do is eat something and go to sleep.

On August 10th, we went to Zagreb to attend a U2 concert. It was awesome. I'm not a huge fan of music so I've never been to such a big concert before. We were on the pitch and the experience was great, especially when entire stadium sang I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

I would really like to see them again in the future and if they come again to my country, I certainly won't miss it.

More variance

2009-07-21T00:41:00.002+02:00

Session on Prima network, today:

Since wednesday, both Prima and Boss:

I will have to reread Stox's book tomorrow. I feel my game got worse in the last few days although I'm absolutely certain I'm in a downswing and running awful at the moment. Whenever I play with morons, like the ones on Boss network I forget how to play properly.

I hate variance

2009-07-20T00:21:00.001+02:00

Since wednesday 15th july (on the graph, when downswing started), I've had AKs and AQs 13 times and hit a top pair on the flop exactly 0 times. Flopped a set with pocket pair 1 in 11.8 times. Total won on the button: +€0.10! Nice.

My first impression of Boss network was great. Plenty of loose fish and out of all TAGs and sLAGs, there is not a single player who is really good postflop and doesn't have some leaks eventhought his preflop stats are almost optimal. But I still don't like playing here.

Here is the graph for entire sample, since the beginning of july, 7.7k hands.

Disgusting day on Boss network

2009-07-18T00:59:00.001+02:00

Flopped a set but only pocket pairs with a flop. Amazing isn't it.

In afternoon session I've lost with 4 straights with almost 50 BB's in those pots. I've also missed countless 10+ out draws and after more than 1k hands, I'm losing from the cutoff. CO won when seen flop % is smaller than from the blinds, hahaha. I guess it's one of those days when nothing goes your way.

BossMedia, €0.5/€1 Limit
5max
Pre-flop: (1.5 SB, 5 players) Hero is SB KQ
1 folds, Button calls, Hero raises, BB raises, Button calls, Hero calls.

Flop: J 9 J (9.0 SB, 3 players)9d Jd Jc
Hero checks, BB bets, Button calls, Hero calls

Turn: T (6.0 BB, 3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, Button bets, Hero raises, BB folds, Button calls

River: J (10.0 BB, 4 players)
Hero checks, Button bets, Hero calls

Final Pot: 12.0 BB
Hero shows: KQ
MP shows: J 6

This hand perfectly describes my day. This opponent is a regular fish, biggest loser in my database but I guess this was his/her day. Well, not exactly since he lost overall but against me, he was unbeatable.

Prima or Boss?

2009-07-16T19:00:00.004+02:00

This month I play on BossMedia and over 6k hands I have +2.63 BB/100 on €0.5/€1. On the same tables on Prima, I've been running awful and have -0.66 BB/100. I talked to my friend over skype yesterday, he's playing the same stakes as I do and he asked me what do I think, which network is better, Boss or Prima. I told him that I feel they are close, but then I checked my pt3 stats and calculated rake, bonuses and other promotions all in terms of BB/100.

Rake
Prima - 3.36 BB/100
Boss - 2.36 BB/100

Bonus
Prima - 3.4 BB/100
Boss - 0.33 BB/100

Rakeback/races
Prima - 3.82 BB/100
Boss - 0.67 BB/100

Total (bonus+rb-rake)
Prima - +3.86 BB/100
Boss - -1.36 BB/100

Although the rake is higher on Prima, the bonuses and other incentives are also much higher. If you want to make the same amount of money by playing on Boss network, you need to have a 5.2 BB/100 better win rate than on Prima network.

While winning by playing is much better than losing and it's easier to win on Boss, it's obvious that financially, Prima is a better choice for micro stakes fixed limit player.

Stars VIP store order

2009-07-13T22:53:00.004+02:00

I had 4.4k FPP's in my Stars account and just ordered the following items:

Limit Hold'em: Winning Short-Handed Startegies by Terry Borer and Lawrence Mak
2x Black Tee Shirts with small logo
Donkey

Items should arrive in 4-6 weeks.

Hand that saved my day

2009-07-07T00:18:00.004+02:00

BossMedia, €0.5/€1 Limit
5max
Pre-flop: (1.5 SB, 5 players) Hero is BB 8 7
MP calls, 2 folds, SB calls, BB checks

Flop: 6 9 T (3.0 SB, 3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, MP calls, SB calls

Turn: 2 (3.0 BB, 3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, MP calls, SB calls

River: 9 (6.0 BB, 4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, MP raises, SB folds, Hero raises, MP raises, Hero raises, MP raises, Hero raises, MP raises, Hero raises, MP raises, Hero raises, MP raises, Hero raises, MP raises, Hero raises, MP raises, Hero calls all-in

Final Pot: 38.0 BB
Hero shows: 8 7
MP shows: K A

This hand turned my session from awful to break even. A hand before this one I lost with AA to some garbage that hit a flush after which I've got angry and wrote something stupid in the chat. I guess fish thought I was tilting because his aggression factor is 0.27 even after this hand.

My third royal flush

2009-07-04T19:17:00.001+02:00

This happened a couple days ago on Prima network. It was my third royal flush. My first happened in june or july 07 also on Prima and my second was 2 months later on Stars.

Boss Media

2009-07-03T01:31:00.003+02:00

After some thinking I decided to try Boss Media network. Bonuses are bad compared to Prima and some other networks but I expect the quality of games will be much better. I played there when I started playing poker and its probably the only reason I'm still playing. If I started on another network I would have probably lost my entire starting bankroll in a few days, whole $20.

