Finding the Pokerstar in me

Well, I never did get the $100 owed to me by my landlord, I did however, make a strong showing in a $5 donkament last night, placing 19th (out of 2033) for $25. Used that to play at Pot limit omaha tables (one of the reasons I moved from Bodog) and after about an hour and a half of play, I'm up $10 from those as well (at the .01/.02 pl level). Yeah, really really soft.

Me, combuboom, and kesc sat at a .01/.02 nl hold em table earlier and all left with nice profits just for the hell of it. Played a $1.20 sng just now (stt) and I blow at those, as was evidenced when I was knocked out in 8th (two pair got rivered for a big pot, so that didn't help).

Well, I've gotta finish up some homework right now, so this is a bit of a short (and late update).

I've got the hand history from the tournament, Hopefully I'll find some hands worth posting.

Well I played my first real MTT above a $2 buy in, but I basically satty'd into it witha $3 investment.

Played in the $3,000 guarunteed last night on Bodog. Got aces three times and had to come rom behind twice the whole tourney but on the whole I'm extremely proud of how I played.

Out of 337 players I eventually got 11th, which really sucked because a) I've never made a final table and b) I was knocked out by a guy who overplayed his hand a bit (In my and af ew other playes opinions at least).

Cashed for about $40 so I guess I can't complain too much. Bodog doesn't have real HH's so I can't provide any, but no worries, blog readers! I'm finally getting all my money put onto stars where I'll finally be able to use poker tracker and hopefully plug some holes in my game! The account I play on is in my brothers name so he's just going to pay me for it and I'll be depositing on to stars where I will continue to follow proper br management with some cheap sng's and $10max games. I'll probably play a few out of br MTT's every once in a while, because if I can run like I did last night, I could land a big cash (First place got $750 last night, I had just around chip average for FT when I busted).

That's all for now though folks.

Well I played some limit and sucked

Played some no limit (oops) and ruled. Up $8 for the day.

Played $500 gtd yesterday, out in 109th to a one outer for a top ten pot. Oh well

(sorry, can't type much, in a hurry)

Wow, I suck at this whole "blogging" thing.

So the last two weeks have been pretty hectic, since I've been able to spend more time with friends and have had a bit more homework, and of course some time with the lady, I didn't have TOO much time for poker.

First, the Soaring Eagle experience:

First of all: I LOVE CASINOS. I'm sitting there at the poker table (10 handed--blegh) and this guy orders a Mountain Dew from a waitress. Two hours later (and two MD's later) I ask him "When do you have to pay for that? They don't seem to be keeping track" and he said "No, it's free. Anything that isn't alcoholic is free." Re-he-heeealy. So I head straight up to the bar and get a Mountain Dew,, and that's when I learned why it was free. I took one sip and my mouth felt so dry I felt like I was in the middle of the desert. But it's ok, because they had a shitload of other pops and things like Hot chocolate that were also free.

So I left for Soaring Eagle Friday night and got to my hotel around 11. Unfortunately, Iwas alone, so it was a little empty. But I went up to my room to make sure the key worked and all (it was this indian place, not too shabby, but wanted to make sure everything was in order) and turned on the air conditioning. I left for the casino at about 11:15 (pm) and decided to just check it out for a while before going back to the hotel to sleep. I played a few slots and won like $10 on a penny slot machine. I was kind of pissed, because right after I switched over to penny credits on a video poker machine (from 25c credits) I was dealt KKKKA for like 350 credits. Then I dropped the A and was dealt a freakin' wild card for five of a kind, worth 500 credits. So instead of $125, I won $5. Good job douche.

I went up to the poker room to check it out and see how everything was organized. They were tenhanded tables. They had 1-2 nl, 5-10 nl, and 3-6 limit and 6-12 limit. Obv. I'm a nl player, and the waiting list was really short, so I decided to buy in for a while and get a feel for live poker. I got called up and went to buy the chips, and to my surprise, was asked to give the dealer $3 when I sat down. So I gave him $3 in chips and waited for the BB. I wound up folding BB and SB, so that was another $3 down, then accidentally called a raise-re-raise with 66 (Called the $15 because I thought it was one donkey raise and was hoping to flop a set). The original raiser pushed for another $40 and I naturally dropped my 6's.

