Nobody cries no more, cause we all die for fun.

A mexican, a jew and a colored fellow walk into a bar... The bartender looks up and says... Get the fuck out of here.
-Clint Eastwood
Gran Torino

Today was a good day, 18 tourneys and $66 profit. I have a %41.1 ROI and %12 ITM. I've been learning so much when it comes to building huge stacks. I still have trouble with calling ranges when it comes to other big stacks, in particular this hand....

PokerStars Game #45741538162: Tournament #284430589, $2.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level XVII (2000/4000) - 2010/06/19 22:14:52 CT [2010/06/19 23:14:52 ET]
Table '284430589 17' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: Boza91 (10978 in chips)
Seat 2: Sammy Clause (16400 in chips)
Seat 4: nazifa1961 (23033 in chips)
Seat 8: johnstumper (40102 in chips)
Seat 9: PokerGrile (34524 in chips)
Boza91: posts the ante 400
Sammy Clause: posts the ante 400
nazifa1961: posts the ante 400
johnstumper: posts the ante 400
PokerGrile: posts the ante 400
Boza91: posts small blind 2000
Sammy Clause: posts big blind 4000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to johnstumper [As Ts]
nazifa1961: raises 18633 to 22633 and is all-in
johnstumper: raises 17069 to 39702 and is all-in
PokerGrile: folds
Boza91: folds
Sammy Clause: folds
Uncalled bet (17069) returned to johnstumper
*** FLOP *** [7c 8d 5h]
*** TURN *** [7c 8d 5h] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [7c 8d 5h 5s] [Jd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
nazifa1961: shows [Ac Jh] (two pair, Jacks and Fives)
johnstumper: shows [As Ts] (a pair of Fives)
nazifa1961 collected 53266 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 53266 | Rake 0
Board [7c 8d 5h 5s Jd]
Seat 1: Boza91 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: Sammy Clause (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: nazifa1961 showed [Ac Jh] and won (53266) with two pair, Jacks and Fives
Seat 8: johnstumper showed [As Ts] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 9: PokerGrile (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

So it's gonna take some time to get used to playing in the money, but overall I understand the game and what I need to do in order to beat it. I'm still working on raise/fold strategy at the final table against big stacks, but I've generally been pretty unsuccessful with it so far. I have done really well with attacking limpers and what range of hands I need inorder to do it. I've tightened up quite abit when it comes to SB & BB shoves against multiple limpers. Also I've been making calls when 3-5 people all go all in and I have 3-6 to 1 odds and a hand like 67o. I'm not sure how good this is but hopefully it will show profit in the long run, anyways heres todays graph


ShaunDeebs 180 man guide

Let Em Have It

Got 118 games under my belt, and things are looking good with a %21 ROI and 11% ITM. Today was break even but I'm up from the last two sessions. Coaching is going good, lots of cool concepts, working on getting the feel for mid stage play with like 100-60 ppl left, here I have a tendency to slow down when I should keep pushing the envelop. Unless I'm in top 4 I really shouldn't worry about busting. So far my super aggressive style seems to be successful, but there are still tons of spots I'm unfamiliar with. Luckily its very easy and convenient to review hand histories with Chris since he's online quite often. I'm still not sure about all my shoves but I'm starting to get comfortable. One thing I have done well is making good decisions with correct odds, so I hope to continue doing so.

Spots to work on:
- NEW - Opening CO Ranges Up
- NEW - Calling Ranges
- NEW - Effectively raising all in without being all in
- NEW - Targeting small stacks with big stacks in between

-Playing From The BB
-Coming Over the Top of Limpers
-Playing Against UTG Limps, and UTG Minraises
-Opening SB, BB, BTN Ranges Up
-Money Bubble Play-Final Table Bubble Play
-Final Table Play & Accounting for ICM
-Playing Around Big Stacks

Heres my graf, unfortunately the original $-60 was from a previous deposit before I moved back, but its no biggie.

If all goes well I should be mass tabling and crushing these games by the end of this summer, August 28th.

New Direction

I can't seem to keep my mind on 1 goal in poker, I tend to just play till I get bored or move up and run bad then take a break. I've been playing some stud lately, Phil Helmuths book Play poker like the pros talks about it quite abit, it was pretty fun. But I moved from 5NL FR to 5NL 6max and was coached for free by royd_ragin abit but decided I need to make more money than that. I keep jumping in and out of PLO games, I kinda see how Isildur1 can run so hot, jump on the 1k tables and lose it all. They make me want to crazy gamble, I often move higher when I'm running good, and not when I'm stuck. I love PLO, its a fucking blast, but running bad in it can really suck. So I finally decided to cash out FTP and move over to stars and start playing 180s.

