Musings and Cards

Harsh Month

2009-02-28T16:35:00.002-05:00

Good thing I've implemented bankroll management strategy. For the month, I'm down 30% of my bankroll. This after having increased the bankroll by 34% in January. I've played the same as always, though I did get the bankroll up enough to move to a higher level of table. The new level takes longer to make my win goal, but I'm still running into horrible luck or no luck at all. I know there

Steady Climb

2009-01-19T17:20:00.002-05:00

Since moving out of the baby tables, it's been slow and steady progress. I didn't play from December 15th through the end of the year. Too busy with Christmas and needed a well deserved vacation. I started playing again on January 1st with $487. Up to $537 now and still grinding it out.

No More Baby Tables

2008-11-30T12:29:00.003-05:00

The month of November has had it's share of ups and downs. At the beginning of the month, I quickly raised my bankroll to $383 and was very soon headed out of the micro tables and into the low tables. Oh how things change. I went on a losing streak and lost $80. Thank goodness for my rules only allowing me to risk 5% of my bankroll at a time.So from the $303 I currently had, I continued to

SCORE !!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-05T20:44:00.002-04:00

So I was just looking at the blog. I know it's been a while since I've posted, but July? I didn't realize it had been that long. So here is a quick update as to where I am on the quest for turning $25 into whatever it turns into.I have been playing when I can and keeping a steady pace towards increasing the bankroll. I decided to expand my original bankroll management rules and begin playing

Poker Literature

2008-07-02T00:00:00.002-04:00

I have nothing against books explaining the game of poker to new people interested in learning. Recently, I was cleaning out my garage and came across the first book of poker I ever bought. This was after I had been playing poker online for play money for about 8 months and had built the original $1000 they give you in play money to over 5 million.I had kept the same philosophy I had in play

Not Poker

2008-04-15T21:18:00.002-04:00

So before I start here, this is not a poker post. There isn't much to report actually. I'm holding steady and making progress building my bankroll. As expected there are ups and downs but steady progress up.At the moment, I have a LOT going on in my life. My wife is pregnant again and we're expecting another daughter in two weeks, so any day now could be it. I've got some new

Grinding Time

2008-03-23T21:35:00.003-04:00

The downside of playing poker, any poker, is you can't always win. I've been on a very good run lately, as you've all been reading, and the run has officially ended. I've been winning, then losing. Fortunately, the amount of losses only cancel out the wins, so I'm still hovering around $95. I'm going to continue to grind it out, and eventually I'll be back to my winning ways. Stay tuned . .

P . . . . . laying Low

2008-03-03T22:04:00.004-05:00

So lately I've been running even playing 10c/20c hold 'em, so I thought I'd switch it up a bit. Instead of playing 10c/20c I'm playing 2 5c/10c tables. In addition, I've been getting a bit burnt out on hold 'em.So what did I do? I started playing Razz instead. If you aren't familiar with Razz, it's a low card game dealt exactly like 7-card stud. The difference being the high hand brings in

Oh the things we say

2008-02-26T22:25:00.005-05:00

I'm sure you've heard it all by now. Hit one of your outs on the river and everyone seems to have an opinion on your play. You've been called a donkey or a fish. They've said, "You called with THAT?" Of course you did, they watched you. And it doesn't matter if you flopped the nut flush draw with 7 people still in the hand and had the pot odds to make it profitable for you.Well, I've had it

Falling Off the Wagon

2008-02-11T13:30:00.000-05:00

This weekend I fell off the bankroll management wagon. I had been getting beat up pretty badly with folks chasing with one suit in their hand with 3 on the board, gut shot straight draws and 2 pairs hitting full houses to beat my flushes and straights.I had not lost a lot of money, but I was grinding it out and not being able to put a run together so I could make back some of what I had lost.

Moving on up . . . . .

2008-02-06T21:02:00.000-05:00

. . . . to the east side. There's no deluxe apartment, but I have made enough to move out of the 5c/10c game and onto the 10c/20c game. I've been working diligently to get to the next level. The last $10 seemed like the toughest. Next stop $200 before I move up again.So far the competition doesn't seem to be significantly better than the level I just moved up from, which means it should be

2 Outer Hell

2008-01-31T20:49:00.000-05:00

I've been playing pretty well lately and using the bankroll management system to move up when appropriate. In order to move up to the next level, I needed to have a total bankroll of $80. I got to $79.50 and promptly entered what I'll call 2 Outer Hell.2 Outer Hell is pretty self-explanatory, but basically it boils down to this. If there's a 2,3, or 4 outer that can beat the hand you have . .

Raise 'Em Up

2008-01-22T21:24:00.000-05:00

I was on IM yesterday when a poker friend of mine logged in. He was playing several sit and go (SnGs) tournaments and one low fixed limit table ($0.02/$0.04) just for kicks. I met him online many years ago when I first started playing poker. It had been a long time since we had sat at the same table, so I joined. Both of us take poker seriously enough that we'd never consider cheating, so no

Roll Up the Pennies

2008-01-19T23:09:00.000-05:00

Since my last posting and continuing to play penny tables, I have increased my bankroll to just over $57. The players are still some of the worst I've ever played with, but it's not hard to make money playing a solid game. I'm currently playing $0.05/$0.10 fixed limit tables and within a couple of weeks or so, I should have a bankroll large enough to allow me to move up to the next level, $0.10

Playing Pennies

2008-01-08T21:27:00.000-05:00

Wherever you play poker, at home, in a casino, online, there's a certain discipline needed to make sure your bankroll lasts while you're winning and losing. Recently, I decided to make a small deposit into my account and see what I could do. I started with $25 (the minimum allowed) and went to the smallest fixed limit tables I could find. It's a grind and hard work, but in a little over 2 weeks,

Shuffle Up and Deal

2007-06-05T19:47:00.000-04:00

The most famous words in all of poker. Now is the time of year when all poker players get very excited. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) began just a week ago at the Rio in Las Vegas. Of course, I'd love to be there, but there is the matter of the entry fees and my family.As much as they support me in my enjoyment of poker, going to local games, and allowing me to build copious amounts of play