03/29/07 - Thursday Nite Live Game

Had our live game last nite at my house. I love playing live. We had 8 guys so we played a SNG and I bubbled. My AQ sooted on the button ran into QQ in the SB when we were 4 handed.

A cash game fired up afterwards and I ended up winning about $70 in cash game. We played til 2 AM so I am really dragging today at work. My stomach hurts from laughing so hard. It's such a good time and it helps me relieve stress from my architecture and real estate businesses.

This might be a nice 2 or 3 day break from online poker. Gotta take a break from the grind every so often.

Ciao.

DAY 75 - 03/28/07 - The Grind

Today: -25.50 + 10.00 bonus = -15.50

To go: $440.41

Bankroll: $2059.59

6-max: 885 hands *** 2.70 hours *** 16.38/11.41

One of those grinder days where nothing was hitting. Cbets getting floated and check raised. I made a comeback in the end of session as I was getting tired. Didn't know where I was at on a lot of hands.

KQ: http://www.pokerhand.org/?947072 . Went for the check raise here on the turn. His turn bet was weak and I reraised. When the club hit, I sharted and went with my weak read and put him in. That was my only move and it worked out for the best.

10-7s: http://www.pokerhand.org/?947078 . His check raise on the flop slowed me down. Flush card hit and I chickened out. Left money on the table when he tried to bet pot on river.

AQ: http://www.pokerhand.org/?947085 . This was my donk hand of the night here. Just awful. I hate how I played it.

DAY 74 - 03/27/07 - Lots of big pairs

Today: +26.80 + 10.00 bonus = +36.80
To go: $424.91
Bankroll: $2075.09

6-max: 348 hands *** 1.17 hours *** 14.37/9.48

Had a lot of interesting situations today. I got almost all my big pairs in the blinds out of position. Of course everytime I had KK, an ace flopped and got resistance.

I played a hand like a donk when I had QQ in SB. There was a raise and 3 callers in front of me. I called out of SB like a donk instead of raising. BB raised to like $15, which I thought was the rest of his stack. He actually had $6 left and I didn't know that. I called and he ended up having 7's when we got it in. I played hand awful and ended up winning it. I had 5 tables going and I was all hyper. Too many. 4 is enough. Plus with 5, I can't read the bet sizes on Full Tilt. So much for that idea. Of course I had hands on 2 other tables, so it affected my play. I shut down table right away.

Keep grinding back.

DAY 73 - 03/26-07 - Back on the Horse

Today: +13.10
To go: $461.71
Bankroll: $2038.29

6-max: 280 hands *** 0.98 hours *** 15.00/11.07

Played some donkaments today and full ring on Stars. Blew about $15 messing around at work. Came back tonite and won about $30 at 6 max and felt better and less "tilty" from yesterday. I played nitty and won.

Day ?? - Who Phucking cares anymore, I suck

Today: -205.80 + $10.00 Bonus = -$195.80
To go: $474.81
Bankroll: $2025.19
6-max: 749 hands *** 2.40 hours *** 18.70/12.82

Down 4 buy-ins tonite. It was unreal the beats I was taking. Flopping top sets, getting runner-runnered.

Here are some joyful hands where I suck or got bad beated. I don't know the difference anymore. I am gonna start folding whenever I get raised I think like a pussy:

8-9s: http://www.pokerhand.org/?937862 . Nice call out of position with 10-7 off. Calls my re-raise on flop too and hits phucking turn. The mini raise appears. Phucking donk pattern.

10-10: http://www.pokerhand.org/?937870 . Nice 4 outer idiot. WTF do these donks think? Geez.

QQ: http://www.pokerhand.org/?937872 . This was my phucking favorite. Donk is getting reraised before the flop. An over hits and he puts it all in when I have top set. Nope not good enough.

I really hate poker right now.

