A nice session

I just played for about 30 minutes before leaving work. I played a single table at Party ($1/$2), UltimateBet ($0.50/$1.00), and Full Tilt Poker ($0.25/$0.50).

Despite the losing of yesterday, I felt confident (see previous blog) and so far my confidence has been justified. I had a "classic Party Poker" hand where I was dealt AA and got four callers of my pre-flop raise. I got a good flop of JTX (rainbow), but ideal cards on the turn & river (5 and 5). That is, my opponents were unlikely to hold a five and the board pairing gave me the best possible two-pair. Anyway, I got two callers on the river (JK and J6). That was a nice pot.

I won several other nice pots at UltimateBet. I am struggling at Full Tilt right now, and I am not sure why. Perhaps it is because I cashed out my bonus and I am just not focused there right now. I would still like to re-build a nice bankroll there (for the third time!). The weather here is crappy, so chances are I'll be playing again tonight. Alternatively, I could hang out with the wife or something.

I'm still losing but I'm optimistic

I have cut way back on the amount of poker that I am playing. This has allowed me to gain some perspective about how I am playing various hands and how small of an edge I have over the games. Winning 3 big bets per 100 hands (a very good win rate) is very small, so I need to stay patient when I have a small win and things like that.

My no limit games is somewhere between horrible and big fat whale. I lost $50 in 29 hands today. I lost all of it on two hands where I went all-in with JJ and 99 vs AA (both times). Stupid stupid stupid.

My plan is to stick to limit. I really want to see if I can beat the $1/$2 limit game at Party Poker and build my bankroll up to $1200 before I move up to $2/$4 again. I previously have aspired to a 200 big bets rule, but I am going to bump that up to 300 big bets. Most people recommend the latter, but I think 200 BB is fine for me because: (1) I am not trying to make my living playing poker, and (2) I have the discipline to drop down in stakes when I get on a bad run. Regardless, I want to use the 300 BB rule simply because I want to play poker relaxed and focused on making good decisions regardless of the outcome.

Tonight, I played just a little (6 tables) after birthing class. I lost a little at Party and FTP, but I had a nice win at UltimateBet. I deposited $800 a couple of days ago into UltimateBet to take advantage of the 25% reload bonus. I've already cleared my free $25 bonus, but I'm going to wait until I clear another $25 of bonus before cashing anything out (again, my policy is to not use bonuses for bankroll... all bonus earnings go straight to the wife!).

So, despite losing today... I feel really good. That's strange but hopefully it is a good sign of things to come.

More losing

I had another session tonight where I was 4-6 tabling at up to four different sites. The net result was another loss. Here are the pertinent stats:
Poker Stars: 166 hands, won 5.5 big bets
Party Poker: 130 hands, won 10.75 big bets
Ultimate Bet: 153 hands, lost 10.45 big bets
Full Tilt Poker: 295 hands, lost 28.75 big bets

I don't know what happened at Full Tilt. I kept track of how many times tonight I got AA (won 4, lost 3), KK (won 5, lost 2), and QQ (won 3, lost 1). I am trying to find my leaks but I can't seem to find them. There is still the one about call raises on the turn with just top pair. I am getting better at that one. The other big leak that I think I have is how I deal with straight draws. In theory, if you have an open-ended straight draw, then you have 8 eights outs, which you should hit about 1 in 3 times with two cards to come. With rounding errors, I usually chase these draws if it looks like I have implied pot odds of 3:1. The problem here is that these 8 outs are often not true outs, such as when there is a flush draw too. Also, the chances of catching the straight are actually less than 1 in 3. It is that big of a difference, but casinos make tons of cash on small edges like this. So, I am going to try and be more careful about the straight draws that I chase.

Session Analysis

Hand 1: Big Blind

Dealt to frazwood [ 4s 8h ]. Fold to a raise.

Hand 2: Small Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ 6s 6h ] Call (7 callers) [ Qd, 6d, Qc ]. Bet-Call. [ 2s ] Check-Raise. [ 4h ] Bet. frazwood wins, opponent had three of a kind, queens.

I called here because I thought that I had the pot odds to call. I played it aggressively on the flop because I figured that anyone with a queen would call (i.e., slow play). I was a little surprised by the raise, but I still figured that I had the best hand. The check-raise on the turn was my attempt to get in an extra bet. I didn’t figure that he would fold and I was worried about him pairing his kicker. I think I played this hand well.

Hand 3: Button. Dealt to frazwood [ 2s 7s ]. Fold.
Hand 4: Cutoff. Dealt to frazwood [ 7h 9h ]. Fold .
Hand 5: Mid position. Dealt to frazwood [ Jh 4h ]. Fold.
Hand 6: Mid position. Dealt to frazwood [ 7d 8d ]. Fold.
Hand 7: Mid Position. Dealt to frazwood [ 4s 6d ]. Fold.
Hand 8: EP. Dealt to frazwood [ 5s Ah ]. Fold.
Hand 9. EP. Dealt to frazwood [ 5h 3s ] Fold.

Hand 10. Big blind. Dealt to frazwood [ 5h 3h ]. Check. [ 2c, Td, Jd ] Check. [ 3c ]. Check. [ Ks ]. Check.frazwood wins $5 from the main pot with a pair of threes.

Well played. There’s no reason to invest anything with this crap, even if I did pair the turn. I got lucky and won a pot here.

Hand 11. Small Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ 4h 7c ]. Fold.
Hand 12. Button. Dealt to frazwood [ Th 4c ]. Fold.
Hand 13. Dealt to frazwood [ Js 9s ]. Fold.
Hand 14. Dealt to frazwood [ 5s 3c ]. Fold.
Hand 15. Dealt to frazwood [ 3h Kh ]. Fold.
Hand 16. Dealt to frazwood [ Qh 8s ]. Fold.
Hand 17. Dealt to frazwood [ Jc 5s ]. Fold.
Hand 18. Dealt to frazwood [ 2d Qh ]. Fold.
Hand 19. Big Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ Jh Qd ] Check. [4d, 6d, Td ]. Fold.
Hand 20. Small Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ 9d 6h ]. Fold.
Hand 21. Dealt to frazwood [ 3c Jd ]. Fold.
Hand 22. Dealt to frazwood [ 4s 9d ]. Fold.

Hand 23. Dealt to frazwood [ 7h 7d ]. Raise-Call [ 5h, 8d, 6c ] Check-Raise. [ Td ] Bet-Call. [ Jc ] Check-Call. tonafun shows [ Ad, Ah ] a pair of aces.

After playing the first 22 hands well, I mucked this one up pretty well, losing 5.5 big bets. I question whether I should have raised preflop, but that play is not awful. I like the check-raise on the flop; if he has AK, then I might get a fold here or on the turn. I normally don't like the call on the turn, but I had the pot odds for my straight draw (plus one of the other sevens). I hate the call on the river. There is no way that 77 is the better hand here. I wasted 1 big bets here.

Hand 24. Dealt to frazwood [ 2s 3s ]. Fold.
Hand 25. Dealt to frazwood [ 4s 7c ]. Fold.
Hand 26. Dealt to frazwood [ 4h 6c ]. Fold.
Hand 27. Dealt to frazwood [ 9c Jd ]. Fold.
Hand 28. Dealt to frazwood [ Kh 7h ]. Fold.
Hand 29. Dealt to frazwood [ 2c 4h ]. Fold to raise.
Hand 30. Dealt to frazwood [ 2s 9c ]. Fold.
Hand 31. Dealt to frazwood [ 9h 4d ]. Fold.
Hand 32. Dealt to frazwood [ 8h 7s ]. Fold.
Hand 33. Dealt to frazwood [ 5c 2c ]. Fold.
Hand 34. Dealt to frazwood [ 3c 7c ]. Fold.
Hand 35. Dealt to frazwood [ 4c 7c ]. Fold.

Hand 36. Big bling. Dealt to frazwood [ Ks 8c ]. Check. [ 4s, Ah, 2d ]. Bet. [ Th ]. Check. [ Kd ] Call. frazwood wins $16 from the main pot with a pair of kings.

