Busto!

Took that $120 left in the account after withdrawing $500.... got hot in the 2/4 CAP NL games. Ran it up to almost $500. Then lost $200 in a HU cash game at 1/2. Then Went back to the CAP NL games and went busto. It was fun while it lasted, and at least I got $500 out... pretty good return on the 30k ftps I started with. I'll be playing the iron man Freeroll, and will be able to get one more token next month with iron man medals. But then I will be done fooling around.

-Boooom

Rush

So I got pwned in the 26/90s I played. Just didn't run very good, had 2 KOs and a 24th place finish out of 4. I min cashed in the 35k for about 45 bucks. But while playing in that I went on a sweet rush in the 23$ HU sngs. I think I won 5 or 6 in a row before calling it a night. Then today I won 2 more in a row, then I finally lost to end my streak. I sat down and played some short handed cash games. I had some good luck at some 2/4 and 3/6 tables and promptly ran the account up to 900. Then I doubled up a guy who flopped 2pair, when I flopped top pair + flush draw. It took me down to $450. I played a little bit of HU and am now up to $620. It reminds me of the old days when my bankroll would be all over the place during a day because I would play way out of my bankroll. The plan now is to take out $500 and leave myself with $120 to screw around with.

Pretty solid to turn 30k ftps into some nice cash. I'll probably play 11$ HU sngs with the remaining money and see if I can get another rush going. Also I am currently writing my last paper for my summer school class. Then I will officially have my bachelors degree which is pretty cool I guess. I just cant wait for this stupid Hamlet paper to be over.

-Boooom

Quitting

So I played my last session, got my bonus, withdrew my money... and I feel good about it. My last session sucked KK < AA allin pre, and QQ < TT when I 3bet preflop and he flat called with 35 BBs behind and flopped top set. Took my 30k ftps and won 5 tokens (should have won more but ran poorly). Got one 26token with my iron man medals, and will get one more after the month is over.

So I'm sitting on six 26tokens, with one more to come, to see what I can do with them. I just played a super turbo satelite to the 750k. Had JJ in the BB the first hand and doubled up. Never looked back and won my $216 seat. So now I have 5 tokens and $216 tourny dollars. We will see what I can do with it, playing sngs in my spare time.

I haven't been having too many withdrawal symptoms from poker. I have found that the extra time when I got home where I would normally grind, I am filling it with other things. I have been working really hard on eating well and getting back in shape. Also working on getting a job, and getting myself ready to get engaged/married.

As for the tokens and little bit of money I have in now. I am going to primarily play sngs (because I think cash games are too tough to play on a short roll for me). I don't know what I plan to do if I run this up into anything, but maybe I'll get creative.

-Boooom

School

Been jammed with school this week. I have 2 finals tomororw... one suuuuper easy, and one suuuuper hard. I am going to study all day today for the really hard BIO final.

Played a super quick session last Sunday night at NL100 just to get 200 ftps. It would have been good except I lost a stack on a lame hand... I have QQ in the SB, folds to me, i make it 4$, BB calls. Flop Qxx rainbow, I continuation bet, he calls. Turn is a low brick, and puts 2 spades out, I check, he bets 10, I raise to 38. He calls, river completes the backdoor flush, I bet almost his whole stack, he instashoves, I call and he shows me AKs. Other than that everything went fine and I got my points.

I haven't finished the bonus yet cause I've been studying. I think I will wait until I get my rakeback payment on Friday, just to make sure getting the bonus doesn't mess up this weeks payment. I need 150 ftps to get the $475 bonus, and need two more days of play to complete my iron man status for the month. Those will happen sometime after Friday.

Also, I came up with the most epic way to propose to my girlfriend. I'll give more details later on that one.

-Boooom

Last big session...

Just finished my last big session. Played for 2 hours and racked up almost 2300 hands at 1/2. Got off to a poor start once again, went down 1.5buyins early. But this session was much more docile than the 1/2 sessions I've played this weekend. I slowly grinded my way back up, and finished the session up $150. Got myself a ton of FTPs, anod now need less than 500 ftps to unlock my bonus. I'll probably finish it off on tuesday or wednesday and play NL100. I have 30k ftps which should allow me to get several 26$ tokens to play with after I withdraw my money.

-Boooom

Ugliness...

Played a 2 hour 1/2 session and got tons of ftps. However, I ran like absolute crap. I did some update thing for HEM and now I can't view my sessions. I hardly care since I'm going to be done soon but I don't get to see how bad my allin EV was. I lost 4 times with aces, twice I had a set. The last one it was 5bet preflop vs KK, but he flopped top set. I was down over 3 buyins at one point, but finished down only about 240 for the session. Could have been even if I won that last AA v KK hand. Oh well, run better next time I guess.

My timing was just all off. Everytime I tried a bluff, I was getting looked up. That's one of my biggest leaks I think, when I run bad I just tend to try more bluffs. If I stayed more solid and didn't spew off in the session today, and the one yesterday I would probably be sitting alot better. I have one more big session left that I will play tomorrow. I need 1700 more ftps. I'll try to play about 1400, and leave the rest for next week.

-Boooom

Great Post

I was reading this on a cardrunners blog... I think it is a great post and is a good excercise for any poker player. Read it and be honest about where you are at. See what it will take for you to move up...

-------------------------------------------

You've probably heard this from many different people. I generally think these are oversimplified and am bored enough to map it out. I don't think the chart is linear like most people say. "Evolution" fits the description perfectly as evolution necessarily takes many branches. It's possible to be a species who stagnates and goes extinct. For the sake of our discussion that would constitute losing as opposed to being wiped from existence.

Players don't jump from step A to B to C. Some people stay at step A and hover around A a), A b) etc. To give a concrete example think of the last time you played live. No doubt you can remember an old man who has been playing poker for 40+ years. He's been playing poker since the Nixon administration yet why does he still suck? It's because he's grown complacent with his game... and he probably solidified his gameplan before you were born and has never deviated. Regardless of the trends in poker he carries on because that one winning day is good enough for him even though his bank account isn't lying to him as it slowly dwindles.

So before we examine where the old man fits into the equation we have to start from the very beginning:

1. The complete amature. These are people that don't know all the rules. These are people you might be able to stack when they hold 67 on a 4444K board and you have A-high. They might be weekend warriors who saw Phil Helmuth push all-in on TV and want to replicate such bravado. You can identify them by overbetting the pot severly with top pair no kicker, and not being able to laydown a A5 on a AQKJ2 board. They deposit online and splash around heavily. They are delighted to realize that their T4o only needs to catch one card to win the pot on a AQJK board and will gladly call large bets to get there.

2. The "competent" amature. He's not really competent and is most assuredly a large loser in the games, but he at least knows the majority of the rules. This particular category spans a broad horizon of potential players. Our complete amature might fit this category after a dozen sessions of poker. Our old man example fits this perfectly even though he's been playing for 40 years. His play is horrible, but he knows all the rules. He might even know a trick or two for gaining value or bluffing. His one successful bluff will override any memory of the failed dozen attempts leading up to said bluff. Things like "flop texture" and "pot control" aren't part of his vocabulary although he's probably heard some of those young fancy internet players use such terms at the table.

3. The entitled amature. The old man definitely straddles categories 2 and 3. He probably hovers closer to category 3 but could also be considered the alpha category 2. These are players who prematurely think they've paid their dues and should be winning at poker. You see them online a lot grinding out nl50 and nl25. They live to berate other players for their play and to share bad beat stories. They possess a plethora of excuses as to why they are not crushing nl5000 on upwards. They share anecdotal experiences of when Andy Bloch graced their presence at their nl50 table and how they proceeded to outplay him. Time is of no consequence to this type of player. One can be stuck here forever as evidenced by the old man.

It goes without saying that categories 1-3 make up the vast majority of the real poker playing community. It's important to note that any of those in groups 1-3 can play any stake of poker. They are often known for gambling up bankrolls from nothing and exhibiting awesome bankroll management by putting it all on the table. There are no stakes associated with amature players

4. The small stakes grinder. These players range from breakeven to winning players. If they don't breakeven or better than they display characteristics of categories 1-3. This category of player has the widest amount of attributes. These include 9-5ers who play every hour that they are home from work waiting for the day they can tell their boss to fuck off when they hit a certain goal with their bankroll and can go pro, to players who are entitled low stakes grinders. They might be winning players but they haven't gotten passed their desire to berate and make excuses. There are even hidden Phil Iveys amongst the bunch. Players who play very well but fail in one or more "non-felt" related activities such as bankroll or tilt management who are slave to the busto/robusto cycle forever.

5. The low stakes grinder (LSG). The attributes of the entitled amature are never really erased from the player pool of any category but are probably most prevalent at the micro and low stakes where self-proclaimed poker geniuses are quick to tell you how awesome they are but are not quite as skilled at showing you. Again we see a broad range of players. Their thought processes are becoming refined, it might be possible to take down a few thousand dollars a month on a consistent basis. Players might begin to reach out to find poker Nirvana, studying the best players and trying to figure out how to get to higher stakes. This level of player also loves to crunch numbers on winrate, how much they could potentially make in a year, how much they could potential make playing higher. The results to these numbers are often extremely generous and boner-inspiring in those who slave away at menial 9-5 jobs. College students are less prone to fit this description.

And now we come to a major crossroads

5-1) Content Low Stakes Grinder: This might be a mom or dad who enjoys the extra income that poker provides. Their presence at the tables is usually small and so is their winrate and desire to improve. They are the ultimate complacent player and are probably a lot happier than 99% of the poker community.

5-2) Future Durrr Low Stakes Grinder: This guy is the cat's meow, the bees knees, the best poker player to ever grace a $1/$2 table. He watches the highest stake videos on any instructional sites. Those of this player type frequent the 2+2 forums. Their favorite response to any thread is "lol". On the positive side these players can turn into superstars. For every 100 players of this personality type maybe 5 make it to play 5/10 or higher. Most crash under the weight of their own ego and inflated sense of poker prowess. They'd sooner contract AIDS than to game select. Of those 5 that make it to play 5/10 and higher 4.9 collapse.

5-3) Well Adjusted Low Stakes Grinder: This guy has it all together. Bankroll management, tilt management, reasonable goals and a decent game. Stagnation is their worst enemy and they can be effected to varying degrees by symptoms of 5-1) to 5-3). Many times these types of players don't have a creative game. They know how to emulate plays they see from instructional sites but have no idea how to come up with new lines or to do anything other than ABC

6. The Mid Stakes Grinder (MSG). Awww yes. The most colorful group of poker players in all of poker. They frequent the Bellagio 5/10 games, the Commerce $1500 max buy, nl400+ online. Cliques are formed, personalities are molded, egos are inflated, while silent ninjas take your money.

