Running the shits since my last update a couple days ago. Tiny bit down on Betfair, about $800. $200 more in tourneys. $5k on Hollywood last night after being up $3k early on. And another $600 today in heads-up SNGs. Here is a random sampling of crap from those sessions:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1429044 - typical tourney hand for me lately
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1429096 - my introduction to Hollywood Poker, i even catch a nice turn, too bad
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1429142 - i felt pretty confident about this one from watching this player for just a few rotations
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1429159 - this sure was a weird one. not sure what else i can do on this flop but push
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1429214 - this "hermaria" player is brutal. Makes really goofy plays pre-flop then follows them with illogical post-flop betting. This hand is a good example. He just played bad. You don't find a fish at these levels often anymore.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1429409 - gah, i guess this is what happens when you slowplay pre-flop sometimes. oh well, I was happy to get it in here at the time, so i won't worry about the crappy result.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1429411 - get a little aggressive on this one, this is what gives me my image i guess. Would be nice to hit something tonight.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1429420 - little all-in pre-flop pickup
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1429473 - hands like this happen everytime I take a shot at $25/$50 heads-up against an opponent I've seen make a number of very weak (or way too overly-aggressive) plays. Nice little river tease too...you think that would have been a good card for me...I even fucking fist pumped that river, geezus, makes it even more of a piss-off.
Garbage, garbage. Thought I played okay. Hollywood is a messed up site, takes some getting used to. I won't say more before I try it out longer. Betfair was confusing for the first little while too and now I like it (sort of).
Anyway, enough of my shitty whiney attitude. It's tiresome and stressful. I've been running pretty bad the majority of the past month, still in an insanely bad tournament rut, and I'm getting tired of stressing about it. I know it's not a big deal. I know that. It's has happened dozens of times before and I always recover no problem. A month rough stretch feels like a year to me everytime. Usually I recover a month's worth of crap within 1 or 2 weeks. So, now I'm going to do it again.
I've decided I'm going to start mega-multitabling $5/$10 NL. I'm going to play as many tables as I can control and play very tight (for me anyway). My thinking is 5-8 tables whenever I can, hopefully on one site, but two sites if necessary. If I'm having trouble finding games I will play $3/$6 and $2/$5 NL to fill-up tables. I might also jump in $200-$350 SNGs to fill-up tables, heads-up if I don't have many tables at the time.
Not much heads-up cash game because it takes too much attention and my heads-up confidence is worthless right now. Just frustrated, so I'm going to only play extremely weak opponents while I study the heads-up game. Going to try and read a bunch on the 2+2 HU forum and watch as many Cardrunner HU and really short-handed videos as I can.
So, that is my plan for tonight and afterwards for at least 2 weeks. No $10/$20 NL or above for a bit. Unless, of course, I find a game way too juicy to pass up, but it'll have to be REALLY good.
I'm reading the book Poker Mindset right now, about half way through. Bunch of stuff about tilt, bankroll management, managing downswings, etc, etc. All mental/emotional/psychological talk. I'll give a total review when I'm done.
So, sitting here with Quentin (who is playing some weird 4-card game called Omaha, crazy Omaha people), and going to win tonight. I don't care what I have to do I'm going to win. Might have to throw some Xbox360 NHL 07 in there too though.
I'll try to do a short update after the session if I'm not tired.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Pulling my mind in a million directions
I feel like my head is spinning sometimes. I believe I've begun to pull myself in a million directions related to poker and I'm just confusing/stressing myself more than necessary. Time goes by so slowly when I think back on my poker. My goal online is to beat the $25/$50 NL games, anything I could play above that is gravy. I would be satisfied beating the $25/$50 NL game, but this is far from an easy task. The vast majority of guys competing at $25/$50 are fucking good, period. At any given time there will also be at least 2-3 players at the table who amongst the best in the world (online anyway). What I need to do is chill and realize I don't have to accomplish this tomorrow, or next month, or even next year. If I can beat $5/$10 and a lot of the $10/$20 games (because those can be pretty damn tough at times too), I can make more money doing that than anything else I could realistically do right now (and definitely with much less effort).
I've really worked on "learning" the game the last couple months, but now I'm taking so much in I think it's hurting my game and I'm trying to adapt too many new concepts. It's making me "question" my game too much. I just need to keep practicing and slowly taking in new information and not necessarily trying to force it into my game. This doesn't make much sense probably, but it's how I feel about it. If you add in the work involved in raising Owen (which is a blast, I'm not complaining), doing projects around the house that need doing, and studying this real estate course (which has been more WORRYING about studying the course), and I end up having a hard time focusing. Things will get done when they get done, and I just want to try and relax my brain a bit more, which will probably result in me getting more done anyway.
A while back I decided I needed to tighten up pre-flop and get more aggressive pre-flop with my decent hands, and I did with some pretty good success, but then I had a couple rough sessions and started loosening up and becoming more passive again. Back to the basics again, I need to remember that.
I know the time I invest in real estate will be a far smaller hourly wage (not even close probably) for at least the first two years (quite possibly more). But, at least I will never lose any damn money doing real estate. If I don't get my ass in gear with Phase 2 of the licensing course I won't have to worry about that for awhile (lol, I think I say this every week).
