Things have been on a downturn for me lately. I played another 5 table $1.25 SNG this morning. Finished higher than I have in quite a while: seventh. Places paid: six. I sucked out a couple of times to stay alive when I probably should have busted because I made poor plays. But the biggest problem I detected was that I played too weak most of the time. I tried pulling a few positional bets and steals, and what do you know - they worked. Maybe my table image was so tight that my raises got some respect. But I need to take more advantage of that. I also need to be ready to put my chips on the line when my stack starts getting short, and not try to fold my way up the ladder so much.
My bankroll on FullTilt is now down to $5.26. I'm sure I am playing scared because I don't want to go through the hassles of trying to make a deposit. But if I don't take some more risks, I will just bleed away my last few pennies more slowly. If I go to zero on FT, it shouldn't be such a great loss to me. I still have over $150 on PokerStars, and I can make that last for a while considering the micro-stakes at which I play. Of course, I could bleed that stack away too with weak-tight play, so I should practice my aggression over there as well.
I did finish fourth in the APL tourney this past Tuesday. I got very lucky on a hand about midway through that I should have been busted on, when I called an all-in from a player who had me covered. I had AJo with which I had called a preflop raise from UTG. Flop was 2-3-4 rainbow. UTG and I both checked. Turn was a J. UTG pushed. I thought he might have been playing a J with a smaller kicker, so I called. I was half right: he had a J, but his kicker was the other J. The river was a 5, filling my gutshot straight and giving me the nice sized pot. Those chips kept me around and gave me something to work with.
I played some Limit HE last night for the first time in quite a while. My wife and son and I are going on a cruise in a couple of weeks, and there is a good chance the ship's casino will have a limit HE table, so I thought I should get some hands in before we go. There were so many donkeys at my $0.10 - 0.20 table, I couldn't believe it. People would play all kinds of crap - any paint, any A, any two suited cards - and chase to the river. Of course, you know what that means - suckouts galore. I didn't get many cards worth playing, and when I did, they ended up second best more often than not, so I lost most of my buy-in. Frustrating as all get-out.
I know I have holes, and I hope I can plug them. I also hope that the cards fall my way just a little more often; wouldn't that be nice?
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Friday, June 01, 2007
Get back on the horse that threw you?
I played in another 45-player $1.25 SNG on FullTilt last night. I hadn't played in one for a few weeks so I had to get back into the mindset. I started out slow, but caught a couple of very nice hands, such as a flopped nut flush that I milked for a decent pot. I built a healthy stack and was playing fairly well as I tend to do when I get some chips to work with.
Yes, here comes the "but" part of the story. I don't have the hand history so I will recount the carnage as best I can from memory.
I have about 5600 in chips. Blinds are 120/240, and I'm in the BB. I get Q7o, and it's folded to the SB who completes, and I check. Flop is K-Q-x of mixed suits. SB checks, I small-bet my second pair, SB calls. Turn is an 8. SB bets small. Thinking he doesn't have a K, I raise 960. He reraises me double. I now have about 4400 left.
So, I got on the horse on this hand and I spurred him on with my raise. But when the villain reraised me, I should have put him on a hand that could beat me (K-x, two pair, something) and reined in my steed so we could run again later. Instead, I kicked him even harder, right toward the brick wall straight ahead, with a re-reraise all in with nothing more than middle pair. The villain instacalled and showed Q8. His two pair held up and I crashed into the unyielding barricade of my donkery, busting in 10th place.
I could not believe that I committed such blatant poker hara-kiri. I told myself recently that I was going to play smarter and not be afraid of folding to wait for another hand when the signs were there that I was probably beat. And I had plenty of chips to work with, even if I had folded to his reraise. There was plenty of fishy play in this tourney and I should have been able to go much deeper.
I was so disgusted with myself after that hand that I told my wife, quite seriously, that I had just played my last hand of poker. Ever. I felt like I didn't deserve to play, that if I could throw my chips away like that I shouldn't be allowed near a table, virtual or actual felt. I gathered up almost all of my poker how-to books and put them in a shopping bag to take to Half Price Books to sell off. (I saved a couple books for sentimental reasons.) The bag sits on the floor about two feet from me now, ready to go.
My wife scoffed at my declaration that I was quitting. I've done it before, and so far I have always gone back on my pronouncements. She told me, quite wisely, that everybody makes stupid plays sometime, and I shouldn't quit playing because I was a donkey in this tourney, if poker is something I enjoy. My answer was that I wasn't sure I was enjoying poker as much as I used to, that I felt like my game was standing still while the players around me were getting better. It isn't fun when you look around the table and decide that maybe you really are the sucker.
After my wife calmed me down, I told her that I would have to give my poker future some careful thought. I considered changing my tactic from quitting forever to just taking the month of June off from poker completely. No playing, no reading poker books or blogs, no watching poker on TV, nothing. Now, having slept on it, I am not on mega-tilt like I was last night. After all, even if I run the horse full speed over a cliff, of my own volition, that doesn't mean I should never get on one again. What would that teach me? That I definitely am a loser and a quitter. I don't want to be that. I may never be a super-skilled poker shark, but I can strive to learn from my mistakes and not allow them to beat all of my self-respect out of me.
That doesn't mean that I am jumping back into more tourneys with guns blazing, bound to show myself and all those donkeys out there that I am a fearless, badass mofo. I will, instead, be sensible and prudent, find my leaks and try to plug them (if I can find patches big enough), and work towards a steady improvement of my game. I may even put a few of those books back on the shelf, so I can use them in my improvement plan.
Many of you have probably heard about Chris Ferguson's quest to start from a zero online bankroll and build it to $10,000 or more. He talks about it in an interview on Pokerworks. I think that is an admirable project, and maybe I can try to accomplish something similar. He has a good headstart on me, so I expect he will reach his goal sooner than I could, but I figure it's worth pursuing. Perhaps the quest will give me an incentive to write regularly in this blog, to provide reports on my progress and my experiences along the way.
I don't know if I will get any playing in this weekend, but we will see what develops in the coming weeks. Stand by for my next announcement that I am done with poker for good, for keeps, for eternity. Or at least until I come off tilt.
Yes, here comes the "but" part of the story. I don't have the hand history so I will recount the carnage as best I can from memory.
I have about 5600 in chips. Blinds are 120/240, and I'm in the BB. I get Q7o, and it's folded to the SB who completes, and I check. Flop is K-Q-x of mixed suits. SB checks, I small-bet my second pair, SB calls. Turn is an 8. SB bets small. Thinking he doesn't have a K, I raise 960. He reraises me double. I now have about 4400 left.
So, I got on the horse on this hand and I spurred him on with my raise. But when the villain reraised me, I should have put him on a hand that could beat me (K-x, two pair, something) and reined in my steed so we could run again later. Instead, I kicked him even harder, right toward the brick wall straight ahead, with a re-reraise all in with nothing more than middle pair. The villain instacalled and showed Q8. His two pair held up and I crashed into the unyielding barricade of my donkery, busting in 10th place.
I could not believe that I committed such blatant poker hara-kiri. I told myself recently that I was going to play smarter and not be afraid of folding to wait for another hand when the signs were there that I was probably beat. And I had plenty of chips to work with, even if I had folded to his reraise. There was plenty of fishy play in this tourney and I should have been able to go much deeper.
I was so disgusted with myself after that hand that I told my wife, quite seriously, that I had just played my last hand of poker. Ever. I felt like I didn't deserve to play, that if I could throw my chips away like that I shouldn't be allowed near a table, virtual or actual felt. I gathered up almost all of my poker how-to books and put them in a shopping bag to take to Half Price Books to sell off. (I saved a couple books for sentimental reasons.) The bag sits on the floor about two feet from me now, ready to go.
My wife scoffed at my declaration that I was quitting. I've done it before, and so far I have always gone back on my pronouncements. She told me, quite wisely, that everybody makes stupid plays sometime, and I shouldn't quit playing because I was a donkey in this tourney, if poker is something I enjoy. My answer was that I wasn't sure I was enjoying poker as much as I used to, that I felt like my game was standing still while the players around me were getting better. It isn't fun when you look around the table and decide that maybe you really are the sucker.
After my wife calmed me down, I told her that I would have to give my poker future some careful thought. I considered changing my tactic from quitting forever to just taking the month of June off from poker completely. No playing, no reading poker books or blogs, no watching poker on TV, nothing. Now, having slept on it, I am not on mega-tilt like I was last night. After all, even if I run the horse full speed over a cliff, of my own volition, that doesn't mean I should never get on one again. What would that teach me? That I definitely am a loser and a quitter. I don't want to be that. I may never be a super-skilled poker shark, but I can strive to learn from my mistakes and not allow them to beat all of my self-respect out of me.
That doesn't mean that I am jumping back into more tourneys with guns blazing, bound to show myself and all those donkeys out there that I am a fearless, badass mofo. I will, instead, be sensible and prudent, find my leaks and try to plug them (if I can find patches big enough), and work towards a steady improvement of my game. I may even put a few of those books back on the shelf, so I can use them in my improvement plan.
Many of you have probably heard about Chris Ferguson's quest to start from a zero online bankroll and build it to $10,000 or more. He talks about it in an interview on Pokerworks. I think that is an admirable project, and maybe I can try to accomplish something similar. He has a good headstart on me, so I expect he will reach his goal sooner than I could, but I figure it's worth pursuing. Perhaps the quest will give me an incentive to write regularly in this blog, to provide reports on my progress and my experiences along the way.
I don't know if I will get any playing in this weekend, but we will see what develops in the coming weeks. Stand by for my next announcement that I am done with poker for good, for keeps, for eternity. Or at least until I come off tilt.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
The Ocean's 13 Suckout Special
I played in the Ocean's 13 Darfur Charity tournament today. I had a good time and contributed three buy-ins and an add-on to the cause. For a good length of time, I played at the same table as Team PokerStars member Bill Chen. He pushed a lot preflop during the re-buy period, but then tightened up considerably after that.
I didn't get a lot of cards to play, and didn't play the ones I got all that well. Still, I managed to stay alive for quite a long while, outlasting some other blogger luminaries who no doubt played better than I did but got unlucky. I saw Dr. Pauly get busted out when his all-in with A6 got called by A2, and his opponent rivered a deuce to send him to the rail. Brutal.