I got lucky here, catching a river king. I played the hand well, however. I don’t mind betting the flop with king-high and he gave me the river for free. This was another lucky hand.

Hand 37. Dealt to frazwood [ 6h 2s ]. Fold.
Hand 38. Dealt to frazwood [ Jh 9c ]. Fold.
Hand 39. Dealt to frazwood [ Jd 7d ]. Fold.
Hand 40. Dealt to frazwood [ 7c 8c ]. Fold.
Hand 41. Dealt to frazwood [ 3d Qd ]. Fold.
Hand 42. Dealt to frazwood [ Th 7s ]. Fold.
Hand 43. Dealt to frazwood [ 5s 4s ]. Fold.
Hand 44. Dealt to frazwood [ 7s 3d ]. Fold.
Hand 45. Big Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ 7h 9d ]. Check. [ Qc, Ks, Jc ] Fold.
Hand 46. Small Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ 7s Tc ]. Fold.
Hand 47. Dealt to frazwood [ 5d 8s ]. Fold.
Hand 48. Dealt to frazwood [ 7c Qc ]. Fold.
Hand 49. Dealt to frazwood [ 7c 4d ]. Fold.
Hand 50. Dealt to frazwood [ Kc 5s ]. Fold.
Hand 51. Dealt to frazwood [ 9h 6c ]. Fold.
Hand 52. Dealt to frazwood [ 3s Ks ]. Fold.
Hand 53. Big Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ Ad 4s ]. Check. [ Kc, 3h, Js ] Fold.
Hand 54. Small Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ 5d 8d ]. Fold.
Hand 55. Dealt to frazwood [ Ks 2s ]. Fold.
Hand 56. Dealt to frazwood [ 5h 4h ]. Fold.
Hand 57. Dealt to frazwood [ As Ks ]. Raise. [ 7d, 8d, 5c ] Raise. [ 5d ]. Fold.

This is one of those hands that I don’t know how to deal with. I have a premium hand that missed the flop. The limper from early position bets out, suggesting either an over-pair or a flush draw. I raise because that is what Phil Hellmuth taught me. The bet on the river from EP suggests that he either has a full-house or a flush or something. Clearly, ace high is not the best hand here.

Hand 58. Dealt to frazwood [ Kc 6d ]. Fold.
Hand 59. Dealt to frazwood [ 6s 9c ]. Fold.
Hand 60. Dealt to frazwood [ Qc 3d ]. Fold.
Hand 61. Dealt to frazwood [ Kh 3d ]. Fold.
Hand 62. Dealt to frazwood [ 4s Ad ]. Fold.

Hand 63. Big Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ Ad 8s ]. Check. [ 5h, Th, 7h ]. Check. [ Jc ]. Check. [ 6s ]. Check. casualcards shows [ 9d, Ac ] high card ace. (lost minimum)

Hand 64. Small Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ 9s Ad ]. Fold to raise.
Hand 65. Dealt to frazwood [ 4s 5s ]. Fold.
Hand 66. Dealt to frazwood [ Kd 8c ]. Fold.
Hand 67. Dealt to frazwood [ 2d 6h ]. Fold.
Hand 68. Dealt to frazwood [ 8h Ac ]. Fold.
Hand 69. Dealt to frazwood [ Qs 4c ]. Fold.
Hand 70. Dealt to frazwood [ 7s 3s ]. Fold.
Hand 71. Dealt to frazwood [ Ac 5d ]. Fold.
Hand 72. Big Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ 8c 2s ]. Fold to raise.
Hand 73. Small Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ 4s Ah ]. Fold to raise.
Hand 74. Dealt to frazwood [ Jd 4s ]. Fold.
Hand 75. Dealt to frazwood [ 2h Ad ]. Fold.
Hand 76. Dealt to frazwood [ Ad 7d ]. Raise (two callers). [ Ah, 3s, Td ]. Bet (two callers). [ 4h ]. Bet (two callers) [ 9d ]. frazwood wins main pot with a pair of aces.

With two callers here, I figured that I was beat on the river so there is no point in making another bet. It turns out that both of them had KQo, so they probably wouldn’t have called here anyway. I like the way I played this hand. It fits my overall game plan.

Hand 77. Dealt to frazwood [ 9c 7h ]. Fold.
Hand 78. Dealt to frazwood [ 3h Td]. Fold.
Hand 79. UTG. Dealt to frazwood [ Qs Ah ] Raise (BB calls). [ 3s, 2c, 6h ]. Raise. [ 6c ] Check. [ 5d ] Call. snowwakex wins $24 from the main pot

Here again, I am not sure why I raised this flop other than Phil Hellmuth told me to do so. It did get me a free card, so it’s not that bad. This call on the river was just bad. Clearly, ace-high is not the best hand here. I wasted one big bet here.

Hand 80. Big Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ 6c 5h ]. Check. [ Kh, Ah, Ks ]. Fold.
Hand 81. Small Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ Qh 6d ]. Fold.
Hand 82. Dealt to frazwood [ Jd 7d ]. Fold.
Hand 83. Dealt to frazwood [ Tc Td ]. Raise (three callers). [ 8d, Qc, 6c ] Call. [ 6h ] Fold. [ Th ]

If I were a complete call station, then I would have called to the river and I would have won this hand when I caught a set on the river. That aside, I should have folded on the flop. Clearly, at least one person here has top pair and I am chasing two outs.

Hand 84. Dealt to frazwood [ Qs 8h ]. Fold.
Hand 85. Dealt to frazwood [ 2c 2s ]. Fold (maybe I limp here, but 22 is my bad luck hand… FYI: a two came on the river).
Hand 86. Dealt to frazwood [ Th 6h ]. Fold.
Hand 87. Dealt to frazwood [ 5d 3d ]. Fold.
Hand 88. Dealt to frazwood [ Jc 3c ]. Fold.
Hand 89. Dealt to frazwood [ 3s 9c ]. Fold.
Hand 90. Dealt to frazwood [ 7c 3d ]. Fold.
Hand 91. Dealt to frazwood [ 2h 8c ]. Fold.
Hand 92. Dealt to frazwood [ 8h Jh ]. Fold.
Hand 93. Dealt to frazwood [ 6c 7d ]. Fold.

Hand 94. Dealt to frazwood [ Ad Td ]. Raise (one caller). [ 7d, 6s, 4s ]. Bet (one caller). [ 8s ] Fold.

I played this hand fine. I want to play AX(suited) when I am the first one in the pot preflop. I like the bet on the flop because I believe that there is good fold equity here when I have position. I assume that the caller caught his flush on the turn.

Hand 95. Dealt to frazwood [ 7d Ah ]. Fold.
Hand 96. Dealt to frazwood [ 9c 4d ]. Fold.

Hand 97. Dealt to frazwood [ 6d Ad ]. Fold. Maybe I should have raised here, but I was in early position. I would have won the hand the way the cards played out.

Hand 98. Dealt to frazwood [ 5s 6s ]. Fold.
Hand 99. Big Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ Kd 4c ]. Folded to me. I win!
Hand 100. Small Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ 8d 5c ]. Fold.
Hand 101. Dealt to frazwood [ Js Jc ]. Raise (three callers) [ 3d, Ah, 7d ]. Raise-call. [ 4c ]. Fold. [ Qc ]

I correctly raised with JJ from the button. I don’t know if my raise was correct on the flop. The call after the check-raise was incorrect, although I thought that I had correct pot odds to catch another J on the turn. Oops. Realizing how many donkeys play “any ace”, I should have folded on the flop. I wasted 1.5 big bets here.

Hand 102. Dealt to frazwood [ Td 8c ]. Fold.
Hand 103. Dealt to frazwood [ 4h Kd ]. Fold.
Hand 104. Dealt to frazwood [ 7h Td ]. Fold.
Hand 105. Dealt to frazwood [ 9s Kc ]. Fold.
Hand 106. Dealt to frazwood [ Ah 2d ]. Fold.
Hand 107. Dealt to frazwood [ 7h 6h ]. Fold.
Hand 108. Big Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ 6d Ac ] Check. [ Th, Ts, 6c ] Bet (two callers) [ 6h ] Bet (one caller) [ 7h ] Bet. Split pot.