6-1) The Ma&Pa Mid Stakes Grinder: Don't let the name fool you this can be an 18 year old male who somehow has the presence of mind to stash his ego. This can also be a single mom or dad playing for diaper money. The pitfalls of these types of players are complacency and stagnation. They are generally the last to evolve with the changing tides of the game and either adopt other qualities or fade away. They share common ancestory with 5-1) and 5-3) and eek out a small winrate for mid-sized cash

6-2) The Elitist Mid Stakes Grinder (E-MSG) If this group were to decide which country that best represented them they'd be Israel. God's chosen players. They grace you with their presence on 2+2, they are too good to explain to you why you're wrong so in place respond with "terribad." They often hide or overinflate their winnings. Some very few actually can back up their gigantic mouths with equally gigantic winrates. Their e-peens outweigh the Singularity that later became the Big Bang. These players are generally extensions of 5-2), future Durrrs and suffer the same fate. Although once you've become an E-MSG your chances of making it to HSNL are pretty good but your lifespan is often short. At the tables they are easily identified by their constant reminders that you snapping off their bluff was very -EV against their range.

6-3) The Ninja Mid Stakes Grinder: His post count on 2+2 is 17 but his join date is January 2003. He has never done a video for any training site but he's watched them all. He knows what you know and knows you know it. These guys can exhibit Ma&Pa qualties or can be complete play makers who are smart enough to keep it to themselves.

6-4) The Philosopher: This player isn't necessarily a mid stakes player but you will see a lot at mid stakes. Technically they can range from $2 SNGs and onward. They are often a byproduct of not moving up and getting too comfortable at stakes. They overthink EVERYTHING. There are two schools of these players:

6-4-a) Professor of Dumbfuckery: These guys overthink everything but almost always arrive at the same conclusion.... their opposition has the only hand that they beat and so they should call. These players are the most annoying at HUNL where lots of bluffing does occur. Although they are very easy to play against, it's a grind. They exhibit the reverse qualities of the competent amature (#2) in that their 20+ whiffed hero calls are quickly erased by their ultra-sick call with bottom pair in a 4bet pot.

6-5-b) Socrates Would Be Proud: This guy's thought processes are off the charts. Every decision incorporates 50 different elements from the hand. They have a check list of referencing their play to what they repped, what their opponent is repping, what is the flop texture, what is the pot size, how often have I been 3betting, how often have they been 3betting, do I have a history of value betting light, do they have a history of value betting light, did I leave the stove on, how does this guy react in 4bet/double OOP floated pots etc etc etc? They are the masters of information overload. Their frontal lobes have occasioally caught fire. They would fair well against the best of the best but they fail to realize that they aren't playing anywhere near that level of competition. Dumbing it down would do them a world of good

6-6) This Guy's Good: Everything is in balance. This is a well seasoned player with elements from all pools (even Professor of Dumbfuckery). Every hand played is near their A-game, every decision poured over using relevant information and a thinking process of equal weight to their opponent. They don't overthink and they don't underthink. They are comfortable playing at any level on the "leveling chart". Their ego is in check, their bankroll strong, their passion for the game is high. They are as comfortable calling for stacks with King high as they are with folding the 2nd nuts. Some of these guys go on to do great things. Some never move up. Some even exist at low stakes.

Hopefully you all are on your way to being a 6-6)

Best of luck at the tables!


-----------------------------------------


Reflection:
I am definitely 5-3. I am comfortable where I play, but stagnation is my biggest "weakness". My game isn't creative, I know that a more versatile game would be necessary for me to move up to higher stakes, but I am not trying to be the next durrr, I am just trying to make some money.

I have definitely been at many of the other levels in the past... where I have skills but no bankroll/tilt management. I have berated other players, and shared bad beat stories.

I am happy for the heights I have reached in poker and after many ups and downs I feel like I've beaten the game.


I will be playing a big session during the 5x happy hour later tonight. I will also play a session tomorrow which will get me very close to finishing my 9500ftps. I am going to wait until after Monday to finish the bonus (so that it doesn't screw over my rakeback for this week). When I finish the bonus I am going to take out all my money (I may leave a very small amount). Then I am going to use my FTPs to win some tokens to play some 26/90s and see if I can run something up by playing sngs. If I can't then I'll be done playing online. I also have a feeling that after a complete month off FTP might try to offer me a bonus to come back. If they make me a good offer for some free money, then I might make a quick return and just grind out a bonus. I've also thought it might be fun to pick a big tournament to play before I quit... I'll update on that later.

-Boooom

Rebound

Just played a 2hour+ session where I got in 2k hands in at 1/2. Won about 3 buyins. So it helped alot after losing over 4 buyins earlier today. Also got 1400 ftps... and the majority of the time I was playing it was during the 5x happy hour, so I just got a ton of FTPs in my account.

I feel alot better than earlier, but still think the whole quitting after I finish the bonus is a solid idea. I should get some play in tomorrow night. Only 3k more ftps to release my bonus!

-Boooom

1/2 madness

Just played about 1600 hands of 1/2... the good news is I got like 1200 ftps. The horrible news is that I dropped over 4 buyins. It was just like everything went wrong. During it I definitely felt like just calling it quits for good. I need like 4500 more ftps for the bonus. I might play another session tonight since I won't be able to play tomorrow. I think once I clear the bonus most of the money in the account will be coming out. I might leave a little bit to play sngs or whatever. It's been pretty smooth sailing lately, but this reminded me of why a normal job would be nice. I don't feel like doing much of anything after a session like that. I don't want to hang out with my friends, or talk to my girlfriend, or anything. I hate this feeling and I won't miss it at all.

I'm going to eat some food, and get ready for my night session. I'll admit I may have not played my best earlier, but I also ran pretty bad. I hope it turns around tonight.

-Boooom

Getting down to business

Had a big test today in my lit class. I thought I would fail, but I think I managed to pass it. Next week is the last week for two of my classes. Then I will have a ton more time to... find a job, play poker, hang out with friends. I need to get over 9k ftps this month, and right now I almost have 4k. I need to pick it up a bit to finish this off and get the whole bonus. I am not sure how much I am going to play after this month. I feel like right after getting the bonus would be a decent time to quit (because I'll have to work off the rakeback after the $475 bonus).

At the same time I am going to start golfing and it would be nice to keep making money to pay for golf cause all those green fees can add up. I am kind of a tightwad and just don't like seeing the money in my bank account go down. I think what will probably happen is that I'll keep playing on some level until I get a job.

This weekend should be good for me as far as getting hands in. I'd like to get about 2k ftps before the weekend is over. I won $100 today in my session despite the tables not being super great. Everything seemed pretty standard, and it was a smooth session. I played the 6max KO tourny, and had a huge stack. I had almost 30k chips (avg was like 7), then I got it allin on the flop in a 3way pot with an overpair, one guy had top pair, the other had 2nd pair +flush draw, the flush draw got there and I lost the 28k chip pot. I still had like 12k in chips, but ran trips into a straight and that was it.

The recent FTP update sucks. I think they have worked some stuff out, but still have some work to do. I get more hands in, but the other little problems are such a hassle (like the window doesn't always pop up when its my turn, or in a showdown the opponents hand is distorted when it pops up). The 5yr anniversary promotions are kind of cool. I am going to enjoy the 5x happy hours this weekend. Hopefully I can take advantage of some of the other stuff too.

-Boooom

Sunday!

Got a good session in earlier. I wish I had time to play more today, cause I felt good about my game, and the tables were awesome. I played 1175 hands and won $150. I also won 80$ in a 26/90 where I took 7th. It's hard for me to say I ran poorly... but it was a super roller coaster. I had a big stack at times, one guy 3outed in in huge pots... twice. On the bubble the two times I made a shove against short stacks with 52o and 85o, I got called by A4 and AT, and they held. At the final table I ran AJ into AQ and lost, lost 88 v AK, then lastly I lost K9 v A5. Ran poor late even tho I had a big stack multiple times.

It was a good day, between today and last night I've made decetn progress on my midyear bonus. I still need to get 6k ftps more, but that should be very doable if I find some extended freetime the next two weekends.

-Boooom

Session

Finally got a cash game session in tonight. FTP just did an update, and I had heard that it was going to make them get more hands in. I was playing 12-14 tables and it definitely felt more hectic than normal. I got almost 1300 hands in... in only 85 minutes. So that is cool that they are getting more hands in, I may cut back and only play 12 tables at a time (lately I usually get up to 14). Action was nuts on my tables, super donkey night, but I ran into alot of suckouts. Finished up down $20 which isnt so bad. I plan on playing at least 2 hours tomorrow if I wake up on time and get some stuff done. I need to make some big progress on my bonus to make sure I get it in before the end of the month.

-Boooom

Recaps

May Recap

Tournaments: May was a tough month for tournaments until I won the WSOP seat for $2500. For the month I ended up +$1250 on tournaments.

Cash: All messed up because I am missing a bunch of hands from when HEM stopped working. I have record of about 9k hands where I won $575.

Rakeback: $350 in rakeback in May

Altogether it turned out to be a decent month, but I didn’t play that much because school was ending and I was graduating. So I tried to spend more time with people at school since I wasn’t going to see them for a long time. Total comes to almost $2200 profit on the month. Solid month considering my lack of playing.

June Recap

Tournaments: $850 profit on tournaments. I definitely played a lot less in June. When I did play I don’t think I played that great. I had some nice profit because I had a hot streak in 26/90s. However by then end of the month I realized that big MTTs I don’t show the patience to play them anymore. However I destroy 26/90s… the time it takes to play them is perfect (about 2 hours). I am mostly going to scrap big MTTs, and just play 26/90s while I grind cash games.

Cash: Total profit of about $500 on cash tables. I played about 22000 hands, mostly NL100 but some NL200 was mixed in on my personalized table (early on I ran like crap on my NL200 table, but by then end I pretty much broke even.

Rakeback: Just over $400 in rakeback

A solid month where I put in decent volume (22k hands). I am moving away from big MTTs, except for on occasion. Now more than ever I have to be in the right mood to play (well rested, fed, not be busy with other stuff). I think this is good, because a year ago I would play way too late into the night which is when all the tilt/playing too high would happen. My total profit for the month is about $1750.

The last two months have been solid despite my move away from poker. My life has been filled with summer school and other things that take up my time (mostly good things). I have always known I won’t play poker forever. But at this point I am pretty sure I’ll quit by the end of the year. This month the only thing keeping me going is unlocking my midyear bonus. After that I imagine I will reduce my play (maybe just try to barely keep my iron man status each month). As I get a job, and get engaged, I will work my way into a more “standard” way of life. I am really happy about the flexibility poker has given me as a part time job, and the ways I have progressed this calendar year (at the beginning of the year I was basically broke as far as a poker bankroll). My knowledge and ability to execute good bankroll management has been the biggest thing for me. My goal was initially just to make enough to buy an engagement ring (which I just picked up last week), and I have been able to consistently beat the game and make even more than that. I feel like the competitive side of me is satisfied that I was able beat the game. So barring some major change in my life, I think my days as a “semi-professional” poker player are numbered. Bring on the real world.

-Boooom

Grinding

Last two days I've played two sessions. Three 26/90s, none of them went well. Late last night I played 4 sup turbos, didn't cash in any of them. Literally lost every race or 60/40... no matter what side I was on.

