Turning $25 into $10,000 (poker dynasty)

[GoSeahawks]

Day by day breakdowns are at the bottom of this post.

Warning The intro is really long, but I feel it’s worthwhile to this journal/dynasty. Also, I will probably slip into poker jargon a lot in this journal, but I will try to explain things for those who don't understand.

I’ve heard that if you play poker long enough you will eventually “run worse” than you ever thought possible. If you told me that a year ago I would have said that quote was from a limit player rather than a no limit player. I’ve always understood the concept of variance in poker. It basically means that no matter what you do some days, or how well you play, you will lose. In limit it happens by people outdrawing you because they can call bets until they hit big (plus the pot odds are ridiculously simple in limit). In no limit it’s different because you can always bet people off hands. Always is a massive exaggeration, but when you’re running well it’s true.

I started playing poker in the summer of 04 with a $50 deposit at Paradise Poker. Without really knowing what I was doing I hit up the 2-4 limit tables and ran that $50 to over a 1k….in one night. The first thing I did was pull out a couple hundred and proceed to tell everyone I knew how easy online poker was and that I was going to make a living busting these idiots. By the next night I lost it all.

A week later I decided to deposit $50 into Party Poker and try my hand at some no limit hold’em which of course wasn’t rigged like that damned limit at Paradise. The first night I won back my deposit and cashed out the $50 to start a clean slate. I played for a couple weeks and actually got up into the high $100’s. Then I hit a week long down slide into nothingness. Thinking back I probably shouldn’t have been playing $100 NL with a bankroll not even twice the buy in. Oh well, you live you learn.

After losing it all again I started reading post on twoplustwo.com about bankroll management and other in game strategies. About a month later I finally bit the bullet and decided to give online poker another chance. I went to various sites trying to deposit money but kept getting a message saying, “your bank has adopted a policy against online gambling.” I thought this was probably a sign telling me that my poker days were over. Then a thought popped into my mind that I should probably change banks anyway, but in the meanwhile I’ll play some fake money tables over at Party Poker.

I logged onto Party Poker ready for some play money games and realized that I had $20 in my account. I did some searching and realized they had given me a $20 COMEBACK bonus which basically stated that if I deposited more money within a certain time of playing I got to keep this money. Even though I wasn’t able to deposit more money I thought, “What the hell? I’m going to play with this $20 like a maniac and see if I can do something with it. And that’s how it all started.

Within the night I turned that $20 into $150 by playing like an absolute lunatic. My first big win was pushing all in with KJ suited in $25nl and hitting a flush to crack some guys AA (all preflop betting). Throughout the night I got progressively tighter to the point where I became scared of losing the money. When I did this my win rate went way down and it inspired me to do some more reading on no-limit hold’em (nlh).

The next day I went out and purchased some poker books and learned things like position and which hands to play. Throughout the next month I was only able to turn the $150 into a little over $300, but I hit a plateau in a major way. I got to $300 quickly, but couldn’t ever seem to get over the hump. Finally I was reading through this forum and saw a mention of Poker Tracker. It looked interesting and everyone seemed to rave about it so I purchased that as well.

For those of you who don’t know, Poker Tracker keeps track of damn near anything you can think of while you’re playing poker. It tells you how much you raise; how often you voluntarily enter pots and how aggressive you are once you are in a hand. I was quite shocked when the program auto rated me as loose and passive. It was quite a wake up call and it forced me to change my game completely. What it really did was show me that I was lucky to have ever won a dollar.

After Poker Tracker I found forums dedicated to NLH, and with that my bankroll skyrocketed. Within a couple months I had my bankroll up in the $1,000 range. After learning the game well enough, I felt I was ready to multi table. I hit some setbacks at first but realized quickly that in the long run it would be much more profitable. And from there things started to change.

I hit my first big week in February of 05 where I made about $600 playing $25nl. I decided that I would wait until I had 2k in my roll in order for me to move up to $50nl. From February until about June I had pulled out over 4k, but finally got to the point where my online bankroll was over 2k.

When I moved up to $50nl I realized quickly that my win rate was almost identical to $25nl. I was making 12 big bets in $25nl (big bet is double the size of the blind, so in $25 NL it would be .50 cents) and only 6 in $50nl. Even though it was the same I stuck it out because I had heard from a lot of people that the competition was worse at $100nl.

A month and half later I moved up to $100nl with my bankroll just under 5k. Things went really bad at first causing me to move back down, but I rebounded quickly. It’s common to have transitional periods, so I wasn’t too concerned. When I came back to $100nl I crushed the tables. I was averaging over $30 an hour and pulling the money out just as fast. By the time things came crashing down I had already pulled out over 10k, but my bankroll was still around 5k.

It’s hard to pin point exactly when it started, or how, but I blame most of it on myself. I started trying to mix my game up to the point where I would become extra sneaky and get burned, or I would try to fast play big hands and still get burned. There were some days where I had an aggression factor of 8.0 in 2,000 hands. A good aggression factor should be between 2.0 and maybe 3.5.

At first I lost 5 buy ins at the $100 level, but rallied a little bit and won back a couple hundred. Then the beats started coming. I went a week and something like 7,000 hands where AA, KK and AK were all big losers. I lost about $800 that week. Then I started to worry and started doubting myself. I started letting go of hands that I probably shouldn’t. The one hand I clearly remember is a guy mini raised from first position and 5 people called. I flopped a set with 88 and bet the flop. Some guy in late position was the only one that called my bet. On the turn I checked with the intention of check raising him. Instead he pushed all in for a little over $100 and I folded. The guy showed his hand and he had garbage. Normally I would have called but I was convinced he had a higher set. My game was shot and my aggression went down under 1.0 and things kept spiraling downward.

After three weeks or so I had lost a couple grand and had to move back down to $50nl. I thought this would help me regain my confidence, but it didn’t. I never once hit any sort of stride at $50nl and within a month I lost 20 buy ins. The amazing thing about this slide was that my poker tracker stats were right on with what they were when I was winning, except of course for the win rate. I couldn’t do anything to help my cause. In fact I got to the point where I couldn’t even sit down to play because I knew I was going to lose. Finally I went out and got a job.

With my bankroll less than 2k for the first time in a long time I pulled out $500 out and let the rest sit in there until I was ready to play again. Throughout the next month I didn’t play a hand. Finally in November of 05 I felt like dabbling a little bit at $50nl with my bankroll barley over a grand after a couple smaller withdraws. I went on to lose another $800. One notable hand I played $400nl, I flopped top two pair and lost to flopped set. I was being stupid with my money. After that I had pretty much sworn off poker, but I left the remaining $200ish online just in case.

On the 28th of February I logged back onto Party Poker. I had withdrawn all my money from Party Poker once they split with their affiliates last summer, so there should have been a zero balance. But to my surprise there was $25 in there just waiting to be played. I remembered how much fun I had last time playing with the houses money, so I thought I’d give it another chance. And that leads me to where I am today.

There will be differences this time around. I am not going to play poker as my only source of income. I’m not going to touch the money in my other online accounts because I want to see how far I can go playing strictly $25nl. I will play as many tables as allowed and if I go broke then I’ll go broke. I will realize that no matter how good I am at poker (or think I am) it is still gambling. And most importantly I will always remember no matter how good things get, I can always run worse than I ever thought possible……

Update
I want to make 2k by the end of this month. If I do that I will pull out 1k because I'm taking a trip to Florida next month. If I make it to 3k after the first withdraw I am moving up to 50nl. If I get to 5k I will be back at $100nl.