I checked out the Regent NL cash games. Got knocked out first in the tournament by a sneaky gutter, I suck. Then waited 2 hours for a seat in a $2/$4 NL game, played like an idiot and saw pretty much every flop, and broke even when I finally hit a couple hands. I got paid pretty big on a few not very big hands (like betting top pair, okay kicker, really strong on rivers and getting paid by people thinking I'm bluffing). A few folks didn't seem to understand when they'd see my hand and I enjoyed seeing the frustrating/disbelief on their faces. You'd think limit players would get the concept of getting maximum value from your hands. I love how everyone always thinks I'm bluffing in live games, do I have "maniac" stamped on my forehead or something? LOL, I love that reputation! Good times.
Anyway, Regent sucks. I already said my piece on the PCH message board. They're trying I guess. Regent poker is like a baby trying to walk, except they're still on the dragging themselves by the elbows stage, not quite a crawl. They'll get there one day (maybe).
Okay, so do I suck at heads-up poker? Geezus. I'm so comfortable at 3-6 handed with my favourite probably being 4 or 5 handed. But heads-up, I must be a freakin' fish. That, or I'm running VERY horribly for a few matches in a row (well, there have been a few wins here and there I guess).
Since the last update I played some standard stuff and scraped together a bit under $2k. Then, last night, I had a battle against Asiandude7 on Tilt. We played 5 matches of $1100+$30 heads-up turbo SNGs. I went win, lose, win. Then, on the 4th match I got him all-in TWICE as a 70-80% favourite, lost both, and he ended up coming back and winning. I would have quit after that 4th match up over $2k, but then I ended up down by losing the 5th match too on this beauty:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425586
After that, I get pissed and go for the quick fix: $25/$50 capped ($1500 cap) which I've had so much success at before, I run so well at $25/$50 (for those who don't know, I'm being extraordinarily sarcastic with that comment). Oh, and I thought it would be a great idea to sit down with Grimstarr who is a successful regular player. I justified it in my head by thinking he plays too aggressively and I should be able to catch him a couple times on a cap table (I'm obviously just convincing myself to play the only opponent available). I actually end up playing him pretty well, but look at this mess of hands:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425726 - I instacall this turn with no doubt in my mind.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425727 - a few hands later I actually double up on a no-brainer
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425728 - expected that turn...
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425732 - there were a bunch of hands like this one, I was actually sensing him trapping me pretty well the whole match.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425734 - i played him pretty hard for a while then eventually gave up after losing another coinflip.
And on a different $1500 cap table:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425737 - first hand...woops again. This is pretty standard in a cap game I guess.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425739 - another big hand coinflip down the drain.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425740 - meh.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425742 - finally, a nice little no-brainer
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425743 - lovely, this hand actually happened simultaneously as I got busted by Grimstarr. Shortly after this my account got as low as $850 after starting at $9k before the SNGs that night. I figured I may as well go down with the ship on the cap table...
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425744 - I try to trap and just end up getting my money in bad and I finally get lucky. I would have been busto on Tilt if I lose this.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425748 - then I finally win a race.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425752 - Aaaaaand, then immediately lose another one.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425755 - then by some miracle I hold with a bigger A.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425758 - Decide to peel off a flop from the BB with a suited connector (which I don't do near as often in capped games), but hit a nice flop and get paid by A high. Surprised he didn't have a diamond. :P
I proceeded to slowly build to over $7k after that.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425764 - not sure about this one. Not sure if I call if the turn is a blank, but the K just made things worse, so I fold which was probably the right play and should have on the flop (or pre-flop maybe if I'm not going to push it).
Anyway, I didn't really win any hands after this and just quit at $5800. So, after being down to $850 I guess this was a nice little recovery playing somewhat "bingo" poker (especially in the frame of mind I was in). Down a little over $3k for the night, but could have, and probably should have, been more.
Tonight, I jumped back onto Betfair and played supertilt12 heads-up $10/$20. I have never seen this guy. I also have never seen a guy run so damn well. Another frustrating heads-up match where I end up feeling like I'm not out-matched, but getting owned anyway. I definitely made some bad plays though. I just was getting frustrated with him always having the winner and made a bunch of bad calls. He was just never bluffing, gah, he never had to! Might as well show a few:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425677 - woops
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425683 - one of the few hands I actually had the winner, and I get no value on the river. I felt like he was trying to entice a bluff with a big A with the river check and I chickened out. I probably get called too as he RARELY folds.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425686 - dumb
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425688 - terrible frustrated call. He would continually call me down with bunch touches and I could never even catch a big pair or hit a draw. But, that's no excuse for this donation.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425689 - I don't know what he has, but he caught something again. I really don't think he ever made any turn/river bluffs (I probably know that because I just didn't fold enough because everytime I did catch a half-ass hand, he hit a bigger one).
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425692 - hmmm, the more of these I find the more I feel like I just played horribly. He literally NEVER bluffed on the river and I kept paying him. He outplays me huge again.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425699 - of course, another bad call...evidently. At this point I wrote "You run so damn well it's mind boggling" and he wrote "mmm true". I hardly ever chat stuff like this, don't know why I did this time.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425705 - must be nice to re-raise with J8 and nail this, but again, I end up just being outplayed. This was on a 6 max table we were both also playing (the rest of the hands below are from that table too).
