The first month of the year has gone pretty well in poker. I've had 8 final tables and two wins. The two wins were both for about $3,000. I've had several close calls at big final tables, but haven't been able to cash in to the big tournaments. I've drastically increased my volume. I've been playing around 15-20 tournaments per day including some satellites. I don't quite know how I feel about this process just yet. First off, there are basically no breaks from playing starting at around 11am and playing until hopefully towards midnight when I put in a large volume day. This creates problems in both focus as it's very tough to maintain over 9-12 hours. It also creates problems with the amount of tables up at once (9-12). Furthermore, I get extremely hungry, so I usually wait until I'm down to 3 tables or so and then go make dinner, which is another distraction. Hunger is a greater distraction though, so I just suck it up and try to be quick and eat healthy to get ready to close out the night. I think that these large volume days might be better to limit to days like Saturday and Sunday. Also, from a bankroll perspective, if you are going to play this many tournaments in a day, it's going to cost around $1500-$2000. That means that you need several large cashes or at least a top 6 finish to just break even. The multi-table tournament game is about living on the big cash. The 5 figure cash is the goal. As a result, I want to add another goal to my list of goals for the year.
I want to record 17 $10,000 cashes. I had 14 last year including both online and live. I have just 1 so far this year. When putting in a lot of volume though, these are how you make money and have big months. Having at least 1 $10,000 cash per month when not playing live tournaments will basically give you a profitable month if you do even ok with a few cashes in between.
That's the update for now. It's been nice to start with some small wins and be in the positive for the year.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
5th Sunday Mulligan
Welcome to Sunday! $13k cash will get me out of the initial short term red for the year and into the black. I just took 5th in the Sunday Mulligan against a tough final table. Here is my knockout hand.
Full Tilt Poker Game #9994251120: The Sunday Mulligan (73518065), Table 57 - 10000/20000 Ante 2500 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:34:53 ET - 2009/01/12
Seat 2: BLUFFforRENT (1,481,939)
Seat 3: kice32 (427,611)
Seat 4: mman_status (658,613)
Seat 5: qjuice14 (297,716)
Seat 8: stpauli111 (389,121)
BLUFFforRENT antes 2,500
kice32 antes 2,500
mman_status antes 2,500
qjuice14 antes 2,500
stpauli111 antes 2,500
BLUFFforRENT posts the small blind of 10,000
kice32 posts the big blind of 20,000
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to kice32 [Ad As]
mman_status folds
qjuice14 folds
stpauli111 folds
BLUFFforRENT calls 10,000
kice32 has 15 seconds left to act
kice32 raises to 65,000
BLUFFforRENT calls 45,000
*** FLOP *** [4s 3c Jh]
BLUFFforRENT checks
kice32 bets 60,000
BLUFFforRENT has 15 seconds left to act
BLUFFforRENT raises to 128,000
kice32 has 15 seconds left to act
kice32 calls 68,000
*** TURN *** [4s 3c Jh] [Qh]
BLUFFforRENT checks
kice32 bets 232,111, and is all in
BLUFFforRENT calls 232,111
kice32 shows [Ad As]
BLUFFforRENT shows [Jc Qc]
*** RIVER *** [4s 3c Jh Qh] [6d]
kice32 shows a pair of Aces
BLUFFforRENT shows two pair, Queens and Jacks
BLUFFforRENT wins the pot (862,722) with two pair, Queens and Jacks
kice32 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 862,722 | Rake 0
Board: [4s 3c Jh Qh 6d]
Seat 2: BLUFFforRENT (small blind) showed [Jc Qc] and won (862,722) with two pair, Queens and Jacks
Seat 3: kice32 (big blind) showed [Ad As] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 4: mman_status folded before the Flop
Seat 5: qjuice14 folded before the Flop
Seat 8: stpauli111 (button) folded before the Flop
I'm pretty happy with the finish to the day as I was pulling out my hair earlier in the day. I know I got lucky in several spots and had several key hands hold, so I won't complain too much. I'm still trying to think if I should have shoved the turn in terms of would he have paid me off with just a J8, J9, J10 type hand, or is the turn shove -EV. I don't know, but I feel like if I shoved the rest on the flop there is a slim chance he folds given my chip stack. Either way, I can't say that I saw a Sunday Major final table on Full Tilt all last year, so it's a good start.
