Thursday Night...

My parents are coming into town for the week tomorrow, so I am not exactly sure how much time I will get to play. I am >10k hands for the month, so at least I was able to play a decent amount the final week and did very well. I should expect a downswing soon, but admittedly I have been lucky when I was unlucky. Many of my nasty beats have been against small stacks (.30-.70% of a buy in) so my bad beats did not cost me nearly what they could have. Plus, I had some nice hands where I was able to capitalize. I am hoping for some luck tonight...I have had excellent success, but even with the success I have taken my share of nastiness...if that starts to come back around, my results are going to be outrageous. I love poker today!! :) Let's see if I am saying that again in a few hours...

Doing poorly tonight...horrible play is the reason...mostly mine. Sure I had the standard suckouts, but I made things worse by making horrible river calls. I have myself to blame, but it is a good learning experience.

Still cannot hit a draw! Couple getting cold decked with horrible play and you are in trouble! Cannot hit a set or a draw! Streaky game though...lets hope for one soon...had QQ a million times tonight and never get any action.

ALL my small and mid pairs are missing and people are calling me light...so the board gets scary and i have to let them go..frustrating...

Finally flop a set and the board hits 5 clubs and i cant call a large river bet...shitty.

JJ v 99 lost on teh river...66 flop a set and lose set over set...ive lost the last 3 sets i have flopped!

I raise with AQs and dude comes along with 83o and hits quads...lose another on the river...time to shut down, lost a ton tonight.

Horrible night...I have had worse night playing sngs, but this was one of the worst. I called too much of my stack off, i ran bluffs far too many times....i was playing terribly and was only down about 1.5 buy ins, but i dropped about 6...horrible horrible luck, horrible play...lost a ton of hands on the river, lost 3 straight flopped sets, just QQ v 99, just tons of bad stuff...so bad luck was part of it, but i could have gotten away from some hands and need to be far more disciplined...gonna take some time off and come back later.!

Tonight has been humbling and frustrating. I opened so many pots because I was getting solid cards...pocket pairs, suited big and small aces, face cards, and nothing was hitting. when i did hit nothing was holding up...will get back at it...maybe drop down for some confidence...

Back at it...

Looking forward to playing tonight. About to fire up some tables. Updates to follow. A solid night tonight would be awesome!!

Got stacked but playing well...still up!

funny, i folded a suited A one time and would have hit my flush...so sad :(

dude limped KK on my bb and i hit 2 pair on flop...bet out the whole way and he calls...the board paired on the river to counterfeit my hand...so sad.

Hit a huge hand and up over 3 buy ins tonight...will update later because after I hit it Joaquin woke up...

I was up and down about a buy in at various times tonight. I got involved in a big hand and avoided trouble on the turn and river to take down a big pot. I had A9s and raised it up, button called and BB came along as well. the flop comes 3 10 J all hears and I hit the nut flush. button checks, i fire about half a pot sized bet and the button calls, the BB reraises the pot, I min raise and the button pushes! the BB, who has us both covered, thinks and pushes and i instacall. I knew I was up against at least one set, but I was hoping it would be 2 sets to eliminate some of the outs. Turns out the button that K7h and was drawing dead, but the BB had 33 and I avoided the board pairing to take down a huge pot. a hand or two after that is when Joaquin woke up and I had to shut down my tables. just under 700 hands tonight.

I have about 10k hands so far this month...still well under my goal, but I am happy with the progress of my game and my bankroll. I am comfortable at the tables and looking forward to playing every night...a big departure from when I was playing sngs...i almost hated to play because I knew that every sng would come down to the bubble and if I would get any hands or unlucky...it was a feeling of doom and frustration. NL cash is more of an art form and I love it!

Tuesday...

About to fire up some tables...I am looking for a solid session tonight. I am adjusting to the preflop aggression at the new level, but so far I have made solid progress and have over 33 buy ins for my current level. I am very happy about that. Let's see what tonight brings...

Playing well, but made 2 stupid calls...about even...

Coolered...QQ v KK for $146

Was on both sides of AK v QQ and lost both times :)

Went cold then heated up...i have noticed there are a lot more river bluffs...its crazy!

Lost Kings full to quad 8s...

What a crazy night...never was up or down too much, but I hit a few nice hands and lost a few nasty ones...did not suck out tonight and missed most of my small pairs mining for sets, flush and OESD...so I am looking forward to hitting some hands when the variance turns my way. I am also looking forward to when the rivers are not so nasty as to kill my hands or make the board so scary I cannot call...however, solid night.

