Pre-Flop Hole Cards Again, Turbo Tournaments, Personal Statistics

In this previous post, I mentioned shoving from the small blind with 99, because KK decided to limp in UTG+1 (sometimes a good move, but turned out disastrous in the play). So using Holdem Manager and my last 23 tourneys, plus the Still Being Tweaked Turbo Tournament Strategy, I will discuss certain preferred Hole Cards, how often I have won with them, and how they are best played.

Now that I've played more tourneys, my percentage of HM's top cards has increased. Raised from the initial 2.4% to 3.3% are AA, KK, QQ and AK. Let's take a look at the win/loss record here.

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• AA - 6 times. Lost with them only once, Loss was in CO position, 2+ limpers in front, and of course, I shoved. BB50. I also was second chip leader at 4450. However, big blind called all in with 55, made set on turn. Only lost 1220 chips. I tend to get AA most in Middle Position, and shoving doesn't always produce folds (as you can see). Win Rate: 5/6 hands - 83%.


• KK - 5 hands, lost once. Still early stage 20bb, IN BB, shoved, got called by AQs and T9s (what?), and A flops. However, an 80% success rate falls within the 60/40 rule I'm looking for. I recommend shove regardless of position, just because IT IS a Turbo. But, if you feel better with a substantial raise in Early pos to see a flop, that can work also.


• QQ - I have some better success with Ax. Win rate is 57.1%. Lost one with preflop all in from UTG, there was AA on board in late position, we all lost to the chip leader with QJ suited. BB 100, should have just raised. Best to fold QQ's when 2 re raises (AA did go all in, and I'm sure BB would have called). QQ is still best from mid to late position. The EV pre flop is 50%, so one needs to keep this in mind. Definitely worth the shove when have the stack. Lost again against KK. I did fold QQ when 20bb, during an all in frenzy (and A9 won. A2 off, the chip leader, received a side pot).


• AKs - 75% win rate, dealt 3 times, lost once, won twice. All times were in Early position.
  
  
  
  


• AKo - 9 hands dealt, 5 won, 4 lost (have a tendency to play all). I folded one hand, that I would have won with. Wanted to conserve chips, in BB. Lesson learned, other AK raised to 500, 2 other callers before the BB, not at level to race yet, probably should fold AKo in multi-raised pot. another rerun shows that at the Middle Stage, blinds 100 to 200, shoving with AK, and no K nor A on flop, is a mistake. However, once the antes hit, if on the button, defintely worth a big raise. Be careful if the BB has more chips than you, because you could end up with a race that you lose.

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I want to discuss some hands won that are out of the ordinary (they have a higher percentage rate).

• Dealt ATs once, blinds were 1000, chip stack 6000, middle position with one limper, made the shove (this is during the in the money phase). Flopped T2T to win the pot.


• Dealt KTs once, on Button, made raise, blinds 4k, won the pot with a continuation bet.


• 100% win rate with AJs, dealt twice, once in BB, called raise, won pot, and once in early pos, 7 handed, blinds 1k, went all in for 3.5k+, uncalled.
• J5s in BB, made a move, and made the flush.


• JJ and TT the same. Win rate of 75% out of 4 hands. All wins BB, CO, and BTN (one early pos win when blinds were big). Most wins were simply position raises, with appropriate bet when checked to me. 87s also has win rate of 75% out of 4 hands.

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Now, on to Pockets:

• 88 has win rate of 66.7%, while 99 has win rate of 60%. 88 plays best on button and SB. 99 plays best from middle to SB. Don't shove unless you are on the short stack.


• 77 is dismal, apparently, I've played every one, regardless of position. Should only be played in the later stage, in the money stage, and part of final table. Only played 66 once, and ended up winning (folded all others).

There are many other hands I could go over, but you get the gist. You will also get a feel for how many times you get certain cards in a sample size of 23 tourneys. Feel free to analyze your own play.

Poker Education, Free Online Coaching, Brought to You By - Web Surfing

Yesterday and Today was an Internet surfing forage. Started in the Full Tilt Forums. They are having deposit, withdrawal issues, and someone noted the Regulation Authority (which gets a little confusing on the bottom of the page). So, I went to googling of the actual owners of FTP (whom are supposed to be in the US, hence the crackdown of the Feds more on FTP than the rest of the Poker sites).

This led to - indeed, Filco is located in the US. And, they seem to have switched main regulation over to the UK from Kahnawake. Which led to a forum and topic later in this post. Which led to revisiting the FTP forums, which led to finding some REALLY great Videos on YouTube (from more googling).

Now, there are many aspects to furthering your study of Poker. As one popular site said, Phil Ivey does more studying of the game (or at least he Used to), offline, than actually playing. As such, us low limit players can use ALL the edge we can get. Analyzing your own game is very good (one blogger is playing during the day, and analyzing at night). You can read this blog and other blogs (they are really helpful, and the blogs I study are listed at the bottom of the blog, under the Copyright notice), and frequent forums - such as 2+2. There is also the Full Tilt Academy, which is free to those with A full Tilt Account, and as you earn Points, more Videos and Challenges are open to you.

Others advocate books, DVDs, Online Videos, and personal Coaching (though the latter should really be reserved for those new to the scene). As to coaching and Online Videos such as those offered by Cardrunners, Stox, and Sharkscope - they are good, but self proclaimed pros are popping up all over the place (such as moi). I say, why pay for it when you can get it for free? I've also discovered, that surfing through the different sites I get my info from, I've come close to getting the same information as reading the Harrington Books (though those are still probably on my list).

