LOL Homegameaments

Yea, played at this guy David's house tonight. I would predict his live stats, put into PT form, would be 40/24/5.5. So, he's an overaggro LAGtard, never folds hands worth a shit. Anyway, buyin was $10, blinds at $.10/$.20. We're playing 4handed, my friend Jeff just busted out to me. I've rebought numerous times and have a stack of about $50, Paul ~$12 (not in the hand), and David covers by a bit (I've lost about $55 or $60 to him because he's run rele well against me and I made a few costly mistakes). Neway, He opens button, it's 3handed to $1.50 (14.5x raise!?), I reraise to $4.50, he flatcalls pretty quickly. Pot is $9 to the flop. Flop is the beautiful KJ5 rainbow. I cbet $5 hoping to get played back at, which is frequent. For some reason, he overbet shoves effectively $40 into a pot of $14 with an OESD, where 1/2 of my reraising range is AA, KK, AK, JJ, KJ? Yea, so I snapcall. Pot is $100. Turn is the beautiful A of spades, taking his ~14% equity preflop and 32% equity on the flop to a pretty gay 75% equity on the turn. I am 3:1 to fill river, I of course miss. I ship a 500BB pot to his lovely stupid overbet shove with a mere OESD. I didn't think he would play that ridiculous against me. I kept reloading lavishly because I was fostering a maniac image to set up for that ONE hand. It's so sick how I did it so perfectly, got someone to put their money in as bigger than a 2:1 underdog and lose. Overall tonite, I got coolered and whatnot, but It's sick to think about that I would be even for the nite if I had won that $100 pot. So fckin sick... Now is a time to think about how fortunate I am to where losing $100 in one night is not much for me at all. It feels rele bad, but I think it's longterm +EV because I can keep playing in that game. My avg win there has been ~$40. Therefore, it's good to lose once in a while (obv less than $100 in a session), but that's to show that I am human and I can keep coming welcomly back to the game. Yea, I'm lucky that $100 is rele nothing to me, but it's so tough to lose REAL money, as opposed to "virtual" money online. I have no idea why I feel so shitty about this- in my live game I lost some big pots, though ended up winning, but didn't even feel sick about it!? I hope I'm not turning into a weak fuckin nit... sike. Neway, I'm happy how I played the whole night to set up for that one 500BB pot where I got it in with the goods. I'm also glad I decided to reraise preflop just because I knew he'd call with almost any two he'd raise with, and I just gotta build the pot to eventually put my stack in with KK on a clean board and hopefully win a big one. Exactly what I did, and well, didn't work out w/e poker sux! This game has made me a different person, and I'm glad I got into it, even tho the swings can be SICK. As long as I can stay in a positive mind state and look at the good side of things, as well as take the good with the bad because poker is an ongoing game, just like life, where at the end you just have to show success and so one day is a "small sample size" over the course of one's life, so yea, poker-life epiphony. On a side note, Lindgren just won $200k from Ivey, $100k from Gavin Smith, and $40k from a bunch of others on an insane golf prop bet. How people can gamble that money when they can barely afford other shit is sick (Gavin Smith). I think he's a nice guy and a fairly good player, so I don't want him to go broke- tho it's looking a bit tough if he keeps living the gambling lifestyle with what I don't believe to even be THAT much of a net worth. Lindgren definitely wasn't rolled for this prop bet, and I don't even know if Ivey was! Yea well w/e they're sick human beings to take a chance on that kind of money, though they do it for a living!

Wow, How it ALL Started...