DAY 71 - 03/23/07 - The Chasm

Cruising along nicely and get dealt the dreadful Pocket Kongers against my maniac I've been waiting for:

KK: http://www.pokerhand.org/?931758 . Terrible flop for KK. I probably should have saved myself the $13.00 re-raise and moved on. His check on the turn was strange and I had no idea what to do, so I folded. This guy was like a 57/30 so he was all over the place. An ace, a flush, and a straight out there. He probably had all 3. LOL.

Then I get this hand which was kind of a gamble. I presumed I had 14 outs:

QJs: http://www.pokerhand.org/?931764 . 14 outs twice is +EV, so I pushed assuming he had overpair. My intention was to raise for free card, but he pushed back and we got it in. I wasn't expecting AJ which actually made the hand 60/40, but it was nice to hit for once. He called me a donk too. LOL. If I flop top pair and flush draw, I'll get it in everytime.

DAY 70 - 03/22/07 - A dagger in the heart

Today: +34.10 + $10.00 Bonus = +$44.10

To go: $322.36

Bankroll: $2177.64

6-max: 355 hands *** 1.20 hours *** 16.06/9.86

Cruising along nicely tonite. Playing awseome. $10 bonus releases and I'm shutting down. Up about $70 at that point. All happy after my 120 loss yesterday. Here it comes.....let's get him:

KK: http://www.pokerhand.org/?929856 . Full Tilt decided to Phuck with my head before I went to bed. I was running to good. 1/2 a stack donk and I'm felting it with the KK. Nice mini raise sir. Phucking idiot mini-raiser.

Check out this hand:

AA: http://www.pokerhand.org/?929860 . This is not the flop I want to see with AA. Especially when I get 2 callers. I almost thought of checking, but I found out where I was at pretty fast. Auto Fold.

My buddy made fun of me I was mad about the KK and up only $44 for the day. LOL. I'm playing the TAG hand chart and it seems to be working better at these lower limits. It's very nitty and I'm averaging 16/11 ish. I think it's the key to win at this donk limit where I've been struggling for 3 months. We'll see if the numbers move up.

NIGHT SESSION UPDATE = + 1 BUYIN

My break from poker lasted about 4 hours. LOL. I won a buy-in back and was happy about my play. Get back on the horse. Down $120 for the day. 2 buyins not bad i guess. Gotta take the good with the bad.

DAY 69 - I just got Phucking Owned!!!

Today: -170.25
To go: $416.41
Bankroll: $2083.59


AA : http://www.pokerhand.org/?925436 . I knew I was dead with the mini raise on the turn. I put him on 2 pair and couldnt fold to the $16 on the river.

66 : http://www.pokerhand.org/?925448 . Flop a set and of course he hits. WTF. I was 60-40 on flop according to pokertracker.

KK: http://www.pokerhand.org/?925457 . I knew I was beat before I even raised preflop. I "IM'd" my buddy watching, here comes AA vs KK. Knew I was dead on the flop too, but I still call. WTF. How many times can I give this guy my stack?

KK: http://www.pokerhand.org/?925469 . Run into the dreaded mini-raise. He checks on turn and I shoulda pushed. I shoulda pushed on the flop too. Instead he runner-runners my ass.

Phucking days like this make me sick. Phuck this mini raise shit. Phuck poker. I am no where near close to moving up in this phucking game. Only thing keeping me afloat are these gd bonuses and rakeback shit. Break time or break something.

DAY 68 - 03/20/07 - $10 in 8 hands

Played 8 hands today and got interrupted. I won $10 with JJ and JTs. An awful headache came upon me and I decided I will not play tonite. I'm sure it has something to do with that I am sick yet again. Seems like every 2 months I have a head cold. Too much stress. I need to go on vacation.

I'm sure I would lose like 3 buyins if I played since my head is a buzz.

DAY 67 - 03/19/07 - The Weak Lead

Today: +4.00 + $10.00 Bonus = +$14.00
To go: $255.46
Bankroll: $2244.54

6-max: 851 hands *** 2.42 hours *** 16.30/11.05

Full Tilt offered me a free $100.00 bonus with no deposit required. I have 14 days to clear and I should do it no problem. I really like getting back to Full Tilt after playing on stars. Still trying the TAG style averaging about 16/12. Very swingy chart today and pulled off a profit after being down about 1.5 buyins.