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425709 - I can literally never find a winning hand against this guy. But, it just ends up being another questionable hand by me I guess.
So, no one can claim I only show my good plays anymore. Wow, what a disgusting display. Obviously I lose money no matter what (fuck, I had 1 winning showdown out of all the pots that went past a flop, and trust me, he didn't fold much at that point either).
So, I dropped about $5k in that 2 hour period, so I decided it would be a great idea to slam $3k on a $25/$50 table on Party. This is obviously not a great idea with the state of frustration I was in, but whatever. I start off with a semi-tilty play on the very first hand (though I know this opponent was steaming from just losing the majority of his stack a couple times in a row):
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425712 - good start
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425716 - I didn't think he could call this river without a Q minimum...
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425720 - standard, happy be doesn't bet turn. :P
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425722 - here is the big one! I'll be honest: I had no freakin' clue what was going on and just hit call hoping for the best. This opponent was unknown to me. It didn't really look like a bluff, I totally expected to see some crap like AQ, but for the first time tonight I made a call that actually worked out. I'm either a genius or a calling station. Regardless, I'll take it.
So, basically I hit a few no-brainer hands that I didn't really play all that amazingly and they just worked out. Back to even from my stupid Betfair session. I'm probably very lucky to be even tonight so far.
That is about 4 sessions in a row I've dug a hole (of various sizes) for myself and crawled back to life while on the brink of disaster. I have grown a goatee and picked 2 gray hairs out of it this morning...
I'm looking at trading in my Camaro for a nice car, something semi-luxury and sharp looking. I've had my eye on this Infiniti G35 for a while, but am not sure what I think of the interior, it's okay. It drives sweet though! I might go for a 2nd test drive.
http://www.autotownsales.ca/en/usedcars/listing/details.spy?id=1520458
It's John Angst's wedding this Saturday. My son Owen is the ringbearer. Should be great times! Really looking forward to it and seeing a bunch of people I haven't partied with in awhile. Angst's stag last weekend was at a buddy's cabin at Inverness Falls. Buncha maniacs that group! It was a crazy good time, though I was definitely one of the tamest people there. I'll leave it at that. :)
I had a few more people come up to me at Regent and comment about enjoying this blog. I appreciate that as it's nice knowing people are actually taking the time to read it and taking an interest. Please continue to introduce yourself if I haven't met you (or don't seem to recognize you, I met a TON of people at Barca over the years and it's hard to keep everyone and their names straight sometimes!).
Time to crash.
I've really worked on "learning" the game the last couple months, but now I'm taking so much in I think it's hurting my game and I'm trying to adapt too many new concepts. It's making me "question" my game too much. I just need to keep practicing and slowly taking in new information and not necessarily trying to force it into my game. This doesn't make much sense probably, but it's how I feel about it. If you add in the work involved in raising Owen (which is a blast, I'm not complaining), doing projects around the house that need doing, and studying this real estate course (which has been more WORRYING about studying the course), and I end up having a hard time focusing. Things will get done when they get done, and I just want to try and relax my brain a bit more, which will probably result in me getting more done anyway.
A while back I decided I needed to tighten up pre-flop and get more aggressive pre-flop with my decent hands, and I did with some pretty good success, but then I had a couple rough sessions and started loosening up and becoming more passive again. Back to the basics again, I need to remember that.
I know the time I invest in real estate will be a far smaller hourly wage (not even close probably) for at least the first two years (quite possibly more). But, at least I will never lose any damn money doing real estate. If I don't get my ass in gear with Phase 2 of the licensing course I won't have to worry about that for awhile (lol, I think I say this every week).
I checked out the Regent NL cash games. Got knocked out first in the tournament by a sneaky gutter, I suck. Then waited 2 hours for a seat in a $2/$4 NL game, played like an idiot and saw pretty much every flop, and broke even when I finally hit a couple hands. I got paid pretty big on a few not very big hands (like betting top pair, okay kicker, really strong on rivers and getting paid by people thinking I'm bluffing). A few folks didn't seem to understand when they'd see my hand and I enjoyed seeing the frustrating/disbelief on their faces. You'd think limit players would get the concept of getting maximum value from your hands. I love how everyone always thinks I'm bluffing in live games, do I have "maniac" stamped on my forehead or something? LOL, I love that reputation! Good times.
Anyway, Regent sucks. I already said my piece on the PCH message board. They're trying I guess. Regent poker is like a baby trying to walk, except they're still on the dragging themselves by the elbows stage, not quite a crawl. They'll get there one day (maybe).
Okay, so do I suck at heads-up poker? Geezus. I'm so comfortable at 3-6 handed with my favourite probably being 4 or 5 handed. But heads-up, I must be a freakin' fish. That, or I'm running VERY horribly for a few matches in a row (well, there have been a few wins here and there I guess).
