Joined: May '13
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 2219
Been playing freerolls this past week as I cannot deposit on 888 until Tuesday. Don't know if it is variance or me being basically card dead but I have been on a bad boring run all week. Nothing to get angry or anything about though but a nice bankroll start would be nice.
Got that big living the dream 888freeroll so hopefully I luck changes in that.
Speaking of luck, after three years of playing I finally hit my first ever Royal Flush today and in a freeroll of all things:
Joined: May '13
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 2219
Had a good day overall in freerolls. Cashed in two pokerstars 20fpp bronze star MTT's netting myself $1.20 and I have just turned it into $2.50 so far on Zoom.
I also jut finished 301/10000 people in the 888 Living the dream freeroll and netted myself $1.50 just one place away from an extra 25 cents. I played a blinder but as usual once I hit the money I go card dead and get put on tables with mega stacks so I just had to wait for a decent hand to push. Pushed my last 25k and could have been up to 60k with AQo but the biggest stack in the tournament called with 45o and of course hit's two pair. I really am unlucky with coin flips as I always lose, especially deep in a MTT.
No matter maybe one day, but I have two tiny 1BI bankrolls to play with and see if I can grind them until something.
ok, this hand - You should probably fold pre-flop, small PPs UTG are extremely difficult hands to play profitably.. If you have tracking software, check all your small PPs played from UTG and I'd be extremely surprised if you saw a profit.. That aside, it's not a terrible call, it's just marginal and generally leaning slightly on the -EV side, the exceptions are generally extremely table-dynamic/villian specific (i.e; you have a good reason to believe it's profitable vs the standard negative expectation of such a call).
But moving on:
You need to play boards like this with a view of pot-control, you flopped a set, which is great, but the board is extremely connected, in fact- someone could have even flopped a straight, holding 67. As well as the danger of straights, it's an extremely wet board for another reason; flushes.. So immediately, if you flop a set on a board with great straight AND flush potential - the aim is to get to show-down (folding your set is a weak play) and pay as little as possible. Basically- you want to essentially check/call the whole way through, the only reason to alter into a raising pattern is if you improve to a full house / quads.
Instead, on the flop, you put in a huge raise (and get calls).. OK -not the worst play, it's a fairly wet board, you have a strong hand, you want to make people PAY to see the turn, ok, fine.
Turn comes and completes another straight and a MUCH more dangerous one too: 10J is a VERY commonly played hand.. At this stage, you basically want to get to the river without putting anything else into the middle.. Pot-Control should be the only guiding factor at this stage, you have show-down value, but you're facing a very dangerous board. Basically -you want to check it through and hope you get away with it. If somoene puts in a decent bet, then you need to make a tough decision about either calling or folding.
Instead-you rapidly inflate the pot as much as possible. This is the exact opposite of what you need to be doing.
Yes, you were unlucky to flop a set and lose to a better hand.. And, almost everyone in this situation would also lose at the river.. The difference is, playing the hand correctly still would have lead to losing the hand, but it shouldn't have cost you that much.. Pot-Control is key in this hand and your lack of pot-control is the reason you lost a lot instead of a little. I'm guessing you must have been on tilt.
Posted by Phisix: ------------ And now here comes the b******t. Fucking furious. It's a constant thing against me lately. Play and do well and the constant shite.
okay... seeing a pattern here... Once again, unlucky, but why that huge bet? The idea of huge hands like AA/KK is to HOPEFULLY manage to get in a large amount of your stack pre-flop (ideally, you raise, then get 3bet and hopefully you can 4bet, etc). However, if you end up seeing a flop, with AA/KK and the pot is small.. then once again, you need to exercise pot-control.. You need to consider- why would someone who has only put in a few BBs pre-flop / on the flop want to get the rest of their stack in, if they only have a pair? Basically by raising a huge amount, you pretty much ensure that all the hands you beat, fold and all the hands the beat you, call..
