The Nit has been having a tough time at the tables as of late and was down about 3 buy-ins for a while. This is almost unheard of in Nitville, so I decided to take a break from NL Cash and try something that I don't try too often: 6-Handed Sit and Go Games and Limit Holdem over on Full Tilt. In no time, the Nit was back on track and his losses were made good.
Limit is my latest flavor of the month as it allows me to focus purely on odds and outs-the bets are never big enough to bully me off hands. To get a good background in the game, I reread Jennifer Harmann's chapter on Limit in Super System II, and so far its all going swimmingly. At this stage, I am really considering moving about 30-40% of my bankroll to Full Tilt, because the choice of limit games there is fantastic.
As for the 6-Handed Sit and Go mathces, they really are a nits dream at the lower levels. This is plainly and simply because two get paid and you can get to the last 3 by doing nothing and waiting for the donks to go out. So even if I don't pick up a hand, I am still in with a shot. The other good thing is that when it gets to that stage, I am either way ahead (when I get cards), or still in with a shot. The latter scenario is great because it forces me to play and to develop a short-handed game that can get value out of less than premium hands.
So......results for the month so far:
No Limit Holdem......down 43 dollars (curses)
Limit Holdem............up 12 Dollars
6 Handed S&G..........up 62 Dollars (Yeahhhhh!!!!)
The poker gods never close one door without opening another.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Pocket Aces Twice in 10 hands!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If there was a standard wet-dream that all nits could have, it would probably be to get Aces all the time. I had a taste of that dream today as I picked up the bullets twice in 10 hands. Of course, the trick with Aces is to actually get action with them, but today it all fell into my lap. In both cases I faced a raise and a massive reraise and based on what I had seen from these players, I was sure there would be a call if I pushed. The first had saw me agaist AK, so I was confident enough. The second hand had me agaisnt KK, so while I was ahead it was also the case that one stray card could be my undoing. As it transpired, none of my opponents got any help and I found myself almost 2 buyins up after barely sitting down.
In recent weeks, my game is showing real signs of improvement. My earller leaks are being fixed and I am really getting to know the numbers behind the game. I often feel the need to restate my leaks just to keep them fresh in my mind:
(1) Impatience- not getting good cards is not a reasson to play bad cards 9-handed. Better to lose the blinds than lose your stack.
(2) Position- why raise massively with AJo when so many players have yet to act and could easily reraise?
(3) AK is a drawing hand. It is not the nuts. It must hit, but even when it does, you are likely to make TPTK at best. What beats TPTK? Two pair and sets...that's what. Play it hard sure, but dont stack off on top pair only. If you bet big after you hit, chances are that a reraise mean trouble. Ak with a draw? That's all about getting the right odds.
(4) When you have a straight/flush draw on the flop, the relevant odds are those of making it on the turn.
More later....United are destroying Arsenal and I can't help but rejoice
In recent weeks, my game is showing real signs of improvement. My earller leaks are being fixed and I am really getting to know the numbers behind the game. I often feel the need to restate my leaks just to keep them fresh in my mind:
(1) Impatience- not getting good cards is not a reasson to play bad cards 9-handed. Better to lose the blinds than lose your stack.
(2) Position- why raise massively with AJo when so many players have yet to act and could easily reraise?
(3) AK is a drawing hand. It is not the nuts. It must hit, but even when it does, you are likely to make TPTK at best. What beats TPTK? Two pair and sets...that's what. Play it hard sure, but dont stack off on top pair only. If you bet big after you hit, chances are that a reraise mean trouble. Ak with a draw? That's all about getting the right odds.
(4) When you have a straight/flush draw on the flop, the relevant odds are those of making it on the turn.
More later....United are destroying Arsenal and I can't help but rejoice
Monday, May 4, 2009
Weekend Review
Had a great time playing live this weekend- a 10 handed cash game, blinds .1/.2, 20 Euro buy-in, lots of drunk and stoned people to rob with my nittish play. It was really more of a friendly game, but I still robbed two buy-ins with a set of Jacks v a pair of Queens and a flopped straight v a set. Other than that, I think I played about 10 hands and that was it. I can't really call it a poker game though, as it was just the lads, a tsuanami of booze, more dope than a rasta, and a good time. Still, it's good to see that live games can get people out and about- it counteracts the somewhat solitary nature of playing online. Another good thing is that way in which you can pick up tells. This is especially easy with drunk guys as they do mad things like reaching for chips as soon as they see their cards.
