Full Tilt and a Few Leaks Plugged

OK, it has been a month since my last update. I achieved my gold status for the month. I only missed the 100 points on one day. I have played every day this month. I have had my ups and downs. I got that hoodie plus I’m back up around 3000 points again. I opted for extra points as my Ironman bonus.

I started the month at $350 and was playing 4 tables at the $50 FR tables. I lost a few buy-ins but stayed at those stakes and tried for the comeback. I went all the way down to $150. I started playing the $25 tables and slowly dwindled down below $100. I hit $80 and was forced to drop to $10 tables. I started playing 8 tables with my whole roll at 8 different hopeful seats. I decided to play my regular game but really go into the think-tank on all-in hands, which is really hard for me because it is only $10. When you have played $200 and $100 tables for months only 6 months ago and recently $50 and $25 tables $10 just doesn’t hold as much respect in one’s eyes. But I had to focus on the fact that I only had $80 and $10 was actually 1/8 of my total BR. I began my refined game and hit 2 bad beats where I was at least a 70% favorite. It just seemed that lady luck was being at total bitch to me. I was now standing at $60 and 6 buy-ins. I held the line and continued on that same strategy. The bad beats stopped for a while and I began to gain in money. It was difficult to fold some of the big hands, especially when guys at these small stakes will call your PF raise and if they hit any piece of the flop will shove and put you to a tough decision. Usually I would still call if I had and over-pr to the flop. Occasionally that had hit their sets and I paid the ultimate price, but more often than not it turned out to be a semi-buff at best. I did lay down some hands where I was likely the best, but I was winning tons of small pots with my semi-tight-semi-agro game. I figured why lose all those hrs of grinding to one bad call. It was hard for me. I continued to gain all the while getting my 100 points a day. I decided on a new BR management strategy because I had already surpassed the 1st 4 or 5 stakes. I be scared to move up when I’m not scared money at those stakes. I will now move up stakes as long as I have 8 buy-ins at that level and at that point be willing to stay at that stake until I lose 2 buy-ins or advance up the ladder to the next stakes. I hit the $200 mark not too long ago. (2 weeks or so.) I moved up stakes back to the .10/.25 tables. I was finally playing solid poker. I wasn’t gaining a lot on each session but I wasn’t dropping big amounts either. I was making less bad calls on big hands. I also gave up the nasty river bluffs with busted draws when if called I would lose big pots to due to the size of turn pots and the amount that one would have to put in to make it a tough call for my opponents. I actually gave that up back at the strategy change at the $10 stakes. This was definitely one leak in my game. When it was I well timed bluff I made a nice hand payout, but when I was off in my assessment I wasted all my hard earned money. Now that I have taken out the nasty bluff and the bad all-in calls I am playing winning poker overall. Most of my wins and loses each day were very small due to some daily horrible beats. All that grinding gone to shit almost every session. But when the bad beats didn’t come in a session I usually made a buy-in or so. I continued to grind it out and make my 100 points a day. I had a nice 4 session rush this last week and built up my roll to $380. I was about to make the move up when some ugly beats have been dropping my roll. I am currently at $280. I have lived right around $300 for a week now, with a $25 swing or so either way. The last 4 sessions have brought some ugly beats. My roll hasn’t suffered too bad because my current game is winning enough small pots to sustain most of these horrid suck-outs. I’m telling you when the money goes in and I watch the cards turning over towards showdown I call-out the perfect suck-out cards because I just know they are going to hit. Coin-toss – fucking forget it, it just ain’t happening. I know everyone gets hit with these hands, but currently it feels like the world is a little skewed against my accurate decisions. It just hurts when you get all the money in, thus out-playing your opponent, and they stick it in you ass – no lube mind you. Last 4 days here are a few. PF AA vs AJ and JJ. J comes on river. That was over a $60 swing instead of being up $45 or so I go down $25. I haven’t even looked that hand up but I really shouldn’t be losing that too often. And twice the normal pr over pr 2-outer loses. I call a raise with TT – flop comes T – all-in on flop vs KK – river K for a $50 swing in my roll. Once my set gets smacked by a 4-flush, but I did slow-play the flop looking for the CR, so the guy did have his flush-draw. And lastly this morning after work I had my normal 8 tables going and soon after getting on another guy and I get all-in with $30 apiece in chips with AA vs AA. I called it – I just knew it was coming: 4 fucking clubs on the board. God that just really hurt after 4 days of this shit luck. I looked it up. 2.17% that he was going to win. OK, lets put this shit into perspective. If we played this hand 100 times I would only lose it twice. So a lost triple-up pot to a pure 1-outer and today a 4-flush Aces vs Aces beat – it just am finding it hard to stay positive. Luckily I ground my way back this morning and only ended down $8 for the session. What will tomorrow bring. If no bad beats it should be a nice session. One solace is that I get rake back through rakebreak at 27% and I will have accrued around $500 total rake for Tilt (damn they are pulling the dough) so I’m looking at around $130 added to my roll around mid-month when they add it to my account. So If I can tow-the-line for the next little while I will get my shot at $50 very soon.

