BigBucksNoWhammies

In the hand above :

We open KK in MP to $.25. Folds around to BB who calls. Standard pre flop.

FLOP :

Flop J T 6 r. BB checks. We b50%. On these textured board where there are a ton of hands villain will have that are going to continue I lean towards betting w a smaller part of my range & sizing up to half pot. Villain x/r to $.81. I think I am okay w either re-raising or flatting here. I think there is merit to both. I decided to flat the x/r. On this board, villain is going to have more bluffs than hands for value that are x/r. When I thought about his value range I narrowed it down to JT/66 & maybe some Jx that villain is getting spewy w. I narrowed his bluff range down to hands like Q9s,Q8s, 98s, 87s (maybe), at a low frequency he can have KQ as well - although we block that w our KK so not as often. Anyway, I arrived in my thought process at villain having more bluffs than value so wanted to flat & allow him to continue barreling on turns that brick. This also pot controls for if villain should get there. We are also IP so that played a factor in deciding to flat. Does this thought process seem sound or am I totally off base? I think I am okay w my line here but open to different opinions.

TURN :

3h. For all intents & purposes this is a brick. Villain can have some turned back door flush draws but all of the upfront draws on the flop have bricked out. BB b75% on turn. For the same reasons I mentioned above on the flop. I decided to flat the turn bet. If villain is bluffing I am happy to allow him to continue barreling & call off river bricks.

RIVER :

4h. This is where I think I butchered the hand. In general, the 4h river is a brick. Yes, his backdoor flush draws get there but that is not a ton of hands & we also block some of those hands holding the Kh ourselves. Anyway, BB shoves 1.7x pot & I am totally befuddled. Again, I have mentioned before in some of these HH's - over bets are miserable to play against. I very much struggle playing against them. In general, at 10nl most of the overbets I have seen tend to be very value heavy. If I were to assign a ratio of value:bluffs when it comes to overbets at 10nl, it would be very skewed towards value - maybe 5:1. This logic led to me folding the river which I dont think was the right play. In theory, most of the bluffs villain had on flop, turn have bricked out on this river. & if my theory was to just flat the x/r on the flop as well as flatting the turn barrel, when we get this river isnt it imperative that we call off? Otherwise, our flats on the flop/turn are irrelevant in their purpose. Beyond that, as played what better hands do we have here? Just the sets? If we are folding KK what are we calling w? Idk. I think I saw the overbet & got gun shy about calling off because of the aforementioned stigma I have attached to overbets & how often they are nutted. This spot, this hand, was absolutely miserable. Even now, while I think I should be sigh calling the river, I am still not completely sure if that is the right play or not. Any input/advice on this hand & navigating these sort of spots would be greatly appreciated as I think this is a hole in my game : playing vs overbets.

In the hand above :

We are OTB w A9cc & open to $.25. SB 3b to $1.15. I usually mix between flatting & folding this hand vs SB 3b. In general, I lean more towards flatting. Our hand plays decently against SB 3b range & we are IP so the hand will be a bit easier to navigate post flop. Any thoughts on this? I think I am okay w flatting but open to hearing out other opinions/feedback as I am not completely sure.

FLOP :

Flop comes 797r. SB leads $1 into $2.40. I think our move here is calling most of the time. I don't see a ton of merit in raising. SB has range advantage & will have JJ+ at a much higher frequency than we will as we are going to be 4b those hands pre flop. Should SB have hands like AT+, A4/5s, smaller pocket pairs, we are okay w allowing him to bet & flatting as we have most of those hands in bad shape - particularly AT+ as should an A come on the turn we will have the higher two pair. I like just flatting on the flop. I think this is the standard play.

TURN :

2d. SB now b50% & the pot is starting to get bloated - $6.60. When SB double barrels a total brick on turn his range starts to narrow, slightly more towards value imo. On this board it is tough for villain to have a lot of bluffs that arent total airballs. I think JTs could be a hand that he is barreling on the turn as a bluff. I dont think villain will have a lot of T8s, 86s, 85s as those hands dont want to 3b pre flop. Villain will have some backdoor flush draws that are now barreling having picked up equity - Axdd, KT-AKdd. However, I think our hand is still too strong to let go on the turn. My plan was to call turn & if villain blasts away on river go w the fold. Is that a flawed logic to operate from? If so, what would be the better mindset/logic to use in these spots where the pot is starting to swell & we arent totally confident in our hand & villain has the range advantage? Open tp feedback/advice in this spot as it was a rly tough one to navigate for me.

