New Coach and First Session

So last night...Sat i had my first lesson with my new coach tubasteve off deauces cracked

It was a really interesting session , First off i played 2 tables for a while , whilst steve
sort of watched , trying to analyse my play without interfering , hope that wasnt too difficult
for him

There were a few interesting spots , but i think one of the most important things , if not the
most important thing was during the discussion we had at the end of the session , Steve was just
commenting about how 2 guys with ironman markers had just played a hand pretty standardly ,
i mentioned to him that i would rarely 4 bet AK and i think he said that was a BIG leak or maybe
he said HUGE whatever the comment was that sounded the alarm bells

He kindly did me the favour of explaining exactly how it was a HUGE leak , We pokerstoved AK versus a
pretty tight range , only 6% of hands for the relevant 3 bet from villain AK turned out to be A
very slight favourite about 52 48 , assuming the 4 bet had taken place we were able to fold out over
50% of the villains 3 bet range , we did however lose 10% equity and our hand was now a 60 40
underdog , but it was at the expense of 50% of his hand range !!

So that was the HUGE leak explained . Later in the evening i was in the cutoff with AK obviously raising
the 16/12 button 3 bet me , so after the session with Steve i waited a little and 4 bet
the button went all in , i called and was up against KK , luckily an ace came on the flop and
i won , im not sure if that was how it was meant to be and ill post the hand to my coach later
but that was how the hand turned out .
We touched on a couple of other things and i realized i am a book buyer but not a book reader as i had all
the books recommended but had only really glanced at them , anyway i am straying from the subject a little

The point of the post was really to illustrate how important it is to have somone able to pont out
things such as the AK situation . I mean i just would nt of ever 4 bet unless Steve had picked up on it

Not sure if this is exactly how i should have played it

www.pokerhand.org/?2953265

Anyway later all

Update

so its been a short while since my last post so ill try and update everyone on whats going on

the repair to my pc is taking a little longer than expected so i have to use my laptop

this means i can only play realistically for me just the 2 tables so i have only played around 3500 hands although its at 3bb for about $100 so thats not too bad

on the studying side of things i have read the first 5 chapters of poker mindset
and its pretty cool to say the least , i really am developing the habit of trying to
make the right decision , and am less aware of the results

i also have been revisiting my pre flop play and have hopefully got the right mix
my post flop is improving too so more good news

and i have a new coach , yet to start my first lesson but thats too come

anyway , trying to keep up with all the blogs , will post some hands soon

later all

Just Posting

Ok so its been a little quiet the last couple of days

Worked out that i can read a book whilst cycling at the gym. Awesome !!

It wasnt that i was allowed , just that the bike i was on had a suitable
handlebar rest , So i can study whilst at the gym now , and it was the poker mindset i was reading , so after reading the chapter 2 i immediately re read the part about studying , my weak spot . Sadly after getting back to the office i went on Lost Book Tilt !!! No kidding !!!

However although i lost about a buyin during the evening , i was very conscious of the fact that i was having a bad run of cards and that most of my decisions were ok
i think , tilt had ended by then

The following day , i found the book so i was well pleased ,
When i got home in the evening my computer had stopped , so i had to take it to the computer repairman

Thnakfully the laptop is ok so i can play a little , although there is no hud

Anyway , trying to keep the momentum going with the posting on my blog , and have even made some comments on others

Feeling good at the moment , about the game

Later

Help Wanted and Needed !!!

I have recently been trying to open up from the cutoff and button, the problem is I am a little unsure of my preflop range from these positions

Here’s a few things that I am not sure of

Suited hands in the cutoff or button . What is the range here , would I raise a hand like Q7 in the cutoff or do I do it on the button or at all ?

I know it is player dependant but if I am going to open up I will have to raise more regardless of the players

How about J2 suited on the button , I would raise k7 suited from the cutoff and the button , but is that correct ?

The next area is when I have these hands and I am going to raise but get raised first , for example K10 suited I would normally raise from the cutoff and the button and depending on the table utg+1 but what if I am on the button and get a utg+1 or cutoff raiser ?
do I fold ? do I call ? What do I do ?

As well as the suited hands what about 1 gappers or 2 gappers and how far down do I go , currently I will raise 56off and up from the button in an unraised pot , is that correct ?

Then what about the higher cards when in a raised pot ? how about A10 or KQ do I fold raise or call , it is these marginal hands that I stuggle with

On the C betting side of things , what sort of percentages do you C bet against , I used to C bet all the time , but now I try for somone who folds over 70 percent, is that too high ? , should I go lower whats the right percentage

Sorry about the length and number of questions but I need answers

Later All

Graham

Question ?

www.pokerhand.org/?2852869
www.pokerhand.org/?2852926

just confirm that i shouldnt be doing this sort of thing ?
i mean ive been playing long enough , i think !!

Poker Thoughts and Reflection

So at the end of May the plan was to Reflect and comment on the year before . In true style that didn,t materialise So a little later than originally planned and more a reflection on my learnings and shortfallings and some general ramblings here is something

During June I got to realize that I call too much , particularly large turn bets when I am on a draw , looking back through June I can see this is a big leak !! Hopefully someone can confirm this

Another thing that I felt happened apart from the usual bad beats was I got involved with short stacks to much and my play against them was pretty much to feel they were committed and just get it all in at some stage , again I fell this is a leak

Whilst reading the blogs I came across an entry from Greg all about results and being results
Orientated , as with most things I sort of don’t get them straight away , they sort of slowly filter into me , and at some stage during June it finally all filtered through

So now the important things for me whilst playing are the decisions , I am less worried about the results or the variance to a degree and far more concerned with the decisions I am making
So that is a good point

I will high light some week points in my poker life and hopefully this will stimulate my brain a little . Firstly I don’t really study , I play , don’t ask me why but I just do , id much rather play than pick up a book or watch a video , I have and I do both , but not as part of any plan , and maybe theres a thing there , NO PLAN !!

Wow I just realized another really important thing , I seldomly review hands !! how can I have forgotten that !! that’s a nother thng I need to work on !!

“And One More Thing “ !! in the words of Jackie Chan’s Uncle ( you have to watch the cartoon !! )

I don’t sweat or blog enough !!

So at some stage of the month I intend to formulate a plan or timetable for my poker playing
And studying and try to work it into my lifestyle

Although the above doesn’t run in a particular order within this entry it should be way way at the top . This is a big leak , Lack of Discipline , like I said I play more than I study

Please comment with ideas on the above !! and how you do these things

Edit …man I need to make a plan…a proper plan…

PS… any tips on hand reading

Ok .. This entry probably reflects my poker life , Unorganised… that’s probably the best word to use

July Goal - ORGANISATION

June

Ok ...A couple of things ... At the end of May i had been playing 50NL
for a year... The plan was to reflect and see what i had an hadn,t learnt
and where i feel i am at present regarding this game...

First the results ...