Hans Dampf

April - Week 1 Update

In short: stagnation at NL10z, but running good at NL25z.
I had initially set out to wait moving up to NL25 until I have 25BIs at that stake. But given that you can double your chances playing "CardMatch" I had planned to play NL10z until I complete Cardmatch, then move to NL25 until I complete cardmatch there and then switch back to NL10z (I was really looking for any and every excuse to test my skills at NL25z as you might be able to tell...). But then I ran pretty good at NL25. Also felt that I was playing a more focused, high-intensity game simply because stakes are higher and each mistake/correct action has a bigger effect on your bankroll. Then moving back to NL10 I tended to "care less about the money" and made one too many hero calls or bluff etc. Was quite difficult for me to play my A-Game after "moving back down". But the goal remains the same: get to 25BIs at NL25z by the end of the month and the move to NL 25 fully. With Starscoins yet to be cashed in I am about 10BIs at NL10 away from moving up :)

Also tried playing reg tables again. It is obviously nice to focus more on the players at the table and get more detailed reads on them. But the fact that I can`t keep that level of focus for more than 3 tables just makes my hand volume go so low that I wonder if the benefit of playing +EV is not under-compensated by the lack of rakeback... I still feel really comfortable playing zoom, so I will probably stick to that.

March - Week 4 Update

All in all March has been my most successful month playing poker, period. Won $184 before rake, which I am really excited about. I feel pretty comfortable now 2-tabling NL10z and think I can safely state to now be a break-even/ winning player. But there is a long road ahead. I felt really good towards the end of the month so I took a stab at NL25z. I was pretty under-rolled, as I only had 15BIs to start with. Reason for doing this was just to test the water at the higher stakes without the intention of actually moving up yet. I ran pretty good, but the games definitely play a lot more aggressive at NL25 than back at NL10. So I am hoping to bring some of that aggression back to NL10, win money and then move to NL25 as soon as I have hit 25BIs. I know this is an aggressive BRM, but I now feel comfortable enough a) in my discipline to move down with a stop loss of 5BIs and b) in my ability to rebuild the required stack to take another stab at NL10.

In March I also tried to play on a new poker site (888poker) where the games are actually a lot softer than on Pokerstars. I ran slightly above EV and was able to play 10k hands at 9.38BB which is pretty cool. Am also pretty happy with my red line.

Compared to my stats at Pokerstars (1BB over 15k hands at NL10z), it would be obvious to stick to 888poker and grind it out there. But rake is shit (made $3 playing 10k hands) and on my quest to become a better player I should probably try and play in tougher games. Also, as stupid as it sounds, I have come accustomed to and actually prefer the Pokerstars software that allows for HUD displays, which 888poker does not allow. So I am kind of on the fence between the two sites. I do not actually know how much rakeback I get in an average month, so I will save all my StarsCoins in April to get an impression and then try to figure out how big a difference rakeback is on Stars vs 888Poker and let that influence my decision on what site to play on in the future, at least until RIOPoker becomes a thing.

In conclusion, best month ever and really looking forward to April. Would be great to get the missing 19BIs in April. It is not as unrealistic as it might seem since I would need to basically replicate my March results to be able to move up in May. My eyes are set on a clear target at least!

All the best,
Hans

March - Week 3 Update

Was able to continue my roll and am feeling rather confident to be able to beat NL10z now. Planning to move up a level if I hit 25BIs on that level.

March - Week 2 Update

Only got to play half as many hands as last week, but the quality of the sessions were far better. Know it is only a small sample and that I was running quite hot, especially towards the end of the week, but it`s weeks like these that keep me going because I think it shows what I would be capable of if I get my mental game sorted and play focused poker - and run good.

I must also thank a member of the RIO community for this week`s results I suppose as I partnered up with a very helpful lad who took the time to review a session that I played last week. He quickly pointed out some major leaks, not limited to but largely in my preflop game, and it seems I was able to let his insights guide my game into the right direction. It was the first time I actually shared a session I played with someone. I do not really have any friends that play poker, so it was extremely valuable to go through hands with another poker enthusiast. Can definitely advocate the poker buddy system.

Pumped for next week and looking to book the best month of poker in history :)
Good luck,
Hans

I just started playing on 888 poker. HUD runs well on "normal" tables, but is not displayed when playing snap. Is that prohibited by the site, or do I need to change something in my settings?

Also: is there a way to customize hotkeys as well as the betting slider on 888poker. Those are features that I have come accustomed to playing on Pokerstars and am missing on 888Poker.

Any help would be much appreciated.

it`s a pretty scary board that connects well with his range, so I think checking back is not a bad decision. was a bit surprised by the turn raise though. sure, you have plenty of outs, but I do not see him folding any worse hands than yours after he re-opens the betting on that wet board texture. After he checks the river I think it is a mandatory check behind. He has so many two pair combos, flushes and straights in his range that he is calling a river bet with a very high frequency.

