The end of Bodog... and Absolute?

After reading through the PSO forum, I learned that the best way to clear the Bodog bonus was to play 7stud. Basically, you only accumulate Bodog points if you contribute to the pot; with 7stud, you contribute EVERY hand. Unfortunately, a 7stud game was not available until this morning.

So, in spite of my short bankroll, I bought into a $2/$4 7stud game. My plan was to play ridiculously tight, simply trying to clear my PSO promotion. This worked like a charm! I won almost $70 in about 70 hands while clearing about 1/3 of the point requirements. Sadly, though, the table broke up and I was stuck playing hold'em again. I played a bunch of shorthanded $1/$2 limit and accumulated a bunch more points. Finally, I played some $0.50/$1.00 blinds no limit (buying in for the minimum) to complete the promotion. I played ridiculously tight, contributing to one pot other than the blinds. I won that hand, though, when I went all-in with KK against an opponent who called with the nut-flush draw. Neither the flush nor the ace came and I doubled up.

After completing the promotion, I cashed out my money. I don't really like Bodog; it's unattractive and it has a bad "vibe" to it (from my perspective). It plays fast, though, so I recommend it to people who don't care about aesthetics as much as fast play. The quality of play at the site was amazingly aggressive, which works out great if you can play tight and pick your spot to be aggressive. The swings can be deadly, though.

The other news is that I read on 2+2 that Absolute poker changed their bonus clearing policy. It used to be 25 cents of rake per hand qualified; now it's 50 cents. Since I was playing $0.50/$1.00 limits mostly, this essentially triples (at least) the difficulty of clearing the bonus. So, I cashed out my money today after clearing another $10 of bonus. I don't like Absolute that much (slow play, tight players, difficult to get a table) and I already play too many sites. This is an easy cut to make.

BoDog and more bad poker

After a horrible session on Sunday night at Party Poker, I decided to drop back down to $25 NL. In doing this, I promptly lost $25 more. Not good.

In response, I decided to sign up for another PSO promotion, this time at BoDog. So far, I must admit, I really hate this site. It has a feel unlike any other I've been around. I do have to admit that the play is VERY fast, which is a plus. My first session worked out well; I won almost $50 playing short-handed $1/$2 limit and I cleared about 1/6 of the points that I need to clear the promotion. Then I played for about an hour last night, losing about $75 but clearing a lot more points.

This morning I have discovered my biggest complaint about the site: low traffic! Because of that, I find myself playing games at stakes that I am not comfortable playing. The good news, however, is that I am playing very carefully, which is a very good strategy for me. I have won about $25 so far, playing $1/$2 limit (when available), $1/$2 blind no limit, and $2/$4 limit.

Ouch

I have been running good lately, which usually means that bad news is just around the corner. I knew that my focus was waning, particularly for no limit. So... anyway, here's what happened. I signed-up for an extra double secret bonus at Party Poker (well, you can find it bonus whores). I have a month to clear it, so I was mostly just playing my normal game. I had won a few bucks here and there, and in the process I learned that more than 90% of the hands are raked at the 50 NL tables. And then this happened:

I opened up two tables and I bought in for $25. During the first ring, I get dealt QQ on the button and I make a 6X raise and I get called in one spot. I get check-raised on the flop (A 4 X) and I stupidly push all-in. My opponent flopped a small set (44) and I am -$25. A few hands later at a different table, I get dealt KK on the big blind. There are several limpers, so I again make a overly big raise (6X probably, I don't remember) and one of the limpers pushes all-in. Because he was not the first limper, I figured that he didn't have AA. The flop came K X X and I thought that I was good for sure. But, the river was an ace, and my opponent flipped over AA. Crap! -$50. I am now on tilt. A few hands after that, it is folded to me on the button and I make a normal-sized raise with QTs and the big blind calls me. The flop was J 9 X and I bet it aggressively three times, each time getting called, and each time missing my draw. He flips over 88 and wins. -$63. The next hand I raise from the cutoff with KJs and the same guy re-raises me. I call. The flop is J T X and I push all-in. He calls. The river is a Q and he flips over AKo. Crap! -$75. I play out the rest of the orbits, folding everything merely to clear a few more raked hands. My plan is to stick to limit or to play $25 NL for awhile.

