Johnny's STT Tracker

[John]

I've decided in order to discipline myself I'm going to keep a running diary of how I'm doing. All tournaments are:

$16 ($15+$1) NLHE 9-seated STTs (Turbo) where the top 3 are paid out as follows:

1st $67.50
2nd $40.50
3rd $27.00

I will post comments now and again on how I think I'm performing but mainly it will contain a list of finishing places so it's easy for me to keep track of. It's early days, I don't want to turn it into any kind of spreadsheet as yet but if this takes off then I'll probably want to develop my statistics further.

Here goes...

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd

We're off to a good start...

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st

I'm not always as crap heads-up as I think I am. :)

[counterfeit]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st

I'm not always as crap heads-up as I think I am. :)

Bloody hell - that's impressive. If you carry on like that you could become a pro.

I worked out when I started to make a living at poker that as long as I could average a profit of $10 per STT I would be ok (based on playing at least 20 per day - which is very easy when you play 4 tables at once).

At your rate you could easily make that and more - you are making $19 per STT at present.

[John]

Yep, thanks, it's certainly gotten off to a good start. But as with everything I do in poker, when I try out something new it always gets off to a good start before going belly up several weeks down the line! However, I'm not getting myself into a negative mindset and I'm going to just continue what I'm doing. Yesterday I had more than my fair share of luck in two of those winning tournaments, but you often need luck in order to win.

What I have started to notice already is that people take a lot more time when it's their turn to act at this level, and don't always fire on all cylinders at once. In one situation I had pocket Queens and my greater-than-normal pre-flop raise got a single caller. Post-flop betting activity was non-existant on a very raggish board - but I was reluctant to bet out in case he was slow playing an absolute monster. When we hit the river it was me to act first so I tried to steal the pot. He raised all in. I called, without much hesitation to be honest as by this point I thought he'd had made a move if he had something. Needless to say, I won the pot against pocket Jacks. I assume he thought I had AK or similar...

Anyway, I'll be playing a couple of games tonight no doubt. Everything new I try in poker, I get a feel for, a buzz for, because they always tend to begin well. Hopefully this will continue, and by posting my results publicly I'm disciplining myself not to go into 'tilt mode' if things turn a little sour.

Must be a nice thing to make a living from poker?

[counterfeit]

In one situation I had pocket Queens and my greater-than-normal pre-flop raise got a single caller. Post-flop betting activity was non-existant on a very raggish board - but I was reluctant to bet out in case he was slow playing an absolute monster. When we hit the river it was me to act first so I tried to steal the pot. He raised all in. I called, without much hesitation to be honest as by this point I thought he'd had made a move if he had something. Needless to say, I won the pot against pocket Jacks. I assume he thought I had AK or similar...

In lower stakes the money would have been in before the turn. In higher stakes the action would almost certainly have all been pre-flop (definitely in a cash game). The level you are playing at is very competitive and will undoubtedly involve having to make marginal decisions (these decisions are a lot easier when you are playing for $1). It's the ability to get most of these decisions correct that makes the difference.


Must be a nice thing to make a living from poker?

It's good but I'm still not a great player. I can scrape by making £150 to £400 per day. I know that probably sounds a lot but I would love to start adding a 0 onto that. I know plenty of players who make over £1000 per day.

I watched Gus Hansen playing heads up Omaha cash on Friday (Full Tilt) and in 45 minutes he had lost over $75k.

Now that's what I call real money.

[John]

I can see what you're saying about the way the money would have been all-in pre-flop if it was at a high professional level. I can imagine watching my hand on TV and the pros would most definitely have all their chips in before the flop. Jacks versus Queens. But is that always necessary the best way to play - aggressively pre-flop? I guess they know the approximate winning odds of every single hand they play.

If I was making £150 a day that's pretty good going to be honest! Over a week that's about 1K > £4K p/mo... £50K per year.

Tonight's results - not so good - lost just over one buy in, but I made a decent recovery. The first tournament I played I should have won, I was streets ahead but kept getting donkey calls and losing to the weaker hand. I played every hand to perfection in that tournament and when we were 3-handed I'd seen 4 flops in total and won 3 showdowns, knocking out 2 players. Sometimes that's the way it goes.

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd

4. Pushed all-in OTB with 99 against QQ when the BB had only 700 chips left (blinds 150/300) - must learn to fold pretty much EVERYTHING at the bubble. SB (chip leader) had been folding everything orbit after orbit, I didn't expect him to call my push. Gave myself a proper telling off, but was I wrong to push? BB very much needed to make a move and I gave him an easy $27. :(

[counterfeit]

[/B][COLOR=Black]4. Pushed all-in OTB with 99 against QQ when the BB had only 700 chips left (blinds 150/300) - must learn to fold pretty much EVERYTHING at the bubble. SB (chip leader) had been folding everything orbit after orbit, I didn't expect him to call my push. Gave myself a proper telling off, but was I wrong to push? BB very much needed to make a move and I gave him an easy $27. :(


Actually, if you listen to or read most advice then the bubble is just about the best place in the whole game to gain shed loads of chips. Most people are firghtened of the bubble so will fold every hand regardless. Therefore, ridiculous aggression can pick up blind after blind after blind. A few of these and you are then in a position to actually lose to a caller and still be in a reasonable state.

In fact, if you believe certain people there are only two moves in an STT, all-in or fold. I tried it on $1 tables for 20 tables just as an experiment and came out just below even (it was a profit but you obviously need to take into account the registration fee), so I'm not any the wiser as to whether it's a good strategy.

