Single Table Sit and Go Week: Day One and Day Two

I decided to do a week of single table sit and go tournaments.  These are really quick single table games that do not take very long to play and give some great prize amounts.  On Monday I started with a NAPT-LA Sat: Free-roll tournament with over 7,000 players.  I ended up going all in on the first hand with Q 10 off suite.  The person who called had a pair of 2’s and got a third two to beat me and finish my time in this tournament.  I finished 7,771^st.

After that I started my “single table sit and go grind week”.  I started with a buy-in of $3’25 for a NL Hold’em turbo with six players.  It started okay but then went downhill very quickly.  I accidently clicked the button to raise twice when I want to just call and almost went out but then I started to lose just by not getting anything when I was in one of the blind seats.  I left this one with only gaining 1.38 in VPP.

The next one I did was the same.  I ended up making one person frustrated when I kept calling to the point where when I bet, he folded.  He folded after the river card and then asked what I was calling after the flop.  I told him that he would never know.  I believe that if you tell them what you had, they could in turn use it against you if you repeat what you did that hand.  Part of being successful, in my opinion, is to be unpredictable.  This person was upset with me but I did not care especially when he ended up going out of the game.  I got the second person mad because I had pocket K’s and pushed another person all-in who had pocket 5’s and did not beat me with any of the cards that got turned over.  He didn’t like that I beat him and started talking shit to me.  I did not care what he said.  Bottom line is that I had the better pair then he did.  I ended up winning this one with $11.70 in prize money for a $8.45 gain and another 1.38 VPP. 

This was the last one I did on Monday with it being Valentine’s Day.  On Tuesday I played a few tournaments.  Again these were all single table games.  The first was $3.25 buy-in which I had a bad beat and finished 6^th with a 1.38 VPP.  I entered another one and finished 3^rd with another 1.38 VPP gain.  I then entered a Fifty50 for $1.08 buy in and finished first for $3.50 in prize money and a $2.42 gain with a 0.44 VPP gain.  I entered another one of these and finished second for $2.19 in prize money and $1.11 gain with another 0.44 VPP gain.  You are probably thinking that this part is very boring due to only say what I played and the results.  I would love to talk about some big, amazing hands but there were not any to really talk about.

I then entered a tournament with six players and $1.20 buy-in.  I ended up finishing 6^th with only a 1.1 VPP gain.  The last one for the night was the $3.25 buy-in with six players.  I finished in first place and won $11.70 in prize money for an $8.45 gain and 1.38 VPP gain.  I also gained 39 sit and go leader board points. 

I started the week with $10 and finished yesterday with almost doubling that.  I am probably one win away from doubling that.  My VPP is sitting at 20.69 for the month and 79.85 for the year.  I also received my FPP for the surveys that I completed.  With those points and the points for the games I played in, my FPP is at 80.81 right now.  I realize that if I did not do those two tournaments that cost a total of 28 FPP, I would be at over 100 FPP.  But it doesn’t matter since I will gain another 20 FPP in a few days of playing.

I am going to look at hosting a “home game” club next month.  It will probably be towards the end of March.  So please give me some feedback on your thoughts of it or leave any comment or question you may have.  Thank you for taking the time to read this.  I know that a lot of people are not reading this but each time I check the stats, I am happy to see that there were some viewing this.  Thank you to those who read this.

Sunday = Down-Day

I would like to start by saying a few words about a great man who passed away.  Mr "Skip" Bird, Valparaiso High School Teach and Swim Team Coach passed away over the weekend.  He was a great teach and coach who touched the lives of so many of his students.  I remember how fair and helpful he was when I had him.  Though I only had him for one class, I would always see him outside his classroom in between classes and he always would say "hello" to students he passed who he had taught or coached.  He will be missed.  RIP "Skip" Bird.

Now on to what happened Sunday Afternoon and Evening.  I continued to play Sunday after I posted on here.  I played the free-roll tournaments, along with a few other ones.  I played in a NL Hold’em Turbo Takedown Sat: 20 FPP turbo with 150 players.  This took my FPP down to 11.21 FPP but I was not worried about it.  Then I entered my biggest buy in ever.  It was an NAPT-LA Sat: $4.48 Hyper-Turbo Round 1.  I did not make it past the second hand in this one.  I had 10 Q off suit and was betting the pot after the flop and river.  One player kept calling me, so I shoved all-in and he called to reveal 6 4, which gave him a pair of 6’s on the table.  Then the river card came and it was a 4 giving him two pair.  I could not believe that just happened to me.  Usually when I have a pocket pair, I can win the hand especially with something like pocket Q’s.  In this case, I did not win it.

I then did a $0.55 buy-in with 45 players.  This did not go well and I finished 39^th with a 0.28 VPP gain.  At least I gained some VPP from that one.  I then entered a Turbo Takedown Sat: 20 FPP Turbo with 150 players.  I ended up finishing 71^st and did not gain anything.  After that I entered a $0.10 NL Hold’em tournament and did very poorly.  I don’t even remember what I finished at.  I then went on a NAPL Free-roll Shootout SNG playing spree.  With these being free to enter, I ended up going all-in a lot.  Probably even when I should not have.  I finished 4^th, 34^th,15^th, 29^th, 28^th, 25^th, 33^rd, 30^th, 28^th, 18^th, 20^th, 31^st, 23^rd and 28^th.  I also entered a $0.02 Hyper-Turbo tournament with 900 players.  Each player starts with $500 in chips and a $10 ante, 25/50 blinds.  I finished 523^rd and was surprised I made it that far.

The last tournament I entered was The Big Game.  This is the one where the top 300 players left get a ticket to the second round.  The tournament started with 3,996 players.  I started out okay and had some good wins with big pots that doubled my stack.  I made it to the first break and there were 1,568 players still in it.  That five minute break came and gone, I started to lose some chips and was playing conservatively.  Then the second break came and there were only 441 players left.  I was on a roller coaster at this point.  I would gain some chips and then lose some chips and then lose some chips.  It kept going on like that for a while.  With each hand I saw people busting out of the tournament.  430, then 418, then 400 players left.  Each time I looked at how many were left there were less and less remaining.  Then I lost about half of my chips and was about to bust out in the next two or three hands.  That is when all of a sudden the tournament ended.  I had done it.  I had survived to the final 300 players and gained the ticket to the next round.  I will be playing that later this week and will try my hardest to win that on to make it to the final round.  If you do not know or remember me talking about this in previous post, this is the one that could get the winner a chance to be the “Loose Cannon” in The Big Game TV show.  It would be really cool if I could get on that tournament.  I am not sure where it is taking place but I can worry about that if I make it to that tournament.

I also received the 60 FPPs from the surveys today which leave me with 71.31 FPPs.  I also have 11.81 VPP for the month and 70.97 VPP.  My ranking has declined a little to 35.82% which is still higher than last year.  I actually did reach almost 40% but the loses I had this weekend hurt that ranking. 

I am still considering doing a “Home Game” club on Poker Stars and you should be seeing an official announcement in the weeks to come.  There will be an invitation to join sent out on Facebook.  If you would like an invitation, leave a comment with your email or the name you use on Facebook so I can send you the information.  I will not be posting the information to access the “club” on here since this is a publicly viewed blog.  

Latest and Greatest, or Something Like That

I think I have figured out the best times to play.  Those days are Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  Any other day has too many people who are very lucky and get the better hands and don’t know what they are doing.  I watched someone go all in with 8 9 of suit after the flop gave him only a high card Q.  With that said here is what I did the last three days.

On the Friday I only played in three tournaments.  The first was a Fifty50 ten player sit and go for $1.20 buy-in.  It went pretty bad and I finished 6^th and with a gain of 0.44 VPP’s.  The next one was my old standby $0.10 NL Hold’em sit and go with 360 players.  I did not last long in this one and finished 251^st.  The next one was the same as before but a new tournament that was just starting.  I made it to the first break after only 30 minutes of play and 214 players left in the tournament.  Then I made it to the next break with 34 players left and everyone who went out would win $0.20 or more, depending when they were to go out.  I ended up finishing 21^st out of 360 and gained my ten cents plus another $0.20 and 22.53 tournament leader points.  I am unable to see where I rank so far since when you try to look it up, they only show the top twenty players and that is it. 