I'll be playing the rest of the UBOC events mostly on the Absolute interface with my name on there being BINGORAT even though no one really knows this. I don't like how they merged the sites and I would have preferred to keep my normal name Absolute, but I wasn't given the option. Quite frankly, the Absolute interface is now far superior to UB. I've been unable to type bets in when playing multiple tables or type in the chat box. As for now, I want to get refocused and do some damage in some of these UBOC events.
Full Tilt Poker Game #9994251120: The Sunday Mulligan (73518065), Table 57 - 10000/20000 Ante 2500 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:34:53 ET - 2009/01/12
Seat 2: BLUFFforRENT (1,481,939)
Seat 3: kice32 (427,611)
Seat 4: mman_status (658,613)
Seat 5: qjuice14 (297,716)
Seat 8: stpauli111 (389,121)
BLUFFforRENT antes 2,500
kice32 antes 2,500
mman_status antes 2,500
qjuice14 antes 2,500
stpauli111 antes 2,500
BLUFFforRENT posts the small blind of 10,000
kice32 posts the big blind of 20,000
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to kice32 [Ad As]
mman_status folds
qjuice14 folds
stpauli111 folds
BLUFFforRENT calls 10,000
kice32 has 15 seconds left to act
kice32 raises to 65,000
BLUFFforRENT calls 45,000
*** FLOP *** [4s 3c Jh]
BLUFFforRENT checks
kice32 bets 60,000
BLUFFforRENT has 15 seconds left to act
BLUFFforRENT raises to 128,000
kice32 has 15 seconds left to act
kice32 calls 68,000
*** TURN *** [4s 3c Jh] [Qh]
BLUFFforRENT checks
kice32 bets 232,111, and is all in
BLUFFforRENT calls 232,111
kice32 shows [Ad As]
BLUFFforRENT shows [Jc Qc]
*** RIVER *** [4s 3c Jh Qh] [6d]
kice32 shows a pair of Aces
BLUFFforRENT shows two pair, Queens and Jacks
BLUFFforRENT wins the pot (862,722) with two pair, Queens and Jacks
kice32 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 862,722 | Rake 0
Board: [4s 3c Jh Qh 6d]
Seat 2: BLUFFforRENT (small blind) showed [Jc Qc] and won (862,722) with two pair, Queens and Jacks
Seat 3: kice32 (big blind) showed [Ad As] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 4: mman_status folded before the Flop
Seat 5: qjuice14 folded before the Flop
Seat 8: stpauli111 (button) folded before the Flop
I'm pretty happy with the finish to the day as I was pulling out my hair earlier in the day. I know I got lucky in several spots and had several key hands hold, so I won't complain too much. I'm still trying to think if I should have shoved the turn in terms of would he have paid me off with just a J8, J9, J10 type hand, or is the turn shove -EV. I don't know, but I feel like if I shoved the rest on the flop there is a slim chance he folds given my chip stack. Either way, I can't say that I saw a Sunday Major final table on Full Tilt all last year, so it's a good start.
I'll be playing the rest of the UBOC events mostly on the Absolute interface with my name on there being BINGORAT even though no one really knows this. I don't like how they merged the sites and I would have preferred to keep my normal name Absolute, but I wasn't given the option. Quite frankly, the Absolute interface is now far superior to UB. I've been unable to type bets in when playing multiple tables or type in the chat box. As for now, I want to get refocused and do some damage in some of these UBOC events.
Friday, January 9, 2009
2009 Goals
After much thought and reflection, I've come up with some of my goals for 2009.