Since the last update I played some standard stuff and scraped together a bit under $2k. Then, last night, I had a battle against Asiandude7 on Tilt. We played 5 matches of $1100+$30 heads-up turbo SNGs. I went win, lose, win. Then, on the 4th match I got him all-in TWICE as a 70-80% favourite, lost both, and he ended up coming back and winning. I would have quit after that 4th match up over $2k, but then I ended up down by losing the 5th match too on this beauty:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425586
After that, I get pissed and go for the quick fix: $25/$50 capped ($1500 cap) which I've had so much success at before, I run so well at $25/$50 (for those who don't know, I'm being extraordinarily sarcastic with that comment). Oh, and I thought it would be a great idea to sit down with Grimstarr who is a successful regular player. I justified it in my head by thinking he plays too aggressively and I should be able to catch him a couple times on a cap table (I'm obviously just convincing myself to play the only opponent available). I actually end up playing him pretty well, but look at this mess of hands:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425726 - I instacall this turn with no doubt in my mind.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425727 - a few hands later I actually double up on a no-brainer
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425728 - expected that turn...
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425732 - there were a bunch of hands like this one, I was actually sensing him trapping me pretty well the whole match.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425734 - i played him pretty hard for a while then eventually gave up after losing another coinflip.
And on a different $1500 cap table:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425737 - first hand...woops again. This is pretty standard in a cap game I guess.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425739 - another big hand coinflip down the drain.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425740 - meh.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425742 - finally, a nice little no-brainer
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425743 - lovely, this hand actually happened simultaneously as I got busted by Grimstarr. Shortly after this my account got as low as $850 after starting at $9k before the SNGs that night. I figured I may as well go down with the ship on the cap table...
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425744 - I try to trap and just end up getting my money in bad and I finally get lucky. I would have been busto on Tilt if I lose this.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425748 - then I finally win a race.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425752 - Aaaaaand, then immediately lose another one.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425755 - then by some miracle I hold with a bigger A.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425758 - Decide to peel off a flop from the BB with a suited connector (which I don't do near as often in capped games), but hit a nice flop and get paid by A high. Surprised he didn't have a diamond. :P
I proceeded to slowly build to over $7k after that.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425764 - not sure about this one. Not sure if I call if the turn is a blank, but the K just made things worse, so I fold which was probably the right play and should have on the flop (or pre-flop maybe if I'm not going to push it).
Anyway, I didn't really win any hands after this and just quit at $5800. So, after being down to $850 I guess this was a nice little recovery playing somewhat "bingo" poker (especially in the frame of mind I was in). Down a little over $3k for the night, but could have, and probably should have, been more.
Tonight, I jumped back onto Betfair and played supertilt12 heads-up $10/$20. I have never seen this guy. I also have never seen a guy run so damn well. Another frustrating heads-up match where I end up feeling like I'm not out-matched, but getting owned anyway. I definitely made some bad plays though. I just was getting frustrated with him always having the winner and made a bunch of bad calls. He was just never bluffing, gah, he never had to! Might as well show a few:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425677 - woops
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425683 - one of the few hands I actually had the winner, and I get no value on the river. I felt like he was trying to entice a bluff with a big A with the river check and I chickened out. I probably get called too as he RARELY folds.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425686 - dumb
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425688 - terrible frustrated call. He would continually call me down with bunch touches and I could never even catch a big pair or hit a draw. But, that's no excuse for this donation.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425689 - I don't know what he has, but he caught something again. I really don't think he ever made any turn/river bluffs (I probably know that because I just didn't fold enough because everytime I did catch a half-ass hand, he hit a bigger one).
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425692 - hmmm, the more of these I find the more I feel like I just played horribly. He literally NEVER bluffed on the river and I kept paying him. He outplays me huge again.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425699 - of course, another bad call...evidently. At this point I wrote "You run so damn well it's mind boggling" and he wrote "mmm true". I hardly ever chat stuff like this, don't know why I did this time.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425705 - must be nice to re-raise with J8 and nail this, but again, I end up just being outplayed. This was on a 6 max table we were both also playing (the rest of the hands below are from that table too).
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425709 - I can literally never find a winning hand against this guy. But, it just ends up being another questionable hand by me I guess.
So, no one can claim I only show my good plays anymore. Wow, what a disgusting display. Obviously I lose money no matter what (fuck, I had 1 winning showdown out of all the pots that went past a flop, and trust me, he didn't fold much at that point either).
So, I dropped about $5k in that 2 hour period, so I decided it would be a great idea to slam $3k on a $25/$50 table on Party. This is obviously not a great idea with the state of frustration I was in, but whatever. I start off with a semi-tilty play on the very first hand (though I know this opponent was steaming from just losing the majority of his stack a couple times in a row):
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425712 - good start
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425716 - I didn't think he could call this river without a Q minimum...
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425720 - standard, happy be doesn't bet turn. :P
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1425722 - here is the big one! I'll be honest: I had no freakin' clue what was going on and just hit call hoping for the best. This opponent was unknown to me. It didn't really look like a bluff, I totally expected to see some crap like AQ, but for the first time tonight I made a call that actually worked out. I'm either a genius or a calling station. Regardless, I'll take it.
So, basically I hit a few no-brainer hands that I didn't really play all that amazingly and they just worked out. Back to even from my stupid Betfair session. I'm probably very lucky to be even tonight so far.
