Blew out my $50 account

[light65536]

No i have $22. I had $22. I bought in $5. I busted about 6x people (most people only bring in $2-$3). This is ring game. I was up to $11 or about $27 total. I was playing with about 1/3rd of my money at that point. I knew I should have left at that point. I only get about 80 cent per $1 that I bust at this level because of rake. I had busted about everyone and new people had joined for the max buy-in. I usually leave the larger stacks alone. I left with like $4. 90% of my profits come from flushes that people just dont believe I've hit

 

[MrMuckets]

N.D. is my friend.

 

[light65536]

Just for those who care.. here was my entire run. If you want to see more games of how I play or interested let me know.

Poker Blog: How I Roll

 

[N.D.]

Well, I read as much as I could. I didn't see any of your loose-maniacal-aggression. I saw a lot of calling and folding, with some betting...

Lemme explain, remember when your 7's were up against J's? You didn't play the hand strongly. If the guy with the J's was a good player, and you had bet a positional bet pre-flop, he either would have re-raised to indicate strength(which gives you a chance to fold, and sometimes that's wise), or just called(for a cheap flop). But he would have put you on a pair, any pair, or an A/anything. On the flop, c-bet. I've seen where 1/2 pot's enough, and I've seen where you have to bet pot, still, c-bet. That c-bet implies you flopped a set.

If the board still isn't paired and there's no obvious str8 or flush draw? Make another on the turn, then pot or all-in on the river. Obviously, it takes some courage, but it works a lot. You can make someone fold an overpair. You just need position, courage, and only 1 opponent. I'd go as high as 2 opponents if I was feeling really gutsy. It's not as easy to bluff 2 though.

It's about spotting your opportunities and then taking them. Sometimes it has almost nothing to do with the cards you're holding. Sometimes it's a good old fashioned shoving match, if someone pushes you, but you've already taken the dominant role, and you're reading the board well, push back harder!

Of course luck is still involved, and there are fish, and calling stations, but...

More times than not, combining good strategy, with the occasional bluff(ah they're tempting, but you have to pick your spots), and scooping some blinds will more often than not equal winning.

Oh yeah, defend your BB sometimes. Not a whole lot. That's a gripe I have about watching those all-women poker games and tournaments on television. They're constantly paranoid about their BB. For crying out loud, it's going in like it or not. Just defend with decent hands and/or when you sense weakness from the others...

There's a bunch of other stuff, but when it comes to that final hand...

You can't fold AK. You just can't. And the other guy couldn't fold AA. Nobody did anything wrong at the table. So what went wrong? You already know. It was bringing too much to the table.

Before coming to CardsChat I was at a table where instead of topping off my stack I decided to see if I really just needed the proverbial chip and a chair. I was down to 2 cents. I left with 3 dollars, and had only bought in for 50 cents. Of course luck was involved, but I'm using the extreme to illustrate a point. You don't have to sit with a big stack to leave with a big stack.

Instead of giving up, why not sit with a buck? Unless I did the math wrong, 5% of your BR is $1.35, but sit with a buck, just a buck. See if you can't get it up to 3x, 4x, or 5x. Then just get up and move.

Famous hand on HSP featured Gus Hansen and Daniel Negreanu. Of course, Gus sucked out but that's because he's the suckout king(and I mean that in a good way). He managed to get Daniel to go all-in post flop. This is key, because Gus managed to get Daniel to shove his money in bad. Daniel had him covered and the rest is history...

Oh yeah and Antonio made the genius decision to fold a pre-flop monster. He'd have lost a whole lot if he hadn't folded, but he was wise and decided to avoid getting trapped between Gus and Daniel.

So what do we learn from that one famous hand? You don't need to have a huge stack to seriously dent a huge stack. You also don't absolutely have to play monsters, sometimes it's better to just fold(but only if you know your opponents like Antonio knows his). Bonus, is that Gus seriously messed with Daniel's head. So then later Lindgren was able to pull off almost the same thing as Gus(but that was partly luck, just as it was with Gus). Oh yeah, don't get stuck between Gus and Daniel. Ever! Not if you know what's good for you .

