A Poker Hobby

Overdue Update

2009-05-02T11:31:00.002-04:00

What can we say about the game of poker? I can say that this is the most confusing game I've ever played. One minute you know what's going on and the next, some one's raking in a huge pile of chips because you played the hand perfectly. What the hell is that all about? Oh, I forgot to mention that there is enough luck in the game to make oneself want to give the whole thing up! Sounds a little to the futile side, doesn't it?

Over the last month or so I decided to go back to the basics. I was tired of being a break even tournament player and have decided to take up playing the cash games. Life has caused me to cash out a lot of the bankroll I have been using, so it's right back to the micros for me. I normally wouldn't see that as any form of problem until you bring that fucking luck factor into everything!! The cash game is definitely a different animal than the tourneys. It really is about pot odds and being able to read what your opponents hands might be. The simple things, right? Ya, right. You can control pot sizes all you want. You can call out what your opponent has in his hand. You can't determine what will fall on the river!!

If I have been a little too vague as to what has been happening in the micro cash games for me, let me put it into numbers. I started on the adventure of playing cash only about a week ago. Here is how things have stacked up so far:

2,203 hands played
$won/100 hands: -$1.10
bb/100 hands: -5.51

Basically put, I haven't been able to hold during a big hand. I've had sets beat by sets, full boats beaten by full boats, and have watched more monkeys catch rivered flushes than I can shake a stick at. I've spent some money the last couple weeks on coaching which also has taken a serious toll on the roll. I always seem to be getting the same answer about the situation- "Wow, that was unlucky!". That just makes you want to get all sparkly inside, doesn't it?!?

This is really sounding like a "bitch" post. You know what, it is a "bitch" post and it's long overdue. Everyone wants to believe that if you put in the time and energy learning how to play the game, eventually you'll "beat the odds". BULLSHIT!! Every training site says they'll make you a better player. Every book says they'll make you a better player. Play this way, do things that way, don't you get it? NO, I DON"T GET IT!!! You can say what you want. Poker/NoLimit Texas Holdem has taken up more of my time in the last two years than any other thing. That is a sick statement to have to say. I didn't practice this hard when I learned to play the violin. I guess what I'm saying is that this whole thing can get frustrating.

There really isn't much more to say at the present. I'll try to post more frequently again and maybe I'll start posting some HHs for those of you that would be interested. I hope all of you are doing well on the felt and sorry for the rant. Take care!!

CRASH!!!

2009-03-14T13:45:00.002-04:00

Not shortly after my last entry here, my laptop had a fatal crash. I hadn't really even considered that as a possibility in my life. I spent a few hours trying to get it to work myself, to no avail, then took it to the Geek Squad. They informed me that I had to swipe it clean and reinstall my OP. :( Because I'm the genius I think I am, I went "cool, thanks for the help" and calmly walked out of the store. When I got to my hotel room, I tried backing up my files and the computer wouldn't do it. Try and try as I might, I couldn't convince this pile of plastic gadgetry to give up it's information that I had diligently kept track of for the past year and a half. Needless to say, I loaded the recovery disk into the drive and it proceeded to erase any evidence of my poker hobby. As of now, the only real proof of any of the struggles or accomplishments is recorded here in this blog. Having written it out like that makes one think about a few things.

Poker is a game played with cards and chips. The way we make it important( to adults) is to make the chips worth money, and that is how we keep score. There aren't any trophies or other physical accolades to this game unless you play live. Even in live events, trophies are rarely seen and the bracelet is the true goal for tournament players. I don't personally know anyone who has one of those. The rest of the game is recorded in bankrolls, which really boils down to numbers on a computer screen or penciled into a ledger. The online community has it's "Player of the Year" people for the elite, players like myself won't make those lists. So what is this fascination with the game if there really isn't anything to show for it? Good question, don't you think?

This has got me thinking. I'll be back after a while. Good luck everyone!!

Victory

2009-03-10T14:19:00.002-04:00

At last, at last. Victory has come home to roost. In this game where people want to play because of their skill, luck still reigns supreme and so it should. I took down a $2 turbo last week and here is the congratulatory e-mail:

PokerStars Tournament #145140747, No Limit Hold'emBuy-In: $2.00/$0.202934 playersTotal Prize Pool: $5868.00Tournament started 2009/03/04 0:00:00 ET
Dear supercase,
You finished the tournament in 1st place. A $864.95 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

The proof is always in the pudding but I also have bad news about the whole ordeal. I was on ubber monkey tilt from the start. I have a few friends on Skype that can confirm all this. I was planning on cashing out everything and calling an end to this perversion called poker. I intentionally played a $2 turbo MTT hoping to see that this was a useless endeavour. I had to fold a couple of very good hole card hands due to aggression and that sent me off into neverland. I was shoving hands like 46o and getting there. Jacks rivered Queens and I cheered. By the time I came back to my senses, I was the chip leader with 100 or so runners left. The rest became a big sng for me and history for the books.

A few days after that, I was playing a 90man sng with a friend and took it down. During which time I got dealt premium hands like I'd never seen before. It leads to a strange sense of awe about the game that is tournament poker. Very, very difficult to play and maintain some sense of sanity due to all the variance the structure itself creates. You know what cards to play but just don't get them. Now, you're running out of chips and no where to go but the rail unless you pick a hand. At the same time, everyone else at the table feels exactly the same way. When you add it all together, it's still very confusing!!

Here's what I can say for now. WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!
We're bankrolled for a while longer and will just have to see how far the rabbit hole goes!!!!
Good luck everyone. See you on the tables.

Rodney

February

2009-03-04T13:38:00.003-05:00

So the month has come and gone. As far as the regular world goes, there wasn't much to talk about. Still no jobs out there for my company to send me to, so poker got the main stage for 28 or so days. Almost all of the play was at Pokerstars during the month and I had a great deal of experimentation going on. I made an honest effort of trying to build up my bankroll using "double-or-nothing" tournaments. I would use the profits from the DONs to pay for my MTT exploits later in the evening. As a total for the month, I played 351 different events, 251 of those events being of the DON variety ranging from $5-$20. With that kind of volume, you would think that i couldn't help but get lucky. WRONG!

Not that the result was necessarily bad. As a total, I made a profit of $17.35 for the month. Here's one thing that has a huge effect on such things. I played 68 $4.40 180man tourneys at an ITM rate of 17.65%. That is a great percentage to be cashing in those events. Now the problem. I lost $153.76 in the process. Why is that we might ask? The secret to being profitable in the MTT payout structure is two-fold. 1-final tables, 2-top 3 finishes. The money i all these events is all at the top of the spectrum. The top professionals are happy to be cashing in 15% of their tourneys but they also know without the top 3s, they are losing money. Rough way to go huh?

