Just want to wish everyone happy holidays!
Enjoy the time with your family & friends.
I'll be back to you in 2009!
MDF 101 + Free Calculator
2 weeks ago
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
A quick overdue update
Since the start of December I've been focused on playing as much as possible and that has taken a toll on how often that blog is updated. So since I wouldn't want to let you down so close to Christmas, here I am!
Other than the last few days, I've been playing with the same routine since the start of December. Log on in the morning and play for about an hour before going to work, then play a few more hours in the evening when I get back home. The results have been less than stelar as I'm currently down about 2 buy ins, but I've been putting up a lot of hands which was one of my goals.
After not playing for so long, I felt that getting back into it was important and I felt that playing a lot (for me anyway... pretty sure some readers play my monthly amount of hands every day!) would help me shake the rust faster and get my mind back to think about poker a lot.
The good thing about shaking the rust off now is that bonus clearing is keeping me in the green. I most likely won't reach my goal of playing NL50 before the end of the year, but I should end up relatively close. Especially if I can start winning friggin coinflips!
Other than the last few days, I've been playing with the same routine since the start of December. Log on in the morning and play for about an hour before going to work, then play a few more hours in the evening when I get back home. The results have been less than stelar as I'm currently down about 2 buy ins, but I've been putting up a lot of hands which was one of my goals.
After not playing for so long, I felt that getting back into it was important and I felt that playing a lot (for me anyway... pretty sure some readers play my monthly amount of hands every day!) would help me shake the rust faster and get my mind back to think about poker a lot.
The good thing about shaking the rust off now is that bonus clearing is keeping me in the green. I most likely won't reach my goal of playing NL50 before the end of the year, but I should end up relatively close. Especially if I can start winning friggin coinflips!
Monday, December 01, 2008
I'm back!
At last! Got my new laptop last friday so what do you guys think I did this week end?
To use SplitSuit's expression, this week end it was back to grindcore!
Played quite a bit and managed to fight through a day filled with coolers AND a major leak I have right now (just due to me not playing much in so long... easily fixable) and still managed to stay about breakeven.
So, how does that forced hiatus influences my yearly goals and expectations? Well, it doesn't. Sure, it will be harder to reach all the goals I had set to myself, but it is still possible. And as long as it's possible, I will push hard to reach these goals.
So here they are, my goals for December :
- Play 15K hands of online NLHE
- Get my BR to a point where I can take another shot at NL50
That's it. Only 2 goals for December.
To use SplitSuit's expression, this week end it was back to grindcore!
Played quite a bit and managed to fight through a day filled with coolers AND a major leak I have right now (just due to me not playing much in so long... easily fixable) and still managed to stay about breakeven.
So, how does that forced hiatus influences my yearly goals and expectations? Well, it doesn't. Sure, it will be harder to reach all the goals I had set to myself, but it is still possible. And as long as it's possible, I will push hard to reach these goals.
So here they are, my goals for December :
- Play 15K hands of online NLHE
- Get my BR to a point where I can take another shot at NL50
That's it. Only 2 goals for December.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!
Being a french Canadian, Thanksgiving has never been big for me and my family. That said, I know how huge it is in the US, so I wish a happy Thanksgiving to any US reader I might have.
Enjoy the time off with family and friends. Remember everything that happened this year that you are thankful for, eat lots of good food in good company, drink (but don't drive!) and most definitly do NOT... I repeat do NOT bet on the Lions to beat the Titans!
Enjoy the time off with family and friends. Remember everything that happened this year that you are thankful for, eat lots of good food in good company, drink (but don't drive!) and most definitly do NOT... I repeat do NOT bet on the Lions to beat the Titans!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The return of the home game!
After 6 months of absence, last night saw the return of our homegame! Nothing like playing micro-stakes poker live with a bunch of people who don't really care about anything except than trying to have a good time while playing cards.
That game has always been -EV money wise (lol at spending 15$ in beer and winning 10$ at poker) but so much +EV fun wise!
I guess if anything, my poker goal when it comes to the home game is to spread the love of poker. I want people to have a good time (and of course, I'd rather they have a good time while sending their chips my way!) and discover the subtelties that make poker such a great game. I am by no means an expert, but I definitly know tons more than our average homegame player so I offered to make small "strategy segments" in our home game where I will share what knowledge I can. (starting by teaching Alex not to go all-in vs me... like... ever).
Anybody has an idea of what aspect of the game I should bring up to a mostly noobish crowd, just leave a suggestion in the comments section please.
On a sad note though, a nice streak was broken last night. As far as I can remember, it's the first time the Montreal Canadiens lost a game while we were playing poker at my place... must be the new condo!
That game has always been -EV money wise (lol at spending 15$ in beer and winning 10$ at poker) but so much +EV fun wise!
I guess if anything, my poker goal when it comes to the home game is to spread the love of poker. I want people to have a good time (and of course, I'd rather they have a good time while sending their chips my way!) and discover the subtelties that make poker such a great game. I am by no means an expert, but I definitly know tons more than our average homegame player so I offered to make small "strategy segments" in our home game where I will share what knowledge I can. (starting by teaching Alex not to go all-in vs me... like... ever).
Anybody has an idea of what aspect of the game I should bring up to a mostly noobish crowd, just leave a suggestion in the comments section please.
On a sad note though, a nice streak was broken last night. As far as I can remember, it's the first time the Montreal Canadiens lost a game while we were playing poker at my place... must be the new condo!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Free beer!
Ok now that I have your attention... I know the reach of this blog is probably limited... but still.
If you are an American, online poker player you NEED to read this.
Basically, the Bush administration is trying hard to finalize the UIGEA before their reign is over effectively banning any US citizen from depositting or withdrawing money from online gambling sites.
It takes only a minute or two of your time to send an email and make a phone call and voice your opinion. Will it change things? Who knows, but it's such a little effort that even if these emails and calls are a 1000 to 1 shot to change anything you HAVE to do it.
If you are an American, online poker player you NEED to read this.
Basically, the Bush administration is trying hard to finalize the UIGEA before their reign is over effectively banning any US citizen from depositting or withdrawing money from online gambling sites.
It takes only a minute or two of your time to send an email and make a phone call and voice your opinion. Will it change things? Who knows, but it's such a little effort that even if these emails and calls are a 1000 to 1 shot to change anything you HAVE to do it.
Stepping back down
NL50 has been brutal to me. I feel like I'm playing well enough, but man the beats have been coming!
The losses I've had are not even that impressive really, but when you just stepped up to a new stake, losing a few buy-ins hurts a lot. So I decided to step back down for a while, lick my wounds, regroup and grind some more before I take another shot at NL50.
The losses I've had are not even that impressive really, but when you just stepped up to a new stake, losing a few buy-ins hurts a lot. So I decided to step back down for a while, lick my wounds, regroup and grind some more before I take another shot at NL50.
Monday, November 03, 2008
No computer, no recap, no goals...
Normally this would be the time where I reflect on last month's goals and set new goals for myself for the coming month. Well still being without a computer at home, no goals for me right now other than try to squeeze as much poker as I can.
In the last month I've started clearing a bonus on CD poker and took my first shot at NL50. Things went OK at NL50 and as soon as I get a computer at home this is where I will still try to play. I lost a bit of money but nothing worth panicking yet. I think the little I played at NL50, I played pretty well. Hopefully as soon as I can start playing again things will settle. Worst case I'll step back down for a while at NL20.
In the meantime I might go take a look at Montreal's various poker rooms and maybe even go back to the casino... We'll see I guess...
In the last month I've started clearing a bonus on CD poker and took my first shot at NL50. Things went OK at NL50 and as soon as I get a computer at home this is where I will still try to play. I lost a bit of money but nothing worth panicking yet. I think the little I played at NL50, I played pretty well. Hopefully as soon as I can start playing again things will settle. Worst case I'll step back down for a while at NL20.
In the meantime I might go take a look at Montreal's various poker rooms and maybe even go back to the casino... We'll see I guess...
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tilt inducing co-worker
I get to work this morning, sporting a head ache and a serious coffee withdrawal. As soon as I open the office door, a wall of noise hits me like a ton of bricks.
A co-worker that I shall leave nameless, is screaming over his cell phone, arguing with god knows who about some money he apperently paid for no good reasons. The way our office is designed, it's a large open space. So when someone makes noise, it bothers everyone.
I sit at my desk, waiting for my PC to boot up so I can at least try to listen to some music to counter this barage of noise when I suddendly realise that all of this is over 35$! Pretty sure a bunch of my co-workers would have chipped in 5$ each to give him his 35$ just so he would shut up.
Guess I should at least tell him how annoying that little tantrum of his was and that the next time he should find a private space to scream through his cell phone.
After my coffee... maybe...
A co-worker that I shall leave nameless, is screaming over his cell phone, arguing with god knows who about some money he apperently paid for no good reasons. The way our office is designed, it's a large open space. So when someone makes noise, it bothers everyone.
I sit at my desk, waiting for my PC to boot up so I can at least try to listen to some music to counter this barage of noise when I suddendly realise that all of this is over 35$! Pretty sure a bunch of my co-workers would have chipped in 5$ each to give him his 35$ just so he would shut up.
Guess I should at least tell him how annoying that little tantrum of his was and that the next time he should find a private space to scream through his cell phone.
After my coffee... maybe...
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
I can smell it...
Well since my laptop was stolen I have not been playing anything near my usual volume. That said, playing HUD-less has forced me to play more focused and while I suffered a bit from fancy play syndrome at first (I often do following a hiatus), my results overall have been pretty good. Add to that the fact that I'm currently clearing a bonus on CD Poker and I've quietly made it very close to my year goal of reaching NL50 by the end of 2008.
It's strange, in the past whenever I was getting close to move up I would get edgy, impatient and kinda nervous about it. Not this time. I don't know if it's the fact that I'm not playing like I'm used to (currently playing HUD less and on less tables), or the fact that I'm not playing as much or that I'm clearing a bonus... Anyway, I don't feel the jitters I had when closing in on NL25.