BTW just because you flop the nuts, doesn't mean they stay the nuts. Just ask Daniel.

 

[syntheticocean]

I played a HU tourney for 6$ this morning and at one point sat with ~200 chips while my opponent sat with ~2800 in chips. I came back to win. I'll look for the HH(not sure how to do it on FT) but the bottom line is that short stack stands a chance. Don't be afraid to join the table with 1-2$ if everyone else has 5-10. Doesn't mean you can't double or triple up quick. People tend to underestimate the short stack, and assume that since you are the short stack that you suck. not always true.

 

[widowmaker89]

Tourny short stack is not equal to cash game. There are good short stack strategies but playing it like a tournament short stack is certainly not one of them.

 

[N.D.]

Here's something I learned when I first started playing ring games and it helps a lot...

If you do as suggested in Chris Ferguson's podcast and wait for a premium hand then push all-in with your short stack...

Chances are you won't get paid.

 

[light65536]

Account is back to $34. I've been dominating the game again. I love playing a big stack. I had $13 in one game today or over 2x the maximum buy-in. I'm pretty close to clearing my $25 deposit bonus too. Even though I have a big stack I'm watching other people stack sizes and paying closer attention to that now and thinking about the bet sizes as if I had a small stack. I know its a lot of my bankroll to have in a game but I just love that feeling. I LOVE leaving with a big stack even more.

 

[JLtrooper]

I know you may prefer ring games, but if you're trying to build a roll you should definitely play SNG's. The fish there are ridiculous. I deposited $50 on Monday night and have played nothing but SNG's and am at $102 right now.

 

[light65536]

I'm back to $38!! In only a single day of playing. To put this in perspective most people only stack about $2-$3 and at my low I was $21. I only get about 80 cents per dollar per bust because of rake. That means I had to bust about 9 to 20 people today to do that. One thing that uhm the ring game analysis showed me is that there is a vast difference in skill level at the games I play. There are some pretty good players but there are a lot of terrible players too. Building a bankroll is not about challenging the best players but about playing the worst players. So how do you find the worst players? This I don't know. It's not just about flop % or pot size. Time of day and everything factors in. At certain times of day more maniacs are playing too.

I've ran into some pretty good players where I play and again some really bad ones. So, what a lot of time happens I bust everyone at a table and maybe 1 other person then we face off. The "last one standing" are the best and I should probably quit with a good stack and not risk it in heads up or I should go to a new table.

I think what has made me a lot better player is playing heads up matches. if you want to get better then you need to play a lot of heads up! Also you have to change your strategy when playing bad players. Against better players bluffs can work but when you see a terrible player then you know: never bluff.

Also, a lot of times when playing "bad players" its easy to get into bad habbits myself like fishing or other things because everyone is doing it or playing loose but with a bad player you must play even tighter to give yourself that edge and be careful too of them "teaming" up because with more limpers premium hands go down in value.

 

[hypergized]

I just remembered why I like cash games so much. If you can sit at just the right table...

Money, money, money...

If you're in the zone and detect the dynamic straight away and how to play around the others...

Money, money, money...

Oh man, just triple or quadruple up and move on to the next table. Then repeat the process...

Ah but the Gods have to smile on you from time to time. Still, it's an option, especially when you feel burned out on SnG's.

thats how i made 4.2k off of 100$ in 16 hrs on FTP

luck, playing almost my entire roll at every table i sat down on.. i wasnt trying to create a permanent bank roll i was having fun making the money fast.

so i guess my point is. no matter what you do luck is always involved to a degree. and you can play the best hand as best you can and still lose no matter what you do.

 

[jolubman]

Try playing in more freerolls. They won't cost you a thing and you can get some good experience. However, don't plan on winning alot of money. I'd also try playing some low buy-in tournaments.