Yesterdays cash session was 944 hands, and I won $75. Today's cash session was 1133 hands on NL100 where I won $1 (one dollar). Which was great because I was down as much as $140. Ran set into flopped str8, and overplayed my AQ when a guy slowplayed his set and really made me think he had a draw on A56 flop with 2 diamonds. Was happy to break even on those. Did well and won $125 on my 1/2 table where there was super donk action.

So far in three sessions this month I've gotten 1700 of the 9500 ftps I need to unlock my $475 bonus. I'll continue to work on that when I have time.

-Boooom

New Month

Didn't play at all the last week. Busy with school and life. This month I need to get my $475 bonus, so need to play alot of hands. Hopefully that will motivate me to get hands in. Just played a long session of cash while playing a 26/90. Cash I ran WAY above ev...

Was a long session so there were alot of pots, but I ran top set into a turned flush (allin on turn after alot of flop action), and I filled up. I also ran KK into AA for a full stack allin preflop and straightened out. So I made $220 on the 1800 hand session, despite an allin EV of -80. Good start to the month. I played mostly good, a few smaller pots that I didn't think I played great, but the tables were pretty good with some donation stations.
The 26/90 I played was a slow start, and was short stacked. Chopped AK v A6 which coulda given me a nice stack. But I got it rolling, abused the bubble, and got to the final table with a big stack. Things went so so early on, but the short stacks busted. I got into HU with a big stack. Playing against a guy who was super tight, but played super weird. I abused him with just over min raises every hand, and he kept folding. I had 180k to his 70k or so. Then he open shoves (which he never really did), I call KQ and lose to T3h when he flops a flush. So then I have to battle back, get the chip lead. I won a pot off him, then next hand he open shoves for 110k, I call A8, and he flushes out again with J7d. I almost came back again, but ran Q8 into QJ for the 2nd place finish. Just ran too crappy HU to put him away even though I was destroying him otherwise. Those were like $225 bad beats (cause first is $225 more), so I guess I can call it even from the run good in the cash games.

Gonna be doing some grinding to get my midyear bonus cleared. But other than that, I'm very unmotivated. I've been thinking about quitting poker, but the competitor in me makes me think I should at least keep getting iron man each month to keep that going. I'm also thinking about setting some goal for money I want to have in the bank before quitting. Cause right now my lack of goals is hurting me. I know I'm not going to play poker forever... I reached my goal of building up a roll, maintaining good bankroll management, and saving some money up in the bank. My mom told me the more I can save now the better... for when I want to buy a house. So maybe I should focus on something practical like that to keep me going.

At the same time I don't want poker to ever get in the way of the rest of my life. Once my summer school classes end in a month I will have a lot more time, but I'm not so sure I want to use that time on poker. I'm going to be trying to get a job/internship for the fall. But if I can't land an actuary job... the idea of getting some $15/hr job to get experience isn't that appealing me... when I could be making $35+/hr in poker. I'm going to focus on clearing this bonus in the next two weeks and in the meantime set some poker goals.

I should do some sort of midyear report, or month recap (especially since I didn't do one last month), but I'm not sure I'll get around to it. At least July is off to a good start.

-Boooom

Session

Just played a 750 hand session. Won 70 bucks on my 1/2 table. Lost 20$ on NL100. Had some bad fortune, on the bad end of a set over set for a full stack. Also ran AK into AA on an Axx flop for half a stack. Luckily a guy donated a full stack to me when I button raised KQd... Flop Axx all diamonds. He check raised the flop, I flat called, turn another diamond, he bet pot, I call, river he shoves and I call. He had JTo... no diamond. Bad time for the stone cold bluff. I should be playing more, cause the tables are so fishy right now, but my motivation is minimal. Definitely playing more this weekend, maybe tonight, but tomorrow at the very least.

-Boooom

Busy

I haven't been playing very much the last few days. A few short sessions where I have run okay. I think I've had three since my last post. Basically been about -100, +160, +100. My last session right now I made $120 on my 1/2 table, but was down $10 on NL100. Mostly because of a cooler where I 3bet with AK, board A73K, and we got it allin on the turn and he had 33. I almost got away from this, because this guy raised 11%, and very rarely folded to 3bets which means hes set mining alot. Lost $100 there, but the rest of the session went pretty good.

Been not very motivated lately. I feel like partly like I've acheived alot of goals by getting to this point as a poker player. Where I've executed good bankroll management, and beat the game over an extended period of time. I've been super busy with summer school, church, friends, girlfriend. So been squeezing in small sessions when I can. But motivation has been lacking, and I feel really okay about not playing much at all. I'll post more about my lack of desire to be playing later.

-Boooom

Downswing?

I had a really good week last week, mostly because of 26/90s. But just had my 2nd session for the day and lost $250 in an hour. I didn't lose more than 50$ in any pot, and was shocked when I saw how much I was stuck. This makes today a -$400 day which sucks. I seemed like a was folding a ton of rivers, cause 4card straights/flush, and every bad river card in the book was rolling off, and then people were shoving/betting pot. Hopefully it turns around tomorrow... and I might be playing some live game tomorrow night.

-Boooom

Lame

Haven't played the last few days. Been busy with school, church, girlfriend...

Just played a short session for today. Ran pretty poor, session seemed pretty dead. I lost the one important pot...


Full Tilt Poker Game #12872828586: Table Montpeliar - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:29:46 ET - 2009/06/17
Seat 1: Infiltr4t0R ($102.50)
Seat 2: capital-aquirer ($99)
Seat 3: deerbox ($18.50)
Seat 4: grindstugaosd ($144.20)
Seat 5: ocwalk ($10.45)
Seat 6: FRANK2104 ($21.50)
Seat 7: farmboy2u ($102)
Seat 8: B Shift FF ($90.65)
Seat 9: BoooomBaby7 ($104)
capital-aquirer posts the small blind of $0.50
deerbox posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BoooomBaby7 [2c 2h]
grindstugaosd folds
ocwalk folds
FRANK2104 folds
farmboy2u folds
B Shift FF calls $1
BoooomBaby7 calls $1
Infiltr4t0R folds
capital-aquirer has 15 seconds left to act
capital-aquirer calls $0.50
deerbox checks
*** FLOP *** [Tc 2d 3c]
capital-aquirer bets $2
deerbox folds
B Shift FF folds
BoooomBaby7 raises to $7
capital-aquirer calls $5
*** TURN *** [Tc 2d 3c] [Kd]
capital-aquirer bets $18
BoooomBaby7 has 15 seconds left to act
BoooomBaby7 raises to $96, and is all in
capital-aquirer calls $73, and is all in
BoooomBaby7 shows [2c 2h]
capital-aquirer shows [Kc Th]
Uncalled bet of $5 returned to BoooomBaby7
*** RIVER *** [Tc 2d 3c Kd] [Kh]
BoooomBaby7 shows a full house, Twos full of Kings
capital-aquirer shows a full house, Kings full of Tens
capital-aquirer wins the pot ($197) with a full house, Kings full of Tens
BoooomBaby7 adds $94
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $200 | Rake $3
Board: [Tc 2d 3c Kd Kh]
Seat 1: Infiltr4t0R (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: capital-aquirer (small blind) showed [Kc Th] and won ($197) with a full house, Kings full of Tens
Seat 3: deerbox (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: grindstugaosd didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: ocwalk didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: FRANK2104 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: farmboy2u didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: B Shift FF folded on the Flop
Seat 9: BoooomBaby7 showed [2c 2h] and lost with a full house, Twos full of Kings


Finished up -$170 after 600 hands. The tables were surprisingly donkey, but I wasn't hitting hands, and felt like I was getting raised on all my cbets. I'll try again tomorrow...

-Boooom

Weekends :)

Didn't play yesterday, but tonight I got back to it. Ran well on cash games today. Took some weekend bad beats, but that is kind of normal. Also lost AA to KK allin preflop. However, I got it in on a flop with a set against flush and made my boat. Altogether I think it evened out as far as allin EV. The donkeys were out in full force and donating. Over 2k hands I made $340 which is a very solid day. It's nice to run good, since last weekend wasn't that great. I've been on a nice little heater and I hope it continues.

Played two 26/90s and the 28k. The first 26/90 I took 5th which was a disapointment. I had a nice stack but raised A7, and a A9x flop vs 99 and I doubled him up. Then got KJ in v QJ and he flopped the joint. The other 26/90 I had two KOs but a guy open limped in the c/o with AA, I shoved in the BB with 77, and that was it for me. The 28k was going fine, until AT lost to AT on a Txx flop, he went runner runner flush.

Very solid day. Probably won't play much tomorrow but I hope the luckbox keeps working.

-Boooom

Sweet Sesh

Played cash session plus one 26/90. Took 2nd in the 26/90 even though I was up against a super donk and had big chip lead. I was super dead to start, then lost top 2 vs backdoor flush. But ran super good until then... hope I can keep that sickness going (last four ive taken 2nd 1st 18th 2nd).

Played cash, won about $120 on my 1/2 table, and won $170 in a sweet session of NL100. Just ran hot and had decent timing. Coulda been even bigger... had KK v JJ on a KJT flop where I put in a huge raise. It came running AQ and we chopped it. Oh well, I'll still take the very nice day. Might play more tonight... until then Go Lakers!

-Boooom

Weak

Just finished a quick cash session that was one of the worst I've had in a while. I've ran pretty good the last few months, so I can't complain too much. I've avoided these awful sessions where I run way way below EV. It was 700 hands, I lost $160, but shoulda be +$30. Also ran 80$ below EV in my session earlier.

I had some bad rivers. Allin on flop overpair, 2 outer (small pot). Allin on turn with top set, 8 outer. Earlier today had AK allin preflop for 40 BBs vs J8 and lost. Lost a few races against short stacks. The worst was that I flopped several sets in raised pots. And multiple times I didn't even get a continuation bet out of it. It was like they could see my cards.

Here is what would have been a sick hand...

Full Tilt Poker Game #12745859709: Table Low Bridge - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 2:48:02 ET - 2009/06/11
Seat 1: 024KOBE ($59.60)
Seat 2: sokol8 ($76.85)
Seat 3: AliskaX ($15.90)
Seat 4: fnifatboy ($102)
Seat 5: ptb109 ($77.50)
Seat 6: BoooomBaby7 ($123.40)
Seat 7: SlayerP16 ($40)
Seat 8: TunaMa ($35.95)
Seat 9: 2rol4life7 ($47)
BoooomBaby7 posts the small blind of $0.50
SlayerP16 has 5 seconds left to act
SlayerP16 has timed out
SlayerP16 is sitting out
TunaMa posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BoooomBaby7 [4h 4c]
2rol4life7 has 15 seconds left to act
2rol4life7 folds
2rol4life7 is sitting out
024KOBE raises to $3.50
sokol8 folds
AliskaX has 15 seconds left to act
2rol4life7 stands up
M A G N S O E adds $100
AliskaX calls $3.50
fnifatboy folds
ptb109 folds
BoooomBaby7 calls $3
TunaMa raises to $17.50
SlayerP16 has returned
024KOBE raises to $59.60, and is all in
AliskaX folds
BoooomBaby7 folds
TunaMa calls $18.45, and is all in
024KOBE shows [Qh Qc]
TunaMa shows [Tc Td]
Uncalled bet of $23.65 returned to 024KOBE
*** FLOP *** [Qd Th 4d]
*** TURN *** [Qd Th 4d] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [Qd Th 4d Jh] [Ad]
024KOBE shows three of a kind, Queens
TunaMa shows three of a kind, Tens
024KOBE wins the pot ($75.90) with three of a kind, Queens
TunaMa adds $30
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $78.90 | Rake $3
Board: [Qd Th 4d Jh Ad]
Seat 1: 024KOBE showed [Qh Qc] and won ($75.90) with three of a kind, Queens
Seat 2: sokol8 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: AliskaX folded before the Flop
Seat 4: fnifatboy didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: ptb109 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: BoooomBaby7 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: SlayerP16 is sitting out
Seat 8: TunaMa (big blind) showed [Tc Td] and lost with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 9: 2rol4life7 didn't bet (folded)

Luckily I was raised out preflop, but certainly I lose all my money on that flop. After this hand I quickly ended my session because it was clear it wasn't going to be a good night. When you are on the very bottom end of set over set over set on the flop... it's time to call it a night.

