Militarizing Poker

I decided to develop a Military Poker Doctrine. This way I can incorporate a lot of my knowledge/thought processes/interest about war into a doctrine about poker. Hopefully this will turn into a multi-part series dedicated to this concept.
I forced myself to take 2 months off from poker due to a recent addition to my family. This self-imposed restriction is of course driving me mad, but has forced some deep reflection into my game.
The results?
I am not reading my opponents well enough. Therefore, I am not making the correct plays against them. To me, there is reading people: how loose/tight and aggressive/passive someone is. Then there is truly reading people: the above plus how they play coordinated flops (that hit them and/or completely miss them), how they play middle pairs when an ace comes (etc.), how they play their position, what moves they will make against a certain opponent, how they bet throughout the battle (front-load, middle-load,back-load, fire bullets/blanks every street). It's all in the details baby. I need to focus on the crazy tiny details to truly get inside my opponents' heads, so I can know what they have and how to destroy them.
Once I make these reads, I'll be able to categorize my enemies. But first, to do that, I must create the archetypes/categories to put them in. I need to delve deeply into the creative side of my brain and incorporate all this and more into a manageable system.....Better use mnemonics ;)

Back in Action

Playing in a $50 rebuy on FT, currently 2nd out of 75!  Started with 150 players.  Just lost 80% of my chips with KK.  
Should of reraised, isolating preflop.  Instead lost to 66 - trips

I need to focus on playing small ball poker and not appearing/being weak.  The more small pots I get in, the more I end up folding/losing and therefore look weak.  So, I need to pay attention to what spots I pick to do battle.

Small Ball Poker

I have tweaked my game in a major way.  Instead of reraising all the time preflop when I think I'm ahead, I now smooth call a lot in position.  I like to outplay my opponents and take much more of the luck out of the equation.  (After the flop 3 of 5 cards are exposed)
I also changed my raise size.  Instead of 3x BB all the time, I freq raise 2.5x BB.  This helps keep the pots smaller as well.
I fear I might be doing this a little too much, and not taking advantage of the preflop reraise late in the tournies when my M is much smaller.

I withdrew a substantial part of my bankroll, leaving about $10k in my FT acount with another $2.5k heading to PS.

Game back in the shitter

WELL, it's official.  My game stinks right now.  Time to go back to the drawing board.  Study, study, study.  I need to go back through all the videos and fix my game.  I'm tired of giving money away.  My goal is to review videos for 2 days and pick play back up on Saturday.  I'm down almost 2k from my high point!

Ending Bankroll:  $ 33,640.00

Reflection

I started in Feb, and here it is middle of Jun., and I've already surpassed my yearly goals by 40% in less than 5 months!

Just as important, I now have a good grip on my poker-emotions. Leaving me with a much better perspective on life in general. This is very important to me now. I only play 1-2 times a week (usually just a STT to win an entry into the 1k & the 1k on mondays), whereas before I played every day and kept freaking out over the losses. It's all about the law of attraction!

I have also been avoiding the "comfort zone" blaming my losses on bad beats...No more excuses!

I have done a reasonable job, progressing my game to the next level, but don't feel I have been devoting myself. I need to burn more videos to DVD and study more on alert.

Overall, I feel extremely grateful and blessed for my success/family/life.

Areas to improve: Burn/Study more poker dvd's. Exercise! More lifting, but definetly more running. I also need to update my blog more. For continuous improvement I need to continuously update my status (how and when I'm playing) and goals. Update my monthly goals!

Monday 1k, 17th for $1770

In 1st place baby!! Took a relatively quick lead...I've made trips, and 2 boats early! Craziness.
Loving it, so grateful, I'm going to win! 1st of about 220 (started with 236)
made (what I think) is an amazing laydown with QQ on xxx board.
called BB with 33 from early, flop ame 566, 3 on turn, boat!
wow, practically doubled up with 56s! flop came Q66, 3 of a kind again! 2 of 171!
had KK twice, won both on flop when no ace came!
had JJ, ace came on flop, bet and won anywayz!
had 55 UTG, flopped trips again!
KK held up against AJh, for 12k pot, yeahhhhh!
QQ next hand, won blinds!
made the $$!! Sucked out, all-in A9d vs. AKo OHHHH YEEEAAAH!
made it to 17th, ran into AA in the BB

Ending Bankroll: $35,586.00

Monday $1k buy-in

I'm currently 2nd out of 181 peeps! Started with 245, woooooohooooo! So far so good ;0 WOW! With 163 people left, I am in 1st with a big chip lead woooohooooo!



