well - i'm finished playing 1 table games for august and focusing on just that one game has really shown dividends already. here are my final numbers for those that want to take a look at my play. i was playing two table games before 8/12, so these numbers only represent all the single table tournaments for the month (although i'm ahead in the money for all games this month too)
out of 156 games
61 top 3 finishes - 39.10% (these are the cashes)
49 middle 3 finishes - 31.41%
46 bottom 3 or 4 finishes - 29.49%
27 1sts - 17.31%
19 2nds - 12.18%
15 3rds - 9.62%
19 4ths - 12.18%
17 5ths - 10.90%
13 6ths - 8.33%
16 7ths - 10.26%
16 8ths - 10.26%
10 9ths - 6.41%
4 10ths - 2.56%
my roi is 14.80% for this game at this level, which has me really stoked. that is really great and i look forward to continuing to build my skill level and my bankroll.
i can't even begin to explain the transformation my game has taken on in the last two weeks. i may be playing a little too tight early on, but i can't tell you how often i see people call off their chips preflop with very marginal hands. 1. because they are overplaying them and 2. because they are playing them out of position. they aren't stopping to think about what they could be calling against when someone puts them all in.
i have been guilty of this in the past and have tried to plug this leak in my game. i have made a couple of lay downs (i.e. folds) that surprise even me. here's one from today. second hand of one game i had AQ of diamonds and made a pot sized raise preflop. there was an early limper that came along for the ride. flop came out A97 all hearts. the caller checks to me and i put a bet out for about 2/3rds of the pot. the limper pushes all in on me. that was unexpected - so they checkraised me with what? AK AA or any two hearts like KQ etc... heck they might have had somethink like A9 for two pair and are scared of the hearts (which is more likely - usually if someone flops the nuts, they slow play to extract as many chips as possible vs. trying to scare their prey away) although AQ is strong, i decided it was early and plenty of time to make chips back up so i laid it down. i still don't know what the person had, but i went on to cash in that tournament (and he didn't) and probably wouln't have if i had called there.
the other thing ive done to shore up my game is play positon a lot more and stop limping as much as possible. i've been coming in for a raise in most every hand i play - i'm amazed how many blinds i steal without any confrontation that way. its nice.
i do have a cash game with friends tomorrow and i've signed up to play a tourney on Sunday for $11 with a guaranteed prize pool of over $200k spread out over 600+ players. at last count there were over 3600 entrants. i'm not overly optimistic - i think i have even chances of making the money. i'm anzious to see if my new found tight/position strategy will pay off in a tourney this big.
hope everyone has a safe holiday weekend.
peace and love and happiness to all
k-
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
pocket AA
pocket aces aren't being very friendly to me today so far. ive played three tournaments and they have been involved in my early demise all three times.
1st tournament i had them in the big blind and reraised the limpers a decent amount. one guy calls. flop comes QJx. i bet out, the caller reraises me all in. i think he has AQ or KQ and i think he thinks i have AK was making a continuation bet and doesn't realize how strong i was and this is a good time to double up. i dont have him on two pair, trips or a straight draw although trips might be possible. i call (of course) and he has KQ. turn is a blank and river is a Q, and just like that i'm out in 10th. i got exactly what i wanted here which was to have someone over play their top pair decent kicker. he got lucky,but if i keep getting in good ot pays off in the end.
2nd tournament i was shortstacked after my trip 7s had a straight rivered on them by a 45 who was chasing his flush. i had built my stack up from 145 back to 7xx and got pocket 99. since i had less than 10x the blind, i pushed to try and get the blinds from the table. i guy calls my push and another guy pushes all in over the top, and original caller, calls off his chips. one has AQ and the other has AA. the AA holds up and we are both out, me in 8th. honestly nothing i could do here. i can't fold 99 preflop when im in middle position and less than 10x the big blind. i got unlucky to run into a big hand, and at least i had a chance to bust his aces by being in the pot.
3rd tournament i had AA in small blind, with blinds at 100/200. big blind is shortstacked and im pretty sure he is going all in with this hand on any two cards. one player raises to 400, all else fold to me and i bump it to 800, big blind calls off all his chips and is all in other player calls. flop comes Kxx with two clubs. i check, other player checks. turn card is a club. i check, player bets, so i push over the top thinking he hit the K and doesn't want me drawing to a flush for free if i have a club. he did hit the K, but didn't have AK/KQ. this time he had KK and tripped up on the flop. i'm not sure how i can get away from this hand unless i think he has the flush. went out 6th in this one.
im not tilting, just thought it was interesting that all these early exits had AA as a starring role. the good news is, it should be about my turn for AA to hold up.
back to the felt.
peace and love and happiness to all.
kk
ps. Mom, i hope you feel better soon. love you!
