Back to Black - But stuck in (profit) rut

Date: Sat, Feb 5, 2011 Internet

Well, I've managed to get back to $200, and get to $220 (approx, not totally sure, on another laptop while watching Match of The Day.) and managed to get to $250, but have since then gone between $200 and $250 forever. Fortunately, we're into a new month now and I've given myself some tasks.

Play at least 80 hours of poker this month (maybe not epic to pros, but for a recreational player like myself, a daring feat, though it should be done by playing three hours a day.)

For every 3 hours of playing, study the game for one hour - Hand Replay Session on Pokertube, a look at general situations in SNG End Game Tools (will look to buy SNG Wiz when I can afford to.), posting and commenting hands on 2+2, or reading material on SNG's.

Read SNG books in spare time - We will start with the Bible - Colin Moshman's SNG Strategy.

Hopefully, by following these, my results will improve vastly for February. I hope so, as this is the anniversary of my first three-figure profitable month, so I am looking for an encore.

Until next time,
Good luck at the tables!

Perrygarl.

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Departure from Staking–And No More Mr Nice Guy.

Date: Mon, Jan 17, 2011 Internet

I had joined Pokertube as part of it’s staking program. However, the two weeks which followed showed that I was nowhere near a winning player, particularly in 6-Max. While I may have improved my theoretical game, there was a lot I realised that more has to be done in order to succeed at this game.

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Table Selection – While I was looking at the stats of each table to determine what seemed most profitable, I wasn’t looking at seat selection. Some might think “Why would this have to be done, it’s 10NL, they’re donks" True. But that doesn’t mean a cash game can become a –EV game. You want the short-stackers IP to you and the full-stacks playing before you do. You want the LAG’s in front of you and the TAG’s behind you and so on. Doing this from the beginning means you should be able to profit despite playing less than your standard game, instead of getting frustrated from not being able to capitalise on the weaknesses of fish as effectively as you could.

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Volume – I haven’t been able to put the volume in, and I if I want to succeed at this game (and I do.)� then I need to. It’s no coincidence that my first main profit came from the largest samples of hands I played. I have a good game, I know that, I should be able to beat 10NL and $5/$11 SNG’s in a short space of time, but by not playing enough hands, variance will kick in more, making every bad beat more agonising. Play tonnes of hands, every bad beat is just a drop in the ocean of all the good hands you’ve played. This part is easy, I just need to sleep a normal time regularly, around 10-11pm. Staying up to 1am-3am means I struggle getting up at 8am (I can be a really deep sleeper, and I just feel tired when I wake up, it takes me a while to do so.) so to keep a regular sleep pattern should mean I am able to get up at 7am (dare I say, even 6am) and play before an afternoon shift, while being ok for an evening game after a morning shift.

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Game selection – I played 6-Max after reading the Poker Blueprint. This was a bad move, I committed to a game that I had little experience in. What I should have done is stick with SNG’s and blend in 6-max to prevent poker going “stale”. Learn both, be great in SNG’s, be good in 6-max and re-consider what game I play when I have built a proper bankroll.

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Discipline – If a bad beat or a cooler happened, I let it affect myself and my game to the point my game was –EV to anybody (yes, even to Jerry Yang.) I need to accept that bad runs happen and focus on the long-term. I guess my defeatist mentality contributes to this.

With this in mind, I decided to drop out of the staking, for the time being. I look at that staking as something that winning players should have, and I am not that yet. So I will place $100 in Full Tilt on Friday, then $100 in the month to start again. $1/$2 SNG’s, every now and then learning 6-max, put in the volume and improve my game. When I can become a winning player, I will look to see if the Pokertube staking would mean I would go up a number of levels faster and, if they will consider re-staking me, I will take it.

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I read in a magazine article from Dusty Schmidt (he knows a little about grinding, if you don’t know him, look for “Leatherass”) when he was promoting his book, Treat Your Poker Like A Business, that he recommends four hours of play to one hour of studying as a ratio. I will be looking to play 2-3� hours minimum a day on the working days and four hours on the days off (obviously, if I have other priorities on the day, then it’s a day off or� reduced play) so after a session, I should look back into the hands and see where I went right and wrong, looking to plug my leaks and exploit and leaks I see in my opponent’s game. I’ll write my notes more in Poker Tracker, instead of the site notes, so that I can write them when I study as well.