Sounds like some time away from the table to reboot and clear your mind might help. Completely agree with the approach towards playing shorter sessions and taking breaks for hand reviews/ gym session etc. as this is simply +EV.

It`s alway darkest before dawn mate. Good luck!

Hope you crush mate! Think your bankroll management and goals are on point. Good luck.

Agreed, I see him playing QQ, QJ, 99, 88 like this all day long. And as @JCJordypants indicates it is highly unlikely he raises here with a lone T or trips.

Hope you crush! Let me know should you need any help with Pokertracker.

Congrats! SemiFreddo all the way :)

@JCJordypants: solid analysis. Completely agree, both with a) villain being able to have QQ+ after his 1/5 cbet and b) the "mistake" of hero raising and thereby turning his range face up. Had not thought about both those aspects as a) have so far only seen check backs or close to pot size bets with QQ-AA on such a board and b) I used to assume that a x/r on such a dry board is mostly nuts (22,66) or random bluffs, but never thought of hands like 99-JJ.

Good point regarding the preflop 4bet, especially because BU could be squeezing wide here and as @keepswimmin mentioned, you decrease the likelihood of having to play JJ multiway oop.

Hi. After BUs 1/5 cbet I would doubt that he has QQ+. And UTG+1 rarely has 2x in his opening range. So I would actually put both opponents on overcards or pocket pairs (22-TT). Sure, you might be up against 66 or 22, but I think the majority of the time you are still ahead here and should charge floats, smaller pocket pairs and flush draws.

Think your analysis is on point! Like how your analysis changes after you have given it some thought. Personally, I think I would chose the bet/fold line here most frequently, simply because he has some Ax combos that call, but would otherwise check behind.

Was not sure what to make of his 1/2 pot bet sizing. Your hand, even though you check the river (possibly to induce in his eyes) is somewhat strong and what I usually encounter are quite polarized bets (either 1/3 pot or close to pot, or even overbet shoves with the nuts here)...So I was wondering if he might be going through a similar thought process like me above where he kind of is on a bet/fold line with A7/AK or a weak flush (i.e. 56s). Not advocating a 3bet shove on the river by any means, but was just a bit confused by his bet size. What would you read into this?

Always sucks to start a new challenge with a loss, but don`t sweat it. Sure things will pick up tomorrow. All the best!

March - Week 1 Update

Throughout the week I was playing before/after work for a bit, but I think I was not really in the right frame of mind to play. I had been reading/ watching a lot of content on RIO and tried to let that guide my decision taking at the tables, but I think all the new insights were a bit too much to integrate at once, so I ended up misplaying a number of hands. Luckily things turned around on the weekend when I had a bit more time to devote to poker and tried to analyze my weeks play on Saturday morning and then started grinding on Saturday afternoon and a little bit on Sunday. Think the turning point after the Saturday morning hand review session is pretty indicative of the change in my game. Happy to end week 1 in the green. Workload is going to rather big in week 2, so would assume that the number of hands I get to play will drop quite a bit during week 2, but hope to "compensate" with higher quality play.

Some stats to finish off:

Overall I am quite happy with the stats. Think I am still folding a bit too frequently to PF 3bets so I will take a closer look at my early position opening ranges and maybe tighten up a bit. Also think that preflop aggression is pretty good as I am 3/4betting more in blind vs blind / btn vs blind battles. But as soon as the flop cards hit I think my aggression drops significantly, shown in the overall low aggression factor and partly also in the low WTSD%. Plenty of stuff to work on. Any other leaks that you guys would be able to identify?

Any feedback is much appreciated, thx.
GL,
Hans

Agreed, sights are being set pretty high. Curious to see how it works out. Good luck on your "first" day mate.

I would keep barreling on the turn as this wolds out most of his pairs (66,77,88) as well as random overcards.

I think you have to lead on the river. Given that you have two diamonds the likelihood of him having a flush is pretty small. So I would expect you get called often from hands such as 9x, Tx, random Ax that would have checked back the turn. After his raise he is repping KQ-KTdd. Those are massive combo draws on flop and turn, so I would be surprised to find them in his range on the river given the "slowplay" on flop and turn as I would assume most people play such monster draws quite aggressively. However, on a possible flush board texture I see very little people raising two pairs (AT) or sets (99,TT,44, AA). I would therefore like choose the path of less variance and just call his raise. Because what type of hands do you think villain calls after your river 4bet? Think there is no way he is calling two pairs or sets here and I do not really see too many worse flushes except 64dd since you block some with the 8d, so I think it is just a call on the river.

