Alucard's Cash Journal - 5NL to 10NL

[Alucard]

Thank you for the kind words. Might be some wild blood in me lol!
But I have heard that overall the European style is pretty much aggressive in comparison to Americans. Heard that from Lex Veldhuis.

BTW did you know that I bluffed you once in the party poker freeroll?
I opened Q10s from CO & you 3bet me from SB and I called. The board was A high something something.
I figured you had kings or queens the way you played. I pure bluff raise shoved your bet on the river & you folded

 

[Figaroo2]

But I have heard that overall the European style is pretty much aggressive in comparison to Americans. Heard that from Lex Veldhuis.

Well I'd say generally there is some truth in that. I notice it in particular from some Eastern Europeans like the nations of the former Yugoslavia . They simply won't be made to lie down to aggression and have to be the aggressor themselves.
It's no surprise to me that the region got torn to pieces in a nasty war.
John and I have talked about this, he says the Eastern Euro poker bullies including the Russians pay for his vacations every year.

 

[Alucard]

hahaha! I notice that a lot too with the Russians & Ukrainians. Their aggression is over the moon! I love to trap those buggers.
Lex is a pretty wild player himself. If you watch some of his streams you'll notice it very much. I've picked some of his plays to my tourney play style and it has been working pretty well.

 

[Alucard]

So I promised to post the overall graph of 5NL 6max zoom at the end of this month.

Here is the graph since I started the new thread which looks beautiful AF.

Spoiler

But here's the complete graph since I started playing 5NL zoom 6max

Spoiler

And here's the graph of all dates, all stakes since I began playing cash at pokerstars. I think I began playing 5NL both regular & zoom around that 50k hand mark.

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And the positional reports

Since 25th of October
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6yMSY4ZJFLsMGxQZWhwdkdfMGM

From the beginning of 5NL 6max zoom
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6yMSY4ZJFLsR3h2SVlmaHhkdk0

So as you can see it hasn't always been beautiful upswings. I struggled a lot when I started playing 2NL cash and I struggled a lot when I moved to 5NL & 5NL zoom.
The month of October has been a very wild ride for until I caught the right horse in the last couple up days.
Any input/analysis of the graphs & stats is welcome.
I'll be posting the graphs & the stts on John's thread to get his advice as well.

Thank You all & lets keep riding the wave!!!
arty:

 

[Supmargy]

Damn you're crushing it. Superb bb/100. Keep going!! November will hopefully be steady.

 

[Alucard]

Didn't want to get back into the PS zoom pool right now cause I've taken a couple of days off of the tables & felt a bit rusty.
So hopped into 5 tabling 6max at 888. The player pool there is EXTREMELY fishy. People pure bluff shove with complete junk, a lot of broken stacks & very passive play.
But I feel like 888 is dying due to lack of good promotions. lack of customer support & advertising.

I made an insane run but made a mistake in the end that cost me 1 buy in. Then one cooler for around 50BBs. Still a great run but wish I didn't make that mistake

Spoiler

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's that hand. I felt he would be shoving a set as well. Marked as a fish.

Spoiler

888 Poker - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

UTG: 101.8 BB (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 6.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 30)
MP: 129.8 BB (VPIP: 23.37, PFR: 19.02, 3Bet Preflop: 2.08, Hands: 188)
Hero (CO): 121.8 BB
BTN: 104.2 BB (VPIP: 51.39, PFR: 25.35, 3Bet Preflop: 12.50, Hands: 75)
SB: 121.2 BB (VPIP: 21.83, PFR: 19.65, 3Bet Preflop: 5.97, Hands: 237)
BB: 175.2 BB (VPIP: 12.98, PFR: 11.08, 3Bet Preflop: 5.17, Hands: 370)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Qs Td
fold, fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, BTN raises to 5 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 2 BB

Flop : (11.4 BB, 2 players) 8s Th 9s
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn : (11.4 BB, 2 players) Jh
Hero bets 5.6 BB, BTN raises to 99.2 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 93.6 BB

River : (209.8 BB, 2 players) 8c

Hero shows Qs Td (Straight, Queen High)
(Pre 26%, Flop 73%, Turn 3%)

BTN shows Qd Kh (Straight, King High)
(Pre 74%, Flop 27%, Turn 97%)

