RPM's Poker Blog

Politicians Suck

2007-02-08T22:30:00.000-08:00

This guy says it better than I can:

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2006/07/26/truly_disgusting

AQs gets me bounced back 2 back

2007-01-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

Last night 10+1 MTT tourney, top 30 paid, about 38 left and I have a slightly above average chip stack. AQs from early, raise it up 3.5x the BB and the button flat calls, flop Q high, I bet the size of the pot, get raised all in ... no choice but to call, as I'm pot committed with top pair top kicker. Guy flips QQ, lovely flop, the one card left in the deck that loses me all my chips happens to flop. A few hands later I'm eliminated in 31st, bubble boy.

Tonight, AQs again, 85 left, top 30 paid again, have about average stack, I'm in the small blind, the button limps, I raise 4x the BB (about ... don't remember the exact raise), BB folds and the button calls. The flop again comes Q high, I bet the pot, guy pushes all in on me and has me covered, flips QTs, and has flopped 2 pair. Again, I'm out with AQs after being in good position to make a run.

MTT's can be so frustrating, to some degree, it's all about avoiding land mines, which I haven't been able to do lately.

Online Gaming Restricted

2007-01-22T18:47:00.000-08:00

I'm back, and I thought I'd vent my frustrations at the US government, which has nothing better to do than make a feeble attempt at banning online gaming (isn't there a war going on?).

Outgoing Senator Bill Frist managed to sneak through a bill restricting banks from dealing with gaming sites, and many online poker rooms have withdrawn from the US Market. Many others have stayed, but it appears now that the Dept of Justice is leaning on various entities to make the ban stick. Just a few days ago, the founders of Neteller, an internet bank that many poker players use to fund their accounts, were arrested for money laundering/racketeering.

I would be surprised if these charges hold, but Neteller has already withdrawn from the US Market. It just drives me crazy that my own government wants to tell me what I can and cannot do on the internet ... activity that causes no harm to anyone.

What is most frustrating is that I can drive 20 minutes up the road and play poker to my hearts delight, if I want to pay giant rakes, tip the dealers, and fill the coffers of the B&M casinos, yet I can't play the same game from the privacy of my home. Of course, the states are in with the casinos, they have huge tax dollars at stake.

I'm not sure, but I don't believe there is another major industrialized country that has made any effort to ban online gaming. In fact, some countries leadership has half a brain, and actually regulates and taxes the industry, hmmm, novel idea. Frankly, this country's reputation in the rest of the world has gone from 'respected' to 'laughing stock'. Obviously, there are myriad reasons why we are no longer respected; but, in this specific instance, it revolves around the fact that the government does not trust its citizens enough to have legalized, regulated gambling on the internet; the country that puts as much energy into banning a harmless activity as it does into fixing its school systems.

Final Table

2006-07-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

Played in the Absolute Poker VIP Invitational tonight, which is a $1500 freeroll. Normally, I don't really bother with freerolls, but this is limited to the top VIP's from the week prior and typically only has 100 or so entrants. Top 18 paid, and first is $450. There were 88 entrants tonight, so it's a $17 value even for just an average player.

I held the chip lead for a little while. I really didn't get great cards, I had KK once and it was folded to my raise. AA one other time, which I slow played into a really nice pot.

That hand was worth commenting on: AA on the button, and someone in mid position raises to 3x the BB. I think for a second ... the table has been tight, and a reraise potentially runs everyone off. If I call, I give the blinds odds to call with what I am hoping to be eventual second best hands, plus ... I have everyone but the initial raiser, easily covered. As such, I smooth call, hoping the blinds will come in.

The BB does in fact call and the flop is Q33. BB leads out a bet of about 3/4 of the pot, which basically leaves him pot committed. The initial raiser folds. I decide to wait for the turn to put the BB all in, just to portray a bit more weakness in case he doesn't understand "pot committed". He does in fact push on the turn, I call, he flips QT and I drag a pot that ended up being much larger than it would have been had I reraised preflop.

I ended up in the final 3, shortest stack of the bunch with 99 on the button. I had around 6K in chips and the blinds were 600/1200 with 100 antes (maybe 150). Anyway, it's a push or fold situation and you can't ask for better than pocket 9s 3 way. I push, the SB sits back, waits a while, calls, the BB folds and the SB flips AA on me ... sayonara.

A fun tourney, and some free mone; plus my first final table in a while, even if it was only a freeroll. I thought I played really well, stealing some pots that I had no business in, and slow playing some other hands well.

Been Awhile!

2006-06-27T21:42:00.000-07:00

Obviously, I haven't posted anything in my blog for a long while. I have actually gone through another failed attempt to crack 10/20.

I still think my game is good enough, but the bad runs, which are inevitable playing short, still affect me too much. As such, I am back down at 5/10 and 3/6.

The 3/6 tables at Absolute are incredibly active. That said, it's a pretty tough game. I'm actually up at 5/10 and down at 3/6 over the last 2 months.

Very little time to play any tournaments lately and no luck in the tourneys I have played. Sticking with ring games for now.

The failed 10/20 experiment put a crimp in my bankroll, but I've been running pretty well lately. I am going to try to keep the blog updated a bit more!

Flop the Nuts

2006-03-28T08:48:00.000-08:00

Well last night was a fun poker night ...

I played in the 20K guaranteed tourney at BetOnBet and was doing very well, about 30th place out of 370 left. On the button, dealt TJs; 4 limpers in front.

Flop comes 9QK with 2 hearts ... I had diamonds. SB bets out, and the rest of the players all basically move in in turn ... Well, I have the absolute nuts and have everyone but the SB easily covered. I of course move all in as well ... and the SB calls me. 4 people all in ... 2 had AK, 1 had QJ (shortest stack) and the SB had the nut flush draw.

Of course the flush hits and I'm flushed out, woulda been chipleader if it had held.

I then saunter off to play some 10/20 and run into the worst player I have ever seen at that limit. Unfortunately, he hit 4 or 5 hands on me with terrible draws. Capped preflop against my AA, capped flop on a board of 55J ... turn was a blank, he 2 bet me on the turn, so I slowed down a bit thinking he could have a 5. River was another J and he flips JQo. He hit 3 two outters on me that cost me massive pots.

Unfortunately, he was redistributing my chips to the rest of the table. He was up and down and I vowed I wasn't leaving until he was broke. It took a while, but he eventually busted. Extremely frustrating experience though, with a complete and utter fish at the table, I lost a lot of money to ridiculous draws. I got some back, but not nearly enough.

Today will be better!

NCAA Tourney & the RNC mailing list

2006-03-23T21:40:00.000-08:00

Ahhh ... my favorite time of the year!

With the tourney going on, I really have not been playing much poker; but I wanted to give a shout out (did I just say that ... how lame ... lol) to the alma mater.

I am a University of Memphis grad (actually it was Memphis State University when I graduated in 92). Tonight the Tigers rolled to their 3rd straight 16 point victory in the tourney. I can't think of a real comparison when I watch these games. I will never forget the phantom hand check the refs called on us in 96 in the Sweet 16 against hated Arkansas ... just a sickening feeling.

The Tigers play UCLA for the right to go to the Final 4 and I like our chances. We handled UCLA early in the season pretty well. They are much better now, but so are we.

Anyway, I played a few hands of poker after the Memphis game tonight ... I almost always play well when I'm in a good mood. It was a nice night all the way around!