1. Win 1 major online tournament series event including the UBOC, FTOPS, WCOOP, SCOOP.
2. Final table 2 major online tournament series tourneys including the UBOC, FTOPS, WCOOP, SCOOP
3. Win a World Series of Poker Bracelet
4. Win a live tournament
5. Win 10 online tournaments
6. Play a satellite to every live tournament main event where I enter a preliminary event
7. Reach 80 final tables including all events with over 50 entrants (not including sit and gos)
8. Win an entry to a European Poker Tour event and go play it.
9. Play at least 5 events in every live tournament series I enter where there are at least 20 events.
10. Win 1 Sunday major from the following list of tournaments: Sunday Brawl, Sunday Million, Sunday 500, Sunday Warmup, Full Tilt 750k or 1 mill, UB 200K, Full Tilt Mulligan, Stars 200 Rebuy
1. Win 1 major online tournament series event including the UBOC, FTOPS, WCOOP, SCOOP.
2. Final table 2 major online tournament series tourneys including the UBOC, FTOPS, WCOOP, SCOOP
3. Win a World Series of Poker Bracelet
4. Win a live tournament
5. Win 10 online tournaments
6. Play a satellite to every live tournament main event where I enter a preliminary event
7. Reach 80 final tables including all events with over 50 entrants (not including sit and gos)
8. Win an entry to a European Poker Tour event and go play it.
9. Play at least 5 events in every live tournament series I enter where there are at least 20 events.
10. Win 1 Sunday major from the following list of tournaments: Sunday Brawl, Sunday Million, Sunday 500, Sunday Warmup, Full Tilt 750k or 1 mill, UB 200K, Full Tilt Mulligan, Stars 200 Rebuy
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Goal Update for 2008
Here are the goals from 2008 with the explanations of what I accomplished.
1. Win 15 multi table tournaments online.
Actual Result: 8 wins. The biggest was the Ultimate Bet Sunday Major for 45,000 followed by the Absolute Poker Saturday Major for 37,500. What is nice here is that my wins were all over 10k except for 1 tourney.
2. Win a 100 Rebuy on Pokerstars.
Actual Result: I didn't make a 100 rebuy final table on Pokerstars and largely quit playing the 100 rebuy throughout the year. I did win the 100 rebuy on Full Tilt which is a little bit easier field because it is a 6 handed tournament, but it pays more than a typical 100 rebuy on Pokerstars. So I'll call this one a wash.
3. 100 Final tables in multi table tournaments.
Actual Result: I'll count everything that I did throughout the year. 54 final tables is what it came down to online. I made 2 live final tables throughout the year not including satellites. 56 total for the year.
4. Live tournament win.
5. WPT prelim event win
Actual Result: Best finish was for 6th at the WPT Bellagio prelim 2k event for both above goals.
6. WSOP event final table
Actual Result: Best finish was for 53rd in the $2500 no limit.
7. 10 Live final tables.
Actual Result: 2 for 6th and 9th and not nearly enough money.
8. Final table Sunday Million on Pokerstars.
Best Finish: 274th
9. Win the Sunday Night HORSE tournament on Full Tilt.
CHAMPION!!!!! Take that Diego!!!
All in all, I had a solid year monetarily and in the goal department. I think my goals were quite lofty, and I'm going to get making them lofty. I think that I could attain all the goals above in a year with a little more hard work. On the live tournament side, I didn't really make these that realistic in the sense that I didn't know how much I would be playing live tournaments. I played maybe around 40-45 tournaments all year and to final table 10 of these would be an astonishing rate. I think a more realistic goal would be maybe 4 or 5. Even then, the talent of live fields has drastically increased in the smaller buy in events and even the WSOP. As always though, I'll look to get better and find a niche in the live tournaments I enter. Part of the problem that I've always said with someone not being staked in live tournaments is maintaining a proper bankroll. Since a lot of the buy ins are drastically bigger and putting in one tournament for 2,000 is equivalent to maybe 2-4 days of online buy ins, the variance is so much higher.
In the online arena, I had a blazing first half of the year from January to June followed by a little lull in the action until a big 2nd place finish in the Wednesday $300 on Stars. My only second half outright 1st place came as part of the HORSE tournament for a little over $10k although that wasn't my biggest cash of the second half.
In retrospect, I think my best results came at the times of the year when I was focused and locked in to poker without any external distractions. Distractions started to include a number of things that I wouldn't want to be distractions. Playing when I was visiting back in Cleveland didn't turn out as well as I would want. The focus wasn't there. I think I changed that by really only playing a small amount and sit n gos when I was home this time so I wouldn't be committed to playing. I think on a larger scale I can accurately comprehend where I need to improve in my game for next year as well as the scale of variance that a professional player has to go through. Some months or stretches of the year, it's going to be great. One win for $30k plus can really carry the focus and momentum. Other times, it feels like nothing will ever go right.