Lost 3.5 K in a suck out with AQ to AJ bummer! (6k pot)

weakness in my game......just calling on earlier streets then betting riv
2 big losses, Q9 flop came AQ9, another ace on turn
next pocket tens vs. AKo, hit K on riv.
won a sick hand (doubling up) in the blinds against mindwise with 63o
lost too much money with small pairs booo
won a HUGE 50/50 with AQc against 99 with 35ish people left, money @ 27 peeps!
I was blessed with AA in SB, no one in the pot, I limped with crazy aggressive player after me...
he checked, flop came K high, I was able to double up ;)

I'm in 2nd with 10 people left!
I'm 4th with 5 people left! 2 of 5!
Took 3rd, 30k!!

LOW, LOW, LOW POINT

I'm back down to under 2k! My only hope is the $500 entry I won into a tournament later today. I've never run this bad for sooooo long. Life is pretty crappy.

Card Dead

Well, I played with another pro, Stuart Paterson, in yet another $1000+60. I was shortstacked from about a half hour in. I just never got any playable cards! I hate basically getting blinded out. I did have a gigantic chip lead in the satellite tourney with over 500 players! But, yet again I lost.

Ending Bankroll: $4,000

4 day Bad Luck Streak (hopefully not 5)

been up and down constantly between $5000-5800
played with another pro Steve Zolotow

DEFINTELY 5 DAYS IN A ROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Down to 4500

I hate poker

can't win
horrible beats, can't win a 50/50 to save my life

Played with a couple more pros on Full Tilt including Gavin Smith and some Chan lady. I've been running bad, almost always getting in with the best hand Ax vs. Qx, and losing....consistently. Managing to break even still with a few second place finishes.

Improvement

played in the $1000+60 1k Monday tourney! ....and sucked!
also played a STT $100=9 with Lee Watkinson, beat him in a decently sized pot!

I'm getting better!

I am much better at folding "big" hands especially out of position. I also fixed a major weakness in my game.....betting too small. I now raise much more on average.

Ending Bankroll: $5,480

Check-Raising

I am overusing the check raise play out of position. For example, on the turn I picked up a flush draw to go with my pair. I decided the best play would be to check raise, but of course my opponent checked behind and I missed my flush. I bet out, and he called with a bigger pair and I lost big.

I jumped up to a $330+20 SNG. Had QQ, someone moved all-in on a 200 pot with 1500 with TT and of course outdrew me. What a retard. Now I'm out big yet again. Thanks poker

Played in a $109 SNG, had KK vs. KQs, all-in preflop and LOST YET AGAIN. Thanks poker

Down $500 today again.

Bankroll: $5,991.00

Playing in the 1k tourney

right off the bat, bluff away half my stack in a bad situation. No need to bluff so much so early! 12 hands in with AJo against ATo flop came Ten high. Definite choke early on.
I raised from mid (3 hands in a row) and AQo, BB reraised all-in with AKo. I should of folded, but SUCKED OUT! WEEEEEEE!
Doubled up with 99 against ATo! YEEEEEH HAAAAAH!
I lost with JJ to 88, booooooooooo.

Reached $7,000!

Well, I definetly had a few crazy days. I dropped all the way down to a little over $5,000 then won 6th in a big tourney for over $1,800.

Today I won an entry into the $1000+60 Monday Tourney, and I'm so excited!!

I want to take this opportunity and go over some good things I've done so far.

I've played at the same table as a few celebs: Mike Caro & Pamela Anderson.
Won and Placed high in the $ in some big tourneys taking in several thousand.
Recognizing enough to play smart. Spending $ on poker to make $. Paying $ @ PokerXFactor.com

I've played in a $500+ entry tourney and today a $1000,00 + 60 entry tourney!
Setting myself up for success!