That is about 4 sessions in a row I've dug a hole (of various sizes) for myself and crawled back to life while on the brink of disaster. I have grown a goatee and picked 2 gray hairs out of it this morning...
I'm looking at trading in my Camaro for a nice car, something semi-luxury and sharp looking. I've had my eye on this Infiniti G35 for a while, but am not sure what I think of the interior, it's okay. It drives sweet though! I might go for a 2nd test drive.
http://www.autotownsales.ca/en/usedcars/listing/details.spy?id=1520458
It's John Angst's wedding this Saturday. My son Owen is the ringbearer. Should be great times! Really looking forward to it and seeing a bunch of people I haven't partied with in awhile. Angst's stag last weekend was at a buddy's cabin at Inverness Falls. Buncha maniacs that group! It was a crazy good time, though I was definitely one of the tamest people there. I'll leave it at that. :)
I had a few more people come up to me at Regent and comment about enjoying this blog. I appreciate that as it's nice knowing people are actually taking the time to read it and taking an interest. Please continue to introduce yourself if I haven't met you (or don't seem to recognize you, I met a TON of people at Barca over the years and it's hard to keep everyone and their names straight sometimes!).
Time to crash.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Poker Court Drama & Summer Goin' Gooooood
First of all, I'd just like to give the awesome legal system in Manitoba a nice little "Hurrah!" for the excellent way they're handling the court proceedings for all the corrupt criminals caught in the poker raids.
This morning I witnessed all 70 or so people take time off work (many of them their whole day off) to go to their first court hearing. All 70 of them were marched up to the judge individually and told they'd have to come back on September 25th. Ummm...yah...nice organization there. Time well spent I'd say. Good luck to all the players and dealers involved in this embarrassing fiasco.
Anyway, quick update on my poker playing this past week or so. After my downswing of almost 10k on the last update, I mentioned I really wanted to guard against it spiralling into a huge rut. That plan didn't start great as I dropped another 3k immediately afterwards. However, I felt like I actually played really well so didn't sweat it too much.
I took a couple days off and started doing more work around the house. I've been painting like a madman for the past week and am enjoying it. Nice to be able to move again since my back got better.
I returned somewhat refreshed, not feeling quite as frustrated anymore, and have been doing alright since making back $12.5k. I'm also happy to see I've started making money and feeling confident in heads-up SNGs with $3k of the $12k from those.
I've decided I'd like to try out some new sites. Partly out of curiosity and partly because I always seem to run well with a new account on a new site (maybe it's because I'm more unknown? Makes me wonder if I should change accounts more often...). I've signed up at RedNines (Prima network), Hollywood (Ongame network), and Titan. I deposited $2k on Hollywood, won some heads-up SNGs, then lost it all to a crazy aggro-donkey in $10/$20 heads-up. I really wish I could have reloaded against him, but Hollywood will only allow me to deposit $1k/day. No matter how much I bug them and how much ID verification I send in, they won't increase it. They just say to contact them after 30 days and they'll reassess (and probably raise my limits I imagine). So, now I'm just depositing $1k every once in a while and will go back once I reach $5k I guess. I'm at $3k now. Annoying. Way to accomodate to high stakes players...
I read Ace On The River by Barry Greenstein. Honestly, not that great. I mentioned a little about it in my last update. Well, the technical parts in the 2nd half are pretty damn standard plays. I didn't really pick up anything.
I've received all the books I ordered and will review them as I read them. Right now I'm going over the Pot Limit Omaha section of Doyle's Super System 2 and skimming through The Poker Mindset (I don't think this will be mind-blowing, but it can't hurt and I'm interested to see what they have to say from an emotional/lifestyle viewpoint). I will also read Full Tilt's Tournament Edition book because I heard it was good, we'll see. I'm also downloaded some good looking videos from Cardplayers and will review those soon (I read in the comments that one by Green Plastic from UB deals a lot with playing super-aggro opponents which I sometimes struggle with).
I added a couple new good blogs on the right. One is MUCKEMSAYUHH (Tilt) & cts (Stars), guy named Cole. Other is Phil Gandolf who is OMGCLAYAIKEN (Tilt) and is commonly known as Jman on some sites and Internet forums. I still keep up on Brian Townsend's too. I got rid of Paul Wasicka because he never updates it (has been over a month).
I'm going to both Canterbury and Regina!!! Canterbury will be around Oct 19 - Oct 25, and Regina is Nov 6 - Nov 11. I've never been to Canterbury, and Regina is always fun and we should have a good group out there. We're hoping to have some good Pegcity Hustling gear for the guys to wear out there.
Joe Williams mentioned he's been talking to some guys and they want to get the big local game going again at Regent. It wouldn't be a regular thing, we'd just plan ahead to meet there on certain nights once every week or two, and probably let Regent know ahead of time we're coming. That would be awesome and a lot of fun, but I'm not sure if they can spread any $5/$10 NL or higher. It would probably be max 100BB buy-ins (which I hate live!), but whatever. Better than nothing. Guess we'll see if it can even run first.