Having recovered from my live "game", I hit the cash tables on Betfair to see what was happening. The 10 dollar tables were pretty full, but I was card dead. In about 240 hands over 2 tables, I picked up Kings once and maybe 2 smaller pairs. I got no real action when I bet and eded up about 2 dollars down in blinds. I was feeling a little tired after that and figured that I could play a $2.50 S&G as it would only last about 45 minutes. I won that by being on the better side of a few coin flips when the blinds were high and that put me about 5 dollars ahead for the session- not a terrible result.
Today was a bank holiday so playing a few hands was on the agenda. Curiously the $10 dollar tables were empty. I almost yielded to the temptation of taking shot number two at the $20 dollar tables, but I managed to stick to my Bankroll management rules. Instead, I decided to go to the $4 dollar tables, where I sat down for 120 hands. Almost immediatelyI lost a buy in when I pushed all in after flopping a set and was called by a player with an open-ended straight draw. He certainly did not have the odds to call but he did anyway and hit on the river. I didn't mind so much as I made the correct play of charging him too high a price for him to make the correct call. Over time this is a profitable move.
On the other table, I picked up a few small pots with small hands and was up about 1.50, so I was down 3.50 overall. This did not last long though. On the first table, I picked up AKh on the button and raised to 0.2. I got 3 callers and flopped a King (Top Pair) and a flush draw. This made me feel like I was on pretty strong ground as I had both a made hand and potentially 14 cards that would improve matters. To make matters better, one of the other callers pushed all in, and this was called by me and another player. At this stage it was a 10 dollar pot, and I could feel the bad beat coming. Luckily, i was well wrong- pusher 1 turned over Ace-rag and the second player was drawing to a weaker flush. As iy happened, the flush did hit on the river, but I would have won anyway. I finished the 120 hand session with a profit of 3.40, which works out at 35.4 BB/100 hands. The same result at the 10 dollar table would have also been a somwhat acceptable 14 BB/100 hands.
I don't plan to play anymore today- it's study time. I will look at another chapter of Killer Poker By The Numbers, by Tony Guerrera. It's my kind of book as it is mathmatical and takes an in depth look at the various probabilities that come up in poker. Since my objective is to always bet hard when the odds are on my side and to avoid betting when the odds are against me, this is the kind of book that interests me.
Having recovered from my live "game", I hit the cash tables on Betfair to see what was happening. The 10 dollar tables were pretty full, but I was card dead. In about 240 hands over 2 tables, I picked up Kings once and maybe 2 smaller pairs. I got no real action when I bet and eded up about 2 dollars down in blinds. I was feeling a little tired after that and figured that I could play a $2.50 S&G as it would only last about 45 minutes. I won that by being on the better side of a few coin flips when the blinds were high and that put me about 5 dollars ahead for the session- not a terrible result.
Today was a bank holiday so playing a few hands was on the agenda. Curiously the $10 dollar tables were empty. I almost yielded to the temptation of taking shot number two at the $20 dollar tables, but I managed to stick to my Bankroll management rules. Instead, I decided to go to the $4 dollar tables, where I sat down for 120 hands. Almost immediatelyI lost a buy in when I pushed all in after flopping a set and was called by a player with an open-ended straight draw. He certainly did not have the odds to call but he did anyway and hit on the river. I didn't mind so much as I made the correct play of charging him too high a price for him to make the correct call. Over time this is a profitable move.
