AbvUrPlayGrd

1 hour ago, GR1ZZL3R said:

And here's me thinking you were a deep thinker. 

 Well some people used to call me "The Tanker". At least I think that's what they said but my hearing is a bit dodgy.

6 hours ago, Purps said:

It does indeed. All but the winner(s) are placed into random order.

Crazy system but i'm pleased it's not me that's crazy 

17 minutes ago, CuteRaven said:

Unfortunate run, as fun as bounty tournaments are (my favorite one is space madness) the variance is pretty brutal sometimes

I swear I was starting to think he was a super user or something. It was insane but then when he crashed out I stopped throwing things around the room ( I don't really throw things around the room, the wife bolted everything down years ago).

Nice BR recovery. It's really hard to get it back and there is an argument that you never really get back what you lost. At the same time nobody can ever just keep winning and it's also possible that losing can have a positive affect on the way you play as well as negative, so who knows.

I'm about the same down and looking at probably giving myself a break from cash for now. Some of that loss is messing around with other stuff and not being disciplined enough to stick to just cash ( I blame the missions) but my patience playing cash isn't what it should be. You wouldn't believe how patient I USED to be.

Your question on SNG/TC v Cash. 

I think your take on it pretty much sums it up. I don't really think most people can mix the 2 very successfully either, for a number of reasons, many of which you've mentioned but it really requires different attitudes and tactics. Also the risk v reward element is different.

The end point is almost set with a tournament play but the biggest attraction I think is the final table,  the winning of the prize, the kudos. That doesn't exist with cash. 

Some people say to play tournaments like a cash game and vice versa. I don't really think that works either. Not sure if that's relevant ,just came to mind.

Myself i'm going to make a decision this week on whether or not to continue with cash games or just set some targets for tournaments/sng's . It's really what I prefer and what I was best at. So I may get the WD40 out and give it a go because doing both doesn't work.

45 minutes ago, CuteRaven said:

Overall I would say that cash games suit more analytical and sane people

I shouldn't be anywhere near a cash table then! 

OK I had to return the "run good" to Amazon because it's obviously faulty.

The chips all went in pre on all of them. This was a €5 buy-in not a freeroll. He did this with any2 with anyone and was massive chip leader.

Is it a full moon or something!

In a flip where all 7 players are all-in with 1 chip. The finishing order is determined by the best hand, next best hand and so on, yes?

Or does it work differently here?

Quick (hopefully) post, just because I like to take the micky out of myself as much as the next person...

It appears I won 5x 40c supermoon tickets in a freeroll that I never even attended (note to self, sit out and you will be more successful). So I decided to buy into 4 flips and 1 satellite. 

It's all going nicely and I haven't lost a single hand I played. Every time it went to showdown I had a big hand and i'm getting lots of respect at the table (really surprising in a 40c sat) and before long i'm chip leader by quite a way. I look at the lobby and see that there are 6 seats and 7 left(7 on my table). I scan the table and the nearest threat has less than half of my stack and there are a couple of real shorties on my table so I just jam every hand picking up blinds.

Then the table lights up for final table! I had totally misread the lobby  That was lucky! Never mind, we soon reach the real bubble so I carry on, there are 2 players running on fumes and some crazy on my left who has plenty of chips calls with K6o when I have TT and gets there. Then she calls me again and wins! Obviously didn't get the memo. Time goes on, shorties won't die and this happens..

So far shorties keep surviving and i'm in the blinds next so not taking any chances. I can't jam because of call station on my left and I really didn't expect anyone else to do anything rash...

Wrong!

All goes in on the flop..couldn't make it up but I guess I deserved it for not just going for a lie down and leaving them to it earlier 

On a more positive note I won 2 tickets in the flips!

@P0kerM0nk Did you have to make your name so complicated, it took me 5 mins to type it correctly!

That was NL25 ??? Bloody hell! Could you message me with a list of names and i'll go and grab my fishing rod. NL4 is like that, half the time I have no idea where I am in a hand (according to the wife I have no idea where I am, period).

I find it's situations like that which are the most frustrating. You know you should be raking it in but you just can't get a break.

