[Study blog] Towards a more advanced poker strategy
Hello, everybody!
I am a poker player and fan from Greece and I am 42 years old. I have (re-)joined this forum because I am looking to advance my online poker skills to intermediate/advanced level, particularly regarding online MTT tournaments, currently at Microstakes level. I currently live in Greece although I had been living in the UK for about 15 years and also lived in Luxembourg for 1 year. I actually started playing poker in the UK while I was a student there, and that was primarily online.
This thread is a personal study blog where I will be posting new strategy concepts I am learning. Feel free to add your comments, criticize, make relevant suggestions, or just learn from it in case you are at some similar situation as me.
Information about my experience and play
- My past study material: I have now been into poker for 15 years on and off. I possess about 349 poker books in digital form, which admittedly I have fully read few of, and about 10 in print, which I have read all of. However, regarding strategy, I have only found a dozen of all my books to be useful. I have also watched an innumerable amount of poker shows (WSOP, WPT, EPT, Poker after dark, High stakes poker and more), and the occasional strategy/coaching videos.
- My game and stakes: I have always played only No Limit HL, at the level of Microstakes and occasionally at Low stakes up to $11, almost exclusively online at Pokerstars. In the beginning I used to play $5 SnGs mostly where I was winning mostly, and the occasional tour. I had taken another gap for a few years and started playing poker about last year. And, for the last year I have been focusing on MTTs.
- My bankroll sofar: My bankroll to play poker has always been $50, which is probably too little to do much but I kept it so because I hardly ever thought seriously to move up in poker, or invest more in my play because I have had poker only as a fun hobby, and I was focusing on my work.
- My profitability sofar: I am overall a winning player. Until last year my net poker profit since the beginning was about $3,500, which I gained primarily by winning some $3 and $5 tours around 2012. Since the last year where I started playing poker frequently again I am up $400, which I gained mostly from winning a $1.10 Bounty builder tour a couple of months ago, and so, my ROI for this last year is about 230%.
- My strategy basis sofar: I mostly learnt how to play poker from 2-3 books. I developed my style primarily from Dan Harrington's "Harrington on Holdem" series, although David Sklansky's "Small stakes hold'em" and "The theory of poker" gave me an insight into odds and probabilities. By the way, I have all these books on print.
- My current style: I have been playing TAG primarily (or that's what I think it was, I usually find that on tours I play about 28% of hands early and during the minefield stage), and I was always only considering my hand and the opponent's hand ie never possible ranges.
I am sometimes intrigued by the idea that with a LAG style in tournaments I could gain a big chipstack early on and thus have a good chance of winning it, although I never actually did that, nor have I found any books on how to play LAG, nor have I seen any strategy videos of people doing that. So, regarding playing a LAG style, I am at "that would be nice to have if indeed it is worth it and I had some guides to it".
At the moment, I am not interested in learning GTO, because I find it too complex. Besides, I think it is suitable for me right now anyway. I would learn GTO only as a second style, after I would have developed my primary style. So, I basically to keep learning to play TAG and Exploitative styles.
My current learning goal
My current learning goal is to move from simply putting an opponent to a set of hands, as I have been doing, to putting him properly in a range of hands. From that begins a whole new area of strategy, which includes many more concepts and tactics I haven't used previously. I started learning about doing that by looking for theory and video material to study about putting opponents on ranges through Google. Luckily, I found a few articles on poker blogs, and a video from Johnathan Little.
That has come along with many new challenges, which sofar include the following:
1) New (for me) post-flop play: Obviously, what has changed for me since I started this quest of improving by learning to put opponents in ranges has been my post-flop play.
2) Pre-flop ranges reconsidered: I think I have a somewhat ok grasp of preflop play (however I have been playing Full Ring games almost exclusively), although after I tried learning how to put opponents on ranges I think that knowing the preflop ranges is much more crucial to have mastered. For this reason, that really challenged my existing preflop knowledge and got me back to rethinking about it too.
3) New concepts introduced to me: That is where my problems begun: that theory contains SO many new for me terms and concepts, and they look SO complicated to work out. I mean, it looks to me as complicated as rocket science, or nuclear physics. I am referring to the concepts of Range Advantage, Nut advantage, Equity denial, Value Range, Bluffing range, Overbetting range Polarized range, Polarizing overbet, Capped & uncapped ranges and some more. That is, not their definition, but how you actually calculate and use them.
4) Counting combos: Where I am getting particularly confused as to whether I need to learn even how to count combos too. That is so damn complex!
5) Putting the new concepts together: What confuses me is particularly the point where, on one I have to consider the opponent's range, on another I have to consider combos, on another the hand I made with the board to estimate bet size. I can't find when I have to think about each, and how all those things come together.
6) Non-compatibility with my current games: To give you an idea of what kind of players play in the MTT Microstakes tournamens I play at, in one of them I played in this week, some guy called my preflop 5xBB raise with Q2o from the big blind, and kept betting on a Q high flop, whereas another called my 20xBB preflop all-in with T7o, and while 3 more players were still to play. Everything else aside about their plays, I wouldn't even consider Q2o and T7o in their ranges. They are not even in a LAG's range.
