New world record in the works for Chiren80?

Shortly after getting the world record for fastest lvl 85 in World of Warcraft's new expansion, it looks like Athene (Chiren80) already has his sights on another, even more impressive record. Nobody knows what he's going for yet, but this is already an incredible display of stamina :

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Some people even e-mailed Pokerstars reporting Chiren as a bot but this was their answer : "we can assure you that this player does not show any 

indication of being a bot, based upon all of the tests we have 
devised."

Good luck in whatever you're doing Athene!

Merry Christmas! A gift for you

Just wanted to take a moment to wish you happy holidays! This past year, i've received quite a lot from the poker community, especially the microstakes community over at 2+2. So, in the spirit of giving, i've decided to start this blog. Here, I will post my thoughts, strategy and tips as a poker player in hopes of giving other players the same chance I had. To teach is to learn as they say, so this blog should be benefitial to everyone involved. I'm looking forward to sharing and exchanging with you. Happy holidays and a happy new year!

- FH

A quick tip for mental stability at the tables

Here's a little tip that sounds so simple yet it's a technique that has helped me quite a bit. In poker, discipline and mental/psychological stability is worth money. The best players in the world will lose quite a bit if they can't keep their temper. However, even the best of us are bound to get rattled by one too many bad beats, so here's a little technique I use to fight that ; don't look at your results.


Obviously, you need a very healthy bankroll to do this. If you only have a 10 buy-ins limit before stepping down, you need to keep track of those buy-ins to avoid going busto. Thus, if nothing else, this means that having a really solid bankroll will not only prevent you from being broke, it can also buy you peace of mind because you can focus on your play without bothering about the results.


Personally, I like to play with at least 60 buy-ins before stepping up to a new limit and I feel really comfortable when I have 100 buy-ins. This may seem nitty but it works for me. Everybody will require different amounts to handle the psychological swings that can occur when money fluctuates all over the place. In my opinion, you really can't go wrong with a 100 buy-in rule. That way, you can only bother looking at your results every 25, 50 or even 100k hands. Even though it won't guarentee a profit, it's almost guarenteed to limit your mental variance. Hope this helps and good luck at the tables!

My HUD, the stats I use and why

Hey everyone, here's something that may be helpful to newer players who might be confused about HUDs. I think my HUD is very different from most as it contains a lot of information, but over time, i've grown accustomed to playing with all those stats and nowadays I would have trouble playing 24 tables without them! Here's what my usual layout looks like : 

Some people have said to me, "why not simply use the pop-up?" and the answer is simple ; I simply don't have the seconds to waste when 24-tabling. It may not sound like much, but those seconds really add up and i'd much rather spend them tagging someone or taking a note.

Color coding goes as follow : Pink->Orange->Red->Yellow->Pink. I use pink for both high and low since it usually indicates a potential leak to exploit. Here's the breakdown of stats per line : 

Line 1 : VPIP/PFR/3 bet%/Fold to 3b%/Call 3b%/Steal%/Hands



VPIP/PFR : This is the bread and butter stats of HUDs. They tend to converge fast and give you a general idea of what type of opponent you're facing. Even after a mere 20 hands, you can already label a 40/4 as a likely fish and a 15/13 as probably a player that has some idea of what he's doing. Whenever I don't have a lot of hands on someone, those are the stats I usually use to make my decisions. For example, if someone has fish type  35/5 VPIP/PFR after 25 hands, i'll bet TPTK like the nuts until raised. Likewise, i'll tighten up and probably go for a more pot control approach if the guy is 4/4 after 25 hands. Other stats are much more accurate to determine postflop play but I found that if you have nothing else, VPIP/PFR is a good starting point and is usually fairly accurate, especially at the extremes.


3 bet% : This is the stat you want to look at whenever you get 3bet. It can take a little while to be accurate but if its 15+ or 0 after only 80 hands, you can usually make some shove/fold decisions already. For example, if I get 3b by the former, I will 4b/call AK/QQ but if im 3b by the latter, ill fold them. Another way to get a more precise idea about their 3b range if you don't have a lot of hands is to look at their AF/Agg (more on that later). If you're on the fence about 4b/calling QQ PF because the guy has something like a 4.5% 3b after say 70 hands, lean toward 4b/c if you're in a LP vs Blind situation and he has a high AF/Agg and lean toward folding if you raised UTG and he's 3b from the blinds with a low AF/Agg.


Fold to 3b% : This stat is awesome because whenever it's high enough, its like free money up for grabs. If someone raises to 3bb and you 3bet to 9bb, you'll show an instant profit whenever this stat is above 75%. However, it can be lower than that and still be profitable because those times he calls, you'll sometimes flop a big hand and win his whole stack. Of course, always keep in mind their opening range as well. Some people open very loosely OTB/SB but are otherwise very tight so when he does raise from other positions, you don't want to go overboard with the 3b because their range will be very strong. However when they opens OTB/SB you can 3bet very light because he almost never defends. 

Call 3b% : I only recently added this stat because it gives me a better idea of their range in 3b pots. I used to only rarely bluff at people with a low Ft3b%, forgetting that some people call a lot of 3bets but basically play fit-or-fold postflop. If this stat is high and you're in position, you can usually apply a lot of pressure to their relatively weak range (since they're calling wide). This is especially effective if they have a high fold to cbet% in 3b pots. This makes 3betting light even more profitable than if they simply folded preflop because they'll put more money in the pot and then give up so often on the flop.

Steal % : I don't really use this stat that much since I just look at their openraise by position (CO/BTN/SB). Obviously, someone with a high steal % is open raising a wide range in CO/BTN/SB. Another deduction you can make using this stat is to deduce how positionally aware the person is. Someone with a very low steal % is usually raising roughly the same range in EP/MP/LP with only minor variations. Someone with a high steal % is much more likely to be positionally aware than someone with a low steal % (not always true but if you have nothing else to go on, it can be handy) so if a high steal% guy 3bets your UTG raise in MP, even if he has a high 3b%, you should be more inclined to give him credit for a hand than usual because he's most likely aware that your UTG opening range is tight and thus knows it takes a strong hand to 3b such a range, especially with many ppl yet to act.

Hands : The more hands the better, but this is especially true for some precise stats that take awhile to converge.



Line 2 : AF/Agg%/Flop Agg%/Turn Agg%/River Agg%


Aggression Factor : This is a pretty important stat that gives you a general idea of how aggressive the player is. Remember that AF is bet+raise/calls so the higher this is, the less likely someone is to call a bet/raise (but dont take this idea too far) and the more likely they will take a bet/fold or raise/fold line. Aside from that, the main use of this stat is to give a general idea of someone's range when they bet/raise. Usually someone with a <2 AF is passive and if i'm raised OTF i'll usually give up almost all my 1 pair hands unless I have a read that says otherwise because if you 3b/shove against one of those, you're almost always up against 2prs/sets+

Aggression% : Same as AF but this is just the % of times someone has bet or raised without taking calls into account. Same reasoning as AF applies here. However you can use both stats together to deduce tendencies. Someone with a very high Agg% but a fairly low AF will usually tend to bet/call raises a lot. Someone with a very high AF and Agg will usually bet/fold or raise/fold a lot.

Aggression% on the flop/turn/river : These stats can take a little while to converge, especially for turn/river, but they usually give me an idea of how to play the hand. Against someone with a very high flop/turn Agg but fairly low river agg, i'll tend to c/c 2 streets with my moderate hands like TPGK or even 2nd pair, depending on the hand, since their range will tend to be much wider when they bet than when they call.


Line 3 : Flop stats : cbet/fold to cbet/cbet in 3b pot/fold cbet in 3b pot/checkraise/raise cbet/fold to raise/bet @ missed cbet


Flop continuation bet% : The higher this is, the wider villain's range is when he cbets the flop after raising preflop. Someone with a very high cbet stat AND a high fold to raise is just begging to be bluff-raised. Against someone with a very high flop cbet% but a very low turn cbet%, tend to float in position and try to bet them off their hand if they check the turn.

Fold to flop cbet% : This is a very important stat. Basically the higher this is, the more you can cbet flops with any two cards and the lower this is, the wider you should value bet. This also gives you a decent idea about their range on the turn. If someone with a 65%+ ftfcb% calls your cbet, you can assume he's got a pretty strong range on the turn, usually at least TPGK, a good draw or better. On the other hand, someone with a very low ftfcb% will have a much wider range on the turn when he does call your cbet.


Flop continuation bet% in 3b pot : Same thing as flop cbet% but in 3b pots. This is especially useful against very aggressive 3bettors. Some villains reraise quite a bit but only cbet when they have the goods. Others will reraise wide preflop and fire cbets very often, making them vulnerable to a resteal.

Fold to flop cbet% in 3b pot : Same reasoning as the above, but in 3b pots. This is a great stat to use in conjunctions with call 3b%. Calling reraises wide PF and then playing fit/fold on the flop is a big leak so whenever you see someone with that particular combination, don't hesitate to take advantage of that leak.

Flop checkraise : I found this is a very useful stat to have around because people tend to have vastly different playstyles. Some people never checkraise, some people do it very often. Whenever you get checkraised, look at this stat to assess the strength of your opponent's range. When someone with a <4% checkraise stat CRs me OTF, i'll usually give up almost all my 1 pair hands, including overpairs. When someone with a 20% CR does the same, i'll 3b much wider, both as a value and also 3b some air as well, especially on dry boards that are likely to have missed my opponent's range. This is also a good stat to check when you have a moderate hand like TPGK like ATo on a AJ7 rainbow flop. If the guy is very likely to checkraise you, which will basically leave you guessing the whole hand, just check through for pot control and call turn/river. A lot of his range in those situations will be weaker hands and in case he did have a monster, you just saved yourself a lot of money.

Flop raise% : Same reasoning as with checkraise, except this one can be used out of position. As a rule of thumb, people tend to have a higher raise% then CR% but there are exceptions so make sure you look at both stats.

Fold to flop raise % : This is a very important stat I use whenever i'm deciding to call a raise PF. The higher this is, the wider I can call since i'll be able to bluff-raise on a lot of boards and take it down without a hand. The lower this stat is, the more you should consider raising wider for value since his calling range will likely include many moderate hands/weak draws.

Bet when missed cbet% in position : This stat represents the % of times your opponent will bet after you raise PF and check the flop. This is a great stat to use in conjunction with fold to flop cbet. For example, say you have a decent hand like AJ on AT6 flop and your opponent has a very high fold to flop cbet%. That means he's very unlikely to call with a worse hand if you do bet. But say he has a very high bet when missed cbet%, now you can check/call because his betting range is much wider than his calling range so your TPGK hand should do great against his betting range.



Line 4 : Turn stats : cbet/fold to cbet/checkraise/raise cbet/fold to raise/bet @ missed cbet


Turn stats : Those are pretty much the exact same thing as the flop stats, but they tend to take more hands to converge so use them cautiously. Also, use those stats to plan ahead of time. Is it better to raise OTF or float and take it away on the turn? Some people have a high fold to flop cbet but a very low fold to turn cbet which means they're likely to get very sticky in the hand if they call your flop cbet. This means if you have air, you obviously dont want to barrel this opponent and if you have a monster you can hammer away at them with value bets.

Line 5 : Fold SB to steal/fold BB to steal/RR SB to steal/RR BB to steal/WTSD/W$SD


Fold SB/BB to steal : The higher this is, the wider you can steal since villain will be more likely to fold his blind.

Reraise SB/BB to steal : The higher this is, the more likely the reraiser is 3betting light and the more you should consider a 4b bluff, especially if you have an ace blocker. As a rule of thumb, I try to table select to avoid people with high 3b/RR blind steals on the 2 seats to my left. That allows me to steal blinds all day and just fold when they do RR. People with high RR blinds to steal tend to also defend their CO/BTN more to MP raises so avoiding those players to your left whenever you can is usually +EV.

Went to Showdown : This is a tricky stat to use and I havent really mastered it yet. It also takes a little while to converge. Basically, I use it when I try to decide to value bet OTR. The higher this is, the thinner ill vbet OTR. The lower this is, the more you should consider a river bluff, especially if your bets are telling a consistent story since PF and their range in this spot is likely weaker than average.

Won $ at Showdown : Another stat I find a bit tricky to use properly. I try to to mainly use it in conjunction with WTSD. The higher this is, the stronger the range of hands your opponent is taking to showdown so the more you can try a bluff. The lower this is, the weaker his range so you can vbet thinner.


Line 6 : Openraise stats : EP/MP/CO/BTN/SB

Opening ranges from EP/MP/CO/BTN/SB : Whenever someone opens, I look at this stat to have an idea of his range. The wider this is, the more you can consider calling a wider range and playing postflop (especially if you've detected a weakness in their postflop stats) or simply 3b wider if they have a high ft3b%.


Line 7 : Cold-call stats : EP/MP/CO/BTN/SB/BB


Cold-calling ranges from EP/MP/CO/BTN/SB : These stats are similar to the previous line and they indicate how wide someone is calling raises.


There's a few more stats I sometimes look up by clicking on the "full details" like 3b by position and 4b ranges but the stats I have in my HUD are those I use the most. I hope this has been helpful and I would love to hear about other stats you use that I don't or vice versa and/or how you use all these stats. Good luck at the tables!

The end of the beginning, the start of a career as a poker pro

It's crazy, it seems like not so long ago, in January 2010, I was taking my first shot at 100NL (and crashing and burning).

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I almost gave up on poker entirely that day. That was nothing new. I started playing poker in 2004 (limit back in the day). Ever since then, I dreamed of making it as a pro, yet failing miserably at every turn. I just couldn't handle it psychologically & emotionally. The best I could do was grind out a small profit by clearing bonuses every now and then. In 2009 I had a burst of motivation and had moderate success playing as a prop at various small sites, but perseverance was shortlived.

Finally, at the end of 2009, Athene (Chiren80, http://www.pokertableratings.com/sta...earch/Chiren80) made his big entrance on the poker scene. His huge success, making over 100,000$ with a meager 0,33BB/100 winrate gave me hope. I had been following him since his first Athene clip in World of Warcraft and I considered gaming speed/reflexes one of my strength. The transition to 24 tables seemed natural and Athene's success only made it seem that much more attainable.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple. First of all, my bankroll was only a couple thousands dollars, not enough to 24 table 100NL. So I started off grinding 50NL and barely breaking even. After a while of that, I cashed in my first 650$ Platinum star bonus & the initial 600$ deposit bonus. With a bankroll of 4,5k, I decied to take my shot at 100NL and basically emulate Athene. Again this, didn't turn out so well (see above). I remember that day vividly, the feeling of despair and I thought that despite my best efforts, poker was probably just not for me. Fortunately, I already had a Bachelor's degree in computer science (and just now finished another in French/English translation), so I had other options.

Yet, something inside me just wouldnt give up. I guess deep down, I knew I could make this work and that I just needed to find a way that worked for me. So I stepped down to 50NL with my bruised 2.5k bankroll, bought Leakbuster and started some serious studying (the Concepts of the Week found in the sticky here were a tremendous help :http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/78...ntents-397190/

I made the resolution to read one per day, including all the discussion, and take 1 page of notes. I did this for 2 months, and by the end I had over 60 pages of notes and a good grasp of poker fundamentals. After that, my game finally started taking off. I was starting to show a decent profit at 50NL so I hopped on Fulltilt to try 50NL 6-max Rush poker while clearing the initial 600$ bonus. For the first time ever, I was doing solid. Won 1,000$ at the tables, 600$ from the bonus and 400$ from rakeback.

Confident in my newfound skill, I went back to Pokerstars to resume my much neglected Supernova race. Even though I was a small winner, the battle was far from won. I had the summer off from college, yet I could barely get in more than 50,000 hands a month 24-tabling. I had crazy mood swings, bouts of depression and basically all kind of weird stuff getting in the way of my A-game (or even playing at all). This wasn't new, but in a context where everything should have been perfect, it just didn't make sense, so I sought help.

I was diagnosed with bpd (type 2, mainly depressive). In a way, it was a relief to finally find out what the hell was wrong with me. Fortunately, medication was not only available, but very effective. In short order, my mood was finally back to normal, as in not off the charts or insanely depressed for no reason at all. Needless to say, my poker game improved by leaps and bounds, both in quantity and quality.

Shortly after that, my bankroll was back up to a respectable level for 100NL (50 buy-ins). I read Miller's new book twice in October, Small Stakes No-Limited Hold'em and it really took my game to a new level in terms of turn & river play. Almost a year later, I was ready to take on 100NL again and this time, it was do-or-die. Fortunately, it seems my efforts were not wasted and I was very happy with the results : 

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Granted, 74k hands is not exactly a huge sample to determine a winrate, but it was enough to give me a huge boost in confidence in contrast with my first shot at 100NL. All that was left to do at that point was finish what I had started : Supernova status. In my haste, I played a couple of monstrous sessions (up to 48 tables at some point due to Pokerstars' table bug). Playing at that pace like a total zombie robot was disastrous for my winrate to say the least, lol :

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But in the end, it was all worth it!

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Today feels like graduation day and after all this work, I can honestly say it was definitely one the biggest achievements of my life, not really in terms of money earned this year, but in terms of player progression. I am confident that next year will be a very succesful one, and in a way, this is all thanks to Athene. His success inspired me and kept me going during the toughest times, so thank you Chiren80!

We don't often hear about success stories from the micros, so I write this to all the struggling micro-players who dream of poker success. As Chiren inspired me, so I hope to inspire others. A wise man once said that a true champion is not someone who never fails, but someone who keeps getting back up, no matter how often he falls. Best of luck to all the grinders out there!