After a quick sit down, suck out, and run I added a UB player to my buddy list. I am at work and do not have the hand history but it went something like this:
STeelerJosh - AQo
Punk Player - Q30
Flop, Rainbow, Q high
I made a large preflop raise from LP (1 off button I think) it was called by 2 players.
Small bet to me, I raise big with TPTK, wanting to take it down right now on the flop, Punk calls and I estimated him to be pot committed at this point
Turn is a 3. Punk goes all in for last $1.50 and I call. River no help and He takes ~ $6 off of me. I had been way up for the session in .05/.10 so I was still up but a little perturbed that he called and left the table right after the win. He played 2-3 hands including this one.
As soon as I added him, UBuddy chimed, he sat down at a 10+1 10 player SNG. I sat down also (in position so that I am button when he is in BB) I chuckle to myself, and think this should be fun. He plays pretty aggressively here and is getting pretty lucky. After losing a big hand to the guy between me and the Punk I get AA and make a big bet, the guy between us must suspect tilt because he just took a big one off of me and goes over the top all-in. Easy call. Aces hold up and he is down to a couple hundred chips, I am chip leader. Few hands later, he is out. Pretty soon the Punk gets involved in some big hands and comes out smelling like roses. He takes chip lead. I am in 2nd with 6 people left and I am playing very, very tight, I want to get into the money and I want to trap this guy. It was not to be. Despite only playing premium hands and betting them big, I took a big hit on a hand that was all in preflop my KK against KQs. He caught two Queens and I was hurting. All of a sudden, the cards started coming.
QQ - Pot sized Bet (blinds are 150/300 at this point so that was most of my stack, 500) Everyone folds
very next hand....
QQ again!! Sweet!. Pot is raised once by a very, very tight player (he played maybe 5 hands to this point) so I cannot rule out AA or KK, but I am short stacked still and might not see hole cards this nice again so I push. He calls and flips over AA. I am out and the punk probably made the money while I lost the $11 plus the $6 he took from me leaving me down overall for the night.
Lessons? I think I should continue to play my game and not let ego or aggressiveness get me out of my grinding mindset at the nickel dime NL tables. If I had won the SNG (which I have not done on UB yet, 0-3) I would be tempted to do that in the future, but with a loss I can think of that next time I am tempted to chase someone. Hit and Runs will be a part of the stuff that goes on in online poker, I just need to accept it and know that it will happen again, and probably again and again. There are more important parts of my game that I need to work on.
This leads me to my last question. The answer may very well be "It Depends" (like in all my business classes in college) but if you use Poker Tracker software how does it rate you and what is your ideal rating? I currently bounce between Loose Aggressive Passive and Loose Aggressive Aggressive. Loose because I $VP (voluntarily put money in pot) 25%-33% of the time and aggressive because I PreFlop raise a lot. The second Aggressive/Passive I bounce between is the Post Flop play. Since I am playing a lot of pots, I often fold when I don't make my hand instead of pushing with absolute crap. I feel comfortable folding so I don't worry about the second indicator too much. One major shortcoming of my style so far is that I can be trapped and will push with TPTK on the flop. When people call and make their hand, I pay. When they don't, they pay but sometimes fold. I am not sure if this is the best type of play for the lower limit tables.
My reasoning is this. I feel comfortable laying down a good hand when I am pretty confident it is beaten. It is hard for opponents to put me on a certain class of hands. If I play what I have correctly, I should be winning. When my suited connectors bust premium cards, emotions can affect their play. The risk I have the most trouble with is getting trapped. I also wonder what my table image is.
Any thoughts you have about this are appreciated, I will try and post my statistics for the game that I am concentrating on right now, .05/.10 NL on UB.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
New Strategy
Despite myself, I loaded some more money on UB because I wanted to play some tourneys. Busted out of 40 and a 20 Monday night playing with my buddy DNasty. Now that I had some cash on UB again, I decided that my new strategy will be to not go above the nickel/dime NL tables until I grow the bankroll to $300.
The gamesmanship is not too bad at this level and there seem to be plenty of fish (according to my Poker Tracker) although last night they were taking my money! KK busted by 99, trip J's broken by a flush by a calling station that I could not push out. Oh well. I delivered a bad beat or two myself so I do not get too worked up. I was yelling at my monitor though.... I never cry about those beats in the chat window though, I can't stand people that do that, there is no point to it. If people are making "bad" plays, I think it should be encouraged. They risked their chips and if you are playing right, more often than not they will become your chips. That said, I was down probably 12 bucks for the night.