Playing well, Running well

Placed 2nd in a STT for $270 and placed in the money in a MTT $75 tourney and took home about $118. I made mistakes in both, but overall did well.

In the STT, I called all my money down with 2nd pair and lost (took 2nd). What a weak play. Nothing is worse than calling all your money away and losing.

In the MTT, I tried to bully a short stack too much after the flop and he called. I should of realized he was pot committed with his bet. I.E. When he bet 1/3 of his stack into 2 other people, he had a had he was willing to go down with.


Ending Bankroll: $6,504.00

Bitching about "Luck" - evens out today

Since I have been bitching lately about being unlucky, I thought it would be only fair to keept track. I started the day off in a $150 MTT, paying someone off after they hit their flush. Unlucky +1.

Then I had pocket jacks and reraised an idiot half his stack knowing he would call and did with A30. The flop came 335. I put him all-in (which I was going to do regardless) and he called of course, and I spiked a jack on the turn. Unlucky -1.

Lost about half my stack to QQ on button when I had JJ in SB. We both made trips!

Ace came out when I had QQ. Boo
QQ vs. AQo, I won
AK vs. AA, I played it slow- just calling preflop, the flop came with a King, committing me. Lost 5/6 of my stack.
Short stacked, lost with j6 to A3.


STT, 99 in SB, raised it up against 3 limpers, 1 person called, we both checked J high flop, w/ low turn I bet big and he shoved with his frickin aces and won.

STT, won 1st, won a 50/50, plus other draws. Went on a great card streak.

I played a total of 5 STT for $100+9 today. Lost 1, 3rd once, and 1st place twice.
A new bankroll high today!

Total Bankroll: $6,299.00

Another Bad Beat Day ?!?

I'm going to try something new, and list my bad beats to see if it helps me overcome the anger!

I had pocket 2's UTG, I just limped in. A player who has come over the top before does it again. I come over the top of him again. He just calls. I flop trips and bet 450 into a 750 pot. He calls with NOTHING, just 2 overs and back door flush. Out comes a Q, I check to his AK, and he bets 850, I reraise all-in for another 1300 and he calls. Of course he hits his flush on the river, a 15% outer-another fucking joke.

I kept up my losing streak losing with QQ to K5, then AK to KJ. What a horrible day.

Of course I continue, playing a STT, and placed 3rd (finally in the $ atleast!) because I went all-in with KTo from SB, and was called by BB with 89o. I can't win!

After a short movie break and some booze, I continued. I won 2 50/50s!!! AND outdrew the other guy heads up to win a $100 STT. Craziness I know. My great luck was kind of short lived. I played a $69 MTT, and outdrew someone, then lost a 50/50 and then went out with QQ vs. AQ. Bummer.

Overall, not a terrible day. Luck evened out a bit ;)

Ending Bankroll: $5,808.00

Bad Beat Day

Played in quite a few tourneys, always getting beat up before the $. You know it's a bad day when you have pocket 7's and get beat by 67o pre-flop for all your chips 1 spot before the $.

Ending Bankroll: $5,725.00

Placed 3rd in a MTT $69+5 for $2,500

Played real tight, not making any crazy moves or bluffs. Just played the cards. I got "lucky" a couple of times, and look what happens! The key is very tight/aggressive play. I've reached my monthly goal again!

Ending Bankroll: $5,969.00

Weekend Update

Had a bad day, lost about $600. The next day I won a $500+35 entry into the $750,000 tournament. Didn't win. Main mistake? Playing marginal hands early in the tourney from late position. Like calling with KJo for a raise from the button.

Ending Bankroll: About $3,700

Unlucky? Not Overall...

Played in a $150 MTT and had JJ board came 9 high, bet big (1 other opponent in-loosest at table), turn came 2, bet even bigger & lost to trip 9's.

Played a ST S&G and lost after going all-in preflop with JJ and losing to pocket 9's.

What the F#*^?? Twice in a row, got knocked out with the same hand, to the same hand, and supposedly a monster favorite in each.

I won most of it back receiving 1st in a $50 STT.