On a different note, I keep getting these e-mails from the Republican National Committee ... I have no freaking idea how I got on this list and it drives me nuts. I tried to delete my name to no avail ... tonight I sent them an e-mail advising that for every e-mail I get from them I will keep a tally and contribute an ADDITIONAL $100 to the DNC. It's complete BS, I hate both parties ... I just hate the Dems a little less ... but it really pisses me off that I get this so obviously slanted propaganda from them. Okay, I hate the Dems a lot less lately ... mainly because of the budget deficit, but also because our young men are dying over what amounts to a personal vendetta gone wrong. Saddam was a bad dude ... no doubt, but we look like complete ass clowns in the International Community when our justification for the whole operation turns out to be flawed. Mark my words ... this is the WORST President our country has ever seen ... and somehow he got elected twice ... once by the people, and once by the Electoral college. It could be worse, right now he's only 43rd out of 43. Eventually, there will be someone worse, I just hope I'm not around to see him or her.

I know intelligent conservatives ... most are smarter than the average liberal. I hope they see through the crap that Ken Mehlman and his right wingers espouse.

Go Tigers!

Treading Water

2006-03-01T17:03:00.000-08:00

I haven't played much 10/20 lately, mostly 5/10 and some 3/6. I have pretty much been hovering around even, although with rake rebate and bonuses, I've made some profit.

I haven't had time to play any tournaments. I got a promotion at work, and I've been a bit stressed ... it's not even our busy season yet.

I did play the monthly www.poker-strategy.org $200 added tournament. This is mainly out of loyalty ... I've really outgrown the stakes, but the tournaments are still a great deal of fun and I would play even if there were no prize pool.

I made a loose call, TJs from the SB against an early 3x raise. There were about 12 players left. I flopped a flush draw and inside straight draw. I check raised the guy, hoping he had overcards and would lay it down. Unfortunately, he reraised all in. I had him covered, but a loss would leave me with only about 3K in chips with 400/800 blinds. I decided that my roughly 13 outs was good enough to risk it. I missed and ended up out in 7th. If I had hit, I could've coasted to the final 3.

For some reason, I'm totally exhausted tonight; so I doubt I will play any poker this evening.

Here's a link to a thread at psorg that people might find interesting. I actually took time to write my Congressman ... although now I'm a bit peeved, I haven't gotten any response as yet.

http://www.poker-strategy.org/default.aspx?tabid=44&frmView=ShowPost&PostID=21955

I'm glad that it appears my losing trend is reversing. I still have plenty of bankroll and I fully expect that in a couple of months I will be back to my all time high.

Good Luck and Thanks for reading!

Close Again ...

2006-02-13T16:56:00.000-08:00

I played in the 15K guarantee tourney last night at Absolute Poker, which is a $10 rebuy. After suffering through the first 30 minutes of the tournament, I was down about 900 chips to 2100 (I rebought immediately as I usually do). I usually play pretty loose early on, calling more liberally than I would in a freeze out, so I am prone to lose some chips until I finally hit a big hand.

I am dealt AK and raise, getting one caller. The flop JQx, 2 overs and inside straight draw. I bet about half the pot, and get called immediately. The turn is a J and I figure to be in trouble now. I check and the other guy bets out and I make a very loose call and manage to spike a Ten on the river. The other guy was pretty pissed (he had AJ). Frankly, I had been really card dead and committed a pretty good amount of chips to the pot. If I had missed, I would've called it quits and gone to play ring games.

But, having nearly doubled up, and now with a loose table image, I had a great opportunity. A few hands later, I flopped a set and grabbed another nice pot. Then I hit an open end straight, and I was up to about 7500 chips. By the first break, I was in the top 50 and I did a double add on.

I really played very nicely, and managed to get all the way to about 5th place with 40 to go. Winner got $3900 so it was a pretty nice pay out.

Then I got overly aggressive and paid for it. Tried a blind steal with 8Ts, that backfired. Then defended my blind against a really aggressive button with K4s, he ended up having Q8, but caught a Q. I should have put in a big raise on that hand to avoid a flop. Limped with some average hands only to have to fold to late position all ins. The blinds were quite large by this point, so every hand was huge. I ended up short stacked, 23K in chips with 4K/8K blinds and pushed in with AKs only to get called by A8o, who hit an 8 on the river to send me home in 26th. I made about $70 for over 4 hours of work.

It was a fun tournament, but disappointing at the same time. I misplayed a few hands that really cost me. I should have made the final table.

Oh well, I played really well on the bubble of the tournament, which had not been a strength previously.

I'm Back

2006-01-17T18:18:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a while since I've posted ... part of the problem is the auto spam I'm getting, which is quite annoying ... "hey love your blog ... check out my blog on (insert moronic issue)".

The bigger problem is that I'm just damn lazy.

Up until December 1, 2005, I was on a fabulous run and my bankroll was at an all time high. Then the frustration began and has not stopped. Constantly missing flops, horrendous beats, and some bad play.

I have not had a winning week since, and some of the weeks have been ridiculously bad.

Last night was a great example ... busted out of the $50+$4 at BetonBet (13K guarantee) when my JJ lost to AJ and then busted out of the Absolute Poker 15K guarantee ($10 rebuy) when my AA got cracked on the river by an inside straight draw.

Of course ring games have been the major culprit in my losses. I've been playing short tables and the variance can be bad at these tables, but this is beyond variance. I am thinking that a return to full tables is in order. I've dabbled in NL a bit and I think that might suit me as well.

Regardless, I need a change. I do believe my tournament game is fine, I haven't been playing a ton of tournaments, but the ones I have entered I invariably have been in with the best hand (see last night). I have a pretty good cash ratio, but no big scores. I did realize that I wasn't playing aggressively enough when the bubble started to get close (thanks DJK for pointing out this weakness). The good players are putting the heat on the table without regard to what cards they have.

Last night, I took this lesson and made a move that I would never have made before ... I limped with TJo from the button. That wasn't unusual, that's not a terrible hand with your good position. What was unusual was that the flop was Q83, the player in the cutoff bet out (min bet) and I reraised with my inside straight draw. The turn was a blank ... he checked, I bet out a pretty sizeable amount ... and he called. The river was a K and I have J high. He checks, and I push all in ... the pot has gotten quite large now. The other guy thinks for almost the whole time and eventually folds.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief. On the one hand, this was a big risk; on the other hand, I beginning to understand that you have to be able to make a move like this from time to time ... earn a pot here and there ... in order to be a great tourney player.

I am hoping that my luck will turn in ring games. The good thing is that I have plenty of bankroll to recover, although it is going to be a very long time before I get back where I was.

Poker Night at the Bike

2005-11-08T16:52:00.000-08:00

Here's a link to a thread at PS Org describing my recent excursion to The Bike for poker night.

I play online up to 10/20, but live games, I'm a wimp ... something about all that cash changing hands.

http://www.poker-strategy.org/default.aspx?tabid=44&frmView=ShowPost&PostID=18804

Stars $200 tourney

2005-10-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

Saturday night, I played a $3 rebuy to qualify for today's $200+$15 $500,000 guaranteed tourney.

I managed to qualify ... caught some good hands, hit a nice draw or two, and then coasted into qualifying, although it got a little hairy at the end when the blinds got to be monstrous.

By the time the tourney started, there were over 3500 entrants (which means almost $50,000 in fees for PokerStars) so the odds were pretty long, but 378 places paid. Top prize $140K ... as I type this, it's down to the final table.

I played pretty tight, didn't catch much early. Had QQ raised 5x ... called, by an early position limper, flop 789 ... I bet the pot, called ... turn K ... limper bets out, enough to put me all in ... and I have to fold.

Managed to double up a bit later to get back above water. Caught trips, up to 4500 chips. Then I went dead ... no cards, nothing hardly to even semibluff with. I caught AK and called a very short stack all in to give me a few more chips.

