Goodbye cruel online world...

I was all set for a good finish when this devastating turn card hit me.

PokerStars Game #23110149526: Tournament #127000824, $50+$5 Hold'em No Limit - Level XI (400/800) - 2008/12/21 0:17:33 ET
Table '127000824 18' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: Sextantinn (20230 in chips)
Seat 2: Seb-musashi (2753 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 3: SirSwish6 (8335 in chips)
Seat 4: BigDennys (8535 in chips)
Seat 5: ShadowCat (13272 in chips)
Seat 6: Illinifan10 (15575 in chips)
Seat 7: BammBamm (11377 in chips)
Seat 8: bd3109 (15264 in chips)
Seat 9: Adog26 (8641 in chips)
Sextantinn: posts the ante 75
Seb-musashi: posts the ante 75
SirSwish6: posts the ante 75
BigDennys: posts the ante 75
ShadowCat: posts the ante 75
Illinifan10: posts the ante 75
BammBamm: posts the ante 75
bd3109: posts the ante 75
Adog26: posts the ante 75
bd3109: posts small blind 400
Adog26: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Illinifan10 [Kd Ah]
Sextantinn: folds
Seb-musashi: folds
SirSwish6: folds
BigDennys: folds
ShadowCat: folds
Illinifan10: raises 1200 to 2000
BammBamm: folds
bd3109: raises 4000 to 6000
Adog26: folds
Illinifan10: raises 9500 to 15500 and is all-in
bd3109: calls 9189 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (311) returned to Illinifan10
*** FLOP *** [Ts 9c 5d]
*** TURN *** [Ts 9c 5d] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [Ts 9c 5d 8s] [5c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bd3109: shows [Jd 8d] (two pair, Eights and Fives)
Illinifan10: shows [Kd Ah] (a pair of Fives)
bd3109 collected 31853 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 31853 | Rake 0
Board [Ts 9c 5d 8s 5c]
Seat 1: Sextantinn folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Seb-musashi folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: SirSwish6 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: BigDennys folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: ShadowCat folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Illinifan10 showed [Kd Ah] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 7: BammBamm (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: bd3109 (small blind) showed [Jd 8d] and won (31853) with two pair, Eights and Fives
Seat 9: Adog26 (big blind) folded before Flop

How could I have played it any better? Nope, I couldn't. As usual. So I guess I'm out for a few months, years, whatever. I'll post my live results on here once in a while. Thanks to anyone who has read my blog.

I could be done online...

I just can't seem to break this bad slump and it's making me almost sick. I just stare at my screen in disbelief as another big pot gets pushed away to the donkey who should have never been in the pot. I firmly believe that I statistically run worse than the average player. I know everyone will tell me this is not true but I watch it happen time and time again. Sure, I've won a few big tournaments but everyone has to have a bone thrown to them sometimes. It's just that I have never gone on a good run ever in my life. I've ran good for a tourney, or a cash game session, but that is it. I've never ran good for more than one day in a row. I know I have a lot of skill, more than most that I play with. I just can't beat the variance. So with that said, tonight I am playing in four tourneys. The 30k, 10k, 40k, and the 40k $3 rebuy, and if my account has less than 1k in it when the night is done I will be taking all my money offline. There is a new casino open close to where I live and I will go there to rebuild my bankroll playing the 1/2NL game. If I do well in that game over a period of time I will re-deposit money online. I will not be depositing on pokerstars anymore. I will be playing on full tilt as I seem to do better there. So I will give the verdict later tonight.

Somebody kill me!!

Yikes! I continue the worst run of my life playing cash games. The combination of beats, coolers, and bad plays have left me in a state of shock. I'm down $2100 in the last couple weeks. I don't feel I'm playing too bad, I'm just stuck in a bad downswing. But, what goes down MUST come up sometime. So, I will continue to grind it out until I get out of this bad swing. As for now I will be putting in less volume and playing a few more tournaments and just see what happens. I'm playing the 40k gtd and the $3 rebuy tonight. I will be tracking my progress at the beginning of each hour in this blog just to see what happens.......it worked last time!!

7:00pm: Both tourneys just started and of course I don't know anyone. More than likely they are all weak players. So I'll just try to play small pots and get it in with my big hands. GL me!

8:00pm: Not much worth noting. Haven't picked up too many hands yet. I've tripled my stack in the $3R and I have a little less than my starting stack in the 40k. The table in the 40k is super juicy so I really hope I get a hand.

9:44pm: So as usual the table donkey who plays 80% of his hands picks up Aces when I shove my jacks on him. So fucking typical of how I've been running lately. Out of the 40k :(. Out of the $3R 99 is no good on a flop of 9 J 2. JJ of course. I'm really about to take all my money offline and say fuck it. Go and play at the casino against the super donkeys. Whatever.

gross....

