Cash game net profit = $640.90 (72.28 hours of play)
Tournament net profit = -$14.68
Total net profit = $626.22
Cash game results are down from last month, but I feel like I stuck to my game plan for the most part, so I'm not too disappointed. There were still a couple of sessions where I found myself playing more loosely after some bad beats, but I do feel like I'm becoming more disciplined about putting them behind me.
As for tournament play, I actually finished with a net profit online, but the 3 'friendly' live tournaments that I played (and lost) were enough to offset. According to my PokerTracker stats, I played 55 online tournaments, finishing with an overall ROI of 11.76%. In recent months, I probably would have been elated with this kind of a return, but what I haven't mentioned yet is that I actually tried to focus more on multitable tournaments in November. To be more specific, 20 of the 55 tournaments I played were MTTs. Yeah, I know; that 11.76% ROI doesn't look so hot anymore, does it? Well, it's a start, and I at least have an idea of what kinds of adjustments are in order...
Seeing as how I'm consistently getting fairly deep into the money but failing to make any final tables, I think I need to increase my aggression earlier in the tournament than I have been. In particular, there have been some pretty sizable pots that I knew I could take down with a timely bet, but I just couldn't seem to pull the trigger. I've said it before, but since I obviously haven't learned my lesson yet, I'll say it again: a poker player absolutely must trust his/her instincts. Until I'm able to do this consistently, I doubt that I'll be able to expect much better than a 50% ROI in MTT play.
Let's take a look at how I did with my November goals:
"1. Continue playing patiently in live cash games"
Check. I still had a couple of bouts with bad beat tilt, but I'm definitely improving.
"2. Be more focused and less results-oriented, particularly with SnGs"
With my increased focus on MTTs, I usually found myself playing no more than 1 or 2 SnGs at a time (simultaneously with 2 or 3 MTTs). I think this actually helped me make better ICM decisions since I didn't have to deal with as many bubble situations at the same time. So was I more focused? Probably not, but I really didn't have to be. At the stakes that I'm playing, I don't seem to have too much trouble playing on autopilot as long as the number of simultaneous bubbles is kept to a minimum.
As far as being less results-oriented, that's a big affirmative. There's still room for improvement, but I feel that I did a very good job of forgetting about the money at stake and just trying to make good decisions.
"3. Win at least $1,000 from SnG play with an ROI of at least 10%"
Yeah, anyway...
Goals for December:
1. Put all the bad beats behind me without letting them change the quality of my play
2. Trust my instincts without exception
3. In tournament play, do a better job of playing for first place rather than just going deep in the money
Back to the felt...
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
October 2007 Recap
Cash game net profit = $1,104.75 (60.15 hours of play)
Tournament net profit = -$651.40
Total net profit = $453.35
Total reversal from last month. I more or less found my stride in cash game play, but my tournament results were horrible. Granted, $250 of the $651.40 that I lost in tournament play was from one live local tournament that I decided to take a stab at, but that still leaves over $400 in online tournament losses to account for. According to my PokerTracker stats, I played 126 tournaments (120 of which were SnGs) and finished with an ROI of -16.53%. I'm so tempted to fudge these numbers right now...
Looking back on my SnG play, I think my biggest problem was simply a lack of focus. Between playing too many tables simultaneously and not going back to review my ICM decisions, I really didn't give myself much of a chance. It's not so much that I'm unwilling to put in the work as it is that I'm anxious to see some tangible results. I just need to forget about my profits and focus on plugging the leaks in my game.
As for my stated goals for the month:
- "I'd like to finish with positive results in cash game play for the month. We're off to a good start, but I'm hoping that my return to a more focused and patient game will really yield some extraordinary results."
I'm pretty happy with my cash game results for October. I did a good job of staying patient and adjusting my approach for the generally loose-passive games that I'm fortunate enough to play in.
- "I need to be more patient with my SnG play as well. I jumped the gun a bit moving from 4 tables to 10 tables, and it was all because I didn't feel like I was maximizing my profits. I definitely intend to increase the number of tables I play at a time, but right now I still have too many leaks in my ICM decision making to play more than 4 tables on autopilot."
I definitely don't feel like I did too well with this one. Even though I moved back down to playing 4 tables at a time, I was still pressing too hard to make money, which really caused my play to erode the moment I went on any kind of losing streak. I also didn't bother to review my hand histories, which basically means that I didn't improve much, if at all. Pretty damn disappointing, that's for sure.
Goals for November:
1. Continue playing patiently in live cash games
2. Be more focused and less results-oriented, particularly with SnGs
3. Win at least $1,000 from SnG play with an ROI of at least 10%
Yeah, that last one was a joke.
Yeah, it was lame, I know.
Tournament net profit = -$651.40
Total net profit = $453.35
Total reversal from last month. I more or less found my stride in cash game play, but my tournament results were horrible. Granted, $250 of the $651.40 that I lost in tournament play was from one live local tournament that I decided to take a stab at, but that still leaves over $400 in online tournament losses to account for. According to my PokerTracker stats, I played 126 tournaments (120 of which were SnGs) and finished with an ROI of -16.53%. I'm so tempted to fudge these numbers right now...
Looking back on my SnG play, I think my biggest problem was simply a lack of focus. Between playing too many tables simultaneously and not going back to review my ICM decisions, I really didn't give myself much of a chance. It's not so much that I'm unwilling to put in the work as it is that I'm anxious to see some tangible results. I just need to forget about my profits and focus on plugging the leaks in my game.
As for my stated goals for the month:
- "I'd like to finish with positive results in cash game play for the month. We're off to a good start, but I'm hoping that my return to a more focused and patient game will really yield some extraordinary results."
I'm pretty happy with my cash game results for October. I did a good job of staying patient and adjusting my approach for the generally loose-passive games that I'm fortunate enough to play in.
- "I need to be more patient with my SnG play as well. I jumped the gun a bit moving from 4 tables to 10 tables, and it was all because I didn't feel like I was maximizing my profits. I definitely intend to increase the number of tables I play at a time, but right now I still have too many leaks in my ICM decision making to play more than 4 tables on autopilot."
I definitely don't feel like I did too well with this one. Even though I moved back down to playing 4 tables at a time, I was still pressing too hard to make money, which really caused my play to erode the moment I went on any kind of losing streak. I also didn't bother to review my hand histories, which basically means that I didn't improve much, if at all. Pretty damn disappointing, that's for sure.
Goals for November:
1. Continue playing patiently in live cash games
2. Be more focused and less results-oriented, particularly with SnGs
3. Win at least $1,000 from SnG play with an ROI of at least 10%
Yeah, that last one was a joke.
Yeah, it was lame, I know.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
September 2007 Recap
Cash game net profit = -$54.00 (61.75 hours of play)
Tournament net profit = $379.01
Total net profit = $325.01
Well, at least we're back in the black. Only lost $54 in cash game play last month, which is actually somewhat of a moral victory. I basically went back to playing solid poker, which is ideal for the loose games that I play in.
Sit-n-go results for September were decent, though they would have been higher had I not jumped from multitabling 4 SnGs at a time to 10 SnGs at a time. It's not that I don't feel I'm capable of playing that many tables, but it will take some adjustment, particularly since I switch from tiled tables to cascaded tables after the 6 SnG mark. This downward trend has also continued into the first part of October, but I'm going back down to 4 tables to see if I can turn things around. My ICM decisions are definitely more accurate when I'm playing 4 tables or fewer.
Goals for October:
- I'd like to finish with positive results in cash game play for the month. We're off to a good start, but I'm hoping that my return to a more focused and patient game will really yield some extraordinary results.
- I need to be more patient with my SnG play as well. I jumped the gun a bit moving from 4 tables to 10 tables, and it was all because I didn't feel like I was maximizing my profits. I definitely intend to increase the number of tables I play at a time, but right now I still have too many leaks in my ICM decision making to play more than 4 tables on autopilot.
Tournament net profit = $379.01
Total net profit = $325.01
Well, at least we're back in the black. Only lost $54 in cash game play last month, which is actually somewhat of a moral victory. I basically went back to playing solid poker, which is ideal for the loose games that I play in.
Sit-n-go results for September were decent, though they would have been higher had I not jumped from multitabling 4 SnGs at a time to 10 SnGs at a time. It's not that I don't feel I'm capable of playing that many tables, but it will take some adjustment, particularly since I switch from tiled tables to cascaded tables after the 6 SnG mark. This downward trend has also continued into the first part of October, but I'm going back down to 4 tables to see if I can turn things around. My ICM decisions are definitely more accurate when I'm playing 4 tables or fewer.
Goals for October:
- I'd like to finish with positive results in cash game play for the month. We're off to a good start, but I'm hoping that my return to a more focused and patient game will really yield some extraordinary results.
- I need to be more patient with my SnG play as well. I jumped the gun a bit moving from 4 tables to 10 tables, and it was all because I didn't feel like I was maximizing my profits. I definitely intend to increase the number of tables I play at a time, but right now I still have too many leaks in my ICM decision making to play more than 4 tables on autopilot.
Friday, September 21, 2007
August 2007 Recap
Cash game net profit = -$135.10 (46.45 hours of play)
Tournament net profit = -$694.73
Total net profit = -$829.83
August was a pretty bad month for me, and the bulk of my losses came from my trip to Atlantic City, where I really had no business being (at least from a bankroll management perspective). However, having a full-time job away from poker, I was fully aware going into the AC trip that the money I was spending was essentially 'fun' money that I could afford to lose.