Finally, get 77 under the gun, the blinds are pretty big now and my stack is not that big. My raise pretty much commits me to the pot. Big stack comes over the top of me and he has TT. I busted out 1051st and never really a factor in the tournament.

The highlight for me was snatching the last few chips from Noah Boeken ... who my buddy Hank advises is a poker whiz kid ("EXCLUSIVE" at PokerStars). He was basically down to nothing when I eliminated him though.

Anyway, hopefully, this is the first of many of these tournaments for me. It was quite the adrenal rush. Watching the final table is crazy, AA v QQ for huge stakes, and QQ catches a Q on the flop. Looks like it's gonna end in a deal ... chip count chop at the final 3, 92K, 87K and 87K, leaving 10K on the table for the winner.

Back to the Big Boys

2005-10-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

I have been spending most of my time at smaller sites, Absolute Poker, and BetonBet (both of which have good populations, but not like the Biggies).

Both Party and Stars offered some bonus money, and I love playing at both; so I jumped at the chance. Party has made some changes that have made a lot of serious poker players upset. They booted their skins from their network (Empire, Eurobet, others). The skins were offering rakeback deals, and anyone with half a brain who played a lot there would play a skin rather than Party.

By way of clarifying, a poker room skin uses the same tables as the main site ... it's like a separate door leading to the same casino ... just the sign over the door says "Empire Poker" instead of "Party Poker". By offering rake rebates, the skins (I am assuming) were drawing a lot of the serious players to their "door" instead of Party's.

I have never really played a ton there, except when I was playing sit and go's, so I didn't bother with it and just kept my Party account. Anyway, I digress ... Party and Stars were offering small bonuses ($50 Party and $125 Stars), so I threw some money at each site and have had good success. Up at both and about 2/3 through with Party, and 1/5 of the way done at Stars.

Party has also added blackjack, which is horrible for me ... blackjack is like crack. Once I'm done with this bonus, I'm withdrawing all my money from Party ... I usually keep a little money there in case I want to play a tourney or something; but those damn blackjack tables are too tempting. I have been playing a little, and as luck would have it (and with blackjack it is sheer luck) I'm up a small amount; but that was after being a couple hundred down and getting really lucky to claw my way back.

No tournaments lately for me to speak of; just not enough time. I have reached a new high water mark, which is excellent news.

Til next time!

The Black Hills and a Shorthanded Example

2005-10-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been really busy ... so I haven't posted in a while as you can see.

I went on vacation with my wife ... a driving tour of South Dakota. Kindof an odd vacation, but very enjoyable nonetheless. It was driving distance for us, and could be done fairly inexpensively. The nice thing is that I paid for the vacation with money won from playing poker ... so it didn't put a crimp in our budget.

Custer State Park in the Black Hills was awesome, as was Mt Rushmore ... I even got in some poker at Deadwood; I lost a little money, but it was fun. The Badlands are a combination of bleak and beautiful ... truly amazing geology. If I had webhosting, I'd post my pics ... but alas, I'm a technilogical buffoon. The only disappointing experience was the Crazy Horse Memorial ... which is really pretty cool, but I didn't expect it to be the massive fundraiser that it turned out to be ... You can see it from the road, I'd recommend just driving past. If you have a camera with a good zoom, you're all set.

Back to poker, I have been selective with my play at higher limits with good success. My forays into 10/20 have been very successful, but they are few and far between. I am really looking for ideal conditions when I play those high limits.

My shorthanded play continues to be very good, and I have reduced the variance in my game at shorthanded play. I don't really know how actually, but I think it comes from a better understanding of the dynamics of short play. I am getting better at being selectively aggressive.

For instance, I had a hand the other night that I was extremely proud of and I thought typified how well my play has been. I had K9s on the button at a 5 player table ... 1 limper, I raise (this is short, and I mix my play up here b/w raising, calling ... even folding sometimes). The sb, bb and limper all call ... I have position.

The flop comes Q95 ... giving me middle pair. It is checked to me, and I bet with my middle pair. The SB folds, the BB calls, as does the limper. The turn is an 8 and it is checked to me again. Normally, I would bet middle pair again, no one has show any strength, but in thinking about the hand, I begin to consider what the two others were calling with. Remember, these are 5 player tables ... very loose, and sometimes very aggressive. A set is unlikely, people bet pocket pairs at 5 player tables; a Queen is possible, but it would have to be a Q with a good kicker ... enough to slow play in the face of a raise ... but again, KQ, AQ, even QJ sometimes, are raising hands at a short table preflop.

In the span of 10 seconds, I have a firm grasp on the fact that one of the two has TJ and has made a straight. I know that I may be wrong ... but I don't have squat anyway ... so why piss into the wind. Bear in mind, that I play aggressively at these short tables ... I win a lot of pots on triple bluffs (this is limit of course) ... bet preflop, flop, turn, and sometimes even river if it appears the other guy has missed a draw. I also fold a lot, so it's hard to put me on a hand. As such, my reads are very important. It is checked to me, and instead of my instict, which is bet ... I check ... the river is a blank ... the BB checks, and the preflop limper bets ... ez fold for me ... the BB calls.

Surprise surprise, the limper shows TJ for the nut straight ... I absolutely minimized my losses. A perfect hand, I was ahead preflop and raised ... ahead on the flop and bet ... the turn was a very bad card, but disguised, I recognized it and avoided the trap ...

Some out there may be thinking ... what the hell are you doing raising with K9s anyway? If you are one of those people, you don't understand shorthanded play. Yes, I may miss and have to lay it down, but K9s is a solid hand at a short table ... esp where no one has shown strength. It's a different ballgame from full table play.

It's late, but I think I'm gonna see if I can find a tournament to play ...

How I started my Poker Journey

2005-08-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

I went back and looked at my original posts for this blog and realized I never made a real introduction into my poker "origins".

It was late in the summer of 2003, and like everyone and their brother, I had been bitten by the poker bug from watching it on TV. I got drunk one night and made a deposit at Ultimate Bet to play some tournaments.

My initial deposit of $100 lasted me about 2 weeks. I quickly learned that NL ring games were not the place for me ... Another deposit of $200 lasted a month or so, and a 3rd deposit of $100 started to go a bit better and I managed to build it up a bit.

On January 3, 2004; I went to work and was advised that I didn't work there any longer. In the words of Norm MacDonald, I had a disagreement with them ... I wanted to keep my job, and they felt exactly the opposite. Actually, that isn't true, I absolutely hated that job; but I was too stupid to leave before they made me leave.

Previously, the poker money was kinda "mad money", but since I'm not a great saver, every penny was going to count. That day, I went home and sat down at the computer to play at UB. As luck would have it, I had a great run at Sit and Gos that day, clearing around $300. Had I had a poor day that day, it is likely that I wouldn't have continued playing poker as I certainly couldn't redeposit again.

I realized that if my job search was going to take some time, I needed to learn everything I could about poker in order to keep playing profitably. That is when I discovered www.poker-strategy.org . I learned that there are so many poker sites ... all offering bonuses, a heretofore unknown commodity to me. Of course, I also found a great community of folks where I could talk shop and kick around poker theory and ideas with knowledgeable people.

I had done fairly well, I think I might have been around $600 in my UB account when I decided to take half my money and go to Party Poker. This proved to be a godsend. I killed the sit and gos at Party, cashing over half the time I entered, I was making almost 50 percent on my money.

Unfortunately, poker took a backseat to life when I found out my mom had become seriously ill. She had been battling leukemia for many years, but this latest time it had come back more aggressively than ever. I spent a lot of time shuttling back and forth to Memphis from my home near Kansas City.