This was a good weekend for bonus whoring; I qualified for bonii at virtually every site that I play, many of which have no expiration date. [Bill Murray from Caddshack voice] So, I got that going for me.

A lot of bonus whoring

I have been playing quite a bit of poker over the last few days, most of it an attempt to clear bonuses at UltimateBet, Poker Stars, Absolute, etc. I have also been shifting my Neteller account funds to-and-fro to take advantage of the reload bonuses that are currently available at UltimateBet, Full Tilt, and Paradise. I am also trying to accumulate as many Party points as possible to earn a Party Poker poker table.

The good news is that I finally received my funds from Titan Poker. There was a slight snafu with my withdrawal... requested a withdrawal of $321.31, but they only can handle withdrawals to the nearest dollar. So, my account there still has $0.31. The bad also took an extra few days to get my money back.

In the meantime, my poker game is a little bit off, but not too bad. I don't seem to have the focus necessary for no limit, so I have been mostly sticking to limit games. The good news is that I have been winning, especially at UltimateBet and Absolute. My stacks there are pushing towards $300 and $200, respectively. These are legitimate bankrolls for the low limit games that I like to play.

The bad news is that I had an awful session of 7stud at Poker Stars on Thursday. I stupidly tried the $1/$2 game and I lost $40, or about half my bankroll.

As I type this, I am playing ultra-low stakes no limit at Paradise to try and kill some time while Kelly and the baby sleep. My bankroll there started at $17 and I have already lost a buy-in. It's no big deal, but the site is nice and the bonuses are good... so I'd prefer not to go bust there.

Playing Hooky

I skipped work yesterday; this was a much needed break. I took care of August most of the day, letting Kelly finish painting our spare bedroom. August was very well-behaved (i.e., she slept all day), and I was able to clean the house while she slept.

I played very little poker and what I did play was not of a high quality. I won $4 playing 7stud at Poker Stars and I lost about $5 at both Absolute and Party playing a mixture of NL and limit holdem. I had very little enthusiasm for playing, which can be deadly playing no limit because it depends so much on feel.

The reason for my lack of enthusiasm? Probably the fact that I cleared the Titan Poker PSO promotion late on Monday night. I had played rather well there, building about $100 in equity almost entirely playing no limit. The games were VERY aggressive and I had to pick and choose my spots very carefully. To be honest, though, I had got very lucky. I had taken very few bad beats, which is difficult to do with such aggressive games. I don't know if I was simply worn out from playing these games or my luck had run out, but I starting taking bad beats and making bad plays. I had starting losing; and because my primary goal was to clear the PSO promotion, I started buying in for the minimum and playing really tight -- merely accumulating raked hands while trying to lose as little as possible.

This worked reasonably well, except for the suck outs. One hand that I recall: I was dealt Kh 8h in the big blind. A donkey in early position made a minimum raise (note: minimum preflop raises are VERY common at Titan) and there were two callers. I called, hoping to catch a big flop. The flop was Ah Qh 7h, giving me the nuts. The original raiser made a smallish bet, another person called; I made a smallish raise, both people called. The river was 2s and the original raiser made a big bet; the caller folded and I pushed all-in; the raiser called. The river was 2c and the pot went to the raiser who held QQ.

Eventually, I thought that I could lose more slowly playing very tight limit hold em ($1/$2). This was a decent theory, but my version of tight limit hold em is usually profitable, as it was in this case. I won about $15 playing a full ring game (maybe 70 hands). Towards the end, I also started playing a 6-max limit game ($1/$2) where I caught cards and won $17 in about 40 hands. After winning my last pot, I checked with Titan online support and found out that I had accumulated more than 3500 Titan stars. I had also ran my net profit at the site to a little more than $100, not including the $20 in bonus that I had earned. So, I quit for the night and I cashed out yesterday. I expect that I'll receive my Nevada Jacks chips in about 10 days.

I don't ever plan at playing at Titan Poker again. It is a very nice site and I think it is worth playing if you're looking for a new site. The games are beatable at the stakes that I was playing, but thanks to Party Poker, there is no shortage of beatable games to be found. And besides, I am already playing too many sites. My biggest complaint is that their bonuses are very difficult to clear, somewhere in the range of Full Tilt. Unlike Full Tilt, though, the site is not compatible for Pokertracker, you can't play with Phil Ivey, and you can receive cool ancillary gifts like sunglasses, t-shirts, etc.