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So $200 in my Full Tilt account, back to the grind.

Good luck at the tables!

Perrygarl.

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BACK!–Not in a big way…..but back.

Date: Tue, Dec 28, 2010 Internet

Hello all.

It’s great to be doing this again. And now I am staked.

Pokertube has agreed to stake me, I am beginning with $200 and to play either 5NL/10NL and depending on my results, they’ll increase my bankroll to play at higher stakes, up to 200NL.

But, first, I need to crack 6-Max 10NL, and so far, not so good. I am down to $127.32 so will perhaps play one table of 10NL and two tables of 5NL to reduce variance.

I have have played big hands, TERRIBLY. I suffer from Fancy Play Syndrome (FPS.) soooo badly at the moment. I have no idea, but I just want to check straights on flush draw boards, when 10NL players will spam away stacks with top-pair/weak-kicker.

So from now on, I am going to play a little bit more straightforward, I guess having to play small home-games, where the opponents can really think through hands, has made me this.

Anyways, a quick update from me, will do a better one this evening.

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Bookworm (and videos....and 2+2 erm....too.)

Date: Sun, Nov 14, 2010 Internet

15 pages. Over 4000 words. Bloody hell this poker studying is time-consuming. It took me two days to get through just Part 1 of a four-part series on 6-Max.

I am currently studying a 4-part Lecture on 6-Max by Grinderschool. The first part was on Pre-Flop hand selection. It pushes on the fundamentals but also looks at a LAG game in the right spots, but also emphasises what factors should affect your opening range and bet sizing, and why. The first video was a powerpoint presentation on general theory, with the second video on live play focusing on what was said in the first video.

One highlight was it's talk on blind defence. I know it seems simple but a lot of players, myself included, fail to adjust enough with hand ranges and bet sizing OOP.

6-Max online has always been a problem for me, however, recently my live game has been pretty good, making aggressive plays I wouldn't normally make. I think I'll two-table to start when I begin again, and look to increase tables if I feel my game is good.

I also played a small £5 rebuy tournament at a working men's club nearby, as my mate invited me. I won and overall I was impressed with my game. I had to play tighter than I would in other MTT's, as the play is very poor, Overplaying small or mid-pairs and playing too large pots with them pre-flop. Playing too passively with mid-pairs pre-flop then calling all-ins. Overrating A-rag, basic errors.

The key areas I saw them make mistakes were on the idea of pot-commitment and their intentions of betting.

A lot of the players considered that when they made a significant bet, it made them pot-committed, even when they had over 10BB's and they had nothing. 10BB's in a tournament crapshoot like this is more than enough mid-stage to get back in the game.

The other problem happened frequently, but this to me was the highlight. A player on the flop, holding middle-pair and a flush draw, had two opponents, one already all-in pre-flop with a short-stack, the other a player with a super-wide range who would just need a draw to continue. bottom pair, a weaker middle pair and overcards were certainly within his range if he bet reasonably. He then overbet the pot, forcing out the only man against him, with the big stack. He wanted him out the pot just in case he had two clubs. He ignored his players tendencies (or didn't bother to watch) and lost a chance to win a significant pot. (not that I mind, the player who folded got all his chips taken from me with my set against his middle pair, when he decided to call my UTG raise with T-5o in the BB.)

It was a nice final table to be on, I knew the tendencies of all from previous play. I was heads-up with an old friend who since I last played had definitely improved, he attacked passivity with his chip lead with reckless abandon and his fundamentals were sound. Unfortunately the blinds were so large we couldn't it was push/fold, with folding a mistake, but we exchanged numbers, and I look forward to playing a small cash game with him again. A nice £100 I weren't expecting, so that should pay for the BT phoneline.

Anyways, that's me done for the day. speak to you all soon.

Good luck at the tables.

Perrygarl.

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Sod it, I'm getting Virgin.

Date: Thu, Nov 11, 2010 Internet

I need to sort out a phoneline, hopefully tomorrow, then I can get around getting broadband.

During the six months that I have had without playing poker, I am now certain the withdrawal symptoms have made me insane. I hear the FTP beeps randomly. I yell All-In randomly in public places. Everything involving a price is in dollars instead of pounds.

And yet, I have done very little poker study until now. Since leaving university, I was out of work for three months, and that was all it took to be demoralised. I don't know if you have ever been on jobseekers allowance, but it does make you feel like a second-class citizen. I certainly won't be stereotyping like others, despite the minority who are sponging off the state, the vast majority want to work and have a life.

