Just the facts.

The ups and downs of poker. You can see the tough week I had last week where I made $4 over 6500 hands.

My position stats, the button OWNS. Oh and because I am such a nit in UTG and MP yet am a donk in CO and BTN I got payed off on my big MP hands as you can see.

Not a bad month results and money wise yet I am disappointed with my hours played. 72.62 with a sick true hourly win rate of 38.20 per hour. I wanted to close out July with two last hands. The biggest pot I lost and the biggest pot I won.

Loser: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1321405 Gasman is a solid TAG/LAG who I knew had a set here and some how some way I donked off my stack to him on the turn. This is money that should be in my BR still. It isnt so easy to see it when it happens but those big folds can really add up at the end of the month.

Winner: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1321409 WOW! What a fish. How the fuck does he get it in on the river? Look at the pot up to then. LOL, thankyou!

Looking to finish strong.

One day left in July. I am working on a lot of things poker wise and feel this has been the best month yet. My game has grown and the improvments I have made are in large part to my crew and the work we did together. Unfortunately some contributed more then others and you know who you are. In response to this me and 4 others from my crew have created a new closer nit crew who will look to improve at an excellerated pace and really take over the poker world. Are new blog can be found at http://unrecklessforce2b.blogspot.com/ it is still in the beginning stages though. I apologize to those who arent included and I wish all of my ex-crew members good fortune in the coming months. I will still be posting here but my blog will be more life oriented and taking on its original form as a place to put my thoughts. If anyone wants to talk poker please Aim me at Barne69224@aol.com as I am always open to talk poker with anyone any stake or skill level.
I played a nice long split session last night and have two hands for discussion. The first hand comes from a sweat I did with Dice. This kid is good and has some serious potential and I am glad to say he is part of the unrecklessforce2b. I took Dices line here and I feel this might be a 100BB stack play. Playing 200BB deep is a different feel and game, One that I would love to see more of from the CR pros in video.

The hand: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1319995 villian is 67/17/.9 I dont believe at the time his numbers were such. They were showing at 43/2 maybe when this hand played out. Obviuosly sample size is small. When raised on flop I think most times a call is correct but I almost felt if I 3bet this spot I define my hand and am done. This probably is not the best choice as i am folding out worse hands and building a pot if I am beat or he has a draw. Also I will OOP for the rest of the hand. The turn play is where it gets sticky. I think this is a clear fold. Dice suggested a call as he felt villian was bluffing a draw. We had trouble narrowing his range here. In discussion with Alex(dwarrior) he makes a great point that his turn bet narrows his range as most draws would check behind. So in essence his turn bet screams fold 99 is done. I call and check the river and he bets half pot. Easy fold right? Can I call? What do I beat?

Other hand: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1320022 villian is 19/9/.76 at the time I believe his PFR was lower like 7. I almost dumped preflop as I told Dice I felt villians range here was almost always ahead of AQ. I opt to call and I hit top pair on the flop. He leads (dont remember his cbet %) i decide to make a small 3x feeler raise and he calls. This is where I think I can go Jman and start to think what range villian thinks I have. He has me on I say AK-AT and PP that maybe hit a set as well as SC that flopped a Fdraw. I played real fast and check behind on the turn which may have been a mistake. Could I bet big here repping a set? I am ahead of all of villians range except AK so I might check and keep worse hands in. I have his range at JJ-AA with AK-AQ too. I doubt he plays this passive with AA or JJ. Now the river. Is there any value in betting? Essentially am I turning my hand into a bluff?

Playing passive...

I dont know why. But it definately sucks.

Hand 1: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1312465 This villian was frustrating me a little and I was waiting to trap him with a big hand as he was floating all my cbets and then leading on the river when I had nothing, it was sick. Ok his numbers are 50/12/1. Two questions with this hand. !st I felt he didnt make the flush but rather hit and Ace on the turn, should I shove here? 2nd can I call this sick river?

Hand 2: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1312471 I really donked this hand, villian is 43/2/.65 over 80 hands at the time of this hand I had no hud numbers on her. I decided to just call with the Tens as I do this maybe 5% of the time but probably should just always raise. Then she leads for pot? I figured I was best and this is probably where I should put in a raise and find out. Then the same bet on the turn and then the river shove? What to do?

Power of positive thinking.