RIVER :

4c. Basically another brick. JTs & turned flush draws brick out. Villain overbet shoves for $9.24 into $8.80. I make the fold & move on. In general, most often this is going to be a value shove. In my experience, at 10nl most of the pool rarely, if ever, triple barrel bluffs w an overbet shove on the river. This is so frequently going to be an over pair - most likely KK/AA w QQ prob getting in there as well. It is weird cause as played our hand is near the top of our range in this spot. We have better hands - TT/JJ/99/78s. I decided to fold our specific hand & call w hands like 99/78s. I think I would have even folded TT/JJ given how the action went in the hand. Is this too nitty? IMO, given my experience so far these lines are so often going to be nutted. I think I am okay w how I played this hand. Obv I am not totally sure so would be open to feedback/input from anyone. Thanks in advance to anyone who responds. I appreciate it.

In the hand posted above :

We open TJss in the CO to $.25. Folds around to BB who calls.

FLOP :

Flop : T J 2. BB checks. We b33%. BB now raises to $.63. I decided to 4b to $2.18. I leaned towards re-raising as opposed to flatting for a few different reasons : 1. I think BB is going to have a lot of draws in this spot. We block top two on the board so it is less likely BB will have value hands apart from 22. BB will have a lot of KQ, Q9, 98. He can also have haves like QJ, KJ, AJ at a certain frequency & want to play them as raises here. I am happy w my decision making on the flop. We have top two pair so we are okay w piling in money vs BB defending range. Also, there are a lot of turn cards we dont want to see so I like raising as it protects our hand as well vs all the draws villain can have in this spot.

TURN :

7s. Not the best card in the world but not the worst either. It is better than broadway cards as those would make life very tough given the flop action along w our specific holding. BB checks to us, we b75%. BB calls. This call should narrow down BB's range of hands he can have in this spot. I think hands like QJ, Q9, & maybe even KQ find folds on this turn. Not the most comfortable spot for us despite having a very strong hand.

RIVER :

Ad. Bleh. Not my favorite river. Hands like KQ, AJ are now ahead of us while 89 also beats us. BB checks to us. I actually went into my timebank in this spot trying to figure out whether we should value bet on river or just check behind & take our showdown value. In retrospect, checking behind is prob the play here. It is hard for us to bet for value & get called by worse at this point. Maybe, a big maybe, KJ finds a hero call. Even then, idk if villain would even find a call there. As played, we b50% ~. BB shoves for ~ $11 more. Obv, we cant call here. BB cannot have enough bluffs & is just always shoving for value in this spot imo. We fold & move on. Is this river bet a punt? It seems to me as tho it is. Welcome to any & all feedback & input. This hand seems like a massive blunder on our end.

In the hand posted above :

UTG opens to $.25, folds around to us in BB w K3ss. This is prob a bit lose to be calling in BB vs UTG open. I think I prefer folding in retrospect. However, we made the call. I don't think calling is the worst play in the world - would assume it is most likely -EV vs UTG opening range.

FLOP :

Flop comes A37hcc. We check which is what we are doing w our entire range here. UTG b75% or so. This flop absolutely favors UTG range. Obv he will have all the better Ax hands & we cant have those as played. W our specific hand I actually think folding is okay. Our hand isnt likely to be good here very often given the board texture even tho we have a pair. Additionally, there arent a ton of good turn cards for us & it is hard for our hand to improve or pick up equity. It seems like my call on the flop could be considered a compound mistake from the call pre flop. I think I lean fold on the flop given everything we just laid out. However, we decided to call. Onto the turn.

TURN :

3h. Yahtzee. We turn trips. We check to UTG who now b150%. This is now a weird spot. Obv, UTG isnt repping the 3. He shouldnt have much 3x in his opening range & only two combos of A3s remain. This narrows his range down imo to either his strongest Ax hands (AK, AQ, maybe AJ depending on how he is working that into his overbet strategy), 77/AA, & his flush draws. Our hand is too good to fold here vs even an overbet. We are ahead of too many of UTG's hands, even his value hands, to be folding here. Our hand is also cool because we unblock both flush draws UTG can have here which might be taking an overbet line on the turn. I dont see much merit in raising - we want to keep his bluffs in as well as his strong Ax hands & should he be at top of range w hands like 77/AA then he isnt going to fold anyway. I like our play on the turn. Playing vs overbets is always tricky & usually, at least in my experience so far at .10nl, it means the super nuts. However, I still think our hand is too good in this spot. If we start folding trips here it means we are only calling full houses which is too narrow.