I played 41 of them today, and I know I can be beating them for at least %5 ROI after a month. I'm gonna dedicate my time to 180s until December, that way I can save up some money and really master them. I am going to do this most importantly through the help of Chris(I should just say you cause nobody else reads this thing, you know your cool when you only have 1 friend on the internet......), having loaned me a buck 70 being the most important initially, but sweating each other, reviewing hands, studying the charts are the added bonuses. I've being playing 6 tables which is probably my limit. It gets too difficult in the later stages, and spots were pointed out to me where I could have been more aggressive. As I become more familiar with this format then I can play more comfortably and focus on tougher spots.

Spots to work on
-Playing From The BB
-Coming Over the Top of Limpers
-Playing Against UTG Limps, and UTG Minraises
-Opening SB, BB & BTN Ranges Up
-Money Bubble Play
-Final Table Bubble Play
-Final Table Play & Accounting for ICM
-Playing Around Big Stacks

So far I have 2min cashes, and a 2nd which puts me $-10 over 41 games,
-7.2% ROI
7.3% In The Money

Woulda been nice to book a winning session, but I almost made it to the end so I have more of an idea on what I need to improve on and how things should start looking. The way I see it is paying $10s to learn how to win thousands, you'd be an idiot to turn that down.

On a side note I quit smoking on the 7th of June 2010 so it's nice to have something to take my mind off it. Also I plan on doing what so many poker players preach, get in shape, and eat right.
I'm gonna start exercising again, because I remember playing optimally when I was fit. I didn't tilt much, my mind was sharp, I want that back.


I don't want to proof read and its prob rambly but thats what the internets for. I'll keep updates coming on my progress.

5NL hasn't excatly been as easy as I had hoped. For the first time in my poker career I've been running worse than my EV. Moving up and taking beats on a regular basis can be frustrating, but atleast knowing I'm getting it in good can be comforting.

Full Tilt Poker $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players -

BB: $5.94
UTG: $5.97
UTG+1: $3.63
UTG+2: $5.87
[b]Hero (MP1): $5.00[/b]
MP2: $5.05
CO: $2.18
[b]BTN: $2.05[/b]
[b]SB: $6.79[/b]

[b]Pre Flop:[/b] ($0.07) Hero is MP1 with J :heart: K :heart:
[i]3 folds[/i], [color=red]Hero raises to $0.20[/color], [i]2 folds[/i], BTN calls $0.20, SB calls $0.18, [i]1 fold[/i]

[b]Flop:[/b] ($0.65) Q :diamond: K :diamond: 3 :heart: [color=#336633](3 players)[/color]
SB checks, [color=red]Hero bets $0.30[/color], BTN calls $0.30, SB calls $0.30

[b]Turn:[/b] ($1.55) 7 :heart: [color=#336633](3 players)[/color]
SB checks, [color=red]Hero bets $1.20[/color], [color=red]BTN raises to $1.55 all in[/color], SB calls $1.55, Hero calls $0.35

[b]River:[/b] ($6.20) J :spade: [color=#336633](3 players - 1 is all in)[/color]
SB checks, [color=red]Hero bets $2.95 all in[/color], SB calls $2.95

[b]Final Pot:[/b] $12.10
Hero shows J :heart: K :heart: (two pair, Kings and Jacks)
BTN mucks 3 :club: K :club:
SB shows Q :spade: K :spade: (two pair, Kings and Queens)
SB wins $5.51
SB wins $5.79
(Rake: $0.80)

Full Tilt Poker $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - [url=http://www.thehandconverter.com/hands/715008]View hand 715008[/url]
The Official [url=http://www.deucescracked.com/?referrer=converter_dc]DeucesCracked.com[/url] Hand History [url=http://www.thehandconverter.com]Converter[/url]

UTG+1: $7.54
MP1: $13.30
[b]Hero (MP2): $5.17[/b]
CO: $3.64
BTN: $6.94
SB: $5.14
BB: $12.60
[b]UTG: $4.88[/b]