On the other table, I picked up a few small pots with small hands and was up about 1.50, so I was down 3.50 overall. This did not last long though. On the first table, I picked up AKh on the button and raised to 0.2. I got 3 callers and flopped a King (Top Pair) and a flush draw. This made me feel like I was on pretty strong ground as I had both a made hand and potentially 14 cards that would improve matters. To make matters better, one of the other callers pushed all in, and this was called by me and another player. At this stage it was a 10 dollar pot, and I could feel the bad beat coming. Luckily, i was well wrong- pusher 1 turned over Ace-rag and the second player was drawing to a weaker flush. As iy happened, the flush did hit on the river, but I would have won anyway. I finished the 120 hand session with a profit of 3.40, which works out at 35.4 BB/100 hands. The same result at the 10 dollar table would have also been a somwhat acceptable 14 BB/100 hands.
I don't plan to play anymore today- it's study time. I will look at another chapter of Killer Poker By The Numbers, by Tony Guerrera. It's my kind of book as it is mathmatical and takes an in depth look at the various probabilities that come up in poker. Since my objective is to always bet hard when the odds are on my side and to avoid betting when the odds are against me, this is the kind of book that interests me.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
The Nit loves Betfair, but also he has a bit on the side.
Right now, the nit plays most of his poker on Betfair, but he also has a small bankroll on Full Tilt. I was referred to Betfair by a friend when I was starting out and I stayed there for a few reasons: there is a small hardcore of decent players at the lower levels but most of the others are dead money; while the traffic does not match the bigger sites, there is usually enough going on to find profitable games; their customer service department have resolved any queries relatively quickly; and I guess it's just natural that success on a site can breed a kind of loyalty. However, it cannot compare to Full Tilt for the sheer number of full tables and the consequent ease of getting a game.
I use Full Tilt for experimetal purposes. I play Omaha, Limit Holdem and heads-up Sit and Go matches there, but on a smaller scale. Because the stakes are so small, I can easily try out new ideas without worrying too much if it all goes horribly wrong. The Heads-Up games are perrhaps the most useful as what I learn there leads to my getting more first place finishes in the Sit and Go games over on Betfair. Limit Holde'm has been especially interesting since learning it has given mne a greater focus on odds for draws and a better idea of how to begin to open up my range of starting hands. I mean, let's face it- it's not as if the Nit can be a winner without a few tricks up his sleeve. Overtime, it is quite likely that Full Tilt will be used more frequently, but Betfair will probably always account for a huge chunk of my play- I can beat the games there so it would be foolish to ignore that.
On another topic, the Nit has become aware of the various rakeback deals on offer and will be hitting up his sites for some cash back pretty quickly. Afterall, nits love sure things.
Next time: the Nit plays live in some dodgy home game.
I use Full Tilt for experimetal purposes. I play Omaha, Limit Holdem and heads-up Sit and Go matches there, but on a smaller scale. Because the stakes are so small, I can easily try out new ideas without worrying too much if it all goes horribly wrong. The Heads-Up games are perrhaps the most useful as what I learn there leads to my getting more first place finishes in the Sit and Go games over on Betfair. Limit Holde'm has been especially interesting since learning it has given mne a greater focus on odds for draws and a better idea of how to begin to open up my range of starting hands. I mean, let's face it- it's not as if the Nit can be a winner without a few tricks up his sleeve. Overtime, it is quite likely that Full Tilt will be used more frequently, but Betfair will probably always account for a huge chunk of my play- I can beat the games there so it would be foolish to ignore that.
On another topic, the Nit has become aware of the various rakeback deals on offer and will be hitting up his sites for some cash back pretty quickly. Afterall, nits love sure things.
Next time: the Nit plays live in some dodgy home game.
Friday, May 1, 2009
My Insane yet EV+ Moment of the Day
Today there was a period where the usual tables were too shorthanded for some applied nittery. Maybe it was the weather or something, but I decided to take a shot at the .1/.2 Tables. I was watching them and I noticed that there was some mad fishing going on- people making 20 dollar all-in bets with Ace-rag and calling them with the likes of KJ. It struck me that this was a great place to be for a nit if he could catch a few big hands. Ironically, my one and only big pot was won by going against all my nittish insticnts and making an EV+ decison that involved going all in on the draw.
