Well the "fall into the Fall" has stopped but hasn't quite turned around. I had pretty much taken a break from live play after the last posting. During that time I continued to play online. Managed to completely wipe out what little bit I had left on PS and just maintain my br on FTP and UB. Still playing too loosely at times. I think it is due to lack of focus. Having fun though and not caring.
I did make a foray into a casino over the Thanksgiving weekend. Traveled to PA for the weekend and stopped at Wheeling Downs. Hadn't been playing live so I definitely enjoyed sitting back at a table with chips. Also previously had been very card dead in live play for a few months. I actually lost at Wheeling but got hands I was able to play. I enjoyed myself even though I lost and felt a little renewed in live play.
After returning from PA I started playing in the weekly Tuesday night game again. Have not had a losing session yet but most have been because I cut it early due to the smoke. I don't know how I ever put up with the local vegas nights when 80% of the players chain smoked. I get such vicious headaches that even if I am winning I can not concentrate nor enjoy myself so I have to leave after as little as 2 hours of play.
Also started playing in the clubs again. Not weekly but several times a month. Not winning consistently but enjoying myself and getting cards I can play. Did well this past week chopping a small tourney and then doing well at the cash table within 2 hours. Was just getting very lucky most of the night.
And last week I also did well online in MTTs on UB. I really had not been playing much on UB as my funds had not been available to me for some time. (long story) LOL But I played several small stake MTTs and managed two final tables. I got a third which was nice as I had been ss in that tournament for most of the last two tables and then I got extremely lucky and won the second ft. Always feels good to have back to back fts.
2009 has been the worst of the past 5 years and I still have managed to eek out a very very very small profit. At this point I guess I am just enjoying playing even though I am only basically breaking even. I know this is a recipe for disaster financially so I am looking to turn things around in 2010 with a renewed focus on growing an actual bankroll.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The fall continues into the Fall.......
Well, as the title suggest my fall online continues. I guess it is more of a slide than a fall but at times it feels like it. Through the last 3 months I have lost about 25% of my online bankroll What once was looking very promising to me.... now has placed me back into reality. LOL
Part of the slide (fall) involved trying my hand at ring games I should not have been in. At the behest of a friend who is fairly successful in online ring games I tried the $50NL games on FTP once. Once and only once. LOL Had two tables open. Told myself if he can do it I can do it. Actually I reasoned that I play live 1/2 and 1/3 NL so why not .25/.50 online. I was risking the same amount of money at two tables that I normally risk at a single live table. Didn't do too bad for a while. Just had a few too many second best hands. Including a set over set which felted me on the one table.
I have also been playing probably too many $5 and up MTTs. Including HORSE and PLO and Stud8. Usually run fairly well and then late in the tourney I will have one hand I will horribly misplay (and sometimes just get unlucky) and then the tournament is usually over for me. I will be so short stacked it doesn't matter because the blinds are so high.
I did just have a decent night last night. Managed a 5th in a NL MTT on UB and a 4th in a HORSE MTT on UB. Both were small fields but was happy making two final tables. Didn't fare so well on FTP or PS.
Live I have been running warm. Not hot, not cold.... just warm. Have had 3 recent sessions in ring games where I have broke even. Unusual to break even in any cash game but did it in 3 different close sessions. Haven't been playing enough ring games. Mainly been playing smaller tournaments with decent results. Been pretty happy with my play though I am still probably not aggressive enough.
Haven't been back to any casinos lately. Been fairly busy I guess. Hope to make it a few times in October though.
Part of the slide (fall) involved trying my hand at ring games I should not have been in. At the behest of a friend who is fairly successful in online ring games I tried the $50NL games on FTP once. Once and only once. LOL Had two tables open. Told myself if he can do it I can do it. Actually I reasoned that I play live 1/2 and 1/3 NL so why not .25/.50 online. I was risking the same amount of money at two tables that I normally risk at a single live table. Didn't do too bad for a while. Just had a few too many second best hands. Including a set over set which felted me on the one table.
I have also been playing probably too many $5 and up MTTs. Including HORSE and PLO and Stud8. Usually run fairly well and then late in the tourney I will have one hand I will horribly misplay (and sometimes just get unlucky) and then the tournament is usually over for me. I will be so short stacked it doesn't matter because the blinds are so high.
I did just have a decent night last night. Managed a 5th in a NL MTT on UB and a 4th in a HORSE MTT on UB. Both were small fields but was happy making two final tables. Didn't fare so well on FTP or PS.
Live I have been running warm. Not hot, not cold.... just warm. Have had 3 recent sessions in ring games where I have broke even. Unusual to break even in any cash game but did it in 3 different close sessions. Haven't been playing enough ring games. Mainly been playing smaller tournaments with decent results. Been pretty happy with my play though I am still probably not aggressive enough.
Haven't been back to any casinos lately. Been fairly busy I guess. Hope to make it a few times in October though.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Dipping Toes Into Bigger Pond..........