I am pumped to try my strategy and see if I can make some nice results. Anytime spent on the virtual felt can be used to learn, try and perfect new strategies, and prepare for the next level. I still feel like a fish sometimes with my tendency to make crying calls or push my top pair on the flop and run into a pocket pair that hit. I am not sure how I am going to work on that, but I think that my aggressiveness will pay off in the long run and I continue to try and make my reads of the betting patterns of my opponents.
Thanks for those that have stopped by and made comments, I read them all. I am wondering if I should turn off to post anon, esp. if I get more comments like the D-bag that posted some American Pie gibberish.
The gamesmanship is not too bad at this level and there seem to be plenty of fish (according to my Poker Tracker) although last night they were taking my money! KK busted by 99, trip J's broken by a flush by a calling station that I could not push out. Oh well. I delivered a bad beat or two myself so I do not get too worked up. I was yelling at my monitor though.... I never cry about those beats in the chat window though, I can't stand people that do that, there is no point to it. If people are making "bad" plays, I think it should be encouraged. They risked their chips and if you are playing right, more often than not they will become your chips. That said, I was down probably 12 bucks for the night.
I am pumped to try my strategy and see if I can make some nice results. Anytime spent on the virtual felt can be used to learn, try and perfect new strategies, and prepare for the next level. I still feel like a fish sometimes with my tendency to make crying calls or push my top pair on the flop and run into a pocket pair that hit. I am not sure how I am going to work on that, but I think that my aggressiveness will pay off in the long run and I continue to try and make my reads of the betting patterns of my opponents.
Thanks for those that have stopped by and made comments, I read them all. I am wondering if I should turn off to post anon, esp. if I get more comments like the D-bag that posted some American Pie gibberish.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Work To Do
I have not posted in a few days, partially because I am embarrassed and confused. It has become apparent that I need to figure out some daily limits or limits to the games I play. I used to play PP just for fun, cashing out here and there but mostly playing whatever game seemed like a good idea at the time. Fun stuff, but not how you build a bankroll. I tilted/stupided (I think I just made that word up, but it is appropriate) all of my money off on UB. Upon reflection, I moved up my limits too fast and did not have the bankroll to cover the variance, got into the mindset of playing for fun (not that I don't think I can have fun doing this, but there is no discipline when playing for fun), and worst of all started chasing. If I lost 10 playing at a .10/.25 table, I would sit down at a 10 NL HU table to try and win it right back. This worked sometimes, but is not the approach that will get my bankroll growing.
Before I load any money back on UB (and after payday!) I am going to have to create my limits and the structure I obviously need. I am thinking about playing for bankroll on UB and fun on PP until I get this more figured out. I loaded $50 on PP and have been working on getting all of my Poker Tracker stats into the green. This has been fun, productive, and I have turned the $50 into $117 as I type this. Empirical evidence that I would do well with some defined goals and limits? Perhaps, but it is also a weekend on PP!!
I am very open to any comments on bankroll size and corresponding limits. I am going to look through some of doubleas early posts to see what his limits/games were before he allowed himself to "move up". I still believe in myself and feel that I have had some poker breakthroughs since starting this blog and my continued play. I am more likely to trust my read and capture some pots that I would have let go in the past. I am also getting better in short handed games because of my increased aggressiveness. I need to work on my aggressiveness still, Poker Tracker has me listed as Loose-Aggressive/Passive after ~2,000 hands. I flirted with LAA for awhile but it has now been solid LAP the past few days.
Amazingly, a link appeared to my blog from doubleas!
Bittersweet.... sweet because he inspired me to do this and I consider his example a good one to follow. Bitter because anyone that checks this blog out this week will see my loss of my UB stake. Such is life
Lastly, I hosted the neighborhood poker game at my house last night and my wife was the big winner! She even bluffed me out of a big pot towards the end of the night. I was pretty impressed and still think she had made her hand, but she swears she didn't and gives me that damn wife smirk. You know the one - the
"she one upped me at something I think I am good at and that makes her happy" look. Go Stephanie. Final results were Stephanie +17 and me -1 for the night. I am proud of my little poker hustling wife. She was even trash talking a few of the neighborhood guys that were playing!! Gotta love her.
Bottom line, I will be creating my strategy for my limits on UB and will have some fun with the cash I loaded on PP. See you out there.
Before I load any money back on UB (and after payday!) I am going to have to create my limits and the structure I obviously need. I am thinking about playing for bankroll on UB and fun on PP until I get this more figured out. I loaded $50 on PP and have been working on getting all of my Poker Tracker stats into the green. This has been fun, productive, and I have turned the $50 into $117 as I type this. Empirical evidence that I would do well with some defined goals and limits? Perhaps, but it is also a weekend on PP!!