I don’t know if I played this hand well or not. I certainly could have walked into a trap if I had been against someone with a ten. I certainly did not miss a bet here.

Hand 109. Small Blind. Dealt to frazwood [ 9c 6h ]. Fold.
Hand 110. Dealt to frazwood [ Th 6h ]. Fold.
Hand 111. Dealt to frazwood [ Jd 2h ]. Fold.
Hand 112. Dealt to frazwood [ Th 7c ]. Fold.
Hand 113. Dealt to frazwood [ Ac Qh ]. Raise (two callers). [ Kc, 4s, 2h ] Bet-fold.

I bet this flop after the EP player check (he eventually check-raised). Here again, this is a Hellmuth move. I think that I should re-think this practice of betting crap flops out-of-position. But hell, I like to be aggressive and I think that it is a generally good philosophy. I’ll claim not to have wasted any bets here.

Hand 114. Dealt to frazwood [ 9s Jh ]. Fold.
Hand 115. Dealt to frazwood [ Ah Qh ]. Raise (two callers). [ 3h, Jc, 6h ] Bet (one caller who was all-in). [ 2c ] [ 3c ]. texansx5 wins with a flush, ace high.

Here, my flop bet would have worked except for the donkey all-in guy caught runner-runner clubs to catch his flush.

Hand 116. Dealt to frazwood [ Th 8s ]. Fold.
Hand 117. Dealt to frazwood [ 3s 8d ]. Fold.

End of Session.

I lost $42.69 or approximately 10.5 big bets. After reviewing this session in its entirety, I definitely realize just how card-dead that I was. I think I made good preflop decisions that fit my game-plan (perhaps except Hand 22). My post-flop play was pretty-good; my biggest problem was that I was card dead and I did not catch many flops (except for Hand 2!). According to my math, I wasted 3.5 big bets in the session. That might not sound like much, but it was about one-third of my loss and equivalent to a “Good” win rate of 3 big bets per 100 hands. I think I feel better after analyzing the session as a whole and perhaps I need to just be patient.

Continuing the downward spiral

I have been continuously losing ever since I posted on here about poker being easy. I have lost quickly (especially at no limit) and I have lost slowly (sometimes at limit)... but there is no doubt that I am losing.... particularly at Party Poker. My bankroll at Party, which was once $1150, is now less than $750. I definitely need to avoid no limit rooms as I am about 90% to go bust in less than 50 hands.

I have certainly had alot of bad luck during this run... but good poker should be able to bully past the bad beats, right? I had started to think that I was losing because a couple of bad beats would put me on tilt, and then I'd make more mistakes. I don't think so anymore. I played 4 tables today at all four sites, losing at Stars and at Party, while netting small wins at FTP and UB. I don't think I played all that badly. I am going to review the hand history from the session at Party to see if it was cold cards or what. That'll take some time, but it's the first time that I've ever tried anything like it. I am sure that the analysis will be good for me no matter what. I think I'll post the analysis here once I have finished it.

I hate poker

After revealing in this blog how easy poker can be... my bankroll has taken a nose dive of colossal proportions. I have lost more than $100 at FTP (starting at $160), more than $300 at Party, and more than $50 at Stars.

The sad thing is... I don't even think I am playing that bad. I am getting a never-ending string of bad beats and cold cards. At Stars, today, for example... I pushed all-in preflop with AA and got two callers! Sadly, I finished with the third best hand as both of my opponents had sets. I lost a big pot of 7stud when a donk chased an inside straight draw to the river. I had another guy beat my three of a kind (twos) when this donkey caught the ONLY card in the deck that would beat me. I lost a sit-n-go when a donk called my all-in with middle pair but caught two pair on the river. The list goes on and on and on and on...

Needless to say, I need a break. This sucks.

Sometimes... it is easy

I haven't played alot the last two days -- by my standards at least. But when I played, I played well and I caught cards. And perhaps more importantly, I was playing against donkeys who either bet too little (and let me catch my card for cheap) or bet too much (and made a nice donation to my bankroll).

For an example of the former, you merely have to look at my previous post where I caught a royal flush. The donk didn't four-bet before the flop and he merely called me on the flop. He finally raised on the turn, but by that time... I had the pot odds to call. Oops.

For an example of the latter, I will describe the last "big hand" that I played at Party Poker (6max, $3/$6). I was on the big blind with AJs. A couple of people limped, so I checked... hoping to catch a nice flop. Otherwise, it's an easy hand to fold, especially out of position. The flop was awesome, AJ5, giving me two-pair, although there was a flush draw. So, I played it aggressively and the donk in the small blind allowed me to cap it. The turn was another ace, my money card, giving me the nuts. I checked and the donk had hit "raise any". I perhaps made a mistake here and merely called, rather than raise. The river was another five, actually another good card for me (you'll see why). I check-raised the river and I was surprised that the donk re-raised me (and I happily capped it). He flipped over AQ, for aces full of fives. Of course, I had aces full of jacks. Now, this is an awful play on his part. There is no way I play the hand this way with anything other than an ace. So, at best, this guy is going to split the pot. Sadly, for him, I had the jack, and I took down a big pot. I netted a profit of 8 big blinds from this session of a mere 14 hands.

I really had a good day at Full Tilt too. It was so good, in fact, that I cashed out $260 (my "bonus"), even though I haven't actually cleared all of that bonus yet. My stack there is now $160, so I'm going to have to rebuild. I am starting to realize that I play much better when my bankroll is a little tight, so I see this as a positive thing.

My next plan is to build my bankroll to $1200 at Party and to cash out $200. I really want to get myself into the mindset of playing poker for money, rather than for the challenge (my original reason). Besides, we want to get a new vacuum cleaner (fun, huh?).

A royal flush

I think this is the fourth in my history. It's the second that involved only one card. It's a big pot, though, and that is what is most important.

FullTiltPoker Game #196365006: Table Algonquin (6 max) - $2/$4 - Limit Hold'em - 18:11:50 ET - 2005/08/25
Seat 1: frazwood ($106)
Seat 2: happydoc ($47)
Seat 3: danmark2 ($68)
Seat 4: AnyTrip ($46)
Seat 5: codys328 ($61)
Seat 6: swanny615 ($44)
danmark2 posts the small blind of $1
AnyTrip posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to frazwood [Jh Jd]
codys328 raises to $4
swanny615 folds
frazwood raises to $6
happydoc calls $6
danmark2 folds
AnyTrip folds
codys328 calls $2
*** FLOP *** [Kd Ad Qd]
codys328 checks
frazwood bets $2
happydoc calls $2
codys328 calls $2
*** TURN *** [Kd Ad Qd] [6c]
codys328 checks
frazwood bets $4
happydoc raises to $8
codys328 folds
frazwood calls $4
*** RIVER *** [Kd Ad Qd 6c] [Td]
frazwood bets $4
happydoc raises to $8
frazwood raises to $12
happydoc calls $4
*** SHOW DOWN ***
frazwood shows [Jh Jd] (a Royal Flush)
happydoc mucks
frazwood wins the pot ($64) with a Royal Flush
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $67 | Rake $3
Board: [Kd Ad Qd 6c Td]
Seat 1: frazwood showed [Jh Jd] and won ($64) with a Royal Flush
Seat 2: happydoc (button) mucked [Ac As] - three of a kind, Aces
Seat 3: danmark2 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: AnyTrip (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: codys328 folded on the Turn
Seat 6: swanny615 didn't bet (folded)

Brown Trout!

After work yesterday, I made the short drive over to Wisconsin to try some fly fishing. I have had virtually no success fly fishing to date and I have only caught 5 trout in my life (2 brook, 2 rainbow, and 1 lake trout). We immediately started fly fishing and that seemed to not be very productive. So, I made a few casts with a Mepps' spinner and caught small brown trout. My first! So, I can scratch yet another species of fish off of my list of fish that I would like to catch. At this point, I don't know how many more are left. Maybe I'll write about that someday.

