Lull

Bit of a lull at the moment. Have been playing most nights 5nl ring for about 100 hands, but not much to write about. One thing I would like to do is try and not be so results focused, because I've had a few bad runs I always seem to be aware of "I'm down $3" when I should just be concentrating on making the right decisions. It's a hard habit to break.

Finding the Right Method

One of this things that is frustrating me most at the moment is finding the right method or approach to learning the game. There is a wealth of information out there ... great blogs, poker sites, and of course some excellent books like Harrington on Hold'Em and Theory of Poker etc. I'm reveiwing them all and trying to play at least 100 hands of Ring a day ... but at the moment it's kida like drinking from a fire hose, and while all this torrent of information flows by, I'm finding it really hard to find the best method to actually absorb and implement all this knowledge into my game.

To some extent I think its actually adversely affecting my results at the moment (oops not supposed to be results oriented! lol) in that I'm broadly aware of a lot of concepts but I don't think I'm applying them correctly yet. I read somewhere that this a dangerous period for learning players - you have all these concepts floating around in your head but you tend to misapply them.

I've asked around in a few places, notably FTR beginner forum, but no-one seems to have a real answer. You hear everything from play more, to play less and study more. Obviously everyone's learning style is different so clearly there is no one single solution. Still it would be great to find some winning players and hear how they learnt, then test out that method to see if it suits me. I feel a bit stagnant at the moment poker wise ... I've reached a level where I understand most of the language but I don't know how to take the next step.

Ahhh the frustration!

My biggest leak at the moment is playing really loose aggressive players after the flop. Got absolutely smashed tonight, only played about 30 to 40 hands and lost a buyin and a half during that time ... only on tow or three hands. I'm going to post them in the hand histories section of the forum shortly then walk away ... feeling extremely tilty at the moment so I was pleased I could just walk away from the game instead of throwing more money down. That's the benefit of having good BR rules I guess ... I never play more than 10% of my BR on any one given day. Since I'd already laid down $11 rebuying for another $5 would have broken the limit so I quit for the night. I might squeeze in a $1 SnG on UB later if I feel calm enough, that would still be within the limit.

Anyway I'm really losing to the loose guys who are playing with any junk. Problem is when I run into those sort of players I find it hard to laydown, becuase everytime I get a decent hand and bet out post flop, they make massive raises on the flop or turn that just look like (and often are) big bluffs. Or if not bluffs - they just bet out with any hand, like top pair, and think people will either fold or their hand will hold up. I sit there and think I've waited 50 hands for a hand to play, I've already got $2 in the pot, they raise me all-in, so I have to put my entire stack in to call. Becuase I know they are so loose I tend to call it becuase I think there's often an even chance or better I have the better hand. Often though I seem to pick the time to call when they actually have a hand and I get destacked.

I don't have enough experience yet to know whether I am making the right play, or whether I should lay down the hand. I feel that if I wait for the nuts I could be waiting hundreds of hands, plus missing many profitable calls against reckless players. Against a rock I'd lay down the hand, but against a guy with a VP$IP of 82% I figure he could be playing anything. If I always fold to aggression then I may as well not be playing at all.

Guess the game wasn't meant to be easy. Not quite sure where to go on this issue though.

New links added

I've added two new links over there on the links section. One is Cardplayer.com, a great online magazine, if you're interested in whats going on in the poker world then you have to check this out. I also listen to "The Circuit", which is Cardplayer's podcast, always entertaining.

The second link is "Poker for Breakfast", another blog by a beginning player just setting out like me. What I'd love to do is get some sort of beginners webring or the like going, where players of a similar standard who are keen to become serious players can share their experiences. That's one of the main reasons I also set up the forum (link over there on the right!) so that hopefully some discussion can be generated, or people can post their poker "gems" in the knowledge vault. Anyways I've linked Poker for Breakfast, I'll be reading, and I encourage any other beginners who think this is a good idea to jump on the bandwagon :)

A good night!