Murdered it! $591 over 1100 hands or something. Finally, back to playing good poker. I mean shit I still lost some sick coolers and came out way on top. I am in the green for the week. I am disappointed with myself for playing so poorly during the week. I was riding a high from last week and it was like I forgot how to play solid ABC poker. To update too my BR stands at $4950 with a boat load of bonus money pending too. I think I am going to do like $730 in reload bonus this month. I have also withdraw $1200 so far this month for bills and what not. I feel it is necessary to withdraw otherwise what the fuck I am doing this for. Oh and this is my sole source of income and my kids gotta eat.

I only have myself to blame.

I have been playing with my head up my ass! I have been on autopilot resorting back to my donkey days. I mean fuck last night I call off 100BB when I know the only way villian shoves is with a set. Everything said set and guess what he had? A SET! The mistakes have been piling on and bad play mixed with some pretty shitty cards spells disaster. Honestly I dont blame badbeats or anything like that. The cards have been just plain nasty but I should be breakeven this week at worst. Twice I have bluffed into quads last night for 200BB, just disgusting. Ok now some of the tougher hands from today (my day isnt over, looking to turn it around tonight).

Hand 1: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1304930 Villian is 57/14/.65 over only 30 hands though. Honestly I have said time and again that post flop minraises are monsters. Can I check the turn? When he min raises should I pitch it or call and fold if he shoves the river? Or do like I did and shove?

Hand 2: Is this happening again? Sorry couldnt hide results. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1304953 villian is 56/12/.43. Honestly I think I am a fool to bet the turn and when he shoves I have to dump it. Whats your line here?

Hand 3: I might be ill. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1304965 power is 21/12/1.5 and vigilante is 53/15/.62. This was such a sick spot and I hated powers smooth call the most then I get raised. WTF? Can I call? Should I shove?

I have huge donkey balls(humor post).

These are just some examples of me going insane. Twice it payed 3rd time not a charm.
1: This is how you make duesces work,LOL.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1301262

2: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1301258

3: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1301215

I have been donking it up.

Been a rough week in more then just my poker world. Have been taking aggression to far and not heeding my own advice. I like most my plays preflop and on the flop but then I get this I have to win this pot mentallity and it backfires. I bluffed 100BB stack with AQ high into quads, pretty sweet. Anyways here are some of my tougher hands from the past two days.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1300381 This is the whole history and a fine example actually of how well 3betting light can work. In all honesty if he misses this flop and I cbet I take it down. I am pissed about my river call and am curious how bad my turn play is? Villian is 26/15/2.5 over 1k+ hands. Honestly I feel after I check behind on flop I should be done with this hand. When he bet turn I didnt have him on K and thought he might be bluffing a draw, I think I just was shooting for this guy though and that is always bad.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1300411 Villian is 49/11/.89 can I call this ridiculous river shove? I flopped the nuts and then shit just went haywire. Counterfitted and then a backdoor flush gets there. I dont know if he makes this play with a 7 or a busted flush draw. What to do?

Villian is a total donk who runs at 62/19/.78 I had a note saying he limped big hands UTG and had caught him limping earlier with QQ when my BB 65 flopped trips and he payed me off the whole way. Here I flop bottom two and think I have him trapped again but I dont know maybe he limped AA or TT here or is he just overplaying the fuck out of AK? He seems way to passive to be min raising with just one pair I mean he didnt but one raise in with QQ. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1300436 are you calling, shoving or folding?

Poker theory. Real long.

In no way do I take credit for any of what I am about to write. These are mainly ideas and concepts which I have read, watched, or heard from others and have molded into my style. When I 1st began playing poker like most of us I was a losing player. This didnt last long. I instantly felt this game could be beat and I bought 4 books that night. I told myself I would not play until I read at least one and I began applies the concepts I read. I started out at 3/6 limit hold em playing like a rock. I pitched PP into the muck preflop to a raise I mean I was a nit but I went from being in debt to having 10K in my bank account from working as a waiter and playing poker. This was in 2004 right when Moneymaker caused the poker boom and my has the game changed since then. I have played as high as 50/100 limit and 5/10NL live and had success at both but I knew I was missing something. I am a firm believer that poker is a game of skill that can be beaten but it takes discipline and mental toughness as well as a strong sense of feel for the many situations one will encounter. It was late February when I stumbled upon Cardrunners.com and my life will be changed forever. being a super nit I still had this aggressive streak and no fear. I would bluff with nothing if I felt I could take down the pot. When I saw my 1st video and the aggressive position game they were playing it clicked. I had been playing the game all wrong.