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Our first catch, is a channel on YouTube from Tight Poker. I haven't visited the Web Site Yet, but its STRONGLY suggested you watch all the videos. There's a segment on Huds, but his use of Holdem Manger to review stats via the Hand Replayer is very informative. All those using Holdem Manager should watch all the Videos. Those looking for basic low limit (microstackes from 2NL to 100NL) should watch all the Hand Review Videos (or just watch them all). Now, as stated before, I don't really use the Huds, but this may get me started as I climb the limits. I am, however, with "microstakes bankroll builder" on not relying so much on Huds, as direct observation of your opponent (you will notice the difference when you watch the videos, as to what the Huds can tell you, and what you can see in 50 hands of play against your opponent - his blog is good for education too, but remember, as in my blog, its still an opinion - we differ on buy in strategies and bankroll managment).

Check out tightpokerdotcom's Channel, and start from the bottom of the list (PS, the Pokerstars video has to download fully before playing).

My next find, I haven't watched many videos yet. After each video with Tight Poker, you get some related videos, and I clicked on this one to check out the channel. Looks to be good, and worth a study (I will file a later report if this is not the case).

sitngogenius's Channel (ps, also contains videos on lotto, roulette, etc). I'll collect and post more channels as I continue the Web Search.

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Two forum posts Submitted for your Approval, long reads, but interesting:

Banned from FT without evidence - full disclosure. While I haven't read the entire thing, I did skip to the end for a cliff notes version (which prompted me to re read the thread). Apparently, he proved to be cheating (for those wondering about programs such as PT3 and HEM, don't be scared, they are allowed on Full Tilt, PokerStars and UB. Cake Poker-and all sites on the network- disallow the use of Huds, and they won't work).

Another Long Read (but the beginning of withdrawal issues), Full Tilt Poker Seized 25K from my account. This guy also proved to be doing some cheating with a friend, though haven't read the full scoop. For more on banned software, and how to avoid these problems, read my posts under the label Banned Software.

I have plenty of resources listed along the sidebar of this blog, and at the bottom. The serious Poker Player will do in depth research, as opposed to a newbie who complained about losing over 1k, and when asked what he did to help study/better his game, said he bought a HUD. Please judge accordingly, and read more of my blog on the matter.

Now, off to watch some videos (PS, you can also get a lot of info from watching Poker After Dark, they don't water down the play when folks keep folding or go in the tank, shows the full play for both Cash Games and Single Table SNG play).

Submitted for Your Approval, Turbo Tournament Strategy Development

The work on the Turbo Tournament Strategy continues. I have four aspects I am looking at:

1. Writing Up the Pre-flop Strategy


2. Observation of Other Games (and excellent time to take notes on your opponents, snyder321, I've got you noted :-)


3. Playing actual games and analyzing the results (also, time to keep notes on other players, including when you bust out, which is hard to do.)


4. Tweaking the strategy to match the results

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A note on Observation, paying Attention to the Types of Players you are surrounded with:

• One that doesn't really know poker, much less tournament strategy. Likely to go all in first hand with J9 off (or such other ridiculous call).
• One that doesn't really care about the tournament (low cost excuse, "its only 10 cents" will be on many players minds).
• Of course, the general fish, and the opponent that seems to be out to prove how many pots he can steal with a bluff and big stack (watch for this player to go on tilt, got lucky early in the game with that J9 off, and will start going all in with any 2 cards).

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Second Aspect, Observation. For this, I simply observe tourneys. Plenty of opportunities here, just pick one and watch. Or, look up a known player (such as the one noted in my Multi-Table study, or the infamous snyder321). You can keep notes on the folks you watch, dependent on your setup for note taking. You will then start to find some previous noted players in your own tournament.



You can also pull up notes/labels while observing from tourney lobby when find noted players, or after searching for a player, and finding their table.

The purpose of observation was to see how well my strategy would play, and to note other folks using the same sort of play. I have noticed at the lower level of buy in, a few start off with the good strategy approach, with later donking due either to the reliance on Luck Variable, or because of regular Tournament Strategy, not applicable to Turbos. So application of the strategy can prove invaluable in that edge against opponents without this knowledge.

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Third Aspect, Actual application of the strategy:

I have to keep reminding myself to keep notes on other players. It is STRONGLY recommended that while learning the strategy, to play MANY games, and not MULTI-TABLE. The reason being, you will want to learn the key elements prior to playing more than one table, so that when you open more than one table, you have the skills needed to play.

My play has improved greatly with the strategy. Prior to the study, I had played 19 tourneys total, with varying results. After some application, the next 4 tourneys proved more closer to the money, with the exception of one. The next post will address those tourneys.

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First and Fourth Aspect: Writing the Strategy, and Tweaking with Study.

I developed the strategy (soon to be published), based on some study of blind structure, position, pre-flop play, and recommended hole cards. Since Turbos are a Pre-Flop Game, the two starting cards are MOST important, followed by Chip Stack size relative to the Blinds, then your position on the table. After that, we have stages for the tournament, which I have broken into early, middle, late, nearing the bubble, in the money, and final table.

After some work, I have the early, middle and later stages going pretty well. With the help of analysis though Holdem Manager, I have noted some additions and subtractions to basic Hole cards based on position (not only stack size). A lot of my prior study did not include In the Money Play, nor actual Final Table. Nearing the Bubble, I've had to incorporate a few different strategies here. I am tweaking the Nearing the Bubble, In the Money, and Final Table stage through actual application via observation, actual play, and tourney analysis.

