This week I've fallen into a more sustainable tournament routine. There is a $5 PLO deep stack tournament that starts at 8:15, and I've been playing that most nights along with a standard $2 NLHE tournament on FTP. Most nights, I bust out of these around 10:00, giving me plenty of time to watch part of a DVD or play some video games before bed.
Playing two tournaments simultaneously is pretty straightforward for me. I think three is still ideal, but I can't really find the right third game to add to the mix. I'm afraid to try to play Rush Poker as my third game... that needs a lot of concentration. So for now, I am sticking with two.
The PLO tournament is SO SOFT! I play pretty tight (understatement!) and can almost always fold my way into the top 30% of the 150-ish player field. Most tournaments, I only win two or three hands and keep coming close to the bubble. One of these days, I'll actually win five hands and take the whole thing down.
As far as the NLHE game goes, it's the standard $2 tournament. About 500 players, lots of predictable opponents. Since these start with just 1500 chips (I'm used to the deep stacks) I have to tighten up pretty early. Considering that I am usually pretty loose pre-flop, it's a real change of pace for me. Basically, I am aggressive for the first couple of rounds, and then have to tighten up as my stack shrinks relative to the blinds. Wait for a spot to get it in, hope for a double-up...
For the month, my average finish is about 72%, so I am consistently running deep. I'm feeling very good about my play overall, I just have hadn't had the right hands hold up at the right time. I'm almost always getting my money in a favorite, and that's about all you can ask for, right?
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Been A Relatively Productive Poker Week
I'm feeling pretty good after playing very little poker in the last two months, and I think I am easing my way back into making the game a near-daily activity. I just want to play again, which is something I haven't been feeling lately. Of course, I have had some good results lately and I suppose that helps keep me motivated.
Last week I took a vacation day so my brother and I could visit a local card room here in town. We played in two $20 tournaments. In the first, we busted out in the first 1/4 of the players. We just didn't get anywhere, although we both agreed that the competition was just the sort we wanted to see. In the second, we each picked up some chips on the way and made it well into the final half of the field.
I busted out around 14th of 52, Jeremy made it to 6th. I felt really good about my play during both games, and didn't feel bad at all that I lost out... for some reason, I had been having fun and was satisfied that I played my best. I mean, you're supposed to be, but when it actually happens it's still a little surprising.
Last Thursday I played the TPT, of course, and managed a come-from-behindvictory second-place finish, outlasting 38 opponents to get drawn out on in the second-to-last hand for most of my stack. Ah well, second place still felt great, and of course I always appreciate the prize. I'm 4th on the monthly leaderboard and the win has put me in the black for the short year so far.
I've recently discovered the Super Stack tournaments that FTP runs at 10am. These have a 5k starting stack, and 12 minute levels, so they allow for a ton of play. I just love them and have done pretty well in the few that I've been able to play. On Saturday, I played one for six hours and still busted out short of the cash... they take about 12 hours to finish with 3000 or so entries.
Finally, I played in a $2 deep stack tournament yesterday, finishing 19th out of 1650 players. It was really a long haul but I ran out of gas at the end and was rewarded with a $10.60 prize for my efforts. The frustration of losing only lasted a few minutes for some reason, and before long I was thinking good thoughts to myself about how well I had played and how I keep making these deep runs. Maybe the time off has helped me take that next step in controlling my emotions... or maybe I haven't gotten frustrated enough times in a row to let it really build up.
Looking back at most of these games, I think my weakness now is that I shove too light and/or with too big of a stack. I think I'm pretty patient and tight, but I still open shove with hands like 33 when I have an M of 5. I probably ought to hold off until I have an M < 4 for that. I've made improvements in this area and feel my short stack game is pretty strong, but I don't think anyone would tell me that I am too passive when I have an M less than 8.
Last week I took a vacation day so my brother and I could visit a local card room here in town. We played in two $20 tournaments. In the first, we busted out in the first 1/4 of the players. We just didn't get anywhere, although we both agreed that the competition was just the sort we wanted to see. In the second, we each picked up some chips on the way and made it well into the final half of the field.
I busted out around 14th of 52, Jeremy made it to 6th. I felt really good about my play during both games, and didn't feel bad at all that I lost out... for some reason, I had been having fun and was satisfied that I played my best. I mean, you're supposed to be, but when it actually happens it's still a little surprising.
