spino1i's blog

ugh.. is all i can think. Lets just say that even though i play a lot of live poker, this still has huge ramifications for me financially, and im pretty unhappy right now. Just didnt do anything yesterday and wallowed in sadness. Trying to get out of it now.

I am planning a video on live poker based on recent events, focusing on a live 100/200+ (primarly limit hold'em but could be some other mix games such as 2-7 TD and badugi). Sort of like live jive but higher stakes.

I had yet another good day, this time at 200/400 Badugi/2-7 TD/Badeucy mix game. The game is honestly easier than the 40/80 mix game i saw at the bike, as well as the 100 hold'em game going nearby. It was very common for players to call a raise from the SB or BB and then draw 4 (or 3 in badugi). I am beginning to think when you go white chip land skill levels go backwards instead of fowards.

I am building up some shot-taking money for the aria 300/600 game. Ideally I would like $30k for the shot, but ill do it with less. Also I have to resist the temptaiton of 400/800, and thats getting harder and harder to resist given how fishy i realize it is.

Also been playing 08 online, think im really getting a handle for the game, going to continue at 15/30 there.

Also im going to start learning golf with my buddy 2+2'er GuyOnTilt. Lets hope the journey will be as complex and interesting as poker has been!

I continue to work on my game extremely hard.. but the end of all this work in sight soon. I feel at this point i have no more weak games other than rarely played 2-7 NL single draw. Today I was working on 2-7 TD as that is the most commonly played mix game at the 200/400 - 400/800 level live.  Finally feeling pretty comfortable at 15/30 online and ready to take a shot at 30/60 soon. I figure if im beating 30 online, i will annilihate that game in any live mix.

A few days ago, i had to not sit in a really really juicy 200/400 HTEB game, all because i sucked at stud8! Whats really sad is that I am quite good at the other three games and way better than any of the fishy opposition. But I mean I really sucked at stud8, because i drove home and sat down at a 5/10 stars game and was just ridic spewy early on. I was so angry at myself for missing the spot because i was weak in one game that i played stud8 for the next 10 hours went to sleep, woke up, and played and studied for the next 10 hours after that straight (thanks Joe Tall for good videos!). I will not suck at stud8!

Also continuing to track what games are played in the Aria 300/600 mix game and work on those games. Mostly 2-7TD, stud8, and razz seem important

Goal remains to be playing white chip only in like 2 weeks time.

Longer term goal is to play in a live game with Phil Ivey in it (im giving myself at least a year for this as I figure I need to reach 1k/2k to even see his face)

Had two good sessions at the Commerce 10/20. +$2800 in 10 hours of play. I am still pretty concerned with my overall results in B&M cash games though. Since the beginning of the year im still -$20000 in B&M cash games and I am still around -$7800 at B&M 10/20 NL. Now admittedly I have run under in all-in luck by at least $10000 at live 10/20, so I should actually be up at least $2200. But thats still a very sorry number given how many hours ive put in at 10/20 this year (57 hours). So im winning in equity at whopping rate of 40$/hr at 10/20 NL, which certainly needs to be improved before I can move up. And im still down in real money. Until I can change the color of the red numbers and put up some positive results theres no way I can move up to 10/10/20 or 20/40 NL live even if my bankroll can support at least 10/10/20. Lets hope this happens soon!

Today was the first day I 6-tabled 5/10 for 1000 hands. 4 tables of 6-max and 2 tables of full ring. Amazingly, i hardly timed down at all and was able to handle it quite well. Still I think its safe to say its going to be difficult for me to add any more when im playing 5-6 tables, its just too much going on at once.

My equity winrate still sucks at 5/10, its at around 1.6ptbb/100 (after 15519 hands), which is way below 2/4 and 3/6 where it was 3.3 ptbb/100. So definitely the game’s difficulty level has been taking a toll on my winrate. However, the game is starting to feel pretty easy now (it helps I table select though and that a lot of good 5/10 regs like bttech86 have moved up to 10/20 and 25/50). Still im making slightly more money than i was at 2/4 and about the same as 3/6. So im definitely staying at 5/10 6m and fr for good.

Im also having issues with tilt, namely I start losing and then I get pissed and make more moves and also get frustrated and make some crazy calldowns. So far it hasnt really cost me much but I can definitely feel my game slipping at times due to losses. The frustrating thing is I dont want to have to stop my session each time this happens even though I know that will end the tilt, I want to be able to get some hands in a session and not cut each session short. I guess ill see how this goes.

After yesterday’s 2750 hand session and today’s 500 hand session at 5/10 NL 6-max im up $100 in equity over the course of these two sessions (and down about $300). At one point I was down over 6k in both equity and actual money, so its a big comeback.

Today I was able to fire up 5 tables relatively quickly without too much scared money or scared of my opponents feelings. It was nice, and it really felt for the first time that 5/10 6-max was pretty easy to beat actually. So this is a good sign. Still have some regs im pretty scared of:
SilentAssassin3
UrNOTindanger2
DrGiggy
IRockHoes (mostly plays 10/20)
Bttech86

But besides these very tough opponents im pretty much not worried about anyone else I face at 5/10 6-max anymore (except any 10/20 or higher reg that sits)

Currently my equity winrate at 5/10 6-max is exactly dead even after rake (after 5160 hands), so figure before rake im beating the game for .8ptbb/100. Not bad, but it needs to be a lot better (at least 3ptbb/100) before i move to 10/20 6-max. My combined winrate at 5/10 and 10/20 fullring continues to be very good (4ptbb/100). I guess im a lot better at full ring than 6-max. But i think I already knew that.

Oh and tableratings is screwin me and missing like $4000 of my winnings, which as a new coach and someone with not many hands online to show in the last couple years is a big deal. Sigh.

+$750 in 250 hands at 5/10

All ye who slowplay top set be warned!

Full Tilt Poker $1000.00 No Limit Hold’em – 6 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (MP): $1073.00
CO: $1077.00
BTN: $817.00
SB: $222.50
BB: $1658.50
UTG: $165.00

Pre Flop: ($15.00) Hero is MP with A 7
1 fold, Hero raises to $30, 3 folds, BB raises to $110, Hero calls $80

Flop: ($225.00) 8 T K (2 players)
BB bets $146.00, Hero raises to $292, BB calls $146

Turn: ($809.00) Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($809.00) J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $671.00, BB calls $671

Final Pot: $2151.00
Hero shows A 7
BB mucks K K
Hero wins $2148.00
(Rake: $3.00)

So up until today my expected $EV at 5/10 NL online was hovering around 2.5ptbb/100. Today it took a sharp drop to 1.2ptbb/100 after 7500 hands total at 5/10. Maybe I just need more hands there. Most of the hands are at full ring too, and of the hands at 6-max (maybe like 1700) I am actually losing in expected $EV by like -1ptbb/100.

I am a little uncertainly how well I am doing at 5/10 6-max to be honest, and the game still seems pretty intimidating. The players are much better than the ones I faced at 2/4 or 3/6 for the most part. Mostly I have been trying to table select well to keep my winrate above water. In particular, several regs are still very tough for me, including SilentAssassin3, DrGiggy, and Bttech86. On the other hand, I feel like some 5/10 6-max regs are no longer that frightening, namely tim0thee, who I seem to be doing alright against.

Hopefully this will turn around or I am going to be spending a long time at 5/10 and never moving up to 10/20 like I want to!