Been venturing to the casinos a bit more these days. Past three weekends I have been to Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg IN. Also visited the Horseshoe Hammond IN and Majestic Star in Gary IN this past weekend before heading south through Indiana to the Hollywood.
First trip to the old Argosy outside of Cincy was a long night. Played for nearly 8 hours and was stuck most of the time. (I tend to be a shorter stack player and do not normally buy in for max buy ins. I play 1/2 or 1/3, whichever is the standard for the location.) At the end of the 8 hour session (5AM) I managed to get a lucky river card and win a decent pot. The pot which pushed me positive for the day and got me up from the table for the two hour drive home. My friend who had traveled with me ( the trip was his idea and request ) was a sleep in the car as he ran fairly poor early (course played a tad looser also).
This trip showed me that even during extended sessions I was maintaining my patience and playing well, not great.... but well.
Second trip was the following weekend back to Argosy (Hollywood).... this time for the Sunday $15k guaranteed tournament. Another friend wanted to play in this tournament as he leans more towards tournament play versus ring games. My original intent was to go and rail him and play some ring games myself. After some cajoling from my friend and an offer to buy 50% of my action in the tournament I decided to enter the tournament. Unfortunate for my friend he was out fairly early. Set over set .... and in these tournaments, most players are going broke in that situation. I managed to play very patient, get a couple of well timed hands and one huge suckout on the river (ss at the time with less than 25 players remaining). I made it to the final table (76 players started) as the short stack. One other player only had a slightly larger stack. Probably had an M of about 20 or 21 at the start of the final table. I played patient while I watched the other stacks do battle. Top 8 were to be paid. After the first knock out from the table a deal was worked out for $400 for the bubble (9th). Being the shortstack most of the day I was elated with this deal. This was one of the larger buy ins I have played with only two other tournaments being equal or greater value, both being WSOPC events 4 years ago. This was also my first tournament at this casino. So anyways, after at least securing a break even day, I proceeded to work my way up the payout chain mainly by allowing the others to fight it out. Found few key hands to pick up chips and I even managed to knock out one of the players myself. I worked my way into a 4th place finish. In retrospect, I should have entertained talk of a chop. At the point I went out the blinds were 4k/8k with a 1k ante (I think... memory is not perfect on this) and the biggest stack was 230k and three of us at 122k, 148k (me) and 159k. Would have been a much nicer pay day for me but was still happy with the 4th place finish. Made a decent profit for myself and my friend.
Third trip was a mini pokercation (poker+vacation). Took off a few days of work to travel with my friend who planned on playing in the HPT $1k event at the Majestic Star in IN. Got there on a Friday afternoon and played a little 1/2. Made a very small profit before they broke down the tables for the start of the HPT event. Went to the Horseshoe to play before the tournament started. Again made a small profit. Went back to the Majestic Star and decided to take a seat in the 3/6 LHE game. Had a very nice run at 3/6 and called it a night. First day of the trip was a successful one..... for both of us as he had advanced onto day 2 of the HPT event. Saturday was a day off for my friend as they were running two more day 1 flights for the HPT. So we played some 1/2 at different tables so that we could get our poker room rate. For me the day was a long long dead day. Played 5 hours and lost about 80. I still was patient and didn't get trapped. Just couldn't put together a good hand with a good pot. Went back to the room as my friend had already returned to the room to sleep. We had been woke up early by the cleaning crew as they thought our room was empty.... we didn't check in till 5 AM. LOL Pretty tired. Original plan was to go back to the Shoe to play in the evening....... well that never happened. Got some much needed rest instead. Third day was the 2nd day of the HPT. After hanging around for a little during the first level of the day for the tournament I decided to get on the lists for the ring games. First game I was called for was the 2/5 game. Now this is where I decided to try and step up my game. I sat down with 320 (max buy in was 500). This was probably for me the most I had put on a table at one time. I have lost more than that but through multiple reloads. The game had pretty good action and I stayed pretty even... up a little... down a little... back up... you get the idea. My friend came up to tell me he got knocked out.... was a little bummed. He got 61st... only paid top 46. Close but no cigar. He was willing to stick around for a little while as I was being patient and my table was good. For awhile I didn't feel like I was out of my comfort zone. I decided to add another 100 to what I had on the table. The action was pretty good and stacks were on average about 600... couple over 1k. Unfortunately the texture of the game changed with two new players coming to the table. Very aggressive and loose players. I should have recognized that this moved me out of my comfort zone and I should have quit. Unfortunately I did not and my play deteriorated. I played poorly. Added another $200 to my stack as it had been chopped away. Ended up calling it a day down $435. So much for a good weekend. LOL We still had a good time.
