nothing to report

I didnt play last night, and the night before I played ~500 hands for a profit of ~$35. It was brutal. I am happy to come back into the black though. I was down 2 buyins but snapped a guy off with my AA vs his KK and we both had over 200bb.

I am going to play live this weekend, so I withdrew the majority of my bankroll. I plan on putting it back, but need to be adequately bankrolled for my trip.

There is a WSOP circuit event going on about 2 hours from me. I am going to go and try to satellite into it. I'm not sure exactly how thats going ot work though. Its a $5k event, I know they are holding a super satellite with a $530 buyin (which I may try) and supposedly sitngoes are running, but they may not be running when I will be there.

I'm also going to hit up the1/2NL tables and see if I can pay for my entry that way ;)

So I wont be playing online much the rest of the week, except for maybe some low $5 STT's or .05/.1 NL.

SHIP IT!

I made it to a final table finally. I was on a long bad run, and was at my stop loss with just $50 to go. I decided that rather than drop my last buyin at a ring game I would try my luck at a couple tournaments. I sat at a $21 HU and took it down. I accepted rematch because I felt I had figured out my opponent. The rematch didnt go well and I ended up giving it back to him. So I was down the rake.

I then signed up for a $50+5, it was orginally a real small field, with only 12 players. I wasnt going to go for that. When it was down to 5 mins there were 40 or so players so I decided to give it a go.

The field ended up being 49, and paid out 8 places. So even if you made it to the final table (10 on UB) you werent guaranteed squat.

It was a tough game, I was actaully short about the 5th level with an M of exactly 10. I decided to wait it out and watch for an opputunity. I got luck and noticed that the table in general was playing tight, except for 2 players. One player liked to limp in any position and see cheap flops, but if he limped and was raised he would fold.

Another player at the table always made stabs at the pot or dead money in late position. A couple of times someone came back at him and he let go.

It was noticing this 2 players in particular that allowed me to survive and chip up. I exploited their tendencies several times without any cards. I was lucky that my reads were right and they didnt come back.

When we were down to 2 tables I hit the gas and attacked weakness ruthlessly. Once the antes were introduced It really helped me to chip up. The chip leader got caught, and the stacks were almost even across the board.

When we got to the final table I was second in chips. and the table was all playing super tight on the bubble. I abused the dog shit out of them. Going into the money I had 2nd place out chipped 2:1.

Once in the money not much went down. I tightened back up and made moves when I had cards or position. When we were down to 4 I was still chip leader with 45k and second had 22. A hand later I clipped him for 7k and I now had 50k and second had 15k I never looked back and took down first for a cool $885.


Now the bad news is that I ran terrible today. It was unreal how much I was dumping. It seems like annie duke flipped the doom switch on me.

I am planning on cashing out half of my account. I think I need to take some of my winnings. If I dont what am I playing for?

I am going to buy an IPOD and give my wife a little bit to go shopping with. I think its only fair, after all she puts up with my sorry ass more often than not.

My bankroll is just under 1200 now. I am going to take out $500 and leave in $700. I think that is a good mix, and hopefully with my renewed confidence I can go on a little rush.

Anyway thanks for reading and sharing my good fortune with me.

did it again

I sat down for a little stud session on UB, I sat at a 3/6 stud table. I mean my bankroll has 100bb right I should be good.... well after a bad run of -25bb I had the sense to get up.

My hands never made it. I dont think I won one showdown. My sets were beat by 7th street straights, and my 2 pair always ran into bigger (concealed) two pair.

I gave up.

I went and recouped some of my $ playing HU cash. I love heads up play. I stacked 3 people, all of them opting to leave the table. I might spend some more time playing heads up during my next session. Unfortunately its not real lucrative.

I also donked away $50 trying my hand at some tournaments. I played a $22 6 max. I ran a set into ragged flush cards. Some guys dont realize thatyou are supposed to fold 92s to a 3.5x raise.

I then sat down at a $5 HU while I waited for a $22 180. I dont know what I did in the 180, I know I was out early while I was still playing my HU match. To top it off I lost the HU too after a long battle. It took me a couple chips to find out my opponent was calling down with anything, no sense in trying to represent the board hit me. It was a long HU match but in the end there was only one winner (not me).

I tucked tail and went back to UB. I have the PSO tournament tommorrow, there are about 400 ppl playing so it will be about a $30 MTT, unless there are lots of ppl absent.

Anyway that the end of my sat session. I ended up a loser b/c of the stud run. Not sure of the total damage. I am going to regroup and rally the troups for another run at it.

its crazy how the grind goes sometimes

My wife is out shopping today, so I was able to get in an hour or 2 session. I had actually planned on playing a 100 hand session.

So I'm grinding along and showing a reasonable profit maybe 60 bb over 60 hands or so. The one of my arch nemisis sits at the table. The ever ellusive mega loose hyper aggressive uber-donkey, this particular opponent shows VPIP/ PFR. I have tired to stack this guy a couple of times but he has to be the consistetly luckiest player I have run into. He definetly has calling station tendencies. I watched him call down a busted straight draw with 3rd pair.

I accudently ran head first into him and his flush draw, I always forget that a flush draw is the nuts to a flopped set, even when getting less than 2:1. Anyway this set me back -$30. At least the donkey buy's in short. I managed to close the gap back up but ended up leaving the table with a $20 deficiency due to running QQ into KK held by a short stack.

I decided I would start at a different table. Since I love the thrill of playing heads up I decided to sit at an empty table. I did a 50bb buyin (to keep from discouraging timid HU players) and waited. While I was checking my email the table popped up. The first hand I folded to a flop bet. The second hand I outplayed my opponent with some rags. I was getting ready to do the max buyin and another player sat down with a 50bb buyin. I think I busted this player his 3rd hand. 2 hands later I had the first opponent who had maxed buyin down to 40bb and he left.

So in one hour of play I finished with a $20 deficit, and then within 5 mins I had accumulated just over $50 back. I'll take it. I was listening to a Freddy Deeb interview and he said there are 7 rules to being a successful player, one of which is being able to take the profit.

I decided to take the profit - Shipit

WTF is going on with my PAHUD

I just finished a nice session on UB and was going over mystats in pokrtrackr and noticed that at least one hand was ommitted. The only reason I noticed is because it was a big hand in which I stacked a guy who had KK with my set of 2's. (Great stuff)

Anyway I noticed that my session results were definetly off so I went and found the HH file and sure enough the hand was missing in the log.

I was able to go back to the table and retrieve the hand history but its still disturbing to notice. I wonder how many times thsi has occured and I hadnt noticed. IT can have an impact on my stats, although its not likely to really affect anything when I go and review for leaks and such, it can disguise losses or wins.

Anyway I played just over an hour as planned and knocked out just over 100 hands playing 6 max $50 NL, at points the table was 3 way and heads up and I was extremly happy with my play an reads. I made some successful moves, and laid down speculative hands when necessary.

Playing one table alllowed me to focus on my opponets play and be confident in my actions.

I have to thank one of my friends who has provided me with some great cash game material that has definetly made a difference.

Due to the issues with my PT database I am not positive what my results were yet, but I know my bankroll is up to just over $660 so it was probably a +$75 session.

Shipit - confidence is definetly important in poker, but at the same time you have to be humble enough to know you dont play a perfect game and aslways look to make improvements.

should I have a repeat celebration

I am once again have the bankroll over $500, actually just over $585 plus some misc. $'s and change sitting in accounts and some pending rakeback. I also have picked up $135 in Amazon gift certs. So over all I'm not doing to bad.

My last blog I talked about taking a shot at the $100 NL tables. I've read a couple articles and forum comments and decided against it. However, I have decided to take a shot at the $50 NL tables, but if I drop my BR down to $350 I will step back down to $25NL. I am focusing on 1 table at a time, and fell confident enough to take the risk.

I'm back playing on UB for the time being. The software is faster than most sites, and I have stats on a lot of the players. Add in rakeback and the slow bonus and its the best place for me right now.

I'm playing in the PSO 10k freeroll tommorrow. It would be sweet if I can pull a repeat performance and finish at the final table again. I feel like my game is constantly improving so it might be possible. Of course I will have to avoid a suckout and probably pull one myself along the way, but its possible.