Here is the hand that kept me alive much longer than I should have survived:
PokerStars Game #10134981363: Tournament #49933520, $10+$0 Hold'em No Limit - Level IX (300/600) - 2007/05/27 - 17:50:30 (ET)
Table '49933520 82' 9-max
Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: yestbay1 (8770 in chips)
Seat 2: mar22 (12000 in chips)
Seat 3: MrCitnatra (45485 in chips)
Seat 4: guelo (21780 in chips)
Seat 5: Garthmeister (36043 in chips)
Seat 6: The Dad (19160 in chips)
Seat 7: Peppe10 (23835 in chips)
Seat 8: Rooney23 (23540 in chips)
Seat 9: skyhawk42 (1110 in chips)
yestbay1: posts the ante 50
mar22: posts the ante 50
MrCitnatra: posts the ante 50
guelo: posts the ante 50
Garthmeister: posts the ante 50
The Dad: posts the ante 50
Peppe10: posts the ante 50
Rooney23: posts the ante 50
skyhawk42: posts the ante 50
yestbay1: posts small blind 300
mar22: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to yestbay1 [Ks Kh]
MrCitnatra: folds
guelo: folds
Garthmeister: folds
The Dad: folds
Peppe10: folds
Rooney23: raises 600 to 1200
skyhawk42: folds
yestbay1: raises 1800 to 3000
mar22: folds
Rooney23: raises 1800 to 4800
goleafsgo96 [observer] said, "lets go burlington"
yestbay1: raises 1800 to 6600
Rooney23: raises 16890 to 23490 and is all-in
yestbay1: calls 2120 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Th Ts 9d]
Garthmeister said, "Erk"
*** TURN *** [Th Ts 9d] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [Th Ts 9d Kd] [7d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
yestbay1: shows [Ks Kh] (a full house, Kings full of Tens)
Rooney23: shows [As Ah] (two pair, Aces and Tens)
HermWarfare [observer] said, "wow"
change1OO [observer] said, "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"
yestbay1 collected 18490 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 18490 Rake 0
Board [Th Ts 9d Kd 7d]
Seat 1: yestbay1 (small blind) showed [Ks Kh] and won (18490) with a full house, Kings full of Tens
Seat 2: mar22 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: MrCitnatra folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: guelo folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Garthmeister folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: The Dad folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Peppe10 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Rooney23 showed [As Ah] and lost with two pair, Aces and Tens
Seat 9: skyhawk42 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
......
yestbay1 said, "yippee"
......
AlCantHang [observer] said, "score"
I almost pushed right away when the preflop bet came to me, but I wanted to keep someone in the pot with me (hopefully only one person). Of course, I was ready to put all my chips in and actually thought I was doing that on my second raise. I should have smelled the AA when he didn't raise me all-in immediately, but it wouldn't have mattered; I could not fold that hand with an M as low as mine at the time.
My thanks to the railbirds for their cheers. I only wish I could have made those chips stand up, but even taking that pot I was way below average and wasn't getting much in the way of hands to play with. I busted about 30 minutes later when I pushed with 55 only to be called by KK. No suckout for me on that one, and I finished in 111th place. Still, not bad out of 744 runners. I would have had to make it to 18th to win one of the prizes, but I still feel pretty good about where I ended up.
I know I am playing weak-tighter than is optimal, and it's a tough habit that I need to work on breaking. I do one hell of a lot better when I get a decent chip stack and can make moves with less fear (don't we all?), but I need to do better when my stack is shorter.
As I type this, Garthmeister is 12th in chips with 45 still playing. I hope he hangs in there and takes it all down!
I didn't get a lot of cards to play, and didn't play the ones I got all that well. Still, I managed to stay alive for quite a long while, outlasting some other blogger luminaries who no doubt played better than I did but got unlucky. I saw Dr. Pauly get busted out when his all-in with A6 got called by A2, and his opponent rivered a deuce to send him to the rail. Brutal.
Here is the hand that kept me alive much longer than I should have survived:
PokerStars Game #10134981363: Tournament #49933520, $10+$0 Hold'em No Limit - Level IX (300/600) - 2007/05/27 - 17:50:30 (ET)
Table '49933520 82' 9-max
Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: yestbay1 (8770 in chips)
Seat 2: mar22 (12000 in chips)
Seat 3: MrCitnatra (45485 in chips)
Seat 4: guelo (21780 in chips)
Seat 5: Garthmeister (36043 in chips)
Seat 6: The Dad (19160 in chips)
Seat 7: Peppe10 (23835 in chips)
Seat 8: Rooney23 (23540 in chips)
Seat 9: skyhawk42 (1110 in chips)
yestbay1: posts the ante 50
mar22: posts the ante 50
MrCitnatra: posts the ante 50
guelo: posts the ante 50
Garthmeister: posts the ante 50
The Dad: posts the ante 50
Peppe10: posts the ante 50
Rooney23: posts the ante 50
skyhawk42: posts the ante 50
yestbay1: posts small blind 300
mar22: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to yestbay1 [Ks Kh]
MrCitnatra: folds
guelo: folds
Garthmeister: folds
The Dad: folds
Peppe10: folds
Rooney23: raises 600 to 1200
skyhawk42: folds
yestbay1: raises 1800 to 3000
mar22: folds
Rooney23: raises 1800 to 4800
goleafsgo96 [observer] said, "lets go burlington"
yestbay1: raises 1800 to 6600
Rooney23: raises 16890 to 23490 and is all-in
yestbay1: calls 2120 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Th Ts 9d]
Garthmeister said, "Erk"
*** TURN *** [Th Ts 9d] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [Th Ts 9d Kd] [7d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
yestbay1: shows [Ks Kh] (a full house, Kings full of Tens)
Rooney23: shows [As Ah] (two pair, Aces and Tens)
HermWarfare [observer] said, "wow"
change1OO [observer] said, "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"
yestbay1 collected 18490 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 18490 Rake 0
Board [Th Ts 9d Kd 7d]
Seat 1: yestbay1 (small blind) showed [Ks Kh] and won (18490) with a full house, Kings full of Tens
Seat 2: mar22 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: MrCitnatra folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: guelo folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Garthmeister folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: The Dad folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Peppe10 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Rooney23 showed [As Ah] and lost with two pair, Aces and Tens
Seat 9: skyhawk42 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
......
yestbay1 said, "yippee"
......
AlCantHang [observer] said, "score"
I almost pushed right away when the preflop bet came to me, but I wanted to keep someone in the pot with me (hopefully only one person). Of course, I was ready to put all my chips in and actually thought I was doing that on my second raise. I should have smelled the AA when he didn't raise me all-in immediately, but it wouldn't have mattered; I could not fold that hand with an M as low as mine at the time.
My thanks to the railbirds for their cheers. I only wish I could have made those chips stand up, but even taking that pot I was way below average and wasn't getting much in the way of hands to play with. I busted about 30 minutes later when I pushed with 55 only to be called by KK. No suckout for me on that one, and I finished in 111th place. Still, not bad out of 744 runners. I would have had to make it to 18th to win one of the prizes, but I still feel pretty good about where I ended up.
I know I am playing weak-tighter than is optimal, and it's a tough habit that I need to work on breaking. I do one hell of a lot better when I get a decent chip stack and can make moves with less fear (don't we all?), but I need to do better when my stack is shorter.
As I type this, Garthmeister is 12th in chips with 45 still playing. I hope he hangs in there and takes it all down!
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Ocean's 13 Darfur Charity Tournament
Dr. Pauly sent a note to poker bloggers everywhere to ask that they publicize this important charity tournament, and I am pleased to help out. Here is the info:
PokerStars is teaming up with the cast of Ocean's Thirteen to help stop the suffering in the war-torn region of Darfur in the Sudan. If you have not been paying attention, over 400,000 people have already been killed. They launched Not On Our Watch. Their mission is to..."focus global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities. Drawing on the powerful voice of citizen artists, activists, and cultural leaders, our mission is to generate lifesaving humanitarian assistance and protection for the vulnerable, marginalized, and displaced."
PokerStars is donating $1 million and you can help out by playing in two different charity events. [One was held last Sunday, May 13.] You have a shot to win a ticket to the Ocean's Thirteen premiere in Los Angeles. See below for specific details.
Overview of the Ocean's Thirteen Darfur Charity Tournament:
These tournaments are special re-buy tournaments - the entire prize pool will be matched by PokerStars and donated to the Darfur relief efforts. At the conclusion of the event the prize pool, which will be temporarily awarded to the 1st place finisher, will be removed from the 1st place finisher's account. The amount will then be matched by PokerStars and sent forward to the Darfur charity. Thank you for participating — go re-buy crazy! — it's for a good cause. Good luck!
Date: May 27th 2007, 15:30 ET
Buy-in: $10 plus rebuys.
Prizes: Top 4 receive tickets to June 5th premiere in Los Angeles plus 2 nights hotel and $2k for travel/spending. Top 18 receive autographed copy of "Oceans 13" DVD. Total prize pool will go to charity. PokerStars will match the donation. The tournament is open to all players. Good luck!
PokerStars is teaming up with the cast of Ocean's Thirteen to help stop the suffering in the war-torn region of Darfur in the Sudan. If you have not been paying attention, over 400,000 people have already been killed. They launched Not On Our Watch. Their mission is to..."focus global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities. Drawing on the powerful voice of citizen artists, activists, and cultural leaders, our mission is to generate lifesaving humanitarian assistance and protection for the vulnerable, marginalized, and displaced."
PokerStars is donating $1 million and you can help out by playing in two different charity events. [One was held last Sunday, May 13.] You have a shot to win a ticket to the Ocean's Thirteen premiere in Los Angeles. See below for specific details.
Overview of the Ocean's Thirteen Darfur Charity Tournament:
These tournaments are special re-buy tournaments - the entire prize pool will be matched by PokerStars and donated to the Darfur relief efforts. At the conclusion of the event the prize pool, which will be temporarily awarded to the 1st place finisher, will be removed from the 1st place finisher's account. The amount will then be matched by PokerStars and sent forward to the Darfur charity. Thank you for participating — go re-buy crazy! — it's for a good cause. Good luck!
Date: May 27th 2007, 15:30 ET
Buy-in: $10 plus rebuys.
