Heads Up Cash

So I was looking at my PokerTracker database like always just fooling around with it.

And I realised my heads up cash for 50NL was negative 20 dollars on Full Tilt. And so I decided to play a few hands and get it back into the green.

What I realised was having played and thought about the game so much I have improved quite a lot over the past 2-3 weeks and when I rocked up the tables I felt so good at handreading, heads up was actually easy.
















The last hand where my showdown plummets was a hand where I got gutterballed which explains the drastic fall.

Then after this heads up session I went on to play some 6-max on Stars and after playing the heads up games I felt refreshed and was able to handread amazingly.

I feel like my game has changed so much over these past 2-3 weeks. Especially handreading and winning the non-showdowns.

Growing as a poker player?

Karma

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com



CO ($53.60)

Hero (Button) ($50)

SB ($46.20)

BB ($40)

UTG ($118.50)

MP ($63.15)



Preflop: Hero is Button with A, A

1 fold, MP bets $1.75, 1 fold, Hero raises to $6, 1 fold, BB raises to $15.25, 1 fold, Hero raises to $50 (All-In), BB calls $24.75 (All-In)



Flop: ($82) 4, 5, K (2 players, 2 all-in)



Turn: ($82) K (2 players, 2 all-in)



River: ($82) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)



Total pot: $82 | Rake: $3


oh well

First Royal Flush

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

SB: $52.25
BB: $85.85
UTG: $53.75
MP: $55.30
CO: $68.00
Hero (BTN): $50.20

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with K A
2 folds, CO raises to $2, Hero raises to $7, 2 folds, CO raises to $17, Hero raises to $50.20 all in, CO calls $33.20

Flop: ($101.15) J T 4

Turn: ($101.15) 9

River: ($101.15) Q

Final Pot: $101.15
CO shows A A (a pair of Aces)
Hero shows K A (a Royal Flush)
Hero wins $98.15
(Rake: $3.00)

put the guy on tilt went on to take a few more buyins off him

-$798.85 session

FML I just never win.

I finally get my game going and play well and this happens.

Suckout/cooler city.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/54/poker-beats-brags-variance/lets-all-laugh-my-bad-day-481346/#post10544365

Live £0.50/1 at the Gala Bristol - The 2nd Chapter

Lol we ended up going to the Gala in Bristol again tonight.

Sat down at the table at around 9 and played til half 12. Finished the night +£300. Big hands of the night:
1. Straddle was on, 3 limpers, I raise 6xstraddle with ATo from CO, get 1 caller, flop AA9r, he donks I call, turn is 4, he checks I bet he calls, river 3, he checks I shove he calls with 9Thh.

2. UTG raises 3bbs, UTG+1 calls, folds round to me on BTN, I 3bet to 12bbs with AJo, everyone folds and UTG+1 calls. Flop is 455r, he checks, I bet 16bbs into 30bbs he raises to 36bbs and shove. He folds and tables JJ.

3. Straddle on, 2 limpers, I raise to 10bbs with QTo from CO, SB calls and UTG limper shoves for 21bbs, I 4bet to 60bbs and SB folds 99. Board comes, A6633, UTG tables 57s and we split the pot.

4. 3 limpers, MP raises to 5bbs, MP+1 calls, I call with 56s and so do the 4 other players. Flop is K55r, MP as the PFR bets 10bbs into pot like 35bbs, MP+1 raises to 20bbs, I call and MP calls, turn is 2, MP bets 20bbs, MP+1 calls, and I call. River is 2, MP bets 25bbs, MP+1 calls and I shove for 100bbs, MP calls with AK for another 26bbs, and MP+1 folds AK for an extra 60bbs. I think I won the max in this hand.

5. Last hand of night, 2 limpers, I raise 8bbs from MP with KK, the 2 limpers call. Flop is 6d7dTs, they both check I bet 16bbs into 25bbs, first limper calls and 2nd folds. turn is Ac, he checks I check, river is Kd he checks I bet 26.5bbs into 57bbs and he calls and he mucks.

Silly Willy ended up even for the night and Raymondo dropped 160, but I ended up splitting winnings with them so we all left the casino £50 winners which we then spent on getting Chinese dim sum afterwards in Mayflower (BEST chinese restaurant in Bristol imo).

All I can say is live poker is so soft. Live poker winnings for this academic year: £1.5k+

Live £0.50/1 at the Gala Bristol

Last night Silly Willy (friend known from uni since year 1), BTD (the mentor, master, guru, you name it, and great friend), Raymondo (friend known for years ever since 2002, started poker together with him), his girlfriend and I went out for some proper Chinese food in Bristol at Shanghai Nights. The food was great and we felt like we had to get some action afterwards.

We drifted out way to the Gala Harbourside Casino. Getting there, we found out that the cash poker tables were full and the waiting lists were long and so we decided we give poker a pass. That was a bad idea.

I should never play -EV games cause I just never win. Ever since dropping 300 pounds (a FUCK load of money during my 1st year) in half an hour on Silly Willy's PartyPoker account on blackjack (RIGGED IMO), I vowed never to play -EV games ever again.

Anyway, I donated £80 on the roulette to Gala (ENJOY IT YOU EVIL CORPORATION), and while Silly Willy was playing blackjack, BTD and Raymondo both randomly placed a tenner on numbers on roulette and they both got in on their first go. There ya go, £350 to both of them. How do they do it? I never win. I decided I'd just hang around the poker room in case I was tempted to chase losses. I convinced BTD to put his name down with me on the £0.50/1 game and very soon, we actually got to sit down.

