Another magically appearing child

Brian Ross magic, christmas video 2

 

Where did they come from??!!

My brother Brian (the magician) , making his kids appear for Christmas!!!

TY Nathan Williams

In my last post my bankroll was at $250 and i was taking a shot at NL$25, however i lost two buy-ins and moved back down to NL$10 and then lost a furthet 8 buy-ins so my bankroll was  back down to about $120 which meant i couldn't play more than about 8 tables of NL$10 (leaving a couple of buy-ins behind). A bit pissed off with some of my plays i decided to  read through Nathan Williams book "Crushing the Microstakes" (which i reviewed in my last post).

I made loads of bullet points on my virtual notepad and have now got them permanently on my desktop.

Here is a copy of my notes made during reading "Crushing the Microstakes":

 3-bet frequently with AK, AQ, QQ , JJ
unless some NIT opens in early pos.

3-BET   3x original raise size  IP
            4x original raise size OOP

call a fish with speculative hands IP
 look to 3-BET/FOLD majority of time.

only 3-bet for value the majority of the time
2%-4%

4-bet only AA KK  except against maniacs
don't 4-bet bluff

4-bet  2.5x yr opponents 3-bet

set mining = opponent must have at least
                   50BB for you to call

C-BET about 75% of the time

DON'T c-bet OOP against a FISH or SLP
          on a wet co-ordinated board

AF  <1  hesitant in calling a river bet
        2  mostly river betting for value
    3&4  hard to tell
    5<   maniac, call pretty wide here

(bets between 50-75% of pot on river)


NO SLOWPLAY (unless quads or better)
biggest losing mentality is people who think they need to keep players in the pot and don't want to scare them off.
WIN by ruthlessly shoving my 2pair+ hands down their throat!!!

KEEP YR DECISIONS SIMPLE

DON'T BLUFF AT MICROS  (i.e a bet made on the turn or river with AIR)

WHEN YOU GET RAISED ON THE TURN (when you bet the flop) it is almost a nut hand, so if you cant beat 2pair or better FOLD)

RIVER RAISES ARE THE NUTS!!!

MAKE SURE YOU DRAW TO THE NUTS

NEVER FOLD KK preflop apart from against a big NIT


I also think at the Micros that if you treat every villians opening bet as a minimum of AQ (unless from a fish/maniac or a villian on the BTN) you cant go far wrong and wont waste money calling to light or get yourself into trouble on further streets.

I managed to make a few adjustments to my Holdem Manger HUD and now i can play 18 tables without it lagging or crashing (before it crashed at about 14 tables). I also copied the HUD layout/values from the book plus Nathans bet slider options.

I then decided to drop back down to NL$5 so i could play 18 tables and tbh i have not looked back. I have been crushing NL$5 for over 10BB/100. (although not over a huge sample:approx 6k hands).
The other day i managed to win 8 buy-ins which just goes to show you that Nathans techniques work.

I also hit my 45k VPP milestone bonus of $50 and cashed another $25 FPP bonus which put my bankroll back upto $230. However this time i am going to carry on grinding NL$10 until my bankroll is upto about $550, which will be better suited to take a shot at NL$25.

I have just finished an hour session at NL$10 and was good for 2-buy-ins, so a big THANK YOU to Nathan Williams and his awesome book. Please dont read it, like i said in my review i want to keep those secrets to myself LOL.

poker book review: "CRUSHING THE MICROSTAKES" by Nathan Williams

I recently received an email from Nathan Williams (aka BlackRain79 on Pokerstars), asking me to write a review of his new poker book "Crushing the Microstakes".  I have followed Nathans blog for a while and to be honest was in awe of his results and dedication at the tables. He is a professional online poker player from Canada, and also an instructor on the poker training site  www.dragthebar.com.

Nathan became infamous for playing millions of hands on Pokerstars at the micro stake full ring cash tables and earning almost unbelievable amounts of cash at NL$2 & NL$5 stakes plus superb results at higher levels. If anyone could write a book about these stakes then it is Nathan and what he has to say should read by any poker player wanting to improve their online game at these stakes.

                                A glimpse of Nathans lifetime winnings (not including the huge amount of bonus' he will have earned playing all these hands)

A lot of microstake players (myself included) often find their way into joining one of the many poker training sites and watching the videos created by high stakes players on how to improve your game and win more $$$$.  The only flaw that i have noticed in doing this is the fact that many of the highstakes players have probably never played in such small microstakes games or if they did then it was a long time ago. 

In the ever changing world of online poker what is relevant today, wasn't a year ago and probably wont be in a year or so time.  Some of the things your NL$200 pro does in his games are sometimes not as successfull in the micro stakes games such as NL$2 & NL$5 and in fact if you try and copy their style at the micros you may well end up leaking money.

Such is Nathans experience at the microstakes and the fact  that he still plays them on a daily basis means the content in this book hits the nail right on the head and nowhere else will you find a book more dedicated towards Microstakes Full ring cash games that includes so much up to date and successfull information.

From your recreational player who has just started playing to your mass multitabling reg grinder, reading Nathans book will transform your game and most importantly of all YOUR WINRATE.

You can find out how to purchase Nathans book (which is a steal at $29) by visiting his blog.
I would write some more positives about it, but from my own personal point of view i DON'T want anyone to buy it, i want to keep his NL full ring microstake secrets all to myself.!!!!

Good start to December

] 

 My start to December playing NL$10 continued where November left off, playing well and winning.

My bankroll is upto $245, with another $75 due in bonus' in the next couple of days. So shortly i will be taking a shot at NL$25 and hopefully i can continue to get some good results.

Another new thing i have started is to make a weekly rota of when i intend to play poker, writing down in advance my session times and length and then sticking to them. Cutting out all the time i mess about doing other stuff and waste time should nearly double my table hours without really noticing it.

Here is a hand from today that i got coolered on despite getting all the money in on the turn. It was against a reg. I typed in the usual "FML" into the chat, to which he replied, "why would you ever raise there on the turn?".  It got me thinking have i played this wrong or is my thought pattern wrong in the hand.

I figured i was going to get paid off big time by the villian having a King, however i suppose in hindsight i should have just called and let him get it in with the rest of his range. If he did have a king i was getting paid of anyway. Yeah he was right....i f*cked up.