Texas state foosball results / May review

Well its been a week since I got back from TX, so apologies for the late post.

Foos results:

It was a classic Joe Hamilton performance overall, finishing above expectation (or at least par) in two events, and underachieving in the other two events.


I took my personal best result in Open Singles (main singles event) beating several strong players on route to 5th place.


I also won the Pro Doubles event (open to anyone rated pro or below) with my partner Mike Archer.  That felt like a cakewalk, mostly down to Mike playing excellent defence throughout.  I always felt like I had enough chances to win our matches, because he was making so many stops at the other end. 


Open doubles (main doubles event) I took 17th with partner Eric Dunn.  Very dissapointed with this, but sometimes its just not your day.  


Pro singles (open to anyone rates pro or below) was OK but nothing spectacular.  I took 5th losing to the two finalists (double elimination format).  

Primo:

It was great to meet Primo, and connecting with him on something other than poker was also nice.  He really enjoys foosball, and I had fun teaching him some moves and coaching him through the beginner event at the tournament.  Sadly things didn't go to plan and he lost early on, but he assures me he had fun.  The day after leaving TX, he flew to Las Vegas to play in the WSOP.  He took 2nd in his first event ($1500 PLHE), for around $117k.  Unbelievable stuff, and congratulations to him.  I thought winning $300 in foosball was impressive.  I guess not. 

Poker results:

Its been hard to say how much I made in May due to a loss of data half way through the month.  I estimate it to be somewhere around $1050 net profit for the month.  


This is my stats from about mid month onwards:

My end game feels a lot better now (thanks 3b shoving equity calculator!!).  I'm not spewing off as many chips 30bb deep, and I think I've been pretty solid 25bb's or below. 








This month has started out great money wise, but I have hardly put any volume in.  Carbon Poker has updated its software, and since the update (5th June), its been almost out of commission.  I say almost, because there are a few brave (stupid?) people still trying to play whilst there are severe LAG issues.  Hopefully this will be resolved shortly as I'm desperate to play.  


Stats so far this month:

Foosball - Texas State Championships May 25-28, 2012.

This weekend I am going to Dallas to enter a foosball tournament. A quick (not really) catch up for those who have not read up to this point:


I play foosball on the American professional tour.  I also play events on the international tour when possible.  Sadly there isn't enough prize money to justify me playing foosball full time.  That is the real dream.  


Why play poker?


Its important to keep a firm grasp of what drives you to play poker.  Why do you play?  For the money?  For the love of the game?  For that liberating feeling of going to work (downstairs) 4 hours late with no clothes on?


What drives me in poker is the thought of being able to travel whenever I want (within reason).  I love travelling, and I love playing foosball.  I dream of being able to travel with my wife and daughter, uncovering more of this beautiful world.


Annnnd back to foosball.  


Texas State championships


This particular tournament has got me very excited for a number of reasons.  This has been one of my favourite tournaments over the last 2 years.  It is very well run, with some fun and interesting variations on the bog standard tournaments.  Also, the Texas player base is very strong which makes for some excellent competition.  A lot of the players don't tour outside of Texas, so they are underranked.  This means that the lower divisions are full of very strong players.  I have always been a competitive person, so naturally this attracts me.  I don't think I've ever shied away from a challenge (in sports).  

PrimordialAA

Another main reason I am excited for this tournament is that one of my favourite HUSNG players is also making the trip!  PrimordialAA (Bryan Pellegrino) was one of my favourite video makers on HUSNG.com, and is a great success in the poker world.  Why is he coming?  

I was reading HokieGreg's blog and stumbled across a picture of Primo's house.  There were a number of people sitting at a poker table.  Then I took a closer look and I saw a foosball table in the background!  I am always spotting foosball tables in TV shows / movies, it becomes almost second nature to me, lol. 

I posted on Hokie's blog saying I would exchange foosball lessons for poker lessons (If you don't ask, you don't get, right?) and he told me to email Primo as he enjoyed playing foosball.  Of course I did, and I made him aware of the tournament in Texas.  He lives in Austin, so its relatively close (in American terms!) for him.  He told me he was up for it, and is going to play in the Beginner singles category.  I can't wait to meet him not only because he is one of my HUSNG heroes, but also because I've heard nothing but nice things about him.  Its always nice to meet cool people. 


My foosball resume


For those interested in my foosball career..

I have won 3 world championship titles (2 doubles, 1 singles).
 
I am rated Pro in a ranking system which looks like this:


Pro Master
Pro
Expert
Amateur
Beginner


I am currently on the borderline between Pro and Pro Master, and I anticipate turning Pro Master after the World Championships in September.  I will be only the second British foosball player to achieve Pro Master status in the USA.  

Me and my father-in-law at the Colorado State championships, 2011 (picture below).

Would you stop a stranger on the street and give him $34.50?

Just answer the question.  I assume your answer is no.  


Online poker can make people go crazy. It appears to some as 'just numbers on a screen' instead of real money.  See hand below:


4th hand of a $34.50 turbo vs an unknown player.