I remember it like it was yesterday...I swear. I was in Spanish 2 in high skool with a complete bonehead teacher. The class however, was very funny and friendly, with a really pleasant chemistry that is rare. Anyway, I was 15 1/2 years old, a sophomore, fairly naiive, JUST getting started int live poker after the Moneymaker Revolution from the 2003 WSOP was in full swing. This was with friends, barely after learning the rules and what was considered a good hand. We would play $5 buyin, $.05 and $.10 blinds (at least decent structure), and the big game was $10 $.25/.50 cent (LMAO 20bb!). Neway, I was fairly uncomfortable playing for more than $5 at a time. I hated to bluff, and after I read Championship No Limit and Pot Limit Hold'Em, I thought i'd have a real edge on the competition (my three friends). Turns out not really, and I was getting VERY frustrated with poker. I wuz a fairly big nit and just not aggro enough. I would NEVER cbet. I would play quite a few pots in position, and had a good idea of TAG opening ranges, but it was shorthanded, and I was playing like it was a full ring table...Neway, I would NEVER cbet. I would check my hands all the way down to the river after raising preflop, then making about a PSB or even an overbet, whether I had a big hand or air. My friends were all calling stations, so by the river I had to have it a decent amount of the time. Jeez, It's ridiculous to think how much I've learned from playing on the internet. Neway, back to what I was saying about the spanish class. One day, a friend and I were chatting about poker, and the kid behind me who has been quiet almost all year, said "I play online on PokerStars." We inquired what limits, and he said 5/10. We were like "Oh we've played 5/10 cent before." He sheepishly grins and says, "No, $5/$10 dollars." I was speechless! Back then on Pstars, 5/10 and 10/20 were the biggest games online, and VERY tough with people like H@LL just cleaning up. To think, he was barely older than me and winning there! So, to make a long story short,got $10 on pstars, lost it, but was hooked on success. Over that year, a friend and I constantly dreamed about getting a decent roll by playing .01/.02 online and some SNGs, up to 45man. We THOUGHT we had it down quite a few times, but really just didn't. There are so many key factors of playng that weren't addressed in T.J.'s book, and to think about it, his book really only applied to being a complete weak-tight nit back in the old days in a tournament with a slow structure. The complete opposite is today- many players on the internet are now young, brash, intelligent, and have many tools at their disposal and are very willing to improve by getting themself engulfed in the online poker community (2+2, p5's, etc). Anyway, slowly I actually started to win, played a bit of .05/.10. I ended up winning a total of $140 after about 4 or 5 months of winning and thinking tons about poker, even at those bitch limits, and I was very happy. I decided to move over to PartyPoker with my friend. I actually borrowed $500, took it to the .10/.25 games (HUGE to me at the time), and never looked back. Grinded, had good tilt control, and worked up to $4k roll and playing $1/$2 nl at 4tables at a time. However, I just couldn't beat the game. I would get fancy play syndrome, and hubris got ahold of me. My ago wuz pretty sick, and it was ridic to think about how much I thought I could outplay people; I just don't know what I was thinking. About after a month of playing fairly bad but also runnin pretty poorly and getting frustrated, I lost all of my hard work $4k on Partypoker that was earned in around 9 months, in 1 month. I was devastated. I felt like shit- my grades sorta dropped, my self esteem was low, and I was embarrased to think how a high-school kid could lose fuckin $4k which was a fuckload of $ to my friends. It was more of a public humilitation, considering poker was considered my biggest talent, and here I did just fucking it all up. Yea...but a light from the end of the tunnel came! I got coached by my friend after turning 18, played on Full Tilt and made an account, and learned how to play LAG. I have tuned it a bit from what he tought me, but he tought me very well. I learned when to bet and when not to in many different situations. Honestly after one lesson, I just saw so fckin clearly. It cost me $40/hour ($120), but I earned $600 that session plus around 40 in RB so I was set. Neway, I grinded that into $20k roll in 2 FCKIN WEEKS! I ran hot as fuck and never had the opportunity to tilt because I didn't hav ea losing day in two weeks. Neway, cashed out a lot just because it's gratifying, had a $12k roll, and then started to run sorta bad. I played $5/$10 HU plo with a $12k roll=BIG MISTAKE! I lost 4 buyins that one night in that game, which was RELE sick after booking a decent win earlier that day at $2/$4 nl (about $1k). This guy just ran like fucking G-d against me, and I got my money in good EVERY SINGLE TIME. Problem is, PLO, especialy HU, is the most unreal swingy game imaginable, and not for the weak at heart. Yea, so I had $9k now, and slowly lingered around that. I cashed that out and was happy with $6k. My prayers had come true- I finally earned back that $4k I lost on PartyPoker and could sleep at night knowing I made a good profit doing something I love and it gave me tons of confidence. However, for the next few months (up until now), I really have run mediocre, playing pretty well, but my roll management has been ridiculously bad. I now know that I'm not quite old enough or mature enough (even though 18 is legally okay to play online) to handle the swings of internet poker and be disciplined. That is why I want to play once in a while when I feel like it, because when I really want to play, I think I play truly great and rarely make ANY mistakes in a session, and can book a good win as long as I don't run like total shit. I've come a long way in 2 1/2 years, and boy, what a ride. MANY changes of fortune, but I have learned that hard work, dedication, and studying of the game pays off. I wouldn't change anything about those past few years, because I have made many parallels between life and poker, and poker has also helped me analyze a few other fields. Besides, I'm planning on studying finance in college, and so when I do, I feel i'll have a slight edge with all this poker knowledge on different aspects, especially dealing with risk and reward/ROI stuff. At least all this work is for something. I definitely just wanted to get that out reflecting; I rele like blogs for that reason because you can rele see all the ups and downs plainly, but most importantly, see the big picture of how far one has come through all the triumphs and struggles.

Quick Update, Not So Much Poker

Yea, I sorta am just updating because I'm a bit bored and fairly tired. My past few days have consisted of lots of bball, chillin with friends, eating out, and when there's downtime at home, playing Gears of War (got back into it - quite fun but can get old after a while). On the subject of entertainment, I received my gift from Full Tilt Poker, costing 20k Full Tilt Points :) Portable Ipod speakers- definitely pretty sick $100 value. I coulda gotten that or an ipod nano, and since I already have any 80gb ipod video, I thought it'd be most practical, especially to use with college when there will be roadtrips and compact spaces, etc. BTW, great site to joke about degen gambling poker players... Joe Seboks blog and also http://www.rawvegas.tv/ containing very funny video blogs and joking about the gambling lifestyle. Last note: PokerWire Radio is the shit. Subscribe to it as a podcast it is hilarious and I rele can't get enough of it. It has Joe Sebok and Gavin Smith as the main stars/strategists from the old CardPlayer Circuit Radio.