So after my 3rd hand at the table, the dealer gets up and says "thanks for the tips" and all that bull, then walks away and a new dealer sits down and says "Ok, $6 from everyone please" and I said to him "..I just paid $3" and he said that they were seat fees, and that each player was required to pay $6 per half hour to play and $3 for latecomers. So I buckled down and paid the damn $6. Over the next half hour I didn't get much action (only saw 15 or so hands) but was up about to about $230, when the dealer gets up. So I thought "fuck this I'm not paying another $6 to play, I'll just save it for tomorrow." So I got up and cashed out. To my surprise, my whole three hour trip inside the casino that night never saw a security guard or even a cashier carding me. I was quite disappointed.

I went back to the hotel and turned on the WSOP ME re run that was on, and fell asleep, anxiously awaiting the next day. Woke up around 10, checked out, and went straight back to the casino.

I signed up for the waiting listfor 1-2 nl again ,and a half hour later I was seated with 6 of the shittiest players I've ever seen (one of the others was a local pro and the other two were jsut the average donk)

And I don't mean shitty because they chase draws and call down light. I mean shitty because they call down with nothing but high cards, make the most absolutely transparent plays while ON a draw, and exhibit so many false tells to the point where they are actually giving off real tells.

I bought in with $206 to pay off the dealer.

First hand of the game: I'm dealt KQs in the cut off, with 4 limpers. So I raise it up to $12 and get 3 callers (button and blinds folded, as well as the local pro). Flop comes K86. It's checked to me, and I bet $35 (a little over half of the $61 pot) and get two callers. The turn brings an absolutely beautiful card, that card being the Queen, making it a rainbow board and giving me top two pair. The first guy checks and MP bets about $45, so I figure him to have a crappy King or Queen, and I call, the other guy folds. The river brings another beautiful card, that being the deuce (which everyone LOVEs to see on the river when they're ahead on the turn), and he checked, so I pushed the rest of my chips in and he called me... with K5. I loved it. I dragged in about $467. It's going to be a good day :)

After the nice and easy double up I continued to play my planned strategy of Tag, and playing almost the same way I do at $10nl (since I heard that 10nl online is equivalent to $200nl live).

After abgout 4 hours I was up to about $800. I was having the time of my life, naturally.

Now I'll stop right here to explain a little bit about the bad beat jackpot. The jackpot was sitting at about $105,000 and some change. 25% goes to the winner of the pot, 50% goes to the loser (had to have Aces full of anything using both hole cards and lose to quads or better--also using both hole cards), and the other 25% would be evenly distributed throughout the table.

So, now that I've said that, if anyone sees Sklansky, tell that fucker he owes me about $42,000.

I was one card off the bb jackpot TWICE, once I knew I was beaten. I had a set of 6's against a very tight player who pushed $140 on the flop of A63 over my flop bet of $30. I literally said to him "I know you probably have Aces, but even then I'm getting the right odds" So, I call $140 in order to win a little over $26,000. Considering that I'm about 3% to hit my quads, it's the correct call. I only ahve to call $140 to win over $26,000, which is about .05% I only have to call this 33.3 times in order to win over $26,000. So lets do some math, shall we?

(33.3)*(140)=4662
(26k+)-(4662)=21,338+

Therefore, I have an EV of $648.70 per call that I make: (21,338)/(33.3)=648.7

Why does he owe me $42,000 then? BECAUSE IT HAPPENED TWICE!!

That's right ladies and gentleman, you read that correctly. Two times I was one card off the bad beat jackpot, and neither time did I catch it. The other time was with a set of 9's vs. a set of Aces for approx. $150 or so.