You need to think about the villains hand, as well as your own.. Yes - you have a strong hand - but when you make a bet, you have to ask "What is a good amount to bet, that would entice people with a weaker hand to call?" and when you decide on a bet amount, consider this "If I had a hand, worse than a pair of kings, would I call this bet?" If the answer is 'no', then it's a bad bet, you're essentially turning a monster hand (KK) into a bluff. It's like you're daring the villain to have a better hand, or more to the point, you're doing it in spite of your own good hand.
There's nothing wrong with getting it all in, on the flop, or turn, with ONLY a pair of KK or AA, but only if the play/pot calls for it.. If you've got in a third of your stack pre-flop for example, then there's no issue stacking-off on the flop with KK.. But if you only manage to get in a normal raise pre-flop, then you need to consider that people aren't going to go all-in with worse than a pair, because the pot-odds aren't there.
Posted by Phisix:
#Game No : 598039481 ***** 888poker Snap PokerHand History for Game 598039481 ***** $0.01/$0.02 Blinds No Limit Holdem - *** Table Casoria 6 Max (Real Money) Seat 1 is the button Total number of players : 6 Seat 1: PokerCPT ( $3.17 ) Seat 2: Phisix ( $2.91 ) Seat 4: grabchipsAA ( $2.41 ) Seat 6: spiritualmpa ( $1.31 ) Seat 7: shel2577 ( $0.33 ) Seat 9: GarethGlo24 ( $2.33 ) Phisix posts small blind [$0.01] grabchipsAA posts big blind [$0.02] ** Dealing down cards ** Dealt to Phisix [ Ac, Ad ] spiritualmpa raises [$0.04] shel2577 calls [$0.04] GarethGlo24 folds PokerCPT folds Phisix raises [$0.19] grabchipsAA folds spiritualmpa calls [$0.16] shel2577 folds ** Dealing flop ** [ 2h, Js, 6c ] Phisix bets [$0.32] spiritualmpa raises [$1.11] Phisix calls [$0.79] ** Dealing turn ** [ 6h ] ** Dealing river ** [ Qs ] ** Summary ** Phisix shows [ Ac, Ad ] spiritualmpa shows [ Qd, Qh ] spiritualmpa collected [ $2.55 ]
Now - this one is really unlucky, but, if you hadn't played the other two hands wrong and lost so much on them, this wouldn't seem so bad..
From what I can see, basically you only think about your own hand and not the villains hand..
My honest advice to you is to learn A) It's okay to fold AA/KK- everyone says 'yeah I know' - but in practice, VERY few people actually have the discipline to lay-down these hands. Or to lay down sets- it's really hard to do.
But - folding big hands isn't really the issue - they're generally marginal folds anyhow and in most cases where it is correct to fold AA/KK or a set, it's only marginally better, so it's not a huge deal.
But the real problem I see is that you don't exercise pot-control. Stacking-off on AA/KK is fantastic, if you can build the right kind of pot / action.. But in many situations, you need to understand that with AA/KK you'll probably only win a small amount of money, trying to FORCE a different result just ends in disaster. Because you'll find, if you're over-betting these hands, most times villains are folding and you're losing equity, because you could have made some smaller bets and won a little bit more.. And then, even worse - these the times they're NOT folding to your over-bets and that is because they have you beat.
So basically, when you DO have the best hand, you're probably not extracting the most value, because you're betting too much and getting people to fold their marginal holdings, instead of extracting a little bit more value. And when you DON'T have the best hand, you're losing the MAXIMUM amount, because you're over-playing your hand..
You probably wonder why it seems like every time you play a big pot with AA/KK you lose, its because you're playing too many big pots with these hands.. The reality is, like with most other hands, it's rarely the right play to go allin.. Most times with AA/KK you'll probably just win a tiny amount - for example a huge percentage of the time, you'll probably take down the pot pre-flop, because people fold to 3bets, etc. And then - the times you do see a flop, its most likely because you opened and everyone just called, so you see a flop, but the pot is small, in which case - you should be trying to keep it small and get to show-down, because you have great show down value.
