Journey Through The Micros

Back! Again...

gsiciliano — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:06:27 +0000

Last post was in june and it was about starting playing heads-up cash. Didn't go that well in my first 50HUNL shots on Party but gained some valuable experience. Since then, some things happened. First, I really wanted to get into HU, but I thought 50NL was a little bigger than what I wanted fo my 2,5k BR (yes, I'm a BR nit) in a type of game/limit I had almost no experience. So, I opened a account on iPoker (BetFred), which has smaller limits than 50NL for HU cash, deposited part of my BR there and started playing 20NL. Second, I started getting coached by 2fouroffsuit. I first got to know him through his series "Heads Upside Down", which is simply the best series for the people who are starting to play HU (and when I say that, you can be sure I watched practically every single HU small stakes - plus tons of medium/high stakes - videos from DC, CR, Leggo and BF). He is a very nice guy and has a great way of thinking about poker. Better yet, he has great teaching skills (as opposed to some coaches, who can be good players but can't teach well) and a good amount of patience with my poor ability of speaking English...

In those 2 months of coaching so far, I feel I've learned way way more than in 2 years reading books, watching videos, reviewing sessons and going through the forums. Not that these things aren't important, they are, but that only shows the importance of a GOOD coach. At the moment, I've been playing 50HUNL and taking shots at 100HUNL, let's see how it goes...

Heads-Up, baby!

gsiciliano — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:11:45 +0000

I have been playing very low volume this month, and almost no 6-max. This month I started playing some HU at Party Poker. The results haven't been great so far, but I'm just getting used to it. I've been reading some theory on HU (some articles, 2+2 threads and stuff like that) and watching some videos (Bosoxx34, WiltOnTilt, 2fouroffsuit). I've not been able to play a lot this month because of personal problems, but I believe the results will get better.

On the flip side, I'm running bellow EV (shocking, huh?) and the reed line is slightly positive :)

Welcome June, May can kiss my ***

gsiciliano — Tue, 31 May 2011 20:51:13 +0000

In terms of absolute results, it was not a total disaster. A total loss of $102 is something aroung 4 BIs on the stakes I usually play (25NL), which can be lost in a single session. But what bothers me is that I ran like s***, and I don't mean just the EV, it's the coolers that I think that really hurts us as players. When we go AI pre with AA vs 22 and a deuce hits the river, it sucks, but we don't question our play. But when we constantly get things like set-over-set, flush-over-flush, KK vs AA AI preflop and less "acute" coolers (a 2-pair vs a set facing a very aggressive villain or when you bet for value 3 streets with a good TPTK hand in a dry board vs a calling station that calls you down with 2nd pair and hits 2-pair OTR) you start questioning yourself, thinking you played bad and that may lead to you really start playing bad, folding hands you shouldn't fold and playing with fear. For next month, I just hope to be able to keep playing my normal game despite of how bad or good I run. Good june for all of you (I mean, us. Can't leave myself out of this, can I ?)!

"Poker With Your Pants On"

gsiciliano — Fri, 27 May 2011 02:48:31 +0000

In between my DS, I would like to mention that I really enjoyed Bart Hanson's series on live poker named "Poker With Your Pants On". I'm a long time fan of "Deuce Plays" and this first episode of the series corresponded to my expectations, and I really liked the format.

Well, I think it's too early to say I'm bouncing back, but I managed to finish my last two sessions up. More important, I didn't run bellow EV (weeeeeeee).

Nice big pot yesterday:

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1323046
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

MP: $25.70
CO: $10.78
Hero (BTN): $59.07
SB: $26.03
BB: $68.38
UTG: $30.93

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BTN with Q Q
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.75, SB calls $0.65, BB raises to $2.50, Hero calls $1.75, SB calls $1.75

Flop: ($7.50) 6 Q 3(3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $5, SB folds, BB calls $5

Turn: ($17.50) 7(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $13, BB raises to $60.88 all in, Hero calls $38.57 all in

River: ($120.64) K(2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $120.64
Hero shows Q Q (three of a kind, Queens)
BB shows A A (a pair of Aces)
Hero wins $117.64
(Rake: $3.00)

Lol downswingaments...

gsiciliano — Tue, 24 May 2011 03:08:36 +0000

Despite of still running bad (you can see from the updated graph starting at the beginning of my downswing, almost 12 BIs bellow EV on the last 22k hands) I feel that this is starting to actually make me play bad. The All-In EV line is BE and it doesn't even account for the coolers (if I'm not mistaken, there has been about three set-over-sets, some KK running into aces and stuff like that in this period). And please don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not that type of person who is always trying to find excuses for what's going wrong, I actually think I usually beat myself too much when I'm running bad.