The next posts will address some of these aspects, where I fell off, and lastly, offer a READER CHALLENGE for your consideration (think Rod Serling here).



Passing Personal Note: VERY IMPORTANT, Man, I need more coffee.

So, What the Heck Have I Been Up To? Study and Tweaking.

Well, its been a few days since I've posted. Want to cover a few topics, and catch the readers up with What's Going On.

I've been sick for a few days, throwing my daily life into a little bit of an off array. Didn't play any poker, because the medication made my mind a tad fuzzy. I recommend to everyone, DO NOT PLAY POKER if you find your mind is not up to the game. This isn't WOW, this is real money against real opponents with skill and huds vs. your abilities. Ergo, no points have accumulated on Full Tilt, so I won't be vying for the point a day Freeroll next month.

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Another aspect of the game I would like to discuss is observation. Even though I have holdem manager, I do not record observed hands. For one thing, at the level I'm playing, it is HIGHLY unlikely that I will run into repeat opponents over and over again. So, I will have created a large database without real meaning. However, I have played online, and observed many different types of games at ALL stake levels over and over since 2003. This gives me a distinct advantage to recognizing patterns, even as PRNG's or TRNG's evolve for different Poker sites. Therefore, when I start to see a certain sequence of cards being dealt in a tourney, I can tell when a LOSING STREAK is about to happen. It is simple Mathematics. and the ability to recognize patterns in a pseudo random environment. While observing, I WILL keep notes on players, AND I highly recommend keeping notes on Players while at the table. HuDs will be useful at the higher levels, but your opponents are probably using them also. And, as I've seen repeatedly in other blogs, despite High VPIP readings, the Villain tends to win a big pot anyway. So HUDS can be off.

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Are you folks doing the computer Maintenance as described in this post? Its very important to SHUT the machine down, at least weekly. Hibernation is not the same thing. Desktop users will want to unplug the Desktop for 1 to 2 minutes in order to clean out Memory, as opposed to Laptop users removing the battery. Windows builds up a lot of residual, the Service Host Process being the largest, and for Vista/Win 7 users, DWM, Desktop Windows Management, keeps using up larger and larger amounts of memory as you do more playing, and visit more websites, etc., without clearing the Memory. Rebooting does not clean all this residual out, only clearing the memory by disconnecting the Power Supply will work.

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As to the question of adding RSS feed to the Sidebar of your blog, I downloaded firefox last year when I got my new puter, and transferred the settings and add ons from my old Computer. I also have the Sage Reader add on (others can do a quick look for different subscription readers, as Sage may be outdated for the current version). For IE users, I do not know how you would accomplish the same thing. When I reach a site I want to add for feeds to other posts, I open up Sage, and click on the Search for Feeds, add RSS feed, and then right click the new link in sage, select properties. In separate window, tab, I select Edit Layout, Add Gadget, and the the RSS Feeder shown. It will ask for the URL, which I copy and Paste from the Properties box (or you can simply copy and paste to notepad), and upload the Gadget to Layout. Place the Gadget wherever you want it to show up, and then Save Layout. I then Delete the link from Sage (unless I want to keep the site in there), and I am done. IE users, please comment as to your methods for doing this. I have switched to Firefox since a potential Nasty tried to hit my old computer in 2008, and with Vista Use, very rarely use IE for anything. So other browsers with blogs, feel free to help a commenter out with how to add RSS, Atom feeds through the Gadget for BlogSpot.

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Now, for the Current Status of my Poker Playing. I am tweaking a new Low Buy In Multi Table Tournament Strategy. As described in my Turbo Tournaments post, Turbos are a pre-flop Game. My finished page will have strategies for all kinds of tournaments, but Turbos are the strategy I wish to start with. So, I have made a preliminary list of pre-flop hole cards to work with at different stages of the Game. Another Study is the Pre-Flop Strategy by Chris Ferguson (though the challenge is for ring games, its meant to translate into tournaments also). I will be observing some games, to see how these hole cards hold up at different stages. I will play approximately 10 Turbos, and then analyze the games and Pre Flops in Holdem Manager (maybe between 3 or 4 games at a time). As I tweak the findings, I plan on being more in the money (which is the goal here anyways). So research and study has been the duty of the day (which is a necessary part of Playing Online Poker).

Boy, my posts just keep getting bigger than earlier days. Hope you find them useful. My current status is played 19 tourneys on Stars since start of challenge, 2/7/2010. My current bankroll is $6.04 (I think). Last played on 2/23/2010, because of the losing streak feeling I had coming on. So hopefully, new play at later date will have dropped the streak.

Using Holdem Manager to Perfect the Game

I'm not quite sure WHY they show a box, does anyone order this other than via download? Didn't check whether shipping software was an option, since I downloaded trial, and then obtained license.

This is a more in depth study using some tools and reports in Holdem Manager, to fix the leaks in your game. I will be focusing on the last 19 tourneys (not counting the Freeroll), played on PokerStars. If you haven't read it yet, be sure to check out: Analyzing Your Own Play, BIG Part of Studying the Game.

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Now, we are looking at stats from the Plugging Leaks 02 – The Basics. It shows statistics for full ring and 6 max games. Since we are dealing with with 360 player .10 cent SNG's, when the 6 max game shows up, that indicates a short table approaching the money, and getting to the final (a very tough ride while in a turbo tourney).

