What a Wild Week

The last few days have been pretty crazy. On Wednesday and Thursday I went through a cold streak that was about as bad as it could get. On Wednesday it got so bad that I went on tilt for the first time in a while. I recognized it immediately and decided I would play through it instead of just stopping. When you are first learning to deal with your emotions you should almost always just get up from the tables when you feel yourself losing control. As you get more experienced you should work on recognizing your tilt and play through it without it affecting your play. This is a lot harder than it sounds. Most people think they can play through tilt, but just end up making poor decisions. This is why I suggest most people stop playing immediately when the feel any tilt. This is much better than fooling yourself into playing when you’re not at your best.

That being said, if you are able to catch yourself tilting and not allow it to affect your play you will be able to find some new profitable situations you’d otherwise miss. When you go on tilt it’s usually because of a few big outdraws. If you’re getting your money in good and losing the game is probably pretty juicy. If you can continue to play well you’re in a very profitable situation. The other players might also think you’re tilting so if you ham it up a little bit you can use that image to your advantage.

Although my luck didn’t turn around that day I was able to get into a lot of good situations that just didn’t happen to work out. I was tempted to take a day off but decided to just put my head down and fight through the down streak. The rest of the week was much better and I was able to get a good chunk from the cold streak back. In 5284 hands I lost $1250. Hopefully I’ll go on a nice rush in the next few months so I can take a fat bankroll to the WSOP.

Bankroll: $16359
Hands played this week: 7594
Bonus cleared this week: 0
Hands played this month: 39408
Bonus/rakeback this month: $1300

F Bright House

I took Monday off to go to the Rays game and catch up on some TV. Today I cut my afternoon session short because I wasn't concentrating very well. Nothing to worry about, it's just something that happens from time to time. In the attempt to play as many hands as possible you need to make sure that you're not pushing yourself to play when you aren't going to be playing your best poker.

My 2nd session of the day was cut short when our cable went out (F Bright House) for about an hour. I would pay a lot of money for an Internet connection that was guaranteed never to be down. This one incident cost me $400, so it would be well worth it. Between Sunday and Tuesday I got in 2310 hands and made $74o. Hopefully there won't be anything holding me back from getting in a ton of hands tomorrow.

Bankroll: $17609
Hands played this week: 2310
Bonus cleared this week: 0
Hands played this month: 34124
Bonus/rakeback this month: $1300

Time Flies......

Wow, this week has gone by so fast. I hadn’t realized that it’s been a week since my last post. For a guy without a 9-5 I sure have a lot on my plate. I think one thing that has helped my game is having other activities each day that give me a break from poker. It helps to prevent burn out, which allows me to get in more hours and have those hours be at a much higher quality of play.

I’m starting to feel like I have accomplished most of the goals I set when I started this blog. Most important of those goals was to consistently put in the hours each week. I’ve never had a problem making money when I play; it’s been playing enough hands that’s been an issue. I’m happy to say that I think that problem is completely solved. The combination of a well rounded life, dedication to improving my play, and the desire to make an ass load of money has given me the motivation to put in the hours.

It’s crazy what you can do when you actually play a lot of poker hands, and the last few weeks have been proof of that. This week I got in 10140 hands and made $2,299. A good portion of the hands were done while 3 tabling, so if I play the same amount of hours next week I’ll get in even more hands. I was up a little more than $4k on the week but got hit by a cold deck on Saturday and lost some of it back. I’m still playing great and feel like I’m getting better everyday. Jared and I have been going over each other’s PT databases and discussing them a few times a week. It’s definitely helped both of us to take our games to the next level.

Don’t let me go a whole week without an update again. If I’m not posting put up some comments or post on the board. Honestly it slips my mind sometimes with everything else I have going on. I’ll shoot for a post every 1-2 days next week.

Bankroll: $16869
Hands played this week: 10140
Bonus cleared this week: 0
Hands played this month: 31813
Bonus/rakeback this month: $1100

Another Good Week in the Books

I’m very happy with the amount of time I spent playing poker this week. If I can keep up this pace I will be a very rich man pretty soon. I’ve found that I have eliminated most of the execution errors from my game. If I make a mistake it’s because I read someone’s hand wrong. When my instincts tell me to do something I have learned to just do it. Sure I will be wrong sometimes but that is a necessary part of the learning process. Trusting your instincts and being wrong is much better than failing to follow through with your gut. If you’re not executing you will never be able to improve your hand reading skills past the very basic level. You need to be wrong sometimes so you can figure out what isn’t working in your decision making process. Learning to execute is not easy, but it is a necessary step if you want to really become an excellent poker player.

I’ve worked very hard on that aspect of my game the last few weeks and I think it’s really starting to pay off. I surprise myself how often I’m right, and when I’m going with my instincts it’s easy to make the small adjustments now that I can see what I’m doing wrong. The Bodog tables have been like a roller coaster ride for that past few days. Just like the real thing, I love the ride. I’ve also figured out a good strategy to crush the full tilt tables that I throw in. In the 7050 hands I’ve played since the last post I’ve made $1857. I am really motivated to play a ton of poker. Focusing on improving my game makes it feel like less of a grind and really puts me in the mood to play a ton of poker. I’ve earned about $700 in rakeback half way through the month and I would like to make a push for $2500 for the entire month. If I keep up this pace there is no reason why I shouldn’t be able to do that.

