Still Rolling

My son started feeling sick this morning while we were getting ready for school so I got to stay home with him for a half day, his mother took the second half. 

He slept so I got to play a couple hours of cards this morning and another couple hours this evening.  I kept the good streak going in both sessions of 1 tabling 4.00 nl.  I made a little over 10.00 today putting the bankroll at 148.04.

Learning Experience

After a brutal Sunday I was down nearly 50.00.  I couldn't do anything right.  It was time to throw in the towel and give up.  I played 4.00 nl and 1.00 6 man's and kept getting owned.  I tried 1.00 18 man's, same thing.  I fell fast playing within my bankroll limits.

Tonight I wasn't going to play until after 9:00.  I started with a single 1.00 6 man.  I won it.  I tried 2 more 6 man's 1 at a time and lost both of those.  Then I tried an 18 man and couldn't even get started when I lost that.  I decided to play a single 10.00 nl table.  I covered my cards and played position and my opponents.  I took notes on each of them.  I ended up losing 2 half buy in's but had great reads on how they were playing so I uncovered my cards, added on a full buy in of 10.00, and played against them.

Less than an hour later I was up to 27.00 and if I would have kept playing think I could have doubled that in the next hour.

I didn't multi-table.  I was able to figure out my opponents weaknesses and capitalize on them.  Now I have notes on those players for the future.  It was a good learning experience for me and a confidence booster. 

I am down for the week but not nearly as bad as I was.  I started the week with 158.00 and now I am at 136.67.  Rakeback from yesterday and Saturday helped too.

Brag Post

I started out bad today losing 17.00 in cash games playing pretty poorly in 2 1 hour 9 table sessions.  I knew I had a chance to make it up in some tournament play today.

I got in a couple pokerowned freerolls, a couple 1.10 18 man sng's and a 1.00 deep stack tourney.  I came close but didn't finish in the money in any of those.  I was 12th in one of the pokerowned tourneys.

I was also registered in a 50 seats to 109.00 tournament and the 10,000.00 vip freeroll on carbon.  I finished right at 100th in the 50 seats and did really well in the VIP freeroll with nearly 2500 runners.  I fought my way all to 12th before I ran QQ into AK preflop all in.  Flop came A K K and I was out with 98.00 winnings.  I am up 80.00 today.

My bankroll is now at 158.66.  This week was rough.  I started out the week at 101.20 and took a couple big losing sessions getting down by nearly 50.00.  This brings my week to an end, being up 57.00. 

I need to keep my focus and move in the right direction.  Bad play this week was killing me.

Sick Day

This morning I woke up with a pain in my stomach.  I knew what was coming but it was the worst possible day for it.  I had to get payroll completed at work.

My wife and youngest son had already had the flu this week.  I went to work and got payroll in.  Then I came home.  What a miserable day.  Every bone in my body hurt.

This afternoon I slept off and on.  Then at midnight my wife comes to bed.  My body decides to feel a little bit better so I got up.  I am able to play poker for the first time today.

I played a 1 hour 9 table session and came out ahead by 9.00.  Bankroll now at 77.81.

I am going to try to sleep since I have the 10,000.00 VIP Freeroll later. 

When I got back up I took some ibuprofen to settle my back down.  It still hurts, but it feels a little better.  If I can get a few hours of sleep I guess that's better than nothing.  I'm ready to feel normal again.

Keep Building

Tonight was fun.  I can't wait to get home each night to work at building my bankroll.

I played a 1 hour session of 9 tables at 4.00 nl.  I also played 12 1.00 sng's.  I was up 5.00 and wanted to play some more non serious games so I loaded up 10 .10 6 man sng's.  Good thing.  I didn't do well in those.  I ended up 4.00 tonight.

Bankroll at 67.56

On the session of 9 tables I got stacked on 4 tables.  I was on a couple really active tables and ended up with 7.50 on one and 9.50 on the other before ending the session.

This weekend is the 10,000 VIP freeroll.  I have missed the last few of those but should be able to make this one.  I plan to play that and some Pokerowned freerolls.  If I can do good in those it could really help my bankroll.

I'm looking forward to my trip out to Vegas next week.  The Venetian DSE is going on and I am thinking of playing a couple of those tournaments along with some 1 2 nl. 