My friend wanted to play in the first event of the ISPC at Hollywood on Monday so we left and headed south through IN. We get down there in a fairly quick 4.5 hours and go to the poker room for him to register for tomorrow. Unfortunately you could not register till the next morning at 9. So we decided to play some NLHE...... to say the least it wasn't 2/5. LOL It will be a while before I venture back to that level. And the frustrations unfortunately continued for me. Was getting 2 and 3 outtered most of the night. I made good lay downs but still got little respect from the table. The table would chase just about anything. That is what we want but having a losing night makes it hard to take. Ended up losing my buyin of 200. No biggie.... we were tired so we went and got a room. Wanted to get some rest for the next day. My friend got up early to go and register then came back to the room for additional sleep. We got to the casino just as the tournament started. I could still have entered as it was a deepstack tournament but with the way I ran (and played) the day before I passed on the opportunity. Decided to play some more 1/2. Continued with my patience... this time it payed off... but only marginally. Still happy to have a profitable session after the previous day's results. My friend unfortunately got knocked out in the first level of the tournament...... set to a chaser for a gutshot, turned flush draw. Course they hit.... live poker..... so rigged.
First trip to the old Argosy outside of Cincy was a long night. Played for nearly 8 hours and was stuck most of the time. (I tend to be a shorter stack player and do not normally buy in for max buy ins. I play 1/2 or 1/3, whichever is the standard for the location.) At the end of the 8 hour session (5AM) I managed to get a lucky river card and win a decent pot. The pot which pushed me positive for the day and got me up from the table for the two hour drive home. My friend who had traveled with me ( the trip was his idea and request ) was a sleep in the car as he ran fairly poor early (course played a tad looser also).
This trip showed me that even during extended sessions I was maintaining my patience and playing well, not great.... but well.
Second trip was the following weekend back to Argosy (Hollywood).... this time for the Sunday $15k guaranteed tournament. Another friend wanted to play in this tournament as he leans more towards tournament play versus ring games. My original intent was to go and rail him and play some ring games myself. After some cajoling from my friend and an offer to buy 50% of my action in the tournament I decided to enter the tournament. Unfortunate for my friend he was out fairly early. Set over set .... and in these tournaments, most players are going broke in that situation. I managed to play very patient, get a couple of well timed hands and one huge suckout on the river (ss at the time with less than 25 players remaining). I made it to the final table (76 players started) as the short stack. One other player only had a slightly larger stack. Probably had an M of about 20 or 21 at the start of the final table. I played patient while I watched the other stacks do battle. Top 8 were to be paid. After the first knock out from the table a deal was worked out for $400 for the bubble (9th). Being the shortstack most of the day I was elated with this deal. This was one of the larger buy ins I have played with only two other tournaments being equal or greater value, both being WSOPC events 4 years ago. This was also my first tournament at this casino. So anyways, after at least securing a break even day, I proceeded to work my way up the payout chain mainly by allowing the others to fight it out. Found few key hands to pick up chips and I even managed to knock out one of the players myself. I worked my way into a 4th place finish. In retrospect, I should have entertained talk of a chop. At the point I went out the blinds were 4k/8k with a 1k ante (I think... memory is not perfect on this) and the biggest stack was 230k and three of us at 122k, 148k (me) and 159k. Would have been a much nicer pay day for me but was still happy with the 4th place finish. Made a decent profit for myself and my friend.
Third trip was a mini pokercation (poker+vacation). Took off a few days of work to travel with my friend who planned on playing in the HPT $1k event at the Majestic Star in IN. Got there on a Friday afternoon and played a little 1/2. Made a very small profit before they broke down the tables for the start of the HPT event. Went to the Horseshoe to play before the tournament started. Again made a small profit. Went back to the Majestic Star and decided to take a seat in the 3/6 LHE game. Had a very nice run at 3/6 and called it a night. First day of the trip was a successful one..... for both of us as he had advanced onto day 2 of the HPT event. Saturday was a day off for my friend as they were running two more day 1 flights for the HPT. So we played some 1/2 at different tables so that we could get our poker room rate. For me the day was a long long dead day. Played 5 hours and lost about 80. I still was patient and didn't get trapped. Just couldn't put together a good hand with a good pot. Went back to the room as my friend had already returned to the room to sleep. We had been woke up early by the cleaning crew as they thought our room was empty.... we didn't check in till 5 AM. LOL Pretty tired. Original plan was to go back to the Shoe to play in the evening....... well that never happened. Got some much needed rest instead. Third day was the 2nd day of the HPT. After hanging around for a little during the first level of the day for the tournament I decided to get on the lists for the ring games. First game I was called for was the 2/5 game. Now this is where I decided to try and step up my game. I sat down with 320 (max buy in was 500). This was probably for me the most I had put on a table at one time. I have lost more than that but through multiple reloads. The game had pretty good action and I stayed pretty even... up a little... down a little... back up... you get the idea. My friend came up to tell me he got knocked out.... was a little bummed. He got 61st... only paid top 46. Close but no cigar. He was willing to stick around for a little while as I was being patient and my table was good. For awhile I didn't feel like I was out of my comfort zone. I decided to add another 100 to what I had on the table. The action was pretty good and stacks were on average about 600... couple over 1k. Unfortunately the texture of the game changed with two new players coming to the table. Very aggressive and loose players. I should have recognized that this moved me out of my comfort zone and I should have quit. Unfortunately I did not and my play deteriorated. I played poorly. Added another $200 to my stack as it had been chopped away. Ended up calling it a day down $435. So much for a good weekend. LOL We still had a good time.
