my thoughts on everything

My Goal is to get to €400nl by November 2010. I will then head back to the UK from Thailand and either plan for travelling again in 2011 or decide where and how I want to further my education.

I currently play €40nl. Going from €40nl-€400nl in 10 months will require that I play many hands, play them well and have a proper structure for my day to allow playing in the right state of mind.

I want to have 2 days off a week and they should be days when the poker traffic is lowest. Considering that Friday nights, all Saturday and Sunday are prime poker days for recreational players, I will put in extra work these days especially. Monday will be a rest day to wind down from poker, and to reward myself with a massage for putting in the hours on the weekend. I will also take Thursday off to give me a chance to prepare for big weekend grind. Fri, Sat and Sunday I should be playing 6 hours a day, and 4 hours a day on tuesday and wednesday.

I will play on ladbrokes poker exclusively throughout the 10 months because they are a big reputable site based in the UK, which will not be affected by any ruling on the UIGEA in the USA. I can also speak directly to the poker room manager on MSN.

For my sessions I will play in sets of 55minutes and 50minutes, with a 10minute break inbetween. I will have 5minutes to prepare before I start by table selecting and finding the best games to play. The basic structure of a session will be 5min prep> 55min set > 10min break > 50min set > 10min review for 2hours and 10minutes a session. On weekends I want to put in 3 of these sessions a day, and on weekdays 2. That will be around 8,500 hands a week and around 35k hands a month.

A consideration I must have is when games are good on ladbrokes. In my experience games become good after 10am GMT until 3am on weekends, and after 5pm until 1am week days. Reality check is that Thailand has just about the worst timezone adjustment for GMT peek poker hours. Therefore I will either have to have a lot of late nights OR alot of early mornings. Expanding on this, I need to consider what will be best for my overall lifestyle and health in 2010. Certainly playing all through the night and not seeing the beautiful thai sunshine at all kind of makes going to Thailand pointless. Although I have never been a morning person yet, I’m sure it will be a very +EV habit to get into waking up early. Thus the game plan is to wake up and be ready (feeling mentally alert, well fed, relaxed and decisive) for when the games are really good. This means getting up WAAAYYY earlier than I am used to, but waking up at 5am, drinking some water, exercise, sauna, shower, dress, meditate, food all before poker will have me fresh and ready to play, while all my opponents will be tired and mentally drained.

Moving on from there, I’ve been thinking about having another 3 month period at the start of 2010 where I drastically reduce the alcohol I drink to the minimum (to none if possible). I did it for new years resolution last year, and it was fine after the first 2 weeks. I want to achieve my goals more than I enjoy getting drunk, it’s that simple. I love beer, I admit, having said that I want to come back from thailand healthier and fitter than ever before. That involves good sleep, food, exercise and avoidance of the terrible substance abuse I have been prone to in the past. I just turned 23 and it’s time to get real.

I have a rough plan for how I am going to budget my months out in thailand. I will only withdraw rakeback, any winnings will stay in my account, thus allowing my BR to grow and to move up in stakes. I’m really only concerned with getting a nice house, thats got a nice gym I can use nearby and with good internet connection in Chiang Mai. I’m not bothered about hookers and generally throwing my money into a fire. I’m going out there to have fun, meet like minded people who love to travel and to play cards. I am really looking forward to living with poker players who are way better than me, as I know I will learn more than I could imagine right now. My budget is conservative but not unrealistic, and will give me motivation to grind hands and get to 100nl+ sooner rather than later.

How am I going to move up?

30buyins per level I will begin taking 5buyin “shots”, I’m sure that I will run bad sometimes, but invariably I will run good at some point while moving up too.

Roughly needed:
€1.5k for 50nl
€3k for 100nl
€6k for 200nl
€12k for 400nl

I did some maths and based on the days I want to play and the hours I want to put in, I will play around 350k hands in the 10months leading up to November. Using this as a guide, I worked out I need to win 30Buyins each level before I take shots at the next level, giving me around 120BI’s of winnings to get from 40nl->400nl. 120BI is 12,000bb which over 350k hands is a modest winrate of around 3bb/100. Since I plan on playing just over 2k hands a day on weekends, and around 1.5k hands a day on the two week days, my weekly target should be 300bb’s. That is only 3 buyins a week. This is a very achiveable goal. That is only 50bb a day, or ~12bb a set on average over the 350k sample. I know I can play a basic strategy of playing better starting hands than my opponents, playing with better position, using aggression to my advantage and utilizing my hand reading skills to easily achieve this winrate and go well beyond it. To do this I really need to be playing to win, not playing “to do fancy moves” – I’m better than the scrub.

By August 2010, I should be transitioning into 200nl from 100nl and I want to have a good client base of poker students that I coach.
By march 2010, I want to have completely finished my TEFL and be doing some volunteering Teaching English to Thai’s.

To reward myself for working hard, and sticking to my structure I have laid out here, I will buy myself something awesome each time I properly move up. I’m thinking a PADI diving course, teeth whitening, BNPL sorted and maybe some spa stuff.