Played few hands yesterday and ~650 hands today on €0.5/€1 5max tables. Some interesting stats:
-hit flop with pair: 2/20
-hit flop with AK, AQ and AJ: 2/28 or 7% (should be ~33%)

I even lost with AA and KK once, lost with a full house in a 3way multiway pot, a flopped straight also in big multiway pot and missed almost all flush draws in big multi way pots. I should be losing with these stats but amazingly, I've made a 106 BB profit.

This really is a great way to start playing at a new site. If only I could have these results when I move up a level..

Oh joy, I hit a set

2009-07-01T19:14:00.005+02:00

Prima, €1/€2 Limit
6max
Pre-flop: (1.5 SB, 6 players) Hero is CO 8 8
2 folds, Hero raises, BTN calls, SB calls, BB calls

Flop: 6 8 5 (8.0 SB, 4 players)
SB bets, BB calls, Hero raises, BTN calls, SB calls, BB calls

Turn: 3 (8.0 BB, 4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets, BTN calls, SB calls, BB calls

River: 9 (12.0 BB, 4 players)
SB bets, BB raises, Hero folds

Final Pot: 15.0 BB

BB had T7o, of course and SB had 65s!

---

Played a short session earlier today on Prima, 1/2 and 0.5/1. 215h, had 18 pocket pairs and hit only 1 set. You can see how that hand ended. AK and AQ had 5 times, hit something on the flop, 0 times. Can't wait for the rest of the month to see what disgusting things it will bring me.

June 09

2009-07-01T00:08:00.006+02:00

FL heads up:FL 6max:

Thank god it's over! June was brutal. I was running way way under expectation in 6max games, I can't believe I still managed to make a profit this month. I've made a few days break at the end of May and decided I will move up to €1/€2 at Prima in June. Finally. This time, I was mentally prepared so I started playing without fear, confident in my game. When I started, everything was fine except the fact I was running awful as always when tried to move up. I was calm and most times played really good but just wasn't allowed to win. After a few days I stopped because tables were not good enough and were infested with Russian bots. To be honest, maybe they aren't bots but their stats are almost identical, they always play 2 tables, never more than 2 and never play with other bots at the same table. It is impossible these players aren't connected in some way. What's more surprising, Prima can't detect them or they don't care.

I don't know what to do next month. Plan was to stay on Prima and clear their bonuses but its impossible to find good tables at 1/2 limit these days. I would like to move up but I won't play with 5 regulars no matter how good bonus they give me. Maybe I'll move to Cake or Ongame. Or even BossMedia. Or I'll quit poker for good.

Another disgusting day

2009-06-26T23:35:00.007+02:00

Played 350h on Prima today, €0.5/€1. I'm tired of all this shit.

AA: -5 (won 1/2, run into a set with TT)
AKs: -4.5 (A on flop, lost to AKs, fish hit a flush)
AKo: -12 (hit top pair 1, an A on flop, lost against a set with AA)
AQs: didn't have
AQo: -5 (hit top pair, lost to gutshot)
AJs: -16 (0/3, one huge pot where I run into KK and AA and had a nuts flush draw on flop; capped preflop, flop and turn; I missed my draw, of course)
JJ: -5

Total lost with these hands only: -€47
Total lost in this session: -€15

I must know something if I can still lose only a couple of BB's when I can't win any premium hand I have. And the best part is, I was awful today. I was tired and went on a 40 BB downswing in first 100 hands so naturally, I threw a couple of BB's in spots where I should have played my hands differently. Tables were great, by the way, full of fish and idiots.

My total loss on Prima this month is 42€. AA is -10, AKo, AQs, and AJs -32. And this is not all, KQs, KQo and KJs -13, QQ, TT and 88 -43. Total loss with only these premiums: -€98. Oh my god, I'm losing on the button (AKo is 0/5 and -€26).

I'm seriously thinking of quitting Prima after clearing next bonus increment on the current room. I thought Prima would be my new home for a while but unless I start winning very soon, I'm out of here. I'd much rather win by playing and clear a good bonus than lose by playing and clear a great bonus.

C'mon Prima, give me a f..king chance.

Frustrating week

2009-06-26T00:11:00.003+02:00

Another frustrating 7 days at FLHU tables.

On eternal downswing

2009-06-22T00:59:00.002+02:00

Playing on Prima/Microgaming this month, 6max 0.5/1 and 1/2, I'm losing as usual. The sample is small, only 2060 hands, but notice some of the hands I'm losing with:
AA (won 3/6)
AKo
AQs
ATs
KQs
KJs
QQ (won 2/8 when saw flop)
JJ (won 2/5)
TT (won 2/8)
T9s
88 (won 0/3 when saw flop)
-total lost with these hands: -€114

Total lost over entire sample: -€42 (-1.47 BB/100)

So, lets assume that instead of losing €114 with all those premium hands, I've actually won €114 with them (which is not far from what I should have won with these hands in the first place). That would mean I should have won €186 or +6.5 BB/100. Wow!!!

I know there is no point in doing this kind of analysis as it tilts me even more than the actual results but I have to see what's the reason for my loss, my bad play or bad luck. This time, I know I'm playing good, I'm not tilting or steaming even when I'm down few dozen BB's in a single session. I might call sometimes when I should fold but it's understandable under these conditions and it really isn't the most important reason for this loss. Which, to be honest, is nothing to be concerned about.

The good thing is, I've cleared $96 of bonus and I'm on course to win another ~$100 in monthly race (if I don't play anymore this month) so at least I'm still in the green :)

HU SNG challenge status
Score: 1-2
Total score: 20 wins, 11 losses
ROI: +17.3%
Balance: $64.66

Heads up friday

2009-06-12T23:33:00.003+02:00

Tables were awful on Microgaming today so I played HU on iPoker this afternoon and 2 HU SNG's on Carbon this evening.