Daily Breakdowns
2/28 $2.66 4.98hrs
3/1 $46.31 4.38hrs
3/2 $47.60 3.22hrs
3/3 $65.27 9.38hrs
3/4 $78.85 5.00hrs
3/5 $187.51 5.87hrs
3/6 $62.25 3.97hrs
3/7 $113.63 5.27hrs
3/8 $38.93 5.10hrs
3/9 $53.36 7.93hrs
3/10 $354.28 5.97hrs
3/11 $53.56 4.50hrs
3/12 $66.30 2.48hrs
3/13 $140.98 6.05hrs
3/14 $58.81 5.02hrs
3/15 -$113.00 3.08hrs
3/16 -$10.57 1.15hrs
3/17 $87.91 4.1hrs
3/19 $47.68 3.60hrs
3/20 $83.33 4.80hrs
3/21 $9.33 2.22hrs
3/22 $111.06 7.98hrs
3/23 $67.00 7.41hrs
3/24 $106.24 7.55hrs
3/25 $13.36 1.68hrs
3/26 $70.18 5.23hrs
3/27 $18.77 2.18hrs
3/28 OFF
3/29 OFF
3/30 $88.80 5.27hrs
3/31 $47.68 3.50hrs
4/1 $139.85 4.42hrs

Overall Statistics updated 4/2/06
57,348 hands
15.51 vp$ip
6.02 pfr
2.77 PFA
141.67 hours
+$1,419.50
+$475 bonus money

[GoSeahawks]

2/28/06
This is the day that I learned about my magic $25, so I didn’t play very many hands. Actually, I couldn’t play very many hands.
290 hands
16.21 vp$ip (put money in pot)
4.14 pfr (pre flop raising)
2.00 AF (aggression factor)
4.98 hrs
+$2.66 that’s money baby


3/1/06
283 hands
19.08 vp$ip
6.01 pfr
4.71 AF
4.38 hrs
+$46.31
This day was pretty nice because I was finally able to play two tables at a time. I didn’t get much with two tables, but it gets boring with one.


3/2/06
478 hands
19.87 vp$ip
7.11 PFR
3.77 AF
3.22 hrs
+$47.60
This was a good stepping stone because I was able to play four tables at a time which fits well for my comfort zone. I also like seeing that I had nearly 200 more hands than I did on the first day and played fewer hours. GoSeahawks likes fewer hours.


3/3/06
1,823 hands
14.81 vp$ip
5.32 pfr
3.82 AF
9.38 hrs
+$65.27
I started out way down and spent most of the day playing on two tables. At then end of the night I was able to hit a hot streak where I made about $100 in 15 minutes. It fixed the whole day for me.


3/4/06
2,011 hands
13.87 vp$ip
4.28 pfr
3.08 AF
5.00 hrs
+$78.85
This was the first day where I started playing 8/9 tables at a time. I am noticing a trend where my vp$ip is going down the more tables I am playing. This is the first time I’ve noticed it and it’s actually sort of alarming. Who says journals are good for nothing.


3/5/06
2,749 hands
13.57 vp$ip
4.26 pfr
3.34 AF
5.87 hrs
+$187.51
This was a really good day playing 9 tables at a time. I held a 13.64 bb/100, which I think is easily attainable at $25nl. But with my vp$ip dropping every day I could never hold it. I need to get my vp$ip back up to around 15 or 16.


3/6/06
2,002 hands
11.89 vp$ip
3.95 pfr
2.68 AF
3.97 hrs
-$62.25
My goal for today was to get to 2,000 hands and I did. Today I felt like I played pretty well, but I had an under set three times today. I also lost an all in preflop to AA. Also, as a nice finishing touch I flopped a set of 7’s and the BB flopped a set of K’s. It pissed me off that he let 6 people into the pot and didn’t raise it. It was a nice $70 swing because we were both sitting on above full stacks.

Interesting notes for the day
KK lost me $55.35
Out of all the sets I hit today I lost a total of $30.14. That is very unusual.


These are pretty brief because it’s late and I have to get to bed. I’ll play another 2k hands tomorrow. I’ll try to raise my vp$ip, because I think playing this few hands is detrimental to poker success.

[mooreadamc]

Nice read, thanks for this!

[dixieflatline]

Wow forget about the VP$IP numbers that pfr percentage looks incredibly low. Do you open limp a lot to cause limpfests? Doesn't raising 5% of your hands scream monster when you do raise?

[Johnny93g]

19.87 vp$ip
7.11 PFR
3.77 AF


Can you explain these numbers a little more, are they averages, or totals.

[GoSeahawks]

Originally Posted by dixieflatline

Wow forget about the VP$IP numbers that pfr percentage looks incredibly low. Do you open limp a lot to cause limpfests? Doesn't raising 5% of your hands scream monster when you do raise?

I'm not worried about a 5% PFR. My old database had hundreds of thousands of hands and my PFR was something like 4.9%. IMO the aggression factor is much more important because once there's a flop that's where most the money is made. The PFR only seems to be useful if someone raises less than 2% or raises more than 10%. It basically gives you an idea of what they're holding.

[GoSeahawks]

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

19.87 vp$ip
7.11 PFR
3.77 AF


Can you explain these numbers a little more, are they averages, or totals.

vp$ip- The % of time that I put money into the pot voulintarily
PFR- The % of hands I raise before the flop.
AF- Aggression factor. (You are considered an aggressive better/raiser if your AF is above 1.5) It's some formula that takes into acount betting, raising, calling and folding. I'm not sure the exact formula, but I'll find out tonight and post it.

[GoldenEagle]

Originally Posted by GoSeahawks

I'm not worried about a 5% PFR. My old database had hundreds of thousands of hands and my PFR was something like 4.9%. IMO the aggression factor is much more important because once there's a flop that's where most the money is made. The PFR only seems to be useful if someone raises less than 2% or raises more than 10%. It basically gives you an idea of what they're holding.

I read your introductory post and I think I pinned as to what type of player you are. Let me start by saying that I am not an expert poker player. I play limit (which of course is different than no-limit but the fundamental concepts are the same in any poker form). What I am about to say may hurt your feelings but if you take the advice it will make you a better player in the long run. Poker is about maximizing your expectation. You can not just do this after the flop, it has to be done at every street. The reason you raise pre-flop is to knock out hands that are marginally playable. If I have 76s from the button and I see 3x the BB raise from UTG with no cold-callers, I am going to throw away my hand. However, if you limp in with a hand like AQ, I am going to call regardless if any players have entered into the pot.

If you were at my table, I feel like I could crack you pretty easy. The first thing I would do is get position on your weak ass. I would limp in with marginal hands because you’re not going to punish me for doing it . I would wait until I flopped a big hand and then sit back and let you take the action. I would let you lead every street and then pop you on the river. You may have made top pair, but I got a hidden straight on you. After you take a bad beat, it looks like you get real soft. I would push you off some hands with a bluff and really make you question your game.

I realize that you’re not going to run into that kind of thinking at $50NL at PP. However, I feel my point has been proven. It seems you have some good qualities to your play but you have some huge holes that have been exploited or else you would not have lost so much money. No Limit Holdem is about covering up your weaknesses and pushing your strengths. Playing a tight-aggressive style is not natural but it is something you must learn to do if you ever want to be a consistent winner.

[GoSeahawks]

Today started off horrible. I sat down at 9 tables of $25nl and in my first round lost a stack when I flopped a set of 6’s against a guy UTG that flopped a set of aces. About 15 minutes later I raised preflop with AK and the guy on the button called with A5 suited. I flopped top two pair, and the button proceeded to called off his entire stack in order to turn and river the nut flush. On that hand I lost about $20. I’m pretty sure this guy was mentioned in this article.

Going into today I set a goal to raise my vp$ip to around 15%. I felt that this would help my win rate, because my 11% yesterday was way to low to make a decent profit. After those first few beats I was able to stick to my goal. After a couple hours I broke back into the green. In hour four I hit a heater where I flopped four sets and got paid off on three of them. In the last hour a basically won small pots and didn’t lose any big one’s.

3/07/06
2,764 hands
15.88 vp$ip
4.99 PFR
2.25 AF (this is a little low for my taste)
5.27 hrs
+$113.63

Fun Facts
1. I hit 8 full houses today and got paid off on four of them.
2. I had AA 9 times, KK 16 times, and QQ 15 times and showed a profit on all of them.
3. AK off suit was my biggest loser at $33.39
4. I busted two people playing suited connectors today. Once I was playing 75s and the other was 56s. One time I flopped a straight and the next I turned a flush. One opponent was overplaying AA and the other was over playing KK.
5. Poker trakcer shows that I would have hit 4 four of a kinds if I had stayed in the hands. I only played in one, but didn't win much. I also would have hit a straight flush if I had only played 73s from MP1 (middle position).