I played in a 200 and some person tourney for $69+5, placed 23rd, making a little $. How did I go out? I had 67o in the BB, the button raised to 3x BB. With all the blinds, antes, and his bet, there was over 50% worth of my stack out there. I really thought he would fold to a reraise, so being the short stack, I went all-in. He reluctantly called at the last second and I lost.

Ending Bankroll: $4,378.00

Lost a Few Hundo

Played in a big tourney & made it real far. I got moved to a new table and had Q5h on the button. The cutoff raised 2x BB (1,000 or so) and I for no apparent reason except to protect my button moved all in for over 8,000. Of course he called and of course I was knocked out.

Afterwards I lost another $200 in a $1/2 6 person cash table with KK to pocket 8's quads.

Bummer.

BOO-YAH-KAH-SHAW!

After a big slump, I've finally made it back to the big time. I played a 209 person tourney for $69+6.....and WON! That's $3,750.00 in monetary terms. While I do credit the win to pretty solid play and good reads, I must say I did suck out twice. The biggest and almost rediculous one, I'm ashamed to even talk about. There was about 50 people left, the $ started at 27 people, and the button kept raising my BB every time. So, I decided to take a stand and reraised him with garbage. What I should of done is reraise all-in, but I reraised an amount he would call with an "above average" hand, and then pot committed myself by betting 2/3 of my remaining stack on flop. In my mind I did atleast 2 things wrong here.
1. Not reraising huge preflop (all-in) at that level.
2. Essentially pot-committing myself. I should have either gone all-in or bet a smaller amount I could get away from on the flop.

Needless to say, I caught runner-runner and never looked back. I was in 1st place from when there was about 25-29 people and kept it for essentially the rest of the tournament. Usually with a 2x or 3x second place lead.

I was lucky today! Finally, I was winning all my big pots and getting sucked out only on the small ones. Hoo-rah!

Ending Bankroll: $4,771.00

Starting Off Another Day Dropping $100

How on earth did I end up going all-in for $83 with A7o pair of 7's??? Bad play. I'm apparently in a long process of learning how to fold to a reraise. That's it for today - just frustration with myself.

Trying New Stuff

In an effort to drastically improve my game, I decided to pony up some dough. I bought into the Poker XFactor club. I spent $200 for the initial fee + 3 months @ $25. They are video recordings of real good online pros playing (and winning)... This is just what I think I need, to get into the mindset of the pros. I'll be providing good commentary on whether or not I think it's worth it, and we'll be able to tell by my bankroll.

I also invested $50 in another 17" monitor. Now I can play split-screen which is kick ass. Now I'll be able to play two or more tables with ease.

Overall, I'm pretty excited with the changes I've made and money I've spent today. I'm looking forward to the big payoff!

Ending Bankroll: $1,118.00

Good Plays, Crappy Calls

I'm STILL calling off most of my profit. Twice today I lost $50 & $65 to pocket kings. I have been making some laydowns, but overall I need to recognize I'm beat. I should easily have known I was beat.

I've been playing on 2 tables consecutively today. This works out well. On the 9 seat table I play tight, and on the 6 person table I play loose. I can do this pretty easily if I rely on Poker Tracker & Game Time's Overlay Stats.

After pissing away most of my profit, I'm left with....

Ending Bankroll: $1,315.00

First Day at Full Tilt

Well, I felt I was playing so badly I forced myself to quit. I was doing what I consider to be great in several key areas, but easily made up for it with crappy amateur calls. I was stealing pots, and playing aggressively adding about 25% to my bankroll at every table I sat down at. Then I would get in a big hand, with a great hand. First it was KK in a big raised pot with the board JJx. Of course he had a Jack and of course like a fool I doubled him up. Next time, and in a monster pot I had AA on a Qh Jh Xs board. I overbet the pot and of course he called. On the turn came the Th making a flush if he had hearts and a straight if he had AK. Not only did I lose over $100, I check called the turn for $25 and check called his all-in for $50 on riv. What an idiot! The only hand I could really beat here would be AQo or maybe AJo. Worst yet, if I'm going to check-call, I might as well bet out. Despite these horrible plays I ended up about $30 due to some good aggression.

