Robb's 400th post

Warning - very long!!

I learn tons from the blogs and operations threads. I feed off their successes and realize others have poker troubles, too. For my 400th post, I thought I'd put out my own "blog" style post. I'm posting here in the Beginner's Forum because that's where I tend to hang out most often, and it's newbies that might find my story most helpful.

I'm 38. I've been married 11 years to a girl I met in tenth grade and started dating during grad school. We have 3 kids, twin 4 year olds and a 1 1/2 year old. I'm a mathematics professor at North Georgia College & State University in Dahlonega, GA. I have a master's in pure math (chaos theory, game theory, prob-stats expertise) and a math-education Ph.D. I started playing poker online a bit more than a year ago, and lost $350 in about 10 months. It was recreational and fun. I played as many different games and different kinds of MTT's and SnG's as possible, just goofing and enjoying it all. On the scale of nitty to gambler, I'm 90% gambler.

I put my "last" $100 online in October. I hunkered down, began working on my game, and told myself "now or never." If I lost the $100, I was done playing poker. My wife and I agreed on that. I played NL10 and won. Thank god some positive variance and a fishy site well-suited to my game combined to save me from my bankroll management blunder. I got on FTR and read the entire Beginner's Digest and as many threads as possible. I bought 4 new poker books, and read them each twice. I reread the two I already owned. I bought a HUD to go with PT, which I already owned.

I've had a good year in life: promoted and tenured at NGCSU plus the university's top faculty award (Distinguished Professor, 2008). When I was a losing player, I was arrogant. I thought these things about my game:

1. The rake is too high - I'm beating this game, just not enough to beat the rake.
2. The fish are schooling on me - I'd be better off at NL100 where they fold their crap. I could win up there.
3. I'm smart. I'm a math professor. I understand probability and game theory. Opp's are total morons. I should be killing this game.
4. I know more than these FTR idiots.
5. When I win, it's me playing like Johnny Chan. When I lose, it's bad luck.

God and FTR regs forgive me for my first 50 posts.

I got rakeback to help with #1 which was partly true. I got active on FTR to help fix #3 and make it mostly true, admitting that #4 was just plain conceit and idiocy. My history of winning poker now encompasses 5 whole months, 75k hands, $725 up at NL10 and goes something like this:

Oct: 3.4 ptBB/100 for 4k hands
Nov: 4.6 ptBB/100 for 14k hands
Dec: 5.5 ptBB/100 for 28k hands
Jan: 6.0 ptBB/100 for 8k hands
Feb: 3.6 ptBB/100 for 17k hands (pending...)

I think those numbers show my personal learning curve. February includes two 5k downswings, one caused 90% by donkish play, one caused 70% by negative variance. Here's a list of some of the biggest lessons I had to learn:

In October, I learned the value of position, rakeback, FTR's beginner digest and PokerTracker.
In November, I learned to cbet and got the HUD working - confident w/ 6max only.
In December, I learned when to raise opp's cbets, how to play med/small pp's, and how to 8-table.
In Janaury, I learned when NOT to cbet, how to play over cards postflop and adapted my game to FR.
In February, I learned to multitable (15 FR, 9 6max) and make villain reads before EVERY decision.

Overall at NL10, I have won about $725 with a 5 ptBB/100 total earn rate and am near my all-time bankroll peak. I took two serious shots at NL25, but found my game goes all to crap. I play an aggressive style, and there's more 3betting there by a good bit. So I got weak-tight. Then I over-corrected and got maniac agro postflop. And some negative variance happened, bad beats, blah, blah. But I sucked at NL25 and played like scared money, so I moved back down with 50 BI's for NL10 even after withdrawing the "last" $100 I had put on in October.

I try not to care two buckets of warm spit what anyone else thinks about my game. It's mine. It's my problem to solve. It's my lost cash to win back. It's my stupid, boneheaded, moronic bullshit that I - not you - have to correct. But that's what helps me learn poker. I now take responsibility for every dumbass all-in shove, for every extra street I call down without a plan while knowing I need to fold. I know that last night's 5.5 BI upswing (900 hands ) was mostly fishy opp's + positive variance. I work (not hard enough) on tactics, strategy, metagame, theory, analysis.