Some other sick shit that happened to me the rest of the day: Flush over flush (K-high vs. A-high) for a -$120, a beaten-on-the-flop two pair that I invested an extra $100 that I didn't need to in for -$170*, TT
*I have KJ in the sb with two limpers, I raise it up to $10 and bb+2 limpers call. Flop comes KQ9, I checked, someone bet $15, two callers, I raised to $70, and all three call (WTF???) And ehre's where I invested the extra $100 that was unnecessary.

What is calling my check raise on that flop (even with idiots..one drunk as fuck)?

No one can drop a goddamned draw of course *no flush draw*, so: AT, 8T, AJ, QJ, etc.

Sets: KK, QQ, 99

Two pair: KQ namely

MADE STRAIGHTS: JT (even though this is what my check-raise was suppose to telegraph for me)

Turn comes a Jack. Now that I look back, I'd be a total idiot for doing anything but check-folding. That's a terrible card for me. It completes just about every single straight draw. Unfortunately on the tables, I wasn't thinking like that. I bet out for $100, and the drunk guy min-raise me to $200, and BOTH THE OTHER PLAYERS CALLED ALL IN.

So I threw my cards in face up exclaiming how I probably would've still been ahead with just the Kings.

The drunk guy flips over 8T for a straight, one of the ladies shows AT for a higher straight, and the other one shows K9 (lol).

Now, I felt pretty good, even though it's a very easy fold for a lot of people, it wasn't for me because it was my first live game and I'd been getting coolered to death for the last 4 hours. So after I saw I was beat I was pretty happy, and then the river was dealt: yes, you guessed it, another jack.

Now, I know you don't get much more results oriented than this, but I was pretty pissed. That pot was easily over $1,000. Who doesn't get a LITTLe upset when they miss out on that?

By this point I'm still up about $20. So I get my chips, and say good bye to everyone. I cash out and walk around a bit to clear my head.

Now, I"m not going to detail the rest of it, because I really don't remember. Mostly justa bunch of failed c-bets and card-deadness, not to mention the $108 I paid in seat fees throughout the day in order to sit down. Left with only $40.

After I got home, I felt extremely well with how I played at SE. Not as much for the last bit, but the first few hours I played very well to get to where I was (notice another $300 or so on top of my double up).

Usually after Sunday night games with friends I'll go home pissed about a play I made where I lost the $5 tourney. But here I am on a very thought provoking 2 and a half hour drive home after losing $160, and the only thing I could think is how well I played, and how I pictured myself swimming in a sea of Sklansky bucks.

So when I got home, I was still pretty proud.

I played a 10nl session that night, and lost a buy in after about an hour in the usual coinflip AK
Five days later I played in the CC bodog buy in, and felt really good about my chances.

The entire tournament I showed down ONE hand, but was up to about 5k when we got the final table, then went card dead. Got down to 6 players and the blinds were rather large, (6 players is bubble) when I finally see JJ with one limper. I was excited to push in my chips, hoping to pick up the blinds and antes, but got two callers instead. The one guy who called had both of us covered, and I wss the short stack of the the three. One of them hit two pair (and neither pair was an ace, nor higher than a jack) to take out my JJ and the other guys AK (no A or K on board). So I got donked out of that tourney in 6th because I had less chips than the other guy. This brought my br down to like $100 on bodog, if even.

I was tilting pretty bad from that, because I played perfect up to that point, then got sucked out on like a motherfucker. I quit poker for the day.

The next day I went to another 10nl game and the table died aftera few hands, and I left with about 11.71, and joined up another table with $10. AA was then cracked about a half hour later by KT (AIPF) so I was out another $10.

Later that day, I was down to about $95, after those beats, so I decided to stop with the NL because of the swings.

I played a 25c-50c limit table (25c-50c is where I built my roll in the first place) and was about $10, and wound up ending the session when I donked off about $20 like a total tool, for a net loss of $9. I quit poker again.

A week later (today) I decided to jump back on the limit tables, and played halfway between TAG-LAG. That's why I like short handed limit: A lot more hands=A lot more pots.

