Awful Poker Blog

Hiatus?

2011-06-23T06:03:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since I actually updated from my last blog post and sorry to the few followers I did have. I'm really not sure the to update with since my SNE chase was crushed due to Black Friday. I'll just update with what's been happening over the last two months.

I did receive my funds back from Pokerstars and I can't be more thankful enough, however I did not head to Vegas to play. I decided to head to somewhere more local, Mohegan Sun, which was a way cheaper alternative for me (have bills to pay now :/). I went with my friend Matt and had more fun that expected; I admit I was somewhat nervous and didn't do as well the first day, losing about 100-200ish. I pulled through the next few days, playing way better and ended the trip up a BI playing 200NL the entire time. One of the things that did surprise me was how focused I was during the trip, I didn't even listen to my iTouch once when I was playing! 24 tabling to playing 1 table is quite the adjustment, but without another source of income, I was determined to win.

Yeah, so I had a good time and will be heading back there in two weeks or so to play in their Summer Showdown. Let's see if I can luckbox a donkament ;)

Besides that, I haven't been pokering much. I did deposit to RPM poker, but grinding microstakes is not the same lol. I'm relaxing and enjoying my time off away from poker, but I have to start getting down to business cause I need the income!

Maybe on my next blog post, I'll elaborate more on my first live experience, but for now I'll officially say my blog will have some inactivity. You never know, I might get the blogger's itch again and start updating weekly~ See ya.

Plans

2011-04-21T23:46:00.000-07:00

It took me some time to digest what has truly happened this last week or so. I'm not sure what the best word is to describe my emotions about "Black Friday." I am just really disappointed that I would not be achieving SNE this year. However, I will remain optimistic and yes, there is a reason for the optimism. For one, Pokerstars and Full Tilt has made a agreement with the DoJ to return the player funds ASAP. With so much uncertainty of whether we will ever see our funds again, this is truly a blessing.

Let's just hope this is just a setback for online poker and that this will be a push for regulation in the game we love and hate.

So, what our my plans now? Unfortunately I cannot play live until next month when I turn 21, so in the meantime I will be praying I can get my funds ASAP and chilling in my apartment. If I happen to receive my funds before my birthday (May 26), I'll most likely be planning a trip to Vegas to play in the Deep Stack Extravaganza Series at the Venetian. I'll play in a couple of their lowest events ($340) and grind some cash during my time there.

Marching Down

2011-04-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

I'm not really sure what to write without this becoming a massive whine post. March was really frustrating to say the least and I think for like the second or third time in my poker career, this was a losing month for me at the cash tables. Thankfully for RB and bonuses, I profited, but in no way am I happy about it. I set goals for myself in the beginning of the year and I didn't want to have one losing month at the tables. There was nothing I can do to climb out of this downer and I tried.

If I posted a EV graph, I guess I have to post it from now on when I do run good :)

Yeah I think at one point I was to 20 BI's below EV and from my older posts, I always reiterate that EV isn't always a true indication of what is really "happening." So yes, there is definitely some tilt and spew in the graph, on the other hand there are also major coolers etc...

Ok so this is in my opinion, my most dreaded portion of the post when I actually discuss my monthly profits, since I didn't have that good of a month.

Cash:-3600 (1200 of it is from 400NL)
Tourneys: -600 (includes a stake to a friend for Sunday Million)
Bonuses/Milestones: +6600

Totals: +2400

So basically, I am back where I started. A bad BE player.

state of the games &

2011-03-25T03:15:00.000-07:00

It has been well over a month since the Pokerstars Ring Game changes (FEB 10) and though this maybe won't be the most accurate assessment of the games, I feel since the changes, the games have been better. There is a mix opinion of this and I notice on the 2P2 Pokerstars Regular thread that it's really split in between the middle of this debate. Generally, I would think the poker community leans towards the assessment of the games improving since the changes. However, some really well respected big winners at SSFR think otherwise.

Sometimes Pokerstars fall under huge critique from the whole poker community especially in this last year with not many promotions and questionable changes made in the gameplay. But, recently Pokerstars has been making fantastic progress in my opinion and I must give kudos to them. Listening to the community for the ring game changes, having more promotions like the introduction of Home Games, which is surprisingly bringing more casual players in the game and few days ago, the announcement of the 60 Billion Hand Promotion. To be honest, I am actually surprised they are doing this and I hope I actually hit a milestone!