My friend wanted to play in the first event of the ISPC at Hollywood on Monday so we left and headed south through IN. We get down there in a fairly quick 4.5 hours and go to the poker room for him to register for tomorrow. Unfortunately you could not register till the next morning at 9. So we decided to play some NLHE...... to say the least it wasn't 2/5. LOL It will be a while before I venture back to that level. And the frustrations unfortunately continued for me. Was getting 2 and 3 outtered most of the night. I made good lay downs but still got little respect from the table. The table would chase just about anything. That is what we want but having a losing night makes it hard to take. Ended up losing my buyin of 200. No biggie.... we were tired so we went and got a room. Wanted to get some rest for the next day. My friend got up early to go and register then came back to the room for additional sleep. We got to the casino just as the tournament started. I could still have entered as it was a deepstack tournament but with the way I ran (and played) the day before I passed on the opportunity. Decided to play some more 1/2. Continued with my patience... this time it payed off... but only marginally. Still happy to have a profitable session after the previous day's results. My friend unfortunately got knocked out in the first level of the tournament...... set to a chaser for a gutshot, turned flush draw. Course they hit.... live poker..... so rigged.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Year is half over.....
Well my live downswing continued but I realized that I was running bad and playing bad also. Horrible combination. Wasn't playing with my normal patience. Fortunately... or unfortunately I decided to take a small break from live play after I was down to the last 10% of profit I still had. LOL
I continued to play online but up until this week I had a horrid 3 week slide. My play online wasn't that bad but was running incredibly bad. I was making the right calls at the right times on overly aggressive players and they were hitting their 3 outters. Such is poker..... and for once I wasn't going horse screaming at the computer screen. LOL I know, I know... hard to imagine me screaming expletives at a computer right? LOL
Well last week was my turn around for live play. But I switched from playing ring games to tournies. I feel I am playing well even when I don't cash so Iam happy with the turn around in my game. I have cashed in 2 out of 5 tournies in the past two weeks and hope to continue to build on that. Also trying my hand at non-holdem tournies which is a nice change of pace.
And this week, I managed to get the monkey off my back online with two back to back positive sessions. I almost forgot what that felt like in the past three weeks. Making deeper runs in micro buyin MTTs. When I finally get the money it can be a bit of a let down because a $1 MTT with 250 players in it just doesn't pay alot unless you get first..... but I settled for 5th and was happy making another ft.
I continued to play online but up until this week I had a horrid 3 week slide. My play online wasn't that bad but was running incredibly bad. I was making the right calls at the right times on overly aggressive players and they were hitting their 3 outters. Such is poker..... and for once I wasn't going horse screaming at the computer screen. LOL I know, I know... hard to imagine me screaming expletives at a computer right? LOL
Well last week was my turn around for live play. But I switched from playing ring games to tournies. I feel I am playing well even when I don't cash so Iam happy with the turn around in my game. I have cashed in 2 out of 5 tournies in the past two weeks and hope to continue to build on that. Also trying my hand at non-holdem tournies which is a nice change of pace.
And this week, I managed to get the monkey off my back online with two back to back positive sessions. I almost forgot what that felt like in the past three weeks. Making deeper runs in micro buyin MTTs. When I finally get the money it can be a bit of a let down because a $1 MTT with 250 players in it just doesn't pay alot unless you get first..... but I settled for 5th and was happy making another ft.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Squeeze One In..........
......... post that is verses a winning session! LOL
Things continued to go fairly well (online at least) after my last post. Nothing quite as spectacular as the Sunday I had but I have continued to grow my online br slowly and steadily. Few steps forward, one back... few steps forward. You know the routine in poker when you go for the steady slow climb.
Even though I have a decent amount online ( at least for a micro stakes player like me ) I have continued to stick to the $5 and under MTTs and SNGs. I dable in the few larger buy ins.... $8 & $10 SNGs.... but haven't moved up any yet.
I did play a $3 rebuy on UB. Bubbled. Got my money in good with AA when I limp raised the bb raiser. He of course shoved pf and proudly displayed his JJ.... especially when the J hit the flop. We were both in the top 15 of remaining players at the time. He only had me covered by about 10% of his stack. But was rewarded handsomely for his great timing play.
Have made a few other fts in the smaller buyins I play but most of the finishes have just been into the table and not top 3. I did manage to pull off a 2nd place finish but should have been first as I had my opponent dominated in chips when we got heads up, 160k to 30k. He got two quickly lucky double ups within the first 7 hands headsup and I was toast after that.