If any newbies are still readin' this, here's how I progressed through selecting when to open what hands:

1. Card value
2. Card value + position
3. Card value + position + postflop playability
4. Card value + position + postflop playability + stack sizes
5. Card value + position + postflop playability + stack sizes + reads on villains in the pot and those yet to act

Currently, the thoughts that go through my head preflop are:

6. Reads on villains in the pot and those yet to act + stack sizes + position + postflop playability + card value

Level 6 has been the biggest leap forward in my game profits.

My general rule for playing poker is bet, raise or fold. I almost never limp. On the flop, my default is set on betting or raising. If I can't bring myself to put in a healthy bet or raise, I check/fold. I call maybe 5-8% of the time, and usually with something close to the nuts. Since I'm looking to raise an unraised pot from position preflop, and looking to bet or raise the flop, the turn and river are pretty simple. If I think I'm ahead, I try to get all the chips in the middle. If I think I'm behind, I just fade, check/check/fold. It's NL10, so this agro ABC style works fine.

Moving up is an exciting prospect where I can add more aspects to my game. I've learned to play several styles ranging between 20/16/5 and 8/7/5, depending upon 6max vs. FR and looseness/passivity of villains. I'm a solid winner now on two sites with very different opp profiles: Absolute (very loose, very passive and fishy) and UB (loose, agro and fishy). I have br on both and rakeback for both. I am currently learning how to follow fish across the sites from FR to 6max and play different styles on different tables tailored to the precise villains I find there. I will probably open an account at FTP by the end of the year.

BTW, UB often has a reputation for TAGGy play. Hard to beat. LoL. That site has gotten very fishy in the last 3 months. Or I've gotten better. Or hopefully both. If you're playing NL 2 or NL10, check it out.

I have some goals for the next few months.

1. I want to pwn NL10 for 8+ ptBB/100 over 25k+ hands.
2. I want a $1k+ br
3. I want to move up permanently to NL25
4. I want to keep learning and earning
5. I want to do some bonus-whoring

I need to thank some FTR icons for their help, articles, advice and encouragement: Biondino, Spoon, TJ, Renton, fnord, ISF, Drew, Miffed, Spenda, gabe. My all time fav's are Spoon's rants, TJ's "tough love" posts, Spenda's vids and an encouraging/helpful post from Biondino when I was struggling. I also want to shout out to some other microgrinders: chopper, pythonic, thunder, daven, nestlund. See y'all at NL100!!

FTR rules.

Good luck at the tables, and godspeed.

Robb

Bravo!

Go Doc Go

Nice post, as usual Robb.
Its good (and inspirational) to see that hard work can pay off.
Congrats on your success thus far,
and best of luck in the future.

i think robb is a very iconic poster here on FTR, because not only does he ask good questions and really desire more knowledge of the game, he puts a lot time into making thoughtful posts that lays out everything he knows to help people below his level.

kick it yo! once you're playing 25nl, head to full tilt and clear that easy $600 - 500 hands for every $10, something like that. So that's like three long sessions 15-tabling - yeah? and then you can crush 50nl for half an hour by stacking me a few times, then we'll go dine at 100nl. sound like a plan?
we could talk maths sometime, but nah... climbing? i've got some comp this weekend where i'll see punks flashing my glory days... so nah...
anys, good luck!

Here's a graph of about 90% of the hands I've played in the last 5 months. Poker EV for some reason doesn't like HH's from Absolute. But you'll get the idea.



I particularly notice (and remember) the early struggles, thinking I was winning but not being sure. That massive heater between 10k and 15k hands was when I really gained the confidence needed for a winning player's mentality. Since then, I've known I'm a winner at these stakes, and now it's just down to me working hard enough to keep learnin' and earnin'.

Great post. Rather inspirational to a newbie like me.

Congrats Robb, you have put some serious work into your game and it definitely shows!!!

Btw, I live just a couple of hours from you. I am in Dacula, GA.

