Robusto!

I'm over the line! So, as I discussed last blog, the downward spiral all the way down to -$8609 was all at 400nl. The upward bit, all in the last 20k hands, has all been 200nl.

Success is all relative obviously, but I will say I'm happier with what I acheived in those last 20k hands than anything else I've done in poker. $41k month, cashing in the Irish Open, 6 consecutive $20k+ months etc didn't feel nearly as good as turning around my fortunes when my confidence was at such a low ebb.

Woo!

9 Hours of April left- 400nl for success!

Lately

.............

What are we now, almost 1/3 of the year gone? This month has for the most part been another titanic struggle, but I'm finishing strongly as I'll describe here:

After being $5k up early on, I went on the worst 400nl run of my life, and sank all the way down to -$9k for the month. I was running bad, and playing much much worse than that.

So then I dropped to 200nl, changed a ton of stuff, re-wrote how I played poker from the bottom up, and went on a mega run of winning $8.7k in 11k hands.

So today, I woke up only $300 from even. Fuck 200nl I thought- 400nl all the way from now.

I insta dropped 4 BIs obv, so now I'm 2.2k away again from my ultimate goal (yep, how did it ever come to this) of being even on the month.

So, current goal is to make another $2.2k at 200nl, hopefully in the next few days so I cant start May with momentum and hit the ground running at 400nl.

A sorry hand from today, and it's no consolation that I'd have done this with TT, woulda been sweet though.

***** Hand History for Game 2022863498 ***** (Absolute)
$400.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, April 29, 02:33:18 ET 2010
Table NORFOLK HWY (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Seat 4: GROGHEADFLOW ( $818.00 USD )
Seat 5: STAINLESS9 ( $1022.00 USD )
GROGHEADFLOW posts ante of [$1.00 USD].
STAINLESS9 posts ante of [$1.00 USD].
GROGHEADFLOW posts small blind [$2.00 USD].
STAINLESS9 posts big blind [$4.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to GROGHEADFLOW [ 6s 9h ]
GROGHEADFLOW raises [$10.00 USD]
STAINLESS9 calls [$8.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4d, 4s, 8s ]
STAINLESS9 checks
GROGHEADFLOW bets [$18.00 USD]
STAINLESS9 calls [$18.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qh ]
STAINLESS9 checks
GROGHEADFLOW bets [$48.00 USD]
STAINLESS9 calls [$48.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Qc ]
STAINLESS9 checks
GROGHEADFLOW bets [$307.00 USD]
STAINLESS9 calls [$307.00 USD]
GROGHEADFLOW shows [6s, 9h ]
STAINLESS9 shows [5c, 5h ]
STAINLESS9 wins $771.25 USD from main pot

And some revenge. One of those funny turn spots where there aren't many value hands I beat, but I kinda have to shove for the times he has decent equity.

***** Hand History for Game 2022869670 ***** (Absolute)
$400.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, April 29, 02:43:09 ET 2010
Table DURHAM (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Seat 5: GROGHEADFLOW ( $1220.65 USD )
Seat 6: STAINLESS9 ( $869.65 USD )
Seat 1: WHEEL_IT ( $917.58 USD )
Seat 4: CHUKSCHUKS ( $797.25 USD )
WHEEL_IT posts ante of [$1.00 USD].
CHUKSCHUKS posts ante of [$1.00 USD].
GROGHEADFLOW posts ante of [$1.00 USD].
STAINLESS9 posts ante of [$1.00 USD].
STAINLESS9 posts small blind [$2.00 USD].
WHEEL_IT posts big blind [$4.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to GROGHEADFLOW [ As Jd ]
CHUKSCHUKS folds
GROGHEADFLOW raises [$12.00 USD]
STAINLESS9 raises [$48.00 USD]
WHEEL_IT folds
GROGHEADFLOW calls [$38.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5d, Js, 3d ]
STAINLESS9 bets [$75.00 USD]
GROGHEADFLOW calls [$75.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3s ]
STAINLESS9 bets [$180.00 USD]
GROGHEADFLOW raises [$1094.65 USD]
STAINLESS9 calls [$563.65 USD]
GROGHEADFLOW wins $351.00 USD
** Dealing River ** [ Ac ]
GROGHEADFLOW shows [As, Jd ]
STAINLESS9 shows [Jh, Ks ]
GROGHEADFLOW wins $1742.80 USD from main pot

I've been playing 35-40 minute sessions during my comeback, and reviewing in a private blog. I've found this really helps, but I'm going to start reviewing in this blog again.