Prizes: Top 4 receive tickets to June 5th premiere in Los Angeles plus 2 nights hotel and $2k for travel/spending. Top 18 receive autographed copy of "Oceans 13" DVD. Total prize pool will go to charity. PokerStars will match the donation. The tournament is open to all players. Good luck!
Dr. Pauly will be playing, and I hope to be there myself next Sunday. I encourage anyone reading this post to register and play too. As Pauly put it, "Online poker players are painted by the mainstream press as degenerate criminals. Here's a chance to show the world that we can do some good with online poker."
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Looks like I'm "it"
I have been tagged by BrainMc. Now I need to think of seven semi-interesting things about me to post.
Thinking.....
Thinking.....
OK, here we go.
1. I have lived in five different states in the US: Kentucky, where I was born; Ohio; Washington; California; and Texas, where I live now. I have visited, or at least passed through, a total of 39 states out of 50. I hope to get to the rest before too much longer.
2. I have won some nice prizes playing poker, but they have all been from freeroll tournaments. I won a trip to Las Vegas in an Amateur Poker League tourney, and an iPod in a PokerStars blogger tourney. I have not won any cash prize of $100 or more in any tournament. Yet.
3. My name appears in the "Special Thanks" liner notes of several CDs by a major musical artist. If you have ever heard of the rock bands Yes or the Moody Blues, it is possible that you have heard of a guy who played with both bands: Patrick Moraz, keyboard player extraordinaire. Back in 1995, Patrick announced that he wanted to do a concert tour and book it directly with his fans. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do that, so I got together with a couple of other fans and put on a small show. Patrick and I hit it off, I hosted another show with him later that year, and we have kept in touch off and on since then. I started two Yahoo Groups for Patrick's fans (MorazNews and MorazFans, sign up now!), and as a token of appreciation Patrick included my name in his liner notes of his latest new CD, "ESP," as well as the recent remastered versions of his back catalog. Patrick is a great guy and one of the best keyboard players I have ever heard, period.
4. I once traveled from Texas to Honolulu expressly for the purpose of going to a Yes concert. (No, Patrick was not playing with them at the time.) I have actually been to several cities, all over the country, to see Yes shows. When I had my job that gave me flight benefits on American Airlines, I used them frequently to fly to Yes shows when they were on tour. My wife and son enjoyed seeing different cities, and I got to see my favorite band, and meet with lots of other Yes fans that I had become acquainted with on line.
5. Although I have been an actor since high school, have performed in lots of plays, and lived in L.A. for 14 years, my claim to TV "fame" is not for acting, but for being a game show contestant. I appeared on four shows, all in the '80s or early '90s: Crosswits (you've probably never heard of it); Super Password; The $100,000 Pyramid; and the Wheel of Fortune (daytime version). I won a car on Wheel; some cash and prizes on the others, and of course several "lovely parting gifts." I had fun on all of them and hope to do another some day.
6. I have earned black belts in hapkido and tae kwon do. Unfortunately, a bad knee has forced me to give up martial arts lately. I would love to go back to it someday but don't know if my body will let me.
7. I have never been drunk, stoned, or high. I have tried alcohol but never liked anything I tasted. I never had any desire to smoke pot or try anything harder. I don't expect that I will ever deliberately put myself in an altered state of mind, unless it is from prescription medication that my doctor instructs me to take.
I can't think of anyone else to tag that hasn't already had the honor, but if I do think of someone, I will post an update here.
Thanks for the tag, BrainMc!
Thinking.....
Thinking.....
OK, here we go.
1. I have lived in five different states in the US: Kentucky, where I was born; Ohio; Washington; California; and Texas, where I live now. I have visited, or at least passed through, a total of 39 states out of 50. I hope to get to the rest before too much longer.
2. I have won some nice prizes playing poker, but they have all been from freeroll tournaments. I won a trip to Las Vegas in an Amateur Poker League tourney, and an iPod in a PokerStars blogger tourney. I have not won any cash prize of $100 or more in any tournament. Yet.
3. My name appears in the "Special Thanks" liner notes of several CDs by a major musical artist. If you have ever heard of the rock bands Yes or the Moody Blues, it is possible that you have heard of a guy who played with both bands: Patrick Moraz, keyboard player extraordinaire. Back in 1995, Patrick announced that he wanted to do a concert tour and book it directly with his fans. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do that, so I got together with a couple of other fans and put on a small show. Patrick and I hit it off, I hosted another show with him later that year, and we have kept in touch off and on since then. I started two Yahoo Groups for Patrick's fans (MorazNews and MorazFans, sign up now!), and as a token of appreciation Patrick included my name in his liner notes of his latest new CD, "ESP," as well as the recent remastered versions of his back catalog. Patrick is a great guy and one of the best keyboard players I have ever heard, period.
4. I once traveled from Texas to Honolulu expressly for the purpose of going to a Yes concert. (No, Patrick was not playing with them at the time.) I have actually been to several cities, all over the country, to see Yes shows. When I had my job that gave me flight benefits on American Airlines, I used them frequently to fly to Yes shows when they were on tour. My wife and son enjoyed seeing different cities, and I got to see my favorite band, and meet with lots of other Yes fans that I had become acquainted with on line.
5. Although I have been an actor since high school, have performed in lots of plays, and lived in L.A. for 14 years, my claim to TV "fame" is not for acting, but for being a game show contestant. I appeared on four shows, all in the '80s or early '90s: Crosswits (you've probably never heard of it); Super Password; The $100,000 Pyramid; and the Wheel of Fortune (daytime version). I won a car on Wheel; some cash and prizes on the others, and of course several "lovely parting gifts." I had fun on all of them and hope to do another some day.
6. I have earned black belts in hapkido and tae kwon do. Unfortunately, a bad knee has forced me to give up martial arts lately. I would love to go back to it someday but don't know if my body will let me.
7. I have never been drunk, stoned, or high. I have tried alcohol but never liked anything I tasted. I never had any desire to smoke pot or try anything harder. I don't expect that I will ever deliberately put myself in an altered state of mind, unless it is from prescription medication that my doctor instructs me to take.
I can't think of anyone else to tag that hasn't already had the honor, but if I do think of someone, I will post an update here.
Thanks for the tag, BrainMc!
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Catching up
I've been on a downswing since my last post. Losing sessions at cash games, finishing out of the money in tourneys. My play has been OK, not too much donking off of my chips. This week I tried a different APL venue in hopes that it wouldn't be as smoke-filled as Willhoite's. No such luck, so I won't be going back there. I'll keep looking.
The Texas bill to legalize poker died in the House when it didn't come up for a vote before the legislative session ended. I'm disappointed, but I guess that's the way politics works.
Because of variance going against me lately, my bankroll at FullTilt is down to the point where I have to play the $1.25 SNGs again. I am in one as I type this. Hopefully I can cash in a few of those and get my roll built up to where I can play in some of the blogger games again. I'm still doing OK at PokerStars and have enough in my account there to play in the Wheaties for a while yet.
The Texas bill to legalize poker died in the House when it didn't come up for a vote before the legislative session ended. I'm disappointed, but I guess that's the way politics works.
Because of variance going against me lately, my bankroll at FullTilt is down to the point where I have to play the $1.25 SNGs again. I am in one as I type this. Hopefully I can cash in a few of those and get my roll built up to where I can play in some of the blogger games again. I'm still doing OK at PokerStars and have enough in my account there to play in the Wheaties for a while yet.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
APL MVC results, 04/17/2007
The post title refers to the Amateur Poker League Monthly Venue Championship that I played in two days ago. Each month, every venue has a monthly tournament for the top finishers in the previous month's games. By placing third in two games in March, I qualified for Tuesday night's tourney. I started out slow, getting very few hands worth playing and staying tight for the first couple of levels. Actually, I played tight just about the whole night, and caught some cards a few times just when I needed them to build my stack.
I can't say that I made any brilliant plays or smart laydowns or anything like that. I just stayed with a conservative strategy and bet my good hands hard. By the end of the night, I had won the tournament. It's only the second time I have finished in first place in an APL tourney; the other was last January when I won a trip to Las Vegas. The win this week qualifies me for the Semi-Annual Regional Championship tourney which will be played in August, at a date and location to be announced later. I only hope that they don't schedule it for the time when I am in Vegas for the Trek convention. The top eight finishers at the SARC go on to the National Championship tourney, which will be played next April. The winner of the National Championship gets a package to a major WSOP or WPT event. The 2007 Nationals will be played not far from here, at Sneaky Pete's in Lewisville TX, on April 28. I'm tempted to go out there to check it out, partly to see what happens and partly to try to enter the side game tourney, which has $100 cash prizes for first and second place.
I played in the WWdN Second Chance game when I got home Tuesday night, I guess because I felt like I was on a roll. The game was PLO 8, and I didn't get a premium starting hand at all. I folded my way to the final table but busted out soon after I got there, finishing ninth out of 34. Other than that, not much online poker for me this week. I did play in a 20-table SNG on PokerStars on Sunday, and made it to 21st place. I should have lasted longer but made a very stupid play to cripple myself. In the small blind, it's folded to me with J8o. I raise 3X BB to try to get the BB to fold. He calls. Flop is 8-6-6. With top pair, I bet about 2/3 the pot; BB raises me 2X my bet. I think to myself, "He has a 6 and I'm way behind." But what do I do? I push all-in, and he instacalls, showing 64o. I typed in the chat box, "great call with 64" and he says, "You forced me to because you kept trying to steal my blind," (which was true, I had raised him a couple of times from the SB earlier). Still, I don't consider 64o a blind worth defending to a 3X BB raise and would have folded it in a heartbeat in that position. Oh well, whose donkey move was worse, his call or my push when I "knew" I was beat? Hopefully I will know better next time.
I can't say that I made any brilliant plays or smart laydowns or anything like that. I just stayed with a conservative strategy and bet my good hands hard. By the end of the night, I had won the tournament. It's only the second time I have finished in first place in an APL tourney; the other was last January when I won a trip to Las Vegas. The win this week qualifies me for the Semi-Annual Regional Championship tourney which will be played in August, at a date and location to be announced later. I only hope that they don't schedule it for the time when I am in Vegas for the Trek convention. The top eight finishers at the SARC go on to the National Championship tourney, which will be played next April. The winner of the National Championship gets a package to a major WSOP or WPT event. The 2007 Nationals will be played not far from here, at Sneaky Pete's in Lewisville TX, on April 28. I'm tempted to go out there to check it out, partly to see what happens and partly to try to enter the side game tourney, which has $100 cash prizes for first and second place.
