Starting the summer grind with deep run in sunday million

Starting the summergrind!!
This saturday I kicked off the summergrind with a brief 2hour session. Play solely on a 12,5" screen now, my monitors are a bit away, have to get them soon. Also need to buy a high quality wireless mouse. Used an old wired mouse for yesterdays grind and it is hard to put words on why but it is so freaking awful. Have to pimp up my grindarea soon, maybe ill do some pics. Would also prefer to have some nice speakers/headphones in order to isolate on the task. I stopped listening to music while playing but now I listen to water noises and find it nice to cut out surrounding noises. Here is my grinding area right now, probably the least pimp-style place I have ever grinded on.

Not so baller temp-setup....

Deep run in the sunday million
Sunday started out losing loads on a single FLSH-table but was up 8 buyins at PLO. Then started a second shift and basically got slaughtered at FLSH which another -80 BBs at a single table while PLO was breakeven. A bit frustrating to say the least, already down like 2k$ in 5000 hands which is not so cool. Not a great start to the summer.

 Then what happened is that I realized that the halfprice sunday-tournaments at stars was on and I logged into the client which I normally dont bother with anymore (the games are sooooo nitty) and registered. The logic behind registering was very stupid, I was a bit hungover and tired but somehow talked myself into that stars put in the second half of the cash and it was huge overlay, like that would ever happen. First I thought that idea was pretty stupid of me but actually, there has been a lot of sites doing this as a promotion so felt less stupid. Well, to the more important stuff.... The tourney started out pretty well, got a lot of chips, stole a lot of blinds etc and I was in total shock that I won 3 out of 4 flips and also got it in really good in pretty lucky marginal spots. Dont remember exactly what happened but think I raised utg with 88, then a dude shoved all in with a not huge but decent stack and I made a call and he had 77 and then I believe I got it in with AK vs AQ and it also held. Got aces 3 times in "action spots (IE, blinds or CO+BTN in my terminology)" but unfortunatly did not get action. It was the fourth time I got them then I finally got some action. I raised a couple of spots before this btw and just lost a major pot all in with 77 vs AJo and he caught a runner runner flush. Poker Stars, $100 Buy-in (7,500/15,000 blinds, 1,500 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

Hero (BTN): 339,565 (22.6 bb)
SB: 239,362 (16 bb)
BB: 512,233 (34.1 bb)
UTG+1: 259,366 (17.3 bb)
UTG+2: 94,551 (6.3 bb)
MP1: 160,602 (10.7 bb)
MP2: 231,600 (15.4 bb)
MP3: 142,665 (9.5 bb)
CO: 747,414 (49.8 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with A A
UTG+1 raises to 37,500, UTG+2 folds, MP1 calls 37,500, 2 folds, CO calls 37,500, Hero raises to 195,000, 3 folds, MP1 calls 121,602 and is all-in, CO folds

Flop: (429,204) 8 T 9 (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Turn: (429,204) Q (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: (429,204) 2 (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results: 429,204 pot
Final Board: 8 T 9 Q 2
Hero showed A A and lost (-160,602 net)
MP1 showed J Q and won 429,204 (268,602 net)

That sucked but won another hand later to double up again. I kept at between 1,2-2x the average throughout and was just cruising along. Then I lost a bunch in this pot. I have no idea how awful I played nor what I should have done. The thing is that I was new to this table and this guy had 43/30 after only 15 hands and had no clue whether or not to believe him to be just pushing his big chipstack around or if he probably just had a hand. I likely butchered this on so many streets. Had no idea how OK my coldcall pre was and the flopcall is probably ok (?) and then on turn I get superodds and I dunno. Please let me know what I should have done and why!

 Poker Stars, $100 Buy-in (12,500/25,000 blinds, 2,500 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

UTG+2: 481,324 (19.3 bb)
MP1: 268,577 (10.7 bb)
MP2: 550,370 (22 bb)
MP3: 1,059,572 (42.4 bb)
CO: 162,368 (6.5 bb)
Hero (BTN): 447,069 (17.9 bb)
SB: 336,932 (13.5 bb)
BB: 258,501 (10.3 bb)
UTG+1: 626,815 (25.1 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with J Q
UTG+1 raises to 50,000, 5 folds, Hero calls 50,000, 2 folds

Flop: (160,000) Q A 7 (2 players)
UTG+1 bets 120,000, Hero calls 120,000

Turn: (400,000) 4 (2 players)
UTG+1 bets 300,000, Hero folds

Results: 400,000 pot
Final Board: Q A 7 4
Hero mucked J Q and lost (-172,500 net)
UTG+1 mucked and won 400,000 (227,500 net)

Then I was done a bit but I was in the top500 and well into the money. Have a spreadsheet that I got from a MTT-grinder of unexploitable pushranges with stacksizes 0,5-27 BBs so I decided to stick with this since at this stage of the tourney then I am not likely to be a postflop favorite vs the average, NL MTTs is not my forté. Then this hand comes up and the chart says push, I pushed and did not really like to see the overshove, hehe.

