sat down to put in a huge session last night and log into ftp to find out they've finally added a time bank feature. (long overdue)
so i sit down, open up 4 cash tables and registered for the 7pm $69 nl and the 7:15pm $24 lhe tournies.
a couple minutes into the session, the software starts lagging and timing me out of hands. i'd like to think i don't tilt tooooooooo easily but bad internet connections and faulty software makes me go on uber monkey tilt.
so i ended up only logging 400 hands in cash and was down a little over a buy-in. i un-registered for the later evening tournies and decided to just play out the two i had already started.
the lhe went fairly well but i eventually busted about middle of the pack. this is the first time i played this tournament in a long time (i think i've only played it 2 or 3 times total) and couldn't believe how poor the play was. im probably a pretty mediocre lhe player at the moment but i think even a mediocre player has a good sized edge in this tournament.
the 7pm nl went well and i eventually busted 40th out of a 378 person field. i made a questionable play late that cost me.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1157127
i had been fairly tight and am working on staying active and picking up blinds in the mid to late stages so i raise up KQ from ep knowing i can muck to a re-raise. bb flat calls and i had actually played the majority of the lhe tourny with him and didn't think too much about his play. i check behind on the flop figuring he re-pops any pair and if he checks the turn i can take a stab and prob take it down. i can't see him having any hand that can stand a bet on the turn here so i stabbed and was wrong.
after that i got a free look in the bb and flopped open ended but missed and was out in 40th.
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started a session at 11am this morning. played a $20 45 sng, the 11am $20 mtt that drew about a 125 players and the 12pm $24 mtt that had 365 runners.
busted out of the 45 sng 12th w/ flush over flush, busted about half way through the 11am when i pushed 9bb's overtop a mp limper w/ ATo and the sb woke up w/ AQo.
the 12pm i busted as bubble boy (37th) after i pushed from lp w/ 64o and about 8bb's and the sb called w/ AK. i don't really mind the push as i had been moved about an orbit before and hadn't played a hand. the bb had about 6bb's and looked like he was trying to eak into the money. i could care less about cashing so the difference between 36th and 37th is meaningless to me.
all while this i logged close to 900 hands of cash before i started to feel my concentration slip. i thought i played well for all but 3 hands and ended up down 3/4 buy-in. here are the hands i think i could've played better.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1157164
inexcusable, i really need to take this type of play out of my game. there is a lot of aggression at these limits and often times when a tag see's another tag raise up a limper they will 3-bet w/ a large range. thats why i push but i still think its a horrible play unless i've seen villain do this on multiple occasions which i had not in this situation.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1157176
i just sat at this table and zero read on the villain. with the size of his 4-bet i think this should be a fairly easy fold on the flop.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1157181
i'd usually never felt TT pre but i had notes on the villain that he'll 4-bet push AK so once he does this and only has 3/4 of a buy-in i felt compelled to call. not really sure the best line to take here but i don't really like mine.
im hoping to play more tonite (both mtts and cash) and i might even have a little home game going on with the boys so more updates tomorrow.
tg
Friday, June 8, 2007
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
a little more insight and june goals!
First off thanks for those who provided feedback. it's much appreciated.
I hope to get some links up (if i figure out how to navigate this site) of some of the other poker blogs that i frequent. a couple must check out blogs are rex55, bel0wab0ve, daniel negreanu, shannon shorr and many of the cardrunner blogs including sbrugby and cts (muckemsayuhhh on ftp)
i think i enjoy these blogs so much because i really don't have any friends or family that truely understand poker and the ups and downs. having blogs like these available kind of helps me reassure myself that others experience the same joys and frustrations that i go through on a day to day, month to month basis.
something else i meant to mention in my first blog is that poker is more of a hobby/passion that i enjoy spending my free time on. i have a full time job and only get to play poker a couple times a week. this makes playing mtts a lot harder for me since i don't usually have big bricks of time to spend on playing out a tournament. this is the reason i've started playing more cash games recently because of the flexibility of getting up and sitting down whenever i want.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My goals for June are pretty basic. i want to play a ton of poker!
I've put in a couple of small cash game sessions so far w/ some crazy ups and downs. my current game is $100 nl 6 max on ftp. (thats .50/1.00 blinds not 50/100 blinds) i usually play 4 -6 tables at a time. lately its been 4 tables of nl cash, a plo table or an mtt on the side.
