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.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
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.
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.
Friday, January 28, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
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
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
Monday, January 24, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
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.
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.
Friday, January 21, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
A Good End to a Bad Start
Monday was an interesting day. It started by a few of my usual games. On the very first one I was sucked into going all-in. I had a possibility to get a flush so I didn't notice a possible full house on the table. I got caught up in the excitment of having a possible straight that I didn't even think of anyone being able to beat me with a better hand. Have you ever had that happen? It was not a nice feeling. I was happy that I had such a good hand just to be crushed.
So after that crushing defeat, I had a feeling of vengence in my head. I figured I would come back and do the same one again. Needless to say I did not get me revenge. I lost the next ten No Limit Hold'em that had a $0.10 buy in. Then I got on a very hot streak, winning a number of big hands. I was almost to the final table when I went on a losing streak. I started to get low cards or a high card with a 2 or 4 any suit. I really hate when this happens. It just really is a disappointing feeling to see a hot streak end. Don't you hate when that happens? For this one I ended up finishing 10th which meant I was given $0.40. So I got my buy in back plus $0.30. Not bad. That made me feel better about the previous loses for the day. After a break for a meal, I started to play some more games.
I did a couple more of those games, thinking that if I finished 10th once, maybe I could win the whole thing. Nope, I was wrong. I added a few more loses from the games with a $0.10 buy in. Then I switched to a game with a $0.25 buy in and didn't fair so well. With more defeats behind me, I decided to check out the single table games. One of the games I have played in the past is a No Limit Hold'em with a $1.20 or $1.75 buy in that was a knockout style game. These went very well for me. I won money from both of them which put be back over my $10 that was in my account. I was feeling good and a little adventurous so I decided to do some of the games that had a $1 or more buy in. I did very well on two of them. Winning one of them and finishing in the money on the second one I did. With those two games that gave me a gain on my account, I started to wonder if I should tempt faith and play another game. After eating dinner, I decided to go for it. I played another one that had 18 players. By the way both of the other ones I won also had 18 players.
The last one I did for the night did not go to well for me. I was almost out several times and was able to start making a come back. I made it to the final table some how. I think I made it to the final table by being very patient and conservative with every hand. If I was giving off suit or low cards I would fold. It really is the only thing you can do to survive when you are the small stack at any table. Don't you think it is important to play with a sense of caution when you are the small stack? I sure do. So it got down to 8 players left and only the top six recieved any money. I figured that I might as well try to build up a stack again and went all in. I do not remember the cards but with the blinds being up to $1,000 and $1,200, I needed more chips or I was going to go out when I had the either blinds. So I go all in hoping that every folds. Nope, did not happen. I was called by the chip leader and ended up losing. That ended the game for me. I was not surprised but I did end the night with a $4.64.
With that said, I am off to have some lunch and then I will see what the cards hold for me. If you are wondering why some of my winnings are not recorded on www.officialpokerrankings.com, it is due to their policy of only tracking tournaments with more than 36 players. Some of them are on there if you want to track how I am doing throughout the year but keep in mind that some of them are not there. Please feel free to comment or ask any questions that you may have. Also feel free to click on any links on here. Thank you and may the Poker Gods smile upon every hand you play.
Search Amazon.com for poker
Every Hand Revealed
Every Hand Revealed
Kill Everyone: Advanced Strategies for No-Limit Hold 'Em Poker, Tournaments, and Sit-n-Gos: Revised and Expanded Edition (Gambling Theories Methods)
Platinum Edition Table Top Poker Tabletop
Every home game needs one of these: Casino 6-Deck Automatic Card Shuffler
The Poker Mindset: Essential Attitudes for Poker Success
The Little Black Book of Poker
So after that crushing defeat, I had a feeling of vengence in my head. I figured I would come back and do the same one again. Needless to say I did not get me revenge. I lost the next ten No Limit Hold'em that had a $0.10 buy in. Then I got on a very hot streak, winning a number of big hands. I was almost to the final table when I went on a losing streak. I started to get low cards or a high card with a 2 or 4 any suit. I really hate when this happens. It just really is a disappointing feeling to see a hot streak end. Don't you hate when that happens? For this one I ended up finishing 10th which meant I was given $0.40. So I got my buy in back plus $0.30. Not bad. That made me feel better about the previous loses for the day. After a break for a meal, I started to play some more games.
