Wow. Last post a month ago. That's pretty shity of me. Nobody reads this anyway though so whatever.
On the poker front there's actually quite a bit to report so I don't know why I havn't written in so long. Yes I do, I've been busy as hell with other things and chose to spend what little time I did have to play instead of write.
So the whole step thing didn't really work out so well. I ended up with one $26 ticket and did'nt cash in the tourney I used it for. Not sure if the results make it a bad decision or not. I knew what I was getting into variance-wise with the big MTTs though, so if it was a bad call at least I made it with my eyes open.
That's not to say, however, that MTTs have worked out badly for me in the past month. Ive made several nice cashes and am up to $367 from the $75 I put in when my little step expiriment was over. I've made some changes in my tournament game and I've been playing the 90 player turbo KO SnGs on Full Tilt. I feel like these suit my style pretty well and I've been enjoying playing them. If nothing else they're a good place to tweak my MTT game without mistakes being too expensive. Besides the cashes in those SnGs I also had a min cash and bubbled off the final table in one of the early double $5+1 events, I forget what the min cash payed but the 10th was like 80 bucks. So maybe the changes and the different games are working, or maybe variance or karma or whatever is balancing back out from some of the ugly beats I had been taking, hard to say.
On the health front I've had big improvements. I feel probably 90% better and improving every day. Been 9 weeks on one med, considering adding another one to try to get that last 10% but havn't decided yet. In any case I feel much beter and am exercising and eating better too, which helps in itself. Matbe that's why my poker results are better, hard to say for sure but it's got to help at least a little.
I know I've said this before but I'll try to start posting more often, not that it matters since I have like 2 readers but if I'm going to blog at all I should at least post a couple of times a week. So I'll try, but no promises.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Climbing the steps, maybe.
So I had a deep run in the $1 rebuy the other day which brought my roll back to almost even and got me to thinking, dangerous I know. My thought was something like, "I suck at cash games, I'm mediocre at SNGs, but I keep making these good runs in MTTs, maybe I should try some bigger MTTs."
Well the fact that there was not quite 50 bucks in my account made that kind of an iffy proposition, especially since the good ones are all $26 or higher. So I started looking at these step tournaments and decided to try to use them to get myself one or two extra buy-ins to the bigger MTTs. In retrospect I don't think my strategy for the step ones was optimal, I should've played much tighter since fifth is at least a guaranteed repeat of step one. I rectified some of that towards the end and finished up my money at step one more or less even, 5 step2 tickets and a little change. I now have 1 step3 and 3 step2 tickets, making my roi slightly positive so far as that's a total value of 52.10 and spent around 45 starting this little experiment. I guess I'll just have to see what happens with my remaining step2 tickets and whether or not I will have actually gained myself anything when I've played through those.
So far it seems like the step tournaments were at least not a terrible idea, whether or not playing higher MTTs is or not remains to be seen. In any case my meds are working wonderfuly and I've been able to start getting some exercise again so I feel great no matter what happens with poker stuff. Life's not all about cards, really.
Well the fact that there was not quite 50 bucks in my account made that kind of an iffy proposition, especially since the good ones are all $26 or higher. So I started looking at these step tournaments and decided to try to use them to get myself one or two extra buy-ins to the bigger MTTs. In retrospect I don't think my strategy for the step ones was optimal, I should've played much tighter since fifth is at least a guaranteed repeat of step one. I rectified some of that towards the end and finished up my money at step one more or less even, 5 step2 tickets and a little change. I now have 1 step3 and 3 step2 tickets, making my roi slightly positive so far as that's a total value of 52.10 and spent around 45 starting this little experiment. I guess I'll just have to see what happens with my remaining step2 tickets and whether or not I will have actually gained myself anything when I've played through those.
So far it seems like the step tournaments were at least not a terrible idea, whether or not playing higher MTTs is or not remains to be seen. In any case my meds are working wonderfuly and I've been able to start getting some exercise again so I feel great no matter what happens with poker stuff. Life's not all about cards, really.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Feeling better, poker results suck though
Yes, I know, I'm a bad bad blogger. But believe me when I tell you I've been extremely sick. And then right when I got my meds n started feeling a little bit better my great grandmother passed and I had to haul ass to New Orleans for a funeral. But I'm back now and feeling much better.