I am very open to any comments on bankroll size and corresponding limits. I am going to look through some of doubleas early posts to see what his limits/games were before he allowed himself to "move up". I still believe in myself and feel that I have had some poker breakthroughs since starting this blog and my continued play. I am more likely to trust my read and capture some pots that I would have let go in the past. I am also getting better in short handed games because of my increased aggressiveness. I need to work on my aggressiveness still, Poker Tracker has me listed as Loose-Aggressive/Passive after ~2,000 hands. I flirted with LAA for awhile but it has now been solid LAP the past few days.
Amazingly, a link appeared to my blog from doubleas!
Bittersweet.... sweet because he inspired me to do this and I consider his example a good one to follow. Bitter because anyone that checks this blog out this week will see my loss of my UB stake. Such is life
Lastly, I hosted the neighborhood poker game at my house last night and my wife was the big winner! She even bluffed me out of a big pot towards the end of the night. I was pretty impressed and still think she had made her hand, but she swears she didn't and gives me that damn wife smirk. You know the one - the
"she one upped me at something I think I am good at and that makes her happy" look. Go Stephanie. Final results were Stephanie +17 and me -1 for the night. I am proud of my little poker hustling wife. She was even trash talking a few of the neighborhood guys that were playing!! Gotta love her.
Bottom line, I will be creating my strategy for my limits on UB and will have some fun with the cash I loaded on PP. See you out there.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
AC Recap 2
I am not sure how much of this I can divulge without breaking the sacred unspoken vow of bachelor party secrecy but I will give some highlights. First, Bare Exposure was great. It is all nude, so BYOB. This is nice because you save a ton on drinks. People were bringing in their own coolers! Anyway, the girls were above average with a few really smoking ones. The couch dances were good and there was a general Friday night rowdiness in the crowd. Bare Exposure offers something called the "Hot Seat", for a mere $60 the bachelor (or anyone) can go up on stage with two nude girls and they start to give him (or a few hers that night!) an aggressive lap dance. This seemingly awesome situation turns south quickly. All of a sudden, our hero, Jared, finds his belt being taken off, his jeans being undone and his underwear forcibly removed! It was like an atomic wedgie, the boxers were completely destroyed, the waistband became a neck band. Before he knew what hit him, he was bent over the chair, bare assed and being belted very, very hard with his own belt!! The crowd loved it, the dancers enjoyed it, Jared was not that happy with it! After taking few strokes like a man, he started to try and escape but not before the girls got a few more licks in. "Bottom" line, Jared had a nose bleed (from a hard naked dancer crotch thrust in the face), his necklace was broken, his underwear destroyed and welts on his butt. Priceless. This event was only slightly eclipsed by the two girls that got in the hotseat from the crowd and discovered they had some exhibitionist in them. God Bless America.
The next morning, I actually asked my brother to see his ass (a first) and witnessed the bruises and welts from the night before. He took it like a trooper. I think he really is ready for marriage.
We did not know this at the time, but we were moving hotels today! A mix up in the reservations had us staying only one night. I hopped on the computer and quickly found 5 rooms with double beds at the El Roacho motel. The El Rancho was the cheapest around, price was an important decision point for the bulk of the group there. You have to experience what $125 will get you on a Saturday night, words fail me. If you have a chance to stay at the El Rancho, pass.
Saturday was more of the same, drinking, gambling, nudie bars. I will not bore with the details other than my luck changed for the worse at Caeser's Palace. I was quickly down $350 on roulette and blackjack and continued the losing into Bally's. Net loss, including the Bare Exposure and rooms, a hair over $600 and I did not play any poker!
Overall the trip was great, the ride home was a boring 500 mile ride with 400+ on highway and PA Turnpike (my most hated road in the world). I was trying to make time to help out the in laws move a television in Pittsburgh. An hour out, I found out they canceled so my $25 in tolls and turnpike torture was all for naught. At least the weather was fantastic, the bike ran like a champ and I got to have breakfast at my favorite b-fast spot - Waffle House! Cheesesteak Omelet, no grits, double order of hash browns, scattered, covered, peppered, done well! Coffee and a water to wash it down. Damn, it was good but I know I will be paying for those jalepeno peppers later.... they tend to torch the O ring.
The bike turned 16 in Cranberry Township, PA and the 1,000 mile weekend was blast. Looking forward to getting back to poker this week.
The next morning, I actually asked my brother to see his ass (a first) and witnessed the bruises and welts from the night before. He took it like a trooper. I think he really is ready for marriage.
We did not know this at the time, but we were moving hotels today! A mix up in the reservations had us staying only one night. I hopped on the computer and quickly found 5 rooms with double beds at the El Roacho motel. The El Rancho was the cheapest around, price was an important decision point for the bulk of the group there. You have to experience what $125 will get you on a Saturday night, words fail me. If you have a chance to stay at the El Rancho, pass.