It's only the rare occasion, where you get AA and someone else happens to have AK and maybe you had AA a couple hands earlier and bet big and now you're doign it again and the person with AK thinks you're full of it and keeps raising you and then BAM - you end up getting your whole stack in and you stack them AA vs AK... but those situations are rare.. You're trying to force them and you're paying dearly.
Joined: May '13
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 2219
Thanks for the post it's appreciated and was good advice. Your right with the pot control, I need to learn how to do it. I usually bet big as I get scared of draws and stuff. It just goes to show I still have a million years to go in this game.
Joined: Mar '09
Location: Greece
Age: 47 (F)
Posts: 14136
Have you taken any good breaks lately to calm down and rethink your strategy? Also which pot control you ae taling about. The one you smoke, or the one you bet ? Its is a big difference And if you lose control in both of them at the same time, results can be very bad
Posted by Mober: Have you taken any good breaks lately to calm down and rethink your strategy? Also which pot control you ae taling about. The one you smoke, or the one you bet ? Its is a big difference And if you lose control in both of them at the same time, results can be very bad
Yea how is it going,... Breaks are not bad iff you loosing money,.. Did you wright things down that makes you tilt,.. And put it in the sight of the pc/laptop were you play poker on,... A good thing is to write down what happens when you loose a hand... Do you shout at the player that doesnt hear you.. You curse?? Ore something else.... Take a note and if something of the list happens a few times to quit,'
Joined: May '13
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 2219
Very deep in tonight's 888 iron freeroll and there is 22 people left I have 270k chips and get pocket sixes on the button and the blinds are 25k/35k. 4 people limp before me and three of them have 80k or lower chips and the fourth is the tournament chip leader with 400k+. I pushed hoping to either get everyone to fold(If they call I would still have three quarters of my stack left and why would the big stack risk his lead by calling half his chips.)
They all end up calling and I am about to come second after the lowest stack hits a higher card on the turn(I would still have made like 80k profit) and the stack leader hits a river straight with his A9.(Once again I get buggered over by a large stack miracle hitting) but the question I want to ask is: was my pushing of 66 pre flop the right decision or should I have just limped with them?
I keep doing well in freerolls lately but usually I get blinded out once I reach the money or go even deeper, and when I have to push I always lose to the big stacks. I know it is variance and they have me covered 100% but this keeps happening but I know why, it is just frustrating as I truly believed I could reach the final table this time, which I have not for quite a while.
------------ Robbed on the river once again and of course by someone with a massive amount of money. I know I was OOP but Q9s is my favorite hand and it was a cheap enough call. Knew I was going to lose it even though I flopped a straight but expected the other guy to hit a river higher flush. Variance against me once again but no matter.
------------ But on the positive side of things I just about cashed in a 20fpp bronzestar MTT with my last 200 chips and just turned the 90 cents into $2.82 so I have some cash to play with. I won't get happy yet as I turned 90 cents the other day to $4.50 in 20 minutes but lost it all in the same night. So fingers crossed I can grind it to $10 until I can feel safer at least.
I am also starting to cash quite a lot in freerolls lately even though it is chicken feed money but it all helps. If only I reached that FT in the iron FR earlier I might have been able to win a decent bankroll.
Joined: May '13
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 2219
Had a great day of poker. I lost my $5 on Pokerstars that I won from a freeroll and grinded yesterday but I also cashed in a Partpoker freeroll and have since turned that into just over $5. I have a few missions that should boost my bankroll a bit more as well as slowly grinding.
I also deposited $8 to 888 and ran hot in a few sessions and my bankroll stands on $25 at the moment and I am 20 points away from reaching 1000 for a free $10 booster if I so wish and I have 15 points of a $5 to unlock so that will be another nice boost.
Things going great today and I have an interview for my first place of my own in a few years tomorrow so I could be in an even more better mood if that happens. Both of these bankrolls will help towards things for the place if I get it and can stick to not tilting everything away on bigger stakes.