[b]Pre Flop:[/b] ($0.07) Hero is MP2 with Q :heart: Q :spade:
UTG calls $0.05, UTG+1 calls $0.05, [i]1 fold[/i], [color=red]Hero raises to $0.35[/color], [i]4 folds[/i], [color=red]UTG raises to $1.17[/color], [i]1 fold[/i], Hero calls $0.82

[b]Flop:[/b] ($2.46) 5 :club: 2 :diamond: 2 :heart: [color=#336633](2 players)[/color]
[color=red]UTG bets $2.46[/color], [color=red]Hero raises to $4 all in[/color], UTG calls $1.25 all in

[b]Turn:[/b] ($9.88) K :diamond: [color=#336633](2 players - 2 are all in)[/color]

[b]River:[/b] ($9.88) 4 :spade: [color=#336633](2 players - 2 are all in)[/color]

[b]Final Pot:[/b] $9.88
Hero shows Q :heart: Q :spade: (two pair, Queens and Twos)
UTG shows A :spade: K :heart: (two pair, Kings and Twos)
UTG wins $9.23
(Rake: $0.65)


I'm gonna keep chugging along and grind the shit outta 5NL untill I start winning on a regular basis. Otherwise I'm gonna get eaten alive @ 10NL.

More updates to come.

2NL Finished!

Despite the fact that 2NL is mind numbingly boring and the suck outs can be painful, the money is very easy. I promised myself I would play 30k hands then move up to 5NL, because I can't stay at that level any longer. Here is are my stats and graph after 33k hands @ 2NL.

Since 5NL is suppose to be equally easy but there is more money for the taking, I'm gonna grind out 50k hands at this level. I wanna do 50k hands mainly cause I love long sessions. If I can still stick to 16 tables profitably I should be able to do 50k hands in a month or so. Hopefully after 20k hands I can find someone to do a 30k hand challenge against.

HEM is such a cool program, I'm learning new stuff about it all the time. In fact I'm going through TONS of information on specific hands. IE I wasn't sure how profitably I've been playing AK, so I've been able to look at my results with AK based on position, 3bets, 4 bets, flats, etc. It accounts for a HUGE portion of my winnings at 2NL, but I've been losing a lot with it lately on bluffs, one in particular (its AQ but virtually the same thing, since the villain is 95/5)
Full Tilt Poker $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - View hand 695976
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $0.97
BTN: $8.50
SB: $2.24
Hero (BB): $3.63
UTG: $7.51
UTG+1: $0.45
UTG+2: $2.00
MP1: $3.13
MP2: $2.01

CO posts a big blind ($0.02)

Pre Flop: ($0.05) Hero is BB with Q A
3 folds, MP1 calls $0.02, 1 fold, CO checks, 1 fold, SB calls $0.01, Hero raises to $0.20, MP1 raises to $0.38, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.18

Flop: ($0.80) 7 T J (2 players)
Hero bets $3.25 all in, MP1 calls $2.75 all in

Turn: ($6.30) T (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($6.30) 3 (2 players - 2 are all in)
villian is 95/5 over 22 hands, im 15/10
AK stats at 2nl




So I will be pouring through all my hand histories and find and fix the leaks that have been costing me alot of money. Lastly I realized that 16 tables aren't too tough and I would like to get more volume in and since I still have $5.55 on stars so I'm gonna grind that out over 3 tables of 2nl, and hopefully get comfortable with 20 tables. Ideally if I can keep adding tables by building my roll on stars I can play the full 24 tables on stars (which would be $64 @2nl) and the full 16 on FTP.
FTP BR=$191
Stars BR=$5.55
Anyways that's enough for today, I start 5NL today so I hope to put in around 8k hands.

Updates will be here soon

MIcrodurrrr challenge

"I am currently building my bankroll up @2NL and had a fun idea for a bet.

This would consist of me and a challenger who is interested playing (30k, 40k, 50K challenger's choice) hands @2NL in 45 days or less (time frame can be negotiated). At the end of that time period whichever player is has made more money will collect from the other player ($50, $75, $100 challenger's choice). If one player fails to complete the agreed amount of hands within 45 days he/she will forfeit and pay the said amount as long as the other player has completed the agreed amount of hands. If both players fail to complete said amount of hands, then whoever is up more at the end of the 45 days will pay the other said amount.

Unfortunately the easiest way to track results would be PTR, but it is somewhat unreliable. I use HEM and can provide accurate results, and would prefer that the challenger can do the same, but these details can be worked out later.