I'm glad I've pwned a few 26/90s the last two days, cause cash has sucked, hopefully it turns around.

-Boooom

Weeee

Didn't really play on Monday. But played yesterday and today. Had some crappy cash sessions, just not running that great (KK v AA for 125BBs). Down like $150 on NL100 and down just about $50 on my 1/2 table.

However played a couple of 26/90s and a few MTTs. Both MTTs went poorly yesterday, but the 26/90 I played I got 2nd. Ran very well until HU, when I couldn't hit a hand. Also the guy HU was a solid player and he played well.

Then just now I played another 26/90 and I took it down. Ran very well throughout and won the important pots. HU only went a few hands, and this guy wasn't very good. But the final hand is hilarious...

Full Tilt Poker Game #12738648040: $24 + $2 KO Sit & Go (94765718), Table 8 - 2500/5000 Ante 600 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:15:07 ET - 2009/06/10
Seat 4: Erganon (120,664)
Seat 7: BoooomBaby7 (149,336)
Erganon antes 600
BoooomBaby7 antes 600
BoooomBaby7 posts the small blind of 2,500
Erganon posts the big blind of 5,000
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BoooomBaby7 [Qh Kh]
BoooomBaby7 calls 2,500
Erganon checks
*** FLOP *** [Kd Ks Kc]
Erganon checks
BoooomBaby7 checks
*** TURN *** [Kd Ks Kc] [6h]
Erganon checks
BoooomBaby7 bets 5,000
Erganon calls 5,000
*** RIVER *** [Kd Ks Kc 6h] [Ad]
Erganon bets 15,000
BoooomBaby7 has 15 seconds left to act
BoooomBaby7 raises to 42,500
Erganon raises to 110,064, and is all in
BoooomBaby7 calls 67,564
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Erganon shows [Jc 4s] three of a kind, Kings
BoooomBaby7 shows [Qh Kh] four of a kind, Kings
BoooomBaby7 wins the pot (241,328) with four of a kind, Kings
Erganon stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 241,328 | Rake 0
Board: [Kd Ks Kc 6h Ad]
Seat 4: Erganon (big blind) showed [Jc 4s] and lost with three of a kind, Kings
Seat 7: BoooomBaby7 (small blind) showed [Qh Kh] and won (241,328) with four of a kind, Kings

I'm guessing he just didn't put me on an Ace since I had been raising alot preflop, and just didn't think I would call a shove. A nice way to end it and finally ship one of these. Might play some more later.


*****UPDATE*****

Playing two 1800 ftp satelites this happens on the second hand of one of them...
Full Tilt Poker Game #12739668466: Tier One 1,800 FTP Sit & Go (94786301), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:13:01 ET - 2009/06/10
Seat 1: noble madness (1,485)
Seat 2: Pocketjessas (1,470)
Seat 3: KingAceErik (1,470)
Seat 4: POKHER-I-DID (1,500)
Seat 5: cobrakai111 (1,575)
Seat 6: theowlking (1,500)
Seat 7: normalcy (1,500)
Seat 8: BoooomBaby7 (1,500)
Seat 9: fapien65 (1,500)
Pocketjessas posts the small blind of 15
KingAceErik posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BoooomBaby7 [Ac Ad]
POKHER-I-DID folds
cobrakai111 folds
theowlking folds
normalcy raises to 105
BoooomBaby7 raises to 360
fapien65 folds
noble madness folds
Pocketjessas folds
KingAceErik folds
normalcy raises to 1,500, and is all in
BoooomBaby7 calls 1,140, and is all in
normalcy shows [Kd Ks]
BoooomBaby7 shows [Ac Ad]
*** FLOP *** [Kc 7c Ah]
*** TURN *** [Kc 7c Ah] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [Kc 7c Ah Kh] [Jd]
normalcy shows four of a kind, Kings
BoooomBaby7 shows a full house, Aces full of Kings
normalcy wins the pot (3,045) with four of a kind, Kings
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,045 | Rake 0
Board: [Kc 7c Ah Kh Jd]
Seat 1: noble madness (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Pocketjessas (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: KingAceErik (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: POKHER-I-DID didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: cobrakai111 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: theowlking didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: normalcy showed [Kd Ks] and won (3,045) with four of a kind, Kings
Seat 8: BoooomBaby7 showed [Ac Ad] and lost with a full house, Aces full of Kings
Seat 9: fapien65 didn't bet (folded)

I guess I'll just run bad in these, and keep pwning 26/90s... sounds like a good deal to me.

-Boooom

Improvement

Last night things weren't going well at all on the NL100 grinding. So I cut the session off short because I think I just had too much poker for one day.

Today was better. I played a few 26/90s, while playing in six 1800ftps token satelites. All three 26/90s I ended up getting pwned in. Just ran bad deep in them which really sucked, but it happens. Those things are such high variance. In the satelites I won 3 of them, should have been 4 but lost two races and a 80/20 on one of them on the bubble.

Finally had some success on my 1/2 table. While playing those sngs I won $150 on the cash table. Then in two other sessions I won some more bringing me to +250 on the day on the 1/2 table. I'll be happy when I just get to even on my own table (down $350 so far).
My NL100 session tonight went well. Won $140 in a 950 hand session. Coolered a guy who raised with JTd, flopped a flush when I flopped a set. But I turned a boat and we got it allin.

I was looking at OPR, and noticed that my ROI in tournaments 46-180 players is 75%. I think Jimmy's is very close to that as well, so for some reason we excel in those size fields. Maybe I should be playing more of those, and save myself the heartache of big MTTs. I felt alot better about my game today, I think yesterday I played too much (afternoon, then at oceans, then another online session at night) and in my night session I felt like I played very poor. I need to not burn myself out in a given day and try to stay fresh. Hopefully can grind a decent amount of hands the next week before my more time consuming summer school class starts.

BTW... here is a hilarious hand from one of my tables... unfortunately the guy who won the hand left right after, and I never got into a hand with the other donk...

Full Tilt Poker Game #12686359260: Table Grand Hills - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:30:27 ET - 2009/06/08
Seat 1: BoooomBaby7 ($134.50)
Seat 2: David Schlager ($100)
Seat 3: murigonza ($20)
Seat 4: erasss87 ($100)
Seat 5: JLiQ ($140.75)
Seat 6: MRSTACKMYCHIP1 ($92.70)
Seat 7: UGotWreckedSon ($100)
Seat 8: Doktordonk ($100), is sitting out
Seat 9: Holly24 ($68)
David Schlager posts the small blind of $0.50
murigonza posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BoooomBaby7 [Th 5c]
JLiQ folds
MRSTACKMYCHIP1 calls $1
UGotWreckedSon raises to $4.50
Holly24 folds
Doktordonk stands up
mucho moleste adds $25
BoooomBaby7 has 15 seconds left to act
BoooomBaby7 folds
David Schlager folds
David Schlager adds $0.50
murigonza folds
murigonza adds $1
MRSTACKMYCHIP1 calls $3.50
*** FLOP *** [6h 4d 6d]
MRSTACKMYCHIP1 bets $10.50
UGotWreckedSon calls $10.50
*** TURN *** [6h 4d 6d] [2c]
MRSTACKMYCHIP1 bets $31.50
UGotWreckedSon raises to $85, and is all in
MRSTACKMYCHIP1 calls $46.20, and is all in
UGotWreckedSon shows [Tc 7s]
MRSTACKMYCHIP1 shows [Jd 9s]
Uncalled bet of $7.30 returned to UGotWreckedSon
*** RIVER *** [6h 4d 6d 2c] [8c]
UGotWreckedSon shows a pair of Sixes
MRSTACKMYCHIP1 shows a pair of Sixes
MRSTACKMYCHIP1 wins the pot ($183.90) with a pair of Sixes
UGotWreckedSon adds $92.70
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $186.90 | Rake $3
Board: [6h 4d 6d 2c 8c]
Seat 1: BoooomBaby7 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: David Schlager (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: murigonza (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: erasss87 is sitting out
Seat 5: JLiQ didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: MRSTACKMYCHIP1 showed [Jd 9s] and won ($183.90) with a pair of Sixes
Seat 7: UGotWreckedSon showed [Tc 7s] and lost with a pair of Sixes
Seat 8: Doktordonk is sitting out
Seat 9: Holly24 didn't bet (folded)

Unreal donk action... I can't make this crap up.

-Boooom

Oceans

Just pwned Oceans for $400 in the 2/3 NL game. Things started off well, and I was fortunate to make some good hands. I think I played well overall, but maybe a bit too passive in a few spots. I feel like this is common for me, and when I err it's usually on the passive side. This happens more in live than online, and next time I play live I want to be a bit more assertive in the way I play. Nonetheless I am happy that the last four times I've gone to oceans I've been a winner, and not had to pull alnighters to do it.

Probably going to grind a little bit tonight and turn the weekend around. It's gone okay in NL100, but just been getting owned on my new 1/2 table. Hopefully that will turn around so that my online roll doesn't get low. Also I think I'm due for a nice tournament cash. I'll report back later after I play.

-Boooom

Blah

My first session this morning went pretty well. But this afternoon sucked. On my 1/2 table I won $100 this morning, but ran KK into AA this afternoon. So I continue to run pretty bad there. On my NL100 tables I did well this morning, but just had terrible timing this afternoon. I experimented with running some squeezes with suited connectors. All three times I tried I got at least one callers, and continuation bets weren't working either. However, everytime I did the same with big pairs, no action. In hindsight I shouldn't have tried this out, at least not today because it's the weekend and people don't know how to fold. I do think this is a good thing to try a little bit during the week when the players are more solid and it would be good for mixing it up and being less predictable. Overall down $100 on the day I think on cash, and a few 26$ buyins for tournaments.

Might be done for the day online because I might go play live at oceans. I went last night and won $200 in about 4 hours in the late night 2/3 game. I might go play 8/16 because it is so donkey, and the decisions are very easy. If I don't then I'll definitely be online to play tonight.