Stats to Date
12,499 hands
14.50 vp$ip
4.67 pfr
2.93 AF
43.77 hrs
+$480.12
+7.68 bb/100
+$10.97 hrly rate (this is much much higher since I started playing 9 tables at a time)

[GoSeahawks]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

You can not just do this after the flop, it has to be done at every street. The reason you raise pre-flop is to knock out hands that are marginally playable. If I have 76s from the button and I see 3x the BB raise from UTG with no cold-callers, I am going to throw away my hand. However, if you limp in with a hand like AQ, I am going to call regardless if any players have entered into the pot.

If you were at my table, I feel like I could crack you pretty easy. The first thing I would do is get position on your weak ass. I would limp in with marginal hands because you’re not going to punish me for doing it . I would wait until I flopped a big hand and then sit back and let you take the action. I would let you lead every street and then pop you on the river. You may have made top pair, but I got a hidden straight on you. After you take a bad beat, it looks like you get real soft. I would push you off some hands with a bluff and really make you question your game.

I fully understand the reason why you raise preflop. The best NLHE poker players I have met online raise about 1/3 of the pots they enter (none of them are regulars at twoplustwo). That's why I have always been comfortable with 5%. If I played more hands I would raise more.

Preflop raising is one of the biggset misconceptions about success NLHE. Implied odds play a such a big role that playing 76s on the button to a raise is actually the correct play (depending the size of the raise and the stack size of your opponent). It's the same reason why you fold low pocket pairs in limit but not in no limit.

Also, I am aggressive on every street according to PT. I bet the pot on the flop depending on postion and I will fire a bullet on the turn depending on the texture of the board. I am pretty good at detecting draws and I am one of the few that will dump high pocket pairs if I think I'm beat. I live by the motto that you will never lose sleep by folding top pair or an over pair.

I realize that you’re not going to run into that kind of thinking at $50NL at PP. However, I feel my point has been proven. It seems you have some good qualities to your play but you have some huge holes that have been exploited or else you would not have lost so much money. No Limit Holdem is about covering up your weaknesses and pushing your strengths. Playing a tight-aggressive style is not natural but it is something you must learn to do if you ever want to be a consistent winner.

My game was exploited when I started losing. It changed me as a player to the point where I became tight/passive instead of tight and aggressive. After the time off I really think I've come to grips with how much of it was my fault. I had the belief that I couldn't lose before the slide, and when it happened I couldn't handle it logically

Lastly, what would you consider good TAG statistics for a NLHE player?

[GoldenEagle]

I do not play no-limit with any regularity (although I am looking to add it to my repertoire). If I was going to play it, I would play a loose-aggressive style similar to that outlined in Super/System. That style is not for everyone and I am not quite sure I would be good at it.

It is good that you can drop hands that you think do not have a very good chance of winning. I am guilty of sticking hands out to the river even though I know that they are beat. But I am limit player, in an odd way, making that play can be profitable if the pot is big enough. In no-limit, you do not have that luxury as your opponents can control the pot odds.

Lets look at the 76s play and plug in some numbers. If there is a raise in front of 4 BB and no one has limped in, then 76s is getting about 1.25 odds to play. If you just limp in, you’re giving the guy with 76s about 2.5 odds on his money, which is a much better scenario. Now let’s look at some numbers. I am holding 99 and my opponent is holding 76s. I am about a 75% favorite going into the flop (actually, it is about 79% but I will leave it at 75% for simplicity). His EV for when you raise 4 BB is -$1.625. His EV for when you do not raise is -$.125. When you raise in this situation, you make $1.50. Clearly raising, and getting him to call is the correct play. This is especially true if you have a sixth sense and know when to bail on a hand after the community cards come out. Do not be afraid to risk more up front when you are getting the better of it!

I also do not believe you can define yourself to a certain number range when playing. If table conditions are right for me, then I will push my raising percentage to around 15% which may seem maniacal. I believe in solid play, but that is for players with some serious experience. For now, I would stick to about 15/8/2.5. That sounds about right, but someone with more no-limit experience can correct me . Also, make sure you are loosening your pre-flop raising requirements as your position improves and you are opening the pot.

[GoSeahawks]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

I do not play no-limit with any regularity (although I am looking to add it to my repertoire). If I was going to play it, I would play a loose-aggressive style similar to that outlined in Super/System. That style is not for everyone and I am not quite sure I would be good at it.

Being a good lag is very hard. I've tried it but the results were never good enough to make it my identity. You get involved in big pots where you're holding marginal hands and it's tough to make lay downs. Playing laggy can be very emotional because of the swings. I heard some advice once that if you're comfortable as a TAG and everyone knows you're a TAG, play as a LAG once a week.

It is good that you can drop hands that you think do not have a very good chance of winning. I am guilty of sticking hands out to the river even though I know that they are beat. But I am limit player, in an odd way, making that play can be profitable if the pot is big enough. In no-limit, you do not have that luxury as your opponents can control the pot odds.

I played the same way in limit. I knew I was beat but it's only $6 more to call on the river into a $100 pot. If you're not calling you're losing money in the long run. My biggest problem in limit was my absurd post flop aggression. I often got carried away trying to get people off hands which resulted in me never being more than a break even limit player.

Lets look at the 76s play and plug in some numbers. If there is a raise in front of 4 BB and no one has limped in, then 76s is getting about 1.25 odds to play. If you just limp in, you’re giving the guy with 76s about 2.5 odds on his money, which is a much better scenario. Now let’s look at some numbers. I am holding 99 and my opponent is holding 76s. I am about a 75% favorite going into the flop (actually, it is about 79% but I will leave it at 75% for simplicity). His EV for when you raise 4 BB is -$1.625. His EV for when you do not raise is -$.125. When you raise in this situation, you make $1.50. Clearly raising, and getting him to call is the correct play. This is especially true if you have a sixth sense and know when to bail on a hand after the community cards come out. Do not be afraid to risk more up front when you are getting the better of it!

I also do not believe you can define yourself to a certain number range when playing. If table conditions are right for me, then I will push my raising percentage to around 15% which may seem maniacal. I believe in solid play, but that is for players with some serious experience. For now, I would stick to about 15/8/2.5. That sounds about right, but someone with more no-limit experience can correct me . Also, make sure you are loosening your pre-flop raising requirements as your position improves and you are opening the pot.

I agree about the table you are playing, but when you're playing a couple thousand hands a day the numbers should sort of fall in line with what's typical, especially at $25nl. It changes when you move up the stakes as the players get better

Also, my PFR from the CO and the Button is 8.7+. The number gets smaller every position away from the button, so I feel that I am playing my position accordingly.

Lastly, what limits are you playing right now GE? And how often do you play?

[GoldenEagle]

I have no doubt that being a LAG player at no-limit would be tough. However, it is the best style to play if you can pull if off successfully. It is something I am really going to study when I take up no-limit tournament poker and no-limit cash games. I am very interested in getting into these subject areas but feel like I have not put in the work to excel at it yet.

It is hard to bluff calling stations in limit poker. I am guilty of this as well. However, I constantly bet my marginal hands for value against weaker players. If you can do this alone, it will improve your limit play in the right games. I guess the biggest thing I can preach to anyone reading this and looking into getting in to the game is to know your table.

I am really concentrating on finding out how to beat better players. I have some materials I am going over. Most of my study is with limit poker, but it can be applied to al universal forms of poker.

I use to play 35-40 hours a week. I am really cutting back on that now and have not played in over a week. I am focusing on doing what is most important (graduating). I am going to get back into the game soon, but I not going to put the hours in I was before. It got repetitive and boring and I was playing no where near my best game. I am also writing a paper on poker which deals specifically with limit holdem in the full-ring.

[GoSeahawks]

Ughh, what can I say about today? It started out with me losing a stack with another under set, and it took me about an hour to clime out of the red. Finally I hit a little heater and was able to get up nearly sixty bucks. As I was closing down the first session I lost all of my profit and then some with some pretty brutal suckouts and a few bad plays.

The next session started out good as I was able to win several decent sized pots and not lose any big ones. At my peak I was up $65, but then everything started falling apart. My continuation bets were not working for the final two hours I played. I hit two sets in my final thousand hands but wasn’t able to get paid off on either. Then there were the suckouts that pretty much defined the rest of my day.

