Weak first session to start the day, lost about a buy in ran into a couple of sets with an overpair though & accidentally clicked "fold to any bet" when I flopped tp & nut flush draw doh, so all in all not to bad considering.

It's the start of another day though and Im feeling fresh relaxed and focused so expecting good things.

Another good session.

Some interesting hands.

1) I raise an utg (33/20) from sb with AQo he calls flop QcTc3x he is very aggressive so I check to him on flop & he bets 3x pot. I couldnt figure it out, seems like an obvious bluff but I chose to fold - questionable.

2) Raised KTs Utg+1 get called by button cbet gutshot draw on flop, turn the nuts bet again and get raised, all in - ship it, he had a big draw but my hand held up.

3) Called sb's 2.5bb raise with Q9o called cbet with a gutshot turned nuts & raised his bet he called he bet river and I raised him all in even though it completed flush he called with lower str. So far so good.

I make decisions based on game theory, maths, reason & logic not emotion ;)

Mental Focus,

This for me I think is one of the hardest elements of the game to master. I just get too involved & play sub-optimally when things arent going my way. But when I'm clear & focused things are obv incredibly better.

I am playing shorter sessions of 5 tables max and before each session I re-affirm my that I am relaxed, focused and clear. I make decisions based on maths, game theory, logic & reason but not emotion!

Good session up 2 buy ins but flopped some good hands...

1) I liked the way I played flopped Qaud Aces - bet all the way & got all call from 33

Free hand converter brought to you by CardRunners

Seat 1: ele27 ($2.95)
Seat 2: Noble007 ($47.65)
Seat 3: xxSir_ManUxx ($22.60)
Seat 4: nessuntimore ($8.60) -
Seat 5: Jellan ($18.55) -
Seat 6: Harlito ($26.45) -


PRE-FLOP:

Jellan posts small blind $0.10
Harlito posts BIG blind $0.25
Dealt To: Noble007


FOLD ele27
RAISE Noble007 ($1)
FOLD xxSir_ManUxx
FOLD nessuntimore
CALL Jellan ($0.90)
FOLD Harlito


FLOP:

Pot: $2.25


CHECK Jellan
BET Noble007 ($1.50)
CALL Jellan ($1.50)


TURN:

Pot: $5.25


CHECK Jellan
BET Noble007 ($2.50)
CALL Jellan ($2.50)


RIVER:

Pot: $10.25


CHECK Jellan
BET Noble007 ($15)
CALL Jellan ($13.55)


SHOWDOWN:
Noble007:

MUCK Jellan

Noble007 collected $35.55 from main pot

SUMMARY:
Total pot: $37 Rake: $1.80

Final Board:


Seat 1: ele27 folded before Flop didnt bet - Net Gain/Loss: ($0)
Seat 2: Noble007 showed [Ad Qs] and won 35.55 with four of a kind, Aces - Net Gain/Loss: ($17.1)
Seat 3: xxSir_ManUxx folded before Flop didnt bet - Net Gain/Loss: ($0)
Seat 4: nessuntimore button folded before Flop didnt bet - Net Gain/Loss: ($0)
Seat 5: Jellan small blind mucked [3h 3c] - Net Gain/Loss: ($-0.1)

Seat 6: Harlito big blind folded before Flop - Net Gain/Loss: ($-0.25)


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Nice session - finished up over 2 buy ins :)

Made some good hands...

1) I liked the way I played flopped Qaud Aces - bet all the way & got all call from 33

2) In the bb K7 flopped tripped Kings played it slow on such a dry board but opp was doing the same as he flopped fh. I rivered the nuts & was going to overbet river as in hand above but I thought I should bet smaller to get a call from weaker hands and another k will raise and then I can shoot for the over-bet, worked out nicely.