Well, as of August 27th, I officially transitioned to a part-time employee at my 'regular' job, so with my paychecks being cut exactly in half from here on out, the concept of 'fun' money has pretty much gone out the window. I'll admit that I hadn't planned on making this kind of move until sometime next year, but circumstances affecting both myself and a few of my co-workers made it reasonable to expedite things. By no means do I consider myself a professional poker player, but if I hope to do anything more than just pay the bills going forward, I'm going to have to start acting like one.
Judging by my August results, the first order of business should undoubtedly be to address my poor bankroll management. Despite having picked up on certain PLO concepts such as the importance of redraws/chasing your own money/folding the nuts, I've experienced some pretty disgusting beats that have truly reinforced the concept of variance, and it's become very clear that I'm not even sufficiently bankrolled for the cash games that I host. I'm not about to cancel my home game, but I'm fully prepared to sit out, at least during the PLO rounds. Sitting out of my own home game; how ridiculous is that? But hey, as important as it is for me to become more disciplined with my money, the embarrassment of having to sit back and watch the others play should leave a fairly lasting impression.
In addition to bankroll management, I'm starting to understand how important (and difficult) time management must be for professional poker players. Now that I'm only working 3 days a week at my 'real' job, it's been somewhat of a challenge to develop a schedule that forces me to play enough poker yet doesn't allow me to neglect my other responsibilities. I'm starting to piece things together, but it's still very much a work in progress.
On a final note, I've been working really hard on understanding the Independent Chip Model/SnG bubble play, and I think my online results are starting to reflect that. My Sharkscope numbers aren't exactly on par with the likes of Albatross77, but I'm definitely starting to notice an upward trend. I'll admit that the sample size is practically negligible, but I think the most important thing is that I feel like it's finally starting to click (as evidenced in part by the fact that I've made the switch from regular SnGs to turbos). I've also been cashing fairly regularly in some of the guaranteed MTTs on PokerStars; with continued research, hopefully it won't be too long before I start making final tables on a more consistent basis.
Total online bankroll = $207.18
Tournament net profit = -$694.73
Total net profit = -$829.83
August was a pretty bad month for me, and the bulk of my losses came from my trip to Atlantic City, where I really had no business being (at least from a bankroll management perspective). However, having a full-time job away from poker, I was fully aware going into the AC trip that the money I was spending was essentially 'fun' money that I could afford to lose.
Well, as of August 27th, I officially transitioned to a part-time employee at my 'regular' job, so with my paychecks being cut exactly in half from here on out, the concept of 'fun' money has pretty much gone out the window. I'll admit that I hadn't planned on making this kind of move until sometime next year, but circumstances affecting both myself and a few of my co-workers made it reasonable to expedite things. By no means do I consider myself a professional poker player, but if I hope to do anything more than just pay the bills going forward, I'm going to have to start acting like one.
Judging by my August results, the first order of business should undoubtedly be to address my poor bankroll management. Despite having picked up on certain PLO concepts such as the importance of redraws/chasing your own money/folding the nuts, I've experienced some pretty disgusting beats that have truly reinforced the concept of variance, and it's become very clear that I'm not even sufficiently bankrolled for the cash games that I host. I'm not about to cancel my home game, but I'm fully prepared to sit out, at least during the PLO rounds. Sitting out of my own home game; how ridiculous is that? But hey, as important as it is for me to become more disciplined with my money, the embarrassment of having to sit back and watch the others play should leave a fairly lasting impression.
In addition to bankroll management, I'm starting to understand how important (and difficult) time management must be for professional poker players. Now that I'm only working 3 days a week at my 'real' job, it's been somewhat of a challenge to develop a schedule that forces me to play enough poker yet doesn't allow me to neglect my other responsibilities. I'm starting to piece things together, but it's still very much a work in progress.
On a final note, I've been working really hard on understanding the Independent Chip Model/SnG bubble play, and I think my online results are starting to reflect that. My Sharkscope numbers aren't exactly on par with the likes of Albatross77, but I'm definitely starting to notice an upward trend. I'll admit that the sample size is practically negligible, but I think the most important thing is that I feel like it's finally starting to click (as evidenced in part by the fact that I've made the switch from regular SnGs to turbos). I've also been cashing fairly regularly in some of the guaranteed MTTs on PokerStars; with continued research, hopefully it won't be too long before I start making final tables on a more consistent basis.
Total online bankroll = $207.18
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Atlantic City results
I didn't come home with any of the $40,000 prize packages given away this past weekend at the Borgata's "Ultimate Super Satellite", but it was still a very worthwhile experience. I spotted a few faces that I recognized from TV (including Robert Varkonyi and Noli Francisco) and played at the same table as Anthony Argila, who finished 4th at last year's Borgata Open WPT event. It was a real confidence-booster to see that despite all their poker accomplishments and television exposure, these people are still only human.
Here's a breakdown of my performance:
Earned my entry to the Sunday Super Satellite through the $220+$50 qualifier Saturday morning (390 entrants; final 78 won entries to the Sunday tournament). I played a very disciplined game and did a pretty good job of picking up just enough blinds towards the later part of the tournament. Once I reached the $30,000 chip mark, I literally folded all of my hands in the dark until the bubble boy was finally eliminated. It's a well-known strategy that I had read about previously but had never had the opportunity to actually employ. I hope I get the chance to do it again soon, because it was kind of fun to be able to just sit back and relax at the end of a tournament for a change.
During the actual Super Satellite on Sunday, my worst nemesis ended up being myself. I went into the tournament expecting to play the same tight game that I used in the Saturday qualifier, but when I realized that only 11 of the 439 entrants (practically the final table) would win the $40,000 prize pack, I panicked somewhat and got involved in a few early hands that I had absolutely no business playing. These mistakes very nearly resulted in early elimination, but fortunately, I'm very comfortable playing short-stack poker (probably because I get so much practice) and managed to work my way back to an average stack each time.
My last hand took place at blind level $800/$1600, $300 ante. I was sitting in the small blind with just over $24K when action was folded around to the button, who limped. I looked down at AKo and pushed all-in, fully expecting to take down the $7K pot uncontested. Unfortunately, the big stack at the table woke up to JJ in the big blind and my AK failed to improve. There were 12 tables remaining at the time, so my estimated place of finish was somewhere between 111 and 120 (out of the original field of 439).
My only regret is that I didn't play as disciplined a game as I should have during the first 3 blind levels. However, after battling back the way I did each of the 3 times that I was short-stacked (including one time during the $400/$800 level where I only had 1 small blind left), I know that I will never throw in the towel in a tournament, no matter how much ground I need to make up.
Here's a breakdown of my performance:
Earned my entry to the Sunday Super Satellite through the $220+$50 qualifier Saturday morning (390 entrants; final 78 won entries to the Sunday tournament). I played a very disciplined game and did a pretty good job of picking up just enough blinds towards the later part of the tournament. Once I reached the $30,000 chip mark, I literally folded all of my hands in the dark until the bubble boy was finally eliminated. It's a well-known strategy that I had read about previously but had never had the opportunity to actually employ. I hope I get the chance to do it again soon, because it was kind of fun to be able to just sit back and relax at the end of a tournament for a change.
During the actual Super Satellite on Sunday, my worst nemesis ended up being myself. I went into the tournament expecting to play the same tight game that I used in the Saturday qualifier, but when I realized that only 11 of the 439 entrants (practically the final table) would win the $40,000 prize pack, I panicked somewhat and got involved in a few early hands that I had absolutely no business playing. These mistakes very nearly resulted in early elimination, but fortunately, I'm very comfortable playing short-stack poker (probably because I get so much practice) and managed to work my way back to an average stack each time.
My last hand took place at blind level $800/$1600, $300 ante. I was sitting in the small blind with just over $24K when action was folded around to the button, who limped. I looked down at AKo and pushed all-in, fully expecting to take down the $7K pot uncontested. Unfortunately, the big stack at the table woke up to JJ in the big blind and my AK failed to improve. There were 12 tables remaining at the time, so my estimated place of finish was somewhere between 111 and 120 (out of the original field of 439).
My only regret is that I didn't play as disciplined a game as I should have during the first 3 blind levels. However, after battling back the way I did each of the 3 times that I was short-stacked (including one time during the $400/$800 level where I only had 1 small blind left), I know that I will never throw in the towel in a tournament, no matter how much ground I need to make up.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
July 2007 Recap
Cash game net profit = $1074.55 (53.08 hours of play)
Tournament net profit = $128.15
Total net profit = $1202.70
Total online bankroll = $587.90
Things are starting to look up a bit. Of my 11 cash game sessions in July, 10 were winners. I've also finally gotten my online play back on track; I deposited $280 on PokerStars on the 27th and slipped right back into my old comfort zone playing 2 regular single-table SnGs at a time. It's not the strategy that most SnG specialists seem to use, but I'm content sticking with what's worked for me, at least for now.
Had to nix the trip to Atlantic City back in June, but it looks like I'll be heading back to the Borgata this weekend for their "Ultimate Super Satellite" to 4 different WPT events. Right now, I'm only planning on playing if I can win entry through their qualifier on Saturday, but I haven't completely ruled out a direct buy-in either, if it comes down to that.