Overall I am currently happy with my game now that I have exposed a few leaks in my game that were killing my bottom-line. I still make bad calls here and there but I have alleviated the big pot mistakes. My current game holds me up on most of the 8 tables that I simultaneously play. Although I have been playing one superstitious sort of rule: If I hit over $30 at a $25 table I wait for the blinds and exit and start a new table. Not totally superstitious I guess, but I just don’t want to put that extra money at risk. I feel that if it is in my account balance, it is building my roll and can’t be taken from me. I know that I should actually have it at the table for the same very reason that I play max buy-in poker: To optimize my profit potential against the other large stacks at the table when I hit my monsters against them. So that is where I currently sit. I will try to update more often in the future since I am playing fulltime again.

Later, Ash out…

Where I'm at

Live is still going well. Last 6 games: +$21, +$21, -$21, -$15, +$94, +$39. I can live with that. Now if I can just get the ole lady out of my BR I’ll be rolled for whatever I feel like doing.

I started playing at Full Tilt again. It has been a while. Back when I used to play there was no Iron Man stuff. I plan on being gold this month. I only need 1000 more regular points to get a cool hoodie: red and black. I brought over most of my bankroll from UB. $350 total. I’m going to give $50NL a go but if I drop a buy-in or 2, it is back to the $25NL tables. I am doing 4 at a time.

I’m still not playing solid poker. I just don’t get it. I play pretty well and get up on most tables and then blow it all on one big hand where either I get sucked-out on or I just have 2nd best hand.

At least I started playing again.

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.

Hey Another Update

I have really neglected my blog lately. I have been having some personal issues. I have not played much poker in the last month and a half. I checked my blog and saw Ricky’s comment and went over to X’s blog. I started to wonder if that was why I had been losing and playing even poker at the micros. Had I actually outgrown it? Had I learned advanced moves that most at those stakes just weren’t getting? You can’t trick someone if they don’t at least have the skills to be caught. I only have maybe $500 in my roll at the morning. Yes, pretty much right where I started the friggin’ year at. So I decided to take a hundred and give it a shot at the stakes where I was frequenting before my cashouts. I know variance has had a chance to slap me around yet but I made $130 last night. I have 2 hands here, one that made me money and one that lost me cash. Neither were real smart I think. If the first guy had a higher flush I’d be saying how bad I played it. The second one there is absolutely no mistaking my horrendous play. I kind of sucked myself into it. You’ll see.

I’m in small blind and decide to call with 64 of spades.

I don’t usually play that shit, as Greb could attest, if he is still around, but I’ve started playing those types of hands at local live games. They are pretty concealed when they hit, but also can get you into trouble. I usually only play hands that I usually know right where I’m at in the hand on the flop and can start the ram and jam technique or get out. I have to grow sometimes right?

Flop comes T86 with 2 spades; obviously you know the ones.

I min-raise and the guy to my left goes over the top. All fold back to me. I call, fishing for a black shovel. Oh yea, a 6 would be cool also.

Turn – 2 of spades.

I check to the aggressor. He bets slightly less than pot. I ram hard. He pushes the remainder of his $75 that he started the hand with. Huge pot now. I don’t totally remember what I needed to call this pot with. Likely around $40. I have no read on this guy. I have only been at the table for twenty and I had been playing the fold junk and back to web surfing thing that I do. I’m really hoping for trips on his part, or even better, what he actually had because he was drawing dead. I really doubt that he would have raised my bet with the flush draw. I know I would usually call and get a cheap look. But if he was that crafty, he most likely had the higher flush. Enough drama – at showdown he turned over a Big Blind Special or more like a BB Fuckin’ of 97o for the flopped straight. I take $75 in that hand. If I would have lost that hand I know I would have taken it as a bad omen and said the hell with poker for awhile longer. Thanks Lady Variance or sucking me back in. LOL.