SB: 1,590.00
Hero (BB): 1,410.00

SB posts SB 10.00, Hero posts BB 20.00

Pre Flop: (30.00) Hero has 9s 9h

SB raises to 60.00, Hero raises to 200.00, SB raises to 400.00, Hero raises to 1,410.00 and is all-in, SB calls 1,010.00

Flop: (2820.00, 2 players) 2d Qc Js

Turn: (2820.00, 2 players) 7h

River: (2820.00, 2 players) Jh

SB shows 4h 6c (One Pair, Jacks)
Hero shows 9s 9h (Two Pair, Jacks and Nines)
Hero wins 2,820.00

 
Now I would definitely give $34.50 to THAT guy!


PS - Congratulations to Chelsea FC for winning the UEFA Champions League final this evening.  Mental toughness, a 'never say die' attitude, and a big Ivorian is apparently what is needed to win the grand prize in European club football.  Well done!!

This is why I'm hot, this is why I'm hot

So far so good.  Sticking to the plan of shoving wider.  I'm not often certain about things in life, but I'm fairly certain (100%) that T5 off suit is the nuts.


Hero (BB): 2,298.00
SB: 702.00

SB posts SB 15.00, Hero posts BB 30.00

Pre Flop: (45.00) Hero has 5h Td

SB raises to 60.00, Hero raises to 2,298.00 and is all-in, SB calls 642.00 and is all-in

Flop: (1404.00, 2 players) Tc 5s 6h

Turn: (1404.00, 2 players) Js

River: (1404.00, 2 players) 4c

Hero shows 5h Td (Two Pair, Tens and Fives)
SB shows Qc Ks (High Card, King)
Hero wins 1,404.00

Easy game. 

In all seriousness though, I have never shoved T5 off suit for 24ish bb's before.  It felt weird (lol).
If you believe your opponent to min raise 80% of his buttons, and have a fairly standard calling range to shove, then this is a +EV move.  Maths.  Mental stuff.
 

HUSNG's. 3-bet shoving.

In HUSNG's (Heads Up Sit'n'go), end game is crucial.  Its certainly NOT a part of the game I am very comfortable with.  End game relies on good knowledge of hand ranges and equity calculations.  Again, I'm not hugely comfortable with this.  That's not to say I'm awful, just not as rock solid as I'd like to be. 


For the rest of the month I am going to experiment with my 3 bet shoving ranges 25bb's and below.  I find it very hard to force myself to shove 62 off suit at 20bbs vs an opponent who has min raised 90% of his buttons and has a fairly narrow calling range to a shove.  Yet I find it easy to shove A2 off suit at 32bbs vs an opponent who has opened around 50% of his buttons and a slightly looser calling range to a shove.  Guess which one is more profitable?  

So as of today, I am going to experiment using the 3 bet shoving equity calculator (found at www.HUSNG.com) and trust the math.  I'm going to try and shove wider in spots where there is merit to do so, and spew less in spots deeper than 25bb.


At the end of the month I'm going to review my end game stats and post a conclusion based on my (small) data sample.

Euro 2012 - The England Squad

This needs to be talked about.


Alright alright, so I'm not a professional football manager.  Nor do I think we are in the same class as Spain, Holland, France, Germany etc.  However, there is something to be said for picking your best players!!!

Personally I think the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard, dare I say it... Wayne Rooney are extremely overrated, and I'm a Man Utd fan!!  These over paid players play in world beating teams with fantastic talents around them who are NOT English!  English media is terrible for hyping up and consequently overpricing our nations players. 


Andy Carrol cost Liverpool £35,000,000
Luis Suarez cost Liverpool £22,800,000!

No wonder there is so many foreigners in the premier league.  Far more bang for the buck!  

In my opinion some of our countries best players have been left out:

Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Micah Richards, Darren Bent, Aaron Lennon.  

I understand that taking Rio would bring a lot of media attention, but the bottom line is, he is better than John Terry or Gary Cahill. 

I have no idea if Scholes wanted to play.  If he was available for selection, then I think England have missed out on arguably their best midfielder currently.  He's the closest thing to a Xavi we have.  

Micah Richards has just finished winning the premier league and is a solid choice at right back / centre back.  Its tough to see who he would replace because the most obvious candidate would be Phil Jones.  However, I think Phil Jones is absolute quality :P


I understand that Darren Bent has a minor injury which was part of his omission from the squad.  I honestly think he's the best striker our nation has.  People are gonna think I'm mental.  He has pace, good in the air and an eye for goal.  He's such a natural goal scorer.  Defoe is the other natural goal scorer in our team.  Welbeck is decent, but I just worry for him and Andy Carrol on the big stage. 


Aaron Lennon is lightning in a bottle.  His final ball is shocking, but he still scares defenders.  I suppose we will just have to wait and see as to whether or not the Oxelaide gamble will pay off.....

Rant over. 

