I have been doing pretty well lately. Which is good considering I am going to Vegas on Friday. Last week I was down on NL and going to play Limit, and now this week I am reversed.
Friday I went up to the Peppermill to play in a 20/40 game that took two weeks to schedule. It was suppose to start at 6pm so I could get up there after work. I left early and got there at 5:15pm to find the game going strong and I was 9th on the list. So the game went from waiting for me because they thought it would be short, to a list that kept getting longer.
So I jump into a 10/20 game to wait and can't get a hand or have a hand hold up on the river. Mean while I am looking at the 20/40 game and see Soloman just killing it. He is up $6,000.00. I jokingly asked him for a piece of his action when I couldn't get into the game and he said he would think about it. That was when he was up $500.00 I remind him at $6,000.00 and he says he is still thinking about it. O well.
Back at my game I am leaking chips. We get short handed and I win a few hands to be up 100. Then I drop like a rock in two hands. I go back to leaking chips and then loose to 9 2 off suit on the river to loose it all. I take the walk of shame to the atm but at the last moment only take out $200. I actually think about bankroll mgmt, now that I don't have one, and want to try the same style I use on-line. TAG instead of LAG
I know this sounds like crap but I loosen up live when there are 8 people to the flop. Obviously to much and then some donk raises. Granted the pot odds are huge but if you aren't catching cards then you have some big swings. So I decided to forego pot odds and just play TAG no matter what. So far this is working quite well in NL. I almost made up my losses for Fri. on Sat. and then went over the top Sun. night. So now my BR is back and bigger then before just in time for Vegas baby.
I was thinking about this when on Fri. night the guy next to me told me a tid bit that struck home. "You have to play the same way no matter the stakes or what is going on." I may have gotten the wrong idea about this guy. At first I thought he was an over the top, I am god's gift to poker type, but then he comes out with this.
To seal the deal, in the Sat. night game there was an unknown high stakes pro that sat down in the 2/3 5 to go NL game. (He grew up around here and came back for some family business.) I
watched him play tighter then anyone else at the table. He also watched each hand closer then anyone else at the table. I know 8 of the 10 so I didn't have to watch everything. He was playing as if it was his normal game, which I am sure has alot more money on the line. I figured $300 would be nothing to him and he would LAG it up, but no. He played the same way as he always would. So I stuck to this play Sun. and came out smelling like a rose.
On-line I am up to another $100 already. I have been doing well in the .25/.5 NL games. I had another $100 day and love the results. I laugh at myself thinking about how long (3+ yrs) it has taken me to figure out what some of these kids get from day 3. Better late then never I guess.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Hodge Podge
Good and bad since my last post. I took some time off to clear my head and get some stuff taken care of. Work and taxes. I do a few friends tax returns for some extra money and still feel the stress from the CPA firm days.
Live, I am down, up, even. I am still learning the nuances of NL and it is causing big swings. I was down at Tahoe NL, up at Peppermill Limit, and then down at the NL tables to break even. I played Wed. night tired but wanting a stress relief from work and tax day and lost 400 at 1/2 NL. Bad luck but also bad play. I caught a 2 outer on the turn to loose to a 1 outer on the river. AK ran into AA and AQ into AK. Bad luck, but I think I could have lost less with almost all of the hands. But as I got tired I started to push to get even. Never works.
On-line has been about the same until today. I won 40+ dollars at .25/.5 NL and then 11 at .25/.5 lhe to break the $200 mark. Looking back at my post that is $100 in just under a month. I am quitting my day job tomorrow, NOT. I did double my bankroll with this feat. It may not sound like alot now but if I keep this pace up it will be more impressive each month.
I booked a flight to Vegas for may 2. A friend plays down at the Rio and gets free rooms, so I am taking him up on the extra bed. He plays 10/20 NL but I think I will be at the limit game while he does that. It is clear that I am stronger at limit, so I will be limiting my NL play and to low stakes until I build up a BR and experience. I will have to hit some of the local low limit games in the area next week to build up my BR faster for the trip.
Live, I am down, up, even. I am still learning the nuances of NL and it is causing big swings. I was down at Tahoe NL, up at Peppermill Limit, and then down at the NL tables to break even. I played Wed. night tired but wanting a stress relief from work and tax day and lost 400 at 1/2 NL. Bad luck but also bad play. I caught a 2 outer on the turn to loose to a 1 outer on the river. AK ran into AA and AQ into AK. Bad luck, but I think I could have lost less with almost all of the hands. But as I got tired I started to push to get even. Never works.
On-line has been about the same until today. I won 40+ dollars at .25/.5 NL and then 11 at .25/.5 lhe to break the $200 mark. Looking back at my post that is $100 in just under a month. I am quitting my day job tomorrow, NOT. I did double my bankroll with this feat. It may not sound like alot now but if I keep this pace up it will be more impressive each month.
I booked a flight to Vegas for may 2. A friend plays down at the Rio and gets free rooms, so I am taking him up on the extra bed. He plays 10/20 NL but I think I will be at the limit game while he does that. It is clear that I am stronger at limit, so I will be limiting my NL play and to low stakes until I build up a BR and experience. I will have to hit some of the local low limit games in the area next week to build up my BR faster for the trip.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Another NL Weekend
I was up at Lake Tahoe most of the weekend with some friends. He plays slots and BJ so I headed over to Harvey's.
