John Major plays poker

[Charlie44]

I know I shouldn"t harp on about bad luck and its all down to variance but now I"ve had KKvAA twice in a 355 hand session. Should happen one in every 250 sessions of this length according to me. Oh well off to casino tonight see if I have better luck !!

[AAroddersAA]

I know I shouldn"t harp on about bad luck and its all down to variance but now I"ve had KKvAA twice in a 355 hand session. Should happen one in every 250 sessions of this length according to me. Oh well off to casino tonight see if I have better luck !!

Les Croupier"s Mike? Is their Saturday night game any good these days, might come and join you one week.

[Charlie44]

I know I shouldn"t harp on about bad luck and its all down to variance but now I"ve had KKvAA twice in a 355 hand session. Should happen one in every 250 sessions of this length according to me. Oh well off to casino tonight see if I have better luck !!

Les Croupier"s Mike? Is their Saturday night game any good these days, might come and join you one week.

Yes - Be good to see you there Steve. About 40 players there for £20 tourney,unlimited re-entry. No luck yesterday out in about 14th.

[Charlie44]

Good result today of $18.33 profit after after yesterday"s setback of $17.81 loss. Thought I played well generally but again a preflop loss of $7.13, mainly I think due to lack of agression. Definitely need to get that sorted. Will concentrate on that tomorrow before another session.

Still well on course to reach the hands played target for month of 24K (currently 19.4k). The $won of 8BB/100 looks out of reach now (currently 3.2). But certainly not despondent - am learning and I think improving all the time which is the main thing that matters. Onwards and upwards!!

[Charlie44]

Had a reasonably uneventful session, played reasonably well I think  but again lack of agression (see below). Stats as follows:

                     Today        Month to date
Preflop profit      -5.90        -130.53
Overall Profit      1.45           40.70
Hands               1,005         20,400  (target 24k for month)    
BB/100               1.44            3.12 (target 8 )
VPIP                 17.34           13.84
PFR                   13.62           10.64
3 Bet PFR             3.18            3.56
2bet/fold PF        72.73           61.94
4 bet pf                1.85            4.10
Att to steal LP      38.64          35.41
Att to steal SB      31.82          28.86

Been looking in detail at the preflop losses again. Looking specifically at Sundays stats I had net loss of $7.13 in hands that did not see a flop compared to overall profit of $18.33. I lost $11.45 through folding my blinds. I raised 118 times in the session. Only 43 times did I win preflop winning $8.02 and 12 times I folded to 3 bet losing $3.72. The success rate of 43/118 at first seems concerning. But looking at the 63 times I raised and saw a flop I actually won $35.54 which is much more than the $9.45 I would have won if everybody folded. So on the face of it perhaps I shouldn"t be so worried about my preflop losses.

However looking at my stats I win 1.2BB per hand on average everytime I raise and 2BB when I 3 bet. So it makes sense to try and increase my agression. Clearly there is a saturation point where any extra raises don"t win any more profit, but I don"t think I"ve reached there yet. I am currently winning 3.12BB/100 compared to target of 8BB/100. I appreciate that there will be variance but if we assume for a moment that the result would have been expected from my performance to date, I think I will find some improvement from better  post flop play, but also I can achieve better results from increased agression. I think if I should attempt to increase my average PFR to 14% (compared to 10.64% month to date), most of which will come from more 3 betting and stealing. However clearly this needs to be well targeted and not indiscrimate, and the majority I want to be playing with position.

[Charlie44]

Had an awesome session today $54.57 profit. Was really agressive (for me) and it seemed to pay dividends. Must expect the regs to play back at me but Ill bask in the glory for now. Had a few lucky breaks but I think I was due a few - Another KK all in against AA but this time hit a King and alos my up and down straight draw got there to stack someone.

Winnings for the month now looking much better - surprising what one good session can do.

                    Today        Month to date
Preflop profit      -7.45        -137.98
Overall Profit     $54.57           $95.27
Hands               1,008          21,408
BB/100              54.14             5.52
VPIP                 17.55           14.02
PFR                  15.28           10.86
3 Bet PFR            6.94            3.73
2bet/fold PF       73.08           62.80
4 bet pf              6.00             4.20
Att to steal LP    45.00            35.86
Att to steal SB    43.48            29.59

Obviously some areas to still work on. like the 2 bet/fold %age. However the preflop loss I am not now worried about. Of the hands that I raised we saw a flop 87 times. If they had folded I would have won $13.05 and I would have had pre flop profit of $5.60. However for those hands I actually won $61.18, so I want them to continue making the error of calling my raises and maximising my overall profit.

So my conclusion providing I continue to hit my target of 14% PFR and  I continue make more profit than 1.5BB per hand when I raise and get called I won"t be concerned at all with any preflop losses. The only proviso is that I need to get my 2bet/fold %age down to 60% average.

Also been looking at finding the best time to play to maximise my profits. I have started looking to some indicators including volume of players ( the more players the more likely there are fish!? ). Looking at what %age of players are playing only one zoom table (again fish -including me!! - tend to play only 1 table). Also looking at spread of players from different countries and the time zone there. - I guess about 11pm local time you"ll get the most amount of drunks ?! Theres a good graph on PT4 which shows personal profit by time period. Currently I seem to make most profit hours commencing 7PM and 11PM. One thing I"ve noticed also that surproisingly there is only about 10% of players from UK playing on tables.