-Boooom

Sad day, but going to play a ton tomorrow

Just had another session and the cash tables went better. +150 on NL100, and like +25 on my 1/2 table. Got f'ed in tournaments. The 35k I went out after about an hour and I honestly don't remember how. Played a 26/90 and things were going well. Ran pretty well late and had a top 3 stack. On the bubble I shoved the button with 66, the BB woke up with AQ and called, and hit. Then I was down to 13k (blinds 8/16 I think) and shove AJ the next hand... the BB had the same stack as me and called off with KJ and pwned me with a K on the flop. Donks win.
Played the 22rebuy. Had a super donkey table but didn't get many hands the first hour. Had to rebuy twice and added on, but got hot after the break. Built up a nice 17k stack, whiffed a couple of flops. Then raise 99, 1 caller, and the superdonk shoves 5k in, I overshove and he hits his A4o. Few hands later, I 3bet the c/o raiser from the SB (I had done this a few times before cause he opened so wide), he 4bet, I instashove 10k, he calls AQ. Flop Qxx all hearts, and he rivers the 4card flush.

I think I've played enough today down about $300. Hopefully the rest of the weekend goes better, I think I'll play alot of cash tomorrow. At least I should be getting some big rakeback for all the hands I'm putting in.

-Boooom

Table curse

So apparently my new table is cursed and I can't win on it. I grinded for a while today while playing a 26/90, and was down $50 on my NL100 tables. But managed to lose $450 on my new personalized 1/2 table. Mostly just running bad, I don't think I am playing much different. There were some big donkeys at the table today, and they happened to be hitting hands.

I was cruising along in my 26/90 then this hand happened... boy do I run good...

Full Tilt Poker Game #12638740676: $24 + $2 KO Sit & Go (94117027), Table 8 - 150/300 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:47:32 ET - 2009/06/05
Seat 1: BoooomBaby7 (5,010)
Seat 2: Ginger927 (9,425)
Seat 3: traderoli (6,660)
Seat 4: bigbluff_jani (22,595)
Seat 5: pquerque (3,605)
Seat 6: zoyberg777 (3,450)
Seat 8: saracino (7,905)
Seat 9: gucci_cha (9,810)
BoooomBaby7 antes 25
Ginger927 antes 25
traderoli antes 25
bigbluff_jani antes 25
pquerque antes 25
zoyberg777 antes 25
saracino antes 25
gucci_cha antes 25
saracino posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BoooomBaby7 [Kd Kc]
gucci_cha folds
BoooomBaby7 calls 300
Ginger927 folds
traderoli folds
bigbluff_jani raises to 900
pquerque calls 900
zoyberg777 folds
saracino folds
BoooomBaby7 raises to 4,985, and is all in
bigbluff_jani calls 4,085
pquerque calls 2,680, and is all in
BoooomBaby7 shows [Kd Kc]
bigbluff_jani shows [Tc Qc]
pquerque shows [Qd Kh]
*** FLOP *** [4s 9s Ad]
*** TURN *** [4s 9s Ad] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [4s 9s Ad Js] [Ts]
BoooomBaby7 shows a pair of Kings
bigbluff_jani shows a pair of Tens
BoooomBaby7 wins the side pot (2,810) with a pair of Kings
pquerque shows a straight, Ace high
pquerque wins the main pot (11,240) with a straight, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 14,050 Main pot 11,240. Side pot 2,810. | Rake 0
Board: [4s 9s Ad Js Ts]
Seat 1: BoooomBaby7 showed [Kd Kc] and won (2,810) with a pair of Kings
Seat 2: Ginger927 folded before the Flop
Seat 3: traderoli folded before the Flop
Seat 4: bigbluff_jani showed [Tc Qc] and lost with a pair of Tens
Seat 5: pquerque showed [Qd Kh] and won (11,240) with a straight, Ace high
Seat 6: zoyberg777 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: saracino (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: gucci_cha folded before the Flop

Luckily I recovered from that bad beat, and got it in really good for a big pot a little later...

Full Tilt Poker Game #12639068916: $24 + $2 KO Sit & Go (94117027), Table 8 - 250/500 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:07:08 ET - 2009/06/05
Seat 1: BoooomBaby7 (7,630)
Seat 2: Ginger927 (8,100)
Seat 3: traderoli (11,745)
Seat 4: bigbluff_jani (21,540)
Seat 6: connman20 (11,510)
Seat 7: gucci_cha (5,535)
Seat 8: saracino (4,755)
Seat 9: NOOITMEERAA (18,350)
BoooomBaby7 antes 50
Ginger927 antes 50
traderoli antes 50
bigbluff_jani antes 50
connman20 antes 50
gucci_cha antes 50
saracino antes 50
NOOITMEERAA antes 50
NOOITMEERAA posts the small blind of 250
BoooomBaby7 posts the big blind of 500
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BoooomBaby7 [Qs Qd]
Ginger927 folds
traderoli folds
bigbluff_jani folds
connman20 folds
gucci_cha folds
saracino raises to 1,500
NOOITMEERAA calls 1,250
BoooomBaby7 raises to 7,580, and is all in
saracino calls 3,205, and is all in
NOOITMEERAA calls 6,080
BoooomBaby7 shows [Qs Qd]
saracino shows [Ts Qh]
NOOITMEERAA shows [Jc As]
*** FLOP *** [8h 5h 5s]
*** TURN *** [8h 5h 5s] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [8h 5h 5s 2h] [Js]
BoooomBaby7 shows two pair, Queens and Fives
NOOITMEERAA shows two pair, Jacks and Fives
BoooomBaby7 wins the side pot (5,750) with two pair, Queens and Fives
saracino shows a pair of Fives
BoooomBaby7 wins the main pot (14,515) with two pair, Queens and Fives
saracino stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 20,265 Main pot 14,515. Side pot 5,750. | Rake 0
Board: [8h 5h 5s 2h Js]
Seat 1: BoooomBaby7 (big blind) showed [Qs Qd] and won (20,265) with two pair, Queens and Fives
Seat 2: Ginger927 folded before the Flop
Seat 3: traderoli folded before the Flop
Seat 4: bigbluff_jani folded before the Flop
Seat 6: connman20 folded before the Flop
Seat 7: gucci_cha folded before the Flop
Seat 8: saracino (button) showed [Ts Qh] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 9: NOOITMEERAA (small blind) showed [Jc As] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Fives


Ended up taking 4th place. Starting 4handed we all had similar stacks, but I went card dead. The other 3 guys were like psycho aggro, which made it tough for me. My raises would get called, and they would lead into me with a pot size bet, and I would have to fold. They also defended quite frequently so I couldn't steal with a very wide range. Ended up raising JT, guy called me, flop Q99, I shoved and he called with KQ, turn Q and it was over for me.

Fairly uneventful session on the NL100 tables. Sure wish I didn't get pwned at the 1/2 table. Biggest hand I flopped top pair and the nut flush draw. We ended up getting it allin 3ways on the flop, one guy flopped top two, the other guy had the weaker flush draw and a gutshot str8 draw. The guy with top two held. The rest of the pots I lost weren't as big. One hand a guy raised utg, 3 callers, I put in a big 3bet with AK, one guy calls (over half his stack was in preflop), flop T74, I put him in and he has the 44 of course. There was another $100 bucks. It'll be sweet when I hit a rush on that table... hopefully that'll happen soon. Cause I don't like losing $450 in one session.

-Boooom

Grinding and people reading my soul

Grinded about 2k hands today and also got HEM fixed! So I have my stats back, and it sure is nice. First session didn't go that well, but I got on a nice roll in the second session and altogether won about $170.

Also played the 35k while grinding and it was pretty uneventful. I was short stacked when we hit the second break, but I was able to come back. I raised AA utg, and check the 843 flop, the guy bets, I shove and he tanks before calling with AT. Was just about up to the average (10k), when I raised A9 on the button and the BB called. The flop was K87, check check. Turn 6, he bet about 1/2 pot into me. The bet was 1500, and he had 5k behind. I raised to 5250, and he tanked before shoving. Of course I called, he shows me K7o, and I brick the river. Sick read to shove with 3rd pair there. Especially because I had slowplayed flops before... even as the preflop raiser. Oh well... I felt like it was a good play, and ended up with more outs than I thought I had.

Gonna try to keep grinding as much as I can and hopefully put up a ton of hands this month.

-Boooom

Why we play...

I grind alot of hands on the cash tables. I try to avoid the regulars, but even among the unknowns, most of them have some idea what they are doing. However, the great days are when the players at your table have no idea what they are doing and are just giving their money away... that is why we play. Here are 3 hands from my session today, with players who clearly have about no chance of winning money on this site. I lost one of the hands to an utg limp/call with J5o, but I don't really mind too much.

Full Tilt Poker Game #12586825459: Table Freeman - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:30:55 ET - 2009/06/02
Seat 1: barfpuke ($135.75)
Seat 2: paulb123 ($128.50)
Seat 3: bennyb913 ($55.60)
Seat 4: The_Future925 ($84.90)
Seat 5: BoooomBaby7 ($99)
Seat 6: krops ($26.90)
Seat 7: kidder12 ($75)
Seat 8: cooper kyp ($51)
Seat 9: GMoney122 ($39)
krops posts the small blind of $0.50
kidder12 posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BoooomBaby7 [Ks Kc]
cooper kyp raises to $2
GMoney122 has 15 seconds left to act
GMoney122 folds
barfpuke calls $2
paulb123 folds
bennyb913 calls $2
The_Future925 calls $2
BoooomBaby7 has 15 seconds left to act
BoooomBaby7 raises to $12
krops has 15 seconds left to act
krops calls $11.50
kidder12 folds
cooper kyp calls $10
barfpuke folds
bennyb913 folds
kidder12: \\
The_Future925 folds
*** FLOP *** [5d 6c 5s]
krops has 15 seconds left to act
krops bets $10
cooper kyp raises to $20
BoooomBaby7 raises to $87, and is all in
krops calls $4.90, and is all in
cooper kyp has been disconnected
cooper kyp has 15 seconds left to act
cooper kyp calls $19, and is all in
BoooomBaby7 shows [Ks Kc]
krops shows [9d Qh]
cooper kyp shows [2d 2h]
cooper kyp has reconnected
Uncalled bet of $48 returned to BoooomBaby7
*** TURN *** [5d 6c 5s] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [5d 6c 5s Jh] [7h]
BoooomBaby7 shows two pair, Kings and Fives
cooper kyp shows two pair, Fives and Twos
BoooomBaby7 wins the side pot ($48.20) with two pair, Kings and Fives
krops shows a pair of Fives
BoooomBaby7 wins the main pot ($84.70) with two pair, Kings and Fives
krops is sitting out
cooper kyp is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $135.90 Main pot $87.70. Side pot $48.20. | Rake $3
Board: [5d 6c 5s Jh 7h]
Seat 1: barfpuke folded before the Flop
Seat 2: paulb123 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: bennyb913 folded before the Flop
Seat 4: The_Future925 folded before the Flop
Seat 5: BoooomBaby7 (button) showed [Ks Kc] and won ($132.90) with two pair, Kings and Fives
Seat 6: krops (small blind) showed [9d Qh] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 7: kidder12 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: cooper kyp showed [2d 2h] and lost with two pair, Fives and Twos
Seat 9: GMoney122 didn't bet (folded)