I did not play much poker yesterday, but I won every session that I played except the first one. That was a no limit session when I busted out in 40 hands (6-max). The last hand was donkey vs. donkey. I raised from UTG with JKs, and only the button called. The flop was a bunch of rags but it gave me a flush draw. I was already short-stacked, so I pushed all in and I got called. He flipped over A2o (pair of twos). That was an amazing call for soooo many reasons. Anyway, I didn't improve and I was out.

After that, I switched over to a $2/$4 6-max limit table, and I won it all back. The key point was when the same donkey from the no limit table followed me to the limit table. The key hand of the session was when I raised from the button with KK and the same donkey called with A2s. I bet the flop and he called (he had an inside straight draw). He check-raised the turn when I caught a set; I three-bet it. The river was a queen, and the betting was capped. So, I flipped over my set of kings and he revealed his ace-high. Amazing!

I played a bunch of smaller sessions after that, all of which were profitable. My net for the day was somewhere around $75. There is probably a lesson to be learned here that shorter, more focused, fewer table-sessions are better than what I have been doing.

A decent day of poker

For whatever reason, the poker gods smiled upon me yesterday. I either didn't get a heavy dose of bad beats or I was blessed with the patience to endure them. Probably, the latter...

I played a bunch of no limit (6-max and full ring) and I did pretty well on the whole. I also played a bunch of 6-max $2/$4 (FTP) and $3/$6 (PP) limit. I am reasonably sure that I had profitable sessions at all of these. My FTP bankroll is once again over $300 and my PP bankroll is somewhere around $1050. So yeah, I don't have the bankroll to play these games. Play is really soft, though, so it's soooo hard to turn down. I say that, but I know that sooner or later variance is going to kick me in the butt.

My session last night at FTP was one that I am proud of. I started playing $2/$4 full ring. I lost about $45 in the session, principally because I hardly got any cards. I also had a bad hand where I raised preflop with 77 and got three callers. I flopped a set, but the donkey to my left caught runner runner for a straight with her Q9o. Grrr. She was literally playing every hand, often raising with J8o and crap like that. And man was she catching cards... she was up $120 in about 20 hands. Because she was to my left, and because there were 7 other people waiting for her downfall, I decided to move on because this was not a good spot for me.

So, I moved to a $2/$4 6-max table. Here, I played really really well. I won my first hand, winning back about half of my losses for the night. I then lost all of that back a couple of hands later when I played AJs poorly against the only other decent player at the table (QQ). After that, I focused on the 4 donkeys at the table and attacking them. I won a few pots; I lost a few pots. I had grinded my way up a little when I was dealt AA on the button. Donkey#1 raised from UTG, donkey#2 called, good player folded, I re-raised, blinds folded, donkey#1 capped, and donkey#2 called. This was shaping up to be a big pot, so I was happy with my AA. The flop was pretty benign for AA, and it got capped. The turn put a possible straight on the board, though. Donkeys#1 and #2 checked, I bet, donkey#1 folded, and donkey#2 raised!. I three-bet and he called. The river was an ace. Donkey#2 came out firing and I raised and he called. He flipped over Q9o, which was good for Q-high! Thanks for the extra bet on the end dude, but did you really think your unimproved Q9o was good enough? I spent 5 minutes trying to figure out his play, and the only thing that I could figure was that he tried to semi-bluff a straight draw on the turn.

In the end, that hand got me back to even for the night at FTP (plus a small profit, < 1 BB). So I went to bed a happy and content man.

Today's fun: trout fishing in Wisconsin! Should be fun!

Poker is a fickle, fickle game

I have been reflecting alot about my poker game lately. In general, if I play well, then I win. If I play bad, then I lose. I have been playing both bad and good lately, so my bankroll has been bouncing up and down. There are the occasional suck-outs, but my game is good enough to accommodate them. My game is not good enough, however, to handle the bad beats putting me on tilt. My bankroll at FTP, for example, is about $40 light because of a single heads up game where I lost a bunch in like 30 hands. Granted, alot of that happened when my KK got cracked by J8o. It was an aggressive game and he thought his top pair was good... and then he caught a jack on the river to take down a $35 pot.

Yesterday, I promised that I would stop playing so loose-aggressive when I first entered a table. Yep, good idea... didn't work. My second hand today at $3/$6 6-max limit involved me losing a big pot when I pushed with middle pair versus a 3-flush. Oops, yes... the donkey in the big blind will call a raise with 23s. Doh! I broke another cardinal rule of limit poker in that I called a raise on the turn with only a pair. Doh! Doh!

I quote Homer (Simpson): A fool and his money are soon departed. I'd pay someone alot of money to explain that to me.

The good news is... I am actually winning so far today. My bankroll at FTP is above $300 again (albeit aided by some bonus cash) and I am up almost $40 (for now) at the $3/$6 6-max table at Party. I think that I can make some serious cash at these 6-max tables if I can not let the bad beats bother mean and I can play well consistently.

What a crappy day of poker

I lost alot of money today at Party and at Full Tilt. I played really really badly. I kept showing up at the table, playing like a loose-aggressive donkey. I'd piss away 10-20 big bets and then spend the rest of the session grinding away to try and recover my losses. How stupid is this?

I need to show up and play TIGHT and then figure out where to take advantage. I also need to stop playing above my bankroll. I have been playing alot of $3/$6 6-max at Party; I clearly do not have the bankroll for that. Luckily, I am winning there. The play is honestly awful and I would make alot more if I didn't make so many mistakes.

One thing that I definitely need to learn is that the donkeys at these 6-max tables are going to defend their blinds with any two cards. For example, everyone folds to me and I raise from the button with 99; the big blind calls. The flop comes down 6 5 5. He bets; I raise; he 3-bets; and I call. I figure he has a six when he checks it to me. I bet; he calls. The river is an overcard, so it goes check-check. He flips over J5o!!! WTF? How can you call a raise from the big blind with that hand? Simply amazing!

Tomorrow night is birthing class, where I get to learn about Caesarian births. Key point: our teacher does not use the term "C-section", which is slang. She is always very precise and calls it "Caesarian birth". Who cares, especially when she keep the room set at meat locker temperature!

Am I cursed? Oh wait... maybe not... oh yes, definitely... no, not really

This weekend has been a very frustrating weekend of poker. It has been VERY swingy. Some of it was definitely bad play, but some of it was bad luck. Anyway, after a long, bad afternoon session... I went out for a jog, during which I had a little conversation with myself in which I came to the startling realization that I have to play well to win.

So, I decided to play well. Good enough. For whatever reason, I decided to play no limit at Full Tilt, and I won $45 in like 50 hands. Part of that was a major suck-out where I rivered a straight to beat two pair. I almost immediately pissed it away when I flopped a set but two people also flopped straights. Ugh. After that, I had another conversation with myself.

I then started a limit, 6max table at Stars. I played really really well and I lost $20 in like 80 hands. The session was full of gems where I'd catch the nut-flush on the turn and get ALOT of action... and then have the board pair on the river. This was when I started to believe that I was cursed.

I also started playing at Party ($2/$4 limit) and I was stuck $60 when I lost the first 57 hands (seriously, 57 hands, no wins). My favorite was when the donkey to my left limped UTG with 46o. I had K3o (big blind) and caught trips on the turn... but he had the nut straight. Eventually, though, I took advantage of this donkey. This was when I decided that I wasn't cursed. One of the hands I had AJ... flopped a jack for top pair... then top trips on the turn... and finally, I caught quads on the river.

After that, I started playing no limit at Party also. My no limit game seemed to be working at FTP. Of course, I was cursed at Party. One hand, I flopped the under-full house but my opponent caught a better full house on the turn. Crap!

Nonetheless, I eventually went on a nice rush at Full Tilt playing no limit, eventually bringing my stack to an all-time high of $320.