Good luck Roy Hodgson.  I hope they don't sack you after the tournament! 

Where to start?!

Well it has been a while!  I haven't died, or even worse, gone bust in poker... 


Moving:


The last month or so has been pretty hectic due to moving house.  Finally, I'm settling down in Lincoln, Nebraska.  

Lincoln has been very enjoyable so far.  I have joined a sand volleyball team, I play foosball at least once a week, and I'm about to start working out again with the added benefit of a partner.  Life balance baby.  

Computer issues:

I recently bought two 23" monitors, and began playing on my desktop computer.  Since moving to Lincoln, the desktop computer will not boot up.  Untill I figure out what to do with it, Ive been playing on my laptop again.  About 3 days ago my laptop stopped working so I had to re-install Windows. 

 
 Its working again, but as a result I have lost all my poker data on my laptop!!!  Ah well, hopefully I can still retrieve it from my desktop...



Poker:

Due to bankroll issues, I've been playing a lot of games at the $30 level recently.  There is a lot more action at this level, which is nice.  I am rolled to play the $50 level again, so I will sit lobbies when I see them open.  I will continue to sit $30 lobbies also because there is definitely a shorter wait time, which ultimately could mean a better hourly rate. 

I will post some results in a few days.  As I've temporarily (hopefully!) lost all my data, I am wanting to put some decent volume in before posting any results.

Funny pic:

 

Theory in application.. (Hands of the day)

I haven't put a ton of studying into cash games, but I think I have put a few things into practice quite nicely.  I have picked some good spots to run triple barrel bluffs, and have definitely tightened my ranges up, lol.  Its so easy to play over 70% of hands in heads up sit n go's that I started out way to LAG in cash games.


A couple of hands I'm happy with to follow.  Bare in mind that I didn't think either of these opponents were very good hand readers:

First hand:

SB: $31.09
BB: $50.00
UTG: $50.75
MP: $51.00
Hero (CO): $59.86
BTN: $71.72

SB posts SB $0.25, BB posts BB $0.50

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero has Kc Ad

fold, fold, Hero raises to $2.00, fold, SB calls $1.75, fold

Flop: ($4.50, 2 players) Jd 3c 8d
SB checks, Hero bets $2.75, SB calls $2.75

Turn: ($10.00, 2 players) Jh
SB checks, Hero bets $3.15, SB calls $3.15

River: ($16.30, 2 players) 4h
SB checks, Hero bets $14.72, fold

Hero wins $15.49

Thought process:

Pre flop was standard.

Flop was obviously not great, but the opponent wasn't particularly difficult to deal with post flop, and realisitically C betting was my best chance of winning the pot.  Checking back would allow him to fire with almost his entire range on the turn, so that wasn't a good idea. 


The turn was interesting.  It was the perfect card I think to manipulate the opponents range with a small bet.  By betting only 1/3 pot, most standard players would check raise with the top of their range, and call with marginal showdown.  Once he called, I put him on a draw, or a PP lower 99 or lower (TT+ I assume would 3 bet pre flop).  I planned to overbet a large % of river cards to fold out his marginal holdings.  Obviously folding out busted draws would only need a small bet, but I was worried that he could call a smaller bet with something like 66.

River was perfect.  Who knows, I may have had the best hand the whole time :P  I still liked my play.

Second hand:

BTN: $50.00
SB: $96.04
BB: $43.26
UTG: $69.69
Hero (MP): $50.00
CO: $34.94

SB posts SB $0.25, BB posts BB $0.50

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero has 9h As

fold, Hero raises to $2.00, fold, fold, SB calls $1.75, fold

Flop: ($4.50, 2 players) Jc Kc 7s
SB checks, Hero bets $2.60, SB calls $2.60

Turn: ($9.70, 2 players) 9d
SB checks, Hero bets $6.46, SB calls $6.46

River: ($22.62, 2 players) 7d
SB checks, Hero bets $38.94 and is all-in, fold

Hero wins $21.49
 

Thought process:

Pre flop is perhaps a little out of line, but so far there had been no evidence of making a stand to pre flop raises.  I figured I would take it down pre flop a large % of the time.


Flop again is likely to hit is calling range quite well.  I had seen him check raise 1/2 previous flops so I figured he would check raise the top of his range here.  With a wet board like this, I imagine he would check raise with JJ/77/KJ.  This meant if he called, I had already planned to barrel off.


Turn is kind of bad, but again I believed this type of player to check raise if he had QT or other strong hands.  At this point I put him on KT, AJ, KQ, TT, QJ type hands.. All of which I knew no matter what came on the river here is a strong chance he would fold. 


River doesnt really change a lot, but to someone who can't hand read that well he might believe somehow I have rivered trips.  Not only that but I rep QT/AK/T8/KJ/AA fairly well.  The key here is that to my opponent he knows that I know he has a hand strong enough to call 2 barrels.  By betting as much as I did I think he could level himself into thinking that I am wanting him to call with his KQ/KT/J9 type hands, thus making the fold. 