Babysitting, little poker

I spent most of the weekend babysitting while Kelly painted the spare bedroom. I did find time to play a bit on Sunday afternoon while entertaining the baby and a little bit more Sunday night. The afternoon session was $0.50/$1.00 7Stud at Poker Stars. I played mostly tight and I won about $20, although I did get very very lucky. My last hand I was dealt (QT) T and I raised. I got re-raised by a poor player showing a Jack. Fourth street brought me a Q, so I bet, got raised (he was showing J A), and called. This continued until the river where I caught another queen, giving me queens full. He flipped over (AA) J A X X (X). So, I caught one of four outs and my opponents missed all of his. That pot was about $20, so like I said... I got lucky.

My session at Titan Poker was generally boring. I have a really short bankroll there, so I am playing very tight and not all that aggressive. I had one bad hand that cost me a buy-in. I was dealt QQ in the big blind. One guy made a minimum raise, but it was otherwise folded to me. I raised it 4X his bet and he called. The flop was J 7 7 and I figured that I was in the lead but vulnerable, so I pushed all-in. He called and flipped over JJ. Crap!

I have played a bit so far today. I won a bunch early but then I gave it all back. I am nearing 3000 Titan Stars, hopefully I can clear this promotion before Thanksgiving.

The move up to $50NL and more Titan Poker

I played a little $25 NL at Party yesterday, quickly winning $9 (in like 7 hands), which brought me to $547 in my account. My plan was to move up to $50 NL when I hit $550, and I figured that this was close enough. I played very little at $50 NL, winning maybe $4... so now I am actually at $550. I am confident that I can beat the game at this level (I have before and I am playing GREAT right now), but maybe variance will get me and I'll have to drop back down.

Speaking of $50 NL, this is essentially the game that I am playing right now at Titan Poker. As of yesterday afternoon, I was +$75 at the site. I was a little worried about losing entire buy-ins and quickly losing this $75, so I played about 100 hands of $1/$2 limit. I rationalized that this would be better, since I would be clearing 3 stars per raked hand instead of 2 stars per raked hand. Unfortunately, my limit game is just awful right now, and I lost $6 in the session. For whatever reason, I keep trying to bluff people off of pots when playing limit. I am ridiculously aggressive. For example, I was dealt 99 in late position and I got raised by the big blind. The flop was A K K and I raised my opponent enough to convince him that I had KK (he had AA).

Anyway, I did some quick math and I actually was clearing about 1.8 stars per hand (i.e., not all hands are raked). I decided that this was not worth it because I was clearing 1.7 stars per hand playing no limit and I was actually winning there. So, I switched back to no limit and I won $30 in about 100 hands. The highlight of the session was when I was dealt QQ on the button. Two people limped, so I made a big raise (6x the big blind) and only one limper called. The flop was K 8 4 and it was checked to me. I made a 2/3 pot-sized bet and he called. The river was another king and it was checked to me. Partly on tilt and partly thinking that he would have bet if he had a king, I pushed all-in... hoping to convince my opponent to fold. He called and flipped over 43o. WTF? He was drawing dead to two outs for all of his money; the river was a three, which gave him three pair.

In conclusion, I am now +$100 at Titan Poker, not including the $10 bonus that they should be awarding me anytime now. I am also about 1/3 of the way to 3500 Titan Stars; I hope to finish off this promotion this weekend so that I can get my Nevada Jacks poker chips.

A good day at Party; A little brain damage at Titan

I decided yesterday that I would stop being a donkey at Party, that I would play focused and I would play well. The result is that I won $40 or so, which has me very close to $550, which is my goal before I move up to $50 NL. I had a short session this morning that has me at $547. So, I should be making my move up either today or tomorrow.

I played a bit at Titan last night. I played one 6-max table and one full-ring table. I won $13 or so at the 6-max table and I was down about $1 until my last hand. I had planned on leaving, but I accidentally forgot to unclick the autopost button. Instead of taking the $0.50 loss, I tried to bluff my way to the pot and I lost $7 or so. My net for the night was +$5 at Titan, but I still felt stupid about that last hand. The good news is that I have cleared more than 1000 stars, which puts me about one-third of the way to my set of Nevada Jacks poker chips. So far, I am +$75 at Titan, not including the $10 bonus that I should be receiving for exceeding 100 stars.