[John]

Quick post, as I need to go to bed! Depending on blinds, I'm all in or fold usually. True what you say about the bubble - it's an easy area to steal blinds as most people are running scared. Can also get you into all sorts of problems though, if the chip leader doesn't give a damn and is willing to call any shove with any two cards (as I experienced tonight).

Results:

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd

[counterfeit]

Ideally, you need to be the chipleader or second when the bubble arrives. If you are the chip leder the strategy is simple - do not pick on the short stack; although they don't want to lose, they are most in need of the double up so any reasonable hand and they will shove, whereas the player in 2nd will only call or raise with monsters.

[mathare]

The advice at almost any stage of a tourney is not to pick on the chip leader or the short stacks. The big stacks are able to absorb losing a few hands and the short stacks are ready to gamble out of necessity so your targets, where possible, should be the medium stacks. Steal from them, especially around the bubble. They shouldn't want to risk losing and dropping back to a short stack so shouldn't offer too much resistance.

[John]

Cheers guys, really good advice. The middle stacks are definitely the ones to target - I find if I'm the big stack then I can steal from the middler with a half decent hand as they probably won't call my all in. They'll be waiting patiently for their own opportunity. Although if you push with mediocre cards against the short stack and he calls, you're really exposed to the other two players (assuming we're at the bubble - 4-handed). If I'm short stacked I tend to push with any Ace, any K-8 or better, sometimes Q-9 or Q-T, any pocket pair or any two face cards. So far I've come out good from this strategy.

Also, if I'm the shortie, after a few steals I can find myself no longer sitting bottom, and I feel a bit of relief. I'm then very patient when I'm not longer the short stack, thus often I'm relieved when the 'new' short stack pushes and gets beaten. Although this means that when I go HU I'm fairly weak stacked.

What I also feel I can do is continue to push and push and push if I get a sequence of good hands... say A9, A7, JK, 77, K9 and eventually the short guy has no choice but to call. This has happened on a few occasions - and yeah sometimes you lose and the four of you are equal again but that's where I start to notice others getting more impatient than me. I play the waiting game and it usually works.

Anyway this is what's happened today... we've a bunch of 2nd's (which I'm really happy with, but frustrated I didn't win any), as most of the time I was heads up being the shorter stack. For some reason I don't like simply raising the SB when I'm BB and first to act. I'm all in or fold... I usually find that to push is the only way to make certain players fold, which is quite annoying. Also when I've got the lesser chip stack, I'm usually raised all in with any two cards by the other guy. Also heads up, I never flat call the BB, 9/10 times I'll get raised and have to fold - why pay for two big blinds in one orbit? Nope, it's shove or fold for me.

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
8. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd

[MattR]

Nice going John :thumbs

[mathare]

If I'm short stacked I tend to push with any Ace, any K-8 or better, sometimes Q-9 or Q-T, any pocket pair or any two face cards. So far I've come out good from this strategy.That's not too bad a strategy but some of those hands are easily dominated so be careful. I can't tell you what to play and what not to play as it's very situation dependent and I base my plays on feel of the table at the time but those hands are unlikely to be as live as you'd want as often as you want. Be esepcially careful playing any two ten or bigger as you can get picked off by someone holding bigger face cards, or at least one bigger card and thus dominating you.

This is a good thing to play with PokerStove for - checking the equity of hands like QTo against random hands and against a specific range. For example, it's worth checking how hands like QTo stand against the top 15% or 20% of hands so you have an idea of where you stand in bubble situations.



For some reason I don't like simply raising the SB when I'm BB and first to act. I'm all in or fold... I usually find that to push is the only way to make certain players fold, which is quite annoying. Also when I've got the lesser chip stack, I'm usually raised all in with any two cards by the other guy. Also heads up, I never flat call the BB, 9/10 times I'll get raised and have to fold - why pay for two big blinds in one orbit? Nope, it's shove or fold for me. I think you've got your SB and BB confused here. Heads-up the SB acts first. As for raising from the SB - depends on chip stacks etc. The golden rule with any steal is to put in enough chips to make the other player fold and not a single chip more. It's an inexact science and maybe you need to shove each time against certain opponents but that means you're exposing your whole stack when he finds a proper hand to play back with. You may find that a smaller raise will get him to throw away some hands. Perhaps worth a try.

Heads-up I find having live cards more important than having good cards. Obviously K-x or A-x are good hands and can win with just the high card but I'd rather have connectors such as 7-8, 9-T etc rather than Q-rag or J-rag. If you're being raised that often then the guy is raising light so why not call/re-raise light too?

[counterfeit]

Sounds like it's going really well to me. Keep it up.

[John]

Cheers C!

Mat, yeah, it's very situation dependent. Also I have to take into account the nature of the big stack's style of play. If he's willing to call any shove with any two cards then I have to be very careful what I shove with. In most cases, this doesn't make too much difference though. I'll still push all in with a lot of confidence in my hand... I just limit that range.

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 8th
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
8. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
9. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
10. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
11. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
12. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
13. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
14. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
15. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
16. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st

13. Number thirteen is unlucky for some and certainly seemed to be unlucky for me. Short stacked, heads up, push all in with A-6o. Got called with 5-5. Board: A-6-5-6-5.

Anyway, a profit of just over $50 on the day I think, a little over 3 x buy-ins. :) Certainly going to spend some time soon putting this data into Excel... it's crunch time!

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
8. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
9. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th

Frustrating end to a frustrating day. Such the Bubble Buster.

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 8th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd

[counterfeit]

An odd day with all those 4ths - the difference between a disappointing day and a very good day.

Yesterday was good though. A nice profit. In fact, seeing everybody's results on here I might start playing a few more STTs, especially during the morning when the cash tables are a bit quiet.