Anybody got any other tips ?      

 

[Charlie44]

Hit one of my monthly targets today - over 24k hands for the month. . Have a couple of bad results over the last few days but managed to pull some of the losses back today - It"s becoming a bad trait to report on the good days but not on the bad days - need to correct that

                   Today        Month to date
Overall Profit    $16.30         $56.47
Hands               1,008         25,102
BB/100              16.17           3.17
VPIP                 16.37          14.22  
PFR                  13.76           11.13
3 Bet PFR            4.00            3.73
2bet/fold PF       83.33          64.36
4 bet pf              2.50            3.97
Att to steal LP    38.89           36.22
Att to steal SB    40.91           30.09

Will give summing up of the month after tomorrow"s session.

[Charlie44]

Dispappointed in my play today especially in 1 hand when I misinterpreted hud stats for villain. I had JJ got 3 bet by apparent aggro villain, and ended up stacking off on T high board, and he showed QQ . After, I realised that I had only 38 hands on villain and his 33% 3 bet rate was actually 1/3 Very expensive silly mistake. Todays result and for the full month as follows :

                   Today        Month to date
Overall Profit    -$4.69         $51.48
Hands              1,003          26,018
BB/100             -4.68              2.86
VPIP                  14.52          14.24
PFR                   12.10           11.17
3 Bet PFR            3.30             3.71
2bet/fold PF        56.52           64.02
4 bet pf               4.44             3.99
Att to steal LP      31.33          36.06
Att to steal SB      34.78          30 28

So I achieved my target number of hands (24k) but way short on BB/100. However I am not discouraged. The main thing is that I feel I am learning a lot and improving. I have very much appreciated support and advice from apaters.

Whilst I am spending time reviewing and learning I don"t think its enough. So I intend again to spend less time playing hands this month and more time reviewing hands posting on forum getting feedback, investigating my leaks, think about strategies, watching videos, reading etc. I think in this way I will improve more quickly, and I will increase my hand  volume again at a later date. So my target this month will be 18K hands per month. I will stay at 1 table of $10NL with a profit target again of 8 BB/100. Hopefully by end of October I will feel ready to start introducing some 25NL play and/or 2 tables.

Thanks again for support. Bring on October  

[Charlie44]

Hadn"t reported for a while so thought I would today. Always easier after a good session  . Results as below. Month going well at moment. Feel I am improving and I think avoiding dubious spots. More ready to lay down top pair if appears I am beat.

                   Today        Month to date
Overall Profit    $30.71           $74.95
Hands              755               5,947
BB/100             40.68             12.60
VPIP                16.42             15.61
PFR                 13.48             12.60
3 Bet PFR          2.96               2.08
2bet/fold PF      72.22             75.23
4 bet pf            0.00                1.18
Att to steal LP   34.38             41.10
Att to steal SB   34.78             35.97

I still need to get more agressive in certain spots e.g. I def. need to increase my 3 bets. However I feel currently the most profit has/will be generated by getting value from weak players and folding second best hands.

I am just about on target for hands played and way ahead on BB/100. I have just cashed my $50 stellar reward and close to my $25 reward bonus. So all"s rosy in the JM garden at the moment - but I am sure there are a few surprises round the corner. Poker has the knack of doing that to you  

[Charlie44]

As I haven"t reported lately thought I"d better update my blog.

On the poker side things are definitely going well. As well as good results I feel I am now making much better decisions and mainly maximising profits on good hands and minimising losses on 2nd best. Whilst I haven"t been logging hands on the strategy forum I have been analysing them and looking for improvements.

I have found a very useful tool called Flopzilla. I dont know how many have seen this but it allows you to set likley ranges of oppos and showing how hard that range has hit the flop, what equity you have and what cards on future streets are likely to be good for villian"s range. It can"t be used during play but is good for analysing hands after awards setting strategies e.g against player types or for continuation betting. Cost about £20 and I think its paid me back already . Defintely recommend it.

Current state of affairs :

                  Today        Month to date
Overall Profit    $33.60        $148.66
Hands                777         14,136
BB/100             43.24         10.52
VPIP                15.00          15.54
PFR                 11.32          12.54
3 Bet PFR           2.12           2.36        
2bet/fold PF      61.54          72.76
4 bet pf             2.94            2.23
Att to steal LP   38.03          40.53
Att to steal SB   47.06          39.22

So well up on hands and BB/100 targets for the month currently. My agression still leaves somthing to be desired but I am not too worried about that at the moment. I think I have now played enough hands to indicate I am profitable at 10NL so I am going to start dabbling in 25NL and see how it goes. Anybody any feel about the increase in abilities between 2 levels?

In any case will give it a try. Wish me luck !!

[TheSnapper]

The difference, you will face more 3b"s and more flop floats but the standard is not that much different.

The biggest problem is the amount you lose on losing sessions, good bankroll management is essential to nullify this effect.

[Charlie44]

Had some session losses since  I last reported, though had winning session today. For 10NL finished month with 19,808 hands played, won $135.78, - 6.85BB/100, which is short of target but I am relatively pleased with.

Had a short couple of sessions on 25NL which went badly with loss of $24.35. - but mainly due to my bad play rather than being outplayed I think.

I intend moving up this month but will do in stages bankroll allowing. So I will target - 10NL 9k hands 8BB/100; 25NL 9k hands 3BB/100.