Saturday was more of the same, drinking, gambling, nudie bars. I will not bore with the details other than my luck changed for the worse at Caeser's Palace. I was quickly down $350 on roulette and blackjack and continued the losing into Bally's. Net loss, including the Bare Exposure and rooms, a hair over $600 and I did not play any poker!
Overall the trip was great, the ride home was a boring 500 mile ride with 400+ on highway and PA Turnpike (my most hated road in the world). I was trying to make time to help out the in laws move a television in Pittsburgh. An hour out, I found out they canceled so my $25 in tolls and turnpike torture was all for naught. At least the weather was fantastic, the bike ran like a champ and I got to have breakfast at my favorite b-fast spot - Waffle House! Cheesesteak Omelet, no grits, double order of hash browns, scattered, covered, peppered, done well! Coffee and a water to wash it down. Damn, it was good but I know I will be paying for those jalepeno peppers later.... they tend to torch the O ring.
The bike turned 16 in Cranberry Township, PA and the 1,000 mile weekend was blast. Looking forward to getting back to poker this week.
Monday, April 18, 2005
AC recap
Where to start? I guess at the beginning....
The ride in Friday morning was eventful. The wind was really picking up and the "pucker factor" was high several times as I was blown several feet in my lane. I also encountered a closed road due to an accident, but the GPS rerouted me just fine. Making my way across the causeway into AC was pretty hairy, it was so windy at this point that street lights were being blown sideways and I really had to fight the bike and the wind to keep upright. I finally arrived at our "Quality" Inn (the term is used loosely here) and discovered the parking lot full of vehicles with Maryland plates, my brothers and friends had already arrived. I called them up to get a room number and so it began....
The Crew -
Jared "sheriff" - youngest brother, reason for the party.
Stefan "Spoof Dawg" - middle brother, showed up in a wheelchair for this trip,
Matt "Spermy" - friend and designated wheelchair pusher for the weekend,
Rob - cousin, wearing a pink shirt
Dietz - friend with a mild case of tourrettes (or so it seemed)
Fisco - friend that pulled the beer cooler all around AC
Eric - friend that had to give his switchblade to my dad to get into the nudie bar
Chris - ditto
Dad - carried the switchblades back to hotel when he punched out for the evening
Myself - dropped mad $$$$ at Bare Exposure, but all for a good cause
After a trip to the closest McDonald's for some lunch (alcohol absorber), we passed a Salvation Army store on the way back. In his wheel chair Stefan bought a local landscaper Tshirt for .99 that had the following on the back, "If we did not do your paving, it's your own Ass-Phalt". Nice. Jared left wearing a little kids cowboy hat with a red plastic "sheriff" Star on the front and a string that went under his neck. It spent the entire weekend on his head. I left amazed at the company I keep.
After some drinking, we decided to hit the casinos. We walked/wheeled the very chilly 6-7 blocks to the Hilton Casino but had to stop at a gas station and put air in the tires of Stefan's wheel chair. The hispanic gentlemen staffing the garage did not know what to make of this and nicely offered to change his oil. We declined. Who knew that wheelchairs had tubed tires? Anyway, now that Stefan was getting the proper mpg on his ride, we hit the Hilton. After some good hands in blackjack and some lucky colors on Roulette I left up $150. Sometime during our visit here, Dad joined us after driving up from DC. Next stop, Tropicana.
Same story here, BJ and Roulette, up another $100. Time for some dinner. In addition to being wheelchair bound (kind of) for this trip, he also has some strict dietary demands. He cannot have anything with gluten (which is in almost everything) so we have to be picky where we eat. We ended up at the Rainforest Cafe and Dad picked up the tab. Thanks much Dad, it was appreciated. From the advice of a server and confirmation from a busboy, we headed to Bare Exposure. It was all downhill from there!!
to be continued.....
The ride in Friday morning was eventful. The wind was really picking up and the "pucker factor" was high several times as I was blown several feet in my lane. I also encountered a closed road due to an accident, but the GPS rerouted me just fine. Making my way across the causeway into AC was pretty hairy, it was so windy at this point that street lights were being blown sideways and I really had to fight the bike and the wind to keep upright. I finally arrived at our "Quality" Inn (the term is used loosely here) and discovered the parking lot full of vehicles with Maryland plates, my brothers and friends had already arrived. I called them up to get a room number and so it began....
The Crew -
Jared "sheriff" - youngest brother, reason for the party.