Since I am back to playing on a PT compatible site, I am going to et back to posting biggest losers and winners. However, I am not going to post the hands from tonight, just because its getting late and I'm going to crash soon.

I'm excited about the bellagio event, I have lots of horses left running in the ESPN fantasy league. I am currently ranked about 120 of the 667,485 people registered (I'm sure its not that many, but probably close). If some of my picks make it deep I might actually pick up a prize.

Well good luck at the tables!

I'm waiting on some cashouts

and waiting and waiting.

I still havnet got my cashouts from prima or casino.net. I am thinking about taking a shot at the $1 NL table, I know it can turn into bankroll suicide and am not even sure I should take a small shot. In fact I know I shouldnt but its just rough grinding the low limits. Ehh I know its a terrible idea and maybe writing it will be enough to disuade me.

I decided to sell of my nevada jacks chips, I think I have a deal lined up thru chiptalk. I'm planning on adding the $ to my bankroll, or applying it toward an ipod (which is ultimately coming out of my bankroll). I think my bankroll stands at a little over $400 right now.

I was looking around the net and found a casino site that uses real dealers via webcam on rela table games. I am not into the luck games but thought it was an interesting concept. I also found out that you can play solitare tournaments, who woulda thunk it....

Down a little, and I played good poker

Well my bankroll is down $40 for the night, but not due to playing poorly.

A member of pokerfox/pocketfives setup a charity tournament on UB tonight with 100% of rake going to a good cause. The tourney was $10+$10, and went to the charity [url="www.thetourchfoundation.org"]The Torch Foundation[/url] that benefits under privileged (read = poor, limited family structure) inner city youths. I grew up in this environment (I may have posted a little before) and can really appreciate the situations and force at work on these kids.

Every kid needs some sort of guidance and rolemodel, and if their parents aren't going to provide it the community should try to assist. Ultimately the lack of a role model will have an adverse affect on the community, and the presence of one will pay itself forward. At least that's my excuse for making a donation. I know without the community rolemodels that I had my life would have turned out tragic. (note: My mother was a great rolemodel but sometimes we ignore the things that are right before our faces and don't notice until we grow wiser)

Anyhow, I decided to contribute another small donation of 5% of my bankroll. It wasn't much but in the end its all the small donations that add up and help. I did play a short session and made a couple of $'s, so that offset my donation a little. I had committed to donating 50% of any winnings from the tournament to the charity also, but it wasn't meant to be. I busted out 36th of 49.

Anyway I encourage you to check out this charity and make a donation if you are able. Or look for a similar charity in you community. Ultimately it will make a difference. If you affect one child's life in a positive way, it might be enough to help them over come their environment, and in turn the may help influence other children when they can.

I remember all the strangers who helped my family when I was growing up. The social workers, church members, strangers, all of them and appreciate every bit of it. Try to make a difference when you can.

I could write a book about my experiences growing up, and I am sure some would find it difficult to believe. I will save you from that, since this is my poker bloc but I will include one small story.

I grew up in a house with 4 brothers, I was the oldest child. My youngest brother is 8 years younger than me. My father turned out to be irresponsible and abandoned my family. My two youngest brothers had a "father" who was only a couple years removed from Vietnam, and became a sever drug addict/alcoholic. My mother was alcohol an drug free (even today she doesn't drink). My new stepfather would often go into drug induced rages destroying the house, threatening my mother and telling us how he could kill us all and get away with it. He would often pass out and I would hide his drugs or drink, hoping that he would stop.

My family never had a car until I was 15 years old. We relied strictly on the public transportation system, or walking. Often my mother would have to weigh walking against paying bus fairs for me and my 4 brothers. We lived in an inner city neighborhood, and walking was always a scary experience. We were threatened several times while walking because we were "honkies" in the wrong neighborhood (prejudice goes multiple ways).

Being poor and on welfare (because of the loser men in my moms life, and lack of child support, babysitting assistance, and transportation) we barely had enough $ every month to pay bills and survive on. A typical meal was either beans, or bologna, the occasional fish caught in the contaminated river by my drunk stepfather while he was fishing (or more likely huffing toluol), and more times than I remember we went to bed hungry.

At that time we had a children's museum in town that had free admission. We actually went to the park and the children's museum a lot with my mom. I have no memories of ever going anyplace with my father or stepfather. The children's museum was about 4 miles from our home.

Anyway, on one occasion my stepfather was of on a tirade. My mother thought it best that we leave the house and get away. The problem was it was raining, and one of the places my mom normally took us was the park to get away. My mom opted to take us to the museum where we could at least be dry once we got inside. Mind you I am the oldest child I was probably about 10 years old at the time, putting my youngest brother at 2 with 3 brothers spread between us.

I will never forget what happened that day as we walked in the rain to the museum. A middle aged man pulled over and stopped my mother (who was just about 29 at the time), my mom was always leary of people stopping. Most probably had perverse ideas. This man was however dress very nice, wearing slacks and a tie with a long sleeve shirt. (looking back I think he was probably an attorney or some other type of professional, since we were walking along one of the main thoroughfares in town) He introduced himself, and asked if he could give us a ride. My mom declined surely b/c she didn't want to get into a situation. The man had asked where we were going, and I chimed in the children's museum, which was now only about 2 blocks away.

The man asked my mom if he could give her a little money to spend on "the kids" and she reluctantly accepted, and he handed her a folded up dollar bill. He told us to have fun at the museum and turned around and got back in his car. When he drove off my mom told me that he had given her a $100 bill. Mind you that my mom only received $420 per month from welfare and our rent was $280 per month. I was well aware of our financial situation at this point in my life.

$100 was huge, unbelievable. In fact it was the first time in my life that I had ever seen a $100 bill. My mom could have taken that money and applied it to whatever bill, bus fare, grocery that she needed. She ended up taking us to the children's museum and letting us buy like $5 worth of junk from the gift shop. When we left the museum we walked to McDonald's which was probably only the 6th time in my life that I had been there and bought us dinner.

I'm sure she used the remainder of the cash toward groceries or some other necessity. At that point it didn't matter. That man, a stranger, stepped into our lives and made it just a little brighter that day. I will never forget that experience or countless others of similar significance. The only reason I am sharing this story is to let you know that sometimes when you help someone less fortunate than yourself it might impact them more than is obvious. I am sure that guy knew that the money he gave my mom would help us, but in the end it helped brighten that terrible and rainy day and help some child to forget about the situation they were trying to escape.

That mans goodwill has been paid forward on several occasions. I have been fortunate enough to been able to be able to provide a small amount of cash to women I have seen alone taking care of their children and otherwise might look overwhelmed or down on their fortune.

If $50 means the difference from riding a bus for 2-3 hours to get across town and taking a cab and arriving in 30 mins, I'm glad I could help. If it means being able to take their kids to McDonald's, I'm glad I could help. There are so many little things that you can do to help, why not give a little. I'm not advocating going out and passing $ out to strangers, I've only done it a couple of times. Giving to a worthy charity can make the same impact.

A little fast forward. My mom ended up going to college when I was old enough to watch my younger brothers (I was about 13). She busted her ass taking care of us working a fulltime 3rd shift job and graduated with a 4.0 GPA. We packed up and left my stepfather with no fowarding address. My mom worked her way up through the ranks of the IT industry and now works for herself. Once I got older and pulled my head out of my ass, I followed her lead and graduated with a 3.93 GPA despite a lot of obstacles. In the end we were fortunate to receive the assistance that we did from our community. Give back to yours!

I didn't mean to run through so many tangents, but I hope I was able to get my point made. If you are fortunate enough to have the means to help others please do, in the end it will make a difference and pay dividends for many generations.

back on the poker rollercoaster

I was able to recoup most of my earlier losses, I knocked out a free $100 on casino.net in about 2-1/2 hours. I 4 tabled 8 man and 5 man stud. Didnt make much profit though only squeezed out $4 over 500 hands. I was playing turkish currency and dont have the slightest idea what the exchange rate was, doesnt really matter to me.