 

[light65536]

I'm running around $36 now. I tried to multi-table with a small stack and play TAG. I took a lot of bad beats doing that. It worked for a while and then I just took lot of bad beats and then I went on tilt and pissed away about $5. I was down to about $25 and started playing my traditional big stack style. One thing that helps me play better is I get angry. I get angry at the other players. Angry at the game. I mean its not that I hate the other players personally but when I'm playing it helps me to focus to get angry. Maybe the anger helps me to be more aggressive. My strength is in reading people and picking off their weaknesses. The formula TAG style doesn't let me do that. But I'm just not good enough to multi-table and do the more advanced playing. I've started limping more too because my strong suit is post flop. I still use the micro-raises because I want to keep applying pressure on my opponents but sometimes limping is okay. I'm also trying to pay more attention to the skill level of the players. There are total fish and then there are decent players. So, obviously I want to be at a table with total fish versus the decent players. I noticed most of time I bust everyone and then only the decent players are left. Its a waste of time to play them when I can go to a new table with worse players. Oh yeah I tried a gizmo that told me pot odds and stuff: I think that stuff is worthless really. It's a hinderance to any decent player. If you can't do it in your head then it's just a gimmick that took me out of the game.

 

[N.D.]

Who says you have to do anything according to formula? TAG and LAG are essentially just terms to describe overall playing style. No player worth their chips plays just one way all the time.

Nobody thinks you should limp all the time or raise all the time. The whole game is situational and about taking advantage of opportunities...

I don't worry about the rake. I know it's big at microstakes and stays big till you get up pretty high. Still, I don't worry about the rake. Part of the rake is the points system that's in place at most sites. At bigger name sites those points are valuable. Where I play, I've reached a level where I can trade points for tournament buy-ins. If I can manage to reach the next level without going broke I can do one more thing which is pretty awesome. I can trade points for cash.

Ultimatebet has the Rai$e system in place. It's a tiered system. The higher you climb the faster you make points based on status. This is beyond great because when I first started playing there, they only had one way to make points faster, that was to start tables. Rai$e is way better than that.

But there's another reason why I like this. UB tends to have some awesome reload bonuses. But you have to clear them the same way you clear first time deposit bonuses. You clear them by earning points. No need to trade the points in, but you have to amass the points. I know that even if I do go broke, I'm now earning points faster and on my way to earning them faster still...

It makes clearing bonus dollars that much easier. But each level in the Rai$e system has it's own rewards that go beyond the speed at which you can earn points...

That's just one way the rake at a site is a good thing. Don't sweat the rake, it pays salaries, buys nifty rewards, and pays for buy-ins to big tournaments that most people can't afford to enter, so they enter freerolls or satellites.

Rakeback's a good thing, especially if you want to multi-table. But sweating the rake won't make it disappear.

You know that 20% that went to the rake cuz you just had to bust someone? You did that to yourself. You could bust them all the same, and be just as aggressive, without pumping the pot up so big. I've pumped the pot up myself, I think most of us have. But I never complained about the house taking it's cut. I've joked about it, but never complained in earnest.

If you control the pot better, you can keep it below the rake. Think about it. So you have to bust someone in 4 to 8 hands instead of one fell swoop. It's doable. A lot of folks do it.

But for your own sake, remember, aggression is good. Misplaced aggression is bad.

 

[light65536]

The latest update. I ran into some terrible luck. I had pocket kings cracked by 4-8 suited all-in preflop, I had pocket aces cracked by pocket queens, and I just got hammered with bad luck. But, I was playing so good that I was still able to keep my account at around $38 AND THEN disaster struck

How did it happen? Well, I was tired of playing and thought I'd join a game pretty quick and get a dollar. Kinda like well I'll just join a game really quick and make a dollar -- no big risk. I have a bit of a secret in that I'm better then most players heads up so I hunt down players in ring games to challenge heads up. These players are often distracted from multi-tabling and don't have the experience I have in heads up. This a secret because its easy money and I bust these guys all the time but they are hard to track down because they get busted pretty quick and leave.