Ending Bankroll: $1,185.00

Devestating Day for the Bankroll

As a U.S. player, today was the last day to play at Doyle's Room. I felt pressured to earn my bonus of $300 which was only a few thousand action points away (80%) there. So I started playing on the $1/$2 tables with $200, and lost big. AND didn't get to the bonus either. I made bad bluffs in big pots, and lost pretty much all the large pots I was in today over $200.

I ended up a big loser today, and transferred my money to Full Tilt poker. Better luck there I hope!

Ending bankroll: $1,151.00

Cash Games it is

After losing two $50+5 STT S&Gs in fourth place, I decided to mix it up and play at a cash table. It seems I have to lose $30-40 before I become actively involved (mentally). I ended up making back the initial $40 I lost + $110 I lost from the tourneys + about $250 more! I was in the zone at a 6 person .50/1.00 table. If I wasn't so greedy I'd have about $60 more from not reraising when I had the nut straight and there was a pair out there. (of course he had the boat on riv) I did well picking out my victims, isolating them, and picking them apart.

I find cash games are better than tourneys in several areas.

1. Cash games have less overall luck involved. In the STTs, the blinds get so massive with 3-5 people left, you're required to go all-in repeatedly in a sort of round-robin fashion until the end. This translates into you HAVE to get hands in the endgame, and they HAVE to hold up (whether or not they are beat, i.e. you get 88 raise to 3x BB making you pot committed and someone wakes up with AK, AQ, AJ, AT, or any pair and you end up winning).

2. In STT you can play great for 45 minutes and then be put in spots dictated by the blinds where your forced to put your money in and go out in 4th or 5th - Losing $55. Where in a cash game if you play great for 45 min you could be up $50-$150 and your play isn't forced by the blinds. So, if you lose a couple big hands your back down to +$50 or even. Using my gorrilla math, that's atleast a $50-$100 difference. As you can tell there is a lot of easy money to be made in the STT, but I believe there is a much bigger luck factor involved after the initial 30 min.

Ending Bankroll: $1,700.00

Playing on Another Level - Yet Not Winning

I'm playing way better, however bad things keep happening. I keep crapping out. I hate 50/50's (Two overcards vs. under pair - or vice versa). Try to avoid them at all cost! Look for spots to get your money in for max reward with the least amount of risk. However, with the damn blind structure rising so fast, they are bound to come up.

I need to work on my endgame. I used to almost always win when it was down to 3 or less people. Today there was nothing but several 2nd and 3rd place finishes. Remember on the 6 person single table S&G, only the top 2 places win $!

Back to the drawing board yet again.

Ending Bankroll: $1,445.00

Back In The Saddle Again

Finally playing solid poker again. I realized I was playing too loose and my observational skills sucked. I now try to continually guess what my opponents have/what they're thinking. As of yet, I don't have any big bankroll boost to show for my troubles, but I took some horrendeous beats. I continuously lost all 50/50's today. Plus I lost with AA vs. JJ, 99 vs. 66, etc, etc. Rediculous for playing only 4 or 5 tourneys!

Getting frustrated (as you can probably tell) again about losing many of my big hands. Must stay in control -even when lady luck is kicking me in the balls.

Ending Bankroll: $1479.00

Blocking U.S. Customers

Well, found out today that Doyle's Room is blocking U.S. based poker players. They know your from the U.S. based on your ip address........unless you change it. Download free proxy tools and you are on your way to being from any country you want in about 15 minutes.

Pulled my head out of my ass for an hour or two today and made a couple hundred back.

I went to Barnes and Nobles and bought Phil Gordon's Little Blue Book. I figured the green book is so good, why not? It does not disappoint. Phil goes through TONS of actual hands he has played and his thought process during each. Helps me out big time. While playing I easily get distracted or worse yet bored. Phil's book gave me a healthly kick in the ass by reminding what the hell I should be thinking about while playing/watching.

I also downloaded Phil Helmuth's Play Poker Like the Pros. Sifting through that as well.