[John]

Yeah, yesterday was quite frustrating because I kept bubbling with the better hand. When I lost with pocket 9's to 7-8 I went to bed. Anyway, a nice profit in what I think was $0.50 - better than nothing! Here's tonight's:

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th

A good evening on the whole, despite it ending poorly. Really struggled to lay down pocket Jacks on a 6-7-8 board. The betting was crazy and I felt I put too much into the (4-handed) pot to fold the river, but I did and as it turned out saved myself a further 600 chips as the BB flopped an open-ended straight. I folded the river with about half my stack in the pot so hadn't lost everything and intended to make it back slowly. Three hands later ended up re-raising (shoving) pre-flop on the button with A-Js and got called by the initial raiser knocking me out with 8's. Wasn't to be. Anyway, I made a decent profit on the evening, and I'm really pleased to have won one. :)

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 8th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd

Full of absolute donks tonight. Everywhere. Coupled with the fact that I shouldn't have even played, I'm absolutely shattered and never play well when so tired. Taken a bit of a hit but I'm still well up from when I started and I know I can make it back when I'm a bit more alert. Having said that, I did lose three times in the 7 tournaments with Kings - once to A-Q, once to 7-5 on the BB, once to 9-9 to a set. So you know, not a lot I could've really done. Why are there so many 4th's lately! ;fire

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st

C'est tout. :)

[eruptive plot]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 8th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd

. Having said that, I did lose three times in the 7 tournaments with Kings - once to A-Q, once to 7-5 on the BB, once to 9-9 to a set. So you know, not a lot I could've really done.

just remember that big pairs are profitible,we all get runs of losing with huge hands,thats poker!!!,but the bottom line is,the other guy only got to catch 2 cards and you'r out.
this is what fish do,if they catch one card,they will go all the way to try to get you out.you just got to grin and bear it when it happens because we make money out of these mugs

[John]

EP, thanks for your comments. Yes I agree with what you're saying; fortunately I haven't encountered anywhere near as many fish at this level of play (buy-in) so I'm really happy about that. Nowhere near as many idiots betting the flop like crazy as soon as they hit a middle pair or silly flush draws. I'm also noticing people are much more strategic in their play. The higher up the ladder you go, the more it becomes a game of complete logic... hence in live games the two hole cards are sometimes the least important factor. Anyway, babbling over, here are tonight's results. A bit topsy turvy but I managed a decent profit.

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 8th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
8. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st

[counterfeit]

You are doing really well.

I don't know how you are managing your bank roll or what your intentions are regarding moving up the levels but...

I have found this to be true.

The players at $5 and below are total fish and donks. At $10 to $20 you get a mix of really good players who are progressing, players who are happy to stay at that level for ever and play solid and ... the occasional idiot who has made a few quid a lower levels by being a luckbox and thinks they can cut it with the better players. These are the people we want at this level in order to make our profits.

When you get to the next level, flops become a thing of dreams, a turn card is merely imaginary and as for the river; pure fantasy. That is why poker on TV is edited into such a short time frame. At the top level a sit n go can last 3 or 4 hours and you will hardly ever see a flop.

If anybody has any doubts about this statement then you need to watch the LIVE Poker Million final on Sky. It will last about 6 hours and there will be about 150 hands, of which we will see a flop about 20% of the time. This becomes even smaller when the game is 3 or 4 handed.

[John]

Thanks a lot CF. :thumbs Couldn't agree with you more actually. It stands to reason that the higher up the levels you go, the earlier the action takes place. I have played a couple of these where the standard has been probably much better than the buy-in of $16 suggests, but not by a huge amount. When this happens the whole table can go 20 hands without seeing a flop (5 or 6 remaining) which I guess might not seem like that many but it's quite a large number considering the level of play.

As far as my bankroll goes, haven't really decided what my intentions are yet! For now I'm going to keep on plugging away. Not much point making any firm decisions until I've profited from about 500 tournaments. I've played 92 so far and I'm making a good enough profit so I'll see where I am at 250. If I think I can cut it a bit higher at some point next year then I'll give a bit of thought then to moving up the levels...

I made a spreadsheet tonight, got quite a nice graph going on in the positive direction, which is quite ironic since most of my past graphs have gone the other way! I think that might have something to do with the fact that I didn't realise until it was too late that I was playing at a donkey buy-in level. Anyway, here are today's results, pretty pleased :) although not too happy with the idiot calling my Jacks with 6-4o in tournament 10 for the bubble!

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
8. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
9. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st
10. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
11. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th

[MattR]

Nice going John :)

I was playing some cash lobby yesterday morning but there was an absolute idiot in there calling every bloody hand with anything hoping to get lucky. I finally left the table when my AQs with AT9 showing up on the flop lost to his 3 and 7 that came out on the turn and river to give him two pairs :ermmm He called my pre flop raise and raise after the flop. He had been doing this continually losing most hands but occasionally getting lucky. Maybe I should have just folded but he'd had so many crap hands (As he did again here) that I thought it was just another bluff, which it was until he got incredibly lucky.

[John]

I'm having a :censored: nightmare day. :helper

[counterfeit]

Saturday was a great day in terms of profit per game. What happened yesterday?

Bear in mind as well that nobody wins every day and anybody who says they do is a bare faced liar.

[John]

Yesterday I lost about $100. I don't know the exact figure, but from my spreadsheet I know that approx $220 profit at the end of Saturday is now at about $120 profit. It's "only" profit that I have lost, but it's nearly two weeks of hard work gone down the plughole.

