Today is the last day of the month. I'm not thrilled with everything when I look back on March, but I'm not too upset either. I am happy that I improved my 7-card stud game in the past few weeks, but feel I've fallen off in my NLHE game. I'm going to keep on trying to improve at stud and play a little more than I have been. I'm also going to revert back to some fundamentals in NLHE and try and get back on top of that area of my game. I was able to achieve another Iron Man Bronze status this month. It's my 3rd month in a row getting an Iron Man and I plan to keep it up. I was gunning for Silver or Gold status, but never got there. I also didn't make the One-a-Day freeroll. I am happy that I eclipsed 17,000 FTPs today to finish off the month.
Looking ahead to April, here are my goals:
- Reach Gold Iron Man status on Full Tilt
- Qualify for the One-a-Day freeroll
- Reach SilverStar status on PokerStars
- Clear my deposit bonus over at Bodog
- Move up in limits
I really wish I had enough of a bankroll to dive into the Battle of the Bloggers tournaments on FTP. Only in due time will I be able to jump to these and for now I must keep grinding.
I am really going to stick firm to discipline and fundamentals. I'll also be looking to plug up some holes in my game.
I actually stumbled across an old blog today about a guy who made over $40k in 30 days. He set a challenge for himself to make $40k in 30 days and chronicled his progress. It took place a few years ago and I'm not sure I believe it to be true. On a side note, I read a ton of poker blogs and I see a lot of them where people NEVER lose, it just baffles me. Either some people just run ridiculously good or they are lying to themselves and their readers. Anyway, this blog gave me an idea to start my own challenge. I'm not going to gun for something ridiculous like I feel he did, but rather something small and manageable. As you can see in my goals above, I'm going to be playing a fair amount and might as well make it more fun and competitive by making it an official challenge. I'll be posting daily updates that will be in this format somewhat:
SUMMARY:
Days played: 0
Hands played: 0
Net +/-: 0
Winning days: 0
Losing days: 0
Highest winning day: n/a
Lowest winning day: n/a
GAME BREAKDOWN:
NLHE hands: 0
NLHE winnings: 0
Limit HE hands: 0
Limit HE winnings: 0
Stud hands: 0
Stud winnings: 0
PLO hands: 0
PLO winnings: 0
HORSE hands: 0
HORSE winnings: 0
I made not include all the games shown and I may add other ones, but whatever I record hands for will be there. This will be strictly ring game play.
My challenge will be to have a net profit of $1,000.00 at the end of April. It comes out to be $33.33/day for the month of April, but there's going to be days when I win more or less than that, or lose money. I also have some bonuses to clear that will aid me in reaching my goal.
I'd also like to thank the original blogger for putting his challenge up for all to see and giving me this idea. You can read about his past challenge over at http://www.zbasic.com/40kchallenge.html. Definitely check it out.
I moved to a table where I had to wait 4 hands in order for the BB to hit me rather than post. In these 4 hands, the pot was over $400 each time! I was already liking my chances here and felt I'd be able to get paid off really well. Of course, upon posting there was a straddle put on in my BB. The table seemed a lot looser than before and more willing to come into pots. Seemed like a very profitable situation lining up for my tight-aggressive style.
HAND #1:
About a rotation and a half in at the new table I was dealt AJo in the hijack.
UTG+1 raises to $12, MP calls, I call, button calls, BB calls.
Flop comes K T 2 rainbow.
BB checks, UTG+1 bets $12.
MP calls, I call.
{I decided to call here because the pot was $85 and only $12 for me to call. I was pretty sure either the button of the BB would also come in and increase my pot odds. I also knew that with the way this table was playing big pots with very marginal holdings, if I did peel off a Q on the turn, I was going to win a lot of money. I also thought there may be a chance my A was good if I hit, but nothing to go crazy over. I was in this for a Q and my pot odds were good and my implied odds even better.}
Button calls, BB calls.
Turn comes a K and the pot stands at $121.
{This is where things get really weird.}
BB comes out betting $3... yes, $3.
UTG+1 folds. {Really????}
MP calls, I call, button calls.
{I was confused by the $3 bet, but thought it was either a weak K or a T and he wanted to get to the river for cheap. Then I also thought he was on some kind of straight draw and wanted to see the river for cheap.}
River comes a 2 and double-pairs the board, K T 2 K 2.
BB checks, MP checks, I check.
Button thinks for a few seconds and fires out $31.
BB folds, MP folds.
{Okay, when I checked I thought there was a decent chance that my A-high might take this or chop it with someone else that was holding A-high as well. I went into the tank here. I was playing the two pair on board with my A kicker. I came to these conclusions about the hands I was worried about: K10 he raises the flop. Kx he raises the turn, maybe raises the flop. TT still think he raises the flop or turn here. AT, or Tx, I think he either raises the turn or checks the river. 2x, why would he have a 2 here? QQ, JJ, 99, 88, 77 or smaller, don't think he'd bet the river. I then thought about hands like QJ, AQ, AJ, Q9, J9, which were all busted straight draws. Taking his line, I thought it was more like he held one of these hands and was trying to steal the pot for cheap in the river maybe even thinking his A-high with AQ or AJ was good. The pot was $164 and $31 for me to call, so a little over 5-1. I was pretty sure that my A-high is good here 1 out of 6 times, or 16.7% of the time. I figured I'd be good here 25% of the time.}
I call, he shows KQ for a full house.
I lost the hand, but I still think my play was the correct decision and will make me money in the long run. I also think I'll hit my hand a few of those times to make up for the way he played his hand as well. After the turn paired the board, I was still looking for my Q, but didn't plan on playing a big pot with a paired board on the river.
After sitting for about another 2 hours and seeing absolutely the worst hands ever, I was getting out of the zone and upset with my luck of starting hands. I tried raising up two pots PF followed by a CB to take it down, but it failed both times. The table was loose and I resorted to just waiting for my spot. Well, my spot never came. I knew I was out of it and decided to leave the table and get some food to clear my mind (Foxwoods has a great noodle bar and the duck on rice hits the spot every time!).
After dinner, came back and sat at a new table. I didn't recognize anyone and no one seemed to be really crushing the table.
HAND #2:
UTG+1 limps, MP limps, button limps.
I raise from the SB to $15 with QQ.
BB folds, UTG+1 folds.
MP calls, button calls.
Flop is T 8 2 rainbow and I lead for $30.
Both players fold.
{Standard here, wanted action and only got a little. Both players were really weak and pretty much dead money. I could have maybe punished them for more PF because I was pretty sure they would call my raise after limping.}
HAND #3:
UTG+1 limps, folds around to me OTB.
I raise to $12 with 99.
UTG+1 calls.
Flop Q J 3.
UTG+1 checks.
I bet $20, UTG+1 folds.
{Standard here as well. Raised PF and then CB on the flop to take it down.}
This hand happened the very next hand.
HAND #4:
MP limps, hijack limps.
I raise from the CO with QJo to $12.
{Now, I have a reason for this. I don't normally come in for a raise with QJo, but I am in position on the MP player and the hijack player and they have been limping a ton. When they limp, they will call PF raises and put extra money in before the flop. Both players were pretty weak and bad and I wanted to isolate against the dead money they provided.}
BB thinks and then calls.
MP calls, hijack calls.
Flop comes Q 3 6.
