ive spent years playing bar poker and i think its a great environment to get started in. yesterday we had our quarterly tournament. i was pleased with my play overall. i was patient, thoughtful and didn't get out of line more than once during the tourney. going to the final table i was second in chips, although the chip leader had me almost doubled. the final table was pretty tight and i was able to win a few pots uncontested and going into heads up i had the chip lead by a tiny margin which changed on the first hand. i called a one bump raise to 8000 with Q9, missed the flop and had to lay down my hand when the other player went all in. i found out after the tourney that he had AA. we went back and forsth for awhile, but on the last hand he raised nd i reraised all in with A3. he called with 99 and flopped trips and ended with a boat. i felt good about adding $100 to my bankroll for coming in second. the man i lost tois a great friend of mine and a good player in his own rights as he won last quarters tourney as well.
i think it may be one of my last if not my very last bar tourney as im not making it out to play as often as i used to since i am trying to play seriously. one thing that bar poker is good for is trying out new strategies and learning to understand peoples thinking behind specific moves since there is a lot of open information being passed about the table, so i will play occasionally.
october is almost over and as of today - im up more than i was in september which is the right direction, eh?
peace and love and happiness
k-
Monday, October 27, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
roller coaster riding
maybe the cure for my poker blues was to just bitch about it on my blog, because as soon as i started playing today, it was off to the races.
i played 15 games today and came in first 6 times. (FINALLY!!) and cashed in 2 more at 2nd, so 8 cashes overall is good and my month has totally turned around just that quick. im almost up to my high for the beginning of the month. they are right when they say this is a hard way to make an easy living. the emotional toll it takes when you lose a few is crazy. im so glad im tracking my games - it helps me calm down when i can quantify things. my roi since moving back to this level after today is back up to 15.33% and im cashing in 42.37% of the games since moving back down. still feeling good about the move down and am going to concentrate on getting playing time in every day to maximize my edge.
i have wondered what was considered a good rate, and everything ive read says if you can cash in about 40% of the games you are playing in, then you are considered a winning player, so i feel really good about that!
ttyl
peace and love and happiness
k-
i played 15 games today and came in first 6 times. (FINALLY!!) and cashed in 2 more at 2nd, so 8 cashes overall is good and my month has totally turned around just that quick. im almost up to my high for the beginning of the month. they are right when they say this is a hard way to make an easy living. the emotional toll it takes when you lose a few is crazy. im so glad im tracking my games - it helps me calm down when i can quantify things. my roi since moving back to this level after today is back up to 15.33% and im cashing in 42.37% of the games since moving back down. still feeling good about the move down and am going to concentrate on getting playing time in every day to maximize my edge.
i have wondered what was considered a good rate, and everything ive read says if you can cash in about 40% of the games you are playing in, then you are considered a winning player, so i feel really good about that!
ttyl
peace and love and happiness
k-
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
still up and down
october has been a rough month. started the month up and currently am down about $20. i have made up some of the ground i lost when i was playing the $12 games, but not much. plenty of time to turn it around and as a matter of fact, my cash rate at the 6.50 game is back to around 40%, the problem im having right now is that im not getting first very often. most of my cashes are coming at 2nd or 3rd place. that is affecting the roi and i am working hard to increase my first places. not getting that extra money for first is making a big difference in profit.
not much else going on - i had a roommate move in last week, so we've been spending time getting to know each other. he seems to be a good guy and we are both making efforts to be pretty considerate, so its going well.
talk to you soon.
peace and love and happiness to all
k-
not much else going on - i had a roommate move in last week, so we've been spending time getting to know each other. he seems to be a good guy and we are both making efforts to be pretty considerate, so its going well.
talk to you soon.
peace and love and happiness to all
k-
Friday, October 10, 2008
life outside the poker table is busy
its been a crazy week. as you know i went to columbia this past weekend. then a friend and i went to see tina turner on wed night and last night a friend got tickets for her bday for the john legend concert, so we went and saw him. both concerts were fabulous. seeing an icon like tina turner was awesome and john legend has such a smooth beautiful voice and such energy on stage. it was great to see them both. tomorrow im going to be doing a pub crawl in westport and downtown kc for cancer. then things should slow down for me.
poker is going a bit better since ive moved back down to the 6.50 level. my ROI is 14% for the time ive been back down - so i feel good about it. i played two tables today at the same time and was able to make good decisions while playing two tables, so i think i will start doing that more often.
hope everyone has a good weekend
peace and love and happiness
k-
poker is going a bit better since ive moved back down to the 6.50 level. my ROI is 14% for the time ive been back down - so i feel good about it. i played two tables today at the same time and was able to make good decisions while playing two tables, so i think i will start doing that more often.
hope everyone has a good weekend
peace and love and happiness
k-
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
evaluating this level
i feel like i am bleeding my bankroll $12 at a time. after 30 games at this level, i am cashing in only 25% and actually have a negative ROI of 25% which means im losing $25 for every $100 i put in play. that is not good. i am going to move back to the 6.50 game since it seems i was able to play very profitably at that level. i can always start adding tables and play two or three tables at a time at the 6.50 level to increase the profitability as well. i will eventually move up to the $12 level again, but better to cut my losses and move back down than to bleed dry my bankroll.
im bummed but its the right decision.
i will let you know when i move back up.
til next time.
peace and love and happiness
k-
im bummed but its the right decision.
i will let you know when i move back up.
til next time.
peace and love and happiness
k-
had a fun weekend.
friday night i went out to the american royal bbq - one of the biggest competitive bbqs in the country to sample the fixins my friends were entering. from my opinion it was great, but the judges didn't think so because they didn't win... oh well there is always next year.
then on saturday, a few of us drove to columbia to visit a younger sister who was just turning 21. that was good time even if it was in mizzou country.
got back sunday tired and really wishing i didn't have to play softball - but i did. and we stank it up. most of the men on our team are the same who were bbqing all weekend, so they were exhausted and i was exhausted and we actually got run ruled on the second game - which on the bright side meant i got to go home and get some sleep earlier than i expected
lets see poker at the new level has been interesting. i'm down right now just a bit but am feeling good about how i am playing. i had an interesting hand that was set up from an earlier hand. on our first encounter - i was in the big blind with something playable, but not great and a person three seats in makes a standard raise. everyone folds to me and i decide i don't want to play my cards out of position with my chip stack dwindling, so i fold and the raiser shows AA. good fold me.
two hands later when im next to the dealer button in the cutoff seat, the same player limps in first position. and it folds to me. i've got A6 hearts. when he limped i immediately thought he had a big hand and he was mad his AA didn't get paid off, so he was going to make sure that this hand did. i'm putting him on KK, QQ, JJ only. i don't think hes limping with AQ or AK. big blind checks. the flop comes out 8A9. big blind checks, limper checks and i put out what i know looks like a weak position bet of about 1/3 of the pot to see if i can induce a raise. sure enough he bumps me. so i come over the top of him for all his chips and he calls and sure enough he shows KK and he is out of the tournament. he basically trapped himself. since he couldn't get away from the hand even tho i gave him every chance. i like the play to limp with a big hand occasionally, but you still have to be able to lay it down. something im still working on myself sometimes.
oh well. off to the tables..
peace and love and happiness
k-
then on saturday, a few of us drove to columbia to visit a younger sister who was just turning 21. that was good time even if it was in mizzou country.
got back sunday tired and really wishing i didn't have to play softball - but i did. and we stank it up. most of the men on our team are the same who were bbqing all weekend, so they were exhausted and i was exhausted and we actually got run ruled on the second game - which on the bright side meant i got to go home and get some sleep earlier than i expected
lets see poker at the new level has been interesting. i'm down right now just a bit but am feeling good about how i am playing. i had an interesting hand that was set up from an earlier hand. on our first encounter - i was in the big blind with something playable, but not great and a person three seats in makes a standard raise. everyone folds to me and i decide i don't want to play my cards out of position with my chip stack dwindling, so i fold and the raiser shows AA. good fold me.
two hands later when im next to the dealer button in the cutoff seat, the same player limps in first position. and it folds to me. i've got A6 hearts. when he limped i immediately thought he had a big hand and he was mad his AA didn't get paid off, so he was going to make sure that this hand did. i'm putting him on KK, QQ, JJ only. i don't think hes limping with AQ or AK. big blind checks. the flop comes out 8A9. big blind checks, limper checks and i put out what i know looks like a weak position bet of about 1/3 of the pot to see if i can induce a raise. sure enough he bumps me. so i come over the top of him for all his chips and he calls and sure enough he shows KK and he is out of the tournament. he basically trapped himself. since he couldn't get away from the hand even tho i gave him every chance. i like the play to limp with a big hand occasionally, but you still have to be able to lay it down. something im still working on myself sometimes.
oh well. off to the tables..
peace and love and happiness
k-
Thursday, October 2, 2008
im moving up
i knew i was close to moving up yesterday - but i wasn't sure how the next few days were going to go. looks like today went well enough to move me to the next level.
moving through level 1 took 304 games and i ended the level with a 13.92% ROI and a cash rate of 38.16% and a little more than a month's time.
moving through level 2 took 125 games and i ended the level with a 24.28% ROI and a cash rate of 43.20% and a little more than a few weeks time. looking forward to level 3!!
i did get hit by the deck in the first game this morning (which i won) - and that was fun. the most lucrative hand was calling a one bump raise in late position with pocket 66 and hoping to see a 6 on the flop. there were three other people in the hand (including both blinds) and the flop came out 6TJ. the small blind bets out for 270, the big blind raises to 540 the third player calls the 540 and i call the 540 trying to trap everyone. the turn comes out a 9 the small blind checks, the big blind pushes all in and the other player pushes all in and although i have bottom set, i still think im ahead here so i call the all ins. small blind folds, big blind had AJ and other player had KK. the river is a 6 to quad me up and just like that we are two players shorter.
a little while later, some one limped when i was in the big blind and holding T4spades. the flop came out KTT. i bet out and he raised me. it is possible for him to have limped with KK or KT, so i probably have the best hand, but decide to proceed cautiously and just call instead of reraise. the turn is a 3. i bet out again a little bit and he smooth calls me. at this point i think he thinks i either have a pocket pair or an A in my hand and he thinks im unwilling to believe that he has anything on the board. or he thinks we are splitting the pot and that i have a K too. im pretty sure he doesn't put me on the Ten. any way the river is the case T to give me quads again. this time i check hoping he will bet and i can check raise him. personally i think it screams quads, but ive come to realize there aren't very many people paying attention on here, so you can make the obvious plays a lot and get paid off. anyway - after i check, instead of making a value bet, he pushes all in. well of course im going to call him and now we are down another player.
one other fun hand in that game was when i had decided to call a raise in position with JT. there are 4 of us in the hand with the big blind all in and 300 in a side pot (which means that the all in player can't win the side pot, but those of us still with chips can.) the flop was beautiful. 89Q. i flopped the nuts. it checks to me and i check. the turn was an A. i check again and there was one player behind me and he bet out 270 trying to win the side pot. the third player called the 270 and i raised to 540. original bettor calls the 270 and other player folds. river is a 4 and the original bettor bets about a third of his chips. i reraise to put him all in and he calls showing 2 pair but that doesn't beat my straight and two more players are out.
i honestly think i started getting a headache from where the deck kept slapping me in the head. (LOL!!) oh well. it was fun while it lasted. if poker was always like that, id already be wealthy instead of trying to grind it out every day.
enough about the game - times a wasting -back to the tables!!
peace and love and happiness to all.
k-
moving through level 1 took 304 games and i ended the level with a 13.92% ROI and a cash rate of 38.16% and a little more than a month's time.
moving through level 2 took 125 games and i ended the level with a 24.28% ROI and a cash rate of 43.20% and a little more than a few weeks time. looking forward to level 3!!
i did get hit by the deck in the first game this morning (which i won) - and that was fun. the most lucrative hand was calling a one bump raise in late position with pocket 66 and hoping to see a 6 on the flop. there were three other people in the hand (including both blinds) and the flop came out 6TJ. the small blind bets out for 270, the big blind raises to 540 the third player calls the 540 and i call the 540 trying to trap everyone. the turn comes out a 9 the small blind checks, the big blind pushes all in and the other player pushes all in and although i have bottom set, i still think im ahead here so i call the all ins. small blind folds, big blind had AJ and other player had KK. the river is a 6 to quad me up and just like that we are two players shorter.
a little while later, some one limped when i was in the big blind and holding T4spades. the flop came out KTT. i bet out and he raised me. it is possible for him to have limped with KK or KT, so i probably have the best hand, but decide to proceed cautiously and just call instead of reraise. the turn is a 3. i bet out again a little bit and he smooth calls me. at this point i think he thinks i either have a pocket pair or an A in my hand and he thinks im unwilling to believe that he has anything on the board. or he thinks we are splitting the pot and that i have a K too. im pretty sure he doesn't put me on the Ten. any way the river is the case T to give me quads again. this time i check hoping he will bet and i can check raise him. personally i think it screams quads, but ive come to realize there aren't very many people paying attention on here, so you can make the obvious plays a lot and get paid off. anyway - after i check, instead of making a value bet, he pushes all in. well of course im going to call him and now we are down another player.
one other fun hand in that game was when i had decided to call a raise in position with JT. there are 4 of us in the hand with the big blind all in and 300 in a side pot (which means that the all in player can't win the side pot, but those of us still with chips can.) the flop was beautiful. 89Q. i flopped the nuts. it checks to me and i check. the turn was an A. i check again and there was one player behind me and he bet out 270 trying to win the side pot. the third player called the 270 and i raised to 540. original bettor calls the 270 and other player folds. river is a 4 and the original bettor bets about a third of his chips. i reraise to put him all in and he calls showing 2 pair but that doesn't beat my straight and two more players are out.
i honestly think i started getting a headache from where the deck kept slapping me in the head. (LOL!!) oh well. it was fun while it lasted. if poker was always like that, id already be wealthy instead of trying to grind it out every day.
enough about the game - times a wasting -back to the tables!!
peace and love and happiness to all.
k-
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
a fabulous start to October
i played 20 games today, over a 12 hour period and cashed in 12 of them for a nice 60% cash rate and a really good day for the bankroll. as a matter of fact i cleared 96.80 today and am not that far from moving up to the next level. i should be able to move up to the next level within the next week or so if not sooner.
my ROI in this level is a little above 20% after today and my overall cashrate is up to 42.5%. the last few days have felt really good and i hope to continue on this path.
the most memorable hand for me happened at the end of the evening. i had pocket 99 in late position and there were already several people that had limped for 30 including me. both of the blinds came too. the flop came out 45Ten with two diamonds. the small blind bets out 2/3 of the pot. everyone folds to me - and i decide to smooth call. im not convinced he has the Ten and nothing else beats me. the turn is another small diamond. he bets out 225 and i call. on the river is a Q. he bets out 225 again and something tells me it is a defensive bet and he is afraid, so i raise him to 600. it looks like a value bet for someone that has the flush. or someone that has been calling with an overpair all the way. lucky for me, he either wasn't that strong, or is actually one of those people that can lay a hand down or i read it right and picked the right amount to gt him off his hand, but he folded to my raise. felt really good about that.
ive been fighting a sore throat all week, so im going to go gargle and head to bed.
felt good to have a successful day.
peace and love and happiness to all.
k-
my ROI in this level is a little above 20% after today and my overall cashrate is up to 42.5%. the last few days have felt really good and i hope to continue on this path.
the most memorable hand for me happened at the end of the evening. i had pocket 99 in late position and there were already several people that had limped for 30 including me. both of the blinds came too. the flop came out 45Ten with two diamonds. the small blind bets out 2/3 of the pot. everyone folds to me - and i decide to smooth call. im not convinced he has the Ten and nothing else beats me. the turn is another small diamond. he bets out 225 and i call. on the river is a Q. he bets out 225 again and something tells me it is a defensive bet and he is afraid, so i raise him to 600. it looks like a value bet for someone that has the flush. or someone that has been calling with an overpair all the way. lucky for me, he either wasn't that strong, or is actually one of those people that can lay a hand down or i read it right and picked the right amount to gt him off his hand, but he folded to my raise. felt really good about that.
ive been fighting a sore throat all week, so im going to go gargle and head to bed.
felt good to have a successful day.
peace and love and happiness to all.
k-
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)