Review Post!

Well I decided to do the review post now so I get it out the way and can have a poker free day tomorrow, without it consuming my mind!!

Firstly, I'll deal with some thoughts on the week:

- I felt I brought my A game to every single session and certainly grew with confidence as the week went by. I am now entirely comfortable with my game, I feel pre-flop I have learnt a substantially, just by the sheer volume of hands and I now feel capable of making the optimum decision time after time. On the post flop front, there is always room for improvement and I think every poker player in the world always has the potential to learn. However, again, I seem to be developing new levels and dimensions of thinking and my bet sizing has developed to the point where I automatically plan a hand, without thinking "oh shit, let's plan", it just sort of fits e.g. bet sizing in accordance with finding a shove on the river etc etc or read based plays

- I certainly want to play more live poker as I feel I can pick up more reads even online so transferring that ability to live may well give me the potential to take down some live scores!

- On the Stars front I have reached a decision I think. I believe I am +EV in the tournaments I enter, thus, on a purely mathematical front it would be stupid to surpass that opportunity. Further, despite the fields entailing high variance it also means any final table is pretty damn lucrative and certainly to what is still a relatively small roll. That said, despite my average buy-in being kept down (too the point where I was a bit of a BR nit), it may not be wise to enter such a "high" buy-in tournament on Stars. I think, instead, what I'll do is stick to the $5.50s and $11's on Stars, allowing me to incorporate some of the $33s into my game on the Euro sites, as well as reducing the impact of variance from Stars on the roll.

- Generally I am pretty pleased with the amount of volume and effort I put in. I could have perhaps played a few more tournaments in all honesty but I had a friend with me on a couple of occasions so I didn't want to get to engrossed in the games and seem unsociable (we still maintained a conversation at the time of grinding lol). Nonetheless, its about enjoyment as much as results so that was fine with me.


Right, onto the eagerly anticipated figures for the week:

- Tournaments played = 97

- Total Buy-In = $1191.45

- Average Buy-In = $13

- Total Cashes = $2242.45

- Net Profit = $1051

- Cash % = 19.6%

- ROI % = 88.2%


Obviously that is a rather encouraging and satisfying set of figures. I am extremely pleased with the way the week has gone and it probably couldn't have gone better (I won't be too greedy and whine about the odd example!).

As I said in a new year post, if I was to set a financial target for 2010 it would be to achieve a $10,000 roll by the year end. Given its the 01st March on Monday and thus less than one third of the way into the year, I am doing well. However, I don't feel I have hit the inevitable downswing or any long period of running bad so inevitably there will be fluctuations. That said, the volume will severely reduce from this point forward, until June. I have arguably the most important three months of my life coming up and I really need to regain focus on what, essentially, really matters. There won't be any weeks like that unfortunately but I'm hoping to be able to lead a balanced life so I can at least put in a few sessions when time permits in March. As of 01st April I will be self-banned until exams finish at the end of May. My intention is then to play full-time for the entirety of June, as there will be no financial pressure to get a job.

Something that has been playing on my mind is the option of withdrawing some and enjoying the reward for my efforts. There is nothing material that attracts me right now, I would much rather invest the money in doing something with my girlfriend or going away with mates, but when it comes to the latter I seem to spend more of my life talking about doing than actually doing it! Either way, I won't make any rash decisions on it and hopefully let the roll grow to the point where taking a substantial amount out won't hurt so much. Come the summer I'll look at it.

Anyway, I have rambled enough but it will be the last post in a while so make the most of it!

Just finally, I did make a small withdrawal today to pay for a forthcoming trip to Europe with the Mrs for our anniversary. I paid for the plane tickets so thought I may as well let poker reimburse me for that!!

As a result, the roll now stands at $4986.77 and I look forward to hitting the tables again soon! For a now, I'm drained!

GL in the Sunday Majors all, run goot one time!

Session #6 of 6

Well I guess the fact that I am posting at 10.50pm says enough really...

It was a shame to end badly but nonetheless, its been a pretty good week so I can't complain.

Tonight was a case of "what if", I went pretty damn deep in 4 tournaments, busting between 20-28th in all of them. I bubbled 3 and when I say bubbled I mean being 1-4 places outside of the money, in each. Pretty hurtful lol!

It was purely a case of running bad but I won't go into the ins and outs of it, I've obviously run good before now so whatever, to the next session!!

I did manage a couple of cashes but nothing significant and it merely reduced a loss for the night!

I'll do a review post for the week tomorrow, I need to look back over the figures and then reflect both in terms of those figures and how I thought I played over the course of the week.

Session #5

Well tonight was a pretty crappy night and a waste of time really.