Backpeddling at Party

I played for about an hour last night with one table open at Party and one open at Titan. Considering my short bankroll at Titan, I was focusing more on that table than the one at Party. The good news is that I won $5, so my bankroll there is +$70.

The bad news is that I lost $25 at Party. After thinking about it, I really don't like the way that I played there. I was very passive, calling a lot of bets on the flop. Very donkish. I think part of my problem is that I really want to move up to $50NL and I just can't focus long enough to grind my way back up to $550. Right now, I am bouncing between $480 and $500. I am going to try and one-table for awhile again. Hopefully, that will work.

More Titan Poker

I played for about an hour last night, with one table open at Party and two open at Titan Poker. The game at Titan was very aggressive and very scary for someone with a short bankroll; otherwise, it would have been a gold-mine. As it was, I have been doing very well there.

My plan was to play very tight, trying to essentially clear the bonus while avoiding big pots. My first hand was AQs from the button and the big blind raised me all-in, so I folded. He did this a lot, so I figured that he did not have a hand but I didn't really want to gamble with AQ. After about 40 hands at this table, I figured that it was too aggressive for my short bankroll and that all of the pre-flop raising meant fewer flops, which was bad for bonus clearing. I then opened another 6-max table as well as a full-ring game. The six-max table was much more tame and I grinded back to even for the night. The full-ring game was also VERY aggressive. My first orbit, I was dealt AKo on the button. There were a lot of limpers and so I raised 6X the big blind and almost everyone called! The flop came rags and one of the middle position people went all-in. I folded and he flipped over KK, winning a nice pot. I played tight for a few more orbits, until I got bored and dealt KJo on the button. After four people limped, I raised 4x the big blind hoping to thin the field and catch a nice flop. About half of the limpers called until the last limper, who made a big re-raise. I figured that he had crap given this would be an awful way to play AA or KK (based on his limp from late position after several limpers and he did not push all-in). Truthfully, I was slight pissed at getting re-raised all of the time. Anyway, the flop came JJ2. He pushed all-in and I called. I caught quads on the turn and almost doubled up on the hand. For the night, I won like $20 at Titan, which means that my win rate there is something like 15 big bets per 100 hands. I know that I cannot continue that pace; I just hope that I can at least play steady poker until I clear my 3500 stars to get my poker chip set.

My night at Party was uneventful for most of the night. I wanted to win a small amount, primarily to bring my stack back near $500. I was grinding away all night, winning small pots here and there. I then was dealt AA and I raised, getting one caller. The flop was a good one: K 9 5, rainbow. I made a pot sized bet and I got called. The turn was a 5, giving me aces up. I figured that my opponent at best had K9, so I viewed this as a good card for me. I clicked the "bet pot" button, hoping to get a fold. I got check-raised all-in, which was like another $1... so I called. He flipped over AKo and I won a big pot. My net win for the night at Party was $20, which puts my stack back to where it was when I cashed out.

So, my plan seems to be working for now. I want to grind up to $550 at Party and to start playing $50 NL again. I also want to grind at Titan, hoping to break even on my way to clearing the PSO bonus so that I can get my Nevada Jacks chip set.

Titan Poker and Bad Luck/Play at Party

Perhaps stupidily, I deposited $200 into Titan Poker yesterday so that I can get 300 Nevada Jacks poker chips. This is virtually nothing but silliness, but what the hell? It's all fun. To clear the PSO promotion, I need to clear 3500 Titan Stars, which is the equivalent of 1750 raked hands of $0.25/$0.50 (blinds) no limit. Considering that these stakes are bigger than what I have been playing lately, this could be a collossal mistake. That said, I am playing well and I think that I can do it. So far, I have up $35 or so in 245 hands (no idea how many were raked). At least it has started well.

Speaking of well, as in "not well", I managed to piss away a bunch of money today at Party. Actually, I recovered a lot of my losses. For the day, I am stuck about $15 there, although I was down about $40 at one point.

I started off really well, but then went all in with QQ against a donkey who called me with a pair plus an inside straight draw. He hit the straight. The worst part was his response, which was "I had it on the turn", indicating his supreme donkiness in that he couldn't even read his hand correctly. That cost me $20 and put me on quasi-tilt.