I'm crushing HU cash games on iPoker again. I'm not sure what's the reason for this but I'm enjoying it :) 304 hands this month and +95 BB's or +31.2 BB/100. Today, 109 hands and a profit of 52 BB's. I know, small sample but whatever. I'm satisfied with the way I'm playing at the moment. I'm not scared or nervous on €1/€2 6max which is a great sign after I failed to move up probably a dozen times last year. I'm losing at the moment but playing good and not losing my head after a few bad beats. I will be rewarded for playing good, I just have to be patient enough.

HU SNG challenge
Score: 2-0
Total score: 19 wins, 9 losses
ROI: +29.3%
Balance: $70.41

Update

2009-06-07T21:40:00.005+02:00

I have nothing special to report. I've played 4 HU sng's on Carbon while I was waiting for tables on Microgaming. Played a few hands on €1/€2 this afternoon but I run awful, as usual when I move up, wwsf was ~15%, went2sd 23% and won@sd ~30%. Don't what is wrong with me and 1/2 limit. Every time I move up there, I always run bad, always. Today I didn't tilt, I just couldn't believe how unlucky I can be, stopped playing and went running.

HU SNG challenge
Score: 3-1
Total score: 17 wins, 9 losses
ROI: +24.5%
Balance: $60.91

Heads up SNG challenge

2009-06-04T23:42:00.006+02:00

I can't find a poker room to play at. I'm looking for one in Microgaming network since bonuses there are really good but I can't find a suitable one. Well, I did found one and it's great but I already have an account there from 2007. so I'm not eligible for the bonus. It's really great, signup bonus is 10 raked hands on €1/2 FL tables, it has a $25000 monthly race where I could win probably the same amount of money as the signup bonus. Signup bonus+race winning could effectively be a 5 raked hands bonus, which is awesome, around 15 $ / table hour. I'll try to figure something out this weekend.

In the meantime, I'm having fun with $5 heads up sit and go's on Carbon poker. Like I said yesterday, 3 months ago I've found $10 in my account so I decided I'll try and make a fortune out of it playing fixed limit :) After a couple of days and no more than 2 hours of playing, I was at $27. I gave up because there was no one playing FL only occasionally 1 table but it was never full. Then I switched to NL10. I sat down with $5 and after a few hands, I've got pocket rockets. Guess what happened? I was in tournaments tab in a blink of an eye.

So now I have a new challenge - make a fortune out of $10 playing HU sng's :)

Today score: 4-1
Total score: 14 wins, 8 losses
ROI: +21.2%
Balance: $51.91

I won't spend to much time on this, I'll play only when I have nothing better to do but I still hope I could reach $500 this summer.

Vacation

2009-06-03T11:47:00.005+02:00

I haven't played a single hand since May 18th. I'm feeling great, I don't miss poker at all I just miss money :) To be honest, I did play a few HU SNG's on Carbon poker but nothing serious. I usually don't play there but they gave me $10 so I decided to try and make something out of it. I'm on $44 now.

Flopped sets or better

2009-05-20T23:31:00.006+02:00

Just in case you don't know this number, you should flop a set or better (full house, quads) 1 every 8.5 times you hold a pocket pair.

PokerStars
-saw flop with pocket pair: 1080
-flopped a set or better: 125 (1 in 8.6)
-expected: 127 (-2)
-flopped something with 22,33,44,55: 23/219 (1 in 9.5)

iPoker
-saw flop with pocket pair: 3899
-flopped a set or better: 463 (1 in 8.4)
-expected: 459 (+4)
-flopped something with 22,33,44,55: 126/1011 (1 in 8.0)

Ongame
-saw flop with pocket pair: 363
-flopped a set or better: 38 (1 in 9.6)
-expected: 43 (-5)
-flopped something with 22,33,44,55: 13/95 (1 in 7.3)

Microgaming
-saw flop with pocket pair: 347
-flopped a set or better: 29 (1 in 12.0)
-expected: 41 (-12)
-flopped something with 22,33,44,55: 1/59 (1 in 59.0)

Total
-saw flop with pocket pair: 5689
-flopped a set or better: 655 (1 in 8.7)
-expected: 669 (-14)
-flopped something with 22,33,44,55: 163/1384 (1 in 8.5)

Total sample size: 121k hands

Microgaming 9k hands

2009-05-19T17:31:00.003+02:00

My last bonus chase. I've played ~9k hands on FL 0.5/1 6max tables on Microgaming network. The bonus requirement was 10 raked hands / $1.

Bonus cleared: $350
Rake paid: ~$250
MGR: $340

This is ~100% rakeback equivalent (missing few hundred hands). I've also earned another $40 in their last months race (played only half a month), another $49 in weekly race ( won an MP3 player but they gave me cash) and I'm due another $20 in this months race. That's another $109 for a total of $459 in bonus and ~135% dealt rakeback equivalent.

Some stats:
-hands played: 8683
-pocket pairs dealt: 483
-flopped sets or better: 38
-expected: 57

-saw flop with pocket pairs: 347
-flopped sets or better: 29
-expected: 41 (12 below expectation)
-flopped something with 22,33,44,55: 1/59

-pairs dealt-expected: 511 (28 below expectation)
-flopped sets or better-expected: 60 (22 below expectation)

According to these stats only, I was running awful yet I lost only 57 BB's or -0.66 BB/100. Not a great result but when compared to other regulars, it's not bad at all considering how much money I threw away while playing bad due to frustration.