Friday, July 6, 2007
June 2007 Recap
Cash game net profit = $415.80 (34.50 hours of play)
Tournament net profit = $155.00
Total net profit = $570.80
Total online bankroll = $8.66
Numbers are about the same as last month. The problem remains that I'm simply not playing nearly enough poker, especially online. I also made the mistake of selling too much of my online money to friends thinking that I could just reload, but I burn through my live winnings so quickly that I having nothing left to deposit. If I don't get a grip on my spending habits, who knows how long I'll be stuck in neutral.
Looks like I'll be going back to Atlantic City at the end of this month to play some Hold'em tournaments. I've always enjoyed live play so much more than online play, so I'm definitely looking forward to the trip. A strong performance certainly wouldn't hurt either.
Tournament net profit = $155.00
Total net profit = $570.80
Total online bankroll = $8.66
Numbers are about the same as last month. The problem remains that I'm simply not playing nearly enough poker, especially online. I also made the mistake of selling too much of my online money to friends thinking that I could just reload, but I burn through my live winnings so quickly that I having nothing left to deposit. If I don't get a grip on my spending habits, who knows how long I'll be stuck in neutral.
Looks like I'll be going back to Atlantic City at the end of this month to play some Hold'em tournaments. I've always enjoyed live play so much more than online play, so I'm definitely looking forward to the trip. A strong performance certainly wouldn't hurt either.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
May 2007 Recap
May was definitely an off month. I actually would've been in the red had it not been for one monster session on the very last day ($803 net profit at a $1/$1 NLHE cash game; 5.5 hours of play). Here's the breakdown:
Cash game net profit = $410.00 (31.00 hours of play)
Tournament net profit = $70.35
Total net profit = $480.35
If I were to only include my NLHE cash game hours, my net profit would have been just under $1K. I tried to focus on NLHE for the most part, but PLO8 really hurt me at the beginning of the month.
As for tournament play, I went deep in each of the 6 MTTs I played online but only managed to cash in 2 of them. The fact that I only played 6 MTTs all last month is pretty indicative of how few hours I logged overall. That trend has continued into this month, though I have taken some steps to better organize my daily responsibilities so that I have more time for poker.
My online bankroll is down to a mere $17.36. It's not that I've been playing and losing; I've simply let a few of my friends reload their accounts through me rather than through an online wallet. I guess I'll just have to take a seat at a microlimit table and see what I can do with it.
Cash game net profit = $410.00 (31.00 hours of play)
Tournament net profit = $70.35
Total net profit = $480.35
If I were to only include my NLHE cash game hours, my net profit would have been just under $1K. I tried to focus on NLHE for the most part, but PLO8 really hurt me at the beginning of the month.
As for tournament play, I went deep in each of the 6 MTTs I played online but only managed to cash in 2 of them. The fact that I only played 6 MTTs all last month is pretty indicative of how few hours I logged overall. That trend has continued into this month, though I have taken some steps to better organize my daily responsibilities so that I have more time for poker.
My online bankroll is down to a mere $17.36. It's not that I've been playing and losing; I've simply let a few of my friends reload their accounts through me rather than through an online wallet. I guess I'll just have to take a seat at a microlimit table and see what I can do with it.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Slow month
For the last week or so, I've been trying to shift my focus from cash game play to tournament play (primarily online), and the transition so far has been a little rough. I've been going deep in MTTs with fields of anywhere from 180 to over 2000 players and buy-ins from $1 to $10, but I haven't had any notable finishes. I play a tight game for the most part, and I think one of the biggest problems is that I'm failing to loosen up at extremely tight tables, which I seem to inevitably find in every tournament about halfway through. These are golden opportunities to stay ahead of the pack, and I need to start taking advantage of them.
To help keep my head above water until my next big (hopefully) score, I've decided to turn to single-table Sit n' Gos. I've had a lot of success with SnGs in the past, and I personally don't know of a safer, more consistent way to build a bankroll from scratch. My approach will differ somewhat from the strategies I've read about at 2+2; rather than playing mass amounts of Turbo SnGs, I will be playing regular SnGs and no more than 2 at a time. My last experiment with the "2+2" Turbo strategy was a complete failure, so until I have a large enough bankroll to go back and figure out what I did wrong, I'm going to stick with what's worked for me.
In order to keep a more tangible record of my progress, I'll update my total online bankroll at the end of each post from here on out (yeah, I think I was supposed to be doing it from day 1, but better late than never):
Total online bankroll = $92.76 (down from my original $200 deposit)
To help keep my head above water until my next big (hopefully) score, I've decided to turn to single-table Sit n' Gos. I've had a lot of success with SnGs in the past, and I personally don't know of a safer, more consistent way to build a bankroll from scratch. My approach will differ somewhat from the strategies I've read about at 2+2; rather than playing mass amounts of Turbo SnGs, I will be playing regular SnGs and no more than 2 at a time. My last experiment with the "2+2" Turbo strategy was a complete failure, so until I have a large enough bankroll to go back and figure out what I did wrong, I'm going to stick with what's worked for me.
In order to keep a more tangible record of my progress, I'll update my total online bankroll at the end of each post from here on out (yeah, I think I was supposed to be doing it from day 1, but better late than never):
Total online bankroll = $92.76 (down from my original $200 deposit)
Monday, May 14, 2007
Time management issues
So much for buckling down. I recently caved in to pressure from a buddy of mine and bought an Xbox 360 Elite. As a result, my poker hours are way down. Granted, I'm still waiting on a deposit to hit my ePassporte account so that I can play online, but I've certainly had plenty of chances to play poker regardless. It's a simple matter of discipline; I just need to get off my lazy ass.
Here are the few results from last week:
Monday - Dropped $198 in 7 hours of play at a $.50/$1 table. I played a fairly tight game at a loose table, but my big hands kept running into bigger hands. By the same token, I definitely could have limited my losses by getting away sooner when I knew I was beaten. I'm pretty good about trusting my instincts/reads when I feel that I'm ahead, but it's a different matter altogether when I think I'm behind (I'm about as bad as it gets when it comes to paying "just to see it").
Wednesday - The Liz and Brandon $20 Freezeout was called off because Liz had her baby the previous morning (no word yet on whether it looks more like me or like Brandon). I decided to host a freezeout of my own but only managed to get 5 players. I made it to heads-up where I chopped the pot yet again for a net profit of $30.
Krumbine Thursday - Dropped another $183 on Thursday, all of it on an early hand where I couldn't get away from AK on a board of AJ9. I was playing lazy, distracted poker and didn't even bother to put the other player on a hand. I got what I deserved.
It was a pretty rough week, but at least I recognize that behind everything was a total lack of discipline and focus on my part. My ePassporte deposit is scheduled to hit tomorrow, so there will definitely be no more excuses.
Here are the few results from last week:
Monday - Dropped $198 in 7 hours of play at a $.50/$1 table. I played a fairly tight game at a loose table, but my big hands kept running into bigger hands. By the same token, I definitely could have limited my losses by getting away sooner when I knew I was beaten. I'm pretty good about trusting my instincts/reads when I feel that I'm ahead, but it's a different matter altogether when I think I'm behind (I'm about as bad as it gets when it comes to paying "just to see it").
Wednesday - The Liz and Brandon $20 Freezeout was called off because Liz had her baby the previous morning (no word yet on whether it looks more like me or like Brandon). I decided to host a freezeout of my own but only managed to get 5 players. I made it to heads-up where I chopped the pot yet again for a net profit of $30.
Krumbine Thursday - Dropped another $183 on Thursday, all of it on an early hand where I couldn't get away from AK on a board of AJ9. I was playing lazy, distracted poker and didn't even bother to put the other player on a hand. I got what I deserved.
It was a pretty rough week, but at least I recognize that behind everything was a total lack of discipline and focus on my part. My ePassporte deposit is scheduled to hit tomorrow, so there will definitely be no more excuses.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Results Update - May 5, 2007
Wednesday - I made it to heads-up again in Liz and Brandon's $20 Freezeout, this time against Brandon. Same results, however, as I again agreed to a 50/50 chop for a net profit of $80.
Krumbine Thursday - We introduced a round of Seven-card Stud to the mixed-game table, which brought the rotation to 2 rounds of Pot-limit Omaha, 2 rounds of No-limit Texas Hold'em, and 1 round of Seven-card Stud. I finished with $147 net profit over 6 hours of play.
At the stakes that I currently play, ABC Hold'em definitely seems to be the most efficient approach. My style had taken an unmistakable step towards loose-aggressive in recent months (probably because of too much TV), but my rededication to tight-aggressive poker has paid dividends in both tournament and cash game play. I know there are games where a loose-aggressive style wins money, but they don't include the loose-passive games I've typically found at these lower stakes.
Along those same lines, the PLO games that I play in are virtually ante games since NO ONE seems to raise pre-flop, and EVERYONE calls in the rare instance that someone raises. I'm trying to develop better habits by folding more pre-flop and raising more often when I decide to play. At worst, I'll be building bigger pots with my better hands.
As for 7-stud, the thing that I'm focusing on the most is remembering everyone's door cards, even after their hands have been folded. Again, due to the loose nature of the games I play, right now I'm just sitting back and waiting for strong hands/draws. Bluffing with high frequency in these games is definitely a losing proposition.