First session coming up.......

dan

Mistakes

I'm making too many mistakes at present, too many sessions where the difference between winning and breaking even, between crushing and slightly winning, or between losing and breaking even is that 2/3 big mistakes were made.

I'm going to start listing all mistakes from each session. Starting with the session just played.

Total Number Of Big Mistakes: 5

Mistake #1) Rewarding a supernit making a cold 4bet in the CO 175BBs deep. I overshoved KK (which isn't the worse thing obv) and he had AA. Risk/reward wise the shove was horrible because of stacks.

Lesson: Don't reward nits.

#2) 3bet the flop with 2nd pair VS another nit on a drawy board, stacked 100bbs.

Lesson: Don't reward nits.

#3) 5bet TT to a cold 4bet 200bbs deep.

Lesson: Don't do this you spaz.

#4) Made a stupid CR on Q42r 5 with AK vs a nit repping nothing.

Lesson: He's a nit, make money off his folds, cooler him, laugh at his predictability, DON'T ever pay him off when he fights back.

#5) Barreled AJ on A92r 9 (which is fine) but then called a river lead. It's either bet bet, check turn call river, or bet turn fold river. Bet turn call river is NOT an option.

Lesson: Handreading 101- trust your handreading skills in very basic spots like these.

So, you can see most of my mistakes this session where the rewarding of nits. I used to automatically assign the nit label to most guys, which franky made my life a lot easier. People are just so standard, so boring, just don't reward them FFS.

Session 6 coming up, hopefully mistake free.

Session 5

I won, but I'm a little sad at a number of technical errors. Looking at my overall play too, I can't believe how predictable I've gotten in some spots. Like, I'll flop the nuts with a small PSR on a dry board and check the flop VS a good reg, then bet the turn small. SURPRISE I HAS THE NUTS. Similar to when I 3bet a5o OTB, and the flop comes A93 and I check the flop. Or, someone else raises, I flop top pair and pot control it. Man, I've turned into a pot controlling superdonk on occassions.

I still know how to fire 7 streets with air though, villain is a fish (albeit one at least capable of folding).

$2/$4 No Limit Holdem • 6 Players

Generated by weaktight.com.

UTG	JRANDA	$187
UTG+1	MR_SOPRANO13	$647.25
CO	M12VMA	$500.60
BTN	CATWOTISADOG	$800
SB	BOSKO1111	$879
BB	REDSOXCA	$362.70

• Pre-Flop ($6, 6 players)Hero is BTN
• 

1 fold, MR_SOPRANO13 raises to $12, 1 fold, CATWOTISADOG raises to $36, 2 folds, MR_SOPRANO13 calls $24

• Flop ($78, 2 players)
• 

MR_SOPRANO13 checks, CATWOTISADOG bets $39, MR_SOPRANO13 calls $39

• Turn ($156, 2 players)
• 

MR_SOPRANO13 checks, CATWOTISADOG bets $118, MR_SOPRANO13 calls $118

• River ($392, 2 players)
• 

MR_SOPRANO13 checks, CATWOTISADOG bets $607

• Final Pot: $999

I ended up having a decent read on the above, this hand I was going to shove the turn but then I made the nuts, weeeeeeeeeeeee.

$2/$4 No Limit Holdem • 6 Players

Generated by weaktight.com.