On another note, I have been talking poker strategy a lot with a good friend of mine who is struggling a bit right now playing on his first online money. I love this! Talking about lots of stuff forces me to think about it all and ask myself why I do certain things. I also tried to come up with a basic strategy that could make him an instant winner from NL2 to NL10 (and most likely even higher). My goal was to come up with an easy to teach playbook that would keep it simple and still be efficient. This has been a recurring theme for me lately. I was discussing a prop bet idea with Alex. The bet was that in 4 hours of coaching I could make someone with just basic poker knowledge (like a flush beats a straight type of knowledge) a winner at NL2. We have not come up with a candidate or the particular details of how this bet would work out but I thought it would be an interesting idea. So if you know someone who would be a nice candidate let me know!
It's strange, in the past whenever I was getting close to move up I would get edgy, impatient and kinda nervous about it. Not this time. I don't know if it's the fact that I'm not playing like I'm used to (currently playing HUD less and on less tables), or the fact that I'm not playing as much or that I'm clearing a bonus... Anyway, I don't feel the jitters I had when closing in on NL25.
On another note, I have been talking poker strategy a lot with a good friend of mine who is struggling a bit right now playing on his first online money. I love this! Talking about lots of stuff forces me to think about it all and ask myself why I do certain things. I also tried to come up with a basic strategy that could make him an instant winner from NL2 to NL10 (and most likely even higher). My goal was to come up with an easy to teach playbook that would keep it simple and still be efficient. This has been a recurring theme for me lately. I was discussing a prop bet idea with Alex. The bet was that in 4 hours of coaching I could make someone with just basic poker knowledge (like a flush beats a straight type of knowledge) a winner at NL2. We have not come up with a candidate or the particular details of how this bet would work out but I thought it would be an interesting idea. So if you know someone who would be a nice candidate let me know!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Life tilt
So we're finally getting settled in the new condo. I'm starting to get back into my routine, have a few good sessions to get me back into the game after this short hiatus and then...
Thiefs break into my place and run away with my laptop. So basically another forced hiatus for me. But what pisses me off the most is the loss of my PT database. Oh well... guess I'll start datamining again as soon as I can get my hands on a new laptop.
Thiefs break into my place and run away with my laptop. So basically another forced hiatus for me. But what pisses me off the most is the loss of my PT database. Oh well... guess I'll start datamining again as soon as I can get my hands on a new laptop.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Russ Hamilton directly implicated in the UB scandal.
If you're sick and tired of hearing about the Ultimate Bet cheating scandal then stop reading this entry (it won't be a big one anyway).
I don't plan on repeating everything that's been said elsewhere since, well, to be honest I don't know all the little details, and that information is already available elsewhere.
Still, I don't want to let this story die so here I am posting you the latest update. Turns out Russ Hamilton was directly implicated.
I think everyone should at least take a look at this. Be aware though, this is a thread in a big forum, so there is a lot of people jumping to conclusion and shit. This is still, however, a great source of information if you can filter out the noise.
I don't plan on repeating everything that's been said elsewhere since, well, to be honest I don't know all the little details, and that information is already available elsewhere.
Still, I don't want to let this story die so here I am posting you the latest update. Turns out Russ Hamilton was directly implicated.
I think everyone should at least take a look at this. Be aware though, this is a thread in a big forum, so there is a lot of people jumping to conclusion and shit. This is still, however, a great source of information if you can filter out the noise.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Stuck in the stone age
It's done! We're finally in the new condo! Problem is, no internet connection, no phone and no cable until next monday! I could definitly live without phone or cable TV... but no net means I'm in serious poker withdrawal...
Alex has gracefully agreed that we push back our volume bet by one month instead of using this week to take a huge lead. Thanks buddy!
Not much else to say right now so I guess I'll leave it at that for now...
Alex has gracefully agreed that we push back our volume bet by one month instead of using this week to take a huge lead. Thanks buddy!
Not much else to say right now so I guess I'll leave it at that for now...
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Please oh please! Can September be over now?
Between driving to Quebec city and back to see my father at the hospital (he's doing better everyday btw), packing up my stuff to move to my new condo and organising the 30th birthday of my girlfriend I can't say I've had much time to play poker. Just to make matter worse, I might be without an internet connection for a few days after I moved. Hopefully one of my neighboors has an unsecured WiFi connection I can hijack!
The bit that I did play at the beginning of the month was not very focused and did not bring the best results. Thankfully though, I've been able to play a bit the last few days and things went well. I won back almost everything I had lost in the first few days of September. Hurray!
I am still grinding NL20 on iPoker playing 8 tables at a time. Play there is definitly nittier than it is on stars or party, that said most people are bad nits so it's pretty easy to make decent gains there. Once I go back to having a stable schedule I think it will be relatively easy to get to NL50. Especially considering I will most likely start bonus whoring the various ipoker skins!
I am also looking forward to another coaching session with SplitSuit. Seems like the last one was ages ago!
For October and November, Alex and me are starting another "volume bet". Whoever plays more hands in these 2 months wins. Playing more hands is one of my focus right now so this should help keep me motivated.
The bit that I did play at the beginning of the month was not very focused and did not bring the best results. Thankfully though, I've been able to play a bit the last few days and things went well. I won back almost everything I had lost in the first few days of September. Hurray!
I am still grinding NL20 on iPoker playing 8 tables at a time. Play there is definitly nittier than it is on stars or party, that said most people are bad nits so it's pretty easy to make decent gains there. Once I go back to having a stable schedule I think it will be relatively easy to get to NL50. Especially considering I will most likely start bonus whoring the various ipoker skins!
I am also looking forward to another coaching session with SplitSuit. Seems like the last one was ages ago!
For October and November, Alex and me are starting another "volume bet". Whoever plays more hands in these 2 months wins. Playing more hands is one of my focus right now so this should help keep me motivated.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
August 2008 online results
A bit late due to some family matter... but here it is! The august monthly graph!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Quick update
Well it's been a while since my last post and some of you might have noticed I still have not posted my monthly recap.
Well in an unexpected turn of events, poker has taken a backseat in my life right now. Turns out my dad is currently in the intensive card unit at an hospital fighting for his life. At this point we are still not sure what the future will bring us, but it's not looking too good.
Me and my family are trying to stay strong and positive through all this, but I can't say it's an easy thing to go through.
Hopefully the next few days bring us better news...
Hang in there dad. I love you...
Well in an unexpected turn of events, poker has taken a backseat in my life right now. Turns out my dad is currently in the intensive card unit at an hospital fighting for his life. At this point we are still not sure what the future will bring us, but it's not looking too good.
Me and my family are trying to stay strong and positive through all this, but I can't say it's an easy thing to go through.
Hopefully the next few days bring us better news...
Hang in there dad. I love you...
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
100K hands
Now up to 100,000 hands since I lost my PT database last summer. Thought it was a somewhat cool milestone, so here's my "lifetime" graph!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
2nd coaching session
Got my second coaching session yesterday. It's crazy how sometimes being told something you already know just helps you grasp it. And by that I don't mean that SplitSuit didn't tell me anything I did no know! We went over some stuff that I had read about, but somehow failed to really integrate in my game. Just hearing him talk about it and asking him a few questions made everything so much clearer! Don't get me wrong, I still need to work a lot on those things, but after that session I feel like I have the tools to do so.
August is going pretty well so far although I'm behind pace for my 15K hands (I blame the Olympics). A good sprint at the end of the month might bring me close though. At least the hands I am actually playing, I feel I play pretty well. My results have been really good so far and while that is partly due to what I call the "SplitSuit trainee karma", I think it is encouraging.
My bankroll growth has been slowed a bit lately due to me actually spending a bit of it on coaching and some datamining/table selection software. Still, I feel pretty confident about my year goal of reaching NL50 before 2009. A few easily clearable bonuses and rakeback should make this relatively easy. Feels good to finally get closer to what seems like meaningful stakes. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about all the time I've invested in playing and beating NL10 and then NL25. But for some reasons, I always kinda felt that it all really started at NL50.
As for the rest of my life, I guess things are pretty good. Been coming back to my guitar more and more lately. Guitar has been a weird mistress for me over the year. I get super hyper motivated for a while and play a lot, and for some reasons then I stop and don't even touch it for months. The weird thing is that it's pretty easy for me to play music. I'm by no mean a pro, but I seem to learn faster than most and don't struggle as much. Guess it would be a waste not to use that and to let my guitar gather dust!
August is going pretty well so far although I'm behind pace for my 15K hands (I blame the Olympics). A good sprint at the end of the month might bring me close though. At least the hands I am actually playing, I feel I play pretty well. My results have been really good so far and while that is partly due to what I call the "SplitSuit trainee karma", I think it is encouraging.
My bankroll growth has been slowed a bit lately due to me actually spending a bit of it on coaching and some datamining/table selection software. Still, I feel pretty confident about my year goal of reaching NL50 before 2009. A few easily clearable bonuses and rakeback should make this relatively easy. Feels good to finally get closer to what seems like meaningful stakes. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about all the time I've invested in playing and beating NL10 and then NL25. But for some reasons, I always kinda felt that it all really started at NL50.
As for the rest of my life, I guess things are pretty good. Been coming back to my guitar more and more lately. Guitar has been a weird mistress for me over the year. I get super hyper motivated for a while and play a lot, and for some reasons then I stop and don't even touch it for months. The weird thing is that it's pretty easy for me to play music. I'm by no mean a pro, but I seem to learn faster than most and don't struggle as much. Guess it would be a waste not to use that and to let my guitar gather dust!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Taking the next step
Well it's done. I've hired a poker coach. It's something I had been thinking about a lot for a while, so when I stumbled upon SplitSuit's website and watched his videos, I decided to hire him. I've had my first session last sunday and while I have to admit that I probably did not get as much out of it as I could have (my fault, not his! my head was just spinning trying to integrate all the small things he told me), it got me to question my approach to the game, how I play some hands and react to some situations and in general why I do some things. The main things he got me working on was bet sizing. It's a part of the game I had never really paid enough attention to. He gave me some rough guidelines that got me to think back about it and change my approach. It's still early, but I feel like it's all starting to click and I feel much more solid about my game already.