In one year I want to have 400nl as my regular stakes. I’m going to have to work hard, I know that and I am ready for it. I’m going to read 10 pages a day of all of the great poker books I have and watch 1 video a day. In a cycle, until it all sticks. Trouble hands, I will post them, no matter how embarassing. Every month I will do a video session review. Every week I will do a video of a live sweat session. I will do whatever it takes.

this reply was so awesome think about these questions deeply and you will find your poker nivarna

http://www.deucescracked.com/forums/4-General-Discussion/topics/52301-I-swing-so-much-Tiger-is-#posts-414741

here it is in its full glory:

First of all I hate the word tilt. It is a problem with language. Tilt is a single world that is used to express the sum of a person’s entire emotional response to a wide variety of situations in poker. Forget about reading books or watching videos for a bit. Put as much effort as you can to exploring your feelings and expressing them in language. Like most people you never do this.

Don’t stop with, “I am angry cause my opponent does X.” Explore the anger, and define clearly the words following angry. Define your expectations when you play, and why you have them. Be honest with yourself and answer why you become emotional while playing.

Why do you play poker? What do you consider failing at poker? What do you consider success at poker? Do you apply these same criteria in evaluating a stranger’s poker game as well as your own? What fears do you bring to poker from your psyche, and what specific fears do you have of playing poker.

Be honest with yourself and really explore this idea, how do others’ judgment of you effect and influence your approach to poker. How do you perceive their judgment in the context to what poker brings you in life, specifically based on what criteria you apply to yourself to define success or failure.

Imagine playing poker for points, and no money. Imagine you still want to devout a lot of energy to achieving true excellence in playing. How would you evaluate excellence specifically to you. Think of all the aspects of poker that you would want to improve so you could become the absolute best player YOU can become. What would upset you when you played now? What would be possible stumbling blocks?

If our mental perspective on life and poker is not correct how can we possibly achieve excellence? We might brute force our way to beating a level that brings enough money that we find happiness with it. But is this how we want to approach it?

thanks so far guys for all the replies in http://www.deucescracked.com/forums/4-General-Discussion/topics/52301-I-swing-so-much-Tiger-is--

and thanks to those of you who downloaded this video http://www.deucescracked.com/forums/22-Member-Videos/topics/52391-15th-Dec-Session-how-NOT--

heres wat I am going to do

1- work on my game (better player = higher w/r = less swings) by reading all the books i have repeatedly all 2010. I want to have read each book twice by the end of the next year. so 1 book every 2 weeks, for around 10 pages a day. I will also post a video session of my play every week, and a video session review every 10-20k hands.

2- play shorter sessions. I am going to commit to playing 3×50min sessions every day instead of 2-3 75-110 min sessions. quality over quantity. This will help aid concentration as I know i only have to focus for a short time. I am also going to practice quitting by playing 3x 5min sessions for the next 3 days. I will also quit as soon as I feel tilty, not when I just hit a stop loss.

3 – exercise more. staying healthy keeps your mind healthy too. I do a good job with diet overall, but need to keep up the exercise by swimming every day, 10-20 lengths a day will be sufficient.

4 – listen to eptpe, i listened to part 1 last night. part 2 tonight, 3 tomorowo, 4 day after and so on.. after that i will re-read the poker mindset.

5 – decisions. watching back my play from the video i mention in the threads, i notice i hastily make decisions. i should think more when i check and bet. i don’t mind snap folding. but snap calling/betting/raising i think are far from optimal so i should put more time into my decisions and THINK more about the hands in play.

these things I will commit to

cheers

Here’s a session review I did to examine some of the hands I have played this month and look deeper into my flawed thought processes to see if I can correct the mistakes for the future, as well as a look at some of the hands I think I played well.

Video Link on DC Members Videos forum

Please comment on the video in the DC forum if you watch it, thanks!

I’m also about 75 pages into the new leatherass book by Dusty Schmidt. So far it’s been pretty good, nothing ground breaking, but a lot of critical thinking and business concepts applied to your approach in poker. I will write a full review later after I have read it all. The book is called Treat your Poker like a Business. Talk about it here, Buy it here. One thing I would like to add about the book so far is that while it’s very cheap vs the other “new generation” poker books out there on the market, there is certainly no lack of content with over 40 chapters and over 200 pages. Another thing that I thought was great was when I purchased the book I left a note in the comments to ask them to ship the book quickly as I explained I was leaving the UK for thailand. Shortly afterwards the support guys emailed me with a free copy of the PDF version “just to make sure” and wished me safe travels! That was above what I expected so all I can say is top quality service, top quality product so far!

Finally, flopped quads and got paid :)

Brag: Quads and got paid
Beat: Villain was short stacked
Variance: Still only playing 40nl €uro cheese!