I am not exactly sure where my bankroll sits right now though. I am waiting on some cashouts to post to my neteller account. 2 from poker rewards (who took over a week the last time, and after I emailed poker room manager my cashout showed up rather quick), and the casino.net bonus.

I deposited $30 on UB, and am messing around with the 6 max NLHE. Although I might see what kind of action the stud/razz/split game has. From what I am seeing there are not many good players in that genre.

So after my cashouts clear I will have a more concrete idea of where I stand, and where I am headed. I am going to try to iron out my goals once again, and now that I have a semi-managable bankroll, I hope to be able to build on it.

I have taken a break from the MTT"s lately. Even though I love playing tournaments, I just havent had the time to devote to sitting down and playing one, and given my recent lack of success, I think I should take a break. I hope to be back in them again by the end of the month.

No news is bad news

Ok, Im gonna keep this short, I was playing PL stud on prima, the smallest game they have is $.25/$.5. I was running good. Hit a couple of donk road blocks, lost to some suckouts, and paid for playing over my bankroll.

I did make a couple of "friends" though. So if I go back and play in the future, hopefully they will be around to reload.

So much for the $500 mark. I am back down to the $350 mark, after battling my way back up.

I did manage to clear my bonus and collected $100 to offset my losses. I also cleared my PSO requirements, and on top of the amazon gift certs I am going to collect I am now eligible for a $10k freeroll. I cant wait the last time I played one of their freerolls the only requirement was complete a bonus in last month. You might remeber I took second in this event for a crisp $400, it was only a $2500 prize pool and a 220 man field. This tournament requires 750 raked hands in a specific 4 week period and has a $10k prize pool. It could be nice and juicy.

Anyway thats all I have to report from the weekend.

Broke the 500 mark

Pretty happy to get over that hump. My bankroll hasnt been over $500 since december when I donked off $1200... and left myself with squat. other than my MTT score in January which I ended up cashing out a significant protion of, and left myself with ~$700 and proceeded to blow that on MTT buyins that were outside of my bankroll.

Anyway I am a reformed man, and dont plan on doing those type of things again.

I spent all of my playing time today playing on the prima skin, I have a $100 pending bonus and will pick up a gift certificate from PSO by the time I complete my bonus. I am thinking about picking up an ipod, or some other type of mp3 player with all the amazon gift certificates I am accumulating. I am not 100% decided on that though.

I only played stud tonight. Its a nice change and I like the game. Throw in the weak opponents, the inability to use software, and the unlikelyness of colussion(or bots) and it seems to good to be true.

I mixed my game up a little, prima doenst have alot of FL stud action, so I sat at a PL table the majority of the time. I think i broke about even on the fixed limit table, and showed a solid profit on the pot limit. I bought into prima for $99, and currently have $170. I'm not sure how many hands I have in, but I did make it to the 25% mark for my bonus. I should have it done by monday or tuesday.

I'm enjoying the stud action, but concerned that my nl holdem game will get rustty as a result. I know in the past switching between cash and tournament games has had some affect on my success. I am going to try and prevent that from happening while switching up between holdem and stud.

One drawback to playing stud is the lack of pokertracker support. I dont have any solid info on what my biggest winners or losers were, and unless I dig deep into my hand histories I am going to have problems spoting leaks.

I am going to take a peak at my supersytem book and see if there is a stud section, i think there may be, and if so I plan on reading through it tommorrow. I do feel that my game is solid, and the knowledge that I have picked up from reading theory of poker, and the countless other non game specific articles and books will help me from tanking off my br.

I dont have any significant hand histories to post, but here is one of the best pockets i have had so far.



Anyway, thats about all I have on my mind. I am happy to get over the $500 mark, even if its only by a dollar or 2. I am looking forward to the weekend, and maybe being able to pafford to play some MTT's soon.

yeah baby!

Just finished up my session for the evening. I played some stud high for a couple of hours. I was able to recoup all loses and allocations from yesterday. I cleared all my bonuses and posted solid profit for the night. I even hit quads :-)



Game #2008617794: 7 Card FL ($1/$2) - 2006/04/12 - 23:53:26 (ET)
Table "Aiken"
Seat 1: CanDane ($54.50 in chips)
Seat 2: Shirosan ($67.75 in chips)
Seat 3: hailcezar ($96.50 in chips)
Seat 4: alataque ($36.75 in chips)
Seat 5: TxSlinger ($22.50 in chips)
Seat 7: purechaos ($94.75 in chips)
Seat 8: Zuzanne ($57.50 in chips)
Shirosan: posts the ante $0.25
hailcezar: posts the ante $0.25
CanDane: posts the ante $0.25
Zuzanne: posts the ante $0.25
TxSlinger: posts the ante $0.25
purechaos: posts the ante $0.25
alataque: posts the ante $0.25
----- 3rd STREET -----
dealt to CanDane [Qd]
dealt to Shirosan [9h]
dealt to hailcezar [8h]
dealt to alataque [2s]
dealt to TxSlinger [3s]
dealt to purechaos [Jh Js Jd]
dealt to Zuzanne [Kc]
alataque: bets $1
TxSlinger: folds
purechaos: raises $2
Zuzanne: calls $2
CanDane: raises $3
Shirosan: folds
hailcezar: folds
alataque: calls $2
purechaos: raises $2
Zuzanne: calls $2
CanDane: calls $1
alataque: calls $1
----- 4th STREET -----
dealt to CanDane [Qd][Qs]
dealt to alataque [2s][6s]
dealt to purechaos [Jh Js Jd][4h]
dealt to Zuzanne [Kc][6d]
CanDane: bets $2
alataque: calls $2
purechaos: calls $2
Zuzanne: calls $2
----- 5th STREET -----
dealt to CanDane [Qd Qs][4d]
dealt to alataque [2s 6s][8d]
dealt to purechaos [Jh Js Jd 4h][8c]
dealt to Zuzanne [Kc 6d][3h]
CanDane: bets $2
alataque: calls $2
purechaos: calls $2
Zuzanne: folds
----- 6th STREET -----
dealt to CanDane [Qd Qs 4d][9d]
dealt to alataque [2s 6s 8d][Ac]
dealt to purechaos [Jh Js Jd 4h 8c][5h]
CanDane: bets $2
alataque: folds
Zalon joins the table at seat #6
purechaos: calls $2
----- RIVER -----
dealt to purechaos [Jh Js Jd 4h 8c 5h][Jc]
CanDane: checks
purechaos: bets $2
CanDane: calls $2
----- SHOW DOWN -----
purechaos: shows [Js Jh Jc Jd 8c 5h 4h] (Four of a kind, Jacks, Eight high)
CanDane: mucks hand [Ks Kh Qd Qs 4d 9d 8s]
purechaos collects $38 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $39.75 Main pot $38 Rake $1.75
Seat 1: CanDane mucked [Ks Kh Qd Qs 4d 9d 8s]
Seat 2: Shirosan folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 3: hailcezar folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 4: alataque folded on the 6th Street
Seat 5: TxSlinger folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 7: purechaos showed [Js Jh Jc Jd 8c 5h 4h] and won ($38) with Four of a kind, Jacks, Eight high
Seat 8: Zuzanne folded on the 5th Street

I originally deposited $97 on this site last week, and just cashed out $323. So I am not dissapointed. I might look into going back to pokerrewards and finishing off my bonus there next.

My bankroll is now at $423

well

My bankroll took a little hit yesterday, but not by much. I think I ended my session down ~$50. $31 of that was due to me transfering some dollars to a friend who did a favor for me.

The other $20 was lost in a 1/2 stud game. Stud is sweet! All of these guys playing holdem and trying to play a little stud, can be profitable. Now I know I lost $20 but it wasnt an entirely -EV situation.

I am trying to clear out my crypto bonus, and its a long process playing $25 NL. I decided to peak into the stud games, and noticed there were a couple of low stakes games going. Next to 5 card draw, stud is the very first poker game I learned to play. I used to play hours with my friends when I was as young as 14. We only played for nickles and pennies, but it was the start of my poker game. Anyway I have a pretty solid stud game, but never played it online.

