November Month End Results/December Goals

November 2010 Results

Twas a tale of two halves this month.  The first half of the month was the same ol' struggling player.  The 2nd half was a complete reversal.  Why?  I got a new coach and unlike the last time I had a coach, I am LISTENING and studying.  I do not think this is a reflection of my past coach -- but a reflection of my willingness to really make an effort taking notes and understanding what was being taught and then following through.  Most importantly, not being stubborn thinking I know what the hell I'm doing. 

So... the results compared to my goals:


[  ]  100,000 hands:  [I only go in 80,785 hands in.  I'm ok with that because I spent more time learning/studying.]
[X ]  Positive winrate.  [For the month:  .72bb/100.  LoL.  After the 15th:  5.56.  That is a huge friggin' difference folks!]
[  ]  Stop looking at your results/graphs.  Seriously dude, don't look at it.  Poker is a long-term game.  No more than 1 time per week, okay?  [Fail.  I looked at it quite a bit.  And it tilted me.  And it frustrated me.  And it got me to invest in another coach which has completely turned things around.  So, I failed the goal, but in the end it helped me.]
[ - ]  Do session reviews at end of 5 of 7 days. [I didn't keep track, but I was pretty close]
[  ] Lose 10 pounds [Ha ha ha ha ha ha]

December 2010 Goals
[  ]  80,000 hands
[  ] Get two more coaching sessions
[  ]  Have a positive winrate
[  ] Take shots at 50NL
[  ] Make Iron Man for 12th consecutive month and earn nice year end bonus.
[  ] Have fun in Disneyworld with the wife and kids. 

October 2010 Results / November 2010 Goals

Another month, another struggle for this online dabbler of the unlimited Texas hold ems.  First, let's take a look at my goals vs. what actually happened:

[X ]  Play at least 60,000 hands (I played 116,444 hands)
[ X ]  Watch at least 1 CR video per week
[  ]  Improve Double Barreling.  I'm not sure how to measure this exactly, though.  But want I want to do is to dub when a) I turned more equity (or still have good equity); or b) a scared card hit (scare card based on my opponents range of holdings). (Fail.  I never really paid much attention to it.)
[  ]  Do not look at HEM results or cashier more than 2 times per week. (Huge fail.  I looked at cashier and HEM results constantly.  I really need to just.stop.doing.it.)
[ / ]  Get to, and stay at NL50 (I almost have enough roll to play there now, but I will prolly start at 25NL mixing in some 50NL. (we'll call this 1/2 accomplished.  I played 27910 hands of 50NL Rush but I stunk.  Getting to 50NL will not be a goal for November.)
[  ]  Read Tommy Angelo's book again. (I did read some excerpts but ended up reading the latest Dexter release instead.)
[ / ]  Study for a minimum of 15 minutes per day -- generally in form of HH review; do at least 1 equity calculation. (I studied a a bit in the form of HH reviews, but didn't do much in the way of equity calcs.)
[  ] Edit:  Whenever I play 50NL+, I will play a maximum of 2 tables.  If I feel like "grinding", I will play 25NL or lower only (As discussed in a previous blog, I dropped the whole maximum of 2 tables.  In the end, I I love mass tabling and playing tons of hands). 

Overall, I ended up for the month thanks to bonuses and rakeback. 

November 2010 Goals:

[  ]  100,000 hands
[  ]  Positive winrate
[  ]  Stop looking at your results/graphs.  Seriously dude, don't look at it.  Poker is a long-term game.  No more than 1 time per week, okay? 
[  ]  Do session reviews at end of 5 of 7 days.
[  ] Lose 10 pounds

Stats for 2 Table Rush vs. 8 Table Rush

As I discussed in my last post, I have been playing 8 tables of FR Rush lately (4 of one level, 4 of another level). 

