Taking a break

So right now I'm taking a little poker break. I didn't cash in either the sunday million or the second chance tourny. So frustrating. I started out doing well in the sunday million. Then, things went to hell. blinds at 400/800, I get JJ in 3rd position, UTG (huge stack, ~60k) limps and I bump it up to 3k with approx 15k in chips. folds to CO who calls 3k. Folds to UTG who makes it 11k. I thought for a good long while but couldn't justify gambling at that point. Also, I was hoping to be in a coin flip. I don't see what hand makes this play without QQKKAA or AK. Was very hard laying it down though because it was the best hand I've seen. Could have been TT or 99 but I think the probability of that is low compared to when he has me dominated. Seeing how I've only invested 1/5 of my stack I folded. So then, a round or two later I pick up AKos in mid-late position. Position 3 min raises to 1600. I then raise to 5600. Folds to original raiser. He goes all in for 9.5k and I call. He has AA. I lose. I'm left with 2700 and have an M of 2. I pick up Q7 next hand and pushed after it was folded to me and got called by AT on the button and lost. I never used to make these types of pushes until I read HoH. It's yet to pay off. Anyway, then I played the 2nd chance and in the 3rd hour got knocked out right b4 the money. I honestly forget how I got knocked out of that tourny and it's too late for me to look for that HH. I remember it was a cooler though. Oh ya...it was a coin flip. I was moved to a table with HUGE stacks that made my little below average stack look tiny. The standard raise with 100/200 blinds was to 1200. I couldn't get a chance to play a pot. When I had KQ i'd raise to 500 (my standard raise) and get moved all in. Then I pick up AA a round later and do the same thing to pick up the blinds. So things weren't going my way. Blinds increased putting me in the middle of the red zone. I found a pocket pair of threes in middle position and pushed and got called by one of the blinds with AT and lost. lol...i completely lost that memory and it just came back to me like that. Anyways, I played some HU and some 3/6 only to lose 500 dollars more. I was so mad and frustrated that I said fuck it! I'm taking a break to reflect. The last time I said that, I didn't follow through. But this time I'm doing it. Going to read a couple of poker books and play my brother poker when I want to play. He doesn't want to play me anymore. He says that he hates me when we play because I always do what he doesn't want me to do and that I can read him to well. lol...but we don't play for money, so it doesn't matter. I'll offer him to play him pot limit omaha, a game I'm not that great at next time i want to play poker. It's a fun game though. Some of you might know, from FCP, that I devised a chart that outlines my goals and my bankroll management. It's a little bit confusing because it's really hard to allign, so I won't copy paste it here. If someone one can leave a comment and tell me how to add a file I'll put my excel file with the chart on here and explain it. GTG right now...btw if you're wondering what book I'm reading now, it's Ace on the River. It's not really a poker book like david sklansky's books are, but it's a good read and I can still learn from it. I'm looking forward to getting this new book on tells which some poster on my poker forum believes is better than mike caro's as well as 'the poker tournament forumula' or something by some dude I don't know. I heard good things about it. But that's all for now. Let me know how to post the excel file here and I'll show it to you. cheers.

St. Patty's Day

Well...I woke up about 2 hours ago, don't remember much from last night. I went to a friend's house with my brother and we were planning on going to a kegger afterwards. But then, a bunch of ppl showed up and we never ended up going. I was upset because there was a very good looking girl there who went to the kegger and I think she was interested based on the way she was looking at me when we were talking. Her, and a few more people went. Then when we decided to finally go, we called and found out that the keggers were already busted (not the original one we were planning on going to, the other two). I just wanted 1 hour at the kegger to try to make something happen with that girl, but I didn't get a chance. So we walked to subway after and I had a beer there. lol..i can't believe the ppl working there didn't say anything. Then...I don't remember. That's the last of my memory until I woke up this morning with a massive hangover. Ugh! the worst hangover I've had is in the Dominican last summer when I had 18 shots of tequila...yup....wasn't a very fun morning. So that's that. That was last night. As for poker, I didn't play any after my last post which summarizes how things went.

Today, I'm hoping to score a big one in the Sunday Million. If I bust out I'll play the 2nd chance. If I don't, I wont. I'm going to be concentrating really hard and trying my best to play a perfect game. My plan is to start out slow, play my hands. Then once I get some notes on players, start using them as blinds rise. I'm going to avoid marginal decisions early on and try to play small pots. Then i'm going to reconsider my plan given my chip position after first break. I'll publish my results, hopefully tomorrow because that means that I made it far. Cya.