100nl is a pretty low limit but i think its where my skill level is currently and i've never been one to be too proud to play a specific limit. it actually probably has a lot more to do with being a nit and realistic on how much im willing to lose in a session.
i was up about 6 buy-ins early this month but have since lost about 8 buy-ins including a $763 loss in one session. this is by far the largest cash game loss to date. it was a pretty sick night, i took a couple beats and a few coolers but i bled horribly and played just as bad. i was talking to a friend on messenger and told him i was going to shut it down for the night because i figured i was down about 4 or 5 buy-ins. when i checked pokertracker i was down $638. i kinda cringed and immediately took off the auto-post blinds and planned on playing out my non blind hands before shutting it down. i then took runner runner against an uber donk after he 3-bet me pre w/ 54o to drop another buy-in.
i've yet to play any mtts this month but i have played a couple of the $20 45 person sngs which imo are the best way to build a bankroll and sharpen mtt skills.
my girlfriend leaves for europe tonight and will be gone for 16 days so over that time period im hoping to get a ton of poker in. im even taking this friday off work so i can hit the ground running and get lots of hands in and clear some time for mtts.
i don't usually set goals in terms of money won since predicting how the cards will fall is impossible. i will set my goal at getting 25k hands in at 100nl and 160nl deep and to play to the best of my ability and maybe learn a few new things. i'll also continue to log a few hands at plo as im trying to learn the intricasies of the game. i'll probably just play at the $50 buy-in level for that until i am more comfortable with the game.
as for mtts, i will try and play as many as possible but trying to put a number on how many is too hard. i'll look for 100% roi for the month in these.
thats it for now, i might get a short session in tonite after getting home from the airport otherwise i'll look to later in the week to log more hands.
gl @ the tables.
ps. my next blog will probably be about my extreme jealousy towards anyone playing a wsop event.
I hope to get some links up (if i figure out how to navigate this site) of some of the other poker blogs that i frequent. a couple must check out blogs are rex55, bel0wab0ve, daniel negreanu, shannon shorr and many of the cardrunner blogs including sbrugby and cts (muckemsayuhhh on ftp)
i think i enjoy these blogs so much because i really don't have any friends or family that truely understand poker and the ups and downs. having blogs like these available kind of helps me reassure myself that others experience the same joys and frustrations that i go through on a day to day, month to month basis.
something else i meant to mention in my first blog is that poker is more of a hobby/passion that i enjoy spending my free time on. i have a full time job and only get to play poker a couple times a week. this makes playing mtts a lot harder for me since i don't usually have big bricks of time to spend on playing out a tournament. this is the reason i've started playing more cash games recently because of the flexibility of getting up and sitting down whenever i want.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My goals for June are pretty basic. i want to play a ton of poker!
I've put in a couple of small cash game sessions so far w/ some crazy ups and downs. my current game is $100 nl 6 max on ftp. (thats .50/1.00 blinds not 50/100 blinds) i usually play 4 -6 tables at a time. lately its been 4 tables of nl cash, a plo table or an mtt on the side.
100nl is a pretty low limit but i think its where my skill level is currently and i've never been one to be too proud to play a specific limit. it actually probably has a lot more to do with being a nit and realistic on how much im willing to lose in a session.
i was up about 6 buy-ins early this month but have since lost about 8 buy-ins including a $763 loss in one session. this is by far the largest cash game loss to date. it was a pretty sick night, i took a couple beats and a few coolers but i bled horribly and played just as bad. i was talking to a friend on messenger and told him i was going to shut it down for the night because i figured i was down about 4 or 5 buy-ins. when i checked pokertracker i was down $638. i kinda cringed and immediately took off the auto-post blinds and planned on playing out my non blind hands before shutting it down. i then took runner runner against an uber donk after he 3-bet me pre w/ 54o to drop another buy-in.
i've yet to play any mtts this month but i have played a couple of the $20 45 person sngs which imo are the best way to build a bankroll and sharpen mtt skills.
my girlfriend leaves for europe tonight and will be gone for 16 days so over that time period im hoping to get a ton of poker in. im even taking this friday off work so i can hit the ground running and get lots of hands in and clear some time for mtts.
i don't usually set goals in terms of money won since predicting how the cards will fall is impossible. i will set my goal at getting 25k hands in at 100nl and 160nl deep and to play to the best of my ability and maybe learn a few new things. i'll also continue to log a few hands at plo as im trying to learn the intricasies of the game. i'll probably just play at the $50 buy-in level for that until i am more comfortable with the game.
as for mtts, i will try and play as many as possible but trying to put a number on how many is too hard. i'll look for 100% roi for the month in these.
thats it for now, i might get a short session in tonite after getting home from the airport otherwise i'll look to later in the week to log more hands.
gl @ the tables.
ps. my next blog will probably be about my extreme jealousy towards anyone playing a wsop event.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Intro
well this is kinda sad but.................. i finally broke down and started a poker blog. i don't assume that many people will be interested in it or will even know about but here it is nonetheless.
i've started it for a couple reasons:
1) i spend a lot of time reading poker blogs and find reading about others ups and downs to be quite helpful and inspirational.