Hand #1
I’m in the big blind with 34o and several limpers

Flop comes 349 (rainbow)
I bet the pot which is $1.35 and the cut off calls.

Turn 10
I bet the pot again at $4.05

River is an Ace (pot size $12.15)
I value bet $4 and he raises to $8(I hate the mini raise). I call and he show A10 for a higher two pair.

Hand #2
I raise 4x the BB preflop from the CO with A7s in hearts and get one caller in the big blind.

Flop comes 45A two hearts.
I bet the pot on the flop and get called.
I turn the nut flush and bet a ¾ pot bet and get called again.
The river comes another 5 (I can’t imagine this guy has a set because he’s hasn’t showed aggression so far)
He leads for $2, and I raise to $10. He pushes in for a $5 or so more so I think he hit his flush.

He turns over 54 for a full house.

Hand #3
I get 55 on the button and call a raise of $1.50. Several people called and the flop comes 345 rainbow. ($8.00 in the pot)

I get all in on the flop against a pretty decent player.
The turn is nothing and the river is another 3 giving me the nut full house.
He has 33.

Hands #4
I’m not going into much detail on this one, but I was in the blind and the flop gave me two pair with A4. The turn was and 8 and the river was another Ace giving me a full house.
He had A8.

Basically my day was crap. I couldn’t win a big pot to save my life in the last couple hours. It was my first real roller coaster since I started back up. I had a couple $100 dollar swings today and in the end it I couldn’t make it back up. In the end I felt like I played well. I got my money in with the best hand several times. And now that I’ve had a chance to review my sessions I felt as if I had to do most the hands over I would have done them the same. Anyway, on to the daily breakdown….

3/8/06
2,588 hands
15.88 vp$ip
5.29 pfr
2.35 AF (this is lower because I was in so many multi way pots where I was bet out of hands before I got the chance to bet)
5.1 hrs
-$38.93

Fun Facts
1. I hit a straight flush today and barley got paid off against a guy that flopped a set. That’s the way the day went.
2. I had AA 14 times and only won $7.60
3. KK was my biggest winner at $48.03
4. I got belittled today after betting an open ended straight draw and hitting it on the turn. The guy told me how dumb I was because I was betting with nothing. I didn’t mention that he has now idea how to play poker if he’s not betting with nothing. Calling with nothing is different than betting with nothing.
5. Today sucked.

[GoSeahawks]

This will be a quick update tonight. It wasn’t good because of a lot of reasons. I made some pretty brutal misclicks and some bad reads. After being down $80 I decided to buy PokerAce HUD.

My favorite hand of the night was as follows.

I call a raise preflop with 99. I have $35 and he has $42
Flop comes 9Q2 rainbow.
Original raiser bets the pot and MP1 calls and so do I.
Turn comes another queen and I’ve boated up.
Original raiser bets $20 into a $9ish pot.
I am setting up my all in raise and boom! Party shuts down and I win whatever was in the pot before hand.

3/9/06
3,771 hands
13.68 vp$ip
4.91 pfr
2.42 pfa
7.93 hrs
-$53.36 (It’s more like $48 because of that disconnect)

Fun Facts
1. In the last two days I’ve had AA 26 times and have only won $9.72
2. I flopped quad tens in an 8 way pot. I value bet the river for .50 and not one person called.
3. I lost $40 on a hand where I flopped a set and the guy turned and rivered a flush. To be fair he did have top pair.
4. I lost with AA against A2o. That’s always fun seeing that second two hit on the river when there’s no way to put a two in his hand.
5. The only session after I got PokerAce went much better than the first couple.

[dixieflatline]

Originally Posted by GoSeahawks

This will be a quick update tonight. It wasn’t good because of a lot of reasons. I made some pretty brutal misclicks and some bad reads. After being down $80 I decided to buy PokerAce HUD.

You were nine tabling without a HUD? Wow that is impressive. Anyway, I'm sure it will pay for itself in the first few days it is truely a great product.

[GoSeahawks]

Originally Posted by dixieflatline

You were nine tabling without a HUD? Wow that is impressive. Anyway, I'm sure it will pay for itself in the first few days it is truely a great product.

I have GT+, but wasn't using it because it takes too long to set up. I started going through my PT database and realized that there were a lot of spots I was being bet off over pairs against super lags. And then there were a lot of times where I had nothing and I was trying to bluff off sponges. Both situations would have saved me or won me a lot more money.

Plus this should help my ptbb/100 a lot. Im my old database I averaged something like 13ptbb/100 at $25nl, and in the new one I'm averaging like 4.6ptbb/100 in 18k+ hands. Ouch.....

[GoSeahawks]

Update

I logged onto Party today and noticed a little pop up advertising a reload bonus. My bonus is 20TO100MAR, and it is worth up to $300. I have to play 1K hands to release the first $100. If I do that in three days I have to play 1.5K hands to release the second $100, and if I do that one in three days I have to play 2K hands to release the last $100. Also, these bonuses seem to be induvidualized, so not everyone is getting this good of an offer, and some are getting better.

I figure I will have no problem clearing this bonus playing 8-9 tables at a time.

[GoSeahawks]

I would really like to know what the odds of two people flopping a set on the same hand. It has happened to me every day since I started back up with poker and I’ve only won once (or twice). I used to know the answer and I could probably do the math, but I’m a little tipsy right now.

Anyway, I cut down a couple tables to start the day and gradually moved back to nine. Poker Ace really helped out with my reads on players and I feel that it has already paid for itself even though it couldn’t help against the brutal suckouts. Also, I cleared the first $100 bonus so that helped out with the net.

3/10/06
2,753 hands
14.46 vp$ip
5.63 pfr
2.44 AF (keeps going down)
5.97 hrs
+$354.28 (If you include the $100 bonus it makes it $454.28)

Total Stats
21,611 hands
14.52 vp$ip
4.91 pfr
2.69 AF
62.77 hrs
+$742.11 (+$100 bonus)
6.87 ptbb/100

I think the most I had ever won at $25nl before today was maybe $250 (might have been $280). Last night I was thinking that I was due for a major heater. I kept thinking that I had been on the downside of a lot of good hands and that had to turn around one day. Apparently that day was today. My biggest suckout of the day was getting all in on a paired flop with an over pair. I turned the nut full house after the losing player cold called a preflop raise with 10 8 off suit. He belittled me about my play….about time I got a great suckout.

There was one hand today that I was positive I was going to win and didn’t and I’ll give the reasons why.

UTG raises preflop (I had 200+ hands and he had never raised)
I’m in the BB with KQ suited and I call (I rarley call raises with this type of hand but if I hit I know I’m stacking this guy)

Flop
JQ2
I bet $1 as a block bet and he mini raises to $2. I’m positive he has AA
Turn
K
I check and he bets ½ pot and I check raise all in.
He waits until time runs out and calls.

He has JJ for a set. I couldn’t believe the first time he raised was with JJ utg. Is that the best hand he’s had in all that time? Either way, I lost and was absolutely shocked. I thought my read was dead on. Oh well, it was still a great day.

Fun Facts
1. The first 16 times I had QQ I won.
2. KK is making a major comeback and was my biggest winner again at $91.15
3. I averaged 25.74 ptbb/100 today.
4. I hit 15 full houses today and won $176.76.
5. I won money in every single position even the blinds.

[kingfc22]

Are you playing 10 handed or 6 handed tables?

[GoSeahawks]

10 handed. 6 handed would be damn near impossible with nine tables.

[GoSeahawks]

I’m not the type of guy that berates idiots while I’m playing, but this hand I’m posting caused me to break my rule.

