JeffreyLipsey.com

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So my third day in a row playing 50 NL Heads-Up concluded with me not wanting to play that game for quite a while. Coupled with Wednesday’s 1 buy in day, I had another 1 buy-in day yesterday through 4 hours and ended up losing 5 today in another 4 hours. For the most part it was my own fault why I lost but after the session is over I realized I hate my life.


OK, so that’s a little over-dramatic but I mean I was loving life November 30 and now 4 days later I’m not having fun? The only thing that changed was starting to play 50nl HU! Honestly, I’ve lost all my confidence playing HU Cash right now; I thought I had a ton of confidence playing this level but that is not the case. The lack of confidence is costing me my time, money and mental state that doesn’t make any sense for me to continue.


I’ve actually willed myself to put time in yesterday and today by putting in 2 separate 2 hour sessions and I feel like this has worked out well. If I can find this motivation for full ring then I should be OK and if I get bored I’ll look for ways to keep myself interested. Maybe I’ll add another table here or there or whatnot but right now me having no feeling about how I play (full ring) is better than being negatively effected (heads up). I’m not giving up HUSNGs but I don’t see myself grinding them for sometime anyway.


Luckily its the beginning of the month and I have time to turn around and avoid wasting anything as we go further. I’ll have to restudy some FR and hopefully by the end of a couple weeks I’ll be back in the groove of things.

So I’ve made a very modest short term goal of 60 hours this month of poker play, as counted by Hold’em Manager. This does not include any coaching and does not include any Grinderschoolwork.


I don’t plan on updating everyday but today I got in a measly 2.3 hours and I wanted to make myself accountable. I started at around 2:30 pm and was planning on going straight through 6:30. I was cruising through my first 2 hours but all of a sudden I lacked focus and care and shut my tables down. I managed to make 1 buy-in so my goal of 40 buy-in’s at 50nl before moving up this month is 1 buy in closer.


So: 2.3/60 hours; 1/40 Buy-Ins.

Well now that November is gone I guess I can update again. What was originally going to be a real busy month only ended slightly so; I had plans to go to Indianapolis for Thanksgiving which fell through (a blessing maybe?). Otherwise I had the chance to see my Mom again as she came out for a long visit for her work and I was able to introduce Marlyn to my Grandparents and other family out in Denver. I guess you can still consider that a crazy month!


Another big change that some of you may have realized is that I am taking over many of the adminstrative duties over at Grinderschool.com to give JGB and his wife a break from their tireless work over the past 2 years. This has added on about 2-3 hours extra work for me a day and so far I like it and combined with some extra coaching I’m enjoying my life right now.


On the poker front I didn’t get to play much this month. Whether it was Denver or my Mom or Grinderschool or just myself, I only managed to get in 30 hours not including any coaching sessions. I know some of you saw me playing some weird games over the month. While in Denver I played a $20 180-man SNG and took first in that for a cool $1,000 in winnings so that felt really nice. After that I played Multi-Table Tournaments for 1 day and remembered why I disliked them so much. I was talking with Reasons14 on Skype (one of the SNG Instructors on Grinderschool) and he was talking to me about guys that would crush the $10 180-man SNG Turbos for like $100 an hour and I couldn’t believe it! So I tried that for a day and after losing 25 straight tournaments in a row without cashing I decided that was a bust to; probably the only thing I did this month which I didn’t have any fun at.


I also started the month grinding out some 100nl Full Ring on Stars again; sometimes its hard to remember just how nitty that game is. My friend Kavin had a killer month there so congrats to him as he started to get back in the groove. He put in over 120 hours on the month and his results show it; if only I can get off my ass I can have a good month too.


And then at the end of the month I played my share of Ultra-Turbo HUSNGs on Absolute, anywhere from $20-$50 buy-in. Those things are so much fun; they have 2 minute levels and you start with 500 chips. If I feel like I’m getting outplayed I’ll just time bank down for 4 hands until the blinds go up then I’ll just play game-theory optimized at 10-bb or less. I can probably grind out a 5-10% ROI in those things before rakeback but I would need to risk like 2-3k/day in order to see any kind of decent profit. The tournaments last 7 minutes or less and I’m only 1 tabling so you can see that I’d have to play 8/hr for 8 hours a day to get that kind of exposure at the $50 level and its not worth it. That doesn’t mean I will stop playing these but I’ll keep working on my skill level and maybe I’ll take shots at the 100s and see how I do.


For those long time readers, the reason I got so few hours in this month is not another one of those ‘unmotivated’ months or anything; I just seriously don’t know where the time goes all day. I was talking with Adil that I’m done at about 11 am every day with Grinderschool stuff, take 30 minutes for lunch and start dinner around 6 pm. That’s a good 6-7 hours of my day that usually just goes away and since my GameFly cancellation I’m not playing any video games (unfortunately). I don’t even feel like I’m watching that much TV during the day right now; although if I do watch its usually PBS Cooking shows (Spain: On the Road Again) in the early morning.