After that, I tried to bully call stations, which is always a bad idea. Eventually, I came back to my senses and played better and I won most of it back. I can't recall a single hand of the comeback, which says something about selective memory.

I probably won't play much more today. Kelly is painting a bedroom and I am on baby duty, which actually involves a lot of baby dootie. Nothing like a good poop joke, eh?

I've been busy; poker has been good

The in-laws are visiting this weekend, which has kept me busy. Last week was also a big work week, so that kept me pretty busy too.

Nonetheless, the poker has been good. After my last blog, I was punished by the poker gods and I lost $50 in about 100 hands. After that, though, I won it all back fairly quickly. I snuck in a little $50 NL, winning a big hand when I sucked out on the river. Actually, I had top pair plus the nut flush draw and caught two pair on the river to beat my opponents smaller two-pair. It wasn't a great play, but it wasn't awful either. Anyway, the short story is that I built my Party Poker stack up to $600 and I cashed out my $100 as promised. I now plan on bulding my stack back to $550 where I will try $50 NL again. If I lose the $50, then I'll drop back down to $25 NL.

At the other sites, I have been playing well also. I won $10-$20 at Absolute and a similar amount at Full Tilt. My bankroll is bigger than it has been since early September. I am playing really really well. Part of the reason for the high quality of my play is that I am using PokerTracker. I don't think that it is helping me get better reads on my opponents, but it is helping a lot with self-analysis.

An early morning donkey fest

I arrived at work really early this morning and I decided to play two tables of $25 NL at Party while catching up on e-mail. At the one table, nothing really interesting happened. I think that I lost $0.10 for the session. At the other table, there was a total donkey who had a VP$IP of 85% who raised preflop more than 20% of the time. Post-flop, he was a total call station! Reviewing the highlights:

My first hand against him worked out poorly. He limped from UTG with K9o and I raised 4x the big blind from the button with AA. The flop was reasonable so I bet out and he called (it was something like T 8 7). The turn paired the board (I think a 7). I figured that the best hand he had was two pair (not the seven), so I pushed all-in; he called. He flipped over his K9o; unfortunately, the river brought a six and I lost my stack. I immediately bought back in, focused and ready to take his money (i.e., I wasn't on tilt).

My second hand with him involved him limping from UTG with J7o. There were several limpers and I raised 6x the big blind from the button with JQs. He was the only caller. The flop came jack-high; he came out firing. I pushed back all-in and he called. Luckily, a seven did not come and I doubled up.

My third hand with him involved me limping from UTG with AA. I was hoping he'd raise, but he limped from the button. The flop came out all low cards (like 235, rainbow). I made a pot sized bet and he was the only caller. The turn was paired the board; I bet and he called. The river was a 4, giving me a wheel. I figured that he had ace-high, so I made a smallish bet that he called. He flipped over K8o: king-high!

My last hand with him involved him limping from the cutoff with 94o. I was the big blind with 35o. The flop was A 2 4, with a flush draw. I bet and he called. The turn was a blank; I bet and he called. The river was a blank; I bet and he called.

So, I lost $12.5 on the first hand when he sucked out on the river. After that, I made almost $25 from him when he was a call station with complete crap. My net win for the session was $10 in 88 hands, which is more than 20 big bets per 100 hands. My stack at Party Poker is now over $550.

I am starting to think about when I should move up to $50 NL. My current plan is to hit $600 and cash out $100 as a reward for good play. After that, I want to re-build another $50 and use that as seed money for my move to $50 NL. If I lose it, then I'll drop back to $25 NL. I am winning in excess of 10 big bets per 100 hands at $25 NL (after about 2000 hands, not a lot but I've beaten $50 NL before) so I think that my game is in good shape.

How not to play poker

After lecture today, I decided to play a few hands at Paradise while my head cleared. I was playing at a 5-max table, so my preflop style is loose-aggressive. I try to play tight-aggressive post-flop. Basically, this means that I raise 3X the big blind with just about any playable hand, especially if I am the first to enter the pot.