Live play has decreased in frequency and when I am playing I am playing horribly I guess. I have lost 70% of the profit I had up to this point in live play for the year. That was all within the last 5 different days of live play I have done. Wow..... messes with your head when you run bad (play bad). I am kinda numb to it surprisingly. Just hope this turns around soon.
Well I wanted to get in a post before June ended....... nothing like procrastinating till the last day!
Things continued to go fairly well (online at least) after my last post. Nothing quite as spectacular as the Sunday I had but I have continued to grow my online br slowly and steadily. Few steps forward, one back... few steps forward. You know the routine in poker when you go for the steady slow climb.
Even though I have a decent amount online ( at least for a micro stakes player like me ) I have continued to stick to the $5 and under MTTs and SNGs. I dable in the few larger buy ins.... $8 & $10 SNGs.... but haven't moved up any yet.
I did play a $3 rebuy on UB. Bubbled. Got my money in good with AA when I limp raised the bb raiser. He of course shoved pf and proudly displayed his JJ.... especially when the J hit the flop. We were both in the top 15 of remaining players at the time. He only had me covered by about 10% of his stack. But was rewarded handsomely for his great timing play.
Have made a few other fts in the smaller buyins I play but most of the finishes have just been into the table and not top 3. I did manage to pull off a 2nd place finish but should have been first as I had my opponent dominated in chips when we got heads up, 160k to 30k. He got two quickly lucky double ups within the first 7 hands headsup and I was toast after that.
Live play has decreased in frequency and when I am playing I am playing horribly I guess. I have lost 70% of the profit I had up to this point in live play for the year. That was all within the last 5 different days of live play I have done. Wow..... messes with your head when you run bad (play bad). I am kinda numb to it surprisingly. Just hope this turns around soon.
Well I wanted to get in a post before June ended....... nothing like procrastinating till the last day!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Amazing Sunday
Well I never thought I would get to write a blog entry such as this.
I had an incredible run this past Sunday morning, one that probably will not be duplicated again.
Now I did not win thousands or just play blindly but I ran incredibly well.
I now know how it feels to run that way and it is a very very satisfying.
I played live on Saturday. Had a decent day but I was very card cold. I had a young friend watching my play and cards after he got knocked out of the tournament and he was laughing at my hands. They were that bad. I would get a red 4 as the first cards more time than I can count. This was a very strange day. I think I documented once before when I was playing 10/20 limit holdem that I received a 4 as my first card dealt 16 hands in a row!! After the first 6 or 7 first 4s I started just turning my first card face up. After the 16th time I sat out until that dealer was off of his shift. LOL Never happened again after that day.
So Saturday I ended up 15th out of 62 players which wasn't terrible except that my last hand I actually flopped and oesfd against two overs. I had 20 outs! We were 8 handed at the time. I was in the small blind with blinds being 1400/700 + 200 ante. I only had 2100 behind and the bigstack at the table counted me down and bet that amount. I chose to call and was fairly pleasantly surprised to find he only held KQo without a diamond against my Jd9d. The flop was 10d,8d,4h. Now any diamond (9 outs), any 8 (3 outs), any Q (2 outs), any J (3 outs) and any 9 (3 outs). Unfortunately he hits a red K on turn though not the diamond obviously, reducing my outs by 6. And the river was a 2h. You know how you see the red of the card... and for a moment... just a moment... you think you have hit. LOL Such cruelness the poker gods can exhibit. No matter I had enjoyed myself as many of the players in this tournament I had not seen for awhile.
After the tournament we drove back to our home city and went to a small home game I enjoy on Saturday evenings ( and many times early Sunday mornings ). This game is only 1/2 NL but sometimes the players are out of control. Unfortunately for my friend (and somewhat myself) this was one of those times. My friend did not fair well for his first visit but I think he will be back in the future. The place can be rowdy bettingwise or one where you simply get called down on everything. But it is a fun social evening with poker the main course. I faired better than my friend but only walked away with a $10 win. LOL A win is a win, right?!?! LOL
So I get up Sunday morning, somewhat expecting more of the previous days slight of cards. I am fairly used to it but one can always hope for a better day. And Sunday proved to be much better. I entered several tournaments on several sites (PS, UB FT and Walker). Yeah yeah... I know... spreading myself around, would be better to concentrate on one site at a time.... but this way I don't wipe out any one account quckly. Don't try to figure it out... it is my own screwy logic. LOL
I ended up playing in twelve tournaments but none of them over a $5.00 buy in. Two were freerolls of which I didn't make if far in either. Another was the lone tournament on Walker I entered..... for .25. LOL another failed attempt. Of the remaining 9 tournaments I cashed in 6 of them. I can not recall if two of the 6 cashes were in SNGs but I believe they were. The other 7 tournaments were all MTTs or 180man SNGs. My friend even talked me into playing in a TurboHeadsUpShootout MTT on FT. I am not a good headsup player nor short handed player. My game is improving but I am truely weak in these areas. The field was 98 players and I went out in 11th place.... good enough for a cash. Was happy to have cashed at least in it as I really didn't think I would do well at all.