Again I could have read too much into this, but I do think that I would have got looked up a fair amount had I have bet smaller on the river.  


Hope everyone's doing well! 

How to lose a bankroll in 4 hours

Now that I have your attention!! 

So this month has been very busy for me.  Apologies (to myself?! lol) for not getting anything out sooner!!  Despite hitting up Vegas for a major foosball tournament, and house hunting in Lincoln, NE, I managed to get some decent volume in.  I am super happy with this, as I was hammering out 3-4 hour nights of 2 tabling.   

Annnnd... *begin funny story*

With one day left to get VIP points in order to make 'water status', I was busy in Lincoln house hunting / socialising with some friends we were staying with.  I needed 940 points left (40 x $50 games) which was going to be impossible on my own. 

So I asked a good mate of mine to play a little on my account to help me out.  We agreed to split any winnings, and split any losses up to $800.  3 hours later I get a phone call saying 'I have been stuffed like a large mouth bass'.  Bad news, lol.  I gave my mate the keys to my account with $4622 total roll.  He called me saying we had $2600 left!  This was not part of the plan at all lol.  He said he would cover any losses over the $800 we agreed, and asked if he could continue to play in order to try and make it back up.  To which I agreed, as long as he left me $500 no matter what happened.  He's the kind of player that can really get on a roll, especially as he plays mid-high stakes PLO cash games.  Also I know he's good for the money, so it was kind of like cashing some of my roll out at a much quicker rate than Merge will let me!

1 hour later he calls back saying he's left me the minimum in my account.  I could do nothing but laugh.  $4k in 3 hours.  I hope one day I can do that and not bat an eyelid at the damage.  For right now though, I would throw up if that was all my money. 

I cancelled my pending cash withdrawal, exchanged all my VIP points for money, and played a little later that evening which has built my roll back up to around $1600ish.  Thats enough to continue playing $50s (occasional $78) for now untill he sends me what he lost. 

So without further ado:

March stats:

 

Water status achieved!!  :D

As you can see my volume as decent considering how busy I was plus how the $50 level is slower in action.

$1281 + $300ish (Vip points exchange) - $400 I lost staking my friend = a respectable $1181 made for the month.

 Oh, and PS... I didn't last very long not looking at my balance/amount won etc etc.  Man that is hard to do!  I'll keep trying though!! :P 

Life news:

The Hall of Fame Classic foosball tournament in Las Vegas is the 2nd biggest tournament of the year, with all the top players in attendance.  I managed a personal best of 7th in Open singles, and I defended my pro singles title successfully :)  Very happy with my foosball results. 

 I played a little poker to.  4 hours of $1-$2 resulted in -$10 net loss, lol.  On a side note, if you ever thought the games were dead then go to Vegas.  You play $1-$2 online and you are battling a lot of pros.  You play $1-$2 in Vegas and you are likely to hear someone shout '3 pair, read it and weep!'.

My wife and I have found a house, and are moving to Lincoln, NE on May 1st!  Very exciting stuff for me right now.  As a result of this, I am going to use this month to do a lot of poker studying.  I won't be able to put huge volume in as I will be going back and forth moving our stuff around all this month.  

Poker news:

I am going to dip my feet into the cash game world on Merge.  Mostly 6-max, but I have good instructional videos on both 6-max and full ring.  Ultimately this is what I would like to play full time, so I see this month as a good opportunity to test the waters.  I will continue to play HU as well, but will not set a volume goal.

I will try and have something like a hand of the day / update on cash game progress by the end of the week.  No excuses, this blog will continue untill I can say I am a successful full time poker player!

 

Looking forward to little more life balance

Life Balance:

Greetings everyone.  So far this month I have been continuing to read a couple of poker books, as well as follow the blogs of a couple of my favourite pro poker players. 
The main point that has been hammered home by http://www.philgalfond.com/it-always-comes-back-to-balance-doesnt-it/, is that in my current situation I am lacking life balance. 

I think Phil is such a great writer, and obviously a genius when it comes to playing poker.

Anyways, back to my situation.  Right now I get up every morning, work untill 5pm at my job in a computer repair store, mess around for an hour or so (either playing with my daughter Jessa, or sometimes playing Fifa 12 online with my good friend Rob Atha), eat dinner (which recently has been a lot of takeout, due to complete lack of inspiration when cooking), then play poker for 2-3 hours, then bed around 11:30-12:30.  Rinse and repeat Monday-Friday.  Weekends are normally spent mostly cleaning house, and playing as much poker as I can during the peak times.

I occasionally watch an episode of lost (we're up to season 5!) with my wife in the evening, otherwise I have no 'other' life outside of my job, and my poker.  I live in a very small town, so there isn't much I'd be interested in doing other than grinding away, trying to build my poker career. 

All is not lost though.  Hopefully within the next 3 months we will be moving to Lincoln, Nebraska.  Lincoln has around 250,000 people, with a lot of things I would want to do with both Jessa and Tasha.  Also, (most importantly for me right now in terms of what's missing) I have a group of friends down there that I would hang out with.  There's also a great foosball scene in Lincoln, so I wouldn't feel so rusty when I hit tournaments.

