10k hands of muckity muck no limit at the $25 tables.

I have finally gotten through around 10k hands of NLH since I rebooted my system. I don't have the data with me, but here is my assessment off the top of my head.

1. Results: I am slightly in the red. I am still out of the red since March, but I am closer to 0 than I would like to be, but who wouldn't say that?.
   
2. I let myself get into a lot of tight spots on turns and rivers, paid off too often, and ran under EV with my semibluffs. When I am running badly, I play often play too Laggy, so no doubt these things are interrelated.
3. My play with premium hands is on the whole very solid, however I seem to get less value from AK than I'd expect. I will post more as I think about it.
4. Early in the sample set, I played far too many hands UTG and from the hijack. In a loose, spewy game, position and straight value betting are what wins the day. Suited connectors below broadway and suited aces need position and preferably a player to exploit.
5. I am probably cold-calling too much. There are fewer opportunities to play pots in position against players with tight raising ranges and high postflop %cbet and aggression factors. Their hand ranges are such that bluff shoving is nearly a spew.
   
6. I am starting to improve my aggression level, but I need to assess my cbetting and deeply study my line in big pots on the turn and river. **Especially vs. fish. I have given people air when a ton of cards kill my action on the next street, and I have snapcalled in a couple bad spots.

Successes:

• I think more about my individual plays, I challenge myself to develop reads and adjust my play to exploit them.
• I have re-acquired a verve for multitabling, but I am not on the level I once was.
• I have been active in the forums, acquired more poker conversation partners, and developed as a player because of it.
• I have been getting good value on my premium hands.
• My mindfulness of the present situation as an independent event has improved.
• I am considering the rake and rakeback more carefully in my decisions.
  
• Quitting. I generally quit sessions better than most. Once I catch myself out of line, I shut down the system and get up.
  

Shortcomings.

• Tilt. I was letting frustration shape my game too often. I am better than I have been at microstakes in the past (by a TON), but still have a ways to go.
  
• Boredom. I am letting longer sessions get the best of me and slipping into a non-optimal mindset. This feeds into my other problems.
• Short sessions. My mental endurance is lower than it has been.
• Poor hand selection UTG.
• (Possibly) over-estimating fold-equity in semibluff situations.
• Losing EV in big river pots.
  

patrick minton.

I am watching a stoxpoker video from Patrick "BilboSan" Minton. It reminds of why I was able to win quite a bit in $1 NL. I was able to control my opponents, read their hands, value bet, and avoid tough spots against them better than they could against me. His value betting examples are superb.

All in all a good day.

Before I played today, I watched a video from a cardrunners player and Kyle Hendon about playing no limit in a looser, more showdown oriented way. I have an itch to play no limit soon, so maybe I'll do that next time I play.

I started off playing limit hold 'em, but I was neither winning nor playing particularly well. I still deviate from a solid strategy too much when I am not focused on it. This is very frustrating. So, I decided to move on and play some tournament poker. Holy smokes, tournament poker can be a breeze. I ran pretty well in my larger buy in tournaments and my multitable tournaments, so I made some decent scratch. After a few hours though, I was pretty bored, so I decided to make an effort back in limit play. I feel like I did much better.

In wrapping up, I reviewed my data from the year so far. I think I have been running a little poorly, but my play has some leaks. I am paying off too much with one pair and losing some money with suited connectors. I'll post some more analysis and my ideas of how to improve tomorrow.

Meanwhile, behold! My awesome tournament result: 66% ROI over 12 tournaments.