Let me preface this by saying I shouldn't have played tonight as I was very tired. I'll take tomorrow off, and play live on Saturday and resume on Sunday (hopefully). Anyways...
The cards finally went my way in a full table SNG!!! Played 2 $55+5 PLO8 SNGs and came in 5th in the first one, but felt like I played ok, though maybe that was me rationalizing so that I play a second one. Whatever the case, I finally strung together some good play with cards at opportune times to win the f'n thing. So far this has been an excellent week. Good enough to get me back to close to even for the month. While I didn't expect to have weeks like this, +348 thus far, it's good to get them to remind myself to stay focused to minimize losses when thigs aren't going well.
$55+5: 1/0/0/1, $127.50
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Slacking
I've been slacking on the posts, mainly cause I had a bad session on Saturday night, and didn't feel like writing about it, then I had 2 quick evening sessions, one on Monday and one tonight. I'm going to summarize fast:
Saturday, got in a $22+1 war against ChairmanBd and got my ass handed to me. He we crazy aggro and I couldn't find the right strategy against him. I went 2/5 against him. Thankfully I ran into talisain51 and went 2/0 in the $55+2.5 to finish the night with a minimal loss:
$22+1: 2/5 ($73.00)
$55+2.5: 3/2 $42.50
Net: ($30.50)
Monday, I played the first available game. It was a $33+1.5 against guesswest. Decent player, don't remember the details but I won and do recall feeling good after. That's important, cause when I finished I saw vendo sitting at the $110+5 table. Now I had no intention of ever playing that level, but I was 2/1 against him at the $55+2.5 tables, and I knew him to be tight (=beatable). So I gambled with my winnings, and while it took long than normal (I restained my blind aggression a little), I came away with a victory. It was nerve racking, but I have come to the conclusion that if I see a player I know I can beat, I have to play him, even at the higher buy-ins.
$33+1.5: 1/0 $31.50
$110+5: 1/0 $105.00
Net: $136.50
Tonight, I again grabbed the first game I saw, a $33+1.5 against Ricky1730. Decent player. I've played him once before in a HU game and won, but also played him several times in the full table SNG. He likes to bluff, which is different than my blind aggression. He'll check and then bet at times that don't make sense, whereas I will just continuously fire at the pot until I know my opponent won't lay down his hand. Ok, so I'm rationalizing my aggression, big deal! :D Anyways... We play another and he get me pretty low, around $500 chips, and I worked my way back up to win. Then I found talisain51 again at the $55+2.5 tables and took another game from him. He was much more aggressive this time around, and I found myself folding a lot more than I would've liked, but I think he plays like I used to: Overplay the low draw + hands. Top-pair + low draw is an example. I broke him when he had A2Q8 to a 337Q turn, when I had the 3. River came a K and his low draw left him out to dry.
$33+1.5: 1/0 $31.50
$55+2.5: 1/0 $52.50
Totals right now are:
$11+0.5: 0/1 ($11.50)
$22+1: 2/6 ($96.00)
$33+1.5: 7/4 $42.00
$55+2.5: 13/8 $222.50
$110+5: 1/0 $105
$35+3: 2/2/2/20 ($358)
$55+5: 0/0/0/2 ($120)
cash: $41.07
Total: ($134.43)
I think I'm getting a groove back, so I'm going to start playing more full table SNGs to see if I can improve those numbers. If not, then it is clear that I should focus on the HU tables against the players I know I can beat consistently.
Saturday, got in a $22+1 war against ChairmanBd and got my ass handed to me. He we crazy aggro and I couldn't find the right strategy against him. I went 2/5 against him. Thankfully I ran into talisain51 and went 2/0 in the $55+2.5 to finish the night with a minimal loss:
$22+1: 2/5 ($73.00)
$55+2.5: 3/2 $42.50
Net: ($30.50)
Monday, I played the first available game. It was a $33+1.5 against guesswest. Decent player, don't remember the details but I won and do recall feeling good after. That's important, cause when I finished I saw vendo sitting at the $110+5 table. Now I had no intention of ever playing that level, but I was 2/1 against him at the $55+2.5 tables, and I knew him to be tight (=beatable). So I gambled with my winnings, and while it took long than normal (I restained my blind aggression a little), I came away with a victory. It was nerve racking, but I have come to the conclusion that if I see a player I know I can beat, I have to play him, even at the higher buy-ins.
$33+1.5: 1/0 $31.50
$110+5: 1/0 $105.00
Net: $136.50
Tonight, I again grabbed the first game I saw, a $33+1.5 against Ricky1730. Decent player. I've played him once before in a HU game and won, but also played him several times in the full table SNG. He likes to bluff, which is different than my blind aggression. He'll check and then bet at times that don't make sense, whereas I will just continuously fire at the pot until I know my opponent won't lay down his hand. Ok, so I'm rationalizing my aggression, big deal! :D Anyways... We play another and he get me pretty low, around $500 chips, and I worked my way back up to win. Then I found talisain51 again at the $55+2.5 tables and took another game from him. He was much more aggressive this time around, and I found myself folding a lot more than I would've liked, but I think he plays like I used to: Overplay the low draw + hands. Top-pair + low draw is an example. I broke him when he had A2Q8 to a 337Q turn, when I had the 3. River came a K and his low draw left him out to dry.