There is only two things that are missing from Lincoln when I think about my perfect life.  My mom and sister (I hate that they are missing out on my daughter growing up), and the best online poker solution.  Ideally I would like to move back to the UK (home!!) where poker is far more accessable, and also tax free whenever I decide to take a shot at being full time.

For now though, Lincoln is a great option to take.

Monthly progress:

As far as this month goes, its been pretty interesting.  I have found it VERY hard to not look at my total bankroll/sharkscope stats, or other monthly stats.  I know I'm floating somewhere around the $5k mark, which annoys me that I know that!  I haven't checked sharkscope once, but whenever I look at EV graphs I can work out how many buyins up or down I am for the day/month.  As of today I'm gonna try not to look at EV graphs either.  Bankroll will be hard not to look at, given it displays your bankroll everytime you register a new game.  I'll try my best to not look at it though!

Playing wise, I think I have played pretty good.  Last night was the first night where I felt I tilted a couple of games, otherwise its been a good month so far.  I think all of my games have either been $50's or $78's, with the exception of an accidental mis click register to a $40 super-turbo.  Action has definitely been slower, with a lot of the $78 games being against regs that sit me.  It seems that my stats are not quite worthy of open sitting a $78 lobby yet!  I am getting mostly weaker players sit me at the $50s though, which reassures me that my play is solid.



Goals revisited:

Goal wise, I don't think I will be able to hit 415 games.  I was naive to think I could, in hindsight.  I am going to Las Vegas on Wednesday for a big foosball tournament, and won't be back untill Tuesday the following week.  I simply can't make up that kind of lost ground in volume.  What I WILL try and go for though is 'water status' on CarbonPoker.  Its the equivalent of platinum star status on Pokerstars and will get me around $218 in rakeback for the month If I hit it.  As long as I keep playing $50's and $78's then I don't need to play as much and can get away with around 340 games for the month.  Still tough given my Vegas break, but definitely achievable with hard work. 

Hope this wasn't too much of a ramble!  Good luck everyone!

February overview: Winner winner, chicken dinner!

Stats for the month:

 

Total bankroll:

$4,190.70 - Probably my last bankroll update as I plan to cash out most of the profit I make from here onwards.  $4k, seems a good amount to keep in to play the $50-100 level.  

This month has obviously been pretty sweet. I've had bigger months than this before, but that was back in my degenerate days with no bankroll management / responsibilities. I used to play up to $3-$6 6-max cash games on a $2000 bank roll. Big pimpin :P

Due to some horrible periods of sickness, I actually don't feel like I've played my best poker at all times. I've had a really dodgy stomach for about the last 2 weeks, which has even meant taking a couple of days off from my full time job also.

Anyways, the stats/graph speak for themselves. I have ran pretty good.

Things I am happy with this month:

My volume. If it wasn't for the sickness, I think I could have hit 400 games in a shorter month which included a foosball tournament.

My ability to 2 table with less mistakes for longer periods of time.  I can't see myself 3 tabling anytime soon (nor wanting to).

Forcing myself to feel comfortable at the $50 level. It's easier when you are running well, but I definitely feel more comfortable at this level now.

Poker goals for next month:

Play 425 games – That will be my biggest month volume wise.  It will also be more of a challenge given that action is definitely slower at the $50 level.

Play a minimum 5% of those games at the $78 level – Although I certainly don't feel ready to take on the $78+ level, I have a good enough bankroll for them. No harm in taking a few shots and evaluating from there.

DO NOT CHECK ANY STATS OTHER THAN GAMES PLAYED!! - This will be interesting. I want to go a whole month without checking my bankroll, sharkscope graph, total profit for the month, etc. I will edit my poker tracker to only display total games played, that way I have no way of accidentally seeing any of my stats. I am curious to see how much this will help me focus on my A game, and not worry about results. If I go on a downswing, then I will be able to check bankroll purely for good management reasons. 

Keep studying – I will finish reading 'The Poker Mindset' (Boo, I failed my Feb goal), 'Let there be range', and continue to discuss interesting hands that come up with friends on skype / forums. 

Interesting hand:

SB: 1,660.00
Hero (BB): 1,340.00

SB posts SB 10.00, Hero posts BB 20.00

Pre Flop: (30.00) Hero has As Jh

SB calls 10.00, Hero raises to 80.00, SB calls 60.00

Flop: (160.00, 2 players) Th Qd 6s
Hero bets 80.00, SB calls 80.00

Turn: (320.00, 2 players) Jd
Hero bets 220.00, SB calls 220.00

River: (760.00, 2 players) 5d
Hero checks, SB bets 1,280.00 and is all-in, Hero calls 960.00 and is all-in

SB shows Kh 6h (One Pair, Sixes)
Hero shows As Jh (One Pair, Jacks)
Hero wins 2,680.00


I really tanked into the time bank before making this call.  He was a pretty weak player who had played top pairs fast on a couple of boards previously, so I just couldnt see him check calling two streets with QX.  I was fairly happy I was ahead by the river, but didn't put him on much of a hand.  For this reason, I think checking is best to induce bluffs from hands that can't win at showdown.  Obv wasn't an easy call, but I think its profitable against this player in the long run.

