Well I haven't updated this thing in ages, mostly due to lack of time, energy, and desire. When I stared this blog, I was definitely more into poker than I was during the month of July. My worst fear was realized during that month (apart from another jump up to 1/2, causing me to have another blow-up), after finally getting back to even I lost a bit of the direction in my poker career. I actually cut back my play a lot during the month of July, to about 2/3 of what it was in June. A lot of that had to do with the fact I went on a two week "stay-cation," but I also didn't FEEL like playing as much poker. It didn't help that my BR didn't seem to grow as quickly as it did in June, and I was stuck pretty much treading water for the better part of the month. May I'm deluding myself but when you feel like you should be making a lot more progress than you are, it really starts to wear on you, especially when you hear all these stories about people going from 100 to $20k in two weeks (granted the majority of those stories end with them being broke in a shorter amount of time than it took to build the $20k). Even Chris Ferguson, whom I've modeled my BR management after, went on a sick 7k run from 2.5k to 9.5k in about 10 days (see the graph here http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/chris-ferguson-challenge). Not saying I'm as good as he is, but it would definitely be nice to at least have a 3k run in ten days or something.
While my poker has been too blah to be rigged, my life certainly is not. First of all, let me get into this "stay-cation" business. The Ms. and I had a fight during spring break over how long our vacation should be. She wanted to spend all 9 or 10 days in DR or Cancun, or wherever, which is way too expensive for a part-time totem pole base, part-time degenerate gambler, part-time student who pays at least 50% of his tuition, to do. If it wasn't better for my career I probably would do was she does an be a waiter. I'm sure it sucks in other parts of the country, but here in NYC it's one of the greatest jobs for college students, as you can make some serious money at it. On top of that, I hate the beach. It could be the fact that I am, as my drunken aunt once said, "butt-white." Or it could be that I don't tan at all. Or it could be that I can't sit still for hours like most people do at the beach (hence why I love multi-tabling). It either case, not only is it not affordable for me, it wouldn't be worth the money even if it was. So we didn't take a vacation at all then. So come summer we decided to finally take our vacation, but since we still hadn't resolved our issues, we decided to have a "stay-cation" instead. There were some good days, like the day I drank a liter of Soju at a karaoke bar, and the day we went to Six Flags, but other than that we didn't do a whole lot. It was actually a very appropriate vacation for our relationship, definitely not bad, but nothing particularly spectacular either.
That doesn't mean I was without a tropical vacation this year though. My family has what just might be the most convenient birthday schedule ever. My sister and I are born on the same day (we aren't twins), my dad the day before, and my mom five days after. My mom is also turning 60 this year, so to celebrate, she wants to do a family vacation, something we haven't done for 9 years, mostly because after that my family has made a conscious effort to avoid each other. I won't get into the pre-trip drama, except to say that my sister is completely bonkers, and because the trip it self has plenty of it's own drama. First of all let me state for the record that unlike DR, Puerto Rico, is not a cheap vacation. Things ARE cheaper there, unless it's an establishment largely dealing with tourists, at which point it's as expensive if not more than NYC. The hotel we stayed at had a casino, which I though would be fun, but unfortunately there was no poker =(. I made an attempt at playing Blackjack instead, and entered a game which I feel was probably on the coldest shoe ever, but very well might have been rigged. The other table seemed fine, but this one was ridiculous. I sat with $160 and was broke in 15 hands, betting $10 a hand until the last two, where I bet my green chips. I won two hands, I pushed two, and I lost 11. What really made me question whether or not the table was rigged was that the dealer NEVER busted. There were plenty of times the dealer held a 15 or 16, but still no busts. It was unreal. My last two hands were typical of the night. I stayed on a 16 with dealer showing a 5, dealer made 18 and I lost. Last hand, I start with 20, dealer showing a 6. His bottom card was a 4 and he hits an ace, making me busto. That happened of the first night of our trip, and needless to say any plans I had to spend at the casino were pretty much toast.
The second night went better. After having some more issues with my sister, and me trying to overcome the fact that I had slept through most of the day, we went out that night for dinner and we actually started to have a good time. After dinner, my dad was determined to prove to me that the casino wasn't rigged, and that I just sucked at blackjack, but we decided we'd be better off checking out the casino at the Ritz-Carlton instead. We were staking out the Blackjack tables, when across the room the saw a sight that actually made me tear a little, A POKER TABLE!!!!. I saw it was a 2/5 game a sat down immediately. Of course I was so excited at seeing the table, I forgot to actually ask what the betting structure was, and was quite embarrassed when I made a 5x raise on a guy's min-bet, only to learn we were playing limit!! Oh well that was only a minor set back, and it sure made me look like a donk to the rest of the table. The play at that table was horrendous, and I was licking my chops thinking about how I could clean up on them. Unfortunately I started off on the wrong foot and lost about $80 vs a really oddly played AK (girl flopped two pair, and NEVER raised in the had even though there weren't any flushes or straights on the board), and some grandma sucking out with a gutshot when I held KK. The girls had gone off to play slots, and apparently got bored of it pretty quick (I don't get how slots are fun in the first place) and decided to walk the two blocks back to the hotel. About 15 minutes into my poker game, I get a call from my sister saying that my mom fell down and dislocated her elbow on the way back to the hotel. In shock I did the only thing I could do down $80 and not really sure what to do, pray the next hand was good and push it hard and then walk away. I ended up with 77 in LP, which I ended up raising PF, getting 4 callers, and thankfully getting a 46T rainbow board. I don't really remember what happened after that but I remember betting/raising the whole hand, and some how won at showdown without improving, even though overs fell on the turn and river. I finished down only about $25 dollars.
I ran down the street to find her, and when I did she was sitting of the floor holding her arm. My sister thinking quickly had reset her elbow and we were waiting for the paramedics to show. As it turns out, her elbow wasn't dislocated, her upper arm was actually broken and displaced. In addition to that she had a second fracture on the same bone. We were told it would require surgery to set the bone. However, given the status of Puerto Rico's healthcare system, my mom felt she would be better off leaving a day early and getting treatment in New York. So instead of spending sunday in the rain forest like we had planned, my mom got up at 10 am to try and catch a 12:45 flight back to New York. Jetblue, being the customer service free airline that they are, refused to make an exception for my mom and would have charged her and my dad $300 extra each to fly back a day early. Thankfully, my mom was a flight attendant for American Airlines, and could fly for free if she needed two. The catch is, and this is the reason we flew Jetblue, is you have to go stand-by and aren't guaranteed a seat. However we checked the flight loads the night before, and it seemed like they would have no trouble getting home. Of course, because life is rigged, that wasn't the case. American Airlines cancelled their first our flights that morning for some reason that we still aren't quite clear on, and all the flights which WERE open, were now full. Also, my mom wasn't bumped up to the top of the stand-by list, even with her broken arm, which got all of us really pissed off of course. After being stuck in the airport for 7 hours and missing the last flight by ONE seat. she had to return to the hotel and wait to travel on Monday.