Finally, I opened a no limit table at Stars. I won a nice hand when I flopped top pair (kings) and then rivered trips... my opponent held AA. Maybe I wasn't cursed afterall. I eventually won $20 or so, the most noteworthy hand was when I flopped the nut straight and pushed all-in against a donkey with a flush draw. Luckily, the flush did not hit and I won.

If this blog seems disjointed, then it is because my brain is mush. I need to get off of this roller coaster. I would really like to build my stacks at all four sites that I play, but all four seem to be bouncing up and down. This is going to drive me nuts. If I ever reach $1200 at Party, I am going to cash out another $200.

What an awful session! Oh wait...

I just put in a 90 minutes session where I played six tables (2 at Party, 2 at FTP, 1 at Stars, and 1 at UB). After about 87 minutes of this, I had my blog semi-written in my head in which I would complain about playing reasonably well but getting an overdose of cold cards and bad beats. I took Barry Greenstein's advice, which is not to try to get even... but to merely try and recover a fraction of the loss. And in my last ten hands or so... that's what I did.

I was down as much as $75 at Party, but then I won a couple of nice pots on one table... and then I won 2 hands on my last orbit on the other. In the end, I lost less than one big bet. Not bad.

My worst session was definitely at UB. I would flop top pair... catch trips on the turn... get beat by a full house. I lost $20 of my $25 buy-in. My stack there had looked like it was going to be respectable, but now it is back to being less than $100 again.

I played well at Stars, but this was a major case of cold cards. For whatever reason, it seems like I always catch cold cards at Stars. I literally did not win a single pot in my first 74 hands. I eventually did win a small pot, but then I lost some of that when I lost my last hand when I raised from UTG with AKo but did not improve. I pretty much lost the minimum on that hand, so I am not complaining.

I actually had a profitable session at Full Tilt. I was grinding to perfection there, although I had one suck-out that is still bugging me (see below).

One "move" that I tried today was to play KK slowly from the small blind. This is not the best move in all situations, but I think that it's a good one.

The first time, there were 4 or 5 limpers before it got to me. If I raised here, then I would get everyone to call and I would be giving everyone the proper odds to chase their straights. It would also allow me to dump it cheaply if an ace flopped (in this situation, at least one or two of these donkeys is playing an ace). I caught a good flop, so I check-raised. I like the check-raise here to build a pot moreso than to thin the field. In the end, it worked nicely as only two other people saw the turn. When I bet out, one of them folded and the other guy went all-in (this is limit... he was short-stacked). Unfortunately, an ace hit on the river and he won the pot. Grr. This certainly classifies as a semi-bad beat. I played it well, though, so I am happy.

The second time, everyone folded to the button who raised. I figured that he was on a blind steal, but he was not a maniac... so I figured he had something decent (at least two paints). So, I figured that I'd just call, and again check-raise on the flop. The flop came jack-high and my check-raise got the big blind to fold and got me heads up. Unfortunately, another jack came on the river and I lost the hand when he flipped over AJs. Grrr.

Good poker but bad fishing

I played two short sessions last night, opening two tables at Party ($2/$4), one at UB ($0.5/1.00), one at FTP ($1/$2), and one at Stars ($0.5/$1.00). In the first session, I had a really nice win at Party (~$50) and smaller wins at each of the other sights (1-3 big bets). I then watched a movie with Kelly. After, I returned for a second short session where I won $30 at Party and $10 at Stars and a smaller amount at FTP.

I was supposed to go fishing this morning with my friend Todd. The plan was to meet at 6am at the public access. Todd had never been to this place, but I figured that it was on the map. Anyway, he never showed up. Either that or he showed up and left when he noticed that the canoe was not on my car. After arriving, I spent time paddling around just to explore. Anyway, I caught one fish (1.5 lb smallmouth bass) and then headed home. I need to get the oil changed on my car and I should probably have the tires rotated too. I also need a nap; I'm tired.

Just a general update

My updates lately have been really boring, even to me. I am focused on building my bankroll right now, even though I have no end goal other than to prove to myself that I can play good quality book and win over the long-term. As a result, I have had some very nice winning sessions that I felt frustrated at the end. Confused? Well, I'd win $80 at Party and $11 at Full Tilt. But then I'd lose $15 at Poker Stars and $9 at UltimateBet. So, I'd have a nice net win for the session but lose at sites where I couldn't afford the loss very easily because my bankrolls at PS and UB is so small. Speaking of which, I am in the middle of a fantastic session at UltimateBet where I have almost doubled my $25 buy-in. I also received a gift $25 bonus at the site. I might actually have a decent bankroll there in the near future.

Anyway, enough with the poker... what else is going on with my life? The baby is due in 6 weeks and I feel like we're about ready. I am nervous, excited, and terrified all at once. I am mostly looking forward to Kelly being healthy again. It is painful to watch her walk slowly -- if you've ever seen her, she is a fast-walker.

Work is going really well. My dossier for promotion and tenure is put together and I feel like I deserve to get tenure. After that, my job should be one of the least stressful and most secure jobs available.

Fishing this summer has been a real disappointment. I made two trips to Canada, which resulted in my first-ever lake trout and my first ever trophy northern pike (20+ lbs). Those trips were fantastic, but I have done very little fishing outside of those trips. I have fished on the Mississippi River only once this entire summer, which is really disappointing. I'm going to try and go this weekend, either with Todd or by myself.

So, in summary, my life is good and I am happy. By the way, I just lost two big pots. I lost AA vs 37s (yep!) and JJ vs KK. Oh well, that's poker!

Success at Party, losing elsewhere

Last night I had another good session of $2/$4 limit at Party, so my overall bankroll keeps climbing and climbing. I had bad sessions at Stars, Full Tilt, and UB, so that's not so good. I really need to tighten up post-flop. I have to remind myself that My 'advantage' is small. Ergo, I should not try to win every pot and I should only try to win the pots where I have a good hand or a good draw. Bankrolls: Party: $1036, FTP: $250.2, PS: $203, UB: $71.

I got this funny e-mail from UltimateBet yesterday telling me that I had been randomly awarded $25 as part of their player holiday. That's cool. But when I logged onto my UltimateBet account, it is not real money... it's BONUS money. And it's not $25, it's $20. This is all very weird. I am not complaining though.

Success at Party, losing elsewhere

Last night I had another good session of $2/$4 limit at Party, so my overall bankroll keeps climbing and climbing. I had bad sessions at Stars, Full Tilt, and UB, so that's not so good. I really need to tighten up post-flop. I have to remind myself that My 'advantage' is small. Ergo, I should not try to win every pot and I should only try to win the pots where I have a good hand or a good draw. Bankrolls: Party: $1036, FTP: $250.2, PS: $203, UB: $71.

I got this funny e-mail from UltimateBet yesterday telling me that I had been randomly awarded $25 as part of their player holiday. That's cool. But when I logged onto my UltimateBet account, it is not real money... it's BONUS money. And it's not $25, it's $20. This is all very weird. I am not complaining though.

Aggressive or stupid?

I just played a low limit hand that has me thinking. It is a 6-max table. I am UTG+1, and I raise with ATo. I raise and I get three callers (family pot). The flop is Q 4 4. Should I bet this? I did, and I got three callers. The hand is checked down through the river. The small blind wins the hand with TT unimproved. Why did I bet this flop? Against three loose-passives when all I have is ace high?

Bad play and bad beats

I am getting killed tonight. At first, it was because of my bad play. I was pushing slight edges or edges that were not even there. After I talked myself into playing better, I have been the victim of repeated bad beats. For example, I'd flop top two pair, but get beat by runner runner from a guy with J7. I lost a hand with AK, flopped top pair, and then get beat by a fish chasing an inside straight draw (who called four bets preflop with 56o!). I just won a nice pot with QQ, so hopefully this will turn around. I have lost a huge amount at FTP today, but I'll leave that rant for tomorrow.

First results of the smash experiment

I mentioned that I was going to try an experiment of playing no limit hold'em. I won't reveal it here, but I have tried it so far today with little luck. So, far I have played 95 hands and I have won $16.55 ( 33.1 big bet equivalents). That sounds good, but I have won one hand in which I failed to follow the system. What can I say? I got bored... this system is really tight. The Party Poker Stats for this short session are: Hands played: 95, Hands Won: 2%, Showdowns Won: 100%, Flops Seen: 13%, Win % of Flop Seen (8%).