$33+1.5: 1/0 $31.50
$55+2.5: 1/0 $52.50
Totals right now are:
$11+0.5: 0/1 ($11.50)
$22+1: 2/6 ($96.00)
$33+1.5: 7/4 $42.00
$55+2.5: 13/8 $222.50
$110+5: 1/0 $105
$35+3: 2/2/2/20 ($358)
$55+5: 0/0/0/2 ($120)
cash: $41.07
Total: ($134.43)
I think I'm getting a groove back, so I'm going to start playing more full table SNGs to see if I can improve those numbers. If not, then it is clear that I should focus on the HU tables against the players I know I can beat consistently.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
2 steps forward, 1 step back
Decided to play a long session after baseball tonight. Probably not a good idea in retrospect.
$55+2.5 HU: 2/2 ($10)
$33+1.5 HU: 1/1 ($3)
$11+0.5 HU: 0/1 ($11.50)
$55+5: 0/0/0/1 ($60)
$35+3: 0/0/0/1 ($38)
Total ($122.50).
Net week so far: $12. :(
Time for sleep. No games tomorrow, unless I'm stupid.
$55+2.5 HU: 2/2 ($10)
$33+1.5 HU: 1/1 ($3)
$11+0.5 HU: 0/1 ($11.50)
$55+5: 0/0/0/1 ($60)
$35+3: 0/0/0/1 ($38)
Total ($122.50).
Net week so far: $12. :(
Time for sleep. No games tomorrow, unless I'm stupid.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Movie night
My wife and I just watched Bad Boys (Will Smith and Martin Lawrence). Just a nice way to spend a little "quality time" together. (You've got to have watched Bad Boys to understand that reference). Anyway, she just went to bed, and I decided to play some poker before I do the same.
Hopped into the first HU SNG I could find. I got lucky to find "tatta" sitting at the $55+2.5 table. He's great. His raise percentage from the SB/button PF is as big as his fold percentage. So not only does he make the mistake of giving me too many free chips when he folds, his raises mean he's got a decent hand that works together. Even better is that he never raises from the BB without AAbaby or AK2X, which is usually where I break him.
Outside of that, he calls weak, so I limit my naked bluffing against him, and value bet like crazy and he pays off constantly. If he calls a bet on the turn, he's either got a hand, or the draw is pretty apparent from the board. Therefore I can play the river accordingly. I said I limit my bluffing, but when I know (ok, have a good feeling) that he's missed, I will naked bluff the river.
In game 1, the first critical hand, I called on the button and he raised PF from the SB. I called with my random 4 cards. Not a +EV play in general, but since I get so many free blinds from him, and I have good implied odds, I'll make it. That's the beauty of a tourney. You make your -EV plays cost you little and your +EV plays pay a lot. Anyway, flop comes QJ5 rainbow, and I flop top and bottom pair. He checks, which I expect, even with AA since there is no associated low draw. I bet, and get the call that I'm looking for. I turn my full house, when a 5 hits. He checks, and I check back. The check here is that I need to keep him in the hand. I think, for the most part, he believes that I bet with something. So if I bet there, I must have the 5. Can't have him think that. He needs to think I only have a Q, so that his Aces-Up looks good. River is a T which makes a possible straight, and he checks again. This time I bet 2/3 of the pot, and he takes his time, but does call.
The hand I won the tourney, I did gamble on the flop. The flop was 5s6sKc, I had 3s4sAc6c, I bet, and he effectively raised all in. I would've had about 500-600 chips left if I lost (10-20 blind level), so with my knowledge, I felt like I could grind out from there. I called and he tabled AA68. He pushed his AA and lost again. $52.50 in all of 10 minutes.
After that game, I took a break, checked work email, and then came back to get lucky again and find him waiting for a game. I was so happy to oblige! This time, he started raising more frequently and I played defensively. I always wonder how much my opponents actually adjust to me. One of the toughest things to figure out is what an opponent's motivation is. Do they just play, and their current skill is the skill they win or lose with, or are they constantly trying to improve. I fall into the former more than the latter, though I'm trying to use this blog to think about my game after the fact to see if I can spot problems sooner.
I figure he's the type of player whose game is set: his VIP ranking at PS is pretty high, and he multi-tables HU games. The latter is the overriding factor. You can't really play a unique style in 2 or more different HU games. You basically have to play the same, or else you're likely to get confused.
Anyway, game #2 lasted longer, and he had me down for a bit, but I was able to take a couple critical hands away, and secure a second victory. Obviously I'm tired, since I don't really remember the details of the hands, and normally those things embed themselves automatically in my mind.
I'll take another winning night and try to continue the streak.
$55+2.5: 2/0 $105.00
Hopped into the first HU SNG I could find. I got lucky to find "tatta" sitting at the $55+2.5 table. He's great. His raise percentage from the SB/button PF is as big as his fold percentage. So not only does he make the mistake of giving me too many free chips when he folds, his raises mean he's got a decent hand that works together. Even better is that he never raises from the BB without AAbaby or AK2X, which is usually where I break him.
Outside of that, he calls weak, so I limit my naked bluffing against him, and value bet like crazy and he pays off constantly. If he calls a bet on the turn, he's either got a hand, or the draw is pretty apparent from the board. Therefore I can play the river accordingly. I said I limit my bluffing, but when I know (ok, have a good feeling) that he's missed, I will naked bluff the river.
In game 1, the first critical hand, I called on the button and he raised PF from the SB. I called with my random 4 cards. Not a +EV play in general, but since I get so many free blinds from him, and I have good implied odds, I'll make it. That's the beauty of a tourney. You make your -EV plays cost you little and your +EV plays pay a lot. Anyway, flop comes QJ5 rainbow, and I flop top and bottom pair. He checks, which I expect, even with AA since there is no associated low draw. I bet, and get the call that I'm looking for. I turn my full house, when a 5 hits. He checks, and I check back. The check here is that I need to keep him in the hand. I think, for the most part, he believes that I bet with something. So if I bet there, I must have the 5. Can't have him think that. He needs to think I only have a Q, so that his Aces-Up looks good. River is a T which makes a possible straight, and he checks again. This time I bet 2/3 of the pot, and he takes his time, but does call.
The hand I won the tourney, I did gamble on the flop. The flop was 5s6sKc, I had 3s4sAc6c, I bet, and he effectively raised all in. I would've had about 500-600 chips left if I lost (10-20 blind level), so with my knowledge, I felt like I could grind out from there. I called and he tabled AA68. He pushed his AA and lost again. $52.50 in all of 10 minutes.
After that game, I took a break, checked work email, and then came back to get lucky again and find him waiting for a game. I was so happy to oblige! This time, he started raising more frequently and I played defensively. I always wonder how much my opponents actually adjust to me. One of the toughest things to figure out is what an opponent's motivation is. Do they just play, and their current skill is the skill they win or lose with, or are they constantly trying to improve. I fall into the former more than the latter, though I'm trying to use this blog to think about my game after the fact to see if I can spot problems sooner.
I figure he's the type of player whose game is set: his VIP ranking at PS is pretty high, and he multi-tables HU games. The latter is the overriding factor. You can't really play a unique style in 2 or more different HU games. You basically have to play the same, or else you're likely to get confused.
Anyway, game #2 lasted longer, and he had me down for a bit, but I was able to take a couple critical hands away, and secure a second victory. Obviously I'm tired, since I don't really remember the details of the hands, and normally those things embed themselves automatically in my mind.
I'll take another winning night and try to continue the streak.
$55+2.5: 2/0 $105.00
Monday, July 20, 2009
Quickie
Waxed the car tonight, so I had some energy, but knew I didn't have a lot in me. So I played 2 quick games, though it would've been only one had I lost the first
$55+2.5: 1/0, $52.50
$22+1: 0/1 ($23.00)
Total: $29.50
A win is a win, and I go to bed profitable. I have a couple more nights like this, I'll forget about last night!
$55+2.5: 1/0, $52.50
$22+1: 0/1 ($23.00)
Total: $29.50
A win is a win, and I go to bed profitable. I have a couple more nights like this, I'll forget about last night!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Barf!
Worst session ever, epitomized by Ten's full of 5's running into quad 5's. In my 2 HU losses, both times I was up 2:1 in chips and could not capitalize...
$55+2.5: 1/2 ($62.50)
$35+3: 0/0/0/4 ($152.00) (4,4,5,7)
$55+5: 0/0/0/1 ($60.00) (5)
Cash: $21.45
Total ($253.05)
Two week total is not pretty. I'm losing the amount that I'm supposed to be winning. :(
Summary:
$35+3.00: 2/2/2/18 ($320)
$33+1.50: 4/3 $22.50
$55+2.50: 4/4 ($20.00)
Cash: $38.36
Total: ($339.14)
Time to go to bed and try and think about tonight's session. Did I play poorly, or did I play unlucky. I had to have played poorly, the results just don't like.
$55+2.5: 1/2 ($62.50)
$35+3: 0/0/0/4 ($152.00) (4,4,5,7)
$55+5: 0/0/0/1 ($60.00) (5)
Cash: $21.45
Total ($253.05)
Two week total is not pretty. I'm losing the amount that I'm supposed to be winning. :(
Summary:
$35+3.00: 2/2/2/18 ($320)
$33+1.50: 4/3 $22.50
$55+2.50: 4/4 ($20.00)
Cash: $38.36
Total: ($339.14)
Time to go to bed and try and think about tonight's session. Did I play poorly, or did I play unlucky. I had to have played poorly, the results just don't like.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Home game!
Played in a $20 home game tourney at a Neil's place while his wife was up north with the kids. 3 usual suspects (Neil, Eric and Mark), and 3 unknowns (friends of Neil's: Pat, Yan, Guy) though I was given a little bit of information on them from Neil and Mark. 7 players, first paid $100, and second $40, with $5 bounties for everyone.
I should have been knocked out in 6th place, but ended up in 2nd. Blind level was 600/1200, I had about 7200 in chips left (12k starting stack). I'm in the cut-off with K8o and push all-in to steal the blinds. Yan (tight) calls. Oh oh.. Pat (loose) calls. Not so bad any more. I figure I'm now up against an underpair (Yan) and random (Pat) which I might beat. I figure I'm now around 25-30% favorite to win the pot which is now 21.6k. Flop comes Q64 rainbow. :( Damn, I missed that completely. Yan bets, Pat moves all-in and Yan calls. Yan had JJ for an underpair. Pat flips over Q4c for two pair. Over the course of the night I learned that Pat *really* loves his suited cards! I need runner runner. K on the turn, 8 on the river, and I'm back in the game!
Later, 4 handed, Pat's short stack in the BB, I'm on the button with AQo. I put him all in, he calls with A6d. 6 on the river. Now I'm blanking on the details, but later when we were 3 handed, he moved all in PF from the button, and I called with Ax, he flipped over 2 spades and I was in front, then he flopped one spade, and turned and rivered the other two to cripple my stack.
I fold the next hand from the button, and Guy in the SB raises, Pat moves all in and Guy calls. KQ for Guy, K3d for Pat. Flop contains 2 diamonds, to make Guy sweat, but finally a hand holds up against Pat and he's knocked out and I back door into a $20 win (Guy let me keep my $5 bounty.)
What a night. Now, hopefully, I can get a little sleep and not be too messed up for tomorrow.
I should have been knocked out in 6th place, but ended up in 2nd. Blind level was 600/1200, I had about 7200 in chips left (12k starting stack). I'm in the cut-off with K8o and push all-in to steal the blinds. Yan (tight) calls. Oh oh.. Pat (loose) calls. Not so bad any more. I figure I'm now up against an underpair (Yan) and random (Pat) which I might beat. I figure I'm now around 25-30% favorite to win the pot which is now 21.6k. Flop comes Q64 rainbow. :( Damn, I missed that completely. Yan bets, Pat moves all-in and Yan calls. Yan had JJ for an underpair. Pat flips over Q4c for two pair. Over the course of the night I learned that Pat *really* loves his suited cards! I need runner runner. K on the turn, 8 on the river, and I'm back in the game!
Later, 4 handed, Pat's short stack in the BB, I'm on the button with AQo. I put him all in, he calls with A6d. 6 on the river. Now I'm blanking on the details, but later when we were 3 handed, he moved all in PF from the button, and I called with Ax, he flipped over 2 spades and I was in front, then he flopped one spade, and turned and rivered the other two to cripple my stack.
I fold the next hand from the button, and Guy in the SB raises, Pat moves all in and Guy calls. KQ for Guy, K3d for Pat. Flop contains 2 diamonds, to make Guy sweat, but finally a hand holds up against Pat and he's knocked out and I back door into a $20 win (Guy let me keep my $5 bounty.)
What a night. Now, hopefully, I can get a little sleep and not be too messed up for tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
It's about time!
Finally playing up to my potential. Other than one suck out against, the cards were not my enemy tonight. I finally reigned in my aggression on the bubble in the second tourney and it paid off with a first place finish. Hopefully I can get a good night's sleep, so that I can play again tomorrow. Gonna play live on Friday with friends, which means no online play Friday or Saturday, unless I want to lose some money.
Granted, after further thought, I probably shouldn't have played tonight considering how tired I felt, but I have to thank jeff85257 for giving me confidence, since I was playing him heads up during my full ring games and knew I could beat him, even in this state. I'll take my 2/1 against him and be happy about the winning session.
$33+1.5: 2/2 ($6.00)
$35+3: 1/0/0/1 $81.50
Total: $75.50
Summary:
$35+3.00: 2/2/2/14 ($168)
$33+1.50: 4/3 $22.50
$55+2.50: 3/2 $42.50
Cash: $16.91
Total: ($86.09)
Granted, after further thought, I probably shouldn't have played tonight considering how tired I felt, but I have to thank jeff85257 for giving me confidence, since I was playing him heads up during my full ring games and knew I could beat him, even in this state. I'll take my 2/1 against him and be happy about the winning session.
$33+1.5: 2/2 ($6.00)
$35+3: 1/0/0/1 $81.50
Total: $75.50
Summary:
$35+3.00: 2/2/2/14 ($168)
$33+1.50: 4/3 $22.50
$55+2.50: 3/2 $42.50
Cash: $16.91
Total: ($86.09)
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
King bubble-boy
Something's not right with my play. I must be too aggressive, or at least more so than when I was placing well. I'm getting donked out in 4-5-6 WAY too often. Today was 2-4-6-6, and I got hurt at some inopportune times. Even the 2nd place finish was no good since I should have won, but hands would not hold up.
At least I played some HU SNGs. The $55+2.5 saved me and helped me book just my second win
$55+2.5: 3/1 $100
$33+1.5: 0/1 ($34.50)
$35+3: 0/1/0/3 ($57.50)
Total: $8.00
Summary:
$35+3.00: 1/2/2/14 ($249.50)
$33+1.50: 2/1 $28.50
$55+2.50: 3/2 $42.50
Cash: $16.91
Total: ($161.59)
At least I played some HU SNGs. The $55+2.5 saved me and helped me book just my second win
$55+2.5: 3/1 $100
$33+1.5: 0/1 ($34.50)
$35+3: 0/1/0/3 ($57.50)
Total: $8.00
Summary:
$35+3.00: 1/2/2/14 ($249.50)
$33+1.50: 2/1 $28.50
$55+2.50: 3/2 $42.50
Cash: $16.91
Total: ($161.59)
Sunday, July 12, 2009
It just ain't working
One week in, and I'm doubting myself. Today, I decided that maybe my rule for not playing H/U SNGs simultaneously with my full table SNGs was a bad idea. The premise being that the H/U games tend to draw my focus, which is good during the initial stages of the full table SNGs where one of my flaws is to play too many hands early.
So today I played 3 H/U SNGs, during 5 full table tourneys. I went 2/0 in the $33+1.5, but 0/1 in the $55+2.5, while going 0/1/0/3 in the 4 tourneys that were running against them (the 5th one is running as I write this). It worked out better than my play for the past week, in that I felt like I got deeper, although, as you can see, not really changing my results. Though I will say this, today, I got rivered bad on the bubble of 2 of the tourneys, and the river saved my opponent twice in the H/U SNG that I lost. I got knocked out in 4th and 5th when as my usually bubble aggressive self pushed and pushed. I had two players on the ropes, only to see them not only survive on the river, but scoop me, and crippling me in the process.
I have to take that as a sign that I'm about to break though this slump and get back to something more like my previous play.
I also played a little 25PLO8 while the kids slept at naptime for an ok win.
The final tourney of the day just finished, and this last hand summed up my day, with all the money going in on the turn:
Total for the day:
$35+3.00: 0/1/0/4
$33+1.50: 2/0
$55+2.50: 0/1
Cash: $20.47
Total for the week:
$35+3.00: 1/1/2/11 ($192)
$33+1.50: 2/0 $63
$55+2.50: 0/1 ($57.50)
Cash: $16.91
Total: ($169.59)
If I were to count a first place as 5pts, second as 3pts and third as 2pts, then for 15 tourneys, I was expecting to have 30pts by now. Instead, I have 12pts. I need to bring that average up to a respectable amount!!!
So today I played 3 H/U SNGs, during 5 full table tourneys. I went 2/0 in the $33+1.5, but 0/1 in the $55+2.5, while going 0/1/0/3 in the 4 tourneys that were running against them (the 5th one is running as I write this). It worked out better than my play for the past week, in that I felt like I got deeper, although, as you can see, not really changing my results. Though I will say this, today, I got rivered bad on the bubble of 2 of the tourneys, and the river saved my opponent twice in the H/U SNG that I lost. I got knocked out in 4th and 5th when as my usually bubble aggressive self pushed and pushed. I had two players on the ropes, only to see them not only survive on the river, but scoop me, and crippling me in the process.
I have to take that as a sign that I'm about to break though this slump and get back to something more like my previous play.
I also played a little 25PLO8 while the kids slept at naptime for an ok win.
The final tourney of the day just finished, and this last hand summed up my day, with all the money going in on the turn:
http://twodimes.net/h/?z=6516783I flop top-two, with nut low draw. Bet 60% of the pot on the flop. 2 Callers, I move in on the turn, with the gut chasing nut flush with A6 (weak) low. :(
Total for the day:
$35+3.00: 0/1/0/4
$33+1.50: 2/0
$55+2.50: 0/1
Cash: $20.47
Total for the week:
$35+3.00: 1/1/2/11 ($192)
$33+1.50: 2/0 $63
$55+2.50: 0/1 ($57.50)
Cash: $16.91
Total: ($169.59)
If I were to count a first place as 5pts, second as 3pts and third as 2pts, then for 15 tourneys, I was expecting to have 30pts by now. Instead, I have 12pts. I need to bring that average up to a respectable amount!!!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Why don't I go to sleep?
I have a bad habit of playing on nights I'm tired. The nights where I should just go to bed at 10PM, get a good night sleep, so that the next night I can have a killer session. Instead, I donkey around and piss off chips with poor play. Not only that, I tend to violate my cash game rule because I need to have lots of things going on, otherwise I get bored. Problem is, I just end up too distracted.
Tonight: 0/0/1/3 tonight
Total: 1/0/2/7
Count: ($96.50)
I need to be placing 1st every 3rd time, not just placing every 3rd time. I had some bad beats tonight though at critical stages, which I always wonder if it's karma reminding me that I shouldn't have been playing....
Tonight: 0/0/1/3 tonight
Total: 1/0/2/7
Count: ($96.50)
I need to be placing 1st every 3rd time, not just placing every 3rd time. I had some bad beats tonight though at critical stages, which I always wonder if it's karma reminding me that I shouldn't have been playing....
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Day 2: Better, but still not playing right
I was profitable today, but made some stupid mistakes. Overly aggressive too early in the tournaments costing me some chips.
Daily tally: 1/0/0/2 (6th and 7th)
Profit: $43.50
Total: 1/0/1/4 ($7.50)
I really need to get my rhythm back. Doesn't help I'm still tired from Monday night, and found a leak in the wall which is why the basement smelled all moldy. Got baseball tomorrow, so not likely going to play.
I may write something tomorrow, I may not...
Time for some Wii Fit yoga, shower and sleep.
Daily tally: 1/0/0/2 (6th and 7th)
Profit: $43.50
Total: 1/0/1/4 ($7.50)
I really need to get my rhythm back. Doesn't help I'm still tired from Monday night, and found a leak in the wall which is why the basement smelled all moldy. Got baseball tomorrow, so not likely going to play.
I may write something tomorrow, I may not...
Time for some Wii Fit yoga, shower and sleep.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Nervous
So I played my first session tonight, and it didn't go very well. First off, rather than the normal 3 tables running, with the next one filling up fast, there were none and only 2 people in the waiting list for the next one. So I went to Hollywood and Tower to play some low stakes 10PLO8 (.10 blinds) and 25PLO8 (.25 blinds).
About 20 minutes later, the PS tourney table finally opened, and on the first night, I violated my rule of focusing on the tourney. I continued to play the cash games until the second tourney opened up.
In the end, I finished 8th, 3rd, and 7th. In the game I finished 3rd, I began to feel nervous around the bubble. All of a sudden, cashing became more important than winning. I'm gonna have to work through that. Normally, I don't care if I end up 4th, because if I continuously attack and raise when there are 4 or 5 players left, I end up stealing a lot of blinds and giving myself a huge advantage to finishing first. That's the key to success here, finishing 1st every third tourney like I've done thus far (7 out of 22).
Night #1: 0/0/1/2 -> ($51)
Cash: -> $10.04
Total: -> ($40.96)
About 20 minutes later, the PS tourney table finally opened, and on the first night, I violated my rule of focusing on the tourney. I continued to play the cash games until the second tourney opened up.
In the end, I finished 8th, 3rd, and 7th. In the game I finished 3rd, I began to feel nervous around the bubble. All of a sudden, cashing became more important than winning. I'm gonna have to work through that. Normally, I don't care if I end up 4th, because if I continuously attack and raise when there are 4 or 5 players left, I end up stealing a lot of blinds and giving myself a huge advantage to finishing first. That's the key to success here, finishing 1st every third tourney like I've done thus far (7 out of 22).
Night #1: 0/0/1/2 -> ($51)
Cash: -> $10.04
Total: -> ($40.96)
Monday, July 6, 2009
And it begins...
My name is Eddie, and I play poker. Mostly recreationally, but I did use it to supplement my income for a brief time while I was between jobs. From that time, it's clear that this will never be my sole source of income, but it's nice to make a little cash on the side doing something challenging and fun.
I've been playing since around 2004. I'd like to say that I'm a 2nd degree "Moneymaker Effect" player. I didn't start playing because of his 2003 WSOP victory, but really starting playing because I begin watching the WPT, which I think made the air thanks in part to his victory.
I started playing live games with friends, and playing online at Ultimate Bet. Back then, the structure was different and you would earn Ultimate Points(UPs), which are UB's player reward points, just for time at the tables, including free tables. Even better was that you could play tournaments with your UPs, both sit-n-gos(SNGs) and multi-table tournaments (MTTs). My big break came when I won 500o UPs for finishing first in a no-limit hold'em (NLHE) MTT, which gave me enough points to enter cash tournaments using my UPs. I would buy into $5 and $10 tourneys with my points and I eventually won $30.
I started trying out the NLHE cash game tables, but wasn't very successful. I felt that I was behind my opponents, so I looked for something different. That's when I found pot-limit Omaha 8 or better (PLO8). I started at the .01/.02 tables (SB=Small Blind=$0.01, BB=Big Blind=$0.02) and worked my way up. One day, I ran into a player (tek) at the 0.05/0.10 level who normally plays higher levels, but came down to try and take my money before going back. I gave him a good run for his money. Enough so that gave me an offer: Let him refer me to Party Poker, and he'll split the referral bonus with me. At first I was hesitant. I had made my money without having to deposit anything, but this sign up was going to require a deposit. In the end, I made the deposit, and played enough to credit tek, and he did pay me. At the same time, I made more through the deposit bonus than I did at the 0.10/0.25 PLO8 tables. As so officially began my "bonus whore" days.
A "bonus whore" is a player who's sole purpose is to exploit the various bonus that the sites offer. Back in 2004, Party offered the easiest bonuses to clear. Deposit $X, make $X after playing 5*X rakes hands. Which meant if I deposited $100, I would make $100 after I played 500 raked hands. A raked hand is simply a hand in which there was a flop, and the table took a portion of the pot, called the rake. The key to this bonus was that it didn't matter how much rake was taken, so playing the lowest stakes which had a good % of the hands raked was the key. 0.10/0.25 PLO8 was perfect because there was almost always a flop, and always enough players seeing the flop to create a raked hand. All I had to do is way for high quality hands, play them meekly, and make sure I didn't lose a lot of money. Add to that multi-tables of up to 7 at a time, and I would clear the bonus in a couple of days. I built my bankroll through Party, Empire, Noble, BoDog, Hollywood and Superior Poker bonuses and PLO8. Going from nothing in 2004 to just over 4k in 2006. That sounds great, but by mid-way through 2006 I was at 5k, and then when on a 6 month losing streak where I lost 1k.
That was my first sustained losing streak. Not surpisingly it coincided with a lot of changes in my life: 2nd kid, new job, cross-country move. Clearly, I was not focused. I ended up taking a good 3-4 month break from playing, cause it was no longer fun. When I returned, I went back to my roots: Freerolls. Hollywood was offering a set of multi-stage freerolls (which still run today). The first level is a classic freeroll. Top 20 win tickets to a .25 tourney. Top 20 in the .25 tourney win a ticket to a .50 tourney. Top 20 in the .50 tourney win a ticket to the $1 tourney. In the $1 tourney, the top 25 are paid, and also get a ticket to a monthly $1000 added freeroll. While this seems like a lot of work, it actually wasn't. If 21 people entered a tourney, 20 people would still get tickets. Therefore, a lot of the time, it just paid to register, but not even play. Even the $1 tourney, I could sit out and occasionally end up in the top 10 earning a couple bucks. The hardest part was winning the first couple of .25 tickets, since there were usually about 200 people registered in the first level Freeroll. After I had made a few bucks, I simply paid .25 to enter the .25 tourney, and would sit out. I could register ahead of time, and the tourneys would be played while I was at work. I would make anywhere from $0.50 to $2.00 a day just by registering for these tourneys. So even though I had 4k, it was these little positive gains which started to rebuild my game, and give me more confidence.
The latter half of 2007 picked up and I started playing a lot more. I finished up 2.6k for a total of 7k. The beginning of 2008 was great. I started playing some feeder tournaments. My ultimate goal had been to qualify for OnGame's $1000 month-end tournament, but that never quite happened, but I did end up playing a variety of lower entry tournaments, including a $50 buy-in tourney. I played it 3 times, and won the 3rd one, besting 180 players, for a $2.2k win. My biggest single day win ever. That win got my roll close to 9k. I managed to work my bankroll up to $10.9k by August, not counting 2k I won while unemployed from May-June. Since then, well...
Oh lordy.... it's been bad. I think the largest contributor has been the changes in bonus available from the sites. They've become more difficult to clear, and so I had to move up in levels. As I moved up in levels, the PLO8 games where not availble as much, so I started to shift to PLO. Clearly I was not ready. I had some really great sessions, and some really putrid sessions. For every up week, I ended up having 2 down weeks. Then, I'd try and force long sessions to clear the bonuses, and my play would deteriorate and I'd lose more than the bonus was worth. Many times, TILTED would describe my play to a tee! So now I find myself back to where I was at the beginning of 2008: 7k.
Which brings us to the purpose of this blog. My goal is to make 10k in the next 12 months. Seems quite ambitious for someone who has just lost 4k in the 11 months, but I've got a plan. I've been playing Poker Stars (PS) since the end of February. I hadn't played there for the longest time because the bonuses were some of the worst in the industry. Since the quality of the bonuses in the rest of the industry has deteriorated, I figured it was worth the leap. Boy, was I a moron for wasting my time elsewhere! PS has the perfect set of games for me. They offer 9 player single table PLO8 SNGs. I have been playing the $35+3 tourney (9*$35=$315 prize pool, 1st-157.5, 2nd-94.5, 3rd-63, with 9*$3 going to PS's pockets) and have been placing at an incredible clip. I'm 7/2/3/10 for an average win of $29 per tourney played. If I can maintain that, or even $20 per tourney played, then I need to play 350-500 of these over the next year to acheive my goal. Add to that the occasional bonus, which I should be able to clear through tourney play, I think it is reasonable. The tourney's take only 40 minutes to play, and I have been playing them overlapping. Playing 2-3 per night will only take an hour to an hour and a half.
Staying focused and not playing any HU SNGs or cash games is going to be the toughest part. I like to multi-task, but if I am to stay true to my goal, I can't play anything other than the single table SNGs.
My July goal is 2-3 tourney's per night, 5 nights per week. Check back on Sunday night's to see my progress summary.
I've been playing since around 2004. I'd like to say that I'm a 2nd degree "Moneymaker Effect" player. I didn't start playing because of his 2003 WSOP victory, but really starting playing because I begin watching the WPT, which I think made the air thanks in part to his victory.
I started playing live games with friends, and playing online at Ultimate Bet. Back then, the structure was different and you would earn Ultimate Points(UPs), which are UB's player reward points, just for time at the tables, including free tables. Even better was that you could play tournaments with your UPs, both sit-n-gos(SNGs) and multi-table tournaments (MTTs). My big break came when I won 500o UPs for finishing first in a no-limit hold'em (NLHE) MTT, which gave me enough points to enter cash tournaments using my UPs. I would buy into $5 and $10 tourneys with my points and I eventually won $30.
I started trying out the NLHE cash game tables, but wasn't very successful. I felt that I was behind my opponents, so I looked for something different. That's when I found pot-limit Omaha 8 or better (PLO8). I started at the .01/.02 tables (SB=Small Blind=$0.01, BB=Big Blind=$0.02) and worked my way up. One day, I ran into a player (tek) at the 0.05/0.10 level who normally plays higher levels, but came down to try and take my money before going back. I gave him a good run for his money. Enough so that gave me an offer: Let him refer me to Party Poker, and he'll split the referral bonus with me. At first I was hesitant. I had made my money without having to deposit anything, but this sign up was going to require a deposit. In the end, I made the deposit, and played enough to credit tek, and he did pay me. At the same time, I made more through the deposit bonus than I did at the 0.10/0.25 PLO8 tables. As so officially began my "bonus whore" days.
A "bonus whore" is a player who's sole purpose is to exploit the various bonus that the sites offer. Back in 2004, Party offered the easiest bonuses to clear. Deposit $X, make $X after playing 5*X rakes hands. Which meant if I deposited $100, I would make $100 after I played 500 raked hands. A raked hand is simply a hand in which there was a flop, and the table took a portion of the pot, called the rake. The key to this bonus was that it didn't matter how much rake was taken, so playing the lowest stakes which had a good % of the hands raked was the key. 0.10/0.25 PLO8 was perfect because there was almost always a flop, and always enough players seeing the flop to create a raked hand. All I had to do is way for high quality hands, play them meekly, and make sure I didn't lose a lot of money. Add to that multi-tables of up to 7 at a time, and I would clear the bonus in a couple of days. I built my bankroll through Party, Empire, Noble, BoDog, Hollywood and Superior Poker bonuses and PLO8. Going from nothing in 2004 to just over 4k in 2006. That sounds great, but by mid-way through 2006 I was at 5k, and then when on a 6 month losing streak where I lost 1k.
That was my first sustained losing streak. Not surpisingly it coincided with a lot of changes in my life: 2nd kid, new job, cross-country move. Clearly, I was not focused. I ended up taking a good 3-4 month break from playing, cause it was no longer fun. When I returned, I went back to my roots: Freerolls. Hollywood was offering a set of multi-stage freerolls (which still run today). The first level is a classic freeroll. Top 20 win tickets to a .25 tourney. Top 20 in the .25 tourney win a ticket to a .50 tourney. Top 20 in the .50 tourney win a ticket to the $1 tourney. In the $1 tourney, the top 25 are paid, and also get a ticket to a monthly $1000 added freeroll. While this seems like a lot of work, it actually wasn't. If 21 people entered a tourney, 20 people would still get tickets. Therefore, a lot of the time, it just paid to register, but not even play. Even the $1 tourney, I could sit out and occasionally end up in the top 10 earning a couple bucks. The hardest part was winning the first couple of .25 tickets, since there were usually about 200 people registered in the first level Freeroll. After I had made a few bucks, I simply paid .25 to enter the .25 tourney, and would sit out. I could register ahead of time, and the tourneys would be played while I was at work. I would make anywhere from $0.50 to $2.00 a day just by registering for these tourneys. So even though I had 4k, it was these little positive gains which started to rebuild my game, and give me more confidence.
The latter half of 2007 picked up and I started playing a lot more. I finished up 2.6k for a total of 7k. The beginning of 2008 was great. I started playing some feeder tournaments. My ultimate goal had been to qualify for OnGame's $1000 month-end tournament, but that never quite happened, but I did end up playing a variety of lower entry tournaments, including a $50 buy-in tourney. I played it 3 times, and won the 3rd one, besting 180 players, for a $2.2k win. My biggest single day win ever. That win got my roll close to 9k. I managed to work my bankroll up to $10.9k by August, not counting 2k I won while unemployed from May-June. Since then, well...
Oh lordy.... it's been bad. I think the largest contributor has been the changes in bonus available from the sites. They've become more difficult to clear, and so I had to move up in levels. As I moved up in levels, the PLO8 games where not availble as much, so I started to shift to PLO. Clearly I was not ready. I had some really great sessions, and some really putrid sessions. For every up week, I ended up having 2 down weeks. Then, I'd try and force long sessions to clear the bonuses, and my play would deteriorate and I'd lose more than the bonus was worth. Many times, TILTED would describe my play to a tee! So now I find myself back to where I was at the beginning of 2008: 7k.
Which brings us to the purpose of this blog. My goal is to make 10k in the next 12 months. Seems quite ambitious for someone who has just lost 4k in the 11 months, but I've got a plan. I've been playing Poker Stars (PS) since the end of February. I hadn't played there for the longest time because the bonuses were some of the worst in the industry. Since the quality of the bonuses in the rest of the industry has deteriorated, I figured it was worth the leap. Boy, was I a moron for wasting my time elsewhere! PS has the perfect set of games for me. They offer 9 player single table PLO8 SNGs. I have been playing the $35+3 tourney (9*$35=$315 prize pool, 1st-157.5, 2nd-94.5, 3rd-63, with 9*$3 going to PS's pockets) and have been placing at an incredible clip. I'm 7/2/3/10 for an average win of $29 per tourney played. If I can maintain that, or even $20 per tourney played, then I need to play 350-500 of these over the next year to acheive my goal. Add to that the occasional bonus, which I should be able to clear through tourney play, I think it is reasonable. The tourney's take only 40 minutes to play, and I have been playing them overlapping. Playing 2-3 per night will only take an hour to an hour and a half.
Staying focused and not playing any HU SNGs or cash games is going to be the toughest part. I like to multi-task, but if I am to stay true to my goal, I can't play anything other than the single table SNGs.
My July goal is 2-3 tourney's per night, 5 nights per week. Check back on Sunday night's to see my progress summary.
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