Had I been employed, this would not have been possible. Things truly do happen for a reason. In mid-March of 2004, I got a call from my dad. Mom was not doing well, she had been in the hospital for some time. I should have come back right then, but I had a plumbing problem at my house I was trying to get taken care of.

A few days later, my dad told me that I needed to get there fairly soon. I had planned to leave the following day, but my brother called me that night and told me that even if I left right then, I might not make it. I threw some clothes together and drove the 8 hours to Memphis in 6.

When I got there, I was shocked ... mom had developed a massive infection that they could not beat, the leukemia had taken its toll and the huge doses of chemo that she had undergone to fight the leukemia (unsuccessfully) had left her immune system totally compromised. I got there at about 3 am, and they had her on a morphine pump. At about 7 am, my mom woke up for the last time ... her last words were a whispered "You made it" ... she had held on just for me. She slipped into a coma state shortly after and her body fought for 6 more days, she passed the night before my one year wedding anniversary.

I stayed in Memphis for a few days after the funeral and headed back, realizing that I was going to have to move on with my life. I searched for jobs during the morning and played poker in the afternoons, making enough to keep the bills paid. Fortunately, my wife works and we leaned heavily on her modest income.

At some point, I'm not really sure when, I started to get frustrated with the Party sit and gos. I had a run of about 10 straight where I went in with the best hand and got sucked out on. It was very frustrating, and it seemed that most of the folks at psorg were limit ring game players. So, I decided to give that a try and see if I could take advantage of the various bonuses.

I found my niche, and the rest is history. I found a job in May of 2004 that I like far, far, far better than the previous shitty job I had. In January, I bought a laptop and configured a wifi network in my house, so I can play in the den and be able to play poker in the same room as my wife. This had been a big complaint and understandably so. The laptop was the best investment I could have made.

I wanted to give some background and a better feel for how I got started to put the previous posts in some perspective.

Recovery Complete

2005-07-31T09:24:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago I wrote about my bad run and it appears that my prophecy has come true. It did indeed take me all month to get back to where I was, but the good news is that I did it!!!!

Thanks to the tourney finish I posted about previously, and a few generous tables; I am finally back to an all time high water mark.

In some ways, it feels like a wasted month; but in other ways, it really feels good to get back to where I was.

Hopefully, it is smooth sailing from here, for a while at least anyway.

Final Table Fun

2005-07-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

I had a good chunk of free time and decided to play the Poker Stars 20+2 tourney with 1100 or so entrants, so a fairly large prize pool.

Managed to double up early on ... but then lose with KK against TJo, which cuts me back in half. Down to about 900 chips and I call an early position short stack all in ... we both have about the same amount of chips. I have 89s and it's probably not a percentage play, but I really felt like I would get callers behind me as there were several left to act and I could potentially triple or quadruple up with the right flop. Flop hit me square in the face 67T and I double up as the UTG short stack calls me an idiot (he had AJo btw).

I then went on a nice rush, JJ doubled up against a big stacks AT ... QQ dominated TT, and caught a flush to double again, and suddenly I was a major factor again. Amazing how you can go from having 4 blinds worth of chips to being in the top 30 in about 10 hands.

After building my stack, I managed to win enough pots and steal enough blinds to stay around 30th place for quite a while.

I have a tendency to get a little aggressive during the mid stages and I think I might have done so in this tourney. 67s from early and my table was tight, so I decide to put in a raise and see what happens. Short stack moves over the top of me, but it's only 11k more to call and I have 9k in plus the blinds and antes.

I probably should have laid it down, but if he has any non pair hand, I easily have the odds to call. I call and he has 88 and congratulates himself for standing up to the table bully ... which I didn't really think I was doing too much of, but in hindsight the 67s raise was a bit weak. Anyway, I doubled him up and he went on to finish 4th. I still had plenty of chips though and I tightened up a bit after that, plus my cards dried up on me.

I managed to get into the money, top 99 pay, with a decent stack, which I rode to the top 50 or so. I was getting a little short stacked when it is folded to the small blind, who raises me (I'm in the big blind looking at QQ). I reraise him, and he calls, showing K7o. No King shows and I double up and now I'm in business.

I won't belabor things, but I managed to squeak into 7th place after getting short stacked going into the final 27. I was the short stack at the final table, but the action was a bit wild early on, and I folded my way past two others, picking up around $660 for my efforts ... a very nice payday. I still had 45K in chips when the chip leader raises to 32K (4K/8K blinds plus antes), a late position player goes all in, and I have AKo in the small blind and call. Unfortunately, the big stack flips KK (other guy had TT). I don't catch my Ace and am bounced in 7th, but a fantastic result!

I am very excited about my tournament play of late ... I'm really getting a feel for situations. For instance, I had A8o from the button and it is folded to me, I raise to nab the blinds, which are significant at this point, and the big blind calls me. The flop comes TT3 and the big blind comes out betting, a bet that is about 1/4 of his stack and slightly less than half the pot. If I fold, I am left with 30K in chips and have little if any shot at the final table unless I get lucky fast. I decide that his bet looks too much like a steal to fold, and I have just enough chips to force his hand, besides, it's pretty unlikely that a TT3 flop hit his hand and my Ace high has a good shot at being good here. Even if it is not, I might make a better hand fold if the other guy is weak. I reraise him all in and he folds.

Of course that hand could have easily backfired on me and he could have flipped a pocket pair on me, but the bet was just too smelly.

Anyway, a great payday in a big tournament so I am excited. First paid over $5k though and I was reasonably close. An ace that triples me up in my final hand and I am in bizness (of course, you can't complain when your AK loses to KK).

Close again ...

2005-07-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

Absolute changed their Sunday tourney to a rebuy, which I am not a big fan of, but decided to go ahead and play it anyway. I immediately rebought and treaded water for a while. Eventually, I started to build a stack and by the first break I had a respectable 7500 in chips. The tournament allows 2 add ons, which I took advantage of, raising my stack to 11500.

I won't belabor the specifics, I made a few blunders, and made some other nice plays. Doubled up on a flopped full house from the BB with 59.

I eventually built my stack up to 41K and had been playing very tightly, and the blinds and antes were starting to look enticing enough to ramp up the heat on the blinds. Folded to me in the cutoff and I have J4s, normally a hand I wouldn't even bat an eye at, but I have not seen a flop in quite a while and have not put any heat on the blinds at all, so I decide the timing was right for a steal.

The big blind calls my 4x raise and the flop comes K35. He immediately bets out, but less than half the pot. I smell a rat, and reraise him, he calls. The turn is 9 and he leads out again, but this time with a minimum bet. Now, I have a decision to make, either give it up or reraise. Because the bet was so small, I am a bit worried about a really big hand, like 99 or K9, but I decide to put him to the test and reraise again, this time about half the pot. He calls, and the river is a 2. He pushes all in, 3000 more chips, and I put on my production ... letting the time run down a bit before folding.

He shows me A4 for a wheel he made on the river ... brutal. I was behind the whole time of course, but my aggressive play should have taken down that pot. This put me down to about 23K chips and now I'm looking at a struggle to get into the money.

I catch QQ in the big blind. Early position player raises, everyone folds and I reraise him. Flop is all babies, but there are 2 spades, so I push in and he folds, telling me had had AK diamonds. We are starting to get close to the money (top 45 pay) and I push in with 99 and a big stack calls me with ATo and I manage to double up.

Flopped a full house from the big blind and slow played it into a double up, and now I have over 90K in chips. After stealing a few blinds and antes and taking down a small pot, I reach my high water mark of 107K.

And then I started to unravel a bit. AKo, big raise, late position caller. Flop is all undercards and I make a continuation bet, he pushes in on me for 40K and I have to fold.