Meanwhile, my sister and I spent all of Sunday touring the various police stations, which incidentally, don't really seem to have any cops who are fluent in english, to try and get the police report of the accident. My sister speaks decent spanish, but not really enough to deal with the police. Our first stop was the local police station. Nothing makes you feel safer than to know the closet precinct consists of two trailers. Unfortunately as it turns out there are local police in the area, and since local police are probably fairly inept, special state police who patrol the tourist zones. Of course, it was the state police who were the ones who stopped. The officer in the trailers, basically told us to walk down the street until he cam to a certain restaurant, and turn left to find the state police. We leave and start walking down the street, only to realize we have no clue as per how far this place actually is. We stop in a local store to ask them how far it is, and we are delighted to hear that it's only a 5-10 minute DRIVE!!! We walk about half a block to a hotel, and ask the concierge desk if they would be kind enough for them to call us a cab (at the very least everyone in Puerto Rico was very nice), and they were. The cab driver takes us to the precinct for the state police, where of course we find out, we're not at the right place yet either. It turns out the driver took us to the precinct for the wrong area, but we wouldn't have been able to get the copy that day anyway because it was sunday. We get back to our hotel, out about $40 in cab fare, and not really any closer to getting the report. It was about that time we got the news that my parents were going to be getting on any of the flights and would be spending the night back at the hotel, of course with my mom's arm still only in a sling and not properly set. Even that being simple apparently was too much to ask for. We had checked my parents out of their room, thinking that they were going to get home. The hotel had no problem giving us the room back, but we had booked the room using Expedia, and the hotel couldn't reinstate the reservation without a fax from Expedia, otherwise they would be forced to double bill us for the room (and Expedia would have to refund the portion we paid them). After spending an hour attempting the contact them, we got though to someone who said they would gladly fax the paper work to the hotel. Of course, they never did, and rather than risk getting stuck paying for the room twice, we all jammed into the room my sister and I had.
Jetblue also has made it's way into my Chewbacca defense. While is costs $300 per ticket to change a reservation to a different day, to change the tickets to a different time on the SAME DAY you are traveling only costs $25, IT DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE!!!! So my mom and dad woke up at 3:45 to catch the 6am flight back to New York. This time they got home without a hitch, and made it to the hospital for a 12:15 appointment with an orthopedist. Keeping in line with the rest of the fiasco, the doctor was 2 hours late due to an emergency. We did get good news out of it though, the second fracture wasn't significant enough to require a plate, and the bones could be set normally without surgery. Meanwhile, My sister an I went to the other precinct where we were told we could get the report. I'll spare you the majority of the details, but as I'm sure you can guess, we couldn't get the report there either. Some garbage about how it takes 15 days to get an official stamped copy, and making a photocopy of the original is illegal. *sigh* Another waste of $20 in cab fare. Determined not to let the vacation be a total wash, we did FINALLY get to the beach for about 40 minutes before we had to get ready for our flight, which was fine with me, because that's about as much of the beach as I can handle anyway.
The week since hasn't been much more fun either. My mom is still in a lot of pain, and my sister and I are getting a preview of what it's going to be like when my parents get even older and we have to take care of them. I still have my Poker blahs, and I have been changing up my games a little to get things going again. Thursday night I tried playing two MTT's. I went busto in both before the break and remember why I stopped playing them. I've also started playing shorthanded tables, and I can kinda see why everyone likes them more. I'm up from playing on them so far, and it definitely suites my play more, since now I can raise a lot of the hand I was generally forced to limp or over limp like crazy before. My VP$IP isn't all that different from 9-max but my PFR% is up near 20 now. At least I think it is, I'm still waiting for either Crossover to work with PT, or for Hold em' Manager to finally be Mono compatible. The tracking program I do have, Mac Poker Pro, is a real piece of shit and worthless. I'm really close to installing the HE Manager beta at work...
To give you all an update on my BR situation, the last 6 weeks wasn't a complete waste. My BR is currently a little over $2,900, I made some decent money staking a friend of mine several times in the 14k 6-max DSMTT at 11pm (dude is a cashing machine in that tournament, but needs some work on his late game to actually final table the damn thing), and I cashed out $550 in Rakeback. As stated in a few of my previous posts, I didn't like that I had invested $2,000 of my own money to get my roll going, and I decided that rather than handicap my roll by withdrawing profits, I'd just withdraw my RB until my roll is 100% profit. I'm still hopeful I can hit my goal of $8k by the end of the year, and try to use poker as my source of income while I am studying abroad in China in the spring.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007
What a difference a meal makes
Today I though I was heading for a possible Sunday blow-up. I started playing at around 4:30, and played until dinner. It was a usual losing session for me, I was down from getting outdrawn a few times, and a cooler or too. Didn't have much hitting either and eventually found myself down $320 at one point. Realizing I was foolish to be playing without my new secret weapon, I promptly watered my bamboo and cranked up the tai chi music. I battled back to $200 before getting called for dinner.
The "All-American" meal I had, hamburgers and corn on the cob, apparently agrees with me playing the great American pastime that is poker. I sat down ready to turn things around and I can definitely say things went MUCH better. Sets started hitting, my opponent's draws started missing, and I was having no problem with firing at pots at will, which is usually the best way for me to tell if I am in "the zone." It's not all skill though, I got lucky very early in my post dinner session, and it seemed to get the ball rolling for everything else.
Full Tilt Poker Game #2761223635: Table Grand Hills - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:47:40 ET - 2007/06/24
Seat 1: Jaturongkabaht ($167.95)
Seat 2: Blank ($258.10)
Seat 3: Blank ($88.50)
Seat 4: Villain ($93.20)
Seat 5: Blank ($145)
Seat 6: Blank ($98.85), is sitting out
Seat 7: Blank ($33.15)
Seat 8: Blank ($66.15)
Seat 9: Blank ($50.05)
Blank posts the small blind of $0.50
Blank posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Jaturongkabaht [9d Jd]
Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain raises to $3.50
Blank folds
Blank folds
Blank folds
Blank folds
Jaturongkabaht calls $3.50
Blank folds
Blank folds
*** FLOP *** [Jc 4h 5c]
Villain bets $8.50
Jaturongkabaht has 15 seconds left to act
Jaturongkabaht raises to $23
Villain calls $14.50
*** TURN *** [Jc 4h 5c] [6h]
Villain checks
Jaturongkabaht bets $35
Villain raises to $66.70, and is all in
Jaturongkabaht has 15 seconds left to act
Jaturongkabaht calls $31.70
Villain shows [As Ad]
Jaturongkabaht shows [9d Jd]
*** RIVER *** [Jc 4h 5c 6h] [9s]
Villain shows a pair of Aces
Jaturongkabaht shows two pair, Jacks and Nines
Jaturongkabaht wins the pot ($184.90) with two pair, Jacks and Nines
Villain is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $187.90 | Rake $3
Board: [Jc 4h 5c 6h 9s]
Seat 1: Jaturongkabaht (button) showed [9d Jd] and won ($184.90) with two pair, Jacks and Nines
Seat 4: Villain showed [As Ad] and lost with a pair of Aces
There was nothing pretty about that hand, and I can honestly say I play it pretty piss poor. I don't really have much on the villain here, which probably means he is somewhat tight. Also at this level, people will generally c-bet on non descript flops such as these, but almost never with a pot bet (actually pot bets are pretty rare at this level, and usually indicate either a not very experienced player, or something funky). I do think my reraise here was a mistake, and honestly I probably let it go if I get reraised, but he just called. On the turn, I probably should have just checked, but what made playing this board somewhat difficult was the presence of the two clubs. The line the villain was taking was certainly one AKs and AQs would take. I probably should have checked the turn, but obviously I went with him having AKs or AQs and fired $35 at the pot. However I don't think my call of his push was as bad as it looks. Now that he has pushed, I think we can pretty safely narrow his range down to five hands, AKs, AQs, AA-QQ. I'm getting 156-31 odds, pretty much exactly 5-1. I am 11% to beat AA-QQ and 65% to beat AKs and AQs. After doing the equity equations, I would have to assign the villain a 90% chance of have AA-QQ before the play has -EV, and that seems unreasonable. So as much as the call might look like a donk move (the villain certainly thought so) it actually had +EV. Of course I can't really do these equations in 30 seconds, so I might still be a donk.
