I Haz Blog?

I was googling something poker-related online and my blog popped up. I completely forgot about this thing. I think the blog helps me work through poker-related issues so I'm going to fire it up again.

Well, hai der!

Wow, it's been 18 months in Calgary. Things started off great -- I made $12,000 in my first 3 months of live play..playing part-time, maybe 20-25 hours a week. Mostly 1 2 nl with a few 2 5 nl sessions sprinkled in for good measure. I ran quite bad at 2 5 and broke roughly even. Following this -- the worst downswing of my poker career. Between Dec-Feb (wow, that was a year ago now) I lost 6k playing mostly 1 2 nl. It was nauseating. The night I remember best involved losing $800 in 30 mins of 1 2 nl. All in with AA twice preflop and losing. All in vs Q4ss with QQ on a Q hi flop and losing to a flush. Shoving KK and running into AA. All within 30mins.

Then a break from poker.

Last Feb I was heading to Vegas for work-related CE and decided that I'd play strictly ABC poker to minimize variance. It was during the Venetian Deepstack even and there were, literally, 40 tables of 2/5nl running per day. First day I substantially raise 5 limpers from my BB with AA. Flop is rags and I get it all in vs 66 (under pair to board) and bink! 6 on the river. Sighhhh. Interesting/notable hands from way back when copied from my entries at pokerforum.ca:

I'm sitting with this guy to my right:

Welcome to Mark Hanna's Personal Website

Very nice guy, I've not heard of him but I assume he's a famous player when he gets asked to sign a hat. I ask him if I should know who he is and he says yes. I ask if his fame is from ouside or inside the poker world and he says in the poker world. I say ok and leave it at that. Nice guy, terrible nit cash game player.

2 5 NLH. Player 3 to my right who raises every 2nd pot to $20-$30 open limps, folded to my sb. I have 23o and the bb is pretty tight player so I go 25 to build a small pot to steal from the limper on the flop. BB stares me down for literally 20 seconds then calls. Um, ok we aren't in the WPT, but thanks for letting me know you have TT+, AQ+. Flop A45dd, pretty decent flop for the worst HU hand in poker. I bet 55, he raises, limper folds, I push and hold vs his set of aces.

Pro to my right slowly has his head explode trying to figure out who raised preflop and then being told how the action went.

Good times at the V.:

1. One of my better calls. Fairly new to the 2 5 table (30/45mins) I have JTo in the cutoff of a full table. Player 3 to my right who has been raising quite a bit but doesn't seem to know how to play poker very well makes it 20 and I call. Button makes it 60 and we both call. Pot 180. Flop J24 rainbow checked to the button who instashoves 400+ and i have him covered. Folded to me and I tank for 5+mins. I never take this long for a decision and usually I am of the mentality of not playing big pots in this spot in a fairly soft game, but I actually thought I should make this guy squirm a bit and see what I can pick up on him. I noticed a few things that led me to believe he had air and after calling clock on myself made the call with 20 seconds left and took it down vs AQ unimproved by the river. What a great feeling. Probably my favourite hand of the trip and one of my favourite hands ever.

2. One of my biggest pots. 2 5 PLO I have K997hhh on the button playing 5 or 6 handed in a straddled pot. Flop J86 rainbow 3 ways. EP bets 30-40 and I call because he is the worst player at the table and will call down huge bets with the second best hand. SB comes along as well. Turn is the gin card for me, the 5 of hearts. I have the stone cold nut straight with 3 heart blockers and a redraw to the second nut flush. EP bets I pot for $500ish (numbers not exact anymore) and to my shock the sb calls me and leaves only $100 back (always makes me lol) (older british player who seemed pretty solid up until I saw this play -- nice guy who plays alot in London, has played big tournies, etc I later learned from playing with him all week). And...of course the EP guy calls all in for $500 more. River bricks and I bet $100 into $1600+ pot and British guy open mucks JJ for his last $100. EP was overcalling with one out to win with 6647 -- sucker straight and bottom set. Later learned he was in for $5k + that night. One of the worst PLO players i have come aross.

3. Tilting Tourney Pros without them even being in a hand. (See earlier post here:How to tilt a tourney pro in a cash game at the Venetian).

4. Life tilting a tilting player at 5 10 NLH 4 and 5 handed. I sit down with $800 after a horrific 12-13h session of 2 5 PLO. I am in the mentality of playing Laggy 5 handed and they aren`t chopping blinds which is great. I switch my game up tonnes depending on what I see at the table, so I will adjust if needed. I pick up/make some pretty big hands for shorthanded play. Open raising with 76cc and turning 2 pair, hitting top pair with KT, bluffing a bunch of small pots. Player 2 to my right who I initially pegged as competent within 10 mins of play was now pegged as tilting having called-off a 4 bet all in vs KK and a 2bet all in vs a shortstacked AA. Dealers for this game were rotating here after the omaha down so would occasionally start dealing out a 3rd card and have a misdeal. In this hand we are 4 handed an tilty is utg, my sb. I have J9dd, sweet hand at anytime, but even moreso 4 handed. So dealer pitches me and bb a third card and i am ready to redeal, but UTG protests a bit too much as the cards were quickly replaced on the deck in order, so we play on. He obv has some kind of hand and he limps utg (hadn't seen him open limp yet). I call bb calls we see the flop of K9x with one diamond 3 ways. I bet out 30, BB folds and UTG goes 70 and I call. Turn K95xdd I check call 60-70 and river brings the pretty 8d. I donk out $300 and he calls and is now on life tilt. GG AK or better, lol.

Beats (I'll stick to holdem as in PLO I just had too many to decifer anymore and noone really cares about PLO on here anyhow):

1. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZOMG!!!. Had played about 3 orbits at this table and my mission on this trip was initially to play TAG poker. I was playing pretty tight. I had been running bad for 3 weeks prior to Vegas and in the short term wanted to crush the variance in my game down as much as possible. I have QQ in the sb. It comes 20 to me 2-3 ways and I go 80 and get one caller. I have 500 behind, pot is 180. I don't have a great read on this player but I know from a few things I've seen that he isn't great -- I am never folding an overpair to him, ever, ever, ever for $500. Flop is JT5ss. I bet 120, he raises to 250 and I think and talk a bit to try and induce a call then I push my stack and he calls. I had been running so badly prior to this trip and I put him on a set of 5s or a flush draw, I couldn't really tell from what he was doing which is strange for me to have zero read on the situation. Anyhow, turn is a spade and I figure I'm done for. I don't even see the river as I'm looking at him turn over 66 and I'm thinking HUHHHHH? Of course, I then look at the board and the river spiked a 6 for his set. He lost his 2k stack over the next couple of hours, but unfortunately none to me. 92% no good.

