Poker Dork

Goal this Week:

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:29:00 +0000

My goal the week is to not give back my rakeback. For the last 2 weeks I have done this. 2 weeks ago I got to $1900 when rakeback was added, lost several buy ins. Last week I ended Friday’s play a little over $1900, on Saturday I ran it to $1970, then dropped 6 buy ins over the next 2 days. Today after I receive my rake back I will be just under $1900.

I reviewed my play and I discovered some leaks (not including the invincibility cloak I thought I had been wearing). I did take some beats, some ugly, but that happens. My biggest issues were poor hand selection based on position. For example, raising with KT UTG, flop comes T, 8, 4 turn T river x, so I have top trip, the late position player has 88 for a boat. Yes, that is poker, and yes it is hard to get away from top trips, but if I had not played the hand to begin with I would not have had the issue at all.

Last night I played well, I won money. It is funny how fast you can make errors. I got tired and with out even realizing it, I played a couple of hands I should not have and I took a few hits. I ended the night up over a buy in. The thing I am most proud of is I never doubled up on any table, I was able to grind profits over several tables instead of waiting for AA and getting in.

Biggest Winning Pot Raked: $30.00

Biggest Losing Pot: $27.00

I am heading out of town on Saturday for the weekend so hopefully I can get book a good session tonight.

12 Tabling – click for full screen leave comments

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:34:00 +0000

WSOP Final Table Thoughts

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:13:00 +0000

As someone really into playing poker, I was really excited about watching the WSOP Main Event Final Table. I became even more excited as I watched it. ESPN did a great job of putting the show together… I became even happier when at the 2 hour and 10 min mark I realized they were still showing action and it was not super close to ending. In total they ran 30 min over and all of it was heads up play. I was really impressed, excited to talk about the show with the few people at work that were casual fans and I knew were planning on watching.

I walked into work expecting to be told how they enjoyed the show, and how well they liked the show…

My co-workers were not excited about it, they felt it was ok, did not really care about any of the hands or the players, in fact all they wanted to know was why didn’t they reduce it down to the 2 hours they were suppose to. W.T.F.?

It was then I realized, those of us into poker care about all the ins and outs, how the players set up other plays etc. However the remaining 99% of the real world does not give a crap. Kind of like me and hockey, I will watch the Blues play but as far as the rest of it, I do not care.

To say the least I was disappointed. We need to remember this when thinking about getting laws changed. Most people do not care.

Going Pro:

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:54:00 +0000

I am declaring myself a Pro Poker Player (with a day job). I have learn to make decisions like a pro. In Tommy Angelo’s series “Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment” he talked about situations. One was what would you do if every time you played poker you had to have a winning session? The answer was be rested, be in the correct frame of mind, use proper posture etc… Now we know that winning every session is not realistic, but being properly prepared for each session is something that can be done!

In past posts, I talked about not playing as late at night and not drinking while playing etc… for the most part I do not drink and play (or at least to excess), but I do play too tired. I am not setting a specific time to stop, but being aware of how I feel and stop when I get into auto-pilot mode from being tired.

So as a Pro Poker Player it is my job to make sure I am prepared both physically and mentally to play, I need to make sure that I am thinking clearer then my opponents. I need to work on my game more then they do, I need to find players that are better then me (that should not be difficult) and get them to work with me.

Phil Ivey talked about playing 17 hours a day while he was learning, I cannot play that much but, playing 6 tables I play more hands then he did in a much shorter amount of time. Tiger Woods goes and practices after he plays around of golf in a tournament. How many people are willing to dedicate themselves to work this hard?

I need to continue to dedicate myself to doing something everyday to get better (more then just playing). I have made improvements to my over all off the table work ethic, I am watching a video a day from a training sight, I am looking at the forums and reading hands and figuring out what I would do and then look at others responses.

Just a couple of more things…

I am currently playing the best I have ever played. I am helping friends improve their games to get through $10NL and up to $50NL. The more success I achieve the more I want and the harder I willing to work. Time to take it to the next level $100NL or bust! (Played correctly and within bankroll rules)

It’s a Mindset Thing!