Stefan "Spoof Dawg" - middle brother, showed up in a wheelchair for this trip,
Matt "Spermy" - friend and designated wheelchair pusher for the weekend,
Rob - cousin, wearing a pink shirt
Dietz - friend with a mild case of tourrettes (or so it seemed)
Fisco - friend that pulled the beer cooler all around AC
Eric - friend that had to give his switchblade to my dad to get into the nudie bar
Chris - ditto
Dad - carried the switchblades back to hotel when he punched out for the evening
Myself - dropped mad $$$$ at Bare Exposure, but all for a good cause
After a trip to the closest McDonald's for some lunch (alcohol absorber), we passed a Salvation Army store on the way back. In his wheel chair Stefan bought a local landscaper Tshirt for .99 that had the following on the back, "If we did not do your paving, it's your own Ass-Phalt". Nice. Jared left wearing a little kids cowboy hat with a red plastic "sheriff" Star on the front and a string that went under his neck. It spent the entire weekend on his head. I left amazed at the company I keep.
After some drinking, we decided to hit the casinos. We walked/wheeled the very chilly 6-7 blocks to the Hilton Casino but had to stop at a gas station and put air in the tires of Stefan's wheel chair. The hispanic gentlemen staffing the garage did not know what to make of this and nicely offered to change his oil. We declined. Who knew that wheelchairs had tubed tires? Anyway, now that Stefan was getting the proper mpg on his ride, we hit the Hilton. After some good hands in blackjack and some lucky colors on Roulette I left up $150. Sometime during our visit here, Dad joined us after driving up from DC. Next stop, Tropicana.
Same story here, BJ and Roulette, up another $100. Time for some dinner. In addition to being wheelchair bound (kind of) for this trip, he also has some strict dietary demands. He cannot have anything with gluten (which is in almost everything) so we have to be picky where we eat. We ended up at the Rainforest Cafe and Dad picked up the tab. Thanks much Dad, it was appreciated. From the advice of a server and confirmation from a busboy, we headed to Bare Exposure. It was all downhill from there!!
to be continued.....
Friday, April 15, 2005
Traveling Man
I left Ohio around 11:30AM yesterday faced with 218 miles of slab. Booooo. Highway riding is boring, even on a motorcycle. Once I finished off Interstate 80 and all 218 boring (but fast) miles of it, I got off on 322 East at State College. I saw the stadium as I was going past the school and the sounds of the games I attended there echoed through my helmeted head. "WE ARE"... "PENN STATE" Good times.
Anyway, I meandered my way through central PA down to Harrisburg where I got onto I-83/I-81 and it was a parking lot. My original plan was go get closer to AC before calling it a night, but this sucked. I turned off the bike, put it in gear and just leaned back and tried to relax. Nice plan but traffic was moving just enough that I would have to crawl forward every 15 seconds. For a little bit, I was on a downhill and left the engine off, just pulling in the clutch and giving a little push with the feet. Eventually, I just said screw it. I hit up the GPS for the nearest Hilton and called and checked to see if they had a. a room, b. high speed internet. Check, Check, and I was in. 10 minutes later I got to the hotel around 5:45. It was a good days ride, I am only 2.5 hours from AC.
Stopped in a tiny PA city with nothing todo, a laptop, a high speed connection, what can you do? Online Poker! I played a lot last night, I think the feeling that money is about to lose its value as I plan on spreading the cheese in AC affected my game. I played a lot and am only down ~20 for the night. I played a Limit tourney, 2 NL tourneys (33 worth of buy ins) and a heads up 10+1 tourney. I did not make the money in any of these. While playing or in between all these I was playing .05/.10 NL and people kept insisting on doubling me up!! So, that is how I ended 20 down. I busted out of the last tourney, loaded 10 on nickel dime and lost it. I played the heads up game to see if I could win it back quickly, but failed. Oh well. My best hand of the night was pocket KK and his twin brothers that came on the flop! Yeah, I slowplayed the hell out of it hoping someone would hit one of the other cards and they did! Woo hoo, betting into my quads? Yes sir, go right ahead.
The worst hand was my pocket 99 that ran into pocket KK in a tourney. I pushed pretty hard, and ran into a KK. All in preflop, I hit a 9 on the flop. YES!! Turn card is a K. NO!! Out, 73rd of 200 something. The salt in the wound was DNasty13 was playing in the same tourney and we had 5 bucks on first on out. We are now even. Congrats D, I hope your roll continues.
Just checked the weather and the bank website. Both were looking good, so I am back on the road. Don't think the hotel in AC has Internet, but if it does, I will try to post from there.
Anyway, I meandered my way through central PA down to Harrisburg where I got onto I-83/I-81 and it was a parking lot. My original plan was go get closer to AC before calling it a night, but this sucked. I turned off the bike, put it in gear and just leaned back and tried to relax. Nice plan but traffic was moving just enough that I would have to crawl forward every 15 seconds. For a little bit, I was on a downhill and left the engine off, just pulling in the clutch and giving a little push with the feet. Eventually, I just said screw it. I hit up the GPS for the nearest Hilton and called and checked to see if they had a. a room, b. high speed internet. Check, Check, and I was in. 10 minutes later I got to the hotel around 5:45. It was a good days ride, I am only 2.5 hours from AC.