Up over a buy in and played a lot of hands...let me upload and see where I stand.

WOW, 1,526 hands for me tonight...that's a ton for a dude with a full time job and 2 young sons under 2!

For the month, i knew i didnt play very much, but i have logged about 9500 hands. way, way too few. I know i will probably get to about 12k hands and hope to continue to play well. there was a stretch tonight where i regressed to playing way too loose...i think it probably cost me about 25 bucks, but I identified it quickly and put a stop to it...I was getting very playable hands on all 6 of my tables so I was doing a lot of raising and playing postflop...that seeped into my mind and I ended playing too many prospecting hands for about 5 mins. overall, solid night and won one more big hand than i lost...the odd thing is that I get it all in more at .50/1.00 than i did at .25/.50...

Players at this level are willing to bet quite large sums with marginal holdings...I need to learn to adjust and read the lines players are taking to help with the action on the turn and river...however, I am picking off more bluffs while not getting too overly crazy making hero calls...

Monday..

Ran into some big hands today. Ran into AA twice, but luckily it was against smaller stacks, $35-$60 stacks. Was up and down today, but finally hit a decent hand blind v blind. I was sb and raised with A4o and was called by the BB. Flop came A47 and I led out, was raised, i reraised and he pushed...he showed AK and I avoided the board pairing and ended up about half a buy in for the day...gonna hit a bbq and then maybe log some more hands later.

Sunday

I busted pretty quickly out of my freeroll today. I guess my heart was not really into it as I was itching to sit down at the 100NL tables. I have mixed emotions in that I know I can win at this level, but I would hate to go on a downswing and then have to drop down. I am well bankrolled, but some of the nuances of 50NL might be lost as I start to learn 100NL. Preflop, the aggression is noticeably more intense at 100NL. I think if I am able to hit a few hands that getting paid off will not be a problem. there is quite a bit more 2 and 3 betting preflop, so I am excited to see how I fare.

I did fire up 4 tables after my freeroll and played well. I was up about 40 when I got it all in with AA vs AKo. He was drawing dead by the river and I took $113 from him...was a nice welcome to the level. I am about to fire up another set...let's see how it goes.

Finally...

I was finally able to log a session at my new level. The game plan was to just 2-table, but I of course put myself on about 6 waitlists and then was able to open 3 tables...so I played 3 until a good table opened and 4-tables for about 142 hands. I just wanted to start getting a feel for the new level. There is quite a bit more aggression preflop, which leads to bigger pots (relatively speaking because I was expecting bigger pots, but bigger as a %age of your stack). I was able to make some nice plays, play back a little and picked up AA v AK where they were drawing dead on the river...thats always nice. So, i played 142 hands and up about 1.45 buy ins at my new level...definitely a nice welcome and gave me some confidence...a few notes from my session:

Preflop, there is definitely a lot more reraising. I need to tighten up a bit and be prepared to get popped...maybe some marginal hands that I would normally open with at my previous stakes I can limp and then call the raise for some deception if I would like to play those hands...I can see small PPs and Axs being played this way...

Anyway, I think the variance is going to increase for me, but it is amazing how much faster the pots build and how quickly you can win $40-50. This is going to be fun!!

Played just under 300 more hands and took down about half a buy in...was fun. I really enjoy this level, but I can see how it would be very easy to lose composure and quickly lose a few hundred...right now, I am very cautiously playing and I really like how I am playing at the tables. My A game is in full effect and I am playing my monsters well and avoiding trouble. I think I am up 2 buy ins today...yipee!!

Moovin' on up....

Had a really nice night. Just played within myself and I dont think my blood pressure ever went up at all. So happy with the way I played. Made a few nice calls, made some nice value bets, got away from a few hands where I just didnt quite know where I stood so i let them go...overall just a well played, very controlled session with excellent results. Let me upload the HHs to see where I stand for the session and overall. I know I am up over 3 buys ins... :)

Played 676 hands tonight...and now I am past my threshold to move up...100NL, here I come!!

Thursday

I am about to get started...I really want to start playing at my new stakes, but I should just be patient and stick to the gameplan although I know that moving up at this point or waiting for another few days does not make a whole lot of difference. However, it really is about setting a goal and living up to that goal instead of adjusting it just to appease my urges. It is all part of the discipline. So, I will be playing my normal 50NL stakes until I win another 2 buys ins and then move up to 100NL...