But I guess there's no other way to get back on track other than keep on playing and letting variance catch up to me (on the positive side this time). ONE TIME BABY, ONE TIME !!!

I don't think I've posted ym setup here, I use two 22 inch monitors and a Sony Vaio notebook

Rigged obv...

gsiciliano — Thu, 12 May 2011 20:32:01 +0000

Another session running bad, my last 10K hands add up to 8 BIs bellow EV (Jesus, not even I can stand all my whinning anymore... lol).

Today:

Last 10K:

Interesting hand:

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1305161

DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $27.49
SB: $41.75
Hero (BB): $25.00
UTG: $25.00
MP: $36.99
CO: $25.00

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BB with Q Q
3 folds, BTN raises to $0.75, SB calls $0.65, Hero raises to $3.25, BTN calls $2.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($7.25) 5 9 5(2 players)
Hero bets $5.50, BTN calls $5.50

Turn: ($18.25) K(2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $9, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls $9

River: ($36.25) 6(2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Final Pot: $36.25
BTN shows Q A (a pair of Fives)
Hero shows Q Q (two pair, Queens and Fives)
Hero wins $34.44
(Rake: $1.81)

Villain was an aggressive reg (not an aggro-monkey, but aggressive). He was running something like 33/30/3 with 0% Fold to 3bet in 116 hands.

Preflop I squeezed for value since I thought villain could totally call with worse. I cbet the flop with the intention of getting it in if villain raised me. OTT, I didn´t think there was enough value on betting myself. Yes, I think he still could peel the turn with something like TT or JJ, but I thought there was more value on letting he bet the scare card and take the c/c line (after the flop action, there was $18.25 in the pot and I had $16.25 behind, I was totally commited and not planning on folding anymore).

Btw, I posted a thread on "General Discussions" forum about some math on 4betting, check it out and say what's your opinion: http://www.deucescracked.com/forums/4-General-Discussion/topics/391861-Checking-the-math-on-4bet?page=0&per_page=15#post_3355991

2nd Royal Flush

gsiciliano — Tue, 10 May 2011 02:43:51 +0000

Kept the "bad run " of last session, running a little over 2 BI bellow EV in 1,3k hands. Last two sessions combine a total of 6 BI bellow EV in 4k hands, gotta love the variance.

Today's lol hand:

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1302256
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): $25.00
UTG: $41.99
MP: $2.47
CO: $25.77
BTN: $25.35
SB: $37.55

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BB with A 5
UTG calls $0.25, 4 folds, Hero raises to $1, UTG calls $0.75

Flop: ($2.10) 3 9 J(2 players)
Hero bets $1.50, UTG raises to $3, Hero raises to $9.75, UTG raises to $40.99 all in, Hero calls $14.25 all in

Turn: ($50.10) Q(2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($50.10) T(2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $50.10
Hero shows A 5 (Ace Queen high)
UTG shows 2 T (a pair of Tens)
UTG wins $47.60
(Rake: $2.50)

On the bright side, I made my 2nd Royal Flush lifetime (of course, just a small pot...)

Way bellow EV...

gsiciliano — Thu, 05 May 2011 20:06:19 +0000

Played a devastating session today. If it was not enough to run 4.5 BIs bellow EV, I had coolers like KK vs AA pre and a massive pot with a K-high flush loosing to the nut-flush.