I sat down in a 4 handed game, I was knocking out my bonus requirements quick. I was pretty much break even but ook a couple of bad beats when another player caught his flush in the hole, or filled a straight. I only sat with 50bb, and figured if I lost that, I would quit. I ended up down ~$50 and the game had filled to 8 handed. There were some maniacs raising and reraising with shit. I decided to go sit in a short game, or play heads up. I found a 2 handed game and sat in. I busted one player for $40 bringing me up to -$10. i actually went on a rush and had cleared a small profit, but decided to continue playing until I cleared my bonus.

The best hand that came down for me was 3 handed I was dealt 555 4 4 9 4, I ended up scooping a very large pot. I'm not sure what the other player had but he was either on a flush or a broadway straight.

I wasnt so fortunate to keep my rush up and ended up going back below my buyin when my concealed set ran into a 7th street flush. I had a couple of other hands along the way that I had to get out of because it was too likely that I was beat. But factoring in how much I enjoyed playing last night, it was worth it.

I ended my session down 10bb mainly because it was getting late, and I had to get to bed. I didnt completely clear my bonus, but I only need 5 more hands to clear my deposit bonus, and apporximately 30 more hands to clear my play bonus. I will probably take on another stud session tonight and finish up.

It's kind of interesting though how weak the play was at crypto. I actually had someone approach me about proping non-NL games at crypto, but I heard they were tight. I can definetly say the stud games arent tight, and am seriously considering getting int othe prop program there exclusively for the stud games. I am waiting on more details, and to see how it works out for a friend who is trying it now though.

After I clear 5 more raked hands, my losses will be offset, and if I can squeek out a profit, I will be cashing out with 2x my orginal deposit from last friday. I'm not dissapointed in last nights session at all.

running better

I've been doing alot better on the crypto site. Its slow going clearing my bonus, but I should have it cleared sometime this week. I estimated that I need ~700 more hands to clear $68 in bonus. I am picking up 35% rakeback too, so its not too bad. I have been strickly playing $25 NL, and buying in with the max buyin, and working on my big stack game.

Here are some charts for your viewing pleasure.

PTBB/100 chart

session chart


I am definetly happy to be making a rebound. I am getting used to playing with weaker players on Crypto, and rather than bluff and make continuation bets I am making more value bets. And trapping the overly aggressive players whom like to push all in.

Here is one hand in which I trapped pretty well tonight.

Game #1983920224: Hold'em NL ($0.15/$0.25) - 2006/04/10 - 20:24:58 (ET)
Table "Masters" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: purechaos ($27.95 in chips)
Seat 2: Duck1 sits out
Seat 3: chriskat ($12.35 in chips)
Seat 4: 888888002 ($36.05 in chips)
Seat 5: _SAW_ ($9.25 in chips)
Seat 6: stupadaso ($30.55 in chips)
_SAW_: posts small blind $0.15
stupadaso: posts big blind $0.25
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to purechaos [9c 9d]
purechaos: raises to $1
chriskat: calls $1
888888002: folds
_SAW_: calls $0.85
stupadaso: calls $0.75
----- FLOP ----- [6h 9s 5h]
_SAW_: checks
stupadaso: checks
purechaos: bets $1.75
chriskat: calls $1.75
_SAW_: folds
stupadaso: folds
----- TURN ----- [6h 9s 5h][Qs]
purechaos: checks
chriskat: bets $9.60 and is all-in
purechaos: calls $9.60
----- RIVER ----- [6h 9s 5h Qs][2h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
chriskat: shows [5s 3s] (A Pair of Fives, Queen high)
purechaos: shows [9c 9d] (Three of a kind, Nines, Queen high)
purechaos collects $25.40 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $26.70 Main pot $25.40 Rake $1.30
Board [6h 9s 5h Qs 2h]
Seat 1: purechaos showed [9c 9d] and won ($25.40) with Three of a kind, Nines, Queen high
Seat 3: chriskat showed [5s 3s] and lost
Seat 4: 888888002 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: _SAW_ (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: stupadaso (big blind) folded on the Flop
****HAND ENDS****

Here is my biggest winner of the night

Game #1981769034: Hold'em NL ($0.15/$0.25) - 2006/04/10 - 17:39:03 (ET)
Table "Mothallah" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: purechaos ($24.60 in chips)
Seat 3: Jacq08092 ($25.85 in chips)
Seat 4: Spager ($15.41 in chips)
Seat 5: Pusspuss ($33.37 in chips)
vlow joins the table at seat #2
Jacq08092: posts small blind $0.15
Spager: posts big blind $0.25
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to purechaos [9s 8s]
Pusspuss: calls $0.25
purechaos: raises to $1
Jacq08092: calls $0.85
Spager: calls $0.75
Pusspuss: calls $0.75
----- FLOP ----- [Qs Td 3d]
Jacq08092: checks
Spager: checks
Pusspuss: checks
purechaos: bets $2.50
Jacq08092: folds
Spager: folds
Pusspuss: calls $2.50
----- TURN ----- [Qs Td 3d][Qc]
Pusspuss: checks
purechaos: bets $3
Pusspuss: calls $3
----- RIVER ----- [Qs Td 3d Qc][Jh]
Pusspuss: checks
purechaos: bets $12
Pusspuss: calls $12
----- SHOW DOWN -----
purechaos: shows [9s 8s] (A Straight, Queen high)
Pusspuss: mucks hand [Qd Ac]
purechaos collects $37.05 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $39 Main pot $37.05 Rake $1.95
Board [Qs Td 3d Qc Jh]
Seat 1: purechaos (button) showed [9s 8s] and won ($37.05) with A Straight, Queen high
Seat 3: Jacq08092 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: Spager (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: Pusspuss mucked [Qd Ac]
****HAND ENDS****

This hand was a little speculative, this player had calling station tendencies, but would usually let go of the hand when the second bullet was fired. I was done with the hand until my GIN card came on the river.

Here is my biggest loser tonight, and other than 3 other $1 losers I only lost money in the blinds.

Game #1983855364: Hold'em NL ($0.15/$0.25) - 2006/04/10 - 20:21:55 (ET)
Table "Masters" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: purechaos ($31.35 in chips)
Seat 2: Duck1 sits out
Seat 3: chriskat ($9.50 in chips)
Seat 4: 888888002 ($37.85 in chips)
Seat 6: stupadaso ($28 in chips)
chriskat: posts small blind $0.15
888888002: posts big blind $0.25
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to purechaos [Jc Js]
stupadaso: folds
purechaos: raises to $1.25
chriskat: calls $1.10
888888002: folds
----- FLOP ----- [8h 4h Ac]
chriskat: checks
purechaos: bets $1.75
chriskat: raises to $8.25 and is all-in
purechaos: folds
Returned uncalled bets $6.50 to chriskat
chriskat: doesn't show hand
chriskat collects $5.95 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $6.25 Main pot $5.95 Rake $0.30
Board [8h 4h Ac]
Seat 1: purechaos (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: chriskat (small blind) collected $5.95
Seat 4: 888888002 (big blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: stupadaso folded before Flop (didn't bet)
****HAND ENDS****

to put all these hands into perspective, I only played 82 hands tonight so it was a short session to say the least. I squeezed in a little play when I could, but it wasnt much. here are my PT stats




I never got around to updating my site this weekend, sometimes life throws a wrench at you and I had several unfortunate family issues come up. I am hoping to have time this upcoming weekend. So if you would like me to link to your blog or site drop me a message and I will try to include it in the update.

current bankroll:
$341.82 Up a little since last update :-)

Not broke yet.

So I am still hanging in there. No spectacular results to report, but no significant losses either. So I can live with it.

I guess I have actually turned a little profit, I recieved my $75 amazon gift card from poker savy for completing the titan promo. I am going to hang onto it, and try to get enough up to buy a new ipod or some other toy.

I moved my neteller funds over to sun poker. I have a small bonus to clear there, and combined with the monthly promo, I should be able to add a couple $'s to my br. PT/PAHUD are compatible there and the level of play is generally poor. Its kinda funny how bad and predicatable some of the players are. gotta love it when you can check the nuts and they push into a pot 1/4 the size of their stack.