On Saturday, I only played two tournaments since I had some other things I need to take care of including having some guests over.  The first one I played in on Saturday was another $0.10 cent NL Hold’em with 360 players.  The first hand I was dealt was J A.  A diamond flush showed up on the table.  Thinking that the other player was calling due to this showing up, I called his push of all-in.  Turns out that was a bad thing to do.  They had the Q of diamands and the higher card which pushed me out.  I entered into another one for $0.10 and finished 280^th.  I had pocket K’s and was beat due to a full house showing up on the river which gave the other player 6’s full of Q’s.  This brings me to todays tournaments that I did this morning.

The first was a Fifty50 single table sit and go tournament with $1.08 buy in.  I ended up finishing 9^th in this one.  Then I did a $0.10 NL Hold’em that started out pretty good.  The best hand I played so far was the following:

Dealt to Me [Td Kd]

oerarne: folds

Me: raises 450 to 500

robwiersma58: calls 500

kemmitper: folds

Dzseli: folds

BestYet99: folds

Edwards E: folds

cocodiente: folds

*** FLOP *** [Jh Qs Th]

Me: bets 1075

robwiersma58: calls 1075

*** TURN *** [Jh Qs Th] [Kh]

Me: bets 2090 and is all-in

robwiersma58: calls 2090

*** RIVER *** [Jh Qs Th Kh] [Kc]

*** SHOW DOWN ***

Me: shows [Td Kd] (a full house, Kings full of Tens)

robwiersma58: shows [3c Ac] (a straight, Ten to Ace)

Me: collected 7405 from pot

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot 7405 | Rake 0

Board [Jh Qs Th Kh Kc]

Seat 2: 1&only696 showed [Td Kd] and won (7405) with a full house, Kings full of Tens

Seat 3: robwiersma58 showed [3c Ac] and lost with a straight, Ten to Ace

This was the best hand that I had the entire tournament and after that, I started on that slippery slope of having my stack disappear.  I ended up finishing 137^th out of 360 players.  I was pretty disappointed and decided to take a break and take care of some class work and type this up.  I still think that the best time for me to play is Monday through Wednesday.  I seem to win the most single table tournaments and place higher in the bigger tournaments than any other time of the week.  My stats today leave me with 11.09 VPP for the month and 70.25 VPP for this year.  I also have 31.21 FPP in my account right now.  I plan to do a little bit more playing today but nothing that will be posted till tomorrow. 

I am also looking for feedback about doing a “home game” through Poker Stars.  Please let me know if you are interested.  If you are one of my friends on Facebook, you will be receiving an invitation for it.  

One Day Up, and One Day Down

The last two days have been pretty interesting.  Yesterday I played four tournaments, two of them were single table Fifty50 games and two were multi-table games.  I did two that had a buy-in of $1.08 which were pretty uneventful.  During the first one, I was smoking a great cigar and watching TV which caused me to not really pay attention to what I am doing.  I think this could be a new strategy, playing and winning by not paying attention to what is going on.  I won ten hands doing this and finished in first place to win $3.13.  This gave me a $2.04 gain and added 0.44 to my VPP.  The second one I played the same way and finished in first place again for a $2.90 win.  This added $.182 to my account and 0.44 VPP.  This was a very good start to the day and I was feeling pretty good about my hands so far. 

I then entered a NL Hold’em turbo for a $0.55 buy-in and 45 players.  I received nothing but crappy hands.  I also could not get a good string of bluffs going and I couldn’t buy any pots by betting the amount of the pot like what usually happens.  I ended up finishing 39^th and gained 0.28 VPP.  The next one was one that I have not really done much of.  With my two wins that I have had I decided to play a NL Hold’em game with 18 players for $1.20 buy-in.  At the table I was at, there was a retired Navy Chief who was playing.  It was interesting chatting with him but he did not last very long.  While we were chatting I think I might have given away one of my strategy.  I started off pretty well but the more we chatted the worse I was doing.  I ended in 10^th place and gained 1.1 VPP.  After this one, I was done for the night.

Today I played four tournaments before I called it a night.  I did two multi-table and two single table tournaments.  The first was an 18 player NL Hold’em for $1.20 buy in.  I was getting nothing but crappy hands after crappy hands.  I was not able to do anything.  I busted out in 15^th but gained 1.1 VPP.

I then did another Fifty50 tournament for $1.08 buy in.  This was a difficult table to play at.  Every time someone would bet after the flop or raise pre-flop, everyone would fold.  People were playing very very conservatively.  It was going very slow and after twenty minutes everyone was still in the game.  I finally got pocket A’s and decided to call someone who was going all in.  Just when I thought I had his Q’s beat, the river gave him two pairs, Q’s and 3’s.  I couldn’t believe that he got that lucky on the river but then again I guess I should have seen it coming.  I was the second player to go out and finished 9^th with a 0.44 VPP gain.  I did the same type of single table game and finished 9^th again with a 0.44 gain. 

I then did my usually $0.10 multi-table sit and go tournament with 360 players.  I finished this one 158^th overall.  I was not getting any good hands to make any big gains today.  The gains I had yesterday were gone after four games so I decided to call it a night.  I have now gained 10.21 VPPs for the month and am up to 69.37 for the year.  I also have 30.33 FPPs in my account and I should be getting another 60 FPPs by next week.  That is going to make my FPPs look pretty good.  My ranking on www.officalpokerrankings.com has increased again.  I am currently at 38.41% and increasing each day.  I think today will cause it to decline a little bit but I will not know until tomorrow. 

I am also thinking about setting up a Home Game “club”.  If you are interested in playing me please leave a comment and I will let you know more details.  The only stipulation is that you must register on Poker Stars in order to play in it.  If I do not get at least five people interested then I will not be doing it.  It all depends on the feedback I get here.  I am considering either a $10 or $20 buy-in and that each player will start with $1,500 in chips.  First place will win either all of the buy-in money or I will see about breaking it down for the top two.  That also depends on how many people show interest in it.  So the more people who show an interest will determine how many people will play against me and also how much cash can be won.  So, please leave me any comments or questions that you might have.  Also, for the record, Poker Stars is not in any way involved in this home game.  They are also not receiving anything for doing this and I am not receiving anything from Poker Stars.  The only connection between me, my home game, and Poker Stars is that it will be using Poker Stars software and require a Poker Stars account to participate.  I am not receiving anything from them for doing this.  It is strictly something fun I have thought of possibly doing.  Again, please leave a comment if you are interested and I will post more information as I see an interest in this.  Overall, it should be a fun game to play.  If the first one gets good participation then I will consider doing this once or twice a month.  With that being said, may the Poker Gods smile upon all your hands and your winning be large.

Bad Start but a Good Finish

Tuesday was an interesting day.  I managed to play five tournaments which had mixed results.  The first one I bought into was for a $1.20 NL Hold’em game with six players.  In this one every player received 1.1 VPP and 1^st and 2^nd places won cash.  It started out okay with no big hands to start.  That is until I had a bad beat that took half of my chips.  I started folding a lot and then got some good cards but that was another bad beat and it took me down to a third of what I started with.  I figured it was only a matter of time before I end up out of this tournament.  I started to go all in for a couple hands and was able to build up my stack a little.  That is when I ended up with pocket J’s.  Someone decided to go all in and I figured it was now or never that I was going to get back into this game.  He turned over a pair of J’s and I never got another 7.  So I finished 5^th out of 6^th.

The next one I did was a Fifty50 for $1.11 buy in.  This is one of those with ten players and the top five get paid $1 plus $0.03 for every 100 chips that you finish with.  Things were going pretty good.  I took out two players and had a nice stack of chips.  I then took a couple bad beats that knocked my stack down a little but nothing to worry about.  After-all, you cannot win them all.  I finished this one in 4^th place and took $0.60 gain.  It wasn’t the best I could have done but it gives me a gain and I’ll take it.

Then I entered a NAPT-LA Free-roll that had over 9,000 players.  This one really sucked.  I went out pretty quickly and didn’t win a single hand.  I was pretty much folding to everyone who was raising pre-flop or post-flop.  I just could not catch a break to get a good hand and I wasn’t going to play with garbage.  I ended up finishing 7,856^th.

After that I did a NL Hold’em turbo game with 45 players and a $0.55 buy in.  I made it to the first break in 6^th place and 15 players left.  I thought it was kind of odd that there was a break in this tournament since there were only 45 players but it is what it is.  Then I started to get nothing but crappy hands.  I ended up going all in to try to buy the pot and stay in it.  There were ten players left and only one more needed to go out to get to the final table.  While I was playing this hand the tenth player went out.  Right when it was changing to put everyone at the final table, the hand I was playing ended and I lost.  I finished 9^th right when the final table was being seated.  What a bad beat.  I did receive 0.28 VPPs so at least I got something out of it.