I can't wait for our next session.
As much as coaching helps, it ain't free. So how does that affect my overall yearly goal of moving up to NL50 by the end of the year? Well, I actually think it's going to help me. I definitly feel more comfortable with my game and even though I've only played a few thousdand hands since our first session, I have a feeling my winrate will be better than it was. (I know, I know... not tough to have a better winrate than the breakeven stretch I was in!). Also, I got a nice rakeback deal and a few bonuses that I'm looking to clear in the next few months. So I'm pretty confident that I'll be playing NL50 in 2009 and hopefully even before that!
I can't wait for our next session.
As much as coaching helps, it ain't free. So how does that affect my overall yearly goal of moving up to NL50 by the end of the year? Well, I actually think it's going to help me. I definitly feel more comfortable with my game and even though I've only played a few thousdand hands since our first session, I have a feeling my winrate will be better than it was. (I know, I know... not tough to have a better winrate than the breakeven stretch I was in!). Also, I got a nice rakeback deal and a few bonuses that I'm looking to clear in the next few months. So I'm pretty confident that I'll be playing NL50 in 2009 and hopefully even before that!
Monday, August 04, 2008
Back from vacations : July recap and August goals
Well I have not been updating this blog nearly enough recently. I just came back from vacations and I guess it's time to go back to work and focus on poker once again.
Goals for July were :
- Play 10,000 hands of NL Hold'Em
- Post a winning month
- Start reviewing sessions at least once a week.
- Start getting a healthier lifestyle.
I definitly played enough hands. More than I expected. As for a winning month... well... I can't put my finger on what's wrong, but I am in this long breakeven stretch that's annoying the shit out of me. Anyway, there are a few things I will do pretty soon that should help with that. I won't say more about these for now but rest assured, I will in a few weeks. I did review my own play a bit more this month... but again, not nearly enough. As for the big "healthier lifestyle" thingy well I started riding a bike to work, started eating better at home... next step is to eat better at work.
So overall mixed results for July... I'm not entirely unhappy with it though. On the positive side I moved a big chunk of my bankroll to an iPoker skin where I got a nice deal. So this should help.
Now the goals for August :
- Play 15,000 hands of online NLHE. Back with an vengance!
- Start dabbling a bit in PLO again.
- Post a winning month. (ldo)
- Come back to post here more regularly
- Start the thingy that I don't want to tell you guys more about... yet
- Go on with more exercise & healthier food.
Goals for July were :
- Play 10,000 hands of NL Hold'Em
- Post a winning month
- Start reviewing sessions at least once a week.
- Start getting a healthier lifestyle.
I definitly played enough hands. More than I expected. As for a winning month... well... I can't put my finger on what's wrong, but I am in this long breakeven stretch that's annoying the shit out of me. Anyway, there are a few things I will do pretty soon that should help with that. I won't say more about these for now but rest assured, I will in a few weeks. I did review my own play a bit more this month... but again, not nearly enough. As for the big "healthier lifestyle" thingy well I started riding a bike to work, started eating better at home... next step is to eat better at work.
So overall mixed results for July... I'm not entirely unhappy with it though. On the positive side I moved a big chunk of my bankroll to an iPoker skin where I got a nice deal. So this should help.
Now the goals for August :
- Play 15,000 hands of online NLHE. Back with an vengance!
- Start dabbling a bit in PLO again.
- Post a winning month. (ldo)
- Come back to post here more regularly
- Start the thingy that I don't want to tell you guys more about... yet
- Go on with more exercise & healthier food.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Ultimate bet info
Guess with the recent developements I feel like I should link again to the whole Ultimate Bet cheating scandal.
Here is pretty much all the info you could want to have about it.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthread.php?t=251207
Here is pretty much all the info you could want to have about it.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthread.php?t=251207
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
June recap and July goals
Well here we are, it's that time of the month.
June goals were
- Play 12,000 hands of online NL Hold'Em
- Post a winning month
- Deposit on CD Poker and start clearing the 200$ 1st time deposit bonus there
- Keep updating this blog.
I am definitly satisfied with the amount of hands I played (even though I'm a bit short). Month ended up in the red... this is only the second time it happens to me since September so no big deal.
About starting to clear bonuses... I fail on this one. That said, I'll get to it soon. I hope to get to it before the end of July, but July is pretty busy for me so I am not sure it's the right time to start the grind of bonus clearing.
Now on for July. Well as I said, July will be pretty busy for me, so I will set smaller goals for myself.
- Play 10,000 hands of NL Hold'Em
- Post a winning month
- Start reviewing sessions at least once a week.
- Start getting a healthier lifestyle.
Now about the lifestyle thingy... feel I've been letting myself go a lot lately. I eat crap, don't sleep quite enough and don't exercice near as much as I should. So there it is, I want to start improving on at least 2 of these 3 points.
1) I want to start bringing healthier lunches to work.
2) I want to take some time everyday for a bit of exercice.
Sleep? Well.... sleep will come later I guess ;)
June goals were
- Play 12,000 hands of online NL Hold'Em
- Post a winning month
- Deposit on CD Poker and start clearing the 200$ 1st time deposit bonus there
- Keep updating this blog.
I am definitly satisfied with the amount of hands I played (even though I'm a bit short). Month ended up in the red... this is only the second time it happens to me since September so no big deal.
About starting to clear bonuses... I fail on this one. That said, I'll get to it soon. I hope to get to it before the end of July, but July is pretty busy for me so I am not sure it's the right time to start the grind of bonus clearing.
Now on for July. Well as I said, July will be pretty busy for me, so I will set smaller goals for myself.
- Play 10,000 hands of NL Hold'Em
- Post a winning month
- Start reviewing sessions at least once a week.
- Start getting a healthier lifestyle.
Now about the lifestyle thingy... feel I've been letting myself go a lot lately. I eat crap, don't sleep quite enough and don't exercice near as much as I should. So there it is, I want to start improving on at least 2 of these 3 points.
1) I want to start bringing healthier lunches to work.
2) I want to take some time everyday for a bit of exercice.
Sleep? Well.... sleep will come later I guess ;)
Monday, June 30, 2008
You know you visit too many gambling sites when...
Last week I'm in the middle of a session on Party when the phone rings. For some reason I still don't know, I decided to pick it up for once. Conversation went something like :
Me : Hello?
Him : (thick accent I can't identify) Hello may I speak with Nicolas please?
Me : That's me.
Him : Hello, my name is Whatever and I work for SomeOBscurBookie from Costa Rica. We are a sports book and are about to offer lots of Euro cup bets as well as new stuff for the NFL and NHL next season. Would you be interested?
Me : . . .
Brag : Bookies in Costa Rica know me...
Beat : ...and are spamming me by phone...
Variance : ...even though I've never made a single sports bet online.
Me : Hello?
Him : (thick accent I can't identify) Hello may I speak with Nicolas please?
Me : That's me.
Him : Hello, my name is Whatever and I work for SomeOBscurBookie from Costa Rica. We are a sports book and are about to offer lots of Euro cup bets as well as new stuff for the NFL and NHL next season. Would you be interested?
Me : . . .
Brag : Bookies in Costa Rica know me...
Beat : ...and are spamming me by phone...
Variance : ...even though I've never made a single sports bet online.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Breaking even...
Well June is almost over and I still have some hope of making it an at least breakeven month. I'm down about 2.5 buy ins and have been for what seems like ages. Made me realize how draining long break even stretches can be. And I don't mean gut-wrenching frustrating downswings where you question everything. Just a slow, draining weariness. Gain a bit, lose it back... lose a bit, gain it back...
I guess in a game that tend to be as result oriented as poker, the status quo is pretty rough. Poker is a game where we expect to either win or lose money. That's probably why breaking even can give you (well me anyway) a sense of futility. I guess it would be like walking for a few hours expecting to get somewhere only to find yourself standing right where you started.
On a good note though, I will be VERY close to my 12K hands goal for June, so my volume of play is good considering it's summer and well... summers are traditionally pretty busy for me. Like this week end, another touch football tourney.
I guess I'll be back here for my June recap.
I guess in a game that tend to be as result oriented as poker, the status quo is pretty rough. Poker is a game where we expect to either win or lose money. That's probably why breaking even can give you (well me anyway) a sense of futility. I guess it would be like walking for a few hours expecting to get somewhere only to find yourself standing right where you started.
On a good note though, I will be VERY close to my 12K hands goal for June, so my volume of play is good considering it's summer and well... summers are traditionally pretty busy for me. Like this week end, another touch football tourney.
I guess I'll be back here for my June recap.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Mid-June update
Well other than the fact that I'm getting destroyed in our WSOP pool things are going good so far in June.
The month is in the green so far, even though I've had a pretty roug hevening last night. You know, the kind of evening where nothing hits, your borderline hands get re-raised all the time etc etc etc. The kind of night where you're dealt Kings 5 times and win only once with them... Anyway, not complaining, I've had my shares of insane heaters so it's all good. Anyway I managed to lose only about 60 Big Blinds in the whole evening so that was good.
The last few days, as a change of pace, I've started playing 0.25/0.50 HORSE on FullTilt. Strangely, Hold'Em is my worst game when playing HORSE. I just can't figure out Limit Hold'Em. Still, having lots of fun dabbling in these other games and I think I can hold my own. I roughly broke even last night. I find that patience is even more important at mixed games than when playing NL. I tend to want to play all the games, so if I spend a Razz rotation getting dealt a bunch of bananas for example, I tend to grow impatient.