First to check is Sufficient Pre-Flop Aggression: shows as PFR/VPIP. Should be higher than 50. Now, when moving up the money ladder, you will have to weigh your tournament strategy against your Pre-Flop Aggressive tendencies. My full table is 33.5%, while my short table (the 6 max), is 60. So look to change at raising more often, and calling less often. The more profitable player will have 70 to 89%.

Next check is Positional Awareness: Playing positionally strong poker is one of the fundamental concepts separating winners from losers. The more you play in position (being last to act on each street postflop) the more you will win playing No Limit poker. Look at how often you are raising an unopened pot from early position and compare that to how often you are raising an unopened pot from the button. This is where the Preflop Positional Awareness stat comes in and it is essentially a ratio of your PFR on the button vs PFR from early position when unopened. My Pre-Flop positional awareness for full table is 5.3. For 6 max (short handed), is na. Optimal is between 2 and 2.5. Simply tighten range in early position, and open many more hands on the button (keeping good tournament strategy in mind here).

Third is Steals, here we want a number greater than 33%. However, you will want a chip stack to match here. My total steal % is 21.7 full ring, and 14.3 short handed. Along with Aggression, I need to work on that steal material (helps to have potentially steal worthy hands).

Next, am I Check Raising enough? The optimal is 8% to 10%. Mine is 2% on full ring, na short handed. Should increase to 4% - 5%, but more important, depends on your opponent. Here is where reliance on HUDs is not opportune, but watching your opponent for his actions of the moment is the way to go.

Now, for the more statistical indepth study, requires changing your Overall Report Drop Down box, applying various filters, and paying attention to your bb/100 number.

My current Steal Success Rate is 50% (however, the filter only shows six hands). Of the 6 hands, 4 won, 2 lost (the bad beat). The win rate is 67%. My Blind Defend Stats show no negative numbers, win rate of 40%. Using the Heads Up Filter on the flop, showing win rate of 52.6% (out of a total win rate of 11.3%). 38 hands showing, 4 folded to small blind call, 14 lost, and 20 won. My Heads up on Flop, no Pre Flop Raise is pretty dismal, will need to take a look at these hands, win rate 35.3%, bb/100 first time negative. My multiway pots bb/100 is positive. Win rate is 32.4% general, and 27.7% if I did not make the pre-flop raise.

Pocket Pairs Study: VPIP should be 85% to 90% especially for 88 to AA. My VPIP is 100% down to 66. My PFR is 100% down to 99, 0 for 88 and below. Won Hand % is 66.7% on up for 88 and higher (except for QQ which is 25%).

Suited Connectors Study: Look for minus bb/100. These cards play best in multi-way and steal, late position 3 bets. Overall win rate, 27.3%. All suiteds have negative bb/100 except 87s and 76s, QJs, win rate 20%, only won one hand, calling raise in cutoff. JTs, won one, lost one, both in cut off. 10-9s, 50% win rate. 98s is 0% wins. 87s 75%, and 76s is 50%. The others shouldn't even be in there.

Unsuited Connectors Study: the only positive bb/100 were 10-9o and 98o. Tend to win a lot with 98o, usually played from late position or blinds. 10-9o only played from Cutoff, twice, and won one hand. Only other hand called with is QJo, and that didn't work out. The did cold call filter produced only one hand, the 98o, called on the button, flopped 2 pair against JJ and 86o.

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This is what I purchased the program for, and it is proving useful. My strategy will need to change, not only to improve the numbers (which should be fairly easy counting only 19 tourneys), but to strengthen my play and win rate. The Tournament Strategy article coming up will definitely take these statistics into account.

Good Luck on the Felt.

Analyzing Your Own Play, BIG Part of Studying the Game

I woke up rather late today, was going to play some live poker, but may save that for later next week or next weekend. Was THEN going to hop on and play some more tourneys, but read DeathByLight's 50 to 5k Journey latest post. I have been working on my offline Poker Study, however, decided to delve into Holdem Manager, and see what I could find. This took about 6 hours of study, but well worth the effort (since I have so much I need to learn about the Program).

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I started by using the Hand Replayer, to look at my own stats. While I have my filter set to Tourneys starting 2/7/2010, my hand count is 5.8k, enough for a decent sample size to produce an accurate display. For more explanation of the stats, please visit Stat Definitions for Holdem Manager.

The Displayed Stats in my pseudo HUD are:

VPIP / Preflop Raise / Steal / 3-Bet
Agg Factor / Flop CB / Fold to Flop CB / Hands

My Current Stats Displayed (up to Date for PokerStars):

Showing win percent of 18%

23 / 12 / 32 / 5.8
2.2 / 82 / 46 / 5,8k

So my first analysis revolved around understanding the stats, and how they affect my game.

VPIP or VP$IP Voluntarily put money into the pot. Folding Big Blind doesn't count. This is a BIG one that many using HUDS rely on.

My current VPIP is 23. According to the chart, this is a good VPIP, with positive 3.72 win rate.

PFR Pre Flop Raise

My current PreFlop raise shows 12. Overall, not generally profitable. Ways to increase, 3 betting limpers, 3 betting raisers from late position when they are trying to steal the blinds. I need to raise PFR to about 15.

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I am now switching to leak buster stats (filtered for the last 19 tourneys, which are the beginning of this challenge). The Drop Down Menu in Holdem Manager Reports is Leak Buster - Overall.

VPIP is 24.3 (still good, see above).