Position: it is talked about in every poker book written yet I dont believe any of them convey the concept as clearly as the CR videos do. It is one thing to read it and another to see Muddy raise 85s on the button, get called and cbet the flop with air and take it down. That is position poker. The key to playing good position poker is not only position but aggression. It is rare that I will limp the CO or button in a 6max game. When you limp you arent heard, and we want to be heard. Raising says look at me I have a hand be afraid, as well as folds out a lot of hands and limits the field. Now that you have been noticed and defined that you have a hand your position has strength. When checked to a cbet will take down the pot more times then not. Will this work every time, NO but in the long run this is a profitable play. I am to lazy currently to do all sorts of math and what not but here is the theory. You raise and take it down right there X number of times=profit. You raise, get called, cbet and take it down X number of times=profit. You raise, get called, cbet and lose X number of times =loss. You raise get reraised and fold X number of times=loss. You get the point. What should be seen here is that X number of times you win and X number of times you lose with all sorts of other scenarios taking place. The number of times you win will out weigh the number of times you lose and you will profit. Also raising has another effect. It frustrates the limper who is trying to see cheap flops. Eventually you will played back at and eventually you will have the goods. Hopefully the two coincide and you stack your opponent.
This is where 3betting light has the greatest effect. Now dont get the wrong idea and think I am 3betting any villain anytime I have position I am very selective. I believe villains with PFR from 12-20 is prime suspect to 3bet lightly as there range is any PP and a bunch of SC and broadway cards. When I 3bet lightly I am looking to take it down preflop or on the flop with a cbet. When I encounter resistance of course I have to continue with caution and I am looking to make a disguised monster. What my 3 betting truly does though is gets inside my opponents head. If I show down a marginal hand such as J9suited they are instantly frustrated and lose all respect for my 3bet, this is when we capitalize. 3betting light definitely isnt easy and takes some adjusting to know when and where to pick your spots. One problem I think low stakes players make is deciding what hands they will 3 bet with and how they make there decision. At some point you have to forget the cards you have and start to think about what your opponent has. Also think about is reaction to your 1st 3bet. From experience when you raise with 77 and get reraised you arent happy and lose confidence in your holding, I know I do. So in essence you could have 42off in this spot and the villain in this spot will be hard pressed to set mine 1st off if you 3bet enough and if he decides to call he is most likely check folding all but the perfect flop for his hand. This is something I think many fail to realize. When 3betting light I tend to avoid trouble hands that if called we might share cards such as KJ,KQ,QJ. I prefer to 3bet with hands like 109-67suited and mid PP too. Mid PP is debatable as I know many rather choose to set mine but I think you might gain more value from 66-99 by 3 betting these hands. For one your hands is the best hand preflop alot of the time. Also when met by resistance your hand is disguised well and set mining truly holds value as you know villain has a hand he wants to continue with post flop. Also you have taken the lead in the hand and even if he holds an over pair he will check fold all but great boards for his hand.

The last thing to take away from position/aggression play is controlling the pot. This is a fine line we must walk and where many fail. Just because you committed a nice raise to the pot does not mean you cant fold. The key is to create an image, and then use this image to get payed off when you have a monster. There lies the secret. When I raise with junk or 3 bet with junk I am looking to win a small pot most of the time unless I hit the flop hard. If I am met with resistance I will wave the white flag and wait for the time when I have the goods. Remember keep them small unless you know you are best.

Ex:
1-http://www.pokerhand.org/?1292542 Villian is 38/19/1.15
2-http://www.pokerhand.org/?1292563 Villian is 51/16/.88
now I get payed
3-http://www.pokerhand.org/?1292574 villian is 51/16/.58, this might not be a perfect example but you see how I get payed off by JJ here. I think we can all agree that we would pitch the Jacks at some point in this hand or at the lest raise and try and define are hand somewhere along the way.

To conclude in now way am I the know all end all of 3betting. I do believe that is an essential weapon to have in your arsenal. I also believe that it has been a huge contributor to my insane week last week and I hope to continue to use it and expand upon the concepts I have disgussed today. I apologize for the sometimes all over the place thoughts and hard to understand read but I have tryed my best to convey what I believe to be truth.

