Overall, November proved to be a pretty successful month for me. I'm recapping it now because, due to my schedule for the rest of the month, I think I am done playing until December. Cash Games NL Games: ($190) over 2500 hands at 50 NL and 100 NL I was up for quite a while and then had one bad session where I played my C+ game and ran into the top of people's value ranges a lot.  PLO Games: $550 over 4000 hands at 50 PLO and 100 PLO I'm still a PLO fish. I don't mind saying it. I am probably not 3 betting pre-flop or bluffing enough, but I am a very good hand reader and so I can compensate at micro stakes and small stakes by picking off bluffs and playing my hands for max value [More...]

Part of your evolution in poker is watching training videos and reading strategy forums. Another part is playing hands. I think the biggest part, though, is experimenting to see what playing style you are comfortable with and what works well.  As a poker player you need to be brutally honest with yourself. If you have a negative ROI over many games you are doing something wrong. You're not just running into coolers or taking bad beats. Over a big enough sample size there is something else happening which is preventing you from winning money. No one person is inherently luckier than another person. Do some people run better in big spots? Sure. Look at Darvin Moon at the WSOP Final Table. Phil Ivey will never again in his lifetime get it in with AK vs AQ for tons of chips [More...]

There is more than one type of fish and you need to be able to categorize them pretty quickly at the poker table in order to maximize your expectation.  Passive Fish – There are two types of passive fish. Type 1: The fish who doesn't fold to anything pre-flop but folds to many c-bets and 2nd barrels. With this type of fish you should basically be figuring out the absolute smallest amount it takes to isolate them at your table, and then ISO often. Since they won't fold pre-flop you don't want to bloat pots with vulnerable holdings, but you do want to isolate with those holdings since you will either be ahead in the hand or you will win it post-flop through solid hand reading and bet sizing.  Typer 2: The fish who opens many hands and backs down [More...]

I'll probably end up doing a couple different blogs like this – the aim is to write down some things I've picked up along the way whether it's from a training video, article, or something I figured out on my own.  1. VPIP, PFR, and 3 Bet Stats can be dangerous if you don't know how to read them. These stats give you a foundation with which to build strategy but if you're only glancing at some HUD stats and making decisions solely based on that you might find out that you're either having break even or losing results.  Here's a good example.  Villain 1: 20/18/8.5 Villain 2; 36/28/8.5 Each of these villains are going to have a very different 3 betting range from each other. One is likely to be polarized and the other is de-polarized. Also, you need [More...]

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One day you wake up and the game has passed you by. Suddenly you're getting 3-bet after every open and you feel lost. You fold and they laugh. You shove and they have it. When you try to play their game they ram a 4-bet shove down your throat. A few years ago you were printing money. Now you're heavily invested in a long-term relationship with the One Click Deposit button. At first you told yourself you were just running bad. But how long can a downswing last before it's more than just that? You see posts on P5's and other forums where people are talking about 9 month downswings. It makes you feel better. Yours has been six months. You're not alone. But what if theirs is more than a downswing? Now you're confused. But you're a good player, right? [More...]