Some hands:

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1298440
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

MP: $19.93
CO: $16.85
BTN: $25.88
SB: $26.19
Hero (BB): $25.35
UTG: $10.00

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BB with A A
4 folds, SB raises to $0.50, Hero raises to $1.75, SB calls $1.25

Flop: ($3.50) 6 5 8(2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $3, SB raises to $11.50, Hero raises to $23.60 all in, SB calls $12.10

Turn: ($50.70) 9(2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($50.70) 8(2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $50.70
SB shows 7 T (a straight, Ten high)
Hero shows A A (two pair, Aces and Eights)
SB wins $48.17
(Rake: $2.53)

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1298444
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

UTG: $6.67
MP: $31.87
CO: $28.17
BTN: $23.52
SB: $25.25
Hero (BB): $26.84

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BB with A K
3 folds, BTN raises to $0.75, SB calls $0.65, Hero raises to $3, BTN calls $2.25, SB raises to $25.25 all in, Hero raises to $26.84 all in, 1 fold

Flop: ($53.50) 9 J Q(2 players - 2 are all in)

Turn: ($53.50) 4(2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($53.50) 4(2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $53.50
SB shows Q A (two pair, Queens and Fours)
Hero shows A K (a pair of Fours)
SB wins $50.83
(Rake: $2.67)

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1298445
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

UTG: $26.55
MP: $25.00
CO: $25.45
BTN: $27.13
SB: $54.32
Hero (BB): $25.00

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BB with 6 6
UTG raises to $0.85, 2 folds, BTN calls $0.85, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.60

Flop: ($2.65) 6 3 Q(3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $2.65, BTN folds, Hero raises to $6.50, UTG raises to $25.70 all in, Hero calls $17.65 all in

Turn: ($50.95) A(2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($50.95) 9(2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $50.95
UTG shows 8 T (a flush, Ace high)
Hero shows 6 6 (three of a kind, Sixes)
UTG wins $48.41
(Rake: $2.54)

Overall graph up to now (including today's session):

Today's Session

gsiciliano — Tue, 03 May 2011 20:27:14 +0000

Played a crazy session today. After an initial drop fo more than 4 BIs on the first 300 hands (kindda tilty, isn't it?) I managed to put myself together and slowly recover throughout the rest of the session, finishing almost 1 BI up (not that it matters...).

The last hand of the initial collapse is this one:

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1297212

DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN): $25.00
SB: $12.15
BB: $10.25
UTG: $8.75
MP: $24.80
CO: $40.73

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BTN with J T
1 fold, MP calls $0.25, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1.10, 2 folds, MP calls $0.85

Flop: ($2.55) Q T T(2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $2, MP calls $2

Turn: ($6.55) 4(2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $5.50, MP calls $5.50

River: ($17.55) 7(2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $16.40 all in, MP calls $16.20 all in

Final Pot: $49.95
Hero shows J T (three of a kind, Tens)
MP shows 7 7 (a full house, Sevens full of Tens)
MP wins $47.46
(Rake: $2.49)

Coaching Results?

gsiciliano — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:21:31 +0000

As I mentioned in my last post, I was about to finish a coaching program. It's been a very busy period in my regular job and I haven't been able to put almost any volume. Also, there was the "Black Friday" during this period and that caught my attention too, despite of being brazilian and not directly affected.

The following graph is "during/post coaching" and I believe it shows some good results. It's not a great sample size (it never is, isn't it?), but 30K hands is reasonable enough. It is a more consistent upswing (not like the erratic BE graph in the last post) and I just hope it's more a result of some leaks fixed than good run, but only time will tell that...

The stats of the same period:

Back to Blogging

gsiciliano — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:11:11 +0000

I've been away from blogging since nov 2010, and that's due to poor results, which led to a lack of stiumlus to keep posting. Then I realized that's wrong, really wrong. The main purpose of this blog is to serve as a "reality check", registering my results, either good or bad. I went through all my DB and found out that, despite of what I thought (that I was a winning player at 25NL), I'm a winning player at 10NL and lower, BE 25NL player and loosing at 50NL. The graphs/stats don´t lie.

25NL:

50NL:

I'm currently finishing a coaching program with a brazilian coach named "Maneh" which is a great guy and a very good coach. I believe I got some leaks "fixed" and hope to do a lot better at 25NL. I have 2 more classes to go and let´s see if I can break through 25NL.

10K hands at PP

gsiciliano — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 18:43:26 +0000

Reached the 10K hands today. After a BE period I went on a heater on the last 1k hands. Running at 11,4 bb/100 so far at 25NL.