There are 15 (without me) players with more than 500 hands in my PT database. Most of them have good preflop stats, 26/19, 27/21 or something like that but only 2 are winning. One of them is my friend Perisa who is losing overall while chasing his bonus but he won 15 BBs in 1025 hands we played on same tables. Another one is a 22/18 regular who has 64% won@SD and 52% won when seen flop so I guess he is on a heater or something. Only 1 more player is losing less than 1 BB/100.

The overall playing standard on these tables is awful. Almost all regulars are spewtards or weak TAG's and have huge leaks both preflop and postflop. I guess I will stay on this network as long as I can find easy bonuses like this one.

Depresing

2009-05-07T23:00:00.005+02:00

Something was strange so I checked my Microgaming stats again. It appears not only I can't flop a set, I also had 39 pocket pairs less than expected. Over 6461 hands, I had 341 pocket pairs and should have had 380. Of course, my flopped sets ratio is even worse than yesterday, 1 in 17.1. Why am I so obsessed with flopped sets? I have a report in PT3 so it's easy to check but I'm sure there are a couple more stats that could clearly indicate how awful I'm running at the moment. Hit a flush draw for example, I feel I'm way below my expectation when it comes to hitting a draw. While writing this, I just hit a set in a multiway pot and didn't lose. Yesssssssssss!!!

I'll probably go fishing this saturday so I hope it will help me relax a bit because I'm very nervous lately and it's affecting my play.

Wow, I just noticed, there are 5 players on my table with a 50% VPIP or more!!! If only I could get a hand every few rounds...

More whining

2009-05-06T17:55:00.004+02:00

Today's session:
350 hands
KK - 1/2 (won without a flop)
QQ - 0/1 (idiot limped with KK and just called down)
JJ - 0/2
99 - 0/1
AKs - 1/2 (won with A-high; lost with TPTK)
AKo - 2/6 (won with CB on flop; split with TPTK; lost once with flopped nuts straight)
ATo, A9o, A8o - 1/11 (stole the blinds once; hit something at flop exactly 0 times)
Had a flush: 0 times
Sets: 1/12

Either this flopped sets report in PT3 is not working or I'm officialy running way below I'm supposed to. I'm sure you know that you should flop a set every 8.5 times you hold a pocket pair. Well, I'm flopping a set every 11.5 times over 33.3k hands this year. That's 35% worse than it should be.

I hate poker!

A f..king joke

2009-05-05T23:26:00.004+02:00

5931 hands on Microgaming.

I hate poker 2

2009-04-29T23:52:00.003+02:00

I hate whiners and have promised myself I'll stop whining when I'm having a bad run of cards, but this is ridiculous so I have to vent somewhere. OK, I'm done.

To be honest, ever since I started chasing this bonus on Microgaming network, I'm in the green but it still hurts when you run as awful as me. So far I have cleared 160$ in signup bonus, won a 1gb MP3 player but they can't send it to Croatia so they compensated me with $49. I'm on course to win another $40-$50 on their monthly leaderboard, so overall, it's not that bad. I hope I'll run out of my bad luck soon.

I hate poker

2009-04-28T12:19:00.001+02:00

Here's why:
Stats from last 2 days:
Hands - 545
VPIP - 24%
PFR - 16%
WWSF - 33% (won when saw flop - usually around 40% in tough games)
WTSD - 39% (went to showdown)
W$SD - 36% (won at showdown - usually between 52% and 55%)
Win Rate - -16 BB/100

I'm losing money from all positions except from CO and the most frustrating stats are from the UTG position, where I'm winning 11% when seen flop. And I'm not a maniac, I raise only good hands when out of position. I follow recommendations from Stox's book and what I learned from Bryce, Stox and a coach. I know I should fold more and I've probably lost more than I was supposed to due to calling down to much but that doesn't change the fact that I'm in a terrible downswing. If I have played perfectly, my win rate would probably be between -12 to -14 BB/100.

I'm playing on Microgaming network, limit 0.5/1 6max. Games are tough but most regulars are awful, I have yet to find one who is not losing money and doesn't have huge leaks, both preflop and postflop. Most of them have almost perfect VPIP/PFR, something like 27/18, 26/19, 30/21 but they are all losing money.

Every time I posted stats where I've run good, next day I'd usually start to lose. So I'm posting this hoping it will have the same effect and the next time I sit down to play, I'll start winning :) Fingers crossed!

Monthly update

2009-04-03T14:13:00.004+02:00

1/2 SH:
148h, -$67, -22.62 BB/100
0.5/1 SH:
6560h, +$200, +3.05 BB/100
0.5/1 HU:
1588h, -$39, -2.46 BB/100
0.25/0.5 FR:
2803h, -$6, -0.22 BB/100
Total hands:
11099h

I guess I should make another monthly update.
I'm not very happy with last months results, it was a mediocre month and I was running awful although I still managed to make a small profit. Only 2 good thing came out of it. I made a profit and I have shown myself I can play a more optimal shorthanded game, with vpip/pfr of 26/18. Other than that, last month was a huge dissapointment.

Tried to move up to 1/2 and failed again. In this short session, my went 2 showdown was 31% and won at showdown 33%. This is really frustrating because it happened each and every time I tried to play at 1/2. I just can't win there. Maybe I should skip 1/2 and move up directly to 2/4? Don't know yet if I'm going to do that, but I have the bankroll and I'm sure I have enough skill to beat much higher limits than the ones I'm currently playing.

Total: +$92
Bonus: $75
Rakeback: $47
Kickback: $235

Current bankroll: $4559 (+$449)
Last month bankroll: $4110

Is it possible to run worse than this?