PFR is 8.3, raise to 15% (as described above).

AGG (Aggression PostFlop) 1.52, Ideally, should be around 3.0. My first changes should be considering whether to raise or fold. Last thought should be whether to call. Also, a low factor in this level indicates calling to much. This is WHY I post my stats from the tourneys. A professional should play between 19% and 24% of hands seen (Blinds don't count). That is 19 to 24 hands out of 100. Anything above, and you need to search for some leaky behavior.

AGG% (Aggression% Postflop) 17.6 Ideally should be around 33%. Lower factor here not same as lower factor for AGG. Easiest ways to increase Post Flop AGG% are make more river value bets, fire more double and triple barrels, reraise other players when they habitually CBet the flop etc.

WTSD% (Went to Showdown): wo, this is bad. 51.4. Anything over 28 indicates either don’t play aggressive enough or call too often or both. This will generally also reflect in a low W$SD score. Best is between 24 and 26.

W$SD%: the more you win at showdown the higher your winrate. Mine is 48.9, which is just above the min of 48. Ideally, should be 52 on up.

WWSF%: The won when saw flop stat is more of a product of good solid, select, aggressive preflop and postflop play. It is a good stat to look at to see if your game needs some work. Too low and you are likely playing too many hands preflop and playing too passively postflop. Mine is 36, ideally should be 43 to 45.

3Bet %: A relatively high 3Bet% preflop is obviously a key stat for winning players. Mine is 3.2. Ideally, should be 5.2 to 6.2. Ways to improve - 3betting a late position raiser with basically any 2 reasonable cards when you first join a table. Then, tighten up a little bit but still raise with some speculative hands. By the time you pick up a big hand you ideally would have 3bet your opponents a few times and at that point you are more likely to get it all-in preflop. (Basically, more raising or folding, not just limping).

4Bet Range: If you do this too infrequently it is too easy to put you on a very tight range and fold just about all hands you are ahead of. You definitely want this to be above 1.25% and probably higher. Mine is 1.4, which is actually good. Actually, I prefer to 4 bet with really good hands (JJ and up). Especially when the blinds are bigger, I'm indicating a pot committed attack, and it definitely causes some folds).

Call 3Bet%: Of course, this is affected by positional play. However, I stand at 83.3, which is WAY over the limit. 23 to 29 is the optimal range, this shows how big of a mistake it is to call too frequently to 3bets – obviously these results would be even worse when calling out of position. Lower this number be 4betting or folding a lot more often than I currently do.

Fold to Flop Raise: Mine is 20. Optimal is above 35%. Don't be afraid to fold on flop to draw heavy raises, or that big Check Raise (I really need to work on that one).

Flop CBet%: Mine is 70% (a bit high on the Steal Meter). However, this is the optimal range to be in. (Generally, a positional play).

Turn CBet%: the study of being too aggressive. Not necessary to constantly double barrel your play. Mine indicates na, so not sure what to make of that.

Fold to Flop CBet%: On general be very aware of the opponents flop tendencies when he is PFR. How often does he CBet? How often does he fold to a bet or raise? How often does he fire a second bet on the Turn? Mine is 29.4%, which is a fairly decent range. And the study of your opponents is very key to this game.

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So, the moral being to tighten up my play a tad (which I already knew), and think more along the lines of raise or fold, not just call. Now, I do work off of a specific strategy, and some of the MTT strategy taught at the FTP Academy is incongruous with these goals. Though I haven't typed up my Low Buyin Multi Table Tournament Strategy yet, I see I will need to tweak it from the analysis I have done thus far.

Life of Poker and Blogging, Where is the Time?

Well, haven't played nor blogged this weekend. Yesterday, took off time to wait for Sis and a visit to Reber Ranch for cheap Premium Cat Supplies (a conundrum there - I feed Wellness Canned and Eagle Pack dry, if you have cats, Google is your friend). As part of scheduling my life, I couldn't get into blogging nor tournament play during the time Sis might show up, only to find out that she wouldn't show up till today (note, she is NOT into Poker).

Spent time in the Full Tilt Forums, to find out some with check depositing issues, which I followed up on. Looks like I am safe (whew). Got lost in other forums too, Two plus Two had some interesting reads over 300 pages long (so bookmarked, but probably won't be able to finish). Did some posting in all my fave Forums (links on sidebar), watch out in the Holdem Manager Forum, folks willing to Pay for Datamining!! Once again, if you are needing this data so bad, or are using others like Poker Edge or Sharkscope HUD, you ARE NOT PLAYING POKER, YOU ARE PLAYING A VIDEO GAME!! A True Professional should be able to play on ANY SITE and in ANY Card Room, and many of the players relying on HUDs WON'T play on the Cake Network, because the Huds aren't allowed (and some other sites are producing issues, so folks won't play till they get that HUD working?) Nuff said.

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Speaking of Poker Tracking Software, I layed down the $54.99 to activate my trial version of Holdem Manager. I love the stats in this software, and can only see my game improve. I also spent some time changing the format of the blog from 2 column to 3 column, not sure if I like it yet (so please don't get bug eyed if I change it back). My blog list needed to be redone, thank god for automation. If you are interested in 3 column templates, look under the Copyright test at the bottom of this blog (that's also where you will find the other Blogs of note).