My stats

Not a bad week. I owe a thanks to Alex for helping me get my stats up for you all to see. Obviously I ran insanely well and my aces are 100% this month. I do take some of the credit though as I feel my game is evolving. The crew has been huge for me. Thanks for the sweats and feedback. I hope I too can be impactful on your game. I still failed to reach my goal for hours those week and am disappointed in that. I know that even though this week was great I made several mistakes and missed value in certain spots and I look to improve and build upon what I have. I dont want the word to get out but I seriously think Absolute is swimming with fish lately and they have 200BB. If you join the darkside please dont forget me for rake back. If interested let me know.

Hand 1: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1285068 Villian is 55/5/.2 over 60 hands. I felt he wasnt on a better hand then 88 preflop and had him on AK or AQ. My question is why didnt I 4bet? Yes I got it all in best and the river sucked but should I have maybe gotten it in preflop or possibly forced villian off AK? What is your line preflop?

Hand 2: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1285074 Villian snap called on flop and I figured him for a flush draw. He checks the river and I am semi perplexed and almost check. Was a value bet right? I felt he may have PP or a Q.

WOW!

I think the deck hit me in the face today or something. I mean insane! I wish I knew how to post my PT screen(DODGY help me!).

Hands-1208 VPIP-16.8 Won-853 BB/100-35.31 PFR-14.4 TotalAF-4.94

I dont want to get ahead of myself, but I feel it coming together, yet there is so much room to grow. I feel I am playing my A game yet my game isnt near as tight as it can be. Like I said I will be rereading Sklanskys masterpiece Theory of Poker as I want to get a real handle on EV and Implied Odds and much much more. What a sick day though. I credit it to the three bet and my hyper aggression. Also I caught some nice cards. Here is the light 3 bet paying off.

Ok so not so light but a nice aggro play from the BB. Villian is 20/15/1.75 and actually seemed pretty solid. I saw him on multiple tables with deep stacks. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1281778

Literally next hand, http://www.pokerhand.org/?1281781 honestly I got fortunate in this spot but I doubt I et this action without my 3bet the hand before. So sick!

Here is a hand I am unhappy about. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1281784 is there any reason why I dont value bet the river? I had a note on Wild and after I read it I had him square on AQ only problem is I didnt know what Bana could have in this spot as he was an 80/5/1 donk. I think i have to bet this river and extract value and if Banana hit the 5 that is just my fate. As it turned out the 5 was my out and I didnt even know it.


One more tough spot. Villian is 45/14/1.2 http://www.pokerhand.org/?1281788 I feels so weak dumping to his min raise but his range has me crushed. Is a better line to check call and see what the turn action is?

This is just to show that every hand didnt go my way.http://www.pokerhand.org/?1281793 I did make the right call here though. I am learning to trust my instincts more and I just didnt see him touching this flop and felt I was best plus I had the backup gutter if I wasnt.

One last thing. This is a an awesome quote from Bobby Baldwin out of Sklanskys TOP.

"If you are an excellent player, people are going to draw out on you a lot more than you are going to draw out on them because there simply going to have the worst hand against you a lot more times than you have the worst hand against them." Now in Sklanskys words, "As Baldwin implies, expert players do not rely on luck. They are at war with luck.They use their skillz to minimize luck as much as possible."

That is something to chew on and think about when you get badbeat.

A few hands from my session.

All is well in the poker world for me. I think I still lack the simple fundamentals of the math game and think I will be rereading Theory of Poker as I continue to work through NL Theory. I decided this after reading this, http://cts687.livejournal.com/2006/04/23/ . Crazy thing is this dude is a fucking baller now and he was grinding the same stakes as me a little over a year ago. He didn't get where he is by slacking. This dude was in college studying Math and Econ and on the side Poker. To really be the best you can be at something you have to give everything you have got and then some. Anyways here are the hands.

Villian is 49/12/.65 I decided to C-bet figuring if suth shoved I would call with 2 overs. Instead he pitches it and Mancini snap calls. Turn is good and bad as I pick up more outs unless mancini has made a flush. I check behind and decide to see what the river brings. Bang! Nut straight and he leads strong. WTF? Can I call?
Hand 1: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1280147

Villain is 81/0/.77 when he weak led I felt he had a drawing hand and in hindsight I should have raised stronger and made him pay to hit. The turn is just fucked because it completes the straight and is an over. He leads almost pot, WTF?
Hand 2: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1280153

Villain is 87/62/2.75 over 16 hands though, he was a maniac and went bust 10 hands after this one when he shoved with top pair no draw on a monotone board against a made flush. Hindsight i think I maybe should have gambled here and shoved it as there is no telling what hand he takes this line with and the likeliness of him having a better hand then mine is slim. I just hated that he called my 4 bet cold after min raising. WTF?
Hand 3: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1280157

Observation.