Now, with a full-time job sorted, I am able to get back into studying, so as I have decided 6-Max will be my choice of game, I have looked at 3 particular learning material.

1) The Poker Blueprint - A highly reccomended book for micro/small-stakes 6-Max by the 2+2 posters

2) Verneers 2+2 post - Acquired a PDF file of his high-quality thread, relevant to the micro-stakes game in 2010.

3) GrinderSchool "How to Master 6-Max" Series - People who have read my blog for a while know I highly rate this training site, geared towards micro-to-mid stakes poker. This is giving a detailed look at the elements needed to be mastered in order to succeed at 6-Max.

I might also look at a book based on poker psychology, Alan D. Schoonmaker's "Poker Winners Are Different", to improve my mentality.

Hopefully, I'll do book reviews when I can.

That's a lot of material, but nothing beats good old-fashioned practice, I would probably only be able to place $100 into my bankroll at this point, but I am looking forward to the challenge. I would be rolled for 5NL and if things are going well, I'll take a shot at 10NL early, $100 isn't a lot, but after reading the required material, I should be good enough to beat those games.

A friend of mine has recently turned pro, some of you may know him as Fitzy on the Pokertube forums. If you remember, I had my first three-figure profit of $212 back in February, and then couldn't continue the same amount of volume.to keep it going afterwards. Well, it was down to a few coaching lessons from Fitzy and his ability to turn me into a 3-bet raising monkey (I believe that will be an animal-type in Hellmuth's poker book sequel.)

I wish him good luck as I know how much he puts into the game. I always wonder what it would be like to become a professional poker-player, maybe try it out for a year if I ever reach a point where it is realistic. I would have to look at the pros and cons of it though, I look at more than just money in whether a job makes me happy. I don't have to be rich to be happy. It would be cool to watch Fitzy play SNG's and pick his brain, you learn more that way than what a book ever could tell you.

Well, that's it for now, need my sleep for work tomorrow.

Good luck at the tables.

Perrygarl.

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Zero!

Date: Wed, Sep 22, 2010 Internet

Yes, I have hit zero in my bankroll. No, it is not to do with crappy poker-playing (I am not saying it wouldn't have happened, just saying it didn't this time.)

Because it took so long for me to acquire a job, I had to take out my bankroll to look after my bank account, once again, my challenge is postponed, most likely scrapped. That's not to say this blog is over, just I have decided that the challenge can't keep being postponed and that it is probably better for the blog, as well as for my game, that I take my time in going up the stakes instead of giving myself a set time-limit,

Hence the name change, it is no longer the Perrygarl Challenge, but instead, Fish Out of Water, an Attempt to Become a Winning Poker-Player. By me (still.)

Despite the fact the challenge lasted around four months, I learnt a lot about myself, and my game.

Firstly, confidence heavily affects my game. There are some players who are able to have a C-game that is just as good as their A-game. For me, my A-game is good, but the levels below drop considerably. The most significant factor to my game is my confidence. If things on and off the poker table is good, then so is my play. If not, then my game slips dramatically. I have to learn, firstly, to play only when I feel good to do so. After that, I can learn to change my mentality to become more optimistic and confident, with the use of self-help books.

I also know that I need to change the way I study poker. I need to take my time reading a book or watching a video, while taking notes on to filter out the most important parts and to re-read for future use.

From now, I am going to work more on 6-Max cash games and tournaments, instead of SNG's. As much as I enjoyed them, I find them a little too systematic at times. I tend to play more cash games with friends and tournaments at casinos so to play those online would be the most logical idea.

Apart from that, I am just settling into my new job, hoping to start saving money after broadband is bought, and looking forward to deposit $100 into FTP, and start all over again.

Good luck at the tables guys.

Perrygarl.

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Maximisation – The Keyword to Progression in Poker

Date: Wed, Aug 11, 2010 Internet

Sorry for the quick write of it, haven’t been able to upload it for ages (still no broadband.) and wanted it on here when I got the chance.

Maximisation – The Keyword For Progression In Poker

Now, as I have admitted many times before that I consider myself to be a losing player by definition (by which I mean, if not in terms of winnings, most certainly in terms of skill level.) a strategy article by me does not seem the best idea for others to read. However, I do feel that a lot can be learned not just from the better players to which we just digest their information, but also from players within a similar level, to bounce ideas off each other about how to play.

For many who have been playing since the inception of online poker, today's micro/low-stakes games are much more challenging than back in 2003-2006. The reason being is the increase in both the quantity and quality of information available

With the ever-increasing quality of material becoming more frequent, the average recreational player now knows much more than previously, meaning they are becoming more astute to the game of NLHE. They understand the importance of position, pot odds, reverse-implied odds (if it is simple things as not playing A-To under-the-gun in most full-ring games, for example.) and so on.

The days when poker sites were just vast oceans of fish, committing 150BB's+ with top-pair or chasing draws without the correct pot/implied odds are long gone. While some are still around, the ocean has shrunk to just a pond. It can also be seen in the winning players of today. How many of the high-stakes pros have suddenly quit, been forced to grind lower-stakes or have become losing players online? How many of you small-stakes players, who used to be good winners, have struggled to keep to the same high levels, who rely on rake-back to stay ahead, or even become losing players?

My thoughts on why. I believe, since it was so easy for winning players to profit against the fish (since there were so many around before.) they didn't pick up on the necessary skills to keep themselves one step ahead of the curve. In poker, you need to be the best at your levels to consistently profit, it's not the same as a job in that respect. A mediocre teacher in a £30000 job will get the same amount as a great teacher in the same position with the same experience, regardless of the difference in skill level, the same goes for any occupation. Not so in poker, the mediocre player in poker might have a small edge against fish, but would get eaten alive by the top players in the stakes he plays. The very best at each level can play anybody and profit, but need to keep learning in order to keep ahead when the games get tougher.

So, today, to stay ahead, the keyword I wish to give to you guys is:

MAXIMISATION.

Just one word, but it can have so many different meanings, and can be placed into so many questions in increasing your edge in poker.

Are you maximising your studying in poker?

Firstly, maximising your edge does not just include playing the game, a winning player does just more than play cards well to consistently beat the game. One of these things is making sure that when he studies the game, he puts all his effort into doing so.

I am a firm believer in doing things one-step at a time, focusing 100% on the task means you get the most out of it (this isn't an attack to multi-tabling, as while you may not be focusing on the one table, you should be putting all your focus on the games, and not on anything else.)

When studying, have no other distractions (no T.V or radio in the background, don't be checking your e-mails or watching Youtube at the same time.)

Another important factor is, obviously, the quality of material you're studying, with the vast amount of material one can acquire (books, DVD's, training sites, coaching, boot-camps etc.) it's fair to say there will be a fair few flops. While it is true that learning material that teaches you something new, even if only one thing, is worth the money paid for it may be somewhat true, it would be much more beneficial to buy material that you can go back time and time again to learn new concepts, and to reinforce what you've already learnt.

Read reviews via websites, forums and magazines on what are the best mediums for studying.

When you have acquired the material, the final step is how you choose to study. Those not maximising their studying just go through the book or playing through the video from beginning to end and try to do everything they have seen at once. Not taking the time to learn each concept that you come across means you only “half-know” the concept or constantly forget what you have just been told, while trying to do every move or concept you learn at the same time in the game means you could suddenly get confused at the table and just spew chips.

Learn concept-by-concept rather than beginning-to-end (e.g. read and practice one chapter at a time, or stop the video at a point to write notes on what has been said on a concept before continuing.)

Take detailed notes.

Are we maximising our pre-game selection, before we play poker?

As I had said previously, poker is more than just playing cards at the table, there's a lot of preparation to be done beforehand to get the most profit out of any one time. Firstly, there's table selection. The vast majority of us tend to just pick the first table(s) that we see and stick with them until the table breaks up. In terms of our edge, it leaves it to chance, we may have stumbled upon a goldmine of a table, or have ran into a number of the levels' top players and will lose a lot of our bankroll that day. It is much better to play fewer hours at a table where we have a massive edge, than more hours at a table with little to no edge at all (and the more hours we can play at the fishiest of games, the better.)

Look for games that you would have a massive edge in:

But, before you jump on to that good table, ask yourself one question, where are you seated to them?

Seat Selection – Also important

While you are playing the game, always keep an eye on the table elements, a player on tilt is likely to make the game more profitable. A good player who is not playing his A-game, could have a bad B-or-C-game and that too would make the game more profitable. If the fish leave, it becomes less profitable, and if the good players are killing the game, it becomes less profitable as they will make better decisions against you (call it a rush, or confidence, positive thinking aids in a players game, particularly in poker.)

By knowing when to keep playing on a table, and knowing when to quit, it should help to Maximise your profits, while Minimizing your losses. A penny saved is a penny earned, and a bet saved aids your profits for the month and year just as much as winning a pot does.

Again, note-taking becomes essential, as you begin to take more and more detailed information on a player's style, you begin to remember names and hunt for them, colour-coding becomes very useful in this spot. You could even acquire software to look for the best games or the fish that you have made the most profit from, but if you keep a list of such a players on a Word Document, under the poker site they are from, then it's just as effective (remember to keep a spare copy somewhere on an external memory stick, hard-drive, or online storage space, the bigger the list, the more it's worth it's weight in gold and the more important it becomes to protect it from computer crashes.

Are we maximising our overall profit from the game?

As you should be aware now, rakeback can be acquired from numerous sites today, so for one, if you are not acquiring it.

WHY THE HELL NOT? Find a site with rakeback to add to your profit!

Though, it's not as easy as that. Let's consider the factors that will determine whether a site is good for us or not, based on the rakeback or not.

Rake-back % - Obvious one first, the higher the percentage, the more rakeback you acquire when you put in the hours.
Player Base – The amount of players that play on the site at any one time. It's to learn two things here.
Quality of Player Base – How soft/hard is the player base? A bit more difficult to figure out, it can come to just playing on the site and finding out for yourself, however, there should be reviews of sites on some training sites (I know that Grinder School, a low-stakes training site that I have subscribed to, did that.) and on poker forums. I know that some IPoker skins were forced to ban players who won too much, or were taken off the network altogether, because it had too many winning players who were just playing to make rakeback. Whereas a site that is created by a company known for sports betting (in the UK, it's Ladbrokes, William Hill etc.) tend to have a lot more players coming from the betting side of the site to poker to fill up time. Another good indication would be the bonuses a site give, which is a major influence to fishy players.

The other consideration we have to consider is how the site calculates rakeback itself. It seems there are two main methods for doing so and both are used at various sites. These are:

This is important to know as each one benefits a particular playing style.

It's possible to talk about MAXIMISATION for playing poker, but I am not a person who is qualified to do so, what I would suggest is to pick up a book based on the mental aspects of poker, which means you maximise your chances of playing your A-game for longer. These books are recommended:

The Elements of Poker – Tommy Angelo
Inside the Poker Mind
Poker Winners are Different
Treat Your Poker Like a Business – Dusty Schmidt

These are some that I know, no doubt there will be others.

In conclusion, to become successful at poker in 2010 and beyond, it takes much more than just playing good cards, every element of poker, from before you play, during, and after, has to be dissected to look for areas that can benefit from small, but effective, improvements.

Why do I feel that I can write about this? Because as a losing player, I can honestly say I do none of this, and it's something I should be doing. Why don't I? Because it's easier not to and just be half-hearted. “Those who can, do...” has some truth to it.

This is something I am hoping to do from now on when I play, I enjoy the game, but I enjoy it more when I take it seriously and win. Nobody likes to use at a competitive hobby constantly and if there is something I can do to improve my chances to succeed (providing it's by the rules.) then I will try to do it. I hope this article gives you some idea on how to improve your game when you next play.

Good luck at the tables!

Perrygarl.