As to Blogs of note, I do try to read and keep up with my faves. Part of my study includes following the live blogging at the Venetian for the beginning of the North American Poker Tour (plenty of big names in there). Refresh this page, and check out the Sidebar for links to the latest RSS feeds. For the Rigged theorists out there (or those just woeing that they can't win at MTT tourney's, please read this blog for Bad Beats - such as QQ against AQ and KJT flop, KK against 77 for a 7 on the Turn, etc). My favorite Blogger Covering this is found at Hard Boiled Poker, check him out.

Other blogs of note, there are similar challenges to mine - one for snyder321, and this new one I found for Nomad. Do stop by and give them a shout. I have several down below, all good reads.

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Today's schedule: write up and article for Low Buyin MTT strategy, a little around the house stuff (including the Trip to Reber), and I swear, I will try to get in some Poker (though I must catch up on some reading for the NAPT).

PS, there will be a contest later when I reach between $12 and $50 in Bankroll. Be ready, I already know what the prize will be (and the rules).

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So I changed the Template back, still working on the settings, I lost some functionality I was unaware of.

Holdem Manager Again- Destruction, Tweaks, and Improved Performance

Well, yesterday didn't go as planned (but so is life). I performed a tweak on my computer to get rid of an error message in Event Viewer (turns out I was right, more on this later in post). Besides having to research and solve my problem (still on the trial version), I needed to bus some Paperwork to a State Agency. By the time I was done, blogging and Poker were the furthest things from my mind. I hopped on UB, and played some free money casino games (I like the challenge of Pontoon). I also observe and chat with the Blackjack Players. Recently, one was able to turn $20 into 1k (he's done it a few times), and another turned $80 into $2k (but I think he lost a bit). Personally, I would like to try that as a side challenge, but don't have time right now, and kinda feel like chicken (a lot of folks were losing last night).

But, enough with the rambling. I kept getting an error message in Event Viewer (its gone now, since there were so many, I cleared the log), but research had narrowed it down to a user sign off issue. The only new users on my machine was Postgres from Holdem Manager. So to test my theory, I blindly deleted postgres from net user. Walla, the error was gone. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH, there's no way without indepth study to add the user back, and Postgres SQL, along with Holdem Manager, will no longer work.

I Found the error:
Message: The COM+ Event System could not remove the EventSystem.EventSubscription object {CEB8B221-89C5-41A8-98CE-79B413BF150B}-{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}-{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}



Now its true, this is a fairly new installation, and reimporting hands, plus getting the tourney info from Stars for the last 13 tourneys (or even manually entering the data), would not be overwhelming. But by God, I was intent on fixing this WITHOUT disassembling my database. I had limited time for research (even though the deadline for getting my paperwork in was today, part of my new Poker Life includes keeping up with schedules and other outside issues). So a quick search of the Holdem Manager Forums, and some googling, brought me some answers. The redo of Postgres lead to a whole new improvement in performance, and easier reinstalls on this machine and others. The latest configuration has also rid the machine of the error regarding Users signing in and out.

First off, the newest Combo Installer for Holdem Manager has 8.4x Postgres SQL with a blank password downloaded and automatically configured on your machine. So, to reinstall Postgres SQL without losing my database, I needed the 8.4x version, do an installation WITH a password - its required, but the version offered on the HEM site is 8.3x. Now, a few folks have reported in the forums that they downloaded 8.3x and installed, then installed 8.4x, and everything was okey dokey. But I didn't have that kind of time. I downloaded 8.4x directly from the Postgres SQL site (the download for windows x86 machines, the non-64 bit version of Vista).

I then put a copy of the data folder under HEMdata off the main branch of my file structure (that is, directly off of the C; direcotry). This proved useful later, since from my earlier Win2k Network Certification days, I knew NTFS systems work better with file structures directly off the main branch, as opposed to deep filing under Program files, pseudo My Documents for users, etc. In fact, on my other Computer running Win2k pro, I had moved all the folders to the Main Tree.


I also left a copy of the Data for HEM under the current Program Files Postgres folder. I then uninstalled the Postgres that came with Holdem Manager, and installed the Full Version 8.4x using the Program Files directory as the data folder. This did not work. So I uninstalled, and resinstalled using the HEMData folder. This folder also contained my previous tweaks, and they were maintained as part of the reinstallation. With the new version, you need to set a password. THIS WAS A KEY TO SYSTEM PERFORMANCE, AND THE ERROR MESSAGES IN EVENT VIEWER. I use the XP Menu style in Vista, so pull up Postgres SQL, Start Server, right click Run As Administrator, and walla, we are up and running. Now, with my Data directory located where it is, the speed and Memory performance of Postgres and HEM are greatly improved. I thought I was missing hands, so did a test reimport from files for last three tourneys. Got Error messages saying that the HH's already existed (totally fun to learn about this kind of stuff, but that's just me).

Lessons learned: when download the Combo Installer, uninstall the version of Postgres that came with HEM, and reinstall from Postgres site with Password. To keep the Database, simply move to a file folder under the main directory tree. If need to move or place on a new machine, simply copy this database from the separate file folder over to new machine (may need to make new copy, if password info stored in old directory). No need to EVER RE IMPORT HANDS!! No more error messages in Vista when logging on and off Computer, or when starting, stopping Postgres (I have the service set to manual, not AUTOMATIC, so I can run when I want to, no need to use System Resources when not using Holdem Manager).

Hope you found the Above Post Useful. PPS, I have McAfee firewall set to Standard, no ports open, and SHOW SMART RECOMMENDATIONS. Therefore, when a program attempts to go in or out of computer, I can allow access. I have never had to manually configure McAfee as the HEM site instructs (just allow access when the Pop Up window appears), and have never had to disable UAC (User Account Control).