1st tournament i had them in the big blind and reraised the limpers a decent amount. one guy calls. flop comes QJx. i bet out, the caller reraises me all in. i think he has AQ or KQ and i think he thinks i have AK was making a continuation bet and doesn't realize how strong i was and this is a good time to double up. i dont have him on two pair, trips or a straight draw although trips might be possible. i call (of course) and he has KQ. turn is a blank and river is a Q, and just like that i'm out in 10th. i got exactly what i wanted here which was to have someone over play their top pair decent kicker. he got lucky,but if i keep getting in good ot pays off in the end.
2nd tournament i was shortstacked after my trip 7s had a straight rivered on them by a 45 who was chasing his flush. i had built my stack up from 145 back to 7xx and got pocket 99. since i had less than 10x the blind, i pushed to try and get the blinds from the table. i guy calls my push and another guy pushes all in over the top, and original caller, calls off his chips. one has AQ and the other has AA. the AA holds up and we are both out, me in 8th. honestly nothing i could do here. i can't fold 99 preflop when im in middle position and less than 10x the big blind. i got unlucky to run into a big hand, and at least i had a chance to bust his aces by being in the pot.
3rd tournament i had AA in small blind, with blinds at 100/200. big blind is shortstacked and im pretty sure he is going all in with this hand on any two cards. one player raises to 400, all else fold to me and i bump it to 800, big blind calls off all his chips and is all in other player calls. flop comes Kxx with two clubs. i check, other player checks. turn card is a club. i check, player bets, so i push over the top thinking he hit the K and doesn't want me drawing to a flush for free if i have a club. he did hit the K, but didn't have AK/KQ. this time he had KK and tripped up on the flop. i'm not sure how i can get away from this hand unless i think he has the flush. went out 6th in this one.
im not tilting, just thought it was interesting that all these early exits had AA as a starring role. the good news is, it should be about my turn for AA to hold up.
back to the felt.
peace and love and happiness to all.
kk
ps. Mom, i hope you feel better soon. love you!
wednesday was a good day
started the day playing well and cruised all day that way. i played 17 games in 9 hours today on full tilt. cashed in 10 of the 17. it felt really great. i moved my roi to 11.50% and have officially placed first in more games than any other spot. (22 1sts out of 122 games with 44 total cashes overall and a 36% cash rate overall) i am still very encouraged by the progress so quickly toward my goal of moving up to the next level and am setting my goal for September to be able to accomplish that by the end of the month.
until tomorrow.
peace and love and happiness to all
kk
until tomorrow.
peace and love and happiness to all
kk
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
saw Dark Knight yesterday
wow - what a great flick. i can't say anything that hasn't already been said about heath ledgers performance and truly the cast as a whole did well, i thought. over the weekend went to the drive-in and saw tropic thunder and step brothers. i understand the controversy around tropic thunder and still thought it was funny. im a huge robert downey jr fan, and he did well, of course. step brother on the other hand wasn't just funny, it was freaking hilarious. not a kids movie by any stretch of the imagination. if you get a chance to see it, and you like some of will ferrell's other movies, this is a must for you.
today i've played 5 games so far and cashed in 4 of them, so off to a good start. feeling good and taking my tight approach very seriously. i just laid down pocket jj on a flop with a k on it after early preflop limper smooth called my preflop raise and then reraised me on the flop. screamed AK to me. decided it was better to lay down then over play a vulnerable hand. i maybe learning this game after all. also - had a moment when i called two of the players hands completely accurately before showdown. really feeling on my game today.
peace and love and happiness to all
kk
today i've played 5 games so far and cashed in 4 of them, so off to a good start. feeling good and taking my tight approach very seriously. i just laid down pocket jj on a flop with a k on it after early preflop limper smooth called my preflop raise and then reraised me on the flop. screamed AK to me. decided it was better to lay down then over play a vulnerable hand. i maybe learning this game after all. also - had a moment when i called two of the players hands completely accurately before showdown. really feeling on my game today.