VPP count : 208K

Also, sitting out on the next big blind is the nuts.

variance :(

2011-03-18T17:00:00.000-07:00

I try not to pay attention to EV, but my last two sessions have been brutal. Hopefully it turns around by the end of the month or it will be my first losing month in awhile.

in and out

2011-03-07T14:17:00.000-08:00

So I made a ~~fantastic run~~ in the Sunday Million 5th Anniversary.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, 215 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (9 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t10000)
SB (t10000)
BB (t10000)
UTG (t10000)
UTG+1 (t10000)
MP1 (t10000)
Hero (MP2) (t10000)
MP3 (t10000)
CO (t10000)

Hero's M: 133.33

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 7, 7
2 folds, MP1 bets t300, Hero calls t300, 4 folds, BB calls t250

Flop: (t925) J, 7, 6 (3 players)
BB checks, MP1 bets t1000, Hero raises to t2200, BB raises to t9700 (All-In), MP1 calls t8700 (All-In), Hero calls t7500 (All-In)

Turn: (t30025) A (3 players, 3 all-in)

River: (t30025) 8 (3 players, 3 all-in)

Total pot: t30025

Results below:
BB had J, J (three of a kind, Jacks).
MP1 had A, A (three of a kind, Aces).
Hero had 7, 7 (three of a kind, sevens).
Outcome: MP1 won t30025

One dream. One hand. And I am out.

Month 2

2011-03-01T04:05:00.000-08:00

I'm at 143k vpps and behind for the pace. However, this month I'm going to start really cracking down and get back on pace. February was good, as I did run way much better than January, so it is encouraging. I just hope it continues as long as possible.

So final profits for February is...

Cash: $3810
Tourneys: $0
Bonuses: $4300
----------------
$8110

FPP wise, I lost track and won't even bother to try out how much I earned, too lazy :(

CHICAGO

2011-02-25T06:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my girlfriend's birthday and after a nice dinner, I took her to see the musical Chicago. In before all the guys say "OMG broadways is like gay," I actually enjoy these things and my girlfriend is a huge fan of musicals so it was a ideal gift for her. Living or visiting New York, any Broadway show is a must see even if you aren't a fan of the theater stuff. It is just a good experience and last night lived up to all expectations. So guys, if you ever get a chance or do have a chance and do not know what to give to your significant other or girlfriend; musical shows are a perfect gift. She will sure love it ;)

These next few days, I'm going to play as many hands as possible to close in on my needed pace for the SNE chase. I'm currently at 7 days behind, so hopefully by the end of the month, I can narrow it down to 3-4 days. Next month, I really anticipate to be cracking and be over pace for once. I'm also excited for the Sunday tournament play as there would be the Turbo Takedown and the 5th Anniversary of the Sunday Million. The Sunday Million prize pool will be 5 million! It would be the highest guarantee for the tournament and first place is 1 million and a Lamborghini. I will be playing for sure and maybe some magic can happen :)

***EDIT***
Oops I was mistaken as the Sunday Million Anniversary is actually on March 6.

Couldn't Think of a Title

2011-02-15T03:01:00.000-08:00

It has been two weeks since my last update and everything has been good except my vpp count. I'm going to be a bit busy this month with moving out and buying the necessary things for my apartment, as well as other personal matters. My vpp will suffer, but I will have to see if I can still somehow pull back to pace, which is definitely possible or if that workload will carry on to March when life is less busy. This month I started out terrible profit wise continuing the trend of latter January. As you can see from the graph below, I was down 3k at one point, but there was hope. The poker gods had answered my prayers in the last week or so and provided me with a heater to pull it back up.

Yesterday Valentine's dinner with my girlfriend was pretty good and it was what I expected. We didn't eat in the city and I chose a place somewhat more local to us and it turned out great. The decor was nice; it was romantic and everything. Most importantly, the food was really good. Not going to post all the pictures, but here are like two. Note: I'm really bad with the camera.

Ok so I'm hoping to catch up within my next blog post, good luck everyone.