Down again..things are getting gross

Haven't played much today but I'm down again. Had my stats exam today and did well considering how little I studied. I think I got easily over 70. Anyways, I played 6 6 man sitngoes. I won 1 got 2nd in one and bubbled and lost the others. I'm getting to used to bubbling. I hate it. Unfortuantely the one I won was the 72+6. Then I played a big donk HU, I lost. Then I decided to take the rest of the day off because it's getting difficult to handle psychologically. I know that being stuck 1800 in 3 days isn't a big deal for pro's because it happens often, but I'm not used to being down. I'm up almost everytime I play and to have 3 days down is a big thing for me. I guess I'll have to work on my outlook on this issue. I'm going to play my brother a poker game after he's done his online, his sn on stars is sparkabowler. Then, I'll get ready to go out for st. patty's day. As I said in previous posts, me and my brother have a league. Our first leauge he beat me 50-39 or something. Pretty bad. I know. Then, our next leauge he beat me again but I forget the score. Then we started another leauge and were about tied but we lost the score so we started another one. This one I'm leading 9-3 I believe. It's only 5 bucks a game but it's more fun than the 100 dollar games for me because it's live. I love live poker. I have way more courage in live poker than in online poker althgouh it seems it should be the opposite. In online poker I just think of each person as clueless and trust my bluffs to work less often. In live poker I stare the guy down and get my information. Of course I wear glasses because I don't want him to know that I'm staring him down. If you haven't read Mike Caro's book on Tells and you like live poker or planning to play pro. I HIGHLY recommend it. It's a great read and you could finish it in 4 hours. Anyhow, I can't think of anything else to say so i'm just gonna post today's results...

6-man sit and go's - -$163.2
HU - -$115
Total Daily Profit - -$288.2
Total March Profit (starting on the 16th) - - $357.20

lots of hours, no profit

I've played approximately 7 hours today (after I studied for my stats for about ... um...1.5 hours...man I'm going to need to suck out on that exam). I was 4-tabling the 6 man sit and go's. The 110+9 and the 72+6 because the 110+9 weren't filling up well. It started off being evenish and a little bit into it I was down about 800 dollars. OUCH. I just couldn't get anything to work for me at all. I felt like there was nothing I could do. My KK running into AA, one time I sucked out. My AJs getting beat by a 82s that CALLS my all in. What a donkey play. Raises UTG I move over the top with my short stack all in for 600, and he calls 480 more. Anyways, needless to say, he wins. I just kept getting shanked today. I'm starting to reconsider 4-tabling 6-man sit and go's and instead playing HU. I'm used to HU and I feel very comfortable playing it. The only problem is that I can't multi-table HU. I tried, I'm WAY less profitable. I'm really good at getting tells by the speed it takes ppl to act, and so when I multi-table I lose that advantage, which is huge for me. Anyways. After being down 855 at my lowest today, I played a 5400 FPP satelite and got a seat into the sunday million. I took the tourny dollars instead and took a shot at the 6-man 200 dollar sit and go and bubbled. I've been playing solid tight, not making many moves, but every time I make a move it seems someone wakes up with a big hand. So again, I was down the same amount. I switched and played some HU. I played 7 HU of which I won 6. I lost a 200 one but won 3 other 200 ones. So then I decided to play another 6 person. Lost again. I play the 6 persons much better when I don't 4 table, which is a bad thing as I want to learn to multi-table. I was getting shanked a lot though. But I'm not going to start telling bad beat stories. Anyway, here are the stats for today.

6-man sit and go's - - $969.00
FPP tourny - +$215.00
HU - +$675.00
Today's Net Profit - -$79.00

I was playing such good HU, I was liderally playing flawlessly. Even though i can't multi-table HU, I think it might be more profitable than 4-tabling the 6 man sit and go's because I feel like I have such an edge on anyone I play. I feel as I'm the best HU player. Not bragging...well yes I am. I'm just being honest though. I think my biggest strength is HU. Biggest weakness is probably cash games. I need to learn how to adjust from a tournament structure. I still win money in the long run but I'm way less profitable in cash games than in sit and go's. Man..I'm getting off track...I'm done for now. Gonna watch PAD and then go to sleep and write my exam in 10 hours (uh oh!). Later.