I played in the WWdN Second Chance game when I got home Tuesday night, I guess because I felt like I was on a roll. The game was PLO 8, and I didn't get a premium starting hand at all. I folded my way to the final table but busted out soon after I got there, finishing ninth out of 34. Other than that, not much online poker for me this week. I did play in a 20-table SNG on PokerStars on Sunday, and made it to 21st place. I should have lasted longer but made a very stupid play to cripple myself. In the small blind, it's folded to me with J8o. I raise 3X BB to try to get the BB to fold. He calls. Flop is 8-6-6. With top pair, I bet about 2/3 the pot; BB raises me 2X my bet. I think to myself, "He has a 6 and I'm way behind." But what do I do? I push all-in, and he instacalls, showing 64o. I typed in the chat box, "great call with 64" and he says, "You forced me to because you kept trying to steal my blind," (which was true, I had raised him a couple of times from the SB earlier). Still, I don't consider 64o a blind worth defending to a 3X BB raise and would have folded it in a heartbeat in that position. Oh well, whose donkey move was worse, his call or my push when I "knew" I was beat? Hopefully I will know better next time.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Follow the bouncing ball
I took a vacation day this past Monday. I thought about driving up to Winstar in Oklahoma to play some live poker, but I had too much to do around the house. So, naturally, I played some on line poker after my chores were done. I got into a ten-table $1.25 SNG on FullTilt, as well as a couple of freeroll satellites for Poker After Dark and WSOP. I didn't get very far in any of the tourneys, and I donked out of the SNG when I pushed my medium pair on the flop into a slow-played pair of pocket Kings. I was so mad at that play, and the other lack of success I had had to that point, that I screamed enough f-bombs at my computer to disqualify me from the entire WSOP Main Event. I shouldn't have been that disgusted, and I think I strained my voice from the yelling, but I needed to vent and no one was home to wonder what the hell was wrong with me.
I recovered by Tuesday, and played in the WWdN early game. I got a nice rush of cards and made it to fifth place. I should have lasted longer, but made a donkerific play to bust out. Once again, I pushed a flopped middle pair even though there was an overcard on the board, which of course paired my opponent and sent me to the rail. Still, it felt good to cash in one of those; I hadn't done that in quite a while, and the bankroll needed the padding.
As I type this, I am playing in my favorite cash game, Stud 8, but haven't got much in the way of hands. I did scoop one nice pot with a full house when there was no low, but that's been it so far. I'm hoping to catch one or two hands before I quit for the night so I can at least break even if not make a small profit.
I recovered by Tuesday, and played in the WWdN early game. I got a nice rush of cards and made it to fifth place. I should have lasted longer, but made a donkerific play to bust out. Once again, I pushed a flopped middle pair even though there was an overcard on the board, which of course paired my opponent and sent me to the rail. Still, it felt good to cash in one of those; I hadn't done that in quite a while, and the bankroll needed the padding.
As I type this, I am playing in my favorite cash game, Stud 8, but haven't got much in the way of hands. I did scoop one nice pot with a full house when there was no low, but that's been it so far. I'm hoping to catch one or two hands before I quit for the night so I can at least break even if not make a small profit.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Cash game vs. tournament; which has +EV for me?
Since my last post, I have played about an equal number of cash game sessions as tournaments, and fared better in the cash games than in the tourneys.
The cash games have been almost all Stud 8, and I have quit ahead in every session. Friday night I played for about an hour and a half on PokerStars at $0.05/0.10 and came out $5.70 to the good, and last night I played on Full Tilt for about 40 minutes at $0.25/0.50 and won $7.50. I can't say that I have studied all of the strategies for Stud 8 or that I feel like I am particularly good at it just yet. But I have picked up the basics, such as don't even go past third street unless your starting cards give you a solid foundation for a hand, and don't chase if your cards aren't live and your hand is likely to come out second best to your opponents' probable holdings. There are so many players that either don't know these principles or choose to ignore them that a lot of dead money gets into the pots because of all the second-best hands that stick around too long. Even a split pot can be profitable for both players thanks to those donations. I suppose it's tougher at the higher limits where the players are more knowledgeable, but at these lower limits, it has been relatively easy for me to profit so far just by playing ABC Stud 8. I expect to keep studying the books that address Stud 8 and applying what I learn so I can try to do even better.
I'm doing only fair at the NLHE tourneys. Still hitting the 5-table $1.25 SNGs on FullTilt; took 5th place in two of them, finished out of the money in two others. But I managed to get into a few freerolls on FT, a couple of their WSOP Main Event satellites and one Poker After Dark sat. As you probably know or can guess, there is a whole lot of pushmonkeying in these tourneys, where the players hope to double or triple up early with any two cards and aren't worried if they bust out since it was free to enter. In one of the WSOP sats, I got Ad Ac on my very first hand. As expected, three others besides me went all in. The other hands:
Qd 9h
As 2s
2h 3h
2c 3d
Powerhouses all. The board came out:
7d 8h 4s Ks 6h
I'll admit, I thought for sure that a spade would fall on the river to crush me, but instead I quintupled up on the first hand. I nursed that stack through a long stretch of dead cards, and after surviving for quite a bit longer than I expected, I finished in 13th place out of 315 runners. In another WSOP qualifier, I finished 28th out of 630. Although I didn't move on to the next round in any of these freerolls, I was glad to do as well as I did and practice my MTT freeroll satellite play. I was multi-tabling the freerolls with the SNGs, so at least I know that I can play more than one table at a time and not have that divided focus destroy my game. Not that I plan to multi-table regularly, but I might do the freerolls that way when I can.
So, not doing too badly over the past week or so. And with the good news about the poker bill in the Texas legislature getting off to a good start in its first hearing, I'm feeling positive about the state of my poker situation. Here's hoping that the good streak continues.
The cash games have been almost all Stud 8, and I have quit ahead in every session. Friday night I played for about an hour and a half on PokerStars at $0.05/0.10 and came out $5.70 to the good, and last night I played on Full Tilt for about 40 minutes at $0.25/0.50 and won $7.50. I can't say that I have studied all of the strategies for Stud 8 or that I feel like I am particularly good at it just yet. But I have picked up the basics, such as don't even go past third street unless your starting cards give you a solid foundation for a hand, and don't chase if your cards aren't live and your hand is likely to come out second best to your opponents' probable holdings. There are so many players that either don't know these principles or choose to ignore them that a lot of dead money gets into the pots because of all the second-best hands that stick around too long. Even a split pot can be profitable for both players thanks to those donations. I suppose it's tougher at the higher limits where the players are more knowledgeable, but at these lower limits, it has been relatively easy for me to profit so far just by playing ABC Stud 8. I expect to keep studying the books that address Stud 8 and applying what I learn so I can try to do even better.
I'm doing only fair at the NLHE tourneys. Still hitting the 5-table $1.25 SNGs on FullTilt; took 5th place in two of them, finished out of the money in two others. But I managed to get into a few freerolls on FT, a couple of their WSOP Main Event satellites and one Poker After Dark sat. As you probably know or can guess, there is a whole lot of pushmonkeying in these tourneys, where the players hope to double or triple up early with any two cards and aren't worried if they bust out since it was free to enter. In one of the WSOP sats, I got Ad Ac on my very first hand. As expected, three others besides me went all in. The other hands:
Qd 9h
As 2s
2h 3h
2c 3d
Powerhouses all. The board came out:
7d 8h 4s Ks 6h
I'll admit, I thought for sure that a spade would fall on the river to crush me, but instead I quintupled up on the first hand. I nursed that stack through a long stretch of dead cards, and after surviving for quite a bit longer than I expected, I finished in 13th place out of 315 runners. In another WSOP qualifier, I finished 28th out of 630. Although I didn't move on to the next round in any of these freerolls, I was glad to do as well as I did and practice my MTT freeroll satellite play. I was multi-tabling the freerolls with the SNGs, so at least I know that I can play more than one table at a time and not have that divided focus destroy my game. Not that I plan to multi-table regularly, but I might do the freerolls that way when I can.
So, not doing too badly over the past week or so. And with the good news about the poker bill in the Texas legislature getting off to a good start in its first hearing, I'm feeling positive about the state of my poker situation. Here's hoping that the good streak continues.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Worst play EVAR!!!111
Before Hoyazo has a chance to mention it in his blog, I will make it public here and now: I made a stupendously idiotic play to bust out of the WWdN tourney tonight.
The tournament had just started, and we had played about eight hands; blinds were still 10/20. In MP I pick up AQo. UTG, hoyazo calls 20, as does VTepes. ISS Spock raises it to 85; I pop it to 150. Hoy calls; everyone else folds. Well, at least I am heads-up with my overcards.
Flop: 3s-Qs-4s. I get TPTK, but there are three spades. Hoy checks, so I think my pair is good and I bet 220. He raises me to 440. I should have smelled a rat here, but I called. I was probably thinking that he was trying to push me off the hand.
Turn: 7h. Hoy bets 300. I only have 640 left, and the pot is about 1,900. Hoping to get him to fold, I push, and he calls with AKs. He flopped the nut flush and trapped me but good. The river is a blank and IGHN in 59th place out of 60. I'm fairly sure that is my worst showing in a WWdN ever. I really have no justification for my play there. It was way too early in the game to play TPTK so hard with a flush draw on the flop. Oh well, I guess I need to play like a donkey once in a while if only to keep me honest.
I went on to play a FullTilt 5-table $1.25 SNG, where I finished 11th. I also played some more Stud 8 on PokerStars but had a bad run tonight. I guess Week 13 is turning out not to be so lucky after all.
The tournament had just started, and we had played about eight hands; blinds were still 10/20. In MP I pick up AQo. UTG, hoyazo calls 20, as does VTepes. ISS Spock raises it to 85; I pop it to 150. Hoy calls; everyone else folds. Well, at least I am heads-up with my overcards.
Flop: 3s-Qs-4s. I get TPTK, but there are three spades. Hoy checks, so I think my pair is good and I bet 220. He raises me to 440. I should have smelled a rat here, but I called. I was probably thinking that he was trying to push me off the hand.