That brings us back to the reason that this is a hobby. If you look at the time I had involved in play last month, compared to the dividends made, I would have been better off collecting cans from dumpsters! Would have made a much greater profit for time invested. So, we can't really count pure profit as a leading factor for this hobby now can we. It would appear that other purposes must be at play. Don't know. I have been making a lot of quite wonderful acquaintances all over the world and it has been time spent in good fun. Unlike most hobbies, I don't see that this has the overall relaxation thing going on. If anything, it seems to raise my stress levels. Interesting.

Well, I've got a $3r to pay in a couple minutes. Hope all is well with you all and good luck at the tables!!

An Update

2009-02-17T22:14:00.002-05:00

So it's been a couple weeks. I've been playing a lot but really just spinning my wheels I guess. It was suggested to me to use the DONs (double or nothing) as a bankroll building tool. After a couple hundred of those, I'm pretty much burnt out on the idea. It really doesn't pay much for the amount of time you have to invest. Mind you, I could be way off on this. Maybe I just haven't put enough effort into it or maybe I'm just not playing well enough. I did come up with another explanation tonight but that may also be way off. Here goes anyway:

What if I expect more than what is possible to achieve at the levels I play?

Think about this for a minute. Everyone of the professional instructors that teach this game say that all you have to do is play ABC poker at the micro level. Do that and you'll have no problems. Well, let's put a couple things together shall we. Most people that play this game are hobbyists. In other words, it's a past time they use to forget about their real life or just something to do for fun. Many of these people are now joining these training sites and becoming better players. That's really not a huge number but enough to make a difference in the micro games. To build a decent enough bankroll to move up, you really need to dominate at the micro levels. Hence the problem. If the players are getting better and better, how do you build a bankroll in a reasonable amount of time? Good question.

I thought I'd give an update as to what the plan is to date. I had gotten away from the original project. I have decided to pick up that torch and continue on with it. The little change in it is that I shall play 500 games at each level of the turbos to figure out an accurate ROI. From there we can tweak a few things and come up with a new plan. I'll also continue playing the $4.40 180 man games at PokerStars so I can keep up with my MTT training. Here are my current BR numbers for both sites:

Cake= $604.05
PS= $285.31

I'll give a better set of accurate game/itm/roi numbers in my next post. To start being realistic about the goals of this hobby, I must find good hard numbers to base the approach on and then we can have some fun. Sometimes being a little over critical can have it's drawbacks but in the end it shall lead down the good path. I hope all is going well with everyone and good luck at the tables!!!

Frustration

2009-02-04T21:06:00.002-05:00

So that little bug has a sharp bite aye? You get it in good and actually start praying because you know your opponent is a maniac from hell and is just as likely to take you out. You know beyond a shadow of a doubt what they hold in their hand but there's still two to come. All good on the turn. Sdfhhsfhasfhsfsdfhshfwoerfwehfwhf!!!!!!!!! WTF OVER!!!!! AGAIN!?!?!? "Breath Rodney" says the kind little voice inside. Time after time. Over and over. You spend endless hours studying. Going over betting patterns, win/loss percentages, taking notes on every play. Hour after hour, trying to learn how to crush the competition. You think you've got it wrapped together and then comes the miracle 1 outer to dash your hopes again.

"Breath Rodney", the voice calmly says.

No One ever said any of this was going to be easy, did they? Fortunately, no, no one ever did say that. If they had, I would feel relatively saddened by the lashing they would receive from aspiring players like myself. Of course, there would not be any reasonable explanation for my recourse, which is why such action would sadden me. I still believe that people can act in rational, if not logical, ways. This is what leads to all the frustration, my friends. The art of poker is one of deception. If I want my opponent to give me his chips, I must make him believe that he is winning. That is not the easiest of tasks. Those of you who play in the micro levels will be able to attest to that quite fervently. How do you get a fold from someone that doesn't have a fold button? Guess what folks. You don't. You tag them with their little "calling station" note and play the nuts against them next time. That's where the fun comes in. When is next time? More frustration!!!

"Calm down, it'll be alright"

So I guess I must say it as honestly as I can. The world of the online micro degenerate is not an easy one. I saw in a chat room earlier someone say that poker is nothing more than a new form of drug. After a little bit of thought, I can see some similarities. For those of a competitive nature, the thrill of the win is irreplaceable. For the math geek, the number of number combinations is excruciatingly deep. Could take a lifetime to really understand it. For the fun lover, where else can there be so much activity in front of a computer screen? The game, the people, the enjoyment of maybe winning the big one! All of these can lead to an "addictive" expression that most drug/alcohol genres include. More frustration.

So let's put this puppy to bed with a few realizations. #1- it takes more than a years experience to understand the game, let alone win at it. #2- the frustration will never go away as long as you choose to strive to be good at it( why? the game is ever evolving silly). #3- drugs and poker can have similarities if you choose the right context of comparison. What does any of this have to do with the price of tea in China? Absolutely nothing!! That's the fun of it. We are all going to go through times when the game, or variance of, makes us feel horrible. It will cause you to question the who's, what's, and whys of what you do. If you're as enthusiastic about the game as I am, it will go so far as to cause you to question your character (those are details for another post)!!

Frustration will always be in the game and if we can accept that, we will be better players for it. Is it worth all the trouble? I will respond with this. Aren't the things that give us the most trouble the ones we find most gratifying? Good luck everyone, til next time.......

Caisson

The Math

2009-01-28T13:12:00.002-05:00

I've been really trying to grind the math out and get an even better understanding of how it works within the game. I'm truly amazed by how some of the probabilities work out in the long run. Fox did a hand analysis chat a few weeks ago and it opened my eyes to a whole dimension of the game that I was missing. Thanks Fox!! I've also been working within a study group that has it's own "math genius" and his input(CPOner) has also enlightened me to a whole new level of thinking. It's actually dumbfounding how well 97o will do against a lot of ranges. Plus, the Sheets lecture series are actually starting to make sense. That, in it's own right, is an incredibly big step towards my improvement within the game.

The study group that I'm currently working with has brought a huge ray of sunshine. It's an older bunch that have as much passion for the game as I do. There isn't any whining or crying about differences of opinion, so it opens the whole gambit of learning. We've actually started with a review of one of my 180man tourneys. We've had three separate sessions of review(about 6 hours) and still haven't finished. We're about half way through the final table play. I really can't wait to finish this one and get into the next. I've also just been introduced to another group this week. It's a younger group with another approach to ideas. We did an impromptu review session yesterday evening that also went well. I think if I can coax a little bit more involvement from them, it'll also turn into another fantastic learning circle.

I have decided to split my games up by site for the time being. I'll play sngs at Cake, mtts at PS, and I'm wanting to learn limit cash play at FTP. I'm currently looking at reactivating my account at Bodog also but that has future written all over it. I believe this is the correct approach since the play styles at the different sites vary so much. By specializing, I can take in the active style of one site and use it specifically for an event/game. That way the differences don't effect my game as a whole and keeps me focused a bit more. Really just an experiment until I get bankrolls built up at all the sites.