I've been running into a certain move lately. It's known as the "weak lead." Say you have AK on the button and make a standard raise. EP limper or Blind calls. Then they lead out into you??? What do you do when you miss? I tried taking the agression standpoint tonite. Raise it up. Seemed to work. It depends how strong their bet size is too.

Examples:

KQo on the button: http://www.pokerhand.org/?920487 . I raise on button and blind comes out firing on flop. I raise him to 3x and he calls. Turn he fires again? I raise to 2.5x and he calls?? River he fires out 3rd time out of position. I smooth call fearing Q-10 obv. I don't think I can raise a 3rd time here after he shows strength on every street? What do you think?

JJ: http://www.pokerhand.org/?920493 . This hand I should have folded. His lead bet was strong. $5 into $6. Instead I get fancy and he insta-calls with Q-10. NH sir. Q-10 out of position is awesome.

DAY 66 - 03/17/07 - AA

Today: +53.25
To go: $269.46
Bankroll: $2230.54

6-max: 151 hands *** 0.57 hours *** 16.56/9.93

Won back loss from yesterday. Stacked a guy with AA vs. KK which is nice. The TAG is working better for me today when hands were holding. I got my Spade Eye table selection tool working for Full Tilt again too. The sort fearture was messed up for a while. They released a new version to fix this. Kinda like sixth sense, but you dont have to pay monthly subscription. I like it to find the donks to give me bad beats.

DAY 65 - One of those days....

Today: -52.80
To go: $322.71
Bankroll: $2177.29

6-max: 388 hands *** 1.37 hours *** 15.72/10.05

One of those days. 3-bet with QQ and get raised all in. 3 bet AK and miss flop. C-bet and get check raised all in.

DAY 64 - $120 Bonus.....weeee

Today: +116.25 ($120.00 bonus - 3.75 poker)
To go: $269.91
Bankroll: $2230.09

Played a few hands to clear my $120 bonus. Hovered at 1 fpp to go for like 3 orbits. Finally got there and logged off. My other stars account has a $150 bonus for 1500 fpps. I'm transferring money to that account, so I can clear that final bonus. That one takes forever, so I'm not too thrilled. Took me about 20 days last time of "normal" non-grinding play. Of course, I've been known to 9-table before and clear it in like 2 days. Sick.

I'm getting busy again with Architecture, so I'm like a walking zombie. I don't know how much poker time I will get in. Plus I added another property to my real estate portfolio, so that is picking up as well. I don't close until April 26th, so I have some time there. There is a good discussion going on in the cardrunners forum about real estate investing under "Finance and Investing" Topic. Look for Real Estate Investors Topic. I seem to be the expert. LOL.

Just another donk trying to make it in this world.

DAY 63 - 03/14/07 - Tight Agg

• Today: +26.85


• To go: $424.41


• Bankroll: $2075.59

6-max: 389 hands *** 1.65 hours *** 13.37/10.28

With cardrunner's release of their small stakes series, which is awesome by the way, I am trying something new. Going back to the basics and playing a little more TAG style for the limits I'm playing. The pros always say in the vids that the tactics they are using doesn't work at low limits and you should play straight ABC poker. I used preflop hand chart they provided and played no brainer poker. I understand what they are trying to teach. TAG in EP position, LAG in LP. It's good to see the hands in a chart form, because certain marginal situations I wouldn't know what to do. It takes the guesswork out of preflop poker, which I like. That's how I started off playing limit, by making Sklansky and Lee Jone's Low limit hand charts.

I went thru my pokertracker database and made filters for the various positions for the certain hands to play and I was shocked on the difference in winnings I had. I know there are 1 million other factors, but I'll try out the TAG for a while.

Today, the hand chart worked out well. Hit some nice hands. Ended session when my flopped 2 pair of Q-10 got sucked out on river by K-6. He called me down with K-6 and hit miracle. I got mad and closed every window right away. Donks. It made me mad even though it was like $10 loss or so.