To add a bit of deception to my game (and because I read Brunson on suited connectors), I have been playing the occassional suited connector in the hope of flopping a monster or a monster draw. While sitting on the button, I was dealt 57c, a hand with some potential. With 5 callers and the pot at 1.40, I bet .8, hoping to either take it down or position myself for a good semi-bluff(yes, I was much more loose than normal, but I had position and was in experimenting mood). Two called, bringing it to about 3.80. The flop came Ac Jc 4d. For reasons best known to him or herself, the first to act went all in for 7.40. Then the next player moved me all in for about 17.90.
The pot was now at about 30 dollars or so.
Based on past form (I had seen both of them move in with Ace-rag or something mad like QJo), it seemed highly likely that I was looking at top pair or even middle pair. I guess that was the major gambling part- trying to work out what the had. But based on my gut, I figured that a completed flush would probably be the best hand. Based on this, I could see that price offered was a bit better than the odds of making the flush.....but only very marginally so by my standards. However, I had been reading about EV+ play and this seemed like a good spot to try it out as the odds were on my side and simply playing at .1/.2 was a once off.
As it turned out, the first guy had 10 Jo and the second guy had A 7 h. I made my flush on the turn and spent the next 5 minutes laughing at hate speech in the chatbox. All I can say is that I will probably not be doing something like that and at that level for some time. I will probably make a few similar plays at the lower levels, but only when I am drawing to the nut flush with overcards.
It felt good to put some theory into practice and actually achieve the desired result, but until I learn more, my all in calls will be significantly less marginal.
One more thing....this means that I have met one of my profit objectives for the month. Now my instinct tell me to protect it and build on it by decidedly more nittish means.
To add a bit of deception to my game (and because I read Brunson on suited connectors), I have been playing the occassional suited connector in the hope of flopping a monster or a monster draw. While sitting on the button, I was dealt 57c, a hand with some potential. With 5 callers and the pot at 1.40, I bet .8, hoping to either take it down or position myself for a good semi-bluff(yes, I was much more loose than normal, but I had position and was in experimenting mood). Two called, bringing it to about 3.80. The flop came Ac Jc 4d. For reasons best known to him or herself, the first to act went all in for 7.40. Then the next player moved me all in for about 17.90.
The pot was now at about 30 dollars or so.
Based on past form (I had seen both of them move in with Ace-rag or something mad like QJo), it seemed highly likely that I was looking at top pair or even middle pair. I guess that was the major gambling part- trying to work out what the had. But based on my gut, I figured that a completed flush would probably be the best hand. Based on this, I could see that price offered was a bit better than the odds of making the flush.....but only very marginally so by my standards. However, I had been reading about EV+ play and this seemed like a good spot to try it out as the odds were on my side and simply playing at .1/.2 was a once off.
As it turned out, the first guy had 10 Jo and the second guy had A 7 h. I made my flush on the turn and spent the next 5 minutes laughing at hate speech in the chatbox. All I can say is that I will probably not be doing something like that and at that level for some time. I will probably make a few similar plays at the lower levels, but only when I am drawing to the nut flush with overcards.
It felt good to put some theory into practice and actually achieve the desired result, but until I learn more, my all in calls will be significantly less marginal.
One more thing....this means that I have met one of my profit objectives for the month. Now my instinct tell me to protect it and build on it by decidedly more nittish means.
April Review
I played mostly cash this month at the usual levels. It was a disasterous month for bad beats and some questionable play, but I still turned in a respectable win rate. A tighter game would have yielded better results, but thats what I get for not following my own rules. What am i doing playing AJo out of position? Since when did a nit bet his Ace high with a straight on the board? These are the kind of leaks that I need to fix. So far, the rest of my game has been solid enough to withstand my occassional forays into donkishness and I know that if I fix these leaks, my win rate will zoom. I have worked out that bad play cost me about 45 dollars and bad luck about 47 ( both more than profits)- that should be a clear indication of what I need to work on.
Overall, I played 1404 hands at .02/.04 and 4009 hands at .1/.2. I made 10.98 at the lower level and 28.62 at the higher level- a win rate of 9.77 BB/100 and 3.57 BB/100 respectively. This is somewhat below my long term average but I am nonetheless happy to be up in spite of my periods of semi-tiltish play and the inevitable bad beats. As detailed in an earlier post, I will be workng on this.