Sort of as a quick review of January, I've pretty much stuck to the $4.40 180man sngs at PS. things are going fairly well. Since the study group became truly active, my play has taken a turn for the better and the results are starting to show. Since the 11th, I've played 50 games with an ITM of 18% and an ROI of 76.4%. I started the 180 thing with around $200 and it is now around the $340 mark in the first month. I am pretty confident that it will be getting better very quickly.

One other thing of note. By spending so much time studying the math, the beats are have much less of an effect on my play. Tilting in a negative way is gradually disappearing as well as the positive side of it. Everything is starting to become a constant review of correct choices as opposed to a win/loss sequence of emotional reactions. I'm really enjoying this form of reaction much more. There is still the thrill of making the final table, I just feel like I'm in much greater control of myself when I get there. The force is strong with you, young paddiwan!! Hehe.

Well, got more work to do. Hopefully that never ends, for it is the student of the game that succeeds. Good luck everyone!! Til next time....

Tradition

2009-01-23T12:05:00.002-05:00

As things would have it, my tradition with writing continues. Although I truly enjoy putting the thoughts to paper(computer screen), the consistency just isn't there. I shan't dwell on it now but it is under observation. So, on with an update.

I've been playing a lot of the $4.40 180man sngs at PokerStars. I've prolly been getting in between 4-6 of these a day. I have managed a + ROI for the first 104 games at 12%. It isn't necessarily a fantastic result but I'm not really too concerned. This month has been full of learning in ways that I hadn't expected. The study group at PXF is starting to take form and the other group is really getting active. We had our first live conference call last night. Absolutely great experience with four of us sharing information while analyzing hands. What a great way to study the game! I'm hoping to do at least a couple of these sessions a week for awhile. Maybe get another group involved. Hard telling but it's off to a wonderful start.

As to updating the blog here, I need to start setting a more concrete schedule for that. Haven't really put a bunch of thought into it so far. I'm sure that will come with time. The drinking and exercise parts are doing fine. I do think I need to regiment the exercise a bit more also. I went to give blood today and got turned down do to my blood pressure being 2 points to high. Go figure. You do what they tell you is healthy just to find out that you're not. Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Will go and attempt tomorrow. I'm sure everything will be fine then. Enough for now. Good luck everyone, Cya

Double Deuce

2009-01-12T13:01:00.003-05:00

As fate would have it, the study group I was looking for has shown up out of thin air. It's an older bunch with varying opinions and styles. The nice part is that they can talk about poker without having an emotional attachment to their views. This opens up a lot of different avenues of thought that wouldn't normally be exposed for evaluation. We can actually debate the different approaches without someone flaming or getting pissed off. I can't tell you how delightful that is compared to some of the forums that I've read. The game is one of logical assumption based on incomplete information. Thought about from that perspective, please leave your emotions at the door. It is possible to disagree and still get along. That's one of the nicest parts to poker. No one approach is completely valid, so all styles can work in any given situation. The debate itself can show you how your competition thinks and reacts. What better way to defeat them then by their own means?

It was this group that introduced me to the Double Deuce tourney at FTP. Great tournament with a nice structure. You can satellite into it for as little as $.50 and it's a $100k guaranteed purse. I think you can see the value in that. After the second break(maybe 15 minutes from the next), I was down to 12bb and looking to get my chips in when this hand came up:

Full Tilt Poker Game #9988455946: The $100K Double Deuce (73510655), Table 34 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:30:27 ET - 2009/01/11
Seat 1: Percy80 (14,910)
Seat 2: AAAAlexis (25,002)
Seat 3: EZpleze (9,555)
Seat 4: caisson (7,647)
Seat 5: lafortuna24 (31,722)
Seat 6: 123223 (40,780)
Seat 7: Juana de Arco (9,545)
Seat 8: Purple_Gold08 (7,850)
Seat 9: Simme123 (13,712)
Percy80 antes 75
AAAAlexis antes 75
EZpleze antes 75
caisson antes 75
lafortuna24 antes 75
123223 antes 75
Juana de Arco antes 75
Purple_Gold08 antes 75
Simme123 antes 75
Juana de Arco posts the small blind of 300
Purple_Gold08 posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to caisson [Ks Ad]
Simme123 folds
Percy80 folds
AAAAlexis folds
EZpleze folds
caisson has 15 seconds left to act
caisson raises to 7,572, and is all in
lafortuna24 folds
123223 folds
Juana de Arco folds
Purple_Gold08 calls 6,972
caisson shows [Ks Ad]
Purple_Gold08 shows [Qd Qc]
*** FLOP *** [4h Kd Kc
]*** TURN *** [4h Kd Kc] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [4h Kd Kc 7d] [Qh]
caisson shows three of a kind, Kings
Purple_Gold08 shows a full house, Queens full of Kings
Purple_Gold08 wins the pot (16,119) with a full house, Queens full of Kings
caisson stands up

On the flop, be still my beating heart! On the river, wow!! Nice hand sir, good luck. A month ago, that hand would have had me depressed for a couple of days. Now that the maths are starting to sink in, good game me and let's gettum next time. You have to win a few of these coin flip situations to go deep into the $$$. Nice part is I know that day is coming and that makes all the study worthwhile.

For those keeping track, sobriety for 12 days. I would have thought there would be some form of mental/emotional complication but there hasn't been. Maybe that is why all the poker information is starting to meld into something useful. I've also lost 5 lbs but I think that's nothing but water weight. It's amazing how the body will let go of things it stores when you give it enough of what it needs. Maybe the mind works along the same lines. That something to ponder.

Well, good luck everyone and til next time...

2009

2009-01-08T05:09:00.002-05:00

So here we are. One week into the "next" year. I was thinking about putting resolutions down on the first but was sceptical because of the word. Re-solution. "So, you didn't get it correct the first time huh?", one of the little voices in my mind responds. "Do you possibly think you have the answer this time?". What a queer little voice that is, I think to myself. After the week has past and to much weighing of information, I believe I have come up with some simple changes for this year which may help this hobby along. They are as follows:

1) Stop thinking in terms of $$ gained as the reference point for poker skill.
2) Create/join a small group of poker degenerates.
3) Use a minimum of 10 hrs/wk for study (vids,reading,etc)
4) Use a minimum of 10 hrs/wk for hand analysis
5) Learn how to make this blog more interesting
6) Write more- twice a week sounds right
7) Stop drinking for one year
8) Exercise for 1 hr 4 times a week

Wow, 8 solutions seems like a lot, doesn't it? Maybe this is a mistake and I should cut back so as to set myself up for success and not create an atmosphere heading to failure? Rubbish!!!!!! One of the things I see wrong in this world today is people will actually strive to avoid being successful. At the first sign of some form of resistance to their hopes and dreams, they curl up and whine about the world not being fair. The worst part is the modern psychological community is agreeing with this pattern. If you don't have discipline or patience, they diagnose you as ADD. If your scared to get out and change your life, they diagnose you with Chronic Fatigue Disorder so you have an excuse not to do anything about it. If you think the world is unfair and that makes you unhappy, they give you a bottle of Xanax(a depressant) to make you "feel" better. Let's face some reality here. If life was supposed to be easy, why do you shed tears at the birth of your child? Why do you feel so alone when God doesn't hear your prayer? Why do you feel remorse when your plans fall through? Any clues?

