CDM's Pokerstars.FR mega-thread 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cdm · Grinder Joined: 26 Jul 2011 Posts: 168

Hey all,

I'm back posting in the BR building thread so I can moan/whine, post random poker related comments, post horribly spiky graphs and generally be a nuisance. Very Happy

You can check out my last BR attempt on stars.com where I ran bad and complained a lot. What's different about my stars.com experience and my stars.fr experience? Well on .com I turned $400 into $0 over the course of a month. On .fr I spun a €50 deposit into €1500~ over the course of 2 months, starting at the €3's and playing at €30 and €50 now. What do I attribute my success to? Brokerstar's condensed course (which I received FREE as part of my tiny €50 signup on Stars.fr) which included a one-to-one session with Broker. I also paid for two GAME-CHANGING coaching sessions with Cognitive Dissonance. In this first post I'm going to share my story and some small insights I've picked up since my time on Tagpoker! If you don't have much patience, I also wrote a shortened version Smile

.

Long version:

First of all, I want to point out that I started playing HUSNGs around 2 years ago. I used to play the $22 turbos on Full Tilt. Initially, I had quite a good run without having much of a clue about HU. I played by 'feel' and so long as I didn't run into a winning reg I'd do ok. Of course, during this brief run I thought I was a HU god and never even considered coaching or joining a site like this or HUSNG.com.

Fast forward to 2011 and I allocate $400 or so to play on Stars.com. I rejoined Tagpoker in an attempt to help me focus more and started a BR building thread.I couldn't understand why I was losing. I fixated on the flips in my game. If you check out my last graph, you'll see I'm only running breakeven according to $EV adjusted! I was freaking out that I was losing but ignoring the fact I was only playing breakeven poker at best! There were many problems in my game - too many to list or try and describe. The main feeling that I had when I was playing was a lack of control. I had no CONTROL over the game. No ability to control myself, my emotions, the flow of the game, the size of the pots, or the degree of variance I suffered. Obviously, some of these elements can't be controlled, but it is possible to play a game that isn't completely laden with marginal flips. Every game seemed to start off on equal footing, but after a few hands I'd feel like I was caught in a current until finally I got it in slightly ahead/behind for everything, usually way too early in the game.

I always felt like coaching or "learning someone else's system" was for losers. It would negatively affect my ability to be creative (which I was very good at when I felt confident or in control) and cause me to play like a robot. I was 100% completely, utterly and totally wrong. I bit the bullet and asked Brokerstar if I could sign up to Pokerstars.fr and get his condensed course + one-to-one session. Instead of waiting for the materials I decided to kick things off at the €3 turbos myself. I didn't fare particularly well. I didn't run great but I didn't play great either, and I felt embarrassed that I couldn't beat the micros. (I have had 5 figure tournament cashes in my small poker career and now I can't beat a French drooler for €3???) Pretty embarrassing.

Then I received Broker's course: the lessons on the 4 main types of opponent, the bluffing/why are we betting lesson as well as endgame stuff. I was stubborn at first, but started more and more to employ the strategies he suggests. When I finally realized that you don't have to play a gameplan like a bible, that the purpose of a course like this is to take the concepts and assimilate them, applying them to your game I started seeing an instant improvement. I started 'tagging' opponents with colours: yellow for TP, green for LP, red for LAG, purple for TAG (as Broker suggests in one video). I started deploying the general gameplan he outlines merging these concepts with my game. I was still doing the creative stuff I was happy with, but with a very solid foundation of fundamental rules to employ against different player types.

I went on a tear and leaped from the €3's to the €20's quite quickly (thanks to some aggressive bankroll management ;]). At that level I had some issues... I needed help and got in touch with Cognitive Dissonance and arranged a coaching session. He plugged up some gaping leaks in my game and sent me on my way. Boom, now I was smashing the €20s. A session with Broker and I'm smashing the €30s. My ROI went through the roof and I had real *CONFIDENCE* at the tables for the first time in years.

Take a look, not the prettiest but cash is cash Very Happy

:

I'm learning new stuff every day. I can't remember the last time I was genuinely fooled or tricked into putting it behind by an opponent: most of my losses are now coolers + flips (and the occasional genuine loss haha). I've learned so much about poker in such a short time. I know how BAD I was and still am!!! I know what I have to work on. I had a second session with Cog Dis the other day and was informed that my endgame is something I have to do a *lot* of work on. I was convinced I was an endgame god and that it was the most solid part of my game!!! There's always room for improvement, and I'm convinced the best money I've spent in my life is on this course and my coaching sessions. I'm 100% serious.

Short version: I'm winning confidentally on Stars.fr thanks to Tagpoker + Cognitive Dissonance:

I've got nothing but positive things to say about this site as a resource for beginner-intermediate players and I hope to stay here for a long time racking up posts and paying forward the favor that has been done to me which has turned me from a losing player into a winning playing almost overnight.

Love you all,

CDM
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“If you're losing your soul and you know it, then you've still got a soul left to lose” - C. Bukowski

Brokerstar · Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 9:48 am Post subject:

Mate it's hearing things like this that make all of this so worth while (ok as well as making some money ha ha).

But seriously very well done. At the end of the day the information is only as good as the work the student puts in to studying it and you sir have really pushed yourself to get better and now you're starting to see the results of your efforts.

I have no doubt that you'll be playing higher stakes before much longer, you absorb the information well, you continue to think about it away from the sessions and you're not afraid to take shots at bigger games.

I can't wait to see the nest 6 figure graph Rolling Eyes

Keep grinding pal.

Dom
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doodiewiz · Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 11:49 am Post subject:

GL dude - looks like a thread worth watching:)

BetMagicMoney · Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 2:27 pm Post subject:

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Very Happy

WP mate

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The Little Fish · Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 2:58 pm Post subject:

Best of luck mate. What's your SN?

cdm · Grinder Joined: 26 Jul 2011 Posts: 168

dbs_champ

dbs = don't be scared Wink

-€350 yesterday +€170 today. not a great start to the week but variance is variance, kids.
_________________
“If you're losing your soul and you know it, then you've still got a soul left to lose” - C. Bukowski

alexfrans · Newbie Joined: 14 Jan 2011 Posts: 47

hee cdm,

good luck with you challenge.

Saw your setup. Can i have a closer look at your hud?
Or maybe can i have a copy.

I currently use awesome hud v2 but that is to much info for me.

Good luck

cdm · Grinder Joined: 26 Jul 2011 Posts: 168

ty bra

the pic has my macbook setup using PT3. i use HEM on my PC. basically i use name/bbs or M/# hands on the first line, steal or pfr raise/limp/limp-call 2nd line, and call raise/3b/4b on the last line.
_________________
“If you're losing your soul and you know it, then you've still got a soul left to lose” - C. Bukowski

Jakester1288 · Baller Joined: 20 Feb 2011 Posts: 475

GL mate, will follow.

cdm · Grinder Joined: 26 Jul 2011 Posts: 168

Beat:

This week has almost crushed my soul. I'm about to jump off for the day and I have to say, after a horrendous start to the week it looked like I might break even today and have a hope of being profitable over the weekend. No such luck:

It's not the most drastically bad graph you'll ever see, but I was -€400ish on the first day of the week before swinging back up towards -€170. Breakeven day yesterday and then I cashed in a hyperturbo tournament for a few quid. Today I reset, meditated and came out only to get piledrived repeatedly by complete and utter idiots. It's almost fear inspiring that no matter what line you take, no matter how far ahead you get it in against certain people, they parry your every +EV play by sucking out over and over and over and then have the gall not only to insult you in chat but also SNAP-ACCEPT a rematch in 1v1s. It's a hell of a game we play.

I played a mix of €20 shootouts/1v1s, €30s and €50s and was nearing the magical breakeven point when I got smashed over and over and over by a drooler who limp called 6x punishes with 68o, who got it in with any pair pre and hit more sets than I've seen someone hit in a single session. This same drooler got it in with Ax on an AJ5 board when i rolled up a perfect set on him. Runner runner JJ nearly had me smashing my expensive mouse. Some days you just can't win. Feeling very discouraged right now. For those interested I'm running €200 below expectation for the week, but HEM doesn't account for times when I reraise 1/3rd my stack with AA and get it in on a 55x flop only to find the villain has called a 3b w/ K5ss. It's a week where I could be +€1000 but instead I'm -€203. Still. It could be worse.

Brag:
I hit Platinum star. WOOO hahahaha

That was a nice vent. Time to hit the pub. GL all.
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“If you're losing your soul and you know it, then you've still got a soul left to lose” - C. Bukowski

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