2. Same day more puking. Tight lady (heyooooo!) at a new table. I limp 99 utg and it's 5 ways after a small LP raise. Pot 75-100. Flop 962dd and I check through, guy on my left bets 20 (nice bet), lady calls and I call. Pot 135-160. Turn J962dd and it's time to get it in if I can. I am playing $600 effective stack behind with this lady. I bet 80, fold and she raises to 200 and I shove 600 and she instacalls. River diamond and I don't even have to see her hand, KJdd. Puke. 86% no good.

Variance:

1. Winning from behind!!! (sorry, only happened once). Playing against the worst player at the table in this hand. He will stack with top pair nut low kicker. He is bad. He will never get bluffed out of a pot, ever. He has a piece of the flop, so he is seeing the river at all costs to make sure you have a hand. I wants to play a huge pot with him. AA in my BB 3-4 players at $15 to me and this guy is UTG in seat 1. I have $500 or so recently rebuying and chipping down slowly after losing the 66 hand. Pretty easy stack size, actually perfect, to play AA vs this guy. I have not played a hand in an hour. This is painful for me. I can't play TAG forever, but this was the only profitable strategy at this table and it was my mission statement for the trip afterall. How the eff am I supposed to get action on AA when I haven't played past the flop in over an hour? Oh yeah, seat 1. I make it 120. He calls and it's hu to the J52 flop and I shove 380-400 into a $250 pot. Well, river pairs the turn and my AA sucks out on his J5. Sometimes I like the baby jesus, the poker version.

Poker has been insane for me lately. Probably the most volatile month I can recall in years of play. I think I'm even for the first time this month and I don't even know how that is possible. I'm really getting tired of throwing-up in my mouth.

Last night playing 2 5NL (500cap) at the MGM. LP tilting player makes it 40, creative player on the button calls and I like the situation so I call in the SB with A3o. Tilting player's stack 400, creative player's stack 300, mine 1100.

Pot 125.

Flop AK6ss (I have no spade). I check, tilty bets $40 and creative thinks and shoves 260 into the 165 pot. I`m talking to him and get something that makes me think he isn`t very strong. Tilty is 100% transparent at this point and is folding behind me. I think for a minute and call, tilty mucks and we are heads up. Flush hits the turn and river is a brick. As the caller I always make the bettor turn over his hand first as I can use the info later on. He won`t turn over and asks if I hit my flush and I say no then he asks if I have an ace and shows pocket deuces. I flip over A3 and take down the pot. He is a bit shocked that I can make that call and I am a bit happy to be stacking his chips.

Tied for favourite hand in Vegas with #1 in the previous thread. I love these spots where experience and reads pay off making calls that the nitty 2 5 Vegas pros want to make but can never make.

Gotta love live poker...viva Las Vegas.

All tolled I made $1500 or so during a week of poker in Vegas -- I ran bad, but came out ahead. Then I came back to Calgary and ran as badly as before.

I quit poker for the first time in 6 years.

I didn't play a live hand for over 6 months and I didn't play much online at all. When I did play I deposited a small amount ($200ish) and generally ran it up to $800-$1k then lost patience and took a shot at a bigger game eventually getting back down to my $200 deposit and withdrew the funds and stopped playing for a few weeks again.

After doing this a few times and realizing I wan't enjoying playing at all anymore I stopped playing online for 6 months, period.

Over the last few months I've been 3-6 tabling low limit PLO online. Making ok money for the limits I'm playing, but getting really bored of it all. Once again, I have realized that online poker seems like a desk job and I'm not really cut out for trying to play higher limits online. I don't have any sort of commitment to playing the hours needed to move-up significantly and only enjoy playing for a few days or weeks and lose all enjoyment at some point.

I played live for the first time in 6-9 months (I've lost track) a week ago and really enjoyed poker for the first time in a year or more. I guess I'm really just a live player, but I would much rather be a very successful online player for practical reasons. Online poker loses so many nuances contained in the live game that I can no longer even really compare the two. I wish I enjoyed online poker the way I do live poker, but for me it will never be the same...so I guess I will start playing more live poker again and see where things go.

Calgary Poker

I've been out here a month and I finally got to play some poker over the past few weeks...have been running good and even hit a straight flush high hand jackpot and sat at a bad beat table, $1000 in jackpots in 3 weeks, not bad.

Perhaps the softest 1 2 nl games I've seen and it's nice having a $300 max to at least get a bit of money on the tables. I've been playing well and running good, averaging $70/h at the 1 2 games over a few weeks.

What I've seen/heard as far as weeknight games go (confirmed with phone calls over the past few nights):

Stampede -- 1/2 nl is about it for weeknights, really nice room but pretty dead -- did have a 10 25 PLO on Tues night. Only comp is a single free drink voucher. Weekends generally have 2/5 and 5/5 NLH/DC games as do most rooms from what I hear. They have a bad beat and quad, str flush, royal jackpots.

Grey Eagle -- has become my regular game when I just have time for a 3 hour session -- 1/2nl is incredibly soft, 4 8 limit -- I had heard they had 2 5 n on weeknights, but not the case when I went there. Bad beat jackpot (I hit a table share for $680...brag at watching a hand and getting paid for it). Ugly as hell casino and poker room , the only time I've played on felt that hurt my eyes (edit, they replaced all the felt, so not a problem anymore, is now a burgundy/red colour) -- some kind of bright orange/red. From the looks of the place I figured it was built/designed in the 70s, but it's less than a year old. More action on weekends but 2 5nl is as high as they go. Occasional free round of drinks, worst service on the planet (over 2 hours for food; edit -- depends on the waitress, if you have the asian server then beware of longgg wait times), free food at 3am, free sandwiches now and then.

Cash Casino -- 1/2nl, 1/2 DC sometimes 2 5 nl. Good action, not a nice casino or location. Free meal if you're there an hour.

Deerfoot -- 1/2nl, maybe 4 8 limit not sure. Not sure about comps.

Elbow River -- the main limit room 4 8 and 15 30 all nights and 30 60 at times (LHE). Maybe a 1 2nl on weeknights. Free rounds of drinks.

ABS (Casino Calgary) (drug money casino, caution at playing high limit there from what I've heard -- home invasions, etc) -- 1/2nl, 4 8 limit, 2 5 nl DC. Not sure about comps.

Weekends -- from what I've heard everywhere that regulary has 1 2 nl has good action 2 5 nl 5 5 nl on weekends. Confirmed that Grey Eagle has 2/5 nl 1 to 2 tables on weekends. Games vary, sometimes the 1 2 is a more profitable game depending on the number of regulars sitting at 2/5..table selection is key. Can't find nl much bigger anywhere in calgary as the action players tend to play PLO. 5 10 DC at ABS, 10 25 DC/PLO at Stampede, 30 60 LHE at Elbow.