One more thing…

I am going to be taking two days off from playing poker, I am heading to St. Louis on Saturday AM for an early family Thanksgiving. We get in Saturday afternoon and leave Sunday late afternoon. It is about a 5.5 hour run so no poker either one of those days. I am actually looking forward to this trip.

Life, Poker and Other Fun Things

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:44:00 +0000

Quick poker update, I was playing very well toward then end of last week and on Saturday. Saturday I reached an all time high for cash wins. I took a screen shot and sent to a friend. This once again pissed off the poker gods. So on Saturday I went from +$70 to -$135 (yep a $200 swing. Sunday did not start off any better as dropped another $70. It is only so long that good hands get beat and variance swung back in the proper direction. I did end the Sunday -$57 from my ending total on Friday. (Basically my rake back).

One other thing that kinda sucks, I know the people I work with (friends) do not care about poker, and living where I do, many feel it is a sin. My friends and co-workers do ask from time to time how I am doing at it, they are slightly interested. It is funny because the better I do, and the higher I play they are more and more over whelmed and makes the, react differently to my stories. When I was playing $10 NL people treated it as if I was playing play money. The really had no idea how much money you can win or lose. They hear the maximum buy in is $10 so all you lose or win is $10. I would talk about playing 4 to 6 tables and there attitude and their eyebrows raise.

Now that I am playing $50 NL and have $300 in play, I was getting some looks about the money in play. I stopped talking about poker all together at work. When I am asked I try to be as general as possible, I also stopped talking about the dollars involved and talked about buy ins. So win or lose 1 or 2 buy ins a day. It kind of stinks not being able to discuss these things that I enjoy, but it defiantly makes life easier.

On a different note, my diet not going so well: I am always starting one. Well today it starts again. I am back in Weight Watchers, I am also back to working out.

On a fitness level, I am going to start a long work out routine that actually prepares you to run either a half marathon or a full marathon.

I am staring at the very beginning and the process takes a real long time. It also took me a long time to get in this bad of shape.

Phase One:

18 weeks in length ending with running 30 min

Phase Two:

18 weeks in length ending with running 10 miles.

Phase Three:

One of two:

4 weeks ending with running a half marathon

18 weeks ending in running a marathon

I have to stick to this… My health needs to be the priority.

Crazy Month

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:49:00 +0000

Here is my November so far. Lot’s of ups and downs. I will take it. I should get a bunch of play in this weekend. While the wife is in Little Rock for the State tennis tournament.

The November 9

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:07:00 +0000

I have a friend that did not want to know who made the November 9. The unfortunate part was he plays on Full Tilt, so he did find out about Phil Ivey. After the show was over I asked him one questions “was it worth it?”

I got thinking about my opinion and I say no. It may be fun to be surprised as to who made it and who did not, for example he was rooting for Antonio Esfandiari to make it and was disappointed that he did not. However the truth is he only knows Ivey, I am not sure he even knows who Jeff Schulman is.

He did not get the chance to listen to the interviews with the various players, he missed:

Jeff Schulman talking about throwing the bracelet into the trash, nor is re-cant / explanation of what he meant by it. (There is a great interview with Jeff on the most recent Mediocre Poker Podcast, really worth while listening.
Darvin Moon talking about the snap call flush over flush and he did not realize the board had paired.
He missed the daily recaps on ESPN’s Poker Podcast (the best), durning the WSOP
He missed getting to know the other players and finding out more of who they are and not just the fact they are Ivey’s opponents.

There are more things he missed but you get the idea. I am not sure I would be as excited about the Final Table without knowing the players. In that regard I guess Harrah’s got what they wanted.

Reflections of the Past Year

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:37:00 +0000

It may seem like a weird day to post about the last year, but today is my birthday. I always do this on my birthday. I am going to focus strictly on my poker game, since this is a poker blog.

In November I started playing 6 max cash games, and had immediate success, followed by failure. That is how most of the past year has gone for me, winning $300 losing it, winning $400 losing it. I avoided bankroll restrictions. I remember playing 4 tables $25NL with $110 in my account. I was able to support my cash losing, with the money I was winning playing tournaments.

After not having as much success as I wanted I joined Deuces Cracked, (the single most helpful thing I have done). I originally downloaded a ton of videos and watched very few. I have a history of doing in a lot of phases in my life.