Poker Stars, $100 Buy-in (15,000/30,000 blinds, 3,000 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 9 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

MP3: 292,544 (9.8 bb)
CO: 354,077 (11.8 bb)
BTN: 497,370 (16.6 bb)
SB: 852,572 (28.4 bb)
BB: 149,368 (5 bb)
Hero (UTG+1): 345,142 (11.5 bb)
UTG+2: 363,432 (12.1 bb)
MP1: 717,502 (23.9 bb)
MP2: 915,065 (30.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with J K
Hero raises to 342,142 and is all-in, 4 folds, CO raises to 351,077 and is all-in, 3 folds

Flop: (756,284) A 9 A (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Turn: (756,284) 2 (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: (756,284) 3 (2 players, 2 are all-in)

Results: 756,284 pot
Final Board: A 9 A 2 3
CO showed A Q and won 756,284 (411,142 net)
Hero showed J K and lost (-345,142 net)

Got a decent payday thou and during this looooong tournament I changed -890$ to -250$ in the cashgame and raked shitloads so cant complain. Profit of about 650$ for the day. Welcome addition to the BR, for sure.

Finally freedom, omaha, nl propsite, locked bankroll and shitty internet.

Omaha, NL and little play

As I said a couple of times before, we are just about to finish up class and turn in all the final work. Got superlate with one of the projects which was unfortunate but she desperatly demanded all works to be submitted again in a CD, who the f*** still uses CDs in 2012? Anyways, this period has been the two weeks with very limited play, played some NL on my phone during bussrides etc but that is it. Won small amounts of cash except for the 7th when I dropped a whopping $200.

Thursday (7 th)started out awful as well, played 50 hands and lost 2 buyins. I 4-5table PLO btw and maybe I should start to play fewer tables while I am learning. I believe that 4tabling FLSH is probably around 8 PLO/NL-tables in terms of focus and time but I am comfortable with that level of FLSH since the action are a lot clearer for me. Maybe I should 2-4table PLO for awhile. Ill have to try and see.

Here is a hand btw that is kinda jucky. I am not really sure how well I played this hand. First I was disgusted and thought of check/folding turn but then I thought about what range he could have calling the flop and I thought I could discount set/straights a little (maybe 50%, i dunno this player so much) since I believe he would shove a lot of these and then I didnt like to fold vs 2pair with a draw to a better twopair + secondnutflushdraw so I decided to shove. I also have a 9blocker.

$0.50/$0.50 Pot Limit Omaha Cash, 5 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

BTN: $48.50 (97 bb)
SB: $26.83 (53.7 bb)
Hero (BB): $50 (100 bb)
MP: $141.64 (283.3 bb)
CO: $77.25 (154.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K 9 3 K
MP raises to $2, 2 folds, SB calls $1.50, Hero raises to $8, MP calls $6, SB calls $6

Flop: ($24) 6 8 5 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $12, MP calls $12, SB folds

Turn: ($48) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $30 and is all-in, MP calls $30

River: ($108) J (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results: $108 pot ($3 rake)
Final Board: 6 8 5 7 J
Hero showed K 9 3 K and lost (-$50 net)
MP showed K 9 3 8 and won $105 ($55 net)

What do you guys think about the flop, is it too weak to checkfold this flop? I first thought it was disgusting but then it is pretty lockdown and thought I would get a decent amount of folds.

_____________________

Bankroll = LOCKED!

Since I have been temporarily blocked at sites (due to the new spanish licensing) where my br is spread out and cannot make withdrawals from these account then I have been forced to deposit thru my normal bank account. It is a psychological barrier that I generally do not like crossing (and almost never do) but the situation is so peculiar now so that I am fine with it. Still sucks a bit thou. Gonna go back to sweden thou soon for the summer and then I will be able to withdraw and play again! Also pretty excited to try pokerstars mobile client on my phone.

Internet in spain

During my 7 years of playing, I have never had so shitty internet as I do now. I dont want to try to count how much i have lost getting disconnected this year, but I am sure the sum is a respectable amount of this years winnings. I have tried to do things about this, and the situation has improved, but just got disconnected two times today. Gonna go back home to stable internet in Sweden this summer and then I am going to move. And when I move, I am probably going to wire the shit instead of going wireless because this is insane and its not about the money, I just hate the feeling of getting disconnected. The 30-60 seconds when you pray that it will stabilize and the following minute when you literally cook inside of frustration. Well, I try to take all bad situations as a sort of test of my character. I can choose to dwell on it or I can just breath, relax and take it with ease. The choice is solely mine.


Plans this week;
I will play at least 10 hours this weekend (15-17th) but will fly a little so hope not to get "jetlagged" but in the coming week I will try to play 2,5 hour-sessions 2-3 times per day but take maybe monday-tuesday off poker (the weekends are so good so cant do a normal work week). I have written a schedule for this summer and I hope it will be a great balance between life, fun projects and poker. Gonna look into it more and post here later!

New gadget - will pay for itself?

Just got a new gadget btw. A tablet of the smaller size, 7" to be exact. Pokerstars mobile unfortunatly seems to still be blocked for spanish players but I have one propsite that have an android version and fishy games and I believe I know another propsite that might have an android client too. The idea is to 1-2 table while watching movies etc because I get a bit restless. Played my first session the other day and won 75E, woho! A few more like these and I will soon have paid it off.