Stay tuned for goals for 2009.
1. Win 15 multi table tournaments online.
Actual Result: 8 wins. The biggest was the Ultimate Bet Sunday Major for 45,000 followed by the Absolute Poker Saturday Major for 37,500. What is nice here is that my wins were all over 10k except for 1 tourney.
2. Win a 100 Rebuy on Pokerstars.
Actual Result: I didn't make a 100 rebuy final table on Pokerstars and largely quit playing the 100 rebuy throughout the year. I did win the 100 rebuy on Full Tilt which is a little bit easier field because it is a 6 handed tournament, but it pays more than a typical 100 rebuy on Pokerstars. So I'll call this one a wash.
3. 100 Final tables in multi table tournaments.
Actual Result: I'll count everything that I did throughout the year. 54 final tables is what it came down to online. I made 2 live final tables throughout the year not including satellites. 56 total for the year.
4. Live tournament win.
5. WPT prelim event win
Actual Result: Best finish was for 6th at the WPT Bellagio prelim 2k event for both above goals.
6. WSOP event final table
Actual Result: Best finish was for 53rd in the $2500 no limit.
7. 10 Live final tables.
Actual Result: 2 for 6th and 9th and not nearly enough money.
8. Final table Sunday Million on Pokerstars.
Best Finish: 274th
9. Win the Sunday Night HORSE tournament on Full Tilt.
CHAMPION!!!!! Take that Diego!!!
All in all, I had a solid year monetarily and in the goal department. I think my goals were quite lofty, and I'm going to get making them lofty. I think that I could attain all the goals above in a year with a little more hard work. On the live tournament side, I didn't really make these that realistic in the sense that I didn't know how much I would be playing live tournaments. I played maybe around 40-45 tournaments all year and to final table 10 of these would be an astonishing rate. I think a more realistic goal would be maybe 4 or 5. Even then, the talent of live fields has drastically increased in the smaller buy in events and even the WSOP. As always though, I'll look to get better and find a niche in the live tournaments I enter. Part of the problem that I've always said with someone not being staked in live tournaments is maintaining a proper bankroll. Since a lot of the buy ins are drastically bigger and putting in one tournament for 2,000 is equivalent to maybe 2-4 days of online buy ins, the variance is so much higher.
In the online arena, I had a blazing first half of the year from January to June followed by a little lull in the action until a big 2nd place finish in the Wednesday $300 on Stars. My only second half outright 1st place came as part of the HORSE tournament for a little over $10k although that wasn't my biggest cash of the second half.
In retrospect, I think my best results came at the times of the year when I was focused and locked in to poker without any external distractions. Distractions started to include a number of things that I wouldn't want to be distractions. Playing when I was visiting back in Cleveland didn't turn out as well as I would want. The focus wasn't there. I think I changed that by really only playing a small amount and sit n gos when I was home this time so I wouldn't be committed to playing. I think on a larger scale I can accurately comprehend where I need to improve in my game for next year as well as the scale of variance that a professional player has to go through. Some months or stretches of the year, it's going to be great. One win for $30k plus can really carry the focus and momentum. Other times, it feels like nothing will ever go right.
Stay tuned for goals for 2009.
Monday, December 29, 2008
I know everyone is sad that.....
The Cleveland Browns are finished this season. I am too. At least we get to watch the Buckeyes one more time. I wanted to chime in with some Browns talk. Let me first say that I think the fault of this team is in Randy Lerner. The owner has no clue how to run a football organization and is nothing like any other good organization. How many times have you seen the guy? Could you pick him out in a crowd? I could certainly pick out Jerry Jones, Dan Rooney, or Robert Kraft even though. Lerner has no rules named after him. Do you wonder if Jerry Jones connects with the guy in order to rob him of draft trades every year? That being said, it's easy to fire guys like Savage and Crennel when things go wrong.
Savage probably had too much on his plate out of his niche ability of picking talent. There are really three moves that sealed this guy's fate in my opinion.