Now, onto discussing poker, but not my own playing. I have noticed a lot of what makes the live players bad exactly: bet sizing is too much like in a tournament (1/2 or 1/3 pot on drawy boards), betting medium strength hands, paying off too much, giving too good of odds to people with drawing hands, and not excercising pot control. Online players have all these crucial skills which change winrates drastically. For the most part as well, online players do not have as many financial problems in general because live players fall into the gambling lifestyle, living mostly in Vegas. Online players often come from sort of... less-social backgrounds (online video games and weird card games like Magic, which I luckily don't fall into that category). Online players from these backgrounds do not happen to spend all their money on stupid causes and make retarded prop/side bets, and practice better roll management. Though they do grind more, they just have so much more of a stable income, especially using tools like PT and PAHUD. From what I've heard, Brad Booth went broke, who was not the best player online, but seemed ok in live play. Dan Negraneu I heard is also having some money troubles, as well as David Benyamine getting constantly cold-decked. All of these players try to peel every gutshot, in and out of position, and honestly have a LOT of tells... like c/instacalling when weak and other obvoius things people that especially online players will exploit effectively. I swear, before online, I played with friends non-seriously and sorta a losing fish. After online poker and rele learning the game, I have realized that the internet is a clear way to see everything and the bare-bones aspects of the game. I would say ANY live player should play on the internet, and it will improve their live game guaranteed. Their bet-sizing and other important aspects of the game will improve, and anylitical skills REALLY come in with the competition online. Okay, rant over about online and live players, I just really find it interesting to compare them, since live poker and online poker are REALLY quite different! However, most online players transition phenominally to live play and crush, while live players are usuall big fish online and spew a lot before they either: a) quit b) go broke c) get a stronger understanding of the game and figure out the slight nuances of online poker in order to become a successful player

A bit more Evaluation and Heads Up Play in Jan...

Ok, so I'm just going to look at biggest winners and biggest losers, and compare how I played the two. I'm sure the biggest losers are not premium hands, but rather hands I decided to semibluff with and things like that and just bricked out. I wish I had a sample size of 80k+... I now realize how ridiculously small a sample size of 40k is because really, one will not get that many different hands that they will play in different positions and scenarios to determine where their leaks are.

Ok so my biggest loser is 67s... I saw a few pots I played sorta poorly... the problem is that I'm trying to take the hand to showdown when I flop middle pair, and often that would be good just playing pot control and position. The bad thing is just negative variance, and people have been flopping better hands than I have.

2nd biggest loser is 95s... I got coolered once when I turned my straight against a set and the river filled him, and the other time I called down thin when someone was just mashing pot with NFD and rivered an ace, which I payed off because it was scare card vs aggro player and the draws blanked i had just called down....etc.

Another big loser is 44, probably because I have had some bad luck in reraised pots, but I shouldn't be playing 44 to a fairly big reraise preflop because I'm praying opponent does not flop a pair, even if they do, few flops are rele favorable for me without flopping a set (like 356r... etc) It's just going to be too tough to play it well with~85 or 80BB behind, facing a 20 or 25BB flop cbet by the preflop reraiser. So yea, I'm definitely going to be tightening up preflop with pocket pairs, and applying flop pressure or folding rather than calling down. I think this will turn out VERY well when I return.

I've been looking at my stats on other suited connectors/one gappers, and have found out they're somewhat big losers for me. The thing is, I think it's just negative variance because I'm playing in position with pot control, so probably just getting outflopped or coolered.

Top winners...QQ, AA, 88, TT, KK, and AJ I guess I know how to play my big pairs!

I'm now checking the HU NL...43/39/3.75 in 13.5k hands, winning $2075 @ 6.7BB/100

I know my heads up game is very strong and I'm very good at adapting to opponent and getting reads, but to be honest, is getting a bit boring for me...I know I can beat opponents pretty good at .50/1 and 1/2 hu nl, but, meh, jus not that fun. I like the 6max 2/4 nl games more because I think I have an edge, as I have played them for enough hands to figure them out, and know about what the average regular will raise/reraise with how they bet their hands.

biggest winners HU...AJ, KK, AA

Biggest losers hu...77, AQs, and AQo. So yea, bad luck, because I looked at hh, and I got the money in good preflop and postflop, just got sucked out on.

Check out this cooler with 77 to my friend.... hah I wuz pretty frustrated since he wuz coolering me a LOT that day! http://www.pokerhand.org/?1203091 Pretty sick, I just thank G-d we weren't 200BB+ deep!