With a week out there I will have plenty of time to get a good amount of poker in.

Losing Streak

My game has turned to the dark side this week.  Sunday I lost 38.00.  I didn't play well.  I can't watch TV and play and do worth a crap.  Monday I played freerolls and took 3rd in a PokerOwned game.  It was good for 4.80.  Last night I played for about 20 minutes and was up about 3.00. 

Tonight.  I have ran 3 of a kind into higher 3 of a kinds.  Flushes have been catching against my made hands.  Aces are getting cracked.  I was down 23.00.  I am now down 16.00.  I am going to play one more session of 9 tables for 30 minutes then head to bed.

Well I played for 30 more minutes and lost 4 more dollars.  Ran into Aces and got stacked on a couple more tables.  I couldn't get anybody to call on any of the other tables.  I'm stuck 20.00 tonight.

Down to 60.84.

Back From Louisianna

Yesterday I arrived home from my trip down to Louisiana.  I loaded up 3 4.00 tables and 1 10.00 table.  I went down by 14.00 pretty quick.  I don't know if it was bad play or bad beats.  I'm sure it was a little of both.  I was watching football so I was a little distracted.  K-State played really well. 

I also played a pokerowned freeroll.  I finished 11 with 10 getting paid.  I was a little ticked as every short stack that went all in with crap that was called by somebody with a pair or AK type of hands sucked out and stayed in the game.  After 30 minutes of this I got an AQ and went all in to be called by pocket 5's.  I didn't suck out anything and even though 1 other player went out before me on the other table I finished after him because my chip stack dwindled while he kept sucking out.

I took a short break and came back to load 4 4.00 tables.  I was going to play smart and try to cut down a little of that loss so I could end the night with a smaller loss. 

All 4 tables went great and I didn't hardly lose a hand.  One table went extremely well and I took a couple buy ins from 1 guy that was trying to bluff me every hand. 

At the end of the night, I ended up being ahead by 4.00.  I am now at 105.80.

Grinding On The Road

My Current Grind Room

The last 2 days I have been playing out of a motel room in Louisiana.  I'm down here for a fishing tournament but have had a little bit of time each night to put in a little time playing.

Last night I played 4 1.00 6 man sng's and cash.  I won 1 and took 2nd in another.  Then I mixed it up a little and played 3 4.00 nl tables and 1 10.00 nl table.  I was up 9.00 at the end of the night.  Today I played the same for a while then switched to all 4.00 tables.  I ended the sessions up 11.00.

I am now up to 101.20.  I will keep grinding away at the 4.00 tables with a 10.00 table thrown in every once in a while until I get over 200.00.

Bad Bankroll Management

I was incredibly lucky and came out ahead 8.00 tonight after going against my bankroll management.  Lets not do that again for a long time.  I was playing at a friends house and was up 7.00 after ending our cash game session.  I decided to play a 1.00 6 man sng.  I lost but felt I could have easily won.  I saw the same people on some sng's so I loaded some more.  I lost those. 

I started chasing my losses and figured I could beat 2.00 sng's  I won a couple but it was not enough.  I wanted to be ahead tonight so I played 4 5.00 sng's.  I won 1 and took a 2nd in 1.  I was down 4.00 for the night.  I wanted to be up so I loaded 4 1.00 sng's and won 1 and lost the other 3.  I decided to try 4 more 5.00 sng's and end the night with however it turned out.  I was doing good on all 4 tables.  Then I took a horrible beat on 1 table when my KK lost to J7o. 

I lost the next table 10 10 to A5s.  I really concentrated on the last 2 tables.  I was way up on 1 of them and was decent on the other with 3 left.  I won the first table pretty fast.  The second table took a while and by the time the 3rd player was taken out I was down 3 to 1.  I flopped a straight and he bet into me.  I raised.  He reraised me all in and I called.  We were even on chips.  I was able to work him down and ended up winning with J6o against his KQ when my J flopped and held.

Rough Night

It was rough but I managed to play back to 9.00 down, from being down 16.00 to start tonight.  Two losing nights in a row.  It's a wonder I was able to do anything as many times as I ran QQ and KK into AA.  One of the 2 times I had AA I caught trips on a AKT rainbow board and the big stack reraised me all in.  He had QJ to take my 6.00 on the table. 