Well so anyway I went hunting for easy money and I guess I was just not into my game at all. I was impatient. I hit a pair against someone with like KQ in heads up which is pretty good. So, I pushed all in and he had AK. I knew I was taking a risk playing that aggressive but I figured the odds were in my favor. Another time I had 2 pair and shoved into a guys straight and finally I shoved the best full house on a board into a 4 of a kind.

I know I was playing bad. Sure they got lucky but I was playing bad too especially ont he 4 of a kind because my instinct was this guy has the king.

So uhm I'm back to $23. A lot of people say oh they want to do this but yesterday I lost 4 or 5x when the odds were 80% in my favor -- almost in a row. And that's really poker.

 

[N.D.]

Just keep at it...

I had a similar run earlier today. I had AA and bet a positional raise to get called by K/4 os...

So flop was all undercards including the K(as tends to be the case with AA)... I push, guy pushes back, suddenly I'm all-in and to my surprise, not only was he not holding a set, he had K/4 and the 4 quickly landed on the turn...

I held my tongue/fingers, but I was really glad it wasn't a live game.

I can't be the only one who wishes poker was full contact from time to time...

Anyway, rebought for double and doubled up. Glad I didn't sit with a buck or two, the guy had me covered for that.

 

[Tstriz20]

No I bet the same amount I always bet. Again, I play very loose and aggressive so I'm c-betting all the time. That why I play this way is so that nobody knows what I am playing. I agree it might be better to slow play. There was no chance of anyone beating me, realistically. This is cash game. It is my standard "bluff" bet size which maybe is a bit much.

can we please play together lol jk

wouldnt c-bet everytime, people will recognize this and slow play u...when people call u on the flop do u continue betting/bluffing on the turn?

 

[light65536]

I don't C-BET every time. Com on guys.. its most of the time. I have been getting slow played a lot recently though. It depends if I'm on a total bluff with no outs I C-BET a 1 shot. If I feel the player is weak and has been bluffing a lot then I'll 3 barrel it. If I have outs I might 2 barrel it.

 

[N.D.]

Has it occurred to you that you might be too formulaic with your play?

What do the best players have in common at all stakes? They switch it up a lot and keep you guessing...

One more time...

Look at Gus as it seems you're going for something along the lines of his loose-aggressive style. He doesn't play the same exact way in the same situation every time. He doesn't even do it most of the time, he keeps changing. He also changes styles depending on the level of a tournament + position + stack size + other stuff that only Gus could tell you(but probably wouldn't).

Change it up!

 

[light65536]

Okay I'm back to a little over $31 today. I did that in just a few hours of playing. Your right when I'm playing my best I keep changing gears. What I want to do really is play flops with smallish pots because I feel I can outplay most of the players at this level on the flop but pre-flop I have less of an edge. I want to play smallish sized pots because I can get a lead on my opponent and use that money to bluff or chase and that's my basic objective. But, you know if players see I want to play small pots then they can make the pot very large. I busted probably 4 people today on total bluffs.

ITS EASY TO SAY just go out and win at poker but can you call someone down with 1 pair for 100% of their stack? I did today 4x and got rewarded for it every time. I notice that small stacks $1 or less tend to make huge bluffs whereas the larger stacks are more concerned about being put all in.

One thing I do when I play good is I really think about what the other player has and I treat them as rational players. ALTHOUGH some are really bad.

The other aspect is trying to control the size of the pot. I'm starting to think more about that and whether I'm way ahead or behind.

 

[light65536]

Running about $31 still. I was up to about $35 and didn't know the rules completely because there was 4 of a kind on the board and I thought I'd be "cute" or do something funny and go all in. Well the other player had a king high kicker and won the entire pot. I didn't know that rule. So I lost about $3 or $4 on that mistake.

Then I had pocket 9's and was raised like 4x bb and got re-raised like 2x that by player to my left -- the player who just called my first bet just called that bet. One of the players had called both times and I felt he was weak. The flop came Q47. Nothing too scary except maybe KQ or AQ. The player who just called went all in on the flop. The player who raised the most folded. This influenced my thinking and I've seen a lot of smaller stacks bluffing. So, I called he hit a set of 4's to bust me. He was like "thanks for the chips".