In no way what is written within meant to offend or upset anyone. I have noticed from my sweat sessions as well as through responses on my blogs that some of you are playing scared. I mean this in the nicest way. Its like you raise with JJ and an Ace flops and you instantly are done with your hand. Come on aren't we CR members. Aggression OWNS! The key to this game is playing aggressive. Stop fearing your opponent and start making them fear you. Use position. When we have position we are in charge, we dictate the pot size, we decide when to take a free card, we fucking OWN! I know I too have fallen victim to the scare card and playing scared when the cards haven't been falling in place but this is a mistake. Honestly take 5 dollars and play some micro stakes and just raise like crazy just to get a feel. Or do like me and go for it at your regular stakes and adapt from there. Since my crazy session where I was 3 betting and 4 betting I am wide open and it pays. I was doing a sweat earlier with Mirrorobin and he saw exactly what the light 3 bet can achieve. He had 3 bet several times when he picked up AA and 3bet again. He was 4 bet and I instructed him to simply call and C/R the flop which I believe he had planned on doing. He gets it all in against QQ for 150BB I believe. This is the power of aggression and a maniac image. I mean you don't have to go ape shit but fucking live a little. Know that a CO or Button raise isn't always a great hand and 3betting light from the blinds will be +EV. Think about how you react to a 3bet, your opponent does too. Do you really need cards to 3bet? Chew on that!

I love my mod!

And the sick results! Was stacking donks left and right 23 bb/100 over 850 hands, just sick. I made a recent withdrawal of $600 and my currently my BR stands at 3558 w/$440 in pending bonus as well as 325 of Rakeback which should be in my account no later then tomorrow. It goes to show what positive thinking and practice as well as sheer determination can accomplish. I am no where near where I want to be though and this is only the tip of the iceberg. The mod is amazing, it makes the game so much easier and AP look a million times better. At first I wasnt sure but after three hours of play I have adjusted and it is awesome. Here is a libnk to the mod. I used the black mod which is down below in the thread like 2nd to last. There is no picture it just says how he found glitch and here is the new link. I think the grey table might be nice too.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=11075629&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1

This hand was just strange. I liked this flop and was feeling like if he raised I might just go with it. After the smooth call I decided to take the free river and see what it brought. Also I thought it might induce a bluff and I was calling almost any blank river. Instead I get there and he check insta shoves. WTF? Villian is 72/18/.9 http://www.pokerhand.org/?1271781

I mean it this time!

So in the past I have spoke of cleaning up my act and not drinking as much but this time I am for real. At least for the next 45 and some odd days. I have decided to not drink through the month of August as a sort of experiment to see how I feel and as well how I look. I have put on about 10 if not 15 pounds since this time last year and I woudnt mind losing it. With the help of my brother I wil be starting a new diet and excercise plan in the near future so hopefully this will happen.

In poker news with the help of Alex(dwarrior) I have modified my absolute tables to the awesome all black table with color coded cards. I am yet to play with the modification but I believe this will be helpful for multitabling as it really softens the glare that comes with absolutes horrible software as well as makes it impossible to miss if you have a fush or not. Havent played since my last post but I am looking to do about 30hours this week and hopefully get some more sweat sessions in as well. Again my aim is barne69224(dont ask).

Quick brag post w/ two marginal spots.

Friday nights are the juiciest at AP, it is sick.

Why you dont slow play aces, http://www.pokerhand.org/?1263602

Villian is 71/31/1.3 and had made this play earlier against me when I held 33. Could you make this call? http://www.pokerhand.org/?1263611

Do you call here? http://www.pokerhand.org/?1263620 villian was 69/15/.57

Do you call his turn bet here? http://www.pokerhand.org/?1263625 villian is 71/9/.9

Sorry no details the girlfriend is here and I have to go. Yall be good now you here.

I can play like a donkey too!