All-in all, my post dinner run was +480, making me +280 on the day. I am really enjoying my recent success and I hope the variance switch doesn't flip any time soon.
The "All-American" meal I had, hamburgers and corn on the cob, apparently agrees with me playing the great American pastime that is poker. I sat down ready to turn things around and I can definitely say things went MUCH better. Sets started hitting, my opponent's draws started missing, and I was having no problem with firing at pots at will, which is usually the best way for me to tell if I am in "the zone." It's not all skill though, I got lucky very early in my post dinner session, and it seemed to get the ball rolling for everything else.
Full Tilt Poker Game #2761223635: Table Grand Hills - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:47:40 ET - 2007/06/24
Seat 1: Jaturongkabaht ($167.95)
Seat 2: Blank ($258.10)
Seat 3: Blank ($88.50)
Seat 4: Villain ($93.20)
Seat 5: Blank ($145)
Seat 6: Blank ($98.85), is sitting out
Seat 7: Blank ($33.15)
Seat 8: Blank ($66.15)
Seat 9: Blank ($50.05)
Blank posts the small blind of $0.50
Blank posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Jaturongkabaht [9d Jd]
Villain has 15 seconds left to act
Villain raises to $3.50
Blank folds
Blank folds
Blank folds
Blank folds
Jaturongkabaht calls $3.50
Blank folds
Blank folds
*** FLOP *** [Jc 4h 5c]
Villain bets $8.50
Jaturongkabaht has 15 seconds left to act
Jaturongkabaht raises to $23
Villain calls $14.50
*** TURN *** [Jc 4h 5c] [6h]
Villain checks
Jaturongkabaht bets $35
Villain raises to $66.70, and is all in
Jaturongkabaht has 15 seconds left to act
Jaturongkabaht calls $31.70
Villain shows [As Ad]
Jaturongkabaht shows [9d Jd]
*** RIVER *** [Jc 4h 5c 6h] [9s]
Villain shows a pair of Aces
Jaturongkabaht shows two pair, Jacks and Nines
Jaturongkabaht wins the pot ($184.90) with two pair, Jacks and Nines
Villain is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $187.90 | Rake $3
Board: [Jc 4h 5c 6h 9s]
Seat 1: Jaturongkabaht (button) showed [9d Jd] and won ($184.90) with two pair, Jacks and Nines
Seat 4: Villain showed [As Ad] and lost with a pair of Aces
There was nothing pretty about that hand, and I can honestly say I play it pretty piss poor. I don't really have much on the villain here, which probably means he is somewhat tight. Also at this level, people will generally c-bet on non descript flops such as these, but almost never with a pot bet (actually pot bets are pretty rare at this level, and usually indicate either a not very experienced player, or something funky). I do think my reraise here was a mistake, and honestly I probably let it go if I get reraised, but he just called. On the turn, I probably should have just checked, but what made playing this board somewhat difficult was the presence of the two clubs. The line the villain was taking was certainly one AKs and AQs would take. I probably should have checked the turn, but obviously I went with him having AKs or AQs and fired $35 at the pot. However I don't think my call of his push was as bad as it looks. Now that he has pushed, I think we can pretty safely narrow his range down to five hands, AKs, AQs, AA-QQ. I'm getting 156-31 odds, pretty much exactly 5-1. I am 11% to beat AA-QQ and 65% to beat AKs and AQs. After doing the equity equations, I would have to assign the villain a 90% chance of have AA-QQ before the play has -EV, and that seems unreasonable. So as much as the call might look like a donk move (the villain certainly thought so) it actually had +EV. Of course I can't really do these equations in 30 seconds, so I might still be a donk.
All-in all, my post dinner run was +480, making me +280 on the day. I am really enjoying my recent success and I hope the variance switch doesn't flip any time soon.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
What goes up and down faster, a yo-yo or a Thai prostitute?
The answer is neither. My bankroll goes up and down faster than both. Wednesday was fun, except not. I lost more big pots than I won. I started up a little, then down a little, then down a lot, then down a little, then even, then down a lot, then down a little, then down almost $250, to don $40, before finally ending down around $125. I kind of just figured it was variance catching up to me, or that Wednesday might be the new Sunday. Probably the real reason is that Wednesday I am tired from work, and it's really the only day in the middle of the week where I can play, so I end up going overboard a little. I did however discover my new rally music. Daft Punk and R. Kelly seemed to be losing their touch, and while Into Nirvana from Tekken 5 still gets things going for a short burst, it doesn't last nearly long enough. However, feeling in need of mental balance and concentration, I hit up my Tai Chi playlist. I can definitely it helped to reign me in for a good hour, and got back to within $40 of even (from down $250), before getting sucked out on by a two outer and losing about $60 and finally quitting after losing about $125 for the session. I will definitely be listening to that more often.
Thursday I needed a break, and had to night planned with the Ms. anyway. We finally stopped being lazy and went to see Pirates 3. It was definitely better than the 2nd movie, and overall pretty decent. I will definitely say to all the people who missed the scene after the credits, you didn't miss anything that a friend couldn't have told you. Definitely not worth sitting through. After that, the Ms. insisted we sneak into another movie (something she's better trying to get me to do for two years). She somehow convinced me to go sneak into Waitress with her. I wasn't too excited about going to see it, but for a date movie I would have to say it was very good.
Friday saw my BR, take a steep nose dive. I think I seriously would have been better off just entering a $216 sit n' go or something. I played for an hour just to try and get my 200 points for the day before I went out, even though I really didn't need to. Everytime I had AK vs AQ, the bored came AQx, my straight + flush draws refused to hit (even though I was getting great odds both times to call the turn bets) and I had about five flush draws suck out on me, two of them being backdoor. All in all, I dropped $300 in less than an hour, and I promptly quit with a disgusted look on my face when I hit 200 points.