Yea, so after eval my HU play, I've determined that I'm playing good and solid, not running THAT many bluffs, and have about the right stats for me to put enough pressure on opponent. I have a wide enough raising/reraising range to be unpredictable, and hopefully I will just take a few occasional shots at hu 1/2 nl if I feel like it.

I think I will stick to NL$400 and NL$200 4tabling 6max. I didn't realize it, but multitabling really does destroy things. I think my highest winrate will be 4tabling with PT and PAHUD running. Ne more than that and I cannot get that good of reads and can make stupid plays. Though I do play better and not quite as crazy when multitabling, I think I can make much better vbets, big calls, and big folds when I'm 4tabling because it's so much easy to look at bet patterns and sizing and look at a player's stats to see when hands are good and when they're not.

Ty for tolerating my rant, im off pce

A Time for Reflection

I'm actually just going to review a bit between some differences in my play between diff PT Databases. I can simply say that I ran better and had less tilt in January (my big winning month) than I did in the other months, and that I had some better roll management. However, I feel the restless play often resulting from frustration/tilt should be looked at. I will now compare my stats by month and go over a big hand I was proud of and a big hand I was ashamed of, and walk through it.

Stats from Jan Database for All 6max nl/pl...
33k hands playing 28/24/4.5 winning $14.3k @ 7BB/100

Liked the somewhat tricky line I took with this overpair by overbet shoving turn vs a VERY SOLID good winner. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1200588

Huge call vs a maniac that I planned even in the video that I would c/cai on him, where I won a 300BB+ pot with 2nd pair? Yea, sick...http://www.pokerhand.org/?1200591

These kinds of hands make me want to throw up. I now realize that calling the flop with these small pairs, especially in reraised pots is floating. Yes, it was a min fckin reraise, so I should assume big pair more often than a stupid suited connector or AK/AQ. Stupid play, I'm glad I lost this to learn my lesson that these hands suck. Perhaps a better line is to raise/fold the flop vs an unknown because they won't normally shove in air. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1200595

Next Database... this is where I started having real roll management/tilt problems.
Stats...1800 hands, playing 25/20/4 winning $475 @ 3.16BB/100
Love my play here this guys VERY aggro. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1200601

I honestly think this is the first time in like 4 months I have ever flatcalled a reraise preflop with AJ. I did it because villain just lost a buyin getting coolered, and I thought would be sorta steaming. I figured I wuz ahead of his range, and after flatcalling flop and turn, for the price I was getting on the river and the possibility it was a desperate bluff, I felt I had to call. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1200603

Last PT Database... playing 30.6k hands running at 25/21/3.65 winning $2100 @ 3.19BB/100

Rele proud of this hand that I decided to shove after tanking just because of all the action...
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1200613

Disapponting hand- bad shove here that had little fold equity vs his range (JJ-AA, AK), but it wuz very big so it looked like a squeeze, but even so, I mean, just bad play. I guess I coulda stop n goed him if I RELE thought it was a squeeze. Yea so, w/e...http://www.pokerhand.org/?1200613


*After looking at these hands, I have a lot of confidence now in my game. I realize that if my roll management was better, I would be crushing. That's y I'll try to get that stake from friend for $2/$4 nl or $1/$2 nl and play once in a while to accumulate decent rakeback and just grind the limits playing a thinking style, and adjusting between LAG and TAG. I definitely like how solid I've been with calling raises and reraises preflop, and I'm playing deceptively tight/solid, with a pretty good 3betting range (either live cards or very strong hands themselves). I think I should succeed at 1/2 or 2/4 games playing my style and not tilting, and rele feel good going into this. However, I have determined I will be a bit more aggressive and not really rely on people bluffing off all of their chips, so I have to really set them up... I have been checking too many fairly strong or strong hands on the riv when the draws missed, realizing I am missing value. I like to c/rai on river with strong hands as well as air, but I've found it's just not been working. I should go a bit more for value instead of letting people bluff off, since it's getting more rare these days that people will take the bait. Wish me luck on my conquest to retake the MSNL games by storm and really fuck others up badly by exploiting their styles and hand ranges effectively.

To end, I will add a little comic relief with a hilarious show online, called "I Bet You," starring Antonio Esfandiara and Phil Laak (both successful tourney and high stakes live cash game players). The show's episodes can be found on http://www.mojohd.com/video/ under the "I Bet You" section. I think the series is very creative and hilarious, especially for gambling degen poker players such as myself. Headin out- PCE!

Quick, Sorta Bored Update

So, summer's going pretty well. Been havin quite a bit of fun and have stayed fairly busy. Yes, I'm still itching like fuck to play some live poker or maybe the occasional staked 1/2 or 2/4 session, but I will have to wait for my friend to get bak in town to do both actually... :-( Neway, main activities of mine have been going to the pool, movies, and a shitload of bball, all of which are with diff groups of friends haha; diff shit for diff people. Neway, saw Oceans 13 a while ago I never actually mentioned it- definitely the funniest of the three, probably the most intricate plot and a bit confusing, but overall worth it and good value. I'd probably say it's as good if not a bit better than Oceans 11, and fans of the series would be well-advised to see it. Knocked up wuz a fckin riot, and was not just summed up in the previews. The jokes were hilariously crude and uncouth, while surprisingly sophisticated...(if possible)? I cannot wait to buy this movie when it comes out. Though nobody in this movie is even a known star, I'm sure after this movie, since they were all good actors, they should get some more decent roles in the future. Everyone played their part perfectly, and there was a real chemistry between the characters, sort of Seinfeld-esque.