I'm going to cashout of titan tommorrow. I am close to clearing another couple $'s in bonus $ so I should wait til thats done. I might get a rakeback account on that network and play occasionally. I have found the games to be prety juicy and if you can avoid the occasional suckout, its not hard to turn a profit.

I got an email from my UB affiliate, and they say that they have finally received the stats for march, and ub's system is back up. I'm interested to see what kind of rakeback I will get since I played nearly the entire month there and 4-5 tabled. I'm still not enthusiastic about going back right away. I'd say overall UB has some of the tougher NL cash players, and I dont have much info on the 6 max players. I will be focusing on 6 max for a while, so table selection becomes pretty cruicial.

Some of my friends are playing a bunch of freezeouts tommorrow in the home game i normally play. Unfortunately I wont be able to make it. It's really kinda dissapoijnting b/c the games are pretty easy to beat. I dont think I ahve ever come home a loser, and it probably wouldnt prove difficult to talk some into a small stakes cash game. The freeze outs are usually $30-$50 but up to $100, and only 2-3 players are any good. I have some family commitments though, so I will have to pass on this one.

I was thinking earlier that I havent had to redeposit this year. I'm proud that my game has at least improved that much. I have even made some significant cashouts so its not been too bad. There have been some close calls but i managed to rebound, and I did make a small deposit from my live game funds, but have taken those back out so its a wash. Now if I can steadily build my bankroll I might be onto something.

I dont have much else to add, i'm pretty tired and am going to go to bed. I have a couple tournaments to play tommorrow, so hopefully I can make something happen.

My BR is currently - a whopping $233.75 plus pending rakeback and referal bonuses (probably close to another $125) w000t

HEEEHAAWW

So I've been playing like a donkey in my MTT action. Not really, but its amazing how one bad move can change your whole dynamic in a MTT.

I continued my strak of going out early in the BPT events. I played a $20 180 man on Stars, no luck. I vowe to one day win one of these, but its going ot have to take a hiatus, until I can recoup my losses of the last couple of days.

I also lost ~$40 on Titan playing 1./.2 NL. I can attribute that tho playing bad and head hunting a donkey, who was an uber luck box.

The only success I had last night was in the Lavalife poker challenge freeroll on party. I actually forgot about it, but had signed into party to see what kind of action was going on in the WSOP Steps.

While I was playing the BPT event, the freeroll started up. I wasnt surprised when I realized that my table of 10 only had one other active player. I had position on this player and raised him every hand, sometimes with a hand, but usually not. About 5-6 hands in I got AA, he opened for a raise. I reraised him (typical of how I had been playing) and he called. He bet out on the flop, and I raised him again. He pushed and I called. He showed A9, and had paired his 9.

After this player was gone, I proceeded to raise every hand and collect blinds. When I had the players down to a short stack, I sat out so that I could focus on my 180 MTT. At this point I was actually doing quite well in the MTT. I was in the top 10. About 7-8 mins later soemone was moved to my table, and I caught them picking up the blinds. I knocked them out after a couple of hands. At this point I had ~32k with the avg stack being ~4k.

I wasnt the only one who had this fortune. I checked and there were several other tables where this was going on. Out of the 550 man field, I bet there wasnt more than 90 ppl actually playing.
Anyway I managed to last it out and make it past the top 20 ppl, and advance to the final in june. The first prize is a trip to turk and caicos, second is a 50" plasma, they give away ipods and gift certificates too. Every place pays out at least $25. Not bad for a freeroll. The field will be 220 ppl. So it shouldnt be tough. If I can shake my donk tendencies.

Although I am down for the week, the loss is offset by the free $20 I recieved from pokersavy, and the $75 in amazon gift certs that I earned by completing the titan promo.

My bankroll is just over $200 right now, but I hope to boost it back up over the weekend, when there are more recreational players online. If I drop down to $170, I am going to step back down to the .05/.1 games and try to rebuild.

I should have ~90 in rakeback and referral bonuses coming in the next week or so. I also plan on going over and playing at sun poker and picking up my $90 free. I finally received my cashout pin, so I wont have to wiat along time after clearing that bonus to move my $ out.

thats all...

uggghhhh

I ended my session down tonight. I didnt start off so hot, losing a buyin within first 20 hands to a player who was playing a real fishy game. I was in the BB and flopped 2 pair and he hit a straight. He had been bluffing alot, he was actually the button in the hand and I checked it to him, when he overbet the pot I decided I was going to play sherriff and put him to the test. I wasnt too happy with the result. I didnt fill up and was down a buyin.

I also ran my QQ into AA, (bunk) and finally I ran KK into a flopped set.

I was able to recoup one buyin, but my table ended up being rather strange. I should have left and found another table, but I was hoping for the chance to bust the fishy player. I believe that most of the $ I won back was from him, but he started to straighten up. I let it go and might look for him later.

Its kinda funny b/c my avatar on titan is a woman (mainly b/c I havent changed it from the default). This guy made some comments about "she bluffs alot" and that I am easy to read. It cracked me up, maybe he thought my value bets were bluffs b/c I had position on him and he constantly faced my reraises. I just found it entertaining.

I also played a $20 180 MTT on stars. I only won one hand that showed down, and that was early. I really never got anything to come, and busted out in 55th place. I had a crazy table, the VPIP was ~18%, and the only LAG was 2 seats to my right. I ended up getting into my final hand with him. I felt like he might be on a steal for the blinds, he had been raising every unraised pot when he had position. Anyway here is how that hand went down.

POKERSTARS GAME #4534636442: TOURNAMENT #22581294, HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL V (75/150) - 2006/04/05 - 22:31:06 (ET)
Table '22581294 10' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: Zizz (3965 in chips)
Seat 2: shane2886 (4555 in chips)
Seat 3: sidelineskid (5510 in chips)
Seat 4: scaryjerry1 (1935 in chips)
Seat 6: Beebs (3150 in chips)
Seat 7: Bhorse (670 in chips)
Seat 8: kbeyer (4645 in chips)
Seat 9: aqua44 (6795 in chips)
scaryjerry1: posts small blind 75
Beebs: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scaryjerry1 [Ah 9h]
Bhorse: folds
kbeyer: folds
aqua44: folds
Zizz: folds
shane2886: raises 300 to 450
sidelineskid: folds
scaryjerry1: raises 1485 to 1935 and is all-in
Beebs: folds
shane2886: calls 1485
*** FLOP *** [8h 6c Js]
*** TURN *** [8h 6c Js] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [8h 6c Js 2c] [2h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
scaryjerry1: shows [Ah 9h] (a pair of Deuces)
shane2886: shows [Jd Qd] (two pair, Jacks and Deuces)
shane2886 collected 4020 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4020 | Rake 0
Board [8h 6c Js 2c 2h]
Seat 1: Zizz folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: shane2886 showed [Jd Qd] and won (4020) with two pair, Jacks and Deuces
Seat 3: sidelineskid (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: scaryjerry1 (small blind) showed [Ah 9h] and lost with a pair of Deuces
Seat 6: Beebs (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: Bhorse folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: kbeyer folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: aqua44 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I was able to recoup my buyin by playing a couple of hands on a $25NL table. Obviously, losing any amount and having to make it up, isnt as good as adding a return on investment. I'll take it though and live to fight another day.

I might go ahead and play the BPT event tommorrow night. It seems that stars out the event in the private tourney section, so it might not be to full. Those tournaments dont show in the regular category.

Anyway the damage has been done, but nothing crippling tonight. I'll chalk it up to variance. I am comfortable with the plays that I made, even though I lost $. I cant base my analysis on the results alone. I didnt play recklessly, and am confident that I made the right plays based on the information I had available.

I'm not real keen on playing just one table, but am going to continue to play 6 max for a couple more weeks and see what I can do with it. When I play a full table, I dont mind playing 3-5 tables, but with a short handed table its more imperative to focus on the action, and dissect your opponents.

I've been thinking about a probability theory for MTT & STT's. I am going to try and refine my thoughts and work out a formula. I think it is a rather interesting approach to coin flips and winning a series of coin flips. The effect that your chip equity has on taking on these situations, and the expected value of making these moves.