Ending Bankroll: $1400.00

Revamped Gaming Conditions

Today I started at 1630, with the TV OFF! I won't be searching amazon for poker books, checking my email, or updating my blog during game play. Today is all about focus.

1st $50 tourney played soft, played bad. Reflecting on this while playing in a $100 -6 person table. Took 2nd. In another $50, made a horrible call with A6s all-in against a crazy, who happened to have AJo.

Lost a couple other tourneys, made $65 on live table. Back to the drawing board!

Ending Bankroll: $1137.00

Mediocrity

Today was another crappy day. Besides another dry run in cards, I did many things wrong. I stuck to single player tourneys and did poorly. Talk about autopilot. I have to stop playing Single Table Sit and Go's with the damn TV on. I could babble on about how many 50/50's I lost (and I probably should because it was rediculous), but I'll focus on the crap I can change.

I'll focus my next day and a half strictly on poker. I'll reread Slansky's NL Theory and Practice as I need a swift kick in the ass.

I've also decided I need a poker routine. 10-15 min prep time before each online session dedicated to reviewing my notes.... What's the use of playing for 6 hours if I'm just going to give away $200? As I'm just getting back into the mix, I need to keep my skills sharp and make sure I'm putting myself into a position to excel.

Unfortunately Poker Tracker only works for cash tables on Doyle's Room. No stats are collected on tournament players so I'm basing my reads on half ass information picked up during commercial breaks. This will change.....

Ending Bankroll: $1243.00

Donk

Today is the first day I've thought that I played poorly overall. I played in one $315, and many more $100 and $50 tourneys today, and managed to donk my money off in all of them. I recovered slightly and won a 50 single table tourney to bring me back up (and allow me to quit for the day). For some reason it is incredibly hard for me to quit after losing. So I just keep losing $, losing $, and losing more $, until I finally win one. This is a bad habit I'll have to work on.

I was getting cold cards today and combined with my impatience when I finally did get a hand, caused me to play predictably over-aggressive. I'll probably just stick to $50 max rebuy tourneys and $100 regular tourneys until I get my bankroll back up to $2000-$2500.

Time to start boozing. Time to regroup. I will force myself to go over my notes for 2 hours before I play tomorrow.

Ending Bankroll: $1400.00

Reached 2k!

Pretty stoked I reached the $2000 mark today. I'm risking another $220 for a chance at big $ again, we shall see. Made it to 11th place, but the $ starts at 6th. Lost in a 50/50-AKo versus the dreaded 99.

Tourneys

I have rediscovered today the joy and quick profit of tourneys. Today I made and lost over 2k. I played in a couple tourneys costing $220 & $315 each. Those didn't work out so well.....BUT the good news is I was able to make all that up and more. I dropped down to $540ish and after winning 2 $50 single table tourneys, 2nd in a $20 ST S&G, and 1st in a $50 buy-in 50+ player tourney paying over $915. Whew, what a crazy day. All in all, I made $ and played well, so it was a great day. I do need to work on controlling my poker emotions during the big $ tourneys. I recovered, and ended up winning quite a few 50/50's towards the end of the day.

Ending Bankroll: $1730.00

Go with the Flow

Started @1830. Today I find myself focusing mainly on three areas: Flow of the table, board texture, and showdown %. I talked yesterday about showdown %, so today I'll talk about table flow and board texture...(deciding whether or not to bluff based solely on my opponent's sd% has helped immensely)

Table flow is rediculously important. If your observant, and watch who's playing pots from where, you can easily pick their pockets on occasion. This came in play during my tourney today when I noticed the player to be right raised every time it was folded around to him on the button. It just required me to have the balls to reraise him.

Board texture was more apparent during my cash play. I stopped trying to bluff when the board provided a little something everyone might like. (ex. QT5 with 2 hearts). I also stopped bluffing pots with more then 3 opponents in them-as that was just stupid to begin with. Where as during my tourney, within 15 minutes, players were essentially going all-in preflop the majority of the time.

I'm Playing in my first tourney in awhile....Started @2030 and went until 2245. I made 3rd out of 105 people and won $616.89. Felt good playing in tourneys again (obviously). I was blessed with American Airlines 3 times, kings, and queens. All won healthy pots and allowed me to finish well.