Oh and I’ve been listening to Kaskade alot recently, very chill. I searched around for some more of his shit and amusing I found this track called The Reward Is Cheese:

http://www.youtube.com/v/AIzAHbn6pwU

Peace :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVJrHXRZJL8

:)

28 days

Hey guys it’s been a few days since my last blog because ive been away with friends visiting more friends and eating and drinking like a lord.

In one of the pubs I went to there was this poem written on the wall:
’Twas an evening in November,
As I very well remember,
I was strolling down the street in drunken pride,
But my knees were all aflutter,
So I landed in the gutter,
And a pig came up and lay down by my side.

Yes I lay there in the gutter
Thinking thoughts I could not utter,
When a colleen passing by did softly say,
“Ye can tell a man that boozes
By the company he chooses” -
At that the pig got up and walked away

Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get a clear picture, maybe I thought it was clear at the time :)

I just read a part in Fooled by Randomness today that made me realise how looking at my results Hourly/DAILY is not a good idea, so from now on I will look at my results in 12.5k hand samples only and at most once a week. The reasoning behind this is explained in detail within the book using an example of a dentist who turns his hand to the markets who checks his share results by different scales of time. Then using and comparing the effects of his happiness when he checked his “[hypothetical]93% chance of profit stocks” over periods ranging from 1second, through 1 year, factoring in how the mind always has a much more powerful emotional negative reaction to losing results than a positive emotional reaction to winning results. . If I recall DC has a great Forum Post On This..

so yeah ^ no more daily graphs. With this change I will also bring in a change of the 56 days til freedom to coutdown to thailand as I now have officially LESS THAN ONE MONTH til I leave! I’m excited and buzzing and need to really concentrate on finishing off the important things I need to get out of the way before I leave.. namely finishing off my TEFL course online modules which I have not done anything on for a while. Tomorrow I will go to the gym when I wake up, come back and start on the TEFL and only play poker when I have done a satisfactory amount of work on it. I’ve been mentally wrestling with going out there and either JUST playing online or doing abit of Teaching English as well as the cards. I think it would be massively more +lifeEV for me to teach as I will have something fantastic on my CV if I ever do feel the necessity to try and get a real job. Also, Now its close to moving out there I need to think more clearly about budgeting. I think €700 will be enough to live fantastically well over there but like my good friend Thomas does, you’l never know until you KNOW and you sit down and work out a serious budget, so tomorrow I will do that after the TEFL work, then play some cards, then ive gotta meet some old friends.

Anyway, enough talk and more action!

I arrive in thailand on the 8th JAN 2010, I can’t wait :)

Back in business!

Today went how everyday should, winning, three good sessions and (mostly) everything happening according to plan..

the last session was by far the best, but I was well awake, fed, warm, exercised and focused, as opposed to half asleep, cold, hungry and with a wandering mind. Its amazing how much difference a sauna, a cycle and some good food make to the brain. From now on I will go to the sauna and gym BEFORE i start to play, and make sure I am well fed and focused. Thinking about it now its kind of stupid to ever play when you havent got any energy inside you! .. oh well, as noted in Fooled By Randomness you learn things by exeriencing them, your subconscious remembers stuff and auto pilots you..

Here are a hand I liked the way I played:

Prima Network $40.00 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 405324
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $39.73
SB: $31.74
BB: $13.86
Hero (UTG): $62.99
MP: $9.28
CO: $53.33

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is UTG with K A
Hero raises to $1.80, 2 folds, BTN calls $1.80, 1 fold, BB calls $1.40

Flop: ($5.60) J Q T (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.80, BTN calls $1.80, BB calls $1.80

Turn: ($11.00) 4 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $5.40, BTN calls $5.40, BB raises to $9.86, Hero calls $4.46, BTN calls $4.46

River: ($40.58) T (3 players)
Hero bets $20.00, BTN folds

gg see you tomorrow, now im going to do some TEFL work tonight and read more of the Baluga Book :) peace

oh and before I forget.. STR8FLUSHY

Todays interview is with Hugh Nelson Adcock aka NxtWrldChamp, here is his PTR and here is the good looking fellow himself (no, he is not lil wayne!)

6max.nl: hey man, thanks for taking the time out to do an interview with 6max.nl, hows it going?
NxtWrldChamp: It’s going pretty well. Been a good poker year, and more recently hopefully some good things happening with regards to online poker.

6max.nl: cool, where are you from, and whats it like living out there?
NxtWrldChamp: Im orginially from Virginia, but moved down outside of Atlanta, Georgia a little over a year ago. It’s a pretty nice place to live, lots to do.

6max.nl: sweet, so how did you get started playing poker?
NxtWrldChamp: I started playing poker in high school with some friends. Then when I got to college just about everyone in my major played poker so we had a lot of nightly tournaments and what not. I started on Party Poker my freshman year with a few $50 deposits that didnt last long. HA.

6max.nl: so, the party poker boom days? :) how long have you been playing now?
NxtWrldChamp: I guess I would have to say I’ve been playing online for 5 years now(wow that seems a little ridiculous to say) but I didn’t really get serious about poker until the UIGEA was passed. That bill sort of kicked me into gear.