Joined: Nov '12
Location: Canada
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 4675
G'day mate
Glad to read you had a good session. I just dropped in to wish you well and say hi keep up the good work and stay positive have a great day and let us hope you do well this weekend. wishing you all the best be cool
Joined: May '13
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 2219
Not played in a few days but had another great night on 888 last night winning $25 for the night and ending my session on $50. I logged on today to find I had received a $5 bonus but the day has been full of variance, coolers and my stupidity. Been on a yo-yo sort of day and was getting back into the groove when I was nearly back to $40 and flopped a set of 8's with my pocket 8s. Other guy flopped a set of J's with his pocket J's so I am now back down to $29 instead of being back evens.. Going to leave it for an hour, but I do have a back up $10 in my rewards if I need it but wanted to get back to $50 before I did that. See how tonight's session goes, hopefully things change for me.
Over on Party Poker every is going well still although I am grinding at a very slow place as well as tackling the missions to eventually boost my bankroll. Not being able to multi table is annoying but I can DoN SNG's if it bores me.
I also realized I had 450 status points on Ladbrokes so I could enter those under 100 small man freerolls again and managed to come second in the first one netting myself a nice ten euros(£7.86) so I now have three bankrolls to build up, but like Party Poker, the Ladbrokes bankroll will be taken slowly for now so I can be a nit at BRM. I had two other ones to try and boost my new bankroll but both were full of card dead and coolers so that was that.
888: $29:54 PP: $10.19 Laddys: £7.86
------------ Look at this hand. Luck and a set up. I flopped the nuts but funny how it gave someone the exact cards he needed to think that he had the nuts. Not complaining though as I took a little stab at 10NL quickly.
Joined: May '13
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 2219
Just had the worst day for poker ever. Been playing well but variance is on my back like a dog on heat. Getting my money in good and always losing. Players always chasing and hitting an over pair, flush hits galore, especially when I get my money in. I have not been able to make fair money today except once where I got back evens but the old I have KK and someone HAS to have AA came along and you know the story. This is happened all day long. I have had lots of breaks too.
Tilted a bit as well at one point which I should have not done and I ended up back at $6...a nice whopping $60 loss today and must have yo-yo'd between $200 or more winning and losing.
I have had to go back down to 2NL and had one table of 5NL open which I had been doing well on until this b******t. Always a chaser hitting what he needs regardless:
should have finished over $10 but now I am on $8.75. I should get a $5 bonus too for status points tomorrow which will help but right now I am furious at what has happened to me today variance wise and me tilting to a higher stake like an idiot. I left after that beat about.
Must be 888 as I won a few $ on party poker from some SNG's.
Cries
------------ Phew. Glad I had the sense to stop playing yesterday after winning a few $ back. Just logged on and I was giving a $10 bonus to bring me back up to $18. You can make $5 a day if you make 10 status points, so I must have played a lot of money yesterday to make 20 and $10.
I need to take things a little slower today, especially now I am back down to 2NL. If I did not tilt jump I would have had $40 left but at least I had the sense to leave before I wen't busto. I still need to work on when to stop playing.
Even though a big loss I am still looking good on all three bankrolls.
Joined: Mar '09
Location: Greece
Age: 47 (F)
Posts: 14136
From what i see you have made a progress. You decided to stop playing before hitting that 0 again and that is something good. If you see your day is going bad and you are a bit frustrated just stop and do something else besides poker, to take your mind of it. Good luck on your continuous battle
Joined: May '13
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 2219
I should have left when I got back to $62 tbh. The whole day it was bad variance but it was not big losses just could not have a hand hold up or kept being sucked out on ect. Then I thought variance had shifted back until the KK vs AA. Then the night session continued and of course tilt and frustration reared its ugly head. I was thinking of leaving 888 alone for the rest of the day as it was obvious things were against me but I am alive and keep learning.