The other 3 cashes were in a $5.00 MTT (202 players), a $3.00 MTT (210 players) and a $2.00 SNG (180man). I finished 3, 2, and 1st respectively. It was one of the more incredible runs of my life in poker. No it was the most incredible. I stopped playing. After I finished the final tournament which was the first place finish I just felt I shouldn't push my luck any more. LOL Actually I was more in shock than anything that I had run that hot. I guess I was just satisfied with my day and chose to do other things and get out of the house. Course it helped that it was a very nice day out. I would elaborate more on the games but I don't remember them all that well. Of course many many spots I got lucky but I also played pretty well. But more than anything I was just lucky either to have the best hand to start or to hit.
Now if I could only duplicate a run like that in larger than $5.00 buy ins! LOL
I had an incredible run this past Sunday morning, one that probably will not be duplicated again.
Now I did not win thousands or just play blindly but I ran incredibly well.
I now know how it feels to run that way and it is a very very satisfying.
I played live on Saturday. Had a decent day but I was very card cold. I had a young friend watching my play and cards after he got knocked out of the tournament and he was laughing at my hands. They were that bad. I would get a red 4 as the first cards more time than I can count. This was a very strange day. I think I documented once before when I was playing 10/20 limit holdem that I received a 4 as my first card dealt 16 hands in a row!! After the first 6 or 7 first 4s I started just turning my first card face up. After the 16th time I sat out until that dealer was off of his shift. LOL Never happened again after that day.
So Saturday I ended up 15th out of 62 players which wasn't terrible except that my last hand I actually flopped and oesfd against two overs. I had 20 outs! We were 8 handed at the time. I was in the small blind with blinds being 1400/700 + 200 ante. I only had 2100 behind and the bigstack at the table counted me down and bet that amount. I chose to call and was fairly pleasantly surprised to find he only held KQo without a diamond against my Jd9d. The flop was 10d,8d,4h. Now any diamond (9 outs), any 8 (3 outs), any Q (2 outs), any J (3 outs) and any 9 (3 outs). Unfortunately he hits a red K on turn though not the diamond obviously, reducing my outs by 6. And the river was a 2h. You know how you see the red of the card... and for a moment... just a moment... you think you have hit. LOL Such cruelness the poker gods can exhibit. No matter I had enjoyed myself as many of the players in this tournament I had not seen for awhile.
After the tournament we drove back to our home city and went to a small home game I enjoy on Saturday evenings ( and many times early Sunday mornings ). This game is only 1/2 NL but sometimes the players are out of control. Unfortunately for my friend (and somewhat myself) this was one of those times. My friend did not fair well for his first visit but I think he will be back in the future. The place can be rowdy bettingwise or one where you simply get called down on everything. But it is a fun social evening with poker the main course. I faired better than my friend but only walked away with a $10 win. LOL A win is a win, right?!?! LOL
So I get up Sunday morning, somewhat expecting more of the previous days slight of cards. I am fairly used to it but one can always hope for a better day. And Sunday proved to be much better. I entered several tournaments on several sites (PS, UB FT and Walker). Yeah yeah... I know... spreading myself around, would be better to concentrate on one site at a time.... but this way I don't wipe out any one account quckly. Don't try to figure it out... it is my own screwy logic. LOL
I ended up playing in twelve tournaments but none of them over a $5.00 buy in. Two were freerolls of which I didn't make if far in either. Another was the lone tournament on Walker I entered..... for .25. LOL another failed attempt. Of the remaining 9 tournaments I cashed in 6 of them. I can not recall if two of the 6 cashes were in SNGs but I believe they were. The other 7 tournaments were all MTTs or 180man SNGs. My friend even talked me into playing in a TurboHeadsUpShootout MTT on FT. I am not a good headsup player nor short handed player. My game is improving but I am truely weak in these areas. The field was 98 players and I went out in 11th place.... good enough for a cash. Was happy to have cashed at least in it as I really didn't think I would do well at all.
The other 3 cashes were in a $5.00 MTT (202 players), a $3.00 MTT (210 players) and a $2.00 SNG (180man). I finished 3, 2, and 1st respectively. It was one of the more incredible runs of my life in poker. No it was the most incredible. I stopped playing. After I finished the final tournament which was the first place finish I just felt I shouldn't push my luck any more. LOL Actually I was more in shock than anything that I had run that hot. I guess I was just satisfied with my day and chose to do other things and get out of the house. Course it helped that it was a very nice day out. I would elaborate more on the games but I don't remember them all that well. Of course many many spots I got lucky but I also played pretty well. But more than anything I was just lucky either to have the best hand to start or to hit.
