I played a fairly decent session today of about 2.5 hours and managed a profit of 1/2 stack through lots of battling, grinding, a couple of all-ins, at not one suckout...lol.
Only made one mistake which was folding pocket 2s to a raise and a call from out of the blinds. Don't know why i folded it, but i did and what should come of the flop, you guessed it a freakin 2.
The other thing about tonight was that the tables were playing soooo fast, in 2.5 hours I managed 600 hands 3-tabling. I was seeing 75 hands per hour per table!!!! and it was all 9 or 10 handed as well.
I was down most of the session which was usual for the past week but never more than $30 but it was such a grind coming back. Finally did it thanks to these 3 hands.

At least he didn't make his draw this time!

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em, $.50 BB (9 handed)

Hero ($53.45)
Button ($18.25)
SB ($8.95)
BB ($22.45)
UTG ($18)
UTG+1 ($144.85)
MP1 ($98.90)
MP2 ($19.60)
MP3 ($50.55)

Preflop: Hero is CO with , .
3 folds, MP2 raises to $1.75, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.75, 3 folds.

Flop: ($4.25) , , (2 players)
MP2 bets $4.25, Hero pushes, MP2 calls.

Turn: ($39.95) (2 players)

River: ($39.95) (2 players)

Final Pot: $39.95

Results in white below:
MP2 has 7s 3s (one pair, threes).
Hero has 8h 8d (three of a kind, eights).
Outcome: Hero wins $39.95.

73s, thats a new one!!!

AA dominator

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em, $.50 BB (10 handed)

BB ($45.95)
UTG ($32.05)
UTG+1 ($59)
Hero ($42.45)
MP1 ($15)
MP2 ($47.30)
MP3 ($34.90)
CO ($68.70)
Button ($20.40)
SB ($20.25)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+2 with , .
2 folds, Hero raises to $2.25, 4 folds, Button calls $2.25, 2 folds.

Flop: ($5.25) , , (2 players)
Hero bets $5, Button pushes, Hero calls.

Turn: ($41.55) (2 players)

River: ($41.55) (2 players)

Final Pot: $41.55

Results in white below:
Button has Ad Qc (one pair, queens).
Hero has Ah Ac (one pair, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins $41.55.

Villain was raisey....the only hand I'm worried about here is 33. JJ or QQ he would have pushed back PF, so that leaves AJ, AQ or draw so I'm only behind to 1 hand. Easy call

Turn makes both hands

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em, $.50 BB (9 handed)

Hero ($56.55)
MP3 ($38.90)
CO ($53.30)
Button ($15)
SB ($95.55)
BB ($34.65)
UTG ($14.25)
UTG+1 ($3.30)
MP1 ($18.15)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with , .
3 folds, Hero calls $0.50, MP3 calls $0.50, CO checks, 1 fold, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($2.50) , , (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, MP3 checks, CO checks.

Turn: ($2.50) (5 players)
SB checks, BB bets $2.75, Hero calls $2.75, MP3 folds, CO folds, SB folds.

River: ($8) (2 players)
BB bets $8.25, Hero pushes, BB calls.

Final Pot: $71.05

Results in white below:
BB has Js Qd (straight, king high).
Hero has 9s 9d (full house, nines full of jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins $71.05.

A better performance than the past week of bad beats, dodgy play and suckouts, hope I can make back my losses and get the month back on track next week.

BR Sep 18 $2408

good hands. On the AA hand, you forgot about QJ. A possible holding by a LAG which is exactly the type of hand I have on Pacific when I'm screwing around trying to bust people with hands like AA. Either way, good job as I think you are ahead more often than behind there.

99 hand, i just love it when people slowplay themselves to death.

Thanks Bri, nice to get some feedback, I really needed those hands after the whipping I took last week, downswing temporarily abated at 5.5 buyins.

Monday gained about $30, more grinding, no real hands to speak of.

Tuesday lost about $30, totally card dead. Only managed one set which I had to take down on the flop, apart from that just really got blinded down, couldn't catch a flop for any amount of money. My W$WSF was about 16, half what I usually achieve. At least I didn't get into any major trouble and lose any stacks, still very frustrating.