Krumbine Thursday - We introduced a round of Seven-card Stud to the mixed-game table, which brought the rotation to 2 rounds of Pot-limit Omaha, 2 rounds of No-limit Texas Hold'em, and 1 round of Seven-card Stud. I finished with $147 net profit over 6 hours of play.
At the stakes that I currently play, ABC Hold'em definitely seems to be the most efficient approach. My style had taken an unmistakable step towards loose-aggressive in recent months (probably because of too much TV), but my rededication to tight-aggressive poker has paid dividends in both tournament and cash game play. I know there are games where a loose-aggressive style wins money, but they don't include the loose-passive games I've typically found at these lower stakes.
Along those same lines, the PLO games that I play in are virtually ante games since NO ONE seems to raise pre-flop, and EVERYONE calls in the rare instance that someone raises. I'm trying to develop better habits by folding more pre-flop and raising more often when I decide to play. At worst, I'll be building bigger pots with my better hands.
As for 7-stud, the thing that I'm focusing on the most is remembering everyone's door cards, even after their hands have been folded. Again, due to the loose nature of the games I play, right now I'm just sitting back and waiting for strong hands/draws. Bluffing with high frequency in these games is definitely a losing proposition.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
April 2007 Recap
April 2007 was my best month ever, but only because of my Borgata final table in Atlantic City. My cash game hourly rate ended up at a pitiful $4.50, well short of my $20+ goal. But since nearly a grand of my gross losses came while playing Omaha (which I'm studying intently), I'm confident that I'll turn that ship around in May. Here's the overall breakdown:
Cash game net profit = $396.83 (88.10 hours of play)
Tournament net profit = $6112.00
Total net profit = $6508.03
My goal again for May is to get my cash game hourly rate up over $20, but I'd like to cut down on my total cash game hours in order to play more online tournaments. Aside from the Liz and Brandon $20 Freezeout tonight and Krumbine Thursday tomorrow, I won't have much time for poker of any kind this first week of the month due to various commitments, but I plan to really buckle down beginning next week.
Cash game net profit = $396.83 (88.10 hours of play)
Tournament net profit = $6112.00
Total net profit = $6508.03
My goal again for May is to get my cash game hourly rate up over $20, but I'd like to cut down on my total cash game hours in order to play more online tournaments. Aside from the Liz and Brandon $20 Freezeout tonight and Krumbine Thursday tomorrow, I won't have much time for poker of any kind this first week of the month due to various commitments, but I plan to really buckle down beginning next week.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Results Update - April 29, 2007
It's hard to believe that the AC trip was only a week ago; it feels like it's been months. My tournament success has continued since then, though nothing nearly on the scope of the Borgata score. I've also done well in NLHE cash games over the last several days, but my luck has been terrible in both PLO and PLO8:
Tuesday - In Captain G's $1/$2, I made $100 in the only 2 rounds of NLHE that we played. However, due primarily to 'variance' (aka shitty luck) in PLO8, I finished the night with a net loss of $320 despite playing like an absolute rock in an ultra-loose game.
Wednesday - In the Liz and Brandon $20 Freezeout, I chopped the pot 50/50 when I got heads-up with Liz ($80 net profit). Sorry; I just couldn't bring myself to play cutthroat poker with my girl.
Krumbine Thursday - As on Tuesday, I played well during the NLHE rounds but faltered at Omaha. We were playing PLO (Hi only) this time, but it was still the river that bit me. $37 net loss over 6.5 hours.
Friday - Played an impromptu NLHE cash game at a new location with several of the regulars from Krumbine Thursday. Good combination of cards and post-flop play for a net profit of $259 over 4.5 hours.
Saturday - One of the Krumbine Thursday regulars and his wife had a poker-themed baby shower, including a $40 NLHE freezeout. I made it to the final 3 of the 19-player field before agreeing to an even split ($210 net profit). I actually had a sizeable chip advantage at the time of the deal, but I wasn't about to try to negotiate a more equitable deal in the middle of a baby shower and among friends =)
In summary, I feel like my NLHE game is about as strong as it's ever been. For the first few months of the year, I think I had been trying too hard to make things happen regardless of the situation. Lately I've been more selective with my aggression and just let the game come to me. I'm in a real comfort zone right now as a result, and I hope that the strategy continues to pay off.
As for Omaha (both PLO and PLO8), I've been playing super-tight due to the loose nature of the games that I've played in, but I'm definitely calling too much in spots where I should either be raising or folding (including pre-flop). This has been especially true in PLO8 when I've had the nut low on disjointed boards. Because of my passive play, I've been getting quartered and/or counterfeited on the river by marginal Hi hands which would have folded to pressure on earlier streets. Of course, this could all just be yet another example of a Hold'em player trying to make sense of Omaha...
I've ordered a couple of books and have been browsing the 2+2 forums for information on both PLO and PLO8. If I don't improve soon, these losses could really start to eat into my overall profit.
Tuesday - In Captain G's $1/$2, I made $100 in the only 2 rounds of NLHE that we played. However, due primarily to 'variance' (aka shitty luck) in PLO8, I finished the night with a net loss of $320 despite playing like an absolute rock in an ultra-loose game.
Wednesday - In the Liz and Brandon $20 Freezeout, I chopped the pot 50/50 when I got heads-up with Liz ($80 net profit). Sorry; I just couldn't bring myself to play cutthroat poker with my girl.
Krumbine Thursday - As on Tuesday, I played well during the NLHE rounds but faltered at Omaha. We were playing PLO (Hi only) this time, but it was still the river that bit me. $37 net loss over 6.5 hours.
Friday - Played an impromptu NLHE cash game at a new location with several of the regulars from Krumbine Thursday. Good combination of cards and post-flop play for a net profit of $259 over 4.5 hours.
Saturday - One of the Krumbine Thursday regulars and his wife had a poker-themed baby shower, including a $40 NLHE freezeout. I made it to the final 3 of the 19-player field before agreeing to an even split ($210 net profit). I actually had a sizeable chip advantage at the time of the deal, but I wasn't about to try to negotiate a more equitable deal in the middle of a baby shower and among friends =)
In summary, I feel like my NLHE game is about as strong as it's ever been. For the first few months of the year, I think I had been trying too hard to make things happen regardless of the situation. Lately I've been more selective with my aggression and just let the game come to me. I'm in a real comfort zone right now as a result, and I hope that the strategy continues to pay off.
As for Omaha (both PLO and PLO8), I've been playing super-tight due to the loose nature of the games that I've played in, but I'm definitely calling too much in spots where I should either be raising or folding (including pre-flop). This has been especially true in PLO8 when I've had the nut low on disjointed boards. Because of my passive play, I've been getting quartered and/or counterfeited on the river by marginal Hi hands which would have folded to pressure on earlier streets. Of course, this could all just be yet another example of a Hold'em player trying to make sense of Omaha...
I've ordered a couple of books and have been browsing the 2+2 forums for information on both PLO and PLO8. If I don't improve soon, these losses could really start to eat into my overall profit.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Weekend Recap
Here's a rundown of the events of this past weekend:
I made $180 in the Thursday game over 8.5 hours. I tried to tighten up a little more than usual in order to get into 'tournament mode' for the AC trip, but I still managed to have a decent session thanks to some quality cards.
After spending most of Friday morning getting packed for the trip, I arrived in AC just after 10pm and met up with the others at the Hilton, where they were already seated at the $1/$2 NLHE tables. I wasn't really interested in sitting in a cash game since I had planned on entering a tournament at 11:00 the next morning at the Borgata, so I decided to hang out at the video poker machines and test my knowledge of basic strategy. I quickly learned that my knowledge of basic strategy was virtually non-existent, and it wasn't long before I took a seat at $1/$2 NLHE along with the rest of the guys. I continued to play the same tight game that I tried to play Thursday night, but consecutive bad beats (of which I will spare you the details) put me $300 in the hole right off the bat.
Rather than trying to get my money back, which I'm typically inclined to do despite my better judgement, I actually got up from the table and headed back to our room at the Fairfield Resorts to get some rest. Lack of sleep cost me dearly in my first trip to AC last year when I misread my hole cards during a tournament. I was determined not to make the same mistake this time around.
I woke up to my alarm at 9:30 Saturday morning and was out the door of the hotel an hour later (note: no matter how close it looks, trying to walk to the Borgata from the strip is a very bad idea). When I got to the Borgata poker room about 5 minutes before the tournament start time, there were a number of people in line for registration. Unfortunately, it wasn't until about 10 minutes later that half of us realized that we didn't have the player cards necessary to register, which ended up costing us another 15 minutes of table time. In short, the registration fiasco (my fault entirely) caused me to miss out on all but 2 hands of the first blind level.
Late start aside, I played a fairly disciplined game for the remainder of the tournament and didn't have to make many moves at all. I basically just used my tight image to steal the occasional blinds and take down pots post-flop whenever my position and/or cards (mainly cards) allowed me. There were a few interesting hands/concepts that I encountered, but we'll save those for a later post.
I reached the final table about 8.5 hours into the tournament. When we got down to 8 players, one of them asked if everyone wanted to chop the pot at a little over $4K per man. It sounded like a pretty good deal to me since the blinds were getting large in relation to our stacks, and it would take either a first place ($14.5K prize) or second place ($7K prize) finish in order to make a substantially larger amount. Unlike a few of the other players, I had no problem when the chip leader relented, but it was still somewhat poetic that he ended up going broke just 5 hands later.