Anyway, playing a bit of HORSE and doing my session review for 2+2 has eaten a bit in my NLHE time so I'm still behind pace for my goal. Not nervous though, I still think I'll hit it. All I need is a few big nights of play and a free week end.
The month is in the green so far, even though I've had a pretty roug hevening last night. You know, the kind of evening where nothing hits, your borderline hands get re-raised all the time etc etc etc. The kind of night where you're dealt Kings 5 times and win only once with them... Anyway, not complaining, I've had my shares of insane heaters so it's all good. Anyway I managed to lose only about 60 Big Blinds in the whole evening so that was good.
The last few days, as a change of pace, I've started playing 0.25/0.50 HORSE on FullTilt. Strangely, Hold'Em is my worst game when playing HORSE. I just can't figure out Limit Hold'Em. Still, having lots of fun dabbling in these other games and I think I can hold my own. I roughly broke even last night. I find that patience is even more important at mixed games than when playing NL. I tend to want to play all the games, so if I spend a Razz rotation getting dealt a bunch of bananas for example, I tend to grow impatient.
Anyway, playing a bit of HORSE and doing my session review for 2+2 has eaten a bit in my NLHE time so I'm still behind pace for my goal. Not nervous though, I still think I'll hit it. All I need is a few big nights of play and a free week end.
Monday, June 09, 2008
WSOP prop bet update
Well it's not going well for Team Nic.
So far the only cash I have is a small cash by Cunningham while Seidel and Negreanu both raked in bigger cashes. The finish by Negreanu in the 10K Stud event is particularly rough. Just to make it worse, today is the 2-7 event which is one of Negreanu's good games.
Anyway, the WSOP are a long thing and it's still to early to call this thing off.
So far the only cash I have is a small cash by Cunningham while Seidel and Negreanu both raked in bigger cashes. The finish by Negreanu in the 10K Stud event is particularly rough. Just to make it worse, today is the 2-7 event which is one of Negreanu's good games.
Anyway, the WSOP are a long thing and it's still to early to call this thing off.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Quick start of June post.
Well my playing pace to begin June is already much better than it was in May. Yesterday was the first day of June I could play and I logged a thousand hands. Obviously it's still early in the month, and June is usually a pretty busy month. That said, I'm pretty confident I'll reach my 12K goal.
Alex and I made a prop bet about this year's World Series. We both picked 2 players, and whoever's team cashes more wins. I have Hellmuth and Cunningham and he has Seidel and Negreanu. So far none of our guys cashed, but this makes following the WSOP a bit more interesting.
Over & out.
Alex and I made a prop bet about this year's World Series. We both picked 2 players, and whoever's team cashes more wins. I have Hellmuth and Cunningham and he has Seidel and Negreanu. So far none of our guys cashed, but this makes following the WSOP a bit more interesting.
Over & out.
Friday, May 30, 2008
May thoughts and June goals... or how Nic failed
I guess I should be happy about having the best monthly results I've ever had. But I fell so short of my goals that I can't spin this in a way to make me feel good.
My May goals were :
- Play 15,000 hands of online NL Hold'Em
- Post a winning month
- Take a shot at NL25
- Keep updating this blog.
Now I definitly managed to achieve 3 of these goals. But 8885 hands in a month?!? This is nowhere near what I need to put out. The last time I played less than 9K hands was in december!
On the good side, I managed to move up to NL25. Actually most of my month was played at that level. One of my yearly goal was to move up to NL25 by this summer and doing so at the beginning of May is definitly satisfying. I also feel that I kept that blog updated pretty well. But I definitly have to play more hands than this. This is especially true since I want to make bonus whoring one of my focus for the next few months.
Now where does that leave me for June. Well, here are my June goals :
- Play 12,000 hands of online NL Hold'Em
- Post a winning month
- Deposit on CD Poker and start clearing the 200$ 1st time deposit bonus there
- Keep updating this blog.
Now about bonuses. Browsing through the bonus whores site I managed to find a few bonuses that are definitly clearable at NL25. This should help me take shots at NL50 earlier than anticipated. The first one I will attack will be the 200$ bonus on CD poker. Seems relatively easy to clear at NL25. Then I might take a shot at the 600$ deposit on FullTilt. Seems clearable at NL25, would also finally release the money I have on FullTilt and won in a freeroll a while ago! Clearing the FullTilt Bonus might be a bit of a stretch at NL25... but I'll evaluate things once I clear the bonus at CD Poker. By then my roll might be enough to take shots at NL50, so who knows...
Anyway, if you're a poker player and haven't checked bonus whores I think you owe it to yourself to take a look at it... unless you hate money
My May goals were :
- Play 15,000 hands of online NL Hold'Em
- Post a winning month
- Take a shot at NL25
- Keep updating this blog.
Now I definitly managed to achieve 3 of these goals. But 8885 hands in a month?!? This is nowhere near what I need to put out. The last time I played less than 9K hands was in december!
On the good side, I managed to move up to NL25. Actually most of my month was played at that level. One of my yearly goal was to move up to NL25 by this summer and doing so at the beginning of May is definitly satisfying. I also feel that I kept that blog updated pretty well. But I definitly have to play more hands than this. This is especially true since I want to make bonus whoring one of my focus for the next few months.
Now where does that leave me for June. Well, here are my June goals :
- Play 12,000 hands of online NL Hold'Em
- Post a winning month
- Deposit on CD Poker and start clearing the 200$ 1st time deposit bonus there
- Keep updating this blog.
Now about bonuses. Browsing through the bonus whores site I managed to find a few bonuses that are definitly clearable at NL25. This should help me take shots at NL50 earlier than anticipated. The first one I will attack will be the 200$ bonus on CD poker. Seems relatively easy to clear at NL25. Then I might take a shot at the 600$ deposit on FullTilt. Seems clearable at NL25, would also finally release the money I have on FullTilt and won in a freeroll a while ago! Clearing the FullTilt Bonus might be a bit of a stretch at NL25... but I'll evaluate things once I clear the bonus at CD Poker. By then my roll might be enough to take shots at NL50, so who knows...
Anyway, if you're a poker player and haven't checked bonus whores I think you owe it to yourself to take a look at it... unless you hate money
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
PokerStars China quake relief fund
PokerStars is organizing a fund raiser to help the victims of the China earthquake (if you've been living under a rock for the last few weeks, a big earthquake hit China and millions of people are now homeless).
I urge all of my readers to donate through this mean. Pokerstars will match any donation made by pokerstars players. You can find special "events" listed in the "Special" tourney tab. These events are not really tourneys, they are just a way to donate from $1 to $100 to the quake relief fund. Please donate whatever you can afford. This is a good cause, these millions of quake refugees need any help they can get.
I urge all of my readers to donate through this mean. Pokerstars will match any donation made by pokerstars players. You can find special "events" listed in the "Special" tourney tab. These events are not really tourneys, they are just a way to donate from $1 to $100 to the quake relief fund. Please donate whatever you can afford. This is a good cause, these millions of quake refugees need any help they can get.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Ultimate Bet (must read)
Well I know I don't have that many readers, but still. This story needs to get out so there it is. In short, there is a new superuser account scandal in online poker. This time it's at Ultimate Bet, which is strangely owned by the same company as Absolute Poker. Anyway, follow the link for a much better explanation of the issue than I could myself give.
http://www.ultimatebetcheats.com/
http://www.ultimatebetcheats.com/
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Week end recap
This week end was our first touch football tourney of the year. Our team has been through a lot of changes in the past year and the lineup is quite different. Actually there were a few players that were playing with us for the first time.
Anyway, things got off to a pretty bad start, we lost our 2 first "qualifier" games. The way these tourneys are done is the first 2 games you play are used to rate the teams and then the real tourney begins. We lost both qualifying games although they were both pretty closely fought. It all started kinda bad for me as in the first game I had a hard collision with another player that left me gasping for breath and with VERY sore ribs (not sure sore is the right word... they're hurting like hell is more like it.). That's the problem with being tall, in the event of a collision, other people's shoulders come straight in your ribs.
Anyway, on sunday we opened up and won all our games... except the finals. Oh well, it was fun seeing the progress we made as a team over the whole week end and I definitly see good things ahead for the Marauders this year! Now if only these ribs could heal...
What? Poker?? Oh yeah... I played a bit and won some money.
Anyway, things got off to a pretty bad start, we lost our 2 first "qualifier" games. The way these tourneys are done is the first 2 games you play are used to rate the teams and then the real tourney begins. We lost both qualifying games although they were both pretty closely fought. It all started kinda bad for me as in the first game I had a hard collision with another player that left me gasping for breath and with VERY sore ribs (not sure sore is the right word... they're hurting like hell is more like it.). That's the problem with being tall, in the event of a collision, other people's shoulders come straight in your ribs.
Anyway, on sunday we opened up and won all our games... except the finals. Oh well, it was fun seeing the progress we made as a team over the whole week end and I definitly see good things ahead for the Marauders this year! Now if only these ribs could heal...
What? Poker?? Oh yeah... I played a bit and won some money.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Mid month update
Well all it took was a few unexpected family matters to put me way behind on my May goals. I'm actually not doing too badly considering that I have been playing NL25 for the last few days, but on the volume side of things well I'm not even close.
With touch football tournaments right around the corner, family events popping up and good weather trying to bring my ass outside, it will be very tough to hit the 15K hands mark. But I'll still give it my best shot.
Results-wise, May is going very well so far. Yesterday I've had a sick day and managed to make about as much playing NL25 as I did working my day job as a software developer!
Outside of poker things have been going pretty good. As I've mentionned, touch football tournaments season is about to begin and I think we'll field a pretty competitive team this year. Anyway we should be good enough to make it interesting. For the first time in years, the QB position seems to be settled and has some stability. This should be huge. I see big things this year for the Marauders!
I've also been planning on brewing beer again. Not sure what we'll do yet, but a good buddy of mine named Charles and I will try to come up with something good towards the end of the month. Sadly, probably won't be ready to drink until the end of summer.
