tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28591585331445460272024-03-13T07:13:55.814-04:00Escaping the Cubicle: A Poker Playing PitcherI'm a former college baseball pitcher who quit my job to become a professional poker player and try to make it in the ranks of professional baseball. Baseball didn't work out but poker is going strong. The best part about it is that I haven't had to sit in a cubicle since late 2007.Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.comBlogger298125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-50208521197247592432014-01-20T16:47:00.003-05:002014-01-20T16:48:26.645-05:00PLAYING YOUR "A" GAME: The sign over my deskThis is the contents of the hand written sign I've taped above my laptop+monitor setup in my office:<br />
<br />
THE POKER RULES<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>NO MORE THAN 12 TABLES</li>
<li>ALL REGS = LEAVE THE TABLE</li>
<li>TAKE A BREAK EVERY 90 MINUTES</li>
<li>COLOR CODE MY OPPONENTS</li>
<li>TAKE NOTES WHENEVER POSSIBLE</li>
<li>AVOID LOOKING AT GRAPHS/RESULTS</li>
<li>WHEN IN DOUBT FOLD PREFLOP</li>
<li>MAKE A PROFILE OF ONE OPPONENT EVERY DAY</li>
<li>WATCH 1 INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO AND WRITE DOWN 1 LESSON EVERY DAY</li>
<li>REVIEW DIFFICULT HANDS POST SESSION AND TAKE NOTES</li>
</ol>
[BELIEVE IN THE PROCESS -- BELIEVE IN THE LONG RUN]Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-6428364167917116272014-01-16T13:57:00.002-05:002014-01-16T13:57:25.010-05:00updating my blog rollnow that I'm posting regularly (and hoping to continue to do so for the near future) I'd like to link to some blogs that are also posting regularly. While I love all of the blogs I'm currently linked to, several of them haven't posted in well over 6 months. Dfly's blog deserves a pass since it's so good you should go back and read the archives if you haven't already. And I'm unlikely to actually remove some of the old blogs since I appreciate the effort that went into them, and they certainly would be interesting reading if you're killing time.<br />
<br />
But if you're a poker player, coach, media personality, work in the industry, or are just a fan of the game and you regularly write a blog please post in the comments. I'll take a look at your blog and, assuming you put some effort into it, I'll add it to my blog roll. I don't profit in anyway from writing this blog, so if you're just running an affiliate service or something I probably won't link up. But it would be nice to get back being a little more connected to the community of people that are interested in the game.<br />
<br />
hope to see you in the comments.Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-65299794005462483432014-01-15T19:30:00.002-05:002014-01-16T13:50:33.128-05:00Hand of the Day: waiting for the turn to raise with a value hand<strong>poker - $1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 5 players</strong>
<i><a href="http://www.pokertracker.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hand converted by PokerTracker 4</a></i><br />
<br />
<b>SB: 49 BB</b> (VPIP: 56.56, PFR: 35.67, 3Bet Preflop: 18.88, Hands: 551)<br />
BB: 127.72 BB (VPIP: 20.86, PFR: 16.32, 3Bet Preflop: 6.93, Hands: 1,283)<br />
UTG: 205.99 BB (VPIP: 25.28, PFR: 16.53, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 7,557)<br />
CO: 176.41 BB (VPIP: 39.85, PFR: 24.10, 3Bet Preflop: 8.94, Hands: 2,008)<br />
<b>Hero (BTN): 100 BB</b><br />
<br />
<b>SB</b> posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB<br />
<br />
<b>Pre Flop:</b> <i>(pot: 1.5 BB)</i> <b>Hero</b> has K<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> A<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> 3<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> Q<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> <br />
<br />
<i>fold</i>, <span style="color: red;">CO raises to 3 BB</span>, <b>Hero</b> calls 3 BB, <b>SB</b> calls 2.5 BB, <i>fold</i><br />
<br />
<b>Flop:</b> <i>(10 BB, 3 players)</i> Q<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> 4<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> K<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> <br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>SB</b> bets 7.12 BB</span>, CO calls 7.12 BB, <b>Hero</b> calls 7.12 BB<br />
<br />
<b>Turn:</b> <i>(31.36 BB, 3 players)</i> 3<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/club.gif" title="Club" /> <br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>SB</b> bets 29.8 BB</span>, CO calls 29.8 BB, <span style="color: red;"><b>Hero</b> raises to 89.88 BB and is all-in</span>, <b>SB</b> calls 9.08 BB and is all-in, <i>fold</i><br />
<br />
<b>River:</b> <i>(138.92 BB, 2 players)</i> Q<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/club.gif" title="Club" /> <br />
<br />
<b>SB</b> shows 6<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> T<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> J<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> 6<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> (Two Pair, Queens and Sixes) (Pre 48%, Flop 38%, Turn 23%)<br />
<b>Hero</b> shows K<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> A<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> 3<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> Q<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> (Full House, Queens full of Kings) (Pre 52%, Flop 62%, Turn 78%)<br />
<b>Hero</b> wins 0 BB<br />
<b>Hero</b> wins 135.92 BB
<br />
<br />
This hand is being posted to illustrate a very simply concept, waiting to raise a vulnerable value hand in PLO. I think one of the biggest mistakes I found myself making early in my PLO career was raising nut hands on the flop without redraws. Things like dry top set on a two tone board with a possible wrap, or the nut straight on a two flush board without a redraw to a higher straight. There are three major reasons why you don't want to always be potting flopped nuts when you don't have a redraw:<br />
<br />
1) on turns and rivers that aren't blanks (and in PLO blanks are rare) you will have very low visibility (visibility - understanding how your hand performs against your opponents range/hand). That means you will be stuck either checking and turning your hand face up, or betting and hoping your opponents haven't sucked out on you. Not a very +EV situation.<br />
2) you will unbalance your ranges. If you're always raising the top of your value range on the flop you will create turn and river ranges that are only medium to weak bluff catchers. This will encourage opponents to correctly barrel you in lots of spots where you might have the best hand, or might have equity, but you certainly don't feel great about it. Once you show up with a nutted turn hand that can raise a few times you will find that people slow down their betting and barreling frequencies against you. Also when you do raise and an opponent continues they're likely to have a very strong hand or draw, thus you'll have a tougher time getting value on later streets. You've essentially tightened your opponents ranges to hands with very strong equity, which reduces the profitability of your hand on later streets.<br />
3) you may run into the same hand with a redraw. This is obviously an equity disaster for you.<br />
<br />
In the above hand I'm almost positive I have the best hand on the flop. However I know that if I raise the flop any spade, 4, 9, T. J, or A is going to be bad for me on the turn. If I flat my opponent will likely barrel a blank with hands like AA with the NFD, or wraps. Then I can pot the turn and safely get the money in as an equity favorite. If I pot the flop the only things that are going to continue will likely have a minimum of 38% equity against me and will be able to play perfectly on the turn. If they miss or the board pairs they x/f, if they hit they can lead or go for a x/r and I'm effed.<br />
<br />
for people coming from a NL background I think this is a pretty important lesson that will help you avoid putting in a lot of money only to see a turn card and start mumbling obscenities.Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-58523226491387680722014-01-14T23:54:00.001-05:002014-01-14T23:57:10.487-05:00Hand of the Day: potting the nuts to level your opponent<strong>poker - €0.50 PL Hi - Omaha Hi - 5 players</strong>
<i><a href="http://www.pokertracker.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hand converted by PokerTracker 4</a></i><br />