***** Hand History for Game 3719880304 *****
$25 NL Texas Hold'em - Saturday, March 11, 22:09:53 ET 2006
Table Table 99024 (Real Money)
Seat 10 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 8: JGIAMBI ( $33.95 )
Seat 10: murfinvegas ( $55.85 )
Seat 9: stealthtt385 ( $23.55 )
Seat 5: jgoods3030 ( $27.67 )
Seat 7: lgalvan111 ( $16.35 )
Seat 4: pickmeupandputmedown ( $39.70 )
Seat 3: ram1bler ( $20.35 )
Seat 1: cariboogold ( $29.35 )
Seat 6: Giger ( $22.25 )
Seat 2: PaulaRatclif ( $26.50 )
cariboogold posts small blind [$0.10].
PaulaRatclif posts big blind [$0.25].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to stealthtt385 [ Tc Js ]
ram1bler folds.
pickmeupandputmedown calls [$0.25].
jgoods3030 calls [$0.25].
Giger calls [$0.25].
>You have options at Table 96913 Table!.
lgalvan111 calls [$0.25].
JGIAMBI calls [$0.25].
stealthtt385 calls [$0.25].
>You have options at Mount Owen (No DP) Table!.
murfinvegas calls [$0.25].
cariboogold calls [$0.15].
PaulaRatclif checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9s, 7c, 8c ]
cariboogold checks.
PaulaRatclif checks.
>You have options at Table 98302 Table!.
pickmeupandputmedown bets [$2].
>You have options at Coelestina (No DP) Table!.
jgoods3030 folds.
Giger calls [$2].
lgalvan111 folds.
>You have options at Table 99030 Table!.
>You have options at Coelestina (No DP) Table!.
JGIAMBI folds.
stealthtt385 is all-In.
murfinvegas folds.
cariboogold folds.
PaulaRatclif folds.
>You have options at Coelestina (No DP) Table!.
pickmeupandputmedown folds.
Giger is all-In.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7h ]
** Dealing River ** [ 6d ]
Giger shows [ 8s, 7d ] a full house, Sevens full of eights.
stealthtt385 shows [ Tc, Js ] a straight, seven to jack.
stealthtt385 wins $1.30 from side pot #1 with a straight, seven to jack.
Giger wins $45.85 from the main pot with a full house, Sevens full of eights.
>You have options at Table 96913 Table!.
>You have options at Mount Owen (No DP) Table!.

The freakin pot went ten ways and this idiot called with bottom two!! The only reason I went all in on the flop is that I knew someone else had a big hand or a big draw and I wanted to take it down right away. I actually wanted a caller, but I didn’t want the board to pair. There is no way I would ever call that with bottom 2 in this situation.

Anyway, I was up a decent amount before my final round of hands. I lost two buy ins, and the above hand was the first. The second one I was trying to bluff some guy off a hand, but he wouldn’t budge. I had a pocket pair and acted as if I setted up on the flop, but the guy couldn’t let go of his AA.

3/11/06 (This is updated because I played more hands. It didn't go well because I flopped top set and some ass wipe with KK goes all in and turned and rivered the flush.)
2,363 hands
14.56 vp$ip
5.33 pfr
2.78 PFA
4.50 hrs
+$53.56 (I was up $130 before my final round)

I was on the losing end of two set over sets again today. This shit is driving me nuts and it has to be some statistical anomaly. The variance today was really nuts also. I would lose $30 then win $40. My day started out down $30, then back to even, down $10, up $20, up $50, down to $30, up to $75 and so on. It was big hands getting busted then winning with junk. Then my favorite hand of the day………

It’s folded to me in the CO and I raise with J9s and the BB calls.

Flop comes 78Ten
He bets and I call
Turn is garbage and he bets again and I raise all in.
He calls and has AA.

I have no problem with calling a PFR with AA when you’re heads up. He played it fine. The rule I know is that if you call with AA you have to play it like a set and he did. He just didn't expect me raising with J9.

Anyway, I’m done for the day and I’m ¾ way through my second bonus.

Fun Facts
1. I hit 4 of a kind fours against AA today and took his stack. In the end I still lost money with 44.
2. I was on the losing end of another all in preflop with KK. That’s 1-4 with all in preflops
3. In my first 1k hands my vp$ip was 11, and my pfa was under 2. The last 1k hands I upped everything. I was playing a little laggish in the second half.
4. I won 9 of 10 hands with KK and still lost money with it. Damn Aces.
5. Poker Ace is great.

[GoldenEagle]

He may have thought you were over-betting the pot and on a semi-bluff. That is a scary board though, and even if he was ahead then there was multiple draws that could bury him. It was not a very smart play, IMO. What were the players numbers? With a play like that, he could either be freakin brilliant or a huge donk. That is the funny thing about poker. I guess I really do not like the all-in move there, even with the flush draw. I think you can massage the pot better and get more out of the hand. Of course, there are many other factors involved. However, I doubt at Party $25 anyone was paying much attention to you. I do want to get into no-limit. I will probably pick up some resources here and there and get to reading. One of the networks that I bonus-whore at has no-limit games running all the time, but they rarely have limit games going.

[GoSeahawks]

His numbers were 31 vp$ip and super passive. Most importantly he's a showdown muppet. $25nl is the only game where I would push here. The pot went 10 ways and I predicted that no matter how much I raised, I would be called. When he called I yelled, "yes!!" But when the board paired I knew I was done for. I never expected the guy to have anything less than a set.

[GoSeahawks]

Journal Update

I probably shouldn’t have played today. I had to drive two hours north for a baby shower (my gf attended) and my nephew’s birthday. My only purpose of playing today was to clear my second $100 bonus, which I think I did (party is secretly keeping track of my raked hands). I didn’t get very many hands in, and the ones I did play I didn’t play well. There were no bad beats, just a few misplayed hands. I tend to get overly aggressive at sometime which isn’t always bad, but today it was. I think if my head had been more in it today I would have better results.

3/12/06
1,069 hands
16.08 vp$ip
5.14 pfr
2.45 PFA
2.48 hrs
-$66.30 (still made money because of the bonus)

Fun Facts
1. I’m almost at the 1k mark and it’s hasn’t quite been two weeks.

[GoSeahawks]

Journal Update

The day started out in usual fashion again as I lost right away with an under boat. Then a half hour later I flopped a full house with 888AA. The board turned and rivered 9’s and gave a guy with AK a higher full house. Even after that I was still showing a profit. And luckily I never lost with an under set after that. Maybe it’s because I only hit three more sets in my last 2k hands, but whatever.

The fun part about today was that I flopped 6 straights and turned quite a few more. The most annoying hand of the day was the one I hit a straight on the turn and got disconnected right after I placed my bet. For some reason Party’s software is shitty and 1 table out of 8 will be disconnected while the others are moving flawlessly. Oh and before I forget, I lost another hand while getting all in on the turn and losing to a rivered full house. Sometimes it’s hard to handle the stupidity at $25nl. Oh well, it makes me money for the most part.

3/13/06
2,968 hands
14.86 vp$ip
6.10 pfr
2.72 pfa
6.05 hrs
+140.98 (it was more like $150, because PT didn’t grab the hand when I got disconnected)

My real favorite hand of the day goes as follows…
I’m in the CO with Q9 of spades and the pot goes 5 ways (all limpers).
The flop comes K high with two spades.
MP2 bets $1 and I raise to $3, BB calls MP2 bets.
Turn comes a blank and I bet $5 BB calls
River another blank and I check
BB bets $3 and I check raise to $15 and he folds.

I like this hand because I built the pot all the way to the river and this guy never once showed aggression. I checked the river to him hoping he would bet small enough that I could check raise him and he did. When he made his weak value bet I put in the big check raise and he couldn’t call unless he was holding a monster. I’m guessing he had a K and guessed incorrectly that I had him beat.


Fun Facts
1. At one point I had big pre flop hands on 7 tables and raised every one of them. I won all of them.
2. JJ was 11 for 11 today.
3. I got all in preflop with AA today and went up against AA. Second time this week.
4. I hit 8 full houses today and lost $18.
5. I only won 50% of my showdowns today!! That’s really low for those who don’t know. But at $25nl so many people bet 1/10th of the pot on the river so I have to call.
6. Biggest winner of the day was AKo at $44.61

Overall Totals
28,011 hands
14.62 vp$ip
5.08 pfr
2.69 PFA
75.80 hours played
+$870.35
$11.48 hrly rate
6.21 BB/100 and rising

[GoSeahawks]

Journal Update
I swear I effin hate poker sometimes. I was in a great mood for the first 4 hours and 50 minutes of my session, but the last ten made me remember what it was about poker that I hate. I got all in on the flop with QQ and some jerkoff called with 66 and rivered a set. The very next hand on the same table I got AA in the hole, got all in on an 888 flop, and another guy rivered a his third queen for a bigger full house. Then on another table I got all in preflop against a semi short stack with AA and he flopped a set of 9’s. I lost $70 in less than 10 minutes after I got my money in with the best hand. I’m talking 90% favorites and losing three times in a row (except for the last hand). One of the players at my table asked if I had thrown my computer against the wall yet.