For as bad as Friday was, tonight completely covered it and more. It was my favorite kind of night, one where all the big pots I got into went to me. The only notable exception being the set over set I was involved in, but it had been a long time since I had lost one of those, so I figured I was due. I was also thinking about how much better I've been doing with the $80 buy-ins, as opposed to the $90 buy-ins and how I would like to skip that level all together. Thankfully, after tonight, I can do just that. After all was said and done, I was up $540 for the night and now get to be part of the full buy-in club. Even better, I have hit the goal of going up about $1500 in the last month, and undoing the majority of the damage of my last blow-up. From here I'm not exactly sure where to go. I am very comfortable in the .5/1 games and should probably stay here for a while. I am also very uncomfortable with the fact that I currently have $3800 invested in online poker of my own money, and having only $4200 at the moment (including the money I have stuck in Neteller, which I should be getting next month). I have been considering not letting my BR grow for a while, and slowing withdrawing my profits until I have taken out my original investment. And I can securely play on just my profits. Unfortunately, this means I probably won't be hitting my goal of $12000 by year's end, barring a large MTT cash. But after seeing that by playing 6 .5/1 tables, I am earning about $8 a hour on rakeback alone, I think having an $8000 BR to play 2/4 should have me earning plenty.
Thursday I needed a break, and had to night planned with the Ms. anyway. We finally stopped being lazy and went to see Pirates 3. It was definitely better than the 2nd movie, and overall pretty decent. I will definitely say to all the people who missed the scene after the credits, you didn't miss anything that a friend couldn't have told you. Definitely not worth sitting through. After that, the Ms. insisted we sneak into another movie (something she's better trying to get me to do for two years). She somehow convinced me to go sneak into Waitress with her. I wasn't too excited about going to see it, but for a date movie I would have to say it was very good.
Friday saw my BR, take a steep nose dive. I think I seriously would have been better off just entering a $216 sit n' go or something. I played for an hour just to try and get my 200 points for the day before I went out, even though I really didn't need to. Everytime I had AK vs AQ, the bored came AQx, my straight + flush draws refused to hit (even though I was getting great odds both times to call the turn bets) and I had about five flush draws suck out on me, two of them being backdoor. All in all, I dropped $300 in less than an hour, and I promptly quit with a disgusted look on my face when I hit 200 points.
For as bad as Friday was, tonight completely covered it and more. It was my favorite kind of night, one where all the big pots I got into went to me. The only notable exception being the set over set I was involved in, but it had been a long time since I had lost one of those, so I figured I was due. I was also thinking about how much better I've been doing with the $80 buy-ins, as opposed to the $90 buy-ins and how I would like to skip that level all together. Thankfully, after tonight, I can do just that. After all was said and done, I was up $540 for the night and now get to be part of the full buy-in club. Even better, I have hit the goal of going up about $1500 in the last month, and undoing the majority of the damage of my last blow-up. From here I'm not exactly sure where to go. I am very comfortable in the .5/1 games and should probably stay here for a while. I am also very uncomfortable with the fact that I currently have $3800 invested in online poker of my own money, and having only $4200 at the moment (including the money I have stuck in Neteller, which I should be getting next month). I have been considering not letting my BR grow for a while, and slowing withdrawing my profits until I have taken out my original investment. And I can securely play on just my profits. Unfortunately, this means I probably won't be hitting my goal of $12000 by year's end, barring a large MTT cash. But after seeing that by playing 6 .5/1 tables, I am earning about $8 a hour on rakeback alone, I think having an $8000 BR to play 2/4 should have me earning plenty.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Stay off the roads in NYC
The Ms. is now a driver. Well it's just her permit but it's one further step in the wrong direction =). I also get to be the one to teacher her how to drive. That probably a good thing though, because her dad is a european driver, and well, it's not like the BQE needs another person speeding, cutting across two lanes without signaling, and tailgating. At least I signal. I also had the joy of getting into my first moving accident today. Some tiny spanish woman rear-ended us and apparently the only english she knew was "I'm sorry." Thankfully, unlike my car which is a 2006 Civic hybrid in which the bumper shatters when hit by a pebble, her parent's car is a 1994 Ford Contour, and the bumper already had plenty of wear on it. It looked like there was no damage to either car, so I just gave her a dirty look and drove off.
As far as poker goes, I had an up and down weekend, eventually ending at where I was when I made my last entry. Saturday I had a cool deck playing with $90 buy-in (it seems that buy-in amount doesn't agree with me) and dropped about $200. Sunday the cool deck continued, and was down about another $150 until I hit a set followed by aces, doubled up on both, hit a few more hands until I was up about 70 on the session, until I had this hand, which cause me to give back about $40 of that:
Full Tilt Poker Game #2697784202: Table Jasper Bluff - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:19:21 ET - 2007/06/18
Seat 1: Big Blind ($162.20)
Seat 3: Jaturongkabaht ($76)
Seat 4: Villain ($110.75)
Seat 5: Blank ($135.40)
Seat 6: Blank ($117.35)
Seat 7: Blank ($51.10)
Seat 9: Blank ($36.25)
Blank posts the small blind of $0.50
Blank posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Jaturongkabaht [Jc Js]
Jaturongkabaht raises to $4
Villain calls $4
Blank folds
Blank folds
Blank folds
Blank folds
Big Blind calls $3
*** FLOP *** [Ts 3c 5d]
Big Blind checks
Jaturongkabaht bets $9
Villain raises to $18
Big Blind folds
Jaturongkabaht has 15 seconds left to act
Jaturongkabaht raises to $40
Villain raises to $62
Jaturongkabaht has 15 seconds left to act
Jaturongkabaht has requested TIME
Jaturongkabaht: bleh, i guess you got me
Jaturongkabaht folds
Uncalled bet of $22 returned to Villain
Villain mucks
Villain wins the pot ($89.50)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $92.50 | Rake $3
Board: [Ts 3c 5d]
Seat 3: Jaturongkabaht folded on the Flop
Seat 4: Villain collected ($89.50), mucked
This was a really odd hand. First of all, anytime min-raises come into the mix the hand enters some odd territory. At this level, people seem to be concerned that raising too large will scare people anyway from their big hands, so they think they will be clever and min-bet. This should have been red flag number 1. Also, the villain is someone who I see pretty regularly at the tables, probably knows most of the time I will follow up on my PF raises on ragged flops, so he may have had me on something like AK. However, I also know he is the type who doesn't really focus on playing well per se, but he does focus on only putting in a large amount of chips in the middle with the nuts or near nuts. So I felt that I am probably calling too wide against this player on a turn bet (or more likely check-raising all-in), so I made a small re-raise to let him know that I wasn't just c-betting. When he four bet me, I knew he had a set and so I folded. I had a very long discussion with Riddim about this hand, and we both agreed the optimal play here was to just call the min-raise and go from there, but I think as it played, my played saved me money. I forced him to announce his hand at a point where I would fold. Had I waited, I would have been stacked. My whole point to the argument is that my game is not as optimal as I'd like it to be, so sometimes the optimal play will cause me to make a large mistake later, and it is necessary to make a smaller mistake early to cover-up those flaws.
My Monday session went much better than that. A few big hands, here and there over a three hour session and I ended up about $170 on the session, or exactly where I left off on Friday. In either case, I'd late and I have work tomorrow. New goal for the week, add another $300 to the BR by Sunday night.