Coming Back

gsiciliano — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 01:27:36 +0000

Hello, after a while I´m back doing this blog and, as you can see from my last post, my FTP adventure didn´t do very well. I went throught my DB and studied the biggest losing hands and found out that, despite some really bad run, I played very bad in a lot of spots and could have lost much less than what I did.
Decided to take my BR to PP to have some fresh air (I just couldn´t see the FT lobby and tables after so many losses, lol) and proceed with the challenge. Well, I´m doing prety decent there and hope to be able to take some shots at 50NL very soon. So, a review at my 25NL play on PS, FTP and PP so far:

PS

Played 23 525 hands with $460,62 winnings (7.83 bb/100)

FTP

Played 13 954 hands for a $343,68 on losses (-9.85 bb/100)

Played 5 537 hands and won $170.68 (12.3 bb/100)

That adds a total of 43 016 hands played at 25NL, with $287,62 winnings and a 2.7 bb/100 winrate up to now. It was kinda polarized between very good performance on Stars and PP (so far) and very very bad at FTP. Let the time say what´s it gonna be from now on...

Time-off

gsiciliano — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:20:41 +0000

Last graph:

IÂ´m taking some off time to study and hand reviewing after this soul-crushing 12 BI downswing. Going back to play only two-tabling untill start feeling confident in my game again.Â

A lot of work to do...

gsiciliano — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:46:06 +0000

Wow, I antecipated that it could happen but.. woooow.
-$90 only todayÂ´s session. Just take a look at one of the first hands (just sick):

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 928416
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $26.54
BB: $26.99
UTG: $18.63
MP: $25.00
CO: $61.49
BTN: $38.41

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is SB with 7 7
UTG raises to $0.75, MP calls $0.75, CO calls $0.75, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.65, 1 fold

Flop: ($3.25) 4 K 7(4 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks, MP checks, CO bets $2.75, Hero calls $2.75, UTG calls $2.75, MP folds

Turn: ($11.50) 7(3 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks, CO checks

River: ($11.50) K(3 players)
Hero bets $23.04 all in, UTG calls $15.13 all in, CO folds

Final Pot: $41.76
Hero shows 7 7 (four of a kind, Sevens)
UTG shows K K (four of a kind, Kings)
UTG wins $39.68
(Rake: $2.08)

Flopped gin in a totally dry board. This is as good as it gets. IÂ´m the first to act in a four wau pot, just gonna let someone bet (not exactly afraid of being drawn out) since two out of the three villains are aggressive and IÂ´m not the preflop raiser.
Turn is even better and there was a bet and a call on the flop, so both players have something and I have the stone cold nuts, let them do the betting. It goes check-check and the river is like the magic card for me, b/c if someone had a king he has a full house and I can get maximum value...

The rest of the session was just a bloodbath and I have a lot of work to do.

Turning Point

gsiciliano — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 16:01:34 +0000

Another down session yesterday, 2 BIs this time. Again, some coolers but IÂ´m definetly not playing well. The last 2 days IÂ´ve been through my stats and reviewing some key hands on this FT period (and the PS 25NL hands either) and, along with some great videos I saw these days, I found out that IÂ´m still playing kindda weak-tight. IÂ´m not going to suddenly become spewy or a LAG, but IÂ´ll force myself to do things like 3bet more, exploit ppl who cbet a lot, try to win more pots w/o SD and things like that. Basically, IÂ´ll put myself in tough spots so I can develop my hand-reading skills and kindda prepare myself to SSNL, where you just cannot keep waiting for hands to make $. Again, IÂ´ll try not to spew (well, not much...) and pick my spots, but it will definetly affect my winrate at the beginning and also IÂ´ll probably take a little more time to be able to take another shot at 50NL, but IÂ´m sure that IÂ´ll be more prepared for that when the time comes.
So, let the spew season begin (just kidding...).

Catastrophic Session

gsiciliano — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 15:28:00 +0000

I had a very bad start at 25NL but was kindda grinding it back to BE untill yesterday, when I had one of the most catastrophic sessions at 25NL so far. I lost two BIs right at the beginning (hands below) and tilted two BIs more (not the classic spew tilt, thatÂ´s not the way I tilt, I usually tilt by playing bad weak-tight which becomes clear in my plummetting redline when that happens). I believe this is the first bump on the road since the beginning of this "challenge". Just got to put the pieces together and grind my way back, thank god now I have RB and the FT $100 bonus to help me...