A first tonight in that I caught some great hands early. Set up the usual two tables on Stars at 5nl. About halfway through the first circuit I pick up AA, havent seen aces for a long, long time, I'd estimate about 400-500 hands. Raised strongly, flop comes something like Q73 rainbow. Bet out, get re-raised all in, I call, bad guy shows Kings. Tough break, but I've been on the losing side, so I'll take your stack thank you very much Mr Villian. Two hands later I get KK, again raise, two callers. Flop comes mid range cards but flush draw. I intend to slightly overbet pot with $1.50 but stupidly make it .15 by mistake (what a donk!). Anyway I get raised all in again, despite me fearing losing my new found stack right back to AA, I call ... bad guy shows JJ and my Kings hold up. Suddenly I've tripled up and win over two buyins.

I win a couple of smaller pots on my other table but I don't feel like I'm concentrating tonight ... so I bail out. Seemed a shame as I was running hot - but I played disciplined, recognised I wasn't going to play my best poker and took the easy profit. It's been a while between seeing AA and KK so it was nice to take some stacks for a change.

Forum Added !!!

I've added a forum to the site ... for a number of reasons. If you want to just make a quick comment on one of my blog posts, please keep using the comments function. However if you want to raise something in depth, head over to the forum, the link is on the right over there with the other links.

The other major reason for putting the forum in is that I read so much good stuff on the net that is poker related, but find it hard to keep track of the gems and/or talk them through to really understand them. So I plan to have a "knowledge vault" in the forum where all the good stuff is linked, and hopefully discussed.

Come drop by, register, and have a chat if you want to talk poker.

Better News at Last

Much better day today ... managed two 90 min sessions of 5nl ring and finished up over two buyins for the day. Played pretty tight ... usually do, but was feeling comfortable with position assessment ... threw away hands like A8s under the gun really easily. Did have AK busted fairly heavily once ... this guy played me well, flop was rags so I had to lead out with a bet after his check. He called, then bet about 15-20c on turn and river. I had nothing but he was a loose sort of player, and had been making these bets all night, so he could easily have been buiding the pot on a draw, and with the pot around $1.50 on the river it seemed that 20c was worth seeing. Turns out he had pocket sixes so the board was worthless to us both but he took it down.

On the positive side though I hit some nice two pair hands that either stood up or I didn't have to show down ... and a really nice JJ hand that had rags board, bet out strongly, one caller, J on turn. I bet half the pot ... there was a flush draw out there so I didn't want to check-raise, but he raised all in. Thought about it for a while and couldn't see another hand out there that could beat me other than the possible river flush so I called. Rag on the river and it turned out he had pocket fives for a lower set than mine, very happy that pulled in a $12 pot right there.

So the BR looks a lot better now and hopefully that has snapped the downward trend for a while. Avoided any total donkey calls tonight so thats always a positive!

Mixed Results

Another negative night of ring play. Again got into situations where everytime I made a hand the betting made it clear I was holding second best. Made a set of nines only for the turn card to make an open ended straight on board - I bet out strongly but had to fold to a re-raise, there was just too many ways I could have been beaten. Then later I pick up AA in what seems like the first time in ages, only to have everyone fold to me and I win 10c. At least I felt I made the right decisions this session, even if the cards didn't fall my way, and as they say, thats all you can do. It's not not to be "results focused" - I lost another $2 on the night, but I feel I made the right plays so that should be a positive session.

Later I came back and tried a $1+.10 SnG. Finally I got a good break, my stack was getting low relative to the blinds and I ended up all in with AT clubs. Was called by the big stack with AQo but I hit my three clubs for the nut flush. That gave me enough of a stack to stay patient and wait for the good hands. For a change it was a really pleasant table with one US guy and one Canadian being very chatty in particular. We had a great time and eventually I ended heads up against the US guy who had been the chip leader the whole way. I took the lead being aggressive, raising 80% of pots, sometimes with nothing at all, and he folded a lot which allowed me to take a slight chip lead. Eventually I raised with QTo, hit the Q on the flop for TP, and he went all in with AK. I called, hit another Q on the turn and won the tourney. A very nice feeling after such a poor run in ring games of late ... hopefully I've turned the corner and will start to rebuild my bankroll.

The Downswing Continues!

The downswing deepens tonight after only 50 hands of 5nl. I've been picking up low pocket pairs early, not hitting anything, then folding postflop to aggression with big overcards showing. Had a nice AK suited that flopped top pair with flush draw, but everyone folded to my smallish postflop bet.

