Ryan's Microdonk to Poker Stud Journey

Two weeks into my new playing style for micros is yielding some good results.  My graph is shooting straight up.  I would write it off as a heater (a micro heater?) but it lines up exactly with when I change my style. 

I'm sticking to the gameplan and will easily reach my goal of a consistent +20% ROI for the first quarter of 2011.  If I reach this goal, I will move up from the 25c sngs to the $1 sngs.  I already have more than enough in my account to play higher stakes but want to prove to myself that I can beat each level.

Something that wasn't a part of my personal plan was learning to accept bad beats, but I've really learned to embrace them.  I've had some hilarious bad beats over the past two weeks but was actually happy when they happened.  I think playing in higher volume has helped me realize that shit happens and you just open another tournament when you get a bad beat. 

Kind of funny and sad that the huge spike on the end is only two weeks and the rest of the graph is an entire year.  What was I thinking? 

+65.6% ROI over 128 tournies/sngs in January.

The date on the end of the graph should be Jan 19, 2011.  Something went wrong in Pokertracker.

Bad beat after bad beat today.  Won zilch today in 11 sngs so far.  Still playing in a few so hopefully I can rise from the ashes.

Can't complain though because it balances out the good days.

Mixed in with the bad beats was some weak play by me.  I folded too many decent hands I should have raised up.  This would have given me enough chips to survive the bubble in two of the sngs. 

I'm still trying to find that sweet spot of controlled aggression.  It's very difficult in the micros because there is a weird mix of aggro monkeys and 50 VPIP calling stations.  Super aggressive and super passive.  Raise a good hand up to 3x and you get 5 callers or one insta-shove by a monkey.

Just watched a guy shove 94s pre-flop first-in and got called by KTs...

The aggro monkeys are definitely the biggest thorn in my side.  I hate having to shove my stack in preflop with the monkeys.  They all have massively negative ROI so I guess losing constantly at microstakes poker is some sort of thrill for them.  Good chance to double up so I shouldn't complain.

Bad beats + some weak play = no monies

I'm dealt TT UTG+2 and raise it up.  Let's see what happens.

Poker Stars $0.25+$0.00 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 9 players - View hand 1124129
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

MP1: t8640 172.80 BBs
MP2: t4600 92 BBs
CO: t2155 43.10 BBs
BTN: t2035 40.70 BBs
SB: t3360 67.20 BBs
BB: t4290 85.80 BBs
UTG: t1640 32.80 BBs
UTG+1: t3705 74.10 BBs
Hero (UTG+2): t2405 48.10 BBs

Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is UTG+2 with T T
2 folds, Hero raises to t125, MP1 calls t125, MP2 calls t125, 1 fold, BTN calls t125, 1 fold, BB calls t75

Flop: (t650) 3 T A(5 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t318, MP1 calls t318, MP2 raises to t4475 all in, BTN folds, BB folds, Hero calls t1962 all in, MP1 folds

Turn: (t5528) 5(2 players - 2 are all in)

River: (t5528) 4(2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: t5528
MP2 shows A K (a pair of Aces)
Hero shows T T (three of a kind, Tens)
Hero wins t5528

Literally the next hand, MP2 gets TT.  I think I TTilted him.

Poker Stars $0.25+$0.00 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 9 players - View hand 1124167
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

UTG+2: t8197 163.94 BBs
MP1: t2195 43.90 BBs
MP2: t2155 43.10 BBs
CO: t1910 38.20 BBs
BTN: t3335 66.70 BBs
SB: t4165 83.30 BBs
BB: t1640 32.80 BBs
UTG: t3705 74.10 BBs
Hero (UTG+1): t5528 110.56 BBs

Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is UTG+1 with J T
UTG calls t50, 1 fold, UTG+2 calls t50, MP1 raises to t2195 all in, 6 folds, UTG+2 calls t2145

Flop: (t4515) K A 2(2 players - 1 is all in)

Turn: (t4515) A(2 players - 1 is all in)

River: (t4515) 3(2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t4515
UTG+2 shows K Q (two pair, Aces and Kings)
MP1 shows T T (two pair, Aces and Tens)
UTG+2 wins t4515

TTilted!

Played 11 25c sngs today.  I cashed in five of them and made three final tables:  12th, 12th, 4th, 2nd, and 2nd.  Also played two 10c tournies and busted early in both.  +291% ROI for the day.

With today's results, I am now +76.35% ROI over 78 tournies and sngs for January.

The biggest win for me today though was the chance to test the changes I decided to make to my game.  Specifically: stop being a nit, three bet more often, fix my bet sizing, and be more aggressive when heads up.

I was also 4 tabling which I have only rarely done before.  I found it fairly easy so I will probably make 4 my minimum.  I'll try and add more tables if the results are consistent with 4.

I made a few mistakes today.  Worst was 3-betting QQ to a 1/3rd of my stack.  Way too much and totally unnecessary.