2) i want to be able to track my progess and record goals. i have a hard time even remembering what limits or games i was playing a year ago.
thats basically it, if someone does stumble across it i hope they find it entertaining. i won't write about life or shit like that. this is not a diary, it's a record of my poker journey. i will update it after every session w/ results and thoughts.
here's my story.
like most, my first taste of poker was dicking around with friends while drinking. we'd get together and play 5-card triple draw dealers choice w/ all kinds of stupid wild cards and what not. we were so clueless that i remember getting into situations where if one guy had the other guy covered in chips (usually pennies) then the shorter stack had to fold. pretty smart.
i thought at the time that 5-card draw was poker. poker to me had no variants so i laughed when i got hoyle casino for my computer and saw texas holdem and omaha holdem poker. i thought it was a couple of games they invented to go along with slots and roulette games.
fast forward a couple years and i see this dude on letterman one night named moneymaker and letterman is talking to him about how he turned a couple of bucks into winning the world series. i thought it was pretty cool but went on clueless for another year or so.
im not sure of the definitive time but i remember the first time i got hooked was watching the 04 main event. i think i saw every episode and was like woa, they play that game form hoyle casino. i remember just being totally addicted to watching it.
i start talking to one of my buddies one day and he tells me that his brothers and a few of there friends play on weekends. i showed up, played every hand, got killed and got a friendly invite back when they couldn't believe how much fun i had donking my money off.
2 weeks later, we decide to head out to a local casino and play some holdem. most of us didn't know the difference between limit and no-limit, 2/5 and 5/10. we waited for over 4 hours to get a seat at a 2/5 limit table. at 3am we sat down and by 3:45am i busted for my $100 buy-in. i felt like shit, my friends played a little while longer until we left around 5am. the whole way home i was embarassed. i sucked bad!!!!!!!!!! i told myself i would never be the donk at the table again.
the next day i went to chapters, picked up a book and started studying. a month later i discovered party poker and deposited a $100 and took a run at 2/4 limit holdem. i was so frustrated that i was breaking even after 2 days that i tilted it off.
i did this 1 more time before taking 3 months off and buying more books and studying a lot harder. i decided i would take a more serious shot and practice some bankroll management (i originally thought that playing 2/4 limit w/ a $100 roll was plenty)
i deposited $150 into paradise poker ( i had since determined party poker was rigged) and started grinding .25/.50 cent limit. i worked my way up eventually going back to party (because the games were so soft) and was playing 3/6 w/ about a $2200 roll. this was over the course of Feb 05 till about Sep 05.
i took a shot at playing $100 buy-in mtts on stars and party. i had a couple final tables but eventually busted on both sites w/ only 10 buy-ins on each. this left me back at ftp. i ran very cold in mtts through May and also started playing nl 6 max cash to subsidize my roll. sngs were getting to be a little frustrating and i truly believe that to be a great poker player you need to know how to play post flop deep stack poker. sngs offer none of this and while i enjoy them, they aren't going to be a part of my bankroll building strategy.
my roll is back down to about 5k but im ready to run it up. no more withdrawals unless its for something poker related (live buy-ins and what not)
im sorry for the long winded post. i tend to ramble.
tg
i've started it for a couple reasons:
1) i spend a lot of time reading poker blogs and find reading about others ups and downs to be quite helpful and inspirational.
2) i want to be able to track my progess and record goals. i have a hard time even remembering what limits or games i was playing a year ago.
thats basically it, if someone does stumble across it i hope they find it entertaining. i won't write about life or shit like that. this is not a diary, it's a record of my poker journey. i will update it after every session w/ results and thoughts.
here's my story.
like most, my first taste of poker was dicking around with friends while drinking. we'd get together and play 5-card triple draw dealers choice w/ all kinds of stupid wild cards and what not. we were so clueless that i remember getting into situations where if one guy had the other guy covered in chips (usually pennies) then the shorter stack had to fold. pretty smart.
i thought at the time that 5-card draw was poker. poker to me had no variants so i laughed when i got hoyle casino for my computer and saw texas holdem and omaha holdem poker. i thought it was a couple of games they invented to go along with slots and roulette games.
fast forward a couple years and i see this dude on letterman one night named moneymaker and letterman is talking to him about how he turned a couple of bucks into winning the world series. i thought it was pretty cool but went on clueless for another year or so.
im not sure of the definitive time but i remember the first time i got hooked was watching the 04 main event. i think i saw every episode and was like woa, they play that game form hoyle casino. i remember just being totally addicted to watching it.
i start talking to one of my buddies one day and he tells me that his brothers and a few of there friends play on weekends. i showed up, played every hand, got killed and got a friendly invite back when they couldn't believe how much fun i had donking my money off.