The last one I played for the night was a $1.08 buy in with ten players that was a Fifty50.  There were not any notable hands for this one other than watching someone get four K’s.  What a hand that was to see.  It was two K’s on the flop which gave him three of a kind.  The turn card was a low card and the river was another K.  It was nice to watch and I was glad that I did not try to bluff through that hand.  I ended up finishing 2^nd and after that last one, I felt a lot better.  I finished with a $1.54 gain and 0.44 VPP.

On another note, I have been receiving surveys from PokerStars that give the person who completes them get FPPs.  I am not sure why I am receiving so many of these surveys but it is nice to get something back for playing on their site.  I actually just finished doing one that I got this morning right before writing this.  The first one was just asking questions about how I like PokerStars and such.  The second one had to with the “Battle of The Planets” promotion that they have been doing for a while now.  The third one that I did was about their “Home Game” section that they have come out with.  One of the questions had to do with have I used it yet and about friends playing on PokerStars.  Right now I do not really have friends who play online.  I am pretty much the only one.  If anyone reading this plays on PokerStars let me know in the comment section and I will respond to you about maybe setting one up.

Now for the summary from the other days results.  Right now my VPP for this month is 5.97 and 65.13 for the year.  I do not think I will be able to get to the next level this year but maybe something will break loose and I will go on a big winning streak.  My FPP is currently at 26.09 but it should be going up next week.  I have 40 FPP coming from one survey that I did and another 20 FPP from the one I did earlier.  My ranking is 37.40% which is down from where it was earlier.  There is only one tournament that has not been included and that is the one that I did where I finished 9^th. 

Well, that is it for today.  I will try to post some more tonight or tomorrow morning again.  Thank you to those who are reading this.  When I check my stats, it is nice to see that people have viewed it.  Please feel free to leave any comments or questions and I will answer those that I see.  As always, may the Poker Gods smile upon your hands and your pots be large. 

Two Small Days

Monday was an interesting day of playing poker.  After completing some very idiotic homework for this math class that I am taking, I was able to start getting nto some poker games.  The first one I entered was a NAPL Free-roll Shootout SNG.  This is that one tournament that you can enter after you finish one.  It is also one that you can go all in without worrying about being out of the tournament since you can just go register for another one after you go out of the current one.  The first hand I had was 3h and 6s, which I folded.  The second hand was 2s and 5h which I folded.  The third one gave me Jh and Jc which I was able to win.  The fourth hand gave me Qc and Qd.  I took the other player all in thinking he was going to fold.  He called and showed nothing.  Then the river card was shown.  This gave him a flush and left me with a pair of queens.  This really screwed me out of the game and I finished 31^st out of 36.

The second tournament I entered was a single table sit and go, limit hold’em game with 9 players and a $1.20 buy in.  I ended up getting crappy hands that were so bad that I couldn’t even win with a pair of queens.  When I finally had the pair of queens I was beaten by three 2’s.  The only good thing I got out of this was 1.1 VPP.  I mean this game was so bad I will never do another one ever again.  It turned out that no one at this table even spoke a word of English.  Everytime I was the big blind, someone would go all in against me to make me fold.  For all I know they could have been saying to target me and get me out of the game.  I was very upset with the outcome of this game.  I also came to the conclusion that limit games suck.  I do not think that you can bluff or even steal a pot due to a limit being set on how much one can bet.  There were a number of hands that I could have pushed the other player out but I couldn’t do it with a $20 increase on the bet.  I will never play a limit game ever again.

After that horrible experience, I bought into a NL Hold’em Fifty50 for $1.08.  This is one of those where first place to fifth place get paid $1.00 plus $0.03 for every $100 in chips that you have.  One of the hands I had was pocket Aces.  The other person had pocket sixes and landed the full house on the river.  Luckily I was still in the tournament.  After a few more crappy hands, the sixth player was finally taken out.  I finished with enough chips to come in fourth out of ten.  This gave me a $0.63 gain plus 0.44 VPP.  It was kind of sad since I only won five hands in the whole game.

The fourth one that I played was a sit and go tournament with a $1.20 buy-in.  It only had 9 players and the top three won some money.  Everyone also got 1.1 VPP.  I was not having a good time at this table.  I did not get very awesome hands and when I get K Q and push the other guy all in, I get taken out by a small pair of 5’s.  It turned out that I just had high card A.  What a disappointment this one was. With three loses and only one small win.  I decided to take a break and get something to eat.

The other day I had won a ticket to the NAPL USA Rookie Division tournament.  After killing time playing those other tournaments, this one finally started.  After the extended registration ended there were 4,290 players.  I started off to a great start by taking two other players all in and winning a big pot.  Then I started to get some bad hands and did a lot of folding.  The first break finally arrived and only 2,656 players remained.  After the break a few more players went out and I was not getting any great cards to play.  I went into a folding mode where I only saw maybe five or so flops.  I had a good size stack of chips going into the second break with 1.066 players left.  I was then moved to another table where I was the biggest stack.  I had another guy go all in and decided that I will call.  I had the pot won until the river card showed up and gave him the win.  I was not out of this tournament but I ended up down to only $2,000 in chips.  I started to get a bit more aggressive and was able to build my chips back up.  I actually had to do this twice due to trying to bluff and buy the pot.  We only needed 436 players to go out to get into winning some money.  Then the third break came.  This was the longest I have been alive in a tournament of this size in a long time.  I was doing very good and playing very disciplined and cautious.  There were only 465 players left at this break, which meant that anyone who goes out wins some money.  Anyone who went out got anywhere between $0.19 and $80.33.  I was starting to get a little tired and was not use to playing in one tournament for two and a half hours.  At the three hour mark, I ended up going out and finished 340^th place for a $0.24 gain.  The original buy in was ten cents but since I had a ticket for this, I did not pay anything to play in it.  Therefore I had 24 cents of profit.

I ended up finishing the day with 3.54 VPP for this month, and 62.70 for this year so far.  I do not think I will be able to make it to the next level this year but I will continue playing and see what happens.  I also received 3.66 FPP for the tournaments I played in but I also received 20 FPP for completing a survey.  I also just received another survey from Poker Stars and should be getting some more FPP.  My ranking on www.officialpokerrankings.com went down a little bit to 37.41.  I am still above my ranking for last year.  So, I am not too disappointed with my ranking.  I know that it will end up going up this week.

I will continue to play when I can but with working a few hours each day now, I do not know how many I will get to in any given day.  I have decided to write when I have done at least five tournaments.  This way I will make changes to my VPP, FPP, and rankings.  I will also try to write these prior to going to work.  As always may the Poker Gods smile on your hands and your pots be plentiful.

Sad Four Days with a Sad Super Bowl in Between

After getting some rest, and recharging my batteries for another week.  I finally have some time to get things updated.  I have not done very much posting since I have not been doing so magnificent plus I have not been playing that many games.  On Thursday I played a $0.10 tournament with 360 players.  It went okay and I finished 143rd out of 360.  So right about the middle of the field is where I ended that one.  This was also the only one I played on Thursday.  On Friday I only had time for one 10 cent tournament with 360 players.  This one went better than I expected and I finished 69^th out of 360 players.

On Saturday and Sunday, I was able to do a lot more.  It also was nice to have yesterday and today off.  On Saturday I was only able to play in three tournaments. Two of them had FPP buy-ins and I did not do so hot in either one.  The first one had a 2 FPP buy in and I finished 46^th out of 100 players.  The second one was a “Turbo Takedown Sat: 8+R FPP 2x Turbo”.  I finished 108^th in this one and do not remember how many players were in it to start with.  By playing in these two tournaments, I had zero FPPs left in my account.  To finish out my Saturday, I entered my usual 10 cent buy in with 360 players.  I really have not been having very much luck lately.  I finished 108^th out of 360.

On Super Bowl Sunday, I was able to do quite a few tournaments.  I did 3 tournaments with $0.55 buy-ins and 45 players with finishing 21^st, 43^rd, and 33^rd.  It looked like this was not my weekend for winning.  I then did my old standby tournaments with $0.10 buy-ins and 360 players.  The first and last ones did not go to well.  I finished 252^nd, and 277^th.  The third one put me 87^th out of 360 with no significant hands to talk about.