@CuteRaven Thanks but I'm still not doing those. Only times I've used ICM was in final table chops. I just do a rough calculation during a game which goes something like...  If I lose this hand will I be fucked? No, they're going in. Yes, but it's a really pretty hand and probably prettier than theirs, they're going in. Something along those lines 

The screenshot thing BTW. I was sure it was actually a video that i was able to play as if it was a replay of a hand. Perhaps it was someone else's post and I got mixed up but that's what i would like to be able to do. Post a video replay of the hand instead of screenshots.

22 hours ago, P0kerM0nk said:

Nice to see I've inspired someone to write a post  this game can be brutal at times and I'm sure there are high stakes pros who wouldn't be able to beat these micro stakes 

Indeed you did   Absolutely spot on. We used to discuss that very thing often and the consensus of opinion was that most would be lucky to make a final table in local games, let alone win it 2 or 3 weeks running. Cash would be much the same at the lower stakes because it's a different world. 

The raise pre was to isolate at the same time as getting some extra value from a call station. I tend to add some extra tax with players like that when I know they are likely to call with any 2 they fancy regardless.

5 hours ago, CuteRaven said:

Nice call! Iso pre seems quite big, but it seems good as an exploit if they call loose.

Yes, puts more in the pot for the majority of times they miss or bluff. The problem is I can't catch a break at the moment. Losing when i'm ahead and losing when i'm behind. I'm also not playing well generally  Not to worry though because I've ordered some rungood on Amazon Prime 

Ok this is getting ridiculous! Could someone please hurry up and win 4. GET A STRAIGHT FLUSH AT NLHE CASH GAMES (JUST ONE CARD FROM YOUR HOLE CARDS IS NEEDED TO BE USED)

I have never checked so many hands in my life!

On 8/2/2022 at 8:18 PM, Livertool said:

 

 

Wow Twin Peaks! Forgot all about that. Went very weird towards the end. Great soundtrack.

On 8/3/2022 at 2:39 AM, Rushbie said:

 

 Not my normal cup of tea and Butcher's accent is really going to grind on me but I'll give it a go.

 

BR is up and down like a yoyo currently £150

Best call of the day so far...

D

I was convinced he had been bluffing pots prior to this one and this was either nuts or nothing ,so went with my gut. 

Taking me ages to do these and I need to get back to losing money, so here's the shortened version of my worst call of the day (so far). I actually nearly folded if I had gone with my gut but a little voice kept saying "yeah but what if he's just clueless and has a flush because there was no indication he held an ace, made up SB, chk flop, small bet on turn and jammed river. 

Back to the fun!

Nice!  Would be awful if they just folded after waiting 21 yrs!

I was lucky when I got mine that someone also got AAAKK  

Timing is everything!

18 minutes ago, CuteRaven said:

Losing so much at Omaha made me tempted to play more PLO and try to learn the game properly. I'm considering starting some sort of 4€ stakes PLO bankroll challenge at some point (especially when there is so little PLO content on Unibet community).

I have very little experience with PLO. I did go through a stage of playing it live once the Omaha pro's had given me some pointers and I did reasonably well for the small amount I played (just ran good I think) mixed in with a little dealers choice.

My impression though is that PLO is the gambling version of poker for adrenaline junkies. Yes it's fun but it can also be very brutal with even bigger swings than NLH i think. No expert, not even average at it. And actually worried about having to see 50 flops for the August challenge 

 In the end I busted in 6th place and cashed for 52.21€ (last hand I jammed AK for about 10 bigs and got called by 55).

I think my all-ins were also justified ICM-wise, but this one I was a bit unsure off. I had a read that villain was jamming pretty light:

Firstly, how do you get the replay video on here like that?

I'm not doing the in depth calcs you did because I would still be working it out now. At best i would do a rough ICM and then likely ignore it if it didn't say what I wanted it to and was somewhere near.

What were the pay jumps?

I think given your read, his table position and him being joint shorty and your holdings, my chips are going in before his even land. Unlucky.

 

BTW, funny story: 

Hilarious!

GL with the move and break if you take one.

 

hips? Well I suppose all-in is all-in 

1 hour ago, CuteRaven said:

Well I can't argue with that (and against such players you probably want to be getting a lot of money in pre )

Yep been there and got the t-shirt and the scorch marks from them getting their hips in so fast!

@CuteRaven Yay! I worked out how to do that! I don't mind and it's also self serving. I will only post when I feel the need for whatever reason. I've actually posted way more than I expected already. If one other person gets something out of something I post (other than me) even just a laugh (possibly at m expense) then I'm happy.