Stopped in a tiny PA city with nothing todo, a laptop, a high speed connection, what can you do? Online Poker! I played a lot last night, I think the feeling that money is about to lose its value as I plan on spreading the cheese in AC affected my game. I played a lot and am only down ~20 for the night. I played a Limit tourney, 2 NL tourneys (33 worth of buy ins) and a heads up 10+1 tourney. I did not make the money in any of these. While playing or in between all these I was playing .05/.10 NL and people kept insisting on doubling me up!! So, that is how I ended 20 down. I busted out of the last tourney, loaded 10 on nickel dime and lost it. I played the heads up game to see if I could win it back quickly, but failed. Oh well. My best hand of the night was pocket KK and his twin brothers that came on the flop! Yeah, I slowplayed the hell out of it hoping someone would hit one of the other cards and they did! Woo hoo, betting into my quads? Yes sir, go right ahead.
The worst hand was my pocket 99 that ran into pocket KK in a tourney. I pushed pretty hard, and ran into a KK. All in preflop, I hit a 9 on the flop. YES!! Turn card is a K. NO!! Out, 73rd of 200 something. The salt in the wound was DNasty13 was playing in the same tourney and we had 5 bucks on first on out. We are now even. Congrats D, I hope your roll continues.
Just checked the weather and the bank website. Both were looking good, so I am back on the road. Don't think the hotel in AC has Internet, but if it does, I will try to post from there.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Poker and Bike
My ST turned 15 today. I got her when she was almost 8 and have put 7,000 awesome miles on her since October of 2003. The longest single trip was into West Virginia and then down into Baltimore and back to Ohio over a weekend. I am planning on doing that ride again this year, WV has some awesome roads! I am going to keep an eye on the weather because I am thinking about riding to Atlantic City, NJ this weekend for my little brother's bachelor party. I took off Thursday and Friday from work so I can take my time riding in and find some cool roads. Will set the GPS to avoid Toll Roads for sure! If the weather cooperates (no big storms/wind) I will be living the good life. (and saving some gambling money that I would have spent on gas)
As far as poker, I got a fair amount in today but was never really up or down until the end of the night. I was back and forth on a .10/.25 NL table until my AKs ran into AA. -20 which leaves me down roughly 20 for the day. I hope that Derek is having better luck. I had several big hands not go my way tonight but was stealing a lot of blinds and hands that kept getting me back to where I started. Hmmm. Will have to review my big losers tonight. I did fold QQ, but held onto a losing 66. Still learning, and bankroll is down, but not out.
Post Script - I was feeling "lucky" (stupid?) and did not want to go to bed with 1/3 of my bankroll missing so I anted 5.50 for a 10 person Turbo SNG and won, clearing 19.50 to bring the bankroll back in line. I will not get any Internet Poker in this weekend so being back at 40 would have bothered me!
As far as poker, I got a fair amount in today but was never really up or down until the end of the night. I was back and forth on a .10/.25 NL table until my AKs ran into AA. -20 which leaves me down roughly 20 for the day. I hope that Derek is having better luck. I had several big hands not go my way tonight but was stealing a lot of blinds and hands that kept getting me back to where I started. Hmmm. Will have to review my big losers tonight. I did fold QQ, but held onto a losing 66. Still learning, and bankroll is down, but not out.
Post Script - I was feeling "lucky" (stupid?) and did not want to go to bed with 1/3 of my bankroll missing so I anted 5.50 for a 10 person Turbo SNG and won, clearing 19.50 to bring the bankroll back in line. I will not get any Internet Poker in this weekend so being back at 40 would have bothered me!
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Not much Poker Today
Mostly yardwork. Blah.
I did sneak about 45 mins in before bed and managed to increase the bankroll to $61.57. This was my first weekend playing on UB and it seems that like PP, the winning is easier on weekends. There is a bit more variance due to suckouts, but there is money to be made. I am going to stick with the .05/.10 NL Hold 'Em until I get the bankroll back up where it belongs.
Congrats to DNasty13 for his second (out of 250+) place win last night. Get em D!
I did sneak about 45 mins in before bed and managed to increase the bankroll to $61.57. This was my first weekend playing on UB and it seems that like PP, the winning is easier on weekends. There is a bit more variance due to suckouts, but there is money to be made. I am going to stick with the .05/.10 NL Hold 'Em until I get the bankroll back up where it belongs.
