Double-up Baby or Roll Rollin’

Quick Update. I am writing this just to give anyone that cares a small look into my poker career. I cashed out the rest of my bankroll 2 weeks ago. I decided I would start anew - personal reasons among others. Poker has been good to me this year. I have grown a lot in my game I feel. I have achieved more than I ever would have expected at the start of this year. If it sounds like I’m bragging, I’m sorry, for I am just passing on the story of my good fortune. I started with $180 dollars this year, which was last year’s total profits. I have thus far cashed out $4600 this year. So as I have already mentioned, I am starting over. 2 weeks ago I began with a $250 bankroll. So here we start with my journey. I this post was going to be rather short and succinct, but sadly it turned out quite lengthy. Read on at your own peril.

The first week of my new journey was pretty stagnant, with me holding my own but little else. I didn’t put in a lot of time at the tables either. Last week I messed around solely on UB for a few days. I had $130 starting roll on UB. I loaned out $100 of my online BR at UB. I got slapped with some bad beats, bad calls, and bad plays on the $10NL tables. I was left with a mere $12 at UB. Now here are my results from my last 4 days off. I was going on nights so I decided to stay up and play all-nighters. I played both at Px and UB. I would post these daily or so, but my computer locks-up when I try to on the net and play both of these sites at the same time. And when I decide to get off, I am usually too tired to type updates. So I start with $12 at UB and $100 at Px.

26th – I played for a long time – at least 5 hrs. I started off up on both sites. Then the bad beats started and I was down. Not fun when you have a small roll and variance decides it is time to kick in. Nothing like watching the session’s loot you accumulated through slow, hard-fought, small hands, disappear to bad beats on a few huge hands. I ground my way back into the black. I ended down slightly on Px. And up to $18 on UB at the Penny tables. Not a bad effort at those stakes. As aforementioned, Penny tabs at UB and $25NL at Px. As you can see I’m not conforming to my normal strict bankroll management system. I know that I have the skills to play with less of a roll. If variance contrives to put a major down swing on me I will surely drop to lower limits. (On Px that is. You can’t get any lower than the Penny tables. LOL) Total session: up $5 for all that work.

27th – A lot better results this night. I was in the flow with my reads, plus I hit a plethora of flops. I won some big hands. And when all the money went in with me having the best hand, I usually pulled out the win. Nothing better than when the odds work like they are meant to. Oh yea, lady luck did hook me up with a suckout for a nice pot. One weird thing is that I get barely any stimulation for allins and big bets at the Penny tabs anymore. When I started out on the Penny tabs I was on the edge of my seat just about every bet. Now it is just business as usual. I just play solid poker and let the chips go as they may. I did lose 2 big hands over the course of the all-nighter, but luckily my lead was large enough to sustain them. I played the usual stakes at Px, doing well and gaining more than a buyin. (2 tabling there.) On UB, playing 4 tables, I had a great night. Making $12 dollars at Pennys. (6 buyins!) When I got to $32 I was so pumped by my night’s luck that I decided to put all $30 on 3 $10 tabs and see how it went. I continued to slap people around and gained a few buyins there also. I did keep 1 .01/.02 table going so I could play with the Fam. Total earnings for the night: $85.

UB was the original site that I learned the game on. (That I made my way up the ladder on anyway.) One thing that I noticed as I am making my way back up through the ranks, is that tons of players are playing at the same stakes as a year ago. I don’t understand this. I remember these people because I took notes on them the first time around and UB makes it easy to mark them with colored dot icons. Did these people not gain enough experience to advance or are they satisfied with where they are? Do they just cashout each week? I don’t see ever being sated with my game or anything in my life, really. Maybe this is just a personal character trait or flaw possibly. I don’t know. Shouldn’t we always want to grow? Anyways, I just found this a bit weird. Plus another thing I kinda’ noticed with them is that most are TAG or weak-tight. Maybe that is the key: they are conservative by nature and therefore hold to order and normalcy. Just something that I noticed.

28th – Another night in the zone. This was an all-nighter to rival any before it. I made it up to $85 or so on the $10 tabs and decided to step-it-up. So I started playing on the $25 tables on both sites. Plus 1 tab again with the Fam to be sociable and have fun. Once again I was able to sustain a few hands that went totally wrong. I got slapped by a 2-outer. (Those always put me on the cusp of tilt. I did actually rage-tilt at the tables for a few min., but luckily pulled myself together before I lost any real money. I was betting and calling with shit.) Damn I hate when I spazz-out like that. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to just let it roll-off like some of the pros. Just be able to take it in stride. Hopefully one day after I see enough hands and watch enough money get passed around, I can be at that Zen level. I am actually close to that at the Penny tables. Though sometimes I would like to put my keyboard in a suckout’s arse or contemplate bashing their brains out – oh yea, if they had a brain they wouldn’t have made the call with 2nd-pr shit kicker, right, right. Sorry about the small rant. Onward-ho. I also made some bad reads and bluffs, but overall I was eating up the tables. (As must as a slow-paced TAG can.) Rocked for 4 max buyins. What a night. I think I have actually had 2 sessions where I gained more than 4 buyins at higher stakes, that is. I made money on both sites. Plus a nice rake on Px.

29th – Another good session. Man I am glad that, as of yet, variance has decided to let me get my roll building before she puts it to me. Got sacked (yea I wrote that right, sacked – full-force to the nads) by a 2-outer again. I know people hate bad beat stories, but damn, a 2-frickin’-outer. I have AK. They have AQ. K hits the flop. We check. Crafty me, hee, hee. Turn brings the Q and my huckleberry. I raise; he pushes. I call. I have him totally dominated. He is drawing to 2 Ladies in the deck. We’re talking like 22 to 1 odds here: 4.5%. River Q. And tilt comes full force. I throw my up in disgust. Crom, I scream shaking my fist up towards Valhala. (Crom for the unenlightened, is my poker good. Just ask Conan if you’re a nonbeliever.) But to “sort’a” make up for it I get the much-coveted Resuck. KK vs QQ PF allin for my whole buyin. Flop spikes the dreaded Q suckout. My heart sinks. Turn is a blank and I begin a facetious laugh lamenting my luck. Then comes the Cowboy, bringing the mighty resuck, as he guns her ass down in the street at high noon. OK, a little over-dramatized but redemption none-the-less. Overall this was a very slow night, card-wise. Most of my time this whole session was wrought with fold after fold. I was horribly card-dead. I did end up $60 or so. I won a few big hands, but the rest of the time I seemed to just fold. Very boring night. I was so bored that I called it a night early and went to be.

Quick recap. So I started 2 weeks ago with a $250 BR. These last 4 days I doubled that roll. I am sitting now with a little under $400 now. I would have over $500 now but I bankroll’d some of the Fam. I started with $12, 4 days ago on UB and now sit with $159. That is some power poker. I am very happy with my progress and my current game. Hopefully it continues to rollover exponentially at this pace. Thanks for your time. Later