BTN wins 199.4 BB

and the cooler

Spoiler

888 Poker - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (CO): 179.4 BB
BTN: 100 BB (VPIP: 16.33, PFR: 10.20, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 51)
SB: 110 BB (VPIP: 53.61, PFR: 8.25, 3Bet Preflop: 6.38, Hands: 100)
BB: 98 BB (VPIP: 21.46, PFR: 19.16, 3Bet Preflop: 6.76, Hands: 269)
UTG: 149.8 BB (VPIP: 12.34, PFR: 10.57, 3Bet Preflop: 4.80, Hands: 399)
MP: 100 BB (VPIP: 22.87, PFR: 18.39, 3Bet Preflop: 1.69, Hands: 231)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Tc Th
fold, fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, BTN raises to 9 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 6 BB

Flop : (19.4 BB, 2 players) Td 5s 3d
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn : (19.4 BB, 2 players) Jh
Hero bets 8 BB, BTN calls 8 BB

River : (35.4 BB, 2 players) Qh
Hero bets 25.4 BB, BTN calls 25.4 BB

Hero shows Tc Th (Three of a Kind, Tens)
(Pre 81%, Flop 93%, Turn 82%)

BTN shows 9s 8s (Straight, Queen High)
(Pre 19%, Flop 7%, Turn 18%)

BTN wins 82 BB

 

[Supmargy]

Oh man that cooler sucks. Yesterday i had AA and a dude beat me with 54o from the SB with a straight. 6J2 rainbow. 3. 3.
He bet 1bb on each street.
Those are the guys we make money from though!

 

[BuzzKillington]

It's very inspiring to see that you have improved so much and are consistently winning at this point. I have yet to reach this level, but I'm working on it.

Keep winning!

 

[Alucard]

Those are the guys we make money from though!

In his shoes I would've done a similar play. Perhaps would bet on flop. Not sure if that's a leak.
But on the river would've gone for max instead of calling.

It's very inspiring to see that you have improved so much and are consistently winning at this point. I have yet to reach this level, but I'm working on it.

Keep winning!

Thanks & wish you the same! Let me know if you need any help. :beer:

Update:
It hasn't been a great couple of days. Yesterday I ran fairly average. Around 10BB/100.
I have been trying some hyper shootouts for higher buyin tourneys & have wasted some money on it. I always seem to loose those push or fold hypers these days even though I'm the favourite pre. Haven't had any success with them.
And I've seen my sharkscope stats & it's all in the negative cause I try out so many small buy in hypers
Have to think it through whether it's worth playing them. But I really don't want to play micro stakes tourneys so that leaves me with very little choice.
And of course the mental toll/frustration it takes have to be considered as well.
I don't want to go down the same road where I kept on playing shootouts & couldn't get qualified for any tourney for some time after I had my WCOOP score.
That was really frustrating & stopped my cash game progress a lot.

So perhaps the best idea for now is to avoid low stakes tourneys until I move to 10NL with a decent BR.

Today I played around 500 hands with break even. I've noticed that my trigger finger has come back with me making stupid calls & stupid moves.
One pure bluff seriously hurt me when the V was check calling a boat.
Except that all were around 20-30 BB pots where I was betting/chasing really good FDs with straight outs only to be disappointed by a crappy river card.

Will get back my head focused & back to winning & running wild!!!

 

[Alucard]

How unlucky!!!
150BBs!!!

Spoiler

PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 150.6 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 12)
SB: 100.4 BB (VPIP: 24.10, PFR: 17.47, 3Bet Preflop: 7.04, Hands: 171)
Hero (BB): 249.8 BB
UTG: 114.4 BB (VPIP: 22.09, PFR: 18.60, 3Bet Preflop: 7.58, Hands: 175)
MP: 103 BB (VPIP: 16.00, PFR: 12.00, 3Bet Preflop: 16.67, Hands: 25)
CO: 105.2 BB (VPIP: 21.74, PFR: 8.70, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 25)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Kd Kh
fold, MP raises to 3 BB, fold, BTN raises to 10.4 BB, fold, Hero raises to 36 BB, fold, BTN calls 25.6 BB

Flop : (75.4 BB, 2 players) 5c Jd Jc
Hero bets 55 BB, BTN raises to 114.6 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 59.6 BB

Turn : (304.6 BB, 2 players) 8s

River : (304.6 BB, 2 players) 6s

Players agreed to run it twice.

