Well I had an interesting poker weekend. On Wednesday night I continued my winning streak by earning another $50. However, I played another session at midnight and lost about $100. Sigh.
I am up for the month of November about $6. LOL.
Today is the last day of November and if I get to play tonight - it will be interesting to see if I end the month in the positive or negative. You got to play to win and I am not going to skip tonight just so I can finish the month in the positive.
But I still may not get time to play tonight. We will see how it goes.
I am not worried about the $100 lost - it is about 3 buy-ins at my current level. ($35 Buy-Ins). That equals about two days profit. For $50NL my profit was at almost $400 and now it is back at around $300. Still just happy to be in the positive.
I have a long ways to go at $50NL. I need to get to a point where losing 3 buy-ins doesn't drastically change much. Losing $100 right now equals more than 10% of my bankroll. But more importantly because I only have about 10K hands at $50NL, it drastically changed my $50NL BB/100 hands statistic. It was at 3.5 and now is at 1.6. That is a huge difference!
In other news - I have almost 5000 FPP's. I earned about 1700 VPP's in the month of November. I did not play enough to make Gold - but I could have. I only played about 12 sessions this month.
But I have secured Silver VIP at Poker Stars until the end of December.
My goal for December is to make Gold VIP and to have a BB/100 at $50NL above 3. That is it. No monetary goals. The most important thing to me right now is that I am winning 3BB/100 hands consistently at $50NL.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Status of my Grind
Well I started November off in the red as I lost about $200 or so at $100NL. However, I have played only $50NL after that and I have been very solid. For November so far I have average 2.7 BB/100 hands over almost 10,000 hands. That is really great!
My dollar per hour is only around $11 but that is due to not playing a lot of tables at a time. I mostly average 4 tables at a time lately - about half the time I do 6 tables.
I made over $300 in $50NL this month so far.
Yesterday I tipped into the black. I will post the chart in December, but the entire month was trying to make up for that really bad run at $100NL. My monthly profit chart for November looks like a big smiley face. LOL.
Yesterday I sat down at four tables and within 10 minutes made $50. I have had 3-4 profitable sessions in a row and decided to just quit while I was ahead and log another winning session. Really I was hot and should have continued playing. I won 4 major hands in those ten minutes. My big pot was defending AQo in the big blind with a blind stealer. Villain 3 bet me to $1.5 and I raised it to $5. He called. The flop came a beautiful Q. I raised it, he called. The turn came a beautiful A. LOL. I raised it, he re-raised all-in - I called. The board has two Spades and he was chasing a flush draw with Jack Ten or something. LOL. Thanks for the donation. I won $30 in that hand - it was my first winning hand of the night too.
The other winning hands were me calling from the big blind with 69o and pairing both on the board. I re-raised it on the flop and got a caller. I put a 3/4 pot bet on the turn and he folded. Another hand I caught Top pair good kicker and played it aggressively.
Many times at $50NL my single session variance is 3 buy-ins. So it is entirely possible I could lose that $50 and continue to lose another buy-in or two and then perhaps catch up with a slight session profit for the night after a couple hours. I just did not feel like riding the roller coaster and decided to leave with a nice 1.5 buy-in winning session.
I do wonder though if I continued playing if I would have continued with my hot streak and perhaps won 5 buy-ins. I guess you have to play to find out huh.
Well today is the day before Thanksgiving and I am off for the next 4 days. The holidays brings a lot of fish and sharks. I plan to log in some hours over the next 4 days and see if I am a shark or a fish. LOL.
My bankroll is around $925 - an all time high for this current grind. This grind is now aging about 4 months or so.
I have about 17 days left on my poker tracker 3 free trial. I will need to upgrade it for $90 soon.
If I continue to increase my bankroll past $1200, I plan to withdraw $100. The idea is I have NEVER withdrawn money from Poker Stars - not one time in the 5+ years I have been playing there. wow. Kind of crazy when you think about it.
I figure there is some paperwork involved in withdrawing money and it is better to get that out of the way. In the coming months I will be moving up to $100NL - God save my soul - and will start withdrawing money on a weekly basis.