Ultimately, I end up making a move with AK again, get reraised by a big stack, and I end up all in. He flips over AQs and catches a Q and I end up out in 26th place.

Winning that final hand would have put me with a below average stack still, but I would have had plenty of chips for a run.

Another good result, finishing 26th out of a 495 person field is certainly acceptable. Still working on that big tournament win though ... it's coming.

Kicked in the Pants ...

2005-07-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well, after my last post; poker has given me a bit of a rude awakening. Right on cue, almost immediately after that post, my luck really turned. Fortunately, I still pretty much broke even at 10/20, but the 5/10 games, especially at the Cryptologic sites really hammered me.

I ended up losing about 13% of my bankroll, which isn't devastating by any means, but I will spend the rest of this month rebuilding and it sets me back a bit in attaining my year end target.

Thanks to my cohorts at www.poker-strategy.org, I found a new site to play. BetonBet poker, which is a Poker Room skin, offers a 30% rebate through psorg, which is better than Caribbean Sun's rebate of 27.5% and the players at BetonBet are simply not as good as the Crypto players, at least at the 5/10 level.

I'm getting back to the point where I need to make some cuts in my monthly poker rotation. I am playing BetonBet, Absolute, CaribbeanSun, Interpoker, and then Stars and Party if either have a reload. That is spreading things pretty thin, especially since I am mostly playing one 5 handed table at BetonBet, which is like playing 2 tables, and only one other table if even that (usually at Absolute if there is a game I find intriguing).

I haven't had much opportunity to play tournaments lately, but the few that I have played haven't yielded any success. I played in psorg's inaugural poker league monthly tournament. It's a $1 buy in tourney with $250 added to the prize pool, and normally I don't bother with those small stakes, but psorg has been so good to me, and the folks there are great people, so I have a great deal of loyalty and try to participate in as many events as I can. Plus, it's fun to play with a few people you know. Anyway, I went out of it after losing a race, I had AK and went up against TT, flop was 9JQ, which leaves me with 5 outs ... none of which hit. Would have been in good shape from there had I won the race, but alas.

My wife is going out of town this weekend, which would have freed me up for a big weekend of poker; but instead some of my buddies have wrangled me into going on a canoe trip.

Anyway, the rebuilding has begun; I've gotten 21% of the money I lost back. One thing I'm learning, just when you think you have things pretty much figured out; poker throws you a knuckleball that floats up and looks really enticing, you take a mighty swing and it dives underneath your bat for strike 3!

Fortunately, there's always another at bat, as long as you manage your bankroll properly.

I Hate it When...

2005-06-26T20:20:00.000-07:00

I make the right call and get the wrong result!

Playing the 8K guaranteed NLHE tourney at Absolute Poker this evening and it's only the 4th hand of the tournament ... I'm in the BB with JJ. It's folded to a mid position player, who raises to 900. Mind you the blinds are 10/20 at this point. It is folded to me, and I think for about 3 seconds and decide he has trash.

Anyone with a big hand like AA or KK he wouldn't want to scare his customers ... QQ is a remote possibility, but unlikely as well. I decide that realistically, worst case scenario, I'm looking at AQ, and best case, I am way ... way ahead.

I push all my chips in, and he calls, flipping 44. I must say that this is the worst play I may have ever seen at a money tournament. Anyway, since I'm writing about this, you know the idiot hit a 4 and I was bounced. A 4 flush even missed me ...

I could imagine if that is how I were bounced at a really big tournament (this tournament is only a $10 tourney which probably explains the awful play).

The worst part is that I was really looking forward to a deep tourney run, I was in a great mood and had carved out a block of time to play. The $10 I could care less about.

Well, at least I made good use of the added time by making a healthy profit at some ring games. I pushed my bankroll to an all time high. I dropped down to 1/2 at Interpoker since there weren't really any good higher limit games rolling and cleared the rest of their $3o weekend bonus. I caught some good cards and really hammered the bonus chasers. Playing 3 tables and I was able to run amok on two that were filled with tight bonus chasers, and be patient and wait for a big hand on the third looser table.

Midway through, I questioned why I was chasing $30, when I have been playing 10/20 lately, but I decided that a little bonus whoring is never a bad thing, even if I lose money at the tables, that $30 is free money.

I'm getting excited though, my forays into 10/20 have been successful and my bankroll is very healthy. I have some credit card debt ... I could withdraw all my poker money and eliminate my credit card debt ... all of it ... and still have some money to rebuild. But I am going to save that for later, I don't like withdrawing money from my poker accounts, although I think I'm gonna treat myself to a digital camera soon.

So far, even despite a very rough patch that I am hoping won't repeat itself any time soon; I am above the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year. I still don't have that big tournament win, but my ring game has been outstanding. Honestly, I don't play enough tourneys to really have the expectation of a big win at this point. I am playing maybe 2 a week if I am lucky. I am hoping I can make some time to up that number soon.

Climbing the Limits

2005-06-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything and both of you who are reading my blog might be getting worried :o)

I've been playing at Caribbean Sun Poker (it's part of the Crypto Network with Will Hill and Inter) and have been doing quite nicely at the 5/10 Limit HE tables. If it weren't for a little bad spot playing some shorthanded, I would have doubled my initial investment. It's a great place to play because the rake rebate through www.poker-strategy.org is 25% which is an unbelievable deal.

At the end of the month, I will get in the neighborhood of $225 back from my rake generated ... it's like free money. That's not to mention the $60 or so I will get back from AP (where I am also playing some still).

I have also gotten the cajones up to play a little bit of 10/20 at AP when I feel like the table conditions are good, and so far that has gone very well, but I'm only 2 sessions in.

I almost feel like I could earn a living playing poker if I had to. Thankfully, I don't have to and don't intend to. It's a nice side income (okay, it's been a VERY nice side income), but it's not worth it to give up a good job for what still is a huge risk ... not to mention concerns about health insurance, retirement plans, etc. I hear about people who play poker for a living on the net, and I know a few from chat rooms and forums; but it seems like such a boring existence. I still have fun when I play poker, I don't want it to become a job.

I haven't had huge blocks of time to play many tournaments, but I'm gonna try to make some time this weekend and play a few.

All is well, in the RPM poker world for now; although I'm envious of those who get to play in the WSOP big time tournaments. I've built quite a bankroll out of practically nothing and as I've moved up in limits, it has grown faster and faster (with the exception of a bad run that set me back temporarily) ... so maybe one day ...

Ring game looking up

2005-06-01T05:39:00.000-07:00

I have drastically slowed down my poker play, but my ring game is looking good. Perhaps I'm a bit fresher when I'm playing.

I did do some hardcore bonus whoring at Star's over the weekend, clearing $240 in bonus over the holiday weekend and making a nice profit at the tables to boot.

I also managed a 6th place finish in Absolute Poker's 3K guaranteed 10+1 tourney. A nice result. It's rare for me to do well in tournament play and ring games during the same time period; but I feel like my tourney game is near where it should be.

Nice Tourney Result

2005-05-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

Not really the big one I've been looking for, but I did make the final table at Absolute Poker's $12500 tournament (entry fee 25,000 Absolute Reward Points).

Payday was $750 for 8th place.

Couldve been higher ... Smallish stack, and I haven't seen any cards, blinds and antes are whittling me down. Early position player pushes in, I have him covered by about 2000 chips and have AJo. I push in, he has TT ... about as good as I could have hoped for, but I don't catch and double him up. Next hand I am dealt AQs and push my remaining chips in. Big stack comes over the top to limit it to heads up ... he has AJo ... perfect ... but catches broadway straight to run me out.