Turn #2: (304.6 BB, 2 players) As

River #2: (304.6 BB, 2 players) 9h

Hero shows Kd Kh (Two Pair, Kings and Jacks)
Board #1 (Pre 68%, Flop 87%, Turn 93%)
(Two Pair, Kings and Jacks)
Board #2 (Pre 67%, Flop 87%, Turn 5%)

BTN shows Ah Qh (One Pair, Jacks)
Board #1 (Pre 32%, Flop 13%, Turn 7%)
(Two Pair, Aces and Jacks)
Board #2 (Pre 33%, Flop 13%, Turn 95%)

BTN wins 146 BB
Hero wins 146 BB

 

[Alucard]

Crappy day.
So the heater is cooling down it seems. Need to find out what's missing.
I've been really unfortunate with some all ins. And the others turn out really expensive and end me folding on the river.

Cannot seem to get anything going.
I'll post some hands.

Spoiler

 

[Alucard]

I don't get this shit LMAO!!! Take a look at this hand.
Wasting 200BB with 32off. The UTG is calling with pocket 7s. And the raise is 6BBs!!
Laughable to know that these guys are running pretty wild. The 32off guy had another stack with over 400BBs.

Spoiler

PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (BTN): 100 BB
SB: 106 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 33.33, Hands: 6)
BB: 189 BB (VPIP: 13.33, PFR: 13.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 17)
UTG: 253.2 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 1)
MP: 244 BB (VPIP: 19.70, PFR: 19.70, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 68)
CO: 244 BB (VPIP: 19.79, PFR: 17.31, 3Bet Preflop: 8.16, Hands: 292)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has 7d Ad
UTG raises to 6 BB, fold, CO calls 6 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 5 BB

Flop : (18.4 BB, 3 players) 5h 9s 2c
BB checks, UTG bets 18 BB, fold, BB calls 18 BB

Turn : (54.4 BB, 2 players) 4d
BB checks, UTG bets 26 BB, BB raises to 165 BB and is all-in, UTG calls 139 BB

River : (384.4 BB, 2 players) 8d

BB shows 2h 3s (One Pair, Twos)
(Pre 16%, Flop 23%, Turn 29%)

UTG shows 7s 7c (One Pair, Sevens)
(Pre 84%, Flop 77%, Turn 71%)

UTG wins 368.4 BB

---------------------------------------
I'm not doing that good with All ins.

Should I be a nit here?

Spoiler

PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (BTN): 111 BB
SB: 109.8 BB (VPIP: 26.76, PFR: 19.72, 3Bet Preflop: 9.68, Hands: 71)
BB: 103.6 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)
UTG: 94 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 4)
MP: 89 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 2)
CO: 111 BB (VPIP: 24.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 27)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Kh Kc
UTG raises to 2.8 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 9 BB, fold, BB raises to 23 BB, fold, Hero raises to 111 BB and is all-in, BB calls 80.6 BB and is all-in

Flop : (210.4 BB, 2 players) 5d 4d Td

Turn : (210.4 BB, 2 players) Qc

River : (210.4 BB, 2 players) 7c

Players agreed to run it twice.

Flop #2: (210.4 BB, 2 players) Js 6h 3s

Turn #2: (210.4 BB, 2 players) 3c

River #2: (210.4 BB, 2 players) 2s

BB shows As Ac (One Pair, Aces)
Board #1 (Pre 82%, Flop 90%, Turn 95%)
(Two Pair, Aces and Threes)
Board #2 (Pre 80%, Flop 92%, Turn 95%)

Hero shows Kh Kc (One Pair, Kings)
Board #1 (Pre 18%, Flop 10%, Turn 5%)
(Two Pair, Kings and Threes)
Board #2 (Pre 20%, Flop 8%, Turn 5%)

BB wins 100.8 BB
BB wins 100.8 BB

----------------
Another tough spot. I should've 3bet this. Only realised this after the flop.