I've also started planning a trip for next year. I am still undecided on the destination. Finally watching "An Inconvenient truth" (if you haven't seen it go watch it! Like right NOW!) last week made me want to visit some northern place. Guess the great north needs to be seen before it's gone. Anybody knows of good tours in Greenland or Alaska??
With touch football tournaments right around the corner, family events popping up and good weather trying to bring my ass outside, it will be very tough to hit the 15K hands mark. But I'll still give it my best shot.
Results-wise, May is going very well so far. Yesterday I've had a sick day and managed to make about as much playing NL25 as I did working my day job as a software developer!
Outside of poker things have been going pretty good. As I've mentionned, touch football tournaments season is about to begin and I think we'll field a pretty competitive team this year. Anyway we should be good enough to make it interesting. For the first time in years, the QB position seems to be settled and has some stability. This should be huge. I see big things this year for the Marauders!
I've also been planning on brewing beer again. Not sure what we'll do yet, but a good buddy of mine named Charles and I will try to come up with something good towards the end of the month. Sadly, probably won't be ready to drink until the end of summer.
I've also started planning a trip for next year. I am still undecided on the destination. Finally watching "An Inconvenient truth" (if you haven't seen it go watch it! Like right NOW!) last week made me want to visit some northern place. Guess the great north needs to be seen before it's gone. Anybody knows of good tours in Greenland or Alaska??
Thursday, May 01, 2008
April thoughts and May goals.
A quick recap on april and then I'll move on to my May goals. The goals I had stated for myself for april were :
- Play 12K hands of NLHE online
- Play at least 3 times at the casino
- Post a winning month online
- Keep updating this blog as frequently as I did in March.
Now other than the casino play I reached all 3 of my goals. I played over 12K hands and definitly feel like I could have played more. While I had a pretty big downswing (more on that later on) I still finished the month up which is always good. Means that in the last 6 months I've only had one losing month which I'm pretty proud of. Now the casino play took a backseat after that bad evening I had there at the beginning of april. This was a conscious decision and I'm glad I let that goal go.
Now what's next for May? Well I want to play even more than in April. I want to again post a positive month and, of course, I want to keep that blog updated. So here are my goals for the month of May :
- Play 15,000 hands of online NL Hold'Em
- Post a winning month
- Take a shot at NL25
- Keep updating this blog.
The most interesting thing that happened though in the last few days is that I had sort of an epiphany. I just realised why my game is pretty swingy. I play my drawing hands VERY aggressively. If I have an open ended straight draw or a flush draw out there I'll go out and fire bets. This means that when I hit my draws I will win bigger pots on average, but it also means that when I don't hit, I kinda "spew".
I am still not sure if it's something I want to change in my game. I think I'll just start by trying to pick my spots better for my semi-bluffs. Anyway, you can call me stupid for just realising this... I'm just glad I did!
- Play 12K hands of NLHE online
- Play at least 3 times at the casino
- Post a winning month online
- Keep updating this blog as frequently as I did in March.
Now other than the casino play I reached all 3 of my goals. I played over 12K hands and definitly feel like I could have played more. While I had a pretty big downswing (more on that later on) I still finished the month up which is always good. Means that in the last 6 months I've only had one losing month which I'm pretty proud of. Now the casino play took a backseat after that bad evening I had there at the beginning of april. This was a conscious decision and I'm glad I let that goal go.
Now what's next for May? Well I want to play even more than in April. I want to again post a positive month and, of course, I want to keep that blog updated. So here are my goals for the month of May :
- Play 15,000 hands of online NL Hold'Em
- Post a winning month
- Take a shot at NL25
- Keep updating this blog.
The most interesting thing that happened though in the last few days is that I had sort of an epiphany. I just realised why my game is pretty swingy. I play my drawing hands VERY aggressively. If I have an open ended straight draw or a flush draw out there I'll go out and fire bets. This means that when I hit my draws I will win bigger pots on average, but it also means that when I don't hit, I kinda "spew".
I am still not sure if it's something I want to change in my game. I think I'll just start by trying to pick my spots better for my semi-bluffs. Anyway, you can call me stupid for just realising this... I'm just glad I did!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
April 2008 online results
Well... not as pretty as I was hoping for (especially when I was at that mid-point) but hey... a winning month is a winning month! Will write a month recap tomorrow.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Lesson of the day
When everybody gives you a particular advice, maybe you should follow it.
Last night I finally decided to deposit on PartyPoker, mostly to clear the 5 free books bonus from 2+2. Wow... just wow. First of all, if you have not cleared that bonus yet you owe it to yourself to do it. It's stupid easy. Took me about 350 hands to get a 25$ + 5 free books bonus. And that's playing NL10. Add to that the fact that the games last night were super soft and that makes for a pretty fun evening.
I guess the next few days will tell how much last night I was just running hot (didn't really feel like it) or how much the night games really are soft on party.
Right now I've moved about half of my roll on PartyPoker and I will most likely play a bit on stars AND party for a while. The plan is still to move up to NL25 asap and the way things look, it might be pretty quick doing that on party.
I am currently a bit behind on the pace for 12K hands in april, but I have a few days off scheduled before the end of the month so I'm pretty confident about it. That said, my goal of going 3 times to the casino will probably fall short.
Last night I finally decided to deposit on PartyPoker, mostly to clear the 5 free books bonus from 2+2. Wow... just wow. First of all, if you have not cleared that bonus yet you owe it to yourself to do it. It's stupid easy. Took me about 350 hands to get a 25$ + 5 free books bonus. And that's playing NL10. Add to that the fact that the games last night were super soft and that makes for a pretty fun evening.
I guess the next few days will tell how much last night I was just running hot (didn't really feel like it) or how much the night games really are soft on party.
Right now I've moved about half of my roll on PartyPoker and I will most likely play a bit on stars AND party for a while. The plan is still to move up to NL25 asap and the way things look, it might be pretty quick doing that on party.
I am currently a bit behind on the pace for 12K hands in april, but I have a few days off scheduled before the end of the month so I'm pretty confident about it. That said, my goal of going 3 times to the casino will probably fall short.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Taking a leap
Alright. This blog has been my secret garden for quite a while now. I think I have one and a half regular readers (if you count my cat who's sitting on my lap when I write most of these entries.).
I've been playing with the idea of going "public" for a while and I finally came to the decision of doing it. To be honest I have absolutely no clue how many readers posting that blog on 2+2 will bring (and to be honest I don't care all that much) and I also wonder what is the value of yet another micro stakes donkey spewtard poker player blog is. But it doesn't matter, I'll make this thing public and if anybody enjoys reading it then good. If not well... I won't lose any sleep over it.
So there it goes, if you're a new reader I guess a bit of an introduction is due. I'm a 30 years old software programmer who happens to have fallen in love with poker about a year and a half ago. I've been taking it particularly seriously for the past 6 months. I am currently grinding the microstakes (NL10 to be precise) and am hoping to climb up the ladder and (dare I say it?) maybe make poker my main source of income at some point.
This blog is a little more than a year old and I'm not sure how much value there is to read it all, but if you feel like it it's all archived.
Hope you enjoy... or not.
I've been playing with the idea of going "public" for a while and I finally came to the decision of doing it. To be honest I have absolutely no clue how many readers posting that blog on 2+2 will bring (and to be honest I don't care all that much) and I also wonder what is the value of yet another micro stakes donkey spewtard poker player blog is. But it doesn't matter, I'll make this thing public and if anybody enjoys reading it then good. If not well... I won't lose any sleep over it.
So there it goes, if you're a new reader I guess a bit of an introduction is due. I'm a 30 years old software programmer who happens to have fallen in love with poker about a year and a half ago. I've been taking it particularly seriously for the past 6 months. I am currently grinding the microstakes (NL10 to be precise) and am hoping to climb up the ladder and (dare I say it?) maybe make poker my main source of income at some point.
This blog is a little more than a year old and I'm not sure how much value there is to read it all, but if you feel like it it's all archived.
Hope you enjoy... or not.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
A taste of felt
Had a rough, rough night at the casino yesterday. Went there to play 1$/2$ NLHE and came back home with empty pockets. With hindsight I should have left the table after about an hour of play. I was already a loser by then, but the fact that I was not comfortable at the table should have sent me signals that this was not a good time to play there and I could have salvaged something at least. Guess that's part of the learning process, know when to leave a dry game.
The whole evening I had borderline hands. Like I raise from early position with pocket Jacks and get 4 callers (already a bad sign). Flop comes A-K-Q... what am I to do here? There's no way none of the pre-flop callers has hit that flop. So I check and then fold to a bet from a late pos player. A bit later I open raise from early position with pocket fives to get a call from a shortstacking rock. Flop comes 8-8-3 and I figure that if he has a hand like two overcards I could get him to fold by making a continuation bet. I fire for about two thirds of the pot and he re-raises me. After that raise he was basically commited to throw the rest in on the turn. I muck my fives and keep on bleeding my chips away.
Oh well... life goes on. Time to lick my wounds before I go back to that battle.
The whole evening I had borderline hands. Like I raise from early position with pocket Jacks and get 4 callers (already a bad sign). Flop comes A-K-Q... what am I to do here? There's no way none of the pre-flop callers has hit that flop. So I check and then fold to a bet from a late pos player. A bit later I open raise from early position with pocket fives to get a call from a shortstacking rock. Flop comes 8-8-3 and I figure that if he has a hand like two overcards I could get him to fold by making a continuation bet. I fire for about two thirds of the pot and he re-raises me. After that raise he was basically commited to throw the rest in on the turn. I muck my fives and keep on bleeding my chips away.
Oh well... life goes on. Time to lick my wounds before I go back to that battle.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
April goals
Here is a quick bullet list of my april goals
- Play 12K hands of NLHE online
- Play at least 3 times at the casino
- Post a winning month online
- Keep updating this blog as frequently as I did in March.