Very pleased though, played well, maybe a bit passive at the end, but the payout structure forced a bit of passive play. $250 payday starting at 18, then after 15, increased by $72.50 for every position, then up to $1500 for the winner. So it was well worth it to play a waiting game as the winner's share wasn't hugely different from 2nd on down.

Still looking for the big one ... but this one was nice!

The Elusive Big One

2005-04-12T05:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday, I was itching to play a tournament, and I entered a qualifier for Poker Stars 350K tournament. It was a 36+3 qualifier, which is an expensive qualifier; but 1 in 6 got in, so it seemed like a pretty good deal.

I managed to rack up enough chips to coast in and qualify. I had no idea how big this 350K tournament is ... and by the time the tourney was an hour away there were over 2200 entered, so I withdrew and banked the tournament funds ($215) for better use.

Last night, I played in a 10+1 rebuy at Stars with a 25K guarantee. By the time this one started there were 1100 people entered, still a very large field.

I should have know this was going to be a good one, as I was dealt AKo the first hand. Since it was a rebuy, I moved all in, hoping to double up first hand; but no one called. I must say, I played incredibly well; making great plays, recognizing weakness, laying down in the right spots.

At about 175 left, a guy moves in on my BB from the SB with about 30K in chips. He has been pushing a bit all tournament, I have 33 and about 160K in chips, decide to see if I can bust him. I call, he flips AQo and catches a Q.

With about 100 left, I was in great position with 160K in chips ... blinds 2K/4K ... and I'm dealt AKs (diamonds), which I raise to 16K. Another player with about 100K in chips calls. The flop comes A93 with 2 spades. I bet the size of the pot ... over 32K and the other guy comes over the top of me all in, which I call. He flips AJs spades. Of course he rivers a flush on me.

That pot would have put me roughly tied with the chip leader. I still had a good amount of chips, but instead of top 15, I was now below average. Couldn't catch a hand, and ended up 51st for a $118 payday ... a big disappointment considering what might have been. The final table paid really well for this tourney ... 12K to the winner.

I am greatly encouraged though, I really played well! Plus, I have a bank of tournament funds at Stars to work on my tourney game.

Grind Grind Grind

2005-04-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

The grind continues, and I have actually really slowed down my poker play. I came very close to withdrawing half my bankroll and bidding on a 1969 Buick Riviera at EBay. I had a 69 Riv in college, someone rear-ended me and totalled it, and I have missed it ever since. I decided that since I didn't really want to hog half my garage, and there are better uses for $5K, that I would pass on it. It was very tempting though, especially because the seller was local and I wouldn't have had to worry about shipping.

I still enjoy playing, but I just have hit a bit of a wall. I was playing 3 or even 4 tables at times; but I am now pretty much playing one 5/10 table.

I played a $9 WSOP qualifier, winner got into the 150+12 qualifier that gives away a $26K prize package including entry into the big one ...

It was a small tourney, 35 entrants, first won the entry, 2nd won $75, 3 and 4 paid as well ... Of course I finished 5th. I was fairly pleased with my play though. I made one mistake late in the tournament when a guy limped at my blind with KK ... I had A7 and the flop came 237. He bet, I reraised, he called. Turn was a Ten and he bet into me again. I should have laid it down on the turn, but I had him covered pretty easily, and the pot was really too big to fold. It was a really nice play by the other guy, even if he did risk me flopping an ace.

That pot knocked me down from 17K to 9K and I ended up going out with AJo v 99.

I have pretty much stopped charting my bankroll, which is probably a really dumb idea, but it was a bit of a pain, and I decided that I was only doing it for my ego. That's not to say that I don't have an idea of how much my bankroll is, it's just that I don't know exactly how much I had on March 29th any more.

Overall, my play is still stuck in neutral. I lost $300 Tuesday, won $170 Wednesday, and won $130 tonight. Neutral is better than reverse though!

A little live Poker

2005-03-30T02:33:00.000-08:00

My wife went out of town to visit friends and I took the opportunity to visit the casino for a little live poker. I dropped her off at the airport and headed over to Harrah's in North Kansas City and settled in for a day of fun.

I bought in for $160 and took a seat at one of the 3/6 No Foldem tables. Live poker is slow ... thank god for automatic shufflers. I had one big hand that was capped preflop 4 ways. I had AA and the flop came TTT, which isn't a bad flop at all ... unless someone has a T. I capped the flop with 2 players, one of whom was an idiot ... the other was fairly tight, so I had to put him on a T, or possibly KK. I check called the turn as did the idiot. Then the worst thing happened ... the idiot check raises the guy with the Quads ... throwing his last bit of cash in the pot. I know that I have the idiot beat, but this is going to allow the other guy to 3 bet me. I called and sure enough, the guy 3 bets and flips over ATs. I wanted to reach across the table and smack the idiot. I would have laid it down, but I thought there was still a chance I was ahead, or possibly tied with another AA.

A few hands later, I am dealt rockets again and a guy flops a straight on me with 78o. Well, it's not looking too good for me at this point. I end up having to rebuy and scuffled back up to get about half of my original $160 back (down $80).

My problem is that I can't do the casino in moderation ... I spent from 10 am on Saturday morning to 7:30 am on Sunday morning sitting at the poker table. I had a blast, but it ruined my weekend, and I ended up sick ... not sure if I caught this bug there or not, but it seems likely. Fortunately, I only go about every 3 months or so.

My online game has been better of late, I've even ventured back up to 5/10 and done fairly well. The MTT game is not so good ... I keep getting sucked out on. My last tournament, I had TT in mid position and I make a 4x raise and get 3 callers. The flop is a good one ... all babies ... I make a pot sized bet and a guy re-raises me, I push in, he calls and flips over A2s ... he has bottom pair, of course he runner runner's a wheel to send me packing.

I am splitting my play at Noble Poker and Absolute Poker right now. Noble is beautiful, the players there are terrible. I have doubled my initial deposit already. They have a few interface features that I don't particularly like, but the games are really good there.

Until next time ...

Back to Bonus Whoring

2005-03-22T18:11:00.000-08:00

Since I was on such a bad run, I decided to go back to basics, which basically means hammering away on bonuses at predominately lower limits (2/4 and 3/6).

I cleared $120 bonus at Stars with a reasonable playing profit, mopped up a $90 bonus at Interpoker with another solid profit to boot, deposited $500 at a new site (Noble Poker) and am working on clearing the $400 bonus, took advantage of the Party March reload ($200 bonus). I have only cleared $40 of the Noble bonus, but am up about $100 at the tables; and am almost done with the Party bonus and am up another $100.

I've decided that my game doesn't need fixing after all. I have been playing seriously for well over a year and have made consistent profits for almost that entire time. This poor stretch was (I believe) an anomaly, although poor stretches are inevitable. I just hope my next one is not as bad as the last one was. That said, there were definitely some instances of tilting, which is highly unusual for me.

There remains the possibility that I am more than capable of beating the lower limits, and struggle at 5/10; however, I don't believe this to be the case. The play is definitely better at 5/10, but I don't feel I am out of my league. In fact, prior to this terrible stretch, I was consistently beating 5/10 as well.

Perhaps in early April, I will jump back into 5/10 and not worry so much about bonuses.

Definitely happy that my game is back on track.

My first really bad run

2005-03-09T20:21:00.000-08:00

I am in the midst of my first run of cards that is truly terrible, and it has caused me to seriously question whether I have been playing too aggressively.

Fortunately, I have been smart and haven't moved up in limits too fast for my bankroll, otherwise this could have crushed me.