The tablet btw is a bit weird format. I agree with the people that the use of it is very limited (even thou you can do a lot, mouse + keyboard makes it 10x easier) but if you realize its limitation and adapt then it could be a good buy. The thing I find most annoying is how you have to keep holding it for comfortable use, you cant possibly lean it towards anything and all sorts of covers etc are really ugly and adds like 40-50% extra weight. Gonna buy one thou.

Anyways, just wanted to write this since it is nice that poker is FINALLY getting more mobile and that an investment of 200-600E might even pay itself off if it causes you to play more. The better use thou of mobility and time is to have 3g and play during waiting periods, buss rides etc. Unfortunatly I do not have 3g on my tablet so I am limited to my new phone. Hopefully I can get pokerstars mobile soon because I generally do not really enjoy playing 0.25/0.5-1/2 NL half as much as playing FLHE or mixed games. I heard they have all the games there.

Holding backk.......

... my inclination to write tilt-stories.

Played a brief second session of 100-200 hands.  Btw HM2 works like shit, it lags like crazy, I believe it has to do with the boss software because started to play there again and it is freaking horrible. Had to actually take notes by hand, never done that before. That is something I do btw in HU-sessions nowadays, not to remember until next time but just to get it "in print" of what I should do etc. So I sometimes write the adaption as well like "Cbet less frequently, bet with A high more for value etc etc".

Well, if HM2 wouldnt be laggin I would give u my exact result now but I am afraid to open it. If this continues I am very likely to run HM1 until I format my computer and/or buy a new one, its a fast computer btw with solid state and quadcore but that doesnt seem to help..... Probably lost 60-90 BBs in these few hundred hands, most of it HU thou. Well, hope to get it back + loads in the weekend. Btw, I thought a little about what stakes to play and my willingness to gamble. First I decided that I do not need so much cash while studying (maybe want a new computer a $1000 per year + new phone of 400$ + travel 1-3 months in the summer (1500-6000$) but more then that just wouldnt be very useful to me. This is actually true, I do not use too much money at all even thou I go out every week etc but then again I will have pretty massive student loans given that I have 5 years left of studies which should mean an extra debt of around 43000$ or so at the time I finish. Would be nice to have saved some up b4 then so I will probably stick to my conservative plan on moving up superslow. Gonna grind $3/6 for 2500$ profit now and try to be more strict about it.

EDIT: The result was -825$ in 146 hands at 3/6-5/10$.

Yeay! Most work is done + Spanish poker regulation

Some PLO-play

Finally most of the exams etc is finished and the professors seemed to generally like my/our work. Got some corrections left and some other stuff but unless I have missunderstood the situation then we are pretty much done for the semester. Therefore I played my first serious round of poker in awhile. Played PLO at zoom and normal tables, not gonna post badbeatstories in this blog (nobody obviously cares) but got it in good a few times and lost, was up 2,5 buyins in all in EV but ended up down 1.5. Most of it vs KK33 vs AAK7ds (me) 150 bb deep.

The worst part of my PLO-game probably is vs shortstacks. When I get more volume I will do some sort of analysis and I will try to think about it and mark some hands while playing when I might be donating. The problem is that I should probably fold more. Or maybe not :D.

Another thing I probably should do more vs them is to bet a much smaller percentage of the pot (I get in the habit of sometimes doing my standard cbet, fishy I know) and perhaps to donk as well. What do you think about these ideas in general? How do shortstackers tend to react to small donks? Are they so shovehappy given their smallstack that it is stupid?

Any comments is appreciated. Will hopefully post some specific hands soon.

Spanish poker regulation

As I mentioned before, I am swedish but live in Spain and therefore, I am in a peculiar situation. Appears as most networks respect the spanish license issueing now and even thou I am not a spanish registered citizen, I am now blocked on ipoker, cake/revolution and another site I cannot remember. Being a FLSH-player then this really sucks but perhaps I can get exclusivity on pokerstars.es-fish, not sure how that thing is going to workout, I believe they are creating an own network exclusive for spanish players but I might have missunderstood that. This "access cutoff" might force me to put on the speed paddle for learning PLO. Sat at 5 different networks at 5/10$ FLHU yesterday for 6 hours and nobody showed up. That was a bit of an aha-moment for me even thou I people that makes 5-10k$ playing exclusively FL still. Well, we will see how the future goes.


PS: Updated monthly result

Video coming up and a lot of play too

Shiny weather makes it harder to stay indoor too

Hi guys. Have one fixed limit headsup video that is more or less finished and also recorded a brief 2-7 triple draw session that I played which is coming up very soon. Just passed a semi-tough exam and it appears that this will be the last week with any major work before the summer break.

So I expect to be playing with high frequency and focus again this weekend but in worst case scenario Ill be playing on the 15th of june when the school officially stops.

Played very briefly this month, dropped 200e yesterday at no limit at a propsite, very very very bad play from my part and lost another 150$ in very few hands yesterday and that caused me to be down a small 215$ for the month, no biggie.

Talk to you soon

PS: Also posted some random pictures from Madrid, my current city.