12.03.09

I think it’s funny that the face of poker keeps getting younger and younger, I listened to Andrew “good2cu” Robl on the 2+2 Pokercast talking about someone in their late 20’s being old. I am sure that he is typical of a lot of kids these days. He was by no means rude about it.

The fact that kids are having success and playing the nose bleed stakes does not surprise me, they have very little consequences for going broke. They can try to scrape together the money and start again. Where us older (more seasoned) players cannot afford to go broke, I have collage to pay for and braces and a mortgage etc.

My concern is that being that young and having that much money can lead to some life situations that they are not ready for. After all having money and being young does not necessarily mean they are mature.

I am reminded of the following story:

Two bulls, one old and one young were standing on a hill over looking a pasture of cows. The young bull says “why don’t we run down there and effe one”. The older bull says “why don’t we walk and effe them all”.

Holy Crap Live Poker!

I am heading to the Cherokee Casino in the booming metropolis of West Siloam Springs, OK to play a tournament on Saturday morning. In talking to a friend it is a re-buy, $30 buy in and $10 re-buys, but plays like a turbo. 15 min blinds and they basically double every 15 min.

My wife and I were talking about heading to Downsteam Casino, but the tournament starts a little later, it is a little further from my home, I am not sure if the structure other then the 20 min blinds and 5000 chips at downstream, but the buy in is $80. I can re-buy 5 times and have the same amount of money spent.

I will be updating my adventures in the tournament via twitter.

Tid Bits

My play last night… I was happy over all, did have a few weird hands… they are on weaktight.com. Just as I wrote yesterday, I was very tired, I got my 200 FPPS made a small profit and shut it down.

MacAnthony was nice enough to let me sweat him for about an hour. I found it interesting and helpful watching him play $200 NL. I found it interesting and educational watching someone play at a level that was higher then mine. The only time I have seen $200 NL play (with hole cards) was in a video. He got into many of the same situations as I get into and I found it interesting seeing the lines he took. I hope to do this again real soon. (I would encourage everyone to find someone to sweat them and for you to sweat)

I believe the single hardest thing to do as a micro stakes player is to beat the micro stakes, and then make a successful transition to small stake, why? The play is so different. The skill level / aggression levels are so different, players hand selections are so off the wall at micro-levels. Small stakes players are more aggressive, even at $50NL (generally regarded as the top of micro stakes) a pot that is limped 2 or 3 times will have someone bet the pot and drive out the limpers and take the dead money.

If you cannot successfully bet you cannot win. What happens is you win small pots and lose big ones.

I was listening to the most recent 2+2 Pokercast they were talking about the players that play the highest stakes and how winning and losing half million in one day is common and they talked about the players just not caring and playing well above where they are bankrolled. While I listened to this I realized I will never be a nose bleed stakes player… (Not that there was much of a chance of that happening anyway). I will post more about this later.

Walking the Talk… Not so Much

I got home from work last night fired up Card Runners only to find out that I only needed 207 FPP’s to get my free month of Stox Poker, to go along with my free membership at Card Runners. 207 FPP’s I can do easily and quickly.

I made the points along with 2 bad calls, but ended with a $35 profit. Not good, but not too bad considering. I was kinda tired and needed to do some chores around the house and stopped playing about 9:45PM.

So Far So Good.

I finished about 10:30 and went back to playing (not so good). I lost a little and then the clock struck 11 (Central time US) in Full Tilts world December. I suddenly forgot how to play.

I know it was because I was way to tired, I made so many mistakes and was trying to chase losses, I kept losing.

It is amazing how playing bad and getting unlucky go hand in hand. I finally forced (I mean forced) myself to get off the computer at 12:30AM. I only lost 1 buy in after 11:00, I think I lost about $75 total for the night.

Its frustrating, I got tired, I chased, I lost.

Walking the Walk AGAIN!

Today is a new day, I went to the gym at lunch, I am extremely tired today.

I am starting 2 things today. One is I am tracking closer my results, on a daily basis. I have tried this in the past but when I lost I stopped filling out the sheet. Funny thing is, who am I kidding?

In September and early October I was working out a lot, I was winning big, in November I was not winning big and was not winning at the same rate. I assumed it was due to higher stakes but in truth the $50NL players are not really any better then the $25 NL, except due for the aggression.

Today 12/1/09 I am embarking on a personal mission, I am going to turn my bankroll into $30,000 in the next 13 months.

I am going to go back to playing like a pro:

• Not playing tired

• Focusing on making the best play at the proper time.

• Working off the felt (Never really stopped this)

• I am going to shoot for only 200 FPP’s a day.

• Unless I feel real good, I am going to limit my play to 6 or less tables.

• Reduce my ATC play in late position.

I am going to focus on having fun and playing well. If I am not doing both I am shutting it down.

Oh and even though Hold Em Manager shows the month starting already my spread sheet will not. The new month for that starts when I get home.

Nov 2009

Not what I wanted… so far Dec SUX I will turn that around.

Looking back and looking Forward

Heading into the last day of November, the good is… I have played 30K in hands and I am profitable. I feel comfortable at the stakes. The bad is my win rate is .88 BB/100 hands played.

Its funny, I feel like I broke even, and then I look at the money win… $254 going into to 11.30. In Sept. I won less then that and was thrilled, the difference is $10NL vs $50NL.

It has been a trying month for friends and that also takes away from the enjoyment as it is more fun all of us are doing well.

Our challenge ended and I won. I am thrilled to have one. I wish the Budgetcoach and Pointledge had not struggled as much as they did, but that is poker.

I am struggling to write much about this weekend, playing poker. Wed, won a little, Thu. Lost a lot, Friday won most back, Sat won more Sunday lost all that I had won Friday and Saturday. It was an ugly night of suck outs.

Lastly Snuffy and I are in the beginning of a weight loss challenge. After a week I lost 7 days. You can follow our weight loss bet here!

I am Iron Man!

Holy Crap BATMAN! Public Information about You Screen Name

One of the scariest things to realize is exactly how much information there is about you, well your screen name.

Am I the only one that ever Googled their screen name? I was amazed at what I found, hands posted that I played etc, I even found a post where a guy talked about how well he played a hand when I turned a straight flush and I rivered a Kings Full and he busted me from a tournament.

I first found Sharkscope a SNG tracker that use to give you 5 free searchs a day on various villains (and yourself) telling ROI winnings, recent results etc. Then another friend showed me Offical Poker Rankings, they post results from MTT’s.

Once I went to cash, I thought I was back into secrecy. Boy was I wrong! I knew of high stakes DB that tracked the nose bleed stakes.

One day I was looking for free buddy lists, I found tableratings.com the have a buddy list that I used. I then discovered they track players at all levels. [be careful with this site, they sell hand histories which is against Full Tilt and Poker Stars terms of agreement, if they find out you on the sight and playing poker they can close your account].

BRAG TIME:

 

Guess I need to work on the pre flop aggression