Its really just something I have been thinking about, but havent put down in text. I dont think my brief description above is even an accurate representation, so I want to refine it a little more. It might be a theory that I test out in one of the $4 180 man MTT's stars holds during the afternoons.

Thanks for reading!

Well they all cant be winners,

But as long as they are only slight losers I can handle it.

Playing on titan is somewhat of a roller coaster. I have been working on my 6max big stack play.

There are plenty of opportunities to max money on titan, that's for sure. The players there are at the low end of the food chain. I doubt many of them know basic poker concepts. It doesn't take to long on a table to see who the players are feasting on. My favorite is when the fish think I am bluffing with the nuts and make the bluff call. I have got paid on that move several times.

I think the players are just generally weaker because The bonus at titan is bad, so that keeps the bonus chasers away. There are a few sites that offer rakeback so that attracts the slightly more knowledgeable player. I figure if someone knows about rakeback, they have taken some initiative to learn about the game. Poker Tracker and Pahud don't work on titan, so it is more critical to observe you opponents tendencies, check mucked cards, and follow the rhythm of the game. Honestly, I don't think a lot of players exercise the needed focus to do this. Either the players are multitabling, checking emails, watching tv, surfing porn or have some other distraction. Therefore, once players start to use PT& PAHUD they become dependent on these tools. I know that I experienced this problems after I started using pahud.

I wish I could extract my hand histories though, the only way I can review my hand histories is if I sit out at the table, and eventually I get booted off the table, and the hand history closes. :-(

I've found myself thinking about the game on deeper levels, and trying to manipulate my opponents more lately. I am not making outrageous bluffs, but betting in ways that represent a hand I might be trying to trap with. I only use this move every once in a while, but its one I like to throw out. Unforetunately it only works on the "thinking player". Its quite pointless to try and pull a sophisticated bluff on a calling station.

Anyway my session tonight, I was looking for a table with big stacks, at least the max buyin. I ended up sitting at a table full of tight players, and only 1/4 hands was seeing a flop. This is tight on a 6 max table. I thought I might be able to stack one of them if I got lucky. Unfortunately, I was able to stack a new player, but got stacked by a turned flush. I ended up getting down 1 buyin. I managed to double back up quick though. I fluctuated, and think I might have actually lost another buyin. I was constantly capping off if I got in a hand but folded out. So that was a contributing factor.

I decided to try and locate a looser table. I found a table with 66%VPIP and $10 AVG POT. At a $20 I thought this was a gold mine. I ended up losing a big hand early and rebought. The table was 1/2 maniac with them going all in every couple of hands on bluffs, gut shots, and even bottom pair. I decided to stick around.

I managed to double up and then doubled up again through 1 of the maniacs. He was gunning for me by this time. I had decided to complete a couple more rotations, and call it a session.

In one of my last hands I had KdJd the flop cam down Ts9d4d, I bet out and there was about $4.6 in the pot and he pushed for $11, it was about $9 more for me to call. He made the comment "lets dance", I had been needling him for a while, and thought he was weak. Since I had the gut shot, straight draw and the chance that my overs could win too I made the call. He showed 59o with middle pair. I didn't improve and he won the hand. If I would have stayed out of that hand I would have shown a profit, but ended up ending with a $17 deficiency.

I played well over 200 hands, and have now cleared 1/3 of the required hands for my bonus. At this point I am still above even accounting for the $20 initial bonus I got. I'm not swayed at all, I am definetly feeling confident about my game, and know that I can beat most players at this level over the long run.

ADDENDUM

Well I ended up playing one more session, with the objective of recording my play for analysis, and studdying my thought process.

I am happy to say that I turned my play back around and have posted a profit for the day.

My session turned about a $35 profit in a 1/2 hour and 55 hands. So that gave me just under a $20 profit for the day.

played about 100-200 hands tonight

I started playing on titan tonight for the first time. I have never played on the network before. I found an offer for a free $20 via pokersavy (link on the right) to play at titan. If you deposit $50 and earn 750 player points you can get a $75 gift card to several places. 750 points can be earned quickly. You earn 1 point for a $0.25 rake, and 8 points for a $3 rake. its a graduated scale in between.

There are some real fish playing there. I saw guys call down with bottom pair for their entire stack. I was amazed.

I am working on my 6 max NL game, and decided to watch a couple of tables to see what the action was like. I sat at a table that I had been watching that had 2 of the calling stations. I was really dissapointed after only 5 hands another player had busted both of them. Everyone had left the table and this guy told me that he started with $4 on a .1/.2 NL table. He managed to clean those guys out and was sitting at $55. Missed my chance on that one.

I then sat at another table. I got sucked out on by a player who called every hand. I knew he was a calling station and I bet out with QQ. He called every street and on the turn I had his whole stack in the middle. The flop was J 8 2. The turn was a4, and the river was another 2. No flush draws. This guy flips over 10d2d WTF??? anyway I got vindication later when I had moved my stack up to ~$28 and ended up turning a straight flush. I got this guy to come over the top of me with his pair of Q's A kicker and stacked his ass. He was gone about 3 hands later.

I ended up staying on the table because I had caught on to the other players betting patterns and tendencies. I fluctuated a little bit because there were some short stacks on the table, that I ended up getting involved with a couple of times. I was down to ~$38 and ended up stacking a new player at the table who had a full buyin. This put my stack at $58.

There was one other big stack of ~$54, 2 $20 stacks, a $7 stack and a $15 stack. I ended up getting dealt AcJc I opened the pot 1 from the button for $0.8. The other big stack was in the SB and called. This player had been playing tight and I knew if he called in the SB he had some sort of hand. The flop came AsJs7c. He checked and I bet out $2. The turn came a 4h. He bet out $4.9 and I min raised him to $9.8 he pushed for his remaining $4x.xx. I thought and considered folding thinking it was possible he either had AK, JJ, or 77 for range of hands, and possibly the straight/flush, royal) draw. I decided to take the chance and called. The turn was a Qd, and I about shit. I thought I was toast but he flipped over AKo! I was now at over $100. I played a little longer on the table and ended up erasing all my losses.

I registered for a $10RA with about 200 players. I ended up picking up a good stack early but lost it too 2 races. I decided not to rebuy b/c you are limited to rebuys when you bust, and cant rebuy twice. It was getting close to the end of the first hour and the blinds were approaching 50/100 and you only get 1000 chips.

Not to shabby though I checked for another game after the MTT, but couldnt find a good one to get into. One thing I dont like is that PT and PAHUD dont work, and you cant get text hand histories. I dont know about multitabling, since I am focusing on improving my 6 max game I am only playing 1 table, rather than 4, so that I can focus. I doubt I will play on titan after I clear my bonus other than the blogger freerolls, which is the motivation behind downloading it initially. A $95 boost is worth it though, I should have it cleared in jsut a couple of days. Tonight I already cleared 109 pts.

If you havent played on titan I would probably recommend the pokersource online instant bankroll promo over the poker savy one. The link at the top of my blog will take you there. However, if you have already done the PSO instant bankroll promo at party, then the pokersavy promo is worth checking out.

So now my bankroll is : Titan - $187.37 and PokerStars - $111.97 = $299.34

I'll take it, hopefully I can continue to run good and move up in stakes in a week or 2. I wont mess with the .25/.5 until I am over $1100, but that could come early if I hit a couple of more licks on Titan and pokerstars. I am so tired of playing for the change, but know its improtant to play within you bankroll (from previous experience). If you arent aware, you can see how I smoked thru a $2k MTT score in January, and I might have some posts discussing my early adventures in NL and buying in with 1/2 my bankroll.

I know I am playing a little over my bankroll right now, but I am taking a shot, and if that shot doesnt work out I will step back down to the nickle/dime game. I dont think the play is any better at the $20-$25 NL tables, and if I play smart I can break thru. I also have some reasonable amounts of rakeback coming, and a couple of referrals from friends I have refered to rakerebate. If you are looking for rakeback please use my link for rakerebate or send me an email at scaryjerry - gmail.com.