I then entered into the NAPT LA Sat Free-roll.  This is one that I did last week trying to attain a ticket to the next round for a chance at $8,000.  There were over 7 thousand players registered and I lasted to 4,345^th.  The next one exceeded my expectation.  It was the NAPL Nightly $500 free-roll with 9,234 players.  I needed to make it 1,126 to win a Rookie Division Ticket and $0.10.  Things were going pretty well up to the first break.  After the first break, I started to lose and folded a lot of hands.  I was able to hang in there long enough to finish 1,061^st and won a Rookie Division Ticket and $0.10.

Feeling pretty good about that, but distraught over the result of the Super Bowl, I entered my usual tournament for 10 cent buy in and 360 players.  With being upset, I did not play very well.  I ended up going out pretty quick and finished 277^th.  With that being the end of my real money, I entered into the NAPL Shootout Free-roll and finished 5^th out of 36 players.

This morning I started out with a couple of those NAPL Shootout SNG tournaments with 36 players.  I finished 2^nd in one of them and 9^th on the second one.  I then took a break from poker to take care of some homework for the math class I am in and also to catch up with some friends on Facebook.  I also wanted to “clean” my Facebook page from all of those crazy Green “Gay” Packers fan posts.  Now we have to spend the next year hearing about Rodgers and how he is such a “great” QB.  In my opinion, He would not be so good without the Offensive Line in front of him giving him the time to make any type of passes like he has.  Next year will be different and they will not bet the Bears again in the playoff.  I only have one message for all of those fans, Wait till next year when every team is gunning to beat you.  As you can tell I am not a fan of Green “Gay”.  I have been a Chicago fan all my life and will NEVER rout for the packers, EVER.

To get back on topic here, I have improved my ranking to 38.88%.  I was up to 39% a few days ago but I ended up going down due to the games I played on Sunday.  With getting into the swing of working again, I am going to try to post more and also to include more about each tournament.  As always may the Poker Gods smile on your cards and let your pots be large.

Day Two of Free-roll Tournaments: Part two

I want to start by apologizing for not making this post sooner.  I have started a new part-time job that has taken up more time then I had thought.  With that said, it is on to the second day of the "Free-roll Week".

I started the day with five NAPL Shootout SNGs.  I finished 16th, 34th, 17th, 2nd, and 25th.  The one in which I finished 34th started just as fast as it ended.  I had pocket Ks and went all in only to be beat by a full house consisting of 8s and 3s.  I then bought into a tournament with 4,934 players for only 20 FPP just to finish 1230th.  Then I switched to a couple NAPL Shootout SNGs to finished 35th and 5th.  I then played in one of The Big Game Round 1 Qualifier with 4,191 players just to finish 2595th.

After that I did three more of the NAPL Shootout SNGs and finished 25th, 10th, and 18th.  I reallly was not having very much luck with these.  I then entered into the NAPT Free-roll for LA with 10,000 players just to finish 8,492.  The next two of these tournaments had me finishing 2324th and 7,337th.  I also played in two more Big Game tournaments with 5,000 players.  I finished 2,884th and 2483rd.  I was not having a good day with these.  I was at least prevent any lose in real money by doing these tournaments.  I did two more NAPL Shootouts which had me out just as quickly as they started.  I did manage to make it to the final table for the last one I did on Tuesday.

I was unable to do very much playing this week since I was just so tired by the time I got around to having the energy to do anything else.  I spent most nights with my wife showing her some attention and going for walks with her.  I have been able to play a couple more tournaments which I will be posting about tomorrow.  I have been able to improve my ranking on the poker rankings web site with a 39.61% ranking.  My FPP is down to 8 since I have played two tournaments that have required FPPs.  My VPP have not changed this week since I have not played any tournaments that do not add VPPs to my account.

I hope that you are enjoying reading about my results and what I think about them.  Stay tuned for more about the last few days, which should be posted tomorrow.  As always may the Poker Gods smile on your hands.

Day One and Day Two of Free-roll tournaments: PART 1

With my current situation I have decided to do a week of free-roll tournaments.  A free-roll tournament is one that is free to enter into as long as there is a sit for you.  There are three types of free-roll tournaments taht I have played in the last two days.  One of them is the NAPL Free-roll Shootout SNG tournaments that if you win, you receive a ticket into the NAPL Rookie Division tournament.  The next one that I have been playing in is the NAPT Los Angeles Sat for a ticket into the next round and a chance to win $7,000 for a buy in and hotel plus another $1,000 for expenses to play in a main event in LA.  That would be a very cool tournament for me to get into since I live only a few hours away.  The other one is The Big Game Round 1 Qualifier.  The top 300 players get a ticket into the round 2 qualifier.  If you win that you get a ticket into a final event that will then invite you to make a video of yourself saying why you should be selected to play in The Big Game Main Event in Vegas that will be televised.  With that said, on to the results.  I am going to make a lot of them short since I did not win and they were multiple tournaments that are the same.

On monday I did six NAPL Free-roll Shootout SNG tournaments and finished 28th, 31, 26, 17, 24, and 5th out of 36 players.  There was only one time that I made it to the final table.  These ones are fun to play because you get people going all in with the craziest hands.  But I did not win any of them.  The next one after that was the NAPT LA Free-roll that had 10,000 players in it.  I did not do well and finished in the 7,000s some where.  I then played in The Big Game Round 1 Qualifier which had 5,000 players in it.  I made it to the first break with just over 2,000 players left in the game.  After the break, I went down hill.  I finished this one 1,569th.  Then I did another string of the Shootout SNGs.  I finished 25th in the first one of this string.  On the next one I had pocket 8s on the first hand of this one and everyone called all in.  This is not a surprise and it happens more then you would think.  I did not have the winning hand and finished 32nd.  The next two had me finsihing 13th and 34th.

I then went back to The Big Game and on the first hand I got suckered out of half my chips.  This was not a good game for me.  After losing half, I was struggling to hang on and fninshed 1,432nd.  The next was the LA Free-roll in which I finsihed 2,,874th.  Back to the Big Game with only 3,921 registered to play, I finsihed 1,435th.  I then finished the night with a ten cent buy in with 360 players.  I ended up finisheing 14th which was very lucky since I was all in with weak hands a few times and gaind 30 cents.  This had me finishing the day with playing in 16 tournaments.

Free Roll Weekend

This past weekend started out pretty interesting.  Saturday was a day of ups and downs.  Unfortunately, I ended up losing all of the information for those tournaments.  That really sucks because I do not remember all of them that I had played in and the sites that usually keep track of the results does not track games that have less than 36 players or that is a free roll game.  I had done four tournaments that day three of which were free roll games.  A free roll game is a game that does not cost anything to buy into.  All you have to do is register and play in the tournament.  There is one that I could pull up the results from and that is a NL Hold'em tournament with a $0.55 buy in and 90 total players in it.  I ended up finishing 18th in this tournament and was six places away from getting any prize money.

Sunday
On this day I decided to do my usual tournaments, starting with the Facebook Poker League Free-roll.  There were over 5,000 players registered with only 250 players being able to get a ticket into another Facebook Poker Leaugue Tournament.  Things started out extremely slow for me.  I had a lot of bad hands that I folded.  I then had pocket Ks and with the flop had three of a kind.  Not noticing the possible flush, I pushed all in and was called.  The other player had the flush and the win.  This lose set me up with a very small stack that I could not do anything with and went out.  I finished 3,221 out of over 5,000 players.

The next two that I did both were $0.10 buy ins with 360 players.  On the first one I ended up on that slippery slop that takes you out very fast if you are not careful.  I spent a lot of this one folding almost every hand.  This kept me in the game until there were just 141 players left and that is where I went out.  The second one was no different and was another bad game for me.  I finished 298th and that was the fastest I went out of one of these since I started to play them.

The next one was a Fifty50 tournament with ten players for $1.08 buy in.  I had A 4 twice in a row during this tournament but it was not good enough and I finished 7th.  As you can see, I was having a bad weekend here.  I switched over to a 10 cent tournaments with over 7,000 players.  Which with the luck I have been having, knocked me out at 4,913th.  I did not even make it half way through this one.  I then decided to play a tournament with less player and bought into a 25 cent tournament with 45 players.  This is one that I can usually place in the money with.  Nope, not today.  The Poker Gods hate me this past weekend.  I finished 26 out of 45 which really sucked.