On a side note, I just want to reaffirm the amazing perspective all of the CardRunners staff has on the game, namely Brian and Taylor. Their blogs actually give the best advice on life for poker players that is probably available on the net, and their videos have very detailed info, and when watches all the videos either of a cash game, MTT, or SNG, they will see enough scenarios where they can get a good grasp of the game and play based on the many factors a player must consider: Position, Your Image, Opponent's Image, Opponent's Perception of his Image at the table, Chip position, Stack size in relation to blinds and opponents, as well as the structure and time between levels. Anyway, I was reading Taylor's latest blog, and I completely agree with it. He states about a major revelation he had about Live vs Online players. I would say... 1/30 live pros is good, while 95% of online pros are very good. That is a slightly ridiculous estimate, but to be honest, not quite far off! On high stakes poker, I see the tourney donks and whatnot play, and so-called "cash game specialists." I've only been impressed with a few: Actually, Mimi tran played excellent, Harman pretty good, Mike Matusow (though some of the minraises he makes are retarded...), and a few other live players I forget... I am particularly disappointed with Negraneu's play... I used to think he was close to G-d as far as poker players go, but he really is sick obvious. He bet/calls with mid pair for 1/3 pot and stupid shit, c/instacalls flop trying to peel a gutshot, etc. Maybe he's just been off his game- I'd still say his handreading is great, but he is a bit of a fish, partially maybe because he's a definite gambler and will take -EV risks just because that is his personality... I used to think Phil Hellmuth wuz amazing, then recently I thought he was retarded (he is at cash games for sure), but now I realize there is a method to his madness. I now realize he is top 5, if not THE best nlhe tournament player in the world. Some of the online kids like TheTakover, WaccoKid, and Imper1um are complete sickos, this guy rele does know what he's doing. Phil does play for the win, but at the same time maximizes his skill advantage by playing small pots whether he's in or out of position. He's mixing up his play, and though I used to think he was an idiot because he used to c/f a lot after he raises preflop or cbet 2/5 pot, I realize thats standard for him regardless of having a big hand or a monster, and while he does let people suck out on him too cheaply, his goal is small pot poker and grinding. Though he does pay off a little too much, that's just the nature of his style. He can afford to pay off! And people always try to bluff him because they have so much respect for him and want a story to tell at home. So yea, that's my rant... :) Didn't expect this post to be that long; more updates to come on how the lovely summer is going.

The All-Too Familiar Situation

Gee guys, I just don't know what's goin on. My variance has always been unreal sick, but DAMN. I win 9BI total earlier today, then later i lose 14!?!? Are 23 BI swings in one day normal!!?!? NEXT TIME I PLAY ONLINE POKER, I WILL MAKE SURE TO HAVE MY FRIEND COACH/STAKE ME to control my tilt, swings, and eval my play. I thought I played okay, jus got fairly unlucky. I brick out on everything, and people hit everything. So yea, that SUX! Had $1k left, cashed that out, so I should get $1k cash soon from my friend to put in the bank. Yea, that's nice, but damn I wuz rele lookin forward to playing. I wuz doing so well, playing well, and running pretty well. Yea, I'll jus play poker ONCE IN A WHILE with a stake and coaching ready. When I honestly feel like playing poker and don't get restless, I swear, I win like hell... GG PLAYING ON OWN BANKROLL!!!! :-(

Rocky Start Turns into Productive Session

Played for...rougly 2 hours today. Started off pretty bad, started to run well later tho and ended up winning ~$920 :). $542 in NLHE and $378 in PLO. Played 791 hands probably about an average of 5 nlhe tables at once (hu and 6max of .50/1), playing 27/23/6 winning @ 29BB/100.

No PLO hh, but nlhe ones I have:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1180105

I LOVE my valueshove vs an idiot like him :) LOL @ wut he had!!!!
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1180108

I checked behind turn because I rele thought he was peeling with AQ or AK and would bluff off riv if I checked bheind turn. Neway, he made a stupid blocking bet with a weak hand. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1180109

I took a shot at $1/$2nl early on, and then this hand came up. FullTiltPoker Game http://www.pokerhand.org/?1180116

Opening standard here for me, and two callers. Flop is pretty good for me. I cbet, and guy in late position makes sort of a suspciously-sized raise. I think of his range, and think it's much more likely he has a lower FD than me, mid pair, top pair weak kicker, OESD, or air that was just trying to take the pot then and there. I thought about it, and decided to 4bet with my 2nd Nut flush draw and two overs. He thinks and shoves, I call, and he turns over like the worst possible hand I could see. Turn is the miracle pair :-) and river is one of his... 7+4+3 (14) outs that he was exactly a 2.5:1 underdog to me to hit to scoop a $400 pot and make me very frustrated at start of session. I want to hold ONCE when I suck out! haha

*On a side note, I busted out #42 of tourney last nite at 4:30 a.m., and very pissed I stayed up to go nowhere in it. Yes, it was with a $75 token from Ironman points so it was sort of free, but still big waste of time and false hope. Lost like 3 flips in a row to cripple me, I openshoved button J2o and called by 44, he held up (I had 10BB and like M of 5...)