This weekend I am going to update my blog. I am going to try and change around the look alittle. I dont know much about the format that blogger uses, but am going to see if I can figure it out. I have a computer background, and some programming / web design experience so I think I can work something out. I will definetly backup first :-p

I want to add some links to other blogs as well. If you are a blogger post a message and leave your url (if it s not a blogger blog) and I will add it. Of course I would appreciate it if you would link back to my blog too, but If not I can live with it.

Well the weekend is over

I am done playing for the weekend. We actually had some severe weather just roll through. Several tornado touchdowns. One within a mile of my house, and another one spawned in the vicinity of one of my younger brothers.

I was actually more concerned about my brother and his wife and childrens safety. They live in a mobile home (or trailer, if you prefer). Fortunately the media was on top of the storm 2 hours before it arrived. I think partly because of the NCAA final four being in town. My brother and his family had the common sense to relocate to his father inlaws house, so they were safe.

My wife was very uneasy. Rightfully so, approximately 3-1/2 years ago we were hit by an F-3 (on the cusp of being an F-4) tornado. It caused total devastation. The only good thing about the whole experience was that we were having a new house built and only 2 weeks outside of closing on this house. So we were only "homeless" for those 2 weeks.

Anyway after the tornado's started being reported tonight, I had my wife and kids get in the most secure area of our house. The kids had already gone to bed. My 10 year old daughter handled it well, but my son was rather aggrevated. We hung out and listened to the radio, and I peeked out to check the radar and television after about 10 mins. After the storm passed, we got the kids settled back into bed.

I'm sure the media will have photos plastered everywhere of the devastation in the morning. I remember when we were hit it. The gawkers came out in droves from far and wide. It really pissed me off. People would just drive by and stare. Nobody (except the other people affected) offered a hand really. It was disgusting. We lived near a shopping center area. A sporting goods store was wiped out less than a mile from us. The tornado actually made a line from the shopping center to us. There were guns and sporting goods scattered every where. I saw a couple of orphan golf clubs and thought wow where did these come from.

Anyway back to the gawkers. The only thing worse were the looters. How the hell are you going to have the tenacity to come and steal from people who just expereinced such a major disaster? I lived in an appartment community and some of my neighbors were ripped off. I stayed in my place without a roof, without windows and doors. With my MAG light. my pistol, and my Labrador.

Anyway I digress, this is my poker blog.

So the weekend is over. I didnt do so hot last week. I was reveiwing my pokertracker db this week, and noticed a $120 plummit. I didnt get a chance to track down the hand histories yet, but am certain it occured on the prima site. I had a couple of back to back beats.

I'm back in it though. My bankroll is stable again. I am happy that I turned my $6.x into $115 on stars in a couple of days with solid play. I plan on playing there a little longer at least until I get a bonus that I am working on finalized.

So now my bankroll is a whopping $255.97 (if those bastards at pokerrewards ever give me my $) I also should be picking up some rakeback in the next week or so. Things are looking better these days :-)

and im out of the BPT

and now I am seriously withdrawing from future particiaption of other events.

I just need to reassess my bankroll and agenda. I really should a have a bankroll of $250-$1000 when playing the $11 MTT's. I not there, right now my bankroll is only ~$230.

Anyway this BPT event was a little different. The starting chip stacks were only 1500, instead of 2,000. The blinds were on 10 minute levels, instead of 15. The field was 458 (I went busto in 358).

so there were 3 key hands leading to my exit.

Hand #1: If I would have played this hand I likely would have been able to play a couple more hands, and doubtfully would have busted when I did.

Full Tilt Poker Game #540482254: Bluff Poker Tour (3396675), Table 9 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:12:23 ET - 2006/04/02
Seat 1: idareyou (1,365)
Seat 2: InYourHead (1,405)
Seat 3: flopnuts12 (1,290)
Seat 4: cabaldwin3 (1,655)
Seat 5: MunEGrubber (1,530)
Seat 6: nova83tx (1,455), is sitting out
Seat 7: trblemaker (1,755)
Seat 8: actyper (1,560)
Seat 9: diadantr (1,485)
cabaldwin3 posts the small blind of 20
MunEGrubber posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to InYourHead [4d 4h]
nova83tx folds
trblemaker raises to 140
actyper folds
diadantr folds
idareyou folds
InYourHead folds
flopnuts12 folds
cabaldwin3 folds
MunEGrubber calls 100
*** FLOP *** [Ts 4c 8d]
MunEGrubber checks
trblemaker checks
*** TURN *** [Ts 4c 8d] [7h]
MunEGrubber checks
trblemaker checks
*** RIVER *** [Ts 4c 8d 7h] [Kh]
MunEGrubber has 15 seconds left to act
MunEGrubber bets 40
trblemaker raises to 420
MunEGrubber calls 380
*** SHOW DOWN ***
trblemaker shows [Kd As] (a pair of Kings)
MunEGrubber mucks
trblemaker wins the pot (1,140) with a pair of Kings
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,140 | Rake 0
Board: [Ts 4c 8d 7h Kh]
Seat 1: idareyou didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: InYourHead didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: flopnuts12 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: cabaldwin3 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: MunEGrubber (big blind) mucked [5c Kc] - a pair of Kings
Seat 6: nova83tx didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: trblemaker showed [Kd As] and won (1,140) with a pair of Kings
Seat 8: actyper didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: diadantr didn't bet (folded)

Hand #2: I thought actyper was making a continuation bet, and thus tried to push him off his hand. In fact The whole reason I called prefolp was to play off of my position. I had to let my hand go when he came back at me (obviously)

Full Tilt Poker Game #540485245: Bluff Poker Tour (3396675), Table 9 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:13:43 ET - 2006/04/02
Seat 1: idareyou (1,365)
Seat 2: InYourHead (1,405)
Seat 3: flopnuts12 (1,290)
Seat 4: cabaldwin3 (1,635)
Seat 5: MunEGrubber (970)
Seat 6: nova83tx (1,455), is sitting out
Seat 7: trblemaker (2,335)
Seat 8: actyper (1,560)
Seat 9: diadantr (1,485)
MunEGrubber posts the small blind of 20
nova83tx posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to InYourHead [6h Ah]
trblemaker folds
actyper raises to 120
diadantr folds
idareyou folds
InYourHead calls 120
flopnuts12 folds
cabaldwin3 folds
MunEGrubber folds
nova83tx folds
*** FLOP *** [9s 5s Qc]
actyper bets 150
InYourHead raises to 440
actyper raises to 1,440, and is all in
InYourHead folds
Uncalled bet of 1,000 returned to actyper
actyper mucks
actyper wins the pot (1,180)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,180 | Rake 0
Board: [9s 5s Qc]
Seat 1: idareyou didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: InYourHead folded on the Flop
Seat 3: flopnuts12 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: cabaldwin3 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: MunEGrubber (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: nova83tx (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: trblemaker didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: actyper collected (1,180), mucked
Seat 9: diadantr didn't bet (folded)

Hand #3: I felt I was ready to take a race when I called this hand. Of course the hand that was the farthest behind won....