I did a couple more of those games, thinking that if I finished 10th once, maybe I could win the whole thing. Nope, I was wrong. I added a few more loses from the games with a $0.10 buy in. Then I switched to a game with a $0.25 buy in and didn't fair so well. With more defeats behind me, I decided to check out the single table games. One of the games I have played in the past is a No Limit Hold'em with a $1.20 or $1.75 buy in that was a knockout style game. These went very well for me. I won money from both of them which put be back over my $10 that was in my account. I was feeling good and a little adventurous so I decided to do some of the games that had a $1 or more buy in. I did very well on two of them. Winning one of them and finishing in the money on the second one I did. With those two games that gave me a gain on my account, I started to wonder if I should tempt faith and play another game. After eating dinner, I decided to go for it. I played another one that had 18 players. By the way both of the other ones I won also had 18 players.
The last one I did for the night did not go to well for me. I was almost out several times and was able to start making a come back. I made it to the final table some how. I think I made it to the final table by being very patient and conservative with every hand. If I was giving off suit or low cards I would fold. It really is the only thing you can do to survive when you are the small stack at any table. Don't you think it is important to play with a sense of caution when you are the small stack? I sure do. So it got down to 8 players left and only the top six recieved any money. I figured that I might as well try to build up a stack again and went all in. I do not remember the cards but with the blinds being up to $1,000 and $1,200, I needed more chips or I was going to go out when I had the either blinds. So I go all in hoping that every folds. Nope, did not happen. I was called by the chip leader and ended up losing. That ended the game for me. I was not surprised but I did end the night with a $4.64.
With that said, I am off to have some lunch and then I will see what the cards hold for me. If you are wondering why some of my winnings are not recorded on www.officialpokerrankings.com, it is due to their policy of only tracking tournaments with more than 36 players. Some of them are on there if you want to track how I am doing throughout the year but keep in mind that some of them are not there. Please feel free to comment or ask any questions that you may have. Also feel free to click on any links on here. Thank you and may the Poker Gods smile upon every hand you play.
Search Amazon.com for poker
Every Hand Revealed
Every Hand RevealedKill Everyone: Advanced Strategies for No-Limit Hold 'Em Poker, Tournaments, and Sit-n-Gos: Revised and Expanded Edition (Gambling Theories Methods)
Platinum Edition Table Top Poker Tabletop
Every home game needs one of these: Casino 6-Deck Automatic Card Shuffler
The Poker Mindset: Essential Attitudes for Poker Success
The Little Black Book of Poker
Monday, January 17, 2011
Sad day of poker
I want to start by apologizing for not posting anything yesterday. It wasn't that I didn't play, but that I had some other things that I needed to take care of. Also, I started doing better in some of the other tournaments that had more then 90 players in them. The first game I played was a No Limit with a $0.25 buy in and 90 players. It started out quite nicely for me and I ended up with a nice lead by taking two players all-in and winning the pot. Later when we were almost half way through the tournament, I had an Ace and figured that I would go all in to try to create a bigger chip stack. When the flop came I had a pair of aces. I thought "alright, I am going to win this one". Boy was I wrong. It turned out the player who called me had pocket aces and beat me with a full house against my two pairs. I finished 47th out of 90.
After that lose, I broke one of the best rules about playing poker. I got emotional about that lose and was very upset and disappointed with that lose. I decided that in order to feel better I would go and play a game that I usually win, single table sit and go with 10 players. During this one I ended up breaking my own rule. I got in a rush to finish this one and win back what I had lost. I lost my patience for this game and lost the $1.10 buy-in.
I decided to play some other games. One was a NL Hold'em for $0.02 buy in. This one I lost when I was taken out by three aces and a pair of 9s when I had three nines Jack. With seeing the streak I was on, I decided to play some of the NAPL Freerol Shootout SNG that had a free buy in. I do these once to have a little fun with going all in and letting the cards land were they may. I played five of these free-roll shootouts and won zero of them. It was fun just to watch what happens and to see how players react to someone going all in.
After about thirty minutes of doing those, I was bored of them and said enough for today. I decided to do a "play" money no limit game with a buy-in of 215 in play money. I did not do so well with this either. I do not remember what place I finished but I did not win anything from it. Then I had to go do some things with my wife. That took a couple hours and when I got home, I felt that my head was now clear and I figured I would try my luck again.
I decided to play a $0.25 cent No Limit Hold'em game with 90 players. This one went pretty well and I finished just at the top 1/3. After that I went back to my usual single table game and won $0.90. After another short break I started playing the following hands had as you can see, had little to no luck with each of them.
If you would like to see where I ranked on these hands visit: http://www.officialpokerrankings.com/pokerstars/player/poker/results/5AD2144F89CF452EA7ED72A37F7F4F3C.html?t=2
After those I did a couple more of the single table games but lost. I have had a bad weekend and hope that this week goes a lot better for me. I also found out that Poker Stars now offers a thing called "Home Games". Here is an explanation from Poker Stars as to what it is.