I'm up $20 for the day. No really notable hands.

Hopefully this is the start of a very large upswing. I'm only playing limit until I hit $150, then I'm playing SNG's, and I'm not playing NL again till I hit $200.

Wish me luck!

P.S. I also played Halo 3 with Hevad Khan the other night :)

I know, my blog sucks :)

I've had two winning days in a row ($20 on thursday, $10 earlier)

SO I decided to play the CC $10 buy in.

Was sitting pretty with arond 1800 12 people left, 5 get paid.

Got dealt KK in the BB, it was folded around to the infamous JD in the sb, he raised it up to 120 (blinds were 15/30) so I re raised him to 250, he re-raised BACK to 750, so I shoved, he called, he had QQ

Naturally, the flop brought a Queen, and I was out. But JD is a great player, so I don't mind being beaten by him :) But yeah, I can kiss those $10 good bye.

Heading off to the casino right now with about $300, wish me luck!

Sorry long time no update :(

Haven't played much poker. And here's why:

Last night I played in an event with 17 other skilled CC-ers with a kindly stake by Vanq, but I bubbled it for 4th place

Today I went to play a cash game and lost $16 to me generally sucking. I trapped myself playing less quality hands (QJo FTW!!) and forgot you can't bluff players at 10max.

My next post will be more informative, I swear.

So, I've had my Aces cracked twice today, My set of fours sucked out on by a two outer, and I'm down $35 for the day. Poker sucks

:)

The swings of NL poker

Man have I been riding that rollercoaster. *Latest graph at bottom of page*

After having the last few days run really shitty, I decided to play basic tried-and-true TAG in my latest 10nl session this morning, and walked away with a $20 profit, after snagging some nice pot with the prettiful AKo and KK. I played in another $2.20 MTT today. I do well in our sites freeroll, so I assume that I hsould be able to run well in one of these, but not so far, I haven't even gotten over the freakin' starting stack in one yet. Winner gets like $120, so hopefully I pull it off one night.

Right after the MTT I decided to play an SNG, to practice for tomorrow's live tourney at my college. Kicked the shit out of everyone for a $4 profit :) lol

So anywho, tomorrow is the first three rounds of 9 in a hold em tourney that I helped organize. The winner of each round (6 handed single table) moves on into the finals in December, where a 9 handed final table of what is essentially a 54 person double shoot out will be played for some prize which I am currently unaware of. It's actually it's kind of on a rebuy, because if you lose you can play in 3 of the nine rounds, but one per day. So it's more likea 30 person re buy, only it's free.

I can't wait, in only 3 months I should be crowned Texas Hold 'Em champion of Macomb Community College ;)

Profit for the day: +$25

Total br on Bodog: $180

Winnings graph (The swings of NL)


Graph does NOT include $6 win from SNG.

Played like shit today. Don't even want to talk about it.

Though I did win against my friends again last night. Had 800 against Kelley's 7.2k, and I fought back to take the lead and offered him a chop for a $20 profit.

BR on Bodog: $160

Well, that sucked

My $72 winning streak has come to an end, as I donked off a buy in at 10nl with top pair 2nd kicker, to the idiot with top pair, top kicker (OMG I have AT on a draw heavy board! arrrrr in!)

I made a stupid move not knowing his cards, but knowing his, so did he.

So I then decided to see if I could improve my micro stake sng strategy, and I blew two games in a row (My win in a 45 man a couple of days ago was my only one since before my month long break), one in a $4.40 beginner sng (out in 6th..DOH, top five pay) then won a $2.20 one.

I made a very odd play that game, which will be up in tourney hand analysis very soon.

Thanks for reading! No graph today :( It's not pretty anyway

Profits: -$10 ($2.20 win cancelled out $4.40 loss)
Total bankroll: $190.75

Up'n'Up'n'Up'n'UPPPPPP!!!!1!!eleven!!