Here are the results and stats side by side (sorry about the formatting -- I'm a blogger newb):


                        2 Tables           8 Tables
Hands:              30,615             25011
$                      - 433                +306
Winrate:           -2.95bb/100     +6.82bb/100
VPIP:               13.4                 11.0
PFR:                 11.2                  9.2
3 Bet:                4.0%                2.9%
AF:                   2.33                 2.43
Steal:                39.2%              31.7% 
WTSD:             26.2%              26.1%
W$SD:             54.7%              59.1%
CB Flop:           68.9%              70.2%
CB Flop Win:    50.6%              49.3%
Riv Call Eff:        1.44                3.07
Sets:                   13.1                11.4 

In analyzing the stats, I am obviously playing tighter, stealing less, and 3 betting less.   I am winning more at showdown (makes sense since my starting hands are slightly better).  I am actually hitting less sets.  The biggest difference in stats appears to be my River Call Efficiency.  While this sounds the opposite of what it should, I feel like I am doing a better job with my river play - mostly in that I am not making hero calls on the river.  I think this is mostly because I don't have the time to talk myself into the call.  Instead I am relying on my insticts (based on reads, stats, how the hand went down) to quickly decide if it makes sense to call.  

For now, I will stick with 8 tabling Rush because a) I am winning; and more importantly, b) I am having fun getting tons of hands in.  It remains to be seen if in a few weeks I will be writing to say that I need to play less tables and really "think" about each and every decision.....   

Mid-month update

I promised myself that I would use this blog more often.  It is cool to look back at what I was thinking/doing with poker a year ago.  Man, I was a fish.  Man, I'm still a fish.  :-)

So this month has been difficult thus far.  I really struggled at the start of it with two tabling.  One of my goals was to only play two tables for the month of October.  I have failed that goal, but at least it was a conscious, thoughtful decision.  While two tabling does allow me to concentrate more, it also allows one of my biggest leaks to fester, and that is overthinking.  I am a classic overthinker.  I overthink even the (relatively) smallest of decisions.  When I overthink at a poker table one of two bad things usually happens:  1.  I get FPS thinking he has to be bluffing; or 2.  I fold too much thinking he has to have me beat.  Also, when I take a bad beat it affects me more and I go on tilt more easily.  I guess that's 3 things, lol.  Math skillz FTW.

When I play multi-tables I don't have time to overthink things and I don't tilt as much.  Granted, I am on auto pilot and I am not good enough that auto-piloting will make me a big winner, but it does cut down on a few of my leaks.  I would love to be able to find a coach that could that could devise a strategy that would allow me to just crank out hands because that is one of my favorite things to do.

So anyway, I decided to 8 table rush.  I am playing 25NLFR and 10NLFR and I'm really enjoying it.  I can get in around 1900 hands per hour, which is pretty sweet.  I am stacking the tables and I color-code them so I know which one is which.  I also use TableNinja for FT and that works great and helps lessen the confusion on which table since it auto-puts in bets.

 Anyway, I'm going to play like this for awhile and see what happens.  Like anything else I've tried, I will probably be blogging in a few weeks that I suck at playing that many tables and I need to play less tables to improve.  True story. 

Week 1 of October

has sucked thus far.

It is very depressing.

That is all.

I'm Baaack

Wow.  It has been a long friggin' time since I actually wrote a blog.  In fact, the last time I posted results it was for October of 2009 - a whole fucking year!   I'm going to try and take it up again, I guess.

 What is really sad is that in looking back over some of my older entries I realize that I STILL suck at poker.  Well, I wouldn't say I suck, entirely.  I will give my credit for having a solid fundamental understanding of the game.  Unfortunately, with the wealth of poker information out there, that is only good enough to make a player a "meh", break-even player.  I need to step up my game.  And really, to step up my game I need to play less tables.  As easy and simple as that would seem to be, part of the "fun" part of online poker for me is the "grind" which is what a lot of these young poker players dread -- actually having to sit down and just grind away.  But I digress;  since I love to grind and just get hands in, I enjoy multi-tabling to build up hands and stats.  That is great and all, but the bottom line is I am not going to improve my game much by doing that.