The 7 remaining players agreed to an equal chop of $5100, with final places being assigned for tax purposes based on chip stack. Despite having only the 2nd smallest stack, I agreed to accept the $14.5K hit on my taxes in exchange for $1K of the small stack's $5100 prize up front (I'm at the high end of my tax bracket, and the $7K 2nd place prize would likely have put me over regardless). This brought my total prize to $6100.
After the tournament, I went with the guys on a buffet run, then we all registered for a $40+$10 NLHE freezeout at the Hilton. At 10 tables, this tournament was about 30% smaller than the Borgata's, but I was still pleased to finish one spot from the final table in 10th place, especially considering the very fast structure. Making back-to-back final tables would have been pretty sweet, but I certainly couldn't complain about my results for the day.
I made $180 in the Thursday game over 8.5 hours. I tried to tighten up a little more than usual in order to get into 'tournament mode' for the AC trip, but I still managed to have a decent session thanks to some quality cards.
After spending most of Friday morning getting packed for the trip, I arrived in AC just after 10pm and met up with the others at the Hilton, where they were already seated at the $1/$2 NLHE tables. I wasn't really interested in sitting in a cash game since I had planned on entering a tournament at 11:00 the next morning at the Borgata, so I decided to hang out at the video poker machines and test my knowledge of basic strategy. I quickly learned that my knowledge of basic strategy was virtually non-existent, and it wasn't long before I took a seat at $1/$2 NLHE along with the rest of the guys. I continued to play the same tight game that I tried to play Thursday night, but consecutive bad beats (of which I will spare you the details) put me $300 in the hole right off the bat.
Rather than trying to get my money back, which I'm typically inclined to do despite my better judgement, I actually got up from the table and headed back to our room at the Fairfield Resorts to get some rest. Lack of sleep cost me dearly in my first trip to AC last year when I misread my hole cards during a tournament. I was determined not to make the same mistake this time around.
I woke up to my alarm at 9:30 Saturday morning and was out the door of the hotel an hour later (note: no matter how close it looks, trying to walk to the Borgata from the strip is a very bad idea). When I got to the Borgata poker room about 5 minutes before the tournament start time, there were a number of people in line for registration. Unfortunately, it wasn't until about 10 minutes later that half of us realized that we didn't have the player cards necessary to register, which ended up costing us another 15 minutes of table time. In short, the registration fiasco (my fault entirely) caused me to miss out on all but 2 hands of the first blind level.
Late start aside, I played a fairly disciplined game for the remainder of the tournament and didn't have to make many moves at all. I basically just used my tight image to steal the occasional blinds and take down pots post-flop whenever my position and/or cards (mainly cards) allowed me. There were a few interesting hands/concepts that I encountered, but we'll save those for a later post.
I reached the final table about 8.5 hours into the tournament. When we got down to 8 players, one of them asked if everyone wanted to chop the pot at a little over $4K per man. It sounded like a pretty good deal to me since the blinds were getting large in relation to our stacks, and it would take either a first place ($14.5K prize) or second place ($7K prize) finish in order to make a substantially larger amount. Unlike a few of the other players, I had no problem when the chip leader relented, but it was still somewhat poetic that he ended up going broke just 5 hands later.
The 7 remaining players agreed to an equal chop of $5100, with final places being assigned for tax purposes based on chip stack. Despite having only the 2nd smallest stack, I agreed to accept the $14.5K hit on my taxes in exchange for $1K of the small stack's $5100 prize up front (I'm at the high end of my tax bracket, and the $7K 2nd place prize would likely have put me over regardless). This brought my total prize to $6100.
After the tournament, I went with the guys on a buffet run, then we all registered for a $40+$10 NLHE freezeout at the Hilton. At 10 tables, this tournament was about 30% smaller than the Borgata's, but I was still pleased to finish one spot from the final table in 10th place, especially considering the very fast structure. Making back-to-back final tables would have been pretty sweet, but I certainly couldn't complain about my results for the day.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Results Update - April 22, 2007
Just a quick update:
Thursday - made $180 net profit over 8.5 hours in the Krumbine game; $21.18 hourly rate
Friday - lost $300 within about 45 minutes in a $1/$2 NLHE cash game at the Atlantic City Hilton
Saturday - made $6100 gross profit in a $300+$40 NLHE freezeout at the Borgata
I'm too tired to go into details right now, but the $6100 prize from the Borgata tournament easily shattered my previous record.
Thursday - made $180 net profit over 8.5 hours in the Krumbine game; $21.18 hourly rate
Friday - lost $300 within about 45 minutes in a $1/$2 NLHE cash game at the Atlantic City Hilton
Saturday - made $6100 gross profit in a $300+$40 NLHE freezeout at the Borgata
I'm too tired to go into details right now, but the $6100 prize from the Borgata tournament easily shattered my previous record.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Results Update - April 19, 2007
Nothing particularly remarkable to report. I've played 28 hours since my last post for a net profit of $424, bringing my total for April up to $814 ($17.70 hourly rate).
I also may have found a permanent game for Monday nights. It is a $1/$2 NLHE cash game comprised of players of various skill levels, but the culture is loose-passive for the most part. Combined with the fact that most of the players seem to have very deep pockets, this game has the potential to provide my biggest profit each week.
I'm taking a trip to Atlantic City this weekend for a bachelor party, among other things. A good performance in tonight's Krumbine Thursday game would be very helpful.
I also may have found a permanent game for Monday nights. It is a $1/$2 NLHE cash game comprised of players of various skill levels, but the culture is loose-passive for the most part. Combined with the fact that most of the players seem to have very deep pockets, this game has the potential to provide my biggest profit each week.
I'm taking a trip to Atlantic City this weekend for a bachelor party, among other things. A good performance in tonight's Krumbine Thursday game would be very helpful.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Results Update - April 9, 2007
March 2007 was the most profitable month of my fledgling poker career:
My hourly rate at $.25/$.50 was horrible, and it was basically due to a couple of 2-hour sessions on Full Tilt and PokerStars in which I burned through $300 trying to buy every pot whenever I had the button. Good experience, but a costly lesson.
Since I intend to play more $1/$2 games, my goal for April will be to get my overall hourly rate up over $20. Yesterday should go a long way towards reaching that goal. In the Sunday game ("AK's Dollar-Dollar") that I'm considering adding to my schedule, I had a 4.5 hour session during which I managed to squeeze out $530 in net profit ($117.78 hourly rate), most of it from Pot Limit Omaha.
I'm starting to see why people say that PL Omaha Hi is one of the best ways for a good player to extract money from a bad player. It's easy for a novice Omaha player to become married to deceptively vulnerable hands such as big sets and medium flushes; the only thing really left for the good player to do is floor it when he hits the nuts.
How expert Omaha players play each other is something I need to see.
Sleep when I'm dead?
I haven't had much time to post this past week simply because I've been playing so much live poker. It's honestly been a challenge to get more than an hour or two of sleep per night, and my co-workers (the majority of whom are female) can't help but tell me that I look shittier with each passing day. For those of you who know what I normally look like, that's actually saying quite a bit.
In my defense, most of the games that I've been playing in are new to me, and the reason I've been spending so many hours at the tables is that I'm trying to get a feel for which games I like the most so that I can set my schedule accordingly.
This is what I have so far:
Monday - off
Tuesday - off
Wednesday - "Liz and Brandon $20 Freezeout". Co-hosted by Liz. 'Nuff said.
Thursday - "Krumbine Thursday". Since I started hosting this game, the players have slowly added PL Omaha Hi to the mix as well as an occasional second table with blinds doubled to $1/$2. Still my favorite live game, by far.
Friday - "Captain G's $1/$2". This is the mixed format cash game (primarily PL Omaha Hi, PL Omaha Hi/Lo, and NL Hold'em) mentioned in my previous post. Easily the toughest game I play in. They don't always play on Fridays, but that seems to be the most consistent day of the week so far.
Saturday - "JT's Dollar-Dollar". Another mixed format cash game, but this one has $1/$1 blinds and rotates among NL Hold'em, PL Omaha Hi, and 7-Stud. A decent place to hone my all-around game.
Sunday - "AK's Dollar-Dollar". Last night, I played for the first time in another $1/$1 game hosted by one of the regulars from Krumbine Thursday. I had originally planned to take Sundays off, but if I continue to have sessions like I did last night, I'll probably have to reconsider (more on this later).
Missing from this schedule, whether conspicuously or not, is online play. Since last year's passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, it's been more difficult for American players - especially the novice ones - to play online, and even the micro limit cash games are tougher than some of the live games I currently play in. Though I still intend to add online tournaments to my regular schedule, it's probably not a bad idea to focus on these softer live games while building my initial bankroll.
In my defense, most of the games that I've been playing in are new to me, and the reason I've been spending so many hours at the tables is that I'm trying to get a feel for which games I like the most so that I can set my schedule accordingly.
This is what I have so far:
Monday - off
Tuesday - off
Wednesday - "Liz and Brandon $20 Freezeout". Co-hosted by Liz. 'Nuff said.
Thursday - "Krumbine Thursday". Since I started hosting this game, the players have slowly added PL Omaha Hi to the mix as well as an occasional second table with blinds doubled to $1/$2. Still my favorite live game, by far.
