Posted by Pitiless: dude, 65 out of 114 is bad I believe for DON's but well you are profiting... I managed to be succesful at DON tables at partypoker without rakeback deal, and they had huge rake... All I can tell you right now is, be patient, and play only pocket aces on DON's, haha xd
Whre do you play DoN's on Party Poker? I would try it too...Are there 3 dolars DoNs? I didnt see them in SnG lobby
Joined: Nov '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 47 (M)
Posts: 2194
I stand by my point that DONs will not be a good place to learn "the game" and improve your skill. If you are not worried about the cash then why not freeroll or just do $1 multi's? OK so the first hour or so can be a fish fest but there is a definate skill involved in seaking then out and exposing them. Much potential profit in the future
I don't realy get the point why I should play freerolls, I think I can learn better poker playing the dons then playing those crapshoots and still make a better profit ... the 1$ mtt's are just not profitable enough to play and at the site I'm playing they just don't offer them (they do offer them but there is nobody playing them). And for the skill part, playing don's profitable is a very different skill then playing cashgames or mtt's or even normal FR sng's ...
I'm playing a 53% win percentage which actually makes me playing break even (rake vs bonus included). Not really content about this result but I hope the numbers will shift to 56 maybe 60% in the very near future . More discipline and less tilt will be the key factors in completing this ...
------------ Latest update ...
Didn't play that much today because I had other things on my head . Decided yesterday that I'm only going to play 4 don's at a time to concentrate more on my game and not just play the cards. My winpercentage is back to 54% (still waaaaay to low, but hey I'm learning and making a (very small) profit.
Still I am very surprised to see so many strong preflop hands being beaten by crap, and I realize that the variance on these tables might be a little to big for me to handle ... so I also decided to play some FR don's (break even for the moment, considering rake).
This weekend I'm not going to play cause I'm off to a gig in england
After this little trip I hope to make some time to search some hands I've played during this week for discussion. Good luck everybody !!
Edited by weakminded (03 September 2010 @ 16:54 GMT)
GAME #3195759458: Texas Hold'em NL Tournament 2010-09-08 12:52:49 Table "Turbo" $10 NLH Double Up, 493335991, 4029631491 (Tournament: "Turbo" $10 NLH Double Up Buy-In: $10+$1) Seat 1: CnoptmeH ($2,650.00 in chips) DEALER Seat 2: ($0.00 in chips) Seat 3: zaki777 ($2,210.00 in chips) Seat 4: ($0.00 in chips) Seat 5: wgt668 ($1,210.00 in chips) Seat 6: Hero ($1,410.00 in chips) Seat 7: ($0.00 in chips) Seat 8: ($0.00 in chips) Seat 9: ($0.00 in chips) Seat 10: timbark70 ($1,520.00 in chips) zaki777: Post SB $20.00 wgt668: Post BB $40.00 *** HOLE CARDS *** Dealt to Hero [CA CK] Hero: Raise (NF) $140.00 timbark70: Fold CnoptmeH: Fold zaki777: Call $120.00 wgt668: Fold *** FLOP *** [H5 DK H9] zaki777: Check Hero: Bet $240.00 zaki777: Call $240.00 *** TURN *** [C3] zaki777: Check Hero: Bet $720.00 zaki777: Raise (NF) $1,830.00 Hero: Allin $310.00 RIVER [ H2] SUMMARY Total pot $3,660.00 Rake $0.00 zaki777: Shows [S5 D5] zaki777: wins $3,660.00
I think I was unlucky hitting that K on the flop because no way I was going to lay that down ... but still you could argue in a don at those blinds maybe I should have checked to the river ... still I think it's almost a certain bust ...
------------ TILT ...
After recieving my bonus for august I began playing very confident and made a very good profit during the morning. Managed to get my bankroll on the level that I said I was going to move up limits and was playing a 56% winrate. So I moved up to the 10$ don's while mixing them with some 5$ don's. Began good and won my first 2 of the day but after a short break I managed to lose 8 in a row (a big chunk from my bankroll) I couldn't win a single flip.
For example 2 times in the same session I flopped a flushdraw on an otherwise dry board (no pairs for him or me ...) didn't make it and was out of the don (this was at a late stage we're the push/fold fase was on). AK got cracked with KQ and I ran into some bigger hands.(like the one above).
It doesn't seem the tables are harder, they are much tighter and on most occasions there were still 5 or 6 players left when the blinds were 200-400. So playing tighter and chosing my spots more is the message I guess.
Well now I'm back playing the 5$ Don's (had a short taste of the big games ) and I now know that I will need a bigger bankroll in order to move up because it's just not doable otherwhise ...
Edited by weakminded (08 September 2010 @ 13:42 GMT)
Is here anybody who has played the 5$ don's and the 10$ don's turbo SH ... If so, could you tell me what the biggest differences are and what I have to look for playing the 10$ don's? At the moment I'm playing the 5$ don's with a very good profit and really feel like I'm beating the limit, but the 10$ don's just keep crushing me, while I personally don't really feel like I'm playing bad.
for those still interested ... Lost all my profit yesterday playing the 10$ don's so I'm now back at the 5$ don's grinding my way back up again ... was a good lesson for me, not to move up limits to fast and instead of moving up at 40 bi's I'll move up only when I reach 50bi's and have a winrate of at least 56% ...