22... maybe you think ur good on that flop if I have AK... but the Q9 comical


Full Tilt Poker Game #12586988721: Table Angelou (edu) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:39:32 ET - 2009/06/02
Seat 1: Janiah ($22.70)
Seat 2: jam915 ($92.35)
Seat 3: stevedicey ($49.20)
Seat 4: BoooomBaby7 ($99)
Seat 5: nobleruler ($64.15)
Seat 6: luckeybass ($60.20)
Seat 7: adv_fmr ($20)
Seat 8: DavidJames ($39)
Seat 9: RookXPY ($21.85)
adv_fmr posts the small blind of $0.50
DavidJames posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BoooomBaby7 [Ah Ad]
RookXPY folds
Janiah calls $1
jam915 folds
nobleruler: nh
stevedicey calls $1
BoooomBaby7 raises to $4
nobleruler folds
luckeybass folds
adv_fmr folds
adv_fmr adds $0.50
DavidJames calls $3
Janiah calls $3
stevedicey calls $3
*** FLOP *** [5c Kc 5s]
DavidJames checks
Janiah checks
stevedicey checks
BoooomBaby7 bets $9
DavidJames raises to $21
Janiah calls $18.70, and is all in
stevedicey folds
stevedicey is sitting out
BoooomBaby7 raises to $33
DavidJames raises to $35, and is all in
BoooomBaby7 calls $2
DavidJames shows [Kh As]
Janiah shows [5h Jc]
BoooomBaby7 shows [Ah Ad]
*** TURN *** [5c Kc 5s] [3h]
*** RIVER *** [5c Kc 5s 3h] [6h]
DavidJames shows two pair, Kings and Fives
BoooomBaby7 shows two pair, Aces and Fives
BoooomBaby7 wins the side pot ($32.60) with two pair, Aces and Fives
Janiah shows three of a kind, Fives
Janiah wins the main pot ($69.60) with three of a kind, Fives
BoooomBaby7 adds $6.40
DavidJames is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $105.20 Main pot $72.60. Side pot $32.60. | Rake $3
Board: [5c Kc 5s 3h 6h]
Seat 1: Janiah showed [5h Jc] and won ($69.60) with three of a kind, Fives
Seat 2: jam915 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: stevedicey folded on the Flop
Seat 4: BoooomBaby7 showed [Ah Ad] and won ($32.60) with two pair, Aces and Fives
Seat 5: nobleruler didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: luckeybass (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: adv_fmr (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: DavidJames (big blind) showed [Kh As] and lost with two pair, Kings and Fives
Seat 9: RookXPY didn't bet (folded)

For the record the raise wasn't that big because the stacks at my table weren't that big. When that's the case I like the encourage the short stacks to gamble so they can hit top pair and give me their money. Or flop trips with J5o


Full Tilt Poker Game #12587129008: Table Angelou (edu) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:46:58 ET - 2009/06/02
Seat 1: Janiah ($49.75)
Seat 2: Montelena ($80)
Seat 3: stevedicey ($55.75), is sitting out
Seat 4: BoooomBaby7 ($99)
Seat 5: nobleruler ($63)
Seat 6: luckeybass ($53)
Seat 7: adv_fmr ($28.50)
Seat 8: manu31337 ($28.50)
Seat 9: RookXPY ($20.35)
stevedicey has returned
manu31337 posts the small blind of $0.50
RookXPY posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BoooomBaby7 [6d 6c]
Janiah raises to $2
BoooomBaby7 calls $2
nobleruler calls $2
luckeybass folds
adv_fmr folds
manu31337 folds
RookXPY calls $1
*** FLOP *** [5h Jc 6h]
RookXPY checks
Janiah bets $1
BoooomBaby7 calls $1
nobleruler calls $1
RookXPY has 15 seconds left to act
RookXPY raises to $8
Janiah calls $7
BoooomBaby7 raises to $15
nobleruler folds
RookXPY raises to $18.35, and is all in
Janiah calls $10.35
BoooomBaby7 calls $3.35
*** TURN *** [5h Jc 6h] [2d]
Janiah checks
BoooomBaby7 bets $14
Janiah has 15 seconds left to act
Janiah calls $14
*** RIVER *** [5h Jc 6h 2d] [7s]
Janiah checks
BoooomBaby7 bets $18
Janiah calls $15.40, and is all in
Uncalled bet of $2.60 returned to BoooomBaby7
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BoooomBaby7 shows [6d 6c] three of a kind, Sixes
Janiah mucks
BoooomBaby7 wins the side pot ($58.80) with three of a kind, Sixes
RookXPY mucks
BoooomBaby7 wins the main pot ($61.55) with three of a kind, Sixes
Janiah is sitting out
RookXPY adds $50
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $123.35 Main pot $64.55. Side pot $58.80. | Rake $3
Board: [5h Jc 6h 2d 7s]
Seat 1: Janiah mucked [Qs As] - Ace Queen high
Seat 2: Montelena is sitting out
Seat 3: stevedicey is sitting out
Seat 4: BoooomBaby7 showed [6d 6c] and won ($120.35) with three of a kind, Sixes
Seat 5: nobleruler folded on the Flop
Seat 6: luckeybass didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: adv_fmr (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: manu31337 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: RookXPY (big blind) mucked [Jd Kh] - a pair of Jacks

Just hilarious how he didn't figure out at some point that Ahigh might not be good. I guess his pot odds were good?

This session was kind of up and down and I ended up in many sticky positions with QQ (it seriously seemed like everyone was 3betting me when I had QQ). Not having my stats definitely hurt me cause I couldn't see peoples 3bet% and stuff like that. Oh well, I think I played them ok.

Only was up about $75 on the session even with the donations, but I'll take profit anyday on the cash tables.

Went to Oceans today after class and playing 8/16 for only an hour. I had a sweet rush and won 300$ in that short time and left. That's all for now... meeting with HEM guy tomorrow to fix my HEM... hopefully he can figure it out.

-Boooom

End of Month

Finished of the month tonight with a cash session. The tables were super donkey. Three hands were the highlights. I don't have the actual hand histories anymore but I'll tell you how the hands went down.

Hand 1:
1 limp, c/o raises to 4.50, button calls, I make it 20 from the SB with QQ, both players call. c/o has 80 left, and button only had 7 left. Flop Q52r, I check, c/o shoves, button calls, I call. c/o has 65o, and the button has 77.
Thank you superdonk, your $100 is appreciated.

Hand 2:
utg limp, I limp 99, c/o raises to 5$, we both call. Flop JhThTx, checks around. Turn 9h...
Honestly I had a bad feeling whent he flop came out and the raiser checked that he had a huge hand, like JJ. When the turn rolled off I wasn't actually that excited.
Check, check, and the c/o bets 10, I call. River 8h, putting the str8 flush out there. I lead out 10 and he makes it 35. I fold cause I don't really see him making it 35 with just the Ah. I thought he had Jacks full initially, but maybe he backed into the str8 flush. I should have lead on the turn to see how he played it and get a better feeling of what he had. Altogether, I am happy with my fold.

Hand 3:
I limp utg 44, 1 other limper, button makes it 4, both call. Flop KQ4, checks to the button who bets 8, I raise to 22, he calls. Turn T, I bet 32, he shoves 71 with KJ and river A... nice runner runner sir.

Things were going really well until that hand. The last bit of my session I just didn't seem to be winning any pots. I ended up breaking even on the session.

I ordered my own table on fulltilt with my ironman medals, so that should be pretty sweet. I am going to try to do a month recap. But since HEM was being lame the last few weeks I don't have good record on my cash game play, but I will do my best.

-Boooom

Tournaments

Played the 1.5million on stars today, got coolered then ran into AA, so didnt make it past hour 2. In the double deuce I was off to a great start... then this happened when the avg stack was 9k....

Full Tilt Poker Game #12545004802: The $200K Double Deuce (91719797), Table 761 - 140/280 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:29:59 ET - 2009/05/31
Seat 1: kudi66 (9,195)
Seat 2: BoooomBaby7 (15,653)
Seat 3: gigiyoffee (8,403)
Seat 4: mc0611tex (7,377)
Seat 5: Thorwaller (2,170)
Seat 6: EerWotBlud (3,463)
Seat 7: artbrancusi (102), is sitting out
Seat 8: mosjuve (3,342)
Seat 9: WHOS YA MAMA (15,900)
kudi66 antes 25
BoooomBaby7 antes 25
gigiyoffee antes 25
mc0611tex antes 25
Thorwaller antes 25
EerWotBlud antes 25
artbrancusi antes 25
mosjuve antes 25
WHOS YA MAMA antes 25
Thorwaller posts the small blind of 140
EerWotBlud posts the big blind of 280
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BoooomBaby7 [Ad As]
artbrancusi folds
mosjuve calls 280
WHOS YA MAMA calls 280
kudi66 calls 280
BoooomBaby7 has 15 seconds left to act
BoooomBaby7 raises to 1,299
gigiyoffee folds
mc0611tex folds
Thorwaller folds
EerWotBlud folds
mosjuve folds
WHOS YA MAMA calls 1,019
kudi66 has 15 seconds left to act
kudi66 folds
*** FLOP *** [7h Kc Tc]
WHOS YA MAMA checks
BoooomBaby7 bets 2,375
WHOS YA MAMA raises to 6,750
BoooomBaby7 has 15 seconds left to act
BoooomBaby7 raises to 14,329, and is all in
WHOS YA MAMA calls 7,579
BoooomBaby7 shows [Ad As]
WHOS YA MAMA shows [Ac Qc]
*** TURN *** [7h Kc Tc] [7s]
*** RIVER *** [7h Kc Tc 7s] [3c]
BoooomBaby7 shows two pair, Aces and Sevens
WHOS YA MAMA shows a flush, Ace high
WHOS YA MAMA wins the pot (32,461) with a flush, Ace high
BoooomBaby7 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 32,461 | Rake 0
Board: [7h Kc Tc 7s 3c]
Seat 1: kudi66 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: BoooomBaby7 showed [Ad As] and lost with two pair, Aces and Sevens
Seat 3: gigiyoffee folded before the Flop
Seat 4: mc0611tex (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Thorwaller (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: EerWotBlud (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: artbrancusi folded before the Flop
Seat 8: mosjuve folded before the Flop
Seat 9: WHOS YA MAMA showed [Ac Qc] and won (32,461) with a flush, Ace high

Sure woulda been nice to have a top 10 stack to pwn people the rest of the way. Also playing the 25k, and decided to play the 750k after I busted the stars tourny. In the 750k I'm off to a good start so we'll see if i can run good.

Going to play some cash games also so I'll be back to update later.