6max.nl: so would you say since then youve been taking things seriously, and would you say you now specialize in 6max?
NxtWrldChamp: Yea, I remember when that law got passed and Neteller and Party Poker shut themselves off to the US. I figured I had a few years to try and make some good money and decided to put a lot of effort into it. I started off 12 tabling .10/.25c FR and then when I got to 2/4 I switched to 6 max.

6max.nl: thats some good going, how long did it take you from micros to get to where you are now at the higher stakes 5/10 and deep stack games?
NxtWrldChamp: It took a bit of time, I rocketed through the FR ranks and hung around at 1/2 and 2/4 FR for a while. And then I realized that 3/6 and 5/10 FR rarely ran so I switched to 6 max. I started there at .5/1 and my progress was pretty slow. But I was still a student, and I didn’t have much time to devote to poker. I played 2/4 nl when I got there for about a solid year making like 2-4bb/100 before I decided to get some coaching.

6max.nl: We’ll get back onto coaching abit later. What were your BR requirements for moving up a level? Any other insights? Any “ah ha!” moments along the way? Do you plan on playing much higher or are you happy at 5/10? Sorry about 5 questions in 1 :)
NxtWrldChamp: Ha, I like all the questions, so no biggie. My BR requirements at the time were 30 buy-ins per limit when I first started. Since then it’s gotten a little bit larger and I’m a bit of a bankroll nit I guess.

As for an “ah ha” moment, that didn’t really come along until I got my first coach. Before that I would figure little things out here and there but my mind just wasn’t in the right place to be a big winner at anything over 1/2.

I’m happy playing 5/10 but I would like to play higher. I started this year off with a heater at 5/10 that turned into a pretty huge downswing fueled by some not so great play. The last few months I feel like I’ve been playing much better and I’ve started taking shots at 10/20. I want to start working a little bit on my HU game though so I can keep moving up.

6max.nl: sounds like you’ve had a ton of experience. If you were to give 3 tips to players looking to improve in 6max nl, what would they be?
NxtWrldChamp: Hmmm. I think math is a pretty important part of the game so getting yourself accustomed to equities in certain spots is always good. Learning how to use a fold equity calculator will help a lot of people.
Pokerstove is a must have, if you play around with that for a little bit and use it to analyze some of your hands that will be a big help.
Try to get as much information as you can about your opponents ranges, once you know their starting hands and kind of what they will do with each of those hands on a certain board texture the game becomes much easier.
You only have to be 1 level above your opponent, so don’t level yourself too hard. I used to do this all of the time, and still do by giving some opponents too much credit. If you see a leak in your opponent, continue to exploit it until they change. I would always tell myself to back off some of the time because the person is bound to adjust at some point, but some opponents will just keep playing their auto pilot game.
6max.nl: sweet advice, thanks alot!

6max.nl: so, if you had to start tomorrow from scratch, nada, ziltch, zero, what would be your game plan? and considering how much information there is out there for everyone these days would you even bother?
NxtWrldChamp: I try to recruit my friends all the time, and tell them that I will coach them and get them making decent money. For them I would probably start them at .05/.10 until they got a general idea of how to play, same thing if I was just starting out. Then once I got to .10/.25 I would but a membership to a training site. From there you should be able to get to .5/1 or even 1/2 nl with just a little effort. Once I got there I would probably try to find a coach to help me move past 2/4 and above. And yes I think its worth it, there are plenty of people who just play the game recreationally as well as people who take it somewhat seriously who are just lazy or don’t want to put in the effort to get better.

6max.nl: great advice here man. something I just picked up on you mentioned earlier about your “mind just wasn’t in the right place to be a big winner at anything over 1/2.” Could you please elaborate? What mental aspects do you feel someone needs to have to make it as a full time poker pro?
NxtWrldChamp: Yea sure. By that I meant I wasn’t really thinking about the game in the right way. I was pretty level 1, sort of just play my hand based on its absolute strength. I wasn’t thinking about what everyone else had for the most part, I didn’t even know what a hand range was.
I never took relative hand strenght into play whatsoever, if i had a flush, hey thats pretty high up on the hand rankings chart. IM ALL IN.
Nowadays to make it and progress you need to be thinking about ranges, what range your opponent is playing, what range he is percieving you to be playing, and how you expect him to react to the things you do.
Having a solid math base is key as well, as it can be pretty eye opening in spots, be it how little fold equity you need for shoving to be very good or how often villain needs to be bluffing for you to call.

6max.nl: Who are the players you look up to the most? if any?
NxtWrldChamp: Phil Ivey is the man in my book. Everything I see and read about on him boggles my mind. Durrrr as well.

6max.nl: If you didn’t play poker, what do you think you’d be doing with your life?
NxtWrldChamp: Ah, an easy question! I would be a golf professional. Either running a golf club or giving lessons.
I majored in Professional Golf Management at Clemson Universtiy, bascially a 4 year program with a minor in business sponsored by the PGA.