$100NL is scary with my bankroll. $50NL has had big fluctuations - about $30 up or down or roughly 1 buy-in variance. At $100NL that would be $100 up or down each session. But on a bad day I could fluctuate 3-5 buy-ins. I buy in for 70 Big Blinds or $70 at $100NL.
So I plan to ease my way into $100NL. I want $500 above my standard $50NL bankroll to give $100NL a chance. I am willing to lose that $500 before moving back down to $50NL. I figure that is 7 buy-ins at $100NL. If I lose 7 buy-ins then I am the fish getting eaten by the sharks and need more work.
But 7 buy-ins gives me some wiggle room for what I think is going to be a 2 buy-in normal variance. $100NL players are a little aggressive pre-flop and flop. This increases my variance even though I play TAG. I figure the quality of players is about the same as $50NL - just a little big more aggressive.
Anyways - I have had some 1-2 buy-in winning sessions at $100NL - but they have been plagued by some 3-5 buy-in losing sessions. Overall I seem to break even or be losing at $100NL. But - I only have played sporadically.
When I put $500 into the $100NL move up - I should be able to determine if I have the skill set to make the move to $100NL permanent like I am at $50NL.
My big goal is to grind $200NL. Eventually, maybe next year, I want to grind $400NL.
I would like to be able to play 4 tables at a time at $400NL. If successful at 2Big Bets per 100 hands, assuming 50 hands per hour per table - I could make 32 per hour 4-Tabling $400NL. That is respectable! If I play 5 hours per day, 5 days per week - that is $160 per day and $800 per week or $3200 per month. That is closing the distance to what I make at my current job.
So anyways - those are the goals.
I also plan to continue playing tournaments - mostly as a side thing. Cash games is where the money is. But large field MTT tournaments is where the BIG money is and where the recognition is. If I get good enough to win a big tournament - I will get to travel the world playing poker and meet the big players. One day I may be on TV at some big poker game.
Hey - this stuff is not even far fetched. Really it is just a matter of time. My poker dreams have a good chance of turning into reality.
Well anyway - that is what this poker blog is all for. One day I will re-read this and see how far I have come.
Cheers Everyone! Happy Thanksgiving!
Hopefully I will have a great Thanksgiving poker weekend!
My dollar per hour is only around $11 but that is due to not playing a lot of tables at a time. I mostly average 4 tables at a time lately - about half the time I do 6 tables.
I made over $300 in $50NL this month so far.
Yesterday I tipped into the black. I will post the chart in December, but the entire month was trying to make up for that really bad run at $100NL. My monthly profit chart for November looks like a big smiley face. LOL.
Yesterday I sat down at four tables and within 10 minutes made $50. I have had 3-4 profitable sessions in a row and decided to just quit while I was ahead and log another winning session. Really I was hot and should have continued playing. I won 4 major hands in those ten minutes. My big pot was defending AQo in the big blind with a blind stealer. Villain 3 bet me to $1.5 and I raised it to $5. He called. The flop came a beautiful Q. I raised it, he called. The turn came a beautiful A. LOL. I raised it, he re-raised all-in - I called. The board has two Spades and he was chasing a flush draw with Jack Ten or something. LOL. Thanks for the donation. I won $30 in that hand - it was my first winning hand of the night too.
The other winning hands were me calling from the big blind with 69o and pairing both on the board. I re-raised it on the flop and got a caller. I put a 3/4 pot bet on the turn and he folded. Another hand I caught Top pair good kicker and played it aggressively.
Many times at $50NL my single session variance is 3 buy-ins. So it is entirely possible I could lose that $50 and continue to lose another buy-in or two and then perhaps catch up with a slight session profit for the night after a couple hours. I just did not feel like riding the roller coaster and decided to leave with a nice 1.5 buy-in winning session.
I do wonder though if I continued playing if I would have continued with my hot streak and perhaps won 5 buy-ins. I guess you have to play to find out huh.