Am I right in thinking that there are more donkeys playing at the weekends? Yesterday that seemed to be the case, but I was also incredibly unlucky. I had to shove at certain points mid-way through due to idiotic bad beats, and I shoved once with QQ and ran into AA, once with KQs and ran into AA (I loathe KQs/o and KJs/o), and again with QQ and ran into 44 then trip 4's on the flop. Then there were things like AJ losing to A9, KK losing to JJJ...

So, you know, not a lot I could do about the beatings I took. Most of the time I had the better hand pre-flop. But I didn't post my figures last night because I was utterly annoyed with myself and wound up that I switched the computer off and went to bed. Plus I didn't stop at say, half way, when things were looking bleak. So I don't know my exact figures but I've got them recorded on my spreadsheet at home anyway.

Hmmm. Am I being overly concerned about it?

[counterfeit]

Probably.

I took yesterday off and I never play lower limits at all on weekends.

Generally speaking I only play high level cash or freeroll MTTs on weekends. I make my money during the daytime on weekdays. It's a mindset thing for me. Whenever I play on weekends in STTs or lower cash levels I think I am going to lose and inevitably do.

A lot of pros love playing against the weekend players as they make loads of money but it just doesn't work for me so I give it a miss on the whole.

Don't worry about it though. I lost $750 on Wednesday but still ended up over $2600 for the week.

Just start again today but with the mindset that "yesterday was a fluke and today will be back to normal."

[John]

Thanks for your support fella. Really helps that there is someone offering me words of encouragement.

I understand where you're coming from, I guess it boils down to dealing with the highs and lows of poker. When I used to back horses I could survive the good and bad days no problem, but when it's poker you start to blame yourself a lot more because it's you who's making the decisions.

With it being a weekend, the tables are a lot busier generally and so I imagine a lot of people think they can "play some poker this weekend". Maybe at weekends I should play something different than STTs? Or perhaps set myself a limit of 5 tournaments.

Yesterday certainly was a fluke, hopefully I'll be on the straight and narrow again as of tonight. It's just knocked my confidence a bit.

Thanks again.

[mathare]

I would say that if you're confident you're still playing your A game then don't let the day of the week influence you.

Are the players you faced at the weekend tougher than normal? It doesn't sound like it, sounds more like they were luckier than your normal opponent. You know you are making money off these players when they make mistakes against you so keep playing against them.

If you're game is suffering then by all means quit but if you are still sure you're playing the best poker you can then keep battling away. Maybe allow a little more downtime between tourneys - a few extra minutes to just think back over a few hands and see if you should have played them differently. Check a few Poker Tracker stats/charts. Check your mental state and make sure you're not tilting. It's perhaps the equivalent of a deep breath and a count to 10. If at any time you spot that your game is a little off then log off - the games are always there the next time you want to play.

[John]

Thanks Mat. Have read your comments but got to post results then got to go to bed so will reply at some stage tomorrow. :)

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5td
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
8. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
9. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
10. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
11. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd

Right. Yes that's a bit better. :)

[counterfeit]

told ya:REGamblMo

[John]

Are the players you faced at the weekend tougher than normal? It doesn't sound like it, sounds more like they were luckier than your normal opponent. You know you are making money off these players when they make mistakes against you so keep playing against them.

No, they're not tougher than normal. If anything the majority aren't as good, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're easy to beat. I know I can beat players who think on similar levels as me though, on weekday evenings. I understand what you mean about trying to ignore what day of the week it is, but I think this does make a difference.

And yeah, maybe allowing a bit of time to reflect on certain hands would be a good idea. At later stages of tournaments I very often will push over the top of a raise if I have considerably more chips than the raiser, and I am holding a monster hand. In fact, the more I play, the less hands I'm flat calling. I hate flat calling unless it's limping in at the beginning. Raise or fold usually.

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st

A loss of $4, pretty much break even. I'm delighted with the win because I was HU for about 15 minutes. He loved to shove, so I played patience and waited until I hit something. Fortunately I got from being low-stacked to level-stacked about 3 times... and I could tell he was getting prickly because started to fold more and more hands when he realised I was waiting for good hands to call him with. In the end he shoved to my AQ and lost nearly all his chips. He was playing 11 other tournaments at the time, so probably using a bot, which might explain his $11k profit to date.

[counterfeit]

He was playing 11 other tournaments at the time, so probably using a bot, which might explain his $11k profit to date.

I have to ask. How do you know how much profit he made?

[mathare]

He was playing 11 other tournaments at the time, so probably using a bot, which might explain his $11k profit to date.If he has made $11k profit he's almost definitely not using a bot as they are rubbish at no-limit poker. He's probably just a multi-tabling pro - there are a lot of them about at that sort of level

[John]

I have to ask. How do you know how much profit he made?

I looked him up on Sharkscope - you get 5 free searches a day.

[sportingprofit]

11 tables at a time is nothing, I can play 16 and win at the $16 turbo level.

Heard of people who play up to 36 Sng tables at a time, once you have worked you've worked out the math it becomes easy to multitable.

[mathare]

I'll say it again - Haved Khan did 40+ at one time. He videod himself playing 20+ at a time to prove to his poker room that he wasn't using a bot

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th

Meh. One of those "I shouldn't play poker after a work party" nights.

[counterfeit]

It wasn't too bad. I can't play at all if I have been out. I keep pressing the wrong buttons.

