Monday, September 29, 2008

Last Week

Well after a really heavy poker week the week before I took it pretty easy last week. I played a few tournaments on Friday. It didn't go all that well and I came out a little behind.

We did have our almost weekly home game at my parent's house though. I won which makes it 8 out of the last 9 times for me! :)

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Saturday (too much poker)

I started off the day by playing a little tournament at a local Indian casino. I was playing pretty well until the following hand came up. Blinds were at 200-400. UTG min raised too 800, I was sitting in UTG+1 with AA. I popped it up to 2500. A lady in the CO called for 2500 and UTG pushed both me and the lady called. I can't remember the actual flop but the lady pushed All-in when it came up I insta-called. The guy turned over AK, but the lady turned over K-10s of diamonds!? Of course, the flop gave her a flush draw that she hit and pretty much crippled me.

I played a lot online Saturday also, I played really really bad for a majority of the day. At one point I was like $25 down which at the stakes I play is a lot of losing. I sort of think I was on tilt from the live tournament earlier in the day. It didn't help that the first online tourney I played also say me get knocked out by having aces cracked again.

I did manage to finish the night off on a high note. I played an Omaha 8 limit tournament that had 486 players in it. I managed to get to the final table and finished 4th place for a $37.91 cash. So even after my terrible day I managed to finish ahead. The only negative to that tournament was that it ran until almost 4am. I have taken the last couple days off to avoid burnout and to rest.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Not Great

Just seemed to run pretty bad in about everything I did last night. Lost in 2-7 triple draw cash game, lost in a 2-7 triple draw cash game, failed to get anything going again in the HORSE tournament.

I even lost a heads-up no limit hold'em match against my wife. She tends to be kind of a calling station at times and doesn't really understand pot odd concepts, but she plays very aggressive which compensates for her weak areas and can make her pretty tough to play against. She does tend to overplay pairs at times, so I can usually just wait to make a big hand and let her bluff off her chips to me, but I just didn't get any big hands. It also hurt that she got AA twice on me. :)
She plays a pretty unconventional game (Not raising quality hands, lots of min raises) so it can be tricky at times and I pay her off sometimes when she has an actual hand.

I started off poorly in the nightly 2-7 Triple Draw MTT only to gain a huge chip lead that I once again blew off as the money bubble approached. Finished 19th, the tournament paid 12 spots. I was leader with about 3o left.

Things to work on:
Late tournament play
Playing against maniacs
Containing my anger
Staying patient but still aggressive.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Wednesday Night

Well, I had mixed results last night. I once again failed to get anything going in the HORSE tournament. I started off strong in the 2-7 triple draw tourney but ran number 3 into the wheel and was crippled.

I did have a decent night playing cash games and one 8-game SNG. 3 dollar profit in all last night which isn't too bad considering I spent a little more than that to play my 2 tournaments.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Treading Water

Definitely tired and not at the top of my game tonight. Played several 8-game sit-and-go's. Wound up right about even for the night. Due to fatigue, I didn't play in either of my 2 favorite tournaments tonight. (HORSE and 2-7 Triple Draw)

Last night Sept 15.

My current favorite game right now is 2-7 Triple Draw. Pokerstars has a $2 tournament every night at 9:30cst. While this time is not the best for me I try to play in it when I feel up to it. So far I've played in it 3 times. I placed 3rd in my first attempt and had a decent run last night. Last night the tournament paid 12 places. With 20 people remaining, I was a decent sized chip leader, but the cards went cold and the other players started playing back at my aggression and I wound up not even making the money. It was a very frustrating result. I need to improve my play near the end of tournaments I seem to go downhill fast.

I also usually play the HORSE tournament at 8:45cst. I've final tabled this tournament before as well, but was card dead yesterday and just never got anything going.

Just for background sake, I originally started up my Pokerstars account with $50 determined to maintain and build that up to a respectable amount. I'm currently at $155 and while the progress hasn't gone as fast as I originally hoped, I am happy that I'm at least showing a profit.

My best money maker at the moment is a new 8-game Sit & Go tournament that Pokerstars added. This is a 6-person tournament with a $3.30 buy-in that pays the top 2 places. I currently have a very high cash rate in these tournaments. At the levels that I play, the players just do not seem to play the games very well. The games included are 2-7 triple draw, limit hold'em, Omaha 8, Razz, Stud, Stud 8, No Limit Hold'em, and Pot Limit Omaha. I just love this tournament. It has so many different games and also different betting structures that I think it could be a long term profit maker for me.

I stayed up too late playing last night so I may not play very much tonight. Must catch up on sleep.

I hope to start playing cash games more often. From what I gather those and sit & goes are the typical money makers.

First Post

Hello,

I began playing poker during the last few months. I felt that it may be helpful to use this blog to help me chart my progress and examine hands and other issues that may come up.

Verile