At about 10pm I thought I was heading to bed but ended up final tabling the €3.30 on DTD for 3rd. However, that's obviously not as great as it sounds - cashing for €140 ish. That only ensured, along with a cash in the Daily $30k on Stars, a profit of $25 for the night lol.


One tabling and participating in the dullest, softest tournament in the history of poker didn't exactly excite me much. Would have been nice to bink it for €300 but 77 ran into JJ and the rest, as they say, is history.

Some might be thinking "why play the €3.30?". After that I question my logic also but fundamentally its cos there are so few options on DTD/BOSS. They are more of a time filler really, still, nice to win on DTD - it had been a while!

I'm going to have to start an earlier session or not play at all tomorrow, unfortunately. I've had a very unproductive week in certain aspects of life, spending the majority of time applying for summer internships and post-grad jobs, as opposed to actually doing the work to enable me to graduate. So, its an early rise tomorrow and Sunday!

Definitely going to try and get in a session tomorrow though but if not, I'll just do my review post and that will be it for a bit.

GL all!

Session #4

Well the week gets better and tonight was certainly a substantial improvement on last night!

I played the same session as last night, minus the $3r on Stars, I couldn't be putting up with the variance!
I had a few small cashes, including deep runs in the $5r on OnGame, as well as the big $5.50 on Ipoker, making the final 30 before AK < JJ, exactly the same hand that damaged my 50bb stack a few orbits earlier! GG!

Most notably however...I managed to ship the $22 on Ipoker for a cool $850! WOOP!
Although results speak volumes, I have been slightly frustrated by the few minor final tables finishes of late as I felt I've played well and put in a lot of volume.

Anyway, not really much else to post on. I'm certainly feeling really comfortable with my game at the moment and am confident whenever I boot up a tournament (minus Stars of course :P)!
I've still got another couple of sessions left this week, so hopefully I can continue the success story. Until the week end, I won't bother with a full round up of figures but needless to say, I have breached the $5k mark.

GL all


Edit: If only my I.T. skills were half as good as my perceived poker ability

Session #3

FFS Stars, one time.

That is pretty much the crux of the following post!

I played 16 tonight, mediocre session I guess (in terms of volume) but nothing went for me. My only cash was in an $11 on Stars, coming 60 something in one of their huge fish nets, only for a measly $40, reducing the loss for the night to $150!
I consistently go deep in Stars tournaments but the big money always evades me and its really starting to frustrate me.

I had a big debate with myself in previous posts, questioning the logic behind playing on Stars and the same debate will begin to occur again. The variance in the huge fields is just disgusting and I don't believe I do too much wrong or make consistent mistakes when deep, especially these days. Namely, in my opinion, its down to losing those flips when they matter. Might get the run good initially but effort > reward in these tournaments.
On the other hand every other site is proving successful for me. Not only will it be down to less variance/tournament but its probably also to do with the quality of the fields - we all know OnGame and Ipoker networks, for example, can be absolute horror shows in terms of the quality and ability of players.

I'll have a think about it I guess, as like anything there are pros and cons for both options. I'll probably be bust on Stars after the next session so maybe that will be the time to review the setup.

Anyway, off to catch up on some sleep, guess that's the only advantage of it being an early finish! Three more sessions to go this week and then I'll look forward to doing a review post and outlining thoughts on the future!

Session #2

Last night was a bit of an odd one and something that immediately made me think of a statement Jon and Fenix35 (see right) have come out with before... You may think a session is going terribly and then somehow you find yourself deep or on a final table, those are the interesting sessions and you end up getting pumped cos its gone so bad before BOOM, you're in the big money, when you don't anticipate t.

Last night was a bit like that. I started at 7pm and at midnight I hadn't cashed, didn't look like cashing and was beginning to get frustrated. I was just losing every flip/race/all in imaginable...KK
Anyway, determination and volume are key for this week so I stuck at it. At about 10 I registered for a whole more, anticipating things weren't going to plan and also perhaps a little nocturnal from last night! Eventually it paid off. I played 21 (I think) and cashed twice. Fortunately those two cashes were both final tables.

I came 2nd in the $11 on OnGame for $750 (2nd again, ugh!) and managed a 10th in the $11 on ipoker for $100 and some change. Pretty annoyed about the ipoker one really...I sort of limped on to it in all honesty, couldn't get anything going and was one of the short stacks for a while. I was happy with my propensity to shove however but A2 couldn't improve against the flopped J of J9 to send me packing! GG :p

The OnGame final table was going much the same way but I ran good in a particular hand to propel me to the chip lead... Villain shoves A8o with 21bbs, I snap with AKo with about 17bbs and then the bb and chip leader comes along for the ride with A4o. AK held and I'm looking good!