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
8. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
9. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
10. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
11. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
12. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st

Bit of a marathon session for a Friday evening! Turned out well, and managed a decent profit after winning the last one. Tournament 11 was weird though - and here's why. I reached the last 5, then the last 4, then the last 3, and in the space of about 20 minutes a certain player who I will name in a minute kept flat calling every single hand except all pushes. Didn't matter what cards he had. So then when we're down to 3 players left, still he would flat call every hand and fold to a push, which meant that when I was in the big blind with rag cards I had to see them through until the river, because he was never the first to bet, but always called bets. Typically he makes it heads up with me and doesn't alter his strategy of flat calling my BB with hands like J-A, K-Q and 9-9. Anyway, I push with J-Qs and the flop comes J-Q-A. He's got A-A and wins it.

So after a bit of research I looked up his username on Sharkscope and found this [attached below]. :yikes:

[counterfeit]

Flipping heck (not allowed to swear). That is somebody with loads of money and no idea.

Good session though John.

I've an idea for you. Throw a sicky for a couple of days and play flat out. See if you are consistent enough to make a living.

I'm not suggesting you should than give up work if you are good enough. Heaven forbid. But here's a story for you.

Roberto Romanello broke his leg in a motorbike accident and couldn't work for 8 weeks. He was bored after a week at home so chucked £100 into a poker site. By the time he was fit to work he had made over £10k so decided working for £20k a year wasn't for him anymore. He is now one of the Full Tilt pro team and is minted.

Funny how fate can get you started on anew path.

[markwales]

Excellent session John... I only watched 2 of the games before hitting the sack as was knackered, but you played well, attacking when in position and nursing when short.

Nice to end the session with a win too.

[Mavrick]

Well done John. Keep coming with the updates. I really wanna see how you get on as I've well and truely got into poker these last few months. You're obviously better then me but, I'm definitely getting it together slowly.

[markwales]

You're obviously better then me.

Trust me!!!! don't believe it :)

[markwales]

11 tables at a time is nothing, I can play 16 and win at the $16 turbo level.


Screenshot please.

[John]

Counterfeit - interesting idea that! Although I'm not sure how well I would cope with playing flat out for hours and hours... think my batteries might run out. I'd have bundles of awake energy though, and it'd be entirely different from playing after work in the evenings where I'm nodding off. I tend to have a more awake frame of mind at the weekend because I've had a lie-in and I feel fresh without the thought of work the next day. Contrastingly though, as we've mentioned before there seems to be a higher number of donkeys roaming the fields at weekends. Today that didn't affect me fortunately, until the last tourney.

Mark - what can I say! Let's hope I can continue onwards and upwards. I know I've said to you in the past that watching me puts me under pressure, but hell fire, it certainly helps me raise my game if I know I'm being watched. :)

Mavrick - thanks for your comments, and don't believe a word of it! Good luck at the tables - I've found keeping a record of stats definitely helps to keep on top of things.

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 8th

$55 profit... :) Funny thing - short stacked all the way through Tourney 4 but happy to watch others bust themselves out. If I remember rightly, I had 390 chips UTG and the blinds were 200/400 - I folded, hoping to catch 3rd somehow. 2 players went all in (4 left) and they got called by the chip lead who busted out one of them. So I made 3rd miraculously, happy days. :spinning Coming 2nd was annoying in Tourney 3, the other guy managed to hit two straights in quick succession. Tourney 2 was me at my best. :D

Another thing - I've stopped limping into pots - and now fold/raise everything. I'll only (sometimes) limp when heads up or three-seated, where I'll limp with a monster if conditions are right.

[sportingprofit]

Screenshot please.

I stack (full size) the tables so screenshot would probably not prove anything, I'm sure you'll take my word for it :thumbs

I play a strategy where I fold everything except AA, KK, QQ and AK and limp pocket pairs (set mine) in late position so I just press fold for 90% of the hands. Then when approaching the bubble/later stages I've lost a few games and have less tables to worry about, I just shove/fold. Works well at the low stakes and is profitable.

tme03 on Pokerstars (Sharkscope). Have a look at recent results (only shows 8) and note the time.

I rarely play SnG's though, usually when am bored or on a downswing at cash games.

I'd be happy to prove I can play 16 at a time if I can get a good internet connection later.

-Tom

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 8th
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2th
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
8. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st
9. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
10. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st
11. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
12. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
13. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
14. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
15. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st

Haven't had a lot of time on my hands today. :laugh Terrific day... made $2 shy of $100, very happy, haven't limped into a single pot, and bank at an all time high. :D Tournament 15 was probably the hardest one I've had to win yet, up until 3/4 the way through. I'd played 1 hand in 38, had about 5 or 6 big blinds to my name and then Q-Q arrived - flop came 3-T-Q-A-T giving me Queens full. From there I became middle stack and dominated to the point where 3-handed my stack was about 10,000, versus two at 1,500. With heavy blinds I raised pretty much everything. :)

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd

Made a nice profit tonight but I'm really not happy with myself. I played awful in T5 and T6, calling a very pricey turn card with the nut flush draw and folded the river, costing me half my stack. So utterly disgraced at how badly I played the hand. I never want to play a hand that badly ever again.

I got lucky in T6 for 3rd but only because with five left, a three-way pot sent two all-ins home packing. Played really well in T1 and T2, really unlucky to bubble in the second one actually. Then after watching some Green Wing I played terrible afterwards. Still, profit is profit nomatter how you make it. Jeez, I just hate myself for playing that hand so badly.

[counterfeit]

Made A Nice Profit Tonight But I'm Really Not Happy With Myself. I Played Awful In T5 And T6, Calling A Very Pricey Turn Card With The Nut Flush Draw And Folded The River, Costing Me Half My Stack. So Utterly Disgraced At How Badly I Played The Hand. I Never Want To Play A Hand That Badly Ever Again.