2009-03-24T18:30:00.004+01:00

This sample is from last friday.

Unreal

2009-03-20T22:36:00.011+01:00

This was unreal! Two different sites, same results. Can't hit anything and when I do, there's always at least 1 idiot that will catch his gutshot, 2 outer or runner runner. I guess there are worse things in life that can happen to someone than losing a couple bucks. Oh well.

Flopped sets:
In 6.4k hands this month, I'm flopping a set every 13th hand when I have a pocket pair instead of every 8.5 hand.

Money won, errrr... lost:

The blue line represents money won at showdown. For good players, this line is usually above zero even when they're losing in the session. As you can see, from first hand I've played today, I wasn't even close to 0. Sick!

Best players:

My stats in 701 hand:

How heads-up improved my game

2009-03-20T17:08:00.001+01:00

As requested by my friend Perisa, I'll post my stats and at the same time, make a comparison from the time before and after switching to limit heads-up.

Before HU:

This sample is from august '07 but it's not everything I've played. It's from Stars and iPoker only, since I had these hand histories stored on my computer. Hands from Microgaming, FullTilt, Ongame etc., are not included but VPIP/PFR and other important stats were more or less same no matter where I played.

I've posted stats similar to these on 2+2 last year and few respected posters were surprised I'm actually winning with these stats. They basically called me a weak tight fish or something like that :) I knew I had to play more hands, steal and defend blinds more but I just wasn't confident enough, or to be honest, I didn't know how to achieve that.

After HU:

This is from March this year. Hands are played on Stars, Ongame and iPoker. It's a small sample but I'm sure I can continue to play like this. Of course, win rate is too high and I'm sure it will drop sooner or later. I've checked the flopped set ratio and it has dropped to 1 set in every 11.4 pocket pairs I have. So you can't say I'm running hot.

My VPIP/PFR went down after my first session this month. It was 30/21 in my first 6max session and now its 24/16 on entire sample. I don't like this, it means I'm going back to the way I played before but I'm working on fixing this. I really don't want to be a weak TAG again.

Shorthanded limit

2009-03-15T22:27:00.003+01:00

It's been a while since my last update. I switched back to shorthanded limit after recording a loss in 7 out of last 9 days I played HU. It was time for a break and since Poker Savvy had a few new kickback bonuses, I decided I'll clear them. First I cleared Reefer poker in 2h and then I went to Betsafe. If you want to know what a kickback bonus is, check this link. I've also made a deposit on Stars for their last reload bonus so that's where I play now, on Betsafe and Stars.

I went back to shorthanded limit 10 days ago and the first thing I've noticed is that my stats are much better than before. I was a nitty TAG with VPIP/PFR of 18/12 and my win rate was around 0.5 BB/100. Now I'm playing much looser than before with VPIP/PFR of 27/18 on Stars and 31/20 on Ongame. After almost 4k hands on both Ongame and Stars, I have a win rate of +7.15 BB/100. The best part is the fact that when I play, I usually have a feeling that I'm running bad but when I check the PT stats, I'm winning :)

According to PT3 I'm actually running bad when it comes to flopping a set.

Odds of flopping a set is 7.5 to 1 (or 1 every 8.5 hands when holding a pocket pair) and I'm flopping a set every 10th time I have a pocket pair.

And here is my graph from the last 10d. I can't remember if I ever had such a nice looking graph, even for such a small sample size.

The results are not everything, what's most important is that I'm a better player than 3 months ago. My confidence is on an all time high and now it's just a question of time when I'll definitely move up.

Monthly update

2009-03-01T17:21:00.002+01:00

1/2 HU:
-
0.5/1 HU:
5797h, +$113, +1.95 BB/100
Total hands HU:
5797h

Not a great month for me but I made a small profit, so it wasn't a complete waste of my time. There's nothing worse for mental health than having a 180 BB downswing in first two days of a new month. After a 7 days break (didn't have time to play), I went back to the tables and crushed them. I had a +250 BB upswing in next 2.2k hands (+11.5 BB/100) so I guess I was both playing good and running good. As it usually happens, it was to good to continue so I went on another downswing in last week of february, for 120 BB. I was losing money against everyone I've played and I felt like I wasn't allowed to win a hand.

Total: +$110
Bonus: $30
Rakeback: $184

Current bankroll: $4110 (+$324)
Last month bankroll: $3786

20k hands sample

2009-02-24T00:52:00.003+01:00

Nice graph, don't you think :) I guess I'm ready to move up.

Win rate of +3.43 BB/100 is great, especially considering really high rake of 7.95 BB/100. However, most of my profits came from 1 really awful player. I've played with him more than 5k hands and took ~550 BBs from him. That's almost 3/4 of my entire profit. Without hands played against him, my win rate is exactly +1 BB/100, which is still good.

February update

2009-02-15T19:32:00.004+01:00

1/2 HU:
-
0.5/1 HU:
1913h, -$46, -2.43 BB/100
Total hands HU:
1913h

It's mid february already and I have nothing special to report. I've played only 8 hours of poker so far this month because of handball. Our competition starts next weekend and we had 5 friendly matches in 10 days which prevented me from playing poker. Since we don't have our sports hall (it's being built and should open in a month or two), we had to play all matches away from home. It takes the whole afternoon and evening and when we return home, we usually have a drink or two after the game. That's why I've played only 8 hours so far this month, I never play poker under the influence of alcohol :)

The start of the month was great, I was up ~45 BBs after 200h and after that, a disaster. I went on probably the worst downswing of my HU career so far, -185 BBs in less than 1000 hands. Downswing itself is not a problem, I can handle downswings. The most frustrating thing was the fact I've been playing against some of the worst HU players I've seen and still couldn't win. I haven't played a single hand against at least a competent HU player. By playing, I'm still in the red but I'm recovering and should be in the green again at the end of the month. I just need to spend more time at the tables.