1. The Derek Anderson saga
I think this selection ruined this team this year after it was apparent that he failed to win the big games last year. The move came too late in the season even after Anderson failed to lead the team in any matter early in the year. It also makes me wonder who made this choice. Savage's hubris led him to always place blame on others. An NFL team is exactly that, a team, not something we throw blame on a coach, or even a few players.
2. Donte Stallworth
He really helped this year. I don't want to look up his 6 year 45? million contract because it will make me puke when I see it. Here are the key stats for Stallworth. 10.0 Yards per catch!! WOW!! Except he had 17 catches for 170 yards and 1 TD. Of course, Stallworth can't be blamed for everything on offense because when Mr. "I'm from MeatChicken" Edwards drops every pass no one needs to double cover him. Ask Leroy Hoard from Michigan how much the fans truly cared about him being from Michigan when he consistently ran people over throughout his career.
3. F U Text
Just search Phil Savage and F U Text if you need more details. This is just unprofessional.
As for Crennel, he's not head coach material. I like the guy and think that he'll be another Super Bowl contender defensive coordinator if given the chance because that's what he does. Some people just don't have head coach in their genes. I wish him the best and if in some dream scenario, we could keep him as a defensive coordinator to give us some continuity, I would be happy.
As for the future, we need a game-changing defensive player at a linebacker position. You know what I'm thinking of too if you ever heard me describe any linebacker I liked in my life. A Ray Lewis or Brian Urlacher vicious type that loves chewing on little babies arms. I truly think our offense can get to the right point with both better coaching and leadership from a player like Brady Quinn. I want someone to give the guy a chance to throw the ball down the field and give our playmakers a chance. I know that Derek Anderson has a cannon, but he doesn't have the leadership of an NFL QB. That's what I'm looking for in this team. Leadership on both defense and offense. I think we saw some from the defense before it's backs were broken late in the season by both injuries and the offenses inability to stay on the field for more than three plays. Rodgers was really a great trade in retrospect as he made several huge plays throughout the year.
I'm done with the Browns until the draft comes closer or until other big offseason moves come and go.
I love watching the best team in Cleveland basketball history every night they play. If this team doesn't win a championship, then I can honestly say to myself that we will never win a championship in the city of Cleveland in any sport other than at St. Ignatius.
As for poker, I'm not going to the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure. I tried to qualify, but that didn't pan out, so I'll be back in Vegas early January and ready for the UBOC. That's a big online series on the new Cereus Network of sites. Both of these sites have lots of issues in their past and also with current software updates. I just sent a nasty email because you can't play one table tournaments without having your one table pop up to the front of the entire screen every half second. You can't even type in your bet amount. It's absolutely absurd how poorly that site is run. If and probably when US sites come into the market, that site is going to get blown out of the water.
I'll do a goal update at the end of the year as I still have a couple more days left. Then it's on to new goals for the New Year. Happy New Year!
Savage probably had too much on his plate out of his niche ability of picking talent. There are really three moves that sealed this guy's fate in my opinion.
1. The Derek Anderson saga
I think this selection ruined this team this year after it was apparent that he failed to win the big games last year. The move came too late in the season even after Anderson failed to lead the team in any matter early in the year. It also makes me wonder who made this choice. Savage's hubris led him to always place blame on others. An NFL team is exactly that, a team, not something we throw blame on a coach, or even a few players.
2. Donte Stallworth
He really helped this year. I don't want to look up his 6 year 45? million contract because it will make me puke when I see it. Here are the key stats for Stallworth. 10.0 Yards per catch!! WOW!! Except he had 17 catches for 170 yards and 1 TD. Of course, Stallworth can't be blamed for everything on offense because when Mr. "I'm from MeatChicken" Edwards drops every pass no one needs to double cover him. Ask Leroy Hoard from Michigan how much the fans truly cared about him being from Michigan when he consistently ran people over throughout his career.
3. F U Text
Just search Phil Savage and F U Text if you need more details. This is just unprofessional.
As for Crennel, he's not head coach material. I like the guy and think that he'll be another Super Bowl contender defensive coordinator if given the chance because that's what he does. Some people just don't have head coach in their genes. I wish him the best and if in some dream scenario, we could keep him as a defensive coordinator to give us some continuity, I would be happy.