Well today is the day before Thanksgiving and I am off for the next 4 days. The holidays brings a lot of fish and sharks. I plan to log in some hours over the next 4 days and see if I am a shark or a fish. LOL.
My bankroll is around $925 - an all time high for this current grind. This grind is now aging about 4 months or so.
I have about 17 days left on my poker tracker 3 free trial. I will need to upgrade it for $90 soon.
If I continue to increase my bankroll past $1200, I plan to withdraw $100. The idea is I have NEVER withdrawn money from Poker Stars - not one time in the 5+ years I have been playing there. wow. Kind of crazy when you think about it.
I figure there is some paperwork involved in withdrawing money and it is better to get that out of the way. In the coming months I will be moving up to $100NL - God save my soul - and will start withdrawing money on a weekly basis.
$100NL is scary with my bankroll. $50NL has had big fluctuations - about $30 up or down or roughly 1 buy-in variance. At $100NL that would be $100 up or down each session. But on a bad day I could fluctuate 3-5 buy-ins. I buy in for 70 Big Blinds or $70 at $100NL.
So I plan to ease my way into $100NL. I want $500 above my standard $50NL bankroll to give $100NL a chance. I am willing to lose that $500 before moving back down to $50NL. I figure that is 7 buy-ins at $100NL. If I lose 7 buy-ins then I am the fish getting eaten by the sharks and need more work.
But 7 buy-ins gives me some wiggle room for what I think is going to be a 2 buy-in normal variance. $100NL players are a little aggressive pre-flop and flop. This increases my variance even though I play TAG. I figure the quality of players is about the same as $50NL - just a little big more aggressive.
Anyways - I have had some 1-2 buy-in winning sessions at $100NL - but they have been plagued by some 3-5 buy-in losing sessions. Overall I seem to break even or be losing at $100NL. But - I only have played sporadically.
When I put $500 into the $100NL move up - I should be able to determine if I have the skill set to make the move to $100NL permanent like I am at $50NL.
My big goal is to grind $200NL. Eventually, maybe next year, I want to grind $400NL.
I would like to be able to play 4 tables at a time at $400NL. If successful at 2Big Bets per 100 hands, assuming 50 hands per hour per table - I could make 32 per hour 4-Tabling $400NL. That is respectable! If I play 5 hours per day, 5 days per week - that is $160 per day and $800 per week or $3200 per month. That is closing the distance to what I make at my current job.
So anyways - those are the goals.
I also plan to continue playing tournaments - mostly as a side thing. Cash games is where the money is. But large field MTT tournaments is where the BIG money is and where the recognition is. If I get good enough to win a big tournament - I will get to travel the world playing poker and meet the big players. One day I may be on TV at some big poker game.
Hey - this stuff is not even far fetched. Really it is just a matter of time. My poker dreams have a good chance of turning into reality.
Well anyway - that is what this poker blog is all for. One day I will re-read this and see how far I have come.
Cheers Everyone! Happy Thanksgiving!
Hopefully I will have a great Thanksgiving poker weekend!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Barona Casino - Played my first live casino tournament
I've played a few live tournaments at friends houses. I am hosting my first tournament in a couple weeks.
But on Saturday I played in my first casino tournament. It was $25 + $5 buyin. There were 56 players spread out over 6 tables. Blinds increased every 15 minutes starting at $25/50. Starting chips were $2200.
When it was down to 3 tables I was hovering around 8 big blinds in the small blind. I figured I needed to make a move or I would be blinded out when the blinds increased. I had A5s and it folded to me. I raised it 3 bets. The big blind re-raised me all in. DOH! I had him covered with two big blinds left over.
The big blind was an old Asian guy - don't take this the wrong way, but Old Asian guys are to be feared at the casinos. They are usually good players. Not sure why - but they are good gamblers most times.
So I figured I was pot committed so I called him. He had AK. I hit my Ace, but obviously that did me no good.
That left me with two big blinds.
We then went on break for ten minutes.
When we came back me and one other person were the short-stack with two chips. I folded until I was on the button. I got dealt AQs and put them all in. I got 3 callers. DOH!