Overall, I played 1404 hands at .02/.04 and 4009 hands at .1/.2. I made 10.98 at the lower level and 28.62 at the higher level- a win rate of 9.77 BB/100 and 3.57 BB/100 respectively. This is somewhat below my long term average but I am nonetheless happy to be up in spite of my periods of semi-tiltish play and the inevitable bad beats. As detailed in an earlier post, I will be workng on this.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Nit Goals for May 2009
1. My current bankroll stands at 360 Dollars. I have a busy month workwise and so I cannot devote as much time to poker as I would like to. With that in mind, I am setting the relatively modest goal of reaching 380-400 by months end, depending on how many hands I play.
2. I need to plug some of my biggest leaks. These are : overvaluing AK and AQ; chasing draws when I don't have the odds; not recognizing the early signs of tilt; not paying enough attention/note taking when I am not involved in a hand; tossing suited connectors that do not result in the desired draw.
3. I may add a second table and see how I get on. Does this mean that I should be even more nittish and accept a lower win rate for a greater overall profit?
4. Reviewing hand histories after each session.
5. Getting Harrington on Cash.
1. My current bankroll stands at 360 Dollars. I have a busy month workwise and so I cannot devote as much time to poker as I would like to. With that in mind, I am setting the relatively modest goal of reaching 380-400 by months end, depending on how many hands I play.
2. I need to plug some of my biggest leaks. These are : overvaluing AK and AQ; chasing draws when I don't have the odds; not recognizing the early signs of tilt; not paying enough attention/note taking when I am not involved in a hand; tossing suited connectors that do not result in the desired draw.
3. I may add a second table and see how I get on. Does this mean that I should be even more nittish and accept a lower win rate for a greater overall profit?
4. Reviewing hand histories after each session.
5. Getting Harrington on Cash.
In the beginning was the word, and the word was Nit.
It is now 6 months since I played my first hand of poker, and over those six months I have gron my bank roll from 25 dollars to 350 dollars. I did this by playing €2.5 Sit and Goes, .03/0.4 and more recently .05/.1 cash. In the course of my poker, I have discovered that if I have an inner-child, then he is a bigger nit than Dan Harrington.
Being a nit at a loose table is a beautiful experience. You wait and wait, tossing aside junk hands and watching the others as they double-up and then bust out 20 minutes later. You find a hand now and then but hit an ugly flop, and you let it go as if it never happened. Then out of nowhere you flop the stone cold nuts and proceed to have 3 players betting into you, or you flop a set when someone else picks up top pair. Then all the waiting is worthwhile- although you never bet without the nuts or close to it, no one seems to have noticed and they literally throw their stacks at you. It's a beautiful thing- playing in a game that is so loose or so bad that no one gives you credit for having a hand. If it only it was like this at the higher levels.
So this blog will document the exceptionally uninspired adventures of a guy who thinks that winning with a set of Kings makes him some kind of genius. Hopefully, it will see my BR hit the 500 dollar mark and move up to 25NL and beyond. I also hope that when I post hands, some better minds would see fit to chip in and add some value to my game.
Being a nit at a loose table is a beautiful experience. You wait and wait, tossing aside junk hands and watching the others as they double-up and then bust out 20 minutes later. You find a hand now and then but hit an ugly flop, and you let it go as if it never happened. Then out of nowhere you flop the stone cold nuts and proceed to have 3 players betting into you, or you flop a set when someone else picks up top pair. Then all the waiting is worthwhile- although you never bet without the nuts or close to it, no one seems to have noticed and they literally throw their stacks at you. It's a beautiful thing- playing in a game that is so loose or so bad that no one gives you credit for having a hand. If it only it was like this at the higher levels.
So this blog will document the exceptionally uninspired adventures of a guy who thinks that winning with a set of Kings makes him some kind of genius. Hopefully, it will see my BR hit the 500 dollar mark and move up to 25NL and beyond. I also hope that when I post hands, some better minds would see fit to chip in and add some value to my game.
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