My downswing can be explained by variance, but this is at the outter edges of negative variance from what I have been told. I did catch myself paying off a few hands I had no business calling the river with, but other than that I don't think my play was overly poor. I also was playing quite a bit shorthanded, and the variance shorthanded can be extreme. For now, I am swearing off shorthanded until I get my feet back underneath me.

I like to play extremely aggressively whenever I make a preflop raise, and it has been a recipe for disaster during this run. I do know that losing begets losing. If you showdown some second best hands, people are going to be a lot more apt to chase a few draws on you, and to call you down when they catch a small piece of the flop if it appears overcards would have missed.

I also was attempting to play 3 tables (usually 2 5/10 and 1 3/6), and I have decided that if I am going to continue at 5/10, I will need to cut back to two. I played a short session tonight and turned a decent profit, so I am hoping that my run has ended.

Honestly, I knew this would come ... I've had an incredible amount of luck this last year at the tables (combined with what I think is some degree of skill). Lady luck can't always smile on you ... here's hoping she doesn't decide to continue crapping on me!

I also played a 30+3 multi ... down to 91 players and I had a relatively short stack in the BB with AKo, a very short stack goes all in from midposition (about 2.5x the blind). The SB calls (big stack). I check my options, an all in would put only about 1.5x the blind more into the pot, and the big stack would be almost sure to call. I decide that I have a better chance at getting him to fold with an all in on the flop if he doesn't connect with it and I will be pot committed regardless, so I just call.

The flop comes Axx with 2 clubs, SB checks, and I push all in. SB immediately calls with 89 of clubs. Needless to say, he caught his flush on the river. I'm not sure that considering my stack size that I could have done anything differently, just bad luck. I suppose I could have checked the flop and pushed in on the turn ... but giving a free card is just not good poker there.

I would have nearly tripled up there and would probably have made the money, although I would have a lot of work to do to make a serious run for some good cash.

My big MTT pay out is coming, I just have to be patient.

So much poker ... so little time

2005-02-27T11:20:00.000-08:00

It's been a little while since I posted. I spent 4 days in Memphis visiting friends and family. I brought my laptop though and was able to play a little poker as well. No sidetrip to Tunica though ... not enough time for that.

I'm back playing at Party Poker for now .... clearing the February bonus. I also have a bunch of bonus to clear at Absolute Poker as well, but the Party bonus has a 7 day time limit. I took a few sessions to get enough raked hands to qualify for Bet365's 30K freeroll. I'm spreading myself pretty thin and I think I'm gonna have to eliminate a room or two from the rotation. Right now, I am playing, Absolute, Party, Bet365 (only 250 raked hands/month), Interpoker (just enough to claim their $90 bonus), Caribbean Sun (enough to claim their $40 bonus). Basically, if no other bonus available, I go back to Absolute and play there because I always have bonus money there. I also have accounts at other rooms, and would probably chase down some other bonuses if they are good enough. I've been waiting for a Stars reload ... I like playing there.

It's just not worth it to play somewhere if you aren't getting a bonus. For instance, at AP, I get both a rake rebate and they are constantly running reloads. Not to mention, I love their tables and have done quite well there. I am getting a rake rebate at Caribbean Sun too, but the way they calculate rake is not as generous as at AP.

I have steadily increased my bankroll and am fairly pleased with my play of late. I am making better laydowns. I also am using Pokertracker now ... it is amazing software and I kinda wish I had started using it sooner.

Have backed off tournament play, but will probably play AP's Sunday tournament tonight ... although I still have 1100 or so raked hands at Party to clear in order to claim my bonus. So much poker, so little time!

Working for the Weekend

2005-02-14T05:35:00.000-08:00

I had one of my better poker weekends, despite taking Friday evening off to take in some culture with the wife. We went to see a play entitled Permanent Collection, which was quite good.

Saturday was the www.poker-strategy.org Absolute Addict tournament, which is a single table tournament held at Absolute Poker. Coach at psorg is nice enough to kick in an extra $100 to the prize pool. I took a nice sized chip lead and was able to bully the table a bit. I ran into a snake pit when my AKs went up against QQ, the flop was a dangerous one ... KQx, and with top pair top kicker and a big chip lead, it was one I couldn't get away from. This swung the balance of power a bit.

Eventually, I was heads up with a fellow moderator at psorg, Darque, who pushed me around heads up. Heads up play is not a strong suit at all, and that was exposed.

Saturday turned out to be an excellent one though, as I had some nice results at the 5/10 table. I played in the Sunday AP 8K guaranteed tournament and had my worst finish in a while, bouncing out early. I didn't play well, but my cards were so poor I doubt it really mattered. Sunday was a struggle in general, but I managed to go from way down to slightly up for the day.

One hand in particular swung the balance ... I had pocket 5s and there was a preflop raise from the blinds, and 4 people see the flop, which comes K86 rainbow. I am last to act, and curiously the BB, who raised preflop, checks. UTG also checks as does the mid position player. I decide to go ahead and bet out just to see what happens ... everyone calls my obvious steal attempt. The turn is a 4, and although it brings a flush draw too, it gives me some outs. It is checked to me again, and since I have a few outs, I continue the bluff. This time the Big Blind check raises me and the UTG player calls the 2 bets cold. Naturally, I now know the BB is either on a big enough hand to slow play the flop, likely KK, which I kind of suspected all along; but I have no idea what the UTG player has to call 2 bets cold ... perhaps a flush draw ... I decide that I may only have 3.5 outs (I discounted one of the outs by a half since it makes a flush possible), but the pot is big enough to call the extra $10 bet (It's about 13 to 1 with 12 big bets in the pot, but I figured I would fold the river if I missed, and make an additional two bets if I hit, so the odds were just barely there). The river is the bingo card ... a 7, but it makes the flush too. The BB leads out, UTG calls, and being the river coward I am, I just call instead of raise. Turns out the big blind did in fact have KK, and UTG had pocket 8s, each making a set on the flop and slow playing. I typed "slow play dead" in the chat window after the hand just to rub it in a bit.

Mr. KK had a big enough hand to slow play, but I thought he might be passive enough to check if he had a pocket pair below Kings or an AQ type hand.

Honestly, I figured out the odds on that hand after the fact ... I don't do specific odds calculations as I play, but I always have a general idea that is close enough to get me by.

I also opened an account at Carribean Sun Poker, which is a Crypto network site. 20% rake rebate if you sign up through www.poker-strategy.org, which is one of the sweeter deals around. My rebate at Absolute is up to 15% now as well. I will always prefer Absolute, it's just too good to pass up, rake rebate plus generous and constant reload specials; but its nice to have another alternative where I earn a rebate.

More 7CS

2005-02-09T20:43:00.000-08:00

I decided to clear my $90 bonus at Interpoker playing 7CS solely and I made a marginal profit at the tables plus the bonus. I had one bad session in which I got cleaned out heads up, but I played shorthanded quite a bit and found it far more entertaining than a full 7CS ring game.

I've decided to swear off stud for the rest of the month though and will stick with the bread and butter (Limit Hold Em) along with a few NL tournaments a week. So far, February is shaping up quite nicely.

I did manage to qualify for the Bet365 30K freeroll after all, but didn't get any cards and ended up out around 200 or so. Still looking for that big tourney score and I believe its coming eventually; but I'm patient!

Tourney Game Back on Track

2005-02-04T06:15:00.000-08:00

I played in the Absolute $12K guaranteed tourney last night ... well, last night into this morning ...

I felt like I really played well and was well on my way to the final table. I was in about 10th place with 23 left and 34K in chips. The blinds were 2K/4K. I get pocket deuces and am hoping to steal the blinds and raise it up to 8K from mid position. Folded around to the BB, who has about 10K more in chips than I, he calls.