January Review & More

2011-01-31T02:02:00.000-08:00

January was a tough grueling month and it's only a indicator of what is ahead in this SNE chase. The good news is, I'm ready for it and even more focused now in achieving my goals. I'm currently at about 82k vpps, so I'm right where I need to be. Profit wise, I could of did better in my opinion, but I did make a nice comeback in the end from a 3k deficit and profited 500 at the cash tables. It's not what I had in mind, but as long as I'm above break-even, I'll take it and won't complain. Hopefully I can do better next month!

Final Graph:

WBCOOP & Sunday Tournies Review

The WBCOOP was a fun tournament, it was my first time hearing about it a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to take a shot at it. I didn't manage to play in all the events and only cashed in one event, that being the first PLO event. I earned a $33 SCOOP ticket and free money/entries are always nice. Kind of funny how it was the only event I cashed in and went 0/3 for the NLHE event (Rarely, rarely play PLO)

I don't usually tourney, but I did yesterday, since there were a couple of big tournies running (Turbo Takedown, WBCOOP ME, etc...) I made only a small profit of like 40 bucks of them. Couldn't really get into a groove in them and before you know it, I was knocked out in majority of the tournaments I was playing. I however did manage a decent run in the Sunday 1/4 million and was where my profit came from lol.

Profit for January

Not sure if I should be discussing this, but I'll give it a go, since I feel like I have nothing to hide and it might inspire future SNE chasers. Also I guess people can sort of tell how much I make with PTR being so accessible.

Cash Table Earnings: $470 as seen above graph.
Tournament Table Earnings: $78 (includes SCOOP ticket)
Bonuses: 4K + Stellars ($900) = $4900
FPPs: I forgot how many FPPs I started with and earned, but I know it's no less than 30k and not higher than 50k. I'll choose 40k because it gives us a middle ground. 40K X .016 (FPP value of the 4k bonus) = $640.

Using my handy dandy calculator, it adds up to...

$6088. (Note: SNE is more end heavy bonus wise because of the milestones, so profits in the first few months are not as much in the latter months.)

four days

2011-01-28T01:10:00.000-08:00

running terrible. stuck 3K. massive grinding to ensue.

***Update***

Only down 1.3k now. Might put another session in tonight, but highly doubt it.

Even More Swongs

2011-01-16T12:54:00.000-08:00

Week 2 of the SNE chase is in the books and I am at 40k vpps. I'm going to put a session in later in the day and I should be then either back on pace or half a day behind pace (depends on how much I decide to play). I wasn't able to get ahead of pace this week because I'm planning to move out on the 1st! I'm very excited about this; it gives me a chance to be more independent. But, also it adds more responsibility and pressure with bills to pay now. I'll probably post pictures of the apartment once it is furnished and stuff.

Well back to poker, I suffered more swings and as you can see below when I was at my peak money wise, I received the doomswitch. I won't complain, but really it was the runbad; the usual beats etc... During that stretch, it seemed forever and I did lose some confidence, but I took everything into perspective. I knew I was a winner (very marginal winner lol) at the 200NL FR games and that I would climb out of this. I did end up climbing out of it for now, but there is still another two weeks in January and another 11 months to go. I'm not sure how I'm going to run in the future and this setback could be a blessing in disguise in preparing me mentally in what is ahead.

This was basically my face when the downswing was happening.

Oh one last thing to note, for anyone following this blog, THANK YOU! I really do appreciate the support and if any followers or lurkers have their own blogs, post it here and I'll make sure to follow! Maybe once I reach like 10 followers or some set number, I'll hold a draw and buy that lucky winner into the Sunday Million.

updates, updates

2011-01-09T06:19:00.000-08:00

As of right now I am about 20k vpps in the SuperNova Elite chase. I'm actually a day behind, but it's no biggie, I will make it up in the following days. I know it's important to always stay ahead of pace and it's one of the most frequently given tips from past SNE achievers. I promise I'll be back on pace!

So far, the chase has been good. I think one of the hardest things that I see right now and into the future is playing your best game when running bad. It's just very difficult in general and I have to, have to minimize my losses when it comes to variance. Even though, I am only a week into this run, I can't emphasize enough to try and not spew money in certain spots because it does add up over the course of these million hands. Let's see if I can hold on to this notion and see how my yearly profits would be.

Also, I underestimated the swongs involved in the SNE chase :(

It is so important I stay positive in profits this entire way because it gives me confidence in making the right decisions. Oh yeah, I have to e-mail PS for a avatar change, been procrastinating on that lol.