As far as poker goes, I had an up and down weekend, eventually ending at where I was when I made my last entry. Saturday I had a cool deck playing with $90 buy-in (it seems that buy-in amount doesn't agree with me) and dropped about $200. Sunday the cool deck continued, and was down about another $150 until I hit a set followed by aces, doubled up on both, hit a few more hands until I was up about 70 on the session, until I had this hand, which cause me to give back about $40 of that:
Full Tilt Poker Game #2697784202: Table Jasper Bluff - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:19:21 ET - 2007/06/18
Seat 1: Big Blind ($162.20)
Seat 3: Jaturongkabaht ($76)
Seat 4: Villain ($110.75)
Seat 5: Blank ($135.40)
Seat 6: Blank ($117.35)
Seat 7: Blank ($51.10)
Seat 9: Blank ($36.25)
Blank posts the small blind of $0.50
Blank posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Jaturongkabaht [Jc Js]
Jaturongkabaht raises to $4
Villain calls $4
Blank folds
Blank folds
Blank folds
Blank folds
Big Blind calls $3
*** FLOP *** [Ts 3c 5d]
Big Blind checks
Jaturongkabaht bets $9
Villain raises to $18
Big Blind folds
Jaturongkabaht has 15 seconds left to act
Jaturongkabaht raises to $40
Villain raises to $62
Jaturongkabaht has 15 seconds left to act
Jaturongkabaht has requested TIME
Jaturongkabaht: bleh, i guess you got me
Jaturongkabaht folds
Uncalled bet of $22 returned to Villain
Villain mucks
Villain wins the pot ($89.50)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $92.50 | Rake $3
Board: [Ts 3c 5d]
Seat 3: Jaturongkabaht folded on the Flop
Seat 4: Villain collected ($89.50), mucked
This was a really odd hand. First of all, anytime min-raises come into the mix the hand enters some odd territory. At this level, people seem to be concerned that raising too large will scare people anyway from their big hands, so they think they will be clever and min-bet. This should have been red flag number 1. Also, the villain is someone who I see pretty regularly at the tables, probably knows most of the time I will follow up on my PF raises on ragged flops, so he may have had me on something like AK. However, I also know he is the type who doesn't really focus on playing well per se, but he does focus on only putting in a large amount of chips in the middle with the nuts or near nuts. So I felt that I am probably calling too wide against this player on a turn bet (or more likely check-raising all-in), so I made a small re-raise to let him know that I wasn't just c-betting. When he four bet me, I knew he had a set and so I folded. I had a very long discussion with Riddim about this hand, and we both agreed the optimal play here was to just call the min-raise and go from there, but I think as it played, my played saved me money. I forced him to announce his hand at a point where I would fold. Had I waited, I would have been stacked. My whole point to the argument is that my game is not as optimal as I'd like it to be, so sometimes the optimal play will cause me to make a large mistake later, and it is necessary to make a smaller mistake early to cover-up those flaws.
My Monday session went much better than that. A few big hands, here and there over a three hour session and I ended up about $170 on the session, or exactly where I left off on Friday. In either case, I'd late and I have work tomorrow. New goal for the week, add another $300 to the BR by Sunday night.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Back In Black
Well I'm finally back in black as an online poker player with my current session. However, I feel like things may be starting to wear on me. I took one hell of roller coaster ride on Wednesday, I shot up $375 during my first hour of play by making three hero calls (all of which were correct), one overpair vs overpair suckout, and one straight flush draw that hit the straight. I felt like I probably should have just quit there. I wasn't playing all that well, and I was tired, but I hadn't made the 200 points I needed for the Ironman competition (going for gold this month) and I figured if was hot, I was hot and I should see if I could ride it a bit longer. I also decided my BR could now handle my buying into the tables with $90 and brought all the tables that weren't already up to that level to $90.
Unfortunately, the poker gods, deciding that I was being gluttonous by not quitting after the gift they had given me, ruled that I could not win another big hand for the rest of the session. I now had the Antimidas Touch, everything I saw turned to shit. I honestly don't remember most of what happened (a sign that I was in no condition to be playing) but I found myself going from +$375 to -150 over the course of about 3 hours. I then found myself in a hand with a pair and a flush draw and in my worn-out, poker losing stupor, I found my self throwing out a $100 hail mary to try and get close to even for the night:
Full Tilt Poker Game #2661277695: Table Munoz - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:19:16 ET - 2007/06/14
Seat 1: Villain1 ($102)
Seat 2: Blank ($95.95)
Seat 4: Blank ($93.85)
Seat 5: Blank ($48.50)
Seat 6: Villain2 ($184.85)
Seat 7: Blank ($85.35)
Seat 8: Blank ($137.90)
Seat 9: Jaturongkabaht ($95.40)
Jaturongkabaht posts the small blind of $0.50
Villain1 posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Jaturongkabaht [8d 7d]
Blank folds
Blank folds
Blank folds
Villain2 raises to $4
Blank folds
Blank folds
Jaturongkabaht calls $3.50
Villain1 calls $3
*** FLOP *** [9d 2d 7c]
Jaturongkabaht has 15 seconds left to act
Jaturongkabaht bets $8
Villain1 calls $8
Villain2 has 15 seconds left to act
Villain2 raises to $37
Jaturongkabaht has 15 seconds left to act
Jaturongkabaht raises to $91.40, and is all in
Villain1 raises to $98, and is all in
Villain2 calls $61
Villain1 shows [Kd Ad]
Villain2 shows [9c 9s]
Jaturongkabaht shows [8d 7d]
*** TURN *** [9d 2d 7c] [4h]
*** RIVER *** [9d 2d 7c 4h] [9h]
Villain1 shows a pair of Nines
Villain2 shows four of a kind, Nines
Villain2 wins the side pot ($13.20) with four of a kind, Nines
Jaturongkabaht shows two pair, Nines and Sevens
Villain2 wins the main pot ($283.20) with four of a kind, Nines
Villain1 is sitting out
Jaturongkabaht is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $299.40 Main pot $286.20. Side pot $13.20. | Rake $3
Board: [9d 2d 7c 4h 9h]
Seat 1: Villain1 (big blind) showed [Kd Ad] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 6: Villain2 showed [9c 9s] and won ($296.40) with four of a kind, Nines
Seat 9: Jaturongkabaht (small blind) showed [8d 7d] and lost with two pair, Nines and Sevens
As you can see, that was an awful play, and as it turned out I had nearly drawing dead. To make it even worse, I had been playing with Villain2 for most of the night and all my observations should have told me he had a VERY strong hand there, and not just TPTK or an overpair. Villain1 I wasn't worried about at all. I haven't seen any spectacular play from him at all and I was honestly shocked when he called. In either case I was done after that hand. Now -$250 for the session, I was WELL beyond Caro's Threshold of Misery, and made my best decision of the night, I turned off my computer. Caro's Threshold of Misery is actually a concept I wish I held to a lot more strongly than I did. In short, the theory states that there is a point at which you have lost enough money during the session that numbness sets in, and every additional loss has almost no effect on you. THe biggest reason I have these large blow-ups is because I fail to recognize when I have hit this point. I think Wednesday night I hit that point when I had fallen down to only being +$50 for the session. Yet my ego and ultra competitive drive held me captive to the poker table, and I continued to piss off an other $300 while in a state where winning poker was probably impossible. To top in all off, the hole $625 swing gave me a massive case of heartburn, a sure sign that I may want to consider a break in the near future.