After a series of continued ups and down, almost going broke and have a more comfortable bankroll (though it never got above $500), and a stint at focusing on HORSE, I started the first 100K hand challenge of the year, this time, was within my bankroll of playing $10NL, but it was 6 max on Stars. I played about 35,000 hands and had success, I ended a few dollars. I once again did the yoyo with my bankroll. During this time frame I dedicated myself to watching the videos and working on my game.

This was met with moderate success, I was then in September able to get rakeback on my Full Tilt account, I had ~$200 in my account. I did some soul searching and thought about my game and what I was good at and what I struggled at. I was good at tournaments and SNG’s I am a net lifetime winner at these forms of the game, and a net loser at 6 max cash games.

I can make all the excuses about why I lose at 6 max, the level etc, but the truth is I struggle to consistently make the correct decisions at 6 max, and due to my Full Ring tournament style play I have learned to make correct decisions.

So on 9/10 I started the 100K challenge 2, Full Ring additions. I had $200 in my account and I was ready to go… I dedicated myself to watch the full ring videos (avoiding 6 max for the most part). As if proving my theory I had success early, and unlike other times I really did not have the down turns for quite some time. I believe a good portion of this is due to a video series called Moving Up, where the coach, Nolan, talks about playing 9 or more tables to even out variance, I struggle with 9 tables, 6 to 8 I can generally handle, and have seen steady growth.

When my bankroll got to $500 I moved to $25 NL, with no real dip in profits, at $800 I played a tourney and finished 3^rd won $500 taking me to $1300. I moved up to $50 NL, I dropped 4 buy ins and won it back, I grinded with rake back to $1900, over the weekend I lost $300. I was able to get $120 back last night.

At some point I learned about truly free poker training, a sight that gives you weeks, of memberships to Stox Poker and Cardrunners. I currently have full months at both of these as well.

I want to thank Budgetcoach for pointing out a video to me about the “Ed Miller and it's called the pitfalls of running good and bad” I watched it last night on Stox Poker and it pointed out some of the leaks I had developed.

Next year I need to improve my Poker Stars bankroll, I am currently sitting at a whopping $120.

Click on Pic

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:54:00 +0000

To Watch Click on the Piture

I made a video of my 6 tabling 50 NL. Would like some feedback only like 10 Min.

An Open Letter to the Poker gods:

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:42:00 +0000

I would like to start by thanking you for the success you have bestowed on me.

Apparently I upset you on Friday. I am not sure if it was my arrogance due to my recent success you had allowed me to have, or of it was the fact that I took future success for granted. Whatever it is I am sorry.

I will not look at the next level (If you let get close) until I my bankroll is ready. I will not allow myself to post on a forum a question about when I should move up when I still do not have the absolute minimum number of buy ins to even think about it.

Please dear poker god, let 6 buy in’s be enough.

I promise not to take advantage of the gifts you have bestowed on me. Nor will I assume you will always give me these gifts. I will be your humble servant.

So help me Doyle.

My Weekend in a nutshell

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:58:00 +0000

100K II Proves it’s Point – So Far

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:08:00 +0000

On Sept 10^th 2009 I began the 100K II challenge. Playing full ring cash games, vs 6 max where I have struggled. My bankroll was a ~$200. I was playing 10NL I am now over 30K hands in, I have won over $1200 playing cash another $500 in a tournament and I am now playing $50NL, not bad in 51 days.

I am going to continue to grow my bankroll. I am trying to decide if and when to take a shot at 100NL. My concern is 30K hands is not a ton of hands, I do not want to out pace my abilities, but want to maximize my profits.

I think part of why I am better at full ring is I tend to error on being tight. I can pick my spots, primarily in position and make loose plays but by nature I am tight. (Not Zooks tight but tight)

I have added two elements to my game that have help and one realization

Folding – I found out that once you enter a pot it is still possible to fold – who knew!
Bet Sizing – I really think that this is the single biggest thing I have improved on. Betting to get people to call or fold. (Table Ninja FT really helped with this too).
Bankroll – Understanding the need to play with in your bankroll is HUGE. I had 26 buy ins when I moved to $50 NL after dropping 4 buy ins day one, I still had 22 buy ins. I felt very little bankroll pressure and was able to continue on at the same level.