So I have been reading all about 3betting light and right before I hop into a session I read a 2p2 thread about blind stealing and basically raising the shit out of the button. Anyways I get in the game with this crazy mind set to play real aggressive and man did it backfire. 1st table I sit at I get 72s in BB and flop flush. HU pot I pot flop, over bet turn and river only to be called by 89s for a better flush. Next hand 88. Suited board no 8 I bet flop insta call. Turn, insta call. off suit 8 on river hello set. I over bet like a donk. Honestly if he doesnt beat my set I doubt he calls unless he has a PP and puts me on a bluff. Yup he turned a set of Queens. Insta stuck, ok regroup no big deal. Table breaks and I attempt to regroup. Was 3 betting way to much and even made some insane 4bets when I was 3 bet. After all was said and done 4hrs 1000 hands
-190. Not too bad. I did have a few suckouts when I got it in ahead so even after donking the shit out of it and feeling out the 3bet and 4bet play I am not that disappointed. Here are a few of my failed attempts.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1259112 me thinking I am muddywater. Honestly my play wasnt that bad in my opinion just probably unessecary. Also this guy was a super fish as you can tell by the call I could have just picked a better spot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1259115 insane flop play. min bet reraise? WTF? Can you say no FE. I simply should call and check fold my missed draw.

If only i was always thinking through hands am playing them this well. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1259116 Villian was 45/9/2 or something. It checks to the river and I decide to value bet as I feel I have the best hand as this point and might get a call from JJ or 1010. I didnt think the C/R villian had the goods as he was pretty agro and I dont see how he checks all three streets with a better hand then me.


When 4 bets go wrong http://www.pokerhand.org/?1259119 , http://www.pokerhand.org/?1259121 .

After looking at just how poor I played tonight I did pretty fucking good all things considered and I got to play in some insanely sticky spots which will help me for the future. What a fun fucking job this is. Even if I lose money when I go to work. I may have lost 200 but overall this session was way +EV. Figure that out.

A quote,...

I read this last night and it struck me as something along the lines of what I had written two days ago.

The Greta Deception

The birth of a man is a birth of his sorrow.

The longer he lives, the more stupid he becomes,

because his anxiety to avoid unavoidable death

becomes more and more accute.What bitterness!

He lives for what is always out of reach! His

thirst for survival in the future makes him

incapable of living in the present.

-Chuang Tzu

Where my homies at?

I havent been hearing much from my core crew. WTF? Dwarrior and LuckSOB big props for the sweats and I cant forget my boy Edsweden for the sweats and the rake referal(still waiting). We are just getting started and I have seen insane improvement already. The blog experiment kicks ass but I am way more stoked off the sweat sessions and the theory talk via skype and AIM. If you arent a part of my core crew and want in let me know. Link me to your blog and I will return the favor as well as attempt to comment and do a sweat. Its funny as I hevnt even played much yet this month but from sweating I have seen a shit load of hands still. My stats(sorry no nive image, if you know how to do it I would appreciate you cluing me in) 4858 hands +792 BB/100-6.65 VPIP 16.80 PFR 13.77 Total AF 3.86.

Here is the funny shit I am crushing 100NL for 15.6bb/100 and losing at 50NL for -7.82 bb/100. Very small samples and the product of some bad play against maniacs at 50NL as well as a few bad beats. Actual playing time this month is 21hours definately not enough. School is done and I got the A. Now I plan on acing poker. Hopefully I can get back on schedule and start playing 5-8 hours a day. Now to some interesting spots from today and yesterday.

Hand 1: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1256056 why I love absolute poker, villian 75/12/3

Hand 2:http://www.pokerhand.org/?1256059 weak tight? Villian 33/3/0.75. At the time I figured I either shove or fold as there is no reason to call due to stack sizes. Also with his preflop raise so small this looks like JJ-AA w/AQ-AK mixed in. I can beat 2 of his possible holding and tie the other but I dont think he takes the min raise line without the goods. What do you think?

A brag and yet a concept too. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1256067 villian is 30/7/0.8. I was being sweated by LuckySOB and Edsweden when this hand took place. I was quite concerned by the check raise here as it was very strong and felt he was very likely limp calling w/PP here. I decided to call and revaluate the turn. When he checked I decided a turn was bets for pot control as I wasnt certain my hand was best and I rather not play for stacks at this point. When the river is a blank and he leads I have to call. Honestly I think I played this hand perfect but maybe not. Please if you see another line do tell. The concept? Is villians check raise a horrible line? Not in my opinion. If I have KK or weaker I might pitch it not having a large number of stats and any read on villian. The leak here is his river bet and something I know I found myself doing a lot before now. When he bets the river he is only folding out weaker hands period. So if villian puts me on some busted draw why bet? There is no value to be gained as I am not calling. This is such a spew that a lot of beginners dont catch. Think about your bets for 2 more seconds before you click that mouse. What is your intention? What value are you gaining on the river by betting? What does your opponent hold that you can beat and he will call with? Wish I had more hands and I probably due but I am embarrased to post the really bad ones and show just how poor I play sometimes and also I already know I shouldnt call his dam river bet.