Turn: 7h. Hoy bets 300. I only have 640 left, and the pot is about 1,900. Hoping to get him to fold, I push, and he calls with AKs. He flopped the nut flush and trapped me but good. The river is a blank and IGHN in 59th place out of 60. I'm fairly sure that is my worst showing in a WWdN ever. I really have no justification for my play there. It was way too early in the game to play TPTK so hard with a flush draw on the flop. Oh well, I guess I need to play like a donkey once in a while if only to keep me honest.
I went on to play a FullTilt 5-table $1.25 SNG, where I finished 11th. I also played some more Stud 8 on PokerStars but had a bad run tonight. I guess Week 13 is turning out not to be so lucky after all.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Week 13 - gotta be a lucky one
Last week, you may recall, Our Hero had qualified for the Monthly Venue Championship at his local Amateur Poker League location. Things went well for him through the tournament, leading to a final table appearance. Unfortunately, the cards did not fall his way once the blinds jumped up to the nose-bleed levels, and he finished in third place. But good decisions were made the great majority of the time, with donkey play (from Our Hero, anyway) seldom manifesting.
I feel good about the third place finish, but these MVCs only mean anything for the first place winner, who goes on to a regional championship tourney later in the year. Maybe I should have played a bit more aggressively, to aim for the top rather than final table or top five or whatever. Doing so will require an adjustment to my game, which I will be working on. Another aspect of the APL experience I will be working on is finding another venue where I can play that is less smoke-filled. I always come home from these games stinking of cigarette smoke, and last week seemed especially bad, plus my lungs weren't feeling so great either. I think I have found another place not too far from here, whose website mentions non-smoking, so I plan to try them this week or next.
Meanwhile, I haven't played much on line over the past week. I logged another 5-table $1.25 SNG at FullTilt but didn't cash. I chipped up early but went card dead for a while. When my M got to about 4, I pushed with A7 on an A-x-x flop, and a motormouth chump called me - with A6. A six on the river busted me out. This dork had been criticizing everyone's play and boasting about his prowess. After I busted, I typed "nice suckout" in the chat box before I left.
I posted a nice profit in Stud 8 last night, finishing $2.25 ahead at the $0.10 - 0.20 table. It's amazing how many people will chase hands to fifth and sixth street, or to the end. I didn't even scoop that many pots, but my half-pots were nice because of the dead money from the chasers.
I need to give a nod to Maudie at PokerWorks, who was kind enough to mention this blog on hers over there. If you found this site through hers, welcome. If you haven't read Maudie's blog there or her other blog, Poker Perspectives, you really should surf on over. Her writing is always fun and informative, and I follow her regularly. Her blogs, that is, not her personally. You know what I mean.
Oh yes, I have made my reservations and am set for the trip to Las Vegas in August for the Trek con and some poker playing. Who else is going?
I feel good about the third place finish, but these MVCs only mean anything for the first place winner, who goes on to a regional championship tourney later in the year. Maybe I should have played a bit more aggressively, to aim for the top rather than final table or top five or whatever. Doing so will require an adjustment to my game, which I will be working on. Another aspect of the APL experience I will be working on is finding another venue where I can play that is less smoke-filled. I always come home from these games stinking of cigarette smoke, and last week seemed especially bad, plus my lungs weren't feeling so great either. I think I have found another place not too far from here, whose website mentions non-smoking, so I plan to try them this week or next.
Meanwhile, I haven't played much on line over the past week. I logged another 5-table $1.25 SNG at FullTilt but didn't cash. I chipped up early but went card dead for a while. When my M got to about 4, I pushed with A7 on an A-x-x flop, and a motormouth chump called me - with A6. A six on the river busted me out. This dork had been criticizing everyone's play and boasting about his prowess. After I busted, I typed "nice suckout" in the chat box before I left.
I posted a nice profit in Stud 8 last night, finishing $2.25 ahead at the $0.10 - 0.20 table. It's amazing how many people will chase hands to fifth and sixth street, or to the end. I didn't even scoop that many pots, but my half-pots were nice because of the dead money from the chasers.
I need to give a nod to Maudie at PokerWorks, who was kind enough to mention this blog on hers over there. If you found this site through hers, welcome. If you haven't read Maudie's blog there or her other blog, Poker Perspectives, you really should surf on over. Her writing is always fun and informative, and I follow her regularly. Her blogs, that is, not her personally. You know what I mean.
Oh yes, I have made my reservations and am set for the trip to Las Vegas in August for the Trek con and some poker playing. Who else is going?
Monday, March 19, 2007
On a roll
Last night I played in another 5-table $1.25 NLHE SNG at FullTilt, and managed to win it. I got lucky several times to stay alive, including a couple of river suckouts. I came back from the short stack to win, which alway feels good. Best of all, I feel like I made mostly good decisions.
I've also been playing a fair amount of $0.04 - 0.08 Stud 8 cash games on PokerStars. There is some donkey play in that game, and playing tight tends to pay off in the long run. Although I have chased a few hands that I shouldn't have, I am in the black for my run at Stud 8 over the past few weeks. I think I will keep it in my playing mix to try to improve at it even more. I also have been reading the Stud High-Low Split chapter in Super System, which was written by David Sklansky. HIs writing style is a bit challenging, but there is a lot of very useful stuff there and I am trying to absorb it.
I have been thinking about going to Las Vegas to attend the WPBT Summer Classic gathering in June. I have also been thinking about attending the huge Star Trek convention in Vegas in August. I can't afford to do both, and I have been leaning towards going for the WPBT event because (a) I have not been to one of those yet, and (b) it takes place during the early stages of the WSOP, which would be cool to see.
However, my friend Wil Wheaton announced that he will be a guest at the Trek convention, and it looks like I will be making that trip instead. I have been to several Trek conventions over the years, but never the "big one" in Vegas. With Wil being there, and his offer to try to organize a poker tournament if enough people show an interest, plus everything else that the con and the city have to offer, I have decided to wait until another time to try for a blogger gathering. I'm not much of a poker blogger anyway, or a drinker or hard partier, so I might not fit in with that crowd very well anyway. But I still will consider going to a WPBT shindig in the future.
The con should be a lot of fun, and I expect to get some poker playing in, whether Wil is able to put together a tourney or not. Now I have to work on sharpening my skills, and my bat'leth.
Oh yeah - I am playing in the APL Monthly Venue Championship tourney tomorrow night. I probably should be studying or practicing instead of writing this, so I can do my best in the game. Guess I'd better sign off.
I've also been playing a fair amount of $0.04 - 0.08 Stud 8 cash games on PokerStars. There is some donkey play in that game, and playing tight tends to pay off in the long run. Although I have chased a few hands that I shouldn't have, I am in the black for my run at Stud 8 over the past few weeks. I think I will keep it in my playing mix to try to improve at it even more. I also have been reading the Stud High-Low Split chapter in Super System, which was written by David Sklansky. HIs writing style is a bit challenging, but there is a lot of very useful stuff there and I am trying to absorb it.
I have been thinking about going to Las Vegas to attend the WPBT Summer Classic gathering in June. I have also been thinking about attending the huge Star Trek convention in Vegas in August. I can't afford to do both, and I have been leaning towards going for the WPBT event because (a) I have not been to one of those yet, and (b) it takes place during the early stages of the WSOP, which would be cool to see.
However, my friend Wil Wheaton announced that he will be a guest at the Trek convention, and it looks like I will be making that trip instead. I have been to several Trek conventions over the years, but never the "big one" in Vegas. With Wil being there, and his offer to try to organize a poker tournament if enough people show an interest, plus everything else that the con and the city have to offer, I have decided to wait until another time to try for a blogger gathering. I'm not much of a poker blogger anyway, or a drinker or hard partier, so I might not fit in with that crowd very well anyway. But I still will consider going to a WPBT shindig in the future.
The con should be a lot of fun, and I expect to get some poker playing in, whether Wil is able to put together a tourney or not. Now I have to work on sharpening my skills, and my bat'leth.
Oh yeah - I am playing in the APL Monthly Venue Championship tourney tomorrow night. I probably should be studying or practicing instead of writing this, so I can do my best in the game. Guess I'd better sign off.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Bonus clearing hurdles are awfully high
I got an e-mail today from FullTilt offering me a "generous" bonus of $50 if I meet the conditions for it. I think I am going to have a hard time doing so.
After activating my bonus, I have 14 days to clear it. That isn't much time for someone like me who only plays a few days a week.
I can earn $0.06 of my bonus for every FullTilt Point I earn. Wow, six whole cents per point! So what does it take to earn a point? According to their webpage about FTPs, you earn one point for every dollar in rake that is dropped, or 7 points for every $1.00 in tournament fees that you pay.
After doing some quick calculations, I find that I would have to play in raked hands that drop $833.33 to earn enough points to clear my $50.00 bonus, or pay $119.05 in tourney fees. All in just 14 days! Considering that I have less than $20.00 in my FT account right now (which surely the FT staff must know), I can't see how I can give them enough action to earn anywhere near the entire bonus. Just to earn $5 in bonus, I would have to pay over half my bankroll in tourney fees, and hope that I cashed enough times to break even so the bonus would give me a profit.
Of course, if I make a deposit for a substantial sum, I could play for higher stakes and earn points faster. But I am not about to do that considering the hassles involved in depositing and withdrawing money from poker sites these days, not to mention that I don't feel comfortable playing much higher than I do now and don't have time to play often enough to get in sufficient games to rack up the points in 14 days.
Basically this bonus, like many I have seen offered, is worthless to a low stakes recreational player like me. It doesn't seem like FullTilt cares very much about my business if the bonus they offer me is virtually impossible for me to achieve. It might just drive me to look elsewhere for more attractive bonus programs. Surely that can't be what they want. What are they thinking?
After activating my bonus, I have 14 days to clear it. That isn't much time for someone like me who only plays a few days a week.
I can earn $0.06 of my bonus for every FullTilt Point I earn. Wow, six whole cents per point! So what does it take to earn a point? According to their webpage about FTPs, you earn one point for every dollar in rake that is dropped, or 7 points for every $1.00 in tournament fees that you pay.