Now if I could only duplicate a run like that in larger than $5.00 buy ins! LOL
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Happy Cinco de Mayo
Well it has been awhile since I posted.
Poker is just kinda trudging along.
Haven't been doing very well but not losing.... just not gaining any ground.
I have found myself sitting in games I do not really want to be in just to help keep the game going or even start it. There is a new club on the west side of town. But I fear it will not make it.
Everyone thinks they are too good to start games. They will only go once a game is already started. Hell if half the people that called to see if a game was going showed up we would have two tables and a waiting list.
Have decided to mix it up a little and just play in some games I haven't been to in a long time.
Going to the little $20 tournament tonight with the horrible blind structure. They will get over 140 players and it still will be over with in 4 hours. And that is with a 10,000 starting stack!
I think I will also not stay in any game I am not comfortable with. I can't help it if a game doesn't start or breaks because I don't want to play. I am down almost 3 buyins in 3 weeks and that includes a double buyin win in the middle of those 3 weeks along with a few other small wins.
Since it has been so long since I posted I have played in my monthly tournament twice since I bubbled the final table in 10th. I followed it up with a 7th place but then was the 3rd person out in the last tourney. I gambled and took one off for the nut flush draw on a paired board. I should have known I got lucky for a reason, one of the other players flopped quads. LOL
Poker is just kinda trudging along.
Haven't been doing very well but not losing.... just not gaining any ground.
I have found myself sitting in games I do not really want to be in just to help keep the game going or even start it. There is a new club on the west side of town. But I fear it will not make it.
Everyone thinks they are too good to start games. They will only go once a game is already started. Hell if half the people that called to see if a game was going showed up we would have two tables and a waiting list.
Have decided to mix it up a little and just play in some games I haven't been to in a long time.
Going to the little $20 tournament tonight with the horrible blind structure. They will get over 140 players and it still will be over with in 4 hours. And that is with a 10,000 starting stack!
I think I will also not stay in any game I am not comfortable with. I can't help it if a game doesn't start or breaks because I don't want to play. I am down almost 3 buyins in 3 weeks and that includes a double buyin win in the middle of those 3 weeks along with a few other small wins.
Since it has been so long since I posted I have played in my monthly tournament twice since I bubbled the final table in 10th. I followed it up with a 7th place but then was the 3rd person out in the last tourney. I gambled and took one off for the nut flush draw on a paired board. I should have known I got lucky for a reason, one of the other players flopped quads. LOL
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
February rolling along.....
Well unfortunately haven't been playing much in the way of ring games since my bad weekend. I think I have played twice and managed small wins. They were wins, but trust me very small. Only won back maybe 10% of what I lost that one weekend. Haven't really had the opportunity or maybe I should say drive to play ring games since then. Once I get home I relax and don't feel like going back out.
I have played in some tournaments. One of them I just had a good time playing, played crazy bad... but still had fun. :) Nice to just cut loose a little bit like that. Didn't play wacko just looser than normal chasing flushes and inside str8s! Was also helping to run the tournament so wasn't bothered by much.
Played in one of the best live tournaments I have ever had the chance to play in. The structure of the tournament was great. The players were probably the toughest field as a whole I have ever played against. Very few players at this tournament could have been considered dead money. Made it to 15th out of 60. Met a lot of really good guys and gals and good players. Check out http://www.badbeatspoker.net/ for future tournies. Have to be a member of the forum though.
Also did pretty well in my monthly $100 buy in tournament. But I bubbled final table in 10th place. Was still pretty happy with my play. Maybe misplayed two hands the whole night.
Online has been a back and forth thing. Still hovering in the same place for the most part but finding success in many MTTs. What is keeping me in somewhat neutral is I started playing $10 and $20 SNGs and that eats up alot of the profits I am pulling out of the MTTs.
I think I need to start trying to play cash games online but I fear I could take a major swing down like I did last time when I had a pretty good sum on UB and tried playing limit ring games. Wiped most of the $800 out in like 3 weeks. Just couldn't get any traction. I think I will try to stick to MTTs and stop playing the $10 and $20 SNGs. That should help the online roll a bit.
(edit note: You would think I could spell my own birth month correctly)
I have played in some tournaments. One of them I just had a good time playing, played crazy bad... but still had fun. :) Nice to just cut loose a little bit like that. Didn't play wacko just looser than normal chasing flushes and inside str8s! Was also helping to run the tournament so wasn't bothered by much.
Played in one of the best live tournaments I have ever had the chance to play in. The structure of the tournament was great. The players were probably the toughest field as a whole I have ever played against. Very few players at this tournament could have been considered dead money. Made it to 15th out of 60. Met a lot of really good guys and gals and good players. Check out http://www.badbeatspoker.net/ for future tournies. Have to be a member of the forum though.
Also did pretty well in my monthly $100 buy in tournament. But I bubbled final table in 10th place. Was still pretty happy with my play. Maybe misplayed two hands the whole night.