RIVER :

Kd. Gin. We have improved to a full house. We check to UTG to let him continuing betting. Unfortunately, we see UTG rip $11.35 into a pot of $5.13. Over 200% overbet on the river. This spot is gross. UTG range is polarized to either 77/AA for value or a bricked flush draw. I should have taken more time to think this hand through. I remember almost snap calling & immediately thinking, "why didnt I stop to think about the hand more thoroughly"? Idk if I wouldve found a fold more often had I stopped to think it through. However, in general at .10nl overbets are almost always nutted. Every so often you will pick off a bluff. More often than not, its going to be the nuts. UTG not only overbet on turn but also on river as well. This should be sending alarm bells off. In retrospect idk if I like my call here or not. We beat all of our opponents bluffs - which on this runout can only rly be busted flush draws. As played, I dont think UTG is ever going to have hands like AK, AQ, AJ. Maybe UTG can have AK & be jamming for value - idk if that is a thing given the bet sizing on turn & river. Anyway, this just seems like it will be 77/AA more often than it is bluffs. We decide to call & get shown the bad news : 77. FeelsBadMan

In the hand posted above :

Another weird spot pre flop that I almost convinced myself to fold but ended up sigh calling expecting to & eventually seeing the bad news.

We open KK in MP to $.25, CO 3b to $.85, BB 4b to $2.85. Back to us - I dont think flatting the 4b is ever the play here. Especially w a player behind us left to act. I think 5b is the correct play 100% of the time given how the hand has played up until this point. We want to push out CO & get to the flop heads up IP vs BB. Additionally, we have the second best hand in poker. Anyway, we 5b to $6.80 (is this sizing off? We are very deep w BB in this hand so leaned towards making the 3b size a bit larger). Idk if this sizing is optimal - open to feedback/advice on if this sizing is awful & what a better sizing would be. BB 6b rips $18.71. I honestly considered folding & in retrospect maybe that is always the play here. How many hands can BB have that 6b rip 180 BB's in pre flop that we are ahead of? Maybe, maybe AKs which we block 2 combos of. I think we are mainly going to see AA here when we call off w KK. Writing this out it seems like calling off here w KK is a massive punt? Also, this somewhat ties back to my 5b sizing to $6.80 - it seems like we are almost priced in after we raise to that size & get jammed on for ~ $11 more. Idk. Is this hand standard or did we totally punt off almost 2 buy ins pre flop? Any & all advice/ input welcomed. This hand sucked

As mentioned in the title I just got wrecked today playing 10nl. Lost $87 in just over 3 hrs. How is that even possible? It seems like every big hand I played I lost. Every flip. Every bad beat. Every cooler... I was on the wrong side of all of them. Are these hands just standard & I happened to be on the wrong side of variance? Or, am I just a fish & do not even realize it? Any/ all advice & critique welcome. This forum seems to be dead. Is there another poker forum ppl are using - 2+2?

In the hand posted above :

UTG opens to $.20, MP 3b to $.80, fold around to Hero who 4b to $2.30 w AA, UTG folds, MP flats.

Pre flop I think our play is standard. Obv, we are nvr flatting here w AA. Want to build the pot & get in as much money as possible.

FLOP :

MP checks to us. On this texture, I elected to b33%. There are no flush draws & we are ahead of most of MP range ( only concern is TT/JJ, maybe TJs at a certain frequency although I dont think that hand wants to flat a 4b OOP pre flop ). MP x/r to $5.83. We are deep. I dont think ripping here is the best play. We block hands like AKs/AQs - I am not sure how often villain will have AK as that hand will most likely jam pre flop, especially suited. Additionally, having AA we block AK/AQ. So, what are villains bluffs here? KQs/at a lower frequency since we have AA he could have the AK/AQ combos. Does villain ever make this play w QQ/KK? Seems like it would be torching money as he loses against all of hands that 4b pre flop besides AK. Idk. I defaulted to calling. Does our hand operate better as a jam here? We only lose theoretically to TT/JJ. Is this one of those spots where we get it in & if he has a better hand we just say nh & move on? In retrospect, that seems like the better play. I could be off tho. Open to advice/ input on my play here.

TURN :

7h. Villain rips it all in. As I am writing this HH out I think we played this hand poorly. When he shoves turn we only lose to two hands - TT/JJ. Maybe TJs however I dont think we should see that very often. Villain should nvr have 44/77 as played ( 44 fold pre & 77 dont get to the turn in this manner ). He could still have QQ/KK, AK/AQ, KQs. Anyway, I fold. I think as played, on the turn we need to be calling off. Seems like we're ahead of too much of the hands he can have in his range. Thoughts/input more than welcome. I think I butchered this hand pretty badly. Roast away...

In the hand posted above :

MP opens to $.22. Folds around to us in BB, we complete w KJss. I think 3b here is fine & might be the better play. I think calling is okay too.

FLOP :

Villain b50%. I decided to flat w our top pair. I dont think 3b here accomplishes much as villain will have much stronger hands than we will : AA, KK, AK, KQ ( although we block some of those hands w our KJss ). Villain can have 77/99 as well but we will also have those hands as well in our BB flatting range. I think the standard play is to just call. We're ahead of flush draws & some of his Kx hands as well as his pocket pairs that are trying to take it down on the flop.