[A little comeback: Session results]
I just realized I had stopped playing for 3.5 whole months! Anyway, hello again, whoever you are!!! I just had a little session today, and things went well. After playing a few micro stakes tours and satellites, I won a ticket to the $22 Mini Saturday KO. Even better, I knocked out some players and cashed in it! I finished the day $34 up from my starting bankroll. That was a great little comeback!
[Session results: Back to victories]
I have been playing a little all these days but didn't achieve something significant to post. However, in this session I just came 2nd out of 701 in a $1.10 PKO, and cashed a beautiful $67.17!!! Winning gave ne a great confidence boost too! My bankroll is up to over $117 now!
Nice one. You need those little victories to keep you interested.
[Session results for last 3 days]
I have been absent for a while as I haven't been playing every day as before. Anyway, my balance is good, and I have just come out of a 3rd place ina $0.55 tournament. Also, 2 days ago I won a seat in the $215 Sunday Million from a $2.20 satellite, where, unfortunately, I didn't cash. All in all, it's going well although I don't play enough.
[Session results]
I won in a $1.10 Turbo PKO and cashed a cool $60.77!! My bankroll is now at over $112!
[Session results]
Today I wagered $47 in tournaments. I lost count how many I played, but they were from $0.55 to $4.40. My bankroll fell from $117 to $70, and then I won a $1.10 PKO again, which brought my balance up to $130.49!! 3 days with a top 3 in a row!!
[Bankroll update]
I made €132 from betting sites (€35 from Stoiximan, €65 from Sportingbet, and €32 from Novibet) from sign-up promotions with free spins on slots. That's $140. All of this is now going in my poker bankroll. I will also keep getting the sign-up bonuses to deposit more to my poker bankroll.
[Session results: So close but no win]
I made it very deep on the $0.55 Bounty builder, down to the last 2 tables. In the last hand I played like a fool, going all-in from the button with Q8s, only to run into Aces from the SB. I feel disappointed at myself, cos I managed to hang on for so long until then, and I don't usually lose at such spots. Oh well, another day, another game!!
[Session results:New site - VistaPoker]
I made a deep run ITM on the $2.20 Micro Battle Royal, but made a very small cash. I also have started playing on a new site, Vistabet.gr. I am still checking out the offers in poker there, as well as checking out how easy the field is.
Some nice results, well done.
[Session results]
Today I played 16 tournaments, between $0.33 and $4.40, but didn't cash big in any of them. Hopefully, I ended up only $10 down.
What is noteworthy is I have had very bud luck in the $4.40 Bounty builder tournaments. I have consistently gotten very few hands, and get blinded out. I consider this some kind of curse, that happens only on that tournament!
I haven't studied for some months now. I wonder whether that is the reason I am not cashing big, so I should probably start revising again.
[Session 2 results]
I played another session - this time for another 5 tournaments, Bounty builders between $1.10 and $3.30 each.
Today was not my day. This and last session I busted out of at least 4 tours where I went all in preflop as a big favourite, and the opponent was holding a laughable hand, like K2s, JTo etc. I had Aces cracked by KQs, and QQ cracked by KQs. I just couldn't get a break.
My best tour was a Bounty builder $3.30, where I went deep and cashed for $21.12. In the last hand I had AK, and I went all in on a 9 high flop. The opponent checked really quickly, which was a sign he had hit, but I still did it I feel stupid. Anyway, all in all an ok session.
[Session results: tired and losing]
This session I wagered over $33, playing 20 tournaments ranging from $0.33 to $4.40, and was multitabling up to 6 tours at a time. I even played some non-bounty tournaments, such as the Big $1.10, and a regular $1.10 tour. I don't usually play regular tours, but I played them because I wanted to fill my screen with tours.
Unfortunately, I was very tired because I slept few hours yesterday due to playing, and this was affecting my play today. I couldn't pay attention to all the tables, and played erratically. I took some multivitamins and some caffeine tablets in between to become more alert, although it was already too late when I did. After busting out of tour after tour, I decided to cut my losses and unregistered from the last few, so as to rest. Lesson of the day: DO NOT PLAY WHEN TIRED!
The good news: I finally got my break in the $4.40 Bounty builder, and broke the curse of getting no hands and blinded out. I busted one player out for the first time, and I built a big stack of over 100BB!
The bad news: I busted out in ridiculous ways at least 3 times, when being a clear favorite eg my AA vs QT on a T76 board, where villain hit a Q on the river. Some opponents were catching backdoors like mad. I was even trapped once by an A7o vs my ATo, as he made a runner runner straight while chasing with nothing. I ended up going down over $23, and didn't cash anything significant.
Hopefully, I am not startled by this loss. I know what happened and I am ready to take it on in the next session!
[Bankroll update: I have a new HUGE bankroll now]
I just won €326.80 from free bets on Betsson!! Woohooo!! Note, I already won another €175 from free offers on other betting sites. All this money is now going to go in my bankroll!!
[Session results & News update: Many losses, but new bankroll available]
This session I wagered approximately $25, in tournaments ranging from $0.33 Satellites to $3.30 Bounty builders, and I hardly made any cashes again. My best performance was a 34th place in a $1.10 PKO, as well as winning an $11 ticket to the Sunday storm.