Friday - "Captain G's $1/$2". This is the mixed format cash game (primarily PL Omaha Hi, PL Omaha Hi/Lo, and NL Hold'em) mentioned in my previous post. Easily the toughest game I play in. They don't always play on Fridays, but that seems to be the most consistent day of the week so far.
Saturday - "JT's Dollar-Dollar". Another mixed format cash game, but this one has $1/$1 blinds and rotates among NL Hold'em, PL Omaha Hi, and 7-Stud. A decent place to hone my all-around game.
Sunday - "AK's Dollar-Dollar". Last night, I played for the first time in another $1/$1 game hosted by one of the regulars from Krumbine Thursday. I had originally planned to take Sundays off, but if I continue to have sessions like I did last night, I'll probably have to reconsider (more on this later).
Missing from this schedule, whether conspicuously or not, is online play. Since last year's passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, it's been more difficult for American players - especially the novice ones - to play online, and even the micro limit cash games are tougher than some of the live games I currently play in. Though I still intend to add online tournaments to my regular schedule, it's probably not a bad idea to focus on these softer live games while building my initial bankroll.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Expensive lessons in Omaha
I've had a decent week so far from a Texas Hold'em standpoint. Unfortunately, it's been more than just Texas Hold'em this week:
Tuesday - The Liz and Brandon $20 Freezeout was moved to Tuesday this week due to some of the players' scheduling conflicts. I busted out in 6th place, but I left the house with a picture of Liz's terrific (albeit unexposed) chest on my cell phone, so it was a winning session as far as I was concerned.
Wednesday - Some of the players I know from various games around the area happened to get the poker itch all on the same day, so I hosted an impromptu $.25/$.50 game to tide everyone over. At the suggestion of some of the more veteran poker players, we added Pot Limit Omaha Hi to the mix, alternating rounds with No Limit Hold'em. All I really knew about Omaha was that it was essentially a "game of the nuts", but the cards were extremely cooperative, so I managed to do well in both formats. I finished with a $17.64 hourly rate over the 5.5 hour session for a net profit of $97.
Thursday - In the Krumbine $100 game, I continued to minimize my mistakes and the deck continued to run me over, so the combination made for a very nice session. We played a couple of rounds of PL Omaha Hi, but it was NL Hold'em for the majority of the night. I finished the 10.5 hour session with a $40.29 hourly rate (net profit of $423).
After finally cashing out at 6 in the morning, the 5 remaining players (all of whom clearly need to get lives) decided to play a $40 freezeout to round out the 'evening'. Though I finished 2nd for a net profit of $10, I didn't do myself any favors by trying to make it through the rest of the day on absolutely zero sleep, and I'm not just talking about work...
Friday - This is where things took a real turn for the worse. After work, one of the Thursday regulars called to invite me to a game that was hosted by a player who had made the final table of a $1500 NLHE event in last year's WSOP. The format was $1/$2 with NL Hold'em and PL Omaha Hi rotating every other round. I played well during the NLHE rounds, but I seemed to have some real trouble taking my foot off the accelerator during the PL Omaha rounds. There was one key hand early on where I basically gave away my whole stack with trips versus a boat. I lost another half a buy-in against a baby flush when I overplayed top set on a suited flop. I finished the 5.5 hour session with a -$74.55 hourly rate, dropping a total of $410.
I probably would've exercised better judgement had I not been playing on zero sleep, but there's no denying that I am at a distinct disadvantage when playing anything other than Hold'em. I've always wanted to learn as many games as possible, but now that it appears I'll be playing Omaha for real money on a regular basis, it's really lit a fire under my ass. I'm absolutely determined to become one of the best players in that $1/$2 game, regardless of the format, so I'll be using this weekend to read as much material as I can possibly find about Omaha. Though I'll likely continue to lose money the next few sessions, I don't ever want to just give it away like I did last night.
Tuesday - The Liz and Brandon $20 Freezeout was moved to Tuesday this week due to some of the players' scheduling conflicts. I busted out in 6th place, but I left the house with a picture of Liz's terrific (albeit unexposed) chest on my cell phone, so it was a winning session as far as I was concerned.
Wednesday - Some of the players I know from various games around the area happened to get the poker itch all on the same day, so I hosted an impromptu $.25/$.50 game to tide everyone over. At the suggestion of some of the more veteran poker players, we added Pot Limit Omaha Hi to the mix, alternating rounds with No Limit Hold'em. All I really knew about Omaha was that it was essentially a "game of the nuts", but the cards were extremely cooperative, so I managed to do well in both formats. I finished with a $17.64 hourly rate over the 5.5 hour session for a net profit of $97.
Thursday - In the Krumbine $100 game, I continued to minimize my mistakes and the deck continued to run me over, so the combination made for a very nice session. We played a couple of rounds of PL Omaha Hi, but it was NL Hold'em for the majority of the night. I finished the 10.5 hour session with a $40.29 hourly rate (net profit of $423).
After finally cashing out at 6 in the morning, the 5 remaining players (all of whom clearly need to get lives) decided to play a $40 freezeout to round out the 'evening'. Though I finished 2nd for a net profit of $10, I didn't do myself any favors by trying to make it through the rest of the day on absolutely zero sleep, and I'm not just talking about work...
Friday - This is where things took a real turn for the worse. After work, one of the Thursday regulars called to invite me to a game that was hosted by a player who had made the final table of a $1500 NLHE event in last year's WSOP. The format was $1/$2 with NL Hold'em and PL Omaha Hi rotating every other round. I played well during the NLHE rounds, but I seemed to have some real trouble taking my foot off the accelerator during the PL Omaha rounds. There was one key hand early on where I basically gave away my whole stack with trips versus a boat. I lost another half a buy-in against a baby flush when I overplayed top set on a suited flop. I finished the 5.5 hour session with a -$74.55 hourly rate, dropping a total of $410.
I probably would've exercised better judgement had I not been playing on zero sleep, but there's no denying that I am at a distinct disadvantage when playing anything other than Hold'em. I've always wanted to learn as many games as possible, but now that it appears I'll be playing Omaha for real money on a regular basis, it's really lit a fire under my ass. I'm absolutely determined to become one of the best players in that $1/$2 game, regardless of the format, so I'll be using this weekend to read as much material as I can possibly find about Omaha. Though I'll likely continue to lose money the next few sessions, I don't ever want to just give it away like I did last night.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Minimizing losses from the blinds
I'll let you in on a little secret: I don't like it when people attack my blind.
I know this is the case for a lot of players, but I probably lose way more money from the blinds than I should due to the fact that I never give a player any credit once I've made up my mind that I'm up against a steal attempt.
I had such a blow-up earlier today when I dropped a whole buy-in at a $.25/$.50 NL cash game on UltimateBet. The player to my right had only been at the table for about a dozen hands, but I had already tabbed him for an aggressive player who liked to make moves after the flop:
Hand #40568179-5554 at Zwiggelte (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 25/Mar/07 10:03:03
alange is at seat 0 with $14.45.
Abdul_Akhmed is at seat 1 with $64.30.
RandomFlask is at seat 2 with $30.70.
summit555 is at seat 3 with $45.65.
Silver Book is at seat 4 with $56.60.
4TO1DOG is at seat 5 with $117.
Abellino is at seat 6 with $26.25.
martin048200 is at seat 7 with $47.25.
McSquiggs is at seat 8 with $24.10.
Big_Greg27 is at seat 9 with $49.70.
The button is at seat 0.
Pre-flop: RandomFlask is BB with 5s, 8c.
summit555 folds.
Silver Book folds.
4TO1DOG folds.
Abellino folds.
martin048200 folds.
McSquiggsfolds.
Big_Greg27 folds.
alange folds.
Abdul_Akhmed calls.
RandomFlask checks.
Flop (board: 2h Th 9d):
Abdul_Akhmed bets $1.
RandomFlask raises to $2.
Abdul_Akhmed re-raises to $7.
RandomFlask calls.
Turn (board: 2h Th 9d 8s):
Abdul_Akhmed bets $15.
RandomFlask goes all-in for$23.20.
Abdul_Akhmed calls.
River (board: 2h Th 9d 8s Ts):
(no action in this round)
Showdown:
RandomFlask shows 5s 8c.
RandomFlask has 8c Th 9d 8s Ts: two pair, tens and eights.
Abdul_Akhmed shows Kc Kh.
Abdul_Akhmed has Kc Kh Th 9d Ts: two pair, kings and tens.
Hand #40568179-5554 Summary:
$3 is raked from a pot of $61.40.
Abdul_Akhmed wins $58.40 with two pair, kings and tens.
I decided that he was trying to buy the pot after he insta-bet the flop, but I really should've slowed down once he reraised me, especially since I didn't have a large enough stack to push back with on later streets.
The worst part is that he probably decided to slow-play his KK specifically since he had seen me aggressively attacking weakness in the few hands prior. He set the trap and I fell right in.
I know that it's important to trust your instincts, but I didn't take any time to re-evaluate my initial read as the hand progressed because I was too preoccupied with defending my blind. I don't have these blow-ups too often, but I'm sure the losses will add up if I don't learn to let go from time to time.
I know this is the case for a lot of players, but I probably lose way more money from the blinds than I should due to the fact that I never give a player any credit once I've made up my mind that I'm up against a steal attempt.