peace and love and happiness to all
kk
Monday, August 25, 2008
got the spreadsheet going
fun stuff. i've entered all my 1 table 9&10 handed tourneys and so far this month ive played 97 of those types. something exciting that pops up at me immediately is that i do have a positive roi, although it is less than 10%, but at least its in the positive, right.
also - i've cashed in exactly 30 of the 97 with 50% of my cashes coming at 1st place (15) and then 9 at second and 6 at third. then i have 30 more finishes in 4th and 5th, and the last 37 spread from 6th - 10th. what this information tells me is that i am playing aggressive and playing to win vs. just playing to cash and is very exciting for me to see something concrete reinforcing what i was thinking about my play.
also, i checked out the pokerxfactor.com website and watched a couple of videos showing the pros hands as they play a tournament, both a sit-n-go and multiple table tourney. that was pretty informative. also, on pokerstars, they will replay the final table from the most recent big tourney with all players hole cards exposed, so you can see what people are doing. i watched a couple of those for a while last night and i think that will be about as instructive as anything else.
its fun to uncover new resources and im really excited about these video options. the pokerxfactor has commentary from the pros as well, so it will be interesting to hear their thoughts on certain plays and not just watch it and wonder why they did something. all this together should really help accelerate my game.
til later,
peace and love and happiness to all
kk
also - i've cashed in exactly 30 of the 97 with 50% of my cashes coming at 1st place (15) and then 9 at second and 6 at third. then i have 30 more finishes in 4th and 5th, and the last 37 spread from 6th - 10th. what this information tells me is that i am playing aggressive and playing to win vs. just playing to cash and is very exciting for me to see something concrete reinforcing what i was thinking about my play.
also, i checked out the pokerxfactor.com website and watched a couple of videos showing the pros hands as they play a tournament, both a sit-n-go and multiple table tourney. that was pretty informative. also, on pokerstars, they will replay the final table from the most recent big tourney with all players hole cards exposed, so you can see what people are doing. i watched a couple of those for a while last night and i think that will be about as instructive as anything else.
its fun to uncover new resources and im really excited about these video options. the pokerxfactor has commentary from the pros as well, so it will be interesting to hear their thoughts on certain plays and not just watch it and wonder why they did something. all this together should really help accelerate my game.
til later,
peace and love and happiness to all
kk
Sunday, August 24, 2008
a little on tilt right now
i'm taking a break today for awhile, because i'm tilting a bit, and its never good to play while tilting. when i get done updating the blog, ill make some lunch and watch a little tv or something before i play a few more games and then go to softball tonight.
here's why im tilting... just played against a guy who employs the theory that once you have 200 in the pot in the big blind, its ok to call the rest of your 2500 chips off with any two cards -(like T6 off suit) cuz hey, they might win. and hes right they might and they did several times against me when i had the best hand going in. very hard to play that type of player because no matter how tight you play if they aren't using any kind of logic and are relying on luck, then you are basically relying on luck too. all you can do is get it in ahead and trust that eventually variance will eat away at this guys bankroll. still very frustrating tho. AAARRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ok. that's out of the system.
had a great conversation with a friend of mine who also plays poker, about the how to determine when to move up in game size. there is a formula called the kelly criterion that basically says you need to have an roi of at least 10% at the level you are currently playing and build your bankroll up to 36x the buy in of the next level up. if you do that, your risk of ruin (i.e. going broke) is around 10%. any time risk of ruin is low then your bankroll is at a lot less risk. there are more rules about when to move back down and i need to look into that part a little to better understand, but seems good.
i had some nebulous goals in mind as ive been thinking about how to know when its time to move up, but this was great for helping me bring some clarity and definition to the goals. so... ive set up the old trusty spreadsheet to track roi and bankroll 4 me. those that really know me, know how much i love spreadsheets (i really do!!) so this is a fun project 4 me. this will help guide me up through the ranks until i get to the level that will allow me to pay the bills etc... i am already tracking all games i play, but this will be in a different format. pretty exciting stuff for a dork like me.
he also suggested that i move over from the 9/10 person tables and focus on the 6 person tables. his theory is that even tho they both pay 30% of the entrants, there are fewer players to beat in the 6 person. im going to give it a try, but i think the players in the 9/10 are less experienced and easier to beat, so i am going to play and track both and see where my margin is better.
lastly - for you poker theory fiends here's a good one for you. i was watching a friend play a tourney and she was on the bubble for making the money, and second or third in chip stack size with the player who is 4th in chips only having about 480 and blinds were 100/200. she looks down at pocket jj in the small blind. the chip leader who is splashing a little, but not a lot, makes a decent size raise from the cut off which accounts for about half of her chips. smaller chips stack folded from the button.