BB bets out $15, both other players fold.
I call.
{I thought about a raise here, but I have good showdown value and am in position so I elected to take another card off and exercise some pot control in the hand. I also don't think a raise gets called by too many weaker hands.}
Turn pairs the board with a 3.
BB bets $20, I call.
{Once again, don't really want to get too crazy with my hand here.}
River brings an A, no flush draw out there.
BB checks.
{Okay, now I am thinking, "what could he have?" I run through some hands and feel like he called PF, bet the flop and turn, and checked the river when the A came, so I'm thinking he has a Q. Something like KQ, QJ, QT, Q9 all make sense to me. I also think that he wants to check it down and show his hand and just get the split with the A out there, but may be worried that I hit the A. If I were him, I might have bet the river. I decide this is a good spot to turn my hand into a bluff. If I bet here, he may think I have hit the A and fold. If he calls, I still think we're splitting.}
I bet $45 into the $89 pot.
{I think this bet looks like a decent value bet and will get him to fold out a Q a good amount of the time. But then...}
BB announces raise and makes it $90, min-raising me.
{Like what the hell. Now I am just pissed because I feel like I have to call. I don't have to call, but I am so pissed off that he is going to table AQ and got me with a sneaky play on the river that I make the crying call. Pot is also $224 and $45 for me to call.}
I call, BB shows AQ.
After this happened, I only played a few more hands and then left the tables. I was upset with my play (particularly this hand) and my results. Looking back on this, I feel he's going to miss value more often than not there with his check/raise on the river whereas I'll profit by turning my hand into a bluff because I'll fold out some Qs the majority of the time. I don't think anyone that hits an A there will check on the end after betting the entire way, so I still like my play.
I left Foxwoods down $292, which is just about 1 total buy-in. Not bad with the way things went IMO. I did walk away when I felt I was getting a little too tilted to play and am happy with myself in that respect. Minus the AK hand early on in the night, I am happy with my plays.
I went down to Foxwoods tonight with a friend of mine. I've had a lot of experience at this place over the past few years. I've also had a lot of good sessions there. I played for about 6 hours tonight, $1/2 NL and finished down $300. This was one of those times though where I felt I was playing good and things just weren't working out. So I wouldn't say it was a "bad" session, but it was a losing one.
I brought $500 with me to play and sat for $250 at my first table. The max is $300, but the rest of the table was rather short and I figured this is still deeper than the normal 100 BB stacks that I'm normally buying in with. I sat tight for a little while and started to feel out the table. There wasn't much action going on, especially with me. I believe 2 or 3 rotations went by before I played a hand.
I'm going to go over my key hands and would really love feedback on them. I don't care if people bash my play, but at least have some reasoning behind it. There is usually never one right way to play a poker and I am open to all avenues.
HAND #1:
Effective stacks $250.
I limp from MP with K10cc, there was a $4 straddle on this hand.
Folds around, BB completes, straddler checks.
{I limped because it was still early and I wasn't sure of the straddler's play yet, as he was new to the table a few hands ago. I could have raised here, but I believe that I am a much better post flop player than most people.}
Flop is T 6 2 with 2 spades.
Both players check to me and I bet out $12.
BB folds, straddler calls.
Turn is the 3c. Straddler checks to me, I check.
{I checked behind here because my opponent is an unknown to me and I figure I can play some pot control by checking behind and keeping the pot small. I only have one pair and don't want to play a big pot with this hand. I believe my check behind here would do 2 things: keep the pot small with pot control and induce a bluff on the end from my opponent.}
River comes the 8h.
Straddler immediately bets out $50, I call.
Straddler mucks.
{I called pretty quick here. An overbet plus an immediate bet just smelled like a bluff to me. I figured he was firing no matter what on the river after I checked the turn and he did.}
HAND #2:
Effective stacks $250.
Two MP players limp, SB completes, I check from the BB with 67o.
Flop comes 6 5 2 with 2 hearts.
SB checks, I bet out $6.
Both MP players fold, SB calls quickly.
{SB player was a middle aged man that commented on the fact that he was waiting for his $20/40 seat to open up. I read into this that he was a fast player that would gamble it up. I figured he'd be playing just like he would in limit (looser and faster) and not caring about the money he lost here because he "plays in a bigger game."}
Turn comes Kc and he checks again.
I fire out $15, he quickly calls.
{I figure him for some sort of straight draw or a flush draw. The only hand I don't want him to have is Kxhh or K6.}
River is the 2c and he checks again.
{Now I know he missed his draw.}
I bet $15 again and he calls with AThh and I scoop the pot.
I folded for a while and didn't see any hands worth playing. Probably an hour or so passed before I played this next hand.
HAND #3:
I raise UTG+1 with KQdd to $10.
The CO calls, BB calls.
Flop comes 8 6 2 with 2 diamonds.
BB checks and I lead for $20.
{Pretty standard CB here; two overs plus a flush draw.}
CO thinks for a little while and then calls. BB folds.
{I was a little iffy on this call here. He was playing pretty tight and looked like he wanted to raise, then fold, then raise, but then just called. I also wasn't a fan of playing OOP.}
Turn blanks and I check, trying to see a free card here.
CO bets $25.
{Pot is $96 and I'm getting just under 4-1 on a call here and we both had about $200 behind. I figure if he has a set I can get all his chips with a diamond that doesn't pair. I also had him on a hand like A8, 78, 89, or maybe a pair of 9s, 10s, or Js. With those, I have my flush outs, plus 2 overs so I liked my chances here.}
I call, river blanks, and I check fold.
This next hand came up a few hands later.
HAND #4:
MP limps, hijack raises to $15.
I call in the CO with AKo.
{I thought about raising here, but decided not to to disguise my hand a little in position. I had a decent read on the hijack and he is a solid player, so disguising would work here.}
Everyone else folds.
Flop comes 7 9 T, rainbow.
Flop goes check, check.
Turn comes an 8.
He checks, I check.
{I was going to bet here but now I don't feel comfortable betting with that card.}
River Q and it goes check, check.
He tables 67ss for a straight.
{I really believe I screwed this hand up from the get go when I look back at it. I should have raised him PF. He most likely would have called and I could have taken it down with a CB most of the time. Either way, by raising PF, I think I take it down PF or on the flop the majority of the time and that is the correct play.}
After sitting around for another hour and a half, I realized this table was a little too nitty for me. The players weren't giving up much action and I'd rather find a looser game where I can apply a tight-aggressive style profitably. It just didn't seem like this table was going to pay me off when I had a good hand, so I opted to switch tables.
This is all for part I of my session. I don't want to flood my readers too much, so I'll continue it later on with a part II. Suggestions, comments, and feedback are all welcome.
Oh and Jib, if you're reading I'd really enjoy some feedback from you. I think you'd have a lot to offer.
It's been a while since my last post. Midterms took up most of my time last week. I tried to work really hard studying for my exams and I believe it paid off. I was pretty sleep deprived the entire week and couldn't wait until Thursday evening rolled around. I flew home Thursday night and am now enjoying my break and catching up on some sleep. College can be rough at times.
