Taking Shots

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, I certainly did. It’s been a very busy week and I apologize for not being able to post more. This visit has reinforced the importance of having a professional poker station to work from. Any disruption in your Internet and equipment can really cost you a lot of poker time (and time is money in poker). Having a high quality setup will go a long way in preventing any hiccups.

From the 20th to the 23rd I was visiting with a friend who had stable wireless. In that time I got in 2303 hands. The players were extra crazy as Christmas got closer, so these sessions were a bit of a roller coaster. I was happy with my play, but ended up down $80 for my stay. I also cleared $36 in bonus money.

I was back at the parents place after Christmas. On the 26th and 27th they were still having Internet problems, but we got them a new router and that seems to have done the trick. Before that I didn’t want to 4 table on my laptop with shaky wireless, so I decided to go a different route to get some hands in. I played some $50NL heads up and to spice things up a little if I won 4 buy ins there, since I knew the games would be very good this time of year, I would parlay that to take a 1 buy in shot at a $200PL HU table.

Heads up NL is so much fun. I really enjoy dissecting a player so well that it’s no longer a question of IF you get their money, just WHEN you get it. I suggest everyone gets in a few hours of heads up each week. It really sharpens parts of your game playing 6-8 tables can dull down.

Apparently people were in the holiday spirit, as they were just giving money away. It didn’t take me very long to make the 4 buy ins I needed to take a shot. The play was just as bad in the $200PL game, and after about 750 hands I made $794 ($14 in bonus cleared).

I’m very happy I decided to take a calculated shot as that should put me in range to play the $100 tables, which was on of my monthly goals, when I return to FL. A true professional player is able to maximize his bankroll without ever risking it. It would be a bankroll mistake for me to continue playing the $200PL game, but I recognized the games would be extra juicy, made my “shot money” at my normal limits, and took advantage of some seasonably terrible play. After you’re in the game for a while you will notice certain situations that are great for taking a shot. If a higher game is extremely juicy taking a 1-2 buy in shot can often make you a lot of money. As long as you don’t take shots blindly you will find great opportunities to accelerate your limits.

Since this update spans multiple weeks I will leave off the weekly stats to avoid confusion. I’ll continue with that when I get my schedule back to normal upon returning to FL on the 31st.

Bankroll: $3904
Hands played this month: 23525
Bonus/rakeback this month: $476