Moving Up… I am going to post this in a forum, but I am really interested, should there be a minimum number of hands at a level before moving up? I played 12K hands at 10NL, 12K hands at $25NL and I am currently at just under 10K in hands at $50NL.

Should I take a shot at $100NL with 22 or 24 buy in’s (with the intention of moving down if I fall below 20 buy ins)? Or do I play more hands and move up later.

I am will do a full October breakdown in November

Rolling Along – And Benefits

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:42:00 +0000

I am enjoying playing poker. I am booking steady wins (although it is swingy at any given time). I have decided for right now that 6 tabling is about the right pace for me. I can fit the 6 tables on my screen without overlap.

I had a conversation I had with my wife last night. She has almost no interest in poker, she enjoys that I like it. She was asking about why do I like 6 games at a time. I stated that it reduced variance. She looked at me like I had a third eye.

I said you know, if you are a 75% favorite in any given hand, you obviously win most of the time, well there is the 25% of the time you lose. She said ok, still confused. I used a 4 table scenario (easier math). $50 per table, all 4 tables same odds of winning, you expect to win 3 lose 1.

Rarely are you going go broke on all tables at one time, and long term the math will hold up. She got it. Still no desire to play the game.

Rakeback is a great thing, this week I am getting $51 back, I will make silver on the Iron man. At 100+FPP per hour I have a shot to make Iron Man, Iron Man.

I need to keep my nose to the grind stone and keep playing my game and good things will happen.

If I was in it only for the Money

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:08:00 +0000

I am not sure if you can tell, but I really enjoy playing poker. It is my favorite past time. Since my wife having H1N1, which appears to be running rampant in NW Arkansas, and the kids playing together, I was able to start playing even earlier then normal last night.

I had 6 tables of $50NL up and running by 6:00PM. I quickly (in under 30 min) doubled up in 2 tables, and was up about $20 on a third. If I was in it for the money I would have been done for the night with a nice profit (hell last summer I did not have $100 in my account).

Variance caught up to me and I spent the next few hours going up and down. Low point was about -$60 for the night when I got stacked with KK vs 54 (yep he called a 4 x raise out of position, after limping).

In general last night was a weird night (or at least the tables I played). Not only against me but across the board, players were calling raises with all sorts of crap and catching, maybe this is the way it goes all the time, just the villains do not normally catch the cards and fold the flop or turn. As a side note: entering the pot with crap is one thing calling a bet is another.

I hung tough, did not let myself get tilted and ended the night +$18, +300 FPP’s.

On a personal note: it is still a little weird have $300 in play. I am well with in my bankroll parameters. It just takes some time to get use to, if I let myself think about it. So far the $ have not effected my ability to make the proper plays, this is just something I need to be careful about.

More Observations about $50NL

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:40:00 +0000

I have now one week of $50NL under my belt, as it may have been expected I struggled at the beginning as well as I got unlucky. (Funny how those two things go hand in hand so often).

If look at the spread sheet linked to the money roll I had some ups and downs all week. I felt I was playing well but just missing something. I was able to get that a little turned around and have turned the -4 buy in’s to a positive.

There is a jump in the level of play between $25 and $50. Here is a brief and by no means all inclusive list of observations, some of these may have been in an earlier post.

Very little limping allowed, it is almost a certainty that if there are multiple limpers the button or the blinds will pot it.
You will get raised at least 50% of the time you bet from early position. It make me a lot more selective then when I play $25, which has a ton of limpers.
You can call a raise in position with a hand that does not have an Ace in it , with an ace on board. (in short and Ace is no longer the nuts).
Even the bad players are more aggressive, in fact they error on the side of aggression.
The bad players are just as bad, they just give you money quicker.

Good solid play still wins at this level.
Bluffs will work if timed well.
Virtually all players can find the fold button.
Players pay more attention.
- I was at a table that I only showed down good hands, the real bad player found more folds against me when I bet, so I had to let him bet.

One last item are the swings, yesterday for example, I went $40 up real quick, then went to $20 down and then up over $100. The keys for me remain the same as before, do not chase loses at a table, if your image is ruined move. Take breaks often, even if you are at a juicy table, just sit out. It helps to refocus.