>((()))>

:d

[John]

:doh

I want some of whatever you've been taking! :yikes:

[Iron Chris]

Have kept looking in John, some very nice results indeed...:thumbs

After looking at this and Matts' thread and all the input from Counterfeit & Mat I have started to play some poker again. Can't decide between the STT's or D2N's at the moment.

[John]

Thanks for the kind comments Chris and also for the green stuff.

And the same goes for you (you know who you are!) :)

Tonight was "one of those nights"... down about $65. Feel alright about it though to be honest. Busted out over and over usually with the better hand... luck just wasn't in my favour especially towards the end (although I did win one well). I even bubbled out of T3 shortly after doubling up with Quad Aces (vs Flush). Other aspects of the night were donktastic - fortunately not on my part. I can't remember playing anything particularly badly, my game was pretty solid throughout, I just seemed to be losing a lot.

Tell you what though, to this day I still don't know the :censored: you're supposed to play Jacks if someone goes all in before you (Level 3 so early on blinds-wise). I raised over the top all in. Q-A vs J-J and I'm out. Looking back it would have been a monster fold pre-flop and I had per-lenty of time yet. Wrong move to fold pre-flop though surely? I hate Jacks! When I see other people go all in with Jacks against say Q-A I think to myself "can't you just fold it away?" It ain't always that easy though is it?

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
8. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
9. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st
10. 1 x 9-seated STT - 8th

[John]

I am away from:

Saturday 13th - Sunday 21st December (inclusive)
Tuesday 23rd - Saturday 3rd January (inclusive)

Therefore unfortunately I won't be playing any poker during these dates :( (unless I decide to play when I get back late on 21st / 3rd).

This means that this thread will be on hold. Hopefully this won't affect my game too much and I'll come back bouncing along again in the new year. :thumbs

[counterfeit]

John

I hate JJ and I hate 10 10. They both play so badly against so many hands. People think JJ is a monster but it's not. It is beaten by 3 hands, is a coin flip against 3 hands and is only 65/35 against any hand holding an A, K or Q.

As for yesterday's results, your philosophical approach is good. At the end of the day, if you have lost but can honestly say you played well but got outdrawn then there is nothing you can do. You know that 7 or 8 times out of 10 you would have been ahead.

[John]

Thanks mate. :thumbs Good to have your backing as always. Before I talk about tonight, I agree that J-J is no longer the premium hand I have thought it was for such a long time. It can be very dominant in rag flops, but also easily dominated. For some reason I prefer T-T to J-J - probably due to me having a lot more success with it in comparison.

Okay - on to tonight. Well first thing's first - I lost with J-J 3/3 times. :laugh Secondly, on occasions, I felt I was being too aggressive. I don't have the hands to example but can tell you what happened. Pre-flop I have Q-Ao in early-mid position and raise to 400 (blinds 50/100). One caller - the big blind. Flop is rag with two suited cards not suited in my favour. He makes a bet of 450. I raise him all in for about 1,900 and he folds. My stack was about 2,300 and his was about 1,800 so we were fairly equal. So I managed to force him off the pot but I don't have a clue what he had and for some reason I felt that he had the better hand after I won the pot. I also felt like it was a pretty dangerous move to make.

Second situation, I'm short stacked at the bubble and just win a pot to give me about 6 big blinds and some breathing space. UTG I raise the following hand all in - 9-Ts connectors. I get called by the mid-stack with Q-2o and I'm out. :doh Not sure he was right at all to make that call but he hit trip queens for it.

Thirdly, in the first two tournaments I played probably some of the best poker I've ever played. This was helped by being dealt a whole host of good cards in succession (in T2) - I had QQ, KK, QK, KQ, KA and QQ in a row. I also managed to knock out 4 players giving me a monster stack. HU I got extremely unlucky three times. 11,000 chips to me, 2,000 chips to my opponent, and you can guess who won with 3 straights and a full house. Still, I was buzzing from it, although really annoyed I didn't win.

Anyway, pressing on with tonight's results - made about $22:

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st

[John]

Additional points to note about how I'm playing now compared to a month ago (i.e. before I started this thread and went to the $16 level).

I am continuation betting an awful lot more, and can often tell when people call to see the turn card whether they're on draws or not. If my stack is bigger than theirs I'll nearly always bet more or move all in on the turn (in the right circumstances). I don't want to get to the river and have to show my hand afterwards... I'd do anything to not reveal information about myself. Plus I'm careful to bet an amount where my opponent isn't getting value on the pot odds to see the next card. Starting to wonder though if I'm being overly aggressive with this approach though. It's working a lot so far, but I'm gonna get caught if I do it too often. But I feel I have to go to such great lengths sometimes to make people fold.

I'm bluffing a lot more - just thought of another hand tonight where I raised from the button with Kh-7h and got a caller. Flop was all spades, so I made a big bet and got called. Turn card was a diamond so no use if he was on a draw (I assumed he was given his call on the flop). He checked and I made a heavy bet. He folds.

I've been giving my opponents a very scary image this evening (much of the above occurred during T1 and T2 by the way) and it's been working well. The counterbalance is that towards the bubble I'm trying to protect my stack and my blinds get stolen away. Sometimes this leaves me with a very average stack by the time we're down to 5 and 4, and I bubble after all the hard work I've done along the way. Not always but sometimes. I need to learn to protect my stack better during the approach to the bubble.

I could write for hours but I better get to bed. There's a lot of thoughts going on in my head at the moment and I'm starting to question why I'm acting in certain ways. Should I question myself if it works? Before I never used to continuation bet much, and would fold 90% of the time to one if I missed the flop. Now I'm playing at a bit of a higher level I've got to learn to stand my ground and not stand for any messing about... changing gears when I need to though.