We didn't listen to our parents when they said something was hot for the first time. We had to touch it and find out for ourselves. "Damn, that hurt!!", we think in our dismay. As we get older, the lessons become more subtle and complicated but the basic answers all remain the same. We do not learn anything without experience and we do not receive fruits without the labors to show for it! Don't get me wrong here. There are people who are born gifted and don't "seem" to have to work as hard. The other side of their coin is what lessons they have to learn. People that struggle can appreciate the benefits of their labor because they understand the cost. What of the gifted? I'll leave that for you to decide. Sorry for the rant. I do have a very spartan way of looking at things which may seem unsympathetic but I'm weary of people demanding excess solely on the basis that they are capable of drawing air into their lungs. I refuse to be that naive and I've enjoyed the work that is life. Let's get back to the topic at hand.

Solutions for my poker hobby. I hope by sustaining this rather rigorous training plan, by the end of the year, my mistakes at the tables will be few. That may or may not be as profitable as I may hope, but the "pros" that I communicate with seem to confirm that $$ does follow proper decision making. I will just have to try it out for myself. As to the difficulty of this plan, I really don't see it as such. 20 hours in a weeks time really isn't a lot when compared to the normal waste of time used in other activities like watching mundane drama on the television so you have some imaginary comparison that makes you feel better about your own life. And let's face it folks, would you rather watch Phil Hellmuth blow up on Poker After Dark or play well enough to sit down and be the reason that he's blowing up? I prefer the latter.

As to items 5 & 6 on the list, I've had some really nice feedback about this blog. So I'd like to take the time and hopefully make it more interesting, if not at least more appealing to the eye. It really helps when there is some interest from other people. This is also something I hadn't thought about before I started it. Throughout my entire life, I've made attempts of recording things of interest in words. This one has lasted the longest and is by far my favorite endeavour. I would just like to make it more enjoyable for those of you that read it, so any input would also be appreciated.

As to 7 & 8, these are topics that have needed to be addressed for a while. Because of my position at my day job, I don't get the exercise that I should and alcohol obviously ( for those of you who don't drink) "relieves" the stresses of my day. Well, I quit smoking almost two years ago and have put on about 40 pounds and don't really "feel" any better for it. In my mind, that would mean that I am still contaminating myself with something that isn't good for me. Let's see. My usual week consisted of about 4-6 cases of Budlight/Budweiser for mental "medicinal" purposes. When written out that way, it sounds sort of sick/sad doesn't it? Although there are people in this world that wouldn't understand, the heavy construction industry is full of people that have this preoccupation. It had never stopped me from being to work on time or from taking care of my responsibilities. I just feel at this stage of my life, it should be left behind for now to see if my physical aspects can start aiding my mental aspects in being a better player. I believe a years time with periodic reviews should be able to determine if this approach is helpful.
So far this year, sobriety for a week and some form of cardio/weight lifting every other day has at least got my spirit saying thank you but the joints are a little upset(creaky, snap, crackle!)

This seems to have been a bit long for a blog post but I think very necessary. I hope everyone is having a grand new year and may all be blessed with aces in the big blind!! (utg raiser w/ AKo of course!!!) Until next time,

Rodney

Another Year Gone

2008-12-31T06:23:00.003-05:00

See ya, 2008!! What a year you were.

I started the year traveling to Tuscaloosa, Alabama on the 2nd of January. Going there to start the first job of the year. The pic on the right is from that jobsite. This year encapsulated travels to Tuscaloosa, Arlington VA, Harleyville SC, Orlando FL, and ended here in Gainesville FL at the campus of the Florida Gators. It's been a good year for work for myself and the crews I work with. With the economy the way it is, it's an absolute blessing to be working everyday. Didn't take any sort of vacation this year. Mainly because Tracy(my wife) was off work for about 6 months and actually spent a very large amount of time with me away from home. I can't tell you how much of a pleasure that was for me. We don't get to see a lot of each other as it is during a years time, so this was another blessing for the year. The year held many of it's usual events. There were the births of new children and the passing of some of the older generations. There was pain as well as joy and yet the sun came up daily. What a wonderful thing, the passing of another year.

I won my first MTT this year. Actually won three total in the same weekend. I guess that could be called a nice run. I learned the rudimentary basics to sngs and found them to be profitable. I discovered the interesting sub-culture of the on-line poker player and what a vast and interesting world that is! A place undivided by space or time. Sitting alone with your laptop yet conversing with multiple people around the globe about a subject as subtle as the breeze that pulls the hair from a child's face. Hundreds of thousands of people playing a game of 52 cards that have millions of possible outcomes. All in the name of having a good time for most. For some, mainly the degenerates, a world of finding money that others don't care to have anymore. The latter is the home of whiz kids and math gurus, all longing for that life changing fall of cards in their favor. The opportunity to say good-bye to the normal struggles of the average Joe and be slung handsomely into the world of high-buyin poker. A sweet sound to those with the ears to hear.

I learned parts of a new game called Omaha. A lady both profitable and excruciatingly painful. I could learn to love her if I had the monies to ride her train. Maybe someday. The wide open world of variance and the non-committed world of the fishes/donks. They call down with J3o and hit on the river, asking how you could wager so much with just pocket kings. The constant barrage of insults coming from the professor that can only play the top 3%. Somehow, through it all, being happy with a positive ROI after thousands of hands played. I have read of the anguish of the micro limit grinders and the excitement of watching relative unknowns make it to the WSOPME Final Table. So many hopes crushed yet just as many dreams fulfilled. Again, what a wonderful year it was!!

What more can be said about 2008. America voted for it's first black president. The world outside is full of torment and misunderstanding. A world on the edge of a precipice that not many see. Always starting a new year with hopes for the best, but wary of the possible outcomes that may be. In hindsight, all is as the world should be. We make happen what is possible only by striving for what we believe is right. We all hold different views of what that might mean and somewhere down the od bye 08' and good luck to all in 09'.