Total: -$49
Bonus: $10
Rakeback: $69

Current bankroll: $3816 (+$30)
Last month bankroll: $3786

February - goals

2009-02-01T19:32:00.001+01:00

January:
1) play at least 12000 hands
2) crush $0.5/$1 flhu and move up to $1/$2 by the end of January

Failed! Only 9.1k hands instead of 12k and I failed to move up. But I'm not disappointed, I'm playing worse than last month when I switched to HU. I have to work on my game before moving up.

2a) increase my win rate to at least +3 BB/100 without rakeback

Success! My total win rate is ~3.4 BB/100, without bonus & rakeback.

3) $1000 profit

Failed! But I'm satisfied with $813 after 9k hands. I'm sure I would have made more than $1k if I've played 12k hands.

4) work on my game, watch videos, study,...
5) make a video or two

Success! I'm constantly working on my game. This month I have made, I think 5 videos and 1 video was analyzed by a pro HU player (my friend's coach). In that video, I didn't play my A game but he was satisfied and said I'm obviously a good player who can read the game well and should move up as soon as possible.

February goals
1) play at least 10000 hands
2) move up to $1/$2
2a) achieve a positive win rate at $1/$2, without rakeback
3) $1000 profit
4) work on my game, watch videos, study,...
5) make a video or two

Monthly update

2009-01-31T21:58:00.001+01:00

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

2009-01-28T17:33:00.005+01:00

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

2009-01-16T18:25:00.003+01:00

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

2009-01-09T18:51:00.005+01:00

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

2009-01-02T17:44:00.002+01:00

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

2009-01-01T20:13:00.004+01:00

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

2009-01-01T17:51:00.003+01:00

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

Trifecta

2008-12-28T21:23:00.003+01:00

0.5/1 Limit Holdem
2 players

Pre-flop: (1.5 SB, 5 players) Hero is BB 8 8
BTN raises, Hero calls

Flop: 8 6 A (4.5 SB, 2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets, Hero raises, BTN 3-bets, Hero calls

Turn: 2 (5.8 BB, 2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets, Hero raises, BTN 3-bets, Hero calls

River: J (12.8 BB, 2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets, Hero raises, BTN 3-bets, Hero 4-bets, BTN calls

Final Pot: 18.1 BB
BTN shows: A 4
Hero shows: 8 8

This hand was played against very aggressive opponent, sometimes tricky but usually predictable. He's been sucking out on me since the start of our session and he knew I was frustrated with him so I decided to go for a triple check raise. I won't usually do this as most times my opponents will check behind and I'll miss value if I check but this time I had a really solid read and had to try :)

5k hands sample

2008-12-23T15:12:00.001+01:00

My first 5k hands sample played on iPoker $0.5/$1 fixed limit heads up tables. It sure looks nice :)

Heads up limit

2008-12-22T17:01:00.002+01:00

1/2:
95h, +$21, +11.18 BB/100
0.5/1:
2760h, +$99, +3.59 BB/100
0.25/0.5:
526h, -$4, -1.49 BB/100
Total hands:
3381h

1/2 HU:
132h, -$57, -21.50 BB/100
0.5/1 HU:
2910h, +$178, +6.13 BB/100
Total hands HU:
3042h

I've made a switch to heads up limit last week. I've been thinking about this ever since a friend of mine made that switch a couple of months ago and never looked back. His win rate skyrocketed, he plays less than ever and earns more money than ever playing 10/20 flhu. Of course, its not easy to beat these games but he's a good player and is constantly working on improving his game.

I deposited $300 from my bankroll to one iPoker skin and started at 0.5/1. I've already played there 2 months ago with great results but the sample was very small, less than 2k hands. The rake was huge, ~8 BB/100 which is a very high rake even if you do a very good table selection and never play anyone who isn't completely clueless. The one good thing about such high rake is the fact that a good player will never play in these games without some sort of cashback. Thats why I needed a good cashback deal. I finally found one, thanks to my friend and I was ready to make my first step into heads up limit world.

So far so good. I'm doing great but I don't know if I'm running good or I have a really huge edge over my opponents. Over 4.6k hands I have +5.8 BB/100 but I won't draw conclusions until I play at least 20k hands.

Total: +$240
Bonus: $144
Rakeback: $91
Kickback: $220

Current bankroll: $2917 (+$695)

Weekly update 2

2008-12-15T23:55:00.000+01:00

1/2:
95h, +$21, +11.18 BB/100
0.5/1:
2760h, +$99, +3.59 BB/100
0.25/0.5:
526h, -$4, -1.49 BB/100
Total hands:
3381h

I've completed one of the remaining kickback bonuses I still haven't cleared and was done in 3 days. I made a $23 profit plus a $120 in kickback bonus and another $64 in signup bonus. Not bad for a 3 day play in micro stakes games. It took me roughly 1.5k hands but those hands were not imported in my PT3 database so I won't count them for my monthly goals.

Total: +$118
Bonus: $124
Rakeback: $38
Kickback: $220

Current bankroll: $2722 (+$500)

Weekly update 1

2008-12-08T18:06:00.004+01:00

1/2:
95h, +$21, +11.18 BB/100
0.5/1:
2546h, +$94, +3.69 BB/100
0.25/0.5:
329h, -$1, -0.32 BB/100
Total hands:
2980h

Total: +$94
Bonus: $50
Rakeback: $38
Kickback: $100

Current bankroll: $2504 (+$282)

39:1 favorite

2008-12-03T17:01:00.003+01:00

BTN: 72/29/1.2, went2sd 49%
Button is a standard hyper aggressive moron so I can't fold to his river raise.