Ending Bankroll: $1,186.00

Playing Bad and Running Bad

What happens when you play like crap, and on top of it people get runner-runner to beat you? You lose about 1/3 of your bankroll. I need to stop bluffing players who won't fold. Especially on the .50/$1 tables. Seems like I lose a bunch to folks when it "appears" they're on a flush draw. From now on, I'm going to pay attention to went to showdown %. If this stat is around 30%, DON'T TRY MULTI-STREET BLUFFS!

I probably lost about two hundo on pathetic bluffs to pathetic players. Today really brought home this point. However, I am playing middle pairs better. I'm not losing massive pots with them! I'm unfortunately not winning huge pots with them either, as I haven't been flopping trips all.....(LOL, I just flopped trip nines and won $85 as I wrote this)

My low point of the day was somewhere around $460, for a negative $230. After about 5 hours of playing about 5 different tables and losing 25-45 on each, I started my climb back up.

I played from 1830 until 2430. The craziest table of the day had 2 people seeing 60-70% of the flops and another seeing 40+%. I unfortunately wasn't able to capitalize ( no good hands) until the very end after they already blew through a few hundred.

Ending Bankroll: $586

Initial play at the table

I seem to lose a ton right away! Today it was off of bad bluff play with AKo-first hand. Lost $65 to TT, who called me all the way down. Should of saved last $35. Horrible Play. During my first few hands I, and my statistical software, don't have a feel for the table & I usually leaves me with a negative expectation. I recovered playing decent, and finished the day ahead. I was even smart enough to bet $55 on the turn when I made a boat(and was ahead), and check/fold on the river when my opponent made quads(and showed). Feels great, being able to make great plays-even if they're not that often yet....

I played for around 3 hours today and am pleased with my overall performance. I still need to focus on AK and middle pairs. I actually had to go back through and up my $ goal for the month because I feel getting to 1k isn't good enough any more.

Ending Bankroll: $693

Attention to Detail Part 1 - Evaluating the Game

This is part of a series entitled Attention to Detail. The worst thing in poker (and life) is going into "autopilot" mode. The way to prevent this is to use my active creativity to constantly analyse the game and each individual player's deviations from "The Perfect Strategy". Much of this is rewritten from the Poker Geniues Slansky...

When I sit down at a table, from now on, I will focus on a few aspects. Noticing how the table is playing is a top priorty. First off, where is my money going to come from? Who are the worst players, how big are there stacks, and what sort of mistakes do they make?

If the worst players have big stacks and play loosely, focus on playing big pots against them. Work on setting them up for when you make a great hand. Then make a couple big bets, and get paid off by one of your targets.

If the worst players play weak-tight, play lots of small pots. Make frequent small bets and raises and take advantage of the fact that they fold too much, avoid big pots. Maybe even buy in smaller.
-from NL Hold'em Theory and Practice, David Slansky
After your first few hands, develop a plan, and tailor your plays to help you execute. Look around the table for your victim! I played from 1600-2100 (5 hrs) and jumped up to $780. I noticed I wasn't paying close enough attention to the table, and after dropping down to $748, I decided to stop-atleast for awhile.

I need to develop some time of detailed player category system.
Unfortunately came back on and lost $80 on paired board. What an idiot I am. Of course he had trips, and I didn't outdraw him with my crappy two pair.

ENDING BANKROLL: $640.00
-Braien

Not Looking So Hot

Today I played like crap. I need to work on falling into the rythm of the table. If everyone is playing loose and passive, I need to avoid the urge to see a cheap flop along with them, and raise it up. I finally started playing medium pairs a little better and avoided losing big $ with them.

I need to avoid brewing huge pots with decent tight players. I can see their stats, so think harder! No more overcalling on the flop with bottom two pair if they bet $40! Should be an easy fold.

I need to get more aggressive and turn up the heat on my opponents. My adversaries are (correctly) putting me on draws, based on my betting amounts, and just check-call me all the way down with marginal hands.

I tried playing two tables today and as you can see from my ending bankroll, it didn't go over very well. I'm definetly not ready for two tables at the .50/1.00 tables. To properly adjust, I need to get back to the basics and read more. So much to learn!