Last Thursday I played the TPT, of course, and managed a come-from-behind
I've recently discovered the Super Stack tournaments that FTP runs at 10am. These have a 5k starting stack, and 12 minute levels, so they allow for a ton of play. I just love them and have done pretty well in the few that I've been able to play. On Saturday, I played one for six hours and still busted out short of the cash... they take about 12 hours to finish with 3000 or so entries.
Finally, I played in a $2 deep stack tournament yesterday, finishing 19th out of 1650 players. It was really a long haul but I ran out of gas at the end and was rewarded with a $10.60 prize for my efforts. The frustration of losing only lasted a few minutes for some reason, and before long I was thinking good thoughts to myself about how well I had played and how I keep making these deep runs. Maybe the time off has helped me take that next step in controlling my emotions... or maybe I haven't gotten frustrated enough times in a row to let it really build up.
Looking back at most of these games, I think my weakness now is that I shove too light and/or with too big of a stack. I think I'm pretty patient and tight, but I still open shove with hands like 33 when I have an M of 5. I probably ought to hold off until I have an M < 4 for that. I've made improvements in this area and feel my short stack game is pretty strong, but I don't think anyone would tell me that I am too passive when I have an M less than 8.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Overdue 2009 Recap
One thing I've found myself saying repeatedly over the last year, in the various online activities I participate in, is "I really ought to keep up with this more." I guess I haven't really been doing this poker blog long enough to validate such a statement... right now, it's still a pretty young blog and if it faded away it would be just like the millions of others that never got off the ground.
However, I think keeping up with this is a good idea, even if it's just to bounce ideas off of myself. Writing things out and thinking them through kind of makes it clearer in my mind... I know, because I wrote that before. It must be true.
I sort of owe a December recap, and probably one for 2009... having to go over the year in my head is why I haven't gotten on here yet to get this out. Well that and the reason I haven't done anything: "Total War."
December was a very short month for me poker-wise. I played some PLO cash games at the start of the month, but once I burned through my modest profits I concentrated on conquering Europe and left the cash games behind. I played in a few tournaments, didn't do anything spectacular. Placed second in a Twitter Poker Tour event (Thursdays - 6 pm on FTP - pass: tptpoker) there at the end of the month to get a little boost. Ended the month down $20, for another losing month. Is that three in a row?
For the year, I lost just under $100. That being the "year" I've been keeping records. I am not sure where I started 2009, but it was in the $100 some range. I know in late 2008, I was down to $30 before I made any decent payday. I had my two biggest paydays within a few months of each other, it was the second payday in March that prompted me to start keeping records. So I don't mind being down $100 so much, as I'm still up $400 from that $30 low point in '08.
I hope to end 2010 with a nice positive number, just like anyone else. However, I intend to meet that goal by enjoying myself and playing smart. Nothing ruins my game faster than playing badly and losing... so if I can play smart the whole time, I should keep myself happy whether I win or lose. Which should add up to winning.
One thing I really should do is spend more time writing here. I've decided it will help me play smarter, so this will help me with my goals. But, you know, I don't want to make any promises.
However, I think keeping up with this is a good idea, even if it's just to bounce ideas off of myself. Writing things out and thinking them through kind of makes it clearer in my mind... I know, because I wrote that before. It must be true.
I sort of owe a December recap, and probably one for 2009... having to go over the year in my head is why I haven't gotten on here yet to get this out. Well that and the reason I haven't done anything: "Total War."
December was a very short month for me poker-wise. I played some PLO cash games at the start of the month, but once I burned through my modest profits I concentrated on conquering Europe and left the cash games behind. I played in a few tournaments, didn't do anything spectacular. Placed second in a Twitter Poker Tour event (Thursdays - 6 pm on FTP - pass: tptpoker) there at the end of the month to get a little boost. Ended the month down $20, for another losing month. Is that three in a row?
For the year, I lost just under $100. That being the "year" I've been keeping records. I am not sure where I started 2009, but it was in the $100 some range. I know in late 2008, I was down to $30 before I made any decent payday. I had my two biggest paydays within a few months of each other, it was the second payday in March that prompted me to start keeping records. So I don't mind being down $100 so much, as I'm still up $400 from that $30 low point in '08.
I hope to end 2010 with a nice positive number, just like anyone else. However, I intend to meet that goal by enjoying myself and playing smart. Nothing ruins my game faster than playing badly and losing... so if I can play smart the whole time, I should keep myself happy whether I win or lose. Which should add up to winning.
One thing I really should do is spend more time writing here. I've decided it will help me play smarter, so this will help me with my goals. But, you know, I don't want to make any promises.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
November Recap
My discouraging results from October continued as November started, and my long streak of MTT (relative) failure continued through the first half of the month. Although I did manage a few min cashes, and almost always finished in the top 75% of the field, I never had any real success and basically had a 100+ session downswing.
I decided to take a break from grinding out MTTs and started playing computer games instead. So my quantity for the month is down quite a bit. However, even after dropping the daily schedule, I still worked in the private tournaments I enjoy, as well as some cash games.
That spike in the middle of the month sort of represents my transition. I won the Twitter Poker Tour (TPT) event that week, which helped recoup some of the losses from MTTs. Later on in the month, you'll notice a smaller spike, this represents the cash prize for winning the TPT leaderboard. So, really, I have to give big thanks for the TPT, as it represented most of my profit for the month.
Not to mention I won a three-month subscription to Deuces Cracked, which is a nice prize for my work.
In the last week or so of November, I started playing PLO. I've read a book on some beginner strategy, starting hands and how to play draws, that sort of thing. It's a lot of fun, and I've found it's pretty easy to exploit those who play PLO like they do NLHE.
In the greater context, last month was just another bump in the road. While I haven't made any significant increase in my bankroll, I haven't really lost all that much either. I can be happy that I am effectively breaking even for the year, and maybe 2010 will be more profitable. Either way, I'll continue learning and studying.
But for now, I'm going to focus on playing that computer game and trying to take over the world, with the occasional hour or two playing PLO. And trying to win another TPT of course. :)
I decided to take a break from grinding out MTTs and started playing computer games instead. So my quantity for the month is down quite a bit. However, even after dropping the daily schedule, I still worked in the private tournaments I enjoy, as well as some cash games.
That spike in the middle of the month sort of represents my transition. I won the Twitter Poker Tour (TPT) event that week, which helped recoup some of the losses from MTTs. Later on in the month, you'll notice a smaller spike, this represents the cash prize for winning the TPT leaderboard. So, really, I have to give big thanks for the TPT, as it represented most of my profit for the month.
Not to mention I won a three-month subscription to Deuces Cracked, which is a nice prize for my work.
In the last week or so of November, I started playing PLO. I've read a book on some beginner strategy, starting hands and how to play draws, that sort of thing. It's a lot of fun, and I've found it's pretty easy to exploit those who play PLO like they do NLHE.
In the greater context, last month was just another bump in the road. While I haven't made any significant increase in my bankroll, I haven't really lost all that much either. I can be happy that I am effectively breaking even for the year, and maybe 2010 will be more profitable. Either way, I'll continue learning and studying.
But for now, I'm going to focus on playing that computer game and trying to take over the world, with the occasional hour or two playing PLO. And trying to win another TPT of course. :)
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Just a Quick Catch-Up
Last weekend, my brother and I drove four hours out to Pendleton to take part in their Fall Poker Rodeo. This is the big regional poker tournament series for the northwest, and Jeremy and I have played in a few of their tournaments over the years.
This year, things just didn't impress us as much as in the past. The play was the usual super passive group, and the structure was still OK, but it just didn't seem as cool as before. I did pretty well for the first couple of hours. I more than doubled my stack, but never really had any big hands. It was just chipping up with raises and c-bets for the most part.
As my stack started to get short (I was down to an M of 7, or about 16-18 BB) I was starting to get a little frisky. I hadn't seen one preflop three-bet yet from this table, so I figured if I had the chance to put one in it should be well-respected. However, there weren't many raises preflop either, so I never had a decent hand to bet with when I had the chance.
Finally, the most active person at the table put in a preflop raise from late middle position. The button called. I looked down and found 7h9h. I had about 7000 chips. The raiser had 15000, and had made his standard raise to 1500, about 4x the big blind. The button had about 10k, and was generally passive. Everything looked right for a squeeze play. I raised all-in and the original raiser called quickly when the action came back around to him. The button folded, as expected.
I grimaced at the call, and sheepishly turned over my cards, expecting to see a strong hand from the orignal raiser... and he turned over JJ. Strong? I suppose... but I don't know if I'd be calling off half of my shortish stack with them, especially against the first three-bet from the table in the last two hours.
Still, a squeeze play is a play, so you have to expect to get caught sometimes, so when I blanked out and lost my stack, it was no big deal. I was short stacked anyway, and I could have ended up like so many of those zombies out there with 6 big blinds and their pointless attempts to double up like four times and get back in the game. I was surprisingly non-chalant about my bust-out on the drive home, I felt like I had played really well and had given it my best shot. My brother and I decided that the structure and level of play wasn't really worth the expense and time of the drive and hotel stay, so we'll probably stick to online play from now on, with an occasional trip to the local Indian casino, Spirit Mountain.
Last night I played in The Mookie, a great private tournament that a lot of poker bloggers enjoy. It's a fun game, and I have good reads on most of the regulars there. I did well and made it to the final table, despite my tough starting table and lack of big hands. Unfortunately, I ran out of steam there too, and my short stack got caught in an all-in resteal from the big blind. The sad news is that Q3 off was the best had I had received that round!
I'm taking a slow week this week with poker, as I've rediscovered the joy of regular computer games. I'll probably get tired of conquering the world soon enough, and focus again on conquering the felt. :)
This year, things just didn't impress us as much as in the past. The play was the usual super passive group, and the structure was still OK, but it just didn't seem as cool as before. I did pretty well for the first couple of hours. I more than doubled my stack, but never really had any big hands. It was just chipping up with raises and c-bets for the most part.
As my stack started to get short (I was down to an M of 7, or about 16-18 BB) I was starting to get a little frisky. I hadn't seen one preflop three-bet yet from this table, so I figured if I had the chance to put one in it should be well-respected. However, there weren't many raises preflop either, so I never had a decent hand to bet with when I had the chance.
Finally, the most active person at the table put in a preflop raise from late middle position. The button called. I looked down and found 7h9h. I had about 7000 chips. The raiser had 15000, and had made his standard raise to 1500, about 4x the big blind. The button had about 10k, and was generally passive. Everything looked right for a squeeze play. I raised all-in and the original raiser called quickly when the action came back around to him. The button folded, as expected.
I grimaced at the call, and sheepishly turned over my cards, expecting to see a strong hand from the orignal raiser... and he turned over JJ. Strong? I suppose... but I don't know if I'd be calling off half of my shortish stack with them, especially against the first three-bet from the table in the last two hours.
Still, a squeeze play is a play, so you have to expect to get caught sometimes, so when I blanked out and lost my stack, it was no big deal. I was short stacked anyway, and I could have ended up like so many of those zombies out there with 6 big blinds and their pointless attempts to double up like four times and get back in the game. I was surprisingly non-chalant about my bust-out on the drive home, I felt like I had played really well and had given it my best shot. My brother and I decided that the structure and level of play wasn't really worth the expense and time of the drive and hotel stay, so we'll probably stick to online play from now on, with an occasional trip to the local Indian casino, Spirit Mountain.
Last night I played in The Mookie, a great private tournament that a lot of poker bloggers enjoy. It's a fun game, and I have good reads on most of the regulars there. I did well and made it to the final table, despite my tough starting table and lack of big hands. Unfortunately, I ran out of steam there too, and my short stack got caught in an all-in resteal from the big blind. The sad news is that Q3 off was the best had I had received that round!
I'm taking a slow week this week with poker, as I've rediscovered the joy of regular computer games. I'll probably get tired of conquering the world soon enough, and focus again on conquering the felt. :)
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Twitter Poker Tour Victory
I was lucky enough to place first in tonight's Twitter Poker Tour. I've been playing in this weekly private game for a few months now, it's a lot of fun! The regulars there are great to play against, and it's been long enough that some of us are getting to higher levels of competitive thinking.
It was slow-but-steady, building chips consistently through the tournament. Not a lot of ups and downs, just a small pot here and a small pot there. Somehow, that steady accumulation worked and I built a decent stack. I ended up knocking out our gracious host, cprpoker, when I called his short-stacked all-in with K3. I was getting good odds, and thought the big blind might come along for the old cooperation play.
Turns out the big blind folded, cprpoker showed an A6 or whatever, but I hit the K on the flop and he was gone. I soon discovered that he had had a bounty placed on his head, as I quickly received a cash transaction refunding my buy-in.
Maybe it was the boost of freerolling, but I continued accumulating chips as I entered the final table. I maintained a chip lead through most of it, although when we got down to three-handed I was tied for second with another stack.
There were some ups and downs, we were three-handed for a long time. 30 hands? 40? Anyway, the three of us were all pretty good, so you had to know it would only end with a cooler.
My final opponent battled well as we were heads-up, but never could overcome my huge chip lead. He scraped up to a 1:2 deficit, but I kept the pressure up and managed to take it down. Yay me!
This should put me near the top of the monthly leaderboard. They award prize packages monthly, and I'm keen to win their three-month free membership for Deuces Cracked. I bet I could watch a ton of videos in three months. TPT is open to all, it's a $5 deep-stack tourney that runs Wednesdays 21:00ET on FTP, the password is TPTPOKER. They're also hosting a star-studded Bad Beat on Cancer tournament this weekend, so check out their site for more info!
http://twitterpokertour.com/
It was slow-but-steady, building chips consistently through the tournament. Not a lot of ups and downs, just a small pot here and a small pot there. Somehow, that steady accumulation worked and I built a decent stack. I ended up knocking out our gracious host, cprpoker, when I called his short-stacked all-in with K3. I was getting good odds, and thought the big blind might come along for the old cooperation play.
Turns out the big blind folded, cprpoker showed an A6 or whatever, but I hit the K on the flop and he was gone. I soon discovered that he had had a bounty placed on his head, as I quickly received a cash transaction refunding my buy-in.
Maybe it was the boost of freerolling, but I continued accumulating chips as I entered the final table. I maintained a chip lead through most of it, although when we got down to three-handed I was tied for second with another stack.
There were some ups and downs, we were three-handed for a long time. 30 hands? 40? Anyway, the three of us were all pretty good, so you had to know it would only end with a cooler.
My final opponent battled well as we were heads-up, but never could overcome my huge chip lead. He scraped up to a 1:2 deficit, but I kept the pressure up and managed to take it down. Yay me!
This should put me near the top of the monthly leaderboard. They award prize packages monthly, and I'm keen to win their three-month free membership for Deuces Cracked. I bet I could watch a ton of videos in three months. TPT is open to all, it's a $5 deep-stack tourney that runs Wednesdays 21:00ET on FTP, the password is TPTPOKER. They're also hosting a star-studded Bad Beat on Cancer tournament this weekend, so check out their site for more info!
http://twitterpokertour.com/
Sunday, November 1, 2009
October 2009 Recap
What a month October was! It's hard to believe that I've only been multi-tabling for a month now, but thanks to my blog I can look back and see that yes, that is the case. Of course, all I really need to do is look at my spreadsheet and see the huge increase in volume. It turns out I played more sessions in October than I did from May 1 to Sep 1 of this year. I was really surprised to see that!
If you've been following along, you'll know that I was breaking even at the beginning of the month, but hit a long, steady downstreak pretty early on and it continued on for a good long time. I had a few very deep runs but not much in the profit column. I kept my confidence and good spirits, however. I know there are ups and downs.
Luckily, the last week was very good to me and I made up about 2/3 of my losses for the month and ended with only a two-digit loss. That was a lot better than the $230 loss I was looking at earlier... about 2/5 my total bankroll.
Looking at the big picture it was a pretty normal swing in the overall graph. You can see how the 225+ sessions for October make up a large part of the total. The April numbers are from when I was multitabling cash games and put in a lot of short sessions. In October, I think I only played a dozen cash sessions, so all the rest were either 27-180 man SNGs or MTTs.
I had some more fun with the spreadsheet and have made all sorts of cool graphs tracking my relative finishes and final table appearances and so forth, but I'll keep that geeky goodness all to myself.
I really feel comfortable with my game lately. I seem to make a couple of deep runs a week, and in each of them I am in there fighting to get first.
If you've been following along, you'll know that I was breaking even at the beginning of the month, but hit a long, steady downstreak pretty early on and it continued on for a good long time. I had a few very deep runs but not much in the profit column. I kept my confidence and good spirits, however. I know there are ups and downs.
Luckily, the last week was very good to me and I made up about 2/3 of my losses for the month and ended with only a two-digit loss. That was a lot better than the $230 loss I was looking at earlier... about 2/5 my total bankroll.
Looking at the big picture it was a pretty normal swing in the overall graph. You can see how the 225+ sessions for October make up a large part of the total. The April numbers are from when I was multitabling cash games and put in a lot of short sessions. In October, I think I only played a dozen cash sessions, so all the rest were either 27-180 man SNGs or MTTs.
I had some more fun with the spreadsheet and have made all sorts of cool graphs tracking my relative finishes and final table appearances and so forth, but I'll keep that geeky goodness all to myself.
I really feel comfortable with my game lately. I seem to make a couple of deep runs a week, and in each of them I am in there fighting to get first.
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