You are absolutely spot on. You can't really go into the tank on a decision and so one table is really all you could reasonably do at a time to observe every single thing that goes on, to help you make that difficult decision in the allotted time. But it's really not practical, especially at low stakes and so you have to just make the best decision you can and accept that the more tables you play, the more mistakes you are going to make. Then yes its easy to get into a bad frame of mind.

As for the peer pressure live. I agree it was definitely a factor for me and many others and was also a useable weapon against some. My style of play and reputation did allow me a little more wiggle room in that respect but nobody wants to be witnessed spewing a stack on a badly orchestrated bluff or terrible call. I think it's still relevant online to an extent, especially on sites where you are tracked.

I think if it was ever looked into, we would find that there is a direct correlation between the type of player and their level of concern about shame, to some extent. My observation so far anyway.

Ok July mission was fun but August mission is just insane.

Be dealt AA THREE times! I only have 28 days to complete the challenge, not 2 years!

Get into a 5x multiplier Hexapro 2x    What's one of those!

cash in a €5> MTT on 2 consecutive days! can we make that 2 consecutive weeks?

See 50 flops on PLO....do you have a super micro version that i can play so i only waste about €50?

I'll be broke by the end of this one for sure! GL everyone 

I'm going to take my own advice and do a little update instead of continuing to play, even though I feel totally fine.

I think I played extremely well overall today in cash games and still managed to lose 7 or 8 buyins. One of those was probably a little bit of a suspect call but the rest were just the poker Gods punishing me for getting quads v flush near the start of the session.

I was going to upload the screenshots as most people do but it seems like it would take me forever to find them, snip them, edit the names and then upload them so I must be doing it the wrong way? I won't bore you with a blow by blow but it would have tested a saint. 

I played 4 of the Wild Wednesday tournaments for a bit of fun and cashed in 2 to reduce my losses by a few €'s. I was lucky to cash in one of them after making a schoolboy error near the money bubble. Folded to SB who just made up and I Jammed without much thought with Q9s and ran into QQ which crippled me. Had I thought about it I would have just checked at that point but I was too busy checking replays( and wondering why my BB's were disappearing without any apparent reason from one hand to another, like 3 bb's or so sometimes, way above ante's and not in the blinds, was happening to others too). Anyway I jammed my way back into it and survived long enough to return a profit. Ironically it was when I actually jammed with a hand that I went out. JJ v KT & AK  and obviously it's the least likely K they hit.

Such is life!

Hi nightshopper

I'm new to the forum and by no means an expert. I've been trying to catch up with other peoples blogs because, well i'm nosey and find them interesting. I started reading yours on page 1 thinking that was posted this year and as I was about to reply I noticed that I was a bit late to the party.

I have only read page 1 and skimmed the rest until the last couple of pages because I cant read for too long, so some of what I say may no longer be relevant or helpful or whatever, so apologies in advance if that's the case or i'm crossing any lines.

When I started reading your challenge and seeing the results I was very impressed. In no time you had pretty much doubled your BR and shown great discipline. Somewhere between then and now it looks like you lost some discipline for various reasons and have had a difficult time.

What I would say is that the way you started your initial challenge was an inspiration and a stellar success. Many people could and do go months without binking a tournament of any value (if ever), let alone 3 in such a short time.

It looks like you took some shots that didn't work out and I know how that goes. I did the very same thing when I first played online and soon burnt my way through a previously good win. That was enough for me to stop playing online for years. That still doesn't stop me wanting to take shots even now, the only difference is that now i recognise it's a mistake and so I have the choice to either remain disciplined or give in to temptation. Neither will kill you but the discipline will serve you well and the temptation will lead you down the path of eventual disappointment, unless you are one of the 000000.1% that gets lucky and continues to carry that luck to a huge bink. but even some of those people will eventually blow it all.

Looking at your current challenge it seems you are maybe going to  start playing a bit high but it's not horrendous so long as you realise that its more likely that you could run out of funds before you ever win a tourney and don't beat yourself up if that happens.