Q1 - do you shove the rest of your chips in over the top, do you smooth call and see a flop OR do you fold the JJ since you are on the bubble for the money and wait until the small chip stack gets knocked out since you are at risk here?
Q2 - would your answer change if the third place money were $100,000 instead of $6?
well my friend pushed and the chip leader had KK and took her out in 4th and the short stack made the money. several of us had this discussion most of last night. theoretically it could be right to fold them there, but we all decided that we weren't quite good enough players yet since the chip leader could be raising with a lot there, we would rather try and get it in good and double up and most of the time he isn't going to have AA,KK or QQ. on the other hand, most of the time he will have at least 1 over card and there is a 30% chance that it will hit the board and take you out anyway... so what do you guys think?
love to hear your thoughts on this.
til next time -
peace and love and happiness to all
kk
here's why im tilting... just played against a guy who employs the theory that once you have 200 in the pot in the big blind, its ok to call the rest of your 2500 chips off with any two cards -(like T6 off suit) cuz hey, they might win. and hes right they might and they did several times against me when i had the best hand going in. very hard to play that type of player because no matter how tight you play if they aren't using any kind of logic and are relying on luck, then you are basically relying on luck too. all you can do is get it in ahead and trust that eventually variance will eat away at this guys bankroll. still very frustrating tho. AAARRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ok. that's out of the system.
had a great conversation with a friend of mine who also plays poker, about the how to determine when to move up in game size. there is a formula called the kelly criterion that basically says you need to have an roi of at least 10% at the level you are currently playing and build your bankroll up to 36x the buy in of the next level up. if you do that, your risk of ruin (i.e. going broke) is around 10%. any time risk of ruin is low then your bankroll is at a lot less risk. there are more rules about when to move back down and i need to look into that part a little to better understand, but seems good.
i had some nebulous goals in mind as ive been thinking about how to know when its time to move up, but this was great for helping me bring some clarity and definition to the goals. so... ive set up the old trusty spreadsheet to track roi and bankroll 4 me. those that really know me, know how much i love spreadsheets (i really do!!) so this is a fun project 4 me. this will help guide me up through the ranks until i get to the level that will allow me to pay the bills etc... i am already tracking all games i play, but this will be in a different format. pretty exciting stuff for a dork like me.
he also suggested that i move over from the 9/10 person tables and focus on the 6 person tables. his theory is that even tho they both pay 30% of the entrants, there are fewer players to beat in the 6 person. im going to give it a try, but i think the players in the 9/10 are less experienced and easier to beat, so i am going to play and track both and see where my margin is better.
lastly - for you poker theory fiends here's a good one for you. i was watching a friend play a tourney and she was on the bubble for making the money, and second or third in chip stack size with the player who is 4th in chips only having about 480 and blinds were 100/200. she looks down at pocket jj in the small blind. the chip leader who is splashing a little, but not a lot, makes a decent size raise from the cut off which accounts for about half of her chips. smaller chips stack folded from the button.
Q1 - do you shove the rest of your chips in over the top, do you smooth call and see a flop OR do you fold the JJ since you are on the bubble for the money and wait until the small chip stack gets knocked out since you are at risk here?
Q2 - would your answer change if the third place money were $100,000 instead of $6?
well my friend pushed and the chip leader had KK and took her out in 4th and the short stack made the money. several of us had this discussion most of last night. theoretically it could be right to fold them there, but we all decided that we weren't quite good enough players yet since the chip leader could be raising with a lot there, we would rather try and get it in good and double up and most of the time he isn't going to have AA,KK or QQ. on the other hand, most of the time he will have at least 1 over card and there is a 30% chance that it will hit the board and take you out anyway... so what do you guys think?
love to hear your thoughts on this.
til next time -
peace and love and happiness to all
kk
Friday, August 22, 2008
decent day on the felt
day was up and down, ended the day feeling like ive definitely found the niche and level i should be playing at for right now. i tried playing a handful of games at the 6.50 level and stunk it up, so for now im sticking with the 3.40 games. but i will continue to give the higher games a try every now and then. i just want to make sure i dont give back my profits when i do.
off to bed.
until manyana (sp?)
peace and love and happiness to all
kk
off to bed.
until manyana (sp?)
peace and love and happiness to all
kk
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