I've been playing a lot of stud lately, and I do mean a lot. I think it is definitely my best game and I do enjoy playing it the best. I also believe that I am better than most of my opponents by a greater margin simply because not that many people are good at stud. Sure, they may understand the basics, but beyond that they don't really have a clue. I see way too many people continuing when they should be folding and not paying attention to their opponents hands. If it ever pays to play tight, patient poker, this is the game. I've played a few stud tournaments and done well in them also. I took down a $3+.30, 56 person stud MTT for $62.00 on FTP and came in 2nd on a 96 person stud MTT with an entry fee of $5+.50 for $96.00. I kind of screwed up the heads up part in which I played one hand really bad and handed the guy over 50% of my stack. Still a solid showing and some good profits.
Two days ago I had some decent runs as well. I monied the Sunday Hundred Grand and the Daily Fifteen Grand MTTs on Stars as well as cashing in a $3+.30 MTT. I also tookwon another token and played some Tier Two SNGs. I came in 6th in one which was good for the $57.00 cash, but not the $75 token. The cash isn't bad.
Yesterday was my big chance though. I fired up the $2,500 guarantee RB+AO tournament on FTP. I had a solid RB period and came out with around 10,000 chips. I built my stack up big when I was able to pick up AA, KK, and then AA again within a span of 20 minutes. We got down to the money bubble and I took advantage of it big time. When the bubble burst, I found myself fourth in chips with 45 players remaining. First place sat at just under $1,200 and I was gunning for it and feeling good. We got down to the final three tables and I was playing really well. I folded some hands in key spots where I probably could have easily gone broke had I not been disciplined enough to know I didn't need to get involved. There are times when you're ahead, but need to play things safe and get away from some hands. I find that it is a great objective misconception by a lot of players when they feel that they must get the money in if they're ahead. Poker is very situational and just because you're ahead doesn't mean the right play is to get your chips in. I found myself in this spot three different times and opted out each one. Each time I did so, I lost a few chips but was able to maintain my game and build right back up. I am also confident that I could easily be beaten at the time or simply a very slight favorite. I was still in the top five and didn't need to do any gambling just yet. The blinds were low and the stacks fairly deep.
We got down to the final two tables and I was feeling really good still. A player UTG whom I felt was very inexperienced had limped and then called my raise. I held 88 and bet a 9 high flop after she had checked to me. She shoved in and I felt I was good and was getting a good price as well. She turned over KK and it just amazed me. I still don't really think she knew what she was doing as I saw he limp/call from early positions the majority of the time. She just never raised and I ran into one of her big hands. It took about half my stack, but I was still right in the middle of the field.
I had a very solid player to my immediate left. I checked his OPR stats and they were really, really good. There was a few times when he made some awesome plays to take down pots and I could tell he knew what he was doing. Because he was experienced, I knew he was able to pull off the squeeze play. I watched him do it twice and thought he was overusing it. I will squeeze myself, but only about once a tournament. This guy did it multiple times and got caught twice, but got lucky and won the hand. It folded to me on the button and I popped it with AKo. The strong player in the SB shoved in and the BB folded. I felt he'd be shoving here with a lot of hands if I raised on the button and I knew I was going to have to call a shove. I did so and he showed A7dd. He flopped a 7 and I failed to improve. I was bounced in 15th out of 470 entrants for $43.00. It was a good showing, but I am disappointed that I couldn't pull through to the final table and get a big score. That $1k payout still eludes me!
I'd like to congratulate ChampagneAces on another deep run. He parlayed $1 into a $26 token and then came in 12th out of 723 players in the $11,500 KO tournament on FTP. He earned $174.00 after getting a cooler of a hand. ChampagneAces flopped two pair with T9 on a AT9 flop, but his opponent showed AA when the money went in. Unlucky, but still a great showing and a good payout.
I played a little bit today in between working on a paper for school. I hopped in a $3+.30 6-handed limit hold 'em MTT and also the 6-handed $7,000 guarantee $5+.50 RB+AO tournament. I started off doing pretty well in both of them.
I flopped a set early in the RB and doubled my stack to 6,000 after I initially re-bought at the beginning for the extra 1,500 chips. A few hands later I took down a sizable pot with a flush and was up to just under 8,000. I was able to sit tight for the remainder of the first hour and then added on during the break. I headed into the second hour with slightly under 10,000 chips and was feeling good.
I tend to play RBs a little looser than other MTTs. I gamble in the first hour and try to accumulate a good stack going into the second hour. Many players do this, but I can't tell you how many times I see people playing timid in the first hour. You shouldn't buy in to a RB+AO tournament if you can't afford to gamble a little. I'm not saying to go nuts like some people do, but loosen up a little from your normal first hour standards and you should be able to pick up some chips to move on to the next hour: where the real tournament begins. Another reason why I enjoy RB+AO tournaments so much is that you get to play deep-stacked after the rebuy period is over.
A few years ago I heard a weird take on rebuy tournaments from a top online pro. I can't remember who it was, but he was justifying gambling in the first hour. He simply stated that he is either going to accumulate a lot of chips or he is going to give up a lot of chips to the other players at his table. The reason why he didn't find the latter to be so bad was because he knew that he'd be able to get those chips back later on in the tournament because he felt he was better than most the field. Most people don't know how to manage a big stack and they will soon give their chips away and you'll get them back. I can see what he was saying.
I flirted with a deep run in the RB+AO tourney. I was short when we were approaching the bubble and started loosening up a lot to try and gather some chips and attack the tightness that is the bubble. I was able to double my stack in the process. When we hit the money I hit the jackpot. First hand into the money, things started looking promising.
Seat 1: donpeters (22,906)
Seat 2: StoliMan (8,039)
Seat 3: pretending (35,960)
Seat 4: harpin (9,922)
Seat 5: 2hi_327 (76,556)
Seat 6: HERTZZ (40,292)
donpeters antes 200
StoliMan antes 200
pretending antes 200
harpin antes 200
2hi_327 antes 200
HERTZZ antes 200
donpeters posts the small blind of 800
StoliMan posts the big blind of 1,600
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [8h 8d] {Perfect timing!}
pretending folds
harpin raises to 9,722, and is all in {He was stalling and playing so tight on the bubble I knew he would shove in once we hit the money.}
2hi_327 folds
HERTZZ folds
donpeters raises to 22,706, and is all in
StoliMan calls 6,239, and is all in
donpeters shows [8h 8d]
StoliMan shows [4s Ad]
harpin shows [Ah Tc]
Uncalled bet of 12,984 returned to donpeters
*** FLOP *** [5c 9s 7s]
*** TURN *** [5c 9s 7s] [9h]
*** RIVER *** [5c 9s 7s 9h] [3c]
donpeters shows two pair, Nines and Eights
harpin shows a pair of Nines
donpeters wins the side pot (3,766) with two pair, Nines and Eights
StoliMan shows a pair of Nines
donpeters wins the main pot (24,717) with two pair, Nines and Eights
I was looking good now and feeling good. I got involved in another big hand that moved I think I made a good fold.