Rodney

Overall

2008-11-25T01:19:00.002-05:00

Well, it's been 4 months since this project got started. That seems like both yesterday and forever. Hard to put into words the totals of the time period, but it's been a nice ride. Let's get to the nuts and bolts of it then we can do some reflection. These are the #s by month:

Month/#Games/ITM/ROI
July/89/43.82/17.86
Aug/372/44.89/9.35
Sept/211/47.87/16.48
Oct/150/42.00/1.50
Nov/76/42.11/35.14

Grand Totals of: 898 games/ITM: 44.77%/ ROI:13.08
Overall Profit: $1,088.58

Now for the bad news. That little stint playing PLO8, that actually cost us approximately $600!
So, how could that be? I have come to two conclusions. First and foremost, I suck at the game!!! I know exactly enough to be dangerous only to myself. I won numerous, numerous little pots and lost a good number of very big pots. I guess that sort of sums it up. Secondly, the first time I played, I went up $200 and got 2 gold cards. I thought, "I like gold cards" and the game isn't that hard, right? Yeah, right!! Although my card collection now includes 18 of the shiny bastards, I have yet to see any of them be worth the $600 it cost to get them. There must be something to humans wanting shiny things! Anyway, I believe what was most important was understanding that I was way out of any kind of bankroll requirement. Hell, I didn't even set any parameters for it. Basically, the bad news was created by yours truly being a very large fish( I do prefer ass but that's not nice to say. ass=donkey kapish?)

Although the hit from PLO8 was somewhat severe, between bonus cash and hard nosed sng play, the roll at cake is still well over $1,000 and climbing. I've taken a break from learning PLO and focused a bit more on my sng play. Reading forums, watching Sheet's lecture series again and again, and rereading some of my sng books. Reviewing almost everything from my coaching session with Jennifear. Call it variance, but I've pummeled the $18 turbos the last few days. I will have to put one huge brag in here. 10/20 level and all 10 players seated. I ran AKs into KK and lost. Left me with 40 chips and the blinds ran through, so I'm sitting there with 10 chips. I started thinking about one of Sheet's vids where he says not to ever give up. Well I put my best Nash cards to work and came back for the win. I can also say that I was only behind on 2 flops and only needed to suck out on the river once! GG me, weeeeeeee!!

So let's take a little time to reflect on poker the last four months. Lord knows there has been a lot of it(comparatively). I think, as far as the good things that have come out, my game is becoming much, much better. If I were to compare it to how I was playing 12 months ago, it would be day and night, and I thought I was good then. I would love to run into that guy on the felt now! The things that are probably my forte' at this point are situations. Learning who I'm playing against and what they're likely to do next. I still think my biggest problem to date is the overall math of the thing and also hand reading following a close second. I'm still not sure how to resolve the hand reading part but I'm going to start a project that I think will help with the math. Sheet's created a set of spreadsheets that works all the math for you. I believe, if can that duplicate that work without any outside help, I should know the math pretty well by the time I'm done. I'll probably know my Excel program too. Bonus!!

There is one other thing I'd like to say before I conclude this post. I have found that people do read this and some actually enjoy it. I truly appreciate your words and comments! One of the things that I feel is truly unique about this adventure is being able to share with other people of like mind. Unfortunately, it would seem that I don't get to meet many of you in the flesh. Maybe someday our paths will cross. Until next time. Good luck at the tables everyone!!!

Rodney

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving all!!!!!

Relativity

2008-11-17T03:48:00.002-05:00

So I've been trying to get to some of the instructor chats at PXF. Keep missing them due to conflicting schedules. Then, over the weekend, I make one with the topic being PLO8. Outstanding, I think to myself. I'm struggling with the game, so an hour or so of informed education will be good for me. As Fox (Chris Wallace) is going through the lecture part of the presentation, he does a short review of the current books out there on the game. I had just finished reading Capelletti's book on the topic and got what I thought was some fair information and some good story telling. At that point I wouldn't have put it down as suggested reading. Next thing you know, Fox is calling it the most advanced book on the topic that he's seen yet!! Huh?!? Almost everything that was talked about after that is a blur. Most advanced? What in the hell was I missing? Time to go reread another book I didn't seem to absorb very well.

Then yesterday, I was watching a video Rizen had just put out. It's actually a coaching session with another subscriber from PXF. Outstanding stuff. Listening how thier two views can conflict and still be on target to thier individual understanding of the situations as they unfold. So what's the point? RELATIVITY!! The more and more I think about the learning curve in poker, the more I become a little confused. Then a light comes on and it all becomes very simple. Rizen actually said it very well in his video. People, for the most part, aren't going to be thinking at the level of someone who studies the game and it's nuances. Unless they are a regular/grinder, most folks are still playing to have fun.

Maybe it's an ego thing. Because I've have been studying so much over the past 12 months, something tells me I should have a handle on this game. Relatively speaking, I actually have a somewhat infantile understanding of what's really going on. Take for example the book thing. The diffrence between what Fox sees and what I see in the same material is relative to the experience we have with the subject matter. I will have to agree that his opinion is going to make much more sense than my own due to my sheer lack of experience. So don't count out Cappelletti's book yet! I'll try again under new consideration and get back with you.

The BR took a huge beating due to playing PLO8 as a newbee. At one point, I was back down to $725 from $1,450. Taht will look a bit squewed because my first session of PLO8 was huge. I won 6 buy-ins the first time I played and then commenced the downfall. I don't feel there is any reason to panic at this point. I got a chance to play some $20 sngs this weekend and am back up to $947. It seems that my sng play is still my best game for the time being. Hopefully, I'll get more regular play time in at those in the near future.

So, to recap. Knowledge is not an instamatic thing, especially in the ever changing world of the gambler. Baby steps are still necessary when trying anything for the first time. We will all have times when we can't figure out what is wrong, only to find out that in essence there wasn't anything but our own ignorance. It can be hard to swallow sometimes, but if you can hold to the idea that all things will be relative to the view you cast on them, many of the self-abuse sessions can run thier course much more quickly. Rome wasn't built in a day and you're not going to win a braclet in a month of experience. Good luck eveyone!!

Time Constraints

2008-11-10T04:11:00.002-05:00

As you could probably tell from my last post, time has become a somewhat exhaustable commodity. Basically, I haven't had much spare time to play or write about poker. The PLO experiment is going fair at this point. I do have mixed feelings about it do to some reading that I've been doing on the game. It would appear that many authors have very diffrent approaches to the best way to dominate at the tables. Which is one thing that I haven't been doing. Bankroll is back down to approx. $1,100. I can say that I haven't got much play time in of late and I may have played a dozen or so sngs in the last three weeks. It does lead to a somewhat meloncholy state of mind. Yet, then again, the small break is giving me time to do a few other things that have been somewhat neglected.

I've been able to take a more acedemic approach towards philosophy. Of course, that in it's own right, can be considered both + and - ev. I had forgotten how long it's been since the material I was reading had some sort of intellectual challenge. Harrington On Holdem isn't exactly a literary masterpiece. A gold mine for the novice poker player- yes, but literature and the pursuit of truth tend to go alittle deeper. I can say that the texts on acedemic logic have been a great source of learning, especially along the subject of poker. Funny how Jung's theory on syncronicity can apply to so many diffrent levels.