I tightened up and worked on some of my many leaks to try to get back up a little.  I happened to come upon a couple players that played hard at me and I was able to build up to 13.50 on one of my tables from my original 2.00 buy in. 

I get greedy and pay the price.  I need to play my game and wait for the right moments to make my moves.

Goofing Around

Sunday is now over for me.  I did a lot of goofing around today.  Everybody needs a break from the grind.  I played some .10 sng's to goof around and a pokerowned freeroll.  I also played a couple 45 minute sessions of 4.00 holdem.  It was the standard, lose half my tables, get up on half my tables.  I should have destroyed it today.  There were times that I was way up, then I got great starting hands and whiffed the flop, tried a follow up bet and was raised substantially.

Needless to say I am down 6.00 today.  Three dollars of that was sent to a friend to get him back to playing some again before we head to Vegas in a few weeks.

I had one guy talking crap on a cash table after I turned trip 8's against his pocket J's.  He maintained his composure but everyone else at the table came after me.  I kept getting good cards and stacking them, getting up 3 1/2 buy ins.

This morning I went to church and was going to go into work afterwards for a little bit to catch up on some things.  I will be leaving Tuesday night after work for a fishing tournament in Louisiana.  I made the regionals in the Okie Division BFL.  Instead of going to work I had a fish fry and invited family over.  It's just too hard to go into work volutarily sometimes.

We ate, then I drug out our new pop up camper to show everyone.  We set it up and the kids hung out in there while the adults talked and played cards.  It was a great afternoon.

I ended today with 80.80 in my account.  I cleared 1.26 in rakeback yesterday.

Saturday of Play

I ran good in my first 45 minute session including this hand where I was able to get pocket 7's all in with Quads.  I was up on all 4 tables at the end of the session.  I had A8 and limped from mid position.  Big Blind checked.  Flop came 9 8 8 I was able to get a good pot out of that when he bet big with his pair of 9's.  Up 5.00 after that session.

I have a pokerowned freeroll at noon and a seat in the 100 seats to the Sunday ticket tournament at 3:00.

Poker is fun again!

After another 45 minute session I am down 7.00.  I should be happy that my AQ dominated A9 all in preflop, or my pocket 6's tripped and I got paid, but there were too many losses to make them the important hands of the 45 minutes.  I played JJ into against an aggressive player.  He was overbetting and I should have pulled out after the turn but he got me to put all my chips in to see his trip 9's he caught on the turn.  There was also a K on the board.  He doesn't give chips away so I should have known.  I did stack him on another table so we were even for the session.

Losing 2 buy ins right away hurt and I wasn't getting paid for my premium hands.

I'm down 2.00 for the day right now, getting ready for the pokerowned freeroll.  Time to shift gears for tournament play.

Out 875 out of 2277 in horse freeroll.  Had a good run in stud but got beat up in holdem.

Out 20th out of 55 in Pokerowned.  I had a good hand early Q10 on the button.  I limp.  Flop comes KJ9 rainbow.  I check.  Bet and call behind me.  I go all in and get a call from pocket Aces.  I hold and am in 5th in chips.  Standard play until 45 minutes into the game.  I'm 2nd largest stack at the table on the button with 88.  I have 3 limpers before me.  I raise half pot.  I get called by player to my left.  Flop comes JJ3.  Player checks.  I bet pot.  He calls.  His play up to this point was screaming overcards.  He checks turn and I go all in to try to show I have something.  He called with pocket 10's and put me out of the game.  Pocket 10's in this situation would play like overcards.  I will have to remember that.  I absolutely hate playing with 2 top 5 stacks on tables early.  I should have easily made final table and money but I got greedy and overplayed my hand.

No loss of bankroll since I played freerolls.  Love poker!

The 3rd 45 minute session was dominated by this hand.  There was a raise and re-raise before me.  I called and the first raiser went all in.  With 4.00 of winnable money in the pot I called hoping to catch trips.  When I saw they both had AK I started calling for a ten.  When I got that I called for no clubs and took down a good pot.  I was up 5.25 from the 3rd session.