The game was full of donks and it was a challenge just sitting down trying to keep a straight face while listening to the poker theory they discuss. The dealer was so clumsy and slow I don't even want to talk about it. Anyway, the game goes on and I just decided I'd sit tight and play solid. A few rounds passed and nothing really happens. Ah, I had T8hh in the SB and everyone limped so I completed and c/f a Td7d3c flop when a limper overbet pot with QdJc. He got called by BB with Ts8c. Turn was 4d, it got checked through and river was a Kd. BB bets and QdJc calls. LOL at both plays.

I was card dead all along til I picked up AJdd on the button. BTD was in the BB and while I was thinking what I would do if somebody raised in front of me, UTG open shoved for £24.5. Everyone folds to me and I decided to fold and he showed an Ah. I think fold was the right move as I had no reason to believe he'd be doing it with less than AJ.

I pick up AQo in the CO 2 hands later and it gets folded round to me. I open to 4 and get called by SB who was the UTG who open-shoved when I had AJdd and BB who was the player with QdJc in the hand above. Flop comes JsAc7s and SB shoves 21 into 12, BB folds and I snapcall. turn is 7c and river is 6d. He tables A3o and I win my first pot!

Up til now everything is good, friendly table and I'm having fun, albeit quite bored. I pick up AKo in the CO. New player is at the table and has live straddled to 2. Maniac in UTG+2 calls, so does shortstack fish in MP. MP2 folds and MP3 raises to 8. I think for a bit and 3bet to 25. Rock on my left acts as if he has had a heart attack having never seen a preflop 3bet to 25 and snapfolds, which everyone does to initial TAG raise in MP3. He tanks a bit and folds, claiming he had AQ. Pretty standard hand, my image is good and clean he HAS to fold AQ there.

An interesting hand comes up a few rounds later. Maniac has been playing every pot, opening with 84o, barreling with 46o, raising and betting with 59, 83. Oh yes we have also started the 27 game with a 3 pound bounty from each player on it if any player wins a hand with it.

On to the hand, I open utg to 4 with 99 and folds around to maniac who 3bets to 14. Folds to me and I elect to just call. My hand is well ahead of his range but given previous hands observed, he has always folded to 4bets. So I felt no need to 4bet and stop him from bluffing, I'll just outplay him postflop. Flop comes AhQhJc. I felt this was a good flop for me as I felt his range rarely included an A and this flop would allow him to represent a lot of stuff. I checked and he quickly bet 15. I called. Turn comes 8s and I checked again. He quickly bet 25. Now the pot was 83 and I had 90 behind. At this point I felt that my hand was probably good, but there was a chance that he had a Qx, Jx type of hand or some kind of draw which would mean if I called his turn bet and checked river, he could somehow get to showdown and win. So I shoved, as I felt given my clean image, he folds all Qs, Js, and even some As if he was ahead even though I felt I was most probably ahead. He insta folds tabling 47o and I decided to show 99. I don't know why I did it but I hadn't played live poker for so long and it felt really good to outplay him by reading his body language and betting patterns.

Everyone on the table starts discussing how standard the hand was, 'he bluffs all the time you gotta think youre ahead, you can't flat call the turn cos you dont know what to do on the river blahblah'. I just keep to myself thinking lol you guys have no clue as if you guys would really c/c flop and crai on turn. I leave the table 64 pounds richer and ego boosted.

BTD was card dead and nothing much happened to him. Kinda feel bad for him as he detests how little hands and boring live poker gets.

Definitely looking forward to the next time we go again. Hopefully we'll get to stay longer and pwn those fishes for proper cash!

my first PROPER poker post

Seeing this is my first post, I might as well start by introducing myself and my poker background.

My name is Johnathan Chan and I started poker with my friend, the legendary Raymondo during my last year of secondary school just playing for lunch money with classmates. We pwned.

Got to uni and got more interested in it but started playing real seriously in last 2008 when I met Big Time Dan (known as BTD from here onwards). He was the first one to open my eyes to how being aggressive was the way to win. Since then, BTD has taught me loads and I am very thankful for this. Without him, I may never have learnt to play the game properly. Thank you BTD.

I started playing 2NL with a 40 dollar BR on the 24th Dec 2008 ran good and got it up to ~$100. The following week was the pivotal time for my poker 'career'. I absorbed as much as I could from 2+2, deucescracked.com, conversations with BTD and very soon I got pretty good. Needless to say, it didnt take me long to move up. Being the risk taker I was I jumped up to 10NL with a $97.65 BR. Ran good, kinda skimmed through 25NL and played/ran REALLY good at 50NL and took a shot at 100NL with $1400 and before I knew it, by the end of January 2009 I had grown my BR up to $2700.

I kept at it at 100NL and ran my BR up to $4k+ within the first 3 days of Feb. Then I took a shot at 200NL.

Had the worst run of my life and just dropped $1600 in 90 mins.

Tilted a bit, dropped down to 100NL and dropped a few hundred.

Lost my interest in the game because I was losing and dropped down to 50NL with a $2600 at the end of it all.

Maybe because I wasn't concentrating properly, or I had ego problems with myself, I just couldnt seem to beat 50NL after that.

Had a 70K breakeven streak. Withdrew a lot of my money online leaving $1k in my stars account. Took a break over Easter with my girlfriend and started picking the game back up 2 weeks ago. Somehow it felt different to how I had always been playing and I felt in the zone.
Past 10k hands:










Now I've decided to start my poker blog for motivational purposes and just so I'll have something to look back.

At the time of writing the money I have in stars is $2243 and have lifetime online winnings of $3k+
Aims for 2009:
-Graduate with a 2:1
-Start my job in London and properly perform in that
-Continue pursuing poker after work and during weekends
-Achieve lifetime winnings of 10K by the end of the year
-Move back up to 100NL/200NL

Wish me luck!