In the following hand, my opponent demonstrates precisely how not to play poker. From mid-position, I raise with 99 and both the small and big blinds call. I flop a set, although there is a flush draw possibility on the board. The small blind bets and the big blinds calls; I push all-in, hoping to get the flush draws to fold and maybe (if I am lucky) get called by two pair or ace-big kicker. The small blind takes awhile and then calls and flips over A4o (no flush draw). How can he call here? What can he beat? Maybe a pocket pair that I am playing over-aggressive, especially considering that an ace flopped. You have to figure that the worst hand that I have here is the flush draw and the second worst hand that I have here is a pair of aces with a better kicker. Now, it's one thing to bet out with top pair, weak kicker... but it is an entirely different thing to call with top pair, weak kicker.

Anyway, here is the hand with all of its glory. If only every hand could be this nice...

Game #1077329736 - (blinds $0.10/$0.25) No Limit Texas Hold'em -
2005/11/08-12:00:32.6 (CST)
Table "Mota (5 max)" (real money) -- Seat 4 is the button
Seat  1: aces_wild69  ($5.90 in chips)
Seat  2: GrandMB  ($27.60 in chips)
Seat  3: frazwood  ($9.65 in chips)
Seat  4: BZ22C  ($11.35 in chips)
Seat  5: ricmass27  ($12.29 in chips)
ricmass27: Post Small Blind ($0.10)
aces_wild69: Post Big Blind ($0.25)
Dealing...
Dealt to frazwood [ 9h ]
Dealt to frazwood [ 9s ]
frazwood: Raise ($0.75)
ricmass27: Call ($0.65)
aces_wild69: Call ($0.50)
*** FLOP *** : [ As 5c 9c ]
ricmass27: Bet ($0.70)
aces_wild69: Call ($0.70)
frazwood: Raise ($8.90)
ricmass27: Call ($8.20)
aces_wild69: Fold
*** TURN *** : [ As 5c 9c ] [ Qh ]
*** RIVER *** : [ As 5c 9c Qh ] [ Ts ]
*** SUMMARY ***
Pot: $19.75 | Rake: $1
Board: [ As  5c  9c  Qh  Ts ]
frazwood bet $9.65, collected $19.75, net +$10.10 (showed hand) [ 9h 
9s ]  (three of a kind, nines)
ricmass27 lost $9.65 (showed hand) [ Ac  4d ]  (a pair of aces)

I managed to win a few more hands after this, netting a win of about
$14 in 20 hands. This pushed my stack at Paradise above $120, so I
cashed out $100 as I promised myself.  That's right: I am now officially
profitable at every site that I have ever played!

Many diapers; Little Poker

I did not play very much yesterday because of baby-duty. Speaking of baby dooty, diaper changes have been entertaining to say the least.

What little I did play was not particularly satisifying. I played about 20 hands at Party yesterday ($25 NL) and I won $7. Last night, I played a table at Full Tilt ($25 NL; full fing) and one at Paradise ($25 NL; 5-handed). In my first hand at Full Tilt, I was dealt 93o; there were several limpers and I checked. The flop was J 9 3 (rainbow) and I got all of my money in against a limper who held J3s. Doh! First hand and I lose my entire buy-in (I bought in for only $10) by breaking to rules of no limit: (1) Don't go broke in an unraised pot, and (2) Don't go broke with bottom two-pair. The hand was not a complete was of money, however, as I quickly identified at least one donkey at the table (i.e., the guy who limped with J3s). I identified another donkey in the next hand who made a similar play. After that, I managed to almost piss away another buy-in ($10) by trying to bluff call-stations (a bad idea). I added another $5 to my stack once I was down to $3 or so, deciding that I would at most lose $25 in this session. I also opened my eyes and gave up on bluffing. This strategy worked and I had rebuilt my stack to around $20 by the end of my session (i.e., a net loss of around $5).

My table at Paradise was also bad, filled with a couple of call stations who were killing the table by calling off big bluffs with middle pair and the like. I never once bluffed these donkeys and I made a nice win of about $5 in a short session.

This morning I played a little more at Paradise, winning $5 in like 20 hands. I am really playing well right now, but I simply do not have the time to grind like I want. I am setting short term goals, such as building about $20 of bankroll at Paradise so that I can cash out $100 and building my stack at Party to $600 so that I can cash out $100. After that, I think that I should start playing more at UltimateBet and at Absolute where I have some nice bonus money waiting for me.