Taking a break:

I'm gonna spend the next two days trying not to play any poker at all.  I wanna fully recover from this illness as well as catch up on housework / other life duties.  Hopefully I will be 100% and raring to go when March 1st gets here!!


Good luck to everyone for next month and beyond!  Untill next time, peace!

Coaching session + Life goals

Monday morning I had my coaching session with HokieGreg that was made possible due to some legendary people who voted for me.  Thanks again everyone :)


Obviously was happy with how this went.  We got loaded up skype, teamviewer, and began to review one of my matches.  Its cool to see where you went right, but MUCH cooler to see the spots / thought processes that were perhaps not the best. 
The main thing I took away from the session was that I have a tendency to 'get it in good', which means folding in spots that are +EV, in order to find better spots later in matches.  Given that you never know when that next spot might come up (if it ever does!), it is important to take the +EV whenever possible. 
Perfect example is if you are 100% sure that your opponent is 3 bet shoving you with a low pocket pair and you have A9 suited.  You have 1500 chips and the blinds are 15/30.  Pot odds say you need 48% to be break even.  A9 suited has 49.7% equity vs 22.  This makes it a +EV call.  Not only is it a +EV call, but it is far better for your hourly rate in the long run also.  I hope I got the maths right in this equation.  I have always been an average mathematician at best. 

The important thing to take in, is that I mostly pass up on this opportunity hoping to find a better spot.  Problem being, I cannot guarantee that a better spot will ever come up.  Especially in a short format heads up SNG match.  No matter how bad the opponent is.


So yeah the session went great, and I definitely took a few things from it.  I wish I could continue coaching with Hokie, but for the forseeable future I will be utilizing other learning tools as much as possible. 


With regards to how things are going in life at the moment, I have not been 100% well this last week or so.  This has stopped me from going to the gym on a few occasions, so I plan to get back on track in that area.  Other than that, things are good!  The winter hasn't been too brutal so far, my baby girl has been stringing some asburdly huge sentences together (for a 2 year old!), and I've just been promoted to Division 3 of the online Fifa 12 head to head seasons mode.  :P

February stats - On schedule to complete volume goal...

Stats for the month so far:

Pretty pleased with how I've played this month.  Not hit many patches of run bad, which has allowed me to feel pretty positive about putting in good volume, with a lot of 2 tabling involved.  I could easily see myself winning at the $50 level, but it is just ridiculously slow action in the USA at that level.  I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do yet.  I'll keep playing them when I get action, but long term... I'm praying that online poker gets fixed soon in the states!! 

February goals and where I stand currently:

Play 350 Games - Only 84 more to play in 8 days.  I'm gonna try and shoot for 400 total actually.

Play at least 20% of games at the $50 level - 29/75 so far.  I should do this, action permitting.

Finish the poker mindset book - I'm still getting through this, although I still have a good chunk left to go.  I don't want to race through it and not absorb it, but I do intend to have it finished by end of the month. 

1 session a week with poker buddies - This has happened, although its not been a fixed session.  One week it has been a Thursday, the other week it was a Monday etc.  I haven't spoke with my main poker buddy for a while, but we have both had busy weekends recently.. I'm sure things will be back on track this week.  I really do think this is my favourite part of poker at the moment!  I love having someone I can go to with hand histories etc.. 

So far so good!  Good luck with all the goals everyone is working towards!

Foosmania - Good times

Hey guys, sorry its been a while.

I'm gonna split today's entry into seperate entries for easy reading.

Since I last spoke to you I've had a foosball tournament, a poker coaching session with Hokiegreg, and played a decent amount of games. 


The foosball tournament called Foosmania was in Lincoln, Nebraska so I didn't have to travel *too* far for this one.  Although 4.5 hour drive is not exactly close!

I always love playing in Lincoln.  They are such a great bunch of people, and there is always a real nice vibe when you're playing.

Results wise I am a little dissapointed with how things went, but since I am rarely practicing at the moment I can't complain too much.  I took 3rd in Open Singles (behind 2 very strong players), and I won Pro doubles.  Open Doubles was a disaster, finishing pretty much last, lol.

In a month I go to Las Vegas for the Hall of Fame Classic tournament.  Its one of the biggest tournaments of the year.  If my snake shot is anywhere near as good as the Lincoln tournament, then I fancy my chances in both pro singles and doubles again (current pro singles and doubles world champion).  My 5 row has never been an issue both defensively and offensively.  Its always been my 3 row which has let me down.  I have been using a tic tac series up front, but players are gradually wising up to this.  Luckily though I seem to have found some consistency on my snake so very much looking forward to vegas!