The flop is a beauty 27Q ... there are two diamonds on the flop, but it's heads up now, and I'm not too worried about a flush draw. I bet the minimum (4K) and BB calls, turn is a 9 and it doesn't complete the flush. Fearing a TJ type hand, I push em all in, confident I am in the lead.

BB calls and flips 99 for an overset that he made on the turn. Analyzing the hand, I really don't think I played it poorly, just dumb luck that he hit his 2 outer. Mind you, the big blind played the hand correctly too, although he could have been more aggressive preflop.

Had he not hit his overset and had to fold to my turn bet, I would have been in great position with 48K in chips and would have likely coasted into the final table. I still netted $62, but all things considered it was disappointing, especially so because I really was playing well.

It was still a good night, made a little money at the ring games as well. Only bad thing was that the tournament lasts so dang long, and then you get close to the money and everyone starts stalling. I feel like I am on the verge of a big Multi Table Tournament breakthrough though.

Look before you leap

2005-02-03T17:44:00.000-08:00

I moved over to Bet365 to get enough hands in to qualify for their 30K freeroll and won about $120 the first two nights playing 2/4 ... then proceeded to give it all back and more the next two. And the worst part is I don't think I qualified for the freeroll. I had 204 hands as of Sunday night 1/30 and needed 44 more by midnight 1/31, but didn't realize it was UK time ...

Plus, I'm having issues with Bet365's cashier, and now I'm unable to even check without calling them.

The good thing is that my 5/10 adventures at Absolute continue to go well. I think I'm gonna give the AP guaranteed 12K tourney a go tonight. My tourney games is better lately, finally made another final table ... slow played trip 9s on a 99A flop, of course the turn was an Ace, which completely screwed me and sent me packing in 8th place.

The Five and Dime

2005-01-28T14:41:00.000-08:00

I have been playing 5/10 here the last few days and last night made 40 big bets at one 5/10 table. I haven't been terribly imaginative, maybe playing slightly tighter than I do at 3/6.

The players are the same ... a few new faces that I will need to learn but I don't think the game is much different. I'm not sure where the biggest leap is ... there is naturally a big leap between .25/.50 and say 3/6, but I don't know exactly where the game changes. My guess is that it is a gradual thing as you advance up the limits.

If I can keep 5/10 profitable, this is going to be a great year!

Done at Party

2005-01-23T21:14:00.000-08:00

After a really promising start, I limped in at Party. I ended up +$55 playing plus the $200 bonus; but it could have been soooo much better. From my last post, I was down $5. I really didn't play all that well. I had a tendency to not give credit for decent hands where I should have. And I had a few chasers beat me out of some big pots ...

Honestly, 7CS saved me. The stud players at Party are terrible. I didn't break it down, but I'm guessing I was about +120 at stud and -65 at HE. Nonetheless, any positive result is a good one; and the point is really to clear the bonus.

I'm starting to like stud a bit more now ... it won't replace Hold Em, but I'm getting better at it. My main problem is patience ... I just don't like to fold as much as stud requires. It is fun though when you get a real monster, like rolled Jacks (or anything rolled for that matter). Not sure what the odds of being dealt rolled cards in stud are, but I had rolled deuces, rolled queens, and rolled jacks playing stud this weekend (and they all held up).

I notice that NBC (or one of the networks) is having a poker tournament of champions on February 6th. Not sure who's playing, but it's supposed to be the 8 best in the world. If I had to rank the 8 best ... in no particular order: Negreanu, Hellmuth, Ivey, Harrington, Lederer, Seidel, Hanson ... then there are a bunch of other players who have a great argument: Cloutier, Duke, Scotty Nguyen, Juanda, Liebert, Hennigan.

Well that's all for now, I'm probably going back to Absolute to finish what's left of my bonus there ... then I plan on playing Bet365 to get enough raked hands in to qualify for their 30K VIP freeroll.

On to Party Poker

2005-01-22T06:44:00.000-08:00

Well I have deposited at Party Poker to take advantage of their January reload (20% up to $200), so I will be clearing that bonus this weekend. Played this morning and cleared about 20% of it and made $60 to boot.

I love Party, I always seem to do well there. I get a rake rebate at Absolute, but sometimes I wonder if I just shouldn't stick with the fish at Party. Actually, I made my initial bankroll at the Party sit n gos before moving on. I always keep money at Party though.

I also bought a laptop, should arrive in a week or so, and I'm using some of my poker money to pay for it; so I need to make some money! Daddy needs a new pair of shoes!!!

I played 7CS at Party this morning (1 table) and 2 tables of HE. I made $40 at stud and only $20 at HE. If stud weren't so damn boring I might play it more often. There was some clown berating the table about what morons they were ... etc, etc. And then he calls down two of my Full Houses with what looked like straight draws ... I bit my tongue though.

Well, I'm off to the YMCA for some exercise. I'll be back when I've cleared the party bonus.

Slightly Off my Game

2005-01-19T18:29:00.000-08:00

I definitely wasn't playing optimally tonight, lost about $30; but I recognized this fact and didn't play long. I'm kinda tired and its hard to play your best when your tired (or distracted).

Anyway, my random musing today is that I'm curious how long the "poker explosion" will last. When ESPN showed the Moneymaker WSOP, it was like a lightning rod, and it hasn't really slowed down. Now, if you are at a big party, someone is probably playing poker somewhere. The old timers will tell you it runs in cycles, but the advent of the hole card cam has made poker watchable (and entertaining) on TV so perhaps this is different. For my money, I hope it keeps going; the more the merrier.

I have a big enough bankroll that I'm thinking about entering some WSOP satellites; but honestly, I don't think my tournament play is all that good right now. In a limit Hold Em ring game, I don't think there are too many better at the levels I play; but tournaments are a different matter.

RPM

Where I play

2005-01-18T19:28:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd throw up an entry on where I play. Most of my play is at Absolute Poker. I am playing 3/6 and 2/4 Hold Em, with an occasional foray into 5/10 and a very small amount of 1/2 7CS if I get bored with Hold Em.

I also do some bonus whoring at Interpoker, Stars, Party ...

Tonight I played mostly 2/4, couldn't get a consistent game at 3/6. Finished up $113. Last night I had a great night, I only played for about 45 minutes, hit a great run at a 3/6 table and made $124.

I am going to try to keep this from getting so boring that I am just posting how much i won/lost a night ... and I don't intend on updating daily (I do have a day job).

Observation of the night ... someone at my table told me that he forgot about my playing style and called me a "bluffing, raising fool" ... This is not accurate at all, but I am very aggressive when I get a hand, and that even means with overcards to the flop (if I have raised preflop).

As an aside, that is one of the reasons I like Absolute Poker so much. I know the other players, and have a mental note on most of my opponents. Of course this works both ways I suppose.

RPM's Poker Blog Intro

2005-01-18T16:29:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

This is my first post (as you can tell). I have been playing poker online for a little over a year now and have done quite well if I do say so myself. I made about $8500 last year playing poker. Of course, I also didn't have a job for 5 months and had plenty of free time to play.

I still feel like this is pretty impressive, considering that for the most part I played very low limits. Towards the end of the year I moved up to 3/6 limit Hold Em and have been doing quite well. I also didn't have the bankroll initially to take advantage of the numerous bonuses that rooms offer, and now I can jump on every bonus that comes around if I feel like it.

I don't have a goal for this Blog as yet, just would like to use it to track my play. If anyone reads this, I would encourage you to visit www.poker-strategy.org, as the good folks there have provided invaluable assistance and advice on my poker journey. They also have some great deals on bonuses and rake rebates.