6max.nl: sweet, golf and poker seem to go hand in hand somewhat these days, any degen golf/poker related stories you could let us know about?
NxtWrldChamp: Well I’m right handed, and I bet my roomates junior year $1,000($500 each) that I could break 130 at the Clemson University course playing left handed. So I borrowed a set of clubs from a lefty friend. I got to the course about 45 mins early to practice a bit and I was hitting the ball really well. I was a lock in my mind, and I was actually thinking about breaking 100. Unfortunately for me, the course we were playing had quite a bit of trouble and forced carries on it. 134 strokes and 18 golf balls later I lost that bet.
6max.nl: sick life
NxtWrldChamp: Also I guess that $1000 bet was about 5-10% of my networth at the time, easily the single biggest bet I had made at that point in my life.
6max.nl: definate brag when you think about even considering it.

6max.nl: back to coaching, who have you been coached by and how was the experience?
NxtWrldChamp: I started off with Chaostracize from Deuces Cracked. Can’t say enough good things about him, he really got me into a good poker mindset. We did a lot of hand history reviews and we would talk through every part of the hand, and narrow down peoples ranges so that we could come to a pretty clear conclusion of what the best play was.
That definitely was the spark I needed. I started with him in November of 2008, December was an ok month but I felt I was playing really well just running sort of bad. Then in January I had the best month of my life, outdoing my previous best month by like 5×. It was amazing.
Since then I’ve been coached by Moonshine from Deuces Cracked and iRockHoes from CardRunners both of whom offered me some great insight and opened my eyes to certain parts of the game. I would say I’ve probably had 15 hours of coaching in my career.

6max.nl: so, still taking coaching?
NxtWrldChamp: Not currently, I haven’t been getting coached for a couple of months. But I highly reccomend it to anyone who wants to improve and break into mid to high stakes games.

6max.nl: ok cool, do you coach?

NxtWrldChamp: Yea, I just started a month or two ago. I offer individual coaching at $200/hr with some discounted packages and have just introduced some group coaching for $75/hr. I would say that my group coaching for $75/hr might be one of the best values for a midstakes coach out there.

6max.nl: alright how can our readers get in contact with you for coaching?

NxtWrldChamp: Anyone can contact me via PM on TwoPlusTwo, sn NxtWrldChamp. You can email me at hnadcock3@gmail.com or leave a comment on my blog at www.nxtwrldchamp.blogspot.com

6max.nl: thanks alot man, now I have a few user submitted questions..
NxtWrldChamp: ok great. Bring em on.
Q from yojimgari: Ask him his thoughts about pot limit Omaha hi-lo if he will play it and what it’s future is please?
NxtWrldChamp: I havent really ever played pot limit omaha hi-lo so I dont think I would be the best to comment on its future. Ive probably played less than 50 hands at that game in my lifetime.

Q from yojimgari: How does he cure his tilt?
NxtWrldChamp: Ah, tilt. Luckily for me I don’t really get tilted, nowadays I’m able to stay pretty calm no matter what happens. But if someone does have a tilt problem, I would say the best thing to do is to take a break from the game. If you are playing a session and you can feel the tilt setting in, sit out or close down the poker client and do something else for a little bit. If you feel better a little later in the day then play again but sometimes its best to just wait for a new day. Also a stop loss is definitely a good thing, I’ve never been able to abide by one tho.

Q from Cody C. Heiden: Ask him about Nanonoko, does he thinks he’s human? Is he as good as he seems to be, should he be classed as one of the absolute best?
NxtWrldChamp: Believe it or not I dont have a lot of experience with the legend that is Nanonoko. I haven’t played on Stars in over 3 years but all I hear and see about him is that he is a god. He plays on FTP under the same name and I’ve probably played a few K hands with him but I didn’t notice anything spectacular. You have to hand it to him, his Stars results are unreal for someone who 24 tables anthing higher than 1/2 6 max. I probably wouldnt classify him as one of the absolute best poker players, but probably the best grinder/poker player.

Q from Matt S: 3 quick questions all about moving up. 1. What does he think are the best things a player should do to help him ascend the ranks as fast as possible?, 2. What should a player do if they have been on a long breakeven stretch or a long losing streak?, 3. How should a player approach playing a new stake- Like what should he do to prepare to beat the next level when he has enough bankroll for it?
NxtWrldChamp: Best things a player can do to move up quickly is to put a lot of work in. Review hands that give you problems, post them somewhere or have friends look at them and see what they think. Other players insight is a great help
If you are on a long breakeven or losing streak I would reccomend moving down and getting some confidence back. I did this just last month, I started the month poorly and decided to play some 3/6 and 2/4 to get my head on straight. After a couple days there my confidence was as high as ever and it really helped me play much better in the 5/10 games. Confidence is such a huge and overlooked factor in just about everything in life in my opinion.
And if moving down doesn’t help, I would look into hiring a coach to help you get back to the fundamentals that will help put you back on track.
The most important thing when moving up to a new level is to not intimidate yourself. By that I mean don’t sit there and come to the conclusion that every single person is better than you at the table, or that they always no what you are doing so you have to adjust and do something youre not accustomed to. Be confident, you obvioulsy navigate your way through the last limit you played to make it here, so just play your game and for the most part things will take care of themselves.