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LeakBuster – First Review

Date: Sun, Aug 1, 2010 Internet

If there is one key problem I had, into progressing in poker, it is the use of poker-tracking software. Whether you used Poker Tracker, Hold'em Manager, Poker Hound or Poker Office, if you are unsure on how to use the software optimally, then you are never going to reap the benefits of it.
That's because it is more than just the HUD that you see when you're on the poker tables. It carries every bit of information you acquire when you play, categorize it in numerous factors (opponents, number of players, your hand etc.) and then store it for further review, that final factor is a key element in progression of poker. Looking through the hand histories after playing them can help to categorize your opponent's style, your opponent's tendencies/leaks and more importantly, your own leaks too.
But there lies the problem, not many of us who have acquired the software know how to effectively filter the hands to be able to effectively figure out our mistakes. However, I was contacted by John Anhalt, founder of the poker-training site Pokerzion.com and the creator of the new software, LeakBuster, asking me if I wanted to review the product. Seeing as this is a product that seems like it could be substantially useful for many micro-to-mid stake poker players, I was glad to do so.
From their website (http://www.pokerleakbuster.com), it has some impressive claims. It believes to be able to find 6-20 significant leaks in your game in minutes, will find leaks in every position at the table and works with both full-ring and 6-Max HUD's. Apparently, it has used algorithms on millions of hands from some of the top winning players to come up with recommended ranges, I can only assume this means that they have come up with the “perfect” style (meaning, the style that will most likely profit from the game you play.) Any significant deviation away from that style, can be a leak and it will order the leaks in terms of significance to losses, meaning the most important leak is top of the list for you to see.
This was a piece of software worth reviewing.
I wanted to make this review as impartial as possible, not just for the potential customers of the software, but also for the staff at Ace Poker Solutions. I was going to play SOME 4-TabLE 6-Max 10NL and then place those hands through the LeakBuster. Providing that the software does not explode through the sheer torture it will go through in having to analyse my game (unless it has some sort of “Just Give Up” response to the player.) I will use the information given to me by the software to play another 1000-1500 hands, in an attempt to try and improve the win-rate.
Now, the software says that you need at least 100k hands before it can provide an accurate description of your game. Obviously, I am only going to be doing 1500 after the LeakBuster review, due to time constraints, seeing as it is based on
Hold'em Manager Graph – Pre-LeakBuster

I had attempted to try to play a quick 1000-hand session in 10NL 6-Max, however, 772 hands into it I had already dropped just over 3 buy-ins (slightly less than that after the rake-back.) It was a mixture of inexperience in 6-Max, lack of focus while trying to sort out Hold'em Manager, a little bit of tilt of seeing AA, KK and QQ lose, so I decided to cut it early. No problem though, as that means there is plenty to improve.
So let's begin at the intro page of LeakBuster.

Now, at this time, I haven't got Internet Access in my house, so you will not see the flash introduction video/manual of LeakBuster in the square where the mouse cursor is. But on the right you have a normal PDF manual to read through. Above the square/video is the steps, each step representing an element of poker which most players will struggle with.

Leak Buster – Looking at your stats in a stake level (VPIP/PFR/3Bet% etc.)
Position – How you play in each position at the table.
Pre-Flop – Shows you the hands that are working based on Opening/Flat-calling/Limped and Squeezed in each position, to determine what hands are working for you.
Trouble Hands – Looks at the amount you have won for each group of hands, and tells you why you may be winning or losing with those groups (Broadway Hands/ Small Pairs/ Suited Connector's etc.)
3-Bet – Looks at all hands affected by a three-bet (the hands and money won/lost when you 3-bet, or call a 3-bet.)
Filters – Places 45 different filters on your hand history (when you had an overpair, when you 3-bet 22-55 in the blinds etc.) and gives you a brief overview of your success for each one, but also gives you an instructional video on how they work.
Biggest Loss – A video on how to review your biggest losing hands/sessions.
Opponents – The 10/25/50/100 opponents who have taken the most on you, where you can dissect their stats and look how to exploit them.
HUD – How to configure your HUD layout to best use it for yourself.

From this, I can see what LeakBuster are trying to do. If you asked a mediocre player what he found difficult in poker, most of these would come up time and time again, yet despite knowing this, most won't figure out how to filter the information. LeakBuster attempt this with the use of graphs and videos.

The image above is the first choice to choose from, named LeakBuster. It takes most of your stats from what you have on the HUD pop-windows, and compares it to what LeakBuster considers is the optimal range. If it's within their range, it's green, if not, it's red and a money-bag is portrayed determining if this is a big or small leak. From my stats. I call too much on the river, I haven't 4-bet, I go to showdown too much, I fold to much vs a C-Bet etc. etc. Moving on.