The bad news: Poker-wise, things have not gone well in the last few days... I ate up a big part of my poker bankroll, going down from $130 to less than $50!! That's $80 gone with no significant win. Apart from some minor cashes, I haven't won a single tournament in 5 days, even though I played dozens of tours. Surely, I must have been doing something wrong these last few days, and I probably need to brush up my poker skills.
The good news: Money-wise, things went extremely well! I won a lot of money from free bets and free spins offers on betting sites (Sportingbet, Stoiximan, Novibet, Vistabet, Fonbet), as well as some cash bonuses from Aircash. That is a total of €666.8, or $711.51!! All this will now be my new bankroll. That will allow me to finally break out of the micro stakes, and play games on levels I have never played before!
[News and thoughts]
- Winner's tilt: I got winner's tilt. I've been calling big bets when I knew I had lost, cos I was trying to gamble, because I have this new money to play with. I need to stop playing like that, and value my bankroll more.
- How on earth do you calculate nut advantage?? I tried to revise poker theory a bit. I read & watched Johnathan Little's Postflop strategy guide. I don't understand well when I have range advantage and when nut advantage. I think Little's presentation notes are confused, particularly regarding nut advantage. Then again, I don't know. It's the best material I have read on the topic sofar. But if it's no good, it's no good.
- HUD play: I started playing with a HUD again. I am using the one from Hand2Note. I can now read it well, and find it easy to tell who is what ie TAG, LAG, Nit, Calling station. However, I don't adjust my play according to that, and I am not sure how to.
- Hand2Note is broken: I currently using as my poker office and HUD. Its graph report is showing me on a steep downhill, and losing around $2,800, which is, of course not true. As a HUD, it doesn't show my own stats (or it has an option somewhere which I haven't found).
- DriveHUD?? I am thinking whether to buy DriveHUD. It has a nice interface and is $23.99/year, which is kind of ok (I a used to getting all software for free).
- Pokerstars celebratory videos: Pokerstars used to email me videos with the best moments of my tournament. It has stopped doing that for some months now. I asked support what happened, and they said they stopped them until further notice.
- Game selection changes: As I now have a bigger bankroll, I am now playing all regular MTT Bounty builders from $0.55 up to $5.50, and some turbos. I am also playing the $1.10 Bounty builder Sit & Go, but not the higher buy ins.
[Session results]
Today I wagered a total of $56.39 and played 24 tournaments, a mix of satellites and bounty builders, ranging from $0.01 to $5.50. I went down around $12 in my bankroll, which is now at $37.76.
The good news is, despite a long losing day, I made a big run on the $0.55 Bounty builder, finishing 4th out of 2320, cashing $34.24. This is now the 2nd time I final table this tour (last time I won it). I also did ok in the $3.30 Bounty builder, finishing 263 of 3297, but cashing just $10.10.
[Session results: The after session]
So, I played another 3 tours after the end of my regular session. The reason why it was important to mention them is because I cashed in a $5.50 tournament, the Sunday Stack, and $5.50s are the new tournaments I will be playing from now on. This was my second $5.50 tour in a very long time (many years) - the first one was a $5.50 Bounty builder I played last session. I didn't make a big cash in the Sunday Stack, but finishing ITM is a big step forward for me. I am looking forward to more ITM finishes in $5.50 tournaments, and why not winning one?
[Bankroll update: Betsson's free bet offer is a rip-off]
So, as I wrote a couple of days ago, I won €326.30 from a bet at Betsson. The bet was a free bet worth €40. I was planning to use that money for my poker bankroll. So, I made a cashout to that amount, and was waiting for the money to come into my bank account so I could deposit it to Pokerstars. However, today I found out that my withdrawal at Betsson was cancelled, and they left €100 in my account ie they took away the other €226.30 (almost $250)!!! I contacted support and they showed me the rules, and apparently you cannot withdraw more than €100 from winnings of a free bet! That is absurd! I will be left with $250 less. This is a major blow to my bankroll!
thats sucks. I guess 100 is still - better than nothing - does betsson have poker?
Hi amatola! Yes, it is better than nothing, although they banned me from future offers, as if I did it on purpose to win!! They do have poker. I checked it out but they didn't have as many good tours as I expected (not as many micros, and not as much guaranteed money as on Pokerstars).
[Bankroll update]
Here is all my winnings from betting sites:
€65 Sportingbet (free spins, free bet)
€35 Stoiximan (free spins, free bet)
€122 Novibet (free spins, roulette)
€74 Aircash (deposit cash)
€16 Vistabet (free spins, free bet)
€100 Betsson (free bet)
€39.58 Fonbet (free spins, roulette)
Total €451.8 = $483.3
I have now received all of this money, and I will soon be depositing it to Pokerstars!
[Session results]
This session I wagered a total of $27.83, played 13 tours from $1.10 to $4.40, and had a loss of $11.35. The good news is I cashed in a $4.40 tournament, to which I usually lose. This is another cash in a $4.40, so things are getting optimistic. I look forward to cashing in deeper in these tournaments.