Hand 1:

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 925642
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $25.00
Hero (SB): $25.52
BB: $28.64
UTG: $45.51
MP: $25.35
CO: $23.80

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is SB with Q Q
3 folds, BTN raises to $0.75, Hero raises to $2.50, 1 fold, BTN calls $1.75

Flop: ($5.25) 3 8 9(2 players)
Hero bets $4.75, BTN raises to $22.50 all in, Hero calls $17.75

Turn: ($50.25) 6(2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($50.25) 6(2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $50.25
BTN shows A A (two pair, Aces and Sixes)
Hero shows Q Q (two pair, Queens and Sixes)
BTN wins $47.74
(Rake: $2.51)

Villain: 15/15/inf, 4% 3bet in 201 hands
What killed me was the fact that villain just flat my 3bet, which made me take aces and kings off his range. So, when he raised me OTF I put him on 33, 88 and 99 obviously, plus TT-JJ and maybe some kind of nut FD (like A9dd). I was REALLY outplayed on this hand and villain played it great imo. Props to him...

Hand 2:

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 925645
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $34.14
SB: $55.31
Hero (BB): $32.42
UTG: $26.26
MP: $30.22
CO: $35.35

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BB with Q K
3 folds, BTN raises to $0.75, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.50

Flop: ($1.60) K 7 K(2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $1, Hero raises to $2.80, BTN calls $1.80

Turn: ($7.20) 8(2 players)
Hero bets $4.30, BTN calls $4.30

River: ($15.80) T(2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $26.29 all in, Hero calls $24.57 all in

Final Pot: $64.94
BTN shows T T (a full house, Tens full of Kings)
Hero mucks Q K
BTN wins $61.94
(Rake: $3.00)

Villain: 34/20/1.2 in 61 hands
This hand was weird. Preflop I think itÂ´s debatable whether itÂ´s better 3betting or flatting. Given villainÂ´s stats, I think he could call a 3bet with worse, but I donÂ´t hate flatting either. I flopped the â€œnutsâ€ and now the plan is to get all the money in the pot by the river. I like my c/r since villain is supposed to cbet as the pf raiser and it's better for building the pot. On the turn I want to keep building the pot and hereÂ´s where I made the first mistake. We started the hand around 130bb deep effective stacks and by the turn there was $7.2 in the pot and I had $28,87 behind (villain had me covered). I bet 60% pot, which made the pot $15.8 by the river with $24.57 behind, making the shove a big overbet. If I had bet like $7, the pot would be $21.2 on the river and IÂ´d have $21.87 behind, perfect for a PSB shove. The second mistake I made on the river. I misclicked and checked, instead of betting around $15 for a PSB. Then, villain simply shoves! I went like ...wtf???? I tanked a lot and ended up calling thinking it could be some kind of spazz with a slowplayed aces, KJ, K9, missed FD or something like that. The thing is that if I didnÂ´t make that pot management mistake on the turn, IÂ´d have shoved the river myself and wouldnÂ´t have a decision to make on the river...

Overall FTP graph, 25NL:

First hands at FTP

gsiciliano — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:40:07 +0000

Finally got started playing at FTP, but it was not a good start. I misplayed some hands and got coolered in others, but thatÂ´s poker, isnÂ´t it?

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 898549
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $25.78
CO: $31.53
Hero (BTN): $29.04
SB: $63.93
BB: $25.60

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BTN with J Q
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.75, SB raises to $2.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.75

Flop: ($5.25) 9 J 6(2 players)
SB bets $4.50, Hero calls $4.50

Turn: ($14.25) 8(2 players)
SB bets $8, Hero calls $8

River: ($30.25) 5(2 players)
SB bets $30.25, Hero calls $14.04 all in

Final Pot: $58.33
Hero mucks J Q
SB shows K K (a pair of Kings)
SB wins $55.42
(Rake: $2.91)

The problem with this hand is that villain, besides being a nit (14/11/3 in 2.5k hands), had already 3bet me about 4 times that session in a very short period. That led me to a poor preflop decision to flat his 3bet IP. Then I hit TPGK and boooooom, there goes 1 BI ...