Ending Bankroll: $520.00
-Braien

Tools of the Trade

Today I installed the necessary tools for internet players. Any serious playe, IMO, uses Poker Tracker. Using Poker Tracker with Game Time+ is definetly the way to go. I can't begin to tell you the advantages it gives you over your opponents. Eventually, when my player database gets big enough, I'm going to use a table selection program as well. If I want to do this for a living some day, I need to stack the deck in my favor.

In the spirit of self-improvement, here are my goals for further "high-tech" development.
1. Understand the auto-rate rules in detail.
2. Memorize the stats that GameTime+ uses and use it to define each player. I want to be able to paint a complete portrait of each player from what these lovely stats tell me.
3. By the beginning of March, I want to be properly using the table-selection tools (such as Sixth Sense or Spade Eye).

Wow! What a big difference GameTime+ and Poker Tracker make. At one point today, I was up to $330 at the table (sat down with $100). But, I didn't learn from the day before and lost almost $90 with pocket jacks. I need to relax with the pairs, they're costing me too much in the long run. I'm very happy with the progress I've made so far and look forward to playing more than one table at a time. With the stat overlays, "reading people" requires much less attention.

Ending Bankroll: $638.00
-Braien

First Day

First day was a rollercoaster on the NL .25/.50 tables. A crazy jackal who raises to 16x BB with Ax or anything really stole $40. Then the table became quite weak-tight. I managed to come back and break even with a little aggressive play. Raising preflop and flop, counting on them to fold on the turn or river.

I definetly was lacking attention to details. I need to pay more attention to who calls/folds to big raises. And then get some balls to make big raises! I also need to work on playing middle pairs better. Lost decent sized amounts with JJ-66. If I think I'm ahead on the flop I need to bet out or check raise, not continue to check-call and allow them to catch.

I played for 5 hours from noon until 1700. Besides the lack of funds shown for my effort, I feel great getting back into the saddle. My goals this week are to get Poker Tracker installed on my laptop again and to install some sort of table-overlayed stat program like game time+. I'm off to catch the UFC fight and hopefully read a bit this evening.

I couldn't stay away, and jumped back into the fray from 2300 until 0130 in the morning. I had a nice beer buzz and played more aggressive. Big river bluffs helped me steal quite a few pots and it was quite a bit more fun than "grinding it out". I jumped from $340 to $480!

Ending Bankroll: 480.00
-Braien

February's Goals

Well, I want to start it off with reasonable expectations that I can be proud of. As I'm just getting back into the swing of things, I want to take my $300.00 and turn it into $1000.00! It's such a nice even #.
February's Monthly Goals
1. $700.00 profit.
Get my $330.00 deposit bonus by playing an insane number of hands (@ Doyles)
That leaves about $400.00 left to earn in Feb-so $100 a week.
2. Avoid turning on "auto pilot" at the tables. Quickest way to get bored & broke.
3. Finish reading NL Hold'em Poker Theory by Slansky & compile the 15 pg summary of the key concepts for swift revisiting.
4. Read Phil Gordon's Little Green Book.
5. Continous status updates to this blog.

-Braien

Starting Out

Wow! Finally starting to take my potential poker career seriously. It's time to find out whether or not I have the minerals to survive. My overall goal for starting this blog is to monitor my own progress and allow others to help me along the way. I would like to end each poker day (atleast at first, maybe every week later on) with a quick 10min update.

Each post will include financial details to include net profit for the day and ending bankroll. Number of hands played, how long I played for, the time of day, future goals, how I'm progressing on those goals, and finally my intelectual ramblings will also be included.

First off, I need some detailed long-term goals.
1. By 2008, 12k - 15k in my bank roll.
2. Control over my "poker emotions" - Have fun at the table!
3. Never stop learning and reading. Avoid that "comfort zone" where I blame my consistent losses/breaking even on bad beats.
4. Create/Monitor monthly goals ($ & time).
5. Devote myself to this. Strive to be the best & give it my all. All that positive affirmation bull$hit.

Starting Bankroll: $300.00

Let the Games Begin.........