I have literally just thought of a plan as I write this:  I will split my time grinding 4 tables of Rush and playing just 2 tables of Rush.  This will allow me to get the best of both worlds.  The next step is figuring out what that mix will be.  I've been doing 30-40 minute sessions with a 10-15 minute break in-between (work permitting).  Perhaps a good mix would be to alternate 4 tables of Rush with 2 tables of Rush each session.  Hmm...  that just might work.

So, here are my "results" for October, 2010:
I played 66K hands and with rakeback and bonus I was up $457.  I did really well playing 25NL fullring rush winning at a  8.19 bb/100 (4.09 BB/100) clip.  But alas, I sucked at 50NL fullring rush, losing at 2.04 bb/100 (1.02 BB/100).  I guess that isn't a hugely bad winning rate.


November 2010 Goals:

I need to come up with some goals, so here goes:
[  ]  Play at least 60,000 hands
[  ]  Watch at least 1 CR video per week
[  ]  Improve Double Barreling.  I'm not sure how to measure this exactly, though.  But want I want to do is to dub when a) I turned more equity (or still have good equity); or b) a scared card hit (scare card based on my opponents range of holdings).
[  ]  Do not look at HEM results or cashier more than 2 times per week.
[  ]  Get to, and stay at NL50 (I almost have enough roll to play there now, but I will prolly start at 25NL mixing in some 50NL.
[  ]  Read Tommy Angelo's book again.
[  ]  Study for a minimum of 15 minutes per day -- generally in form of HH review; do at least 1 equity calculation. 
[  ] Edit:  Whenever I play 50NL+, I will play a maximum of 2 tables.  If I feel like "grinding", I will play 25NL or lower only.

Random crap.
I read Tommy Angelo's book (title is alluding me atm) and I read the Poker Mindset.  Both fantastic books for helping with the mental side of poker.  I have come to the conclusion that a my winrate is taking a HUGE hit from me tilting.  I hope that reading these books (and re-reading them) will help with that.  I need to remember that poker is a long-term game and I must quickly let go of past hands.  If I feel I screwed up or played it wrong it is ok to briefly acknowledge that and make a mental note to review the hand, but then I need to move on.

I have rambled a shit-ton, so ima gunna wrap it up.

Chow peoples!  (and by peoples, I mean me, since I am the only person that will read this!) 

Blind Defense

In my last article, I discussed stealing the blinds.  This week I wanted to talk about how to defend your blinds from those blind-stealing maniacs. 

The quick and dirty answer is:  don't worry too much about it.  If you are stealing like you should be from the hijack, cutoff, and button, then you will more than make up for the times your blinds get stolen.  In other words, it is far more profitable to steal blinds than it is to defend them.  The reason is simple:  blind defense is difficult because you will be playing out of position and as we all know, playing out of position sucks.

But for those of you who just can’t stand the idea of some mofo trying to steal blinds, I’ve got some tips and tricks for you.

The Blinds Are Not Your Money
As soon as you post your blinds that money belongs to the pot.  It does not belong to you anymore.  Lose that attachment and that feeling that that money is yours.  In so doing, you will be able to detach yourself from the emotion of defending “your” money and be able to make a logical decision as to whether you should fight for the money in the pot or not. 

Stop and Look Both Ways
I always tell my kids to stop and look both ways before they cross the street.   When stealing the blinds you need to look “both ways” also.  You look to your right to determine if the “stealer” is likely stealing or if he likely has a hand.  When defending the small blind, you need to look to your left at the big blind and understand if this person is going to go and get tricky on you.

There are number of helpful stats when dealing with the folks to your right (the button, cutoff, and to a lesser extent the hijack positions).   The first is your opponent’s attempt to steal percentage.  If it is high (I consider 30% + to be high) than it is more likely that this person is making a steal attempt.  If it is low, then it is more likely the opponent simply just has a hand.  The next thing I look at when looking to my right is the fold to 3 bet stat.  If this person folds to a 3 bet a lot, then your blind defense (which is usually going to be in the form of a 3 bet) is more likely to be successful.  The last thing I look at when looking right is the opponent’s cbet stats.  Look for a high fold to cbet when you are looking to 3 bet as a blind defense and look for a high cbet percentage when looking to flat as blind defense.