I told him I'd bust him. Well 2 hands later I had my chance. AK and I raised 12 cents. He called again. The flop came something like A78 and I raised and he re-raised. So I pushed him all in. The villain had flopped 2 sets on me in a row busting me again!

That sucked. So that pushed me down to about $28 and now I've just built back to about $31.

About 90% of the time the short stacks are bluffing with nothing and I just didn't believe he hit 2 sets in a row. I put him on something like A-10 or a bluff. I'm thinking in the second instance if I had not flopped the ace or had something less like AQ I could have got away but flopping the ace with the KING. I felt he was for sure trying to push me off my hand and maybe had AQ or something at best. In a full ring game I think I might have thought "set" but in a 6 player game I haven't seen that as much and AK is super strong 6 player. I guess this was an instance where controlling the pot would have been better.. if I convinced him I couldn't be pushed all in then I might could have got away cheaper but still if he pushed all in on the river then I'd be forced to either fold or call and I doubt I'm folding AK on that board.

 

[light65536]

I'm back to $35. I've been playing pretty good. I have noticed that a lot of people are min-raising with pocket aces and they are getting them cracked because they are getting 2 or 3 people in the hand with them. It seems I'm fluctuating between $40 and $20. I feel a lot better being in the 30's even though its more psychological then probably significant.

Some of the hands I've lost recently I'm thinking about are heads up I had KJ and I flopped my jack. The other player had pocket queens. I'm not sure that was a bad play heads up to push all in on that one. It was on the flop and he'd have to hit 2 pair or be playing AJ or a bigger pocket pair to be ahead of me. I feel pretty good about that play.

In another play, I flopped trips heads up. I put this player as being a 'big bluffer' based on my read (which turned out to be right). So, he raised and then I re-raised. We kept raising and then I realized in this case there was a good chance he had hit the 9 too and my kicker was looking pretty sick like a 5. So, at this point I just called and tried to keep the pot from getting any bigger but on the river he went all in. I felt I had to call and he outkicked me with the King. In this case, I should have just called I'm thinking.

I'm also going to have to study up and figure out if there is a way I can protect myself from sets. If I'm in a mutli-way pot then I'm pretty cognizant sets being a danger but heads up/ short handed I've not seen that as much until today.

It can be difficult because there is a tendency to think when there is a lot of raising that someone has hit something huge but then you see both players had junk. I don't want to change up my winning plays because I got bit a few times by something off the wall. Like the KJ vs QQ queens play head up, I don't think there was anyway I could avoid that. I love playing flushes and draws.

 

[light65536]

Here a situation that came up. I have pocket 10's. I raise about 5x the BB. I raise a bit more because I've hard trouble playing them. The flop comes A25. I think the player that called is probably going to be loose and bluffing a lot. He bets out 15 cent. This is a decent sized bet but a little small. It's believable he called with any ace or a good ace even. The next card to come is the ace and he goes all in.

I'm playing fast tables and I don't have much time to think but this is a tough situation. If he had the ACE then he might realize I'm not likely to have an ace but if he had the ace with a good kicker -- and I'm an aggressive player -- why not bate me for more? Or maybe he's just a money bull and thinks I'll call no matter what. I think about it and figure he realizes the with 2 aces on the board I'm not likely to have the ace. I decide to trust my starting hand strength and call and I took that pot down.

My thought process was HE thinks I don't have the ace with 2 aces on the board: I'll bluff the ace and he can't call without the ace. It's a scare card for sure. It turns out I was right in this case. He actually had something like 3-7 and his only out was a 4.

 

[Dwilius]

This is the most long-winded thread. I think its time to start a blog, light. Let this thread die.

 

[N.D.]

This is the most long-winded thread. I think its time to start a blog, light.

He has one. I guess he'd rather post here.