- Play 12K hands of NLHE online
- Play at least 3 times at the casino
- Post a winning month online
- Keep updating this blog as frequently as I did in March.
March 2008 online results
Well March was kinda rough (isn't that some understatement?). First time in a while that I post a losing month. For a while there it was a downward spiral but it helped me identify a big leak I can have at times. Next step is to find how to prevent it.
Good thing is, I broke the 10K hands and the end of the month was not so bad. I managed to stop the bleeding and win some of my losses back.
On a side note, March was also the month where I kept that blog updated the most frequently with 13 posts.
Good thing is, I broke the 10K hands and the end of the month was not so bad. I managed to stop the bleeding and win some of my losses back.
On a side note, March was also the month where I kept that blog updated the most frequently with 13 posts.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Quick update
Well not much to say here right now but still thougt an small update was due.
The last few days have been pretty good. I don't think it's going to be possible to turn march into a winning month but whatever. At least I'm back on the right track and the poker gods seem to have forgotten whatever I had done to piss them off so bad.
Barring anythin unexpected I should definitly hit the 10K hands played this month which is basically my monthly goal right now.
I've been thinking about posting a link to this blog on the uNL forums at 2+2. Still not sure what to do about this. Kinda scary to expose this to the public eye... but at the same time if I wanted to keep this thing all to myself I guess I should not have put it online.
Anyway that's it for now. I will post more in the next few days with my end of month thoughts & results.
Over & out.
The last few days have been pretty good. I don't think it's going to be possible to turn march into a winning month but whatever. At least I'm back on the right track and the poker gods seem to have forgotten whatever I had done to piss them off so bad.
Barring anythin unexpected I should definitly hit the 10K hands played this month which is basically my monthly goal right now.
I've been thinking about posting a link to this blog on the uNL forums at 2+2. Still not sure what to do about this. Kinda scary to expose this to the public eye... but at the same time if I wanted to keep this thing all to myself I guess I should not have put it online.
Anyway that's it for now. I will post more in the next few days with my end of month thoughts & results.
Over & out.
Monday, March 17, 2008
I'm back! I'm fscking back!
GOD that feels good! Played about 1,000 hands today and managed to win close to 3 buy ins. Even better, I felt really comfortable and confident the whole time. I think I broke out of my funk and I'm back on track.
Stopped the bleeding... I think
Woke up early this morning (knew I wouldn't sleep too well) so I decided to log a few hands before coming to work. Well I had a pretty good session. I made a few bonehead plays again, but much less than the last few days (weeks?). Finally managed to have a session where I felt good about my game and managed to stay relatively focused.
I also started posting on 2+2 again. I think the 2 hands I posted from this week end are quite interesting.
Hopefully I can now move on and get back on track.
I also started posting on 2+2 again. I think the 2 hands I posted from this week end are quite interesting.
Hopefully I can now move on and get back on track.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Week end recap : it sucked!
What a horrible, horrible week end.
On the cash game side I played horribly and whenever I found a good play in me I would end up paying the best hand with the 2nd best hand. My roll is now in pretty rough shape and I have to reassess what I will do and do a lot of session reviewing to get out of that funk.
I am also finally out of the WSOP step thingies. After busting 4th, 2nd and then 5th on the step 3, I finally busted out in 9th, being kicked out of the loop.
Somehow I doubt I'll sleep well tonight.
On the cash game side I played horribly and whenever I found a good play in me I would end up paying the best hand with the 2nd best hand. My roll is now in pretty rough shape and I have to reassess what I will do and do a lot of session reviewing to get out of that funk.
I am also finally out of the WSOP step thingies. After busting 4th, 2nd and then 5th on the step 3, I finally busted out in 9th, being kicked out of the loop.
Somehow I doubt I'll sleep well tonight.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Surprise surprise!
Woke up this morning and, still half in my sleep induced fog, stumbled upon this :
Ottawa targets gaming
WTF?!?!?
Are you kidding me? I guess this had to be expected from the Harper administration. It's not, after all, the first thing that they try to copy from the "oh so purrty Land of the Free/home of the brave". I have to say that I'm quite pissed right now (isn't anger the second stage of grief? I guess my "denial" phase was pretty short uh?).
Ok first, if this comes to pass it will be ugly. I don't think it will prevent people from playing poker online, after all there's still lots of americans playing on pokerstars and FullTilt. It will just make it harder and complicated to deposit and withdraw money from these sites (I don't buy that the ISPs will block traffic to gambling sites). This in turns, will make the pond dryer.
The idea that they are doing this to "protect people from bad fraudulous offshore and indian companies" is ridiculous. Making online gambling illegal will not stop degenerates from throwing money around. Actually I would even argue that online gamgling sites and the micro-stakes they allow you to play are a good thing for degenerates! You can get your "fix" while risking quite less than in traditional Brick & Mortar establishments. Anyway I disgress.
I will definitly follow this quite closely and hope for the best. Right now, my main hope lies in the fact that a lot of the targeted sites are administered on Amerindians reserves. Since the Oka crisis (quite a while ago... I feel old suddendly), the Canadian govt has always been reluctant to mess with the natives. I hope this helps tips the scale in our favor....
See, I guess I'm already at stage 3 of grief : bargaining
Ottawa targets gaming
WTF?!?!?
Are you kidding me? I guess this had to be expected from the Harper administration. It's not, after all, the first thing that they try to copy from the "oh so purrty Land of the Free/home of the brave". I have to say that I'm quite pissed right now (isn't anger the second stage of grief? I guess my "denial" phase was pretty short uh?).
Ok first, if this comes to pass it will be ugly. I don't think it will prevent people from playing poker online, after all there's still lots of americans playing on pokerstars and FullTilt. It will just make it harder and complicated to deposit and withdraw money from these sites (I don't buy that the ISPs will block traffic to gambling sites). This in turns, will make the pond dryer.
The idea that they are doing this to "protect people from bad fraudulous offshore and indian companies" is ridiculous. Making online gambling illegal will not stop degenerates from throwing money around. Actually I would even argue that online gamgling sites and the micro-stakes they allow you to play are a good thing for degenerates! You can get your "fix" while risking quite less than in traditional Brick & Mortar establishments. Anyway I disgress.
I will definitly follow this quite closely and hope for the best. Right now, my main hope lies in the fact that a lot of the targeted sites are administered on Amerindians reserves. Since the Oka crisis (quite a while ago... I feel old suddendly), the Canadian govt has always been reluctant to mess with the natives. I hope this helps tips the scale in our favor....
See, I guess I'm already at stage 3 of grief : bargaining
Thursday, March 13, 2008
On to step 3!
Just managed to win a step 2 WSOP thingy on stars. Again in step 3 I have to finish 5th to stay in step 3, or 2nd to move on to step 4.
Will most likely tackle that tomorrow.
Will most likely tackle that tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Got through Step 1
Not much to say about tonight. Played a bit of NL10, winning sessions to finally break my break even stretch. Then played a bit of Omaha8 with pretty mediocre results.
Finally decided to give the WSOP step 1 another and managed to get through. Guess I might attack step 2 tomorrow.
Finally decided to give the WSOP step 1 another and managed to get through. Guess I might attack step 2 tomorrow.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Challenge is off...
Well I'm sitting at about 1800 hands with about 2 hours to go. Would have been possible to do it but I have a few unexpected things to take care of.
Conclusions? Well, since I have to call this off it's hard to come to any conclusions but I'll still try. I think spending a lot of time playing online poker (like maybe 5/6 hours a day) would definitely be possible. That said, this little experiment helped me identify things about myself that I would need to take care of. Mostly, I need to schedule breaks for myself. I tend to push it a bit too far before realizing I need even a short break.
This was by no mean a "huge extraordinary" challenge, but still fun. I definitely will try something similar at some point. Maybe even tomorrow?
Conclusions? Well, since I have to call this off it's hard to come to any conclusions but I'll still try. I think spending a lot of time playing online poker (like maybe 5/6 hours a day) would definitely be possible. That said, this little experiment helped me identify things about myself that I would need to take care of. Mostly, I need to schedule breaks for myself. I tend to push it a bit too far before realizing I need even a short break.
This was by no mean a "huge extraordinary" challenge, but still fun. I definitely will try something similar at some point. Maybe even tomorrow?
Friday night tally
Well I finish the night with 967 hands. A little short of the 1000 goal but still, getting to 2500 tomorrow is definitly still possible. I have overestimated the pace of the week end game a bit though, so it's not going as fast as planned.
Tonight ended up pretty well. It started ugly when I came back from work, but then I took a break and when I came back to the tables it went really well. If not for fatigue I would have pulled a few more hours, but right now my focus is starting to falter and I'm not playing my best. Figured it'd be better to get some rest and attack the week end fishies tomorrow.
Tonight ended up pretty well. It started ugly when I came back from work, but then I took a break and when I came back to the tables it went really well. If not for fatigue I would have pulled a few more hours, but right now my focus is starting to falter and I'm not playing my best. Figured it'd be better to get some rest and attack the week end fishies tomorrow.
Friday, March 07, 2008
2500
Somewhat inspired by the law school dropout blog, I decided to give myself some sort of challenge.
Before supper time tomorrow, I want to play 2500 hands of online poker. Figuring that's approximatly 10 hours of play on 4 tables. If I add more tables or realise that I'm crushing the required pace for the 2500 hands I might up that figure (and add it to this blog).
So there, you have it. Dear imaginary friends, I plan on playing 2500 hands of online poker before supper time tomorrow.
Before supper time tomorrow, I want to play 2500 hands of online poker. Figuring that's approximatly 10 hours of play on 4 tables. If I add more tables or realise that I'm crushing the required pace for the 2500 hands I might up that figure (and add it to this blog).