3/14/2006
2,222 hands
15.93 vp$ip
6.57 pfr
3.17 PFA
5.02 hrs
+$58.81 (I had it up to $130 before the assault)

Fun Facts
1. I flopped three 4 of a kinds today and made a whopping $4.80
2. AA lost money for me today and it should have won about $40
3. I had a $140 swing right before I ended my session. My math says I should have made more than $200 tonight, but the donkey’s got the best of me.

[GoSeahawks]

Update

Today was one of those days where I couldn’t do anything right. Even when I did things right I was losing. The only good part about today is that I finally received my second $100 bonus, and I won a $20+2 6-person sit’n’go.

3/15/2006
1,349 hands
14.46 vp$ip
5.78 pfr
1.82 PFA (that’s super low for me)
3.08 hrs
-$113.00 (won $50 in the SnG, so I only lost $63 after that. If you count the bonus I made a profit)

Fun Facts
1. I pulled out $110 today, which leaves my bankroll at $951.40. That’s not too bad for starting out with $25.
2. I lost two all ins with QQ today while I was holding the best hand.
3. I lost holding the nuts on the turn to a rivered boat. This shit is getting ridiculous.

[Johnny93g]

I'm no poker expert, and i know i aint any good, but it seems to me when you play as many hands as you do, that those bad beats are gonna happen. I don't know the odds, and i do know how frusterating they can be, but when it happens to me, i just say the other guy made a better hand then me. Nothing I can do about it.

I am horrible at cash games, but i seem to do very well at the multiplayer tourny's. Do you play any of those?

[GoSeahawks]

I know that bad beats are a part of poker and I try as hard as I can to keep my cool. The funny thing about poker is the streaks. It just seems like there are days that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

Yes I do play in the Multi table tournys. Not so much anymore but I used to all the time. My biggest cash was taking 2nd and netting about $1200. I have placed first in three but they were all $10 buy in games, and the most I won in one of those was $810.

[GoSeahawks]

Update

I'm at work right now so I don't have any of yesterdays statistics on me. I played for maybe an hour and lost $10. I received my third $100 bonus, so the account is over the 1k mark. Only 1k more to go and I can cash out 1k for my trip to Florida.

[GoSeahawks]

Update

3/16/06
570 hands
14.91 vp$ip
4.74 pfr
1.91 (ha!)
1.15 hrs
-$10.57 (I won some money on black jack so the day was actually +$10)

3/17/06
Today was a very interesting day. I felt as if every dollar won was worked for, and that's not an exageration. I was bluffing all night from every position. Every time I was in the BB and the flopp came paired I acted as if I had tripps, and it worked almost every time. Other times I acted like I hit a flush and bet enough where my opponents couldn't call.

Anyway, the day started out as usual. I was down $40 within an hour, but evenually got in a zone. I became unusually agressive. I started reraising everything preflop, and raising everything on the flop. By the end of the night I was up over $80 on one of the most card dead days I've ever had. I averaged a pair 1 in every 21 times. The average is 1 in 17. Pairs are how I make my money....

3/17/06
1,976 hands
16.24 vp$ip
7.29 pfr
2.59 pfa (this was under 2.0 after 1k hands)
4.1 hrs
+$87.91

1. I got all in preflop against AA, with AA.....AGAIN!! That's the 4th time in the last 15k hands.
2. AA and KK were my biggest hands of the day.
3. I hit a straight flush today with JTs. I won $5.
4. I'm tired and I'm going to bed.
5. Also, I've been drinking. It's hard to play when I've been drinking.

[GoSeahawks]

Update

I didn’t play poker on Saturday. Instead I taught one of my friends how to play. He deposited $50 into Paradise and started out on the .10 NL tables. After playing on those tables a while he moved up to $25nl. He’s up to $130 now, but I think he’s got a ways to go until he’s good. He’s always asking me what he should do with certain hands when the answer is obvious to me. Sometimes I catch him limping under the gun or cold calling raises with hands like Q10o. He also has a tendency to always want to limp, which he needs to shake. I think he’ll be able to get it but I can’t be sure, he has played socially for years.

Anyway, yesterday I didn’t play a whole lot. I finally got paid off with 4 of a kind. Some guy mini raised me on the turn after the pot was fairly large and I called instead of pushing. The river gave me four of a kind and I let him bet off his stack. Another hand I got mini raised on the flop and it was something like $3 to call into a $14 pot, so I called with a gut shot straight, hit it and busted another guy. The lesson is not to mini raise. You’re usually an idiot if you do.

After those hands things went bad until I quit. I got all in preflop against Mr. All-in with KK. He had 99 and hit a 1 card flush. It was irritating seeing that I lost that hand.

3/19/06
1,743 hands
13.94 vp$ip
5.97 pfr
2.78 PFA
3.60 hrs
+$47.68

[GoSeahawks]

Update

Things went pretty well for the most part today. I was up $120 until my last hour of play. For some reason every short stack and their mother started playing back at me when I had nothing. Almost every time I would raise preflop I would get some short stack mini raising right behind me. Other times I would raise preflop, make my continuation bet and get raised all in. It was pretty frustrating. Also, it didn’t help that I flopped a set, got all in and got rivered by a guy with two pair. Why people play A3o under the gun is beyond me.

For some reason I am losing a lot of money when my sessions are coming to a close. I think it’s happened like 4 out of the last 6 days I played. I need another heater like the time I won $300+. I think I’m due.

3/20/2006
2,270 hands
13.17 vp$ip
5.42 pfr
3.28 PFA
4.80 hrs
+$83.33

[GoSeahawks]

Updated Totals for March
37,752 hands
14.64 vp$ip
5.37 pfr
2.69 PFA
90.87hrs
+$1,021.31
5.41 ptbb/100

I hooked up my old computer that has a smaller database from when I was playing $25nl a couple years ago. It's pretty interesting looking at the statistics compared to this database.

Old Database
24,253 hands
18.44 vp$ip
5.37 pfr
1.90 AF (this has changed signifigantly since then, and I'm wondering if it's detrimental at $25nl)
+$1,217.18
10.04 ptbb/100 (it was 12.29 on Party and 2.99 on Ultimate Bet, that's why I quit UB)

There are a bunch of major differences as I look through both DB's and I'm trying to figure out why my BB/100 is way down. I see that my vp$ip is way lower, I enter less pots from the SB and I go to the showdown 5% less than I used to, but I only win 1% more.

I think a lot of it comes from giving players at $25nl much more credit than they deserve. KK is down 3 bb/100 from my old database, which means that I am obviously being too careful with it. Who knows though, 37k hands isn't all that big of a database to be conclusive, but it's a start. I think I have to loosen up my game a bit in order get back to where I was.

[GoSeahawks]

Update

Tuesday was a very strange day. I played just over two hours and never really lost a big pot. My biggest loser was only $16, and that was losing with the second nut flush to the nut flush. I won a couple full stacks but after failed continuation bet after failed continuation bet I was only up a few bucks. I was never over +$30 on the day and never down more than $10. It was blah day and that’s that. Plus I wasn’t really feeling it, so I didn’t play too much.

3/21/06
1,072 hands
13.15 vp$ip
4.85 pfr
3.67 PFA
2.22 hrs
+$9.33

Today was a little different. For some reason I felt very inspired to put in a full day of poker. Things didn’t go great the whole time as I lost again to two set over sets. One time though I rivered quad 5’s to beat a higher set, so that one paid off at least.

I made some very disciplined plays today that made me feel good about the end results. One time I had 89s and flopped a flush. I bet the flop and got check raised all-in by a guy that hadn’t shown aggression previously. I folded and he showed that he flopped the nut flush. Another time I flopped a set of 8’s in a raised pot. I bet the flop and got raised. I called behind and an Ace came on the turn and my opponent never slowed down. I realized the ace was his set and got away from the hand only losing a half a stack instead of a full one. I have to thank poker ace for saving me some money. But it didn’t help on the following hand.