I've noticed a trend towards super nitty folds in the micro sngs on Pokerstars.   Usually, one maniac makes it to the final table and just keeps blasting away at the weaktight mid-size stacks.  I saw half a final table folding over and over again to any bet from a guy with stats of 40 Vpip, 25 pfr, and 17 3-bet!  The maniacs never stop and eventually get suckered into getting stacked, but they go on some amazing runs. 

I'm going to open up way wider on final tables.  I'll probably bust a few spots lower occasionally but I think it will be mega +EV.  I'm going to go over some stats from final tables and figure out just how much the typical weaktight player freezes up. 

Aside from being too tight in late stages and final tables, I played decently today.  I started incorporating a lot more 3-bets into my play and was hugely successful. 

The worst mistake I made was in a 90 sng and I had a huge calling station on my left.  Typical VPIP of 50 and PFR of 3.  I donated chips to her twice before I came to my senses.  I broke the first rule of micro stakes: Don't Bluff!  

I made a custom background with "DON'T BLUFF!" in huge red letters to remind me the next time I try to get clever. 

Current results:  +29.33% ROI in 65 tourneys and sngs for January

This is what a year of break even poker looks like.

 

Lessons learned:

1)  When you fix leaks in your game, don't introduce worse leaks.

2)  Don't play poker half-drunk after work.

3)  Don't be a nit.

Anyhoo, new gameplan in 2011.  I've identified what I believe are the biggest leaks in my game: not value-betting enough, wrong bet sizing, and not 3-betting enough in certain situations. 

PS:  Played two more 25c 90 man sngs tonight, got 9th in one of them.  I made a really stupid mistake by shoving AJ on a dry flop.  Totally unnecessary.  I immediately taped a note to my monitor.  Not being a nit doesn't mean being an aggro monkey.

PPS:   Played 45 tournies so far in January, cashed in 14.  +43% ROI.  LOL samplesize, but I like where this is heading.  Will start adding more tables in late January if trend continues.

10c : 256th out of 4966   $.025

10c: 53rd out of 2288 $0.45

55c: 148th out of 1402 $0.87

25c sngs: 35th and 43rd

I'm pretty happy with the decisions I made overall.  I'm having pretty consistent results in getting to the money.  I was happy with getting 53rd but I need to crank up the aggression a lot more to have any chance of getting to the final table.

Here's an example of what can happen when you let people limp in with small pocket pairs:

Poker Stars $0.10+$0.00 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t150/t300 Blinds + t25 - 8 players - View hand 1120458
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (MP1): t8014 M = 12.33
MP2: t17500 M = 26.92
CO: t3326 M = 5.12
BTN: t990 M = 1.52
SB: t9893 M = 15.22
BB: t2905 M = 4.47
UTG: t2111 M = 3.25
UTG+1: t2841 M = 4.37

Pre Flop: (t650) Hero is MP1 with 2 2
1 fold, UTG+1 calls t300, Hero calls t300, 1 fold, CO calls t300, 1 fold, SB calls t150, BB checks

Flop: (t1700) 2 J T(5 players)
SB bets t900, BB folds, UTG+1 folds, Hero calls t900, CO calls t900

Turn: (t4400) 5(3 players)
SB bets t1200, Hero calls t1200, CO calls t1200

River: (t8000) J(3 players)
SB bets t7468 all in, Hero calls t5589 all in, CO folds

Final Pot: t19178
Hero shows 2 2 (a full house, Deuces full of Jacks)
SB shows J K (three of a kind, Jacks)
Hero wins t19178

Just don't do it kids!

BTN is 36/11 over 55 hands.  Typical somewhat passive micro sng player.

I've seen him min-raise pocket sevens from middle position after UTG+1 limped.  Then a whole cascade of limpers called his min-raise (standard in micros), someone min 3-bets (lol) and he calls the min 3-bet.  This leads me to believe his bet sizing is just...whatever. 

Poker Stars $0.25+$0.00 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t60/t120 Blinds + t15 - 7 players - View hand 1119085
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

SB: t10899 M = 38.24
Hero (BB): t1470 M = 5.16
UTG: t8265 M = 29
UTG+1: t1665 M = 5.84
MP: t8605 M = 30.19
CO: t6763 M = 23.73
BTN: t8864 M = 31.10

Pre Flop: (t285) Hero is BB with K Q
4 folds, BTN calls t120, 1 fold, Hero checks

Flop: (t405) Q 8 7(2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets t300, Hero raises to t1335 all in,  (he tanks for about 20 seconds) BTN calls t1035

Turn: (t3075) J(2 players - 1 is all in)

River: (t3075) T(2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t3075
Hero shows K Q (a pair of Queens)
BTN shows 9 T (a straight, Eight to Queen)
BTN wins t3075

I should have raised this to at least 360 min after he limped.  Maybe even a shove.  He's only limping hands that my hand is crushing.  He would have raised anything better.

On the plus side, I realized the mistake I made as soon as I hit the call button.  Being aware of the problem means I can fix it.

Today's results:

25c 90-man SNGs: 2nd, 30th, and 11th

10c tourney: 41st out of 6823

Total winnings: $5.95

That's enough for a large coffee.  Fist pump!