Q from oneonth3run: i’d just want to know what routines he does (if any) in reviewing his own play and the primary action(s) he takes in improving?
NxtWrldChamp: Well, since I started my blog last month I think that has really helped me go back and look at the interesting hands I played each session. Normally after I play I will go back in holdem manager and look at hands that gave me problems to see what I could do differently. I will break down ranges and do some calculations to see what the best play is. Being able to narrow peoples ranges down is one of the most important aspects in getting better. The better you know people’s ranges the better decisions you will be able to make.

6max.nl: finally, we’ll close up with a few simple ones,

6max.nl: what are your favorite poker books?
NxtWrldChamp: The first one I ever read was Phil Helmuth’s “Play Poker Like The Pros”. I look back on it now and laugh but 5 years ago it was a decent guide when the games were much easier. Stu Ungar’s book was an amazing read as was Mike Matusow’s. I also liked The Professor, The Banker, and the Suicide King. My favorite is between Matusow’s and the one I just listed.

6max.nl: I love ungars book too, its an almost cinematic read.
which training sites are you a member of?
NxtWrldChamp: A lot, CardRunners was my first, then Deuces Cracked, then Leggo and Bluefire, and PokerSwat.

6max.nl: best site in your eyes?
NxtWrldChamp: I dont really sit down and just watch videos anymore, but I will have them playing in the background during my session quite often and if I hear something I find particularly interesting I will pay more attention. Um best site? I dont think I can say one site in particular because each of them offer some good stuff but my favorite producers are CTS, Brian Townsend, AEJones, JMAN, DrGiggy, and Krantz.

6max.nl: last question, earlier you mentioned “more recently hopefully some good things happening with regards to online poker.” – Is there anything in the near future going on with you online poker wise you could let us know about? or did I read into this too much :P
NxtWrldChamp: Haha, a little too much in-depth reading from you. I was just referring to the delay on the UIGEA regulations as I think that is pretty huge and quite possibly the first step to regulation. In which case I will take a week off of poker and dance around.

6max.nl: haha, sweet, oh last last question. If the plug gets pulled on US poker, would you leave and live in Europe or start up back on the green?
NxtWrldChamp: I would find something else to do. Most likely golf but I try to think of other ideas all of the time. I’m geting married in March so moving to another country is out of the question, and not something I would really want to do anyway.

6max.nl: alright thanks a lot for taking the time to answer all these questions, they’ve been a great help
NxtWrldChamp: No problem, Ill put a link to your website on my blog as long as you return the favor ;)

man, ive been playing poorly and having some inevitable tilt.. the start of december has not gone well.

my tooth is acheing and im starting to doubt myself pokerwise, but ive been here many times before and it’s silly to get worried about alittle variance, losing 6-7bi in 3 days is standard for a poker player and i suppose its only bothering me now because I am not working anymore. Nobody said it was going to be easy!

I guess all I can say is SUCK IT UP.. and I will, but first..

I think I need to work on my TURN PLAY more, as ive been spewing when blatant cards come which complete draws and just insta stacking, though im sure that its pretty standard.. watching foucaults turn series tonight me thinks

here’s the big winning and losing hands:

MP: $35.93
CO: $43.68
Hero (BTN): $52.59
SB: $31.29
BB: $56.95
UTG: $52.73

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is BTN with J Q
UTG calls $0.40, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.40, SB calls $0.20, BB checks

Flop: ($1.60) Q A J (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG bets $0.40, Hero raises to $2.80, SB folds, BB folds, UTG calls $2.40

Turn: ($7.20) 5 (2 players)
UTG bets $1.60, Hero raises to $6.80, UTG calls $5.20

River: ($20.80) A (2 players)
UTG bets $5.20, Hero folds

Final Pot: $20.80
UTG wins $19.76
(Rake: $1.04)

BB: $66.96

Hero (CO): $43.35

BTN: $24.83

SB: $75.15

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is CO with T T
Hero raises to $1.60, BTN raises to $2.80, SB calls $2.60, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.20

Flop: ($8.80) 3 6 2 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $5.20, BTN calls $5.20, SB raises to $10.40, Hero folds, BTN calls $5.20

Turn: ($34.80) 4 (2 players)
SB checks, BTN checks

River: ($34.80) 6 (2 players)
SB bets $61.75, BTN calls $11.63 all in

Final Pot: $58.06
BTN mucks J J
SB shows 2 2
SB wins $5.04
SB wins $50.12
(Rake: $2.90)

BTN: $38.46
SB: $44.08
Hero (BB): $42.99
UTG: $30.69
MP: $53.80
CO: $61.89

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is BB with J K
2 folds, CO calls $0.40, BTN calls $0.40, SB calls $0.20, Hero checks