Another good step on the Leak Buster is Trouble Hands, where it takes the four groups which most players have difficulty with (Suited/Unsuited Broadway, Small Pairs, Suited Connector's and Unsuited Connector's.) and give you a general look at what you are doing wrong with certain actions. A great feature for determining what hands you need to look through your hand database to see whether you are doing the same leaks over and over again, or just need to cut down the amount of times you play the hand.
Three of the steps (Filters, Biggest Loss, and HUD,) are videos produced by the company as a how-to method on areas of our leak-finding where we struggle with. Filters works on how to analyse certain aspects of your game, Biggest Loss helps us to review our worst losing hands and HUD helps to configure your heads-up in terms of stats, layout and colour coding, making it as effective as it can while you play. For my personal experience, understanding how to use the HUD properly and to lay it out on the table would be vital, as the whole block of stats is just confusing, splitting it up in terms of pre-flop, post-flop, position etc.

3-Bet, in my view, could be the most important in terms of 6-Max, where aggression is key. Again, it gives a general view on what you are doing wrong. This will be more useful when you reach 100k of hands in your database. But it gives you a great idea on what hands have been working for you in terms of 3-betting, as well as how you respond to a 3-Bet yourself. Naturally, the higher stakes you play, the more valuable this becomes.
So what do I believe about LeakBuster? Well, I have to admit, this may sway me moving from Poker Tracker to Hold'em Manager, despite the fact I prefer the PT3 layout of the software. LeakBuster will not make miracles and instantly turn you into a winning player. What it does do, is with the use of graphs and charts, makes the overwhelming amount of information more understandable so that you know what needs improving in your game. All aspects would be useful for any level of player, but some steps in the software would look to be more valuable than others.
Micro/Low Stakes – The 3-Bet Step would be useful on how aggressive you're being and how you fare to aggression coming at you. The position tab would be great to make sure you are being positionally aware and the Steps such as HUD and Filters would be great to help you learn how to analyse your database more optimally.
Mid/High Stakes – The Opponents tab comes into play, with the smaller player pools it's great to see who is crushing you, why that is, and more importantly, see their stats be analysed by LeakBuster on how you can exploit their play. Biggest Loss also becomes much more helpful to determine how that session fared against your usual game, to aid in discipline in your overall game.
What astounds me, is that while there may be some things that could perhaps be a little bit simpler (although it's probably best to read the manual first, as those thermometer graphs on the pre-flop Step still baffle me.) and you must have Internet Access to use it fully, this piece of software is spot-on, when even software such as Hold'em Manager and Poker-Tracker had to take time and numerous update to cater for all of the audience's needs. It's an impressive set-up. Another good feature is that, like Hold'em Manager, it comes with different versions. Not only do you get to choose for a No-Limit or Limit package, you can buy the Standard version (which works for 50NL and under, or buy the Professional version for all stakes.
This won't be the only review on LeakBuster, as I am going to be using it more when I have everything sorted back home to be playing online poker. But if you have Hold'em Manager, or have not yet acquired poker-tracking software, consider Hold'em Manager for this.
Rating – 9/10.

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Fish Out of Water – New Title

Date: Wed, Jul 14, 2010 Internet

As you can see, it is no longer The Perrygarl Challenge.

The Challenge is still happening, but as I was writing a post for this, it dawned on me that the challenge isn’t the right way to go in terms of putting a deadline on me.

I now worry, that I have taken too much on at one time and haven’t maximised my attempt to become a winning poker-player, by trying to do too much at once.

Why not just enjoy the poker, and get the benefits of learning fully. As I said, the challenge is still continuing (when I get a bloody job/broadband etc.) but if I fail. Ah well. Still have much to do to make it, but it’s worth the effort to me.

So now, it will be about a fish, hoping to become a shark. When this year is over, I will still continue to trying to become a winning player.

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A tough challenge now.

Date: Thu, Jul 8, 2010 Internet

$437.24

Not $2500, that’s a worry.

With less than half of the time to do this challenge left, this challenge is being severely hampered with the inability of playing. No broadband, no pwning….or being pwned (most likely).

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If I could do this again,

I would get into 2+2 more, I check it out regularly on my phone and try to put the odd thread or post there. Through all the pointlessness, there are a large number of quality posts there and the archives are full of superb information.

Verneers recent thread on uNL for 6-max will prove invaluable for me when I return to poker and start 6-max. It astounds me this information is for free.

For July, I have to concede this to Matt, making it 2-4 to Matt (similar to what the England score SHOULD have been.)

But that’s ok, because hopefully if I get a job, I can sort out broadband immediately and get back to trying to win at poker.

Until then, still plenty of material to read, have printed off a copy of The Poker Blueprint and have underlined what I thought is very useful information (a hell of a lot it turns out.)