After promising myself that I was done for the day...

After "quitting" last night, I went upstairs to watch television with Kelly, unfortunately, she was asleep. I rubbed her feet for awhile but quickly got bored, so I went back downstairs to tinker around (i.e., play cards). I decided to play at Poker Stars since I had not played there at all yesterday.

I bought into a $0.50/$1.00 6-max room and quickly lost a couple of pots. It amazes me how many people at these tables try to be "tricky". Usually, it just costs them bets, although I am sure that it makes them feel powerful and smart. It's amazing how many times I'll bet the flop and turn, but then check the river to see someone turn over a set or two pair. Oops, you should have bet somewhere in there! Anyway, I lost a big hand when I had AK, caught an ace on the turn, but ran into a set of queens. This guy at least remembered to raise me on the turn.

After that, I grinded away, pounding at the weaker players and grinded my way back to even. Considering my normally awful luck playing the 6-max tables, I had decided to quit (with a $0.50 profit!) when I caught AcJc (UTG+1). I couldn't turn this down, so I raised and I got four callers (four! wtf?). Anyway, the flop was 7c8c9c. So, I had a strong hand but I was vulnerable if the board paired and there were also straight flush possibilities. I decided to play it fast to avoid a bad beat. Luckily, the donkey to my right kept raising me. Eventually, I took the pot down; my opponent turned over Kc5c. That's right boys and girls, though shall not call a raise with K5s! I netted a $9 profit for the session.

After calming down last night, I realized that I had a decent night of cards. It certainly could have been better (or much worse). I finished with a $18 profit on all sites combined. One thing that I have done is set up a spreadsheet so that I can track my bankroll at the four sites that I play. It'll be interesting if I have the discipline to keep using it, especially once I hit a bad stretch.

The other interesting thing that I read yesterday was an interesting system for playing full table no limit games. I might try it today at the $25 NL room at Party Poker. It is supposedly really boring but very effective.

Frustrations

Tonight was a lesson on how frustrating playing poker can be. I came "this close" to a really nice win for night, but a couple of suck outs REALLY killed me. The ones that really stick out in my head are the one where I caught a set of queens on the turn and then lost it when my opponent caught a set of kings on the river. That was a VERY big pot. I then also lost a hand with JJ versus K9 when the donkey caught two pair on the river. Simply amazing.

As I calm down, I have to reflect that this was a good session from the perspective that I quit when i got frustrated. For the day, I won less than $2... but I did not lose anything. I need to remember that. Also, I played so so for the night. I made alot of mistakes that were caused by me playing 6 tables and trying to copy music to my hard drive. Perhaps I should merely be content with 6 tables at once?

An general update

My last couple of blogs have been rather pathetic. Hopefully, this one will be a little more informative.

This weekend was interesting because there was not a long list of tasks to accomplish in order to get ready for the baby (Kelly is at 33 weeks). That allowed us to essentially do what we wanted to do. For me, that was alot of poker (more later). I also went fishing yesterday on the Mississippi River yesterday for the first time this year. I did rather well, despite the bad time... I caught probably 10 smallmouth bass, half of which were in the 2-lb range. I also caught a nice catfish.

I also got a few things cleaned up around the house and I tried to copy virtually every CD I own on to the harddrive of the new computer (well, just the songs that I like). We have alot of CDs, so it's taking a long long time. I am about 80% finished. One big problem is that we noticed about 10-15 CDs are missing. We have a portable case, and I am sure that they are in there. So technically, it is the case that is missing. I noticed this last night while playing a little poker and watching Comedy Central's roast of Pam Anderson. That was amazingly funny, plus Pam wore a shirt that was essentially see thru (no bra!).

My newest poker strategy is to try and build my bankrolls via limit poker. My goal is to be tight, aggressive, and mostly importantly, patient. It has been working really well so far. I have been making slow progress at all four sites that I play. Last night's session at Party Poker was simply amazing. I don't know why I've been struggling there, but it was nice to finally catch some cards. I think that is the key to winning at Party. When you are not catching cards, you simply need to tread water and try and break even. Once you catch the cards, the play is so loose that you'll get paid off. That is where you make the profits. So, I won nothing for maybe 1000 hands this weekend, and then won $170 in 120 hands.

I am also struggling a bit at Poker Stars. I have been playing $1/$2, but I think that I am going to try $0.50/$1.00 again. I need to learn to beat that table and I don't have the bankroll for $1/$2.

I had a bad session at Full Tilt yesterday afternoon (losing $25), but then I recovered about half of that last night. My plan is to play until I clear all of the bonus and then cash out the bonus mone $260. Hopefully, that'll leave me a nice bankroll for playing.

I played $0.50/$1.00 last night at UltimateBet, essentially breaking even. I don't have the bankroll for those stakes, but I am confident that I can beat the game... or at least, drop down stakes when I start to lose. Last nights, I caught a couple of bad beats early and made a few bad plays. After that, though, I settled down and grinded away. I eventually got a little impatient and raised from early position with 88. I got 3 callers and then caught flop that was something like J 8 7. Luckily, I got tons of action on the flop. Well, "luckily" isn't exactly correct, considering that someone probably had a straight. But I filled up on the turn, and I took down a big pot. That got me back to even for the night, so I folded the next hand or two and then quit. I mostly watching the roast and copying CDs by then anyway, so quitting was a good idea no matter what.

That's it. This week I hope to start exercising again. I apparently felt really tired for most of June and July, but I feel really good now. I plan to get about 30 minutes of stationary bike time in today.

Making some progress

My limit game is on! I have spent the entire weekend grinding away. I have been making nice profits at Full Tilt, Poker Stars, and UltimateBet. Curiously, I have been not getting anywhere at Party Poker. I eventually decided to play a focused, $2/$4 limit holdem there. I started off badly, but then tonight... I got run over by the deck. I won about $165 in only 120 hands. Simply amazing!

Hopefully, I can keep this up!

The limit grind

The combination of a new computer (with a REALLY nice monitor) plus high speed internet at home has been a nice boost to my poker playing opportunities. I can play multiple tables at multiple sites and not worry about my connection. The system that I used today was to play 2 tables at Party, 2 tables at Stars, and 2 at Full Tilt.

Based on rumors and innuendos at thepokerforum.com, Full Tilt should be the most difficult to beat and Party should be the easiest. Well, today... I made some very nice profits at Full Tilt, a little less at Stars, and I lost at Party. Go figure.

My limit game is spot-on right now. I am taking the lead in virtually every hand that I play. I am avoiding bad spots almost entirely. I still can't figure out why I can't beat Party Poker all of a sudden. Anyway, I take great pride in my Full Tilt bankroll that is now $269.

A new computer

Our new computer finally arrived yesterday. I set it up last night and played 8-tables (4 at Party, 4 at Full Tilt) for two hours. I played really well and made very few poor decisions. I did quite well at Full Tilt, winning about $30, but I lost like $5 at Party (stakes were $0.50/$1.00). I don't know what was happening at Party, but I could never seem to catch a rush of cards to get me a nice win.

I logged on this morning and I immediately won $25 in my first three hands (JJ, QQ, and KK). Right now, my game seems to be very inconsistent. I am going to work around the house for awhile and think about my game. I can't identify any problems with my limit game (my no limit game is a mess... I'm not going there). I think it's just a matter of grinding away. I am doign quite well at Full Tilt with this approach. My stack there is now over $200 ($100 of this is bonus).

Some progress

After a miserable two days ago, I played some $0.50/$1.00 limit holdem at Party and Full Tilt. Luckily, I played well and I made good progress. Last night, I netted only $8 or so, but I lost $15 in a thepokerforum.com private room where Phatfarm was sucking out with crap hands. The forum actually decided to name the hand 23o the "Phat" hand.