So, all-in-all, things are pretty damn good. Loving life with my wife and son (who is definitely turning into a little boy, almost two!) and have some great plans coming up for the rest of the summer. Getting work done on the house too which is amazing, and about time. Caught up with a bunch of friends I haven't seen in a while lately. All that is left is getting some of this damn real estate course in. Well, I got time still (but not much!).
John Angst's stag this weekend out at West Hawk Lake. Going out to Pinawa Friday to visit, then West Hawk Sat/Sun, back to Pinawa, then back home Tuesday or so. Should be a blast and will be a nice break from cards.
Peace!
This morning I witnessed all 70 or so people take time off work (many of them their whole day off) to go to their first court hearing. All 70 of them were marched up to the judge individually and told they'd have to come back on September 25th. Ummm...yah...nice organization there. Time well spent I'd say. Good luck to all the players and dealers involved in this embarrassing fiasco.
Anyway, quick update on my poker playing this past week or so. After my downswing of almost 10k on the last update, I mentioned I really wanted to guard against it spiralling into a huge rut. That plan didn't start great as I dropped another 3k immediately afterwards. However, I felt like I actually played really well so didn't sweat it too much.
I took a couple days off and started doing more work around the house. I've been painting like a madman for the past week and am enjoying it. Nice to be able to move again since my back got better.
I returned somewhat refreshed, not feeling quite as frustrated anymore, and have been doing alright since making back $12.5k. I'm also happy to see I've started making money and feeling confident in heads-up SNGs with $3k of the $12k from those.
I've decided I'd like to try out some new sites. Partly out of curiosity and partly because I always seem to run well with a new account on a new site (maybe it's because I'm more unknown? Makes me wonder if I should change accounts more often...). I've signed up at RedNines (Prima network), Hollywood (Ongame network), and Titan. I deposited $2k on Hollywood, won some heads-up SNGs, then lost it all to a crazy aggro-donkey in $10/$20 heads-up. I really wish I could have reloaded against him, but Hollywood will only allow me to deposit $1k/day. No matter how much I bug them and how much ID verification I send in, they won't increase it. They just say to contact them after 30 days and they'll reassess (and probably raise my limits I imagine). So, now I'm just depositing $1k every once in a while and will go back once I reach $5k I guess. I'm at $3k now. Annoying. Way to accomodate to high stakes players...
I read Ace On The River by Barry Greenstein. Honestly, not that great. I mentioned a little about it in my last update. Well, the technical parts in the 2nd half are pretty damn standard plays. I didn't really pick up anything.
I've received all the books I ordered and will review them as I read them. Right now I'm going over the Pot Limit Omaha section of Doyle's Super System 2 and skimming through The Poker Mindset (I don't think this will be mind-blowing, but it can't hurt and I'm interested to see what they have to say from an emotional/lifestyle viewpoint). I will also read Full Tilt's Tournament Edition book because I heard it was good, we'll see. I'm also downloaded some good looking videos from Cardplayers and will review those soon (I read in the comments that one by Green Plastic from UB deals a lot with playing super-aggro opponents which I sometimes struggle with).
I added a couple new good blogs on the right. One is MUCKEMSAYUHH (Tilt) & cts (Stars), guy named Cole. Other is Phil Gandolf who is OMGCLAYAIKEN (Tilt) and is commonly known as Jman on some sites and Internet forums. I still keep up on Brian Townsend's too. I got rid of Paul Wasicka because he never updates it (has been over a month).
I'm going to both Canterbury and Regina!!! Canterbury will be around Oct 19 - Oct 25, and Regina is Nov 6 - Nov 11. I've never been to Canterbury, and Regina is always fun and we should have a good group out there. We're hoping to have some good Pegcity Hustling gear for the guys to wear out there.
Joe Williams mentioned he's been talking to some guys and they want to get the big local game going again at Regent. It wouldn't be a regular thing, we'd just plan ahead to meet there on certain nights once every week or two, and probably let Regent know ahead of time we're coming. That would be awesome and a lot of fun, but I'm not sure if they can spread any $5/$10 NL or higher. It would probably be max 100BB buy-ins (which I hate live!), but whatever. Better than nothing. Guess we'll see if it can even run first.
So, all-in-all, things are pretty damn good. Loving life with my wife and son (who is definitely turning into a little boy, almost two!) and have some great plans coming up for the rest of the summer. Getting work done on the house too which is amazing, and about time. Caught up with a bunch of friends I haven't seen in a while lately. All that is left is getting some of this damn real estate course in. Well, I got time still (but not much!).
John Angst's stag this weekend out at West Hawk Lake. Going out to Pinawa Friday to visit, then West Hawk Sat/Sun, back to Pinawa, then back home Tuesday or so. Should be a blast and will be a nice break from cards.
Peace!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
And the inevitable...
...downswing.
I've been jumping around sites playing my usual 5/10, mostly 10/20, and some sporatic 25/50. Here are results since last update:
UB even
Betfair -$3800
Tilt -$1300
Party -$3350
DSI -$450 (which was pretty much free money that I won from a retarded $100 Harry Potter bet back in last October that took 9 months to settle...)
So, that's a lot of negative numbers which isn't much fun.