For those of you that have visited my blog, that will be an important day because it will make the first step in me achieving my goal. I will have been profitable at my current stakes and made the first step up in stakes. It will be a test to see if my game will stand up to the new level and whether I can adapt my game. I am excited...about to fire up a set...

Recon

So i opened up 4 - .50/1.00 tables to check out the action. I noticed a few differences. I saw, in a very short amount of time, a couple of people take marginal hands for their stack preflop...I thought they were a bit too aggressive. I saw someone bluff off $60 with a missed 6 high flush draw...I think if I can maintain a relatively loose image that I can get paid off a ton at this level. I think this will be a level where I can make a significant amount of money...I took a few notes on some players and will continue to check out the action. I will probably open a few tables as well over the weekend and see how I fare...

Off...and On

it has been a rough couple of days and I dont think i will be playing tonight. however, i am going to try my hardest to log a few hours wednesday and thursday. just a few more winning sessions and i will be itching, and bankrolled, to move up. again, i am already bankrolled by most people's standards, but i like to be over-rolled...i think that is a big departure from what most aspiring poker players prefer...but i am looking for sustainability.

on a side note, i might have to put poker on the back burner for a little while. i am not doing this to become a pro, but i look at it as a way to supplement my income, start a college fund for my boys, or make money for a nice vacation, toys, or whatever. so, i might be studying for a few tests to further my career. i will know more later, but poker might be something I have time for on a very limited basis in the very near future...a bit unfortunate too because i was just gaining traction - or at least it feels that way. i will do my best to log time - and i will log at least one session a week to get entry into my freeroll...but i hope to pass all of my tests within a year...being able to play poker might just provide me the encouragement i need to study harder to complete the tests...again, it is up in the air and we shall see what happens...

After we got the kids to sleep, it was a little late for Penny and I to hang out so she went to bed. I was planning on skipping poker tonight to spend some time with her, but I decided to open up 6 tables after she went to sleep. I logged about 370 hands and won over a buy in. There was some pretty crazy play...had a dude essentially bluff off his stack to me when he held 84o and missed on everything. I took down a nice pot when i ACCIDENTALLY min-raised 56s in late position and the flop came 666. i actually got some pretty decent river action and won a nice pot. Overall, good night. I got away from some sticky situations and capitalized when people overplayed their hands...

Freeroll!

I wasnt able to play this weekend as I was house/dog sitting. I am playing in the freeroll and doing well once again. Hit sets of Ks and As early and just took a stand nearing the bubble and tripled up when I hit a set of 5s and they held. I can fold into the money right now...but lets see what happens. about 48 left, pays top 45.

Really running well in this freeroll. There are 30 left and they pay jumps to $75 at 27. I did get someone all in A7o vs 910s. they hit the straight on the flop and probably a flush by the river...either way I was toast. that would have put me top 3 in chips, but I am sitting in the top 10...no complaints. at the 2nd break...

Chip leader with 10 to go...let's see how the finish goes.

Final table with a small chip lead...but almost twice the average. Looking for a strong finish.

Just took out a pretty big stack withQQ v 1010.

Just took out the small stack on the next hand...

Just had a player in AKs v AQo and the board hit broadway lol sucks!

Just busted the 2nd stack that sucked out AKvAQ...Took her down making a button move with A2 and i called with A10. hit a 10 on the flop and that was it... and im over 300k and no one else over 72k!

Down to 3 and i have about 80% of the chips.

I ended up taking 2nd...not bad...happy about it. I made a bad play heads up and let the dude play and he hit top pair on the flop.

I could have eliminated 2 more, but there were two pushes ahead of me and i was in the BB..I folded K8 and they both had weak aces and the flop came king high...could have eliminated 2 more.

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I have a few errands to run this afternoon and will try to log a few hundred hands later tonight. I am soo close to moving up. I am the kind of person that likes to be overbankrolled before he moves up, so this is a good thing. I think most people would have already moved up, but I am taking my time and making sure I am ready to move up when the time is right. Tonight's freeroll really helped boost my bankroll.

My performance in my weekly freeroll is awesome and unexpected. It is a weird format in that half the people dont show up. My hands have been holding up early and I have been able to get pretty deep. My races come through early as well...so i am able to get a decent stack before I end up taking my first real hit. I hope I can continue my success...

As far as cash, my cash game is going ok. I am profitable, but I think a session with the coach will be needed soon and I might get the new software to overlay my stats on each player. I am looking forward to taking my cash game to the next level!