For as bad as Wednesday was though, today was great. I slept over at the girlfriends house (also a great reason not to play Thursday night, woke up at 12:30, had sex at some point, rode the train with her to work, went home and ate a snack and eventually sat down to play at around 6. Started today again with a $70 buy-in at my 6 tables and worked it for about $200 on a few big hands that got paid. I took a dinner break at that point and came back and played for about another hour and a half and pretty much it was more of the same, and I walked away with another $200. Given the horror story of Wednesday, I decided this time when I was up $400 would be a good time to stop. It was just a solid, uneventful day of poker, which is pretty much my favorite kind =).
Unfortunately, the poker gods, deciding that I was being gluttonous by not quitting after the gift they had given me, ruled that I could not win another big hand for the rest of the session. I now had the Antimidas Touch, everything I saw turned to shit. I honestly don't remember most of what happened (a sign that I was in no condition to be playing) but I found myself going from +$375 to -150 over the course of about 3 hours. I then found myself in a hand with a pair and a flush draw and in my worn-out, poker losing stupor, I found my self throwing out a $100 hail mary to try and get close to even for the night:
Full Tilt Poker Game #2661277695: Table Munoz - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:19:16 ET - 2007/06/14
Seat 1: Villain1 ($102)
Seat 2: Blank ($95.95)
Seat 4: Blank ($93.85)
Seat 5: Blank ($48.50)
Seat 6: Villain2 ($184.85)
Seat 7: Blank ($85.35)
Seat 8: Blank ($137.90)
Seat 9: Jaturongkabaht ($95.40)
Jaturongkabaht posts the small blind of $0.50
Villain1 posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Jaturongkabaht [8d 7d]
Blank folds
Blank folds
Blank folds
Villain2 raises to $4
Blank folds
Blank folds
Jaturongkabaht calls $3.50
Villain1 calls $3
*** FLOP *** [9d 2d 7c]
Jaturongkabaht has 15 seconds left to act
Jaturongkabaht bets $8
Villain1 calls $8
Villain2 has 15 seconds left to act
Villain2 raises to $37
Jaturongkabaht has 15 seconds left to act
Jaturongkabaht raises to $91.40, and is all in
Villain1 raises to $98, and is all in
Villain2 calls $61
Villain1 shows [Kd Ad]
Villain2 shows [9c 9s]
Jaturongkabaht shows [8d 7d]
*** TURN *** [9d 2d 7c] [4h]
*** RIVER *** [9d 2d 7c 4h] [9h]
Villain1 shows a pair of Nines
Villain2 shows four of a kind, Nines
Villain2 wins the side pot ($13.20) with four of a kind, Nines
Jaturongkabaht shows two pair, Nines and Sevens
Villain2 wins the main pot ($283.20) with four of a kind, Nines
Villain1 is sitting out
Jaturongkabaht is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $299.40 Main pot $286.20. Side pot $13.20. | Rake $3
Board: [9d 2d 7c 4h 9h]
Seat 1: Villain1 (big blind) showed [Kd Ad] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 6: Villain2 showed [9c 9s] and won ($296.40) with four of a kind, Nines
Seat 9: Jaturongkabaht (small blind) showed [8d 7d] and lost with two pair, Nines and Sevens
As you can see, that was an awful play, and as it turned out I had nearly drawing dead. To make it even worse, I had been playing with Villain2 for most of the night and all my observations should have told me he had a VERY strong hand there, and not just TPTK or an overpair. Villain1 I wasn't worried about at all. I haven't seen any spectacular play from him at all and I was honestly shocked when he called. In either case I was done after that hand. Now -$250 for the session, I was WELL beyond Caro's Threshold of Misery, and made my best decision of the night, I turned off my computer. Caro's Threshold of Misery is actually a concept I wish I held to a lot more strongly than I did. In short, the theory states that there is a point at which you have lost enough money during the session that numbness sets in, and every additional loss has almost no effect on you. THe biggest reason I have these large blow-ups is because I fail to recognize when I have hit this point. I think Wednesday night I hit that point when I had fallen down to only being +$50 for the session. Yet my ego and ultra competitive drive held me captive to the poker table, and I continued to piss off an other $300 while in a state where winning poker was probably impossible. To top in all off, the hole $625 swing gave me a massive case of heartburn, a sure sign that I may want to consider a break in the near future.
For as bad as Wednesday was though, today was great. I slept over at the girlfriends house (also a great reason not to play Thursday night, woke up at 12:30, had sex at some point, rode the train with her to work, went home and ate a snack and eventually sat down to play at around 6. Started today again with a $70 buy-in at my 6 tables and worked it for about $200 on a few big hands that got paid. I took a dinner break at that point and came back and played for about another hour and a half and pretty much it was more of the same, and I walked away with another $200. Given the horror story of Wednesday, I decided this time when I was up $400 would be a good time to stop. It was just a solid, uneventful day of poker, which is pretty much my favorite kind =).
Monday, June 11, 2007
Confessions of a Bored Poker Player
And so begins yet another poker blog, thrilling I know. I bet everyone can't wait to read about yet another young internet player who plays stakes less than we all care about. But, alas, boredom drives many people to try out new things. You can thank my good session today, that I was too afraid to continue for fear of the dreaded sunday blow up.
For those who don't know, or for some reason care to know about my poker history, is goes something like this. I started playing when I was 14, using dimes as chips playing spread limit HE. Eventually we bumped it up to $10 buy-in tournaments with about 5 people when I finally got my chip set. At somepoint, late one night I found myself staring blankly at ESPN, too lazy to change the channel (although, I'm not quite sure why anyone would change the channel from ESPN, save when they are airing golf), and I found myself watching the 2003 WSOP main event. Yes, I'll admit it, I am a Moneymaker boomer. Watching that tournament, I found myself getting drawn into just how strategic and intering poker was. I though it was just about throwing money around stupidly in games with half the deck being wild (thankfully, many people still do), I came to see it then as a beautiful art. I began to take poker much more seriously after that and made it a point to try and crush my home game when possible.
Unfortunately, due to my fairly young age, I wasn't quite able to get into internet poker at that point. I was only 16 and still didn't pay that much attention to the fact that I could try and FR some money without a deposit. Meh so I guess I don't get to tell one of those $0 to $1,000,000,000 stories some people tell (I have a feeling most of them are bluffing about that anyway), anyway I started with $50 at Pokerroom a few months after I turned 18, playing the $5 sngs. And so began the tale of about my first 9 months or so of online poker. Win some in tournaments, go broke in ring games. Busted my first $50 and redeposited. Made my second $50 last for a while until I moved to Full Tilt. And I must say I am glad I did. Even though at that point I would definitely say FT had the hardest competition on the net, it was so much nicer to be playing on a client based site, and company who supports Apple software is a great company IMO. Of course, I really wasn't ready to start playing as much as I did. I was probably what you would call a live one at that point. I was good enough to think that I was usually in the top 30% as far as players go (I think the middle third is probably here I was at), and bad enough to go broke on several occassions. Each time I would deposit more that the last, and at some point I found myself $1200 in the hole. I think my biggest problem back then (it still is) was BR management. I'd bounce back and forth between all types of games, and I was never really rolled for the cash games I'd end up in. I moved to PLO and PLO/8 when I didn't think HE was really working out for me. I actually became a very good PLO/8 player rather quickly (it's almost a total math game, which is my specialty), but I kept trying to push myself into cash games way too big for my BR and would always have my sunday blow-up rear it's ugly head. I'd win all week and then blow all my profit and then some on Sunday when I am worn-out from all the poker during the week and going out on Saturday night.