Congrats to DNasty13 for his second (out of 250+) place win last night. Get em D!
Satuday Night Play
Today was a bit of work as I struggled to get my bankroll headed in the right direction. At one point today I was under $2! Through some hard work and a little bit of luck, I am headed to bed at $43.63. I played in a gauranteed $3000 5/.50 on UB tonight and did pretty well until this hand:
Hand #5338482-214 at Sat11pmB-010 (No Limit tournament Hold'em)Powered by UltimateBetStarted at 10/Apr/05 02:11:37
oldmanG is at seat 0 with 0 (sitting out).
Qc_Gold is at seat 1 with 21450.
STeelerJosh is at seat 2 with 48330.
Yamus is at seat 3 with 63325.
suitedchaser is at seat 4 with 32030.
tush hog is at seat 6 with 18060.
johnsbar is at seat 8 with 16185.
midnightsfg is at seat 9 with 19970.
The button is at seat 0.
STeelerJosh posts ante (150).
Qc_Gold posts ante (150).
midnightsfg posts ante (150).
johnsbar posts ante (150).
tush hog posts ante (150).
suitedchaser posts ante (150).
Yamus posts ante (150).
STeelerJosh posts the small blind of 800.
Yamus posts the big blind of 1600.
Qc_Gold: -- --
STeelerJosh: Jc Ac
Yamus: -- --
suitedchaser: -- --
tush hog: -- --
johnsbar: -- --
midnightsfg: -- --
Pre-flop:
suitedchaser folds. tush hog folds. johnsbar folds.midnightsfg folds.
Qc_Gold goes all-in for 21300.
STeelerJosh calls.
Yamus folds.
Tournament all-in showdown -- players show:
Qc_Gold shows 9h As.
STeelerJosh shows Jc Ac.
Flop (board: 4s Ks 5s):
(no action in this round)
Turn (board: 4s Ks 5s 9s):
(no action in this round)
River (board: 4s Ks 5s 9s 7h):
(no action in this round)
Showdown:
Qc_Gold has As 4s Ks 5s 9s: flush, ace high.
STeelerJosh has Jc Ac Ks 9s 7h: ace high.
Hand #5338482-214 Summary:
No rake is taken for this hand.
Qc_Gold wins 45250 with flush, ace high.
DOH!!
That sent things into a downward spiral that ended not too many hands later with my AQ meeting QQ of the chip leader. The thing that is keeping me smiling is the whole reason I played in the tourney was my buddy DNasty13 was online and said lets play. First one out owes the other 5 bucks. When I am eating a free lunch this week I will think of DNasty, Qc_Gold and Yamus who finally put me out of the tourney (and gained a healthy chip lead over second) (I finished 31/637, top 60 paid)
Time to kick the dog out of my spot in bed and clock some zzzz's. There is motorcycling to be done tomorrow!!
Hand #5338482-214 at Sat11pmB-010 (No Limit tournament Hold'em)Powered by UltimateBetStarted at 10/Apr/05 02:11:37
oldmanG is at seat 0 with 0 (sitting out).
Qc_Gold is at seat 1 with 21450.
STeelerJosh is at seat 2 with 48330.
Yamus is at seat 3 with 63325.
suitedchaser is at seat 4 with 32030.
tush hog is at seat 6 with 18060.
johnsbar is at seat 8 with 16185.
midnightsfg is at seat 9 with 19970.
The button is at seat 0.
STeelerJosh posts ante (150).
Qc_Gold posts ante (150).
midnightsfg posts ante (150).
johnsbar posts ante (150).
tush hog posts ante (150).
suitedchaser posts ante (150).
Yamus posts ante (150).
STeelerJosh posts the small blind of 800.
Yamus posts the big blind of 1600.
Qc_Gold: -- --
STeelerJosh: Jc Ac
Yamus: -- --
suitedchaser: -- --
tush hog: -- --
johnsbar: -- --
midnightsfg: -- --
Pre-flop:
suitedchaser folds. tush hog folds. johnsbar folds.midnightsfg folds.
Qc_Gold goes all-in for 21300.
STeelerJosh calls.
Yamus folds.
Tournament all-in showdown -- players show:
Qc_Gold shows 9h As.
STeelerJosh shows Jc Ac.
Flop (board: 4s Ks 5s):
(no action in this round)
Turn (board: 4s Ks 5s 9s):
(no action in this round)
River (board: 4s Ks 5s 9s 7h):
(no action in this round)
Showdown:
Qc_Gold has As 4s Ks 5s 9s: flush, ace high.
STeelerJosh has Jc Ac Ks 9s 7h: ace high.
Hand #5338482-214 Summary:
No rake is taken for this hand.
Qc_Gold wins 45250 with flush, ace high.