Long time, no post

Haven't posted in over a month as you can tell by the title. I don't even know where to start. I'm starting to post again because it helps me not be angry when I'm having rough times. I had exams this last month and so I haven't been posting much. My exams aren't over, I have my stats on the 17th still. I think I'll do fine. I really haven't been concentrating much on doing well in school because I'm just not motivated. I know that I can earn lots more money than a degree could earn me by playing poker, a thing that I love (well..most of the time). But ya...so since february, I've made approximately 10k. I'm going to start keeping excel stats to know for sure what I'm making, hourly wage etc. Right now, I've been really lazy this last month and so I havne't started an excel file (I had one but I got a new computer and haven't started it on the new one yet, can't get my old one because my old computer crashed). I really haven't been that productive this last month, and I'm not happy about it. A couple times even, I played when I shouldn't of. I was really tired but I kept playing...and it cost me a couple grand. Even after all this time playing poker, I still find it hard to cope with the swings. This is my biggest priority, to accept the fluctuations and not care about the results, but only care about my playing. It's easier said than done, however. I was playing today with a guy I usually play with, his sn is jhub3000, and he gave me his blog's email address, and I'm going to try to keep my blog like his. His is updated everyother day, if not every single day. He keeps his stats there and I think it's a great idea. Right now, I want to start fresh, in a sense that I want to be more organized about my playing. So far, I just play when I feel because I don't consider myself a full-time professional. It's hard to set a schedule for me because there are things going on. From now on, up until I'm done this semester (which feels like forever) I'm going to plan how much to play the week before. Starting in a couple of days after my stats exam. Also, I want to start planning when i'll move up stakes as I feel I'm playing VERY deep within my bankroll, which is a good thing, but I eventually want to move up in stakes for obvious reasons. I feel as I've been playing in the 100-200 dollar level for so long. God damn...as I'm writing this a donkey (jotty1313) called my all in on the turn with a flush draw when I had top pair and caught it! man...sometimes this is very stressful. I'm hoping I can change that. I just get very annoyed and angry when I make a good read and they get lucky. sigh. Anyways, I want to make a plan as to when I'll move up stakes because I feel if I don't have a plan I wont be motivated to do it. My bankroll right now is almost almost 35 thousand and I'm playing 100 and 200 dollar sit and go's. I'm thinking right now that When I get to 50k, I'll move up to 200-300 dollar level 6 person sit and go's and 200 - 500 HU. This just seems like very high stakes right now (500) to me. But I have to get used to that kinda thing. So here's how poker is going. BAD. the last 2 days i'm down 1500 in total. Just nothing, and I mean NOTHING is going my way. KKvsAA, set over set, made hand < crappy draw, and just extremely frustrating. My av. dollar/sit and go dropped over the last 2 days, from 12 to 11. Pretty disgusting. But I'm starting fresh tomrrow. As for now I'm going to go watch some PAD (Poker after dark) and then sleep so I can wake up refreshed tomorrow to study for stats. I think I'll finish studying after like 3 hours of studying, because I'm a slacker. At least I'm honest. As I said my grades don't matter to me because after this semester I'm not going back to school. The reason I'm finishing it is in case in the future I do want to get a degree, I'll have one less year. Anyways, I'm out.

ISOLATION PLAY

Sorry I meant squeeze play, not isolation play in the previous post.