Played about 45 mins of poker tonight. Had a few nice hands and quit. I am playing pretty solid, but my success is creeping into my psyche and I am playing a few too many hands. I need to pull back a little...but doing well. I should probably continue playing as it is not even 10 PM and I have a solid hour of time to play, but I am not going to fire up any tables and just relax...it is the start of a long week!

Wednesday

I am going to try to log some hours tonight. I was not able to last night as Penny and I had a tough time getting the boys to sleep. I fell asleep and that was that. I hope to have a few hours to play tonight...

Meeting my May goal will be a challenge, but I hope to come close. If I could hit my goal it would put me close to moving up...which is my #1 priority poker-wise. Once I move up, I will start with lessons again...looking forward to it. Let's see if I can get some hands in tonight...updates will follow.

Hit Kings up on the turn to lose to a set of Kings, and missed my nut flush draw with 2 overs to the pocket pair. Down 2 buy ins quickly, but won one back! Staging a nice comeback!

Down about a buy in after my first session. Probably be back in a bit to start session number 2. I havent hit any sets tonight...and on the final orbit before i was shutting down, i had one aggressive player to my right and left. the one to my right opened and i had 44. I was missing all my PP on the flop and decided to just muck it thinking it was probably my one chance of hitting...well, the player to my left just called and the flop came like 247 with 2 diamonds. they both got it all in with KK vs flush draw and I would have tripled up...oh well.

Started up another set...everyone is drawing out on me...pretty sick. Not frustrated though, cuz i have plenty of bankroll, but I wish my hands would just hold up!

Finally getting hot and getting action...fighting the urge to shut down and will continue to play. Up on the night...and, just stacked 2 more people...great decision!!

What an amazing hour. Just after I posted that I was going to continue playing, i got hot! Here are a couple of hands...

I have 66 and raise it up in late position. BB calls and flop comes 56J, BB checks I fire about half pot and he calls. Turn comes 6, he checks, I fire about 3/4 pot and he calls. River blanks and BB checks, I bet about half my stack...he hollywoods and pushes, i instacall and he shows JJ. I was playing on another table with the same guy I hit quads on and he had been very aggressive...he was reraising me preflop all in quite a bit and I wanted to catch him...but he really slowplayed his monsters...so I wanted to catch him playing fast...

so, shortly after on the other table, he puts in the standard raise from the button and i call from the BB with QJo. flop comes JJ7 and I raise about 3/4 pot, he pushes and i call, he shows 88 and I take another stack from him...THE VERY NEXT HAND I am dealt 1010 and he open pushes a stack and I think he probably has a small pair and figure I am dominating him, so I call and he shows AA. I flop a 10 and am just laughing!!

Anyway, great night...up and down, but I played well and am excited about the results...very up and down session!! Let me upload the hands and see where I stand.

1400+ hands tonight...up over 3 buy ins...awesome!

Monday

Lots of people drawing out on me and I am not able to get action on my big hands...overall its a little frustrating, but I am working through it...

Ended the night up a few bucks...i folded AA tonight on the river and I am not quite sure if it was a good fold. I think the player was a complete retard, but it was the night of the retard and the board was pretty coordinated and scary. I wont think about it again, it was a good fold...

I think I got a little spewy tonight and wasted a buy in or so, but overall not a bad night. Played well and had a lot of draw outs against me, though I did hit the 2 outter on a dude that had hit the 4 flush on me...so I feel NO guilt!

Ah, played 1000 hands of just about break even poker tonight...up and down all night, but ended up $2.10!! :) Another winning night!

Mother's Day Freeroll

My freeroll just happened to be on Mother's Day, but I was able to play it.

I sat down about 150 chips down because I was out and about, but I doubled up on the first hand and now am in the top 7 players. I havent been able to play this weekend, but hopefully I can cash here and make a few $$...These freerolls have been very good to me so far...let's see if I can go deep once again!

The past few times I have played this, I won my hand early and put pressure on people and have been able to get into the top few players by break. I am running pretty card dead after the break, but still above the average. I hope to get into the money and will open it up pretty soon after that.

Lost a hand were the dude drew out on me and limped ITM...busted out shortly afterwards. I built up a nice stack, but went completely card dead from about 15 mins before the break until I busted. Good thing I ran really hot...I again lost a huge hand with QQ where I had 2 people covered, I flopped top set and dude hit a 4 flush on the river...I guess I am happy it happened in the freeroll rather than on a cash table, but i guess if we were deeper ITM I would have been pretty pissed...anyway, maybe I will find some time to play later tonight...otherwise, it is going to have to be monday night.