DOH!!
That sent things into a downward spiral that ended not too many hands later with my AQ meeting QQ of the chip leader. The thing that is keeping me smiling is the whole reason I played in the tourney was my buddy DNasty13 was online and said lets play. First one out owes the other 5 bucks. When I am eating a free lunch this week I will think of DNasty, Qc_Gold and Yamus who finally put me out of the tourney (and gained a healthy chip lead over second) (I finished 31/637, top 60 paid)
Time to kick the dog out of my spot in bed and clock some zzzz's. There is motorcycling to be done tomorrow!!
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Saturday Morning Play
First, a little more about my game. I am small time, still learning. My biggest wins online have come from $50/5 SNGs on PP. I have played three of them and placed in every single one. (2nd in first one, 1st in second one, and 3rd in third one). I am hesitant to keep playing these because they are a steep entry fee relative to my bankroll which I am going to make an effort to grow. Those three games have helped get me back to even with PP where I have been playing since August of 2004.
In the past week, I created my account on UB and loaded some money with NeTeller. I loaded $150 on Sunday, April 3rd. The first week on UB has not been kind and I played pretty irresponsibly. After have my trip 7s cracked by a straight in a $50 heads up game, I lost a lot chasing. This is a perfect example of what happened this week on UB. I really like their interface, buddy tool, and information so I am going to play more there. They also offer a lot of games that PP did not such as heads up. I think I was a little cocky and then started chasing after I was losing and..... long story short, I did not have my first win until this morning - 2nd place in a 6 person $5 SNG. Woo hoo, but it was a positive.
After that, I entered a 10 person $5 SNG and busted out early. Down to my last $1.32 (not loading more money until next payday) I played some .01/.02 NL Hold 'Em (max buy in $2) and things started to turn around. I stood up after an hour and a half with 6.38. Excited by this turn of events, I ventured back to the Heads Up SNGs (an area I discovered I really need work) and won my first HU SNG. Perhaps the worm is turning.
One other thing I did this morning was purchase PokerTracker. I have never tracked my game or wins/losses seriously. I kept track of my overall money by using the Cashier history at PP!! Add up deposits, subtract withdraws.... overall $50 dollar loser since August. That simply will not cut it if I want to improve my game and grow my bankroll. $55.00 seemed like a fair price and worthwhile investment. We will see how it goes.
In the past week, I created my account on UB and loaded some money with NeTeller. I loaded $150 on Sunday, April 3rd. The first week on UB has not been kind and I played pretty irresponsibly. After have my trip 7s cracked by a straight in a $50 heads up game, I lost a lot chasing. This is a perfect example of what happened this week on UB. I really like their interface, buddy tool, and information so I am going to play more there. They also offer a lot of games that PP did not such as heads up. I think I was a little cocky and then started chasing after I was losing and..... long story short, I did not have my first win until this morning - 2nd place in a 6 person $5 SNG. Woo hoo, but it was a positive.
After that, I entered a 10 person $5 SNG and busted out early. Down to my last $1.32 (not loading more money until next payday) I played some .01/.02 NL Hold 'Em (max buy in $2) and things started to turn around. I stood up after an hour and a half with 6.38. Excited by this turn of events, I ventured back to the Heads Up SNGs (an area I discovered I really need work) and won my first HU SNG. Perhaps the worm is turning.
One other thing I did this morning was purchase PokerTracker. I have never tracked my game or wins/losses seriously. I kept track of my overall money by using the Cashier history at PP!! Add up deposits, subtract withdraws.... overall $50 dollar loser since August. That simply will not cut it if I want to improve my game and grow my bankroll. $55.00 seemed like a fair price and worthwhile investment. We will see how it goes.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Test Post
Inspired by DoubleAs blog, I decided to start my own blog about some of my hobbies/passions.
Coming up with a name seems to be a stumbling block. While chatting with a buddy about this, I jokingly suggested Drunken PornStar Poker Motorcyclist as it embodies 4 of my favorite things... but I only get to do 3 of them on a regular basis. (I am married, you guess the odd man out)
So, this will most likely be a blog about the two passions I get to practice on a regular basis: Riding my Honda ST1100 and playing poker. Right now both habits are costing me money, perhaps this journal will help me start making money with poker.
Coming up with a name seems to be a stumbling block. While chatting with a buddy about this, I jokingly suggested Drunken PornStar Poker Motorcyclist as it embodies 4 of my favorite things... but I only get to do 3 of them on a regular basis. (I am married, you guess the odd man out)
So, this will most likely be a blog about the two passions I get to practice on a regular basis: Riding my Honda ST1100 and playing poker. Right now both habits are costing me money, perhaps this journal will help me start making money with poker.
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