I spose I'll play a lil poker whilst I'm there :P  I have played a fair amount of $2-$5 cash there in the past, and it has always been profitable. 

Saturday night highlight... Denny's

I decided to take my wife out for a meal on Saturday as a half valentines day type meal..  Relax people, I've got her a gift as well.  Let's hope she likes NBA's greatest dunks on DVD as much as I do... 


Anyways, it was a meal of her choice.  There is not a whole lot of choice where I live, and she picked Denny's, Lol.  Classy.  


We took Jessa with us, and took a few snap shots messing around.  I thought it was time I showed everyone how beautiful my baby girl is, and once again how terribly ugly I am.. Please excuse the food in my mouth..

Weekends stats:

Happy with my volume, but definitely gotta start playing more $50's.  Whenever I am running below EV, I end up being pretty conservative with bankroll management. However, I wasn't really running THAT badly over the weekend. 

Considering I ran fairly bad over the weekend, I am happy with the results.  My play was good, and thats all I have control over! 


Next week I am not sure how much I am gonna play.  With Foosmania (Nebraska's state foosball tournament) coming up on Friday I am in desperate need of some practice.  I am gonna aim to play 50 games by Friday. 


Hand of the day:

Hero (SB): 1,498.00
BB: 1,502.00

Hero posts SB 15.00, BB posts BB 30.00

Pre Flop: (45.00) Hero has Jh Td

Hero raises to 60.00, BB raises to 150.00, Hero calls 90.00

Flop: (300.00, 2 players) Kd 6c Qh
BB bets 150.00, Hero calls 150.00

Turn: (600.00, 2 players) 3c
BB bets 300.00, Hero calls 300.00

River: (1200.00, 2 players) 2c
BB checks, Hero bets 898.00 and is all-in, fold

Hero wins 1,200.00
 


I have been reading a book called 'Let there be range' (still reading 'The poker mindset' also!), and it has been very interesting indeed.  

One thing it talks about is how a common leak at low stakes is how people don't triple barrel enough against the right type of player.  
They can 3 bet pre flop, then fire the standard C bet on the flop.  Maybe fire a second barrel, but then hardly ever 3 barrel as a bluff. 

I thought this description perfectly fit this particular opponent.  I had seen him raise pre flop and fire c bets nearly 100%.  Once he was called on the flop, he would occasionally fire second barrels, but mostly would shut down.

The turn call I guess could be seen as bad, given that he wasn't often betting the turn as a bluff.  I definitely thought there was a big chance he would check/fold on the river though.  Plus I had *some* equity.


The main thing I was happy with, was how I directly applied something that I learnt from my studying. 


Recap next weeks goals: 


Play 50 games with 25 of them at the $50 level.
Carry on reading 'The poker mindset'.
At least one foosball practice session before Fridays tournament.
Be an awesome husband (slave) on valentines day.

Poker, Poker, Snow, Poker, and Poker.

I am gonna have the song in the post, that way you can listen whilst you read. :P 


Sorry its been a little while, I've got a tad lazy with blogging due to a small downswing.  I have been trying to play as much as possible as long as I'm playing well.


Anyways, onto the stats for the month:

I was actually around $600 profit after about the first 4-5 days, but as mentioned I have run into a little downswing.  I'm pretty happy with the volume I'm putting in right now, and have been tinkering with the idea of increasing my volume goal (350 games) for the month.  


Next weekend I will be at a foosball tournament though, and the weekends I normally play far more than in the week.  

You may notice some $20s in there, and not many $50s.  The reason for the lack of $50s was because of the downswing.  Its pretty nitty I know, but at least this way I know I will never go busto!  The reason for the $20s is because there was a day where the $30s were running slow.  I needed to make use of the time as best I could.  

Altho I'm still prone to speeding up my timing when I'm in a downswing, I've been overall satisfied with my decision making.  I mean this mostly when I think about how bad I have been in the past during periods like this.  The Poker Mindset book is definitely helping me play better, and also has given me a real hunger to put volume in!


A new poker buddy made:

I recently contacted someone who used to play on the professional foosball tour around 6 years ago.  He quit foosball to play poker fulltime, and so I wanted to know what he was doing since black friday.  Talking with him has been really great.  He specializes in cash games, but its easy to see that he has a great knowledge of the game.  He's been very helpful, and I'm glad I decided to contact him.  I have used donk betting a lot more since speaking with him, and I really think its good vs other regs at the lower levels.  I know I don't like it when a player donk bets into me with a considerable frequency!




I will write something about what else is going on in my life on Sunday.  Having said that, it must be told that almost all of my free time recently has been spent either at the gym or grinding at the tables!  Makes for a boring post I know, but I suppose its a good thing!  :P


Good luck with whatever it is you're aiming for!  

February - Happyham wins a free hour of coaching!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCXNK_KDL1c


Travelling is one of my biggest passions in life.  As I type, there is a blizzard warning for western Nebraska.  Nuff said. 



January's summary:

As you can see, hardly any volume plus running about 20,000 chips above EV.  This is my best month to date though in terms of net profit! :D


I can honestly say I feel like I played my most consistent poker this month.  Although it might be because I didn't play as much as I normally do, so there wasn't as much of a mental discipline issue.

February poker goals:


Play 350 games - I have a foosball tournament mid month, plus February is a short month anyway.
Play at least 20% of these games at the $50 level - If I go on a downswing, I am allowed to drop down to lower levels.
Finish the poker mindset book! - I have a month to do it.  No excuses. 
1 session a week with my poker buddy - We have used teamviewer/skype to view and review his (yet to review mine) play, as well as discuss hand histories and other theory. I wanna keep this going once a week, preferably Monday.  

Free coaching:

I regularly read hokiegregs blog and strongly reccomend it for anyone who enjoys poker/motivational videos and articles. www.hokiegreg.com.  After posting a video of himself going to the gym, one of his friends posted a parody of this video on his blog.  Hokie thought it would be amusing to run a competition for 'best parody video', but made it clear it didnt have to be a parody based on his gym video.  It was almost open to anything.  The video with the most votes wins a free hour of coaching from Hokie himself.

After a few days of voting I noticed one of the videos shoot up in votes suddenly, so I decided that he must've been asking for votes, lol.  So I decided to whore myself out to the facebook world and ask all my friends to vote for me.  Thankfully I won the vote, after it rapidly became a 2 horse race between myself and DHCG86. 


I'm very excited to work with Hokie, all be it just for an hour.  I rate him as one of the best teachers out there, and will take in as much as I can in the session.  


Thanks again for everyone who voted for me!  


Good luck everyone in whatever you go for!


 

Weeks goals complete! Sort of....

Please vote for my video (happyham) on www.hokiegreg.com  There is a poll going on and the winner will get an hour of coaching from Hokie for free!  I would absolutely love to win it!  Only one day left to vote!  Go and do it now!


Song of choice:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAMAw-DFwWY
 
After waking up in my clothes on Saturday morning after spending the previous night in the bar, I felt this song was appropriate.

My weeks goals:


Play 100 games - Complete
Play 10 $50 games minimum - Complete
Post a hand history each day - Kinda complete (I'll explain)
Finish the poker mindset book - Incomplete :( 


So lets start with the stats:

 

I was having a really strong week, untill today.  I played 10 $50 games today and only won 2.  I didn't get too upset about it though.  That's one of the benefits of playing comfortably within your bank roll. 


Posting a hand history every day on HUSNG.com:


I posted only twice, but I have connected with a couple of players who are in a similar situation to me in terms of skill.  I think one of the key factors of improving both mentally and strategically is having a group of likeminded friends to keep you on the right path.  I have been frequently talking strategy and having them review specific hands.  Its been going really well, and I hope we climb the ladder together.  


Finish reading the poker mindset: 


Didn't even read a page since I mentioned it last.  The book is great, but I haven't made time for it this week.  If I haven't been playing poker, I have been talking with new friends about it.  The Australian open has been on all this week, so often at night I have been watching that.  I went to my local bar and socialised one night, as well as attend a fundraiser for a friend of my wife.  I simply haven't been in the mood to read.  I'm going to make extra effort to keep reading next month.  

An interesting hand I played today:


Merge - $33+$1.50|<> NL (2 max) - Holdem - 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 980.00
Hero (BB): 2,020.00

SB posts SB 10.00, Hero posts BB 20.00

Pre Flop: (30.00) Hero has 2h 7s

SB calls 10.00, Hero checks

Flop: (40.00, 2 players) 3d 2c 9s
Hero checks, SB checks

Turn: (40.00, 2 players) 7c
Hero bets 40.00, SB raises to 160.00, Hero calls 120.00

River: (360.00, 2 players) 9d
Hero checks, SB bets 240.00, fold

SB wins 360.00


This player was pretty weak, and limped almost every button.  To this point he was fairly passive, calling down with marginal hands when out of position.  It was still pretty early in the match.


When I lead the turn and he raises me I'm not feeling fantastic, but there is no way I'm folding.  His range is pretty undefined and hadn't played enough hands to know how often he stabs on flops vs checking back flops.  Using population tendencies, I would say this raise is usually a sign of strength.  The question is, what is HIS idea of strength?  9X?  Overpair?  


I felt like if I was to reraise him here and get it all in on the turn, I would see a lot of hands that are better than mine.  So I chose to call, and allow him to bet big on the river with the intention of calling.  Obviously the 9 is a bad card for me, so folding was easy for me.  


I talked this over with one of my new contacts, and he thinks I should reraise the turn and get it in.  In hindsight, I think he's right and I always play these spots pretty tight.  He could be doing that with 9x, worse 2 pair, flush draws, straight draws etc..  


I'd be interested to know what anyone else thinks :)

Hope everyone is doing well in whatever they are doing!!