Flop: ($1.60) 4 K 3 (4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.30, CO folds, BTN raises to $3.20, SB folds, Hero calls $1.90

Turn: ($8.00) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: ($8.00) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $8.00, Hero calls $8

Final Pot: $24.00
BTN shows 3 3
Hero mucks J K
BTN wins $22.80
(Rake: $1.20)

CO: $49.66
BTN: $43.48
Hero (SB): $40.20
BB: $31.09
UTG: $53.80
MP: $61.49

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is SB with K Q
2 folds, CO calls $0.40, 1 fold, Hero raises to $2, 1 fold, CO calls $1.60

Flop: ($4.40) Q Q 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $3.20, CO calls $3.20

Turn: ($10.80) 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $10.40, CO raises to $44.46, Hero calls $24.60 all in

River: ($80.80) 5 (2 players – 1 is all in)Final Pot: $80.80

CO shows J 3
Hero shows K Q

CO wins $67.94
CO wins $9.66
(Rake: $3.20)

Hero (BTN): $52.24
SB: $63.84
BB: $57.45
UTG: $19.85
MP: $43.04
CO: $5.51

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is BTN with T 8
3 folds, Hero raises to $1.20, 1 fold, BB calls $0.80

Flop: ($2.60) 6 T 8 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.60, BB calls $1.60

Turn: ($5.80) J (2 players)
BB bets $4.00, Hero raises to $10, BB raises to $54.25, Hero calls $39.44 all in

River: ($104.68) 5 (2 players – 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $104.68
Hero mucks T 8
BB shows J T

BB wins $96.87
BB wins $4.81
(Rake: $3.00)

^^ in hindsight the above was a crying spite call and I am better than this, I should have just folded.

and finally.. for comedy value a hand i won :)

BB: $53.79
UTG: $28.75
MP: $39.56
CO: $14.80
BTN: $29.27
Hero (SB): $40.20

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is SB with 8 8
UTG calls $0.40, 2 folds, BTN calls $0.40, Hero calls $0.20, BB checks

Flop: ($1.60) J 5 T (4 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($1.60) 5 (4 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG checks, BTN checks

River: ($1.60) 8 (4 players)
Hero bets $39.60, BB folds, UTG calls $28.35 all in, BTN folds

Final Pot: $58.30
UTG mucks 5 A
Hero shows 8 8

Hero wins $44.14
Hero wins $11.25
(Rake: $2.91)

elsewhere, the dry heat of the sauna at the gym is completely destroying my books (though you cant really tell in these pics):

and

well, writing this has chilled me out so thats why im gona dedicate this to mr.scruff, gotta keep movin’..

til tomoro, peace – oh and i nearly forgot, interviewing NxtWrlChamp tonight :)

played alot today but had some bad results, ran what i still consider to be a great bluff but the guy made an equally great call, i dont know.. anyway, another few standard spewy spots from me resulted in 3bi loss for today, thats variance and thats a big part of poker i suppose. I didnt table select very well today either, so im going to start using table scanner again, its too good not too use it.. heres the graphy:

I’m still happy about how my redline has been hovering around breakeven for the whole time, which is hard to do at micro stakes due to the love of calling people have in general, now need to work on my consistency with my big pots at showdown, some times i play like a monkey and I know it even during the hand, need to get a coach again but honestly they are expensive.. i’ll get working with my secret HQ group more, and less chatter about beers and girls in the thai group and more poker until we’re all out there!

In other news I joined a gym today for a month, going to go every day, swim and sauna and cycle there and back, that will keep me in relatively good nic til i head out..

here’s some hands, good, bad and ugly:

Prima Network $40.00 No Limit Hold’em – 4 players – View hand 402417

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (CO): $52.26

BTN: $47.52

SB: $40.20

BB: $38.77

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is CO with A A

Hero raises to $1.60, 1 fold, SB raises to $5.20, 1 fold, Hero calls $3.60

Flop: ($10.80) 7 9 6 (2 players)

SB bets $7.40, Hero raises to $47.06, SB calls $27.60 all in

Turn: ($80.80) Q (2 players – 1 is all in)

River: ($80.80) T (2 players – 1 is all in)

standard cooler.. but it felt good to slow play these, especially after this hand where I still don’t quite know what the fuck happened..