Bankroll: $14570
Hands played this week: 11642
Bonus cleared this week: 0
Hands played this month: 21773
Bonus/rakeback this month: $720

Some Funny Bodog Hands

Some Funny Hands

Here are some good examples of how good the Bodog games are:

Hand 1:

Effective Stacks $300
Villain raises to $11 UTG
Hero looks at QQ and re-raises to $40
Button calls $40
UTG calls

Pot::$125

Flop: 9dQd2d

UTG checks
Hero goes all in for $260
Button folds
Villain thinks…thinks….thinks…calls with 6s6h

Hand 2:

Effective stacks $450

We have been playing heads up for about 30 hands

Villain limps the button
Hero raises to $9 with 8h7h
Villain calls $9

Flop: 6h5d4s

Villain over bets the pot with a $30 bet
Hero min-raises to $60
Villain min-raises to $90
Hero min-raises to $120
Villain min-raises to $150
Hero min-raises to $180
Villain calls

Turn Ac

I hadn’t had enough min-raising yet so:

Hero bets $35
Villain goes all in
Hero calls

Villain shows 99

So, as you can see the Bodog games are amazing. I’ve been playing very well the last couple days and have had some great results. I think I’ve slowed down just enough that I’m not making very many bad bluffs, but not enough so they stop giving me action. I was up about $2500 since my last post until the last session I played. It was a pretty rough session but I had climbed my way near even mostly thanks to a player who gave me more than half of his $1300 stack. He was owning the rest of the table but I knew exactly how to induce him to go broke with his one pair hands even when we were 200+ bbs deep.

I was excited that the table broke and I was able to play him heads up. We both had around $1200 in our stacks, which is about 4 buyins. I told Jared that I was probably going to play one of the deepest pots in my career pretty soon; as I knew I could get him to put it all in even that deep. I was correct as we played the following pot:

Effective stacks:
$1200

Villain limps button
Hero raises to $15 with QQ

Flop comes 3d3hjs
Hero Bets $22
Villain raises to $44

This is what he did on any hand he wanted to play. He could have a J, a smaller pair, or a 3.
Hero calls

Turn Q

When that card hit I yelled over to Jared “Here comes the 8 buyin pot!”

Hero bets $111
Villain raises to $300

I know he has a 3 and won't fold so:

Hero raises all in
Villain calls with 93o

River: 3

An 8 buyin pot is definitely the deepest I have ever played and to lose it to a one outer was a pretty big shock. My reaction was a half yell half laugh. It was really too big of an outdraw to really put me on tilt. It’s never been the big things that set me off, just a lot of little things over and over again. The way I see it is that I will probably never see an outdraw in a cash game that bad for the rest of my life. The chance that I play an 8 buyin pot and have them dead to one card in the deck is pretty unlikely. So I’m glad that I got that out of the way now. There is obviously a big risk when you decide to play anyone heads up that deep, but I did it knowing I had a huge edge. I got my money in just about as good as you can, there’s not much more you can ask for in poker. It took me like two minutes to move on.

Even after losing a $2400 pot I am still up $1069 in 4592 hands this week. We are finishing up the details for our WSOP house, so I want to get in as much poker as possible for the next 2 months so I can play all the events that I want. I’m shooting for about $100 a day in rakeback, so if I can do that and keep winning at a similar rate I should be in great shape the next few months.

Bankroll: $12713
Hands played this week: 4592
Bonus cleared this week: 0
Hands played this month: 14723
Bonus/rakeback this month: $150

Some bumps in the road

The last 2 days haven’t been the best poker performances of my career. I think I let a bad run of cards get to me and I ended up trying to manufacture some wins that just weren’t there. One thing that always has frustrated me is when I can’t get people to fold to bluffs (like on Bodog) and whenever I play pots my opponent shows a better hand. I think the frustration comes from the helpless feeling you can get during those runs. When you are forced to sit on your hands while your opponent pummels you in the face, it can get tough at times. I usually can maintain a good deal of patience, but it just wasn’t there the last 2 days.

I don’t think there is any cause for concern, and it probably sounds like a bigger deal than it really is. The more I work on improving my game the more disappointed I get when I play poorly. I just need to make sure I use that disappointment positively instead of just beating myself up over it. I know everyone has their off days; I am just very motivated to reduce those days to the bare minimum.

I think a good day of relaxation is the only thing I need to cure what ails me. I’ve been going full throttle with poker, the site, and daily activities that my brain is a little fried. I think I will take Sunday off, go to the Devil Rays game, finish up some writing, and just take it easy. The total damage really wasn’t all that bad. In 3935 hands I lost $1367, or about 4.5 buyins at the level I’m now playing. In the large scope of things 4.5 is nothing, I just know it could have been a lot less if I was on my A game. I got a decent amount of hands in this week and on Monday I will be ready to get even more in.