0.50/1 Limit Holdem
5 players

Pre-flop: (1.5 SB, 5 players) Hero is SB A T
2 folds, BTN calls, Hero raises, 1 fold, BTN calls

Flop: 8 A 9 (5.0 SB, 2 players)
Hero bets, BTN calls

Turn: Q (3.5 BB, 2 players)
Hero bets, BTN calls

River: 4 (5.5 BB, 2 players)
Hero bets, BTN raises, Hero calls

Final Pot: 9.5 BB
BTN shows: Q 4
Hero shows: A T

I was 39:1 favorite to win on the flop and the only way for him to win this hand was to hit a runner runner, which he obviously did.

I had more than a few sick bad beats yesterday but I managed to finish with a profit of 49 BB over 1.1k hands. Ever since I started that kickback bonus on Ongame network I'm up 101 BB over 1.9k hands, with a win rate of 5.24 BB/100. I can't remember the last time I was running so good on Ongame and I've spent 21% my poker playing time there.

December - goals

2008-12-01T18:15:00.000+01:00

Last month I have failed with some of my goals. I've played only 9.5k hands instead of 15k, played only 1.1k hands on 1/2 instead of 4k, I've made only 1 video of me playing 1/2 and I didn't analyze every 1/2 session I've played last month.

The good thing is, I'm in the green again. I have improved my mental control which has resulted in no more than 1 session with me on tilt. I'm value betting river more than before, my postflop game is better, I've stopped berating fish (well, I do throw a "lol" or "nh" once a week) and I have watched several videos from Stox. I must say I'm impressed with the way I have handled that 150 BB downswing in the beginning of the month. I didn't steam to much, I was playing my game and waiting for my luck to turn around. This is not like me at all and I hope I'll improve even further next month and eliminate tilt from my game forever.

Here are my December goals:

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

I'll play on RedStar and Ongame this month. When I finish with Ongame kickback bonus I'll have to find another room to play at, since there's not enough trafic on RedStar, especially at 1/2 6max. At the moment, my only option is moving back to Chili poker where I have a good private deal but I don't like playing on iPoker. I'd much rather play somewhere else but I guess I'm out of options.

Monthly update - november

2008-11-30T23:45:00.005+01:00

November was a huge failure, although I made a small profit during the month. I didn't have time to play as much as I would like last 2 weeks and the result is less than 10k played hands. Hopefully, december will be better as my handball season will be over after december 6th so I won't have to go to trainings every day.
1/2:
1113h, +$5, +0.23 BB/100
0.5/1:
6204h, +$45, +0.60 BB/100
0.25/0.5:
2211h, -$28, -2.54 BB/100
Total hands:
9528h

Total: $32
Bonus: $70
Kickback: $120

Current bankroll: $2222 (+$222)

92s

2008-11-27T14:08:00.006+01:00

There's no good enough tables on RedStar, so I had to start another kickback bonus. Since I can't download software from iPoker network (it gets blocked by antivirus and I don't want to reinstall it, again), I started one from Ongame network. Here's one interesting hand from my second session:

CO: 78/4/0.5, went2sd 59%
Button: 46/3/1.1
BB: 46/15/3.4

0.50/1 Limit Holdem
4 players

Pre-flop: (1.5 SB, 4 players) Hero is SB 9 2
CO calls, Button calls, Hero calls, BB checks

Flop: 5 4 6 (4.0 SB, 4 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, CO checks, Button checks

Turn: K (2.0 BB, 4 players)
Hero checks, BB bets, CO calls, Button calls, Hero calls

River: A (6.0 BB, 4 players)
Hero checks, BB bets, CO raises, Button folds, Hero calls, BB 3-bets, CO calls, Hero calls

Final Pot: 15.0 BB
Hero shows: 9 2
BB shows: 3 2
CO shows: 6 5

There are 2 bad passive players already in the pot and my hand is suited, so I decided to join them confident I can outplay them postflop. Nice flop, someone has to have something and I already checked the check/fold box. To my surprise no one bets.
Turn, I pick up a flush draw and I'm closing the action getting 5:1, so I'm more than happy to call.
River, after CO raised, I considered folding since he is so passive I was afraid he had a better flush. But, I have 4th nuts and after thinking a few seconds, I decided I'll just call.

I was talking to my friend yesterday and he said that withdrawing most of my bankroll and leaving myself with only $2k was a stupid idea. He thinks I should be playing at least 2/4 6max or at least 3/6 FLHU. Although I know he's right, I'm just not confident enough to move up without proof of being a successfull winning player on my current stakes.

Weekly update 3

2008-11-24T16:15:00.004+01:00

1/2:
1065h, -$0, -0.01 BB/100
0.5/1:
5368h, +$21, +0.39 BB/100
0.25/0.5:
2030h, -$11, -1.05 BB/100
Total hands:
8463h

Total: $11
Bonus: $70
Kickback: $120

I didn't play much last week, only 1.2k hands + a couple hundred hands on littlewoods which I can't import in to my PT database. To achieve my goals, I need to play another 6.6k hands, which is achievable in 8d if I could find the desire to play.

I'm finally done with Better poker kickback bonus. That's another $80 in kickback + $20 in signup bonus. I'm also done with Littlewoods, which is worth another $80. It took me 3 days but I finished it with a loss of 25 pounds. The amount of fish and bad play there is simply amazing. I couldn't win a hand whenever I sat down to play so I had to finish this bonus on DoubleOrNothing SNG's. Btw, these SNG's are a goldmine for smart microstakes players building their bankrolls.