Completely agree with @ULpiano on this one. Given that there are no FDs on the flop I would be folding turn, or the at least on the river.

Flop
He can raise 44,88,Q8 for value. I do not think 84 or Q4 are in his preflop calling range and I think AQ, AA-QQ would likely re-raise preflop. On the bluff side of things I would think that there are certain gutshots (56s,57s, T9s, JTs). Personally, I do not see too many players actually semi-bluff here. I think it is either a clear value raise or spew, but then I wouldn`t see him 3 barrel it.

Turn
The only value hands I would add to his range are 99 as I have seen some people raise middle pairs on dry boards, so he could have gotten lucky on the turn. Other than that any of his diamond-diamond semi-bluffs can likely continue and should he for some reason have raised JT on the flop then he obviously has you crushed.

River
Ranges remain unchanged. Only hands that you beat are turned FDs that no missed (i.e. ATdd,AJdd).

Conclusion
Think you are facing at least two pair, most frequently sets here so a river call would be hugely -EV imo.

Like the motto! Good luck, hope you will crush it! Will be following.

this one is not so much about the result of the hand but about this situation

First off, I think this is what all hand reviews should be about, as most people (me included) are way to results oriented and think they made a bad bluff when called although the bluff would have worked against 90% of villain`s range for example.

Regarding the hand. In a vacuum I would agree with you that a bet makes a lot of sense as you can then still check back turn (should you get called on the flop) and hopefully get to the river for free. Also agree with the bet sizing of 1/3 pot. On this specific board however I would likely just check back as it is quite connected and he can put you in a very difficult spot, just as he did, with a variety of combo draws, sets and two pairs. So I think the risk of being moved off your hand outweighs the benefits of protecting your hand.

Think this was well played. You have a lot more value hands in your range than he has (i.e. 88,44,77,87,56s). However, I am not too sure about the range you are putting him on. If you put hands as strong as 99-AA into his range, then in all honesty I think I would check back turn and river just because I think those hands would be calling way to often to make this a profitable call. Think there are times where he might be happy to showdown a random Ax, broadway combos, T9s etc and then you can win a smaller, pot with less variance. So in conclusion, I think your aggression worked well against his specific hand, not sure about how the double barrel performs against most of his range.

it`s almost scary by now :) nice analysis!

But considering how much I have already put into the pot can we ever fold here?

Also wanted to comment on your reasoning for calling. In economic terms the money you have already invested into the pot can be considered as "sunk costs". These are costs that are invariably in the past and should therefore not influence your decision making on future streets. I think most players (me included) have this bias that they have already invested "too much" into a pot and therefore will not fold, even though the likelihood of winning is very small. Overcoming that flawed logic would definitely help boost the win rate.

Hi Lenin.

Regarding posting hands. It is probably easiest if you simply import the hand history of the hand you want to talk about. The RIO software will then convert your hand history into a more visually appealing format. So in the main navigation just click on "NLHE" and then click on "+ Add an NLHE Thread". There you can select Post Type (Hand History), Game Type (NLHE) and also the stakes you are playing it. After that you simply copy-past your hand history into the text field at the bottom and then click "next". RIO Will do its magic.

Regarding the hand: You are quite deep and after the BB cold call I think BTN can call with a slightly wider range (I would therefore specifically include 99 as well). Your flop cbet after the preflop action looks really strong, so you would have to adjust the strength of villains range accordingly, especially since it is a super dry board. Your turn bet further strengthens your range and so villain`s raise has to be a huge red flag as you pointed out. Given that you still have almost 80BB left after your turn cbet and villain has you covered I would probably fold after his turn raise.

Hope that helps. Good luck at the tables!

Depends on your opponent I guess. If he is overly aggressive I would probably raise on the smaller side to indicate weakness and leave him room for a re-raise. In my experience donk bets tend to show draws or just plain air. So I think if you make a pot size raise you would be scaring potential draws off. Think a 2/3 pot re-raise should do the trick.

Think UTGs 4bet size is quite interesting as it is super small. Without any more specific reads it is quite difficult to tell if this is basically a "cheap" re-steal or if he is just building the pot preflop with AA. Agree that flatting would be a bit tricky. I would probably close my eyes and shove.

But I assume you are posting this here because he showed AA and are looking for some legitimization that it was a good call. I think I would only fold KK preflop given such action on the bubble of WSOP.

Sorry was not of more help here, but I think I am not good enough to fold KK preflop.

Nice river! Well played mate!

Completely agree with @Masticlox. If he had 77 or 33 he would have shoved over your flop raise. He could be calling your raise with any kind of FD, sometimes even random Ax hands with some backdoor equity and then decide to stab when you show "weakness" on the turn by checking. I would shove rather than call. That way all his draws stack off now that he has basically committed to the pot after that large turn bet.