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Seat 1: ele27 ($5.05) -
Seat 2: Noble007 ($24.65) -
Seat 3: J.WILMANN ($24.60)
Seat 5: Jellan ($15.20)
Seat 6: Harlito ($26.10) -


PRE-FLOP:

ele27 posts small blind $0.10
Noble007 posts BIG blind $0.25
Dealt To: Noble007


CALL J.WILMANN ($0.25)
FOLD Jellan
FOLD Harlito
CALL ele27 ($0.15)
CHECK Noble007


FLOP:

Pot: $0.75


CHECK ele27
CHECK Noble007
CHECK J.WILMANN


TURN:

Pot: $0.75


BET ele27 ($0.25)
CALL Noble007 ($0.25)
CALL J.WILMANN ($0.25)


RIVER:

Pot: $1.5


CHECK ele27
BET Noble007 ($1)
RAISE J.WILMANN ($5)
FOLD ele27
RAISE Noble007 ($24.15)
CALL J.WILMANN ($19.10)


SHOWDOWN:
Noble007:

MUCK J.WILMANN

Noble007 collected $47.7 from main pot

SUMMARY:
Total pot: $49 Rake: $2

Final Board:


Seat 1: ele27 small blind folded on the River - Net Gain/Loss: ($-0.35)
Seat 2: Noble007 big blind showed [Kd 7h] and won 47.70 with a full house, Kings full of Sevens - Net Gain/Loss: ($27.35)
Seat 3: J.WILMANN mucked [3c 3d] - Net Gain/Loss: ($-5)

Seat 5: Jellan folded before Flop didnt bet - Net Gain/Loss: ($0)
Seat 6: Harlito button folded before Flop didnt bet - Net Gain/Loss: ($0)


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Just played a much better session, happy with with my play & reversed my previous sess loss & up $2.20 over 733 hands so far today - woohoo - order the crystal!! (spelling?)

Well, Ive got to give this ago again, i'm really struggling with my game at the moment so I need to start analysing my play properly again in a day by day basis.

I've been on a decent heater up till the beginning of april, I played 30k hands at .25 at 7bb/100 then I played 10k at .5 & ran at 10bb/100 over 10k hands then I moved up to 50c - 1$ & ran at 6.7bb/100 for my first 20k hands then it all went pear shaped....

I lost 10 buy-ins in 5k hands at 1$, even though I was rolled I felt I was playing poorly so dropped to .5 was still losing so I dropped to .25 - still losing after 10k hands!! - first time ever & I have been barely eeking out 8bb/100 at .1 0 nl - which translates to about $400 over 30k hands - puke!

Well I'm going to play .25 from today & try play good poker again & really focus on determining ranges again...

How does it work I forgot; ok well there are 6 combos of any pair pre-flop, 12 combos of any non suited hand like AK & 4 combos of the suited version but when one of the cards appears on the flop ie like a 2 there are only 3 combos of 2's in the hole remaining (for a set) 3 combos of A2s 12 combos of A2 (9 normal 3 suited) - if an A flops as well ie A2x then there only 9 combos in total of A2 in the hole on AA2 flop on 6 combos, ok think I've got that lets try apply it to a session.

1 5table 30 minute session of .25 coming up...

Lost $13.25 over 500 hands despite getting AA 6x (lost 11$ on them)

Hand 1: I played it too passively pre but opp was 40/27 and over aggro & I had position, so I thought there was more value in trapping when he checks the flop thought a jack was a big part of his range so didnt bet flop or raise fairly safe turn.

Free hand converter brought to you by CardRunners

Seat 1: gosuminh ($23.90)
Seat 2: Noble007 ($24.30)
Seat 3: natalover ($38.95)
Seat 4: me-aakk ($3.65) -
Seat 5: mrpirat ($19.60) -
Seat 6: redscorpionx ($25) -


PRE-FLOP:

mrpirat posts small blind $0.10
redscorpionx posts BIG blind $0.25
Dealt To: Noble007


FOLD gosuminh
RAISE Noble007 ($1)
FOLD natalover
FOLD me-aakk
RAISE mrpirat ($2.50)
FOLD redscorpionx
CALL Noble007 ($1.50)


FLOP:

Pot: $5.35


CHECK mrpirat
CHECK Noble007


TURN:

Pot: $5.35


BET mrpirat ($3.25)
CALL Noble007 ($3.25)


RIVER:

Pot: $11.85


BET mrpirat ($5.50)
CALL Noble007 ($5.50)


SHOWDOWN:
mrpirat:

MUCK Noble007

mrpirat collected $21.65 from main pot

SUMMARY:
Total pot: $22 Rake: $1.10

Final Board:


Seat 1: gosuminh folded before Flop didnt bet - Net Gain/Loss: ($0)
Seat 2: Noble007 mucked [Ac Ah] - Net Gain/Loss: ($-1)
Seat 3: natalover folded before Flop didnt bet - Net Gain/Loss: ($0)
Seat 4: me-aakk button folded before Flop didnt bet - Net Gain/Loss: ($0)
Seat 5: mrpirat small blind showed [Ks Kc] and won 21.65 with a full house, Kings full of Jacks - Net Gain/Loss: ($11.3)

Seat 6: redscorpionx big blind folded before Flop - Net Gain/Loss: ($-0.25)


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Hand 2 I thought opponents were good and were calling with small pockets most likely I called turn but should of folded river, I played this way to passively to but considering that they both flopped sets I really minimised my loss in this hand. (excl river call)

Free hand converter brought to you by CardRunners

Seat 1: qkat210 ($24)
Seat 2: abruzzi2006 ($23.95)
Seat 3: funkes ($34.10) -
Seat 4: Kleskyyy ($37.05) -
Seat 5: peppe74x ($18.90) -
Seat 6: Noble007 ($25)


PRE-FLOP:

Kleskyyy posts small blind $0.10
peppe74x posts BIG blind $0.25
Dealt To: Noble007


RAISE Noble007 ($1)
FOLD qkat210
FOLD abruzzi2006
CALL funkes ($1)
FOLD Kleskyyy
CALL peppe74x ($0.75)


FLOP:

Pot: $3.1


CHECK peppe74x
CHECK Noble007
CHECK funkes


TURN:

Pot: $3.1


CHECK peppe74x
CHECK Noble007
BET funkes ($1.75)
CALL peppe74x ($1.75)
CALL Noble007 ($1.75)


RIVER:

Pot: $8.35


BET peppe74x ($3)
CALL Noble007 ($3)
RAISE funkes ($12.50)
RAISE peppe74x ($16.15)
FOLD Noble007
CALL funkes ($3.65)


SHOWDOWN:
peppe74x:

funkes:


peppe74x collected $41.5 from main pot

SUMMARY:
Total pot: $43 Rake: $2.15

Final Board:


Seat 1: qkat210 folded before Flop didnt bet - Net Gain/Loss: ($0)
Seat 2: abruzzi2006 folded before Flop didnt bet - Net Gain/Loss: ($0)
Seat 3: funkes button showed [6d 6c] and lost with a full house, Sixes full of Fours - Net Gain/Loss: ($-15.25)

Seat 4: Kleskyyy small blind folded before Flop - Net Gain/Loss: ($-0.1)
Seat 5: peppe74x big blind showed [4h 4s] and won 41.50 with four of a kind, Fours - Net Gain/Loss: ($34.6)

Seat 6: Noble007 folded on the River - Net Gain/Loss: ($-3.75)


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Hand 3:

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Seat 1: andy2000soft ($21.35)
Seat 3: funky6 ($12.80) -
Seat 5: Noble007 ($27.70) -
Seat 6: Sfinxx ($14.20) -

Hand 3: I decided to play 99 aggressively vs a button raise vs a med stack & felt I was pot commited after I cbet with just an overcard ten on the board, another mistake :(

PRE-FLOP:

Noble007 posts small blind $0.10
Sfinxx posts BIG blind $0.25
Dealt To: Noble007


FOLD andy2000soft
RAISE funky6 ($1)
RAISE Noble007 ($3.50)
FOLD Sfinxx
CALL funky6 ($2.50)


FLOP:

Pot: $7.35


BET Noble007 ($4.75)
RAISE funky6 ($9.30)
CALL Noble007 ($4.55)


TURN:

Pot: $25.95




RIVER:

Pot: $25.95




SHOWDOWN:
Noble007:

funky6:


funky6 collected $24.6 from main pot

SUMMARY:
Total pot: $25 Rake: $1.25

Final Board:


Seat 1: andy2000soft folded before Flop didnt bet - Net Gain/Loss: ($0)
Seat 3: funky6 button showed [Jc Jh] and won 24.60 with a full house, Sixes full of Jacks - Net Gain/Loss: ($19.05)

Seat 5: Noble007 small blind showed [9c 9d] and lost with a full house, Sixes full of Tens - Net Gain/Loss: ($-7.35)
Seat 6: Sfinxx big blind folded before Flop - Net Gain/Loss: ($-0.25)


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Oh well I will play another session in a bit...