Well, things worked out well today! I played for just about an hour earlier and broke dead even. And no, by dead even I don't mean a +/- $0.05, I mean I came in with $10, and an hour later, I left with exactly $10.

During that break even session I did hit quad nines in a sucky way. I flopped 9's full of 6's, and the action suggested he DEFINITELY had a 6, so I bet pot and let him raise me. The river however, brought another 9, which killed the action from him, and I was only able to squeak out $8 out of the $11 available. Luckily I did only break even though, which means that it didn't crack my current $72 winning streak that has been going on for the last four days!

So after two weeks of grinding my $30 of freeroll winnings at the $0.05/$0.10 tables, I'm now up to $201.35

Once I reach $225 (which I estimate to be either tomorrow or Saturday at the latest) I'll be taking my first shot at 25nl. I'll make sure to post it up here or on CC so I can get some good advice.

Here is my graph for the last 7 days:



Profit for the day: +$25
Total bankroll: $201.35
Total winnings: $1,335

Still on the UP'n'UP

That's right! My upwards trend (upwards aside from my trip down Mt. Tiltalot over the weekend) continued today! Played some 10max on Bodog, as usual, ground up to $12, then lost some of it after I had to fold to a rivered overpair. Soon after, this hand happened:

Dealt 73o in the bb
UTG folds UTG+1 whom is a total donk calls, and a guy who is constantly berating other players calls, I check my option

Flop: 7c6d6c

Emperor: Bets $0.30
Donk raises $0.30 to $0.60
Berater calls
Emperor calls (I don't believe anyone. No ones represented 88+ and if they have a 6 I'm just going to laugh)

Turn: 3c

Emperor checks
Donk bets $0.50
Berater calls $0.50
Emperor (thinks for a bit) calls $0.50

River: 7d (sweet!)

Emperor checks
Donk bets $1
Berater calls $1
Emperor raises to $6
Donk calls
Berater calls
Emperor shows 77766
Donk mucks (55)
Berater mucks AdKc (...lol)

Emperor collects 20 some odd dollars from the pot.

Why I kept calling: pf, I'm bb, why not take the free flop?
Flop: I had the 7, I doubted that the donk had the 6, because it's just unlikely, plus, he hasn't really ever bet out much, and he usually only does it on a bluff. Berater calling made me think flush or straight draw.
Turn: It's cheap... and I still had my previous reads going for me
River: Do I need to say it, really?

Recent graph:

Profits for today +$30
Total bankroll: $175

Hello! I've finally decided to start a blog, and hopefully I'll get enough hits to make it worthwhile. Let's see, a rundown of my poker career....

I started playing poker in the year 2003. I was not a direct product of the Poker Boom, but I believe that those who are responsible for getting me into it were. They'd invite my little freshman self to their senior game, all wearing their little sunglasses and their crappy poker faces. Unfortunately, back then, I had no clue what I was doing, and I never won. But I continued to donate $5 to the pot every saturday night, until suddenly, the games stopped. I quit poker for a while, and I'm honestly not that sure when I started up again. Eventually, games with friends my OWN age began to turn up, and I'd play at them. None of us really knew what we were doing, so I'd occasionally win one or two, even besting our local pro (well, for our age at least) in an epic heads up battle for the $35 first place money (Good times)!
It was around this time that my buddy, Kevin (the 'local pro' of sorts), made a HUGE cash in an online tournament, about $1200, which is mighty fine for a... well, let's just say that's GREAT for our demographic ;) This was on September 23rd, 2006. Damn near a whole year ago, and he's already cashed out enough to buy a car, and a beautiful new bass and amplifier set. But enough about him, this blog's about me, damnit!
After his big win I decided that Poker was officially a game of skill, and not so much luck. I didn't get any books, but I started playing play money on Pokerstars.. a LOT. I got a lot of experience from that. Then I started doing frequently better in our home games, cashing and winning a a LOT more often. But that all pales in comparison to that fateful night in North Carolina.