Like a super genius I also spent $1100 trying to cheaply qualify for the $1060 FTOPS event. You ever seen those super-turbo satellites they run just before the FTOP events? I played at least 4 of the $185 6-man ones where only the winner gets a $1060 seat. I got 2nd, 5th, 3rd, 2nd. On the last 2nd I took out 3 players the first damn hand and still didn't win! Needless to say, waste of money and I didn't even play the stupid tournament.
Also down another $600 in multi-table tourneys as my slump continues. I was massive in a Tilt $150 tourney with 600 players. Down to 90 or so left I was 4th in chips. Within 10 minutes I have QQ go down to AK for a ridiculously huge pot, then AK down to 55 for most of the rest. Bah. I also managed to misclick my way out of another tourney. I won't explain cuz it's stupid, but I gotta be more careful clicking around the screen!
I am now down almost $1k in online tourneys since starting the blog. At least $2k of that has been qualifiers for other tourneys, and I don't think I've qualified once for anything. I think I've been playing tournaments pretty impatiently, combined with running pretty bad and never winning the crucial races, it's been near impossible to cash. But, I gotta sharpen up. I think my plan is to just really tighten up for a while in tourneys and let the cards come. This has given me success in the past in tournaments.
Just like I did in Phase 1 of the real estate licensing course, I've procrastinated myself into a time crunch for Phase 2. So, I have to get to that, which will mean less poker. Also, my back is feeling better (thank you chiro Carlos) and I really need to do some work around the house (whheeee painting). We just had the exterior of our house painted and it looks pretty pimp in a very domesticated sort of way.
Anyway, though I've dropped around $10k since my last update, I'm going to try not to stress too much about it. I only had a couple easy, big hands in the past week, and that's just poor cards. But, I've had MANY tough decisions and have often not been up for the challenge. I gotta sharpen up. I'll try to start saving some hand histories again.
I've read Barry Greenstein's Ace On The River up to the technical strategy part (about half the book). So far it's okay, a lot of fluff, and just being told what it's like to be...well, me (as in a professional poker player if I can call myself that, still sort of sounds odd). It would almost be a more interesting read for someone who knows nothing about the life of a professional poker player. I'll see how the technical parts are, especially the tournament hands section, hopefully I pick up something good. Either way, it's good bathroom-reading material. :P
I'm finding the $5/$10+ NL games are really drying up all over the place. Just the same regulars everywhere. Still beatable, but a real grind sometimes. Please come back Americans!!!! I miss you!
I gotta go concentrate on my play more right now, getting owned on Betfair heads-up again. Everytime I improve on the turn heads-up, it turns out to be the worse card for me lately. Nothing is coming easy, but hopefully I can turn it around soon.
On a sidenote, it looks like I'm going to both Cantebury in October and Regina in November. Still to plan both trips, but should be fun.
I've been jumping around sites playing my usual 5/10, mostly 10/20, and some sporatic 25/50. Here are results since last update:
UB even
Betfair -$3800
Tilt -$1300
Party -$3350
DSI -$450 (which was pretty much free money that I won from a retarded $100 Harry Potter bet back in last October that took 9 months to settle...)
So, that's a lot of negative numbers which isn't much fun.
Like a super genius I also spent $1100 trying to cheaply qualify for the $1060 FTOPS event. You ever seen those super-turbo satellites they run just before the FTOP events? I played at least 4 of the $185 6-man ones where only the winner gets a $1060 seat. I got 2nd, 5th, 3rd, 2nd. On the last 2nd I took out 3 players the first damn hand and still didn't win! Needless to say, waste of money and I didn't even play the stupid tournament.
Also down another $600 in multi-table tourneys as my slump continues. I was massive in a Tilt $150 tourney with 600 players. Down to 90 or so left I was 4th in chips. Within 10 minutes I have QQ go down to AK for a ridiculously huge pot, then AK down to 55 for most of the rest. Bah. I also managed to misclick my way out of another tourney. I won't explain cuz it's stupid, but I gotta be more careful clicking around the screen!
I am now down almost $1k in online tourneys since starting the blog. At least $2k of that has been qualifiers for other tourneys, and I don't think I've qualified once for anything. I think I've been playing tournaments pretty impatiently, combined with running pretty bad and never winning the crucial races, it's been near impossible to cash. But, I gotta sharpen up. I think my plan is to just really tighten up for a while in tourneys and let the cards come. This has given me success in the past in tournaments.
Just like I did in Phase 1 of the real estate licensing course, I've procrastinated myself into a time crunch for Phase 2. So, I have to get to that, which will mean less poker. Also, my back is feeling better (thank you chiro Carlos) and I really need to do some work around the house (whheeee painting). We just had the exterior of our house painted and it looks pretty pimp in a very domesticated sort of way.
Anyway, though I've dropped around $10k since my last update, I'm going to try not to stress too much about it. I only had a couple easy, big hands in the past week, and that's just poor cards. But, I've had MANY tough decisions and have often not been up for the challenge. I gotta sharpen up. I'll try to start saving some hand histories again.