Should have just focused on Ladbrokes and PP since things were fine on those. Took me a week to get to $68 so I can always get back there again if I take things nice and slowly and things work out. As long as I don't go busto I will always have that chance to go robusto.
Joined: Nov '12
Location: Canada
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 4675
G'day mate
Well i stopped in to say hello. Glad you are staying positive. Hope things go your way real soon and you build your bankroll up large. wishing you all the best be cool
Joined: May '13
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 2219
To be fair 888 has usually been good to me so I just need to ride the bad times. If I was a better player I probably would have saved more or do better.
Hows your grind going these days(Apart from your $1000 night win)?
------------ Keep getting people always hitting draws against me when they have like 6 outs, but when I have open ended straight draws and a flush draw I never hit. Last three days this has been happening. Not losing much but gettiing frustrated at the lack of making any profit.
Anyway, the hand above, am I playing this right? Did know feel like he hit a straight.
#Game No : 613066696 ***** 888poker Snap PokerHand History for Game 613066696 ***** $0.02/$0.05 Blinds No Limit Holdem - *** Table Carmen 6 Max (Real Money) Seat 1 is the button Total number of players : 6 Seat 1: REE07 ( $5 ) Seat 2: Phisix ( $7.26 ) Seat 4: Voracious14 ( $5 ) Seat 6: Iluvata3 ( $13.29 ) Seat 7: ignatovxx ( $8.88 ) Seat 9: yrko12 ( $1.02 ) Phisix posts small blind [$0.02] Voracious14 folds Iluvata3 posts big blind [$0.05] ** Dealing down cards ** Dealt to Phisix [ As, Ks ] ignatovxx folds yrko12 folds REE07 folds Phisix raises [$0.13] Iluvata3 calls [$0.10] ** Dealing flop ** [ Kc, 5h, Jd ] Phisix bets [$0.22] Iluvata3 calls [$0.22] ** Dealing turn ** [ 9h ] Phisix bets [$0.55] Iluvata3 calls [$0.55] ** Dealing river ** [ 3d ] Phisix checks Iluvata3 bets [$1.40] Phisix calls [$1.40] ** Summary ** Iluvata3 shows [ Th, Qs ] Phisix mucks [ As, Ks ] Iluvata3 collected [ $4.41 ]
------------ Please, someone tell me I am playing these wrong or not being aggressive enough with my 3 bets and raises as people keep hitting stuff they need to beat me after checks and calls.
Could have check called but didnt not believe someone would have it. Every time theres two cards that flop down theres always a idiot who has that card with a rubbish hand.
Even with all these b******t and losses I am still doing alright and for some funny reason I have not tilted or gone insane with anger yet. perhaps I am too used to b******t and it does not phase me as much.
------------ Looking back at that hand I played it totally wrong. I should have check first then played it different after but then I would not expect someone to have a six, or am I wrong? I was thinking overcards and then a river bluff at first or maybe lower or higher pockets.
feed back on these hands would be nice as I am thinking it's just me playing poor.
------------ FLUSH FLUSH FLUSH FLUSH FUCKING CUNTING FLUSHS LEFT RIGHT AND FUCKING CENTER EVERY DAMN TIME. GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK WITH THEM.
Realized every time I have two pair on the river ITS A FUCKING FLUSH. They chase them or min bet and they will get A FUCKING FLUSH.
Should have folded the last hand but had a fucking nough. Such a action rigged game online poker is. Such a fucking joke. Was up to $22 playing really well and of course s**t as usual. So tireing seeing the same constant things and I still fall for them. Fish and set up sites own my ass.
------------ Going to go super aggressive now on 3 bets as I am not betting enough. They never call though so meh.
------------ Look, no flush for me or no Ace over card. Must be just people against me.