So there, you have it. Dear imaginary friends, I plan on playing 2500 hands of online poker before supper time tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Monday, March 03, 2008
Casinos! (finally)
Finally I got some casino experience under my belt! About a week ago I went to the Montreal casino on a friday night. Despite finishing the night stuck about 100$, I had a great time and I definitly feel that the week end night games are beatable there. I played 1/2 NLHE and even though I was a bit short and felt a bit pressured by having only 1 bullet and the bigger stakes, I ended up being pretty comfortable. The 2 biggest pots I lost in the night are a suck out I ended up being on the wrong side of and a play I attempted at the wrong time.
First I limp in a pot that has a few limpers before me with pocket 8s. Flop comes and 8 and 2 heart rages. I bet and an asian dude who seems to be a decent player flat calls. Turn is a rag, I bet again and get called again. River was a heart and I made a smallish bet and got called. He flipped over 10-5 of hearts for a rivered flush. He was fully aware that he was playing a trash hand but I guess he was in a gambling mood. Oh well... not much that can be done about this.
Then later on in the evening I pick up pocket 10s in the big blind. A guy who was playing somewhat tight and mostly playing fit or fold on the flop raises from mid position. It's folded to me and I decide that he's the perfect type of players to 3 bet light so I re-raise it. A crazy spew gambler to my left calls my 3 bet and the initial raiser calls. Flop comes Q-Q-5. I figure there's a pretty big chance he was on a hand like A-K or a medium pocket pair. I decide to fire a continuation bet. Crazy-spew-gambler folds and the pre-flop raiser min-raises me. So far I'm completely good with the way I played the hand, but here I should have folded. The guy played strong before the flop and is not scared by my close to pot sized bet here. So I have to give him credit for something like AQ. Instead I ended up calling the min-raise and check fold on the turn when an A came.
The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, but I can't wait to go back on a friday night and play with these spewtards again! Makes for a high variance game but in the long run I think I can be a big winner in there.
Then last saturday being in Gatineau I went to the casino there. Ended up with a bit of profit again playing 1/2. Not really any interesting hands that comes to my mind though. The one big thing for me though about this sessions is that I was focusing a lot on trying to spot tells on a few players and I ended up having really good reads on 3 players at my table and ended up exploiting these. One guy in particular I always knew when I would be able to push him out of a pot and I managed to win quite a few small pots against him thanks to that.
All in all I loved my casino experiences and definitly feel like I can make good profits there. So you can be sure I will be going back asoften as possible.
First I limp in a pot that has a few limpers before me with pocket 8s. Flop comes and 8 and 2 heart rages. I bet and an asian dude who seems to be a decent player flat calls. Turn is a rag, I bet again and get called again. River was a heart and I made a smallish bet and got called. He flipped over 10-5 of hearts for a rivered flush. He was fully aware that he was playing a trash hand but I guess he was in a gambling mood. Oh well... not much that can be done about this.
Then later on in the evening I pick up pocket 10s in the big blind. A guy who was playing somewhat tight and mostly playing fit or fold on the flop raises from mid position. It's folded to me and I decide that he's the perfect type of players to 3 bet light so I re-raise it. A crazy spew gambler to my left calls my 3 bet and the initial raiser calls. Flop comes Q-Q-5. I figure there's a pretty big chance he was on a hand like A-K or a medium pocket pair. I decide to fire a continuation bet. Crazy-spew-gambler folds and the pre-flop raiser min-raises me. So far I'm completely good with the way I played the hand, but here I should have folded. The guy played strong before the flop and is not scared by my close to pot sized bet here. So I have to give him credit for something like AQ. Instead I ended up calling the min-raise and check fold on the turn when an A came.
The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, but I can't wait to go back on a friday night and play with these spewtards again! Makes for a high variance game but in the long run I think I can be a big winner in there.
Then last saturday being in Gatineau I went to the casino there. Ended up with a bit of profit again playing 1/2. Not really any interesting hands that comes to my mind though. The one big thing for me though about this sessions is that I was focusing a lot on trying to spot tells on a few players and I ended up having really good reads on 3 players at my table and ended up exploiting these. One guy in particular I always knew when I would be able to push him out of a pot and I managed to win quite a few small pots against him thanks to that.
All in all I loved my casino experiences and definitly feel like I can make good profits there. So you can be sure I will be going back asoften as possible.
February 2008 online results
Well I finally took a shot at NL25. Sadly, this afflicted me with a severe case of Fancy play syndrome combined with a getting cold cards for quite a while. As you can see from the graph, results were pretty bad. Stepped down at NL10, returned to basics, and I am almost ready to move up to NL25 again.
Missed the 10,000 hands mark again, goal in march is to hit it. Also as a goal in march I want to move up to NL25 but for good this time.
Missed the 10,000 hands mark again, goal in march is to hit it. Also as a goal in march I want to move up to NL25 but for good this time.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Mid-month thoughts
February is going very well so far. I will need to up the pace a bit if I want to reach the 10,000 hands goal that I set myself though.
I've finally settled at NL25 and I don't foresee any reasons to move back down to NL10. My learning of Pot Limit Omaha is also going pretty well. I have decent, if a bit irregular, results.
Next week I plan to make my first field trip to the Montreal casino to try out their electronic tables. Can't wait to see how that will go!
I've finally settled at NL25 and I don't foresee any reasons to move back down to NL10. My learning of Pot Limit Omaha is also going pretty well. I have decent, if a bit irregular, results.
Next week I plan to make my first field trip to the Montreal casino to try out their electronic tables. Can't wait to see how that will go!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The ongoing heads up match
Alex and me finally got to go on with our ongoing heads up match we had started about 6 months ago. We upped the stakes a bit (we both added 5$ to our stack and kept going from where we were) and changed the formula a bit. Instead of playing pure No Limit Hold'Em we now play a rotation of games. Basically it's HORS... kinda like HORSE but without the E and the H and O are different lol.
- H : No Limit Hold'Em 0.02/0.05
- O : Pot Limit Omaha 0.02/0.05
- R : Fixed Limit Razz 0.05/0.10
- S : Fixed Limit Stud 0.05/0.10
I started out playing a pretty loose aggressive style with the intent of tightening up later on and it worked pretty well. I was mostly spewy in stud games and made most of my profit in PLO. I ended up ahead for the night, but still behind overall. Next time I'll close that gap! You hear that Alex? :p
On the online side of things, I have finally moved up to NL25 and PLO10. Things are going pretty well so far and I've been winning over my first 1500 hands at NL25. I definitly notice a small change in the strength of the field, but it's nothing too big. It will only force me to keep progressing and learning as a player.
- H : No Limit Hold'Em 0.02/0.05
- O : Pot Limit Omaha 0.02/0.05
- R : Fixed Limit Razz 0.05/0.10
- S : Fixed Limit Stud 0.05/0.10
I started out playing a pretty loose aggressive style with the intent of tightening up later on and it worked pretty well. I was mostly spewy in stud games and made most of my profit in PLO. I ended up ahead for the night, but still behind overall. Next time I'll close that gap! You hear that Alex? :p
On the online side of things, I have finally moved up to NL25 and PLO10. Things are going pretty well so far and I've been winning over my first 1500 hands at NL25. I definitly notice a small change in the strength of the field, but it's nothing too big. It will only force me to keep progressing and learning as a player.
Friday, February 08, 2008
The elusive NL25 and a goal recap.
Turns out NL25 is a tough bird to catch for me. Everytime I get close to my goal, I hit a small downswing that delays the inevitable. That said I have to be pretty happy about it because I'm almost there, 4 months ahead of my goal.
As for my other goals, well I've started playing quite a bit of Pot Limit Omaha. I really enjoy learning the subtleties of this game (the fact that the fields are so soft at micro-stakes probably helps making it fun for me.). Playing more Omaha makes even more obvious to me how simple No Limit Hold'Em is.
I wanted to play more live games in 2008 and I have to say I am pretty disappointed in myself so far. The casino opened it's poker room a month ago and I still have not set foot there. I am dealing a few tourneys soon though so that should help finance my first visit to the casino. I also have a day planned at the Gatineau casino the first week end of March.
Overall January was pretty decent. It was really swingy but the overall results were fine. February started even better so far, so I hope to keep it on the right track... and finally move up to that darn elusive NL25!
As for my other goals, well I've started playing quite a bit of Pot Limit Omaha. I really enjoy learning the subtleties of this game (the fact that the fields are so soft at micro-stakes probably helps making it fun for me.). Playing more Omaha makes even more obvious to me how simple No Limit Hold'Em is.
I wanted to play more live games in 2008 and I have to say I am pretty disappointed in myself so far. The casino opened it's poker room a month ago and I still have not set foot there. I am dealing a few tourneys soon though so that should help finance my first visit to the casino. I also have a day planned at the Gatineau casino the first week end of March.
Overall January was pretty decent. It was really swingy but the overall results were fine. February started even better so far, so I hope to keep it on the right track... and finally move up to that darn elusive NL25!
Friday, February 01, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Feeling good about a bad session.
I've been on a brutal downswing lately. Pretty sure part of it is the way I play, but also I've been running bad. Anyway, because of that swing it had been quite a while since I felt good about my play. Well that all changed last night.
I played on an off all night long and overall I lost money. That said, I finally feel like I've settled back into my game and that I am back to where I was at the beginning of January. I think the slow pace to which I've switched after my prop bet with Alex made me play with less focus. I was getting used to playing A LOT, and playing less made me impatient and wanting results NOW. Well last night I think I played really well. Minimizing errors and maximizing return on my good hands. Actually, if not for 2 brutal bad beats (will post more about them when I get back home tonight) it would have been an awesome session.
On a side note, I've decided to dip back in Pot Limit Omaha a bit. Well that is not going so well. Think I'll wait a bit for that. There is a really good PLO book out I want to buy, I'll wait to read it before I step back at an Omaha table.