January 3rd (ish), 2007

I had been in a big poker mood lately, and was dying to play a game. I was visiting my brother, a Marine who lived in Camp LeJeune, and while we were there, he told me of a local game that he often played at. He warned me before I accepted the offer, that some of the guys there were professional players who played for a living, and that some of them had WSOP and USPC experience.. but I wasn't afraid.
Since it was just a social game, the blinds were fairly small, at $1/$2 (high stakes to me) and I only had $100. Apparently this is what everyone bought in with, so I didn't feel too ashamed with my smallish chipstack (which was miniscule compared to the others--they had already been playing for 5 hours). I bought in, and played a real tight game. Next thing I know, I'm up $100.
I started to gather my chips and head for the cashier when my brother said "dude, I'll stake you if you lose anything just keep playin' your game, you're doing fine!" So I sat back down and continued to play. During one of the key hands, I had some type of pocket pair. Whatever it was, I flopped a set with it, and the turn paired the board (lower than my set). After the river, the guy put me all in, and I called, and he said "Full house!" Showing a matching card to the pair as well as an Ace, which was also on the board. I said "Fuck" and turned over what I thought was a cooler, but in actuality was a higher full house.
So there I am, with $400, sweaty palms, etc. giving off tells left and right I bet. I was playing like a total donk. But oh well, I had plenty of money :D The next big hand was my last, I flopped top pair and bottom pair, and on the river, I called an all in, and beat a worse two pair, and had $800. As I began stacking my chips, she pushed them over (jokingly..what a bitch), and my brother came right over and started stacking them for me saying "dont' worry about it just keep playing" and I said, "No, I'm really done now, this is enough for me, haha"
So I cashed out, (pictures below).

A month later, I used the winnings to purchase a 50" Samsung HDTV (Which I am now using to type this blog :D)

It was after this that I began to get real serious, and I deposited my first $10 on Pokerstars. And if you want to see how that venture went, go ahead and sharkscope me: Emperor IX

Yeah, not pretty.

Neither were the next 5 deposits.

Finally, I stopped depositing, and instead accepted transfers from some GREAT CC-ers..., well one at least. V sent me $10 and told me to have fun, and boy did I, I doubled it up and sent it back, then lost what I had left. This happened twice more.
My amazing girlfriend, Amanda, got me Super/System 2 for my graduation. I read it and LOVED it, next thing I know, my poker book library consists of:

The Theory of Poker
Super/System 2
Online Poker (Brunson)
Tournament Poker and the Art of War (Great book)
Zen and the Art of Poker
The Tao of Poker
Harrington on Hold em (all 3 thanks to Combuboom!!)

I took a month off in August, due to some personal problems and a need to study the game a bit more without the pressures of actually playing. During that month I re-read the Theory of Poker and I read The Art of War and Zen and the Art of Poker.

After August was over, I decided to start playing again, but I had no way of getting money online, and quite frankly, I didn't want to. I wanted to do it as cheaply as possible.
Luckily, Cardschat is the greatest site ever, and offers many freerolls every week (www.cardschat.com put Emperor IX as your referral ;)
I played in the Bodog freeroll and took 1st place out of 144 for $30. All my studying had paid off. I took the $30 to a $0.25/$0.50 LIMIT hold em table, and double up to $60, then began playing 10max constantly. Boy are Bodog players suckers. I now have $150 in my account, and I'm still growing, because i'm following STRICT BR management rules, those of Jesus Ferguson.
The other day I played in CC's freeroll on Full Tilt, and I placed 67th out of 900. I'm absolutely POSITIVE I'd've final tabled it if I had not decided to steal blinds at the PRECISE time the only chipleader over me at the table picked up AKs. My skills have increased astronomically since I joined CC, and even MORE after I took the month off to study.
Even with my friends home games, I've won 3 of our last 4, and got 2nd in the fourth one. It's almost not fair ;)

I'll be posting updates after every session I have time, but for now, this shall do. Here are some pictures from North Carolina: