$1000NL Hand! (2 Viewers)

chipsncoffee

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Tonight I broke a cardinal rule. I played outside of my bankroll. :nailbite:

Tonight I hit the one-week mark of moving up from $200NL to $500NL, and, while there have been some swings, I've been really happy with the results I've been getting. I'm really adamant about having at least 20+ buy-ins for whatever game I'm playing, but I allowed myself to try playing a single $5/$10NL table just to see how things would go. I feel like I'm generally good about not trying to play through downswings, but, when it happens, I'll get up, go get some air, then review some hands. I allowed myself ONE buy-in so that, if I lost it, I would still be fine. All that being said, I know that this was an irresponsible move on my part and it's not something that I plan on keeping up. But enough of that; let's get into this hand because I think that the line used was really interesting (no bragging intended). :D

Hero and Villain have been absolutely smashing into each other tonight. Earlier in the session, Villain beat Hero out of a good-size pot with a flopped set against top two (AQ). Villain is ridiculously aggressive. Like, almost 90% aggression stats. Any time that he gets checked to, he bets without fail. What's harder is that Villain has position on Hero in almost every hand. Villain also has a VPIP of OVER 60% and he NEVER folds to just one bet. He's playing a lot of hands, and he's playing them hard. He is also floating in position, and he's doing it a lot. Finally, Hero has noticed that Villain likes to bet big when he's not very strong. Villain has the effective stack of ~$1750.

So Hero is in the HJ and sees :ad::ac: and raises to $30. CO folds, Villain calls, and SB and BB fold. Pot is $75.

The flop comes :kc::3c::6h:. This is where our plan to make ourselves look like we're drawing starts. We c-bet small (like all the cool kids are doing nowadays) to $29 and Villain calls. Pot is $133 and we go to the turn.

The turn brings the :8d:. Now, given that Villain will bet for us and does not like to fold whatsoever, we opt to check here. Villain bets $110. Presto! It's working! Pot is $243, Villain has ~$1550 behind, and we have to figure out how to maximize value. Hero chooses to re-raise big here since we know that Villain hates folding once he has money in the pot and is pretty incapable of folding TP. Hero raises to $400, and Villain snap calls. Pot is $1043, and we go to the river with Villain having just over ~$1100 behind.

River is :4d:. Now we have to decide how to keep up the act and make Villain think we've missed any draws that we could've had, but we also can't check because we don't want him checking behind. My thought process is that something around 1/2 pot could work because, at least online, it's often construed as weak, so Hero bets $500 and Villain doesn't tank for one second before calling and we drag a pot of just over $2k! I think the fact that I read him for exactly KQ (which he showed) and the fact that I got him to pay me off with it made me happier than the pot itself!

I ended the session with just below $6k in profit, and I honestly can't believe it. Sincerely, I don't mean to sound like a braggart, but I was really happy to see that I held my own and beat the game. It's insane just how different $5/$10 is from $2/$5.

I know that this is a long post, and if you read the whole thing, then thank you! If you did, I would love to hear your thoughts and how you think this could've been played differently or what you would've done!

Thanks again! :tup:
 
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I hope this is your fun money and not some source of income. I feel confident your bankroll didn't grow to be ultra comfortable at $500 NL in a week. Taking shots at higher stakes too soon is going to lead to trouble. I am happy it worked out for you so far.

I wouldn't expect to commonly find villains who drop 100bb on TP/GK vs an over-pair playing on-line $1,000 hold'em. Yes you do find lots of these types of guys playing live poker. I have to think this situation is due to Covid19 shutting down live poker and sending that crew on-line. I will be shocked if this continues to be the norm for more than a limited time.

I got to pondering how long someone would have to grind at the ultra micro stakes ( say $0.02 / $0.05 ) to make a thousand bucks. Eight tables, winning 5bb/hr/table ----> 500 hours. Hero gets his grand in about 60 seconds. Well done.

As this isn't a strategy thread, I have no comment to offer about the play. If Hero wants to talk about strategy, we should see the hand unfold decision by decision and absolutely not see the results until the discussion has been completed.

As a meta perspective thread, again I caution everyone to be mindful about moving up stakes without proper bankroll. Hero didn't have enough time to grow the bankroll in seven days. Last week he was playing $200 NL on-line.

Normally I think the concept of bankroll is overblown. Most of us have plenty of normal income to fund poker buy-ins even if we lose more than we win. This isn't so true for $1,000 NL. Most people can't just shrug off a $5,000 bad night. How many of us keep $5,000+ in checking? How many wouldn't blink at a $5,000 cash draw from a credit card?

Hero is likely entering a level of poker for which he is unprepared. I am not saying "bad boy", I am saying be careful and mindful of the unique conditions that aren't likely to continue. Please disregard if you are pulling a solid six figures at the law firm or if your trust fund pays out $25,000 per week. But in most cases I think some caution would be in order. Perhaps a 200x bankroll < $200,000 > is way too restrictive for a casual player. I do think a 40x roll would be prudent if playing at stakes beyond your day-job income.

Things don't always go your way. Some nights it is your AK that runs into KK where the run out doesn't favor you -=- DrStrange
 
Is this on ACR or a PPPoker Club or...?

Awesome that your shot worked out. You should be aggressive with your bankroll if you can replenish it via normal income and the game is good. But if this is your main source of income, 20x buyins is pretty light imo. Hopefully this gives you a big confidence boost at your normal stakes.
 
@DrStrange, maybe I worded things poorly, but I had been play $200NL until I had built it to the point where I had just over 20 buy-ins to $500NL. I also do not play multiple tables at anything higher than $200NL because I know my results aren’t as good, but you’re absolutely right. I should not have played a larger game, and I absolutely do not expect these games to stay so easy. I have definitely noticed that games have been softer since the pandemic outbreak. That also played a part in my decision to try $5/$10.

Maybe I’m taking a very wrong approach to playing online, and I’m certainly not advocating stepping outside of one’s bankroll. I apologize if that is the message I sent.
 
Nicely done. But don't play in games outside your bankroll anymore. Next time, another aggressive villain might just crush your AA with a random two pair.
 
Nicely done. But don't play in games outside your bankroll anymore. Next time, another aggressive villain might just crush your AA with a random two pair.

Of course. It was just a one-time thing to see how I held my own in that game for a session. I set a very strict limit for myself regarding using only one buy-in (comparable to two at $500NL) and wouldn't allow myself to pass it.
 
Wow, what a rush that hand must have been!

I just love it when I feel that confident about what the other guy is doing and everything works out so well. That happened to me over the winter. (Of course, mine was playing for M&Ms against a 10-year old...:whistle: :whistling: )
 
Wow, what a rush that hand must have been!

I just love it when I feel that confident about what the other guy is doing and everything works out so well. That happened to me over the winter. (Of course, mine was playing for M&Ms against a 10-year old...:whistle: :whistling: )

It’s not the prize; it’s about finally being able to prove that you’re the genius you’ve been trying to convince everyone you are all your life! :ROFL: :ROFLMAO:
 

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