Small tournaments daily at most casinos ($33-$55) with $150+ weekend tournies at most. Grey Eagle has a monthly $330 with 65-70 players on Wednesday at 2pm. Stampede is having sats into some big event -- not sure, I don't play tournies but it's on their website.

Websites:

Official Casino ABS Web Site
Welcome to Cash Casino
Deerfoot Inn & Casino
Elbow River Casino - Functions - Private and Corporate Events
Grey Eagle | 24-hour Poker Room
Stampede Casino - Stampede Poker Room

Well, fuck, these links didn't work...well you can google them all...ok, they work, whatever.

So many games so close to me...Mmmm life is good.

Freaky Fridays at The Office

I finally got a chance to play the Friday night 2 2 NL game at The Office in Toronto -- $1000 max buy-in. I managed to end with almost $2300 in front of me -- marking the most I've ever had on the table in a 2 2 NL game, my biggest comeback in a 2 2 NL game and my lowest profit to stack-size ratio ever. After taking some awful beats early and being down $1000+ I came out +$235 on the night, almost exactly 10% of my $2300 stack. Crazy.

Stampede Poker Room, Calgary

I just got back from a brief trip to Calgary and had the chance to play a couple of sessions at the new Stampede Casino Poker Room. Overall, it's a pretty decent room. On a Tuesday night starting at 10pm I payed a short 3-4 hour session. The only games going were 1 2 NL, 300max -- not bad for a casino 1 2 game. Not too tight at all and a few horrid players thrown in -- good times. Wednesday I played from 1pm-11pm and the day games were much tighter, but we managed to get a 2 5 NL going and had some good action at the table by 6pm or so. It's so sweet being able to play casino poker at any time only 10 minutes from my house in Calgary...and Calgary seems to be the PLO capital of North America -- 5 10 PLO going on weekday afternoons? Sweet. I can't wait to live there full-time and play live poker on a regular basis. The Stampede needs to get some sort of comps program for their poker players, but otherwise it was a pretty decent room with the exception of one horrid dealer who they seemed to be training during the game.

My Biggest 2 2 NL Cash Ever

In less than 3 hours last night I made $1150 playing 2 2 NLH, $400max. If you add in the $50 or so in tips I likely made $1200+. I was hitting everything and against the right players. I made a few successful bluffs with position in medium pots and I got my money in good in the right spots, inducing calls at times.

It all started with the proper seat selection as the game started and after being down $100 or so playing LAGGY in the first round or two it just all fell into place. There's nothing better than being deep-stacked vs easily readable players. Fun.

21 Months Later...

Since living in Toronto I have been a part-time recreational at best. I've taken 3-4 months breaks from playing at times due to the lack of close/decent games in Toronto. I've taken some brief shots online, but it bores the hell out of me, so I usually go from +1k or so in a week to even a few days later due to playing unfocused and taking unreasonable shots at bigger games, etc. Live I continue to be a winning player, but in the past year I've played so infrequently and such small games that it really doesn't amount to anything significant at all...it's become just a social/fun thing to do now and then.

In a month I am moving to Calgary. Little did I know that it is the poker capital of Canada. I'm excited about all of the action in the area within a short drive to my house. Having many rooms to choose from all within a 5-15min drive at 1pm on a day off is going to be great . I believe Calgary is 3rd to only Vegas and Atlantic City for legal games per capita in North America. Sweet. I played there once this year during a trip to Calgary -- I had forgotten how soft casino games can be and I can't wait to start taking a shot at playing more often.

I'll be writing again to update all of my poker friends in the GTA about how things are going poker-wise in Calgary and to track my progress in all things poker.

A New Found Focus

Last month was my first losing month in a year. I won 1k in 2 days playing 6max sngs online and shot it all back in a few hours in a bad run at a 15 30 Omaha8 game online. I didn't play much live, but played terribly and lost about 1k in 2 awful sessions. I didn't play much poker last month and only ended down about 1k which is only a tiny portion of my bankroll. The good news is that I know why I played badly and I now have a new focus.

In the past 6 hours of online play I'm up $600 playing single table sngs. My ROI in 6max sngs over the last 100 games is an insane 50% and I just keep winning at them. I'm going to start putting in some 6-8 hour days playing exclusively 6max sngs on Stars and I'm going to start putting in the effort again to make it out for some 20 40 sessions at GBH. I'm also going to focus more on live NL play, playing some underground 5/5NL when I get a chance.

WPT Niagara is in town at the end of this month and I'm going to try and head down for some side games for a few days during the events.

Things I Love About 6max Sngs

This weekly sharkscope graph...
...woot.

Return to Online Poker

It had been around 2 months since I had played a minute of poker online. However, there is always this thought in the back of my head that I should be able to beat the online games as well as I do live games. I definitely know my strengths and weaknesses online in comparison to live play and, surprisingly, some of my greatest strengths of being a winning live player have never translated well for me to online play.

Live, I make most of my money playing limit cash games. Online, I cannot find the patience required to win at cash games. Maybe one day this will change, but for now I know this is a glaring weakness. Looking over my past results there has always been one huge success online, 6max sngs. In the past several days I have played 22 6max sngs and my ROI is an astounding 69% with a nice profit to match. I seem to have partially cracked to $100 SNGS on Stars, having 2 seconds and 1 first in 3 turbo 6maxs at that level and one second and one third for a break-even ROI in the non-turbos -- so, 5 $100 games and 4 ITM 1,2,2,2,3...not bad. I am debating depositing some money for an online bankroll sufficient for a run at the $100 games, but am still a bit hesitant given past runs of horridness. I think I'll build things a bit more at the $38s and go from there.

WCOOP is on, there is only one event of interest to me, the HORSE event...but, alas, I have to work on the date.

My recent 6max Sharkscope graph...I know I'm pretty impressed for now, although I need many more games to get a better feel, it seems the 6maxs are just perfect for my game.

Table Image and a CNE Casino Report

Ok, so second things first -- the CNE poker room has the softest 10 20 games I have ever seen, ever. Well...ever. Incredible. I love some of the undergrounds, but I pray to the heavens that downtown Toronto opens a permanent legal casino today. The 10 20, especially late at night, is likely a more profitable game than your average 20 40 game at GBH or Brantford. All I can say is capped 11 ways preflop...um...excuse me a second....

...sorry, had to wipe the drool of of my chin...

Some players simply cannot adjust to a wild, loose game. They only know how to play ABC poker, wait for aces, cuz hey it's capped, right? And lose a shitload of money with their big overpairs due to terrible post flop play. In all honesty, in these games I am praying for various suited connectors every hand and am looking for reasons to dump big pairs post flop against the right players.