Some coolers:

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 898550
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $31.44
BB: $27.86
UTG: $25.35
Hero (CO): $28.04
BTN: $35.54

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is CO with Q Q
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.85, BTN raises to $3.25, 2 folds, Hero calls $2.40

Flop: ($6.85) J 7 4(2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $5.50, Hero calls $5.50

Turn: ($17.85) 6(2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $14, Hero raises to $19.29 all in, BTN calls $5.29

River: ($56.43) 2(2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $56.43
Hero shows Q Q (a pair of Queens)
BTN shows K K (a pair of Kings)
BTN wins $53.61
(Rake: $2.82)

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 898551
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $34.23
BB: $26.55
UTG: $25.35
Hero (CO): $25.60
BTN: $25.35

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is CO with K K
UTG raises to $0.75, Hero raises to $2.60, 3 folds, UTG raises to $6.50, Hero raises to $25.60 all in, UTG calls $18.85 all in

Flop: ($51.05) 2 Q T

Turn: ($51.05) 4

River: ($51.05) 3

Final Pot: $51.05
UTG shows A A (a pair of Aces)
Hero shows K K (a pair of Kings)
UTG wins $48.50
(Rake: $2.55)

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 898552
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $50.35
MP: $25.89
CO: $66.72
BTN: $29.38
SB: $51.55
Hero (BB): $25.00

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BB with Q T
2 folds, CO raises to $0.75, 1 fold, SB calls $0.65, Hero calls $0.50

Flop: ($2.25) 7 9 Q(3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.75, CO folds, SB calls $1.75

Turn: ($5.75) A(2 players)
SB checks, Hero requests TIME, Hero bets $3.50, SB raises to $7.25, Hero calls $3.75

River: ($20.25) 5(2 players)
SB bets $8.76, Hero calls $8.76

Final Pot: $37.77
SB shows K 3 (a flush, Ace high)
Hero mucks Q T
SB wins $35.89
(Rake: $1.88)

And the classic valueowning:

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 898554
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $24.05
Hero (BB): $26.79
UTG: $41.10
MP: $21.23
CO: $25.94
BTN: $33.75

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BB with K Q
1 fold, MP calls $0.25, 2 folds, SB calls $0.15, Hero raises to $1, MP calls $0.75, 1 fold

Flop: ($2.25) 6 7 K(2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $2.25, Hero calls $2.25

Turn: ($6.75) 2(2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $4.50, Hero calls $4.50

River: ($15.75) 9(2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $13.48 all in, Hero calls $13.48

Final Pot: $42.71
Hero mucks K Q
MP shows 6 7 (two pair, Sevens and Sixes)
MP wins $40.58
(Rake: $2.13)

Overall graph (FT):

Full Tilt it is now...

gsiciliano — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 02:27:19 +0000

Finally got to transfer my BR to FTP, but probably wonÂ´t be able to play till sunday night or monday. This is my final graph at Stars (25NL):

And the 50NL shots (in the foot...):

Tilt Control

gsiciliano — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:23:30 +0000

Very very happy with the session I played today.Â
Like everyone else, IÂ´ve always struggled with tilting issues but IÂ´ve been working on that a lot lately (just eating videos like Tommy AngeloÂ´s "The Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment" and stuff like this) and foccusing on tilt control before I start a session and during the session itself.
So, I had two very "tilt-inducing" hands on the first half of the session:

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 887616

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (MP): $26.64
CO: $58.43
BTN: $25.00
SB: $25.00
BB: $25.70
UTG: $10.68

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is MP with T T
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.75, CO calls $0.75, 3 folds

Flop: ($1.85) T 6 3(2 players)
Hero bets $1.10, CO calls $1.10

Turn: ($4.05) 7(2 players)
Hero bets $3, CO raises to $9.50, Hero calls $6.50

River: ($23.05) K(2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $22, Hero calls $15.29 all in

Final Pot: $53.63
Hero shows T T (three of a kind, Tens)
CO shows 9 8 (a straight, Six to Ten)
CO wins $51.63
(Rake: $2.00)

And this:

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 887617
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP: $16.90
CO: $23.17
BTN: $73.22
SB: $25.10
BB: $32.48
Hero (UTG): $25.70

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is UTG with 3 3
Hero raises to $0.75, 2 folds, BTN calls $0.75, 2 folds

Flop: ($1.85) 3 4 A(2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $1.25, Hero raises to $3.80, BTN raises to $7.50, Hero raises to $24.95 all in, BTN calls $17.45

Turn: ($51.75) 2(2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($51.75) Q(2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $51.75
BTN shows 4 4 (three of a kind, Fours)
Hero shows 3 3 (three of a kind, Threes)
BTN wins $49.75
(Rake: $2.00)

Despite that, I managed to stay in my A-game and actually played a very good session after that, getting back a good part of what I lost and keeping a stable redline throughout the whole session (which, for me, is a thermometer of how good/bad IÂ´m playing, b/c when I get out of my A-game my redline just plummets). Not that getting back what I lost makes any difference, but at least I didnÂ´t spew money tilted after those two hands.