Full Tilt Poker Game #540502209: Bluff Poker Tour (3396675), Table 9 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:21:26 ET - 2006/04/02
Seat 1: idareyou (1,505), is sitting out
Seat 2: InYourHead (925)
Seat 3: flopnuts12 (1,250)
Seat 4: cabaldwin3 (1,635)
Seat 5: MunEGrubber (1,210)
Seat 6: nova83tx (1,395), is sitting out
Seat 7: trblemaker (2,135)
Seat 8: actyper (2,480)
Seat 9: diadantr (965)
flopnuts12 posts the small blind of 25
cabaldwin3 posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to InYourHead [Qh Qs]
MunEGrubber calls 50
nova83tx folds
trblemaker calls 50
actyper raises to 200
diadantr raises to 965, and is all in
idareyou folds
InYourHead calls 925, and is all in
flopnuts12 folds
cabaldwin3 folds
MunEGrubber has 15 seconds left to act
MunEGrubber calls 915
trblemaker folds
actyper has 15 seconds left to act
actyper folds
diadantr shows [As Ah]
InYourHead shows [Qh Qs]
MunEGrubber shows [4c Ac]
*** FLOP *** [Kc 6c 9h]
*** TURN *** [Kc 6c 9h] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [Kc 6c 9h 3c] [6s]
diadantr shows two pair, Aces and Sixes
MunEGrubber shows a flush, Ace high
MunEGrubber wins the side pot (80) with a flush, Ace high
InYourHead shows two pair, Queens and Sixes
MunEGrubber wins the main pot (3,100) with a flush, Ace high
actyper: figures eh
InYourHead stands up
diadantr stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,180 Main pot 3,100. Side pot 80. | Rake 0
Board: [Kc 6c 9h 3c 6s]
Seat 1: idareyou didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: InYourHead (button) showed [Qh Qs] and lost with two pair, Queens and Sixes
Seat 3: flopnuts12 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: cabaldwin3 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: MunEGrubber showed [4c Ac] and won (3,180) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 6: nova83tx didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: trblemaker folded before the Flop
Seat 8: actyper folded before the Flop
Seat 9: diadantr showed [As Ah] and lost with two pair, Aces and Sixes

REALLLLEEEEEEEEE liking pokerstars

I've almost turned my last $6 into $100 on pokerstars. Its amazing what tight play will do for you in a lowlimit 6max game there. I dont play realy tight, but stary concious of position and dont play the trash.

I am getting ready to play the 4th event of the Bluff Poker Tour in about 10 mins. Hopefully I can turn something up this time. It looks like it is going to be the biggest field so far ~400.

So here is my biggest winner of the day (2 hands later I was dealt QJ UTG, and decided to fold b/c I was leaving table. I wish I woulda played. I could have stacked the big stack at the table. Flop was 6s8hQc Turn Qs River Js) O well I probably made the right fold being OOP.

heres the hand:

PokerStars Game #4498820303: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2006/04/02 - 16:43:17 (ET)
Table 'Drymas II' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: xEthanx ($10 in chips)
Seat 2: scaryjerry1 ($38.15 in chips)
Seat 3: R.P.R ($54.65 in chips)
Seat 6: TuuT ($51.20 in chips)
xEthanx: posts small blind $0.10
scaryjerry1: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scaryjerry1 [Qc Jc]
R.P.R: calls $0.25
TuuT: folds
xEthanx: raises $1.25 to $1.50
scaryjerry1: calls $1.25
R.P.R: calls $1.25
*** FLOP *** [Js 8c Qs]
xEthanx: bets $3.25
scaryjerry1: calls $3.25
R.P.R: raises $7 to $10.25
xEthanx: folds
scaryjerry1: raises $11 to $21.25
R.P.R: calls $11
*** TURN *** [Js 8c Qs] [Kc]
scaryjerry1: bets $15.40 and is all-in
R.P.R: folds
scaryjerry1 collected $48.25 from pot
scaryjerry1: shows [Qc Jc] (two pair, Queens and Jacks)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $50.25 | Rake $2
Board [Js 8c Qs Kc]
Seat 1: xEthanx (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: scaryjerry1 (big blind) collected ($48.25)
Seat 3: R.P.R folded on the Turn
Seat 6: TuuT (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

RPR had been playing super aggressive, and calling down lots of junk hands. I thought he was pot committed when I pushed. Guess not.

Getting nervous...

So I cashed out from poker rewards, the prima site I was playing on, last tuesday or wednesday.

Well my cashout still hasnt posted to my neteller acct, and it is no longer showing in pending cashouts.

I sent an email to the poker room manager, since I hear support can take a month to reply. I havent heard back from him yet.

Anyway, I did a search on google. Someone at bonus whores made a post that poker rewards lost his cashout "due to a clerical error", and he would have to wait 2-3 weeks to recieve it. Well if they lost my cashout I am screwed :o( thats basically my entire bankroll.

I will have to buckle down on my $50 that I have available currently, and work with it.

If they lost my money I am going to be pissed. plain and simple. of course theres not much I can do but post warnings all over the net, and I will definetly do that at every site I frequent.

Fucking bastards.

I can say one thing positive about VIP, I cashed out there and my $ was in my account within a couple of hours. Still not as fast as Stars, but acceptable.

I know $133 isnt much. Hell I make more than that per day at work, but the point is it is my poker bankroll, the only bankroll I have and not replacable at this point.

Well that and $11 on fulltilt. so it represents ~68% of my bankroll, and that is significant.

I'll stop crying about my $, but I'm still pissed.

Stacking fools :-)

Today has been pretty good so far... Stacked a couple guys on stars. I have my stars bankroll up to $53. This might not be so bad. I wish I would have got in on the deposit bonus not to far back, and rakeback would be nice. I cant complain though.

I know anyone can pick up a big pot with AA, but here is one of the guys I stacked.

POKERSTARS GAME #4489139522: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.05/$0.10) - 2006/04/01 - 18:42:29 (ET)
Table 'Evita' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: scaryjerry1 ($9.25 in chips)
Seat 2: james362 ($9.35 in chips)
Seat 3: pimp-gutz ($14.35 in chips)
Seat 4: clgibson ($10.50 in chips)
Seat 5: rajram2000 ($8.35 in chips)
Seat 6: careless3001 ($10.20 in chips)
james362: posts small blind $0.05
pimp-gutz: posts big blind $0.10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scaryjerry1 [As Ad]
clgibson: folds
rajram2000: calls $0.10
careless3001: folds
scaryjerry1: raises $0.30 to $0.40
james362: calls $0.35
pimp-gutz: folds
rajram2000: raises $0.40 to $0.80
scaryjerry1: raises $1.40 to $2.20
james362: folds
rajram2000: calls $1.40
*** FLOP *** [4s 9h 9d]
clgibson leaves the table
rajram2000: bets $0.50
scaryjerry1: raises $6.40 to $6.90
rajram2000: calls $5.65 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [4s 9h 9d] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [4s 9h 9d 8c] [Qh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
rajram2000: shows [Kd Qs] (two pair, Queens and Nines)
scaryjerry1: shows [As Ad] (two pair, Aces and Nines)
scaryjerry1 collected $16.35 from pot
rajram2000 leaves the table
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $17.20 | Rake $0.85

one of the short stacks I stacked

POKERSTARS GAME #4488885005: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.05/$0.10) - 2006/04/01 - 18:19:24 (ET)
Table 'Pongola' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: scaryjerry1 ($9.90 in chips)
Seat 2: relcei ($14.60 in chips)
Seat 3: A_TRIGG ($5.70 in chips)
Seat 4: jp2dz ($19.55 in chips)
Seat 5: smellycat04 ($1.55 in chips)
Seat 6: Auguust ($10.60 in chips)
scaryjerry1: posts small blind $0.05
relcei: posts big blind $0.10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scaryjerry1 [Qh 8h]
A_TRIGG: calls $0.10
jp2dz: folds
smellycat04: calls $0.10
Auguust: folds
scaryjerry1: calls $0.05
relcei: checks
*** FLOP *** [8s 4c Qc]
scaryjerry1: checks
relcei: checks
A_TRIGG: bets $0.30
smellycat04: folds
scaryjerry1: raises $0.50 to $0.80
relcei: folds
A_TRIGG: calls $0.50
*** TURN *** [8s 4c Qc] [4s]
scaryjerry1: bets $2.20
A_TRIGG: raises $2.20 to $4.40
scaryjerry1: calls $2.20
*** RIVER *** [8s 4c Qc 4s] [2d]
scaryjerry1: bets $0.40
A_TRIGG: calls $0.40 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
scaryjerry1: shows [Qh 8h] (two pair, Queens and Eights)
A_TRIGG: mucks hand
scaryjerry1 collected $11.05 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $11.60 | Rake $0.55

I stacked a couple of other short stacks, but they didnt contribute much to my br.

Playing the Blogger poker tour today

After some confusion I am finally registered for the BPT not to be confused with the BPT. Thanks scott!

I played a short session of $10 6max this morning on stars. After stacking a couple of guys, I quit at $10 profit. I plan on playing some more later, and maybe some more $5 STT's. I'm actually back up to $43 on stars, not bad considering i was at $6.x last night.