BR Sep 20 $2418

Theres not been anything to update here in the last week apart from the fact I've stayed away from the tables.
My last session on Friday 23rd was just brutal and it has to be said, it put me off playing. It feels like I've got to learn the game all over again and rethink my strategies. I've not fully identified what has happened in the last 2-3 weeks (5.5 buyin downswing, gain one back and then another 3 gone, thank heavens for bonuses softening the blow a little) but I suspect I've been trying to outplay people and failing. I have had a few bad beats which has contributed to about 60% of the losses but if I'm being totally honest the other 40% was me, probably by FPS or bad reads.
Example: in my last post I LOL'd at running a JJ into QQ. At the time I thought my play was pretty decent, I'd narrowed down villains range of hands and put him on something between 99 and QQ. I was way being the agressor in the hand (board was rags) but got called down. Normally with JJ I wouldn't have even bothered trying....WT? well yes and this is what was worrying me, I don't really want that kind of reputation if I'm going to step up in limits but it's working for me now so I guess I shouldn't mess with it too much. The trips into rivered boat was down to me chasing a flush, hitting trips on the river but that also made villains boat, I shouldn't have been there past the flop.

Anyway a slight strategy rethink and reverting back to my play of about 4-5 weeks ago, which looking at PT netted me around $900 over 9000 hands and taking the odd bad beat, I feel this is quite sustainable for my style of play (low varience).

I've also been interested in the discussion over on the PT board about aggression frequency, looked at my own and confirmed what I suspected that I am somewhere in the low 30% range, not optimal, but should I try and improve it and risk going too far into hands? To help me along I've downloaded PAHUD which now has UB / Pokershare support so I'll give it a go and see if it makes me play any differently against the same opponents.

I did play a shortish session yesterday, my first in 5 days and it went pretty good. Only a small gain and had to stop myself from playing any more because I think it would have dipped negative. I was $30 up at one stage after running a maniac off the table, but gave it back with 2 misplayed hands. 1st was calling a raise with KQs on the button and calling down villain trying to hit my flush, misplayed because I know villain very well and have a solid read on him, the flop should have been a raise or fold. 2nd was raising with AK and getting a call in front of me, villain then led into me, here I usually fold but I decided to see if he was trying it on with a 3.5x raise. Took him an age to call but he did and then led into me on the turn, my AK still unimproved, ack. Still I know where I am going wrong, just gotta stop myself from making those plays and try and remember "it's not how much you win but how much you save!!!"

Off to play a session now and see how I do with PAHUD

Sep 28 BR $2399

Thanks for reading 80Proof !!

I do play only at UB and the new skin, PokerShare at present. I like the interface, the games are quite good, the bonuses if hard to clear, do not expire and also I can withdraw cash and still keep any bonus not yet cleared. Most of all, I win there, something I wasn't able to do at Prima, although probably could now.

I'm still playing NL50 and probably will do for some time, especially after this downswing. I do have the BR technically to move up but I don't feel my play is quite consistent enough. Also if I had moved up and had the downswing I just had I would be moving down pretty swiftly, it would have been a major setback for me to lose $6-700 with my bankroll comparatively small and to rebuild. My aim is to be closer to the 40 buyin mark and be playing well to move to the next level. I'm not interested in withdrawing any cash for personal reasons, my poker BR is exactly that and will remain so until i'm playing NL200 at least so I want to be ultra safe, going broke would probably make me quit.

PAHUD....Poker Ace Head Up Display can be found here It is a utility very similar to GT+ for display players stats on screen while your are playing, this enables you to read players a little better, essential when multi-tabling. Theres some discussion about it in a sticky over in the PT section of the forum.

Onto tonight, couldn't get the PAHUD working, so posted on the relevant forum, hopefully I'm just missing something and can get it working soon as it looks a very good piece of software, pretty much any stat you want on an individual at your table in an instant.
My play tonight was pretty solid, made a gain of around 1 buyin and pushed my winnings just into the green by around $10 on the month and thats where my month will end. I'll post stats after the weekend but for now a couple of HOTD

Could I have got more?

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em, $.50 BB (10 handed)

CO ($63.50)
Button ($15.75)
SB ($75.75)
BB ($25.50)
UTG ($46.10)
UTG+1 ($56.60)
UTG+2 ($57.40)
Hero ($49.25)
MP2 ($56.75)
MP3 ($45.35)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with , .
3 folds, Hero calls $0.50, MP2 calls $0.50, MP3 calls $0.50, CO calls $0.50, 1 fold, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($3) , , (6 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $2.75, MP2 folds, MP3 calls $2.75, CO folds, SB folds, BB folds.

Turn: ($8.50) (2 players)
Hero bets $5, MP3 calls $5.

River: ($18.50) (2 players)
Hero bets $10, MP3 calls $10.

Final Pot: $38.50

Results in white below:
Hero has 9s 9h (full house, nines full of jacks).
MP3 has Ah 8s (two pair, aces and jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins $38.50.

I was hoping he was slow playing a big flush here and going to raise me on the river, don't know how he could have called that with A8, he wasn't listed as a CS either. I did consider pushing, maybe a pot bet would have got a call from him.

That dammed AK vs AQ

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em, $.50 BB (10 handed)

MP2 ($20.50)
Hero ($43.75)
CO ($11.05)
Button ($17.75)
SB ($44.75)
BB ($62.30)
UTG ($24.50)
UTG+1 ($92.25)
UTG+2 ($45.30)
MP1 ($61.25)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with , .
UTG+1 calls $0.50, 3 folds, Hero raises to $2.5, 2 folds, SB calls $2.25, 2 folds.

Flop: ($6) , , (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $6, SB raises to $12, Hero calls $6.

Turn: ($30) (3 players)
SB bets $30, Hero calls $29.25 (All-In).

River: ($89.25) (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $89.25

Results in white below:
SB has Ac Qh (one pair, aces).
UTG doesn't show.
Hero has As Kd (two pair, aces and kings).
Outcome: Hero wins $88.50.

Haha, you thought I'd lost. I guess this is why you don't play AQ in the blinds after a raise. His min-raise on the flop was just horrible, don't know what he was trying to achieve here apart from build the pot for a flush draw: AcKc maybe?? It's what I was thinking at the time anyway, 2-pr you would raise more, a set also to push out the draws. No chance was I laying down on the turn but heart was in the mouth at the river.

Sep 29 BR $2447

I play at UB from time to time.....you should PM your screen name so I can avoid your tables

....or so we can run over some flounders together

At UB / Pokershare I'm Alchemist74 or Alchemy 0074, sure is fun running over the maniacs.

End of month stats as promised, not very impressive but I'll post them all the same. This is after all an open and honest journal of my poker exploits and the last month, well the last 3 weeks of it has been a ball-ache to say the least. Here goes:

Hands played: 7164
VP$IP: 11.95 (17.31 from SB)
PFR: 2.53
W$WSF: 30.16
WtSD: 17.50
W$SD: 55.90
AF: 4.34 (F: 5.46, T: 3.55, R: 2.12)
Fold to River: 80.25
Amt Won: $8.60 Oh yes, your read right!!!
PTBB/100: 0.12 (0.24 Big Blinds)
Time played: 33.90 hrs
$/Hr: 0.25

Start BR: 2300
BR Low: 2300
BR High: 2653
End BR: 2447

Gain in BR $147
From Play $9
From Bonus $138

So after the first week which saw me gain $350, I was hoping to scream through the 3k barrier and on to around 3.3k or so by month end which would have been real nice and a reflection of the play I'm capable of in my opinion, but 2 downswings, 1 of 5.5 buyins over 2k hands followed by a 3 buyin loss on one session put paid to any hopes of that.

October's gonna be my bitch

October 3rd was very slow and frustating, took ages to get any sort of hand and just sort of bimbled along really between + and - $10. HOTDs below, 1 good, 1 bad.

Hit my draw for once

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em, $.50 BB (7 handed)

SB ($88.45)
BB ($44.50)
UTG ($29.50)
MP1 ($24.05)
MP2 ($29.45)
CO ($20.50)
Hero ($73.15)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
3 folds, CO calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2.5, 2 folds, CO calls $2.

Flop: ($5.75) , , (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $5, CO raises to $10, Hero raises to $18, CO calls all-in.

Turn: ($41.75) (2 players)

River: ($41.75) (2 players)

Final Pot: $41.75

Results in white below:
SB wins with Js Ts (flush, jack high).
CO has As 2d (two pair, nines and fives).
Outcome: Hero wins $41.75.

I didn't think he had a FH, previously seen him 'making plays' so I pushed

Got it in with the best

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em, $.50 BB (10 handed)

SB ($6)
BB ($33.30)
UTG ($61.55)
Hero ($49.25)
UTG+2 ($48.35)
MP1 ($9.20)
MP2 ($35.15)
MP3 ($52.05)
CO ($31)
Button ($58.45)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with , .
Hero calls $0.50, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.50, 2 folds, CO raises to $2.5, 3 folds, Hero calls $2, MP1 calls $2.