Spoiler

PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 238 BB (VPIP: 11.67, PFR: 8.33, 3Bet Preflop: 3.45, Hands: 63)
SB: 235.2 BB (VPIP: 26.47, PFR: 23.53, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 35)
BB: 100 BB (VPIP: 31.25, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 12.50, Hands: 33)
UTG: 118.2 BB (VPIP: 27.03, PFR: 21.62, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 39)
MP: 100 BB (VPIP: 43.75, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 14.29, Hands: 16)
Hero (CO): 119 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Ah Jh
UTG raises to 4 BB, fold, Hero calls 4 BB, BTN calls 4 BB, fold, fold

Flop : (13.4 BB, 3 players) 8h 5h 3c
UTG checks, Hero checks, BTN bets 9.4 BB, fold, Hero calls 9.4 BB

Turn : (32.2 BB, 2 players) Jd
Hero checks, BTN bets 23.2 BB, Hero raises to 61 BB, BTN raises to 224.6 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 44.6 BB and is all-in

River : (243.4 BB, 2 players) 5s

Hero shows Ah Jh (Two Pair, Jacks and Fives)
(Pre 49%, Flop 26%, Turn 18%)

BTN shows 5c 5d (Four of a Kind, Fives)
(Pre 51%, Flop 74%, Turn 82%)

BTN wins 233.4 BB

------------------------
Another crappy spot

Spoiler

PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 176.8 BB
SB: 146.2 BB (VPIP: 15.25, PFR: 11.44, 3Bet Preflop: 9.47, Hands: 241)
BB: 117 BB (VPIP: 19.75, PFR: 18.52, 3Bet Preflop: 4.55, Hands: 81)
UTG: 121.8 BB (VPIP: 28.57, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 7)
Hero (MP): 138.4 BB
CO: 267 BB (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 29)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Kh As
fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, BTN raises to 5 BB, fold, BB calls 4 BB, Hero raises to 24 BB, BTN calls 19 BB, fold

Flop : (53.4 BB, 2 players) 6h 5c 9h
Hero bets 32 BB, BTN raises to 152.8 BB and is all-in, fold

BTN wins 112.6 BB

If not for the AJ & KK I would've been running 200BB+ profit. But it has been the road of recovering the losses today. Nevertheless onwards!!!

 

[Figaroo2]

KK when you get cold 4bet by the BB you could just flat this but in zoom 6max they could easily 4bet QQ and AK thats 14 combos versus the 6 combos of AA.
If you flat you will win less and lose less so its lower variance. It depends on how badly losing a stack effects your tilt. If it tilts you and is likely to lead to more losses then flat. If you're not bothered just gii.

AJs is a fine hand to flat, its irritating when you get 4bet and have to lay down a hand this strong. This is why i prefer a polarised 3bet range as your decisions when 4bet are easy.
As played id probably just check call turn again, he's betting hard you have a good hand that you don't really want to have to call a shove with and you have implied odds. As per the upswing flush draw recommendations, check call the nut flush draws and check raise the weaker ones (on the flop usually) as you dont mind folding weaker draws to more heavy action.

Re the AK I will run some filters on how im doing oop when my 4bet is called but im certain John A produced some analysis that showed shoving AK on the flop in this exact situation was +EV. Post the hand in the polished poker thread and ask him.

 

[Alucard]

Thanks. I'll post it on John's thread. BTW I've sent you a PM. Please take a look at it

So I'm back to my losing days again. Went on tilt & lost 300BBs+ & BR under $300.
Very bad plays by my part. I played a pretty long first session with around 1.5k hands going break even then got back to the tables within a short period feeling & knowing I'm gonna lose & with lack of morale & freshness. This is bad.
I must play fresh & comfortable as I possibly can. So it felt like I'm putting too much unnecessary time into playing.
Need to adjust my day schedule & follow it with much discipline.
Need to put more time into other stuff & socialising.

Going back down to 2 tabling atm.

 

[Alucard]

So this is how my last 5k hands of misery looks like. Pretty damn frustrating and which ended on tilt mode.

I've been experimenting with added aggression since I became breakeven, but it opens a lot to variance.
Will try to add some passiveness to the game as I did before, less double barrelling less 3betting pre & more thin value betting on river than overbet shoves.

Spoiler

 

[braveslice]

Don't worry, more miserable it is, the faster you learn. Just try to bare and grind.

Also a note that even if it feels like 5nl players are super fish (most are fish as in herring) , not many are. Time of the day has a big meaning like you said yourself, so generally speaking the wild plays are not always as profitable, if profitable at all.