[counterfeit]

Just a quick thought.

If the early aggression works why slow down near the bubble? It seems to me that that is the best time to be aggressive. Getting chips early is great but losing momentum will cost you a lot of 1st and 2nds. If you have a good stack early on, press home the advantage and when you get past the bubble you will be in a position to knock out the short stack without it hurting too much if you lose.

Anyway, keep it going. Another profitable day.

[John]

Cheers fella. That's been the case tonight actually. I've had a short to middle stack on the approach to the bubble (e.g. 5 remaining). When I notice the play to be quite conservative, I'm managing to min-raise and steal blinds with hands like K-To/s, K-Jo/s, A-xo/s but usually fold to a re-raise (although that hasn't been happening at conservative tables very often).

Tonight was actually quite frustrating. On the face of it my results look average to good - I managed a massive $5 profit but it should have been much more. Heads up twice, and heads down twice too, in that I had the better hand all-in pre-flop and a coin-flip leaves me 2nd. I usually push to the big stack with A-7+, K-9+, pocket pairs, suited connectors and of course premium hands. Premium hands I sometimes slow play - I know you're not a big fan of this but heads up it can be a super way to win. Has cost me in the past though!

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
8. 1 x 9-seated STT - 8th
9. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd

[John]

Break time now until the 21st / 22nd. Then after that; break time again until the new year. Huge thanks to everyone so far who's supported me along the way and offered opinions, support and advice. It's been incredibly helpful. Let's hope I can continue to play well again in 2009. Here are my stats to date (up to and including Friday 12th December 2008):

Tournaments played: 187 @ $16 buy-in ($2,992 total outlay)
Total profit: $356.00
ROI: 11.89%

See you soon. :)

[MattR]

Great stuff John, well done,hope it continues as well in the New Year :thumbs

[paul183195]

well done john

[John]

Thanks for the kind comments chaps. :)

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 8th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th

:puke

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
8. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
9. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
8. 1 x 9-seated STT - 8th
9. 1 x 9-seated STT - 8th
10. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
11. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd

Full of little Santa elf donks everywhere for the past three days. Hope the reindeers ride their donkey ideas into the snow and bury their smug faces alive. That and the fact that I've been card dead for three days too. 'Ave a wonderful Christmas everyone, anyway, lots of love from Johnny the Mardy Git who loves to play poker but probably should've spent his 'three day return to London' off the poker wagon. Kings Of Leon were bloody awesome though. :D Happy Christmas, see you next year. :thumbs

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 9th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th

Nice to win one. :) I'm giving this poker lark a bit of a rest though, until my computer's mended. Might play the odd game here and there. But the last couple of times I've played haven't been good, I've made some poor decisions at the best of times. Whether it's the Christmas break causing havoc with my brain, I don't know... but I need to sort out my Mac. At the moment I can't access my spreadsheet as it's sitting in Mac OS (which I use all the time) and not Windows. :mad:

[counterfeit]

I've noticed in the past few sessions that you've posted up that there are a lot of finishes 7-9th. It doesn't really matter what donkeys are playing, there shouldn't be much excuse for finishing in those positions.

To be going out that early that often you must be playing too many hands. In the past 33 tourneys you have gone out in the 7-9 positions 11 times or 33%. You can't have had pre flop monsters that have got turned over that often.

You know that you are good enough to win at this level so you must just be having a dip in form (which often leads to people playing more hands in the hope that they can start to get lucky) which will turn around if you stick to your normal game.

[John]

Thanks mate. It helps to know someone is watching my game so closely. I had no idea the SR was that high at 33%... that's pretty bad.

To be honest, I can't really tell you what has been different other than my confidence. During the bad spells I had between mid-December and the new year, I was probably playing too aggressively and thinking "what the hell" chucking money into the pot hoping I'd win, because nothing was going right at some stages.

Yesterday, in one tournament, only on the second hand, I re-raised 250 chips all in to 1500 with a pair of tens - why? Don't ask, I have no idea, it was a stupid move and the other chap had Kings. I kicked my own backside for that one. I've been doing a few moves like that lately, thinking that "in a professional game all the chips would be in the pot before the flop" but then this IS NOT a professional game so I need to quickly abandon that thinking strategy.

So yes, there has been a slight dip. When I played for the three days during Day 27-29 I knew I had to make them count because I was only back in London for those three brief days before leaving again. After the first day went badly, I was almost playing a game of "loss chasing" with myself on the second and third days. I knew there'd be another break after the 23rd December so I was trying to make that spell count. Unfortunately for me I ended up probably playing too many hands, as you mentioned, thinking I could out-do my opponents.

And you're right - not much excuse for going out 7th-9th very often. Sometimes though, the table is very tight and also very good standard, so even when the blinds are raising to say 150/300 you can still have 8 players remaining. If you've only played 2 or 3 hands then you're short stacked for no real fault of your own, other than you've been card dead...

Anyway, January is here, and I'm going to try and make up for the recent bad spell... just going to play my normal game.

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 7th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 1st
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
5. 1 x 9-seated STT - 5th
6. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
7. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
8. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th

I've had enough bad beats today to justify the whole of 2009 already. AA beaten by T3o :doh KK beaten by JJ, 99 beaten by 66, QQ beaten by 44 and a whole host of others knocking me out mid-tournament. So no wonder I'm grumpy - my results look :censored: through complete unfortunacy (I don't know if that's a word, but it should be).

I'm also questioning myself all the time again, my confidence has gone out the window.

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 3rd

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th

Why does KJ always seem to beat AQ?