So yea, ran well today despite gay beginning and disappointing MTT last nite. I'm def ready to grind a roll here and handle tilt control. I'm playing well and more focused; I definitely think that playing poker every day is a complete burnout, and to play without rele feeling competitive and motivated is a bad idea (like if you're bored). I will try to determine my emotions and feelings at all times of a session to make sure I'm playing when I want to, and that I'm playing well and not spewing.

Today's status: $+915
Current Roll: $2385
Goal in 1 week after running okay, playing well: $3300
Goal at end of month (two weeks exactly) running ok playing well: roll of $4700 (enough to take a shot at $1/$2 nl!!)

Sry for ALL THESE POSTS

Sry, but this is rele exciting. I'm 3rd in chips (knock on wood)... 105 people left. I have 33k chips at 120/240 stage!! HOLY CRAP I know...I thought I made a good play here with the 89s because he made such a big reraise preflop. I assumed it wuz AT, AJ, or AQ, and especially with his stack size, could not call a shove. He TANKED FOREVER after I 4bet AI, he called AKs, and I sucked out at a 3:2 underdog :) I like my shove pre because a lot of his range simply cannot call a shove. http://www.pokerhand.org/?1179354



Nobody has any idea how badly I want this MTT to have a decent roll, balance poker with my life, play some occasional MTTs to keep my poker skills because I've just invested so much time and early on, money (I wuz stuck ~$350 in online poker- a lot to me then- until I stuck with it and played ubernitty but decent TAG to grind back into the green). I cant believe how many times I've tilted off my roll, and I want to go on record saying this BS will not happen again. I'm ready to move on in poker to a world of no tilt, good roll management, and really applying pressure to others to induce mistakes, especially because online poker who is filled with people who make them frequently. I now have 70BB with 21k at the 25/150/300 lvls, and I'm position #11/92. I have a decent shot of going deep if I play tight, solid, and go with instincts and try no ridic stupid plays. RELE looking forward to big MTT score. IF I win, since I'm giving $3025 to charity (setting aside), I will have 3025+$1470 (ONLY STUCK $5 FOR TONITE!!), giving me a Roll of $4500 to maybe take some shots at $1/$2 nl, not to mention the ~$1k/month from rakeback I'll receive. I recently got some $ I cashed out, and realize I want the extra side income poker provides, and it's worth it to get used to stress and controlling emotions in life, though I am a high-strung person. Wish me luck in my journey to grind back!!

Changes in my game from before:
1. Betting scarecards whether I have them or not
2. Playing 4 tables at a time
3. Hopefully getting PAHUD to make good, solid reads and good laydowns, etc
4. NEVER rebuying after taking shots
5. NEVER buying in full if less than 15BI for the game!
6. New strategy with pocket pairs preflop in and out of position
7. Evaluating my game through pokertracker and video sessions
8. Sessions will never last longer than 1 hour unless game is REALLLLY GOOD or RUNNING RELE WELL/PLAYING GREAT!

*I will now not assume I always run bad, but rather running bad is often combined when I play bad. Hopefully I can bury that in my head! Ok, done for tonite with posts unless I go deep in this MTT LOL. Otherwise, 1 post everyday after that, MAYBE 2 tomorrow...


BTW, while writing this post, I have reached ~85BB in my MTT :)

DONKAMENTS ARE PROFITABLE!

LOL @ this hand this is a must-see... I knew his donk was weak, so I raised and expect him to fold. He MINRERAISED, and I figured it wuz complete air, so I shoved...he TANKS and calls. Nothing else to say but this is HILARIOUS!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1179339
I won another pot since then, and now have 110BB!! (22k at the 100/200 lvl!) I'm 9/136, and I'm ready to go big in one o fthese...my roll is $1360, so now I'm only stuck $115 :)!