*****UPDATE*****

Had a nice stack for a bit in the 35k, then just ran poor for a bit then ran AQ into A6 and lost. Was doing well in the 750k, cruising along had a pretty loose image. Also 3bet with A7 one hand and a short stack shoves with TT so everyone saw that. So I'm sure I had the donkey image. One semi spewy guy just lost a pot, I raise with AJ one away from the cutoff, he shoves. It's half my stack to call, but I do he shows 88 and holds. I think I do pretty well against this players range considering the image I have. Then down to 7k and avg is like 12k so I'm not too bad. Get AK in the SB and no action. Then get QQ on button next hand, limp utg, another limp, I shove, AK utg calls and outruns me. Got about 750th place, 550 or so pays which sucks. So much for taking shots at big tournies today. Need to grind out some hands tonight and call it a month.

-Boooom

Grinding

Grinded about 2300 hands today. Not much success I finished up down about $100. Definitely donkey day out there but things just didn't go my way. Lost on some sick rivers, and just wasn't making many hands. Maybe I was cbetting a little too much, but I felt like a played ok. I may have made a few bad calls at the end of my first session, but they were in smallpots, and I took a break shortly after.

I'll hit the table again tomorrow and might take a shot at a big tournament (750k?) since tomorrow is when the WSOP event I won a seat for starts. I didn't really want to travel up to vegas and spend 1k on the tourny, so I just took the cash. So maybe I'll conpromise and take a shot at something tomorrow.

A holdem manager support guy is supposed to help me fix my HEM this week, I just need to download teamviewer first. It will be nice to have my HUD back once this all gets fixed.

-Boooom

Progress

Yesterday was a pretty good day. Had a donkey donate 77$ to me in the morning in about 10 minutes on a HU game. I also got a small amount of rakeback. Then had a cash session where I turned over a small profit. Then before going to my friends house for a home game I played a HU sng, and a 45man super turbo. I lost the HU, but took 2nd in the sng for about $150. Profit of about $250 for the day, plus the $40 rakeback made it a nice day.

Need to grind out some ftps the next two days to advance my iron man status and make sure I can buy my own table with ironman medals next month. Table should be extra donkey today so I expect some nice results.

-Boooom

Pretty good night...

Played alot today. Grinded for about 3 hours total. Had some success, and also played a 26/90 and the 35k tonight. Had a hue stack going into final table of the 26/90 but had a run of crap setups and took 5th. Also had a great start in the 35k, had a big stack the first few hours. Then with about 450 people left my internet went out. I had 15k chips, and the avg was 8k. It took about 45 minutes before I got back in... I had 10k chips, and the avg was up 21k. I got into the money then worked the short stack for a while. Then had JT in the BB, a guy limped with QJ, and a Jhigh flop did me in. Took 44th which was a disapointment but what can you do when you have to short stack it because ur internet connection f's you?

Overall ended up about +300 on the day and got myself back over the 4k mark. Still working on getting up to 6k so I can take shots at 1/2. I signed on and started to play a late night session, but quickly realized the tables weren't that good. Here is a sick hand against a guy who 16 tables and I know is solid...

Full Tilt Poker Game #12495588383: Table Village Center - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:42:24 ET - 2009/05/29
Seat 1: ChemTrade ($154.40)
Seat 2: Rob The Slob ($101.50)
Seat 3: xxanZacxx ($31.50)
Seat 4: Mauzinho ($100)
Seat 5: Glass Prison ($128.80)
Seat 6: BoooomBaby7 ($99)
Seat 7: surfski1x ($49.40)
Seat 8: MoeGreen85 ($157.35)
Seat 9: JROCKONE ($22.50)
MoeGreen85 posts the small blind of $0.50
JROCKONE posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BoooomBaby7 [2s 2d]
ChemTrade folds
Rob The Slob raises to $3.50
xxanZacxx folds
Mauzinho folds
Glass Prison folds
BoooomBaby7 calls $3.50
MoeGreen85 folds
JROCKONE has 15 seconds left to act
JROCKONE folds
*** FLOP *** [Qd 2h 4s]
Rob The Slob bets $6
BoooomBaby7 calls $6
*** TURN *** [Qd 2h 4s] [6d]
xxanZacxx has been disconnected
xxanZacxx has reconnected
Rob The Slob bets $13
BoooomBaby7 has 15 seconds left to act
BoooomBaby7 calls $13
*** RIVER *** [Qd 2h 4s 6d] [Ah]
Rob The Slob has 15 seconds left to act
Rob The Slob bets $46.50
BoooomBaby7 has 15 seconds left to act
BoooomBaby7: wow, AA got there huh?
BoooomBaby7 has requested TIME
xxanZacxx has been disconnected
xxanZacxx has reconnected
BoooomBaby7 folds
BoooomBaby7 adds $22.50
Uncalled bet of $46.50 returned to Rob The Slob
Rob The Slob mucks
Rob The Slob wins the pot ($44.20)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $46.50 | Rake $2.30
Board: [Qd 2h 4s 6d Ah]
Seat 1: ChemTrade didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Rob The Slob collected ($44.20), mucked
Seat 3: xxanZacxx didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Mauzinho didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Glass Prison didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: BoooomBaby7 folded on the River
Seat 7: surfski1x (button) is sitting out
Seat 8: MoeGreen85 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: JROCKONE (big blind) folded before the Flop

I almost moved on the turn but I figured I'd wait until the river since I know he's not double barreling without a strong hand and I have position. I figure him for AA, KK, QQ, or small chance its 44/66 and AQ also makes sense with his bet sizing. I didn't like the river at all, and when he bets pot I am almost certain he has a set with a very small chance he has AQ. This is very common for regulars to put a huge bet on the river when they have a huge hand and want to get paid. It was the last river I wanted to see because I don't get value from KK anymore, and my only prayer would be that he's on AQ when he fires the big bet. I folded and feel pretty good about it.

I quit this session after a short amount of time because the tables were filled with regulars and figure I played enough today and will pick it up tomorrow when the tables are softer.

-Boooom

Cash games

Starting to get back into grinding the cash tables. Played some solid sessions the last few days. I have had minimal success, but I feel like I'm playing well. I kinda fell apart at the end of my last session. Very last hand I get AA utg, and I over raise it to 10$. Guy who has 60$ calls and flops a set with JJ, so that kinda sucked. At one point in the session I think I was up almost 150, but ended up down about 50. It happens... oh well. I'm going to hit the tables again tonight since the tables generally are a little bit softer in the evening.

HEM is still being lame, in my last two sessions it uploaded about 1/4 of the hands I played, but the HUD still didnt work. I e-mail them since nobody on the forum has replied to my post. Apparently they forwarded it to a guy who is going to help me, so hopefully I'll have my stats back soon.

Over the last few days I'm up about $100 so it's better than being down. I got pwned playing live last weekend. But I went with a friend the other night and ended up playing 8/16. I went 2.5 hours in a superdonk game and didn't win a pot. I was down over 400$, and only had 50$ in front me of, but proceeded to get AA in the BB and then won 5 hands in a row. I had a nice little run after that including a hue kill pot I won with Ts8s. I finished out +400 which was nice recovery from my last session there.

That's all for now, I'll try to update more frequently as I get back into grinding cash games more. Go Lakers!

-Boooom

Refocus + Live game

Haven't been posting for a while. Haven't been playing much the last week. Got home after graduating and needed to clean all the crap I brought home. I ended up going through everything in my entire room. It's amazing how much stuff I have accumulated. Threw out a bunch of stuff, put stuff in storage. Took 3 days. Anyways my room looks way better, and everything is organized which will make moving out way easier (whenever that happens).

At home my internet connection sucks too much to grind cash games. One night I dabbled in some tournaments and got pwned, can't say I played very well. Also one night I played some HU 1/2. Ended up getting pwned for $400. Lost the first buyin on flush vs boat. This guy wasnt that good, I battled back to have 320 in my stack because he was fairly easy to read. We had a good action game going but ended up running TPTK into a big draw in a 3bet pot and lost.

My bankroll online is at only $3700 right now, which is very far from the 6k I want before I take weekend shots at 1/2. Good news is I just got my own internet line in my room yesterday. So now I should have a reliable connection for grinding cash games. I'm gonna hit it hard and work on my game a bit. Hopefully I can get about 3-4 hours a day in for the rest of the month.

Last night I went to Oceans and played, the 2/3 was kinda dead. Then I moved to the 5/5, which looked like some solid players with big stacks. However, I quickly realized it was a big action game and the players were pretty easy to read. I was down a bit, then got things rolling. I was about even (700), when I picked up KK on the button, guy raises to 35, one call, i raise 135, 1 caller. Flop 8xx, I start to count out chips and the guy mucks.

Next hand get AA, guy in 2nd position raises to 15 (this is guy I have played with before, he is pretty good but very over aggro and likes to play a ton of hands. I make it 75, and he calls. At this point I am led to beleive he has a hand of some sort. Flop QTx, he checks I check... I didn't like the flop I could see him having QQ or TT, I check because I know how aggro he is and I have seen him make slim value bets and slim calls when people under represent their hands. So it is a pot control move, and a deception move. Turn brick, he bets out 105, I call. At this point I could see him doing this with AQ or worse, and my flat call could represent something like JJ or even AK just being stubborn. I am pretty much set on calling the river, or value betting if he checks. But at thing point I would expect him to also think his AQ or JJ is good. River brick, he bets 240, I call and he shows TT. I think I played this decently vs. this player. Crappy flop, but oh well.

I went up and down from there, but finally got a double up right before leaving. 10 straddle and blind 20, I make it 65 with 99, 2 callers, flop J9x, we all check (I know straddle was set mining by her preflop action, and that blinds 20 will bet at alot of turns. Turn 8, guy bets out 130, I shove 450, he calls and says "you play your kings well", river K and he mucks when I show. He may have had something like a naked jack, or a draw. Ended up leaving up 300 so not bad considering the AA hand. Was crazy game... there were several 2k+ pots. I'd like to go play it again, but I don't want to play the 5/5 game too much cause I'm not really rolled for it and there is definitely a ton of variance.

That's all for now, time to grind and hope this new internet line is legit.

-Boooom

Payback?

Played a 26/90 while I grinded some cash games for about an hour. Was pretty card dead but managed to get up to over 5k chips at this point. Two limpers and I felt like I had the best hand so I made my move....

Full Tilt Poker Game #12171684591: $24 + $2 KO Sit & Go (91010249), Table 8 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 2:48:28 ET - 2009/05/12
Seat 1: BoooomBaby7 (5,240)
Seat 2: PKTJKS (5,060)
Seat 3: paris_hilton 81 (2,240)
Seat 4: bigjoepo420 (3,795)
Seat 5: pokermazzz (5,600)
Seat 6: summit800x (5,505)
Seat 7: gmandv888 (2,510)
Seat 8: Jez509 (5,060)
Seat 9: Shak_AttacK1 (9,365)
BoooomBaby7 antes 25
PKTJKS antes 25
paris_hilton 81 antes 25
bigjoepo420 antes 25
pokermazzz antes 25
summit800x antes 25
gmandv888 antes 25
Jez509 antes 25
Shak_AttacK1 antes 25
BoooomBaby7 posts the small blind of 120
PKTJKS posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BoooomBaby7 [Ah 9s]
paris_hilton 81 folds
bigjoepo420 folds
pokermazzz calls 240
summit800x folds
gmandv888 folds
Jez509 calls 240
Shak_AttacK1 folds
BoooomBaby7 raises to 5,215, and is all in
PKTJKS calls 4,795, and is all in


At this point I know I must be drawing to 3 outs...

pokermazzz folds
Jez509 folds
BoooomBaby7 shows [Ah 9s]
PKTJKS shows [7c 4d]

... at this point I almost throwup because I can't beleive what I'm seeing...