[mathare]

What's your bankroll/profit like at the minute John? What about your ITM and ROI?

Maybe you should step down a level to try and book some easier wins and rebuild your confidence...

[sportingprofit]

Why does KJ always seem to beat AQ?

That happens to me about 37% of the time.

In all seriousness you should try reading some books on SNG's or watching some videos. Even if you already know alot of what they are teaching it helps drum in the fundamentals and give you more confidence in your decisions.

Keep at it, if you are a winning player your results will start to show that.

[John]

1. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
2. 1 x 9-seated STT - 6th
3. 1 x 9-seated STT - 4th
4. 1 x 9-seated STT - 2nd

Frustrating night, it really has been..... :rolleyes:

[John]

What's your bankroll/profit like at the minute John? What about your ITM and ROI?

Maybe you should step down a level to try and book some easier wins and rebuild your confidence...

The thing is, I found the level below to be full of fish and donks, so this is why I stepped things up. My level of mentalness and awareness of 'proper' poker is in line with the level I play at the minute, I would say, and to be honest even though the recent days' plays have been below par, overall I'm in profit by about $200 (was $356 before I left for Christmas) so I've shown that so far I can make a profit at this level. It's just that recent results don't really reflect this.

I hate to admit it but my poker spreadsheet is in Mac only, not in Windows, and so at the minute I can't even access it. I'll be able to rescue it though, more on the Mac thing this weekend, everything is rescueable. :) And so I can update it with the results that are missing since it went kaput (Friday 2nd January onwards) when I retrieve it.

So for now, I'm unable to tell you my exact ITM or my exact profit, but have a look at the pre-Xmas figures and subtract a bit off 'em. That's the best I can do right now... :ermmm


In all seriousness you should try reading some books on SNG's or watching some videos. Even if you already know alot of what they are teaching it helps drum in the fundamentals and give you more confidence in your decisions.

You mentioned two guys on Cardrunners in a thread recently (can't remember where) but I've got their names noted down in my phone. Would you recommend paying for some videos then? I'm tight when it comes to paying for this sort of thing and if I can get them for free anywhere then I'm there like a shot.

Me and my workmate fight over this... currently it's sat on my desk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Phil-Gordons-Little-Green-Book/dp/1416903674/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231460699&sr=8-1

Really good book, very well written and tells you what you should be doing in certain situations. Has anybody read it?

Thanks both for your comments.

[mathare]

The thing is, I found the level below to be full of fish and donks, so this is why I stepped things up.Aye, that's fair enough. I was hoping you'd respond in this sort of way to be honest. It shows you know why you're playing at this level and by typing up the response you did you should have been able to convince yourself it's the right level for you. We need to do something to get some confidence back into your play though as you're not the same Johnny who was playing and winning before christmas. At least I don't think so...


Me and my workmate fight over this... currently it's sat on my desk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Phil-Gordons-Little-Green-Book/dp/1416903674/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231460699&sr=8-1

Really good book, very well written and tells you what you should be doing in certain situations. Has anybody read it?I've had it a while but not re-read it for ages. Perhaps I should...

[Profit Seeker]

You mentioned two guys on Cardrunners in a thread recently (can't remember where) but I've got their names noted down in my phone. Would you recommend paying for some videos then? I'm tight when it comes to paying for this sort of thing and if I can get them for free anywhere then I'm there like a shot.

Try grinderschool.com. The cheapest training site out there as little as $10 a month. They specialise in micro and low stakes, and some medium stakes. They've got a couple of awesome cash game teachers who if you can understand the masses of mathematical detail they go into for every decision, will teach you to crush every level no probs. Bit too much for me the cash side as I'm a thicko, but equally as good tourney videos. Since I've joined I have 50% roi in 18-45 man games, tho the sample size isn't enough to cover all variance I've been pretty consistent month to month the past 6 months at least.

[John]

Thanks PS, I'll take a look when I'm playing again. :)

[John]

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted in a while in here because I had to have a break. I stopped playing for nearly a month, things were going from bad to worse and so I decided to stop completely. A break did me good, I started playing again a week ago, in small drips and drabs though, and I'm doing alright. Not brilliantly, but in profit. I'm not sure where I'm really going with this but if I decide to start playing regularly again I'll post up my results...

Cheers

[John]

Well, it's been a while hasn't it?

Think I'm finally starting to get the hang of this STT malarky - long term. I haven't been playing at the $16 level, I stepped things down after having a big break from poker for a while to $6... even though some of the moves I see people make tell me I shouldn't be playing this low. For instance some idiots are prepared to push 1500 chips on the 2nd or 3rd hand with hands like QT if they're BB and the flop shows a Q and two rags. Such awful play, but nice to have such people at the table. :) Anyway maybe it's too early to call judgement yet but I'm in profit to around $50 since I started playing them again. Last weekend was a good one with 8 straight cashes in a row (2 x 1st) plus 2 x 4th places on 2 x 180-man tournaments. Yes a little mixing has seen me do ok... and kept me focused at slow simultaneous STT points. Trying really hard to maintain a decent rating on SharkScope but not sure people really take much notice... will keep you posted on how the next few weeks pan out.

[mathare]

John - forget the level of play, if those $6 events are $5+$1 then step up to $10+$1 immediately as the rake will kill you in the $6 games. It's 20%! Play off a shorter bankroll for the bigger events if you have to but don't settle for a 20% rake

[John]

Nah Mat, they're $6 + $0.50 - so only just over 8% rake. I play Turbos, the next level up is the $16 level... so I'll move up when I feel comfortable in doing so. Rake-wise it's cool. :)