UPDATE - NIGHT SESSION:

Today: +65.10

To go: $386.16

Bankroll: $2113.84

Full Ring: 136 hands *** 0.48 hours *** 16.18/11.03

Played a short session to clear bonus at stars. Was up a buyin until I had this hand:

QQ: http://www.pokerhand.org/?907117 : I am finally getting better at this game to lay down big pairs. Check out the chat in the hand. He told me excellent fold after and how my read was right on. I believed him and the bet pattern made sense. He said he didn't want to go all-in preflop after my 3-bet because he thought I would fold a hand there like QQ. He was right. KK I'd felt it, but not QQ. I felt pretty good about this hand getting away from it.

DAY 62 - 03/12/07 - Up again

• Today: +42.50


• To go: $451.26


• Bankroll: $2048.74

Full Ring: 232 hands *** 0.80 hours *** 17.60/10.34

Solid session again. My Profit was from my overpairs stacking donk sized short stacks. It's nice when your hands hold against the short stack playing K-4 when you have AA. LOL. Only about 100 fpps to go to clear $120 bonus. That means I will lose $175 trying to get it. LOL. Always seems to happen that way.

DAY 61 - Back in Action w/ Short Session

• Today: +68.80
• To go: $493.76
• Bankroll: $2006.24

6-max: 149 hands *** 0.62 hours *** 21.48/13.42

Felt good to play online again after taking about 4 or 5 days off. Was just too busy at work to put any sessions in with a clear head. Today was solid. I was hitting hands everytime I came in for a raise. C-bets were getting respect and hit a few sets. Called session quits when wife wanted to go to dinner. Only played about 45 minutes and I was happy with the 1.5 buyin win. I love that graph.

Friday Nite live game at my house was awesome! We had 15 person rebuy tourney. $520 pot. Decent turnout. My stomach muscles were sore the next day from laughing so hard. I always have a great time with our crew.

We fired up NL $100 cash game when we consolidated to 1 table. It was awesome. I love live cash. We had almost 10 people playing at the peak. The thing about live cash, it takes hours to establish your image. I played tight when I first sat down. Played QQ, QQ, KK, and JJ. I showed made hands everytime people folded. Image established. My plan was working when I would come in for a raise one non-regular player said, "Here comes Jacks or better." It was time to switch gears, but it was 3:30 am all of a sudden. I was up about 1/2 buyin when we called it a nite. Good times.

Not Much Play

Been really busy with my Architecture business. I have a big job deadline that I can't seem to finish, so not much poker playing lately. I played the other night and ran into villain's set 4 times!! I managed to lose less than a buyin that session so I was really happy.

I'm having a big game at my house tomorrow. Should be fun, since our regular night of poker is usually Thursday. Friday = Beer + Pizza = Farts.

DAY 60 - Boring session

Boring Full Ring session. No memorable hands. Just some grinding towards clearing my last $120 bonus at stars. Ended up -$10.70. Hit a set of deuces at one point in the night to clear out a loss I had with AK.

Here was typical situation. Get AK in blinds or button. Limp fest of 5-6 people. I raise to to 4.50 or 5.00. 3 callers. I miss flop. I c-bet in position and get re-raised and fold. Or I have 3 callers with Fold to Continuation Bet %s of less than 40% and I'm first to act. Sometimes I'd c-bet and fold to their re-raise, or check and fold and move on to next hand. Stuff like that. Same low limit garbage. A few times, the villains showed sets, so I made correct play.

DAY 59 - Happy to be almost even

• Today: -8.05
• To go: $504.16
• Bankroll: $1995.84

6-max: 558 hands *** 2.10 hours *** 18.46/12.72

I was down 1 buyin right off the bat having KK vs AA all in preflop. I hate that. What else am I going to do? Then I had AQ and flopped Q rag rag. Guy went runner runner flush on me for about $35 loss. I was hovering at -100.00 for most of the session.

Stuck it out and Stacked a guy with AA when he had QQ. I hands started to hit around 1AM. I worked it up to -8 and left feeling good about my minor loss.