 

[CRStals]

Hey Alucard, I'm late to the game but will be following your progress through 5NL and wish you nothing but luck and good cards (unless you end up at my table...then let's just chop

I go between 5NL and 10NL and have found some of the similar thoughts to you at 5NL vs 2NL. I play on Party and Stars (I got away from 888 for very similar reasons as you seem to) and may comment as you go. Best of luck!

 

[Alucard]

Don't worry, more miserable it is, the faster you learn. Just try to bare and grind.

Also a note that even if it feels like 5nl players are super fish (most are fish as in herring) , not many are. Time of the day has a big meaning like you said yourself, so generally speaking the wild plays are not always as profitable, if profitable at all.

Thanks man! Been wondering where you've been.
What you say seems true. I've been taking a lot of notes on the crazy people. Some are not bluff-able at all. That being said there are a few very good regs who run long sessions with stacks around 600-1k BBs.

Hey Alucard, I'm late to the game but will be following your progress through 5NL and wish you nothing but luck and good cards (unless you end up at my table...then let's just chop

I go between 5NL and 10NL and have found some of the similar thoughts to you at 5NL vs 2NL. I play on Party and Stars (I got away from 888 for very similar reasons as you seem to) and may comment as you go. Best of luck!

Thank you! Very much appreciated & wish you the same! :beer:
I haven't seen you in 5NL zoom till now though.
These days I've been focusing a lot on Stars zoom & haven't played at party in a while. Need to grind some 2NL there to move up to 5NL regging.
At 888 yeah the promoters are doing a very bad job trying to make it exciting. But out of the 3 sites 888 must be the one with most fish around. I'd be regging 888 after I have a decent BR at Stars.

 

[Alucard]

Holy Moly! I just won $5 on Cards Match!! My biggest & the maximum at 5NL

Spoiler

 

[AlexTheOwl]

So this is how my last 5k hands of misery looks like. Pretty damn frustrating and which ended on tilt mode.

I've been experimenting with added aggression since I became breakeven, but it opens a lot to variance.
Will try to add some passiveness to the game as I did before, less double barrelling less 3betting pre & more thin value betting on river than overbet shoves.

How large does a sample need to be for you to decide to make broad changes to your strategy?

Variance is not your enemy in cash games, as long as you are properly bankrolled, which it sounds like you are.

For me I'd say 10k hands is the minimum for broad changes. Although looking at individual hands we can always improve our thinking in certain spots on an ongoing, continuous basis.

 

[Alucard]

How large does a sample need to be for you to decide to make broad changes to your strategy?

I don't think about it statistically like that.
It's more of a gut feeling & an overall analysis of how I was playing.
For an example here, since I moved to 3 tabling, I sensed that I'm making quickfire decisions & rushing a bit. And also a bit of rustiness due to taking a couple of days off of the tables. So I tried running my normal strategy as I felt like it but it didn't work out. So did add some aggression to see how it would affect. Well it ended up me making very irrational decisions with very expensive pots.
Also the mental stability matters a lot for me.

Today I'm back 2 tabling & I guess back to my normal games with a very decent win rate.

So I try not to wrap my head around thinking too much of the stats & analysis. But I think around 5k hands would be enough for me to decide whether something is working or not. Most of the time it's instincts & gut feelings after putting some thought into statistical analysis.
Hope I didn't make it more complex trying to explain.

 

[Alucard]

OK a couple of hands I want to talk about.

So since Bruce told me shoving AK in a 4bet flat pot would be EV+, I tried experimenting with it. But not sure with this kind of board texture is the right tbh. But one thing to notice is that the V is a really tight player but a very small sample. I was thinking of check folding on flop but then remembered what Bruce told me & tried it out. Any thoughts??

Spoiler

PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 118.6 BB (VPIP: 20.61, PFR: 16.03, 3Bet Preflop: 10.87, Hands: 137)
SB: 94.8 BB
BB: 295.2 BB (VPIP: 22.03, PFR: 17.80, 3Bet Preflop: 2.33, Hands: 122)
UTG: 103.6 BB (VPIP: 30.00, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 14.29, Hands: 40)
Hero (MP): 176 BB
CO: 93.6 BB (VPIP: 13.51, PFR: 10.81, 3Bet Preflop: 6.25, Hands: 37)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Ah Ks
fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, CO raises to 10.4 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 28 BB, CO calls 17.6 BB