Not much poker to report, and there are precious few bright spots in what there is. I haven't played my local bar tourney in two weeks, and havn't played my regular cash game at the dog track in over a month. I have played online a little, but in retrospect I probably shouldn't have. I had two small cashes in the $1 rebuy, and damn near satelited in to the mini FTOPS main ( 8th out of 500, top 4 got in, damn! so close). Otherwise poker results have been awful, SNGs full of bad beats, and cash games full of me playing like a dumbass, and some rush poker. Don't need to tell you how the rush poker went do I?
In any case my meds are in from europe and I'm feeling much better so barring any more catastrophies I should have some things to write about now, and hopefully they'll be good results.
Not much poker to report, and there are precious few bright spots in what there is. I haven't played my local bar tourney in two weeks, and havn't played my regular cash game at the dog track in over a month. I have played online a little, but in retrospect I probably shouldn't have. I had two small cashes in the $1 rebuy, and damn near satelited in to the mini FTOPS main ( 8th out of 500, top 4 got in, damn! so close). Otherwise poker results have been awful, SNGs full of bad beats, and cash games full of me playing like a dumbass, and some rush poker. Don't need to tell you how the rush poker went do I?
In any case my meds are in from europe and I'm feeling much better so barring any more catastrophies I should have some things to write about now, and hopefully they'll be good results.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
OK I'm Back
Haven't posted in a while due to a health problem I've been trying to deal with. I may write about it here at some point but I don't know yet. I've been spending alot of time looking at treatment options and and different ways to get the treatment I need, so I have'nt had much time to play or blog. Plus I feel like shit, so thats a factor too.
Anyway, I've played a few SNGs, with a mix of turbo, super turbo, and regular, and some multi tables, but mostly single table. It's a pretty small sample at this point since I haven't really had much time to play, but it looks to me so far like the single table turbos are where I'm doing the best. So I'll be concentrating on them for a while. Bankroll at 47.08, so I've made a little profit messing around with the different SNGs, hopefully when I concentrate on the ones I'm best at I'll start seeing some real growth, maybe.
I read a good passage in "NLH Theory and Practice" about raising for value and relative stack sizes. No Idea why I never thought about it this way before. It says:
"The shallower your stack, the more compelling raising for value becomes. Put another way, the larger percentage of your stack (or your opponents' if thiers is shallower) a preflop raise constitutes, generally, the stronger your hand must be to make the raise.
If a raise is only two percent of your stack, you need not raise with all your strong hands, and you need not necessarily have a strong hand to raise. If a raise is twenty percent of your stack or more, you should typically raise with all your strong hands and rarely otherwise."
So, essentially, while mixing up your play is good, pay attention to the relative stack sizes to know when mixing up your preflop raises is appropriate. Big stacks, more creative, smaller stacks more straightforward. So thats my poker thought for today.
Anyway, I've played a few SNGs, with a mix of turbo, super turbo, and regular, and some multi tables, but mostly single table. It's a pretty small sample at this point since I haven't really had much time to play, but it looks to me so far like the single table turbos are where I'm doing the best. So I'll be concentrating on them for a while. Bankroll at 47.08, so I've made a little profit messing around with the different SNGs, hopefully when I concentrate on the ones I'm best at I'll start seeing some real growth, maybe.
I read a good passage in "NLH Theory and Practice" about raising for value and relative stack sizes. No Idea why I never thought about it this way before. It says:
"The shallower your stack, the more compelling raising for value becomes. Put another way, the larger percentage of your stack (or your opponents' if thiers is shallower) a preflop raise constitutes, generally, the stronger your hand must be to make the raise.
If a raise is only two percent of your stack, you need not raise with all your strong hands, and you need not necessarily have a strong hand to raise. If a raise is twenty percent of your stack or more, you should typically raise with all your strong hands and rarely otherwise."
So, essentially, while mixing up your play is good, pay attention to the relative stack sizes to know when mixing up your preflop raises is appropriate. Big stacks, more creative, smaller stacks more straightforward. So thats my poker thought for today.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Vicodin, Poker, and why poker players shouldnt drive.
As I'm sure we can all agree, Vicodin is a wonderful drug for any sort of pain, or for recreation for that matter. It is not, as I've mentioned before, much good for ones poker game.
I had another little twinge in my back/kidney area yesterday afternoon. So, rather than suffer like I did last time I took one of the vicodins I had left as soon as I got off work. As a result, or maybe not, yesterdays after work poker session resulted in a pretty good sized downswing. It could just be variance but I was definitely having a little trouble concentrating and could only play one table. I probably shouldn't have been playing but I've had quite a bit of time off from poker lately and I wanted to play.