I played on an off all night long and overall I lost money. That said, I finally feel like I've settled back into my game and that I am back to where I was at the beginning of January. I think the slow pace to which I've switched after my prop bet with Alex made me play with less focus. I was getting used to playing A LOT, and playing less made me impatient and wanting results NOW. Well last night I think I played really well. Minimizing errors and maximizing return on my good hands. Actually, if not for 2 brutal bad beats (will post more about them when I get back home tonight) it would have been an awesome session.
On a side note, I've decided to dip back in Pot Limit Omaha a bit. Well that is not going so well. Think I'll wait a bit for that. There is a really good PLO book out I want to buy, I'll wait to read it before I step back at an Omaha table.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Note to self
Next time you make a prop bet with Alex, add an humiliation bet to it... ESPECIALLY if you offer him to buy out of the bet :)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Patching leaks...
Nothing like sleep to give perspective to your problems.
I woke up with an epiphany : I overplay overpairs.
That has to be the biggest factor in my downswing. I think I was playing them fine until a few days ago, but being so close to my goal of NL25, I got greedy and tried too hard to get lots of value when I get a big hand (like AA, KK and QQ).
Glad I figured that out and now I can't wait to play, armed with that realization.
I woke up with an epiphany : I overplay overpairs.
That has to be the biggest factor in my downswing. I think I was playing them fine until a few days ago, but being so close to my goal of NL25, I got greedy and tried too hard to get lots of value when I get a big hand (like AA, KK and QQ).
Glad I figured that out and now I can't wait to play, armed with that realization.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Cooler
After the insane results I was having lately I guess a downswing was predictable at some point. Anyway, here's the biggest cooler of the night.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed)
BB ($18.15)
UTG ($9.35)
Nic ($10.45)
MP1 ($8.40)
MP2 ($2.25)
MP3 ($9.55)
CO ($5.75)
Button ($4.95)
SB ($9.10)
Preflop: Nic is UTG+1 with Qh, Qc.
1 fold, Nic raises to $0.4, 3 folds, CO calls $0.40, 2 folds, BB raises to $1, Nic calls $0.60, CO calls $0.60.
Flop: ($3.05) Ad, Qs, Th (3 players)
BB bets $1.5, Nic calls $1.50, CO folds.
Turn: ($6.05) 6c (2 players)
BB bets $2, Nic raises to $7.95, BB calls $5.95.
River: ($21.95) Ks (2 players)
Final Pot: $21.95
BB has Ah As (three of a kind, aces).
Nic has Qh Qc (three of a kind, queens).
Outcome: BB wins $21.95.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed)
BB ($18.15)
UTG ($9.35)
Nic ($10.45)
MP1 ($8.40)
MP2 ($2.25)
MP3 ($9.55)
CO ($5.75)
Button ($4.95)
SB ($9.10)
Preflop: Nic is UTG+1 with Qh, Qc.
1 fold, Nic raises to $0.4, 3 folds, CO calls $0.40, 2 folds, BB raises to $1, Nic calls $0.60, CO calls $0.60.
Flop: ($3.05) Ad, Qs, Th (3 players)
BB bets $1.5, Nic calls $1.50, CO folds.
Turn: ($6.05) 6c (2 players)
BB bets $2, Nic raises to $7.95, BB calls $5.95.
River: ($21.95) Ks (2 players)
Final Pot: $21.95
BB has Ah As (three of a kind, aces).
Nic has Qh Qc (three of a kind, queens).
Outcome: BB wins $21.95.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Week End recap
I played quite a bit this week end and ended up with a nice gain breaking for the first time $200 in my bankroll. At some point on sunday I was on a sick tear and was up to about $230, but then I got distracted by the NFL playoffs and lost quite a few pots to bad plays and a pretty nasty misclick. Still, the week end as a whole is really positive. I have not heard from Alex in a few days, but I'm pretty sure I've pulled ahead by some bit in our bet this week end.
I've been playing at a madman's pace so far in January. At that pace I should easily break the 10,000 hands in the month which would be by far my biggest month. Being back to 4 tabling helps a lot on that side of things. I feel pretty comfortable on 4 tables at NL10 right now. I don't know if I'll manage to get to $250 in January and move up to NL25 though, and when I'll move up in stakes I will most likely reduce the number of tables I play on for a while.
That's about it for today, going back to work now. God this week will be a long one. First full week after the holidays is always rough.
I've been playing at a madman's pace so far in January. At that pace I should easily break the 10,000 hands in the month which would be by far my biggest month. Being back to 4 tabling helps a lot on that side of things. I feel pretty comfortable on 4 tables at NL10 right now. I don't know if I'll manage to get to $250 in January and move up to NL25 though, and when I'll move up in stakes I will most likely reduce the number of tables I play on for a while.
That's about it for today, going back to work now. God this week will be a long one. First full week after the holidays is always rough.
Friday, January 04, 2008
2008 goals
I'm a firm believer that you will go further if you identify your goals clearly and keep them in mind. I had set myself the goal to make poker some sort of "sideline" job in 2007. Well I've made about 40$ in December, so even though I'm not quite there yet I feel I can say that this goal has more or less been reached.
Now what's the next step for 2008? A few things. Here's the list :
Move to NL25 before this summer and to NL50 before the end of 2008
Things are going good at NL10 and I am very confident about moving up to NL25 before this summer. That said, the aggressive bankroll management guidelines I gave myself tend to put myself in an uncomfortable spot when I move up. For that reason I think I will change them to move to real "proper" bankroll management starting with moving up to NL50. Not 100% sure and I will post more about this pretty soon.
Play live games on a more regular basis
And I'm not talking about just out homegame (even though I still enjoy it very much). I want to start to go to the various Montreal poker rooms (and maybe even the casino depending on their rake/structure) regularly. Live play is a big leak for me and I feel like I lack the observational skills/habits that helps so much in live play. Oh and I'm a fscking tellbox too... need to work on that.
Develop a game studying routine
So far I've been putting a lot of time into playing the game. I feel to speed up my progress I also need to start studying more my game and the game in general. I've already started doing stuff like posting hands for reviews on 2+2 and signing up for session reviews. All this kind of stuff will help me improve my game at a faster pace and I need to seriously get into it.
Put more serious time in another game than NL Hold'Em
Not sure which game it will be yet. The more I read about Limit Hold'Em the more it intrigues me, although I am not sure Fixed Limit play is a good match for me. Might be Pot Limit Omaha, seven card stud... who knows. I have not decided yet and most likely won't really bother with this until I have the bankroll for NL25. While in the learning process I will most likely play this (or these?) other games one stake lower than I play NL Hold'Em.
Now that these goals have been listed and stated, time for me to go work on them. Hopefully at the same date next year I will be as happy about the past year as I am now, and as focused on the next.
Now what's the next step for 2008? A few things. Here's the list :
Move to NL25 before this summer and to NL50 before the end of 2008
Things are going good at NL10 and I am very confident about moving up to NL25 before this summer. That said, the aggressive bankroll management guidelines I gave myself tend to put myself in an uncomfortable spot when I move up. For that reason I think I will change them to move to real "proper" bankroll management starting with moving up to NL50. Not 100% sure and I will post more about this pretty soon.
Play live games on a more regular basis
And I'm not talking about just out homegame (even though I still enjoy it very much). I want to start to go to the various Montreal poker rooms (and maybe even the casino depending on their rake/structure) regularly. Live play is a big leak for me and I feel like I lack the observational skills/habits that helps so much in live play. Oh and I'm a fscking tellbox too... need to work on that.
Develop a game studying routine
So far I've been putting a lot of time into playing the game. I feel to speed up my progress I also need to start studying more my game and the game in general. I've already started doing stuff like posting hands for reviews on 2+2 and signing up for session reviews. All this kind of stuff will help me improve my game at a faster pace and I need to seriously get into it.
Put more serious time in another game than NL Hold'Em
Not sure which game it will be yet. The more I read about Limit Hold'Em the more it intrigues me, although I am not sure Fixed Limit play is a good match for me. Might be Pot Limit Omaha, seven card stud... who knows. I have not decided yet and most likely won't really bother with this until I have the bankroll for NL25. While in the learning process I will most likely play this (or these?) other games one stake lower than I play NL Hold'Em.
Now that these goals have been listed and stated, time for me to go work on them. Hopefully at the same date next year I will be as happy about the past year as I am now, and as focused on the next.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
December 2007 online results
Well here is my monthly graph for December 2007. As you can probably see, I've switched stakes (around hand # 1600) and with that bigger swings came. Still I'm an overall winner which is always good.
On a bad note though, I'm now lagging quite a bit in the prop bet with Alex. I will have to work pretty hard to catch up to him. That said, last night I finished the year playing poker with a few friends in Gatineau. And what a session to finish the year! I more than doubled up what I bought in for, and I am pretty sure I was the last person to win a poker hand in Gatineau in 2007! I started raking the pot while the clock started to ring midnight :)
The biggest hand of the night though came when I flopped quads 7 and managed to double up by just slow playing against a guy who was playing super aggressive and had been bluffing at a lot of pots. I also managed to pull out a few plays at him once I figured he was just trying to bully people out of pots with his then biggest stack.
Anyway, 2007 was a lot of ups and down for poker, but finally I managed to be a constant winner and that is huge for me. Hopefully 2008 is even better!
On a bad note though, I'm now lagging quite a bit in the prop bet with Alex. I will have to work pretty hard to catch up to him. That said, last night I finished the year playing poker with a few friends in Gatineau. And what a session to finish the year! I more than doubled up what I bought in for, and I am pretty sure I was the last person to win a poker hand in Gatineau in 2007! I started raking the pot while the clock started to ring midnight :)
The biggest hand of the night though came when I flopped quads 7 and managed to double up by just slow playing against a guy who was playing super aggressive and had been bluffing at a lot of pots. I also managed to pull out a few plays at him once I figured he was just trying to bully people out of pots with his then biggest stack.
Anyway, 2007 was a lot of ups and down for poker, but finally I managed to be a constant winner and that is huge for me. Hopefully 2008 is even better!
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