I would have been happy with stealing the blinds or getting heads up. Not too happy with a four way pot.
Luckily I hit trips and immediately became the chip leader. Wow.
From short-stack to chip leader.
I managed to make it to the final table. Everyone at the final table got paid.
I was a short-stack in no time with the blinds increasing.
Luckily other two players got taken out before I did.
I pushed all in once and actually stole the blinds.
My last hand I pushed all in and got one caller - the other short-stack at the table. I had Ax to his 58s. He hit is 8 on the river! Doh again!
All in all I was very happy with my tournament. I played TAG the whole time.
I made $68 going out in 7th place. I tipped the dealer $10...in retrospect I think I should have only tipped (Prize-Buy-In) X 10% = $3.8. I gave him over 26% of my profits!
Such a rookie.
I also played a couple hours at the $1/$2 cash table. Maximum buy-in was 50 Big Blinds or $100.
I did fine - very TAG. I gained lots of respect at the table. Most hands I raised or re-raised pre flop got me to heads up. If I bet the flop again, it always got a fold. It seemed I only was playing 10% or less of the time.
I walked away with $12. I had a couple big pots and tipped the dealer $10.
Moral of the story - I tipped almost half of my profits away.
The way I see it - if I have to deal with variance, why shouldn't the dealers? Next time I won't be tipping based on my winning a big pot. I may win $80 and lose it the next hand.
Counting my $10 to tips to the dealers - I made $22 or 5.5 Big Bets. I played for 2.5 hours so that equals 2.2 Big Bets per hour. That is decent for my first run at the cash tables.
I just need to work out my tipping strategy. If I triple or quadruple my stack in a single pot at $1/$2 NL, then I might tip accordingly - but if I just add 25% to my stake in a good pot - that is not a good reason to tip the dealer.
I need to work on this because those tips equaled half my profits!
But on Saturday I played in my first casino tournament. It was $25 + $5 buyin. There were 56 players spread out over 6 tables. Blinds increased every 15 minutes starting at $25/50. Starting chips were $2200.
When it was down to 3 tables I was hovering around 8 big blinds in the small blind. I figured I needed to make a move or I would be blinded out when the blinds increased. I had A5s and it folded to me. I raised it 3 bets. The big blind re-raised me all in. DOH! I had him covered with two big blinds left over.
The big blind was an old Asian guy - don't take this the wrong way, but Old Asian guys are to be feared at the casinos. They are usually good players. Not sure why - but they are good gamblers most times.
So I figured I was pot committed so I called him. He had AK. I hit my Ace, but obviously that did me no good.
That left me with two big blinds.
We then went on break for ten minutes.
When we came back me and one other person were the short-stack with two chips. I folded until I was on the button. I got dealt AQs and put them all in. I got 3 callers. DOH!
I would have been happy with stealing the blinds or getting heads up. Not too happy with a four way pot.
Luckily I hit trips and immediately became the chip leader. Wow.
From short-stack to chip leader.
I managed to make it to the final table. Everyone at the final table got paid.
I was a short-stack in no time with the blinds increasing.
Luckily other two players got taken out before I did.
I pushed all in once and actually stole the blinds.
My last hand I pushed all in and got one caller - the other short-stack at the table. I had Ax to his 58s. He hit is 8 on the river! Doh again!
All in all I was very happy with my tournament. I played TAG the whole time.
I made $68 going out in 7th place. I tipped the dealer $10...in retrospect I think I should have only tipped (Prize-Buy-In) X 10% = $3.8. I gave him over 26% of my profits!
Such a rookie.
I also played a couple hours at the $1/$2 cash table. Maximum buy-in was 50 Big Blinds or $100.
I did fine - very TAG. I gained lots of respect at the table. Most hands I raised or re-raised pre flop got me to heads up. If I bet the flop again, it always got a fold. It seemed I only was playing 10% or less of the time.
I walked away with $12. I had a couple big pots and tipped the dealer $10.
Moral of the story - I tipped almost half of my profits away.