DAY 58 - About time..2 dimes

• Today: +$114.75
• To go: $496.11
• Bankroll: $2003.89

Full Ring: 510 hands *** 1.58 hours *** 17.25/8.43

Well, I was due. Had a good day for once. That will help with my confidence in this game and challenge. Played full ring on stars tonite. I also played another $2 WSOP rebuy donkament and won a seat. A while back I figured out a chart to $1500 WSOP preliminary event just by playing the $2 rebuys and unregistering and taking the $33 W$ money. It was volume, but possible.

Anyway tonite was going ok. Check out the graph. I was hovering about even and then I kept getting hammered and missing flops. 3 betting with AK in position and missing flops. C-betting and getting reraised. Stuff like that. Flop top pair against short stack donks and they push with nothing and hit miracles on river. Stuff like that. Blood boilers. Was down over 1 buyin and worked it back up to positive. Was shutting down and got dealt KK. And I say oh crap....

KK: http://www.pokerhand.org/?871089 . Guy on my right was weak and making $1.50 bets all nite. I kept raising him in position and he kept calling me and I was hitting, so he was getting pissed. I reraised again, and SB calls and original raiser calls. I flop my set on a bad board and all 3 felt it. Donk flopped a straight and I FINALLY donk out runner runner KONGER style for my biggest pot at $50NL! I don't know what the SB was doing calling all in donk style. Ty sir. The ranges I put villians on were SB having AK, and donker having flush draw.

DAY 57 - 03/01/07 - Tilted and left....

• Today: -19.50
• To go: $610.86
• Bankroll: $1889.14

6-max: 359 hands *** 1.98 hours *** 17.83/10.31

I won $33 this morning in a Stars Donkament and then blew thru a stack on FTP. Here is one hand where I layed down a set:

99: http://www.pokerhand.org/?868495 . I timed out because I couldn't make a decision. I hit call, but timer expired. Probably saved $29 on the end. Everytime that pattern presents itself, I lose money....so I think I made a good laydown. Opinions??? My friend was watching and he said fold was good play....but he's a donk. J/K.

I started to tilt from a donk at my table. I couldn't get him. His garbage was on tonite and then I started to berate him. So I left.

I'm starting to get fed up again with the game. I know I have to keep grinding, but it gets old after awhile getting the same donk outs over and over. I feel a break coming on again. Maybe I'll take the weekend off and start fresh next week.

02/28/07 - 2AM session

• Today: -0.05
• To go: $591.36
• Bankroll: $1908.64

6-max: 132 hands *** 0.72 hours *** 23.48/18.94

Couldn't sleep, so I fired up 2 tables. I've be 2-3 tabling lately and I think its helping. When I 4 table, I just push buttons. I can zero in on a few players better only with 2 tables going. I had a few tough hands and then I stacked a guy to get to even.

Hands of the day:

77: http://www.pokerhand.org/?865772 . This guy was awful. This is the first of 2 hands I get into with him. I flop set and woulda played the hand the same way with the cards face up. Donk leave 25 cents left for turn since he just hits bet the pot button.

AJo: http://www.pokerhand.org/?865777 . This is second hand with same donk. He calls my raise out of position with 7-2 sooted. Enough said. I 2nd barrell it and he checks his flush on the river. Nh sir.

AQs: http://www.pokerhand.org/?865780 . 3rd hand into my duel with the donk, I call his raise on the button with AQs. He's been active. SB wakes up with a hand and 3 bets. My donk folds and I call in position and flop a monster. There is no way he has AK and plays it the way he did. I flop A with nut flush draw. I call. Boom....back to even.

Different play???:

Next time I 3-bet donk on button, and probably get 4-betted by JJ in SB? If he plays it that way, I'd still probably call his raise to $12-15. Same flop, I doubt he makes that play after I show 3 bet preflop. Maybe the way I played it is the only way I stack him the way that I did.

Maybe he smooth calls my 3-bet from SB. He might slow down with the JJ then??