Friday night I didn't play until after a great dinner at Harrahs Chinese restaurant. It is pricey but my friend gets it all comped. They do all the fancy presentations at the table and the decor is very nice. I'm not the best writer, so if you want a detailed review go to their web site.
I have been watching the coaching videos at stox poker to get a better foundation for my NL game. The videos by Ed Miller, Poker Made Simple, is giving me a great foundation. I have been applying the concepts he lays out and they work like a charm. They are by far the smartest thing I have done to improve my game. In fact, I am watching them over and over until I have all the concepts down.
After watching the videos once, I felt better prepared to play in Tahoe. Friday night I sat down and in 1 hour I was up 300. Then I ran into AA with my KK. The hand went down like this.
The previous hand the SB had AA and doubled up to 300. This left the UTG+1 player short stacked with say 125. Now, in the very next hand the UTG+1 player is now first to act and the SB is the button. So the UTG player opens for 20. In MP1 I raise to 40 with KK. The button cold calls the 40. UTG pushes for 105 more. I would rather have this heads up so I go all in for 500 to push out the button but he calls right away. We all show our cards (friendly game) and it is QQ, KK, and AA. The button guy got dealt AA twice in a row. This idea flashed in my head when he insta called but I couldn't believe he would have it twice in a row. So AA held up and I was back to my 200 starting stack.
This hand took the wind out of my sails and after missing a few flops I was short stacked and went all in with suited connectors and got called by JJ. Broke and tired I went to bed.
Sat morning I was catching cards and won back my 300 loss from the night before. Went to lunch and lost 100 back. This did take along time so it was just a case of being card dead. Sunday, I left my friends in Tahoe and headed to Reno and the Peppermill. I had 4 hours and it was home. I sat in a 1/2 NL game for 40mins and lost 100. Great start. Then the 10/20 limit game got going.
I was a little worried about switching between the games but my limit game didn't skip a beat. I was up and down when the players to my right started to straddle. They bugged me to do it and with a win from the previous hand I did. It was 3-bet with 6 callers by the time it came back to me and my KJo. I called to flop a gut shot. I get my gutshot on the turn and win a huge pot. I get lucky a few more times called with 23s and flopping K33. With hands like these I was up to 1300 from my 300 buy-in. I Tried to get lucky a few more time before I left and finally racked up 1k.
All said and done I was up 400 for the weekend. I am watching the videos again and playing NL online to good results at .25/.5. I was up 4 buyins before I made a bad push with AA to loose a buy-in and then switched tables to loose another. Still up, so I am happy. The videos made all the difference to my game.
Friday night I didn't play until after a great dinner at Harrahs Chinese restaurant. It is pricey but my friend gets it all comped. They do all the fancy presentations at the table and the decor is very nice. I'm not the best writer, so if you want a detailed review go to their web site.
I have been watching the coaching videos at stox poker to get a better foundation for my NL game. The videos by Ed Miller, Poker Made Simple, is giving me a great foundation. I have been applying the concepts he lays out and they work like a charm. They are by far the smartest thing I have done to improve my game. In fact, I am watching them over and over until I have all the concepts down.
After watching the videos once, I felt better prepared to play in Tahoe. Friday night I sat down and in 1 hour I was up 300. Then I ran into AA with my KK. The hand went down like this.
The previous hand the SB had AA and doubled up to 300. This left the UTG+1 player short stacked with say 125. Now, in the very next hand the UTG+1 player is now first to act and the SB is the button. So the UTG player opens for 20. In MP1 I raise to 40 with KK. The button cold calls the 40. UTG pushes for 105 more. I would rather have this heads up so I go all in for 500 to push out the button but he calls right away. We all show our cards (friendly game) and it is QQ, KK, and AA. The button guy got dealt AA twice in a row. This idea flashed in my head when he insta called but I couldn't believe he would have it twice in a row. So AA held up and I was back to my 200 starting stack.
This hand took the wind out of my sails and after missing a few flops I was short stacked and went all in with suited connectors and got called by JJ. Broke and tired I went to bed.
Sat morning I was catching cards and won back my 300 loss from the night before. Went to lunch and lost 100 back. This did take along time so it was just a case of being card dead. Sunday, I left my friends in Tahoe and headed to Reno and the Peppermill. I had 4 hours and it was home. I sat in a 1/2 NL game for 40mins and lost 100. Great start. Then the 10/20 limit game got going.
I was a little worried about switching between the games but my limit game didn't skip a beat. I was up and down when the players to my right started to straddle. They bugged me to do it and with a win from the previous hand I did. It was 3-bet with 6 callers by the time it came back to me and my KJo. I called to flop a gut shot. I get my gutshot on the turn and win a huge pot. I get lucky a few more times called with 23s and flopping K33. With hands like these I was up to 1300 from my 300 buy-in. I Tried to get lucky a few more time before I left and finally racked up 1k.
All said and done I was up 400 for the weekend. I am watching the videos again and playing NL online to good results at .25/.5. I was up 4 buyins before I made a bad push with AA to loose a buy-in and then switched tables to loose another. Still up, so I am happy. The videos made all the difference to my game.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