I've read Barry Greenstein's Ace On The River up to the technical strategy part (about half the book). So far it's okay, a lot of fluff, and just being told what it's like to be...well, me (as in a professional poker player if I can call myself that, still sort of sounds odd). It would almost be a more interesting read for someone who knows nothing about the life of a professional poker player. I'll see how the technical parts are, especially the tournament hands section, hopefully I pick up something good. Either way, it's good bathroom-reading material. :P
I'm finding the $5/$10+ NL games are really drying up all over the place. Just the same regulars everywhere. Still beatable, but a real grind sometimes. Please come back Americans!!!! I miss you!
I gotta go concentrate on my play more right now, getting owned on Betfair heads-up again. Everytime I improve on the turn heads-up, it turns out to be the worse card for me lately. Nothing is coming easy, but hopefully I can turn it around soon.
On a sidenote, it looks like I'm going to both Cantebury in October and Regina in November. Still to plan both trips, but should be fun.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Cleanin' Up
Things have continued to go well since my last update.
Immediately after writing that I wasn't going to challenge INTillerman again for a while on Betfair, I went and played him again that night. Sigh. Basically ended up being a repeat performance where I dropped another $5k to him, fortunately I made the same amount in 6-max games and ended the session a tiny bit up.
Next session I played a guy named "autocall" on Betfair and dropped another $1.5k. I'm losing all the big pots in heads-up lately.
I then hit my 2nd best online cash game session ever and scored just under $13k. Running pretty damn well on Betfair and not getting very unlucky often at all. It's so much fun when it's smooth sailing. I followed this up by another session over $3k on Betfair.
I've hit Party again and I find the $10/$20 there pretty tough a lot of the time. But, I've still managed to scrape together $4.5k at $5/$10 and $10/$20 NL.
Today I played a variety of stuff. Won four $570 heads-up SNGs in a row throughout the day. Dropped a tiny bit on Betfair, but decided to pound a little $25/$50 with $3k. I ended running up to $4.3k and hitting a flop of AAJ with AJ. Ended up getting paid off by the pre-flop raiser with A6 for a $8.5k pot. I left that table after a bit, then followed a fish to another table and lost two $1k mini-buyins with AK vs KQ, then 77 ran into 99. Then, I lost a little more in 5/10 and decided to call it a night.
In tourneys, I misclick re-min-raised pre-flop with QJ and got myself knocked out. I cashed in the Tilt $109 6-handed for a small amount, and I had 20% on Joe Williams who got super donked out to finish 5th (so I collected almost $400 from that). Joe had AA lose to AK for the chip leading pot with 6 left, then had JJ run into a blind's AA soon after. Gross.
I'm hitting the right hands at the right times lately, and it feels good. I'm happy with how I handled myself through my horrible June downswing online, and have recovered big-time. I think I'm playing good and getting better at minimizing tough situations and making wise folds when necessary. Anyway, hope it keeps up.
Going to a cottage this weekend with my wife's family, should be good times and relaxing. I doubt there is any Internet so I'll be forced to take a break from everything for a few days. Will probably be good for me. My back is just getting worse and worse too, so a little rest might help. I couldn't get a doctor's appointment for almost two weeks.
Peace out!
Immediately after writing that I wasn't going to challenge INTillerman again for a while on Betfair, I went and played him again that night. Sigh. Basically ended up being a repeat performance where I dropped another $5k to him, fortunately I made the same amount in 6-max games and ended the session a tiny bit up.
Next session I played a guy named "autocall" on Betfair and dropped another $1.5k. I'm losing all the big pots in heads-up lately.
I then hit my 2nd best online cash game session ever and scored just under $13k. Running pretty damn well on Betfair and not getting very unlucky often at all. It's so much fun when it's smooth sailing. I followed this up by another session over $3k on Betfair.
I've hit Party again and I find the $10/$20 there pretty tough a lot of the time. But, I've still managed to scrape together $4.5k at $5/$10 and $10/$20 NL.
Today I played a variety of stuff. Won four $570 heads-up SNGs in a row throughout the day. Dropped a tiny bit on Betfair, but decided to pound a little $25/$50 with $3k. I ended running up to $4.3k and hitting a flop of AAJ with AJ. Ended up getting paid off by the pre-flop raiser with A6 for a $8.5k pot. I left that table after a bit, then followed a fish to another table and lost two $1k mini-buyins with AK vs KQ, then 77 ran into 99. Then, I lost a little more in 5/10 and decided to call it a night.
In tourneys, I misclick re-min-raised pre-flop with QJ and got myself knocked out. I cashed in the Tilt $109 6-handed for a small amount, and I had 20% on Joe Williams who got super donked out to finish 5th (so I collected almost $400 from that). Joe had AA lose to AK for the chip leading pot with 6 left, then had JJ run into a blind's AA soon after. Gross.
I'm hitting the right hands at the right times lately, and it feels good. I'm happy with how I handled myself through my horrible June downswing online, and have recovered big-time. I think I'm playing good and getting better at minimizing tough situations and making wise folds when necessary. Anyway, hope it keeps up.
Going to a cottage this weekend with my wife's family, should be good times and relaxing. I doubt there is any Internet so I'll be forced to take a break from everything for a few days. Will probably be good for me. My back is just getting worse and worse too, so a little rest might help. I couldn't get a doctor's appointment for almost two weeks.
Peace out!
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