Results so far (ie since 16 July):

Full tilt - July (all six max)
50NL: 2182 hands, -$93.95 (-4.31BB/100)
25NL: 2,632 hands, +$91.15 (6.83BB/100)
10NL: 24 hands, +$3 (62.50BB/100)
Overall: 4,838 hands +$0.2

Full Tilt - August
50 NL: 7216 hands, +$491.80 (6.81BB/100)
25NL: 668 hands, +$9.95 (2.98BB/100)
Overall: 7884 hands,+$501.05 (6.48 BB/100 - $13.17/hour - 13.48BB/hour).

At 50NL I have 19.20/15.64 VPIP/PFR stats (something like 18/14 is roughly what I am looking for), AF is 4.48 (which I note now has fallen a bit recently) and I C-bet the flop 86% of the time, and turn 52%.

Always wanted to do this:




Obvious leaks:

1) Over playing/misplaying pocket pairs on low flops in the face of aggression - still struggling with this.

2) Set mining without the implied odds - in particular calling 3-bets - I identified this in broad terms myself, but have since read a very good article which suggests that if you are going to call, the raiser (and you) need to have a stack of approximately 16x the amount you have to call to make it a profitable call (the break even point is a bit lower than 16x). So any 3 bet to more than 5, following a standard raise to 1.75, is basically unprofitable for set mining when both players have standard 50 stacks. The standard 3 bet is to 6 - so both players will need stacks of 68 to make that a profitable call. I was calling 3 bets to about 8.5 at one point with 50ish stacks.

3) Combining 1 and 2

4) Not really knowing how to play against a particular type of fish - those that limp into every pot and won't fold most of the time - my two losingest sessions have involved one of these sitting to my right.

5) Not realising (or refusing to accept) that a min raise or a check min raise on the flop or turn usually signifies the nuts or something very strong (usually trips) and jamming with a non premium overpair. I think I have this one tagged now (but I stacked off 3x first). And now its basically a fold situation unless I have a monster or a note that the player uses it as a bluff (which as shameful a play it is - I have used a couple of times myself to bluff off fish who I have seen using the min raise with the nuts).

6) Failing to recognise that, at this level, players with full stacks rarely get it all in post flop without large hands - so its important to identify the passive players (who won't jam without the nuts) and the aggressive players who might. There are a lot more passive than aggressive players.

Interestingly/not surprisingly my 3 losingest hands so far including the first few days of September are QQ and 1010, and 33. My 3 winningest hands are JJ, AKo and AA.

33 makes an appearance because I have twice made sets, got all the money in, and then been rivered. But QQ and 1010 are a concern.

I will be having an enforced break over the next few days and plan to spend some time reviewing old hands.

Epiphany, the sudden realisation or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something.

On any given Sunday there are probably 500,000 people playing online. How many are winning players? Not many I suspect. But then again how many are horrific losers? Again, not that many.

Most probably dribble away money or break even, and play for a combination of recreational (acceptable), addiction (not so good), and self deluding reasons (because playing legitimises the possibility, no matter how unlikely, that the dream might come true. The sheer volume of small time losers keeps the whole poker economy in business.

The moment you start playing poker you reach a crossroads. Turn left and join the path to greatness - study, learn, think, study, learn, think and you will prosper.

Turn right and join the shoal.

You will watch a lot of poker on telly. You will read a couple of books (written by people who play live against live players), you will absorb the starting hand requirements and nothing else (there may not be much else). You like everyone else will enjoy temporary success after reading Harrington, you will win a tournament or two (this is to be expected since every single tournament even the $1 ones have winners) temporarily camouflaging your weaknesses.

You will lose track of the goal - to win money (because you aren't winning any, so best not to think about it), but never the dream (because someone just like you, or Jerry Yang, is always winning money).

You will come to learn some fancy plays - floating, 3 betting, bluff shoving, but you won't know and understand when to use them, why or against whom. You will know that position is important, but you will not understand why or act accordingly. You will spot weakness in others and basque in your greatness when doing so, but be oblivious to your own.

Ultimately you will get nowhere. You will be oblivious to the other path.

Enough - the point is this: at the end of the day there is no point playing poker unless 1) your goal is to win money 2) you are constantly striving to improve your game 3) you are doing all you can to improve your game and win money.

I want to win money. I want to improve. I have to take several steps back to the beginning, turn left and start again. I worked this much out myself before joining Cardrunners in mid July. But I had no idea how little I knew about the basics or anything else until I start watching the low stakes videos.

In the last month I have spent more time thinking about how to play poker and win at the low levels (nb that is not the same as thinking about poker) than ever before. I'm grinding at $50NL (with an appropriately sized bank roll) and loving every minute of it. I'm making mistakes (mostly to do with playing overpairs) and learning from them. I'm improving, I want to learn more and for the first time I think I have a realistic chance of winning some money in the long run.

I started with a bank roll in Full Tilt of about $1250. I played a bit at $25NL to get used to the TAGGY basics. And now I'm 2 or 3 tabling at $50NL. I have one goal at the moment to reach $2,000 (hopefully by the end of August) and a longer term aim of reaching $4,000 (hopefully by the end of Novemberish) - at which point I will think about taking a shot at $100NL. I'm hoping to fit in about 10,000 hands per month. I will post my stats at the end of the month.

I randomly recorded a middle of the night episode of the Party Poker European Open iv last week. Turned out to be the one featuring Andy Ward. What I learned: Andy Ward = Frank Skinner.

So what have I been doing? Not alot. Since the end of May have been playing sit and go's quite successfully. Last night came 2nd in a small PLO8 tournament ($11, 170 runners, pays $285). Also playing some 2/4 HORSE on Stars and a lot of golf.