I have to stop looking at the title of this entry, the Pavlovian drooling keeps getting triggered. Also, change of plans, no casino 20 40 until the CNE closes, so that will be early Sept until I play 20 40 again, this is just toooooooo soft.

Onto table image. Check this out. I go to the CNE today at around 2pm, wait 20-30 mins and a new 10 20 table opens. I sit with $800, BY FAR the largest stack at the table. Ok, listen, if you are sitting at 10 20 with $200-$300 I'm going to run you the fuck over, so please, please, please tell me you are going to rebuy. Anyhow, I sit and play a round and notice that these players are TIGHT. In addition, most of these tight players are sitting with stacks of $400 or less. What does stack size have to do with play in a limit game you ask? Well, it's a huge tell. If you have only played one hand in the first round, folded it on the flop and are sitting with $300 infront of you, you are begging to get run over. So...here comes the ride.

All the tables are now full, and I figure these guys are now stuck with me for 6 hours. People can tell you, that's not always a fun time. Time to loosen up the table a bit. 11 handed, limped to me and I raise with T3 suited. 5 callers. Ok, I've resigned to likely not winning the hand, but I'm going to see what kind of heat these guys can take, and I'm showing this hand down with any piece, period. Flop J73 rainbow. Blinds check, I bet and 4 callers. Turn J873, checked to me and I bet, 3 callers. River J8733...hehehe, get ready to pay me off for the next 3 hours you bastards. Checked to me, I bet and get 2 callers. Watch them turn over and then table my trip 3s. I'm in seat 5, asian guys in seats 7-10 berate me for...and I'm not kidding, 2-3 hours. One of them actually leaves the table when I win a few more pots. I hear him at his new table saying, "raised ten three", ahhhhhhh hahahaha...um...fuck you. While I'm stacking the chips on the T3 hand, I literally have to stifle a burst of laughter. The table was playing so tight for a while that I was raising anything even remotely playable with one or no callers infront of me from any position. JTo UTG? Raise. 87s in MP? Raise. After an hour or so and getting up a few hundred dollars, I settled back and played a tight game, getting paid off to the river whenever I hit anything as mediocre as top pair average kicker. Had a nice, profitable 5 hour session. Maybe it's just me, but a close second to a nice winning session is pissing off a tight ABC player who cannot shift gears or adjust his game worth a shit.

Good times. I'm evil. Blob out.

Month In Summary and August Plans

I didn't play much poker at all this past month. I played 20 40 once, played a few low-limit holdem sessions including the previous disaster and played the Wed night only once with a profit of zero. Overall, I made only a few hundred dollars. My focus will change in August. I will play 5 Wed night sessions of hi-lo and 6-8 20 40 sessions at GBH. In addition, I will check-out some 10 20 action and the CNE. No online play, no low limit holdem play. Hopefully, without a bad run I will be up $3k or more this time next month.

A Realization and Likely My Worst Session Ever

I have built a nice bankroll playing some low limit underground games in the GTA over the last 2 years, but something has happened in the last few weeks that I knew was coming and it cumulated in my (relatively) worst cash-game session ever last night. It's the same-old problem that has been there in my online game forever, but I have never experienced it live before. The problem is playing for too low stakes to be meaningful to me. Having the bankroll for, and having successfully played, 10 20 and a bit of 20 40 has made playing in the 4 8 and 5 10 range seem insignificant monitarily. I'm not playing anywhere near my best game at those limits anymore. I've seen it coming in a few small wins and break-even sessions in the past few weeks, but it was abundantly clear last night in what was likely my only 50-60bb loss ever at a poker table. If I'm going to take moving-up seriously then I need to focus on the bigger games. Even the Wednesday night game that has been such a steady income for me has somewhat lost its appeal at the moment -- winning $200-$400 a session just isn't that appealing after winning a small pot of $200-$300 at 20 40.

The drive has been the thing impeding my climb up in limits, but I simply have to make the effort to get out to GBH 6-8 times a month. I was going to head out tonight, but after last night's debacle I'm taking the night off and relaxing away from the tables. Maybe tomorrow...maybe Sunday...have to see how I feel.

As for the my worst session ever, I broke almost every one of my rules for being a winning player. The session started off with a few bad beats, including a few horrible beats. There was no way it was going to be a winning session, but playing against the rules of a winning player turned what should have been a bad session results-wise into a disaster results-wise.

Played beyond the 30-40bb rule,
Played when I didn't care anymore,
Played tired in a game that held little interest to me,
Played too many hands trying to get even,

In summary, played undisciplined poker just like 90% of the players out there and deservedly lost more than I should have.

It was one of those nights that helps to push you forward forcefully, like a 28 year old receiving a firm boot to the ass out of his parents' basement.

Hopefully, good things will follow from the experience as I'm more determined to focus on middle-limit poker.

Time to recoup with some omega eggs, huh Cookie?

A Few Key 20 40 Session Hands

Right now, a good part of playing at GBH is that noone there knows how I play. One of my strengths playing live is assessing and reading a player within one or two rounds, whereas most players probably do not get that good a read on me as quickly.

First pot won of the night. 11 handed and I have 98o in my BB UTG calls, LP calls, button raises and I call a bit worried that UTG might reraise -- this is always a fear when not ending the action, but the other 2 just come along. Flop A76 rainbow, couldn't ask for a much better flop, if I hit the turn I likely get paid by either UTG or the button. Sometimes I bet out here to bet more money in the pot if I hit, but I am playing a bit conservative at 20 40 for now, so I check to the raiser as does everyone else. He bets, I call and UTG calls. Turn is the magical offsuit ten giving me the stone-cold nuts. I check praying for the button to bet and he does, I call and UTG folds. River is a low blank and I bet out, which is generally screaming that I have a big hand. But, like I said noone knows me there and the button decides to value raise his ace-ten (top 2 pair), I reraise and he calls. Nice little pot, and most importantly I hit a draw...it's been a while, but I guess I'll save them all up for 20 40.

Another big blind pot of note (I can't recall the order of all these pots), a new female player from the other 20 40 moves to our table and it is folded to her and she raises my BB from the cutoff. I haven't seen her play much, I have noted that she is very comfortable with her chips and her motions mucking the cards. She also knows a few people at the table that I have established as regulars by their play against each other and their comments to each other. So, I have taken her out of the category of my default female weak-tight player and placed her into the category of a player who can steal my blinds. I look down at T9 hearts, a definite call. Miracle flop of QJx all hearts. I flop a flush with a redraw to an open-ended straight flush. I figure that I'll let her do all the work. I check, she bets and I call. Turn blank...I'm praying..no heart, no heart. I check raise her and she calls. River is the partly nice and partly ugly ace of hearts. I figure that she has now hit some of the AQJxx board, but am hoping that she doesn't have KK with the K of hearts. I have the second nuts, but with a one card flush out I'm not ecstatic. I can bet or check. I figure that the pot is large enough that she can fire again to a check, hoping to win it if I don't have a heart. I check-call and win a nice heads-up pot.