Been running pretty horrible. I'm still making money, just not nearly as much as I should be. I've been very patient and I know a huge upswing is on the way. It's only a matter of time. I need to start doing a little more review of my play to determine where I'm leaking money. I think when I hit 50k hands I will have a big review session and then adjust my game accordingly. On a side note, I will be playing the Sunday Million this weekend so hopefully I can get a little, if not a big, boost to my bankroll.

Sunday update

I have been absolutely crushing 50NL and now I'm rolled for 100NL. So tuesday I will start playing at the higher limit. I've played there and had success before and I feel I am a much better player now. I know there isn't much difference in skill between 50 and 100, the players will be a little tighter and there will be more regulars. I don't see this being too much to handle for me. The thing is, I've been doing very well lately without running overly well (with the exception of last night) and I know I can be making a lot more money in the bigger games. Not too much of an update but its something. I'm going to try to write up an article of what I feel makes a good cash game player sometime in the near future. Mainly because I just want something to refer back to when I get in a rut or a bad run. So we shall see what this next week will bring at 100NL. GL me.

Alot of change

Well once again I have fallen behind in updating my blog. I've had a lot of things going on lately in real life and in poker. Since this is a poker blog I will stay away from the real life stuff. I have basically given up on MTTs for now because of time restrictions and I just hate the variance of the damn things. So I have started playing all cash games. This is my strongest area of poker, and I'm really going to focus all of my poker energy on it. I have been basically crushing 50NL this past week. I've been playing well and running about average. With the exception of last night I've been making about 2 buy-ins a day. I'm playing with about 50 buy-ins and hopefully I will be back into 100NL within the month. Before I took all my money off I was winning that limit pretty regularly. My goal is to be playing 200NL by March. Along with the cash games I will be using my FPP from stars to try and satty into the PCA. So that's where I'm at as of right now.

On a side note, I will be updating this blog every sunday from here on out. This should prove to be a challenge.

OMG....horrible night

Well I've been playing quite a bit lately without any good results. This always seems to happen to me after a big win. I go on yet another bad run. I'm pretty convinced my whole life is a downswing. I guess I should mention that I'm playing lights out great poker. I've never had more confidence in my game. I just can't seem to win the big coinflips and the key pots that take me deep into the tourney. But whatever. Here is a just a sample of how my night went.

http://www.pokerxfactor.com/SH160134/5154_20080924_210625.txt

Yea, I really could not have played this hand any better. What does this guy think my range is here to push his huge reraise. Seriously, would I really be holding AQ, or JJ? NOOOO, the only hand that he is realistically racing with here is QQ which still makes him a big underdog. Oh well, these are the players that make me the most money.

Here is another gem. Kings were not good to me tonight.

http://www.pokerxfactor.com/SH160135/5154_20080924_212840


Here is the link to my win in the 30k a couple mondays ago:

http://www.pokerxfactor.com/HH154549/5154_20080916_191902.txt

It's long but I played really well so if you have the time to watch it I would love to discuss some hands.

ehhh.....screw SNGs

Okay so, I'm completely done with SNGs. I just can't take it anymore. I'm running bad and playing pretty bad too. If I'm going to play a game I want to enjoy the skill and challenge of the game. I just don't get that from SNGs. My roll is down to $40 from these stupid things. So, I'm gonna play MTTs until I lose it all or win big. Then I'm gonna start over with cash games and use an aggressive bankroll stategy. I will outline the specifics when I get to that point.

Tonight I'm playing in the $11 30k gtd on stars and the $3 rebuy. I'll be posting my progess as I go for the night.

6:00 pm : The 30k begins and as usual I don't know a single person at my table.

6:09 pm: Limp behind with 5c6c flop comes Jc7c4d in a 5 way pot. I lead out and everyone folds. Lame. Where's the obvious QJ??

6:26 pm: This table is super loose and crazy. People open pushing 2k with blinds at 15-30. Crazy. I really want to pick up a hands.

6:32 pm: I limp call with 22 in ep and the flop comes Qc2s6c. Everyone checks and the turn comes 7c. I bet 200 and get one caller. River brings a 7h and guy leads into me for 420, I bump it up to 1420 and he calls with 78. My full house takes the pot. Stack up to 4,760. Good start.

6:48 pm: utg and utg +1 limp with blinds at 50-100. I make it 500 with AKo and utg pushes for 740 more. I call and he shows KJ, ace on the flop, good game sir. Stack up to 6,025.