TURN :

2c on turn brings in a backdoor flush draw. Villain 2x bets pot. It is tough to play against OB. It polarizes villain's range so much. Again, like mentioned in my previous hand history, it is my experience that most ppl dont OB bluff nearly as much as they OB for value. However, I still think our hand is a call in this spot. We unblock both flush draws villain could have. Additionally, at a certain frequency villain could have hands like QJs/QTs/JTs that are trying to take it down on the turn. I decide to call.

RIVER :

7s. Villain b150%. This was another tricky spot for me. Imo against balanced, thinking players they will have some bluffs in this spot that want to play this way : all of the flush draws that bricked that villain can have, QJs/QTs/JTs, etc. When I thought about the range of hands villain could have in this spot that OB turn/river for value it is basically KK ( which we block ), 99, 77 (which is unlikely as there is only one combo remaining ).Maybe villain could have AA/AK - idk if they take this line. I dont think villain is going to have 22 often as that hand doesnt want to bet the flop. His main value hand in this spot is going to be 99. He can have KK/77 but it is highly unlikely. I sigh call & get shown the bad news. I think my play on the turn is fine? However, on the river vs another overbet idk how well our hand is doing. Any thoughts/ opinions on this hand would be greatly appreciated.

Moral of the story : Overbets are OP.

I recently started a poker journal if anyone is interested in following along & giving input/advice. All critiques are welcome & appreciated. Thx!

Hey all. My name is Bryan. I am 32 & live in Florida. I have been playing poker for the better part of the last 5-7 yrs. The complexity & constantly changing strategies have always been appealing to me. However, over the last 2-3 yrs my life has undertaken several altering changes that resulted in me putting poker on the back burner for a while. In this time I have, at best, casually played poker - no studying, inconsistently grinding live & online poker sporadically. Previous to the last few yrs the idea of playing poker full time was always a thought in my mind. Over the last few months or so that thought has resurfaced & at this point - given my age, where I am in my life, & this possibly being my real last chance to chase this dream - I figure it is now or nvr.

Some background information - I work as a poker dealer in my nearby casino. I work between 28 - 32 hrs/wk & make decent money. I have relatively low monthly expenses (~ $1,200 - $1,500). Lastly, I am not in a relationship & have no kids to take care of. When not working I have an adequate amount of free time to devote to poker. All things considered, I am in a good spot to pursue poker & try to build a legit bankroll.

So, what is the point of this thread? First & foremost, I am going to use this thread as a method by which to hold myself accountable throughout this journey. I fully expect & anticipate there will be highs & lows along the way. Particularly in the beginning as I play some of the rust off & improve some of the inevitable leaks I will have after so much time away. Being able to maintain focus, discipline, & keeping in mind the bigger picture is going to be an important factor if I am to be successful. Second, beyond just a poker thread I would like to use this as a life journal as well. I have goals outside of poker that I believe need to be maintained & accomplished in addition to completing this challenge. Maintaining a healthy poker/ life balance is essential. Lastly, along the way I hope to meet new ppl on here & discuss strategies, hand histories - I will be tagging & posting hands on here & am open to any & all critiques & advice in order to help me improve my game, mindset advice, etc.

In the past I attempted this challenge & after a few months found myself burned out, not enjoying playing poker & eventually like this challenge became a chore that I needed to do. I put a lot of pressure on myself to jump back on the grind & immediately speed run through the micros & mid stakes to eventually achieve the $5,000 goal. When that did not happen it became increasingly frustrating to the point where I stepped away from the tables & had to regroup before ultimately coming back now to attempt it a second time.

The challenge itself : build a bankroll on ACR to $5,000 by grinding - starting at the micros & moving up in stakes as my bankroll increases. Along the way I will be playing live sessions to help adjust my game from online to live poker as my goal is to mainly play live poker whenever I start playing full-time. I will also set aside money from my job to help supplement my bankroll along the way. If you have read this far I appreciate it & hope to hear from you along the way! GLGL at the tables. 10nl here we come!

My goals throughout this challenge :

1. Grind at least 20hrs/wk.

2. Maintain & update this thread by posting at least once per wk (every Tuesday/ Wednesday) - I aim to post more frequently but as a baseline I am going to commit to at least once every single wk.

3. STUDY - review hand histories, fix leaks in my game, improve my approach to the game. Mindset is, in a lot of ways, just as important as skill set when it comes to poker imo.

4. Run at least four days/ wk & hit the gym at least 3 days/wk.

5. Healthier eating/ drinking habits (no trash foods or energy drinks). You are what you eat.

6. Have a $20k bankroll by this time next yr.

7. Most importantly - Improve & be disciplined on my walk w God (make sure I am keeping Him first in my life, always).