A NEW HOPE

I have really been off track this year. I have only put in a few true sessions this year as of yet. Last year I used to put in solid month after month of multi-tabling, utilizing every moment that I wasn’t working or sleeping, sadly sometimes to the detriment of my family. I started with $180 last year after starting on the penny tables the year prior. I took that $180 and turned it into slightly over $5000. I was an anal little bitch and didn’t move up levels until I had 25 to 35 buy-ins and was crushing the current stakes. Sadly life threw me a few curves and I cashed out all but $500 of my roll. Shit I had just started playing the $200NL tables. I was making it. And since the cashout I haven’t been motivated to play. I was crushing the game overall when I left. 5 winning sessions to 1 losing. Now I am finding that I am playing even poker at stakes that I used to fucking destroy. I now sit at $650 total on 3 different sites. God, the year is over 1/3rd over and I am up $100. I need to get going.

My game has evolved to the point that I don’t where I was at before. I think I have too many tools at disposal. (That sounds conceded right?) I think it is time for me to step back and hit reset. I think I need to play standard old boring ABC ghey poker. No nasty bluffs. No betting and raising on every street with my draws. No expensive chasing. No playing just out of position. No playing junk in position. Just monsters and play ram and jam. Get in cheap with my prs and do some set-farming. I know playing this style will suck, as I will just know I could take a hand down with a move, but I think I shall refrain for awhile. It’s time to play punk-ass rock style. I will be so temped though with my PT and Ace Hud data mining these tards. I will play straight full ring and multi-table.

I’m going to put in some time and try to pump up this egg-roll. If I, fuck that, when I get it big again I am going to keep stepping up. $5000 is a lot, but I would love to give this a shot at the title. I want to make Vegas money baby. I want to be making lobster loot. It was in my grasp last year I know it was, but I gave it all up. I was on the cusp…standing at the precipice ready to take that big money leap of faith. I’m giving it another shot bitches. As LL used to say, “Don’t call it a comeback…I’ve been here for years.”

Later, Ash out…

Update: Breaking Rake

I played for the first time in forever last night. I kicked up 4 $25 FR tables on Stars. BTW, I have a cool Stars T-shirt coming in the mail. Points baby. “You call me baby…you be all done,” as Scottie would say. I took done a $120 bonus that has been sitting there since July of 2006. That just goes to show how much I play at Stars.

At first when I played 4 tables at Stars it was really awkward to see and play the Tables. I would size down the screen and get all 4 on the table at once. It was frustrating. But I have gotten used to it. I really like it now. It is nice to see all tables at once without popping through different screens; you can just focus on the ones that have cards. The only thing that is aggravating to me now with the set-up is that you have activate the table first before you can push a button. So if you want to fold you first have to click the table once and then you can click the fold button. That drives me nuts. I now make the screens a little bigger and let them overlap the other tables a little. To do this you have to organize the tables so you aren’t sitting in the middle of the screen where they will get covered by the overlapping tables.

I cashed out my $250 to Epassporte. It was instantaneous. That was the first time that I have ever had an instant withdraw. They had a deposit bonus going but I became ineligible by withdrawing. That sucked. I will likely put it back on Stars until UB has a bonus going.

I hope to start playing again. I have been in a funk pokerwise lately. I really just don’t feel like playing and when I do finally decide to play I get off quick because I just can’t get into it. I want to start playing and hopefully start winning again.

One bitch hand from last night. I have $28 or so. I flop a straight from a slightly PF raised pot. I’m also in position. Board 972 with 2 clubs. 4 of us in hand – 1st - $12, 2nd - $15, 3rd - $3.5, and Me - $28. 1st checks. 2nd bets $1.5. 3rd goes all-in for 3.5. I make it $6. 1st then goes all-in from $12. 2nd puts in the remainder of his $15. I obviously call. The only thing that beats me at this point is a set of 9’s. I figure someone has a flush-draw and 2nd who was the PF raiser has an over-pr. I was right – 1st has A8c, 2nd has JJ, and 3rd mucks at showdown. I need to stay away from some outs here I am guessing because I don’t know there hands until showdown, although it was pretty obvious what I was up against unless these guys where total loose-cannons. Turn brings a Club like figured. I still had $3 measly bucks that I could win, but yep, you guessed it. The guy hits a J on the river to totally stick it to me and let me know how Lady Luck currently feels about me.

I know this kind of shit happens, but lately it has been disproportionate. I’m telling you my hands aren’t holding up like they should. I think this is one of the main reasons that I haven’t wanted to play. It gets old after awhile.

Current bankroll:

Epassporte - $257

FT - $55

WPEX - $47

UB - $404

Total = $763

That is only $263 for the year. Hey, at least I’m in the black.

So far this year if I added up my bonuses and rakeback, That would be all my profits for the year. I am playing even poker. I'm just beating rake and only bringing in the little extra that sites give out for hanging around. When I get back to playing and get some hands in I will have to reevaluate my game.

Later, Ash out...

UPS and DOWNS

Ah, the poker scene. Once again I haven’t played a lot, but I do have a little bit to share. The second time I got on after deciding to play the higher stakes my Bro gets on. I was still playing full-ring. He lays out a proposal. He says that 6-max is where the $’s at and that we should get 3 tables going and split any winnings. I obviously say yes. Has been on a real heater. I loaned him $100 not too long ago and he has turned it into $2000 or so.

We get on 3 $100 6-max tables and sit across from each other so we don’t raise each other’s blinds all the time. His game has changed from when we used to play. He has become a LAG. But he plays it well. He had all 3 tables on total tilt. He was raising, what seemed like every hand. When someone would reraise, he often would call. If he missed the flop and they raised, he would fold and show his junk. If they checked and he was in position he would bet out. If they did a C/R he would usually fold and show his junk. These hands where he was flinging money out the window were setting the table up for when he did hit, because they had no respect for his holdings. They thought he was a dumbass that was just bullying the table with no ulterior motive. Also he won most hands right out PF or 2/3’s of the time on the flop when he bet and they missed their holdings or didn’t hit hard enough to call. And if he called their PF raise or reraise and they were holding high pairs, he would usually stack them when he hit hard. His 46s would take down their KK and they would leave or rebuy, but ultimately the table would be on total tilt. People started hitting 2nd-pr and finding it hard to let them go. They were playing out of their comfort zone and he was raking in the money. He was also hitting some cards on the flop and turn, which was really helping his bravado out. Put it this way, I was totally impressed. He was the King of the Rounders the whole night.

We played for like 13 hrs straight until 9:30am. I was up as much as #350 at one point. Late in the game I lost some hands that just happened to be 2nd best and a few bad beats thrown in. But truly counting all the hands that we played, my earnings should have been a reflection of my total game. Still it is possible that a just had a bad variance night, but I doubt it. I think that my full-ring game is where I thrive. I ended the night up $26. He ended up making $750. So he put $375 into my account and I placed a badass $13 into his. LOL. Overall a very goodnight.

Since then I haven’t played much. The next time that I did though, I played the $100 tables and lost around $250. Honestly it was to bad beats, but it really smacked my confidence into the dirt. I dropped down to the $50’s again. The next time I played I lost more. I got down to $300 or so on UB, thus losing pretty much all of that night’s earnings. I only really played once more after that and now sit at $400. So on all sites tallied together I sit at $650 or so for the year. That is a cool $150 profit for the year. I really haven’t put in much time this year, but with the time I have, I should be up quite a bit more. I am truly disappointed with myself and my game. Unless I play with my Bro again I plan on playing full-ring.