Seat 1: donpeters (34,467)
Seat 3: Poseidon N (12,794)
Seat 4: cabreton (77,556)
Seat 5: anthoscarface (130,053)
Seat 6: snakeeeeyessss (68,536)
donpeters antes 200
Poseidon N antes 200
cabreton antes 200
anthoscarface antes 200
snakeeeeyessss antes 200
boccakill sits down
boccakill adds 72,148
Poseidon N posts the small blind of 800
cabreton posts the big blind of 1,600
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Ts Qs]
anthoscarface folds
snakeeeeyessss folds
donpeters raises to 4,000
Poseidon N folds
cabreton has 15 seconds left to act
cabreton calls 2,400
*** FLOP *** [Th Qh Ks]
cabreton checks
donpeters bets 7,500
cabreton has 15 seconds left to act
cabreton calls 7,500
*** TURN *** [Th Qh Ks] [5h]
cabreton has 15 seconds left to act
cabreton bets 48,000 {I just didn't think he could shove me in here without the confidence of knowing he has me beat.}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters has requested TIME
donpeters folds
Uncalled bet of 48,000 returned to cabreton
cabreton mucks
cabreton wins the pot (24,800)
I felt I had plenty of chips to play with and double up if I need to soon. I wasn't too worried about my stack size when I folded, I knew I could get it back at the table I was currently at. I did just that and chipped up by taking down the blinds and antes a few times before I hit a rush of three hands in a row that moved me into the top five chip leaders.
Seat 1: donpeters (28,517)
Seat 2: boccakill (52,339)
Seat 3: stokerjohn (45,950)
Seat 4: TheFrendo (40,618)
Seat 5: anthoscarface (218,553)
Seat 6: snakeeeeyessss (76,086)
donpeters antes 250
boccakill antes 250
stokerjohn antes 250
TheFrendo antes 250
anthoscarface antes 250
snakeeeeyessss antes 250
boccakill posts the small blind of 1,000
stokerjohn posts the big blind of 2,000
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Ad Qh]
TheFrendo folds
anthoscarface raises to 6,000 {One of the chip leaders, raising 2-3 per rotation and getting pretty aggressive with his stack. It was only a matter of time before I caught him.}
snakeeeeyessss folds
donpeters raises to 28,267, and is all in
boccakill folds
stokerjohn folds
anthoscarface calls 22,267
donpeters shows [Ad Qh]
anthoscarface shows [Tc Td] {Oops, he actually has a hand here, but I am still racing so I'm not in too bad of shape. I don't think I can just call here or fold with the blind sizes.}
*** FLOP *** [8d Ac 4s]
*** TURN *** [8d Ac 4s] [4h]
*** RIVER *** [8d Ac 4s 4h] [3c]
boccakill: donkeymoves ftw
donpeters shows two pair, Aces and Fours
anthoscarface shows two pair, Tens and Fours
PeterCr (Observer): ik zie het
donpeters wins the pot (61,034) with two pair, Aces and Fours
Seat 1: donpeters (61,034)
Seat 2: boccakill (51,089)
Seat 3: stokerjohn (43,700)
Seat 4: TheFrendo (40,368)
Seat 5: anthoscarface (190,036)
Seat 6: snakeeeeyessss (75,836)
donpeters antes 250
boccakill antes 250
stokerjohn antes 250
TheFrendo antes 250
anthoscarface antes 250
snakeeeeyessss antes 250
stokerjohn posts the small blind of 1,000
TheFrendo posts the big blind of 2,000
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Ac As]
anthoscarface folds
snakeeeeyessss folds
donpeters raises to 5,000
boccakill folds
stokerjohn folds
TheFrendo folds
Uncalled bet of 3,000 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot (6,500)
Seat 1: donpeters (65,284)
Seat 2: boccakill (50,839)
Seat 3: stokerjohn (42,450)
Seat 4: TheFrendo (38,118)
Seat 5: anthoscarface (189,786)
Seat 6: snakeeeeyessss (75,586)
donpeters antes 250
boccakill antes 250
stokerjohn antes 250
TheFrendo antes 250
anthoscarface antes 250
snakeeeeyessss antes 250
TheFrendo posts the small blind of 1,000
anthoscarface posts the big blind of 2,000
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Ks Ac]
snakeeeeyessss folds
donpeters raises to 5,000
boccakill raises to 19,500 {Definitely felt he thought I was getting out of line here with my third raise in a row.}
stokerjohn folds
TheFrendo folds
anthoscarface folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters has requested TIME
donpeters raises to 65,034, and is all in
boccakill calls 31,089, and is all in
donpeters shows [Ks Ac]
boccakill shows [Ad Ts]
Uncalled bet of 14,445 returned to donpeters
*** FLOP *** [4h 4c 7h]
*** TURN *** [4h 4c 7h] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [4h 4c 7h Kh] [As]
donpeters shows two pair, Aces and Kings
boccakill shows two pair, Aces and Fours
donpeters wins the pot (105,678) with two pair, Aces and Kings
Here's the hand that was going to make a break the tournament. The aggressive player had raised it up and a medium stack shoved in. I had QQ and reshoved.
Seat 1: donpeters (98,223)
Seat 2: skafulator (92,388)
Seat 3: stokerjohn (51,400)
Seat 4: TheFrendo (51,168)
Seat 5: anthoscarface (202,586)
Seat 6: snakeeeeyessss (59,986)
donpeters antes 400
skafulator antes 400
stokerjohn antes 400
TheFrendo antes 400
anthoscarface antes 400
snakeeeeyessss antes 400
donpeters posts the small blind of 1,500
skafulator posts the big blind of 3,000
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Qh Qc]
stokerjohn folds
TheFrendo folds
anthoscarface raises to 9,999 {Once again he is getting funky.}
snakeeeeyessss raises to 59,586, and is all in
donpeters raises to 97,823, and is all in
skafulator folds
anthoscarface has 15 seconds left to act {I'm praying he calls!}
anthoscarface folds
donpeters shows [Qh Qc]
snakeeeeyessss shows [Kd Ah]
Uncalled bet of 38,237 returned to donpeters
*** FLOP *** [5d Tc Kh]
*** TURN *** [5d Tc Kh] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [5d Tc Kh Ts] [7c]
donpeters shows two pair, Queens and Tens
snakeeeeyessss shows two pair, Kings and Tens
snakeeeeyessss wins the pot (134,571) with two pair, Kings and Tens
Lost your standard flip late. I win this pot and I have over 170,000 chips and am second in the tournament. Too bad it didn't work out, but at least I'm not out and have chips I can double with. No worries.
I did well to make some moves in order to steal the blinds and antes against certain stacks I knew wouldn't call me. Timing worked out where no one picked up a hand they could afford to call me with and I gained some chips. Here's how I went out.
Seat 1: donpeters (43,437)
Seat 2: skafulator (93,288)
Seat 3: stokerjohn (67,900)
Seat 4: TheFrendo (46,668)
Seat 5: anthoscarface (141,687)
Seat 6: snakeeeeyessss (162,771)
donpeters antes 500
skafulator antes 500
stokerjohn antes 500
TheFrendo antes 500
anthoscarface antes 500
snakeeeeyessss antes 500
snakeeeeyessss posts the small blind of 2,000
donpeters posts the big blind of 4,000
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Ks Ad] {I'm feeling a double here.}
skafulator folds
stokerjohn folds
TheFrendo folds
anthoscarface raises to 141,187, and is all in {Oh I am feeling a double!}
snakeeeeyessss folds
donpeters calls 38,937, and is all in
anthoscarface shows [9d Kc]
donpeters shows [Ks Ad]
Uncalled bet of 98,250 returned to anthoscarface
*** FLOP *** [5c 6h 2c]
*** TURN *** [5c 6h 2c] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [5c 6h 2c 7d] [8h] {That's just wrong in so many ways.}
anthoscarface shows a straight, Nine high
donpeters shows Ace King high
anthoscarface wins the pot (90,874) with a straight, Nine high
I ended up coming in 33rd out of 584 entrants. I was only in for $15.50 and won $41.40. Wasn't too bad, but I'm left thinking what could have been if I took down that QQ hand or that AK hand. Didn't have too much time to dwell on it as I found myself at the final table of the $3+.30 limit tournament. I was short in chips and needed to get something going.