Another nice heads-up pot. I have one of the two donatorsin the game 2 seats to my right, and I'm waiting to isolate hime with any decent paint. I see him turning over K7o in EP, etc, etc. I'm in the cutoff and he open-limps and I raise with KQo. Unfortunately a decent, TAG player reraises on the button and the donator folds, I sheepishly call as my raises are getting respect at this point from the 4 players on my left, I'm thinking that I may be drawing fairly slim and remind myself of the troubles with KQo out of position before we see the flop of Qxx rainbow. I check call both the flop and the turn and check down the river to his second pair of TT.

My big cards did fairly well for me all night, winning some small to medium pots. I didn't hit a set in the few hours that I played. At a table like this that is a spot where you are going to win some decent pots.

A few small mistakes and questionable plays in the session, but no major mistakes. Here they are.

Questionable situation one. I'm in LP with black 44 and it is limped to me as a family, I call and we see the flop 11handed! Flop J65 with 2 spades, giving me 2 outs that don't bring a flush but bring a straight. SB bets and I think everyone calls to me, so there are roughly 9-10bb in the pot. I have proper odds to draw to the two remaining red fours and with only 2 players to act behind me and everyone coming along, the odds of a raise behind me is slim. I think for 10 seconds or so and muck telling myself that a larger set or 65 could already be out there and hitting my set could obviously make a made straight, killling some action to my redraw. At the least, with everyone coming along for the ride some of my ten redraw outs must be dead, so I fold a $400 pot for $20, of which I had only invested $20. The button ends-up raising, and I lost track of the rest of the flop action. The turn is a 9 and the river an 8. So, the board is J5698 rainbow. Player on my right had check-raised the turn after it was checked to the flp raiser who bet the turn with the sb coming along. I put him on 78, as did the other 2 I guess. He bets the river and the other 2 fold to a single bet into a $700+ pot. He flips A8 suited, missing his flush draw and hitting a pair of 8s on the river. Button says he folded KK. What a horrid, horrid fold for a single bet on the river. You do the math. I should have probably come along for one more bet on the flop.

Questionable situation two. Same scenario as the next hand in the series (sorry, I wrote these out of order), but I'm in my small blind with K7o. I usually call just about anything here, but I don't want to hit a king and not be able to play it for value against the donators, so I fold and see a K9x flop which is checked around. Final board of K9xJx rainbow. BB bets A9 on the turn and checks the river and wins a small pot against one of the donators.

Small mistake one. One donator is 5 to my left or 5 to my right, so I don't get to manipulate him all too often, the other two to my right. I'm on the button and both donators are the only ones in the pot. I see Q8 suited and decide that I have so much pot-flop equity against these calling-stations that I limp along as do the blinds. KTx rainbow and I check-fold. Now the purpose of having these donators in the game is to have them pay-off your top pair decent kicker, not to be drawing against them. Only cost me $20, but the fact that I was dying to play against these 2 let me make a bad call.

Small mistake two. UTG calls, I call with ATs diamonds in UTG+2 (table is playing fairly passive preflop), guy three to my left who loves raising his middle pairs preflop raises and I the donator on my right comes along. Beautiful flop of A74 with a 4 flush for me. I'm not crazy about my kicker, but I love my draw. Check to me and I bet the the flop to see if there's any strength out there. (I'm also not giving the guy (preflop raiser) who spiked an 8 on my queens on a previous turn a free card to his set). Preflop raiser just calls as does donator. UTG folds. Turn is a blank and I check and so do the other 2 -- against Mr. pocket-pair and the donator who would call any ace, I should have bet for value. I think the pocket-pair would have folded, but I lost $40 from the donator. River makes the board A74x4 and the BB (donator) bets out. I I literally think for 20 seconds -- call/raise? call/raise? call/raise? -- I decide to call to try and get an overcall from the pocket pair and I have a smidgen of fear that the BB has the 4. Pocket pair folds saying he had a pocket pair. I win against the donator's A6o. A raise on the river was the right move. I likely lost $80 easy profit in that hand.

Bad mistake one (and only). The far-off donator limps in EP and 2 to 3 more limp to my sb where I have KJs, I call. Flop KTx rainbow. I bet, donator calls, all else fold. I know he can call with a ten here. Turn ten, copleting nothing put a draw to a ten. I check and he bets...sirens screaming in my head -- the calling station just bet out for the first time almost ever, he has the ten, he has the ten, hello, hello TENTENTEN -- pot is small and I have only invested $30. I call? River blank, I check he bets -- arooooooohah, aroooooooohah, he has the ten! I call. He turns over QTo. Nice play Dave. At 20 40 that's $80 being stubborn. Almost a stack of red shifted to the donkey, nice move. I hate paying-off horrid players.

So, overall I lost or didn't gain roughly $160 making a few mistakes. A good session none the less.

A Very Frustrating Wednesday and My Second Ever 20 40 Session

Wednesday night came again and I played the world's most beatable game again. I had a terrible session. The table was softer than it has been in a month or so and if the chips weren't flowing to me they were going to the second best spots -- to the worst players on the table. Unfortunately all I could muster was a break-even night after 11 hours of play. I couldn't hit a hand to save my life.

The most frustrating part of the session is that I fell back into an old pattern of staying too long to try and post a win -- instead of leaving at 3-4am as I had planned, I stayed until 9am. I was exhausted, got caught in the AM rush-hour traffic and was too tired once home to walk my dog. I hate when I do things like that, I need to be more regimented in my session times. I did get to +$100 after hours of struggling down $100-$200, but ended just about exactly even.

The most rewarding part of this session is the realisation that an awful card-dead session can be a break-even session for me whereas it would be a -$500+ session for almost every other player in that game. This is what makes me a long-term winner. Anyone can win a huge pot with a huge hand, but most give it back fairly quickly.

Just home from my second 20 40 session at the GBH. I was planning on going at 7pm or so, but my sleep cycle is all fucked-up due to working nights and not adjusting back to days well due to idotic things like playing an 11 hour session Wednesday night. Last night I drank a bottle of wine in an attempt at getting to bed at 3am having just woken up at 5pm. Well, it worked, but I awoke at 730am no longer able to sleep and felt tired all day. When 7pm came I knew that I had that tired anxious feel that makes me lose at poker, so I had an hour and a half nap. Then at 1025pm I finally left my house for GBH feeling in the right mindset to play but not really up for a long session.