Started to look for a few articles on poker psychology after watching ezra ft plastic & rugby video which is one of the best on the site i've seen.

I got this article as a very basic starting point, but specifically evaluating my opponents level of thinking and honesty should help me out a bit as it something that isnt always so easy to tell from PA hud.

http://pokerworks.com/article-904.html

I evaluate my opponents on several parameters.

Level of Thinking 0-5 is simply what are my opponents thinking. A level 0-1 player doesn't even consider what cards you may be holding. Bluffing is -EV. Level 2 players are susceptible to bluffs, and Level 3 players will bluff you. After that it is a game of "What do you think, I think?" You should note that odd levels are about your hand and even levels are about their hand.

These are just some thoughts I had about my own game about things I need to work on.

1. Bluff bluffers less & be able to get away from hand if you do

Sometimes as the pfr I know I am going up against a guy who calls too much and just doesnt fold to cbets & he raises too many of them too.

& it hurts my ego to be letting go of the best hand sometimes even if its just 44 or Ace high on the flop vs these guys. So I'll re-bluff them too often and worse I call a shove because I feel pot-commited with my 6 outs or bottom pair lol. In general you make alot of money off these over aggro guys by trapping with decent hands (after you cbet) & check raising turn with them/ strong draws. Or even calling down.

At the same time you cant just wait too make hands vs them, & on really dry boards, where their line is heavily geared towards a bluff I still think you have to play back a bit. So in future I am going to - select my spots a bit better, - take stronger lines with my bluff, - not be pot committed if they shove, even if a small % of the time this is also a bluff, power to them.

2. Be more aggressive & take better advantage of fold equity on the turn

My turn aggression is fairly low < 2 but so is a lot of decent 20/16's - reason being we are raising and c-betting quite a bit so when we get to the turn its easy to float and take the pot away if we only bet when we have something and check fold the rest. So a profitable line is to play alot of your range from behind letting them try to bluff you or value bet worse. But I know by playing more aggressively pre-flop & flop my bb/100 has shot up quite a bit & I think if you can find ways to be more aggressive on the turn it will actually be more profitable. So from now on I will play turn more aggressively

- 2nd barrel/ fire at scare cards more often

- 2nd barrel or check raise draws

- Value bet more marginal hands

So I will be playing my whole range alot more stronger on the turn.

3. Bet Fold more

Too often with marginal value bets or flop re-bluffs I am bet calling, even though I know their range is usually so strong to raise in this spot. I am better off check calling rather than value betting more marginal hands unless I have the strength to let go of alot of my range vs villlians who just aren't bluffing or value raising worse in this spot.

So bet-fold more in alot of post flop situations

For the what I learnt today, I copied this post off 2+2 that has some good notes on valuable reads to have on villians.

I posted this in another thread started by Fallen Hero, but after posting my original thoughts, i've developed a few others that I think are worthy of including, and therefore should be included....thus I'm copying my original and adding to it. Sorry if this causes you to read it twice.

First rule of reads - You have to apply any reads you have to the context and history of the hand....does it make sense what the villain is doing?

Example from the other day. I pick up queens in the BB. 4 limps to me, including the SB. I raise it 8xbb. Folds to SB (who is TAG). SB goes all in for 50bb's. Does that make sense? Could he have possibly gone for a limp-reraise with AA or KK here with only the BB left to act who is OOP for the rest of the hand? The answer is clearly no. He put me on the squeeze play and assumed I had garbage. I didn't, I called, and I stacked his completely dominated QJ. Whenever an opponent makes a play, does it make sense in the context of the hand.

A few really valuable reads to have on villains.

Valuable read 1 - villains that overplay TPTK

One of my villain's notes is "plays TPTK like the nuts, even with it's TP of 9's. Raised and called all in with A9 on a 7889 threeflush board."

I've used that read to stack a particular villain at least 4 times.