I was slightly disappointed to come 2nd initially, obviously there's a substantial difference between shipping it and coming 2nd! The only thing I remember right now is losing a huge race when heads up ftw. I had gone in with a 2:1 lead and was generally grinding him down. I have KJo on the BTN, standard raise, he 3 bets which he hadn't been doing an awful lot. I elect to call, feeling I have the ability to outplay him post and KJ has the potential to play well in position. Flop comes down J high with 2 clubs. He open shoved, which to me only meant he was flushing and just wanted to get it in. I call and he flips A8cc, turn club. FML. After that I was up against it a little and somewhat card dead, settling for 2nd.

As I say it was slightly annoying but again, I have to put it in perspective. Its the best part of a 20% increase on roll and the two 2nds I have had now amount to $2500. Last night was a $640 profit night so the roll is now at $4600 ish.
I'm really enjoying poker right now, results aside.

I'll put in another session tonight as promised, although it will only be a short one as the deep runs on both nights have meant I've not done as much as I would have liked during the days. I'll play about 12 tonight and probably start a little earlier.

GL all.

Session #1 of an intense week

Well as the title suggests, tonight saw the first session of a pretty volume intensive week.

It didn't quite go as the script would have dictated but this was for a number of reasons in all honesty.
Having spent the weekend moving house I was absolutely exhausted and have entirely destroyed my knee one way or another, having aggravated it in football a couple of weeks ago, playing again last week and then lifting heavy furniture has hindered the healing process! I refused to sit in A&E on the weekend but I think I may have to tomorrow/this week.
I wasn't going to let a bit of tiredness stop me though and I remain committed to putting in a ton of volume this week.

Anyway, as I said it didn't go too well for a variety of reasons. Namely, I had a friend round grinding with me and with the results orientated soul he is, was quite keen for me to sit and watch/guide him, having seen the results I've been achieving of late. This was enjoyable to be honest and we had some good discussions on hands but my concentration wasn't exactly at 100%, with music playing and banter flowing.

When I realised I was nearing the ft of the €3r on Boss, my attitude changed and I began to take note a little! (Prior to this point I had one measly min cash so my heart wasn't in it). Anyway, eventually I ft'd it and busted 8th for a lousy $100 cash.

I also participated in the 2p2 SL game, which was a laugh, the banter made it worth the $11 and it might be a good way to get involved/known in the community a little more.
Anyway, despite the final table, tonight saw me drop a cool $60/70 so hopefully I can make that up this week. In all honesty I was running particularly horribly until the last couple of tables in the Boss tournament, but, alas, the heater/run good can't be maintained forever! As long as I stick to the $60/70 losses I can JUST about live with it for now! Haha.

So, roll stands at $4020...lets hope I breach the $5k mark come Saturday. GL all.

Ship It!

I put in a mini session last night, out of boredom more than anything and fortunately it paid off!

Played 7 and won the $22 Deepstack on Bwin. Unfortunately, its not as lucrative as it sounds... Not only was it the worst tournament I have ever played - the structure was too deep, the standard was the worst I have experienced and the software was being painfully slow but it was also only a small tournament. $450 for my troubles.

Its a nice little boost given my intention to stop playing as of mid-March, for the purposes of concentrating on exams and hopefully I can continue this.

I'll put in another mini session on Thursday night but otherwise that will be it until next week, which will hopefully prove to be the "big one" and consist of many heaters of many sites - take heed Stars, please!

GL all

Update

Thought I'd update on a really good, yet exhausting, weekend and the couple of sessions I've put in since the last post.

Went up to Nottingham for Jon's 21st on Friday, which was a truly eventful and awesome day/night. Won't go in to the ins and outs of it but it was awesome to see everyone (first time since NYE) and it was a pretty wicked celebration. Certainly looking forward to Jack's 21st next weekend, when we shall all congregate on and cause havoc in Manchester!

Aside from that I haven't done a great deal, trying to get on top of the workload whilst also enjoying life and earning some money! Apparently, the three don't tend to mix that well..

Anyway, on the poker front. I sensed a bit of "run bad" and a "downswong" entering the proceedings in mid-week.. Played 12, cashed in 0.
Equally, dropping £12 on the lottery, £10 on roulette and burning money generally didn't fill me with confidence.
Nonetheless, Valentine's or no Valentine's, run bad or run good, I had to participate in Stars' 40th billion milestone tournament tonight, dubbed the micro mill..
Initially I intended to have a small session but naturally it turned into a reasonably sized one after getting bored with few tables...

The micro mill went horrifically as did most things in all honesty. My main concern was keeping my average buy-in down as the milestone tournament fee was $40, something I'm massively under-rolled for. In the end the total buy-in was $180, across 14 tournaments with the average buy-in down at $13, which is comfortably within my affordability..