UTG	JRANDA	$60.70
UTG+1	MR_SOPRANO13	$1,338.20
CO	M12VMA	$691.20
BTN	CATWOTISADOG	$800
SB	BOSKO1111	$891.90
BB	DAZZZZLING	$906.60

• Pre-Flop ($6, 6 players)Hero is BTN
• 

JRANDA calls $4, MR_SOPRANO13 raises to $12, 1 fold, CATWOTISADOG raises to $36, 2 folds, JRANDA folds, MR_SOPRANO13 calls $24

• Flop ($82, 2 players)
• 

MR_SOPRANO13 checks, CATWOTISADOG bets $41, MR_SOPRANO13 raises to $106, CATWOTISADOG calls $65

• Turn ($294, 2 players)
• 

MR_SOPRANO13 bets $147, CATWOTISADOG calls $147

• River ($588, 2 players)
• 

MR_SOPRANO13 bets $294, CATWOTISADOG calls $294

• Final Pot: $1,176

• CATWOTISADOG shows
• 

• MR_SOPRANO13 shows
• 

• CATWOTISADOG wins $1,172.50 (net +$589.50)
• JRANDA lost $4
• MR_SOPRANO13 lost $583

Hands like this illustrate what I was saying above. In his eyes, if I'm ever going to bluff it's going to be on the flop. So, I should shove, or bet small, or do ANYTHING other than fucking check it.

$2/$4 No Limit Holdem • 6 Players

Generated by weaktight.com.

UTG	DEDICATED	$88
UTG+1	FOLDEYEWISH	$359.40
CO	WAHOOZLE	$405.20
BTN	CATWOTISADOG	$884.30
SB	BOSKO1111	$630
BB	M12VMA	$480

• Pre-Flop ($6, 6 players)Hero is BTN
• 

DEDICATED calls $4, 2 folds, CATWOTISADOG raises to $16, BOSKO1111 raises to $60, 1 fold, DEDICATED goes all-in $88, CATWOTISADOG calls $72, BOSKO1111 calls $28

• Flop ($268, 3 players, 1 all-in)
• 

BOSKO1111 checks, CATWOTISADOG checks

• Turn ($268, 3 players, 1 all-in)
• 

BOSKO1111 checks, CATWOTISADOG bets $125, BOSKO1111 folds

• River ($393, 2 players, 1 all-in)
• 

• Final Pot: $393

• CATWOTISADOG shows
• 

• DEDICATED shows
• 

• CATWOTISADOG wins $390 (net +$177)
• BOSKO1111 lost $88
• DEDICATED lost $88

This hand made me sad, and is obv a little bad. I didn't think he'd flat QJos, leaving 2 combos of QJs, of which half the time he'd bet the turn, or so I thought. I guess I have to raise fold, or just call?

$2/$4 No Limit Holdem • 6 Players

Generated by weaktight.com.

UTG	BOSKO1111	$1,232
UTG+1	EDOGX333	$1,028.30
CO	WAHOOZLE	$975
BTN	SILI27	$400
SB	IAMMAVERICK	$841.20
BB	CATWOTISADOG	$527

• Pre-Flop ($6, 6 players)Hero is BB
• 

1 fold, EDOGX333 raises to $14, WAHOOZLE calls $14, 1 fold, IAMMAVERICK calls $12, CATWOTISADOG calls $10

• Flop ($56, 4 players)
• 

IAMMAVERICK checks, CATWOTISADOG bets $26, 1 fold, WAHOOZLE calls $26, IAMMAVERICK folds

• Turn ($108, 2 players)
• 

CATWOTISADOG checks, WAHOOZLE checks

• River ($108, 2 players)
• 

CATWOTISADOG checks, WAHOOZLE bets $44, CATWOTISADOG raises to $209, WAHOOZLE goes all-in $935, CATWOTISADOG calls $278

• Final Pot: $1,530

• CATWOTISADOG shows
• 

• WAHOOZLE shows
• 

• WAHOOZLE wins $1,527 (net +$552)
• IAMMAVERICK lost $14
• CATWOTISADOG lost $527
• EDOGX333 lost $14

All in all, not too bad though. So long as I keep learning the lessons and playing when fully focussed then the results will come.