Joined: May '10
Location: Romania
Age: 32 (M)
Posts: 279
Man that doesn't sound good you're back from wherre you started... Why do you stick only to those DoN's? You could try normal sit&go's or even cash tables to see how it goes. Hope you'll have more luck in the future!
Well as you said supererou, I did get tired of the don's today and I really needed something else so I opened some shorthanded PLO tables and made a profit of 5 bi's in like 300 hands . Ok I will be honest, I got extremely lucky and kept hitting straights, flushes and even won a 3way pot of 45$ holding AsQsAhQh ... made a set of A's on the flop and shipped in the money .
So for tomorrow I'm going to start of playing the don's and if I get tired of them I will again switch to my old love PLO ... instead of just donking my money away like in the past I will set a losing maximum of 2 bi's. If I lose more then 2 bi's playing plo I will quit for the day ... so wish me luck and hopefully tomorrow I can update you guys with another profitable story .
Hey, isnt problem in you? Do you feel comfrotable in 10 dollars DoN's? Because if not, for whatever reasons - fear from losses, it can affect your game in bad way. For me, i would need for example maybe more than 40 BI for moving up - When I start new level, I often dont feel good and have to go down again and accumulate more money on that - then I can play on higher level
Yes I was thinking the same thing, that maybe I was playing with scared money, but when I checked my handhistories I noticed I was playing way too loose. I probably got too greedy and started making mistakes because I tought about the money and not the game ...
Another profitable story:
Played some PLO today, really didn't feel like playing Don's because it's like an endless grind against the rake so maybe for next week. Managed to get 8,5 bi's yesterday and today so I'm very pleased with that result. I don't expect this to happen every day but it's a good boost to my bankroll . Here again a very fun hand ...
it was a pot of 39$ and it would take me 8 wins to get that kind of money from don's still I think the don's are a much more stable manner to grow your bankroll (also considering the bonus). If I manage to become a winning player at the 10$ don's togheter with the bonus would mean a good income so I'm still going to try beating the don's but combine them with some cashtables when I get bored or just need a break .
Ok so it looks like I'm in an upswing at the moment ... I won almost 11 Bi's in under 800 hands playing plo10. You don't hear me complaining but I still have to keep in mind that the downswing may follow quickly. Since I've been winning at such rate I've decided to keep playing plo untill I get bored again and then switch back to the don's. Still I would like to ask you guys / girls, how you stay focused playing longer sessions ?? Do you open extra tables, watch a movie on the side, just grind it out or do you just stop playing?
------------ lucky maniacs
Started the day playing 3 tables plo10 ... session didn't start that great and made some stupid mistakes trying to chase the flushdraws. I got myself a coffee and started again, within 200 hands I was up 2 bi's and really felt like I was back playing my A game.
Then this guy on the left of me on one of the tables started playing almost EVERY hand, and the problem was ... he was winning every single one of them . On my stats I saw he was playing 85/31 which even for plo is playing like a crazy maniac. I felt great because I know I just had to wait for a monster hand and stack him off and since I was sitting at the table with 200bb's I felt even better.
At one moment he was sitting with more then 500bb's and me having 250bb's at the table and I found myself having middle set heads up ... I didn't put in all my money in right away and started betting 3/4 of the pot, he just called me of hitting a gut shot on the river, I was left with 110bb's. After he again played almost every hand were he kept on hitting sets, flushes, straights, he was sitting at the table with 750bb's. I picked up AA47, raised preflop and he re-raised me, I was putting him on KKxx or QQxx (was him 3bet with this kind of hands) flop came 56T rainbow, so I bet pot he raises me all in, I've seen him shove with nothing so I'm glad to call him with an overpair and an open ended draw, he shows TT32 ... or something like that, he wins the pot and at that moment he's having 900bb's.
after that hand he managed to flop 4 more sets !!!! in only 5 hands and every time somebody else had a underset or top two pair so he gets paid off every single time. I left the table losing 1,5bi (not to much luckely) and I wondered, how is it some people are so freaking lucky sometimes ???
Oh well, I'm taking a break, and maybe later today I'm going back continuing my "upswing".
Edited by weakminded (14 September 2010 @ 12:47 GMT)
Joined: Sep '10
Location: United States
Age: 52 (M)
Posts: 62
Well i wish you luck at improving your game. A strict Bankroll management system must be used. knowing your limits, and your opponents Don's/Donks is a big part of winning, or losing it all...
Avoid Playing to much, it will make more room for bad beats and tilting... A happy Medium i guess.
. More discipline and less tilt will be the key factors in completing this ...
. Decided yesterday that I'm only going to play 4 don's at a time to concentrate more on my game and not just play the cards. My winpercentage is back to 54% (still waaaaay to low, but hey I'm learning and making a (very small) profit. 
. Ok I will be honest, I got extremely lucky and kept hitting straights, flushes and even won a 3way pot of 45$ holding AsQsAhQh ... made a set of A's on the flop and shipped in the money 
. On my stats I saw he was playing 85/31 which even for plo is playing like a crazy maniac. I felt great because I know I just had to wait for a monster hand and stack him off and since I was sitting at the table with 200bb's I felt even better.