Well, just wanted to leave a note to anyone who is following the project. It is alive and well, although in a small state of dormancy for now. Hopefully I'll have more time this month to play or I may have to wait until after the holidays. Guess only time can tell that. Good luck at the tables everyone!! Until next time...

October Review

2008-11-04T10:06:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately, life does have it's ups and downs. That heater I was on was quite short lived. Then there was a small downswing and a change in work schedule. On about the 10th of October, work had to start at 9pm until 7am. There aren't many people playing $20 sngs at 7am! Needless to say, I had to start adapting what I was doing to continue the growth pattern. Along comes a few MTTs. Played in 7 tourneys, cashing in 5 and finished 3rd twice. Not incredible amounts of money but enough to take the bankroll over $1,250 at Cake. While all of this was happening, something in the back of my mind asked why I had to stick with Holdem games. Since there was no legitimate reason for not changing, along came PL Omaha!

Sept. Review

2008-10-07T00:36:00.002-04:00

As the time goes by so quickly, I get lost in months and days. I frequently have to be reminded which day of the week it is or what time of the day for that matter. It all revolves around changing shifts(am/pm), changing locations, and generaling just being a traveling construction worker. Sometimes, you have to wonder when you were home last or where you were last week. Throw in the idea that you spend a good amount of that time playing poker on a computer and things can get a little foggy. It's already the 5th of October and it seems like I just posted here a day or so ago. Slacking a bit, so on with a review of September.

Here are the numbers for the month as a whole:

211 games/ITM 47.87%/ROI 16.48%/Profit $279.89

So by the end of the month, the roll has allowed us to start playing at the $20 level again(Cake). That has led to some rather startling results. I've been on a rather nice heater for the beginning of October. I've played 45 games so far and am showing a profit of $150.10!! As a matter of fact, the BR at Cake has surpassed the $1,000 mark(profit+bonus $). To bring all the totals together between all three sites, the BR has grown to $1,141.02. After approx. 10 weeks of running, we have reached 10% of our present goal. I had thought of putting other expenses against the totals but I'll save that for another time in the future.

Let me explain my thoughts on this. Result orientation can be the biggest hinderence to playing well imo. Although having goals that represent dollar amounts can be a nice way to keep track of your endevours, whether or not you are making the correct decision in poker is another animal. The obvious answer to playing well would be that you make money. Unfortunately, that isn't nearly the case. I have been spending a bit of time reviewing the games I've played before the project began and the way I'm playing now. Night and day can be the only true contrast!! Being able to differentiate the diffrences is becoming even more fun. I have learned that money is how we keep score, yet sometimes I think there are other ways as well. We have player comparisons(ie rankings, stats, etc) that can be looked up all over the internet, which can also give us a feel for how we are excelling. There is forum after forum that we can compare our knowledge against and see how our views agree or disagree. There are even books that you can toss to the curb when you finish reading them because you know they're hogwash. So, even though the money can be a nice reward for our endevours, it shouldn't neccesarily be the only way we gauge our advancement in the game.

Which also brings up another topic. POKER IS A GAME!!! As I have watched so many players completely lose it in the chat boxes, I wonder how many of them remember that. As with any sport or board game, there will be a winner and a loser, and all results can be recorded for prosperity. Brings me to a lovely example of the game I love to play. At a local bar, there is a "free" tournament that is played 4 or 5 times a week. No limit texas holdem is the game and the winner receives a $15 bar tab. Tracy(da wife) decided that she was going to play this past weekend and called to let me know. I was amazed because that isn't in her normal repetoire of things to do on a Saturday evening. Especially when I had told her before that the folks that play in that tourney are not the nicest. So, long story short, she gets knocked out in 5th or so, and has an overall miserable go of it. Why? Because there are of few people that play in that tourney that think it's the WSOPME Final Table!!! Any mistake made during play is resounded across the table until another error is found. For myself, such talk is amusing because I already know which way the chips will flow. For other people like my wife and many other people who want to play because it's fun, these "professors" and all around morons basically kill any form of enjoyment that normal people get from the game. Personally, poker is a hobby that makes money and is so deep in it's complexity, I would still play without the cash incentive because it's fun.

Not really sure what that last paragraph was all about but since I typed it, it must be important. Gotta love this blogging thing. To nip this in the bud, progress is progress and hopefully October will be a huge harvest for us all. Good luck at the tables everyone!!

Rodney

Moving Along

2008-09-25T03:22:00.002-04:00

It's been a bit since my last post, so I thought a relative update was in order. I haven't been playing much lately. My crew finished the job in Orlando last Wensday and I've been sent to Gainesville to help out with a project there. So, moving the 5th wheel to a new place, weekend with Tracy and Jax(wife & dog respectively), and a round of golf with my buddy Alan hasn't left me with much free time. The new job is on the campus of UF and should go fairly well. Once again, I'll be heading up a night crew so timelines shouldn't change too much. This week has thrown a loop into my sleep schedual, but it should be back to normal next week.

As far as my game has been, what little I've played, I see signs of improvement. Since the session with Jennifear, I've really been focusing on playing at FTP because I can track actual gameplay there better and have a cleaner evaluation of what I'm doing. I will say that the players there are a helluva lot more aggressive than at Cake. I see this as a plus and a minus for my style. It's easier to read them and it's helped me get more comfortable with my own aggression levels around the bubble. The negative part is only from a standpoint where playing with all the "chat kids" is rather annoying. They seem to love berating anyone and everyone. Of course, I think it would be rather hilarious to meet some of these young people at a live table!! I'm not sure they really understand the true forms of intimidation.

Anyway, I'm not going to get into #s right now cause it's 3:45am and I'm supposed to be asleep. I will say that at the $10 level of Cake, my ROI has doubled since my coaching lesson. I will have to consider that a dramatic change(varience? doubtful because ITM #s have stayed the same) for the better. Oh, by the way, to answer a few questions about if I'd reccomend Jennifear as a coach. Without a doubt, if you're trying to get somewhere with this game. It has to be some of the best value I've seen out there. Between her knowledge, support and sheer love of the game, I don't see anyone out there presently that compares. I'm hoping to start a coaching comparison thread at PXF as soon as I can get some hard #s together. I think it would be a great topic for discussion.

Well, off to get some rest. BTW, if anyone would like to discuss poker or anything else for that matter, you can always e-mail at caissonsuper@gmail.com. And just about anytime my computer is on, I IM at Yahoo by the sn caissonsuper. I'm not great at typing but I like to chat occassionally. Good luck at the tables everyone!!