I picked up KK and raised it up with two callers from the SB and BB. The flop was all spades and I didn't have a spade. It was checked to me and I fired. Both players called and checked to me again on a blank turn. I fired again, only the SB called again. I figured him for the As. If he flopped the flush, oh well. I'll take my chances of him chasing a flush or having a pair versus him flopping the flush and try and get my chips in. I did just that and it turns out he flopped the nut flush. I might have played the hand differently if I had more chips, but I don't think there was much I could do. I wasn't out, but was very short, with only 5-6 BBs left in my stack. I got it in with 77 to two overs and lost my race to finish in 4th place out of 62 entrants. I came away with a prize of $20.46.
Overall, I am happy with my play in both tournaments. I paid a total of $18+.80 in entries and won $61.86, giving me a profit of $43.06. A pretty good start to the day.
I played some more after writing some more of my paper. I entered some Tier 1, 6-handed SNGs for tokens. I came away with two $26 tokens and one second place finish for $10.00. I ended up making some money on these SNGs and coming away with some cheap tokens. I might try and save up 10 tokens and then just have a day where I play all $24+2 tournaments or try and turn them into $75 tokens.
I also played some heads up with a guy that I will play anytime, at any stake. I finished up $65 to him and here are some photos of how it went down.
I played some 7-stud tonight for a few hands. I 3-tabled some $0.50/1.00 for a little over 500 hands. I was down early do to some of my hands not holding up quite as well as I'd have liked, but I was able to get some good cards and end up profiting over $50.00 on the session. I love stud and I find myself to be a very proficient stud player. I'd like to think of stud as my best game, if not tied with NLHE for sure. I just don't find too much time to play it as the games aren't always as juicy as the NLHE ones.
I generally find that people will chase, chase, chase anything in stud. I think the combination of limit betting and the fact that you get seven cards just draws people in, no pun intended. I love to sit nice and tight and capitalize on the chasers and punish them for their draws. Tonight I did just that. And although they hit some of their draws early on, I exhibited a lot of discipline to be able to get away from some tricky hands when I felt I was beat. It all turned around later on when I was nailing flushes and full houses to the chasers' lesser hands. It felt good to have a good session and I hope to be able to keep it going.
On a side note, I did some reading and watched Poker After Dark (PAD) tonight. Gavin Smith has been playing all week and he ended up getting down to heads up with Phil Ivey. It was pretty funny watching Gavin play so drunk. I am a fan of Gavin, but I would like to point out that I don't think it's a good way to play as inebriated as he was: fumbling chips, misreading his hands, slurring his speech, etc. Ivey seemed to be getting annoyed at times when he couldn't put the drunk away and come out with his third PAD title. It's never a good way to play when you're drunk and I try myself to not do it at all. I will make occasional exceptions, but never when I am playing seriously. Small games with friends for the social aspect never hurt anyone. You can certainly see how Ivey was so focused on the match whereas Gavin was all over the place. It just gave me a outside view of what I must be like when I have played drunk in the past. Doesn't seem like it would make for a profitable outcome.
I'm going to be playing some late night tournaments tonight on FTP. Stop in and say hello if you're on.
I was just browsing some Official Poker Rankings (OPR) stats earlier and I had some mixed feelings towards what I found. I play the most under the alias donpeters on FTP, PS, and Bodog. It's too bad OPR doesn't cover Bodog because I have had a lot of success in MTTs there that won't be shown.
I'm not happy that my ROI is only 1%. I guess I can look at it like it's positive and I'm not losing money, but I'm not really winning any either. I have had my running-bad streaks in MTTs and I know that I used to play a lot of MTTs as recreation when I was first starting out in poker. Of course, I can't eliminate those results as I have to look at the entire picture. I am happy with the fact that when I cash, which is 22% of the time, I win the tournament roughly 10% of the time. So for every 10 times I make it to the money, I should win one of those times. I would like to get this up to around 15-20% if possible. I am able to come in the top three places just under 27% of the time. I like this number because top three is usually where the money is at in tournaments. This number is skewed somewhat due to playing 18-man SNGs. Even though they generally pay out the top four players, it's really only worth it to come in the top three.
Another good stat that I feel good about is the fact that when I finish in the money, I make the final table around 55% of the time. In bigger tournaments, you can get a solid payday if you make it to the final table, but as always, the big money is in the top three. I also like that when I make the final table, I tend to win the tournament just under 18% of the time.
I'm not sure as to whether or not these stats are good, average, or bad. I am going to try and do some searching around later tonight and in the next few days to see what a good measure for these stats would be. If anyone has any input, that'd be great. For right now, I'm feeling pretty good about these numbers, but I want to improve on them as always.
I feel like it's been a while since I last posted, but in reality it's only been a few days. I haven't been playing too much. I have just been finding myself more and more irritated at the end of the day. Not with my play, but more or less my results. I have always preached that it's not about results, it's about decisions. As long as you're making the right decisions, the results will come. Well, I feel I have been making the right decisions and things just aren't working out. I've decided to back down on my play this week and take some time away from the tables. Everyone could use a break right? It's also good that I take a break because I have a ton of school work to attend to. Midterms are coming up, and well, I hate midterms. They are definitely one of the most stressful times of the semester. I generally find that midterms are more stressful that finals.
for those of you that read the B_Log, BJU18 has gone up to AC to play in some of the circuit events up there. I'm sure he's going to have some updates on his blog, and I'll try and keep everyone posted from what I hear myself. He's a solid player and is due to breakout in one of these smaller events sooner or later. I hope he sticks to his guns and trusts his reads as reading is probably the strongest part of his game. Good luck to Bradley!
On a side note, I was playing a ton of poker last week, but mostly MTTs. I kept running good and able to push into the top 25% and then cash a good amount of times. I just wasn't able to seal the deal. I don't really think it was my play. I kept getting it in good late in tournaments, but couldn't pull out a winner on the hands I should have one. Here's an interesting decision I had deep in a Poker Stars $2+.20 MTT. Bear with me as I don't have the hand history.
Blinds 400/800/50.
Folds to me in the SB, I raise to 2,400 with QQ.
BB shoves on me for 51,000, putting me all-in.
I have around 30,000 chips remaining and am in 18th chip position out of the remaining 86 players, 198 cashed. The BB player has been playing a good amount of hands and I have seen him shove like this on players raising his blind before. He only showed AJo one of those times, the other times his opponent was on a clear steal and he took the pot. I took my time and thought he would be shoving here with any two broadway cards, any pair 55 and above. I normally raise to 2.5x the BB, but because I knew I was going to be playing OOP had he just called, I wanted to make it a little more. I don't like to vary my raise sizes based on my hands, but more so based on my position.
Another factor that came into mind was that I was pretty much in control of the table. I was able to chip up rather nicely here and there and improve my stack a lot each round from picking up the blinds and antes along with other uncontested pots. Looking back on the hand, I don't think I should have called here. I know I have the third best hand PF in HE, but I don't want to be up against three hands AA, KK, and AK. I'm not sure if this is the right thinking, but because I was able to be in control of the table so much is why I should have folded. I would have had plenty of chips and been able to continue to control things the way I wanted to I believe. The more I thought about it, the more I decided that he's shoving here with too wide a range for me to not have him crushed: AQ, KQ, AJ, A10, 55-JJ, and maybe even some other suited/connected hands. I decided that I was going to play for the win and try and grab hold of the chip lead if I won this hand. Turns out he had AK and I was racing. I lost the race, but it leaves me wondering what if? What if I would have folded, left myself with a good stack and continued to chip up and play on? I'd really like some opinions on situations like this. I feel I would have rather stuck it in here if had didn't have such a good stack and as much control of the table. I'm not unhappy about my play or my results, but I am always open to suggestions.
Positive thinking leads to positive results...
My school held a poker tournament tonight. They do it once or twice every semester as the Student Union Board tries to raise some money and promote a fun experience. In the past the tournament structures have been absolutely horrendous. The fields are usually very soft and we always like to get some side bets going between the core group of guys here (last longers, first one out, etc.). This time around, one of the members of our crew implemented the structure that we use in our tournaments and it allowed for a ton of play. 10,000 in starting chips with the blinds at 25/50 and going up rather slow in 20 minute levels. It was great. I found it quite amusing that most of the players were complaining about starting with so many chips! Like whhhaaaaaa??? I knew I was in for a good time and the play is going to be something I can chuckle about on the inside.
Despite a normally big turnout for the event, there were only 18 players that showed up, and only one of these players regularly plays with me so it was a great spot to be in for either one of us. The buy-in was a mere $5 to cover food and the prizes were for the top three, $25, $50, and $100 gift cards to Best buy. Normally these tournaments are just straight donkaments, for all you 2+2ers out there, but this time the structure would enable me to actually have a chance without it being a luckfest.
I have been running very badly online as of late so I thought this was going to be a good change. Some live play always makes me feel better, as I do consider myself to be a much better live player and I prefer it much more. I finished up with class around 5:00p and had about an hour to get ready for the tournament. I got a salad and some yogurt and sat in the lounge to relax and clear my head. I really wanted to have a good showing in this tournament and play my best. I felt I needed to do well in order to get my ass out of this funk I have been in. I closed my eyes for a little after eating for a little while and got myself mentally prepared. I knew the structure, I knew how I wanted to play, I knew I needed a good showing to get my spirits back up. I went in there feeling great as play began a little late, around 6:20p.
Of course, the play was terrible. 6-handed at 3 tables, for a total of 18 players. I loved it. Even though there is usually upwards of 50 players, there was a very small field this time and the fact that we were short handed made me feel great. I knew I could exercise a lot of advantages short handed that I had on the rest of the group. About 15 minutes into the tournament, UTG min-raised to 100. MP reraised to 300 and I looked down on the button to find AA. I raised it up t 1,000 and then out of the blue the SB behind me shoved all-in for 10,000 chips. UTG called after a few seconds of thought and then MP thought for a good amount of time and he called, too! I was in heaven and happily stuck my chips in. Everyone had at least 9,500 chips and I had them all covered. I was up against the SB's QJss, UTG's A10dd, MP's KK and I held up, scooping a cool 40,000 chips only 15 minutes into the tournament. I told you the play was soft! Players were allowed one rebuy and they all did so.
A few hands later in the next level I picked up JJ in the CO. UTG min-raised to 200, MP called, I made it 1,000 to go, both UTG and MP called. The flop came Q J 3 rainbow. UTG bet out, MP called, I raised, UTG stuck it in, MP called, I called. Another huge pot worth 25,000 and I was up against AQ and KQ and held up to scoop another huge pot. The friend of mine, also known as JOBtheNUTS to those who have read about some of his big tournament wins here, was in awe. I was wrecking the rest of the field in chip size and it was unbelievable. I proceeded to spike another set of jacks in a 3-way for some good action and before the end at the end of the first hour I was sitting with just over 100,000 in chips, blinds were 100/200 and the next closest player had just under 20,000.
From there on out I just took over. I was reading so well and winning the hands I should win. I picked spots well to take pots and got away from two big hands that could have really hurt me. I folded a flush to a full house and a lower full house to a higher one. I didn't show, but they did and it made me feel really good about how I was playing. I did manage to run my KK into AA, but it was only for about 1/10th of stack it didn't hurt too much. I was in the zone and grinded down until we got to the final 5 players. I started to really open up and attack the loose/passive play that was going on. I chipped up a good amount and I think I took every uncontested pot out there. The blinds got really big compared to my opponents' stacks when we got to 4-handed and after the bubble burst, I had so many chips it was ridiculous. I raised from the button at one point with A5ss and the BB, who already had invested 3,000 of his chips for the blind, folded to me after he had only 1,100 left in his stack. Heads up I just raised every pot because my opponent was so short and I took about 5-6 of them before he finally had to call. He showed a Q5o and I held a K6o. I hit a 6 on the flop and it held, giving me the win. I walked away with a great showing, a $100 Best Buy gift card, and a lot of confidence in how I played. Granted it was a really, really weak field, I am happy with how well I was able to read people and narrow their range down with great accuracy.
As for the gift card, I plan on putting it towards a new monitor. I am looking for something in the $150-250 range in order to be able to run a dual monitor setup with my laptop. This will definitely help when multi-tabling and also assist at other times when I would love a bigger screen to work with.
I also want to mention that I cashed pretty deep in a $2+.25 MTT late last night on FTP. Granted, I only made $15 after coming in 12/280 players, that wasn't the big story. In the first level, I had a complete nut at my table shoving all-in almost every hand and I picked up AKcc and raised it up from OTB. He shoved like he had been doing and I called. He showed K8o and spiked an 8 on the flop and I got knocked all the way down to 50 chips. Yes, 50 chips and the blinds were 15/30. I was in the CO next hand and knew I had to find something in the next few hands to go with. I picked up Q10ss two hands later and tripled up. I doubled once again and then won another pot to get back to 800 chips. I sat for a while, just waiting for a good spot and a good hand. I picked up 1010 and got it in again with the crazy guy who held A6o. I held there too and was back in business. I was able to build my stack back up to be one of the top 10 chip leaders with 50 players left.
We broke the money bubble at 27 and I was right in the middle of the pack, but then someone turned a straight with their OESD to my 2-pair and I was at the bottom again. I double twice more and then was bounced in 12th place. This just goes to show you that you can never give up in a tournament. Just because I took a beat early, didn't mean I needed to shove all-in next hand with ATC and give up. I knew I had a long way to go and needed to get lucky more than normal, but I did and it worked out quite well. You're never out of a tournament until you have no chips left, remember that. A chip and a chair, along with some luck can go a long way.
Well, I just can't seem to make anything happen. I don't know what's going on, or maybe I do... I'm losing. I'm not only losing, I'm losing bad. I've played 10 sessions this week so far and came out a loser in 7 of them! That is just horrendous. I could look at the bright side and say that I've had 3 winning sessions, but in those I barely won. I don't know what's going on, but I really need to get a hold of things on the felt. I just feel like I'm running all my big hands into bigger hands and losing all the hands I should win. I can't get lucky to suck out on someone, even just once, and I am also finding luck is against me when the odds are in my favor. Variance is an absolute pain in the ass and I can't stand it right now. I've dropped down to the lowest limits in order to try and recoup some of the feel for winnings, but I am running into more and more people that are just cleaning me out. It's not their good play, but just ungodly amounts of stupid plays that seem to be holding up.
As always, I will look at this like a test. A test of my will and fortitude to stay in the midst of the battle and pull through. There are good times and bad times in poker. I had a heck of a good time last week just dominating people, and now they are all banging me up this week. I've been through runs like this before and it sucks going through it. Hopefully I can manage my way and keep my head up. I try not to get discouraged, but it's hard when you keep tallying up negative scores at the end of the day. I'm not going to back down or take a break. I don't really believe that will help. A bad streak is a bad streak and the only thing I think will get me out of it to to play through it and keep smiling when I know I have made the correct decision. It's been pretty hard not to go on tilt. I'm usually pretty immune to losing hands because I've been playing for so long and it's just part of the game that I have built up a tolerance for it. Sometimes though, when it just keeps coming and coming in waves, you're left wondering if the seas are ever going to be calm again.
I have gotten back into reading some of the poker books on my shelf. Whenever I go through a bad run, I usually resort to studying the game even more. Looking for ways I have to plug the leaks in my game or insights on different strategies or philosophies. I went to the shelf the other day and found:
This book is decent. I'm not going to engage in reading through the entirety of it, but I am certainly going to pick out some chapters that I feel I should be getting in to. I didn't buy this book, it was given to me by a friend so I'm not as inclined to have read it cover to cover right when I first got it. It's been sitting in my room for a while and I'm going to see what is has to offer. I started off towards the middle-to-end of the book with the chapter entitled Data Management. I also plan on reading the chapters Winning Tactics for Online Play, Online Tells, Found Objects, and Tips, giving me five chapters in all to read through. So far the reading has been fairly straight forward and quick.
One thing I enjoy about poker books is they will always get you thinking. I know a lot of experienced players will read a few books when they first start off, but then give up on reading book when they become a better player and play often. I don't think one should do so. Even if a book doesn't have much insight on the game or new tactics that you have never heard of, it's always a good idea to refresh on some basic strategies and ideas. I like to go into reading a poker book with the mindset that no matter what, good or bad, I'll get something out of it. If the book is bad and offers me nothing, it'll show me how not to play or what not to do. On the other side of things, I can gain extra knowledge and new ideas from books that I would deem "good".
On the topic of poker books, are there any anyone out there suggests I read? Here are some of the books I recommend:
- The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky
- No Limit Texas Hold'em by Brad Daugherty and Tom McEvoy
- The Psychology of Poker by Alan Schoonmaker
- 7 Card Stud by Roy West
- Super System 1 and Super System 2 by Doyle Brunson
- Caro's Book of Tells by Mike Caro
All of these books have provided me with great insight about poker and they are definitely some of my favorites. I plan on reading a bunch more poker books in the future because you can never study too much of something you want to be the best at. I'll be sure to post my reviews and thoughts on each book after I read it.
I am also hoping that reading some and studying a little more will keep my head in the right place even if I am running poorly right now. I need to keep myself looking ahead and focus on the positives while trying to fix the negatives. Even though the light at the end of the tunnel is dim sometimes and there's bumps in the road, there is still another hand, another game, another day. I'm sure I'll be out of this funk in no time!
The Poker Players Alliance is a nonprofit organization that consists of poker players and poker enthusiasts who have joined together in order to promote the game, ensure its integrity, and protect the rights of poker players... and I'm a proud member! I joined the PPA a little over a year ago and it's really growing. The Alliance is now boasting over 930,000 members and still climbing in hopes of reaching 1,000,000 members. If you're a poker player or just have a thing for the game, please sign up. You can do so for free, but there are other levels of membership to help donate to the cause.
When the UIGEA was put into play, but PPA vowed to fight against it in order to right things. In 2005, the PPA spent nearly $260,000 and in 2006, they spent $540,000 lobbying against the bill. This past year it was $940,000 spent in lobbying efforts to help retract the UIGEA and get things back on the upside for the poker players. I am proud to have dedicated some time and some of my money to this cause and I really feel everyone should do the same. Even if you don't have any extra cash to spare, you can sign up for free and send a letter to your Congressman in order to help push the cause. The more people we have behind us, the better the lobbying will go.
I highly encourage everyone to get on this and help the push on Washington to get the UIGEA removed. Join now!
I had another terrible, terrible day on the tables Monday. I played a ton, over 1,500 hands, but just couldn't get anything going or anything to work out. I lost a lot of hands I should have won and I ran all of my big hands into even bigger ones. I am going to stay positive and remember that it's a long grind for a cash game player.
I took a break from the action and read some articles over at Card Player. I came across an interview by Lizzy Harrison with Kenny Tran. Kenny is a very well respected professional and I admire he grinder mentality so much. Here is a quote from the interview when Tran was asked what characteristics great cash game players share that stood out to me:
"Guts. Great cash-game players are fearless. They just have to be really gutsy. Experience is also important. And I have to say that they must be able to play under pressure. The players who handle the pressure best take all of the money in the end. Also, a great cash-game player will never second-guess his reads or his instincts. He must be willing to go broke at all times."
I am working really hard at poker and trying to get as good as possible. I know I am only playing the micro-stakes, but you have to start somewhere. I have played enough poker that I completely understand what Tran is talking about when he mentions that great cash game players will trust their instincts. I will always trust my instincts, even when I may be scared or tend to back off. It's something that everyone should really try and work on, especially when starting off. The more you trust yourself, the better you will be. If you can learn to trust yourself and your instincts early on, you're reads will improve over time with experience and you will progress steadily.
Sometimes when you're finding it hard on the felt, you just have to get some inspiration elsewhere.
I thought I was getting off to a good start to the month, but then it all went south. I fired up my first few cash sessions for March and did well. I score some good wins and was moving along just like I thought I should be. Then, all of a sudden I made a couple bad decisions and it was a spiral downfall after that. The bad plays weren't all that bad, I just made some weak calls when I should have folded (or maybe raised). But after that, I fixed things and got my mind back to thinking un-donkey like. It's too bad luck wasn't on my side after that because I had my AA cracked four times in the remainder of the session, and my hands repeatedly went down to worse hands that caught up. Sometimes it just doesn't work out your way. I didn't tilt and figured it was just a matter of time before my luck turned in the session and I'd get it back back. I built some of it back up and was halfway back to even for the day when I took some more beats and got knocked right back down to where I was. After a few minutes of contemplating the session and hands, I realized that despite my bad play early on, it was wasn't my luck today.
I truly believe poker is a game of skill, but you do run bad at times. It happens to me, it happens to everyone, it's just the game. I also believe that anyone serious about the game should look at poker in the long run of things, rather than the short run. Yes, I had a bad session and could keep battling to get it all back, or I could go home and lick my wounds for to be back for battle another day. I choose the latter. The games will still be there, the fish will still be spewing money. I'll take my session loss and move on, just a few bumps in the road.