Not a lot to say

I played a little bit of poker on Saturday and a little bit more on Sunday. My primary goal was to clear the bonus at Poker Stars, which I did and immediately cashed out. I once again need to remind myself that Poker Stars is for 7stud and tournaments and nothing else.

After clearning the bonus, I decided to play three NL tables at once, one each at Party, Paradise, and Full Tilt. I lost one buy-in at Paradise where I was dealt AQ against AA, KK, and TT. To make things worse, the flop came down queen high with a ten. Eventually, the board contained 9, T, J, Q, so KK won the hand. Brutal. Other than that, I played somewhat poorly, calling down too many bets on the river. I ended up losing maybe $10 at Party and I won a little at Full Tilt. I hope to clear $20 of bonus at Full Tilt, which doesn't sound like much, but my bankroll there is only about $100.

My current plan is to slowly build all of my various bankrolls, taking advantage of bonuses along the way. Right now, my goal is to win mayb $10 at Paradise so that I can cash out my original $100 deposit. That way I can claim to be a winner at every site that I play. Stupid, I know, but it's important to me.

Coming back to the crowd a bit

I had bad luck last night playing heads up at Poker Stars. I lost maybe 3 of the 4 that I played. In at least two of them (one PLO), I was COMPLETELY card dead. The only time I can ever remember being this card dead was my last day in Las Vegas where I played for 6 hours and got maybe 4 playable hands. That was the highlight of my poker career so far because I lost maybe 4 big bets in six hours of grinding. I made awesome reads (folding an overpair to a set; check TPTK on the river to a guy who was slow-playing me) and lost the minimum.

This morning, I won a little at Party and a little at Absolute. I don't know how much I will play this weekend. I have a feeling that I am going to get ALOT of baby time.

I have to admit it's getting better

In the few hours since I wrote my last blog, I have won several heads-up SNGs while losing zero. This whole idea of folding hands is really working out for me. It is especially nice when I start to get a read on my opponent. Eventually, they start routinely making bluffs on the river and I pick them off here and there. During the last match, I won a key pot with Q-high when my opponent bluffed on the river with jack-high. In the end, I won when we got it all-in preflop with KQs vs. KJo. He flopped a jack, but there was also an ace. Both the turn and river were tens, and I won.

My bankroll at Stars is now an amazing $41. I have said this millions of times before: I really need to play tournaments and tournaments only at Stars.

Why can't I seem to win at Poker Stars?

I don't know why, but I have always had bad luck at Poker Stars. I occasionally have built my bankroll there to a decent amount (~$200), but then it always comes crashing back down to Earth. I don't think I have the discipline to grind it out there.... I don't know. Whatever.

Anyway, I almost went broke yesterday at Stars. I started with only about $30 and I started playing some tournaments (heads up and one-table SNGs; $5 buy-in). I did not play well and I lost more money. My bankroll this morning was less than $20. Not good. After playing last night, I considered my heads-up play more carefully. I decided that I was simultaneously too aggressive (raising almost every hand) and too much of a call station (calling almost every river bet). So, I decided to tighten up a bit and to bluff less frequently and to be more careful about position.

Amazingly, my new strategy worked! (Duh!) I played two heads-up SNG's this morning and I won them both (well, I got lucky on the second one). The key hand of the first one was when I limped with 66, caught a set and made smallish bets on the flop & turn to build the pot. The river was my ideal card (3s), which put a 3-flush on the board while filling me up (I had my opponent on a flush draw). As hoped, my river bet got raised, and I re-raised but then he just called. I figured that I could get all of the money on that hand. But no, he flipped over 93o for trips. Oh well; that hand left him short-stacked and I closed him out soon-after.

In the second match, I played well again but I did make a bad decision. My opponent was loose-aggressive and so he was a little tricky. He had made some really bad plays, which allowed me to take a small lead pretty quickly. He had the button, but I raised with ATo; he limp-called. The flop was A 6 5; I bet and he raised all-in. I figured that he had Ace-weak kicker and I called (far too quickly). He flipped over 56s for two-pair. I was dead to an ace, ten, or runner-runner pairing the board. Luckily, an ace came on the river and I won. This is another one of Doyle's no limit lessons: Don't go broke with bottom two-pair.

In conclusion, I managed to plug one leak (too aggressive) but I still have to work on that call-station problem. There was no reason for me to call that all-in. It was early and I would have still had the chip lead if I had folded. Duh!