Little Addition to Last Post

For the record, I am motivated again to grind these low limits while earning rakeback and still looking for that big MTT score. I am happy with my game, though will change it up a bit. Things aren't like they used to be on party... people don't bluff off much when checked to on the riv anymore. This is a real problem for me because I love to have people push my equity advantage for me... like c/rai with overpair vs their bare flush draw and having them seemed priced in, tho they're getting ~3:1 to call a shove when hitting riv flush is 5:1 against you, etc. I will now not only review my PT stats, but rather review any decent-sized pots, regardless of winning or losing. I have started to double-barrel more when my read seems to be correct, as well as betting scare cards frequently, especially when I hold them. Before I would c/c and check the riv to let someone bluff off their chips, now I realize I lost MAD value. At least I have discovered the leads in my game... like set mining and playing pot control with like 99 on Txxxx board, either maximizing my value from a complete bluffing idiot with something like AQ, keeping the pot smallish with a mediocre hand vs good TAG that missed his overs, or losing a decent pot to a big pair...so yea, fuck you setmining! BTW, wish me luck in MTT I got some guy to shove AQs on me vs AA and I held... I have 5600 in chips at the 40/80 level and I'm 64/219 position. 1st pays $6k...! (PLZ NEW ROLL!)

*sry last comment, I swear. I have decided because I made my dad a deal I wouldn't play online poker anymore, I now enjoy it so much that I don't rele feel like quitting, especailly since I think I can handle the swings now, is to donate 50% of profits to charity. BTW, it will be nice getting $1k/rakeback a month again! I will use to that to build roll definitely...

Breaking News: I'm a Fckin Degen

Ok so, about 6 p.m. I got home from playin bball and goin out to eat. Anyway, I get my $1475 in rakeback!!! I'm like SHIPP IT... played a bit then went to the movies to see Knocked Up. It was a great perverse comedy and exactly my humor (even the main character was Jewish in the movie!!) Though it does hurt the belief in Jewish moral standards, by all means, classic movie. Right now I'm playing an MTT ($69+9 13k gtd started at 2 a.m.) I have... just about the same amount of chips I started with after 30 mins at the 30/60 level (2800). Neway, I have a roll of $1234, so I'm stuck $241 on the day in .50/1 plo, .25/.50 plo, .50/1 nlhe and .25/.50 nlhe.

Random thoughts:
*Good news for internet poker... the bill is being circulated through congress I believe to stick it in HR441 by FristFuck.

*People NEVER fold AK preflop in a cash game for 100BB after they reraise preflop...they will call off the rest of their chips (~80% after the reraise)... yea... nice. LOL one guy today to me said when I shoved 77 preflop to his AK and lost, and btw I kid you not, "WOOT WOOT IM FISHROLLER I LIKE TO GET THE MONEY IN AS A DOG" in all caps loool. That honestly tilted the hell outta me... Nice to know there r still crapheads out there :)

Good Concert

So technically, this was my first concert I had ever been to. It was last night at the 930 club in Washington, D.C. Was there from 9-1:30, and had a lot of fun. Music was loud as hell becuz it wuz techno... guess I shoulda bought earplugs there for $1 lol. Unfortunately, there were NO single girls; there were lots of good-looking ones already with fckin dates so that wuz gay. At least I had my friends to chill with. They were in a similar position as me; they were not frequent clubbers, let alone big techno fans, so it made things more comfortable. Ross Lara, the dj from 9-12, is a friend of mine and he did rele well and got the crowd going. Then Paul Van Dyke hit the table, and everyone went nuts. He's supposedly the best DJ in the world, especially for techno/electronica (the concert last nite was that), and I would probably have to agree with that. From what I've ever heard, that wuz some of the best techno, but Ross still did great and should do well in the future. Hope to go to some more of his concerts, and also expect to go back to the 930 club July 11th to see Nickelback and Chris Daughtry, both of my fav rock bands pretty much. I don't give a shit about dancing at that one. Brief poker update: should get those ipod speakers soon from FTP via UPS after cashing in 20k full tilt points, and also I used up all my Ironman Points and managed to get 3 $24 satellite tokens. Lost one tourney with one on KK to AT all in preflop (but he wuz getting correct odds to call pretty much preflop), and I turned my $24 ones into $75 ones through the 9man tier 2 sngs. Maybe I should grind the sngs with these? Lol, naw, maybe I'll do a smaller $75 tourney but I want a decent score. FYI, I am motivated to play poker again and for the emotional swings because before, I was too pissed to do anything. I think now I can relax with some video games, random comp shit, or if its still earlier in the day jus chill with my friends (though I rarely play poker earlier in the day unless I have nothing to do). Alrite... sorta ranting post but w/e. Updates to come on if I do ne rele tight shit or play in a donkament soon. On a side note, skool ends today!! Finals over!! Fuck yea summer should be gooooooot

Quick Update

LAST EXAM THURSDAY HOLLLAA! So glad this year wuz over- a real big pain in the ass. On a side note, I forgot to mention Brian Townsend aka Sbrugby aka Aba20 beat Sammy Farha heads up for $1.8m LOL PLOAMENTS. He also won $600k playing with Chan and Benyamine at $1k/$2k blinds. How can he keep his sanity playing for these stakes!? I bet a house, i raise you a mansion, I'm all in (Ferrari Enzo) etc... lol. On another note, my friend Ross Lara is playing at the 9:30 club in D.C. I've heard its in a bit of a tough neighborhood, but I will be outside overall for a max of 5 mins, and there is a secure parking lot in the back of the club so its straight. Heard good things otherwise, such as pretty popular musicians play there and it's a great environment with a nice staff. Ross's website is http://virb.com/djrosslara; he's a nice guy and a very talented DJ with Rap/Techno/Electronica, and I believe could go far in this business. More updates to come once in a while if anything exciting happens. Summer starts the 15th for me- SHIP IT! Ready to do it big this summer, that's all I can say.