So anyway, $1200 in the hole, and really down on poker, I decided the pool of Omaha players was too small to be profitable and switched back to HE cash games. I had a $600 roll at that point and so sensibly I played .1/.25. This just so happened to be right after the UIGEA, when everyone from Party Poker flocked on to FT and thankfully, I did well. I also bought during this time what I consider to be the best book on NLHE written yet, Sklansky's No Limit Hold 'Em: Theory and Practice. Before it I was a very tight, big hand type player. That book taught me the value of implied odds and has allowed me to play NLHE cash games on another level. When my BR hit $800, I moved up to .25/.5 NLHE. I didn't do so well there. After dropping about $100, I decided there was something about that level that I hated and vowed never to play it again. However, a section of Sklansky's book had caught my eye. It talked about the advantages that a short stack has against deep ones. So, being the BR management donk that I am, I moved to .5/1 and played a $40 stack on two tables. From there I took off and in 6 weeks I went from about $1100 in the hole to $500 ahead. However, I was exhuasted after that and I planned on taking the end of December until mid January off. Of course right when I was about to start playing again, Neteller got busted (I had all but $200 of my BR in it) and I now had to find another way to fund my poker playing.
I was able to get back up and running at the end of the month and tried to pick up where I left off. Unfortuately, this was about the same time as the third FTOPS at FT. I ended up blowing most of the $500 I depostied on sats, which I managed to do horrible in all of them I floated for a while on what was left for a month or so before going busto. Then did try two with another $500 held my own until spring break and then, through a combination of my SS NLHE strategy, and my newly found $36 turbo sng's, I went from $500 to $2200 in almost 2 weeks. But, what goes up that fast, comes down even faster. Me, being the BR donk that I am, decided to take a shot at 1/2. Two full buyins later, and one bad beat, and one full boat getting sunk by quads later, I was on massive tilt. It was time for a sunday blow-up like I've never done before. $400 more blown at that level and I was long past Caro's threshold of misery. I decided you know what, I am a good player, I am going to full-buy in a 2/4 game and just not allow my self to loose. WRONG!!!! Full boat vs. quads again. So then I figured I'd try $200 at 2/4 and work my SS magic. Nope. Sorry. No magic. $200 gone. I will spare you the details of how I lost the rest of the $600, and the $500 deposit I made afterwards, but needless to say, it was UGLY!!!!
Thankfully these days are better. I made another $500 deposit, and so far so good. I currently play 6-tables at a time, sizing my buy-in 5% of my BR and it's worked. After a nice session tonight I am currently sitting on a $1500 BR, and looking forward to once again being in the black. My goal for this year is to 1) NOT DONK OFF MY MONEY BY PLAYING TOO HIGH. Hopefully blogging my stupidity will force my not to do it. 2) Have a big enough BR to play 3/6 by the end of the year. $12000 is a big of a loftly goal, but I have high standards for myself. I also want to be able to play poker semi-pro while I am in China for a semester starting in January. GL to me, I'm gonna need it. I make sure I water my Bamboo to keep the luck flowing.
Oh yeah, and what would any poker blog be without a HH. This is my favorite hand of the session. There is no better feeling than when a LAG play is rewarded, and the person who paid you for it lets you know who the donk REALLY is:
Full Tilt Poker Game #2633977519: Table Charitable - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:15:12 ET - 2007/06/10
Seat 1: HHammer878 ($118.35)
Seat 2: Richman316 ($37.60), is sitting out
Seat 3: jsk213 ($55.35)
Seat 4: bakes1251 ($60.25)
Seat 5: Jaturongkabaht ($77.40)
Seat 6: Rock HaEmet ($76)
Seat 7: Ellen Mikey ($42.65)
Seat 8: angelsach ($121.20)
Seat 9: jimc43 ($285.90)
bakes1251 has 5 seconds left to act
bakes1251 posts the small blind of $0.50
Jaturongkabaht posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Jaturongkabaht [5h 7h]
Rock HaEmet folds
Ellen Mikey folds
angelsach raises to $4
jimc43 calls $4
HHammer878 folds
jsk213 folds
bakes1251 folds
Jaturongkabaht calls $3
*** FLOP *** [3d 4s 6s]
Jaturongkabaht checks
angelsach bets $8
jimc43 folds
Jaturongkabaht has 15 seconds left to act
Jaturongkabaht raises to $22
angelsach has 15 seconds left to act
angelsach raises to $78.50
Jaturongkabaht calls $51.40, and is all in
angelsach shows [Qh Qd]
Jaturongkabaht shows [5h 7h]
Uncalled bet of $5.10 returned to angelsach
*** TURN *** [3d 4s 6s] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [3d 4s 6s Jh] [3h]
angelsach shows two pair, Queens and Threes
Jaturongkabaht shows a straight, Seven high
Jaturongkabaht wins the pot ($156.30) with a straight, Seven high
angelsach: wow
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $159.30 | Rake $3
Board: [3d 4s 6s Jh 3h]
Seat 1: HHammer878 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Richman316 is sitting out
Seat 3: jsk213 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: bakes1251 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Jaturongkabaht (big blind) showed [5h 7h] and won ($156.30) with a straight, Seven high
Seat 6: Rock HaEmet didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: Ellen Mikey didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: angelsach showed [Qh Qd] and lost with two pair, Queens and Threes
Seat 9: jimc43 folded on the Flop
angelsach: what a fckin donkey
angelsach: calling with 57
angelsach: stupid fck
Jaturongkabaht: =)
There only one thing to do when someone calls you a donk after a play like that, smile like you are goin' to Hawaii!
For those who don't know, or for some reason care to know about my poker history, is goes something like this. I started playing when I was 14, using dimes as chips playing spread limit HE. Eventually we bumped it up to $10 buy-in tournaments with about 5 people when I finally got my chip set. At somepoint, late one night I found myself staring blankly at ESPN, too lazy to change the channel (although, I'm not quite sure why anyone would change the channel from ESPN, save when they are airing golf), and I found myself watching the 2003 WSOP main event. Yes, I'll admit it, I am a Moneymaker boomer. Watching that tournament, I found myself getting drawn into just how strategic and intering poker was. I though it was just about throwing money around stupidly in games with half the deck being wild (thankfully, many people still do), I came to see it then as a beautiful art. I began to take poker much more seriously after that and made it a point to try and crush my home game when possible.