I call a preflop raise with KQ suited in spades.

The flop comes AsJd2s with two spades. This gives me a 1 cards straight to the nut straight and the nut flush draw.

The turn is a 10s and this gives me the nut straight and the nut flush. Before I get a chance to act there is a bet and a raise all-in, so I reraise all in to isolate myself, but three other players call. The river is another 2 giving the biggest stack a full house Jack’s full of two’s and I lose a $90 pot. Only $27 of it was mine, but I still got my money in with the best hand. Anyway, on to today’s stats…..

3/22/06
4,018 hands
12.74 vp$ip
5.70 pfr
3.23 PFA
7.98 hrs
+$111.06

Lastly, I talked the other day about the friend that I have been teaching to play, so I thought I should give an update on him. He started out with $50 and he’s now up to $280.05. He’s moved from Paradise to Doyle’s Room and now to Poker Stars. He’s playing $25nl and doing pretty well. It gets a little frustrating though because he sits on the cpu right next to me and asks me what to do with hands every couple minutes. I feel like I’m the one making the money but he’s the one cashing in. I’m playing 8 or 9 tables and I constantly have to glance over to give obvious advice. He has soooooo much to learn, but I’m hoping he’ll figure it out.

[GoSeahawks]

Update

My first session was nothing but a little less than break even poker. I couldn’t get anything going until I took a break. When I started up my second session everything worked for the most part. I made continuation bets that weren’t getting called and had a lot of drawing hands that hit. It wasn’t a big day, but it was good enough considering the first three hours netted me -$9.

3/23
2,776 hands
14.88 vp$ip
5.48 pfr
3.07 PFA
7.41 hrs
+$67.00

Fun Facts for the month
1. All pocket pairs have made me money except for 33 and 88. That’s after 46,007 hands.
2. JJ has only made me $10.82
3. I have lost 4 set over sets with 33
4. I have lost 7 times with sets of 8’s. Four have been set over sets the other three were either straights or flushes.
5. I hit two straight flushes today.
6. A2o is my biggest loser. The only notable hands are trip 2’s and a straight. Both were from the blind.
7. AJo is my third biggest winner at $206.92
8. Can’t think of anything else interesting….

[GoSeahawks]

I have a new goal..

Party is running a promotion that is as follows

March Giveaway

March forward this month with PartyPoker.com, the world's largest poker room, as we give away cash prizes to over 10,000 winners: You could win up to $1,000!

When
Friday March 24, 2006 to Tuesday March 28, 2006
How to qualify

All you have to do is play at our exclusive March Giveaway Ring Game tables (only Texas Hold'em tables), marked in blue in the PartyPoker.com Lobby.

If any player at these tables has three of a kind or better, and remains in the hand until the showdown with the hand being raked, he or she will "automatically" receive a free March Giveaway ticket. Check the promotions section of your PartyAccount at the end of the day for the number of tickets won.

At the end of event, these March Giveaway tickets will be counted up, and the TOP 10,175 players with the most tickets will receive guaranteed cash prizes as shown in the table below. Just look out for the blue Texas Hold'em Ring Game tables
Ranks (in order of accumulation of tickets) No. of Players Amount Won
1 to 25 25 $1,000
26 to 75 50 $500
76 to 175 100 $200
176 to 675 500 $100
676 to 2,175 1,500 $75
2,176 to 5,175 3,000 $50
5,176 to 10,175 5,000 $25
10,175

Please note: Cash prizes will be added to players' accounts by Thursday, March 30, 2006, after 10:00 a.m. (ET).

You can check the number of tickets you have earned under Events & Promotions' in the Party Account section.
PartyPoker.com will announce over 10,000 winners on Thursday, March 30, 2006 after, 10:00 a.m. (ET).


I am going to put in at least ten hours of eight tables each day and I hope to be in the top 25. I could use an extra grand.

[Johnny93g]

Originally Posted by GoSeahawks

I am going to put in at least ten hours of eight tables each day and I hope to be in the top 25. I could use an extra grand.

Honest question...do you work?....where do you get the time to play that much?...... and how can you possibly play your best at any table if your concentrating on 8???

[GoSeahawks]

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

Honest question...do you work?....where do you get the time to play that much?...... and how can you possibly play your best at any table if your concentrating on 8???

Yes I do have a job. I'm on salary, which means that since I can do my job in 6 hours instead of 8 I get paid the same (at least nobody has said anything so far). Also, I go to bed late and get up early.

As for your second question, I don't play as well playing 8 tables. My bb/100 has dropped signifigantly, but I am making money a lot quicker than I used to ($25nl.)

[GoSeahawks]

Update

Poker was pissing me off for a couple days so I cut back on my load a little bit. Anyway, I won $75 from Party in that most show downs with 3 of a kind or better competition. If I had known I was even hit the money in that competition I would have won a lot more money, but I started thinking only limit players would win. Oh well, $75 is fine by me.

Daily Breakdowns

3/24
3,481 hands
16.00 vp$ip
5.77 pfr
1.86 PFA
7.55 hrs
-$106.24

This was the day that really pissed me off. I got all in with the nuts 5 different times and was sucked out on all of them. I was ready to pull my effin hair out.

3/25
802 hands
16.58 vp$ip
5.24 pfr
2.41 PFA
1.68 hrs
-$13.36

I was up $60 to start and a half an hour later I was down $60. The beats wouldn’t stop. At one point I got all in with the nuts and had two callers. I looked at my brother and said, “Watch this, I’m going to lose.” The river came and gave one guy a flush.

3/26
2,584 hands
15.67 vp$ip
5.65 pfr
2.87 PFA
5.23 hrs
+$70.18

If it weren’t for making about $100 in five minutes this day would have been a disaster. For the most part this day sucked just like the previous.

3/27
990 hands
13.74 vp$ip
5.05 pfr
1.71 PFA
2.18 hrs
-$18.77

This day was just death by short stacks. I just had a ton of $3 and $4 losers. Nothing was happening and I decided to take a break from party and trying bonus whoring over at Empire.

3/28 and 3/29
I deposited money into Empire in order to clear a $200 bonus. The great thing about sites like Empire is that all their tables are rock gardens. At least they are when there’s a bonus to be cleared. A lot of people don’t like rock gardens because you’re playing against a bunch of tightwads that won’t pay you off. But they’re great if you want to play like a maniac, and that’s what I felt like doing.

3/30
1,532 hands
26.24 vp$ip
12.66 pfr
3.32 PFA
5.27 hrs
+$88.80

¾ of the time I put out a preflop raise the rock were folding. I kept this theme up for the next couple days.

3/31
892 hands
29.37 vp$ip
16.48 pfr
6.00 PFA
3.5 hrs
+$47.68

I was aiming to play 30% of my hands and got damn near close.

4/1
1,159 hands
30.97 vp$ip
17.34 pfr
4.26 PFA
4.42 hrs
+$139.85

At one table I lost a buy in being set over set and still had a triple stack when I left. Later on I was berated by one of the players because I hit a gut shot straight when he mini raised me on the flop. A couple players at the table cam to my aid and said, “He’s probably the best player here.” That’s always nice to hear because usually poker players don’t like to give credit to others.

Anyway, that’s probably all the poker I will play for now. Since I started playing again I’ve made $475 in bonus money on top of the $1,419.50 in ring games. I pulled out 1k for my trip to Florida on Wednesday, so that’s all paid for (with spending cash). I’ll probably be back at it once I get back but I can’t say I’ll play nearly as much. Even though I didn’t quite reach my goal of 2k I am still satisfied. I still have a decent enough bankroll not to go broke at $25nl.

[GoSeahawks]

Update

Since I made the money to pay for my Florida trip I have barley played a hand of poker. I’ve had about $600 sitting in Neteller since April, so when the opportunity came up to play again I would still have a bankroll. The opportunity this time was Empire Pokers July Bonanza.

The July Bonanza was basically a ranking system for most raked hands in a day for five straight days. The contest started at 3 pm EST and ended at midnight. Over here on the west coast I was done by 9pm. Every day the top 10 raked hand getters would receive $300. The top 50 got paid, but the real prize was being in the top ten.