Good Day, but Disappointing...

So yea, had a fun friday and busy from... 3:30 till 11:30 hanging out with good friends and all. However, I was REALLY hoping and planning on attending a live game in Maryland rite after that, which would last until maybe 8 the next morning? Last time I went it wuz a lot of fun, and I'm very disappointed it didn't happen this time. Neway, I'm going to enjoy the last 2 1/2 hours of my night with watching CR vids, messing with facebook, watching some TV, maybe playing some PSP, and planning the rest of my weekend. So happy b/c I'm done with all my work- jus have 2 finals left! Updates to come when I can get back into the live game (hopefully later this summer). Hopefully between my trip to Kansas and the west coast I can get in a good live session. It's rele tough to find a live game that is guaranteed honest and straight with nice people, especially since I really only have one friend that plays poker seriously (my other friends used to play small stakes and I just had fun with them- now poker is a fairly important thing to me).

Old Live Game Hands

Uh... so background. Been playin at the 1/3 game 6max with $500 stack with some guys that liked to gamble. Stuck like... $400 total, and had $200 more with me. Neway, 6max game broke with gamblers at the 1/3, so I took a shot with my $500 (min buyin) at the 5/10 full ring game. My friend and his friend were tough, but for the most part, recreational players who weren't bad but would not go nutso with stupid hands and wouldn't probably make too many plays, especially preflop. Ok BTW, I'm trying to use pokerhand, but the things aren't completely rite since I made the hh from scratch. So, the positions won't be completely correct. It was FR game, not 4handed.

LOL I GOT IT WORKING... but a disappointing HH
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1154612

Neway, don't remember particular details, but after I got a $300 loan from my friend and had my last $200 in play (Stack of $500), I limped 77 in MP, still feeling out the table after some guy in EP limped. CO raised to $40, sb folds, BB folds, and EP limper calls. Flop A7x, two hearts, and I c/rai with a good stack sizes, get called by A9. Turn is a scary 9, river is a blank, and I'm even in the 5/10 game.

Last important hand after I had about $1800 and wuz losing a decent amount. This hand I had $1200 and was up $100 on the night. It wuz like 2 in the morning and I wanted to gamble a bit to get a big score in this game. This hand came up...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1154649
So yea, I got lucky on the riv. His c/c on flop wuz rele quick, and his turn donkbet wuz quick. I tried to take the pot from him and it didn't work. When he donked the river, I figured two pair. I shoved, he wuz fairly committed and called, and I showed him my rivered straight. I raised the turn as a semibluff just becuz it didn't seem strong, maybe mid pair with draw. Turns out I'm pretty sure thats exactly wut he had (like T8), cuz after the hand he said he had two pair and misread the board. So yea, an hour and half or so after this the game broke and I ended with $2300=$+1k! I'm trying to go back there soon with not so much fancy play syndrome- it wuz a fun game with very nice people.

Finally an Update

So yea, haven't been playing online poker. Did however order an ipod alarm/speakers with 20k Full Tilt points. I still have 20k points, but as far as online money, I'm done with that shit as I said before. Neway, been doing well in school and looking forward to finishing this year out well (6 more days of actual skool!) Neway, planning on starting to attend a live game hopefully every friday night and maybe once in a while saturday night as well. It's a very organized game with nice successful businessmen who look to have fun. I'm one of the few who might go there where the money would actually mean anything! Neway, there's a 1/3 game that runs there with $400 max BI and a $5/$10 game with a $2k max buyin. Trying to get staked for $2k in the 5/10... I could probably at least get staked by my friend for $1k since he knows I can beat the game, and I won $1k last time I went (first time). Woulda won more but didn't get any hands and got a little fancy, which is not a good idea in live play in general. Neway, focusing on skool for the next week, then after exams and all, plan on going to the game regularly every weekend, hanging out with friends, and soon preparing to go on two plane trips: one to Kansas to stay with a good friend for 5 or 6 days, then for 3 weeks to meet up with relatives. To entertain myself in transit, I FINALLY SPENT MONEY! Bought a PSP, data transfer software to sync with comp, and GTA: Vice City Stories. I'm impressed with the PSP hardware and software, and also looking forward to finding some good Wi-Fi hotspots to use the internet. It's a surprisingly functional device, and I look forward to maybe buying some future games or accessories. More updates to come, hopefully from a live game this weekend...? I'll post some hands if I can remember. I will however, post some hands of interest from the game before for fun. I will look for a converter now becuz pokerhand will be tough becuz It's a pain to have all the things required in order to make the converter functional and all.

Bout to leave to play some basketball- pce