Flop : (57.4 BB, 2 players) Jc 6h 2d
Hero bets 148 BB and is all-in, CO calls 65.6 BB and is all-in

Turn : (188.6 BB, 2 players) 4d

River : (188.6 BB, 2 players) 8s

Hero shows Ah Ks (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 43%, Flop 25%, Turn 14%)

CO shows Qs Qd (One Pair, Queens)
(Pre 57%, Flop 75%, Turn 86%)

CO wins 180.8 BB

Why did I shove the river?? I only have a pair. Was I trying to take value out of something like AJs?? Or am I trying to fold out a 2pair?? I think this was a mistake cause most of the time only better would call me. Could be J10 of spades as well.
But his range is quite limited so a shove seemed reasonable to me at that time.

Spoiler

PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (BTN): 126.4 BB
SB: 100 BB (VPIP: 66.67, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 4)
BB: 100 BB (VPIP: 14.81, PFR: 11.11, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 27)
UTG: 100 BB (VPIP: 19.63, PFR: 15.34, 3Bet Preflop: 3.45, Hands: 169)
MP: 292.4 BB (VPIP: 23.16, PFR: 21.05, 3Bet Preflop: 8.33, Hands: 97)
CO: 359.6 BB (VPIP: 20.59, PFR: 8.82, 3Bet Preflop: 5.56, Hands: 36)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Qh Qc
fold, MP raises to 3 BB, fold, Hero raises to 10 BB, fold, fold, MP calls 7 BB

Flop : (21.4 BB, 2 players) 5c 2s Jc
MP checks, Hero bets 13 BB, MP calls 13 BB

Turn : (47.4 BB, 2 players) 6s
MP checks, Hero bets 30 BB, MP calls 30 BB

River : (107.4 BB, 2 players) 9c
MP checks, Hero bets 73.4 BB and is all-in, fold

Hero wins 103 BB

And lol this. Trying to get a fish to fold pre. I was trying to give up on the flop but his min bet looked so damn stupid.

Spoiler

PokerStars - $0.05 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 60.6 BB
SB: 59.8 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 3)
Hero (BB): 342 BB
UTG: 139 BB (VPIP: 19.05, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 12.50, Hands: 22)
MP: 190.8 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 4)
CO: 108.2 BB (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 12)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has 7h 9h
fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 3 BB, fold, Hero raises to 12 BB, BTN calls 9 BB

Flop : (24.4 BB, 2 players) As 4d Kh
Hero checks, BTN bets 1 BB, Hero raises to 12 BB, fold

Hero wins 25.4 BB

 

[AlexTheOwl]

Hope I didn't make it more complex trying to explain.

No, that makes sense. It takes a sample size of one hand sometimes to make a perfectly rational decision that we are not playing our best game at the moment.

 

[AlexTheOwl]

So since Bruce told me shoving AK in a 4bet flat pot would be EV+, I tried experimenting with it. But not sure with this kind of board texture is the right tbh. But one thing to notice is that the V is a really tight player but a very small sample. I was thinking of check folding on flop but then remembered what Bruce told me & tried it out. Any thoughts??

I guess the premise of Bruce's advice is that if villain had AA or KK they would 5-bet? You know that they have a capped range, and they will fear that you have AA or KK?

If I put myself in the villain's shoes there, I don't even think about folding QQ on that board against an aggressive opponent with those pot odds. And of course JJ would never fold.

But there are 9 combinations of AK, 6 of QQ, and 3 of JJ. So I think you are getting folds about half the time, which is fine since the pot is already substantial. And you are making the hand easy to play since there are no more decisions for you to make.
Plus you have outs against QQ and even the occasional stray KK if the villain calls on the flop.
Add in the idea that there may be some AQ and TT in the villain's range and the play becomes even more attractive.

 

[Supmargy]

. So did add some aggression to see how it would affect. Well it ended up me making very irrational decisions with very expensive pots.


Most of the time it's instincts & gut feelings after putting some thought into statistical analysis.

Hope I didn't make it more complex trying to explain.

Hey Alucard. When cranking up or toning down aggression, have you thought about having a specific gameplan before starting a session?
What i like to do is simply stick to exactly the same play as before, but changing a couple of very specific spots. It makes it easier to see whether something works or not in my opinion.
Just "adding more agression" without thinking about specific situations would understandably lead to some not thought bets.

Good luck!!