Holdem Manager and Pre Flop Card Discussion

I've learned a little trick today, to help with stat info for Holdem Manager. Pokerstars doesn't save summaries in the Hand History files for Tourneys. Consequently, I have been keeping a separate spreadsheet based on my own recorded data, and the Sharkscope database. I've now learned how to request tournament history data for the tourneys I'm interested in tracking (the last 3 for example), and pasting that into a Notepad Test File. I then Open up Holdem Manager, Auto Import the new Tourney Hand Histories, and then manually IMPORT FILE, navigating to where I saved the Tourney History text file. Walla, the only manual change to be made is type of tourney (regular, turbo, etc.).

Now, there are a lot of Stats to go over in improving your game with this program (77 preflop comes to mind). And, I will be writing up an article for Basic Low Buy In Tournament Strategy soon, which is a combination of tips I've learned through education, research, and my own play.

However, this post reflects on the PreFlop cards. Holdem Manager likes to quickly summarize the details for the Premium Hands, listed in order of QQ, KK, AA, and AK (I'm presuming this is suited and non suited, since suited only adds 3% +EV to a hand). In the Hutchinson Point System, AA has a value of 42, KK a value of 38, QQ a value of 36, AKs a value of 37 (note, this is above JJ), and AKo a value of 33 (though everyone appears to want to always go all in with it, can be handy nearing the bubble time).

In my stats for 16 games, I have received these cards 2.4% (this appears to stay fairly steady). I was dealt AA three times, and won all three hands (but not necessarily the tourneys). I was dealt KK 3 times, and only won once. I was dealt QQ 3 times, and only won once, when no one called. Lost twice, the guy next to me (a limper) had KK. Dealt AKs twice, won one and lost one. Dealt AKo three times, won twice and lost once to AJ off.

So my take on these premium starting hands, KK is great with preflop equity of 50+% from early position to 80.9% from later positions, but at the lower buy ins, someone with bigger stack may just call with AQ suited, and get there. AA provides the best PreFlop Equity, great hand to double up on (I'm sure it gets cracked, but since I've only had it three times, I've been luckier than the draw). QQ, while everyone likes to shove with these cards from any position, has the best equity from mid to later positions, BUT ONLY 18% OR LESS.

What does this tell me? That I maybe shouldn't go all in with QQ unless really short stacked, and simply call raises from mid to late position with these cards. Early position, all in, you are at a bit of a disadvantage. I know they are hard to fold, but I need to discipline myself in order to increase ROI and Hourly rate.

As to AKs and AKo, there doesn't appear to be much of a win difference between the two types. AKo is obviously better in later positions, and shoving is what I like to do with this hands when the blinds are over 200 or 300 (since everyone and their dog with a small pocket pair will call an all in with the early stages, as I discovered with my AKs shove). Many advocate, especially when nearing the bubble, that if there are reraises, and you hold AKo, should probably fold. Depends on your chip stack. If the amount will put you all in, maybe think it over some. And there are those times when preflop you are the favorite, but the AJo hits his Jack, and that's all she wrote.

Now, as to other Pocket Cards, been dealt JJ twice, and won both (who knew), even on a board with AQx flop. Look for JJ preflop on the Button or Cut Off for making moves, when the preflop equity is 67.1%, and the only other opponents are limpers.

Everyone's favorite shove (so far that I've noticed) is AQs and AQo (of course, if someone folded it, I don't know). I was dealt AQs twice, from middle position and the Big Blind. From Mid Position, won by simply calling the raises (took my 16k down to 14k, not all in), and when raised from the Big Blind, the limper folded. These are not shoving cards, but if you have the chips, they make calling a raise in position profitable. AQo, the same (simply calling raises that aren't too large for my stack size). I was dealt AQo 7 times, won three times, lost twice, and folded twice (the big raiser would have took half my chip stack, and I would have won, Q on flop, but I do tend to play a little tighter).

Well, there are many more hands to discuss, I hope you liked this starting hand discussion. Query, would you fold the above hands or shove? How do you analyze your play?

Evening Post - Read All About It

Well, I started to feel a bit tired when it came to playing some MTTs on Stars. Been working on the site, and reading up on some blogs I've been following.

Noted: someone mentioned his play and bankroll went down when playing tired. So, I decided just to observe a few games (at that level, I don't bother to record hands observed). I started working on backgrounds, and I can tweak this one some more later.

A word on the tools I use to track my games, and improve results.

I use Holdem Manager, though have to manually enter tourney stats. Better for cash games. I have the bare subscription to Sharkscope, so can get tourney results and graphs better than Holdem Manager. Downloaded a spreadsheet, that automatically calculates bankroll, and keeps tabs on tourneys (and other games if you wish). Manual entry, graphs aren't that great. Obviously, you need your Poker Client to save Hand Histories.

Tomorrow, life may crack into my Poker play. Errands to run, and phone calls to make. Might try in the evening, but again, if feeling like sleeping, won't play. (Never hurts to watch and take notes though).

Good Night to All, its a back to work week.

Wow, a Tiring Morning, Progress Part I

Cats woke me up around 2:33 am (Jimmy, the Super Hoover, was hungry). So, decided on investigating PT3 vs. Holdem Manager, decided on HEM (even though there are some problems with importing tourney information). Don't know if will buy yet, but when I get into the cash games, will definitely prove useful.