300K and 2011 Goals

2010-12-31T15:56:00.000-08:00

Woot! Finally hit the mark! I'm proud I reached it because in the earlier portion of the month, my classes effected my volume so, I had to put pretty big volume in the home stretch; yeah the grinding was good. I think this will help because this month was a teaser to prepare for the SNE chase. It gave me a good foundation of putting long hours and honestly, it was not so bad.

Ok, new year is upon us and I'm really excited! Here our my goals for 2011.

1) Obtain Supernova Elite (Quite the obvious one)

2) Maintain a 1+bb per 100 hands winrate. (I'm not just satisfied with a breakeven year, I want to improve as a player and show more of a profit! And this seems harder than it is, games get more difficult each year and winning 1+bb per 100 hands in a year with that massive volume is another feat itself.)

3) Save money! (I like to spend money and it's a fact, but at some point, I have to save. I don't want poker to be my only option in the future; I want to expand to other ventures as well, for example investments, businesses etc... Plus, I don't know how long online poker will be here, so time to play it safe!)

4) Exercise and lose my belly. Nope, I'm nowhere near fat, just been gaining weight around that area :(

5) Be a better boyfriend, son, brother etc... (Maybe one of the most important goals next to SNE, I guess it's self-explanatory)

And I'll be sure to update and post about my SNE chase and some other ramblings next year! I'm sure maybe it will inspire at least one person in the world because reading other blogs has gave me so much motivation. See you next year!

My new avatar at PS for 2011!

Closing it Down!

2010-12-26T20:06:00.000-08:00

December is winding down and the new year is on the horizon. I am in full anticipation for this upcoming year and it will be probably one of the most important in my life. This is mainly because of my goal of achieving Supernova Elite. I never really set goals in my life; sure i do have many goals in my life, but there more futuristic oriented. This goal of Supernova Elite will be in the present and it is entirely in my own hands to achieve. I'll make a later blog post of what other things I want to accomplish this upcoming year.

So, back to the VPP goal of December. I'm currently around 55k vpps, so I'll need 15k more to finish this. I think I'll make it in the next few days and I would of achieved 300k vpps for the year (I know, seems miniscule to the required 1 million vpps for SNE). Still, I will be proud, since I originally set this goal somewhere around summer, not knowing if I will actually of achieved it because I was burnt out of poker at that time and my volume lacked. Hopefully everything goes well these upcoming days!

Happy Holidays!

December Goal Update

2010-12-15T23:43:00.000-08:00

Have to catch up!

it's a scary thought

2010-12-07T01:01:00.000-08:00

These last few days, I have been waking up at these odd times in the night, technically morning. I wake up depressed for some reason, I guess I can attribute that to waking up to the darkness outside? Being up at this time makes you feel like you're alone and often I think of life matters.

Sometimes, I ask myself what exactly am I doing in my life, along with my future. I'm confident I can make this poker thing work, even if there are doubts I have from time to time, but it's just more than doubts. When I break it down and analyze what it is in becoming a professional poker player, it's a very scary thought for me. Don't get me wrong, I do want to do this, but looking at it, there is just as many negatives as positives when you do become pro. One negative I can immediately think of is in a way, I am isolating myself from society. Aside from traveling around the world to tournaments, most of the time will be spent at home, grinding it online. You are essentially alone, working by yourself.

Another issue stemming right now, is the future of online poker and the recent talks of regulation. Should I be for it? Should I be against it? I have mixed feelings on this, but I am leaning for the bill. I know the 15 month blackout will be terrible, especially for players that do not see poker as a future plan. This will be horrible for me as well if it does pass, but it seems to be so +EV for the future games.

Here's a link to a great interview; the interview summarizes what is currently going on as well as why this bill should/has to pass now.

http://www.leggopoker.com/forums/leggocast-forum/steel-blinds-1-steel108-zbthorton-13860.html

December Goal

2010-12-01T08:06:00.000-08:00

70K vpps. Classes are coming to a end this Friday, have some work to complete as well as finals on 17th, but I think I'll be able to do this.

remember, remember

2010-11-29T23:56:00.000-08:00

eh, I actually rather not. Poker for this last week has been terrible, I really hate to say it, but I have been "running bad." Yeah, so I'll stop there and spare you my complaining. I started this month, like the previous blog post said, break-even, but I picked it up in the middle of the month and started winning. Then disaster hits, right before the day of Thanksgiving and I'm currently at my 8th losing session in a row. I guess it evens out because last month I did run good and had a pretty long streak of winning sessions.