Prima Network $40.00 No Limit Hold’em – 5 players – View hand 402418

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): $41.00

UTG: $19.86

CO: $66.29

BTN: $40.00

SB: $34.59

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is BB with Q 9

2 folds, BTN raises to $1.40, 1 fold, Hero raises to $5.40, BTN calls $4

Flop: ($11.00) 7 2 7 (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($11.00) T (2 players)

Hero bets $6.80, BTN calls $6.80

River: ($24.60) 5 (2 players)

Hero bets $28.40, BTN calls $27.80 all in

Final Pot: $80.20

Hero shows Q 9

BTN shows A Q

BTN wins $77.20

Hero wins $0.00

(Rake: $3.00)

YEP, WTF?!??!? thing which makes it worse is that i hadnt even been getting out of line on this table, and neither had he. then all of a sudden that!

anyway, in another hand this went down..
Prima Network $40.00 No Limit Hold’em – 5 players – View hand 402424

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (CO): $40.00

BTN: $39.40

SB: $77.21

BB: $40.40

UTG: $102.14

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is CO with 9 9

1 fold, Hero raises to $1.60, BTN raises to $5.20, 2 folds, Hero calls $3.60

Flop: ($11.00) 5 6 K (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN bets $5.60, Hero raises to $34.80, BTN folds

Final Pot: $22.20

Hero wins $21.09

(Rake: $1.11)

later i c/r a similar board..

Prima Network $40.00 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 402422

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (MP): $40.00

CO: $47.26

BTN: $51.43

SB: $48.71

BB: $59.29

UTG: $38.97

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is MP with 9 9

1 fold, Hero raises to $1.60, 1 fold, BTN raises to $5.20, 2 folds, Hero calls $3.60

Flop: ($11.00) 7 Q 6 (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN bets $7.60, Hero raises to $34.80, BTN calls $27.20

Turn: ($80.60) 3 (2 players)

River: ($80.60) K (2 players)

Final Pot: $80.60

Hero shows 9 9

BTN shows A A

BTN wins $77.60

(Rake: $3.00)

and get owned.. :(

then the coolers kept coming..
Prima Network $40.00 No Limit Hold’em – 5 players – View hand 402426

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (CO): $89.66

BTN: $22.16

SB: $44.78

BB: $41.67

UTG: $39.61

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is CO with K 9

1 fold, Hero raises to $1.60, 1 fold, SB calls $1.40, BB calls $1.20

Flop: ($4.80) 3 2 4 (3 players)

SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($4.80) 8 (3 players)

SB bets $3.40, BB calls $3.40, Hero raises to $14, SB folds, BB calls $10.60

River: ($36.20) Q (2 players)

BB checks, Hero bets $36.00, BB calls $26.07 all in

Final Pot: $88.34

Hero shows K 9

BB shows J A

BB wins $84.54

Hero wins $0.40

(Rake: $3.40)

and coming..

Prima Network $40.00 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players – View hand 402428

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $40.35

MP: $33.49

CO: $41.88

Hero (BTN): $44.67

SB: $42.82

BB: $41.52

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is BTN with 9 8

3 folds, Hero raises to $1.20, SB calls $1, BB calls $0.80

Flop: ($3.60) 9 8 K (3 players)

SB bets $2.00, BB calls $2, Hero raises to $11.60, SB calls $9.60, BB folds

Turn: ($28.80) 7 (2 players)

SB checks, Hero bets $31.87, SB calls $30.02 all in

River: ($88.84) T (2 players – 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $88.84

Hero mucks 9 8

SB shows 3 A

SB wins $85.44

Hero wins $0.20

(Rake: $3.20)

tho i think i played bad on the turn, i dont know if can really just bet smaller/fold or check it back here, anyway

and then i started getting paranoid, and it cost me..
Prima Network $40.00 No Limit Hold’em – 5 players – View hand 402430

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $41.62

Hero (UTG): $44.48

CO: $54.49

BTN: $59.65

SB: $39.75

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is UTG with A A

Hero raises to $1.60, 1 fold, BTN calls $1.60, 1 fold, BB calls $1.20

Flop: ($5.00) K K 3 (3 players)

BB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets $2.80, BB folds, Hero calls $2.80

Turn: ($10.60) 4 (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN bets $10.40, Hero calls $10.40

River: ($31.40) 5 (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN bets $44.85, Hero calls $29.68 all in

Final Pot: $90.76

Hero mucks A A

BTN shows 4 4

BTN wins $72.59

BTN wins $15.17

(Rake: $3.00)

yeah i played terribad I shoulda bet flop i think..

then i own myself and try putting a guy on exactly AK, meh

Prima Network $40.00 No Limit Hold’em – 5 players – View hand 402433

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN): $70.12

SB: $57.34

BB: $65.04

UTG: $8.40

CO: $53.91

Pre Flop: ($0.60) Hero is BTN with 8 7

UTG raises to $1, CO calls $1, Hero calls $1, SB raises to $6.20, 3 folds, Hero calls $5.20

Flop: ($14.80) 5 4 8 (2 players)

SB bets $12.00, Hero calls $12

Turn: ($38.80) Q (2 players)

SB bets $38.94, Hero calls $38.94

River: ($116.68) 9 (2 players)

Final Pot: $116.68

Hero mucks 8 7

SB shows A A

SB wins $113.68

(Rake: $3.00)

spewtastic

ah well, dispite all these horrible hands, 3bi down is probably a winning day all things considered!

Tomorrow, back on the grind, less tables (i 6tabled today) and no crazy bluffs…. :)

peace

ps. i’ll be interviewing NxtWrldChamp tomorrow, so please leave your questions in comments box!