So that’s where I am at right now. I need to make a greater effort to put in more hours in December and Adil wants me to go back playing HU Cash. In order to win you need to have confidence and in order to have confidence you need to win; right now I am confident in my $50nl HU game so that is where I’ll be I guess. I figure I’ll win 40 buy ins there before I take any more shots at the 100nl HU game again; I feel like I can still crush 100NL HU when I’m playing my best. Unfortunately it doesn’t take much for me to go from awesome to break-even playing Heads-Up and the last thing I want to do is break-even.


So until next time I am out. Funny thing is I complain about all those people with poker blogs who don’t have them updated when I go to do link exchanges. And then you come see mine and its like once a month lol.

Man I’ve heard so much talk about ‘quitting when you’re not playing your A game’ or ‘improving your c game’ and while I understand it as a concept I feel like its retarded to think of it as a literal reality to which we can actively control. But then I thought what if I could actually create my “A,” “B,” and “C” games so I know when I’m playing like that and can both 1) quit when I’m not playing at a certain level (short term) and 2) work on improving that level (long term).



So here goes my attempt at my own play to find out what stage of play I’m at. I’ll try and do + or - for each level too as well as possible hourly rates but we’ll see.



C Game or Worse



I am not putting opponents on ranges. I’m instead ‘playing my cards’ and hoping to hit something so I can when a big pot. I am:


1. Not making any adjustments. I win when the player type matches up well with the current style I am playing; I lose when the player doesn’t match up well.
2. Incorrectly determining the value of hands. I determine on the flop how many streets of value I plan to get and follow those guidelines through out the entire hand:

3. I take bad betting lines to achieve these value standards definied above. I pot control too much and allow opponents with either balanced betting ranges or purely value ranges to influence my own play. Generally, they call more than they bet so I should be the one betting especially out of position.
4. I miss value with my strong hands on the river when a scare card doesn’t hit and my opponent will only raise with the nuts.
5. I make bad bluffs against opponents with no reads and they’re usually expensive. I then continue bluffing instead of tightening up.
6. I always think opponents are bluffing me and then become a calling station with MP/BP on more than 1 street especially after a tendancy of already calling down once or twice.




B Game



I’m trying to put opponents on ranges but am not doing so successfully. I then:


1. Make bad adjustments while trying to see a showdown
2. Giving inaccurate labels to players over a small sample of hands and keeping me from entering the A game
3. I improve the value lines above to:

4. I value bet too thin on the river on scary boards. Usually this is with two pair on 4 straight boards
5. I don’t let my opponent bluff into me when he’s shown aggression and I have the nuts and its easy to get stacks in.
6. I take small stabs at pots but give up after my opponent calls after showing weakness. I continue to just take small stabs.



A Game



I am accurately putting my opponents on ranges to the river:


1. I’m making good folds on the Turn/River and only because I can put him on an accurate range
2. I’m making good call downs with weak hands such as 3rd pair/Ace high
3. I can value bet 3rd pair/Ace high on the turn after checking the flop and not value-town myself
4. I can value bet 3 streets with top pair hands
5. I take good bluff lines and if I get caught I stop, tighten up and get value



I’m putting the A Game last only because I feel it deserves the least amount of importance. If we know that we’ll always play when we’re at least playing at a “B” level where we are showing a high hourly then knowing the difference between an A+ and A- game seems negligible. Especially when we should be spending most of our time improving the C and B game that we play.



Conclusion



I feel like over an entire heads-up match I go through all of the various game types. I usually start in my C game looking at how my opponent is playing. I then go into my B game and start adjusting and I keep adjusting until I am able to get into my A game and eventually stack him.



On my ‘C’ days that I play I take too long to make any adjustments or notice the adjustments to make. The longer it takes to go from C game to A game the more money I lose making incorrect adjustments and getting to showdown. By the time I hit my A game and start to win money back I have to hope I’ve not lost enough that my opponent hits and runs when he will feel like he’s getting outplayed.

Marlyn looked at the Kohl’s Ad in yesterday’s Washington Post and noticed a Kitchen Aid Stand mixer on sale. Link

Plus you get an additional $20 off mail in rebate. So how did I get mine for $120? Well, if you sign up for a kohl’s credit card you get an additional 15% off that purchase price so that’s $30. On top of that every $50 you spend at Kohl’s you get a free $10 gift card to be used in the next couple weeks.


So $260 stand mixer on sale for $200, minus $20 mail in rebate, minus $30 discount from credit card, minus the $30 in gift card = $120.


More about the Stand Mixer:


The stand mixer definitely is not the $500 one that is probably worth the money if you could afford it. The two big differences between the $500 mixer and $260 mixer is the wattage and the size of the bowl. The $500 mixer has 550 watts of power whereas the $260 only has 275 watts, or pretty much half the power. I have no idea how the difference in power would effect anything as I would have to run tests to find out; if you want to listen to the sales clerk who said that the lower power wont allow you to make as big of batches when you cook then you may.