I have been running well at Full Tilt, although last night was not great. I was up overall until my poorly played AKo ran up against AA. In hindsight, I need to fold AK unimproved without position. But there I was... calling him all of the way to the river. I cashed another $20 of bonus, so my stack went up although I lost $5-$10.

The wife and I went fishing yesterday morning (well, I fished, she watched) instead of going to work. I caught a couple of weird fish that I had never seen before. I'll to figure out what they were. They looked like bait fish, although they were at least 1 lb (big bait, maybe?)

Phil Ivey Update!

I managed to play with Phil Ivey... for precisely one hand before he quit. I think Phil is afraid of me. I did a quick screen capture (thanks to my wicked-fast reflexes!), which I'd post here except that I don't know how.

A bit of success at the low limits

After last night's frustration, I decided to play full table limit games. At Party, this was $0.50/$1.00. I did play 4-tables at a time, but I promised myself to play tight-aggressive and that's what I did. I played a little less than 300 hands and I won $28 or so. That's a really good win rate and I need to remind myself of that. I essentially recovered my losses from earlier today. Hopefully, I can start the recovery from last night's debacle soon enough.

While 4-tabling at Party, I opened two tables at Full Tilt... one $0.50/$1.00 and the other $1/$2. I played really well at both tables (I played all 6 tables well, actually) and I won about $20 at the $0.5/$1.00 and about $10 at the $1/$2 table. At the latter table, I initially took some brutally bad beats from the donkey two seats to my right. He literally played every hand and he was catching great hands against my good hands. Karma caught up to us both, however and I starting catching sets two his top two pair (et cetera) and I got back to even in the room and then some. In summary, it was a very good session. My stack is now $160 at Full Tilt and I am about ready to get another $20 in bonus cash. Right now I am $80 ahead of my bonus. This is probably the key stat because eventually I'll cash out the $260 of bonus money, per my stupid policy.

The other cool thing is that Phil Ivey just sat down to play $0.5/$1.00 limit and I am first on the waiting list. Somehow, I bet no one leaves... but it'll be fun to have the chance.

A bad night at Party Poker

Last night was a really bad night at Party Poker; I lost almost $300, or about 30% of my bankroll. I played reasonably well for awhile, but then I got tired and I did not have the good sense to quit. I took a couple of bad beats playing no limit and then I switched to $3/$6 limit (6-max). Playing poorly and above my bankroll is obviously doubly bad.

I did, amazingly enough, have a good night at Full Tilt and my bankroll there is now $134.

My plan for now is to tighten up, especially post-flop where I am making alot of my mistakes. I need to stop pushing mediocre hands! I am also going to switch to $0.5/$1.00 limit at Party. I could use a winning streak.

The Professor, the Banker, and Full Tilt

I finished Barry Greenstein's book last night. It was interesting and different than any other poker book that I've ever read... but still it seemed like a waste of $20 for me. I already understand the concepts of lifestyle and money management very well. It was still a neat book so I recommend it to virtually anyone who plays poker.

That book finished, I started on "The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King". This book is pretty boring so far, but we'll see. It chronicles the Andy Beal story, who is a rich banker but poker novice (at least when he started) who challenged (and I think beat) alot of well-known poker professionals. Hopefully, the story picks up. The book is not particularly well-written so far.

While doing all of that, I managed to play some at Full Tilt. I played a little no limit yesterday afternoon and netted a nice win. So, I played some more last night after birthing class. Oops. I lost my entire buy-in when my KTo when up against KQs. Doh!

After that, I played $0.50/$1.00 limit . In my first 30 hands, I made some over-aggressive moves and got hit with a couple of bad beats. At this point, I was stuck $40 (or so) for the night. That's not that big of a deal, but my bankroll at Full Tilt was only $105 (ouch). After that, I tightened up and played alot better. I won some small pots and I had recovered to a reasonable loss for the night.

Finally, I won a huge pot when I was dealt JJ on the button. There were two limpers in front of me and I raised. Everyone called, including the big blind. The flop was Q J 2. The big blind bet and everyone called; so, I raised. Unfortunately, the big blind re-raised and the other two folded. The turn was a blank and the big blind bet out and I raised and he re-raised. I just called, thinking that I had the best hand. The only hand that beat me was QQ and I didn't think that he had that; he would have re-raised me preflop from the big blind, right?. I was thinking QJ. Anyway, we four bet the river and he flipped over two ducks. Set over set is brutal, but I like it when I'm on the good side of it. In the end, my limit session was slightly profitable.

I am not in the mood to work this morning. I had planned on fly fishing, but Kelly bailed on me at the last minute. So, my tentative plan is to go tomorrow with her. We'll have to see if she bails on me again. I am doing a bit of service work while playing $0.50/$1.00 limit in the background (Full Tilt). So far, I'm up $7. My stack at Full Tilt is $95.

Royal Flush!

I think this was my third ever. This was not my best poker move ever, but I was not in the mood to be pushed around. Enjoy! I sure did...

$50 NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, August 08, 13:54:47 EDT 2005
Table Table 36643 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: JPBUZZ1 ( $51.70 )
Seat 2: Poker_Pet ( $48 )
Seat 3: AHuertas ( $90.35 )
Seat 5: rodo1 ( $47.30 )
Seat 6: kronan666 ( $84.40 )
Seat 4: frazwood ( $25 )
AHuertas posts small blind [$0.25].
frazwood posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to frazwood [ Jh Kh ]
rodo1 folds.
kronan666 calls [$0.50].
JPBUZZ1 folds.
Poker_Pet folds.
AHuertas raises [$0.75].
frazwood raises [$2.50].
kronan666 folds.
AHuertas is all-In [$89.35]
frazwood is all-In [$22]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3s, Ah, 2s ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qh ]
** Dealing River ** [ Th ]
frazwood shows [ Jh, Kh ] Royal Flush.
AHuertas shows [ 9s, 9d ] a pair of nines.
AHuertas wins $65.35 from side pot #1 with a pair of nines.
frazwood wins $48.50 from the main pot with Royal Flush.

Back to "normal"

After chasing the Party Poker bonus much of the weekend, I feel kind of weird just playing poker. I played a little bit at Party today, making about $15 at the $50 NL tables. My focus is a little off but that's fine since I played conservatively. I have been playing at Full Tilt also, mostly just spinning my wheels. My stack right now is over $80, which means that I am profitable at the site even beyond my bonus! Hopefully, I start grinding my way up to the point where I can cash out $260 and continue my policy of cashing out all bonuses.

I played a $10+1 NL holdem sit-n-go today at Poker Stars. I won it even though I was dealt virtually no cards the entire tournament. I was slowly blinding my way stack away (I had $1100 left) when I was dealt 67o in the big blind. A couple of people limped and the flop gave me top pair and an inside straight draw. I made a pot sized bet and got one caller. The turn gave me a straight and I pushed all-in and doubled up. After that, I made a bunch of preflop raises from late position and I don't think I got called once! I used this approach to become the big stack at the table. When it was three handed, two of us had big stacks and butted heads with 44 (me) vs. AQ. I flopped a set and he didn't improve and I had a 9:1 chip lead. My opponent was very passive until he pushed all in with T9o vs my JTs.

After that, my stack at Poker Stars is about $235. This is yet another reminder that I should play more sit-n-goes, especially at Stars.

Bonus clearing

Well, I'm officially 32 years old. Thanks, Mom, for delivering me! Thanks, Dad, for forgetting me at church that one time! Seriously, though, I have been blessed with great parents. I can only hope that I do half as well as they did.

Today's poker has been all about clearing the Party Poker monthly bonus. I played some $1/$2 limit last night, but I basically broke even for the session. So today, I decided to drop down to $0.50/$1.00, where I actually won a decent chunk of change. My net win for the day is ~$80 at Party Poker, which includes $30 in losses playing $1/$2 6-max limit for like 20 hands (tilt? yep!) as well as 20 hands of no limit where I won $25. Anyway, I cleared the bonus just now and I cashed out my $600 ($100 bonus plus $500 deposit). My stack is now at $1130 and I'm going to cash out $200 as soon as I hit $1200. I haven't cashed out any winnings in a long long time and I am focused on that goal right now.