WARNING: This might be long.

Thank you faithful readers for having faith and being kind enough to support me through all my endeavors. Clicking those silly ads really does make me money, please don't be shy. I have loaded my blog with poker as of late as this is mainly what has been ruling my world and will continue to from now until whenever. Even though poker is my main focus i still ponder other things and I know how much you enjoy reading of them so I have decided to dedicate this blog to those of you who could give a rats ass about poker.

I 1st want to apologize for talking your ear off about bad beats and big wins that you could care less about. 2nd I want to thank you for not telling me to get lost when I do. 3rdly I want you to know that I care.

Why are we so worried? Is life that scary? As far as I know life is pretty fucking simple and easy especially if we stopped being so worried about what the future will bring. Life is now, people! You don't have tomorrow without today. Embrace the now. This is much easier said then done obviously but it is some real fucking shit. I know I waste way to much time worrying about nonsense. This is a hard habit to change but one that we must in order to open up and realize that this life we live is a privileged one. All are awesome technological advances are that awesome yet they have shut us off from each other and the simplicity of living. All I really need is some food and water and clean air to breathe everything else is really just a luxury. Look at the animal kingdom. In places where we haven't gone and fucked it up the food chain is in effect. Animals live and die and nature takes it course. It is an ongoing cycle and it is beautiful too.

This brings me to deodarant. WTF? When did the whole concept come into effect? Why cant I bathe daily and let my natural odor be? Is it not natural?

My brain hurts

Just played for four straight hours and made 160. Thats all? I stacked a 200BB deep player at 100NL and had some other nice all ins yet I feel like I didnt play good. I mean my 100NL play was superioir but I got owned at 50NL. PtBB/100 21 @100NL -20 @50NL. Just sick. Had some major donks that I kept c betting and it was just stupid poker.

Here are some hands even though I almost was going to wait to post till later. I will post some hands now and tomorrow try to write a thought provoking blog.

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Villian was 22/2/0.6 http://www.pokerhand.org/?1249767 what I am wondering is basically this, do I raise bigger on the flop? Honestly I doubt he is folding this draw. Can I fold to his donk turn bet? I really was pissed I called river. I just think it is a huge leak as I can only beat a bluff basically. I knew he was going to show me the A of spades too. This might be just a variance hand and my leak was not getting away from it I am not sure?

Is this a spot to get it all in? http://www.pokerhand.org/?1249780 villian is a nit running 17/11/3 I guess not too nitty. I think I will run his range through pstove and check this one out. I am really trying to find good spots to push big draws. Was this a spot and was my draw strong enough?

Maybe here? Please ignore outcome as I couldnt get it to hide the results. Looking at it now I think I just call flop raise and if I hit yeah! If I miss hope he donk bets or pitch it. What do you think? http://www.pokerhand.org/?1249787 at the time I dont think I thought through his range enough.

I have so many more I could post but I will leave at these. Thanks for all the feedback so far as well as the sweat sessions. I am not sure how impactful they are just yet but I think they have really helped to get my mind turning over each hand and have gotten me to start truly thinking deeper on the game.

Slow week

So I havent played all that much this week do to this being my last week of summer school as well as 4th of July. I did have a nice sweat session with Dwarrior today. Everything started out pretty good and then I had some tough spots occur. One thing I noticed about sweating for me is that it keeps me very level emotionally. I have almost zero tilt factor even though I am yet to get into a monster pot and lose during a sweat. Here are some of the interesting spots.

Hand1: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1240262 very small sample on villian and he is 66/38/1 my question is was there any value in my c-bet? How do you play pre and post flop here? Basically I felt AK was best preflop and I was hoping he would shove and I could call. Instead he calls I flop air and he is a short stack. WTF to I do now?

Hand 2:http://www.pokerhand.org/?1240278 villian is super nit running 10/7/2.3 his call preflop raise was 1. I dont know if I was influenced by Dwarrior sweating me on this hand or not. Is calling his 3 bet standard? Would betting this flop be so bad? Is this an easy fold on the turn or should I have bet folded?