Back at 25NL

gsiciliano — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:58:09 +0000

After a coupple of "failed" shots at 50NL and a very bad 25NL session IÂ´m back playing 25NL. I cashed out 1/3 of my BR from Stars but itÂ´s freezed at Netteler (isnÂ´t that great?) and IÂ´m playing with whatÂ´s left in my Stars account. Meanwhile, played very low volume since last post but with good results:

Moving my BR

gsiciliano — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:28:11 +0000

Well after 2 "failed" shots at 50NL IÂ´m back grinding at 25NL to get rolled once again for 50NL. Today I had a bad 25NL session, losing 3 BIs (IÂ´m not exactly on a heater...) and looks like itÂ´ll be some more time than I wanted back at 25NL. Too bad, what can I do? DonÂ´t wanna be stubborn and loose a good part of my BR playing underrolled.
I just realized something that is going to help me getting back to 50NL. I originally played at FT, where I have a good RB deal. I moved to Stars b/c FT was running way too slow in my machine and it was annoying the hell out of me. But I recently bought a new desktop which is faster than the old one and I decided to take my BR back to FT. Since I started this challenge on Stars, IÂ´ll post the graphs (once a week...) starting from the day IÂ´m back playing on FT (probably 2-3 days).

Not doing well...

gsiciliano — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:29:02 +0000

Another shot at 50NL. Not doig so well (lol)... 2 BIs down today, total almost 4 BIs down. Today, there were two or three hands I misplayed and two coolers:Â

Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 864351
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (MP): $69.55
CO: $56.60
BTN: $55.00
SB: $18.00
BB: $61.70
UTG: $58.20

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is MP with 3 3
UTG raises to $1.50, Hero calls $1.50, 4 folds

Flop: ($3.75) 5 7 T(2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $2.50, UTG calls $2.50

Turn: ($8.75) 3(2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $6, UTG raises to $19.75, Hero calls $13.75

River: ($48.25) K(2 players)
UTG bets $34.45 all in, Hero calls $34.45

Final Pot: $117.15
Hero mucks 3 3
UTG shows 7 7 (three of a kind, Sevens)
UTG wins $114.15
(Rake: $3.00)

Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 864354

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP: $74.80
CO: $81.10
Hero (BTN): $83.80
SB: $34.75
BB: $57.05
UTG: $37.65

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with A A
UTG raises to $3, 2 folds, Hero raises to $9.25, 2 folds, UTG calls $6.25

Flop: ($19.25) 5 J T(2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $18.25, UTG calls $18.25

Turn: ($55.75) Q(2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $53, UTG calls $10.15 all in

River: ($76.05) 2(2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $76.05
Hero shows A A (a pair of Aces)
UTG shows J Q (two pair, Queens and Jacks)
UTG wins $73.05
(Rake: $3.00)

I also played some 25NL yesterday with good results and IÂ´ll have go back there for a while to grind some more before another frustrating shot at 50NL.

Updated 50NL graph:

Updated 25NL graph:

Overall graph:

50NL- First shot

gsiciliano — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:32:18 +0000

Took the first shot at 50NL and it finished the session down 1,5 BI. No big deal, I think I didnÂ´t play that bad (didnÂ´t play great either...) and I was actually surprised b/c I was expecting it to be way more aggressive than 25NL and, in fact, itÂ´s very very similar to 25NL. Of course, I may be wrong since this was my first session but that was the first impression. Two things in my defense: I ran bellow EV and my redline was flat (always a good indicator of how good/bad I play)

First goal accomplished: 30 BIs to 50NL

gsiciliano — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 02:23:11 +0000

After todayÂ´s session I finally hit the 30 BIÂ´s mark for 50NL and will start taking shots at 50NL, wish me luck !!!