With going on tilt. What I think helps more than anything is stopping when things aren't going well (guaranteed it will happen) and write about it in your blog. Even if you don't get any replies it will help you identify it and give you the time to make the right decision, especially if it takes you ages to type like me  . Also as has been mentioned, playing like a robot without emotion is a great help. I struggled with that the other day because I experienced something new but when I played live that is exactly how I did it. What I noticed when I did that in live games is that it often tilted the luckbox who sucked out when I just behaved like it had never happened. It doesn't stop you feeling it inside but the fact that you can portray it on the outside reduces the effect it has on you.

The other thing I felt when reading was that you seem to approach the game much as I do. I have never been a technical player. I'm in awe of some players that are technical wizards and will always defer to their advice on that side of things. I know enough to make mathematical decisions when required but I have always and will always be a player that goes on instinct and reads before anything else. I didn't even know about the "Pluribus" experiment until I read a post about it. I only ever read a poker book to find out how others played and what I am "supposed" to do to use that to my advantage. It served me well playing live but now I need to adapt again for online and for the way poker is changing. I think your approach serves you well too and only your discipline lets you down.

I wish you well in your challenge and may even try one like yours myself soon. Whatever happens, just remember that the only pressure on you is the pressure you put on yourself. Stop and write about it if you feel you are going to slip.

Good luck!

8 hours ago, Rushbie said:

No-one could say it out loud any better, man 

The purity of post is simply brilliant 

The world needs more honest ranters like you 

Cheers

6 hours ago, Rushbie said:

And to be clear, maybe the blogging on online world is literally what you should do. The method has helped a lot of people. Not the whole world, but yourself and alike. Clearly you're good at expressing yourself with pure heart. The difference between livegames and online games for example, is a real thing not many chats about  which is kinda unfortunate. Who cares to chat with bots?  Or bot-born dataspewers 

Your take on the playing online has been the most refreshing thing to see for a while, and it certainly fights against the universal apathy of even trying to chat about the human side of perfect gaming. Much respect 

Very kind words thank you.  I never know how it will come across, especially when it's written late at night or in the heat of the moment but it was really nice to read your reaction to it. Yes the difference between "Live" and "Online" is night and day for so many reasons.

1 hour ago, Jami-Unibet said:

Hey @AbvUrPlayGrd, first thing you should do is go to the settings and turn the emotes off, that way you won't be tilted by them!

I didn't know I could do that thanks. I should be ok dealing with them now that I've experienced their effects and I think I can now turn them to my advantage. Still would be nice to add a couple more though 

I know that UB take a different approach to the likes of PS with regard to using software and anonymity etc but would it be possible to at least introduce the option to colour code players. It wouldn't alter anything in terms of anonymity because you can still take notes on a player manually, it would just save a lot of time and make life easier?

43 minutes ago, GR1ZZL3R said:

Press Ctrl and Alt together and 4 at the same time.€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€

Ah thanks! I will forget in no time at all but I can always come back here and have a look or just be lazy and use the £ symbol. I can use the £ symbol to report wins and the € symbol to report losses for a psychological advantage 

44 minutes ago, GR1ZZL3R said:

I've got to say it, you were lucky, usually that ends only one way.

Yes I was. I only recovered the €20 back because I started playing sensibly again but the reality is that I will never get that €20 back. It's like a missed sale.

59 minutes ago, GR1ZZL3R said:

Certainly don't delete, there are not enough ramblings like this.  My intention when I started was to take a different approach to a blog but that fizzled out somewhat, this has inspired me  (writing wise mainly ) and I hope many more.

I'm pleased my ramblings have inspired you. Many words of wisdom and you have a great sense of humour, something that is definitely required in poker. I'm very slowly working my way through other peoples blogs when I get the chance.

As for continuing myself I can't say. I would like to think I will do the odd update without too many rants. The main problem is that it can take a long time for me to write something like that these days (about 2 hrs) which is due to MS apparently. Although keeping me off the poker tables for a couple of hours may not always be a bad thing

A little update while I try to de-tilt myself....

So I deposited £50 with the goal of learning to be disciplined online. It was rarely a problem for me when I played live but the last time I attempted playing online I really struggled with it.

Apart from messing around with these mission things (because I like a challenge) I have been sticking quite religiously to NL4, which I have to admit seemed like a big step down but something I knew I had to do, especially with such a small deposit. I must say that the standard of play I have encountered (generally) is really bad. I think you could actually make a decent living even at that level with enough patience. The problem is that I would never even get close to hitting the higher tiers for rakeback/rewards.