Next I played like a total amateur. I am truly ashamed of losing $40 with the obvious losing hand.

It comes around to me and I raise it up 4 or 5xBB with my Hooks. I get min-reraised by a guy a few seats to my left. Everyone folds back to me and I decide to call.

I normally fold in this spot, knowing that I am near always dominated here, and at best a coin-flip with AK. But I decide to pay the little and hope to spike a J and likely stack him if I do.

Flop comes 9-high.

I know I’m beat here and had already decided to just see the flop. Yet wee, I have an over-pair and get enthralled by its allure. I check and he bets. I push because he only had $40 to start the hand. He calls and at showdown he shows his Cowboys. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb. This is a hole that I pledge to fill right now. I fold that now PF and even QQ in this situation. Another option would be to see that flop but have the will-power to fold if you miss no matter the flop.

All in all, I played well. I ended up playing 2 big hands and won them both. The rest of the time I really just stayed slightly ahead of the blinds.

Let’s see how tonight fairs the weary traveler.

Later, Ash out.

I Almost Forgot – I Have Played Live a Few Times Lately.

The night before I left on my trip C called me and said that there a local game that was short and was looking for players. I of course I couldn’t turn it down even though I was leaving the Fam for a week. They were playing tourney style with rebuys before the start of the fourth round and no add-ons. They only wanted to buy-in for $10. Cheap game. That is why I like playing cash games. The rounds were overly slowly raised. We all started with like 2500 to 3000 in chips and blinds went like 10/20, 20/40, 30/60, 40/80, 50/100, 60, 120 etc. At least at those humble stake changes I was able to sit&swoop, sit&swoop. By the 4th round I was up nicely. I had hit a few nice hands and got some loose calls to showdown. The chip leader was a dude I’d never seen. He didn’t look up often and wore a chook (nit cap) although it was hot as shit in the house. He had accumulated all those chips and I noticed that he had never even went to showdown. He was aggressive at the right times. I was impressed because he had double the next largest stack. Finally at like level 7 we lost a player or 2. Numb-nuts finally had to showdown a hand. He had raised with 65o and kept betting it to the end. The chick beside me had called his bets the whole time with a paired king. Both had hit there pr on the flop. K’s vs 5’s to the river and he hit his 6 for 2 pr. She called and we got our first glimpse of his play. Within the next 2 or 3 rounds he had lost most of his stake and was one of the shorties. He then made a hell of a comeback. The shortie at the table doubles-up like 3 times in quick secession. He then bets hard PF. I push figuring that he will call. He does and my KK hold up and I am one of the biggies. Chook dude works his way back to top stack. Only 3 places pay. $75, $25, $10. Chook guy and I make it to HU with me having 2/3rds his stack. I go hyper-agro. He folds a bit and then fights back nicely. WE play forever. Then one hand gets ugly. I have 2pr and raise his flop bet and take control on the turn. He keeps calling. There’s a straight draw on the board. The river puts 4 cards to a straight on the board. He checks. I bet. He raises me hard. God don’t tell me this fag hit this crap straight. I won’t have much left if I fold. I call. He didn’t even have a pr. He was totally playing the player there. Maybe not, but he was playing that hand with the sole purpose of bluffing me off of it if he missed his flop. I have a nice chip lead but slowly lose way do to him pushing non-stop. I finally get KT and check hoping for the push. He bets hard instead. I push. He sits there forever. We had started at 8:30pm and it was 12:30am. He finally says that he would normally fold here but it was little. He turns over KJ and has a stranglehold on the hand. I make $15 bucks for my effort. I played well and put some moves on a few people. I think I already have these guys’ respect. Hopefully I get a callback. $10 tourneys suck, but at least it’s a change-up from my normal mundane cash games. Now that’s a freakin’ paragraph.

I played two mini cash games. 1st one I made $18. There were 4 of us all with $20. $18 ain’t bad. 2nd time at the mini cash game we play with a total of $80 and I win $3. not too bad considering that I was down to $5.50 once midway. 3rd game I lost $12.

Trip Stress is Over Because I Passed

Trip is over. I passed my tests. Man am I glad to be home. Living out of a hotel really sucks.