You have more future than you know. Humility and thirst for knowledge are key. There is plenty of time for arrogance and cockiness when we have 50K BR's and are playing like Gabe, Sauce or ISF (Not that they are either of those things), but for now it only gets in the way of earnings. You have all the tools, and have got the foundation, now start building the first floor structure.

sounds good, but maybe i can help with the unwritten #7..

you said " If I think I'm ahead, I try to get all the chips in the middle. If I think I'm behind, I just fade, check/check/fold. It's NL10, so this agro ABC style works fine. "

i know this is nitpicky and beside the point to your post, but sooner or later you will realize this isnt the way to go about things always. basic example: on the river, you have an overpair. you know your opponent has bottom pair 90% of the time, and the rest of the time he has top two pair for whatever reason. you know hes weak tight so hes always gonna fold bottom pair on this river. so your range (overpair) is ahead of his range (bottom pair 90%, two pair 10%). but since hes gonna fold 90% of his range and only call with what beats you, you should be betting bluffs here ALWAYS and NEVER value betting aces. (of course, if your opponent can adapt to you this changes, but we assume that they cant for the most part until proven otherwise).


i'm planning on writing a big post on all this hand range stuff and going about taking it to the next level sooner or later, but maybe that helps for now.

Yea, things really help if you stop thinking about where you are in the hand and start thinking level two. What does my opponent think I have, especially on the river?

Originally Posted by gabe

i'm planning on writing a big post on all this hand range stuff and going about taking it to the next level sooner or later, but maybe that helps for now.

Cant wait.

Originally Posted by will641

he puts a lot time into making thoughtful posts that lays out everything he knows to help people below his level.

Exactly why i read all of his posts.
This noob appreciates it.

Originally Posted by gabe

sounds good, but maybe i can help with the unwritten #7..

you said " If I think I'm ahead, I try to get all the chips in the middle. If I think I'm behind, I just fade, check/check/fold. It's NL10, so this agro ABC style works fine. "

i know this is nitpicky and beside the point to your post, but sooner or later you will realize this isnt the way to go about things always. basic example: on the river, you have an overpair. you know your opponent has bottom pair 90% of the time, and the rest of the time he has top two pair for whatever reason. you know hes weak tight so hes always gonna fold bottom pair on this river. so your range (overpair) is ahead of his range (bottom pair 90%, two pair 10%). but since hes gonna fold 90% of his range and only call with what beats you, you should be betting bluffs here ALWAYS and NEVER value betting aces. (of course, if your opponent can adapt to you this changes, but we assume that they cant for the most part until proven otherwise).


i'm planning on writing a big post on all this hand range stuff and going about taking it to the next level sooner or later, but maybe that helps for now.

I will read it twice when you get it written. The trouble with generalizing and summarizing is that poker isn't black and white. I'm getting better at turn/river play, but it's taking time because I'm always raising pre and betting the flop - I lose maneuvering room for the turn and river, especially against the short stacks which are very prevalent where I play.

Right now, I'm good enough pre and on the flop to make money even though I really suck at turn/river play. Well, I don't suck as bad as my opponents. But I need to learn to play all four streets well, and I don't mind admitting it.

Speaking of generalizing, I just posted a rant that paints everything black and white for noobs - so I'll probably get ripped to shreds and flamed. LoL. But winning a bit at the micros can be really freakin' straightforward.

I have appreciated all the comments in this thread, from FTR icons and noobs alike. Thanks, guys, and good luck at the tables.

ha, OOPS already responded to the other one.

" The trouble with generalizing and summarizing is that poker isn't black and white."

yea, that was my point, didnt want people to fall into that trap

Originally Posted by Robb

I put my "last" $100 online in October. I hunkered down, began working on my game, and told myself "now or never." If I lost the $100, I was done playing poker.

I'm in the EXACT same position! I've lost about 500 bucks during the last couple of years. Playing different kinds of poker, at many different levels, both live and online.

It's time to take it to the next level now. So I'm gonna get a rakeback deal, buy pokertracker and stay active on these forums. With proper bankroll management I hope I'll mange to become a winning player, just like you.

very interesting read Robb. good luck to you.
I'm playing the same level as you, re-building my roll (i only got up to 25nl before wasting it).
I'm hoping to be more active on the FTR in the coming months and want to get to 25/50nl sharpish.
Onwards and upwards!

and Gabe can't wait to see your big post on hand ranges.

Great post Robb. Definately something in there for at least all the micro stakes players, like me.