I then did another 10 cent tournament with 360 players again.  I had a pair of Qs and decided to go all in when I was called.  There were two tens on the table with an 8.  When I saw what the other player had I knew today was not my day.  I decided to do some free-roll games for the rest of the day.  With losing the tournaments and results for all of the free-roll, I will just say that it did not go well and I was happy that I was not playing for real money.  The two that I did a bunch of tournaments with were the NAPL Free-roll Shootout SNG.  These are tournaments that the winner gets a ticket into the NAPL Rookie Division tournament.  There are usually a lot of "all-in" during these so I was able to play about ten of them.  these are fun because you can go all in, lose, register for the next one, etc., without fear of losing any money.  Chances are you will end up hitting a winning streak and win that ticket to the next game.  I did manage to finish 14, 29, 3rd, and 4th for four of them that I played in.  Also these tournaments are not tracked by Official Poker Rankings website.

I also did a few The Big Game Round 1 Qualifier Free-roll which gives the top 300 players a ticket into the next round with eventually playing for a spot on The Loose Cannon show that will be filming in a few months. I figure I am going to give it a shot.  The round 1 qualifier is free so I figure I have nothing to lose.  After doing a bunch of those tournaments I decided to buy into a tournament for 3 FPP that had 333 players.  Turns out that was a bad idea.  I ended up finishing 266th and that ended my weekend of play.

I am happy to say that my ranking on the Offical Poker Rankings website has increased.  I am now at 35.45% and have just under 60 VPP and just over 30 FPP.  I still have a ways to go to get all three of these up but at least I am moving in the right direction for the most part.  Now if only I can get my play money and real money accounts to move up instead of down, I would be in great shape.  With that being said, it is time to move on with this Monday and see what happens.  Hopefully I will be able to do a couple tournaments today.  I was just asked to give my wife a ride and in order to prevent an argument, I am giving her a ride to wherever she wants to go like a good husband should.  As always feel free to leave any comments, questions, or suggestions that you might have.  Till next time, may the Poker Gods smile upon the hands that you play.

Badugi and The Rest of the Tourneys

The past week has been pretty hard on my account.  I have not been getting the hands that I use to get.  The first tournament that I played was $1.10 buy in with ten players.  I ended up with nothing but crappy hands and finished last.  Then I entered into another one with the same buy in.  I had J Q and A 9 two times in a row.  I finished this one in the money some how for a $0.90 cent gain.  After that I decided to enter into a tournament with a $0.25 buy in and 45 players.  I ended up going all in on the turn with just one card away from a flush.  The player that called had a pair of Qs and Js.  I finished 16 out of 45 on this one with no money being won.

I then entered into another tournament with ten players for $1.10 buy in.  This is the one I usually play in and win some money but this time I finished 7th, which won zero money.  I then entered into a tournament for $0.55 buy in and 90 players.  This one went okay.  Nothing amazing or surprising happened and I finished 18 out of 18 out of 90.  The next one I did was a Fifty50 with $1.08 buy in and ten players.  I ended up finishing one place out of the money.  I went all in and was called when I should have folded and let someone else get taken out.  I did another one of these and just made it in at 5th for an 18 cent gain.  I decided to do one more of these and finished 7th.  With how late it was getting I decided that I was finished for the night and went to bed.

Saturday

When I got up I was not sure what tournament I should play in.  I took my wife to the BART station so that she could go to a street fair in the city and knew that I only had a couple hours before I would be picking her up.  So I was looking on Bluff Magazines website when I came across their rules section.  I was looking at the categories and on of them was Badugi.  So I decided to click on it and read how to play it.  Over the past month, I have been thinking about trying a new game to change things up a little bit.  After reading the rules and the hand rankings, I thought I would give it a shot with some play money.  So I found a table that was play money and took a seat with a $400 play money buy in.  This was a fast passed table and I was not ready for that.  Before I knew it I had lost all $400 in play money.  I decided to give it another shot since it was not real money I was playing with.  The second buy in was for another $400 in play money and I left the table with the first $400 back along with a $85 gain in my play money.

It is not that hard of a game.  I think the hardest part of Badugi is getting use to the betting and that the best hand you can possibly have is A 2 3 4.  It felt a little weird playing a game where you only get four cards and are trying to get the lowest hand with all four cards.  If you have cards of the same suit, it only counts as the lowest card.  If you have two cards that are the same value, it only equals that value once.  Over all, it was an interesting game and I probably will play it again but only with play money.  With how fast the pot grew, I would not think about playing for real money.

After that little experiment, I went back to Texas Hold'em.  I entered into a $530 play money tournament with four players.  I finished last in this one due to overall bad hands.  I decided to do the same play money tournament and finished 2nd, which did not win any play money.  In this one the winner is the only player to get any play money.  The next tournaments was a $0.10 buy in 360 player tournament.  This was also the last one I did for the day.  I had some very lucky hands that should have taken me out of the tournament but I was very lucky.  Not only did I make it to the final table but I finished 8th out of 360 and took an $0.80 gain.  I also saved part of my stats for this tournament.  During this tournament I was dealt 93 hands and saw the flop:
 - 8 out of 12 times while in big blind (66%)
 - 5 out of 13 times while in small blind (38%)
 - 14 out of 68 times in other positions (20%)
 - a total of 27 out of 93 (29%)

As you can see, if you want to place high in these tournaments sometimes it is best to fold till you get some good cards.  Look at how many times I saw the flop when I was not the big or small blind, only 20% of the time.  It was a good time to go out of the tournament since shortly after I had to go pick up my wife from the BART station.  Another thing that I came across on Bluff magazines website was some player rankings.  If you want to check out where I rank you can go there or toOfficial Poker Rankings and search for 1&only696 to find out how I am doing with these tournaments.  Right now on Official Poker Rankings, I have a ranking of 34.80%, which is up from last years rankings.  Not by much but it is still a little higher.  In order to have another star I have to get up to 55%.  I also have 32.68 in Frequent Player Points and 58.72 in VPP.  I was trying to have my VPP reach 100 by the end of the month but with the month ending on Tuesday, I do not think I will be able to make my goal of 100.  I think I am going to change my goal to 60 VPP in a month since that seems like a more reachable number.  I am currently at the Bronze Star level and need to reach 750 VPP to make it to the Silver Star level.  I can only wait and see what will happen.

As always please feel free to leave any comments or questions that you might have.  May the Poker Gods smile upon your cards each and every day, and may Lady Lucky help you in any tournaments you may play in.

Weird Two Days

With having prior engagements on Wednesday, I was not able to play any tournaments until after 2000 (8 PM for those who don't know military time).  The first one I played in had a $1.10 buy in with ten players.  I started with some bad cards and kept getting bad cards until I ended up with pocket Qs.  So I started to bet against the other guy raising the amount after the flop and turn cards.  I finally went all in and the other player called.  It turned out he had A 8 of suit.  There was an 8 on the table and I knew that with my Qs, I won as long as an A didn't show up on the river.  But an A did show up on the river and he beat me which made me finish 8th out of 10.

The next tournaments was one of those new Fifty50 tournaments with 10 players for $1.08 buy in.  This one went just like the first one.  I ended up suckered by the other player due to the way he was slow playing me and just calling everything I did.  So I decided to try and scare him out after all I had three 7s and a J kicker.  Well, that did not work at all, he called me.  When his cards flipped over, I saw that he had three jacks for a full house against my three 7s.  I was out again.  What a crappy end to my overall good day.

The third one was the same style game and I won't even talk about that one due to being screwed over by the river card.  I have lost so many hands by the river card that it isn't even worth talking about.  After these three loses I decided to do a play money tournament with six players and a $215 play money buy in.  This started out slow but then I picked up some momentum and took out three players, two of them with the same hand.  It finally came down to three of players left.  The one took out the third player and we were in heads up.  I knew I was going to at least get $420 in play money and was happy with that.  Deciding that it needed to end I started to go all in every hand.  Finally the other player calls and he ends up beating me.  I did not really care that he beat me that hand since my luck before this was really crappy and I was just satisfied with finishing in the money.