Then, in order, I will read:

Verneer’s Thread/Book
Ryan Fee’s 6-Max
Secrets of Short-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
Killer Poker: Short-Handed

I can’t wait to play poker again. Despite not making the quota each month, my game has improved, I’ve had my small successes, and my love for the game continues to grow.

6-Max to me, will put me in more difficult spots, as post-flop becomes ever more frequent, but it is also more exciting and, potentially, more profitable.

Good luck at the tables.

Perrygarl.

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Quick Update

Date: Wed, Jun 30, 2010 Internet

Hey all! So, so sorry for the lack of updates on the blog. The challenge is still going on, but at the moment, I have run into a snag.

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I am still looking for a job three weeks since coming back home, so that sucks, but also, it turned out my father cancelled the phone-line as well, when he cancelled the broadband when I left, since we never used the phone to call anyone for over two years.

Which means the cost of the reconnection could be up to £130 on BT. Christ!

Will have to look for another method, but Jesus, that’s a con if I ever saw one.

Also, I have decided to revert from SNG’s to 6-Max, to try something different. SNG’s are great, but too systematic at times, I will see what 6-Max is like and go from there.

�

So I have plenty of material to read, until I can get back online.

Also, to Matt, I may have to concede July to you by default, don’t worry, hopefully I am sorted by July and will be making the money (however little it is.)

�

Good luck at the tables guys.

Perrygarl.

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Temporary Hiatus

Date: Fri, Jun 4, 2010 Internet

Basically, I won’t have broadband for a little while, when I am back home, so no poker for a little bit, which makes me a sad little Perry. I will hopefully have it sorted by the end of the month at the latest.

Good luck at the tables.

Perry.

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Why Try? – May’s Results

Date: Thu, Jun 3, 2010 Internet

Don’t worry, Why Try is the new song from the upcoming Limp Bizkit album, Gold Cobra. I don’t know why I am still into that music, but I get pumped up from some of the songs. This isn’t going to be a down-in-the-dumps post.

Anyways, in the end, I was down.

$76.15 overall, sucks really, because in terms of play I thought I had� a good month. But it's similar to February, if the hands go your way or hold up, then it’s a good month, if not, it’s a bad one.

So this is probably Matt’s month, making it 2-2. Also, I asked for June not to be counted, because I am moving back to my hometown and won’t have broadband to begin with. So we may need the heads-up battle after all at the end, we’ll see how it goes.

Anyways, got a tonne of packing and washing to do.

Good luck at the tables,

Perry.

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Playing well, though you wouldn’t think it.

Date: Tue, May 25, 2010 Internet

So far, not so good.

Despite playing a similar amount of SNG’s than in February, my bankroll has hit a turn for the worst. Down almost $97. What really sucks though, is that I have played rather well.

My SNG game has massively improved these last couple of weeks, so it baffles me why I haven’t made a profit. Some friends who are winners� at SNG’s are also quite surprised, why I can’t seem to get� a winning run going. Occasionally I make a mistake, but a lot less than my opponents. In one particular SNG, I played perfectly on the bubble, and still bubble, I was literally card-dead and couldn’t shove, and I was the first of the three remaining similar stacks to go for it.

It sucks, because I have had a lot of sick losses where I was a massive favourite, and they matter. I also squandered a chip lead on the bubble and either bubbled, or came 3rd.

I’ve tightened up in certain spots, started to loosen up in others. There are still a few spots that need working on, but I don’t think the loss portrays the play, I think this is down to variance, and a very bad run. But that’s poker, hopefully next month, that will all change.

It looks like Matt will be winning this month, but it is good to see him winning again as he had a very bad run last month. I was hoping we would get some luck at the beginning, but now we both seem to be just trying to cushion the blow.

Nevertheless I enjoy the grind, and while nothing has gone my way this month, I am looking forward to what happens in June, I am looking for a good three-figure month to kick-start this challenge.

Also, I need to e-mail Matt about leaving out June in our prop-bet, as I am moving back to my hometown, and will not have broadband.

Hope you guys have good luck at the tables, and possibly lend some.

Perrygarl.

P.S To anyone who is learning SNG’s at the lower levels and can’t afford SNG Wiz or SNGPT. Consider the following:

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Sit’n’Go End Game Tools - www.sngegt.com

ICM Trainer Light - http://www.pokerstrategy.com/software/8/

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