Thursday

I played 4-6 tables tonight. I think tonight was one of my better performances. I didn't overextend myself and I do not know if I ever got it all in. I slowly chipped up, hit a few snags, kept my composure and got away from sticky situations. I am really happy with my play, however if I was to look solely at my results it would be a mixed bag. I am up about half a buy in, which is fine, but honestly I am very encouraged with my play. Let's upload the HHs.

Just under 600 hands tonight...not too bad! I am happy with the amount I am getting to play considering we just had a new addition to the family. Plus, I believe I am finally getting in enough play with regularity that I am feel the nuances of my game again. Encouraging, but I still need to pick up the volume of play. I really should have logged another hour!

Wednesday

I do not think I have been continuation betting enough...I have opened it up a bit and have been taking down a lot of small pots.

Playing OK...still making a few flop calls too many. I am not hitting any draws and I had an OESD and FD on the flop and ended up hitting my J high flush only to be coolered by the A high flush...still up and looking for a strong finish before hitting the sack.

One thing I do notice is that when I play a hand that goes to the river, the river card always brings the flush draws or pairs the board drastically reducing my ability to maximize the value for the hands I win, but many times it completes the draws and I lose the hand.

I am still really enjoying poker. Last month had some ups and downs, but I believe it was really more due to bad play. I did have some nastiness in terms of river suckouts, but that is all part of poker. I believe that because I was playing poorly and because I was going through a cold stretch that I was pulling back my aggression too much. Tonight's session I opened it up a little bit more and the results were pretty good. I was able to take down smaller pots, but also it helped with my image and when I do hit hands it will help disguise the strength. Not only was I doing quite a bit more continuation betting, but I was often firing a second barrel on the turn and that took down a few pots. It just really sucks when you fire that 2nd barrel OOP and get called - makes for a rough river decision.

May Goals

From my last post, it is obvious that the arrival of my second son has made my April a bit crazy. I know I was playing poorly and I pretty much had a break even month. I am looking to improve in May and believe I have a solid start. I hope to play between 18k-25k hands this month with a 4PTBB/100 winrate. Let's see how it goes.

Currently I am tracking to play about 14k hands again, but at least my winrate is approx 4.5 PTBB/100. Hopefully I can sustain this and pick up the volume a bit. I have experienced some pretty nasty variance, so hopefully I can have a stellar month. I am close to moving up, so this would be a great month to make a nice profit and use it to give myself a raise!

To those of you that are following my progress...I am hoping to make my first jump in levels by month end. So far, the experiment has been a success.

Very short session - Quick April Summary

Took it easy tonight and opened up 4 tables. Had a rough start losing about 5 on each table as I continually opened and missed flops. I did get to double up and decided to call it a night 112 hands into my session. Up just under a buy in...

I just realized I never checked my April stats. I played just over 14k hands, which isnt bad considering. I had some really bad play mixed in there, so a good part of my sample is me playing unfocused poker. I am starting to turn it around in May, but I need to return to my game instead of trying to be a player I am not. I had much better success playing within my own comfort zone.

I just under a buy-in in 14k hands in April!! :) Thank god for rakeback!

Ugh...

I seem to lose to a lot of draws. I am doing ok right now, down a little, but definitely need some positive variance here pretty soon...

Picked off a huge flop overbet when i flopped nut flush draw and finally got there!

Ended up on the night...not much but a little bit. Had a lot of river beats so I cannot complain. I had one situation where I flopped 2nd set, but the board was all spades, 4th spade on the turn and we checked it all the way down...he had the nuts on the flop and I was lucky to only lose a few bucks in a set over set situation...so I did get lucky at times as well...Played a little better, more disciplined and picked off a few river bluffs. Overall, solid night.

Freeroll!

Played in my rakeback freeroll and took 3rd for a cool $350. Sweet!

Playing OK

I am not listening to my gut. that is something I used to do, but this coaching and tweaking my game has me second guessing myself and trying to make plays. I am going back to my style and playing my game.

Lets see, flop K high flush and lose, finally flop a set and hit middle set and lose to the flush...coolered with QQ v AA. Grinding away...

Somehow up for the night...happy with those results.

Trying to find time...

Not a lot of time for playing poker as we adjust to our new addition to our family. I hope to log some hands this weekend. stay tuned.