With this one under my belt and feeling pretty good about the cards I was getting.  I entered a 25 cent NL Hold'em with 45 players to call it a night.  It started out slow but then I started to get some winning hands.  I took out this one player who got upset and started to say how it was bullshit that I bet him with the river card.  He was saying how I didn't know what I was doing and that in real play I never would have beat him and was just being a very sore loser over losing 25 cents.  Folks, if you are going to play for any amount of real money please remember one thing.  Texas Hold'em Poker or any type of poker is gambling.  If you are not willing to lose some money when going through the process of winning some money then do not play the game for real money.  Stick to the play money tables.  I am not a proffessional poker player and I know that this is a form of gambling and I am willing to lose my buy in.  I might not like it and if I am taken out by a bullshit hand.  All I do is say "wow, what bullshit".  Then I leave the table.  Sometimes I don't even type anything in the chat box and just leave the table.  That is so much better and I think other players will take you seriously if you do something like that and just leave the table rather then try to say bad things about another player.  If that guy is reading this, sorry, shit happens, move on.

Anyways to get back on topic with that tournament.  It was getting late and I was getting tired.  I managed to last into the money and was happy with that.  It finally got down to myself and two other players.  With how tired I was and how late it was getting, I started to go all in just about every hand.  I typed in the chat box that I was getting tired and that it had been a good game and good luck to both of them.  That is when I was taken out by a better pair of cards.  I finally finished third with a $1.60 gain which made me happy.  I finished the day with winning back some of the money I lost that night and finished with a 31.66% ranking on official poker rankings.

Thursday


With that great finish the other night, I decided to start my day with that same tournament, 25 cent buy in with 45 players.  This one did not last long and I ended up playing a hand that I should have folded but instead went all in.  I had A 10.  It turned out that he had pocket Ks.  The flop came and it gave me nothing.  He checked to me and I bet the pot thinking I could get him to fold.  Nope, I was wrong.  He called my bet and raised twice the amount that I bet.  At this point I should have folded but instead I called.  The next card did not help me.  I decided to try and scare him out of the hand by going all in.  Bad mistake.  I already said I should have folded and I was right.  He called me and that is when I saw his Ks and knew I had lost and was done with this one.  I finished 38th out of 45.  What a bummer.  I entered into the same type of tournament and that one did not go well either.  I finished 30th out of 45.

I entered into another 25 cent NL Hold'em tournament with 45 players again.  Things started out slow with a lot of crappy hands.  I looked at my stats for the tournament and saw that I was only playing 29% of the hands dealt with me.  A couple hours went by and I was getting hungry.  It was already 1245 and I had not eaten anything all day.  I got down to the final two table and decided to hurry it along by playing more aggressively.  So I decided to go all in with pocket 5s hoping to either take out three players or to go out myself.  At this point I was hungry and happy with where I would place should I end up losing this hand.  Only one player called and they beat me by a Q that showed up on the turn.  I finished 11th out of 45 on this one and that was the end of the day for me.  I also moved up in the rankings on Official Poker Rankings and am now at 34.39%.

I had made plans earlier in the week to go to a cigar tasting that was promoting the new Gloria Cubano Series N cigar.  I must admit that I really enjoyed that cigar but by the time I got home from the tasting it was close to 2200 (10:00) and I was kind of tired.  I knew that if I entered another one, I would not finish it till after midnight.  With not wanting to be up that late again, I decided to watch a little TV with my wife and go to bed.  Today I will do at least five tournaments and hopefully finish with enough time to do another post.  Please feel free to leave any comments or questions that you might have.  Any input is appreciated. I am now on Blog Directory and can be found when you type in the title in the search box.  You can also leave comments there.  And as always, may the Poker Gods smile upon your cards.

Monday and Tuesday, A Disappointment

I have come to a decision about my blog here.  And it is that I will only write it after having played in ten tournaments or more.  The first part is going to cover Mondays tournaments and the second will cover yesterdays tournaments.  The reason for this is due to starting a new job and not having as much time to do this and homework for my degree.  I don't even know if anyone cares due to no one making comments on it or anything.  With that said, on to the type of days I have had lately.

The first two that I did had a ten cent buy in with 360 players.  The first one started me off with pocket aces.  Not bad I thought, maybe this will be a good day for me.  The flop came with two aces and another card.  this gave me four aces!  Wow, what a hand I thought.  Sadly no one was betting and when I bet the pot the other guy folded.  That has to be the best hand I have seen this year.  Yeah I have seen straights, and flushes but I had never seen four aces show up like that.  Sadly, it did not last long and I finished 71 out of 360.  Still not a bad placement for playing with 360 players  The second one I did was pretty boring.  There were no really big hands or anything and I finished 97th out of 360.  In the second one I did see four of a kind again but it was possibly the lowest four of a kind ever, four 2s.  Wow, what a hand.  After those two ending out of the money, I decided to enter a 6 player tournament with only six players for $1.20 buy in.  I ended up finishing 5th over all.  After finishing this single table sit and go tournament, I took a break and spent some time with my wife.  We enjoyed a nice little walk and did a lot of talking about her work and some other things.

After that, I did two more ten cent buy in tournaments that did not go well at all.  What a disappointing day. I did a few more on Tuesday that were just as bad.  I have thought about not writing about my days playing poker but have decided that the only way I am going to get better is to really think about each tournament and see where I went wrong that caused me to go out of the tournaments.  So the first one I did on Tuesday was a $1.11 buy in Fifty50 single table sit and go tournament.  I was take out of this one when I had a pair of fours and fives.  I didn't even think about the possibilities of a full house that the other player had and tried to push him out.  Bad move on my part.  He called and I was done with that one.  It seems that whenever I think I have the winning hand I end up making the mistake by not thinking about what the other possible hands that other players could have.  I think that is my down fall throughout all of these tournaments.

The next one was a twenty-five cent buy in with 90 players in which I finished 33rd in.  Mostly due to folding just about every hand until the blinds got too high for me to continue.  After that I thought I would try my hand at a 9 player tournament where only the top three get paid anything.  It had a $3.40 buy in and is the highest buy in that I have ever done.  I ended up finishing fourth which was amazing considering that I did not get any good cards the entire game.  I then had to take a break to take care of some things and didn't get back to playing till after 7 pm.

After the break, I entered into two ten cent tournaments with 360 players.  I continued to get crappy hands and continued to fold all of them.  In the first one I finished 91 out of 360.  Not bad I thought considering the bad cards I have been getting.  In the second one I finished 128 out of 360 due to not realizing the full house when I had three Aces.  This seems to be a common theme of being taken out of a tournament.  I never notice the full house when I have three of a kind.  That is something I really need to fix if I am going to improve any.

With it getting late, I finished the night with two 25 cent tournaments with only 45 players.  On the first one I was taken out by a flush against my full house.  Damn, it got me again.  This was about the fourth time in thirteen tournaments that this has happened.  What is wrong with me?  Why don't I see those coming?  I wonder if anyone else has a problem like that.  Anyway I finished 38 out of 45 in the first one.  In the second one I decided that I would not play anything that was not a pocket pair above ten or suited.  So what happens?  I get two Q's on the flop but I end up losing due to a K kicker that the other guy needed to beat me.  I ended this one 14 out of 45.

The good thing that I am noticing is that I am able to finish in the tournaments higher then I have been the beginning of the month.  If you look at www.officialpokerrankings

To Play on Weekends or Not to Play on Weekends

This last weekend I played in twenty tournaments.  Most of them were sit and go tournaments, but I did do some that had more then ten players.  The first one I did was a NL Hold'em with a $215 play money buy in with four players.  Only the player who finished first was awarded any play money and I came in second.  Even though I lost out on some play money, I felt pretty good about coming in second.  After that tournament, I went for my usual ten cent buy in, NL Hold'em with 360 players.  This did not go well.  After suffering a defeat with that one I decided to try a NL Holde'em knockout tournament with ten players.  With this one I finished fifth.  What a disappointment.  A tournament that I usually finish in the money and I finished with nothing.  Then I did another ten cent tournament with 360 players, which was another disappointment.

With three defeats already, I decided to play in the Facebook Poker League Tournament with over 5,000 players.  I ended up finishing 1,445th, which was better then the last one I played in.  Then I played a few more ten cent tournaments.  One of them I had pocket Ks and had a pair of 3s on the table.  The other player was "slow" playing and I didn't even think about a possible full house, which I should have.  I made such a stupid mistake on this one by taking him all in.  When I lost, I was in shock.  I couldn't believe that he had a full house.  The next ten cent tournament I played in went a lot better.  I was very lucky with the hands I ended up with and finished 22nd with a twenty cent gain.  The next one did not go as well and I finished without any gain, only a lose.