After doing some quick calculations, I find that I would have to play in raked hands that drop $833.33 to earn enough points to clear my $50.00 bonus, or pay $119.05 in tourney fees. All in just 14 days! Considering that I have less than $20.00 in my FT account right now (which surely the FT staff must know), I can't see how I can give them enough action to earn anywhere near the entire bonus. Just to earn $5 in bonus, I would have to pay over half my bankroll in tourney fees, and hope that I cashed enough times to break even so the bonus would give me a profit.
Of course, if I make a deposit for a substantial sum, I could play for higher stakes and earn points faster. But I am not about to do that considering the hassles involved in depositing and withdrawing money from poker sites these days, not to mention that I don't feel comfortable playing much higher than I do now and don't have time to play often enough to get in sufficient games to rack up the points in 14 days.
Basically this bonus, like many I have seen offered, is worthless to a low stakes recreational player like me. It doesn't seem like FullTilt cares very much about my business if the bonus they offer me is virtually impossible for me to achieve. It might just drive me to look elsewhere for more attractive bonus programs. Surely that can't be what they want. What are they thinking?
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Week Nine - weak-tight and weird play
Sometimes I wonder if I have learned anything about how to play this game. My play since my last entry hasn't been catastrophically bad, but I've made some ridiculous moves, and failed to make some smart moves, that have cost me. One example:
In a 0.05 - 0.10 Limit HE cash game on PokerStars last weekend, I got QQ in MP. I raised preflop, got several callers and then a re-raise, which was called around, so the pot was fairly large. The rainbow flop had an Ace in it. It was checked most of the way around, a late position bet, and that was called, so more money got into the pot. A King hit the turn. Someone in front of me bet. I thought, "Someone has caught either the A or the K and my queens are behind." I thought for a few seconds and folded. What I failed to take into consideration was that it was only going to cost me 0.10 to call that bet, and there was over $1.00 in the pot by that time. I hadn't seen any betting to indicate that anyone had a set of kings or aces, so if I caught a Q on the river, I would have a great shot at winning a big pot; my pot odds and implied odds were too good for me to pass on that bet. Sure enough, the river was a queen. I'm not disappointed about missing the river card; I'm mad that I didn't see the odds and play accordingly.
On another note, because Doyle's Room has shut its doors to US players, I transferred the $14.44 I had left there over to FullTilt, thanks to the very convenient transfer option that both sites made available to Doyle's Room customers. Because FullTilt doesn't have limit games at stakes low enough to play with a bankroll that small, I have been playing 5-table $1.00 + 0.25 SNGs in hopes of building up my balance there so I can play in some of their other games or tourneys. The results of those SNGs: 15th, 17th, 16th, 15th, 17th. I'm fairly sure that I was playing weak and scared in most of those sessions. Finally, last night I got past the 15th mark. I got some good hands fairly early, picked up a bit of luck here and there along with some decent pots, and used the chips that I gained to push some of the other players around. It's amazing how much better I play when I have chips to work with. It allowed me to play the kind of tight-aggressive game that I prefer but haven't mastered yet. Eventually I got to heads-up play, and ended up in a classic race of my AK vs the villain's 77. I didn't catch anything and went out in second place. The good news is, that second place cash more than made up for the money I had spent on the other SNGs I had played up to that time, so I am ahead of where I started after the Doyle's Room transfer. I am hoping that I can stay on a winning course and keep building my FT roll and be able to play in things like the Mookie or maybe some of their WSOP qualifiers.
I have to post about a very strange play that I was involved in last week at an APL tournament. The set-up: Blinds are 500/1000. Five players; I'm in the cutoff with 4,500. The BB only has 900 and is all in with his blind bet. I get dealt 8c 8s. UTG folds.
First bad play: I call 1,000. With an M of 3, I should have pushed right here. I must have been hoping to get in cheap and be able to get away from the hand if I missed the flop and anyone else was in and betting.
Button folds. SB completes, which means she and I have a side pot of 200 and the BB is playing for the main pot of 2,700.
Flop comes all rags; I think it was something like 9-7-3 rainbow. I check, SB checks. Turn is another rag, maybe a 2. Check, check. River is the Jh. I check again, and the SB says "I'll put you all in, how much do you have?" She had me covered by a few hundred.
I had been thinking that she was planning to check this hand down so we could eliminate the BB. But with the J on the river, I thought she must have paired it. I don't recall any straight or flush draws on the board. I didn't want to throw away my last chips to her likely pair of jacks, so I folded. The BB turned up a K-high hand; the SB mucked her hand without showing it.
I was stunned. I could not figure out why she would bluff me off the hand on the river with something that could not beat King high, for a side pot with only 1/5 of a big blind in it. I still have not come up with a good explanation for this move, so I can only assume that she didn't know what the "right" play should be in that situation. Did I miss something there, other than that I should have pushed preflop? Any feedback would be welcomed and appreciated.
In a 0.05 - 0.10 Limit HE cash game on PokerStars last weekend, I got QQ in MP. I raised preflop, got several callers and then a re-raise, which was called around, so the pot was fairly large. The rainbow flop had an Ace in it. It was checked most of the way around, a late position bet, and that was called, so more money got into the pot. A King hit the turn. Someone in front of me bet. I thought, "Someone has caught either the A or the K and my queens are behind." I thought for a few seconds and folded. What I failed to take into consideration was that it was only going to cost me 0.10 to call that bet, and there was over $1.00 in the pot by that time. I hadn't seen any betting to indicate that anyone had a set of kings or aces, so if I caught a Q on the river, I would have a great shot at winning a big pot; my pot odds and implied odds were too good for me to pass on that bet. Sure enough, the river was a queen. I'm not disappointed about missing the river card; I'm mad that I didn't see the odds and play accordingly.
On another note, because Doyle's Room has shut its doors to US players, I transferred the $14.44 I had left there over to FullTilt, thanks to the very convenient transfer option that both sites made available to Doyle's Room customers. Because FullTilt doesn't have limit games at stakes low enough to play with a bankroll that small, I have been playing 5-table $1.00 + 0.25 SNGs in hopes of building up my balance there so I can play in some of their other games or tourneys. The results of those SNGs: 15th, 17th, 16th, 15th, 17th. I'm fairly sure that I was playing weak and scared in most of those sessions. Finally, last night I got past the 15th mark. I got some good hands fairly early, picked up a bit of luck here and there along with some decent pots, and used the chips that I gained to push some of the other players around. It's amazing how much better I play when I have chips to work with. It allowed me to play the kind of tight-aggressive game that I prefer but haven't mastered yet. Eventually I got to heads-up play, and ended up in a classic race of my AK vs the villain's 77. I didn't catch anything and went out in second place. The good news is, that second place cash more than made up for the money I had spent on the other SNGs I had played up to that time, so I am ahead of where I started after the Doyle's Room transfer. I am hoping that I can stay on a winning course and keep building my FT roll and be able to play in things like the Mookie or maybe some of their WSOP qualifiers.
I have to post about a very strange play that I was involved in last week at an APL tournament. The set-up: Blinds are 500/1000. Five players; I'm in the cutoff with 4,500. The BB only has 900 and is all in with his blind bet. I get dealt 8c 8s. UTG folds.
First bad play: I call 1,000. With an M of 3, I should have pushed right here. I must have been hoping to get in cheap and be able to get away from the hand if I missed the flop and anyone else was in and betting.
Button folds. SB completes, which means she and I have a side pot of 200 and the BB is playing for the main pot of 2,700.
Flop comes all rags; I think it was something like 9-7-3 rainbow. I check, SB checks. Turn is another rag, maybe a 2. Check, check. River is the Jh. I check again, and the SB says "I'll put you all in, how much do you have?" She had me covered by a few hundred.
I had been thinking that she was planning to check this hand down so we could eliminate the BB. But with the J on the river, I thought she must have paired it. I don't recall any straight or flush draws on the board. I didn't want to throw away my last chips to her likely pair of jacks, so I folded. The BB turned up a K-high hand; the SB mucked her hand without showing it.
I was stunned. I could not figure out why she would bluff me off the hand on the river with something that could not beat King high, for a side pot with only 1/5 of a big blind in it. I still have not come up with a good explanation for this move, so I can only assume that she didn't know what the "right" play should be in that situation. Did I miss something there, other than that I should have pushed preflop? Any feedback would be welcomed and appreciated.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Week Seven 2007
I'm behind in my updates, but there hasn't been a whole lot to report. Since my last entry, I have played a few tourneys, including a couple of WWdN Second Chance games and the Hammer Day event on Full Tilt, where I lost most of my remaining stake on that site. I think I have $0.52 left on FT, so unless I play some freerolls or use my few FT points on some tourneys, my playing days at FT are over for the time being. I only cashed in one SNG, where I made a comeback from short stack to second place.
I'm also still grinding away at the nickel and dime tables on PokerStars when I have a chance. I'm in the black in the cash games but not building my bankroll very fast. Then again, I don't play for very long at a time, usually less than an hour per session, so I have to hope for some good cards to hit the donkeys and run.
I also played in a couple of APL tourneys and hope to start going back to those regularly. I made the final table this week and finished fourth, so that should get me an invitation to the Monthly Venue Championship game for February. I play on line a whole lot more than I do live, so I need to work on my live game skills, such as picking up tells and avoiding giving away my own.
In poker news, it is getting pretty near impossible for US players to deposit or withdraw money from any poker sites. NETeller has had some of its funds frozen or seized by the US Accounting Office, and although some other companies have sprung up to try to fill the gaps, they seem to die off as quickly as they appear. What surprises me is reading all of the blogs and articles about players trying to find ways to put money into the sites, and not nearly as much talk about how they are going to get their money out of the poker sites. Maybe they feel like their money is safe and eventually they will be able to get it back, but are more concerned about how they can make deposits. Frankly, I am content just playing at limits where I can feel comfortable with the bankroll I have on PokerStars now without worrying whether I will lose it all due to variance and be unable to replenish it. Maybe there are players who don't like dropping to lower limits. It hurts their game, they might say. My response would be, treat it as a challenge. Re-learn how to play at the lower limits, because you might be stuck there for a while. Exercise your discipline, perhaps the most important tool any poker player needs to have.
Also, one of my favorite poker websites, Card Squad, has retired, which saddens me. I enjoyed reading the news and discussion there, and contributing once in a while. I never did get up to ten stars as a contributor, and now I guess I never will. But I have found another very good source of poker information and blogs, at PokerWorks. Check them out; a few of my favorite poker bloggers are regulars there.