Table selection is also really important. Keep in mind that table dynamics change very quickly, so pay attention to the players and table averages. Have you ever been at a table when the fish leaves? Last night I had a guy with a 90 vp leave now there were 8 players with a VPIP under 15, that had been waiting to pounce. (without anyone to pounce on).

New Computer

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:38:00 +0000

I bought me a new computer yesterday. Day one of the Windows 7 era. I want to thank Gadzooks64 for all her help and listening to me whine and helping me get the proper computer. I chose on an HP from the local Sam’s Club. It is a beauty with what I hope is a big enough hard driver (640 gigs).

I spent hours transferring items from one computer to another, we could not find my external hard drive (Long Story) so it was done with an 8 gig flash drive. I have about 95% of the stuff transferred.

I did not get much time to actually play with the new windows system, I can only offer this advice, it seems to be an easier faster system then Vista.

I am still trying to figure out what all I have and do not have in the way of programs that need to be added. Here is a link to Gadzooks post with a lot of really helpful items.

I will say that Holdem Manager may be the best program out for tracking play but it is HORRIBLE to set the data base up… I just kept getting errors. Me being a resourceful person and I also have Poker Tracker, I set Poker Tracker up, they use the same data base system I just created a new data base.

I have customized poker tables on both Full Tilt and Poker Stars. I was smart enough to go into the program folders and save the folders that contained the cards and table and transfer them to my new computer, it work perfectly.

I will be able to play 6 tables with out any over lap. I will continue to have over lap on 9 tables.

I need help with programs, so here is a list of one’s that I installed yesterday. Anything I am missing?

What more?

Blaming Variance at $50NL – Umm Not so Quick

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:35:00 +0000

I was really pissed off last night, I kept losing with my big hands. This is part of the game. The default mind set is that this is my I dropped a little over 2 buy in’s. Having big hands cracked is some thing that happens all the time in poker. I have cracked a ton of hands myself (but when I do it, it is all skill).

I dropped about 2 buy in’s, at no point last night did I double up. I played a TON of hands as well. I did have several tables that I won $30 (at $50NL). The thing is I did not play as well on the “smaller” hands as I needed to be play. I was betting KJ and getting raised, and calling then calling a flop bet with an Ace in it etc, and then laying down the turn, things like that. This play probably cost me half or more of what I lost, it hurt my table image and basically made it difficult to play well.

I am not all doom and gloom I am down 3 buy ins over all, and still have 23 buy ins in my roll. I just need to tighten up and play correct, I also need to get away from the table a little more and take breaks.

The players at $50NL are more diverse then the players at below this level. In my opinion the majority of the players are still really bad, but there are more players that are really good. The potential of land minds are even greater.

I have had a few other bad habits creep back:

I have not been as strict on my diet, I believe that this really hurts.
Not watching as many videos / working on my game off the felt as before.

This ends right here right now.

Ugly Start at 50NL

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:40:00 +0000

With my cash in the tournament on Saturday I was finally bank rolled for $50NL. I started Sunday with 26 buy ins. I am glad I was well above the 20 that I normally require in order to move up.

Sunday was one of those days that happen to poker players, I could not maintain any winning sessions. I am not trying to tell bad beat stories (and I could), but the suck outs caused me to tilt a little, and I was playing too loose and out of position, especially since I had just moved up a level and did not know any of the regulars. The short version is I lost 4 buy in’s.

Monday started pretty much the same, I had to lay down KK on a scary board after putting in almost half my stack. I auto-topped off and I plugged away and won some big hands and ended the day at almost 2.5 buy in’s up.

Tuesday started off bad for me, got stacked with KK on a 442 board, up the UTG called a 4x raise, after limping with 54. It quickly turned for me when I had 55 and the flop was QQ5, the turn brought a 3^rd heart, I checked and villain bet $7 (pot) I re-raised to $20 and he snap shoved drawing dead. The rest of the night was a series of ups and downs I could not get anything going so I took a break -$20 for the day. I came back and in 30 min won that back plus $50.

As far as a small sample of players goes, there seem to be more polar opposites, either really aggressive or really timid. There is a lot more being rasied from the blinds it seemed every time I bet in early position it was raised, if I tried to steal the blinds, I was quite often raised. I have to be even more aware of my position and the players that were left to act. I would guess that this will continue to be the case as I move up.