Then I noticed some "new" tournaments.  They are "Fifty50" with ten players and the buy in varies.  From reading some other players post, it seems like they have been around for a while but at a higher level of buy ins.  So I did one of them for $1.11 buy in and finished first for a $1.42 gain.  Pretty good for my first one.  I figured they were just like that one I usually do where the top five finishers get $2 in prize money but only a $0.90 gain.  So I did another one for $1.08 buy in and finished third for a $0.62 gain.  Still not bad, I thought.  I was two for two on these tournaments and felt pretty good.  With how good those two went I figured I would do another one.  Needless to say the next two I did had me finishing 8th and 7th.  What a downer.  

After suffering defeat two times in a row, I decided to play in another ten cent tournament with 360 players.  This one did not go well.  I went out very very very quickly.  I then started looking around at the other tournaments and came across the NAPL Nightly $500 free roll tournament with 10,000 players.  That did not last very long as I was in and out very quickly.  I started okay but then I got on a very slippery slop going down.  I then went back to the ten cent tournaments and was out on the first hand even though I had A 7.  Wow, what a disappointment.  I then went to play in the Facebook Poker League free roll tournament and that took me no where fast.

So After those defeats, I decided to go back tot he Fifty50 games.  I finished sixth, seventh (twice), and third for a $0.62 gain off a $1.11 buy in.  After making a deposit for the week, I decided to try my luck with a couple heads up games.  What a mistake that was.  I did not win any of them.  If you have the patience for it, great, you could win some money but the second you get impatient, forget it, you just lost.  then I did a couple more Fifty50 games and finished seventh on both of them.  I decided to forget about those games since they did nothing but drain my account.  So I think I will stay way from heads up and Fifty50 games for a little while.

The final tournament I played in was a ten cent buy in with 360 players.  There were a couple times that I almost went out but got lucky with winning some key pots to stay in the game  I think the key to these is to be patient and wait for good cards.   When you have the good cards, that is when you slow play the other players by just calling and not raising, re-raising, or initiating the bet.  I finished thirty-first and gained both the buy in and another ten cents.  It is not the best way to end the night but at least I went out in the money again.

On a side thought, I have been looking at the stats for this blog.  It went a whole day without anyone viewing it.  I am trying to come up with a way to draw more people to it.  If you have any ideas please let me know.  I am generally a pretty open person to criticism and take it with a grain of salt.  For those who are reading this, I say thank you and please feel free to leave a comment.  Also, I have noticed that since starting this whole adventure that I have been a little happier over all.  There is just something about doing this that has made me happy.  Even though I do not win a lot of the tournaments that I play in, at least I have a sense of doing something rather then just sitting around.  Well, till next time.  May the Poker Gods smile upon your cards.

Rough Week, Rough End

Today was kind of a bad day for me.  I started with the Facebook Poker League free roll tournament.  This tournament had over 7,000 players registered to it by the time registration ended.  Sadly, the "sucker" strategy did not work at all today.  I ended the Facebook Poker League tournament right about the middle.  After suffering defeat in that tournament I went into a sit and go tournament that had 360 players in it for a $0.10 buy in.  This started out okay but I ended up going out.  I competed in three more of these tournaments and non of them went well for me.  In the second one I got suckered into going all in with my A 10 off suit.  There were several other people at this table that also went all in with me.  I thought I had it but did not get the card that I needed and it ended.  On the third one, I realized that my "sucker" strategy was not working at all today and that I needed to change my strategy.  I am not even going to talk about the fourth one at all.

The fifth one of the day was a tournament with eight-teen players for $1.20 buy in.  I started out with poket 9s but sadly the poker gods were not helping me out today.  The hand that took me out was pocket Ks against A 10.  One would think that with pocket Ks, I won.  Nope, wrong, not just wrong but dead wrong.  It was a complete disappointment.  So moving on with five defeats down, I entered into a tournament for ten cents that had over 7,000 players in it.  I ended up finishing in the middle and done for the morning.  The thing that took me out on this one was a low end straight when I had three of a kind.  I got tunnel vision and did not notice it at all until it was too late.  What a stupid move.

So with my account dwindling to nothing, I entered into a couple two cent buy in tournaments with 990 players.  The first one started out okay and I ended up finishing 155th.  The second one ended as soon as it began.  I decided that I would try my luck with some heads up tournaments, two of them had four players for a $2.10 buy in and the other only had one other person for the same buy in as the other one.  None of these went well and I think I found an area that I need to work on.th same as before.  How good are you with heads up play?  What is the strategy that you use when it comes down to you and one other player?  Do you change your strategy or keep playing the same way?

I decided to do a couple play money tournaments and did not do so good in either of these.  So after the play money tournaments, I went back to a couple tournaments that I usually play in.  One of them was a knockout style tournament and I ended up finishing second and for a $2.70 gain.  It was a good way to end the day.  It is always nice when you finish your poker playing with some kind of gain.  I think I am going to go work on my heads up play for a little bit tonight and then call it a day.  Tomorrow is Sunday and is the day that I take a break from my daily poker playing update.  I have decided to start telling how much I have in my accounts each day so right now my account sits at a little over $3.00.  Please feel free to leave any comments, even if it is just to say you are reading it.  Thank you and as always may the Poker Gods smile upon your hands.  Also, check back for some changes that are coming up.

A Change in Strategy

Over all today was a good poker day for me.  I started with a nice breakfast and some good coffee.  Then I did a little reading of a poker magazine and there was one article that gave me the idea for a new strategy.  This strategy involved being a little bit more aggressive.  It seemed that the key to it was to pay attention to what everyone else is doing.  You can actual test the waters a little at the beginning of the tournament.  But if you are playing better players they might catch on to what you are doing and beat you to it.

If you look at how people are reacting pre-flop then you can decide if you can use this strategy or not.  If you notice that they fold when you raise pre-flop, you can actually win a lot pots by doing this.  At least during the Facebook Daily Tournament that had a $0.10 buy in, I was able to do this strategy quite successfully.  BUt when it started to get down to winning money, I was unable to execute this strategy successfully and ended up finishing in the money for $0.15.

However, this was not the first tournament that I tried this strategy.  I started the day with two of my usual tournament, the single table sit and go for $1.10 buy in and only ten players.  The strategy did not work too well for me but at least I started to get the hang of it a little bit more.  I think that this strategy and a little bit of patience and unpredictability with it can be very successful.

So after the Facebook Tournament, I entered into a tournament with 360 players for $0.10.  A combination of patience and the new strategy that I will call the "sucker" strategy, and I was on my way to the final table.  I had over $30,000 in chips at one point.  Then, as the players went out, I finally made it to the final table.  Getting a little excited as I watch my stack dwindle down from trying the "sucker" strategy.  Eventually, I started to get cards that I should not be trying this strategy with and went out in sixth place and $1.60 gain.  This actually saved me from having to deposit more money into my account.

With that gain under my belt, I decided to take a little break.  My wife was now home from work and wanted to take a walk with me to get some fresh air and to relieve some stress that she had from work.  I guess I should have asked just how much walking she wanted to do.  I was exhausted by the time we got back.  I think we ended up walking a few miles today.  Or at least that is what it felt like to me.

After catching my breath and rehydrating, I decided to enter another tournament with 360 players and a $0.10 buy in.  I started out okay with the "sucker" strategy but then I ended up getting distracted by a couple text messages and ended up going out very early on.  I really hate it when I get a text message or an email in the middle of a tournament.  I really needed to remember to put my phone on vibrate and then somewhere that I can not get to without sitting out a hand or two.  So I decided to enter a similar tournament.  Only this time I could not get the "sucker" strategy to work on anyone at the first table and ended up going out early again.  I entered a third and final one of the day with the same buy in and number of players.  I started to do okay but then half way through the tournament, I hit a dead spot with the cards.  It was sad to these last three end so quickly.

Todays lessons learned include the "sucker" strategy, and that you should not play if you are tired.  When you are tired your brain is not as quick or as sharp as when you are well rested.  So with the walk with my wife turning into an every day activity, I have decided that once I do that, I will not be playing any more for that day.  Have you ever tried playing poker when you are tired?  How did it turn out for you?