I had such a blow-up earlier today when I dropped a whole buy-in at a $.25/$.50 NL cash game on UltimateBet. The player to my right had only been at the table for about a dozen hands, but I had already tabbed him for an aggressive player who liked to make moves after the flop:
Hand #40568179-5554 at Zwiggelte (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 25/Mar/07 10:03:03
alange is at seat 0 with $14.45.
Abdul_Akhmed is at seat 1 with $64.30.
RandomFlask is at seat 2 with $30.70.
summit555 is at seat 3 with $45.65.
Silver Book is at seat 4 with $56.60.
4TO1DOG is at seat 5 with $117.
Abellino is at seat 6 with $26.25.
martin048200 is at seat 7 with $47.25.
McSquiggs is at seat 8 with $24.10.
Big_Greg27 is at seat 9 with $49.70.
The button is at seat 0.
Pre-flop: RandomFlask is BB with 5s, 8c.
summit555 folds.
Silver Book folds.
4TO1DOG folds.
Abellino folds.
martin048200 folds.
McSquiggsfolds.
Big_Greg27 folds.
alange folds.
Abdul_Akhmed calls.
RandomFlask checks.
Flop (board: 2h Th 9d):
Abdul_Akhmed bets $1.
RandomFlask raises to $2.
Abdul_Akhmed re-raises to $7.
RandomFlask calls.
Turn (board: 2h Th 9d 8s):
Abdul_Akhmed bets $15.
RandomFlask goes all-in for$23.20.
Abdul_Akhmed calls.
River (board: 2h Th 9d 8s Ts):
(no action in this round)
Showdown:
RandomFlask shows 5s 8c.
RandomFlask has 8c Th 9d 8s Ts: two pair, tens and eights.
Abdul_Akhmed shows Kc Kh.
Abdul_Akhmed has Kc Kh Th 9d Ts: two pair, kings and tens.
Hand #40568179-5554 Summary:
$3 is raked from a pot of $61.40.
Abdul_Akhmed wins $58.40 with two pair, kings and tens.
I decided that he was trying to buy the pot after he insta-bet the flop, but I really should've slowed down once he reraised me, especially since I didn't have a large enough stack to push back with on later streets.
The worst part is that he probably decided to slow-play his KK specifically since he had seen me aggressively attacking weakness in the few hands prior. He set the trap and I fell right in.
I know that it's important to trust your instincts, but I didn't take any time to re-evaluate my initial read as the hand progressed because I was too preoccupied with defending my blind. I don't have these blow-ups too often, but I'm sure the losses will add up if I don't learn to let go from time to time.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Results Update - March 24, 2007
On Wednesday, I finished 5th in the Liz and Brandon $20 Freezeout. In a game where aces with a jack kicker is normally good, my AJ ran into AQ and I failed to get away from it. Other than that, my only regret is that my seat didn't offer a better view of Liz.
My friend, Mr. Krumbine, who usually hosts the Thursday night game, was recently shipped off to Iraq, so I hosted the 'Krumbine $100' for the first time. I had to scramble to buy a poker table since I left my other table at a friend's place, but it all worked out. We took advantage of the warm weather and played out on the covered patio in the backyard, much to the delight of all the smokers. But most importantly, I achieved a $17.54 hourly rate over the 6.5 session for a net profit of $114.
While doing an online price comparison for poker tables that morning, I stumbled upon a local poker group which happened to be holding a $1/$2 no limit cash game the following evening. I signed up for the game primarily with the intention of finding some new blood for my Thursday game. Not sure if I succeeded in that respect, but I was certainly happy with the session that I had: $91.67 hourly rate over 6 hours for a net profit of $550. The game was comprised primarily of tight-aggressive players who were probably better suited for tournament play, and I felt like I held the post-flop advantage over most of them. If they hold the game with any regularity, it will be a good candidate to add to the schedule.
As for online play, I registered for a $4.40 PokerStars freezeout on Thursday and finished 38th out of 180. The biggest mistake I think I made was that I let myself get desperate before I was truly short-stacked and called an all-in with 77. I consider myself a pretty good short stack player (probably because I get so much practice), but I never gave myself a chance to prove it this time around.
I also just finished a $3.30+Rebuy with 2780 runners. Things were going smoothly until the following hand:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (9 handed)
MP2 (t15345)
MP3 (t6525)
CO (t6775)
Button (t1599)
RandomFlask (t22599)
BB (t5253)
UTG (t5934)
UTG+1 (t12772)
MP1 (t22299)
Preflop: RandomFlask is SB with 8h, 8s.
3 folds, MP2 raises to t400, 3 folds, RandomFlask calls t300, 1 fold.
Flop: (t900) 2h, 8d, 3s (2 players)
RandomFlask bets t800, MP2 raises to t5600, RandomFlask calls t4800.
Turn: (t12100) 4s (2 players)
RandomFlask bets t4000, MP2 raises to t9320, RandomFlask calls t5320.
River: (t30740) 7s (2 players)
Final Pot: t30740
Results:
RandomFlask has 8h 8s (three of a kind, eights).
MP2 has 2s Js (flush, jack high).
Outcome: MP2 wins t30740.
I did manage to get this player to put all of his chips in on the turn when I was over 80% to win the hand. But this being a tournament, there's still a part of me that wonders if I should've made a bigger bet on the turn rather than inducing a bluff with a weak lead. The funny thing is, had it been a cash game, I would've been elated with my play despite the end result. I'll have to take some time to ponder this one.
My friend, Mr. Krumbine, who usually hosts the Thursday night game, was recently shipped off to Iraq, so I hosted the 'Krumbine $100' for the first time. I had to scramble to buy a poker table since I left my other table at a friend's place, but it all worked out. We took advantage of the warm weather and played out on the covered patio in the backyard, much to the delight of all the smokers. But most importantly, I achieved a $17.54 hourly rate over the 6.5 session for a net profit of $114.
While doing an online price comparison for poker tables that morning, I stumbled upon a local poker group which happened to be holding a $1/$2 no limit cash game the following evening. I signed up for the game primarily with the intention of finding some new blood for my Thursday game. Not sure if I succeeded in that respect, but I was certainly happy with the session that I had: $91.67 hourly rate over 6 hours for a net profit of $550. The game was comprised primarily of tight-aggressive players who were probably better suited for tournament play, and I felt like I held the post-flop advantage over most of them. If they hold the game with any regularity, it will be a good candidate to add to the schedule.
As for online play, I registered for a $4.40 PokerStars freezeout on Thursday and finished 38th out of 180. The biggest mistake I think I made was that I let myself get desperate before I was truly short-stacked and called an all-in with 77. I consider myself a pretty good short stack player (probably because I get so much practice), but I never gave myself a chance to prove it this time around.
I also just finished a $3.30+Rebuy with 2780 runners. Things were going smoothly until the following hand:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (9 handed)
MP2 (t15345)
MP3 (t6525)
CO (t6775)
Button (t1599)
RandomFlask (t22599)
BB (t5253)
UTG (t5934)
UTG+1 (t12772)
MP1 (t22299)
Preflop: RandomFlask is SB with 8h, 8s.
3 folds, MP2 raises to t400, 3 folds, RandomFlask calls t300, 1 fold.
Flop: (t900) 2h, 8d, 3s (2 players)
RandomFlask bets t800, MP2 raises to t5600, RandomFlask calls t4800.
Turn: (t12100) 4s (2 players)
RandomFlask bets t4000, MP2 raises to t9320, RandomFlask calls t5320.
River: (t30740) 7s (2 players)
Final Pot: t30740
Results:
RandomFlask has 8h 8s (three of a kind, eights).
MP2 has 2s Js (flush, jack high).
Outcome: MP2 wins t30740.
I did manage to get this player to put all of his chips in on the turn when I was over 80% to win the hand. But this being a tournament, there's still a part of me that wonders if I should've made a bigger bet on the turn rather than inducing a bluff with a weak lead. The funny thing is, had it been a cash game, I would've been elated with my play despite the end result. I'll have to take some time to ponder this one.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Rebuy strategy needs work
Well, that makes 2 straight MTT cashes. I finished 181st out of 2323 for a net profit of $5.36. Why such a small profit? I went a little crazy during the rebuy period. 7 rebuys plus the add-on, to be exact. It could've been worse, but I probably gambled just a little more than I should have. At least it paid off; my stack was about twice the average size by the first break.
Once we started playing 'real' poker after the add-on, I thought I did a pretty good job of using my chip stack to push the table around. I probably still could have been more aggressive with my button, but I'm working on it. My biggest mistake was that I tried to outplay unfamiliar players after the flop on 2 separate occasions. But even then, I would have been in great shape had my straight not succumbed to a full house on the river on a key hand about halfway through the tournament. Them's the breaks.
Once we started playing 'real' poker after the add-on, I thought I did a pretty good job of using my chip stack to push the table around. I probably still could have been more aggressive with my button, but I'm working on it. My biggest mistake was that I tried to outplay unfamiliar players after the flop on 2 separate occasions. But even then, I would have been in great shape had my straight not succumbed to a full house on the river on a key hand about halfway through the tournament. Them's the breaks.