I played a little on Sat and Sun. I did alright. I just sat and waited to hit hard and start jamming. There are so very loose callers on Px, which helps my bottom-line.

Very first time I sat and played I got the KK vs AA smackdown. Nothing like seeing 2 raises before you at a 6-max table when you’re in the BB. I raised big and the guy pushed. And bang there goes a buyin I really couldn’t afford.

After that hand I sat and pounced. I made a little money. Now that they paid my Mon rake and I now sit at $125. 2 months of playing and I am up $25. God I suck.

Whine Time: Deal With It

I just can’t believe the fucking beats I am taking. Once again if it wasn’t for no-rake I ‘d broke. I raked in over $50 this week, which I will get back on Monday. These beats are bad, but we all see them from time to time. Well, these 3 all can in the same session. I be up big time if not for this shit. Come on I deserve some breaks soon.

1 – KK and I raise PF. He calls my raise with 86o. Flop 8-high. I bet flop and he pushes. Maybe this is a bad call on my part? I don’t even know anymore. Should I think set every time some jerk-off pushes my flop and I only sit with an OP. (over-pair) What do you think, do you fold here and what for a better time to get your money in? I call and he shows his 86 and I laugh aloud. Got caught with your pants down aye punk I’m thinking to myself, when the river brings a 6. I am devastated.

2 – AA hero. He raises $1 PF with Q9s. I make it $3. He calls. The flop comes Q82. He checks. I bet the pot. He pushes. Once again do you fold thinking 2pr or set? I call and he shows TPFD. (top pr – flush draw) River 9 and I’m livid. I scream out loud and tell my wife who has just been interrupted for watching some gay sitcom that the world is against me.

3 – To top this BS session off, I get a guy to go all-in PF with his QQ vs AA. Q right on the flop. I scream like a little girl and logout for the evening.

I haven’t played much in the last 2 days because I have been playing a RPG game called Fate. It came installed on my new Dell that came in this week. My 6 year old computer in now living in a box in the back room where it’s slow ass belongs.

Today’s my birthday. I’m 32 today. That’s cool I guess.

This will be the last update for a week or so. I have a company trip to go on.

Later, Donkass out.

Donkass Strikes Back

The last 2 mornings after work, I played at World at the $25NL 6-max tables. I played 3 hrs each day. I took a few beats and only ended up about $15 the first morn. I played a decent game both days overall. I am getting pretty good at position moves on the 6-max tables.

This morning I ended down like $10. I played a decent game both days overall. I got slapped by an all-in with my set of K’s vs the nut flush draw. I bet, he raised, and I pushed. At the point of the push he did have the odds to call, but it still hurt to get stacked when you go in with the nuts. I also miss-played a hand I call a $1.50 PF raise with AKo and end up isolated against him on the flop. K-high, small, small rainbow flop. He bets ½ pot. I more than double his raise, slightly less than what pot would’ve been with his bet added in with the current pot. He pushes and had me covered. I have Like $20 left in front of me at that point. I can’t make this call right? Oh yes I can. That is the kinda shit we are talking about. This was an atrocious call. It screamed set, but I just couldn’t let it go. So I’m looking at $20 in that 1 hand that absolutely shouldn’t have touched that pot. So a few big hands; one a rivered flush and then a bad play on my part. I am down for the session and I can only think about the what if’s. One variance and one straight-up donkified goodness. I can only improve on the donkey shit.

I can’t stand my game this year. I didn’t really make any money; I played pretty much even poker. This shit is getting old. I’m up maybe $150 for the year as of yet. It is really frustrating the shit out of me. I know winning $5000 last year at the small stakes that I played at wasn’t just luck. I do have skills. I am just in a horrible slump or I changed something very dramatic in my game. I don’t see it though. Same old me, far as I can guess. Something is wrong though because this is over tons of hands so variance should really be out of the equation at this point this year, unless you can really hit a 3 month slump. If not for rake in the last few weeks, if I would have stayed at my current stakes, I’d likely sit at $10 or $15 dollars right now. I am currently up $10 or $15 on World. The big thing that I have noticed this year so far in regards to my slump. I have beaten the rake as of yet and actually make decent money at $25NL. But every time I climb to the $50 so far I have lost big in the very first session that I decide to give it a try. Once I was drunk and the other set-backs were do to bad beats and bad plays. So I think I will try to stay away from the 50’s for now.

Later, Donkass out.