Coaching

2008-09-14T23:48:00.003-04:00

So, the coaching session was definately a bonus in my mind!! I thought that the session went extremely well and it has opened my brain to alot more insight. I will let you know that my coach goes by the sn Jennifear and has an exceptional teaching ability. She came highly regarded by Chris "Fox" Wallace and now I can see why. I also learned that she has a plethora of published articles at PocketFives and is also being published elsewhere. Being relatively new to the "poker" world, I have to say I had no idea just how good this young lady is at the game or just how involved she is at teaching the game. Absolutely exceptional on both counts and I would reccomend her to anyone who has a want for improvement in thier game. I believe she has armed me with new weapons for my current game and taught me ways to make sure that I evaluate what I'm doing to improve even faster. Definately looking forward to another session when the BR can handle it!! Thanks a million Jen!!!!

So, on to current numbers and events. My results over the weekend were far less than fair. As a matter of fact, as far as the sngs went, I sucked!! I've thrown a new trick into the arsenal that has both helped and hurt. I'm using Sharkscope to color code my opponents as to how they have played historically. I am amazed at how much money some of these people are willing to part with in the name of a pasttime. Of course this leads to a new form of confidence in my own play but also leads to a way of feeling really stupid when you get pummeled by the same losing players. As I played, I watched almost every winning player get pounded by people playing hands like 92o from mid position coming in with a raise. Having AA cracked by QJo when all the chips went in preflop. Even my wife(who likes to play the pretty cards, bless her heart), was commenting on how bad the play was without me saying anything about it. So my ROI for Friday and Saturday was -16.36 and -61.67 respectively. Rather than getting upset, I actually marvelled at some of the play. Since I was struggling so much in the sngs, I decided to play in a $7,500 guarantee MTT saturday afternoon. A 24th place finish took some of the sting out of my loses but not much. Then Saturday night, the local bar has a "free" tournament that the locals play and I took that down for a nice bar tab some night in the future. It's always nice to play with actual people every once in a while, even if there isn't much at stake. Refreshing!!

Here is how all the numbers stand as of today:

Site Limit #Games ITM ROI
Cake $4.60+.40 226 46.43% 23.46%
$9.20+.80 256 43.41% 3.24%
$18.40+1.60 9 55.56% 40.56%
FTP $2.00+.25 47 42.55% 15.74%
PS $3.00+.40 7 28.57% -11.76%

I've played in 5 MTT events and profited $37.33

BR/site
Cake $700.13
FTP $59.41
PS $0.26

Current Total= $759.80 add to that the $200 for coaching and you get $959.80.

Basically, the project has had a 300% increase since inception and is doing as good as can be expected at this point. I'm not by any means disheartened by these results but I do think there is room for improvement. I was going over all of the results by days and have noticed a familiar streak. I'm actually having my worst days on the weekends, normally both friday and sunday have been killers to the ROI. On two of the days that I would think that I'd be showing the most profit, I'm actually losing the most money!! HMMM!!! Here is some food for thought.

What did I take most from my coaching session? The NASH EQUILIBRIUM and how it applies to sng play. Absolutely fascinating stuff!! I'd seen "Sheets" go over some of this in a couple videos but didn't really understand how to apply it because I'm just not a huge math guy. I'm still not ,but Jen showed me how to apply it and use it for reviewing my play at the end of a session. I honestly do believe that this is going to do wonders for my game. The other aspect that I think is going to help out the most is reviewing my winning sessions as well as my losing games. We did go over one full game that I happened to win and found where my play was actually wrong for the situation. By doing this, I'll be able to fix problems that can cause huge negative effects when I'm ready to move up levels down the road. Which reminds me, I had started playing at the $20 level before my coaching session. Now that my BR is back below the 45 buy-in requirement, I'll keep playing at the $10 level and rebuild. I also want to see what kind of an effect the coaching session will have on that level ROI. With any luck, I'm hoping to bring it up above 15% over my next 100 games or so. Sort of ran out of things to say, so I'll bring this to a close. Good luck at the tables everyone!!!

Decisions,decisions

2008-09-11T06:30:00.002-04:00

I think the time has come to seek outside help. The project is still going well and I have moved to the next level at Cake($18.40 + $1.60 Turbo). Yet, something seems like I could be doing better. My numbers aren't miserable by any means, so far this month my overall ROI is 32.02 and I'm showing a profit that should double last months output. I've played 1/6th of what I played last month and am already 1/2 way to the profit totals. Unforunately, I spent 4 days sick last week not playing anything and work has become alittle more demanding. Fortunately, I'm really starting to understand the game on levels that should be obvious if you have half a brain(I may have used/burnt-up alot when I was younger). So, let's talk about the title of today's entry.

I've been spending alot of time reading psychology books about poker and just poker in general. I read the forums at PXF almost religously. I try to study what the professional players are thinking and doing to improve thier game. All that being said, I have decided to take on a coach!! I'm not going to reveal who that is at this point because I like the mystery of it! I will say that I have had lessons from another instructor,"Mscell", who in my opinion, taught me how to play MTTs well enough to have scored 3 wins. I'm looking forward to working with him again once certain goals have been achieved. I will share more info about all this once it happens.

Why do I need a coach, if everything is going so well? I think that outside influence challenges a person to evaluate what they are doing on many levels that they normally wouldn't strive for. As a normal American, I understand that if you're not doing all that you can to improve, you're wasting you're time(I actually don't agree with this view in most cases!!). I am a firm believer in seeking help from people with more experience, depending on what the goal is and what the subject matter involves. My first session will begin tomorrow at 9am. Wish me luck and I'll write about the results soon. Until then, good luck at the tables everyone!!!!!

August in review

2008-09-06T11:47:00.002-04:00

All things being said, August wasn't a bad month. Definately had runs of both good and bad but everything was mainly going in the good direction. Here is how everything has gone by number and site:
Site Game #Played ITM ROI
CAKE $4.60+.40 SNG 215 46.5 19.84
$9.20+80 SNG 223 42.6 3.25
$18.40+1.60 SNG 1 100 314
$10.00+1.00 MTT Bounty 2 100 38.14
FullTilt $2.00+.25 SNG 43 39.53 -1.4
PokerStars $3.00+.40 SNG 7 28.57 -11.56

So, what all this actually means is a profit of $350.98. Add to that $110 of bonus cash and we have a total of $460.98 for the last 6 weeks or so. It must be made painfully obvious that I'm not doing so well at PS or FT. I don't think there is much of an issue there, other than the fact that I don't believe that my game is that solid yet (DURR!!!). I have been considering getting a coach for awhile or just getting some one-on-one lessons. Couldn't hurt.

Got to cut this short, cable guy is here. Good luck at the tables everyone!!

