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.........