How to Defend
There are only two ways to defend your blinds.  You can 3-bet or you can call.   When you are 3-betting, the idea is that you either have a hand that that you want to build a big pot with or a hand that you are re-stealing with (i.e. you are 3-betting light).   When you have a hand that you are re-stealing with, the ideal candidate is an opponent who (a) steals a lot; (b) folds to a 3-bet a lot, or (c) folds to c-bets a lot.  When 3-betting light vs. a likely steal attempt, its ok to fold if the stealer 4-bets you (people don’t 4-bet as a bluff that much and if they do, kudos to them –you don’t want to play a huge pot out of position).   There are too many nuances to go into what to do post-flop, but generally when you are 3-betting light vs. a likely steal attempt, this is usually a 2 street play (i.e. raise flop, make a cbet, and shut-down if you get resistance and your hand does not get improved). 

If you choose to defend your blinds by calling a likely steal attempt, it is imperative that you have a solid post-flop plan for how you plan on winning the hand unimproved.  Do not fall into the trap of calling and trying to “hit a flop”.  That is the fishy play and just lighting money on fire (in fact, you may get more value from lighting money on fire – the flame will look pretty, and it will generate a little heat in this cold weather).  When I say you should have a plan, it should be something like:  “I’m flatting this steal with the intention of check/raising any A,K, or Q high flop”; or “I’m flatting this steal with the intention of calling any flop c-bet and leading any turn”, or “I’m flatting this steal with the intention of leading any turn card if he checks back to me on the flop”.

What To Defend With
I’m going to have to give the standard poker answer of “it depends.”  It depends on the opponent who is stealing, your image, your history with the particular opponent, etc.  However, I will give you a general tip:  3-bet the top and the bottom of your range,  call with the middle of your range, and fold everything else ("range" being the hands that you consider to be playable – my steal defense range is similar to my cutoff range).   The basic idea is that you want to 3-bet with your big hands (to build a pot) and you want to 3-bet with the bottom of your range for balancing purposes (i.e. so people don’t get a read that you ONLY 3-bet from the blinds with monsters).  With middle of your range hands, you are flatting because these hands have too much equity against a likely steal so you don’t want to fold them but they are not strong enough to call a 4-bet, so you flat with them and play some poker.  You fold your junk hands because playing crappy hands out of position sucks.

Note on small pocket pairs: I will either 3 bet or fold all of my small pocket pairs.  Unlike other situations where you are getting good IO (Implied Odds) to call a raise with a small pocket pair and set-mine, you usually do not have the IO in a steal situation.  This is because a typical steal range is very wide so on the rare occasions where you hit your set on the flop, you aren’t going to get paid off nearly as much as you would against a tight range.  In other words, a tight range hits most flops and is less likely to fold, whereas a wide range misses most flops and is mostly likely to give up.
 
Small Blind Considerations
When defending your small blind, do not lose sight of the big blind because it gets to have position on you both pre-flop and post flop.  Be especially aware of the big blind’s likelihood to squeeze (3-betting after a raise and a call).  If you’ve got a tricky squeeze-happy person in your big blind, it is going to make it very difficult for you to call a likely steal attempt.  The implications are that you should tighten up your calling range.  

Big Blind Considerations
As mentioned earlier, the big blind is unique in that it always has position on the small blind (both pre-flop and post-flop).  This means that you can defend your big blind from a small blind steal attempt quite a bit wider than a blind vs. a late position steal attempt.  If a small blind attempts to open limp (complete) when it is down to blind vs. blind, raise him every single time with any two cards.  This is a very profitable move.  

I hope this article helps you in defending the blinds against a steal. Until next time, good luck at the tables! If you have any questions about this article, or anything online poker related, please free to shoot an email to:  dougfieselman@ymail.com. For great rakeback and bonus deals, please visit PokerNewsPage.com.