I also played quite a bit today at Full Tilt. I started the day with about $35 and decided that was enough to take a crack at $0.50/$1.00 limit. I hope that I could win (or break even) and collect enough Full Tilt points to clear another $20 of bonus. At that point, I'd actually have a semi-decent amount of money to play with... unfortunately, I lost $10 in a short preriod this afternoon... but then won about half of that back on my last hand. Tonight, I was bless with great cards and bad opponents and I pushed my stack to around $50... and then I cleared the extra $20. So, my stack at Full Tilt is now $72.20.

And in case you are interested, my stack at Stars is $198.43 and my stack at UltimateBet is $66.27. Now, as long as I do not have any reversals, I'll be quite pleased. Goodnight!

A bad beat for the ages

Total number of players : 10
Seat 3: maliki34 ( $32.50 )
Seat 4: Kdeezy2001 ( $19.50 )
Seat 5: chargeo5 ( $19.25 )
Seat 6: frazwood ( $37 )
Seat 7: wzzupp ( $8.50 )
Seat 8: knifeskillz ( $34.38 )
Seat 2: AIM_High ( $24.50 )
Seat 1: sara_toga ( $26.75 )
Seat 9: baffman99 ( $23 )
Seat 10: robannon ( $19.50 )
frazwood posts small blind [$0.25].
wzzupp posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to frazwood [ Ks Kd ]
>You have options at Table 32445 Table!.
knifeskillz folds.
baffman99 folds.
robannon folds.
sara_toga folds.
AIM_High folds.
maliki34 folds.
Kdeezy2001 folds.
chargeo5 raises [$1].
frazwood raises [$1.25].
wzzupp folds.
chargeo5 calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qs, Qd, Kc ]
frazwood checks.
chargeo5 bets [$0.50].
frazwood calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qc ]
frazwood bets [$1].
chargeo5 raises [$2].
frazwood calls [$1].
** Dealing River ** [ 9h ]
frazwood bets [$1].
chargeo5 raises [$2].
frazwood raises [$2].
>You have options at Table 32742 Table!.
chargeo5 raises [$2].
frazwood calls [$1].
chargeo5 shows [ Qh, 8c ] four of a kind, queens.
frazwood doesn't show [ Ks, Kd ] a full house, Kings full of queens.
chargeo5 wins $15.75 from the main pot with four of a kind, queens.

A straight flush

Now this is the river card that I wanted...

FullTiltPoker Game #177264852: Table Casada - $0.50/$1 - Limit Hold'em - 0:35:51 ET - 2005/08/07
Seat 1: misterK ($10.50)
Seat 3: Pkerface ($35.50)
Seat 4: kenaria ($25.25)
Seat 6: cliffc ($20.25)
Seat 7: ChaseThatAce ($26.25)
Seat 8: Brandon Thomas ($11.75)
Seat 9: frazwood ($39)
kenaria posts the small blind of $0.25
cliffc posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to frazwood [Kh Qh]
ChaseThatAce folds
Brandon Thomas folds
frazwood raises to $1
misterK folds
Pkerface folds
kenaria calls $0.75
cliffc calls $0.50
*** FLOP *** [9h Jh Qc]
kenaria checks
cliffc checks
frazwood bets $0.50
kenaria calls $0.50
cliffc has 15 seconds left to act
cliffc folds
*** TURN *** [9h Jh Qc] [Ad]
jso72 sits down
kenaria bets $1
frazwood calls $1
*** RIVER *** [9h Jh Qc Ad] [Th]
jso72 adds $100
kenaria bets $1
frazwood raises to $2
kenaria calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
frazwood shows [Kh Qh] (a straight flush, King high)
kenaria shows [Ac 8c] (a straight, Queen high)
frazwood wins the pot ($9.50) with a straight flush, King high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $10 | Rake $0.50
Board: [9h Jh Qc Ad Th]
Seat 1: misterK didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Pkerface (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: kenaria (small blind) showed [Ac 8c] and lost with a straight, Queen high
Seat 6: cliffc (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: ChaseThatAce didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Brandon Thomas didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: frazwood showed [Kh Qh] and won ($9.50) with a straight flush, King high

Party Poker Bonus, Full Tilt, and UltimateBet

After coming home from work tonight, I installed the upgrade on our cable to digital with high definition. Very cool! Next, the changing table for our baby arrived and I helped haul that upstairs.

In poker news...

I have somehow made a major comeback at UltimateBet playing the 6-max $0.25/$0.50 limit tables. It's fun and the quality of play is bad. My stack there is over $60 (for now). I have been playing alot of $0.05/$0.10 (blinds) no limit at Full Tilt. I'm trying to rebuild my stack there to the point where I can afford to play $0.50/$1.00 limit again. I like the site, so I'd like to have some cash there. Unfortunately, with this small of a bankroll (~$25)... I am going to have to earn it. I am pretty close to getting another $20 of bonus money and that'll be a major help if I can stick around that long.

The other big news is that Party Poker announced their August reload today. So, I am 4-tabling $1/$2 limit right now. I am tired and I am not playing that well and my opponents are a little bit nuts. I just won a good pot but I am still stuck $10 or so. Hopefully, I'll start catching some cards. My hope is to play 300 hands tonight (about 200 of the 700 raked hands that I need to clear the bonus). I'm playing REALLY tight, but I am tired so my decisions are not going to be the best. Perhaps I should stop 4-tabling (actually, 5-tabling... I'm playing at Full Tilt too) and blogging, eh?

A quick almost recovery

After losing $150 at Party Poker yesterday, I needed a quick recovery today. So far, I have done well, playing a mix of limit and no limit... I have won back $100 of what was lost there.

Right now, I am playing 6-max limit holdem at UltimateBet. I am doing very well, although I just had my aces cracked by Q7o when K Q 7 flopped. Crap! I could have used that pot!

Well, that sucked

I had a awful night last night. I had no patience and I was playing as many as 5 tables at once. I lost about $150 at Party Poker and small amounts at UB and Full Tilt. For whatever reason, I was in a hurry last night and it got me killed. For now, I am going to go back to single tables for no limit and two tables for limit. I also need to rebuild my bankroll. Hopefully, Party Poker will announce their monthly reload bonus soon.

High Speed Internet and Birthing Class

I have hardly played any poker at all today.... but the day is still filled with important stuff. Before work, I visited the local Comcast office and picked up a cable modem. After work, Kelly and I attended our first birthing class. Exciting stuff!

During the day, I played very little poker. I did cash out my original $260 from Full Tilt Poker, leaving me a bankroll of less than $50. I figure that I can either rebuild from there or go bust. I don't like the site that much. Besides, playing $0.25/$.50 can be fun! I'm already playing those stakes at UltimateBet!

Anyway, I hooked up the high speed internet to my laptop and it works great. I also placed the order for a new desktop computer today, which I am quite excited about. That's all I have to say for now. I'm going to play a little bit more at Full Tilt and UB and then head to bed.

Poker Stars Bonus

Last night, I started 4-tabling $1/$2 limit holdem at Poker Stars, hoping to get to 600 FPPs so that I could get a $120 bonus. I managed to hit the bonus, which was good. The bad news is that I lost $80 in the process. I struggled with numerous bad beats early on, which put me on tilt. After settling down, I got back near even for the night... but then I slowly gave my money away the rest of the way. The big problem here was 4-tabling... I made too many mistakes by doing that. I would raise with weak hands from early position, miss a 3-bet here, etc. The worst play of the night occurred when I flopped top pair in early position. I checked as did the short-stack to my left. When the button bet, I raised and the short-stack re-raised. The button then folded. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that the short-stack had less than a big bet remaining and I folded! I need to remember to never 4-table again. I'm sure that promise will last as long as it takes for Party Poker to announce their monthly reload bonus.

The really good news is that I signed up for cable internet last night. That should allow me to play more sites and more often. Well, back to work...