But, times like these, it's hard to not question your play and your skill level. "Am I just not good enough?" always comes to my head. I'm still confident though, even though I'm a little down;I'm handling this better than expected. I'm actually more upset about my winrate on PTR, I was so close in obtaining 1BB won per 100 hands, but I'm back to somewhere like .50BB won per 100 hands now :(

I hope December really picks up, it's going to be a big month for me because January is when I start the SNE chase. I cannot afford to lose.

Swingy Month So Far

2010-11-09T18:14:00.000-08:00

Like the title says, it has been a swingy first week in November. I feel like i'm running normally, even though EV wise, I'm up like 6 BI's or so. Obviously EV can be misleading and it doesn't account for hands like this.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2.00 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (MP2) ($274.30)

CO ($117)

Button ($423.30)

SB ($220)

BB ($146)

UTG ($145.15)

UTG+1 ($263.40)

MP1 ($272.75)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with J, J

3 folds, Hero bets $6, 1 fold, Button calls $6, 2 folds

Flop: ($15) 7, J, 4 (2 players)

Hero bets $10, Button calls $10

Turn: ($35) 7 (2 players)

Hero checks, Button bets $28, Hero calls $28

River: ($91) 7 (2 players)

Hero checks, Button bets $50, Hero raises to $230.30 (All-In), Button calls $180.30

Total pot: $551.60 | Rake: $3

Results:

Button had 7, 9 (four of a kind, sevens).

Hero had J, J (full house, Jacks over sevens).

Outcome: Button won $548.60

I was actually seriously just thinking of flatting river because of the way he played it, maybe i'm too nitty? But, I decided to take the cooler like a man!

BE so far this month, but fpps put me ahead :)

October

2010-11-01T15:20:00.000-07:00

October wasn't bad, i need to put in more volume though. I'm too lazy.

Back to 200NL

2010-10-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

100NL was frustrating to play for the last month, especially when I was running bad. I didn't make as much as I anticipated, but I made enough to be comfortable playing 200NL again. I've been grinding about a week and table selecting; it definitely makes a difference. The only downside of it is that your hands per hour really suffer, but hey if you're making money, nothing to complain about. If the rest of this month goes according to plan and I don't get hit by some downswing, it should be my biggest month in poker + my VPP milestone bonus.

I'm really considering the SNE chase for next year and might take a semester off school to try and achieve this or even do part-time school. Remaining in school is definitely a option, but I'll go crazy trying to maintain the balance of grind, school work/tests, and time with girlfriend and family. Contemplating my future...

Alright, let's do this.

2010-09-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

After a break from August, I am refreshed and ready to grind. I have to drop down and play 100NL for this month, due to withdrawing a large chunk of my roll. I could be still playing 200NL, but rather be more comfortable with more BI's to play. I am going try to put up the most volume I have ever had in my poker career, this month. Why? To simply get a feeling of what it is like to chase Supernova Elite next year. Reading posts on 2p2 and various blogs, I gained inspiration in trying to pursue this. To say the least, it's very difficult and just calculating the amount of hands I have to play, makes me sick. But if I keep the long term goal in perspective, I may, just may have a shot in this. (More information to come)

Too bad classes had to start when I considered doing this...

Bleh

2010-08-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

Lack of updates, lack of poker. I'll be picking it up soon...

Keep It Going...

2010-07-23T22:04:00.000-07:00

Mmm... just had some nice Korean BBQ with a buddy of mine. Happy 21st to him and hopefully he can win big tomorrow!

Poker has been going really well lately. I've been running good and (hopefully) playing good as well. Since, the last update or so I shipped around 15 BI's and feel really confident about my game. I do think that running well has contributed much to the success, but I also feel my game has improved after the downswing I had. I want to keep this going.

Not a bad month so far, if you add the bonuses, it will be around 5K. Going to treat my girlfriend to a nice broadway show :)

(Last time after I posted a blog entry, I received more rungood. PLZ DO NOT DOOMSWITCH ME)