As for the future, we need a game-changing defensive player at a linebacker position. You know what I'm thinking of too if you ever heard me describe any linebacker I liked in my life. A Ray Lewis or Brian Urlacher vicious type that loves chewing on little babies arms. I truly think our offense can get to the right point with both better coaching and leadership from a player like Brady Quinn. I want someone to give the guy a chance to throw the ball down the field and give our playmakers a chance. I know that Derek Anderson has a cannon, but he doesn't have the leadership of an NFL QB. That's what I'm looking for in this team. Leadership on both defense and offense. I think we saw some from the defense before it's backs were broken late in the season by both injuries and the offenses inability to stay on the field for more than three plays. Rodgers was really a great trade in retrospect as he made several huge plays throughout the year.
I'm done with the Browns until the draft comes closer or until other big offseason moves come and go.
I love watching the best team in Cleveland basketball history every night they play. If this team doesn't win a championship, then I can honestly say to myself that we will never win a championship in the city of Cleveland in any sport other than at St. Ignatius.
As for poker, I'm not going to the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure. I tried to qualify, but that didn't pan out, so I'll be back in Vegas early January and ready for the UBOC. That's a big online series on the new Cereus Network of sites. Both of these sites have lots of issues in their past and also with current software updates. I just sent a nasty email because you can't play one table tournaments without having your one table pop up to the front of the entire screen every half second. You can't even type in your bet amount. It's absolutely absurd how poorly that site is run. If and probably when US sites come into the market, that site is going to get blown out of the water.
I'll do a goal update at the end of the year as I still have a couple more days left. Then it's on to new goals for the New Year. Happy New Year!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Vacation
Cold weather is much more brutal than I remembered, but the family and friends have been worth it. I'm enjoying being out of Vegas and not being entirely focused on poker for a while. I know it's going to pay dividends in the long run. I'm planning on doing a goal wrap up for 2008 after the year is over as there will likely be a poker club or two before the year is over. (Poker club is friend lingo for when a bunch of my friends meet up and play online together while usually watching sports and laughing at each other's outlandish reactions to bad beats, especially when Jay cries, Keith or I slam a computer or Mike does a duck and cover scream similar to when some misaligned, psycho 1st grader was pummeling him and the recess aide in 2nd grade). Other than that, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukkah and Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
New Games
Every time my mind gets caught up in one thing, it gets a little tedious and boring. Lately, I've been still playing a few NL hold em tournaments, but I've also mixed in some Omaha Hi/Lo cash games and tournaments. I had a positive Sunday after a 2nd place finish in the Pot Limit Omaha tournament on Pokerstars for about 4k. Other than that, I've had a bunch of small cashes in tourneys here and there.
I have been studying up in Omaha Hi/Lo and really trying to perfect my cash game skills. It's not quite as exciting as winning a huge tournament, but I'm hoping to make it a profitable avenue to turn to when things get too boring. I think anyone who plays should always consider learning new games or new forms of the game. If you play heads up all day, go play something else. I would recommend that cash games players bored with the game to turn to tournaments.
Other than that, I've been reading a lot and laying low enjoying the Cavs. What a start to this season so far. I hope we can keep it up.
A couple of shoutouts:
I got 2nd in the 55 rebuy Pot Limit Omaha event which I now title the Ben Smola Championship since he won this event a few weeks ago.
Congrats also to the Mossman on his upcoming retirement!
I have been studying up in Omaha Hi/Lo and really trying to perfect my cash game skills. It's not quite as exciting as winning a huge tournament, but I'm hoping to make it a profitable avenue to turn to when things get too boring. I think anyone who plays should always consider learning new games or new forms of the game. If you play heads up all day, go play something else. I would recommend that cash games players bored with the game to turn to tournaments.
Other than that, I've been reading a lot and laying low enjoying the Cavs. What a start to this season so far. I hope we can keep it up.
A couple of shoutouts:
I got 2nd in the 55 rebuy Pot Limit Omaha event which I now title the Ben Smola Championship since he won this event a few weeks ago.
Congrats also to the Mossman on his upcoming retirement!
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