Session 6 now......

Session 4

Played well, achieved all of my session goals, lost all 3 of my flips though so broke even for the session.

I flatted this hand PF 'cos he always folds to 3bets and it pisses me off to 3bet an actual hand. I wonder, how close is this to a river jam? Even J9 I just counterfeited.... hmm.

***** Hand History for Game 2001019964 ***** (Absolute)
$400.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, April 14, 05:06:17 ET 2010
Table EAST ST (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Seat 6: RIVERMUPPET ( $166.50 USD )
Seat 1: SH3PP0 ( $200.50 USD )
Seat 2: CATWOTISADOG ( $532.40 USD )
Seat 3: POLETRAIN ( $718.40 USD )
Seat 4: REIDGE ( $597.70 USD )
Seat 5: DEDICATED ( $394.90 USD )
SH3PP0 posts small blind [$2.00 USD].
CATWOTISADOG posts big blind [$4.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CATWOTISADOG [ Qs Qd ]
POLETRAIN folds
REIDGE raises [$12.00 USD]
DEDICATED folds
RIVERMUPPET folds
SH3PP0 folds
CATWOTISADOG calls [$8.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5h, Jc, 9d ]
CATWOTISADOG checks
REIDGE bets [$16.00 USD]
CATWOTISADOG calls [$16.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2d ]
CATWOTISADOG checks
REIDGE bets [$41.00 USD]
CATWOTISADOG calls [$41.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 2h ]
CATWOTISADOG checks
REIDGE bets [$115.00 USD]

I also bluffed a fish, and he was good enough to show:

Stage #2001035548: Holdem No Limit $4 - 2010-04-14 17:23:25 (ET)
Table: EAGLE AVE (Real Money) Seat #5 is the dealer
Seat 5 - GJAKEY ($400 in chips)
Seat 6 - THELOBSTER36 ($504 in chips)
Seat 1 - DUCKSLAYER2K ($435 in chips)
Seat 2 - FISHWISPERER ($446.30 in chips)
Seat 3 - CATWOTISADOG ($400 in chips)
Seat 4 - PRENUPBUTTER ($427.70 in chips)
THELOBSTER36 - Posts small blind $2
DUCKSLAYER2K - Posts big blind $4
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to CATWOTISADOG [4s Ks]
FISHWISPERER - Raises $12 to $12
CATWOTISADOG - Raises $36 to $36
PRENUPBUTTER - Folds
GJAKEY - Folds
THELOBSTER36 - Folds
DUCKSLAYER2K - Folds
FISHWISPERER - Calls $24
*** FLOP *** [2h 6d 7s]
FISHWISPERER - Checks
CATWOTISADOG - Bets $39
FISHWISPERER - Calls $39
*** TURN *** [2h 6d 7s] [3c]
FISHWISPERER - Checks
CATWOTISADOG - Bets $74
FISHWISPERER - Calls $74
*** RIVER *** [2h 6d 7s 3c] [Jh]
FISHWISPERER - Checks
CATWOTISADOG - All-In $251
FISHWISPERER - Folds (Fold & Show [7d 10d])
CATWOTISADOG - returned ($251) : not called
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CATWOTISADOG - Does not show
CATWOTISADOG Collects $301 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($304) | Rake ($3)
Board [2h 6d 7s 3c Jh]
Seat 1: DUCKSLAYER2K (big blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 2: FISHWISPERER Folded on the RIVER
Seat 3: CATWOTISADOG collected Total ($301) All-In HI:($301) [Does not show]
Seat 4: PRENUPBUTTER Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 5: GJAKEY (dealer) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 6: THELOBSTER36 (small blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS

When I'm not light headed and not tired I just don't make as many mistakes. I read the NicolaK blog and do agree that once you get to a certain level, it's just about making less mistakes than your opponents. Easier said than done, but cutting out the tilty 'know Im beat' ones is the first step.