I'm still debating whether to try to go to the proposed poker blogger gathering in Las Vegas in June. I might decide to use the money I would spend on that trip for a different vacation. I'll be shopping around to see what looks like the best deal, from a financial standpoint as well as scheduling, family concerns, etc.
Meanwhile, I'll be back at the micro tables soon, and probably playing in the WWdN next Tuesday. See you there!
I'm also still grinding away at the nickel and dime tables on PokerStars when I have a chance. I'm in the black in the cash games but not building my bankroll very fast. Then again, I don't play for very long at a time, usually less than an hour per session, so I have to hope for some good cards to hit the donkeys and run.
I also played in a couple of APL tourneys and hope to start going back to those regularly. I made the final table this week and finished fourth, so that should get me an invitation to the Monthly Venue Championship game for February. I play on line a whole lot more than I do live, so I need to work on my live game skills, such as picking up tells and avoiding giving away my own.
In poker news, it is getting pretty near impossible for US players to deposit or withdraw money from any poker sites. NETeller has had some of its funds frozen or seized by the US Accounting Office, and although some other companies have sprung up to try to fill the gaps, they seem to die off as quickly as they appear. What surprises me is reading all of the blogs and articles about players trying to find ways to put money into the sites, and not nearly as much talk about how they are going to get their money out of the poker sites. Maybe they feel like their money is safe and eventually they will be able to get it back, but are more concerned about how they can make deposits. Frankly, I am content just playing at limits where I can feel comfortable with the bankroll I have on PokerStars now without worrying whether I will lose it all due to variance and be unable to replenish it. Maybe there are players who don't like dropping to lower limits. It hurts their game, they might say. My response would be, treat it as a challenge. Re-learn how to play at the lower limits, because you might be stuck there for a while. Exercise your discipline, perhaps the most important tool any poker player needs to have.
Also, one of my favorite poker websites, Card Squad, has retired, which saddens me. I enjoyed reading the news and discussion there, and contributing once in a while. I never did get up to ten stars as a contributor, and now I guess I never will. But I have found another very good source of poker information and blogs, at PokerWorks. Check them out; a few of my favorite poker bloggers are regulars there.
I'm still debating whether to try to go to the proposed poker blogger gathering in Las Vegas in June. I might decide to use the money I would spend on that trip for a different vacation. I'll be shopping around to see what looks like the best deal, from a financial standpoint as well as scheduling, family concerns, etc.
Meanwhile, I'll be back at the micro tables soon, and probably playing in the WWdN next Tuesday. See you there!
Saturday, January 20, 2007
The next step in the evolution of on-line poker
NETeller has stopped processing money transfers to and from on-line poker rooms for US players. This is obviously a huge blow to those of us in the US that used NETeller to move our money into and out of the sites where we play. It is also a huge blow to the poker sites themselves, who will have a much harder time keeping their existing US players or getting new ones to sign up. Other funds transfer services either already have stopped dealing with US players or are likely to stop soon.
Bill Rini has posted a couple of very good articles on how bad it looks for the future of on-line poker for US players and for the industry in general. The subject appears to be the main topic of discussion among on-line poker players today. Here are a few personal thoughts of mine.
I have maybe $300 tied up in poker sites right now. I know that is peanuts compared to the bankrolls that some players have out there, and I am fortunate that I don't need to have access to that money. One goal that I set for myself at the beginning of 2007 was to build my roll by winning, and without making any more deposits. Well, it looks like winning is my only option for increasing my balance now. But you know what? I will take this as a challenge to myself. If I want to keep playing on line, then I will have no choice but to play well enough to sustain, if not build, my bankroll. I know it won't be easy, because variance can be a bitch. If I can succeed at this, then I will feel a real sense of accomplishment.
There are still the play money games. Yeah, the players at them usually suck, and they aren't the best place to improve one's skills. But they are a place to enjoy the game without worrying about whether I will have to launder any cash to play.
But what does the future hold for on-line poker as a business for US players? Here is an uninformed and naive idea. The UIGEA is a Federal law, and it says in it, as I understand, that it doesn't preclude state laws on gaming. So what we need is for one or more of the states here to allow on-line poker, and then have some companies set up shop for players in that state. You may say, if they can only allow players in one state, will it be worth their while? I expect that the answer would be yes. I'm sure there would be some initial investment, but it doesn't seem far-fetched to me that running an on-line poker site is not that costly and could make a nice profit even with a more limited customer base.
But which states might take this step? The two most likely candidates that I see are California and Texas. California already recognizes poker as a game of skill and has legal cardrooms. Because the cardrooms can't expect that everyone in the state who would like to play can physically come to their B&M sites, why not take the games on line and attract more customers? I can see this as a big opportunity for the California poker rooms to lobby the state government to allow them to open on-line versions of their rooms, and pay the requisite state taxes of course, making the state happy.
Texas is bordered by two states that have legal casinos, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Thousands of Texans travel to these states to play poker and other games, taking their money with them and leaving it outside Texas. There has been some discussion of allowing casino gambling in Texas, to keep that revenue here, but no bills have ever gotten very far in the legislature. If we can get the sentiment moving in that direction, though, I think a case could be made to allow on-line poker as a first step. Texas is a place where poker is well known and has a rich history. It makes sense, to me anyway, that an on-line seed for it could be planted here.
I fully understand that this whole scene is much more complicated than I just described. There is the possibility that a carve-out for poker could be developed for the UIGEA. The idea of individual states allowing on-line poker may never fly. But I want to remain positive that, in the long run, there will be a safe, legal means for us to play poker on line for real money. I think that the creative and determined minds in the poker and business communities will find ways to make it happen, eventually. Meanwhile, I will play however I can and continue to enjoy my favorite game.
Bill Rini has posted a couple of very good articles on how bad it looks for the future of on-line poker for US players and for the industry in general. The subject appears to be the main topic of discussion among on-line poker players today. Here are a few personal thoughts of mine.
I have maybe $300 tied up in poker sites right now. I know that is peanuts compared to the bankrolls that some players have out there, and I am fortunate that I don't need to have access to that money. One goal that I set for myself at the beginning of 2007 was to build my roll by winning, and without making any more deposits. Well, it looks like winning is my only option for increasing my balance now. But you know what? I will take this as a challenge to myself. If I want to keep playing on line, then I will have no choice but to play well enough to sustain, if not build, my bankroll. I know it won't be easy, because variance can be a bitch. If I can succeed at this, then I will feel a real sense of accomplishment.
There are still the play money games. Yeah, the players at them usually suck, and they aren't the best place to improve one's skills. But they are a place to enjoy the game without worrying about whether I will have to launder any cash to play.
But what does the future hold for on-line poker as a business for US players? Here is an uninformed and naive idea. The UIGEA is a Federal law, and it says in it, as I understand, that it doesn't preclude state laws on gaming. So what we need is for one or more of the states here to allow on-line poker, and then have some companies set up shop for players in that state. You may say, if they can only allow players in one state, will it be worth their while? I expect that the answer would be yes. I'm sure there would be some initial investment, but it doesn't seem far-fetched to me that running an on-line poker site is not that costly and could make a nice profit even with a more limited customer base.
But which states might take this step? The two most likely candidates that I see are California and Texas. California already recognizes poker as a game of skill and has legal cardrooms. Because the cardrooms can't expect that everyone in the state who would like to play can physically come to their B&M sites, why not take the games on line and attract more customers? I can see this as a big opportunity for the California poker rooms to lobby the state government to allow them to open on-line versions of their rooms, and pay the requisite state taxes of course, making the state happy.
Texas is bordered by two states that have legal casinos, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Thousands of Texans travel to these states to play poker and other games, taking their money with them and leaving it outside Texas. There has been some discussion of allowing casino gambling in Texas, to keep that revenue here, but no bills have ever gotten very far in the legislature. If we can get the sentiment moving in that direction, though, I think a case could be made to allow on-line poker as a first step. Texas is a place where poker is well known and has a rich history. It makes sense, to me anyway, that an on-line seed for it could be planted here.
I fully understand that this whole scene is much more complicated than I just described. There is the possibility that a carve-out for poker could be developed for the UIGEA. The idea of individual states allowing on-line poker may never fly. But I want to remain positive that, in the long run, there will be a safe, legal means for us to play poker on line for real money. I think that the creative and determined minds in the poker and business communities will find ways to make it happen, eventually. Meanwhile, I will play however I can and continue to enjoy my favorite game.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Week Two 2007
Another week is in the books, and a few more games are in my record sheet. I played in a few tournaments but only one session of cash game. I played in my first blogger tourney in a while, the Mookie last Wednesday. My showing was less than stellar: 39th out of 57. But it was fun to get back into one of those games with some familiar names. I did cash in a $11 two table SNG on Full Tilt, finishing fourth. I used most of my $7 profit from that to enter a token satellite on FT today, which I am playing in as I type this. I was chip leader for a while, but lost a couple of pots to drop me down, with the blinds going up. I'm going to have to make a move soon but haven't had any cards to work with lately.
Well, there goes that. UTG, I pushed with KJo, got called by AK. Didn't improve, finished 7th. I was hoping to win a $26 token so I could enter the WPBT tourney later this month. Now I guess I will have to try again for a token (or a cash win) and risk what's left of my miniscule FT bankroll. I'd rather not make more deposits if I can avoid it, but we'll see what happens.
In my one cash game, I played just over a half hour of $0.05/0.10 LHE at PokerStars Friday night, and finished ahead by $1.43. My best hand was when I flopped quad 3s and got a couple of players to stick around for a few more bets. I made some notes on a few players and used the information to my advantage on a couple of hands. I plan to take more notes, especially in the cash games, because I am seeing some of the same players again and again.
I'm not sure if I will play any more today, as I have some other, real life, things I could stand to do.
I will report that I am considering the possibility of going to Las Vegas in June to check out the WSOP. I would probably try to go over the weekend of the blogger gathering, which may be June 7 - 10. I don't have any grand plans of actually playing in any WSOP event(s), but if I were to get lucky enough to come up with the entry fee for one of the smaller events, I would be thrilled to try it, if only to say that I played in the WSOP at least once. And I would love to play in a blogger tourney, or in a tourney with other bloggers if it was a case of storming one of the scheduled casino tourneys. Just meeting some of them in person would be a good time in itself, I expect.