Hand 3: Is this a standard fold? http://www.pokerhand.org/?1240288 villian was 13/8/2

That is all I got. I was going to play tonight but I think I will be taking the night off. If anyone will be around next week and wants to do some sweat sessions let me know. Next week I look to play 30hrs of solid grinder status poker. I cant wait for summer school to be done. All poker all the time, yeah!

Thank you!

Just wanted to say thanks to all the CR grinders who have been commenting and giving feedback. Please keep it up. As for the last two hands I posted I wanted to tell you all the outcome. When I check raised with the AK I had decided to call a shove before actually check raising unfortunately he turned up with 65 off. I dont know if my line was that bad as villian might make this play with a flush draw or TPWK. The AQ hand again I think I should have gotten away from this hand on the turn when he raised but I think my coldcall preflop was not a bad line. Instead of folding I shoved and he turned up Q8 for two pair.

Day off

I will be taking tomorrow off therefore no new hands or responses to others I apologize. I am loving the CR grinder crew though and have had some 4 sweat sessions in two days which has been great help in how I think about the game. Just wrapped up a 4 hr session by stacking a donk 200BB deep in 100NL which was nice. I had actually just moved to his left looking to get position and isolate. Enough said. I think table selection is a major factor in my success and I always look to get on a donks left otherwise I have to tighten up immensley as they are calling you so frequently. Anyways I have rambled to much. Hope everyone has a great 4th and I will see you on the 5th.

Why do I donk off my chips?

I swear it is just sick sometimes, I know to fold yet I decide to shove or call a shove. I love it when it goes the other way though. Plyed a long session last night with not such wonderful results due to two major malfunctions. How can I plug these leaks?

Hand 1:http://www.pokerhand.org/?1231371 villian is 47/11/0.44 T obe quiet honest I dont know how reliable the aggression factor number really is. There is a great thread on the CR forum about it under theory and there is a link to a great 2p2 thread as well. Anyways I dont know that I like my check raise here. I feel I eithetr should check call or lead the flop and play from there. In any case can I get away from his 3 bet shove? He insta called on the flop which told me he was weak in which case I think my check was poor as if he is drawing I have given him a free card and by betting it I think I have to believe he is made.

Hand 2: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1231387 villian is 61/19/0.72 I chose and unusual line then normal but feel it was actually well played up to my decision based on his reraise. I felt I held the best hand but sometimes and I thought he might hold a weak ace therefore if we both connect I might be able to stack him. Great flop for my hand and I decide to continue playing opossum. Check calling was my 1st mistake I think but not a major one. I like the play actually because I led the turn. The tough thing is I am OOP and I cant be 100% confident that his raise on the turn is with a better hand then mine. I lead the turn actually without seeing how much of a scare card this was. In this case I think the only way he raises my bet is with a hand better then AQ. Is this a clear fold?

I am all sweaty

Loving the sweat sessions I think this will play a major roll in helping the crew improve faster then anything else. Had my first session with Robin, bright kid from Amsterdam. 2 tabled 100NL with some great results. Had a few marginal spots I would like to ask about but nothing really insane happened today.

Hand 1: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1228585 both villians had numbers of donk. Two questions do you lead again on the turn? Also what is the best river line? Check and react or was my blockish lead bet good? I think I agree with Robin here but curious to see what others think.

Hand 2:http://www.pokerhand.org/?1228593 villian is running at 61/0/0.3 over 26 hands. I guess my hand could be good here and checking is an option as I cant defend against a raise. I felt if he called light the Q could be a good scare card to fold a small pair. Do you bet or check on the river and what is your thinking either way.

Day off

I have decided that I will officially take Sundays off every week. The action is not great and it is a great day to do things outside on beautiful summer days. This week is the 1st week of the CRLLGC experiment yet my participation this week will be limited. It is my last week of summer school and I want to be sure and work hard and get everything I need done in order to get my A. I figure to spend most my time around poker reading Sklansky and studying the game and will probably not play more then 15 hours this week. Once I take my final Monday the 7th that is when the games will begin. I hope to set up sweat session with everyone in my crew a after one session awhile back with SirNeb I saw just how powerful of a learning tool it is. The best thing for sweat session is skype. Sorry no hands today but look for 2-3 tomorrow. That is all and I will be talking with yall soon.