January 29, 2007

I haven't posted in 4 days so here is what's up. I played a little bit of poker but not too much. I won about 700ish since the 25th but really spend most of my time studying (ya right...), and reflecting on poker. I needed a little break. And I feel good that I got one. I read 1/4 of HoH II(harrington on holdem II) and it's a really good book. There are a couple flaws that I've noticed. Do you guys know what the isolation play is? An aggressive person in middle position raises, someone calls behind, and you're in the SB or BB and you move all in. Anyways, he suggests that this play should be done only when you have rags. Anyone see a problem??! Yup. I do. Everytime you do that play (if you only do it with rags) you become so easy tor read! You have to be unpredictable and mix in some good hands as well. Raise the same way with AA, otherwise, this play wont work. So that's the main flaw I found in his book but other than that, it's a great read so far. And I love how he has a bunch of situations where you get to analyze your moves and choose your moves and compare it to what he says. It's good, if you don't have that book I highly recommend you get it. Anyways, I'm not going to post many hands because I haven't played all that much. I'm going to try to teach you about table talking online. I was playing this 100 HU game and have been very honest with this guy because he was very easy to play against. I won most of the hands and luckily all the ones that I bet and showed down, I had at least a pair. And I was honest with him telling him that I don't lie, and to prove it I've shown him a couple hands when I raise and he folds to get his trust. This is all a set up. Then....I get 92 off suit on the button (I have 2200 chips to his 800 chips with blinds at 25/50) I bump it up to 125. He calls. A side not, I wasn't very active lately and so expected him to fold. But I don't mind a call because If I miss I'll bet and take down the pot likely. Anyways, the flop comes down 2 2 4 rainbow. BEAUTY. He checks, I check. K comes on the turn, he bets 100 I call. 10 comes on the river (no possible flushes), he bets 50, I insta move all in and I type "I gotta bluff sometime ;)" .... He types back "you lying?"....I respond..."its possible". He types, "I hit my K", I respond, "You call, you 2bl up, but you wont call". 2 seconds later...he calls. GG.

To be fair, I'll share a mistake I've made today as well. I'm playing in this juicy cash game (6handed, $1/2) and I haven't been active on the button. I've been tight/agressive and I've only shown down good hands. What does this mean? I can play bad hands. So on the button I pick up 8 6 of spades. I bump it up to 6 dollars, my normal raise. BB calls. Flop comes down K103 2 spades. He checks, I check. A of spades comes on the turn, he checks, I check (this is a very interesting play that I started implementing. Yes, I am afraid of a spade to come on the river, but...if it does he wont bet that much if he has a higher spade because he'd think I can't call. And if no spade comes on the river, I can make a big bet and he wont put me on a flush because I checked the flop (most palyers bet flush draws), and I checked the turn). A blank comes on the river and he bets out 12$ (pot bet) I bump it up to 44 and he think for 1 sec and moves all in. That's where I should've folded. It's either a bluff or a higher flush. Because a hand worse than mine would just call me. Unfortuantely I called and I lost $200 to his Q high flush. It's a lesson, think before you act. I called really quickly without much thought to it. If I analyzed the situation before acting, I could've saved myself $135. Live and Learn.

Unfortunately, I wont be able to play too much poker in the upcoming month. I haven't been to school for like 1 month now and haven't opened a book and I need to get ready for my mid terms. So I wont have as much time as I'd like to play. But fortunately, I don't need money right now because I have a bunch saved up in my account. The only problem is that I want to get a car and I promised myself that once I get $50k saved up, I'll buy myself a car. So far I have about $27k saved. Already had 32k saved but Went on a bad streak and bought a big screen TV and a new computer to make myself feel better..LOL..

What else do I have to say? Oh ya...me and my brother had the CRAZIEST HU poker games ever. More complex than the WPT or any poker I've seen on TV. It was so complex. I was playing so well but I couldn't of won because of the situations. But here is how the thought process went. "I know that he's expecting me to expect him to bet if he hit the turn, but I know he knows that I know that. Therefore, He'd do the opposite......etcetc...That was just random but that's how complex we were thinking. It was the most interesting HU game I've ever played. I lost but that's ok. We play each other to learn and for pride. Man...if only that HU game was televised. Like...I had a middle pair when I called his all in (blinds were big)...Here is how it went...I have 96...He limps I check. Flop comes 910K, I check he checks, 2 on the turn. I check he bets pot size, at this point my analysis goes as follows. I know he bets 10 on flop or K on flop. I put him on either a 2 or a bluff. I moved in and he called with 9 2. DUH! the only non bluffing hand that makes sense. I checked to trick him into thinking that I don't have a pair, and he did the same thing to me. People who play poker will probably not realize how much of a cooler this hand actually was. My brother and I were discussing it and concluded that we both played it right and there's nothing we could have done differently. We started a poker league between the 2 of us. It's not for real money. $5 a game (we don't like to play each other for money because we don't feel right winning 100 off a brother). So far it's 2-2 and I'm chip leader in the current game. Approximately 2:1.

I believe that is all I have to say right now. GG