Online has been a back and forth thing. Still hovering in the same place for the most part but finding success in many MTTs. What is keeping me in somewhat neutral is I started playing $10 and $20 SNGs and that eats up alot of the profits I am pulling out of the MTTs.
I think I need to start trying to play cash games online but I fear I could take a major swing down like I did last time when I had a pretty good sum on UB and tried playing limit ring games. Wiped most of the $800 out in like 3 weeks. Just couldn't get any traction. I think I will try to stick to MTTs and stop playing the $10 and $20 SNGs. That should help the online roll a bit.
(edit note: You would think I could spell my own birth month correctly)
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
New Year.......
Well the new year in poker has started out well for me.... or at least continued rolling in the same direction as I ended last year.
Online I am finding that I continue to be fairly successful. I think I have made 11 final tables since Nov when the tournaments had more than 100 players in them. Some tourneys as many as 2202. Got 2nd in that one. Mainly NL MTTs but a few HORSE and RAZZ tournaments. Just got a 4th place last night in HORSE on UB. Just hoping to continue progressing my bankroll online. Currently is over $500. Has been a long time since I have over $500 online. Struggled all through 2008 with under $200 on all 3 sites I play. Not counting Walker Poker as I have maybe $23 on there... just mess around once in awhile there.
Live ring games have continued to be good .... well up until this week that is. LOL Have lost about 70% of my live bankroll in just 3 sessions. Course that is because I have no true bankroll to speak of. Took a pretty hard beat for all of my money on Monday night (Tuesday morning 6AM!). Got upset but didn't say anything to the player that called $260 ai on the flop into a $108.00 pot (!) but then another player at the table justified the caller's 30% hand call with the statement "He's stuck that's why he called". I kinda snapped off at that statement that that is the way to get unstuck.... call 50% of your stack on a 30% hand when you are getting 1.4 on your money. The more I think about it the more I need to leave it alone. I know I want the player making that call (for a Q high flush draw) 70% of the time ( I even had the K high flush redraw after he hit on the turn). Hell his hand might not even have been a 30% hand due to my redraw. I didn't give the player any crap about it... but the other lucksack chiming in pissed me off. Fortunately the club was closing and I just left.
One positive note in my play is I am not devastated like I used to be when I lose a buy in or two in an evening. This used to majorly depress me and make me pretty hostile for a week or two. Getting better at taking the beats. I just need to work on making more money when I am winning so that when I lose it won't take two or even three sessions to get that money back. That is one of the big holes in my game. I risk $200-$300 to win $100-$200 and am happy. Problem is when I lose I tend to lose the full buy in. I am getting there... just have to keep working on it.
Live tournaments have not been good to me so far this year. Some of it has been horrible play on my part and much of it just card dead. No cashes yet or bubbles.... close but no bubbles. Just need a good cash in Feb to get the tournaments rolling.
Online I am finding that I continue to be fairly successful. I think I have made 11 final tables since Nov when the tournaments had more than 100 players in them. Some tourneys as many as 2202. Got 2nd in that one. Mainly NL MTTs but a few HORSE and RAZZ tournaments. Just got a 4th place last night in HORSE on UB. Just hoping to continue progressing my bankroll online. Currently is over $500. Has been a long time since I have over $500 online. Struggled all through 2008 with under $200 on all 3 sites I play. Not counting Walker Poker as I have maybe $23 on there... just mess around once in awhile there.
Live ring games have continued to be good .... well up until this week that is. LOL Have lost about 70% of my live bankroll in just 3 sessions. Course that is because I have no true bankroll to speak of. Took a pretty hard beat for all of my money on Monday night (Tuesday morning 6AM!). Got upset but didn't say anything to the player that called $260 ai on the flop into a $108.00 pot (!) but then another player at the table justified the caller's 30% hand call with the statement "He's stuck that's why he called". I kinda snapped off at that statement that that is the way to get unstuck.... call 50% of your stack on a 30% hand when you are getting 1.4 on your money. The more I think about it the more I need to leave it alone. I know I want the player making that call (for a Q high flush draw) 70% of the time ( I even had the K high flush redraw after he hit on the turn). Hell his hand might not even have been a 30% hand due to my redraw. I didn't give the player any crap about it... but the other lucksack chiming in pissed me off. Fortunately the club was closing and I just left.
One positive note in my play is I am not devastated like I used to be when I lose a buy in or two in an evening. This used to majorly depress me and make me pretty hostile for a week or two. Getting better at taking the beats. I just need to work on making more money when I am winning so that when I lose it won't take two or even three sessions to get that money back. That is one of the big holes in my game. I risk $200-$300 to win $100-$200 and am happy. Problem is when I lose I tend to lose the full buy in. I am getting there... just have to keep working on it.
Live tournaments have not been good to me so far this year. Some of it has been horrible play on my part and much of it just card dead. No cashes yet or bubbles.... close but no bubbles. Just need a good cash in Feb to get the tournaments rolling.
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