Anyway, I cashed in 3 (a crappy 54c profit in a $5 lol, a $43.96 in the $22 6 max on Bwin but most notably a $143 cash after an uber deep run in the $250k on Stars...210th (I think) out of 31000 was pretty respectable...
You can't help but feel aggravated after sitting there for this long only to break-even. That said, it would be naive to think of it that way, despite only breaking-even over the course of the night, in respect of that particular tournament, I should be really pleased, especially after bitching and whining at Jon for the majority of the night at how bad it was going... for both of us!

Most notably, I gave a lot of thought to certain hands when down to 1 table and attempted to get in the habit of analysing hands I'm not involved in and assigning ranges etc. I hope to spend a lot of time on 2p2 this week looking over a few hands etc...

On the playing front, I won't be able to put in a session before Thursday but I hope to then depending on what time the footy is and how I feel after. Otherwise, its my reading week the week after, when I intend to play every night.

Roll has dipped after a couple of bad sessions but nonetheless stands at about $3700.
Hopefully reading week can be a productive week in every sense!

GL all

Changing Tides

I managed to put in a little session this evening, which unfortunately didn't go very well at all! I played 14 or so tournaments and didn't cash in any, bubbling a couple being the best I could manage tonight!

I sat down to have another large session, with 25+ lined up ready but I was still recovering from a very heavy Friday night and as a result a pretty ridiculous weekend. I haven't been drinking that much recently as I attempted to make a pact with myself to rule it out for a month. I failed - think that was the third night where I have really drank and boy did it show. I got dragged out in the first place, not in the mood, which perhaps didn't help but I was essentially in a coma until 6.50am on Sunday morning when I emerged from my pit. Rough one! That probably led to some pretty bad decisions tonight, plus I thought I may use the opportunity to get back into some good sleeping patterns too, hence why I unreg'd and ended early!

Think that could be the last session for a couples of weeks now, unfortunately. I've got a fairly busy couple of weeks ahead before my reading week, which entails a week off for private study. Given I'm aware of all my due dates for respective assignments my intention is to clear a lot of the workload in preparation for reading week, so I can take advantage of the mrs being away and put in some solid sessions. Come March there will be significantly less opportunities for me to put in the volume so I'm hoping that 10 day period could be quite a big opportunity to get the $$$!

Come April I will be self-banning myself until the end of May when my exams finish and in March I will see a reduction in what is already a lack of volume! So, I'm pretty keen to make the most of reading week as I say, get a massive amount of volume in and then spend more of my time in March putting in the hours on MTT strategy as opposed to actually playing.

We'll see how it pans out! GL all.

Edit: Not sure when I will next be posting, as I won't be playing much or have much to post about, other than random crap! So, as of tonight the roll stands at $3980...
On course for the target of $5000 by the summer. Let's hope it continues!

Onwards and Upwards

Some more good news on the poker front!

Had quite an intense session last night, playing 25 tournaments across the various sites. In hindsight, this was an extremely bad move and not well thought out on my part. Although 25 tournaments may well be fine, 14-tabling at one particular time was not so EV!
I timed out in a few spots and was clearly not bringing my A-game, given I was entirely unable to analyse hands and look for reads on people.
That said, when it came to crunch time it was slightly more manageable, with there being 6/7 tables running, all entering the bubble period.

I had a few deep runs in various tournament on Stars but nothing major to speak of, maybe 3-4 buy-ins worth, in terms of a cash, but alas, no lucrative sum at this point.

However, once again Bwin came up trumps! At the start of the evening I decided to take a couple of "shots". I say "shots" because it was only $22 tournaments and €11 tournaments, which I wasn't rolled for in essence but I managed to keep the average buy-in down to about $9, allowing for a few higher stakes.

It would seem I struck gold in this decision! I managed to get a 2nd place in the $22 $8k GTD on Bwin, pulling in $1788, just surpassing my previous biggest score!
In hindsight I question a couple of my decisions in this tournament. I felt I played really really well on the final table and am beginning to fully utilise the HUD, with it providing me with some solid reads and info. I was also patient and picking the right spots. However, I think my heads up play left a lot to be desired and the pay jump between 2nd and 1st was over $1000, maybe I should have tried to set up some sort of deal. I could see the tables beginning to turn in the game, with stacks starting off pretty even but him grinding me down before my JTdd couldn't improve against his 55. Still, can't complain but maybe some food for thought or an area to improve on!

Will do exact figures later but the roll has just about breached the $4000 mark!

Also, wp to Jon who also got a 2nd place finish last night in the €20+2 deep stack on DTD.