Well, there goes that. UTG, I pushed with KJo, got called by AK. Didn't improve, finished 7th. I was hoping to win a $26 token so I could enter the WPBT tourney later this month. Now I guess I will have to try again for a token (or a cash win) and risk what's left of my miniscule FT bankroll. I'd rather not make more deposits if I can avoid it, but we'll see what happens.
In my one cash game, I played just over a half hour of $0.05/0.10 LHE at PokerStars Friday night, and finished ahead by $1.43. My best hand was when I flopped quad 3s and got a couple of players to stick around for a few more bets. I made some notes on a few players and used the information to my advantage on a couple of hands. I plan to take more notes, especially in the cash games, because I am seeing some of the same players again and again.
I'm not sure if I will play any more today, as I have some other, real life, things I could stand to do.
I will report that I am considering the possibility of going to Las Vegas in June to check out the WSOP. I would probably try to go over the weekend of the blogger gathering, which may be June 7 - 10. I don't have any grand plans of actually playing in any WSOP event(s), but if I were to get lucky enough to come up with the entry fee for one of the smaller events, I would be thrilled to try it, if only to say that I played in the WSOP at least once. And I would love to play in a blogger tourney, or in a tourney with other bloggers if it was a case of storming one of the scheduled casino tourneys. Just meeting some of them in person would be a good time in itself, I expect.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Week One update
I have played a little since my last post. Not as much as I might have liked, because my evenings have been occupied with play rehearsals.
A couple of sessions of $0.05/0.10 Limit HE at PokerStars have left me down a little less than $3. I got very few hands worth playing, and when I got some cards, they either didn't get any action or they ended up second best.
I entered a $1.25 90-player SNG at FullTilt yesterday and finished 16th, for a profit of a whopping $0.37. At least I feel like I played fairly well and didn't make many donkey moves.
As I type this, I am playing in a PokerStars 180-player $4.40 SNG. I have been card dead almost the entire time (about an hour now), and have only won a couple of small pots. Pretty soon I am going to have to double up or go home. I have seen some sick suckouts and highly questionable play, which makes me more frustrated that I haven't had anything to play back with.
As of a few minutes ago, I had a stack of $635 and blinds of $50/100. With one limper in front of me, I pushed with A3s, got two callers with KK and 99, but couldn't spike the Ace or flush and was busted in 69th place.
I'm not getting off to a stunning start for the year, but I'm glad to be getting back into the game. I've been re-reading some of my books and will continue to do so. Another thing I'm doing occasionally is playing some fake money games. Last night I played some deuce-to-seven triple draw on a play money table on Stars. Mainly I get on the play money tables so I can get a feel for how the games that I am less familiar with, such as TD or Omaha, are played. The other players tend to be pretty loose on the play money tables, so devising strategy is mostly a waste. But I do find it to be a painless way to get used to the mechanics of the games, and think about how a hand should be played even if I'm not seeing the other players following what might be proper strategy. If I can pick out what I think they are doing wrong, then I can try to avoid doing those same things when I play. Incidentally, I finished my TD session about 20 big bets ahead, so that's nice.
I might play a few hands of Limit now that I am out of the tourney, but I have some other things I need to do so I may not get much more poker time in today. But every little bit helps, especially if I can learn something from it.
A couple of sessions of $0.05/0.10 Limit HE at PokerStars have left me down a little less than $3. I got very few hands worth playing, and when I got some cards, they either didn't get any action or they ended up second best.
I entered a $1.25 90-player SNG at FullTilt yesterday and finished 16th, for a profit of a whopping $0.37. At least I feel like I played fairly well and didn't make many donkey moves.
As I type this, I am playing in a PokerStars 180-player $4.40 SNG. I have been card dead almost the entire time (about an hour now), and have only won a couple of small pots. Pretty soon I am going to have to double up or go home. I have seen some sick suckouts and highly questionable play, which makes me more frustrated that I haven't had anything to play back with.
As of a few minutes ago, I had a stack of $635 and blinds of $50/100. With one limper in front of me, I pushed with A3s, got two callers with KK and 99, but couldn't spike the Ace or flush and was busted in 69th place.
I'm not getting off to a stunning start for the year, but I'm glad to be getting back into the game. I've been re-reading some of my books and will continue to do so. Another thing I'm doing occasionally is playing some fake money games. Last night I played some deuce-to-seven triple draw on a play money table on Stars. Mainly I get on the play money tables so I can get a feel for how the games that I am less familiar with, such as TD or Omaha, are played. The other players tend to be pretty loose on the play money tables, so devising strategy is mostly a waste. But I do find it to be a painless way to get used to the mechanics of the games, and think about how a hand should be played even if I'm not seeing the other players following what might be proper strategy. If I can pick out what I think they are doing wrong, then I can try to avoid doing those same things when I play. Incidentally, I finished my TD session about 20 big bets ahead, so that's nice.
I might play a few hands of Limit now that I am out of the tourney, but I have some other things I need to do so I may not get much more poker time in today. But every little bit helps, especially if I can learn something from it.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
It makes a start...
Yes, I'm back. One of the things I plan to do this year is work on my poker game. To do that right, I have to review what happened over the past year. A quick glance at my poker records (thank goodness I've kept them) for 2006 tells me this:
I actually had a positive year in Limit Hold Em games, although my profit won't even buy me a Happy Meal.
I was way behind in No Limit ring games; those are my weakest spot.
I lost money overall in tournaments, almost all of which were NLHE. However, if you count the value of the iPod that I won in the PokerStars blogger tourney, I came out well into the black.
I played in 92 on line tournaments last year. I finished first five times; second, six times; third, four times. I cashed in 25 of the 92 tournaments I entered.
Of the notes that I made about how the games went, a lot were about being card dead, but a bunch of others, especially in the second half of the year, were about me playing like a donkey.
I know I have leaks in my game. I have already started re-reading Lee Jones's Winning Low Limit Hold Em, and the Harrington books. My plan is to get back on the micro-stakes Limit tables on PokerStars and work on my skills while trying to (very slowly) build my bankroll back up. I will probably play in some micro tourneys, and any freerolls that are available, to sharpen my tournament game. I'm not sure if I will make the effort to play any live cash games or not. I will continue to play in the free Amateur Poker League games when my schedule permits.
I will be playing poker, and I will be blogging about it, however often I can. Maybe writing about it will keep me going, and inspire me to work harder on improving my play. That's one resolution that I expect most of us can agree on, eh?
I actually had a positive year in Limit Hold Em games, although my profit won't even buy me a Happy Meal.
I was way behind in No Limit ring games; those are my weakest spot.
I lost money overall in tournaments, almost all of which were NLHE. However, if you count the value of the iPod that I won in the PokerStars blogger tourney, I came out well into the black.
I played in 92 on line tournaments last year. I finished first five times; second, six times; third, four times. I cashed in 25 of the 92 tournaments I entered.
Of the notes that I made about how the games went, a lot were about being card dead, but a bunch of others, especially in the second half of the year, were about me playing like a donkey.
I know I have leaks in my game. I have already started re-reading Lee Jones's Winning Low Limit Hold Em, and the Harrington books. My plan is to get back on the micro-stakes Limit tables on PokerStars and work on my skills while trying to (very slowly) build my bankroll back up. I will probably play in some micro tourneys, and any freerolls that are available, to sharpen my tournament game. I'm not sure if I will make the effort to play any live cash games or not. I will continue to play in the free Amateur Poker League games when my schedule permits.
I will be playing poker, and I will be blogging about it, however often I can. Maybe writing about it will keep me going, and inspire me to work harder on improving my play. That's one resolution that I expect most of us can agree on, eh?
Sunday, December 03, 2006
I've got to get away, I've got to get AWAAAYY...
I came to a decision last night. I will not be playing poker for real money again for the foreseeable future.
Is this a knee-jerk reaction to a bad night at the tables? Yes and no. True, I had a losing night last night, and it put me off the game. But as I look at my results over the past year, they are quite negative. I have had a few winning sessions and tournament cashes, but the losses outnumber the wins by much more than I like. No, I'm not in danger of missing my house payment or not feeding my family - not by any means. I play for very low stakes. The problem is, I'm having less and less fun playing. Losing certainly makes for less fun. Could I work at it, and study the books, and take pages of notes on other players, and do all the things that make successful players? Yes, I could. But I have other things in my life that I prefer to spend my time on, and I don't feel like I have the innate talent to make that work come to me easily enough to make the effort pay off.
For the moment I plan to play less poker overall, and only play for free when I do. There are plenty of freeroll tournaments and play money games on line that I can get into. I will probably continue playing in the Amateur Poker League tourneys, for as long as I can stand the second-hand smoke. I will most likely sell off the majority of my poker book collection (contact me if you want to buy some, cheap, and I will send you a list). Will I ever decide to get back into the game "for real"? I don't believe in saying "never" about nearly anything, so who knows? But I need to get away from it now.
I don't expect to update this blog for the foreseeable future either, not that I have written much here anyway. Or that very many people even know that this blog exists. If you read this, thanks for stopping by.
Is this a knee-jerk reaction to a bad night at the tables? Yes and no. True, I had a losing night last night, and it put me off the game. But as I look at my results over the past year, they are quite negative. I have had a few winning sessions and tournament cashes, but the losses outnumber the wins by much more than I like. No, I'm not in danger of missing my house payment or not feeding my family - not by any means. I play for very low stakes. The problem is, I'm having less and less fun playing. Losing certainly makes for less fun. Could I work at it, and study the books, and take pages of notes on other players, and do all the things that make successful players? Yes, I could. But I have other things in my life that I prefer to spend my time on, and I don't feel like I have the innate talent to make that work come to me easily enough to make the effort pay off.
For the moment I plan to play less poker overall, and only play for free when I do. There are plenty of freeroll tournaments and play money games on line that I can get into. I will probably continue playing in the Amateur Poker League tourneys, for as long as I can stand the second-hand smoke. I will most likely sell off the majority of my poker book collection (contact me if you want to buy some, cheap, and I will send you a list). Will I ever decide to get back into the game "for real"? I don't believe in saying "never" about nearly anything, so who knows? But I need to get away from it now.
I don't expect to update this blog for the foreseeable future either, not that I have written much here anyway. Or that very many people even know that this blog exists. If you read this, thanks for stopping by.
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