Anyways I finally get KK, UTG ... raise 6xBB to 0.3. Two calls then the BB re-raises to 0.55. I should have re-raised again ...but feared the all-in push by AA ... I think thats my undoing right there. Becuase later I end up all in anyway against some jonk with J8o who flops a set and takes my whole stack to my two pair. It's just not happening right now :(

Whine and Cheese

Starting the Donkey's Tale has coincided with my first major downswing. It's inevitable ... play long enough and it's going to happen. I've read about some players ... good players, great even - who go through horrible downswings, lasting months. All you can do is try and make the good decisions and out yourself into the favourites position oddswise ... but there will always be suckouts, and sometimes they all just seem to happen at once. You try and play solid, tight poker and then some total donk comes along and triples his stack playing like a clown. I saw a guy tonight go all in pre-flop with 72o ... the quintessental worst hand in poker, and hit 72 on the flop and destack a guy who called with QQ.

It's not so much the suckouts the moment that are getting me - although these do happen - its more I seem to get either too much or too little action on my hands. Take these two examples (also I want to test how pasting hand histories in here goes!)

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (7 handed) [url=http://www.zerodivide.cx/converter]FTR converter on zerodivide.cx[/url]

SB ($13.99)
Hero ($4.93)
UTG ($4.67)
MP1 ($7.52)
MP2 ($3.70)
CO ($11.41)
Button ($4.77)

[b]Preflop:[/b] Hero is BB with 8:spade:, 3:club:.
[color=#666666][i]1 fold[/i][/color], MP1 calls $0.05, [color=#666666][i]1 fold[/i][/color], CO calls $0.05, Button calls $0.05, SB completes, Hero checks.

OK so I don't have a great starting hand but I'm in the Big Blind, it's limped to me, I get a free flop, woohoo.

[b]Flop:[/b] ($0.25) T:club:, 8:club:, 8:diamond: [color=#0000FF](5 players)[/color]
SB checks, [color=#CC3333]Hero bets $0.2[/color], MP1 folds, CO folds, Button folds, SB calls $0.20.

Woot what a nice flop, you dont see that very often. OK there were no preflop raises so I'm not worried about TT too much here. Have to figure this for the best hand right now, but there is a club draw out there. So I lead out with 80% of the pot, hopefully enough to deter the draw but surely anyone with a T calls here. Sure enough, 1 caller, all going to plan so far.

[b]Turn:[/b] ($0.65) 9:spade: [color=#0000FF](2 players)[/color]
[color=#CC3333]SB bets $9.5[/color], Hero folds.

OMG WTF. $9.50? Talk about overbetting the pot. A 9 makes the straight a real possibility here as well, if he calls the flop with QJ I'm in trouble. Same 76 or even J7. Of course it could be a total bluff - but evertime I call this lately I donk off my stack. He's saying I have a straight, I gotta believe him. There goes that nice hand.

[b]Final Pot:[/b] $10.15

The next one is the reverse scenario:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) [url=http://www.zerodivide.cx/converter]FTR converter on zerodivide.cx[/url]

MP ($1.76)
CO ($11.13)
Button ($6.46)
SB ($6.85)
Hero ($4.65)
UTG ($7.73)

[b]Preflop:[/b] Hero is BB with 9:heart:, 9:spade:.
[color=#666666][i]1 fold[/i][/color], MP calls $0.05, [color=#CC3333]CO raises to $0.2[/color], Button calls $0.20, [color=#666666][i]1 fold[/i][/color], Hero calls $0.15, MP calls $0.15.

This table had a real maniac on it, he went all in a few hands previously and won about $10 with 63o. He was the guy in the Cutoff (CO) - I feared his raise a little but it could have been anything so I had to call with 99. Re-raise was out of the question he would likely have gone all in and I wanted to see the flop with this one.

[b]Flop:[/b] ($0.82) J:spade:, 6:spade:, 9:club: [color=#0000FF](4 players)[/color]
Hero checks, MP checks, CO checks, Button checks.