50 minutes to GBH and I see on the screen that there is an interest list for 20 40 Omaha8??!! Ok, I say sign me up for 10 20, 20 40 and 20 40 O8. Then I ask the floor guy if the Omaha ever goes and he says no, they don't have omaha dealers...uh, ok. Scrap that plan. I get a 10 20 seat right away. I'm hungry, so I decide to wait and post at my BB which is 6-7 hands away and try to get some food.. Fortunate for me as I am called to the 20 40 after 2 hands...still foodless.

Physically, I get a great seat (I hate the end seats with a passion) right in seat 6 and we are 11 handed. Position-wise the seat proves to be good as well...1 of the 2 main donators is 2 seats to my right. Good table, not a great table, 2-3 live ones max and the rest TAG to TWeak players. Certainly a workable table and I had reads on everyone after 1 or 2 passes of the button. At my peak I'm up $650. I only play 3.5 hours and leave at 3am up $600. I'm happy booking a win, only 15bb but $600 is still nice. I'm not at all nervous or apprehensive at the table and after showing down some big hands I'm getting respect all over the place. It's the kind of poker game you read about but never experience at most lower levels. 3-4 players per most flops, a few 7 handed flops, one 11 handed flops, UTG raises being folded to the blinds at times. The ability to make isolation plays, to make a few moves out of the blinds against the overly tight players, to raise for the button preflop from the cutoff, etc. A fun game for sure. I'm still getting used to winning a small pot and making $100-$200 and a decent pot making $400-$500. Pretty neat feeling though.

I'll post a few 20 40 hands tomorrow, now time for bed.

So far, 2 fairly short 20 40 sessions and +$1300-$1400, a good start.

Monthly Summary Including My First Ever 20 40 Session

So, monthly summary.

I've quit online poker. It became too many hours for too little money. I've come to realize that I will never be comfortable playing online for the same stakes that I strive to play for regularly live, so I'm putting all my focus on live limit cash games.

To that end, I played my first ever 20 40 holdem session. I forced myself to make the hour drive to GBH casino. I was sitting at a weak/passive 10 20 game and then got called for 20 40. Three of the weak 10 20 players were heading over and I figured what the fuck, its time to make the jump.

I hovered around even for a quite a while until the following hand occurred:

9 handed. UTG calls (I've seen him play 54o in EP), folded to me in MP with KK, I raise. New player in SB calls, solid player in BB calls, UTG calls.

Flop KQ2, 2 hearts. SB bet, BB raise, UTG fold, I call, SB reraises, BB caps (I immediately put him on a set of queens), I stall a bit and call, sb calls (I put him on nut flush draw).

Turn KQ28, 2 hearts/2 spades. SB bet, BB raise, I reraise, SB calls, BB calls.

River, KQ285, 3 spades. Check/check...I bet and both call. SB AA, BB QQ, me KK set. Me happy...me finally win a hand.

So, lets see that's a 22bb pot, and at 20 40 that makes it a $880 pot...likely the largest pot of my life...I can get used to this.

Up to that point I was pretty happy sitting at about even, fairly card dead, and realizing that I could beat this 20 40 game. Sure, there were 4-5 decent players at the table, but there were also players routinely turning over Q7s, K6s, 83s UTG...wow was I happy.

I ended the session up $800 or so after 4-5 hours of play.

I was blessed with June having 5 Wed nights, I won 4/5 sessions. +$1200 or so in my wins and one -$100 loss.

Probably up a few $100 playing 4 8 holdem with a 1/2 kill at The Office. I don't really enjoy that game too much anymore, the stakes are too small for my liking. Whatever profit I made I shot back playing like an idiot at 1 2 holdem for a night -- I just can't take that game seriously, once again...the ultimate boredom...Dave, c'mon, do not play 1 2 NL!

For July...Wednesday nights hi/lo, 10 20 and 20 40 LHE.

Brief Update...

Another hi/lo Wed night, another $300.

I couldn't get much of anything going and was down $200 after 4 hours or so. The table got short and we switched to straight omaha8. I opened the game up quite a bit with straddles, blind raises, etc. There were a few hands that were re-straddled all the way to the small blind 7 handed. Anyhow, by 9am I was up $300. I love the Wed night game.

Haven't played at all online since my terrible run to even, just not in the mood.

So, +$1135 live and even online for the month...have to work this coming Wed, but hoping to get in some holdem sessions.

Missed the monthly 10 20 at The Office, heard it was a great game.

Dealing with Losses...The Next Step in My Development

I don't deal well with losing. I have great difficulty taking a losing session in stride and not being frustrated by it. Rather that type in more detail about this, I'll just paste a recent thread of mine from Canada's Poker Forum, www.pokerforum.ca

So, I took a shot at some $100 sngs with my online winnings for the month, suffered some horrible beats and lost it all back in a day. I think I monied once all day in the 6max sngs. I really felt like crap after the loss. Then I posted a $300 win playing live 4 8 1/2 kill holdem at The Office last night and felt much better. So, back to even online for the month, up $835 live. The monthly 10 20 game is tonight at The Office, but I'm not sure if I'll make it as I want to watch the hockey game and work-out tonight.

Me in orange, below.

So, I'm up $700 or so in a couple days of my usual limit sngs -- I decide to take a shot at some bigger games and suffer bad beat after bad beat. Now, I'm back to even for my online play for the month. I find this the toughest part of my game. When I win, I'm not especially happy as I excpect to be/know that I'm a long-term winning player. I had this same outlook when I was an athlete -- wins, even championships, weren't that high for me, but losses were always quite low. I know this is due to high expecatations, but I feel that it's tougher to deal with in poker due to that higher luck factor. Any large losing session leaves me feeling like crap, even if it leaves me even for the short-term. The money only seems to mean much to me when I lose, not when I win. Even live, I can have 6 winning sessions and be up 2-3k over that time, but one brutal session of losing $500-$600 upsets me for a day or so, and I usually skip a day or 2 af the clubs when this happens. It is rare that I have a losing month, but these sessions still aren't easy for me to let go. This also impedes me at times from moving up limits. Anyone else have this problem with their game? For me, this is the toughest part of poker. The fact that there is know way that you can win every time no matter your skill. I know in my head that it's all part of the game, I know that luck is what keeps driving the bad players back to the game and keeps the games juicy, but it is something that I still struggle with emotionally. I have a fairly balanced life outside of poker, which helps...but losing sessions do creep slightly into my attitude afterwards. Does anyone else have this issue with their game. Or did you have this issue and overcome it? I would think that most winning players are pretty competitive players with high expectations from their games and that this is a large hurdle for some to overcome, I'd appreciate any comments. Thanks.

i think you're better off than you could be, seeing that after a losing session, you take a day or two off, as opposed to immediately jumping back in to break even.. Nothing anybody can tell you that you don't already know and have said, you just have to remember it at the moment. Think of it as the cost of investing, you know the return will come, you just have to put a little capital in.