One tool that I had heard about but barely used was Poker Table Ratings. This site offers a few things, one is a buddy list, you add players to it and it shows if they are online and what cash tables they are at. This feature works even if they hide themselves from searches on the site. The best feature is a search feature that tells you if the player is a winning player and also rates their play in all areas like VPIP, PRF, and Aggression by street. This is very handy! The only thing is it does have separate ratings by stakes, so be careful you are using the correct one, I had a guy last night was a great limit player, got an A rating at $10 $20 Limit, but at $50NL got an F, and he was too aggressive. If I had not paid attention to the stakes, I could have missed out on some profitable situations.

Another side benefit, FPP’s come a lot quicker, 6 tabling $50NL last night in 30 min I got 70 FPP’s. I can just see me in that Full Tilt Jersey! LOL

Upping The Ante

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:35:00 +0000

As we have talked about for a while, and most of you know already Budgetcoach, Pointledge and I are having a friendly wager and collective challenge to build our bank rolls (click on the money roll to see our results to date).

We had set the bar low for our goals and that was to simply double the initial buy in, Budget and I are well ahead of this pace. Pointledge dug himself a hole by spewing money in PLO. He has seen the errors of his ways and has righted his ship to get on the profitable side of the ledger.

We are now making the challenge a little more difficult. We are now going for a collective $2000 profit. So we have about 5 weeks to win slightly under a $1000 more. 2M2T

I will be posting about my observations at $50NL tomorrow.

Over all a good Weekend

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:15:00 +0000

I had a great Friday a better Saturday and Sunday not so much. If you saw my last post (see below) I has a 3^rd place finish in a MTT. Friday I win 1.5 buy ins and Sunday well I lost 4 buy ins (at a new level).

Friday was nothing special, hit some hands and won a few buy ins. I did a lot of grinding.

Saturday was fun, early on I was card dead, I had to lay down a few hands and my chip stack took a few hits. At one point I was down to under 800 chips and the blinds were 50/100. I open shoved with KJ off and was called by A4 and I spiked a K. One other time I was all in and in bad shape was AK vs KK and I made a straight, (I had 20BB and had raised pre and was re-raised). That was a huge pot for me and moved me into the top ten, where I stayed for most of the tournament.

I played as well as I can play, I was catching cards, both need to happen in order to final table a MTT. I had people folding when I wanted them too, and shoving when I wanted them too as well. I stayed in my game plan and was very happy.

When we made the final table, I was in the bottom half of chips, but the other players lost their collective minds, they played too fast and I chose my spots well. It took less then 30 minutes to go from 9 to 3. Three handed the chip leader wanted to make a deal, here were the approximate chips stacks, Leader 550,000; 2^nd place 235,000 and me 145,000. We looked a the ICM offering and it showed me making an extra $100. I jumped at it. The 2^nd stack reject the original offer then reconsidered and the deal was done. BOOOM! My biggest score in a couple of years.

Sunday the poker gods got even! I moved up to $50NL. The play is a little more aggressive then $25 NL. However I took some brutal beats, I lost with KK two times (QT & 66), I lost with AK to KQ… you get the idea. I lost 4 buy ins, even after losing that amount I still ended the weekend up almost $400. Other then the aggression, the play was not much better, and I realized I can play at this level.

One thing I should have done, and was told to do by friends was quit, I could of quit down a little under 3 buy ins, but it took until I lost with KK (again) to make me stop.

Tonight I will be back at it, I think 2 tables of $50 and 2 tables of $25.

Tourney Time

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:09:00 +0000

Blazman, Pointledge and I decided to play a tourney. Let’s just say it went well. At one point I was down to less 10 big blinds at 780 in chips. I was able to double up a few times and boom…

It was a good night.

My cut of the deal was better then 3rd place money.

More Play this Time Up to 9 tables

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 06:19:00 +0000

Wal-Mart Style Poker

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:25:00 +0000

I was at work today talking about poker with one of the two people who give a shit about poker. I was talking about my latest style of playing poker, Full Ring tight, and winning smaller amounts per table.