I was just about to play, but true to my word I'm a little light headed so I'm off to sleep for 30 minutes instead.

dan

Session 3 Review

I won, however I donated around $1k in various spots to a huge fish who I adjusted to very badly. He kept pot donking various hands, nuts and air, then following through on turn and river. So, it's pretty difficult to call a flop bet then not go all the way with it.

Thus, hands like this:

$2/$4 No Limit Holdem • 4 Players

Generated by weaktight.com.

CO	NERWIN	$200
BTN	CATWOTISADOG	$406.70
SB	SMA0422352	$215.60
BB	FISHBAIT415	$1,052.75

• Pre-Flop ($6, 4 players)Hero is BTN
• 

1 fold, CATWOTISADOG raises to $12, 1 fold, FISHBAIT415 calls $8

• Flop ($26, 2 players)
• 

FISHBAIT415 bets $26, CATWOTISADOG calls $26

• Turn ($78, 2 players)
• 

FISHBAIT415 bets $78, CATWOTISADOG calls $78

• River ($234, 2 players)
• 

FISHBAIT415 bets $936.75, CATWOTISADOG calls $290.70

• Final Pot: $1,461.45

• CATWOTISADOG shows
• 

• FISHBAIT415 shows
• 

• FISHBAIT415 wins $1,459.45 (net +$406.70)
• CATWOTISADOG lost $406.70

And this:

$2/$4 No Limit Holdem • 4 Players

Generated by weaktight.com.

CO	CATWOTISADOG	$519.10
BTN	SMA0422352	$181.60
SB	FISHBAIT415	$792.95
BB	NERWIN	$244.25

• Pre-Flop ($6, 4 players)Hero is CO
• 

CATWOTISADOG raises to $14, 1 fold, FISHBAIT415 raises to $46, 1 fold, CATWOTISADOG calls $32

• Flop ($96, 2 players)
• 

FISHBAIT415 bets $77, CATWOTISADOG calls $77

• Turn ($250, 2 players)
• 

FISHBAIT415 bets $124, CATWOTISADOG calls $124

• River ($498, 2 players)
• 

FISHBAIT415 checks, CATWOTISADOG checks

• Final Pot: $498

• FISHBAIT415 shows
• 

• CATWOTISADOG shows
• 

• FISHBAIT415 wins $496 (net +$249)
• CATWOTISADOG lost $247

There were 3-4 more of these VS the same guy. I'm all about learning lessons, and clearly the lesson here is to fold flop without a much better piece of it.

I also possibly butchered this hand:

$2/$4 No Limit Holdem • 6 Players

Generated by weaktight.com.

UTG	FINNIAND	$588.20
UTG+1	MMINTERESTIN	$503.40
CO	GEVS8888	$666
BTN	M12VMA	$400
SB	MIDLETOK	$408
BB	CATWOTISADOG	$1,229.90

• Pre-Flop ($6, 6 players)Hero is BB
• 

3 folds, M12VMA raises to $12, 1 fold, CATWOTISADOG calls $8

• Flop ($26, 2 players)
• 

CATWOTISADOG bets $16, M12VMA calls $16

• Turn ($58, 2 players)
• 

CATWOTISADOG checks, M12VMA bets $38, CATWOTISADOG raises to $138, M12VMA calls $100

• River ($334, 2 players)
• 

CATWOTISADOG bets $1,063.90, M12VMA calls $234

• Final Pot: $1,631.90

• CATWOTISADOG collects $829.90 (net -$400.00)
• M12VMA lost $400

I say possibly butchered, because by going for the CR on the turn then he a) shouldn't percieve my range as draws any more given I'm not looking to CR-call, b) is possibly checking IP with any draw or weak ace. This line is the only way to get stacks in VS AQ or AK or whatever, but I think on the whole I should set my sights lower. I've left results out anyway........

It's 4.30pm, my concentration was good earlier. Since then I've had a sleep and an eat...... So, feeling good about playing session 4 now.