I posted a similar thread a few months ago (you may remember it got Harthgosh banned). It seems that you suffered the same feelings that I did, you just hate to lose. It wasn't about the money but the actual loss. Whether or not you played bad or had a bad beat it just sucks to lose. Now what have I done to overcome that feeling? I have just seperated the losing from the game that I enjoy. I look back on the actual time that I had. For the most part, even when I lose, I had a fun time playing. If you continue to get depressed or dwell on losses you are going to begin to hate the game. And it will affect how you play during the game. You may become so fearful of feeling like shit that you'll make poor choices that will magnify the the feeling which you are trying to avoid.

Quote from: Flint Bones on June 11, 2006, 06:23:10 PM I posted a similar thread a few months ago (you may remember it got Harthgosh banned). It seems that you suffered the same feelings that I did, you just hate to lose. It wasn't about the money but the actual loss. Whether or not you played bad or had a bad beat it just sucks to lose. Now what have I done to overcome that feeling? I have just seperated the losing from the game that I enjoy. I look back on the actual time that I had. For the most part, even when I lose, I had a fun time playing. If you continue to get depressed or dwell on losses you are going to begin to hate the game. And it will affect how you play during the game. You may become so fearful of feeling like shit that you'll make poor choices that will magnify the the feeling which you are trying to avoid. Well, it's not as extreme as you make it sound. Certainly not to the extreme of any form of depression. I would liken it to losing a big game when I played junior hockey and thinking about it to some extent for the next 24h or so. It's just the frustration of losing at a game that I can beat. Rationally, I know that every session cannot be a winning one, but I still get affected to some degree emotionally by losing. I'm certainly working on getting this out of my game. My goal is to be playing semi-professionaly in the next couple of years, but I can see this as a serious hurdle to achieving that goal. One that, if I can't overcome will seriously hold me back from this goal. I have a completely seperate poker bankroll from my real life money, but I am still not completely immune to the thought of losing actual money when a bad run hits. I have never come remotely close to decimating my poker bankroll and I see my bankroll steadily growing, but still focus more on the losses than any wins. I think that there exists some dicotomy in easily accepting losses and variance and being a competitive, winning player. To me, this would seem to be one of the hardest parts of playing professionaly. Possibly, playing more frequently and thus being more accustom to the swings would be the answer to the problem...only time will tell I suppose.

The swings when going professionally will be far more drastic and longer. You're right, this is a huge hurdle that you must overcome. Clearly you're not ready to go semi-pro (as you have acknowledged), perhaps consulting an actual pro to understand their mentality would be the best course of action. I'm sure you wouldn't want this to affect you. I am not sure if playing more frquently would be the answer. Playing more frequently may enhance the problem rather than allow you to deal with it better. I am not a physcologist but I would think being able to handle the smaller losses would be prudent before making the choice that would affect you financially. That is of course if your "semi-pro" idea is going to be a primary source of income. Losing and realising that making the next mortgage payment or what-have-you will be hard won't make it easier.

I think you hit the nail on the head by saying winning players are competitive. We hate to lose. Whether its $5 or $5000, its still a loss. And it sucks. Even if I finish 2nd in a tourney and take home a wad of cash, I still think of losing to that one other person. My advice... just be happy you can still afford to play.

just wanted to add a comment to this thread. This is exactly how my addiction started! You would win so much some nights then lose it all back the next. You then have the idea in your head, "ah, was just a bad night, let me rebuild again" ..then after awhile you start sounding like the GM for the toronto maple leafs...."Rebuilding Phase" (I mean no offence when I say that about the leafs, I still bleed blue to this day" ...and sooner then later your in the red trying to catch up your inital losses. Word of advice here is slow down, if your doing well at the smaller stakes....why fix something that isn't broke? ...Just remain at that level and sooner or later you will be a bigger winner, then a bigger loser. (like me) -ALI

Quote from: djalikool on Today at 01:07:20 AM just wanted to add a comment to this thread. This is exactly how my addiction started! You would win so much some nights then lose it all back the next. You then have the idea in your head, "ah, was just a bad night, let me rebuild again" ..then after awhile you start sounding like the GM for the toronto maple leafs...."Rebuilding Phase" (I mean no offence when I say that about the leafs, I still bleed blue to this day" ...and sooner then later your in the red trying to catch up your inital losses. Word of advice here is slow down, if your doing well at the smaller stakes....why fix something that isn't broke? ...Just remain at that level and sooner or later you will be a bigger winner, then a bigger loser. (like me) -ALI Thanks for the guidance. However, my issue is not with being a losing player, just with handing the inevitable losses better within the big picture. I felt a bit crappy yesterday about a large-ish loss, had a winning session live tonight and all is forgotten. If I could just get rid of the 12-24h of bother after a losing session things would be perfect...guess I just have to learn to take losing in stride more readily.

Quote from: GTA Poker on Today at 08:55:58 AM If I could just get rid of the 12-24h of bother after a losing session things would be perfect...guess I just have to learn to take losing in stride more readily. No suggestion, but a quick question/comment. If you did eliminate the "12-24h of bother after a losing session" would you still be as good a player? Isn't the pressure of avoiding that feeling as well as the (sometimes painful) time reflecting on our losses and focusing on our mistakes something that makes better player's? When an athlete has a scoring drought, they don't shrug it off as a return from "excellent" to "above average", they get frustrated with themselves, study more video, and spend more time in practice till they get there game back. Personally, I think it would be more "fun" if I didn't feel bad losing, but I think my overall game would suffer. Losing makes me a better player, and forces me to continually improve.

Quote from: beanie42 on Today at 09:54:06 AM Quote from: GTA Poker on Today at 08:55:58 AM If I could just get rid of the 12-24h of bother after a losing session things would be perfect...guess I just have to learn to take losing in stride more readily. No suggestion, but a quick question/comment. If you did eliminate the "12-24h of bother after a losing session" would you still be as good a player? Isn't the pressure of avoiding that feeling as well as the (sometimes painful) time reflecting on our losses and focusing on our mistakes something that makes better player's? When an athlete has a scoring drought, they don't shrug it off as a return from "excellent" to "above average", they get frustrated with themselves, study more video, and spend more time in practice till they get there game back. Personally, I think it would be more "fun" if I didn't feel bad losing, but I think my overall game would suffer. Losing makes me a better player, and forces me to continually improve. Great reply Trevor, couldn't have said it better myself (I was gonna try, but now that would just be embarrassing). /g2

Quote from: GTA Poker on Today at 08:55:58 AM If I could just get rid of the 12-24h of bother after a losing session things would be perfect...guess I just have to learn to take losing in stride more readily. I'm not entirely sure you can, I think this attribute is ingrained in some people. I'm very much the same in all aspects of my life. I hate to lose, I accept that I will but I still hate it...and I'll 'hang on' to it for a while afterwards. Wether it's a hockey game, ball game, poker game, or whatever I also usually have a period of a day or two after a lose where I'm kinda grumpy about it. I also really don't see it as a problem. I handle it much the same as you...which I think is fine. I think it would be more of an issue if you played while still bummed about a recent lose as this could lead you to stray from your game. I personally would try not to worry about it, take your day or so to get over it then get back at it. I'm sure there are many pros that react to a lose in a similar matter and I think it's completely natural.