Here is an example…

9 tables of $25 NL, win $10 per table = $90 profit

2 tables of $25 NL, win $25 per table = $50 profit.

(I rarely stay on a table after I double up).

The first scenario is easier to achieve.

I am not getting into the politics of the situation, just the business model. Take a smaller profit per unit and sell more units to make more money. With poker that equates to more tables, play tighter and not wait to win a full buy in.

Personally I cannot 9 table more then 45 min to hour with out my head exploding. So I play that long take a short break and get back at it.

So far so good!

Week 2 - Intervention

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:55:00 +0000

I'm PointLedge and I'm addicted to PLO. It's been 5 days since my last session. Thankfully I have a good sponsor in loser64!

Week 1 pretty much said it all... I donked off over half my starting $100 playing PLO. I love that game, I'm decent at it, but just can't afford to play micro stakes PLO on a bankroll of $100. So I start week 2 with a paltry $21.46 in my Full Tilt account. Yes this was boosted mid-week by a rakeback payout of about $9, but I had a new plan. I'm going to defeat $10NL.

Fundamentals are the key at this level. No fancy play required, no bluffing, just straightforward boring poker (yeah I called it boring... bring on the multitables!). I started the week 2 tabling and added tables a my bankroll grew finishing the week 4 tabling. That's probably my max for a little while as my primary poker machine is my EeePC netbook (10" screen). If I get more tables, I'm going to have to move to the desktop for which I just bought a new 21.5" monitor!

Results: 1,600 hands at 10 BB/100. Not too shabby. In fact my results would have been even better if I hadn't played some PLO earlier in the week! I'm hooked... no more PLO till I have some 'disposable income' in my bankroll. Oh and even with more than doubling my bankroll this week, it looks like I'm still the worst performer and will get yet another penalty stunt this week. Congrats to Loser and BC on crushing $25NL this week!

Coming to An Understanding… Sometimes ABC is the way to Be

loser64poker@gmail.com (J. T.) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:17:00 +0000

I have been trying to build a cash bankroll for a long time. I have had varying degrees of success. I have written about my adventures in Micro-stakes 6 max games. I and now I am about 22,000 hands into my 100K challenge at playing Full Ring.

I have talked about various parts of the post (before I realized I would write it) with different people, so some may have to bear with me.

Variance is a bitch, and beating it can be difficult against the level of players at the micro limits. I have come around when it comes to game selection.

I believe that playing full ring is a better way to go until $200 NL. Here are my thoughts as to why.

Rake at micro limits as a percent of pot is bigger then as you move up in ranks.
Combining the rake, blinds coming around quicker and the fact that players play any two cards, it makes it hard to play tight (even by 6 max standards).
Full Ring play is not good either but, with you getting an extra 3 hands between paying the blinds, makes it easier to beat the rake.
FR pots seem to be bigger then 6 max and so you win more less often.
Playing multiple tables is easier, due to the extra time.
FR forces you to be more aware of your position.
I believe above $100 NL, 6 max plays closer to FR at lower levels.

Advantages of Multi-Tabling:

How often do you play a 2 tables and one table goes well and the other not so well, for me all the time. I made the following analogy about it. Playing one or two tables is like riding waves, you go up you do down and you do it very quickly. Playing 6 or more tables is like being in a bucket that is filling by a hose, there are some “wavy” times, but you also get a steady and basically smooth ride up.

For example, last night the following 3 hands happened at the same time, on 3 of the 6 tables I was playing. This may be extreme but it really did happen.

$25 NL on all three:

Hand 1: QQ on the button, early position makes it 3x to .75 one caller, I raise pot to about $3.50, original raiser shoves all in… caller folds and it is to me… I think he has to have a small pair or AX and is trying to get me out, I call he has AA and I lose $20 (he was not full stacked).

Hand 2: KK in mid position I raise 3x and button shoves, I call he has 22, we both have full stacks and I double up.

Hand 3: AA vs KK all in preflop, we both have full stacks and I double up.

So I am a net +$30, now if I was playing anyone of these tables, only my fortunes would have been much different.

Let’s face it bad things happen. We need to minimize the bad. If you are a decent, thinking player, you are not putting yourself bad situations, very often. So the more positive situations we can put ourselves into the more money we make. So far it seems to be working for me.