Funny String of Events

Note: This is not meant to be a bad beat story, I just thought this was this was too funny to not post. Remember every time you tell a bad beat story a small child dies.

While playing some $300NL on Bodog I raise up Ac8c and get called by the SB. The flop comes out 2c3c4d and I let out the obligatory "SEXY TIME". I bet near the pot and get called. The turn is a blank 10 and I bet about 3/4 pot and get called. The river is the Ah. From the way he played that hand I felt he was pretty weak, with his most likely hand being a weak PP. I was pretty sure he didn't have a 5 so I made a small $75 bet hoping to get called by on of those weak pairs. He called and Showed A9, and I couldn't help to laugh out lout when he scooped the pot.

The very next hand I get AA on the BB. Everyone limps and I try to feign tilt by making a pretty large raise. One players says "Tilt?" before folding. The next hand I get QQ in the SB and now have a full stack once again. The player who made the "Tilt?" comment made a raise and when it folded to me I instantly stacked all in knowing he would call with anything other than trash. I was right and he insta called with TT. The flop came T98 and he took the pot.

His comment after the hand was "That's what you get for raising so much". That got another laugh from me and I was ready to forget about the hand when he kept talking. I've been working with some strategic shit talk so I decided to mess with him a bit. The convo went like this:

Me: "You stack is getting pretty big you might want to leave soon"

Him: "Why would I want to do that"

Me: "It would be a shame if you lost it all to me"

Him: "You want to go play someplace else and try"

Me: "Sure heads up? What stakes do you want to play"

Him: "Lower"

Me: "lol"

Him: "I only have $100 available in my account" (he was playing $300NL with a $1k stack)

Me: "LOL I'll pass then"

I ended up getting about $250 back from him before he left.

A Near Disaster

When I went to write my blog entry yesterday I nearly got sick when I went to open up my results spreadsheet. Apparently the excel file had become corrupted (I still have no clue why) and it looked like I had lost all of my data for the year. I probably could have pieced it together from my blog entries, but that would have been a huge pain in the ass. Luckily after a little digging I found a backup copy I had made right before I left for Seattle. For any of you who keep results for personal use and tax purposes make sure you have a back up copy at all times. You can get a portable drive like this USB flash drive for pretty cheap. Keep a back up on the drive and make sure all your important documents are update at least once a week there. This should save you the massive headache that comes with losing an important file.

I’ve been playing very well and the results are starting to come in. Since my last update I have played 6196 hands and made $2409, playing mostly Bodog $300NL and FT $200NL. The best part of that is I have been running really really poorly for the week. That gives me a lot of confidence that I will be able to continue winning at this rate and higher. The bad beats really don’t bother me at all anymore. I am much more focused on what I can do to fix any of the mistakes that I might be making. Some of the Bodog players are so terrible that it’s hard to not laugh when they outdraw you.

Jared and I got half season tickets to the Devil Rays this year, and opening day is tonight. Hopefully I will be able to get in some good time afterwards as Friday nights on Bodog are pretty much a poker player’s dream.

Bankroll: $13011
Hands played this week: 6196
Bonus cleared this week: 0
Hands played this month: 6196
Bonus/rakeback this month: $150

First Week Back

I’ve been back in FL for a little less than a week, and have been going full throttle the whole time. I’ve been doing so much that I’ve only been sleeping about 5 hours a night. I have most of the things I wanted to set on my return accomplished and am extremely happy with my current situation. Stuff like fixing my diet and getting a gym membership with help a ton with poker, as well as my overall quality of life.

I actually need to slow down a bit so I can get in even more poker and have more time to work on the site. That shouldn’t be a problem now that I have most everything taken care of. I have a good routine going now that allows me to do everything I want to along with a ton of time for poker and the site.

I’ve got a decent amount of hands in since my return. I started playing a mix of 6 max $100NL and short handed $200NL at the beginning of the week. I did incredibly well with that and made enough to try my hand at $300NL 6 max when the games were good. That’s gone extremely well and I’ve had myself the best week since I started the project. I did a lot of thinking about my game while I was away, and it seems to be paying of nicely. I’ve had so much experience at the game that I need to make my improvements by thinking about the game off the table then working it out when I start playing again. The trip gave me a lot of time to do just that. The games at bodog have been amazing, so that has definitely helped as well. I’m playing 3 of those along with 2 or 3 full tilt $200NL thrown in. It’s nice to have them both because whenever I get the itch to make a good bluff I can just do it on the Full Tilt table since that kind of thing rarely works on bodog.

I played 6,090 hands and made a nice profit of $3091 for the week. If I keep this up I’ll be able to play the $300 6 max tables full time and be in position to start making some real money. The rakeback will be great and I should be able to make my goal of $2500 in rakeback a month pretty easily on those tables. I can’t wait to get a lot of hands as I feel really great about my game right now.

Bankroll: $10602
Hands played this week: 6090
Bonus cleared this week: 0
Hands played this month: 13240
Bonus/rakeback this month: $550