However, this has to done in the context of the hand. Conversely if you have a read that a loose passive opponent can't fold top pair, and the flop comes 7 high and he'd raised preflop with a relatively narrow raising range, you know he's not going crazy with TPTK...you know he's got an overpair.

Valuable read 2 - Plays way too agressively when there is a flush draw on the board.

These villains are great to flop big hands against in position because you never even have to bet or raise because you know they don't have the draw either. Example, you have pocket 7's in position. Villain raises, you call. Flop comes XX7 with 2 spades. Villain pots it, you call. Turn - blank, villain pushes, you call and stack his AA that he overplayed due to the draw-heavy board.

Valuable Read 3 - total donkey calling station

One of the best reads known to man. Do not semi-bluff these guys, do not threebet all in with a coin flip hand because they'll call, and you are only 50/50....try to catch your hand because they will call once you catch it too. They can't fold TP even on a straigthening flushing board. Value bet, value bet, value bet. I called a $20 turn bet against one of these guys into a $10 pot with a flush draw last week on a TJQK board. Rivered the flush, push overbet for $250 and he called with the ace hi straight.

Valueable read 4 - minbets draws

You've all seen these guys. They minbet into you and try to draw cheap, then they go ahead and call your big raise. I really have no idea what they are thinking...they know they can't pay full price to draw, which is why they bet small, but then they call a raise anyway. Punish these guys, and fold if any draws come home.

Valuable read 5 - minraises small pockets/SC's/suited aces preflop.

Some villains will typically minraise either small pockets, or sc's or suited aces preflop...they don't usually minraise all three, but lots of villains will minraise at least one of these. If you start getting action with a big hand on a ragged board or a board like 55K, you can generally figure they've got the trips with top kicker, or a set on a 852 board or something similar. It can save you money a lot of the time..or you can PUNISH them on a 55K board when you've got KK because you KNOW they've got A5.

Valuable read 6 - can't read boards and tell when he's counterfeited. Also, the converse "smart enough to know he just got counterfeited"

These villains are great. Flop comes 228, and they have 89. You bet with Jacks and they call. Turn 9...you bet they raise, you reraise, and villain has top 2...can't fold right, even though TT+ kills them, which you represent. They don't realize your 2 pair beats them. This is a great read to have. Good LAGS typically realize this but still can't fold. Example from above 982 though, you bet and get raised...think you might be behind to 98 so you flat call. Turn comes a 2, and now villain checks.....now you've got him. Start value-betting, he'll probably call.


Valuable read 7 - minbet-threebets monsters

These are great too because they let you get away cheap. Villain leads into you with a minbet on a draw heavy board knowing you'll raise. You oblige, and now the threebets all in with a set...you easily dump your hand (provided you have this read). Villain doesn't realize he could have potted it and gotten a much bigger raise out of you but hey...his bad play is why you are here.

Valueable read 8 - plays ALL draws agressively

A read that an opponent plays big draws agressively doesn't really help you much other than including the big draw in his range when he's raising on a draw heavy board.

A read that an opponent will play ANY draw agressively is however. Any ragged 2 flush board with him raising makes it easier to include the draw and not a set as his likely holdings. Same thing on connected flops like A78....makes it easier to put him on 9T or 56 and lets you know by his action if he's hit. A good way to determine if villains got a monster or not is to flat call his flop raise when OOP and donk into him on the turn. If he raises you again, it's generally a big hand. If he calls he's probably got the draw and that lets you play the river perfectly. Against a lot of these villains if you threebet the flop big you are likely to get raised all in and are then faced with a tough decision. I generally like to call their flop raise, and then disappoint them by donking a PSB on a blank turn, this destroys their odds and eliminates tough decisions on your part as very few of them have the guts to go all in at that point.

Valuable Read 10 - makes weak C-bets with whiffed hands, makes big c-bets with hands that connected

These villains are really easy to float against with nothing, or punish with big hands. If a villain makes a weak c-bet into me I'll generally raise if I think he'll fold right on the flop, or wait until the turn to raise as that's always more scary and almost always gets a fold. Conversely, if the villain makes a PSB and I have nothing, I know I can safely fold and won't try to float because I know he's got a hand. This is why it's so critical that you always make your cbets a standard size.