That's the bad news of things. I always preferred the bad news first. I'd rather be broken down and then lifted up as opposed to the other way around. Think about it this way... would you rather start a session off losing and then win, or start off winning and then lose?
The poker crew at my school has been a pretty good group of guys for the past few years. We started off playing cash games and tournaments a while back and have continued it ever since. Players have come and gone, but the core group is in tact and is as solid as ever. And, we're playing so good right now, all of us, especially online.
KakaFC22 was found at the final table of a $10+1 KO tournament on FTP last night. He went into the final nine in the middle of the pack, only to emerge victorious! He bested 849 other entrants to take down first place. I'd gladly have no problem backing this guy in almost any tournament. He also cashed in the Sunday $750k major. What a way for KakaFC22 to start off the month with a score of over $1,800!
JOBtheNUTS also scored big this weekend. I got a call Saturday night from him to get on the rail of his tournament. When I pulled it up, he was down to the final two tables of the Daily Double B on FTP sitting in fourth chip position. I watched the tournament from here on out and I have to say, the play was quite bad. Raises were anywhere from 4x-8x BBs PF and there was no reraising, just shoving. The blinds weren't even that high and I feel there could have been a lot more play in the tournament. I tend to see people getting anxious and crazy when the blinds get big and they are deep in a tournament. But you have to remember, the blinds need to be big in relation to your stack before you start going nuts. JOBtheNUTS seemed to understand this and sat pretty tight, picking off a few people on his way to the final table. When he got there, the play was just crazy, people firing everywhere. JOBtheNUTS stayed out of the way for the most part and picked his spots very wisely. He found himself heads up, but dominated by a 5-1 chip disadvantage. He did manage to get it in with AKo versus A3o, but a 3 hit the board and JOBtheNUTS finished in 2nd place for just under $1,700! Very well deserved.
Clopis87, another member of our group also had a good weekend and start to the month. He began by taking down a $10+1 90-man KO tournament for $230. After a night off, Clopis87 got back on the tables and went deep in a few more tournaments. He placed 2nd and 5th in two more $10+1 90-man KO tournaments and also finished 4th in a $10+1 MTT for a total of $370 in winnings. But wait, he wasn't done there. Last night, Clopis87 made his way into the money in both Daily Doubles for a double cash and went deep in the Daily Double A, coming in 10th place. He managed to run AJo into AKo all-in PF and busted on the final table bubble. He earned a nice $168 for his effort and brought his total over the weekend to over $750!
These guys all did an awesome job and I hope they keep it up because they are just on fire right now. I also hope they don't start playing over their heads, I know how a few wins can make you feel invincible at times. They are all solid players and it's just amazing that we're all peaking at the same time. If you ever find any one of us deep in a tournament, you'll surely see most of the crew on the rail watching all the action. Congratulations fellas on some great finishes and stellar starts to the month of March!
I'd also like to mention that BJU_18 is heading to AC this weekend with KakaFC22 to dabble in some live action. BJU_18 is a solid live player and hopefully hits some big scores in the WSOP Circuit events he will be playing this weekend. He has the ability to go deep and take one of these down and I really hope he does. He finished on the bubble, and I do mean ON THE BUBBLE of a WPT event at the Borgata last year. It was such a killer to him and he just needs to realize that shit happens. We've all been out on the bubble, but you gotta play to win. I'm confident he'll be right back on his game come this weekend. The trip report and updates will be over at The B_LOG, so definitely check them out to see how he's doing. I'll also try and post some stuff here as well.
It's been a few days since I've posted, but only because I've been playing my ass off lately. I'm truly grinding online as hard as I've ever been this week. FTP was offering up double points and I was going to take full advantage of it. I've netted over 8,000 hands this week alone. I'm still sticking to my schedule of weekly cash game play coupled with weekend tournament play and it's working. I'm feeling really, really good about my game over the past few weeks and hope I can keep it up.
It's about time that FTP finally updated their software and improved upon some things. I really like the site and I love the players their, haha. I am going to make a couple deposits on some other sites either this month or next month. I'm thinking about putting money back on Stars and Bodog, along with maybe starting up at Cake Poker. Cake seems to have some cool gimmick ideas going on over there that I might want to try out and they also have a bonus where I can score a free year's subscription to Poker Savvy. That's right up my alley.
Phil Ivey took down the LAPC this past week. He's just a poker machine, but I'm going to have to throw my congratulations elsewhere. My good friend who plays under JOBtheNUTS on FTP came in second place last night in the Daily Double B for a cool $1,600. He did really well going into the final two tables and was able to maneuver his way down to the last 4 or 5 when he picked up KK and was called all-in by A9o. As we seem to want to complain about so often, the ace flopped, but the river brought a K to give it back to my boy. He got down to heads up, but was dominated with only 18 BBs to the other guy's 50+ BB stack. A few hands into heads up, JOBtheNUTS got it in with AK versus A3 and a 3 spiked to take him out in second. It happens and that's poker. So much congratulations go out to him for a good score and I hope he can keep it rolling in MTTs.
Like I said before, I've been playing a ton this week. I have really been slacking on producing some hand histories here, but it's only because I've really been multitabling hard and haven't been saving them. Don't get me wrong, I have been reviewing key hands, I just feel the need to sleep when I'm not playing or doing something school related. Here are my spreadsheet and graph for the week.
My graph this week is a lot more steady and flowing up. I said I wanted to get my BB/100h up around 4-5 from last week when it was at 2.5. This week I was over 19 BB/100h, which is an amazing rate. You should always have a good sample size when analyzing these numbers, and I played over 8,000 hands. That is pretty good in my opinion and I am very proud of my play and my results. I hope I can keep this up and be able to move up limits sometime in the near future.
I dabbled some in some $.25/.50 games as you can see in my session spreadsheet, and I didn't fair to well money wise. The big losing session, I was up and then took two consecutive beats on some big hands that caused a big swing in my stack. I battled to get some of it back, but still finished the session down a good amount. I'm sure with some more honing of my game, I'll be ready to move up in due time. Before I move up though, I do want to make sure I can get 30 buy-ins for the game I'm going to be playing. I am a pretty big bankroll nit, even though I spew sometimes. Lately I've been doing really well with my money management and I vow to keep it up! I also want to have three consecutive winning sessions under my belt before moving up to the next limit. So once I hit 30 buy-ins, I'll be looking to score three winning sessions before I start playing the bigger limit regularly.
In other news, I qualified for Silver Iron Man $15,000 freeroll this past month and also the One-A-Day $2,000 freeroll. Hopefully I can go deep in both of these and pad the BR with some big scores. Both of these freerolls have plenty of participants that either don't realize they qualified, don't care to play in it, or just simply blind out. Which makes it for a seemingly easy field to get down to the money. In the Bronze freeroll last month, a friend of mine didn't even play and he cashed.
My goals for the month of March will be to continue to play good and increase my BR. I hope to be able to qualify for Gold Iron Man status, maybe Iron if I really push it. I am going to try and score some bonus Iron Man medals this month, too. I think I can definitely get at least 10 of them by earning 500 FTPs in a day, which will give me two bonus medals each time I do so. Look for me to make some big moves in March, I'll be doing my best and grinding my ass off once again!