Current bankroll: $2201 (+$201)

Weekly update 2

2008-11-18T01:41:00.004+01:00

1/2:
1065h, -$0, -0.01 BB/100
0.5/1:
4395h, -$61, -11.38 BB/100
0.25/0.5:
1796h, -$3, -0.28 BB/100
Total hands: 7256

Total: -$59
Bonus: $55

I'm still not happy with my results. My positional stats look ok, win rate is a little low but nothing to worry about. Blind stats are great but the button is disgusting. I really don't know what's the problem. I'm still losing and my wwsf looks really low. I'm down $20 from the button but I've lost $40 with AKo and AQo and another $38 with KQs, KJs and QJs. It doesn't help when your vpip with those hands is 100%, pfr also 100% and your wwsf only 13% (4/30).

I'm also losing with big pairs from the button, KK (3/5), JJ (3/8), TT (3/7).

Current bankroll: $1996 (-$4)

It's suited

2008-11-13T13:07:00.003+01:00

Yesterday, I finally had one good session on Better poker. I was running so good I couldn't lose. After 450h I was up 60 BB's but unfortunately I had to quit. This is my favorite hand from this session:

0.5/1 Limit Holdem
6 players

Pre-flop: (1.5 SB, 6 players) Hero is BB 2 7
4 folds, SB raises, Hero calls

Flop: J 7 9 (4.5 SB, 2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls

Turn: 2 (3.2 BB, 2 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, SB 3-bets, Hero calls

River: 2 (10.2 BB, 2 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, SB 3-bets, Hero 4-bets, SB calls

Final Pot: 16.1 BB
Hero shows: 2 7
SB shows: A K

Weekly update

2008-11-10T02:12:00.005+01:00

1/2:
1025h, -$52, -2.54 BB/100
0.5/1:
2088h, -$24, -1.17 BB/100
0.25/0.5:
1296h, +$10, +1.60 BB/100

Total:
4409h, -$66

I'm running so cold it's unreal, especially at 1/2. Won@sd is only 48% and I'm losing from the button, which is absurd. Button went2sd is 43% and won@sd only 15%. If this is just another bad run, I hope it will end soon.

Current bankroll: $1958 (-$42)

iPoker last 5.2k hands

2008-11-08T01:26:00.002+01:00

Funny thing is, I was never even close to being break even ever since I played my first hand last month. I know, small sample, variance, whatever. It doesn't change the fact its ridiculous. This is a 200 BBs downswing in only 5.2k hands.

This is standard I guess

2008-11-07T23:35:00.008+01:00

No stats but my guess is that villain is at least good player, capable of CR such a dry flop with air. I probably made a mistake by 3-betting on the flop.

Game #677011665001080: Hold'em Limit ($1/$2) - 2008.11.07
Table 'Cake_ St.Moritz (Turbo, 6-max) 11665' Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: trou*** ($47.50 in chips)
Seat 2: HERO ($50.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Sign*** ($71.00 in chips)
Seat 9: Poke*** ($20.50 in chips)
Seat 10: Olyc*** ($26.25 in chips)
Sign***: posts small blind $0.50
Olyc***: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to HERO [Qh Jh]
trou***: folds
HERO : raises $1.00 to $2.00
Sign***: folds
Olyc***: calls $1.00
*** FLOP *** [Kh 5d 9c]
Olyc***: checks
HERO : bets $1.00
Olyc***: raises $1.00 to $2.00
HERO : raises $1.00 to $3.00
Olyc***: calls $1.00
*** TURN *** [Kh 5d 9c] [6h]
Olyc***: checks
HERO : checks
*** RIVER *** [Kh 5d 9c 6h] [8h]
Olyc***: bets $2.00
HERO : raises $2.00 to $4.00
Olyc***: raises $2.00 to $6.00
HERO : raises $2.00 to $8.00
Olyc***: calls $2.00
*** SHOW DOWN ***
HERO : shows [Qh Jh] (Flush, King high)
Olyc***: shows [Ah 5h] (Flush, Ace high)
Poke***: mucks hand
Olyc*** collected $25.50 from pot

Anyway, last 2 days I've played 489 hands at 0.5/1 on Better poker and I'm running like **** I've lost 87 BBs, winrate -17.8 BB/100. My wwsf is only 29%, went2sd 34% and won@sd only 40%. I really really really hate iPoker network.

On RedStar, I've played 980 hands at 0.25/0.50, 0.5/1 and 1/2. Combined winrate is +5.38 BB/100 but only +1 BB/100 on 1/2. Considering the fact my won@sd at 1/2 is only 47%, I must be happy since I should be losing with such low win %.

Bankroll

2008-11-07T20:15:00.008+01:00

I never had to worry about bankroll management except for the first couple of months after I started playing poker. I had only $20 and was clueless, didn't know which is stronger a flush or a straight. Since then, I always had more than I needed for the limits I was playing and even now my bankroll is big enough for me to comfortably play $5/$10. I've decided now to withdraw most of it to my bank account and leave myself ~$2000 to play with. So, I will need a bankroll management plan.

1000 BB's is more than enough for low limit FL. I could start with 500 BB's or less but I don't want to. Here's my simple plan:

-start with 1000 BB's playing $1/$2
-move up when I feel ready
-move down when I feel I'm not ready

Like I said previously, in November I'll play at RedStar poker and iPoker network.

Starting bankroll: $2000

Current bankroll: $2001 (+$1)