2 weeks later, we decide to head out to a local casino and play some holdem. most of us didn't know the difference between limit and no-limit, 2/5 and 5/10. we waited for over 4 hours to get a seat at a 2/5 limit table. at 3am we sat down and by 3:45am i busted for my $100 buy-in. i felt like shit, my friends played a little while longer until we left around 5am. the whole way home i was embarassed. i sucked bad!!!!!!!!!! i told myself i would never be the donk at the table again.
the next day i went to chapters, picked up a book and started studying. a month later i discovered party poker and deposited a $100 and took a run at 2/4 limit holdem. i was so frustrated that i was breaking even after 2 days that i tilted it off.
i did this 1 more time before taking 3 months off and buying more books and studying a lot harder. i decided i would take a more serious shot and practice some bankroll management (i originally thought that playing 2/4 limit w/ a $100 roll was plenty)
i deposited $150 into paradise poker ( i had since determined party poker was rigged) and started grinding .25/.50 cent limit. i worked my way up eventually going back to party (because the games were so soft) and was playing 3/6 w/ about a $2200 roll. this was over the course of Feb 05 till about Sep 05.
i then took out the entire $2200 and decided to pay off some debt and start totally fresh. i took about a 2 months away from online and only played live (mostly 2/5 limit)
in Nov 05, i made a $500 deposit back into party and started grinding limit holdem games again. i worked it back up again over the next few months but kind of plateaued. i was getting sick of grinding limit games. i dabbled with sngs and mtts but found them extremely frustrating.
from the summer of 06 to roughly Oct 06 i had struggled a bit and did not play any one game or limit. id go from mtts one week to limit holdem to experimenting w/ nl holdem to trying to donk around pot limit omaha games. my bankroll hovered anywhere from between 1k to 2k hitting a high point of 3.2k before i blew 1k trying to 12 table 3/6 limit on party.
in Sep/Oct i decided to give mtts and sngs a good run. i had been a member of www.pokerxfactor.com for a couple of months but had not really taken advantage of what they were offering. i started grinding away and built up a bit. Then in late Oct 06 i finally won my 1st mtt. i dominated the final table and it was an amazing feeling.
the win shipped me 2.3k and my roll was now at 3.8k. i had just bought a house w/ my girlfriend and we decided it was best to withdrawal most of the win for some house stuff. it kinda sucked because my bankroll was now back down to around 1k. i played more sngs and started killing the 45 and 90 person sngs on ftp. i had the occasional decent cash in mtts but nothing major. i slowly built my roll up to around 3.5k. it was pretty nice run. i was playing the $24 guarantee mtt's, $22 turbo sngs and the $20 45 and 90 person sngs. at this point i had been exclusively playing on ftp.
in Jan 07 i made a goal of winning 2 mtt's by June. i won the 1st (5k guarantee, $24 buy-in) on ftp for 1.8k. i then won the 7pm 18k guarantee 4 days later for 5.5k. it was pretty sick week for me and my roll was now over 10k.
i took a little out and kept playing. i was now playing the $24 and $69 guarantee mtts and $55 turbo sngs. i remember in one weekend taking 4th in a mtt for 1.4k and losing about 1.2k in turbo sngs. i was kinda sick. that was the first time i had lost that much money and it made me quite ill.
i took a step back and played a little lower in sngs but kept grinding the same level mtt's while occasionally taking a shot a few higher buy-ins. by Mar 07 my roll had slid down to around 7k when i shipped a few bucks over to party to play in some mtts there. after a couple days i hit another nice payday winning the 7pm $100 buy-in for 5.6k.
i had gotten my roll over 12k. i decided to haul most of my winnings off party (since i left there site due to fishy reasons of freezing accounts) and left about 1k. i put 1k on stars and took the rest out and blew it on fun stuff like a new computer and dual lcd's, dart board, ping pong table and a nice road bike.
i took a shot at playing $100 buy-in mtts on stars and party. i had a couple final tables but eventually busted on both sites w/ only 10 buy-ins on each. this left me back at ftp. i ran very cold in mtts through May and also started playing nl 6 max cash to subsidize my roll. sngs were getting to be a little frustrating and i truly believe that to be a great poker player you need to know how to play post flop deep stack poker. sngs offer none of this and while i enjoy them, they aren't going to be a part of my bankroll building strategy.
my roll is back down to about 5k but im ready to run it up. no more withdrawals unless its for something poker related (live buy-ins and what not)
im sorry for the long winded post. i tend to ramble.
tg
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