From looking at these it seems like they added a section that allows the average play, like me, to create, host, and play in their own tournament. I think this is a great idea that they had. I have played home games with friends every now and then and the hardest thing is increasing blinds to make the game end. The last one I played in, I had to leave after going out of the game. It turned out that another person had to call it quits to go home and attend to some other matters. With Poker Stars allowing this, there is no need to go to someones house, or to figure out the value of chips. Also, it seems that if someone else wanted to join late, you don't have to worry about having enough chips for that person. Pretty good idea? Let me know what you think.
Well, I haven't played any games today so I must get going and get some hands in today so I have something to write about tomorrow. As always my the Poker Gods smile upon you and your cards.
Check out the following links:
Magazine Subscription *BLUFF-The Thrill of Poker* Magazine: 1 Yr/ 12 Issues
3 in 1 Texas Hold'em Table Top (Poker/Craps/Blackjack)
Kill Everyone: Advanced Strategies for No-Limit Hold 'Em Poker, Tournaments, and Sit-n-Gos: Revised and Expanded Edition (Gambling Theories Methods)
After that lose, I broke one of the best rules about playing poker. I got emotional about that lose and was very upset and disappointed with that lose. I decided that in order to feel better I would go and play a game that I usually win, single table sit and go with 10 players. During this one I ended up breaking my own rule. I got in a rush to finish this one and win back what I had lost. I lost my patience for this game and lost the $1.10 buy-in.
I decided to play some other games. One was a NL Hold'em for $0.02 buy in. This one I lost when I was taken out by three aces and a pair of 9s when I had three nines Jack. With seeing the streak I was on, I decided to play some of the NAPL Freerol Shootout SNG that had a free buy in. I do these once to have a little fun with going all in and letting the cards land were they may. I played five of these free-roll shootouts and won zero of them. It was fun just to watch what happens and to see how players react to someone going all in.
After about thirty minutes of doing those, I was bored of them and said enough for today. I decided to do a "play" money no limit game with a buy-in of 215 in play money. I did not do so well with this either. I do not remember what place I finished but I did not win anything from it. Then I had to go do some things with my wife. That took a couple hours and when I got home, I felt that my head was now clear and I figured I would try my luck again.
I decided to play a $0.25 cent No Limit Hold'em game with 90 players. This one went pretty well and I finished just at the top 1/3. After that I went back to my usual single table game and won $0.90. After another short break I started playing the following hands had as you can see, had little to no luck with each of them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you would like to see where I ranked on these hands visit: http://www.officialpokerrankings.com/pokerstars/player/poker/results/5AD2144F89CF452EA7ED72A37F7F4F3C.html?t=2
After those I did a couple more of the single table games but lost. I have had a bad weekend and hope that this week goes a lot better for me. I also found out that Poker Stars now offers a thing called "Home Games". Here is an explanation from Poker Stars as to what it is.
STARTING A POKER CLUB
Home Games lets you create your own private online poker club. You decide who can join, and your club can have up to 50 members. Every member can access your club’s private lobby in the PokerStars game software.
START YOUR CLUB NOW!
START YOUR CLUB NOW!
JOINING A POKER CLUB
Received an invitation to join a Poker Club? Simply click the ‘Join a Poker Club’ button in the PokerStars Home Games lobby. If you don’t already have it download the free PokerStars software now.
JOIN A CLUB NOW!
JOIN A CLUB NOW!
Home Game Features
From looking at these it seems like they added a section that allows the average play, like me, to create, host, and play in their own tournament. I think this is a great idea that they had. I have played home games with friends every now and then and the hardest thing is increasing blinds to make the game end. The last one I played in, I had to leave after going out of the game. It turned out that another person had to call it quits to go home and attend to some other matters. With Poker Stars allowing this, there is no need to go to someones house, or to figure out the value of chips. Also, it seems that if someone else wanted to join late, you don't have to worry about having enough chips for that person. Pretty good idea? Let me know what you think.
Well, I haven't played any games today so I must get going and get some hands in today so I have something to write about tomorrow. As always my the Poker Gods smile upon you and your cards.
Check out the following links:
Magazine Subscription *BLUFF-The Thrill of Poker* Magazine: 1 Yr/ 12 Issues
3 in 1 Texas Hold'em Table Top (Poker/Craps/Blackjack)
Kill Everyone: Advanced Strategies for No-Limit Hold 'Em Poker, Tournaments, and Sit-n-Gos: Revised and Expanded Edition (Gambling Theories Methods)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)