Flop: ($8.25) , , (4 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks, CO bets $8.25, Hero pushes, MP1 folds, CO calls.

Turn: ($65.25) (2 players)

River: ($65.25) (2 players)

Final Pot: $65.25

Results in white below:
UTG wins with Kd Kc (flush, king high).
Hero has Qd Qs (three of a kind, queens).
Outcome: CO wins $65.25.

Nice !

Will post Oct 04 tomorrow

It always sucks taking downswings and always makes you think that you suck. The best way I find of coping with it is just to analyse your hands, having pokertracker for this really helps and you can easy see where you went wrong and, if you're still stuck, post it here and get some help.
For example, this has helped me spot a leak responsible for a portion of my last downswing: When I have a hand and some fish has chased a draw with pot sized bets, hit on the river and pushed, I have called as I've been a) unable to lay down a set knowing i was beat and b) not believing he hit a draw after calling off chips on earlier streets in an attempt to do so.
I also took a few days off at the end of September as well as I didn't even want to go on the tables, it had been my worst swing to date. The only other times I suffered was at the end of July when I was playing NL25, I lost about 4 buyins so hopefully they don't happen often and don't last for a great length of time.

I enjoyed a profitable session yesterday to kickstart october. Slow early on but gathered momentum after the 2 hour mark with some good hands, here they are.

Here's my leak

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em, $.50 BB (8 handed)

UTG ($43.70)
UTG+1 ($23.70)
MP1 ($49.25)
Hero ($47.15)
CO ($41.50)
Button ($102)
SB ($4.45)
BB ($24.30)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with , .
2 folds, Hero raises to $2, 2 folds, SB calls $1.75, BB calls $1.50.

Flop: ($6) , , (4 players)
SB checks, BB bets $0.5, Hero raises to $6, Button folds, SB folds, BB calls $5.50.

Turn: ($18) (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

River: ($18) (2 players)
BB bets $16.3 (All-In), Hero calls $16.30.

Final Pot: $50.60

Results in white below:
BB has Ts Qs (flush, ace high).
Hero has Ac Ad (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: BB wins $50.60.

Nice AA hand

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em, $.50 BB (10 handed)

Hero ($44.45)
BB ($64.30)
UTG ($19.75)
UTG+1 ($71.95)
UTG+2 ($41.75)
MP1 ($24.50)
MP2 ($23.50)
MP3 ($25.85)
CO ($34.45)
Button ($58.70)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , .
1 fold, UTG+2 raises to $2.25, 5 folds, Hero raises to $8.25, 2 folds, UTG+2 calls $6.

Flop: ($17) , , (2 players)
Hero bets $15, UTG+2 calls $15.

Turn: ($47) (2 players)
Hero bets $21.2 (All-In), UTG+2 calls $18.50 (All-In).

River: ($86.70) (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $86.70

Results in white below:
Hero has Ad As (two pair, aces and eights).
UTG+2 has Jc Jd (two pair, jacks and eights).
Outcome: Hero wins $86.70.

He had to have a big pair to call my re-raise, I put him on JJ-KK

Proud of this laydown
(converter doesn't work for this)

Hand #8513530-12538 at Farmington (No Limit Hold'em)
Powered by UltimateBet
Started at 04/Oct/05 17:29:10

BB is at seat 0 with $44.90.
UTG is at seat 1 with $19.20.
UTG+1 is at seat 2 with $40.95.
MP1 is at seat 3 with $21.15.
Alchemist74 is at seat 4 with $44.40.
CO is at seat 5 with $51.25.
Button is at seat 6 with $53.35.
SB is at seat 9 with $49.95.
The button is at seat 8.

Alchemist74: Kc Kd

Pre-flop:

UTG folds. UTG+1 folds. MP1 folds.
Alchemist74 raises to $2.25. CO folds.
Button folds. SB re-raises to $4. BB
folds. Alchemist74 re-raises to $11.25. BB goes
all-in for $49.95. Alchemist74 folds. BB is
returned $38.70 (uncalled).

Hand #8513530-12538 Summary:

No rake is taken for this hand.
BB wins $23.

He had PFR of 2.5, similar to mine so I know he's not making a move but has a genuine hand. QQ-AA after the re-raise, AA after the push.

No way he has a flush

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em, $.50 BB (6 handed)

Hero ($51.10)
UTG ($29.15)
MP ($24)
CO ($49.95)
Button ($27.50)
SB ($4.20)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
3 folds, Button raises to $1, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.50.

Flop: ($2.25) , , (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $2.25, Hero raises to $7, Button pushes, Hero calls.

Turn: ($55.25) (2 players)

River: ($55.25) (2 players)

Final Pot: $55.25

Results in white below:
Hero has Td Jc (two pair, jacks and tens).
Button has As Js (two pair, jacks and eights).
Outcome: Hero wins $55.25.

Oh no, sick of flopping sets on scary boards

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em, $.50 BB (10 handed)

MP2 ($28.45)
Hero ($69.10)
CO ($29.80)
Button ($24.55)
SB ($58.30)
BB ($24.75)
UTG ($13)
UTG+1 ($12.50)
UTG+2 ($51.45)
MP1 ($20.25)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with , .
3 folds, MP1 calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.50, 1 fold, Button calls $0.50, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($2.50) , , (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, MP1 bets $2.5, Hero raises to $8, Button folds, SB folds, BB folds, MP1 calls $5.50.

Turn: ($18.50) (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $18.5, MP1 calls $11.75 (All-In).

River: ($48.75) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $48.75

Results in white below:
MP1 has Jc 4h (one pair, sevens).
Hero has 6h 6s (full house, sixes full of sevens).
Outcome: Hero wins $48.75.

J4, hmmmm. OK he had an OESD, but on double suited and paired board???

+62 for the session

Oct 04 BR $2519

OH NO It's all going horribly wrong !!!!!

Don't know what is going on at the moment, lost $85 today over a monster 1000 hand session and it was all in just 3 hands

Set over set -$45
Set over AA -$25
A flush over K flush -$25

Ugh

Thing is, I should have gotten away from 2 of those 3 IMO.

I felt I played pretty good though, just 2 mistakes I think. I did have other hands where I got away from them relatively cheaply, KK into QQQ turning quads I only lost $15 with both having full stacks just one example. Anyway it was a good but wierd session, was never above even, dropping to -$80, then fighting back to -$15, down to -$95 and finishing arounf -$80-85. I only hit a set about 5 times and didn't get paid once, always a drawing board of some description but no-one biting.

On a different note, I had my first B+M casino experience on Friday at a local casino here in Manchester. For those that know the area, it was Stanley Casino in Chinatown. Thanks to the recent change in gambling laws here, I didn't have to wait 24 hours to become a member so just signed up and walked straight in. I went with my good bud and were a bit tanked up but had a good time (well I did anyway, he lost a few quid). They didn't have a poker room so we tried out three card poker, or tri card poker.
For those that don't know, everyone is dealt 3 cards and play against the dealer only, not against each other. I quickly worked out that K high was pretty good, developed a play and stuck to it. I bought in for £40 and after about 90 minutes had £42....lol at least it was a cheap session. Will go again but there is another one in the city which actually has a poker room so will check it out next time.

Oct 09 BR $2480

Can't do a thing right....flopping sets seems to be thin on the ground, I walk in to hands, big hands I win is always against short stacks, big hands i lose is, of course, against big stacks. But you know what, apart from the odd mistake, I'm playing good, PT says my stats are good so how do I get out of this rut????? Is this just varience? Seems I've been dry for about 5 weeks now, just playing break even poker, well slightly losing but not by much....In relation to the BR break even
I'm going down very early in sessions and fighting my way back very well, tonight I walked into this one.

How to kick a man when he's down

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em, $.50 BB (5 handed)

MP ($30.35)
Button ($30.45)
SB ($18.75)
BB ($29.70)
Hero ($80.55)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with , .
Hero calls $0.50, 2 folds, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($1.50) , , (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks.

Turn: ($1.50) (3 players)
SB bets $0.5, BB raises to $1, Hero calls $1, SB calls $0.50.

River: ($4.50) (3 players)
SB checks, BB bets $4.5, Hero raises to $9, SB folds, BB pushes, Hero calls.

Final Pot: $60.90

Results in white below:
Hero has 5d 5c (full house, fives full of sixes).
BB has 6h 5h (full house, sixes full of fives).
Outcome: Hero wins $60.90.

Ouch

BR Oct 11 $2479