Uncalled bet of 180 returned to BoooomBaby7
*** FLOP *** [Qd 7d 7s]
*** TURN *** [Qd 7d 7s] [3h]
*** RIVER *** [Qd 7d 7s 3h] [7h]
BoooomBaby7 shows three of a kind, Sevens
PKTJKS shows four of a kind, Sevens
PKTJKS wins the pot (10,775) with four of a kind, Sevens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 10,775 | Rake 0
Board: [Qd 7d 7s 3h 7h]
Seat 1: BoooomBaby7 (small blind) showed [Ah 9s] and lost with three of a kind, Sevens
Seat 2: PKTJKS (big blind) showed [7c 4d] and won (10,775) with four of a kind, Sevens
Seat 3: paris_hilton 81 folded before the Flop
Seat 4: bigjoepo420 folded before the Flop
Seat 5: pokermazzz folded before the Flop
Seat 6: summit800x folded before the Flop
Seat 7: gmandv888 folded before the Flop
Seat 8: Jez509 folded before the Flop
Seat 9: Shak_AttacK1 (button) folded before the Flop


Well that was interesting, quads by the old 74o allin preflop. Well after my hideous suckout with K8o yesterday that ultimately won me a $2500 wsop seat, I guess we'll just call it even?

Cash session wen't pretty well, got a couple donations that got me a nice win for the short session.

Pwned in the miniFTOPS event earlier, card rack but kept getting coolered.

-Boooom

WSOP seat... SHIP

So last night I decided to give up tournies for a while cause I haven't been playing my best. Although I am still going to play in whatever FTOPS events I can. Got back to my house today in time to play the miniFTOPS where I got pwned by a donkey when I had twice the avg stack. Didn't last very long in the double deuce. However I played the 33$ satelite for $2500 WSOP seats. It turned out to be a great value, 200k guaranteed in the prize pool, and only 3878 people signed up, making it about a $55 value. I got off to a good start and was cruising. Then I ran 88 into AA on a resteal attempt gone wrong. Taking me down to a short stack. This hand happened a bit later against a loose preflop raiser when I was in survival mode.


Full Tilt Poker Game #12148857428: $200K Stimulus Qualifier (83120707), Table 28 - 1700/3400 Ante 400 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:28:29 ET - 2009/05/10
Seat 1: BoooomBaby7 (36,936)
Seat 2: berkey11 (78,488)
Seat 3: Nooooanskin18 (58,476)
Seat 4: luecki800 (54,480)
Seat 5: ANOCR (130,149)
Seat 6: ChipnaChrrrr (122,818)
Seat 7: Geesa (238,180)
Seat 8: GBecks (111,928)
Seat 9: Steve Aces High (59,682)
BoooomBaby7 antes 400
berkey11 antes 400
Nooooanskin18 antes 400
luecki800 antes 400
ANOCR antes 400
ChipnaChrrrr antes 400
Geesa antes 400
GBecks antes 400
Steve Aces High antes 400
Nooooanskin18 posts the small blind of 1,700
luecki800 posts the big blind of 3,400
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BoooomBaby7 [Kd 8c]
ANOCR folds
ChipnaChrrrr folds
Geesa folds
GBecks raises to 8,999
Steve Aces High folds
BoooomBaby7 raises to 36,536, and is all in
berkey11 folds
Nooooanskin18 raises to 58,076, and is all in
luecki800 folds
GBecks has 15 seconds left to act
GBecks has requested TIME
GBecks calls 49,077
Nooooanskin18 shows [Qh Qd]
GBecks shows [Kh Ad]
BoooomBaby7 shows [Kd 8c]
*** FLOP *** [Jh 4c 6c]
*** TURN *** [Jh 4c 6c] [5c]
*** RIVER *** [Jh 4c 6c 5c] [7c]
Nooooanskin18 shows a pair of Queens
GBecks shows Ace King high
Nooooanskin18 wins the side pot (43,080) with a pair of Queens
BoooomBaby7 shows a straight flush, Eight high
BoooomBaby7 wins the main pot (116,608) with a straight flush, Eight high
BoooomBaby7: wow
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 159,688 Main pot 116,608. Side pot 43,080. | Rake 0
Board: [Jh 4c 6c 5c 7c]
Seat 1: BoooomBaby7 showed [Kd 8c] and won (116,608) with a straight flush, Eight high
Seat 2: berkey11 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: Nooooanskin18 (small blind) showed [Qh Qd] and won (43,080) with a pair of Queens
Seat 4: luecki800 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: ANOCR folded before the Flop
Seat 6: ChipnaChrrrr folded before the Flop
Seat 7: Geesa folded before the Flop
Seat 8: GBecks showed [Kh Ad] and lost with Ace King high
Seat 9: Steve Aces High folded before the Flop


Such a sick suckout. This have me a little more than avg stack with about 180 people left. I was able to ride this stack to the $2500 seat. It's all about timing, and this suckout got my $2500. Not sure if I'll play the event, probably not but I have some time to think about it.

However, I am still going to take a break from tournaments. Gonna try to grind my bankroll up to 6k (at about 4k right now), so I can play 1/2 on the weekends since it's so fishy. My exception is that I'll play FTOPS stuff when I can and tournaments on Sundays since it's the donk day.

I'll update more later on how my cash sessions went this last week with my not looking at HEM challenge thing.

-Boooom

Run better please

Ugh, I've been playing very well in these rebuy tournaments. 120 left in the 11rebuy, avg stack is 22k and I have 32k. Guy raises in middle position, I call in the cutoff with ATs. Flop QTx, he bets, I call, turn A. He bets, I shove, he calls AQ, f me. Nice 65k pot. Cash has been going ok, I don't know how I'm doing on the week, but I've played pretty well and the tables have been very fishy.

Kind of tired of tournaments right now. I know I haven't been playing my best in every tournament, but overall I have played well and keep getting pwned/coolered. I want to play in some FTOPS events when my schedule allows me to, but otherwise I think I want to put in a huge volume of cash game hands the rest of the month. I have finals next week, and then I'll be home, and hopefully I can get alot in and run up my bankroll (as long as I can get my connection problem at home fixed). We'll see how it goes... still looking for the big cash.

-Boooom

Crap day

Almost made a deep run in 34k, then psychodonkey (and i mean psycho, guy was reshoving 23o vs opening raises) wakes up with KK when I have JJ for huge pot. 22rebuy I did go deep, but just didn't run that great deep, got 32nd. Had chip lead in 33turbo going into the money, but lost 3 races in a row, and that does it. AA no good a couple times in the other donkey 26$ tournies.

The thing that made it a crap day was getting pwned on cash tables. Didn't seem like there was much for me to win with the setups that were out there for me today. It was one of those "minimize losses" sessions because you always have the 2nd best hand. It happens, oh well. Lost $250 on a short session. Then lost another $200 on a 1/2 5handed table and called it a day. Did HW the rest of the day because I need to get on top of that stuff. Last week of classes, then finals the following week.

Gonna try to grind in all of my spare time this week. Gonna try a new challenge where I don't look at HEM at all after/during sessions. Gonna go the whole week and just try to play as well as I can and examine my game without being too results oriented. Then at the end of the week we will see where I am, and if I pick up on any leaks in my game. I'm gonna try to do this until next Sunday, and hopefully get in over about 12k hands. So my posts will be more about reflecting on how I played, rather than on the results.

-Boooom

Barona

Had a crappy live session yesterday. It was like -$250 in an hour. People hitting flushes on the river. Wrong end of the set over set, etc.

Watched my friend's band play last night (www.familywagonmusic.com check them out). Then went to barona with one of my roomates. The 1/3 game was super donkey and I was just cruising. Game seemed so easy, people very predictable. Was up about 250, then lost a few small pots. Then made a bad call against this aggro asian guy. Guy put in a raise on the turn when the flush hit, it also made me two pair. I called, then called his river bet and he showed me T4h for the flush. Felt pretty crappy about that, left a little bit later and was only up $60. Would have stayed longer, but my friend had a bad run at 1/2 and was ready to go. Anyways, got my live game itch out of the way, maybe now I'll be more motivated to grind online.

Going to play several tournaments today. It's donkey sunday so hopefully I can make a few runs. Be back later for a report.

-Boooom

April Recap!

April turned out to be a pretty solid month. I ran very well at NL100 (making up for last month). Here is the graph. One of the huge spikes later in the month was when I played a guy heads up and he shipped like $300 to me in 3 hands.



$1432 in profit over about 25k hands. I ran about $650 over expectation this month which I definitely won't complain about. Here is my year to date graph... and you can see that now for the year my EV line, and my profit line are almost at the same spot.



The problem this month was that I was really lazy when it came to putting in cash sessions. I would rather just play a tournament or 90man sng while watching TV, than to sit down and actually grind 12 tables. I really should be putting in 35k+ hands fairly easily. This month I am going to try to do better. Also, while I was really bored I would check out really soft short handed 1/2 tables. I played a guy HU, and played some 5handed tables. Altogether I played 70 hands on 1/2 tables and won $619 which is a super heater. I was winning every race and ran way above EV. So on the month my total profit for cash games was just about $2050.

This month tournaments sucked for the most part. In the middle of the month I started playing too many tournaments and definitely didn't play my best. I started getting my groove back towards the end of the month and made some decent runs. Still gotta clean up some mistakes in the late game, but I am going into May with renewed confidence in my tournament game. At one point I was down over 1k in tournaments on the month, not even the 26/90s could bail me out. I played 46 26/90s in April, and only cashed in 4 of them which is running way under EV imo. I shipped the 26$ pot limit turbo event just in time to save the month. I pulled off a profit of $173 for the month. Still looking for a big cash, hopefully I'll play better more consistently in May to give myself more shots.


All together it turned out to be a solid month profit-wise. $2050 on cash games. $173 on tournaments. Plus $367 rakeback. Total profit for the month was $2590. Much better than last month and I feel like I'm still evolving as a player.

I need to play more hands in May. FTOPS and miniFTOPS is happening soon, so I am going to try to play in a few events when I can. I graduate in two weeks, so I am going to be busy with school/ senior activities/ just trying to spend time with friends before we graduate. When it comes to tournaments I just need to not overload myself this month to the point where I don't put enough effort into them. Be nice to hit a big cash, but I can't complain about the consistent cash I get from NL100 when I'm running decent.

If the first day of May was any indicator... I won $170 in my first cash session. Then played in 4 tournaments, and three 26/90s. Took 9th and 1st in two of the 26/90s which was a nice way to start the month. Got donked in two of the tournaments. Min cashed the 50k, and went out near the bubble in the 28k. A solid start to the month.

-Boooom