The size of the bowl matters too. The $500 mixer gets you a 6 quart bowl in comparison to the 4.5 quart bowl you get with the $260 version. I think 4.5 quarts is enough for my personal use but I would plan on buying the best one I can afford when this one wears out (hopefully 10 years or so). Also the $500 mixer comes with a $20 plastic pour spout that I’ve never seen anyone use before.


Attachments:


In terms of attachments the $260 version and the $500 version should run all the same attachments. Power-intensive attachments such as the meat grinder might wear down the motor more in the cheaper version and that is where the more wattage would come handy. Unfortunately attachments of all kinds are expensive and in some cases more than the cost of our machine itself. I was looking into getting the meat grinder but I’ll probably just use the food processor for the time being; I’ve already got a manual pasta roller and I don’t find it cost-efficient to pay $120 for a new set. If there was a converter out there that allowed you to use the manual pasta maker in the stand mixer that could be cool.


How’s poker been going? Don’t ask. My mom is visiting the first week of November; I’ll be in Denver the 2nd week and in Indianapolis for Thanksgiving.


Jeff

Now that Marlyn is going back to school, she’ll be sequestering her laptop back and I’ll be without one. I don’t need a big one just one to surf the net and maybe use as a poker base for when I’m traveling. I’m looking at 4 right now:


MSI - Wind Netbook
Gateway Netbook
Acer- Aspire One Netbook
Asus - Eee PC Netbook


I’m moving towards the Asus right now but they’re all pretty comparable in terms of specs and stuff. The biggest difference would be the extra hour of battery life they advertise–4.2 hours compared to 3.05 of the others. Reviews have the same pluses/minuses for each too so I don’t know if it matters much.

I would have screen shot it had I not been playing other tables. I also turned my head once I saw I nailed the flush on the turn and didn’t even know it was a royal until 5 minutes later.


***** Hand History for Game 31513771129 ***** (Poker Stars)
$100.00 USD NL Texas Hold’em - Tuesday, August 11, 03:55:57 ET 2009
Table Numerowia IV (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Seat 1: CodeRedRulez ( $193.50 USD )
Seat 2: Remichl ( $25.55 USD )
CodeRedRulez posts small blind [$0.50 USD].
Remichl posts big blind [$1.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CodeRedRulez [ Jd Ad ]
CodeRedRulez raises [$1.50 USD]
Remichl raises [$4.00 USD]
CodeRedRulez raises [$36.00 USD]
Remichl calls [$20.55 USD]
CodeRedRulez wins $12.45 USD
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qd, Ac, 2d ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Kd ]
** Dealing River ** [ Td ]
Remichl shows [Qc, 8c ]
CodeRedRulez shows [Jd, Ad ]
CodeRedRulez wins $50.60 USD from main pot

Q

Ended the downswing about a week after it started and I’ve just been grinding like crazy the last 2 weeks to make a profit. In the end I’ve had a good month and I’m ready to start August. I’ll be going to Norfolk on Sunday for a few days with Marlyn so I don’t know the volume I can put in there while she’s in conferences but I do expect at least a couple hours of play in.


Notes for the past couple weeks:

07/21

Before bluffing donk bets first determine your opponent’s frequency and the board textures and range that he is likely to bet/fold with. If after 2-3 times of your opponent not bet/folding his donk bets it is clear he is doing it with pairs that he is not willing to fold.

————————————————————————

07/20

assuming deeper stacks, button limp/reraise large is stronger hand, limp/reraise weak is weaker hand

when your opponent pauses before betting a scare card on the turn, its more likely to be because he’s deciding whether to valuebet or not. Bluffs would probably be more quicker and not as hard of a decision.

————————————————————————

07/17

Players who have shown the tendancy to slowplay their big hands habitually tend to have a weak range when they fast play very dry and bluffable boards

Instant checks on any street seem to be very weak, especially in position

weak turn bet by donk followed by big river bet = nuts?

put players on tilt by calling with weak and marginal hands then hitting, draws too

guys who try to berate their opponent might be more susceptible to tilt

————————————————————————

07/16

players with wide ranges can also value bet thinner, this is why calling down more than 1 street with bottom pair or ace high vs opponents with such wide ranges generally isn’t a good idea.

With effective stacks 150 bb+ and against players who don’t fold to 3bets: make reraise sizes larger, from 3x to 4x etc.

Due to some server issues Grinderschool members are being redirected to this site for all of July’s released videos. I welcome you all here and hopefully you guys understand our situation. While you’re here don’t be afraid to check out the other content available to you including a dozen other videos not released on Grinderschool.

Hopefully you guys don’t have to be here for long but I am glad to have you for as long as necessary. Enjoy!