I've enjoyed getting back into SNGs. The escalating blinds put you in positions that force you to try some creative plays and not be so abc all the time. I like that, it keeps me from getting bored and as a result helps keep me from getting frustrated. I'm well past the 20 I was going to play and this morning I've been playing some 1.50 turbos. I think I'm about even for the morning, the variance on these is necessarily going to be a bit higher because of the push or fold situations that you get in alot of the time. But they're alot of fun and I'm doing better now than I was when I first started. I had to turn up the aggression level quite a bit from how I was playing the 1.00 regular SNGs but it seems to be working well. I know, I know, I said only 20, but I'm having fun with the SNGs, and it's my money so piss off.
Which leads me to the story of why I shouldn't drive and think about poker at the same time. I was on my way home this morning after dropping a friend off at work and going to get a couple more vicodin from another friend when I totally ran a red light. It was only a combination of Fords and Goodyears wonderful engineering, and my skill and experience ( "I'm an excellent driver.", Denis Hoffman in Rain Man), that kept me from hitting the crossing traffic. I braked hard and was just barely able to make a right turn to avoid hitting the truck that was coming into the intersection from my left. Tense!! I think my asshole tore a little hole in my seat when it clenched up.
Now mind you I'm on a road that I've driven no less than once a day for the past 3 years, havn't taken my vicodin yet, and have been awake for at least an hour. So there's absolutely no reason I should've missed this light. But I did, and it was all pokers fault, mostly. I was thinking about turbo SNG strategy versus regular, which hands I should be shoving with from what position, which ones I should be calling shoves with, which ones that while they look tempting are probably best to just fold, what might be worth trying to limp with pre-flop etc, etc, etc. And I got so absorbed that I damn near wrecked my truck and someone elses. So if anyone's reading this take my advice and don't think about poker while driving, it could get ugly.
I plan to play some more today so I'll just post the numbers tonight, I say as if anyone cares.
I had another little twinge in my back/kidney area yesterday afternoon. So, rather than suffer like I did last time I took one of the vicodins I had left as soon as I got off work. As a result, or maybe not, yesterdays after work poker session resulted in a pretty good sized downswing. It could just be variance but I was definitely having a little trouble concentrating and could only play one table. I probably shouldn't have been playing but I've had quite a bit of time off from poker lately and I wanted to play.
I've enjoyed getting back into SNGs. The escalating blinds put you in positions that force you to try some creative plays and not be so abc all the time. I like that, it keeps me from getting bored and as a result helps keep me from getting frustrated. I'm well past the 20 I was going to play and this morning I've been playing some 1.50 turbos. I think I'm about even for the morning, the variance on these is necessarily going to be a bit higher because of the push or fold situations that you get in alot of the time. But they're alot of fun and I'm doing better now than I was when I first started. I had to turn up the aggression level quite a bit from how I was playing the 1.00 regular SNGs but it seems to be working well. I know, I know, I said only 20, but I'm having fun with the SNGs, and it's my money so piss off.
Which leads me to the story of why I shouldn't drive and think about poker at the same time. I was on my way home this morning after dropping a friend off at work and going to get a couple more vicodin from another friend when I totally ran a red light. It was only a combination of Fords and Goodyears wonderful engineering, and my skill and experience ( "I'm an excellent driver.", Denis Hoffman in Rain Man), that kept me from hitting the crossing traffic. I braked hard and was just barely able to make a right turn to avoid hitting the truck that was coming into the intersection from my left. Tense!! I think my asshole tore a little hole in my seat when it clenched up.
Now mind you I'm on a road that I've driven no less than once a day for the past 3 years, havn't taken my vicodin yet, and have been awake for at least an hour. So there's absolutely no reason I should've missed this light. But I did, and it was all pokers fault, mostly. I was thinking about turbo SNG strategy versus regular, which hands I should be shoving with from what position, which ones I should be calling shoves with, which ones that while they look tempting are probably best to just fold, what might be worth trying to limp with pre-flop etc, etc, etc. And I got so absorbed that I damn near wrecked my truck and someone elses. So if anyone's reading this take my advice and don't think about poker while driving, it could get ugly.
I plan to play some more today so I'll just post the numbers tonight, I say as if anyone cares.