Valuable read 11 - Does not consider pot size when determining the strength of a bet

Some villains associate the size of the bet in relation to the stakes as a strong bet, rather than the size of the bet in relation to the pot. For example...some villains think their $10 bet into a $50 pot is strong because it's a big bet for $50NL. We as a group typically consider that a weak bet...but if the villain doesn't, beware.

Valuable Read 12 - villain ALWAYS raises in the BB if it's a headsup blind battle and the SB completes.

This read makes you money in a number of ways. First you know not to complete with hands you want to play OOP to a raise, because you know you'll get one. And second you KNOW he's raising so you limp with TT+ and punish him when he does. After enough of these you can start limping and not expect a raise.

Valuable read 13 - Villain reraises light and flatcalls with truly big hands.

I found a TAG villain that religously reraises with marginal hands (AJ for example) but NEVER reraises with AA/KK. This makes him easy to play against because if he reraises you, you know your AK is good on an a K hi flop, because AA isn't in his reraise range.

Valuable Read 14 - Calls pot-size bets on draws on the flop AND turn, then either goes for the checkraise when it hits (or donk bets it, depends on villain)

Lots of villains (myself included) will call smallish PSB's on the flop with draws. Not as many will call on the turn. The ones that will call large turn bets are truly great buddies for life and worth following around. When you get called by one of these guys on the flop on a draw heavy board. You must make a PS turn bet, screw pot control, punish these donkies. Conversely, slow way down when the draw hits and consider folding. The other great thing about these guys if that they'll almost always go for a checkraise when they complete their draw, disappoint them by not letting them get the checkraise in.

Marginal but sometimes valuable timing tells

Assuming a villain normally acts in a certain period of time, sometimes something outside of that normal range can give you a tell. The most common one is the delayed call or bet. If a villain raised on the flop and then a flush card falls, and that villain takes an inordinately long period to act after the card hits, it's almost a certainty that he hit the flush. I can't tell you how many times I've seen this and it's been the flush. They are thinking that you'll associate their long thought period with weakness, but in reality it's strength. I generally insta-fold TP with this read and i'm almost always right. This read is subject to a villain that is only single-tabling though. If it's against a multi-tabling tag it's not as reliable as he could be acting on another table, etc.

Other Ramblings - Absent reads I'm typically very reluctant to call large river bets with good, but not unbeatable hands. I've gotten burned by this lately with things like K high flushes facing pushes and losing to the nut flush, things like that. Villains typically just don't bet rivers huge without the nuts or near nuts. Also beware of the full pot size bet or slight overbet if you checked the turn behind after a draw hit. This almost always signifies a whiffed turn-checkraise that the villain is trying to make up for. If a villain is capable of bluffing the river with missed draws and things of that nature, then calling is standard, but I have to have a read to make me do this and it has to be a very good read.

For the what I learnt part today I quite like this article by annie duke -

So many times you will find that you were playing just as well while losing as while winning but you happened to win all your 50/50 shots on the winning streak while losing them on the losing streak. Remember poker is a game that requires us all to be honest with ourselves. That kind of honesty is challenging in both our personal lives and our professional lives. But in poker, in particular, the kind of cold-hearted evaluation that eliminates emotional involvement in the outcome is supremely important to our growth as expert players.

Poker teaches you that what matters is making good decisions and, if you do that, everything will work itself out in the end.

Being so competitive is what made me become unhinged by losing. I had to learn that making good decisions, getting my money in pots with the best hand, that was my goal as a player. I had to learn a long run view, an understanding that winning at a particular moment, winning a particular hand is not the goal. The goal is to win in the long run by playing well and understanding that part of the game is that you will lose sometimes. At limit poker you will lose somewhere between 40 to 45% of the time if you are a very good player. That is enough to get all the money. It is also enough losing to mentally unhinge someone who could not emotionally stand to lose...ever.

So I learned to lose at poker. I learned to let it all go. I learned to always look toward the long run and only get upset when I played bad, win or lose, and not get upset merely because I booked a loss. That made me a much better person. Learning to be less competitive is what allowed me to be a successful poker player, allowed me to maximize the number of hours I played while emotionally steady, under the best circumstances for good decision making.