So, what does one do? Well, lets try some more tourneys. Logged onto PokerStars at about 4:55 in morning. Noticed the F40 Sit n Gos, and the F40 freerolls were running. Would love to play, but Bankroll Management needs to be adhered with.

Starting with 5.44. Continuing with the Hutchinson Point System study.

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1st tourney, finished 294th (really bad).

Went all in with KK, got called by AQ suited, A on flop, the rest is history. (2 prior guys at my table had won with the all in KK, what happened to mine, whine?)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 4 hands and saw flop:
- 1 out of 1 times while in big blind (100%)
- 0 out of 0 times while in small blind (0%)
- 0 out of 3 times in other positions (0%)
- a total of 1 out of 4 (25%)
Pots won at showdown - 0 of 1 (0%)

The one time was the KK, heehee

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Proceeded to a second tourney. Finished in 81st place, this is not going well. Folks calling with just about everything. While I had playable hands, the cards were not following my way. My stats show I need to slow WAY DOWN.

Believe I threw my stack away with AQ suited, went all in with check raise on flop, and King showing (didn't think he had it). He didn't have K, but had a pair of 77s, and more chips than I.

34 hands played and saw flop:
- 1 times out of 4 while in small blind (25%)
- 1 times out of 4 while in big blind (25%)
- 9 times out of 26 in other positions (35%)
- a total of 11 times out of 34 (32%)

Pots won at showdown - 5 out of 7 (71%)
Pots won without showdown - 1

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Bankroll down to $5.24.

Third Tourney, starting to feel a little tilt going on (stress and aggravation ggrowing on the inside). Played WAY too many hands, as the stats show, finished in 122nd place. Methinks I'm starting to get that feeling from the Challenge Begins Post. Behold the stats of an On The Verge Tilt Player:

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 28 hands and saw flop:
- 2 out of 2 times while in big blind (100%)
- 2 out of 4 times while in small blind (50%)
- 9 out of 22 times in other positions (40%)
- a total of 13 out of 28 (46%)
Pots won at showdown - 1 of 5 (20%)
Pots won without showdown - 4

Time to take a break.

P.S. Another of those milestone hands hit, again at the .05/.10 nl tables.

Just Dealing with Life Here

There are a ton of Poker Blogs out there, decided to follow a few. This takes time and research. If you check my profile, you will find some good reads.

Decided for a small subscription to Sharkscope (200 searches, plus your 5 free a day, for 9.99). This allowed for some more searches above and beyond, plus I can do advanced searches on myself.

Played tweaks on Holdem Manager and Postgres SQL, will be changing those. Might switch to Poker Tracker 3 Trial, see what it is like, if I can get the databases to cooperate.

Usually, I tend to rest after 12 or 1 pm pst. So if doing research, not much time left for poker.

Check out the Full Tilt Poker Academy. My game has greatly improved because of them. Work the challenges, not just the sit n gos. I personally am not in rush to earn points (as some are), so I work them one at time.

P.S. Rebooting, cleaning Temp Files, and defragging are very important. Not only do these actions extend the life of your system, helps to keep memory optimal, and helps those constant connection client (Full Tilt, PokerStars, any online Gaming Client, Holdem Manager, Poker Tracker, etc.) to run optimally on yur machine. Just an FYI.

Links Useful to This Article:

• Full Tilt Poker Academy


• Shark Scope

P.S. - Sharkscope is not allowed while you are playing on site, Stars checks if you are at a table when you run it. Once again, it is a centralized database.

Holdem Manager Ties Me Down

Sorry took so long, couldn't play any tourneys last night.

Decided to do the trial version of Holdem Manager, blah, what a nightmare installation. I also have 3 GB mem, but this and Postgres SQL, take up just about all of it.

Little bit of info. I have a Toshiba Laptop. I'm also a bit of a Computer Geek, and former Network Certified individual. After uninstalling and installing (didn't have to worry about databases, since the program could never connect), discovered through Google Searching that the Combo Installation from Holdem Manager's site, while allowing for admin access of the appropriate programs in Holdem Manager, doesn't set for starting the PostGres Server with blank Password on most machines.

Mode is default mb5, and blank password. That is for starting the server. Mb5 will never work with a blank password. Kept getting Postgres Failed to Start errors. A common error on my particular machine is "Unable to initialize the security package Kerberos for server side authentication." Mb5 requires Keboros. The Microsoft Knowledge Base and Technet will say this is a common error, and not to worry about it. However, the default login will never work, even if put in SuperUser.

So, first was to set the Authentication Mode in Postgres to Trusted. No problems after that. Did note no hands were downloaded during observation on Pokerstars (FullTilt has put a stop to this), but I didn't mind.

The memory problems may prevent me from using the HUD. At my current level of play, I can only see purchasing the Microstakes one, until I work up several limits. I do see the value in importing and analyzing hand histories, but don't know about the hud. For tourney play, prefer the quick reads I get on folks (its turbo anyways). Can keep notes on the players themselves.

Since my play was kinda erratic over the past couple months, I am only paying attention to play after 2/1/2010 (plus, the challenges on FullTilt cause you to make some plays that won't necessarily win you the tourney, but are worthwhile tools to learn). So graphing my play on PokerStars will be interesting.

Now, I have to work on the Memory hogging since downloading these programs. I have set Postgres to Manaul, which set the .Net Optimization service (need 3.5 for this, that also Mem Hog) to manual. Will only use to import Hand histories for now. But even with rebooting, defrag, etc., the Mem is not the same after installing these programs.