#Game No : 613091691 ***** 888poker Snap PokerHand History for Game 613091691 ***** $0.02/$0.05 Blinds No Limit Holdem - *** Table Carmen 6 Max (Real Money) Seat 1 is the button Total number of players : 6 Seat 1: 2outter ( $9.06 ) Seat 2: zgniteczko30 ( $0.95 ) Seat 4: kkonrad403 ( $3.48 ) Seat 6: ashkanmh ( $9.79 ) Seat 7: doloto525 ( $6.66 ) Seat 9: Phisix ( $3.19 ) zgniteczko30 posts small blind [$0.02] kkonrad403 posts big blind [$0.05] ** Dealing down cards ** Dealt to Phisix [ Ac, 4c ] ashkanmh folds doloto525 raises [$0.20] Phisix calls [$0.20] 2outter folds zgniteczko30 folds kkonrad403 folds ** Dealing flop ** [ 2d, 5c, 7c ] doloto525 bets [$0.47] Phisix calls [$0.47] ** Dealing turn ** [ 9h ] doloto525 bets [$5.99] Phisix calls [$2.52] ** Dealing river ** [ Js ] ** Summary ** doloto525 shows [ Td, Ts ] Phisix shows [ Ac, 4c ] doloto525 collected [ $6.13 ]
Yes I am on tilt and yes it was a bad call but hey they always suck out to me when they have draws when I have a pocket pair. Oh wait its just against me because variance hates me and im a bad player.
Still not down much regardless of all these losses. Cos I am king.
------------ My god I must have sounded like a right moaning girl last night. Hahaha. Not been on a moan like that for a while but I still maintained my play and tilt better than I used to. I actually stopped playing shortly after as I realized I would go busto if I did. I actually managed to finish on $18.45 so a $1 profit even through all of that losing. I guess the advice from Jess about pot limit sank in a bit as I don't stack off or bet everything like I used to.
No free $5 bonus today so I either missed out on getting 10 status points or they have stopped it. I did however get four tickets to the living the dream $5000 freerolls so I can try my hand at those and see if I can get deep again. Perhaps having a day break from 888 Snap cash and having a day on my Party Poker and Ladbrokes bankrolls as 888 is usually my go to site for making money.
As usual whoever reads my rants will get entertained so your welcome.
------------ Been playing for the last hour and for the fourth day in a row everything is still like a yo-yo. I can't win much or lose much without always coming back to break evens. Was up to $21 earlier too. I am thankful though as I would rather be break even then down or busto.
Finally flopped a set but ran into a set of Kings. So frustrated I only get action with a set if it's a cooler against a higher set or someone is chasing and hit's a flush.
No matter, if I keep riding this weird phase things should start evening out sooner or later.
------------ By the way. Does anyone read this thread much or am I just talking to myself half of the time?
------------ Think i'm done with poker for a day or two. It's constanr suckouts and few outs time and time and time again.
Just lost most my bankroll on party playing in a $5 SNG. Called someones all in with AQs against AJs. Guy RIVERS a flush. Yeah not like I have not seen that hundreds of times over these last four days.
Finally get a flush and think I can make some profit finally but hey ho that guy you know MR RIVER comes up again
Joined: Jan '14
Location: Netherlands
Age: 34 (M)
Posts: 508
Posted by Phisix:
By the way. Does anyone read this thread much or am I just talking to myself half of the time?
Well I read it sometimes to see how you're doing, I think there are more who don't say a thing like me but who do read your posts anyway! Tilt can really hit you by all those BS rounds you get, just relax and play your best game, you must win in the end!
Joined: May '13
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 2219
Damn lurkers!!
Not really on tilt. Had to quit though as nothing is going right apart on ladbrokes when I doubled up and more on a cash table this morning. SNAP on 888 is being bad for me and I was an idiot on Party Poker for joining a $2 and $5 SNG. Just a downswing but as long as I don't go busto I am happy.
------------ Busto on 888. Get KK someone always has AA or an Ace. I get AA every cunt folds. Pushed my last 98 cents on pocket 10s and I lost to 85s. Constant b******t all fucking week on that site. Lose after lose after b******t. Was on $68 4 days ago and now on 0.