Over the last couple of weeks I had built my bankroll up to just under £220 (euros, cant find the euro symbol) with grit and determination and releasing about £20 in bonuses. Despite losing about £15 playing PLO at silly 'o' clock in the morning trying to complete a mission ( i hate that game really) and going on what can only be described as "monkey tilt" a few days ago. What is it about those damn emotes that wound me up so much. I would like to request a new "dick head" emote please.

So you got it all-in with a gut shot and make it and now you tilt your cap at me and laugh...

So after realising I was in tilt mode I decided the only way to get it out of my system was to make a new ID and play like a lunatic, blast some emotes out and generally be an idiot. I had no idea just how addictive it is. Playing without restraint or any care for probability, odds or the fact that the card I need has as much chance of turning up as Elvis. It was so addictive that even when I figured I had done enough to convince the tables I was a lunatic, at a cost of around £20 I struggled to get out of that mode. I had to take a quick break to snap out of it completely and then managed to get it all back plus a small profit before calling it a day.

This was me in full swing....

The thing is that during my "spazout" I bust a few people getting really lucky when I had no right to be in the hand. of course I lost it back again, usually to someone else. But that's the thing. Idiots get lucky and destroy your hours of work, only to then go and donate it to someone else. Over time it would hopefully even out and find its way back to you but when you are building up from the start it's very disheartening.

Oh yes...the reason for taking this extended break. After getting my BR to about £220 I decided to have a little wander into 10NL to test the waters and hopefully speed up earning points. Well in my relatively short stint, I came to the conclusion that 10NL is even softer than 4NL. Hard to believe it could be, considering the bar was already very low. I lost a couple of stacks initially when I couldn't hold in flips but then I was sailing quite nicely and destined to increase my bankroll. I decided I was going to take a break and hit "sit out on all tables next BB" Well I wish I had just elected to sit out next hand because holy fck!

You couldn't make it up! Knowing that they just love to go fishing and how addictive it is I stuck plenty of extra tax on. Doesn't matter because a gut shot is still a shot at any price apparently. Followed by running cards to make a straight versus set (that happens so often) and the running cards for a flush and so on. I needed a break now more than ever but like an idiot I wasn't going anywhere until I got it back off them. But no my AK's never won flips or when I made the right calls for stacks with 1 card to come, they hit their 3 outer. To make matters worse they would then leave and come back with a short stack....how is that even allowed!

So what was going to be a nice session turned into a nightmare and -£50+ leaving me with £166. I did blow about £6 of that jumping into a couple of tournaments to blow off steam without going broke. 

I read Poker Monks update and that kind of inspired me to write this so he doesn't feel so lonely and in the hope I will have chilled enough to continue playing. But the truth is that I know I haven't because I'm tempted to just jump straight into NL50 to cut some corners. Presumably the standard is way better there and I can't afford not to be on my "A" game. So the fact that I'm even considering it tells me i'm still on tilt. 

I have no idea what direction I will take now because I'm not confident of being able to remain in control, which is totally alien to me. I'll probably do the sensible thing and drop back down and give up any hope of reaching L6 anytime soon. Maybe even just play tournaments , which is what I enjoyed, if i'm going to give up that goal. But I'm not even sure my game has evolved enough to deal with the modern game. Now it seems like it's so much more of a crap shoot. Even a lot of the Regs I see are just gamblers. There are some very good Regs too of course but right now i'm not one of them.

I'm almost tempted to delete these ramblings, especially as yet again I have written a book. But what the hell, at least I refrained from inserting even more Gif's (I find that quite addictive too). I think all poker players have a compulsive addictive personality to some degree!

Sorry! Couldn't resist!

On 7/24/2022 at 1:07 AM, CuteRaven said:

For example here is every hand that Pluribus had QQ in:

 

@7:17 it's total bullshit. In the real world AT LEAST 3 of them are calling and possibly 1 or 2 of them unloading the clip(and getting there).

I'm still only on NL4 and popping into NL10 mind and pretty much the entire table would have already fallen in love with their hands and not letting go 

Pluribus was running like you early on in that video too.

Hard as it is to keep steady when there's a storm, you can get through it.

Did you get help?