50 Seats to 109.00.  Nothing I could do here.  Bad call after Bad call from other players that got rewarded over and over.  finished with 200 left out of 800 one hour 45 minutes into tourney.

The 4th 45 minute session was a dud.  Came out 1.00 down for the session.  Right at the end I got QQ all in against AK clubs.  Flop came 2 clubs and river was a club.  I lost 2 all ins and got 1.  I ran JJ into AA on another.  My AA held against KQ.  He couldn't get his chips in the middle fast enough.  All I had to do was call.

I was trying to qualify for the Chip King game for tomorrow.  I had opted in when I first read about it, but after clearing 100 points this week and not getting a ticket I logged into my account and apparently the opt in period has ended and I wasn't opted in.  Between not being able to download money to get my reload bonus and not being able to participate in the monthly promotion, I am getting a little ticked.  I could be making more money.

After a full day of playing off and on, I came out ahead 4.64.  My bankroll is now at 85.16.  I had .17 in rakeback from last night.

1.5 hour session

Tonight I put in a 1 1/2 hour session playing 4.00 nl cash.  I was doing great on all 4 tables.  Then right as I was getting ready to end my session I lost 3 huge hands.

I had AQc and raised a pot sized bet.  I was called by the button.  The flop came out 6c Jd Kc.  I led out a 1/2 pot bet.  Button followed with a re-raise.  I called.  Turn came a 7s.  I checked.  Button went all in for a pot size bet.  I called with a chance of a straight or a flush or possibly a higher pair. He had a king. The river brought nothing.

On another table I had a super tilted player that kept going all in.  I had stacked him a couple times already and he went all in for 1.69.  I had KJo.  He had been going all in with hands like 95o J4o etc.  I called and he had A7o.  He hit his 7 on the flop and I didn't hit anything.  I was still up 4.50 on that table.  I also lost 2.00 KK to QJo all in preflop on another table when the guy  hit two pair on the flop.

I had gotten lucky a couple of hands earlier when I had AsKc and got it all in Against KQ on a flop of KsQs5s when my ace hit on the river.

For the most part I played pretty solid, got decent cards, and got action with them.  I ended up getting 2.86 rakeback from last night so I am now up to 77.36. 

I ended the session up 1.02.  Tomorrow I have a to put in a few hours at work, but should be able to get quite a few hours of play in.

I will probably play about 4 45 minute sessions.  I will get into a couple of PokerOwned freerolls and try a couple 1.00 tournaments.

If I find myself getting bored or playing poorly I'll try to shut it down for a while and find something else to do.  I have a hard time not playing every tournament I can get into on the weekends. 

Introduction

This is the first blog of my efforts to make money at the wonderful game of poker.  I play nl 4.00 holdem right now and low stakes sng's and tournaments.  My bankroll a month ago was at 3.00.  I had a lucky break in a tournament for 50.00 and have been working the cash games since to get up to 73.50 when I left the tables last night. 

Most of the time I 4 table the cash games and buy in for a half a buy in.  I feel like I get more people playing at me when I have a lower stack and can actually get more calls when I have bad hands.

I have been reading the Blueprint of poker.  It has helped to solidify some of my plays and added some new lines I can take when I am playing.

It is almost impossible for me to deposit on Carbon so I will try and use good bankroll management practices to keep building. 

I was going to use 20 buyins at the next level before I move up so I could get out of the 4.00 level quickly, but I will probably go 40 buyins since I cannot add more money to my account.  I play 1.00 tournaments and sng's right now and will only move up if I get to 100 buy ins at the next level. 

Last night I had a bad night and was continuously down all night after my KK did not hold to a Q8.  He hit an 8 on the flow with a J on the board and bet big.  I re-raised and he went all in.  I called to see the Q hit on the turn and lost my first buy in of the night.  From that point on I would go down and come back up but never got above being 3.00 down.  That's the way I ended the night, 3.00 down.  I've had a lot worse nights and the rakeback I should have made after all that play should be around 1.50 to 2.00.

Tonight I will try to play a little better.  I was really loose last night and kept running lower pairs into higher pairs, Q high flushes into K high flushes, low end straights into high end straights, things that I can usually step away from.  Last night I couldn't trust anybody and I paid the price.