Unfortunately, due to my fairly young age, I wasn't quite able to get into internet poker at that point. I was only 16 and still didn't pay that much attention to the fact that I could try and FR some money without a deposit. Meh so I guess I don't get to tell one of those $0 to $1,000,000,000 stories some people tell (I have a feeling most of them are bluffing about that anyway), anyway I started with $50 at Pokerroom a few months after I turned 18, playing the $5 sngs. And so began the tale of about my first 9 months or so of online poker. Win some in tournaments, go broke in ring games. Busted my first $50 and redeposited. Made my second $50 last for a while until I moved to Full Tilt. And I must say I am glad I did. Even though at that point I would definitely say FT had the hardest competition on the net, it was so much nicer to be playing on a client based site, and company who supports Apple software is a great company IMO. Of course, I really wasn't ready to start playing as much as I did. I was probably what you would call a live one at that point. I was good enough to think that I was usually in the top 30% as far as players go (I think the middle third is probably here I was at), and bad enough to go broke on several occassions. Each time I would deposit more that the last, and at some point I found myself $1200 in the hole. I think my biggest problem back then (it still is) was BR management. I'd bounce back and forth between all types of games, and I was never really rolled for the cash games I'd end up in. I moved to PLO and PLO/8 when I didn't think HE was really working out for me. I actually became a very good PLO/8 player rather quickly (it's almost a total math game, which is my specialty), but I kept trying to push myself into cash games way too big for my BR and would always have my sunday blow-up rear it's ugly head. I'd win all week and then blow all my profit and then some on Sunday when I am worn-out from all the poker during the week and going out on Saturday night.
So anyway, $1200 in the hole, and really down on poker, I decided the pool of Omaha players was too small to be profitable and switched back to HE cash games. I had a $600 roll at that point and so sensibly I played .1/.25. This just so happened to be right after the UIGEA, when everyone from Party Poker flocked on to FT and thankfully, I did well. I also bought during this time what I consider to be the best book on NLHE written yet, Sklansky's No Limit Hold 'Em: Theory and Practice. Before it I was a very tight, big hand type player. That book taught me the value of implied odds and has allowed me to play NLHE cash games on another level. When my BR hit $800, I moved up to .25/.5 NLHE. I didn't do so well there. After dropping about $100, I decided there was something about that level that I hated and vowed never to play it again. However, a section of Sklansky's book had caught my eye. It talked about the advantages that a short stack has against deep ones. So, being the BR management donk that I am, I moved to .5/1 and played a $40 stack on two tables. From there I took off and in 6 weeks I went from about $1100 in the hole to $500 ahead. However, I was exhuasted after that and I planned on taking the end of December until mid January off. Of course right when I was about to start playing again, Neteller got busted (I had all but $200 of my BR in it) and I now had to find another way to fund my poker playing.
I was able to get back up and running at the end of the month and tried to pick up where I left off. Unfortuately, this was about the same time as the third FTOPS at FT. I ended up blowing most of the $500 I depostied on sats, which I managed to do horrible in all of them I floated for a while on what was left for a month or so before going busto. Then did try two with another $500 held my own until spring break and then, through a combination of my SS NLHE strategy, and my newly found $36 turbo sng's, I went from $500 to $2200 in almost 2 weeks. But, what goes up that fast, comes down even faster. Me, being the BR donk that I am, decided to take a shot at 1/2. Two full buyins later, and one bad beat, and one full boat getting sunk by quads later, I was on massive tilt. It was time for a sunday blow-up like I've never done before. $400 more blown at that level and I was long past Caro's threshold of misery. I decided you know what, I am a good player, I am going to full-buy in a 2/4 game and just not allow my self to loose. WRONG!!!! Full boat vs. quads again. So then I figured I'd try $200 at 2/4 and work my SS magic. Nope. Sorry. No magic. $200 gone. I will spare you the details of how I lost the rest of the $600, and the $500 deposit I made afterwards, but needless to say, it was UGLY!!!!
Thankfully these days are better. I made another $500 deposit, and so far so good. I currently play 6-tables at a time, sizing my buy-in 5% of my BR and it's worked. After a nice session tonight I am currently sitting on a $1500 BR, and looking forward to once again being in the black. My goal for this year is to 1) NOT DONK OFF MY MONEY BY PLAYING TOO HIGH. Hopefully blogging my stupidity will force my not to do it. 2) Have a big enough BR to play 3/6 by the end of the year. $12000 is a big of a loftly goal, but I have high standards for myself. I also want to be able to play poker semi-pro while I am in China for a semester starting in January. GL to me, I'm gonna need it. I make sure I water my Bamboo to keep the luck flowing.
Oh yeah, and what would any poker blog be without a HH. This is my favorite hand of the session. There is no better feeling than when a LAG play is rewarded, and the person who paid you for it lets you know who the donk REALLY is:
Full Tilt Poker Game #2633977519: Table Charitable - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:15:12 ET - 2007/06/10
Seat 1: HHammer878 ($118.35)
Seat 2: Richman316 ($37.60), is sitting out
Seat 3: jsk213 ($55.35)
Seat 4: bakes1251 ($60.25)
Seat 5: Jaturongkabaht ($77.40)
Seat 6: Rock HaEmet ($76)
Seat 7: Ellen Mikey ($42.65)
Seat 8: angelsach ($121.20)
Seat 9: jimc43 ($285.90)
bakes1251 has 5 seconds left to act
bakes1251 posts the small blind of $0.50
Jaturongkabaht posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Jaturongkabaht [5h 7h]
Rock HaEmet folds
Ellen Mikey folds
angelsach raises to $4
jimc43 calls $4
HHammer878 folds
jsk213 folds
bakes1251 folds
Jaturongkabaht calls $3
*** FLOP *** [3d 4s 6s]
Jaturongkabaht checks
angelsach bets $8
jimc43 folds
Jaturongkabaht has 15 seconds left to act
Jaturongkabaht raises to $22
angelsach has 15 seconds left to act
angelsach raises to $78.50
Jaturongkabaht calls $51.40, and is all in
angelsach shows [Qh Qd]
Jaturongkabaht shows [5h 7h]
Uncalled bet of $5.10 returned to angelsach
*** TURN *** [3d 4s 6s] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [3d 4s 6s Jh] [3h]
angelsach shows two pair, Queens and Threes
Jaturongkabaht shows a straight, Seven high
Jaturongkabaht wins the pot ($156.30) with a straight, Seven high
angelsach: wow
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $159.30 | Rake $3
Board: [3d 4s 6s Jh 3h]
Seat 1: HHammer878 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Richman316 is sitting out
Seat 3: jsk213 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: bakes1251 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Jaturongkabaht (big blind) showed [5h 7h] and won ($156.30) with a straight, Seven high
Seat 6: Rock HaEmet didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: Ellen Mikey didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: angelsach showed [Qh Qd] and lost with two pair, Queens and Threes
Seat 9: jimc43 folded on the Flop
angelsach: what a fckin donkey
angelsach: calling with 57
angelsach: stupid fck
Jaturongkabaht: =)
There only one thing to do when someone calls you a donk after a play like that, smile like you are goin' to Hawaii!
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