Well, that will do it for today.  If you have any questions about the "sucker" strategy, please let me know.  Do you have a specific strategy that you use when you play?  I would love to hear about them, if you are willing to give it up here.  As always, may the Poker Gods smile upon the hands you play.

Finish The Day With Victory

Today was just like the last few days.  At least tomorrow is Friday which means I made it through another week.  Right now I am having to make a deposit a little bit more then I would want to.  I think yesterday was as lousy as it was due to getting over the really atrocious day that I had.  I was feeling pretty good today.  I didn't get around to any tournaments till later this afternoon.  This was due to having to take care of a couple things first.  The first was faxing a job offer letter.  For those who know me, don't get excited.  It was an offer letter for a part time job and only if they need me.  Still, at least I am guaranteed a call if they need someone.  The second thing I had to do was some homework for my class which took what seemed like forever to complete.  Once it was completed I took care of one final thing before sitting back and starting some games.

I began with three of my usual single table sit and go tournaments.  I finished all three with only a $0.90 gain.  Kind of substandard isn't?  Throughout those tournaments I was getting some very atrocious hands.  Mostly cards like a five/nine or a two/three.  How are you suppose to actually call or even bet with cards like that? Seeing that I was one for three, I thought maybe I am winning every other tournament I play in today.  So I decided to buy into a tournament with 90 players, another one that I usually play.  I did not make it very far at all.  The only reason I lasted as long as I did was due to folding a lot.  But then maybe that is why I finished as soon as I did.

Then I decided to buy into a $1.75 tournament with 18 players.  I have done ones like this before and have come out with some prize money.  This one did not go so well either.  I ended up going out pretty quick.  With my account shrinking instead of growing, I decided to buy into another tournament for $0.10 that is another one I usually play.  Same problem.  I thought I had the better hand with my two pairs but lost to pocket aces.  The second one I entered for the same amount ended as quickly as it started.

Feeling kind of down on my luck, I bought into a tournament for $0.25 that had over a thousand players in it. I figured I could at least make it to the last five tables or so.  I was mistaken.  I kept getting really crappy cards and ended up out relatively quick.  I decided to do a couple tournaments that had 360 players.  The first one I ended up going out due to the other player getting a lucky river card.  That really made me upset.  was I going to lose everything I had in my account?  It sure felt that way.  The second one was not better either.  I went out half way through.

There were a lot of hands where everyone was folding whenever someone bets high or even bets the amount that is in the pot.  This makes me wonder if you can actually win a tournament by betting the pot or just betting high amounts.  Is it that people get scared when they see that person bet high or even go all in either before or after the flop?  I decided to try this out in the tournament that I played in.

This tournament had a $0.55 buy in.  I decided to test out the theory that people fold when you raise high before the flop or bet the pot amount.  This worked out okay for about five hands and then due to the crappy cards I was getting and the better cards the other players were getting.  They started to call by bets.  I ended up all in due to having a low amount left.  I was taken out by pocket aces.  So that kind of shot down my theory but not quite.  I think I need to experiment with it a bit more before I rule it out.  The second tournament I did with the same buy in I wound up being take out by a pair of 4s.

I recently read that if you can save your hands and review them, you can see what you did that was bad or good and would be able to adjust how you play and win more hands.  While review hands from this last one, I noticed that I was playing hands that I probably should not be playing and folding cards that I should. So I have decided that I need to go back to how I use to play.  That is, if I can remember how I use to play.  I have been attempting to use various strategies these last few days to try and get out of a rut.

So I decided to play one last tournament that I usually win at and actually came out with a $0.90 gain.  I figured this would be a good place to end my play for the day.  It is always nice to finish with a victory.  And with that may the Poker Gods smile upon your cards.

Streaks, Sitting out, and playing when upset

Yesterday was an interesting day.  After I had a pretty good winning streak, just as fast as it started the streak ended.  I played in a no limit holdem for $1.10 buy in that had nine players.  This game was in a "knockout" style.  That means that whenever someone is taken out of the game by another player, that player is credited $0.25.  This game was dragging on for what seemed like a lifetime.  I was doing okay and then I had pocket aces.  Thinking I couldn't lose, I started to slow play the other person who was still in with what turned out to have a high card and a nine.  I decided to go all in and didn't notice that he ended up with three nines after the flop.  I was so excited about having the aces that I ended up with blinders on and was not thinking straight.  So thinking I had won the hand I went all in.  He called and I lost.  What a way to go out.me.

Then I did a couple more $1.10 double or nothing tournament with 10 players.  I lost both of these games which made me unhappy.  That is when I decided to do a PCA Sat: 5+R FPP Mega-Path Round 1 tournament.  I thought things were going alright but was wrong.  I couldn't get a decent hand all game.  Realizing that I might be on a losing streak, I went all in and did not lose any money in that game.  FPP stands for Frequent Player Points.  On Poker Stars, you get FPP for various games that you play.

Realizing that I was showing signs of being on a losing streak, I decided to cut back on how much the buy in was for the next tournament.  I did a $0.55 buy in, no limit turbo tournament with 90 players.  In this game, I confirmed the losing streak that I was on and did not do that well.  If you would like to know where I placed please visit www.officalpokerrankings.com to view the results of these tournaments that have more then 36 players.  My screen name is 1&only696 for those who did not read the earlier post with my screen name.

Seeing this losing streak, I knew I had to break it or I would be out another $10 very quickly.  So I went for the old standby tournament.  The $1.10 buy in, double or nothing, single table tournament with 10 players.  With this being the third one for the day I knew I just had to do whatever it takes to break this streak I was on.   I am glade to say that I succeeded with breaking that streak and finished in the top five and a $0.90 addition to my account.  With how this one turned out I decided to do another one.  It was the same set up.  Play until there are only five players left and then it ends.

Before playing in this one, I took a little break for a few hours.  This was also the first one after taking a break but the fourth one of the day.  Things where moving along nicely until two people started sitting out.  I noticed they were sitting out after a player went out and finished ninth.  Then a few hands later and there was another person sitting out.  I mean what the hell are these people thinking.  I spent at least half an hour chatting to everyone about how stupid it was that they were sitting out.  I also realized that if they continued to sit out and everyone who was actually playing continued to play to win and take people out, then only two of us who were still playing could win in the top five and there were still five of us playing.  So after everyone else realized the same thing, we started to slow down our play.  Finally after about an hour or so, these three people who were sitting out were done.  Taken out by the blinds and antes.  Thank god for having big blinds that were $250 and an ante of $25.  I was able to finish this game with a $0.90 gain and a sign of the losing streaking ending.

With thinking my losing streak was over, I registered for a $1.10 buy in, double or nothing tournament with 10 players.  This one was going okay.  I was down to only needing one more person going out to finish in the money.  The poker gods had other plans for me and when I tried to take out someone with taking them all in, I lost.  What a shame.  Then I did two tournaments with 90 players that had a $1.10 buy in.  This tournament started out okay for me.  I ended up finishing twentieth for one of them and thirty-seventh on the other one.  I guess the losing streak was not over but taking a little break.

Today I had a meeting in the city to go to and did not get around to playing till a few hours ago.  The first one I did today was the usual $1.10 buy in, double or nothing tournament with ten players.  I ended up finishing seventh on this one.  I think I finished seventh due to being upset about the meeting that I had today.  There is another lesson to learn.  Never play when upset or angry.  I tend to try to take it out at the poker table, which I know I should not be trying to do.  I have said it before but I believe that patience is the key to winning at online poker.

After that tournament and with the realization of what I was trying to do, I entered another tournament that was the same buy in and the same number of players.  This one I took a little bit slower and finished in the top five to take a $0.90 gain.  This made me feel better about the past two days.  I have yet to decide if the losing streak is over or not.  After I went to the store with my wife to pick up something, I entered into a NAPL USA Rookie Division tournament that had over 3,000 players registered, with a $0.11 buy in.  There was a guaranteed prize pool of $500.  I figured what the hell.  This one would be one way to see if my losing streak had ended.  Sadly, I continued my streak of crappy hands and ended up finishing 2,007th.  I think I have done enough for the day and I think I will do a couple more tournaments that I tend to win.  It is good to have a tournament that you win more then you lose to try and build up some cash in your account.

I hope that tomorrow will bring better results.  As always may the Poker Gods smile upon every hand you play.  Feel free to leave any comments or thoughts.  I am open to ways to improve this and make it easier for people to follow.