<br />
BB: 431.66 BB (VPIP: 27.74, PFR: 19.09, 3Bet Preflop: 6.63, Hands: 4,762)<br />
UTG: 101.5 BB (VPIP: 24.73, PFR: 18.03, 3Bet Preflop: 6.67, Hands: 1,245)<br />
<b>CO: 184.84 BB</b> (VPIP: 23.93, PFR: 19.81, 3Bet Preflop: 9.79, Hands: 1,089)<br />
BTN: 91.64 BB (VPIP: 22.72, PFR: 17.01, 3Bet Preflop: 7.64, Hands: 12,797)<br />
<b>Hero (SB): 116.42 BB</b><br />
<br />
<b>Hero</b> posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB<br />
<br />
<b>Pre Flop:</b> <i>(pot: 1.5 BB)</i> <b>Hero</b> has 3<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> 2<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> A<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> A<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> <br />
<br />
<i>fold</i>, <span style="color: red;"><b>CO</b> raises to 3.5 BB</span>, <i>fold</i>, <span style="color: red;"><b>Hero</b> raises to 11.5 BB</span>, <i>fold</i>, <b>CO</b> calls 8 BB<br />
<br />
<b>Flop:</b> <i>(24 BB, 2 players)</i> J<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> 2<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/club.gif" title="Club" /> J<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> <br />
<b>Hero</b> checks, <span style="color: red;"><b>CO</b> bets 12 BB</span>, <b>Hero</b> calls 12 BB<br />
<br />
<b>Turn:</b> <i>(48 BB, 2 players)</i> 7<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> <br />
<b>Hero</b> checks, <b>CO</b> checks<br />
<br />
<b>River:</b> <i>(48 BB, 2 players)</i> A<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> <br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>Hero</b> bets 48 BB</span>, <b>CO</b> calls 48 BB<br />
<br />
<b>CO</b> shows Q<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> A<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/club.gif" title="Club" /> K<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> 5<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/club.gif" title="Club" /> (Two Pair, Aces and Jacks) (Pre 32%, Flop 11%, Turn 0%)<br />
<b>Hero</b> shows 3<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> 2<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> A<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> A<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> (Full House, Aces full of Jacks) (Pre 68%, Flop 89%, Turn 100%)<br />
<b>Hero</b> wins 138 BB
<br />
<br />
fairly simple hand here. My 3bet pre is standard. My flop check is also standard. On a dry paired flop I tend to check all of my trips, AAxx, and rundowns. my plan will be to bet blank turns and rivers when villains check back, and x/c flop bets. These situations are WA/WB so I need to give my opponents room to bluff, and it allows me to balance the times that I check with nothing and no equity.<br />
<br />
So I check to villain and he bets half pot and I call. The turn brings a bdfd and some GS, and my plan was probably to call one more street but it depends on villains sizing. When he checks back I'm almost positive my hand is good. There is some small chance that he might check back J7xx or JJxx in order to let catch up or bluff the river, but in general I've repped some decently strong SD value with my line and I think my opponent is going to continue betting with most of his value hands.<br />
<br />
On the river I obviously hit the best card for me as it gives me top boat, and if my opponent was slow playing J2 or J7 I've now moved ahead. Normally in this spot I would check and let my opponent bluff. But this player was a particularly good and intelligent regular. If I check to him he's just going to SD all of his not great SD value hoping I have worse (ie he'll check back Ax hoping I have KK, QQ, or a worse Ax). and if I check to him he's not going to just bet and call it off with an underboat. At best I'm getting one street of value. So after a little thinking I decide to pot in order to look as bluffy as possible. My line is purely exploitative, and it's based on the idea that by making a bet and a sizing that doesn't seem optimal for our expected ranges I might induce curiosity calls from my opponent. I expect when I make this bet that I'm getting max value from underboats trips, and Axxx.<br />
<br />
Villain wrote in chat "what do you have, quad jacks?" before calling with TPTK. I feel confident if I had bet an amount that looked like it wanted a call I'm either getting a fold or significantly less value.<br />
<br />
this isn't a play to be done all the time. Often when your opponents aren't repping much and you're blocking lots of weak value hands potting it just assures you get no value on the river. But in this case I think I probably got significantly more value than most regs do in this spot.Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-60839514662914336722014-01-13T20:01:00.001-05:002014-01-13T20:01:07.396-05:00Hand of the day: Knowing when not to bluff the river<strong>poker - £0.20 PL Hi - Omaha Hi - 6 players</strong>
<i><a href="http://www.pokertracker.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hand converted by PokerTracker 4</a></i><br />
<br />
BTN: 112.1 BB (VPIP: 24.19, PFR: 4.10, 3Bet Preflop: 1.44, Hands: 1,985)<br />
<b>SB: 113.35 BB</b> (VPIP: 23.91, PFR: 13.04, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 46)<br />
BB: 134.4 BB (VPIP: 57.14, PFR: 16.48, 3Bet Preflop: 5.88, Hands: 93)<br />
UTG: 100 BB (VPIP: 20.63, PFR: 15.18, 3Bet Preflop: 4.95, Hands: 3,014)<br />
MP: 211.2 BB (VPIP: 26.63, PFR: 21.60, 3Bet Preflop: 13.60, Hands: 1,435)<br />
<b>Hero (CO): 124.4 BB</b><br />
<br />
<b>SB</b> posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB<br />
<br />
<b>Pre Flop:</b> <i>(pot: 1.5 BB)</i> <b>Hero</b> has 6<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> T<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> 9<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> J<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/club.gif" title="Club" /> <br />
<br />
<i>fold</i>, <i>fold</i>, <span style="color: red;"><b>Hero</b> raises to 3 BB</span>, <i>fold</i>, <span style="color: red;"><b>SB</b> raises to 10 BB</span>, BB calls 9 BB, <b>Hero</b> calls 7 BB<br />
<br />
<b>Flop:</b> <i>(30 BB, 3 players)</i> K<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/club.gif" title="Club" /> 6<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> 5<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> <br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>SB</b> bets 18 BB</span>, <i>fold</i>, <b>Hero</b> calls 18 BB<br />
<br />
<b>Turn:</b> <i>(66 BB, 2 players)</i> Q<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> <br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>SB</b> bets 50 BB</span>, <b>Hero</b> calls 50 BB<br />
<br />
<b>River:</b> <i>(166 BB, 2 players)</i> 8<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> <br />
<b>SB</b> checks, <b>Hero</b> checks<br />
<br />
<b>SB</b> shows 4<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> K<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> K<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> 7<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> (Straight, Eight High) (Pre 65%, Flop 93%, Turn 78%)<br />
<b>Hero</b> mucks 6<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> T<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> 9<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> J<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/club.gif" title="Club" /> (One Pair, Sixes) (Pre 35%, Flop 7%, Turn 23%)<br />
<b>SB</b> wins 157.7 BB
<br />
<br />
first off let me say that villain in this hand basically plays very well on every street, kudos to him. I make a few debatable and somewhat loose plays on the flop and the turn. I'm not sure if they're correct, and I don't think they are very instructive in improving your play. But I think the river can be a valuable learning spot.<br />
<br />
Preflop, this is a fairly standard open in the CO especially with a BTN that is never squeezing. The SB 3bets and I have enough connectivity as well as a suit so I should defend. Also is relatively tight 3betting numbers somewhat increase the value of my hand as I think he'll often not have a lot of board coverage on middle to low flops.<br />
<br />
On the flop I basically missed, but I decide to float. There are lots of turn cards that really hit my range that don't hit his that I'll often be able to bluff. Most of those cards also give me some backdoor straight draws improving the equity of my bluff. Villains range is going to be heavily weighted towards large pairs, and I think he'll check the turn on a lot of cards allowing me to bluff some times and take a free turn some times. I would like my float more if I had a bd flush draw, or a GS. This is definitely a loose peel, and I don't have a problem with someone suggesting I should simply fold the flop.<br />
<br />
The turn card is very good for my hand in that it gives me a 13 card wrap. Granted the flush draw definitely reduces the value of that draw, but if I hit my straight I'm going to be good quite often. Despite this villain nearly pots it in what is obviously a committing bet as he's now put in 78 of his 114bb stack. So I have no fold equity and no reason to shove. I'm getting about 2.32-1 on my call, and I estimate my turn equity against villains range at somewhere between 20 and 30%. So I'm not quite getting the odds I want to call (3-1 would be better), but the river is going to be relatively easy to play and we still have 36 bb behind. So my implied odds if I play the river well are more like 3-1. That makes it close, but I decide to make a loose peel given the relative high visibility of my hand (ie I'll be able to hand and board read on the river fairly easily). I make another somewhat loose and debatable peel here. <br />
<br />
On the river I whiff, and villain somewhat quickly checks. Obviously when you find yourself at the bottom of your range on the river the first thing you should consider is bluffing. But I'm only going to be betting 36bb into a 150bb pot, so I really shouldn't have much fold equity. More importantly this card is a relative blank. While I'll sometimes have hit a gutter that I had a bdfd or something to go with, this just isn't crushing my range. I expect when villain checks the river on this card he's planning on calling any QQxx or better. So I check back, give up, and lose. It sucks, but it saved me 36bb.<br />
<br />
The old saying is "don't go throwing good money after bad." and a bluff on this river would have been exactly that.Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-79532365249273470162014-01-10T17:30:00.003-05:002014-01-10T17:30:44.450-05:00hand of the day/the importance of note taking
<strong>poker - $1 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 5 players</strong>
<i><a href="http://www.pokertracker.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hand converted by PokerTracker 4</a></i><br />
<br />
<b>Hero (UTG): 233.4 BB</b><br />
CO: 100 BB (VPIP: 20.09, PFR: 13.73, 3Bet Preflop: 6.28, Hands: 2,915)<br />
<b>BTN: 160.69 BB</b> (VPIP: 22.11, PFR: 13.98, 3Bet Preflop: 3.50, Hands: 16,099)<br />
SB: 33.5 BB (VPIP: 30.23, PFR: 13.95, 3Bet Preflop: 5.26, Hands: 46)<br />
BB: 88.99 BB (VPIP: 50.65, PFR: 21.96, 3Bet Preflop: 9.66, Hands: 392)<br />
<br />
SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB<br />
<br />
<b>Pre Flop:</b> <i>(pot: 1.5 BB)</i> <b>Hero</b> has 7<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> 8<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/club.gif" title="Club" /> 2<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> 6<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/club.gif" title="Club" /> <br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>Hero</b> raises to 3 BB</span>, <i>fold</i>, <span style="color: red;"><b>BTN</b> raises to 10.5 BB</span>, <i>fold</i>, <i>fold</i>, <b>Hero</b> calls 7.5 BB<br />
<br />
<b>Flop:</b> <i>(22.5 BB, 2 players)</i> 2<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> K<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> 5<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> <br />
<b>Hero</b> checks, <b>BTN</b> checks<br />
<br />
<b>Turn:</b> <i>(22.5 BB, 2 players)</i> 8<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> <br />
<b>Hero</b> checks, <b>BTN</b> checks<br />
<br />
<b>River:</b> <i>(22.5 BB, 2 players)</i> A<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/spade.gif" title="Spade" /> <br />
<b>Hero</b> checks, <span style="color: red;"><b>BTN</b> bets 12 BB</span>, <b>Hero</b> calls 12 BB<br />
<br />
<b>BTN</b> shows J<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> T<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/club.gif" title="Club" /> Q<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/club.gif" title="Club" /> 9<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/diamond.gif" title="Diamond" /> (High Card, Ace) (Pre 59%, Flop 58%, Turn 20%)<br />
<b>Hero</b> shows 7<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> 8<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/club.gif" title="Club" /> 2<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/heart.gif" title="Heart" /> 6<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/images/smilies/club.gif" title="Club" /> (Two Pair, Eights and Twos) (Pre 41%, Flop 42%, Turn 80%)<br />
<b>Hero</b> wins 44.18 BB
<br />
<br />
this is a loose raise UTG. I'm making it because the guys behind me don't often sqz and the players in the blinds are weak. But in a tough game I think folding with the dangler is probably correct.<br />
<br />
of course I get squeezed, so obviously this isn't the desired result. Folding pf wouldn't be awful, but I think villains very tight 3bet range will allow me to navigate the flop relatively easily. Plus I can actually rep a wider range on flops when he checks back.<br />
<br />
on the flop I've basically missed and my plan is to x/f. If I had a flush draw I would consider x/r'ing or x/'cing depending on player type, and against this player I'd probably x/c. However villain to my surprise x's back which means I get to see a free turn.<br />
<br />
On the turn I pick up an OESD to go with my two pair. I almost certainly have the best hand and probably should lead. For some reason in this hand I made the mistake of checking. I think my thought process was that if I bet I would get called often and find myself making a tough decision on the river. Also if I got raised I would like the range I would be facing as villain in this particular hand is very tight
for raising the turn and will occasionally slow play a nuts+draw type hand (ie KKdd). That being said a bet is clearly in order and I screwed up by checking.<br />
<br />
when we get to the river I obviously don't love that card. On one hand it completes a straight draw that neither of us are likely to have. On the other hand it smacks most tight players value 3betting range (ie AAxx). A lot of regulars at this level would often play dry AAxx like this on the flop, and occasionally stuff like AQJ5ds that didn't want to have to b/f the flop. But really I'm mostly worried about AAxx. So villain bets, and I'm trying to decide whether or not to call so I check my notes and I quickly get the answer.<br />
<br />
- doesn't 3bet most AAxx, almost all 3bets IP are rundowns<br />
- doesn't go for thin value.<br />
<br />
so right away villain basically has no value hand and I'm always good. I click call and win a pot. The hand itself was pretty easy for me to play thanks to villains bad flop play (check back). So there isn't anything super instructive in a vacuum. However it does illustrate how taking notes on range construction can help make your life much much easier. Most players biggest leaks are in range construction whether preflop or post. And while these tells are always as easy to exploit as a more obvious bet sizing or timing tell, they may be more valuable in the long run. <br />
<br />
best of luck at the tables<br />
<br />
jim
<br />
<br />
Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-19117244129521788652014-01-09T17:37:00.001-05:002014-01-09T17:47:48.224-05:00PLO hand of the dayPoker $100 Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 5 players<br />
<a href="http://www.deucescracked.com/?referrer=converter_html">DeucesCracked Poker Videos</a> <a href="http://www.handconverter.com/">Hand History Converter</a><br />
<br />
<strong>BB: $123.27</strong><br />
UTG: $93.50<br />
CO: $347.01<br />
<strong>Hero (BTN): $100.00</strong><br />
SB: $217.69<br />
<br />
<strong>Pre Flop:</strong> ($1.50) Hero is BTN with 4<img alt=" of spades" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/spade.png" /> T<img alt=" of diamonds" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/diamond.png" /> 4<img alt=" of hearts" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/heart.png" /> A<img alt=" of hearts" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/heart.png" /><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">2 folds</span>, <span style="color: red;">Hero raises to $3</span>, SB calls $2.50, BB calls $2<br />
<br />
<strong>Flop:</strong> ($9.00) 4<img alt=" of clubs" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/club.png" /> A<img alt=" of clubs" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/club.png" /> 8<img alt=" of diamonds" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/diamond.png" /> <span style="color: blue;">(3 players)</span><br />
SB checks, <span style="color: red;">BB bets $8.55</span>, Hero calls $8.55, SB folds<br />
<br />
<strong>Turn:</strong> ($26.10) 3<img alt=" of spades" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/spade.png" /> <span style="color: blue;">(2 players)</span><br />
BB checks, <span style="color: red;">Hero bets $20</span>, BB calls $20<br />
<br />
<strong>River:</strong> ($66.10) 9<img alt=" of hearts" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/heart.png" /> <span style="color: blue;">(2 players)</span><br />
BB checks, <span style="color: red;">Hero bets $51</span>, BB calls $51<br />
<br />
<strong>Final Pot:</strong> $168.10<br />
BB mucks A<img alt=" of diamonds" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/diamond.png" /> 6<img alt=" of clubs" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/club.png" /> 6<img alt=" of spades" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/spade.png" /> K<img alt=" of spades" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/spade.png" /> (a pair of Aces)<br />
Hero shows 4<img alt=" of spades" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/spade.png" /> T<img alt=" of diamonds" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/diamond.png" /> 4<img alt=" of hearts" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/heart.png" /> A<img alt=" of hearts" src="http://images.deucescracked.com/suits/heart.png" /> (three of a kind, Fours)<br />
Hero wins $165.10<br />
(Rake: $3.00)<br />
<br />
villain in the hand is a TAG semi-regular. He's playing 26/16/3 (vpip/pfr/3b%) which is fairly nitty considering he's only winning at the flop 31% of the time. Basically he's lost when he doesn't have the nuts, and probably not running big bluffs.<br />
<br />
SB is a 73/22/15 LAGfish. He can be tough to play IP because he's going to try and hit every flop, but he's actually not bluffing that much. Mostly he's trying to flop some equity and ram and jam.<br />
<br />
on the flop when the BB leads I'm probably well ahead of his range due to the A blocker and the fact that he doesn't have nor would he lead a ton of 88xx. But I don't want to raise because I'm going to fold out many of his bluffs and weaker hands, and I'm going to block SB from the pot and there is some chance he x/r's and gets it in with 2pr or some kind of draw+pair. If I'm up against a combo draw and I raise the flop I'm stuck trying to guess on a ton of turns when I have no idea if my villain has spiked his draw. so calling the flop seems best.<br />
<br />
on the turn when villain checks I feel confident I'm almost always ahead. if he had a straight he'd almost certainly bet unless he had a high FD to go with it (in which case he might check to induce). But there aren't too many combos of J-K high flush draws that also have 52 in them. Basically villains range is probably capped at a few combos of 88 (most of which would keep betting or would have x/r'd the flop) and some two pair hands. So I'm betting the turn for value and protection, and I think I have to call it off if he x/r's as I would expect some NFD+pair hands might.<br />
<br />
When villain x/c's the turn I'm certain I'm ahead. Now it's a case of trying to get value from whatever two pair hands villain might have. I think if I snap pot I'm going to look like AA or 52 which I have plenty of in my range. If I bet really small I look like I'm trying to induce a crying call which actually might scare away some hands. But a large bet that isn't pot after a tank looks a lot like missed clubs. I don't think villain gives me credit for betting two pair (I would probably bet A9 on the river but A8 is close as it blocks so many of villains worse made hands) so in his eyes my value range is actually fairly small in this spot. I think he should be calling most good two pair hands, and x/r'ing any straight. But his given hand is a pretty easy fold as it's far enough down in his range where it is a pure bluff catcher in a place where I have enough value hands that he doesn't need to call this wide.<br />
<br />
comment if you found this interesting and I may keep posting hands.<br />
<br />
later<br />
<br />
piz<br />
<br />Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-79881178858256256192014-01-08T19:10:00.002-05:002014-01-08T19:10:51.598-05:00to continue blogging...not sure if I will. I kind of don't want to see this thing die. quick update:<br />
<br />
1. I played PLO full time for the last half of 2013. I had some success. Not any worth bragging about. I'm stuck playing small stakes due to size of roll and my relatively poor understanding of the game (despite having played about 350k hands of it in the last 6 months of the year). If I continue to play poker full time in the future I think most all of my play online will be PLO. I lost interest in studying NLHE and I felt as though I was getting behind the curve. Added to the fact that I find the environment around online NLHE cash games to be utterly toxic right now, and I really am not that interested in going back into it. That being said I totally respect the guys that are at the top of that player pool right now, and I think for the right person that is willing to go after it there is still a lot of money to be made. I had that kind of passion for the game 3-4 years ago. After black friday and the aftermath I'd say my passion for NLHE mostly died at the beginning of 2013.<br />
<br />
2. I had a nice season of baseball playing in a couple of leagues. I mostly closed for a few teams, but I did start a handful of games. I pitch well with a low ERA, WHIP, and something like a 4-1 K/BB ratio with close to 1.5 Ks/IP. My velocity has dropped due to lingering arm issues. My arm slot has also dropped. I also have to deal with a lot of pain now when I throw. Other than serious surgery and rehab I'm not sure that this a problem I can fix. But I'm going to keep playing as long as I can be effective.<br />
<br />
3. I failed in my attempt to learn some stats software and/or some programming language. Mostly I found myself frustrated at either my poor understanding of the lessons (ie I was a beginner and I was being taught at an intermediate level) or my relative lack of interest in the subject matter. How this impacts my long term career plans I don't really know. Mostly because I haven't really formulated any long term career plans, but partially because many of the things I'm interested in would require me to add a lot of tools to my relatively bare tech tool box.<br />
<br />
4. The wife is doing very well. She is a very private person so I won't go into details, but she's a rock star and continues to move towards the top of her field. Needless to say I brag about her to anyone that will listen. <br />
<br />
I'm going to try and post some 2014 goals in a future post. And maybe I'll start posting and discussing PLO hands. I think the blog is a nice way to connect with people, and more importantly it helps add some structure to my personal history. It's nice to be able to look back at posts I made or people's comments and help color my memories or add context to certain events.<br />
<br />
hope any potential readers are doing well, and best of luck to everybody in the coming year.<br />
<br />
Jim aka thepizzlefoshoJim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-43587249635753141952013-08-05T03:07:00.001-04:002013-08-05T03:08:00.996-04:00Good Advice<img alt="" border="0" class="tcattdimgresizer" onload="NcodeImageResizer.createOn(this);" src="http://i.imgur.com/rdjFsyX.jpg" />Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-88453694459258159322013-07-28T20:51:00.000-04:002013-07-28T20:51:00.664-04:00Learning SPSSI'm trying to learn some Stats software. First up is SPSS. So I'm going to use the blog to update progress along with occasional poker thoughts.<br />
<br />
First up is how I'm getting a free two week trial, using this link:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/iwm/web/pick.do?source=SWG-STATS-DESKTOP_TRIAL&S_PKG=CRJK5ML&S_TACT=101KR3HW&lang=en_US">https://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/iwm/web/pick.do?source=SWG-STATS-DESKTOP_TRIAL&S_PKG=CRJK5ML&S_TACT=101KR3HW&lang=en_US</a><br />
<br />
Next up is the first tutorial I'll be using:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/spss/">http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/spss/</a><br />
<br />
If you have any suggestions as to tutorials, books, blogs etc please let me know.<br />
<br />
As for poker, I've been playing exclusively PLO for the last two months. I have had good results for the most part. For my first 115k hands I'm winning at about a 9bb/100 pace. But I definitely have had some tilt issues lately, and I think I'm going to move back down a couple of stakes until I win a few BI after some frustrating losses at 1/2 and 2/4.<br />
<br />
I also played a big sunday tournament today and unfortunately busted with only 115 players left. I had a AJs vs K8s to get a 40bb stack and some room to work, but got outraced and was forced to shove 3bb a few times before getting caught with J3o vs TT. Lost that one, and was out with a cash for about twice my BI. That would have been nice if I hadn't dropped 10 BI playing cash games. Oh well.<br />
<br />
hope everyone is doing well.Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-48253595705215002372013-07-14T17:21:00.001-04:002013-07-14T17:21:08.344-04:00holy crap, I made a posthttp://www.blackbeltpoker.com/blogs/read/4330163/badbeat/Failure-to-Engage/<br />
<br />
really enjoyed this post by Mr. Channing. responded on 2p2 with this thought:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I'm a young professional (for almost 7 years now) who plays 99.99999% of
my hands online, and I 100% agree with everything Neil said in that
post. Real pros rarely talk the game at the table (frankly they usually
prefer that others don't know that they're pros) and smart players
engage their opponents in open and friendly conversation. Not only does
it make for a more profitable game, but it makes for a more enjoyable
game. Plus the guy that may not know how to balance his preflop
raise/4b range might actually be super intelligent and accomplished and
just plays for fun. Maybe he has some unique insight into life or
business that might be valuable to you. or maybe he has a boatload of
money that he wants to lose at poker if he could just find a fun table.
Either way you're better off trying to be a open-minded, humble,
socially engaged competitor than the type of *******s that Neil
described in his post.</i>
<i><br />
My guess is that most of the people that act in such a way are not, nor
have ever been, true professionals. My guess is they're also probably
pretty immature, and should try and figure some things out. That guy
staking them to 1k donkaments may not be around forever and they might
need to find a job. Probably wouldn't hurt to learn how to network.</i>
<i><br />
good work Mr. Channing.
</i></blockquote>
<br />
Will try to post more in the future. Mostly playing PLO these days. Hope everyone that occasionally clicks on this blog is doing well in life and in poker. <br />
<br />
best,<br />
<br />
Jim Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-25255845463634390402012-11-08T13:49:00.000-05:002012-11-08T13:49:01.770-05:00can finally see my FTP infogot an account audit through their site even though I obviously can't play and my balance is zero thanks to the DOJ deal. <br />
<br />
final numbers:<br />
<br />
cash: $65,616.37<br />
uncleared bonus: $4,080.00<br />
ftp points: 264,952.01 (value $1,059.80)<br />
ironman medals: unknown<br />
mid year bonus: unknown<br />
<br />
known value of account: $70,756.17<br />
<br />
I'd guess my ironman medals and mid year bonus would have added at least another 1k on top of that if not more.<br />
<br />
pretty tilting to see that stuff and no how different the last year might have been in terms of earning potential. I hope everybody that stole my cash enjoyed it. Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-10067199412242913002012-11-06T10:32:00.001-05:002012-11-06T10:32:52.807-05:00before I finish last postFirst read this blog (it's in my blogroll but here is the link): <a href="http://zephendrix.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/ben-sulsky-sauce123-and-the-pokerstars-all-star-showdown/">http://zephendrix.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/ben-sulsky-sauce123-and-the-pokerstars-all-star-showdown/</a><br />
<br />
Second, it was really nice to see this quote below of sauce talking about playing long poker sessions:<br />
<em></em><br />
<em><blockquote class="tr_bq">
do any of you guys remember the feeling you had taking the SATs? I remember being so insanely focused for those 3 hours or w/e, that after it was over i was in a sort of daze, almost hungover. i think high level poker (at least when im playing my A game) is a lot like that, except it’s everyday, and it’s as much as 20 hours straight. in some ways that sounds horrible (so much effort!) but in other ways it’s kinda great. first, because poker is a lot of fun, and the SATs are balls. and second, doing this sort of intense focusing day in and day out for years just has flat out made me a smarter and more effective person. it’s hard for privileged white kids with hippy parents (like me) to learn discipline, and i think poker has helped out a lot.</blockquote>
</em><br />
<em></em><br />
For years this is the comparison (I tend to use finals in college instead of he SATs as I think they required more studying and were more intense) that I've used when trying to describe to people what poker is like. Everyone wants to focus on the flexible schedule and the light hours, and I think it's a surprise to most people the intensity of focus and thought that it requires day in and day out. It can be very draining and I often find myself having trouble sleeping, or rambling when talking to people after long sessions.<br />
<br />
Granted for Sauce high level poker is probably a step or two up from me (obviously in stakes but imo clearly in skill as well) but I think the principles of the comment still apply.<br />
<br />
anyway the whole blog post is interesting, and the thread is also pretty good although obviously with a much higher static to noise ratio.<br />
<br />
will be back to finish the last post later this week. Today is a grind day, also keeping tabs on the election.<br />
<br />
later<br />
<br />
jim<br />
<em></em>Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-37632023224257943552012-11-02T17:46:00.000-04:002012-11-02T17:46:17.450-04:00When to take the WIN, and thinking about the year to dateToday I had planned to play for about 6 hours, but 3 in I decided to call it a session. I was running about 2 BI under expectation, was getting coolered quite a bit, and definitely missed some value bets. But I had managed to win about 4 buy-ins and for the first time all week I felt good about my game. I'm not sure that I was playing drastically better today than I had for the 21k hands I had played earlier in the week, but I finally had won some cash and I needed the mental boost.<br />
<br />
Poker can beat you down. This year has been a trial. Cash flow not what it used to be due to Black Friday and FTP stealing the vast majority of my bankroll, I was already under the gun so to speak in terms of stress. It took a lot of work just to get a bankroll back, and to get playing again on different sites. After all of that I had eaten through a good portion of my savings. And then the run bad started. It began last fall and was definitely a combination or running bad range vs range as well as being under EV. But I managed to win some money just about every month thanks to RB and bonuses so I wasn't sweating it too much. But then things started to get ugly in January of this year. I simply could not win, and I was running multiple buy-ins under expectation every second. Combine this with a volunteer position I took on a Division III college baseball staff, and suddenly I could barely stomache playing. At this point in the year I was about 80 BI under EV and wasn't sure if I would ever win big again.<br />
<br />
The run bad continued at the tables, but I was trying to grind it out when I could. Then it extended to my real life. At the beginning of April of last year I accidentally stabbed myself in my right palm. The story itself is both frightening and funny, but I'll stick to the results. I severed the flexor tendon that bends my pinky, knicked an artery, and did mild nerve damage. It took surgery to repair my hand, and then 6-8 weeks of rehab before I was able to use it again. Everything is back to normal now, but during that time I basically was one handed and it was the hand I don't use to play poker.<br />
<br />
In order to be able to play and try and make money for that month, and May I decided to try and 4 table PLO at lower stakes. I figured that my slower mouse movements would match with my poorer understanding of the game and need for more time to think about decisions. Eventually I started to think I had a better handle on the game, and my left hand was getting very proficient with the mouse so I found myself frequently 8 tabling. Unfortunately I was overestimating my knowledge of PLO and underestimating the variance. My breakeven to slightly winning PLO game quickly took a nosedive and I found myself losing, and losing frequently. I ended up running about 35 BI under EV for my PLO play, but had I run at EV I would have still been a slightly losing player. At this point I was at an all time poker low. Using the wrong, hand, playing the wrong game, and still losing. I'd been losing or breaking even for nearly 5 months.<br />
<br />
Thankfully I budgeted for crises because (although not dire or life threatening) this was certainly my first crisis as a pro. I decided to give myself two more months to work out of the funk. I had my hand back, I'd go back to my bread and butter game (NLHE) and I'd rededicate myself. If I couldn't book a reasonable winning month with new focus and new rules for sessions I'd polish off the resume and move on. <br />
<br />
then things started to change...<br />
<br />
TO BE CONTINUED.Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-88808145251669584002012-09-08T02:55:00.002-04:002012-09-08T02:55:42.898-04:00you can't hold me down variance!8.5 buy-ins under EV today and still managed to win 5. Still about 85 BI under EV for the year (not uncluding the 40 or so from PLO) but can't complain because I'm managing to win.<br />
<br />
Played close to 30k hands already for the month. Pretty wiped but still need to get a few thousand hands in each day this weekend. By Sunday the 9th I need to be pretty close to 40k hands to reach my goal of 130k for the month. Hopefully I can keep plugging away.<br />
<br />
I'm exhausted. going to eat a snack and pass out.<br />
<br />
gl to everyone at the tables.<br />
<br />
jimJim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-48993673659315208162012-08-31T22:02:00.000-04:002012-08-31T22:02:18.639-04:00updateprobably calling it a night a little shy of the goal. I just played for probably 6 hours straight with at least 9 tables going at all times. I would say at best I played my B game, which is disappointing, but the games were great and I ran pretty well so I had a nice session.<br />
<br />
finally tally: 4,950 hands +10 buy-ins. The good news is most of my good running any playing game at the higher of the two stakes I played, so I came pretty close to my goal monetarily.<br />
<br />
I definitely made some really really spewy stupid plays that probably cost me +5-6 buy-ins. Just awful play. Don't know why but sometimes I just try to take ridiculous lines when I think people aren't repping much and just try to blow them off the pot. Of course just because they aren't repping much doesn't mean they don't have the nuts a bunch. Plus I'll do ridiculous stuff like river the 4th nuts, c/r a villain saying to myself if he shoves I have to fold because he's never going to rebluff in this spot and is never going to shove worse, and then I call it off and of course villain has the 2nd nuts. Sometimes I just need to not try to get max value all of the time, especially considering the stakes I'm playing where players just aren't putting me on enough bluffs and aren't hero-calling often enough.<br />
<br />
that was kind of an incoherent bit of rambling, but that's what 6 straight hours of poker will do to your mind.<br />
<br />
later<br />
<br />
jimJim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-8828177930251238852012-08-31T17:13:00.002-04:002012-08-31T17:13:45.554-04:00update1411 hands down, <br />
<br />
up 2 BI<br />
<br />
taking a pee break.Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-39747485895961303652012-08-31T15:37:00.001-04:002012-08-31T15:37:44.012-04:00and now for something completely differentI'm going golfing at about 6:30AM tomorrow (tee time is around 8:10) so I'm going to try something a little different than usual. I'm going to start a session now, and my goal is to play until I've won 14 buy-ins (allowing for small breaks when needed) or until i go golfing. Yeah I might pull an all nighter. <br />
<br />
I'd like to finish a really good month with a bang, and this could be fun.<br />
<br />
I'll try to live blog results as I go. Probably just total hands and number of buy-ins won. I'll be working very hard to stick to my rules from the last few weeks. And I'm hoping that with a strong marathon push I can get close to a 100k hands for he month. I've set a personal goal of 125k hands for next month, so that would make for a crazy back to back grinding time period for me.<br />
<br />
wish me luck. I'll probably need it.<br />
<br />
JimJim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-32605687023942083122012-08-29T17:10:00.001-04:002012-08-29T17:10:56.582-04:00sigh tiltI just finished a session where for 2.5 hours I played really really solid poker. I took great notes, I focused, and I made smart plays against my opponents. I wasn't really getting hit by the deck, but I managed to get up 4 buy-ins and really felt good about my play. then I just start playing like shit and give 5 back. I starts with a reg rivering a 4 outer on me and then I know I shouldn't value bet, but i do because I have a boat, and so I bet tiny trying to get calls from trips and flushes. And of course he shoves, and I know he isn't capable of bluffing and all of the better boats are in his range for playing that way, but I just can't fold. so I throw away 60bb doing that shit. <br />
<br />
Then I c/r a LAG with NFD+gutter on a paired board when he has trips, when I should have just c/c'd the flop because I know he doesn't value bet thin or barrel so I actually had SD value against his bet once and give up plan. So I throw away another 60bb when I c/r him and have to call it off. And he has a blocker to my gutshot so I only have 25% there. fuck.<br />
<br />
Then I try a stupid play where I flat a LAGs 3bet in the BB with KQs even though I should cold 4bet or fold it. He has an extremely polarized 3bet range, and also just doesn't bluff much. I'm tilting and instead of just folding preflop like I know I should I make a stupid cold call trying to get all hoodrat and shit. Of course he has KK and we get a Khigh flop and I stack off for 120bb. so fucking stupid. <br />
<br />
lastly some nit 3bets me and I know his 3bet range is like KK+ and the rest bluffs so I go for the 4bet because he folds his 3bet like 70% of the time. But he flats and then on a Q9x flop he checks back meaning he either has QQ, KK or AA and is trying to induce because he knows I can't resist. Instead of just giving up on the pot like I should I turn a gutter and bet like half pot hoping to fold out JJ or AK and he just jams in my face and I sigh and fold. there goes another 50bb. So fucking stupid.<br />
<br />
after that I just quit the session because I was so disgusted with my awful play. Just totally weak minded and unfocused. If you're not going to give it your best effort for the entirety of your session you might as well set a time limit and just quit at that point. The fact that I couldn't remain focused for 3 fucking hours today is just so pitiful. Two and a half hours and I start dicking around. THE GAME IS NOT ABOUT RUNNING THE STREETS AND TRYING TO EMBARASS OTHER PROS!!!!! IT'S ABOUT MAKING MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br />
<br />
thats all.<br />
<br />
other than that it's been a very good month so far. hopefully I can get my head out of my ass and finish strong.<br />
<br />Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-54697846806816905262012-08-19T23:42:00.001-04:002012-08-19T23:42:17.860-04:00day 7, week 1 recapfirst the stats:<br />
<ul>
<li>24,000 hands</li>
<li>34 hours of poker played</li>
<li>winrate = 16bb/100 hands (EV adjusted 13.5bb/100 hands)</li>
<li>won just shy of 40 buy ins based on average stake size</li>
</ul>
Overall a great week at the tables, made better by the poker gods giving me some run-good. I did miss my average hands per day goal by 4k hands which is pretty disappointing. I think the biggest problem with keeping that goal is that I typically won't play more than 4k hands in a day if the tables aren't good, and I think I'll just wait for the weekend to make up the hands. But then the weekend comes and my wife is home and I like to take some time away from the game to socialize with her and friends. And in general I find it difficult to get in 5-6k hands in a day if I'm not dedicating my whole day to poker. That's usually two 3 hour sessions, and it's hard to play two sessions in one day and not be brain fried by the end of the day.<br />
<br />
When it comes to my rules I think I did very well at not playing more than 12 tables and making sure I was taking notes and not auto-piloting. I did a very poor job of session reviews in that I only sporadically looked at a few hands. I did watch several videos, and read a lot of strat threads. (I often type out very detailed responses to strat threads on 2p2 and then just before hitting post I delete everything I've written. It's mostly information protection. I just don't think pros are going to feel comfortable sharing info the way they used to until things change in terms of global legislation and economy and the games get better.) I also avoided playing too many cash tables when playing tournaments, but I primarily succeeded there by only one tabling a sunday tournament today. I normally play 4-6 tournaments on sunday but I only played one today so I typically had 10-11 cash tables up while I was in it.<br />
<br />
I also avoided reg filled tables unless there was an open seat, although I started lots of games by playing HU. Lastly I worked hard on bet sizing. I've tried several different things with bet sizing and sizing for future streets with different parts of my range and based on my preflop range. My mind is constantly changing about what is the most effective way to size vs regs. I'm not going to type up all of my thoughts in here, but in general I think it's important to try different things against different regs and see how they respond. If you don't get to showdown you can't no for sure whether or not their reaction was honest or a bluff, but if you notice that player doesn't seem to change frequencies as you change bet sizes then you should respond in a way to exploit that lack of adjustment. I think I was making some bad default sizes against regs earlier this year and it was causing me to leave money on the table.<br />
<br />
overall I think the week was a huge success, and now the challenge is to keep it going for 7 more days. I'd really really like to hit 28,000 hands for this week, so I'd best get a good start on it tomorrow. I think the key is that everyday that I feel fresh and focused I need to shoot for 5k hands and not 4k.<br />
<br />
hope everyone else is having a great August. gl at the tables.<br />
<br />
Jim<br />
<br />
<br />
Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-52982006796778202252012-08-17T19:29:00.001-04:002012-08-17T19:29:50.273-04:00day 5 quick update4500 hands today, so still a little behind 4k hands per day pace. I've played 18700 for the week so I'm 1.3k hands behind the pace I wanted to set. Hopefully I can get in 5k each day over the weekend and stay on pace.<br />
<br />
Heading out to meet some friends for dinner and drinks. should be fun. I need the break. My brain is fried from playing a nearly 7 hour session this afternoon. Until the last hour I think I was playing really well. Taking great notes, making great decisions. Late in the session I think I got a little laggy and flop happy. I wasn't playing bad, and still made some money, I just definitely left some on the table with my spewy play.<br />
<br />
The goals and rules is still playing out very well though. Feel great about my play and have had consistently excellent results this week. A lot of that is obviously due to run good (thanks again poker gods), but playing your best and giving it your greatest attention never hurts.<br />
<br />
hope everyone has a nice friday night.<br />
<br />
jimJim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-84339609574780565572012-08-16T23:28:00.000-04:002012-08-16T23:28:55.015-04:00day 4, running good, need to be playing a little moreNot going to do a full goal by goal breakdown, but I'll cover the big things. Only played more than 12 tables for a few minutes today, otherwise was almost exclusively 12 tabling. Took a lot of notes for the vast majority of my two sessions. Especially my first 3k hand session. The second 1k hands session I should have taken more, but I was at least taking some.<br />
<br />
The new monitor is ridiculous. It's huge, and I can play 12 tables with no overlap which makes taking notes much easier. I did time out a few times at tables where I was getting a little used to scanning 27" worth of screen space for the action.<br />
<br />
I played about 4.1k hands for the day, but I'm a little behind pace now. Goal was 4k hands per day average, and through 4 days I'm only at 14,377. So a 6k hand day tomorrow would get me back on pace. I think I can do that with an early session and an afternoon/evening session. I had to quit a little early tonight because I have to wake up early to do a favor for a friend in the morning.<br />
<br />
I definitely ran well today which turned what would have been a 6 BI day into a nearly 10 BI day. All praise be to the poker gods for that stroke of good fortune. <br />
<br />
that's all I've got for now. I know these blogs aren't really interesting, but they're definitely motivational for me as it keeps me focused and thinking about the game. I highly recommend anyone else that is struggling to step back, think about what factors could be causing their A game to leak into their B or C game and then make some rules. Stick to the rules and set playing time/hand goals to keep yourself working. <br />
<br />
If you want to read more about improving tilt I highly recommend Tommy Angelo's Elements of Poker. The sections where he talks about thinking about and improving on tilt are some of the most valuable poker literature available to the competent and frequent player. And you don't have to be a pro to benefit from it.<br />
<br />
hopefully I can get in 6k hands tomorrow. gl to everybody at the tables.<br />
<br />
jimJim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-51695378541865014422012-08-16T01:41:00.000-04:002012-08-16T01:41:25.218-04:00day 3took the day off. was totally burned out when I woke up this morning, and needed a break. Had a bunch of errands to run and found a great deal on a 27" monitor so decided to take care of some other stuff. Had a nice dinner with the wife, went out for drinks with friends, and still managed to play about 1k hands. Overall a fine day off. <br />
<br />
Will get back at it tomorrow with the new 27" and my 2560x1440 resolution in tow. I can now tile 12 tables pretty easily which is kind of cool and should help with note taking and paying attention to tables. <br />
<br />
day 4 will be a more detailed update.<br />
<br />
later<br />
<br />
jimJim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-40450687584013917032012-08-14T21:25:00.002-04:002012-08-14T21:25:28.856-04:00day 2a review of the day:<br /><br />First my rules for the session:<br /><em>1. 12 tabling
maximum. <br />2. Take notes on opponents throughout the session. Analyze and
refer to notes so that I can develop a plan for the hand.<br />3. Think about
bet-sizing with every decision and have a purpose behind my sizing. Take notes
on opponents reactions to under or over betting.<br />4. Leave tables filled with
other pro grinders if there is no empty seats.<br />5. Do not look at results
until end of session.<br />6. Spend 1 hour doing post-session analysis accompanied
with note taking.<br />7. When playing tournaments limit cash games to 6
tables.</em><br /><br />How I did:<br />1. Successful until late in the day when I was up to 14 tables for awhile. bad habits die hard :(<br />2.
Moderately successful. Session 1 I did a great job. Session two I took almost no notes. Early in the session I was rarely getting to showdown in interesting spots, nor was I seeing much related to my opponents ranges. But by a third of the way into my second session I should have had lots of notes and I had one. Total fail for session two.<br />3. This was great today. Results weren't as good as yesterday mostly because a lot of my bluffs weren't working out. But I think I focused and planned my sizing pretty well most of the time and it worked out well.<br />4. moderately successful. Really did this very well session 1. much less successful session 2 where I drifted into grind mode and didn't take my plan break to reevaluate the tables. The games were also not as good which makes this disappointing.<br />5. FAIL<br />6. Unsuccessful so far.<br />7. not
relevant today.<br /><br /><br />Now for the goals related to volume:<br /><br /><em>-
Play an average of 4000 hands/day from now until the end of september.
</em><br />I played 5350 hands today. So far I've played 9600 hands over two days. So slightly above my goal.<br /><em>- Keep a daily update of progress on
this blog to keep myself focused on this goal. </em><br />CHECK!<br /><br />This was an interesting day. I definitely ran very well in all-in EV, which turned what would have been a small winning day into a pretty decent day. For that I give thanks to the poker gods. And I also felt like I played some pretty bad poker at times during both sessions. It's amazing that I have played millions and millions of hands of hold'em and I still find myself constantly making mistakes. I guess that's a testament to the strength of my opponents on average, and the fallibility of the human mind. It's definitely humbling and frustrating, and can sometimes be motivating.<br />
<br />
Time to take a break. Feel like I've been doing nothing but poker all day and need to get out of the house. Might go out for a beer or something.<br />
<br />
later<br />
<br />
JimJim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859158533144546027.post-27621559832096539382012-08-14T00:19:00.000-04:002012-08-14T00:19:37.307-04:00a review of the day:<br />
<br />
First my rules for the session:<br />
<em>1. 12 tabling
maximum. <br />2. Take notes on opponents throughout the session. Analyze and
refer to notes so that I can develop a plan for the hand.<br />3. Think about
bet-sizing with every decision and have a purpose behind my sizing. Take notes
on opponents reactions to under or over betting.<br />4. Leave tables filled with
other pro grinders if there is no empty seats.<br />5. Do not look at results
until end of session.<br />6. Spend 1 hour doing post-session analysis
accompanied with note taking.<br />7. When playing tournaments limit cash games
to 6 tables.</em><br />
<br />
How I did:<br />
1. Successful. I only found myself 13 tabling once for a short bit, but was mostly playing 10-12 tables.<br />
2. Moderately successful. I was excellent at taking notes on opponents at the beginning of the session until about the first hour of play. I noticed a dramatic drop in note taking during the second hour, and several times had to remind myself to keep taking notes. I think not taking notes is a result of finding myself in a sort of grinding zone. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, when I focus hard on taking notes I make better plays and am more thoughtful about my decisions. This is something I really want to continue as I think it has a huge positive impact on my play.<br />
3. Successful. I think I did a great job of using betsizing to win a lot of pots I normally don't. For the first time in a long time I found myself frequently overbetting the pot and underbetting with a purpose. I also bet in several spots on the river where I previously might not have gotten thin value, and where I might have gone for a SD instead of turning my weak made hand into a bluff. I think playing 12 tables or less helps dramatically with this aspect of my game, and I think it in turn has a huge impact on winrate.<br />
4. Successful. I only grinded a few pro-filled tables and they were mostly FR tables where I feel I have a significant edge on many of the other pros.<br />
5. Unsuccessful. I did well during both of my sessions for the first 30-45 minutes. But within an hour of starting to play I was checking to see if I was up money. Once I checked for he first time it was difficult for me to stop checking to see how much I was up or down. I think this is a really bad habit as constantly checking the cashier removes me from thinking about decisions in the moment. It's symptomatic of a type of tilt that I think we all fight when trying to grind. I also find myself checking to see my all-in EV after a suckout. In that case I think I find that it prevents me from tilting as I remain calm and focused if I see that my EV line is solid indicating +EV play. However the ultimate goal would be to not focus on either of these things as ideally I would be able to make my decisions based purely on greatest value and not let emotions or recent history cloud my judgement.<br />
6. Unsuccessful so far. I haven't had the time to review my session. I'm hoping to do it in the morning during breakfast.<br />
7. not relevant today.<br />
<br />
<br />
Now for the goals related to volume:<br />
<br />
<em>- Play an
average of 4000 hands/day from now until the end of september. </em><br />
I played 4300 hands today.<br />
<em>- Keep a
daily update of progress on this blog to keep myself focused on this goal. </em><br />
CHECK!<br />
<br />
I'm not going to post a graph but I wanted to add that this was simply some of the best poker I've played all month. Forcing myself to take notes, focus on each decision, and not go into a mass-table robotic grind resulted in a really successful day. I feel like I won a lot of pots I would have lost on other days and saved money in quite a few spots. I'm sure part of my success was running good (although I ran a few BI under EV in all-in situations) but I also feel like I fixed a lot of the problems that I was experiencing yesterday during my long and very unsuccessful session. It was a very motivating day overall. Hopefully keeping a progress report on this blog will help maintain this level of focus and result in continued A game play for many hands to come.Jim Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07810570826873292745noreply@blogger.com0