The way I see it - if I have to deal with variance, why shouldn't the dealers? Next time I won't be tipping based on my winning a big pot. I may win $80 and lose it the next hand.
Counting my $10 to tips to the dealers - I made $22 or 5.5 Big Bets. I played for 2.5 hours so that equals 2.2 Big Bets per hour. That is decent for my first run at the cash tables.
I just need to work out my tipping strategy. If I triple or quadruple my stack in a single pot at $1/$2 NL, then I might tip accordingly - but if I just add 25% to my stake in a good pot - that is not a good reason to tip the dealer.
I need to work on this because those tips equaled half my profits!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
I played a $5.50 Rebuy MTT
I played a $5.50 rebuy MTT.
You could rebuy twice and after the rebuy you could do one add on.
The starting chip count was 2500. Each rebuy was 2500. The add on was also 2500.
I did very well in this MTT tournament.
I, once again, outlasted 81% of all players.
There was 804 players. I went out in 150th place.
This tournament had a guarantee of $4000, but with all the rebuys and add-ons, it was $12,000 prize pool.
I, once again was within 15 minutes of ITM when I went out.
For this MTT, that is like going out on the bubble.
I lost A5s against AKo.
I would liked to have placed ITM...but I still think I did very well.
You could rebuy twice and after the rebuy you could do one add on.
The starting chip count was 2500. Each rebuy was 2500. The add on was also 2500.
I did very well in this MTT tournament.
I, once again, outlasted 81% of all players.
There was 804 players. I went out in 150th place.
This tournament had a guarantee of $4000, but with all the rebuys and add-ons, it was $12,000 prize pool.
I, once again was within 15 minutes of ITM when I went out.
For this MTT, that is like going out on the bubble.
I lost A5s against AKo.
I would liked to have placed ITM...but I still think I did very well.
I played in the BIGgest Sunday Million on PS ever
Well the Sunday Million on Poker Stars turned out to be the biggest Sunday Million ever - in both terms of players and prize pool.
18,283 players
$3,656,600 Prize Pool
I did very well - but not well enough for ITM.
I played for 3 hours 45 minutes and outlasted 81% of all players.
I finished 3624th out of 18283.
I was within 15 minutes of being ITM. So all considered...for a MTT....that is pretty much going out on the bubble.
I would have liked to placed ITM...but over all I am happy with my results.
18,283 players
$3,656,600 Prize Pool
I did very well - but not well enough for ITM.
I played for 3 hours 45 minutes and outlasted 81% of all players.
I finished 3624th out of 18283.
I was within 15 minutes of being ITM. So all considered...for a MTT....that is pretty much going out on the bubble.
I would have liked to placed ITM...but over all I am happy with my results.
Friday, November 13, 2009
I will Play The Sunday Million This Weekend
Pokerstars is adding a MILLION dollars to the already guarantee of 1.5 million - so $2.5 Million guarantee. That extra million bucks doesn't raise the cost of the tournament.
I have been saving my Step 4 ticket for a Sunday Million and apparently there is no better opportunity to use it than this!
I believe ITM will start around $400 ish.
Should be a fun day.
A normal Sunday Million has around 8000 players - but I could see this one doubling to 16,000 - which would make the prize pool around 3.2 Million. Amazing.
I have been saving my Step 4 ticket for a Sunday Million and apparently there is no better opportunity to use it than this!
I believe ITM will start around $400 ish.
Should be a fun day.
A normal Sunday Million has around 8000 players - but I could see this one doubling to 16,000 - which would make the prize pool around 3.2 Million. Amazing.
Great Sunday Million Final Table
This is for November 8th, 2009
The winner goes from small stack of 4 million chips to the winner - getting amazing hands in great spots.
The final hand really grandstands how lucky this guy was at this final table.
Watch Online Poker Show: Sunday Million - November 8th, 2009 on PokerStars.tv
The winner goes from small stack of 4 million chips to the winner - getting amazing hands in great spots.
The final hand really grandstands how lucky this guy was at this final table.
Watch Online Poker Show: Sunday Million - November 8th, 2009 on PokerStars.tv
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