Everything was going sooo well tonight... Had played a couple hundred hands was a up a bit and in tables full of loose donkeys... Got to Gold on FTP IM and was $10 away from clearing the $425 FTP half-year bonus...

And then...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2966941

3 hands later, I was trully pissed about this f'ing river and completely failed to realize the limp utg, insta-call my raise from the BB, and then check RR all in on the flop after a bet and a call -- this screams set all over the place and my dumb-ass was so stuck on that other hand that I insta-call with TPTK (the always sure way to lose $ in FR)...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2966946

Anyway, I stopped a few minutes later after running QQ into AA as I didn't think I was gonna be able to play my best -- plus didn't seem at the moment I was going to be getting any help from the cards either...

Pretty frustrating way to end the day...

1st off -- no, I have not seen the Dark Knight yet! I keep reading about how good it is, so hopefully this weekend I get the chance to watch it (finally).

Poker-wise it was a "boring" week. Up a couple BI, down a couple of BI... pretty much even for the week over 7000 hands. As I review some hands, read some blogs, forums and watch some videos here are some of the things that I think are "hurting" me right now:

1) I made an effort to play a little tighter (VPIP around 16, down from the usual 19-20) but yet have been too passive - PFR only 8.78!!! I am opening big hands, some pps and the occasional suited connector and I think this sets me up for "easy reads" by some of the other regulars...

Goal: stay ay about 16% VPIP but be more aggressive -- raise almost all pps, and open up some more from the late positions (trying to take advantage of limpers)

2) I have noticed that 3x BB PFR gets called way too much. I have opened pots utg or utg+1 with AK or QQ only to get 3-4 callers... People will still set-mine and call with their soooooted cards but I think I will be able to play a lot more HU pots.

Goal: start opening 4x BB and raising 4x + 1 BB per limper already in.

3) I just saw my flop stats and it's absolutely embarassing! 1st action on the flop after a PFR: I am CBetting ONLY 45% while checking 40%!!! This had been something I had completely overlooked over the past few weeks and I really think it's costing me a ton of money!

Goal: I would like to CBet in the 70-75% range, but for these next few days if I can start bringing that up to around 60-65% would be a good start. (btw are these values acceptable? Taking all comments on this matter!)

4) I am playing too scared and get a little lost when facing 3-bets. A couple of recurring situations that get me in all kinds of trouble are: SB vs. BB and PFR from the CO and BTN and then get 3-bet from the blinds... I believe I am giving these players too much credit, but yet have had trouble establishing my own folding/calling/RR ranges. I would really appreciate some help on this!

Goal: I would like to get better notes on some of these players which coupled with the PT stats on the table should make some of these decisions a little easier. I need to grow some balls and start looking some of these guys up and even putting in the ocasionally 4 bet vs. the loosest/more agg players.

Alright -- I think that's enough for now. I will be concious of these goals and try to re-address them again next week to see how it worked out!

Hey everyone!

I found CR a few months ago after watching an episode of HSP with Brian. I have taken advantage of the free stuff since then but thought I'd put some of my FTPs to good use...

I have been playing poker for a little over 2 years and have done ok imo. I started with $50 on Party and have won over $6000 without ever depositing again. I have accounts on PS, FTP, and UB but play mostly on FTP (rakeback).

I enjoy watching all kinds of poker shows on TV but I am not much of a MMT player. (I wish I did but) I just don't have the time right now to sit at the computer for 5-6 hours at a time. Therefore cash games have always been my #1 choice. I started playing NL25, won about $1500, got bored and moved to NL50. Won quite a bit of money but, once again, felt I was starting to play "robot-style". Earlier this year decided to start playing NL100 and things have gone ok for the most part (other than 2 separate 3-4 day periods - 1 in March and 1 in May - that cost me almost all my NL100 winnings...) In May I somehow managed to lose almost $2000 in about 4-5 days. I know this is "ok" if you play mid-/high-stakes but at the NL100 level is a lot!

I took a few days to analyze some things and realized that, even though there was some bad luck involved, I was also making some pretty bad decisions... And you know how that goes, a couple of bad beats + a couple of stupid calls/bluffs, now you are getting away from the things that win $, playing scared, etc. Anyway, I am back on track and the last 5-6 weeks have been very good.

Though I think I can hold my own, I am getting a little bored with the "simple" grind at the lower stakes. I am hoping that by joining the CR community I can learn a lot more about poker and learn what is necessary to keep moving up as a winning player. I hope I can find people that have gone through some of the things I am going through and can help me become a better player. I am looking forward to posting some hands and situations and getting the constructive feedback I see in many of the other blogs and in the forum.

I live in Pittsburgh so if there are any CR members from Pgh out there let me know!

VVI3