Friday, February 26, 2010
OK I'm Back
No poker to report, but I had a great time on my mini-vacation. A friend and I took a little snowboarding trip to North Carolina. I don't think she enjoyed the snowboarding quite as much as I did but she did enjoy the drive through the mountains and seeing all the scenery and snow and such. The ski area was pretty small, but that's to be expected in the southern Appalachians. The people were super friendly though. I'm pretty sure nobody's reading this crap, but if you are and you're looking for a place to ski in NC check out Wolf Ridge.
On a semi-pokerish note I did pass through the famous/infamous G-Vegas on my way. Seemed like a nice town from what I saw of it. I may have to ride up there and look around next time I visit my sister in Charlotte.
Anyway, still 5 SnGs to go and then back to the cash games, I'll probably start playing again tomorrow.
On a semi-pokerish note I did pass through the famous/infamous G-Vegas on my way. Seemed like a nice town from what I saw of it. I may have to ride up there and look around next time I visit my sister in Charlotte.
Anyway, still 5 SnGs to go and then back to the cash games, I'll probably start playing again tomorrow.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
5 to go
Got in 2 more sit n gos yesterday and played a matrix tonight. The matrix was actually alot of fun and I did well (1st, 1st, 3rd, and 6th for 1st overall, 3.06 total cash) Played about 30 hands cash the other day too and was up a good bit there, about 2 or 3 bucks I think.
I sharkscoped myself since I've been doing the SNG thing, and I was a little disappointed. My Full Tilt was really bad. But I looked at my graph and most of that is the early stuff from when I first started playing real money. Here lately my graph for Full Tilt SNGs is on a sharp upward slope. My skill rating was much better on stars, 77 if you care, but I need to opt in to be able to see the full picture of my numbers over there. It should be better though because that's where Ive done the majority of my play for the past 6 or 8 months, which is about when I started not completely sucking and started actually winning at lower bi tournaments and SNGs. Maybe they're jut softer over there? Maybe I just need to play on PokerStars? Worth considering anyway, we'll see.
I played the matrix because while I was on shark scope I took a look at the tournament finder and it said the $1 and $10 matrix tourneys were the fishiest. I guess they were right, or I'm just that awesome. Probably the former I would guess. I'll probably try to squeeze in some more of these in any case. Once Ive got the bankroll situation straight the $10 ones should be serious money makers if they're that fishy.
Weaning myself off the vicodin now since I've passed the kidney stone. I'm glad to have the stone gone but I sure will miss that wonderful fuzzy feeling. And there's no more snowboarding on the Olympics. So I should be finished with SNGs and back to the cash grind shortly. I'll post all the SNG results and bankroll numbers then.
Also, can anyone tell me why the hell I have to wade through ice dancing to get to the events I actually want to see? There are 9000 fuckin channels for Gods sake, can't we figure something out here? Short track is still awesome though, like NASCAR with blades and no rednecks, sweeeet.
I sharkscoped myself since I've been doing the SNG thing, and I was a little disappointed. My Full Tilt was really bad. But I looked at my graph and most of that is the early stuff from when I first started playing real money. Here lately my graph for Full Tilt SNGs is on a sharp upward slope. My skill rating was much better on stars, 77 if you care, but I need to opt in to be able to see the full picture of my numbers over there. It should be better though because that's where Ive done the majority of my play for the past 6 or 8 months, which is about when I started not completely sucking and started actually winning at lower bi tournaments and SNGs. Maybe they're jut softer over there? Maybe I just need to play on PokerStars? Worth considering anyway, we'll see.
I played the matrix because while I was on shark scope I took a look at the tournament finder and it said the $1 and $10 matrix tourneys were the fishiest. I guess they were right, or I'm just that awesome. Probably the former I would guess. I'll probably try to squeeze in some more of these in any case. Once Ive got the bankroll situation straight the $10 ones should be serious money makers if they're that fishy.
Weaning myself off the vicodin now since I've passed the kidney stone. I'm glad to have the stone gone but I sure will miss that wonderful fuzzy feeling. And there's no more snowboarding on the Olympics. So I should be finished with SNGs and back to the cash grind shortly. I'll post all the SNG results and bankroll numbers then.
Also, can anyone tell me why the hell I have to wade through ice dancing to get to the events I actually want to see? There are 9000 fuckin channels for Gods sake, can't we figure something out here? Short track is still awesome though, like NASCAR with blades and no rednecks, sweeeet.
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