I cleared my schedule four out of the five days in order to make at least $1,200. I started last Thursday by loading up twelve tables of $50nl and started nut peddling for 9 straight hours. I continued that through Saturday, but I went to the Mariners v Red Sox game on Sunday, so that day was poker free. I came back and did the same thing on Monday.

I finished in the top 10 all four days I played, so that was a grueling $1,200. In the actual ring games I made another $525. So in the 36 (407 table hrs)hours of play I made just over $1,700.

I can’t wait to never do that again. I hope Empire never offers that type of bonus again because I can honestly see myself taking another shot. When you have 12 tables going at the same time you are almost always involved in a hand, and you can never take a break. I tried taking a piss break a couple times and every time someone passed me in the rankings. It’s very competitive and stressful.

I played 27,965 hands in those 36 hours and none of it was real poker. My vp$ip was astonishingly low at 9.78. It’s hard to find a moment to play real poker when you’re always in a hand at another table. Also, the swings are insane. There were times I’d lose $150 in an hour and other hours where I’d make $150.

Anyway, I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with the money this time around. I might leave it in a poker server and start playing $100nl again. I’m undecided, but for now I’m taking another break.

Here’s a graph from the July Bonanza.

[SirFozzie]

Dear God.

12 tabling?

You're Nucking futs!

[GoSeahawks]

I’ve decided to keep most of my winnings online so I can play some real poker again. Today was the first day back since that Empire Bonanza and six tables never seemed slower.

I started at 8:30 this morning and loaded up six tables of $100nl. I played six hours straight and only got stacked once. That’s fairly impressive for me since every time I put in long sessions I get stacked like four or five times.

The hand I got stacked on I had AA against KK. I called his raise which left us one on one to the flop. He led the flop for $20 on a king high board which made me think he had AK. I got him all in and he took down a quick $200. I felt like I played the hand correctly, so it didn’t bother me too much. If he hadn’t played it so fast I could have let it go.

My favorite hand of the day was when a guy out of position raised to $4. I was sitting on the button with AA so I popped him back to $20. He instantly pushed in for $125. I took down a $250 pot against AK off suit. I guess he was sick of me raising so much from the button.

Other than that there wasn’t much to note today. I won a ton of $30-50 pots and only had just two losses above $40. I’m playing at Party right now and there tables are extra soft because of the Monster Jackpot. The games have loosened up incredibly, so I expect the variance to be brutal one of these days. We’ll see…..

Today’s stats
5.9 hours
2,242 hands
+$389.96

[GoSeahawks]

I had a lot of stuff going on yesterday so I didn’t get much table time. My day started out immediately stacking someone’s AA when I flopped a set. After that I went completely card dead for nearly two hours. Right before I was closing up shop I stacked another guy with an interesting hand.

Villain and I are sitting on full stacks and we’re both out of position. I limp in UTG+1 with 66 and Villain raises $4 from MP1. Everyone folds and it’s just two to the flop.

Flop ($9.50)
A64

I lead out and bet $8.00
I like leading into a preflop raiser, because a lot of the times this increases their continuation bet even if they miss the flop.

Villain raises to $16

Now I have a decision. Do I call or do I 3-bet? At this time it’s still hard to put him on a hand because he was the preflop raiser. If he has AK with a club or KK with a club, I want him to pay a lot for his flush draw.

I reraise to $50 and villain pushes all in for his remaining $40.

If he has AA I’m screwed and going broke because I like playing for my stack when I have a set. Plus so many people over play top pair top kicker. I don’t believe the he would be raising KQs or KJs from early position. My best guess is that he has an AK with the club and now he’s drawing to running top boat or a 1 card flush. My $50 3-bet also looks like I could be drawing and he probably thinks he needs to protect his hand while it’s still best. Anyway, I call and he had AK no and I scooped a nice pot.

Daily Totals
2 hours
+$95.35

[GoSeahawks]

Wednesday
I forgot to update yesterday, but there wasn’t much to mention. I was victimized seven ways from Sunday. Here are a few hands that I lost with.

AK vs. 97
96.3% to win on flop
97.7% on turn

Almost all the money went in on the turn after I the flop was AA9. The turn was a 9 and the river was a 9.

34 vs. TT
74.6 to win when the money went in.
I flopped two pair got all in on the flop. The board paired on the river.

TT vs. Q6 after AK9 flop and I bet just under pot at $18
86.8 to win
Raised preflop to $8, followed up with an $18 bet, he called and hit a queen on the turn.

AA vs. AJs
62.7 Favorite when money went in.
Two flush cards came on the flop, I got all in on the flop and he rivered a heart.

AA all in preflop against KK and TT
66.6% to win when money went in.
All the money went in on the preflop and a guy with KK hit a set.

That’s $600 worth of swings that went the other way. Even after all the beats I still ended the day up $10.

Thursday
Today started out much the same as yesterday. I got all in on a low flop with JJ only to have the caller hit a to a 2 outer. Then a couple minutes later I was limp raised by the button and I lost another $50 with QQ. He had AA. I was down $150 within 20 minutes of play.

After that I won a huge pot where I turned top set and got all in against bottom two and from there I never went back into the red. I played almost exactly 2k hands today and made $290.06.

Here’s my favorite hand of the day.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?439436

The $5 bet on the flop was the exact price I needed to play for a four outer to the nuts. I hit the ten and was able to extract another $55 out of the hand.

Anyway, I’ve been feeling good about poker this past week. I feel like I’m back to my old form, except that my vp$ip is still a tad to low. Today I had it at about 14.5% and I wouldn’t mind getting it to around 16-18%. I will need it if I want to move up to higher stake games. Right now I have a bankroll to play at $200nl, but I’m going to stick it at $100 for a bit longer.

Today’s stats
2004 hands
14.57 vp$ip
4.54 pfr
7.24 bb/100
+$290.06

Total Stats at $100nl
7,452 hands
5.27 bb/100
+$786.07
18.9 hours
$41.59 hourly

[GoSeahawks]

Well, today sucked a big fat one. ****. I played 5.18 hours, 2,206 hands, and I flopped a total of four sets and two four of a kinds. I made $30 on one set, took small pots on two, and missed out on an $80 pot that got two shorties all in on the flop with me holding top set. The winner had AKs and rivered a flush. Both of the four of a kind hands were checked to the river with no draws and I took down small pots.

Total hands- 2,206
Total hours- 5.18
Total proffit- -$122.15

PTBB/100- -2.77

Poker Grader Results
http://www.pokergrader.com/display.php?a=10038418&p=1

[GoSeahawks]

I haven't posted in here for quite a while once again. I haven't played a whole lot of poker this month because my internet connection is terrible where I'm living.

I've played just 7,771 hands since my last post, but I've managed $1,081 (including a $300 bonus) In the 18 hours of $100nl full ring games I'm making $42.25 an hour. That is sustainable, so hopefully from now on I'll be able to put in the time. I have a goal of 2k in the next two weeks. Hopefully my ISP doesn't screw me.

[GoSeahawks]

I played 17 hours this week and made another $738.61. I made $400 on Monday, then lost almost four buy ins over the next three days by constant suckouts. Friday started out at pretty much even for the week. Since yesterday I play just over 7 hours and made $700+. Its nice to have a couple good days in a row, but I hate thinking of how much I could have made. Plus, if my internet connection ever stays constant I could easily put in 30 hours a week. I still need to find a new place.

[GoSeahawks]

Last night I went on a dinner cruise with a girl I met at PSU. I had a really good time and couldn't sleep when I got home, so I played a couple more hours of poker. The session started 3am and lasted maybe 3 hours. It was enough to put me over 1k for the week.

I haven't mentioned this latley but I'm back to playing poker full time. I know I said I wouldn't in my opening post, but the situation I'm in right now gives me the freedom to. For those who don't know, I broke up with my long time gf and moved back with my parents.

Over the past month my win rate was $46/hr. I'll be moving to $200nl soon and hopefully that win rate will double. I've datamined a lot of the $200's and it's just as bad as the $100's. I'm not scared in the slightest bit, but I'm waiting to hit 6k before the jump. Hopefully I'll be there in a week.