Happy days the 9 flops and I have the set. I'm hoping I can really destack the maniac here. I look closely at the board and it is moderately risky - J could be a concern if any one was on JJ - which was a possibility with the preflop action. Spade flush draw on the board as well. But given how loose this table was I have to figure I'm a good chance at top hand right here. The flush draw worried me more than the trip J possibility. So.... I check. I figure the maniac is sure to follow through since he raised pre-flop ... and when he raises, I check-raise, all in if necessary. I'm backing myself here! But he thinks ... and thinks .... and thinks ... then checks. Nooooooo! Preflop raise and then nothing? Of course the others all check and I've given them a free card :(

[b]Turn:[/b] ($0.82) Q:club: [color=#0000FF](4 players)[/color]
[color=#CC3333]Hero bets $0.6[/color], MP folds, CO folds, Button folds.

Qc is again a bit of a threat, set Q possible ... but no improvment to the flush. I can't sit back now, I bet out ... and they all fold. No action. Just cant seem to make my good hands stick. Mind you looking again I should be grateful I guess ... I could have got all in against JJ or QQ. Just seems at the moment things aren't falling my way. Exercise in learning patience!

So I ended up down about $1.25 for the night, continuing the downward slide at 5nl. 3k hands at 2nl I'm up $30, 1k hands at 5nl I'm down $-11. I'm hoping its variance ... I have made the odd donk play but the players if anything seem worse at 5nl than 2nl. Time will tell.

The Donkey's Tale - In the beginning ....

Well hope this works. I did this (blogging) briefly a few years back and I knew bugger all about HTML then. Not much has changed in this regard. Still, substance over style (only took a few sentences for the cliches to come out) and all that.

Welcome to The Donkey's Tale! Firstly ... why the title. Well, according to Miriam-Webster's online dictionary (thanks Google):

Donkey Pronunciation: 'dä[ng]-kE, 'd&[ng]-, 'do[ng]-
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural donkeys
Etymology: origin unknown
1 : the domestic ass (Equus asinus)
2 : a stupid or obstinate person

Hmmm well. Not the first ... the second might be close but not quite. Instead I'll use another definition: a donkey is a poker player who doesn't know what they are doing, or plays in a stupid fashion. Rather than explaining it myself Thomas Keller of Cardplayer.com defines it as follows (hope this doesn't violate copyright!):

By far the most extensively used new expression is “donkey,” and it is commonly abbreviated as “donk.” Donkey as an English slang word is a playful way of calling someone stupid. Similarly in poker, one use of the word donkey is to describe a player who does stupid things while playing poker. Many other older poker expressions like tourist, fish, or sucker have similar meanings, yet they seem to carry more demeaning connotations than donkey. Donkey is generally perceived as a friendly word, and few people I have run across have taken great offense at being called a donkey — whether it be for making a bad play or accidentally posting right in front of the big blind. Even I have been called a donkey at times for things I have done at the poker table, and I usually have gotten a good chuckle out of it. Lots of professionals will even refer to themselves as donkeys when they make a mistake, saying such things as, “I played that hand like a donkey,” or sometimes they just let out a good heehaw (the sound a donkey makes). The poker term donkey is unique, though, in that it can be used not only as a noun or an adjective, but also as a verb.

Donkey is conjugated as a verb by using the term “donk.” For example, after busting out of a tournament, I may say, “Damn, I donked off a ton of my chips running a huge bluff against the nuts.” One can also get “donked” in a poker hand by taking a bad beat. Similarly, one can donk another player by getting lucky and sucking out on him (oftentimes when not getting the proper odds to draw to whatever long shot is hit.) Many players will even apologize for their donkey ways by saying, “Sorry I donked you,” or, “Donkeys have to eat, too.

Hmm yes well, you get the idea. So I am a donkey, or a donk, who is trying to learn not to be one, at playing cards. As for the tale ... well this is my story. In the process of learning to play this game I've read a lot, and one of the great recommendations I've come across is ... "Keep a journal". Great idea! The concept is you make notes, write thoughts, and generally improve your play by writing down your poker experiences. So I got a notebook ... but it doesnt seem to work for me. Then I remembered my old blog that went nowhere and .... here we are.

So this is the Donkey's Tale, the blog by a poker newbie who would like to become ... not a donkey ;) I look forward to posting my trials and tribulations ... maybe noone will read, but if nothing else I hope to look back in a few years time and think ... OMG, I was such a donk back then! :)