I'd be a liar if I said I didn't get affected by losing. Poker gets by heart thumping, and that's one of the reasons I love it....but the adrenaline goes both ways...I get pumped by winning, and I get bummed by losing. And it's never about the money for me - I have a seperate bankroll, track all my wins/losses, and never play above my loss threshold....it's about the challenge, and being better than my opponent. Some losses are easier to shake off than others...luckily I have a poker playing husband, and when I lose he gives me perspective (and I do the same for him). The thing I try to do is learn something from every loss....that way it's an investment in improving my game.

Quote The money only seems to mean much to me when I lose, not when I win. I sort of know what you mean. In general I find I play LESS when I'm winning. I find I probably play more often, but I tend to play more managed, shorter sessions. I don't know why. Maybe I have the compulsive urge of playing on when I'm running bad but at what I know is a good table. When I'm winning, I just tend to find the game gets boring and leave with my winnings (I think I'm "probably" better at recognizing when table conditions have detiorated when I'm running well too). If you find a way of getting rid of the pain of losing, let me know. I'm mired in probably my biggest short-term downswing that I can remember. Probably somewhere around 200-250BB at various limits on various sites. It's been annoying to say the least. And while I'm not happy with my results of late, my overall attitude (shockingly) is that of mild indifference. I don't know if my blatant disregard of money is a good or bad thing. Now of course this is very short term (say last 2 weeks), so if I'm in the same boat 2-3 weeks from now, the grind of a longterm downswing may be enough to start weighing on me. I guess I keep telling myself that variance will eventually turn the other way, and going through the fire of a tough losing streak can only make me stronger in the long-run (unless I go broke). Fortunately, playing massively overrolled makes a bad downturn like this bearable at least.

Thanks for the great responses. I guess that in some sense I was venting, but this thread has really helped me. It is very rare that I have more than 1-2 consecutive losing sessions as I'm primarily a cash-game player. As I stated previously, I do have the ambition of being able to play poker part-time-professionally at some point in my life -- whether that will ever come to fruition remains to be seen. I have no illusions about the downsides of being an any-level pro player. Obviously doing something part-time for a living in which you cannot always succeed can be frustrating at times. I feel that minimizing the sting of losses is one of the most important aspects of my game that I need to work on before ever even considering any transition to being a part-time pro at any level. I appreciate the feedback as it definitely helps to know that others that take the game seriously have similar feelings towards losing. I realize that this sort of response is part of what makes me a winning player. Perhaps there is no best of both worlds with respect to being a winner and not having losses sting more than wins elate. My hope is that with even more experience that a loss will just be a loss -- of course something to reflect upon and learn from, but something that can more easily be let go. Poker is such an interesting game and, to me, dealing with the psychology of losing seems to be my next challenge in my crawl toward the possibility of taking my game to another level.

Feeling Certain

I've always had a lingering doubt in my mind as to whether or not I could be a consistent winning player. Over the last few days that doubt has gone away. I have found the games that work for me -- live cash games, online sngs, the occasional online MTT -- and focused on them for the past few months. My stats don't lie, I am a winning player. Now, it is just a matter of gradually moving up in limits. I haven't had a losing month this year and by focusing on the games that I like playing, by playing both live and online for variety and by playing only when I'm in the mood and cutting sessions short when I feel my wins going into lock-down mode, I have churned out a steady profit.

Just back from the Wed night hi/lo game -- up $335 in 4-5 hours.

So, for the month so far, 9-10 hours of live play +$535, a couple of days of online sngs +$750. Another good start to the month. Having played some $100 and $200 sngs last month, I realize that more profit is possible, but I need to slowly become more comfortable with risking more money online. For now, I feel a reasonable goal for the month is $2.5-$3k, we'll see how it goes.

Everything Seems to be in Place and Running Smoothly

I didn't play all that much in May, won around $2.5k so it was a good month profit-wise. I seem to be beating every game that I play these days. I can pretty much guarantee booking a $2k-$3k win every month these days combining live and online play.

So far this month:

I'm up $750 or so online having played 18 sngs -- I was getting tired of the Party 6 max sngs, needed some variety so I tried out the Stars 9max Turbos...just started playing low limit $27 ones to see how they are and after 10 games my ROI is a whopping 116%, likely not sustainable but certainly a profitable game none the less. Played one $110 6 max turbo on there and placed first as well. Played a $6 turbo 99max on Party for a fun diversion and finished first. I'll move up to the $55 turbos on Stars after a larger sample size at $27. The beauty of these turbos is the ease of multitabling, the play is pretty straightforward in these -- so far I've just been 2-tabling as I've been playing exclusively on my laptop and can't play 3 tables well due to overlap.

I'm up $200 having played only one live session of the Wed night hi/lo, the most beatable game on earth -- there is no way that I can't beat (and I have been beating) this game for a conservative average of $200/session, so that would be $800 a month or so. I've had 2 losing sessions there in 3 months. I wish this were a higher limit game, but it's my favourtie live game, so I doubt I'll stop playing it anytime soon.

So, $2k-$3k a month seems a reasonable average playing at my current limits, depending on my playing time. This, of course, barring a losing session or two whilst taking a shot at higher limits.

My goal is to maintain this for a couple of months and to eventually get this figure up to $4k-$5k a month .

My Goal for the Week Attained...I'm Playing Great

My goal of winning $1000 playing live this week was attained after a 4 hour session tonight at The Office, the weekly stud8/omaha8 game. As I've said before, this is the most consistantly beatable game that I've ever player and it just doesn't change. Hovered around even for a couple of hours then scooped a couple of pots, up around $350 at my peak and quit at +$300.

So, for the week 3 hours 2 5 NLH, 2 hours 10 20 LHE, 4 hours 4 8 1/2 kill hi/lo for a profit of just under $1000 in 3 sessions totalling 9 hours of play.

Will be taking tonight off, maybe playing a bit online...now it's bedtime.