This is purely a fun and friendly bet. I feel it would motivate me to learn the game, and spend more time playing poker at such low stakes. If your interested please feel free to message me or post."
My microdurrrr challenge, hasn't had good results, I'm probably gonna have to move up to 5nl after once I finish my 30k hands @ 2nl, and try again, especially since my winrate is pretty solid.

Everything seems to be going well, I hit a bump when I drank 3 40's and 16 tabled, also running into 5 flopped sets when I have AA, or KK and it all goes in on the flop can get expensive. Also had 3 gut shots caught against me when I had a set, or overpair. I think it had little to do with the booze and mostly running bad. I'm still playing 9bb/1oo so I'm not too upset. My roll is at $140 since I got a nice chunk of rake back today and a good session. Overall I'm happy especially since I've been playing without reads since my HEM was messed up, I've finally fixed it today so I can get back to making reads and posting up hands.

15k more hands at 2nl, lets hope I can hit 250 by then....

Progress

Things are looking good so far. Finally able to handle 16 tables at 2nl with no problems. Play is so bad there I should be able to run my bankroll up pretty high before I move to 5nl. I've given up on PLO for the time being since it's tough to make alot of money since it's so swingy and I tilt easily. My goal is to play 30k hands @ 2nl and if my bankroll is over $250 then I will move up to 5nl. This shouldn't be too difficult since I can easily play 4k hands a day no sweat. Other than a rocky session yesterday, I'm still running @ 11 bb/100 after 11k hands with rake back, I'm sitting on a cool $125. After cashing out all but $25 last week I'm happy with my progress, pretty much all of it is from playing cash which has frequently been a major weak spot in my game.

Cash games have always tilted me like crazy, but a few things I've done to eliminate the tilt is multi table, turn off avatars, turn off chat, take breaks every hour, play no more than 1k hands per session, still trying to stop monitoring my cashier cause that is a HUGE source of tilt, and win. Bad beats don't bother me anymore if I've doubled up on 8 tables and take bad beats on 3 tables. Chris and I had talked about understanding that in ring games, money value is pointless to recognize, rather measure your progress in Big Blinds versus cash value. Another HUGE adjustment I've made to my game is my bet sizing. I've been making sure to squeeze every last penny out of these fish by value betting and bluffing in every spot possible. My cbet is almost %100 since these guys play so badly they are easy and hard to bluff. I'll post a perfect example once I can find the hand history.

Lastly since I need 1. a car, 2. a loud ass sound system, I'm going to move to the $2 180 mans once I build my roll up to $350-400 which shouldn't been too hard if I can keep playing well and not be retarded.

Anyways I have a hand I want to post up soon, once I can find the HH.

Goals

These are my goals for 2010
-Beat 2PLO 16 tabling
-Build Bankroll to $250 at 2PLO then move to 5PLO
-10 Table 5PLO and consistently beat it with a 4bb/100 win rate
-Get a Hold'em SNG coach, and PLO 6max cash game coach
- Place 1st at least once in the $2 180/90 mans
-Consistently beat the 6/9man $6.60 SNGs w/20%ROI
-Get HEM PLO
-Get 2 books on PLO
-Review sessions, and post at least 1 hand per session

This may change especially since I should be beating 10PLO by decemember, but since I'm going to be in school year round it may not be possible.

Time to start all over

This blog is gonna mostly be about poker, but may have some personal stuff as well.

So I just cashed out my account for the lion's share so I can take care of some legal issues. When I first started I had $50 and ran it up to about $600. This time I left $25 left in it. The last time I had a HUGE downswing was playing PLO 5/10 deep, and I lost a lot. But this time is different. Instead of 10plo deep, it will be 2plo reg, and instead of 3 tables it will be 8+. My biggest leak was staying on tables too long when I was up huge losing a huge pot and tilting the rest off. Now I am going to drop the table and start a new one as soon as I double up. PLO is known for being super swingy and seeing as I am a super bankroll nit this is uncharacteristic for me. I should have 75-100 buy ins to be rolled, instead I have 20. I'm pretty confident in my game at this level and if I can work out a few leaks and keep mass tabling to prevent tilt I should be able to run it up to $100 w/rakeback then I can decide if I want to start playing 6max $2 SNGs which is what I'm probably best at, or move up in PLO. Regardless I will be working with a coach over the summer to learn how to make some serious cash playing NLH 90-180 man SNGs.

Full Tilt just moved my table limit up to 16 so I'm going back to the tables.