A Review

2008-08-27T08:29:00.002-04:00

I got to thinking about this project and started wondering why I was keeping to one poker site. Didn't seem to make much sense if I really want to expand by ability. I realized I still had like $9.54 at PokerStars and said why not play at FullTilt too! So I deposited another $50 there. I'm still keeping the project to minimum level buy-in sngs with the 45 buy-in aspect. The only one that is diffrent is Stars. I've played a couple $3.40 sngs there because that seems to be the lowest realistic level. I think if I bust out there, I can reinvest later in the project. I pulled up my numbers for all three sites at SharkScope. Because these include all of my efforts since the inuaguration of my hobby, I thought it would be beneficial to record them now. This is how we stand to date:

Site Games Ave ROI Profit
FullTilt 278 -18% -$217
PokerStars 97 2% -$5
Cake 462 19% $800

These are the numbers that SharkScope has tracked for some while. I believe if you look up my SN on FullTilt, you'll see a goldfish jumping in his bowl!! Of course I hope to change that eventually(for now, I want the hunters to believe it!). We must also keep in mind that these numbers only reflect sng tournaments. I have played numerous MTTs since this endevour began which I don't believe I have completely tracked to date. I can't say for sure that I lost much(if any) cash to them. Obviously, I must have or I wouldn't have started the project, right?
I will stand behind my original estimates of how much I started the hobby with, so I don't think I have lost much. There is one very interesting note that hasn't been addressed. How much am I spending to learn?

Books, training sites, computer programs. How far can it go? Well, let's nail some numbers down. I am a member at PXF for $25/month and have been there since January of this year. Was a member at PokerFox before that for three months or so before that(Thanks Chris and all the Foxers!! Great community IMO!!). I have PokerTracker in all it's versions and SNGWizard for watching my game. Books, books, and more books. I still believe that reading is becoming a lost art. I look at ten titles as I write this, knowing I have more in my truck and my wife took more than I have home to put in the library(our bookshelf...library-someday). So, to just put a rough guesstmit on it, I'd say close to $1,100 in training materials and a $400 training session with an exceptional MTT coach. Leads us to a wiggly total of around $1,500. I just noticed something very important. I'm not a winning player!!!

Wow. I actually thought that I was getting somewhere with this thing. Oh well, there's always tomorrow for fantasy and fiction. I need a nap!!! Good luck at the tables everyone!!!

The Wall

2008-08-19T10:13:00.003-04:00

OMG!OMG!Oh My God!!! Please understand I am not a hugely religious person. The last week has caused me to question whether I should be. I have read much of late about people having "cold" cards. I have read about the proper way to play sngs. I admit that I didn't think that it would happen to me this quickly. I'm playing at the wee levels of the game, for Christ's sake!! But between cards being very cold and making some silly mistakes, I've had a severe drop the last week or so. This is what it looked like daily:
Date Games ROI
Aug 14 16 29.38
Aug 15 5 -90.20
Aug 16 31 3.06
Aug 17 22 -2.73
Aug 18 18 -14.44
Aug 19 17 -58.67

As you can probably tell, these numbers don't lead to a very confident attitude when you know that you're playing at the lower levels. During this run, I've read a couple of poker pschology books and went hard core after the sng videos at PXF. While watching the videos, it dawned on me just how little I know about sng math. I do think that those factors had a lot to do with my play and may be the reason for the downfall. It's hard to make decisions when a chorus of "you don't know what you're doing" is playing over and over in the back of your mind! The problem is knowing that I do have a good handle on the game. The other thing bothering me is the sample size of the run. Still not huge by any means but it does represent almost 20% of the total. This doesn't mean it's time to give up hope but it does open my eyes to the reality that is grinding the sngs.

Well, Tropical storm Fay is about to hit SW Florida, so I should have some free time on my hands to play. My crew can't work during these types of weather conditions. I always find it amazing to watch the news coverage of these events. For anyone who has ever been through a couple, the event known as a Major Hurricane is something to be concerned about. Our society has become so shock orientated, the news can just roll over people during these things. Sort of sad when you wrap your brain around it. Oh well, more time to deal the cards! Good luck at the tables everyone!!!

Progress

2008-08-14T23:08:00.005-04:00

It's been about ten days since I posted last. Working nights can be a drag when you're in charge. Some folks don't seem to realize that you need the day time to sleep, which I'm not getting much of lately. That being said let's get to the more fun stuff. The project is coming along just fine. Last weekend, due to my time/sleep constaints, I started playing 3 sngs at a time. It didn't hurt my play as much as I thought it might. Currently, the bankroll is up to $611.86. That number also includes bonus money as well as winnings. Here are what the current stats look like:

Level Games ITM ROI
$9.20+.80 Turbo 86 46.51% 18.78%

Of course, all these stats are from a very small sample of games and I'm sure over time they will change. I have read a couple more books in the last week and watched a video series at PXF that have made a rather dramatic effect on my play. Sngs are really a far cry from real poker in it's truest sense. It is more a game of survival and intimidation revolving around the prize money. You still have to know the game but the structure takes it into a diffrent direction. I hadn't thought of that until watching those videos. By understanding this, you can really get into the math of the game and figure out the proper play at any given point. Fasinating stuff!!
I'm hoping to use this weekend to really delve into understanding how all the numbers come together. The wife will be staying home so I won't have much else to do. I really believe that doing this study is going to improve my game immensely. I also read in one of these books( The Tao of Poker) how it is possible to take your playing to a level past good to bad. It really does make sense to me. You still have to play within the level(or one step up) of the opponents you are playing with. If you play 2 or 3 steps ahead of the group, they don't understand what you're doing and costs you money. I have finally been getting shouted at by some of the "professors" that I play against, so I must be making some type of improvement.
I'll be trying to make these posts more frequent so I can keep up with my thoughts. For now, good luck at the tables!!

Some thoughts

2008-08-06T17:48:00.002-04:00

It's been a couple of days since I moved up and things haven't gone extremely well. I'm not in the hole by much, so I'm starting to count varience as a factor. The level of the game really hasn't changed much. People do seem to play alittle tighter and there are a few more "good" players here. What I have been learning the most is about the diffrence between raising ranges and calling ranges. The more games I play, the more this sinks in. There are alot of things that you can read about, but it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense until you understand it through experience. What a long road!!
Just before I switched levels, I started two-tabling my sngs. It did have alittle effect on my timing but I think I'm getting the hang of it and it keeps me from being distracted by other things in the surrounding enviroment. I'm actually having fun with it because it also points out who some of the other players are. Very helpful!! One other thing I've been learning at this level is the art of folding. I watched a short stack earlier go from fourth to second by doing nothing but folding(he pushed the blinds three times in around 22 hands). There is definately something to learn from that.
Well, off to work. Just wanted to post some current thoughts. Good luck at the tables!!

Welcome to stage 2

2008-08-05T18:50:00.002-04:00

After 15 days of playing at the $5 level, I now have enough in the fund to make the next step. With earnings, bonus cash, and rakeback, the bankroll sits at $403.36. That gives us enough to step up to the $10 game and continue on the journey. So the numbers this far:

Level Games ITM% ROI%
$4.60+.40 161 45.34 19.19
$9.20+.80 2 0 -100

As I continue with this I will keep to the plan. If the bankroll drops below 25 buy-ins, I will be forced to drop back to the previous point and continue on. I will also gather my thoughts and make some observations after a bit. Good luck at the tables everyone!!