Results Update - March 20, 2007
Placed 95th out of 2117 in the PokerStars $11 NLHE ($15,000 Guaranteed) last night. Net profit of $20.76. I think I could've used position more often during the middle stages of the tournament to help build a bigger stack. I also lost a 3rd of my stack on a hand late in the tournament when I made the mistake of tangling with one of the chip leaders. Other than that, I was pretty happy with my play.
I'm getting ready to play in a $3.30+R NLHE ($10,000 Guaranteed). I've allotted 3 rebuys plus the add-on for this tournament, so I'll be mixing it up early. Results to follow.
I'm getting ready to play in a $3.30+R NLHE ($10,000 Guaranteed). I've allotted 3 rebuys plus the add-on for this tournament, so I'll be mixing it up early. Results to follow.
My regular games
I'm still working on developing a regular poker schedule so that I make sure that I'm playing on a consistent basis (both live and online). Right now, there are only 2 games that I play in regularly:
"Liz and Brandon $20 Freezeout" - Wednesday nights. This is a live $20 turbo freezeout with a very steep payout. The EV is probably just barely positive as a result of the structure, but the friendly atmosphere and attractive (albeit taken) female players are more than enough to keep me coming back. The average player in this game is tight-passive.
"Krumbine $100 NLHE" - Thursday nights. This is a live $100 No Limit Hold'em cash game ($.50/$1 blinds). It has a great mix of loose-aggressive and loose-passive players, with the occasional tight-aggressive player thrown in. A great place to practice changing gears.
I'm still trying to determine which online tournaments I'll be playing regularly. My focus will probably be on the PokerStars guaranteed events, but I'll check out the offerings at Ultimate Bet, Full Tilt, Absolute, and Bodog as well.
"Liz and Brandon $20 Freezeout" - Wednesday nights. This is a live $20 turbo freezeout with a very steep payout. The EV is probably just barely positive as a result of the structure, but the friendly atmosphere and attractive (albeit taken) female players are more than enough to keep me coming back. The average player in this game is tight-passive.
"Krumbine $100 NLHE" - Thursday nights. This is a live $100 No Limit Hold'em cash game ($.50/$1 blinds). It has a great mix of loose-aggressive and loose-passive players, with the occasional tight-aggressive player thrown in. A great place to practice changing gears.
I'm still trying to determine which online tournaments I'll be playing regularly. My focus will probably be on the PokerStars guaranteed events, but I'll check out the offerings at Ultimate Bet, Full Tilt, Absolute, and Bodog as well.
My poker background
Like many new players, it was the explosion of poker on TV a few years ago that introduced me to the game, and I was instantly hooked. As is the case with most things that I take interest in, I had to do as much research as I could, so I bought a couple of books and it snowballed from there. Among my favorites:
The Little Green Book by Phil Gordon - A great first book for new players. It's a very easy read, and it covers the basics as effectively as anything I've read so far. Great for cash gamers and tournament players alike.
Harrington on Hold'em by Dan Harrington - In my opinion, volumes I and II are must-reads for any serious player, especially tournament specialists. I haven't checked out volume III yet, but I'm sure I will eventually.
Professional Poker by Mark Blade - This book details the things you should consider before trying to play poker for a living (or even for supplementary income). It also gives as thorough a treatment of bankroll management as I've found anywhere.
Super System by Doyle Brunson - They don't call it the "Bible of Poker" for nothing.
Other good books in my library:
Theory of Poker by David Sklansky (probably not the best place for beginners to start)
Book of Tells by Mike Caro
Book of Bluffs by Matt Lessinger
Tournament Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky
Kill Phil by Blair Rodman and Lee Nelson (how/when exploit the "all-in" move in tournament play)
World Poker Tour: Making the Final Table by Erick Lindgren
Online Ace by Scott Fischman
Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky (for Limit Hold'em specialists)
Ace on the River by Barry Greenstein (mainly for entertainment purposes)
The Making of a Poker Player by Matt Matros (again, mainly for entertainment purposes)
Other resources:
Two Plus Two Publishing - These forums house invaluable content that you won't find anywhere else.
PocketFives.com - Lots of informative articles and forum discussions.
Cardplayer.com - The 'CNN' of poker.
Bonuswhores.com - Wealth of information regarding online sign-up and deposit bonuses as well as online poker in general.
RizenPoker.com - Online poker phenomenon, and my personal favorite blogger. I make no secret of the fact that his is a path I'm trying to mirror.
That just about covers all of the different places that I've learned to play poker so far (aside from actually playing, for which there is no substitute).
The Little Green Book by Phil Gordon - A great first book for new players. It's a very easy read, and it covers the basics as effectively as anything I've read so far. Great for cash gamers and tournament players alike.
Harrington on Hold'em by Dan Harrington - In my opinion, volumes I and II are must-reads for any serious player, especially tournament specialists. I haven't checked out volume III yet, but I'm sure I will eventually.
Professional Poker by Mark Blade - This book details the things you should consider before trying to play poker for a living (or even for supplementary income). It also gives as thorough a treatment of bankroll management as I've found anywhere.
Super System by Doyle Brunson - They don't call it the "Bible of Poker" for nothing.
Other good books in my library:
Theory of Poker by David Sklansky (probably not the best place for beginners to start)
Book of Tells by Mike Caro
Book of Bluffs by Matt Lessinger
Tournament Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky
Kill Phil by Blair Rodman and Lee Nelson (how/when exploit the "all-in" move in tournament play)
World Poker Tour: Making the Final Table by Erick Lindgren
Online Ace by Scott Fischman
Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky (for Limit Hold'em specialists)
Ace on the River by Barry Greenstein (mainly for entertainment purposes)
The Making of a Poker Player by Matt Matros (again, mainly for entertainment purposes)
Other resources:
Two Plus Two Publishing - These forums house invaluable content that you won't find anywhere else.
PocketFives.com - Lots of informative articles and forum discussions.
Cardplayer.com - The 'CNN' of poker.
Bonuswhores.com - Wealth of information regarding online sign-up and deposit bonuses as well as online poker in general.
RizenPoker.com - Online poker phenomenon, and my personal favorite blogger. I make no secret of the fact that his is a path I'm trying to mirror.
That just about covers all of the different places that I've learned to play poker so far (aside from actually playing, for which there is no substitute).
Why and how
The primary purpose of this blog is to force me to analyze my play and document my progress as I try to build my bankroll from virtually nothing. If others happen to learn from my mistakes, that's great too.
The game I will be playing most is No Limit Texas Hold'em (surprise, surprise). I do believe that it's important to become proficient in multiple variations of poker (and I certainly dabble on the side), but I'll be using this calendar year to find out what kind of progress (i.e. $$$) I can make by focusing primarily on No Limit Hold'em. However, I will be playing both cash games and tournaments.
I'll be starting with an 'unprotected' bankroll of $500. I'll play within my bankroll for the most part, but since it's an amount that I can afford to lose a couple of times over, I'll admittedly be taking occasional stabs at games which are a just a little beyond those means. Once I hit the $2000 mark, I will adhere strictly to the guidelines of a 'protected' bankroll. If you are brand new to the game or are playing with a bankroll that you cannot afford to replenish, I recommend that you not deviate from your chosen bankroll guidelines AT ALL.
In addition to playing both cash games and tournaments, I'll be playing in both live and online environments as well. For the live games, I've developed a few spreadsheets that will allow me to track my hourly rate. For the online games, I'll be using the venerable PokerTracker software to log my sessions. I'll also be using Microsoft Money to keep track of my balances at the various online sites.
The game I will be playing most is No Limit Texas Hold'em (surprise, surprise). I do believe that it's important to become proficient in multiple variations of poker (and I certainly dabble on the side), but I'll be using this calendar year to find out what kind of progress (i.e. $$$) I can make by focusing primarily on No Limit Hold'em. However, I will be playing both cash games and tournaments.
I'll be starting with an 'unprotected' bankroll of $500. I'll play within my bankroll for the most part, but since it's an amount that I can afford to lose a couple of times over, I'll admittedly be taking occasional stabs at games which are a just a little beyond those means. Once I hit the $2000 mark, I will adhere strictly to the guidelines of a 'protected' bankroll. If you are brand new to the game or are playing with a bankroll that you cannot afford to replenish, I recommend that you not deviate from your chosen bankroll guidelines AT ALL.
In addition to playing both cash games and tournaments, I'll be playing in both live and online environments as well. For the live games, I've developed a few spreadsheets that will allow me to track my hourly rate. For the online games, I'll be using the venerable PokerTracker software to log my sessions. I'll also be using Microsoft Money to keep track of my balances at the various online sites.
Intro
Welcome to RandomFlask Poker. This is actually the 2nd iteration of this blog. The first version ran from early 2006 to the first part this year, but I had to sack it because I realized that I was talking a bigger poker game than I was actually playing. This time around, there will be no fluff, no BS. Just straight-up results, analysis, and a running total of my bankroll as I endeavor to break into professional poker.
Note: While I have serious aspirations of becoming a professional poker player, I have an equally serious understanding of the likelihood that I'll fail. I already have steady income that pays the bills, and I will NEVER play with money that I can't afford to lose. Unless you can say the same, please do not consider playing poker for anything other than recreation.
Note: While I have serious aspirations of becoming a professional poker player, I have an equally serious understanding of the likelihood that I'll fail. I already have steady income that pays the bills, and I will NEVER play with money that I can't afford to lose. Unless you can say the same, please do not consider playing poker for anything other than recreation.
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