6:54 pm: I pick up KK and get 2 callers. Ace flops and I bet anyway and they both fold. Stack is up to 6,575.

7:00 pm: $3 rebuy starts and the 30k goes on break. Smoke break!

7:08 pm: I raise AJo utg +3 to 450 with blinds at 75-150 and get one caller and then a 3 bet to 1350. Pretty easy fold.

7:20 pm: ALOT of chips at my table in the 30k. I really would like to pick up a hand and double up. I've played a few hands and now I'm down to 5,465. In the $3r I'm playing pretty passive limping a lot of hands and I've gotten up to 3,830.

7:26 pm: I make a hero call in the 30k with AQ on a K72 board and lose to A7. Sometimes I'm a donk. Stack down to 3,815.

7:42 pm: With blinds at 125-250 in the 30k I move all in with AQ for 2790 chips get 2 callers and both have AJ. Stack up to 8955.

8:02 pm: I squeeze from the bb with AQo and the original raiser calls all in with 77 and I lose the race. eerrrrr. Should have a 17k stack. Stack is down to 7877. Well while I was typing I raised with tens and get called by the bb. Flopped Tc6c4d. BB pulls a stop and go and moves all in, I snap call and his AJ is drawing dead. Stack is up to 11,898. On break in the $3r, have a stack of 6,475.

8:43 pm: Was very card dead. Raised twice and got shoved. Just double up with AJ vs 67s in the 30k. Stack is up to 17,100. Just cruisin along in the $3 rebuy, waiting for a good spot. Stack is at 6250.

8:48 pm: Made a great value bet with KQ on a board of AsKs6cQd5s. Got paid off by a super loose donkey. Stack is up to 25,055 in the 30k.

9:16 pm: Just into the money in the 30k. Stack is 26,033. Still cruisin along in the $3r with a stack of 8725. Could really use a double up.

9:22 pm: Woot! double up in the $3r. Stack is 16,970. QQ vs KQ. I can't believe it held up.

9:49 pm: Long story short. Big donkey in the 30k was very generous. Back to back hands my AK vs Q4, then QQ vs AT and I'm now up to 109,089. Doing okay in the $3r as well with a stack of 17,320.

10:12 pm: Out of the $3r limped behind 3ppl with J9s, I only had 14 bbs but i had position. I flopped the flush draw with a gutshot and 3 ppl went all in ahead of me so i called gettin a great price. I was up against AA and 2 ppl with top pair, none of them had spades and i brick out of course. O well, doing good in the 30k. Stack is 114,200.

10:34 pm: Reraised a super loose player with 88, he called with QQ and I'm down to 73,339. ouch. Guess I'll see how well I can play the short stack.

10:59 pm: Pulled the trigger on a squeeze from the bb with 88, get called by AK. I HOLD! wow, amazing, that rarely happens. Stack is up to 277,486.

11:28 pm: Okay so I'm doin pretty well. Got a stack of 360,358 and I'm in 9th place with 31 left. Just gotta keep on grinding away. Smoke break!

11:40 pm: Lost a big race to put me in 3rd place. My AQ failed to beat Tens. Down to 155,400. 24th with 29 left. :(

11:44 pm: Guy who raises almost every pot raises my bb and i push with 34. He snap calls with AK and I river a 3 to double up. phew. 310,800. 13th of 29.

12:34 am: 9th of 17. Been up and down quite a bit. Hanging steady around 386,200. People keep doubling up the damn short stacks. I had AA and KK on the button with the superaggressive big stack in the bb. I gave him the bait but of course he won't take it when I've got a strong hand.

1:00 am: Just crossed the 1 million chip mark. 12 left. I'm in second. I'm also changing gears and pounding the bubble.

1:18 am: Ah, finally. Final table. I'm in 3rd out of 9. With 908,392 in chips. Good luck to me.

2:17 am: heads up with the chip lead. :)

2:29 am: Took it down baby. Nice cool payday of $4,860. :D

Guess I don't really have to worry about going broke I suppose.

Update

Ok, so I've been playing SNGs for about 4 days now and I realize now how much I miss cash games. SNGs are super frustrating because there is really no poker skill involved. It's pretty much mechanical when it comes down to it. You just play tight and then move all in when the blinds get high. All of you equity comes from good bubble play. I truly feel that playing super aggressive on the bubble of these low limit games is -ev. Players make bad calls for all their chips with short stacks left at the table. It just gets disgusting. Coupled with that fact I have been on an insane bad run the past 2 days. Almost the kind that makes you want to cry. Anyway, I had my bankroll up to $277 and now I'm down to $183. I make it sound worse than it is I guess it's just that I never seem to go on a truly good run.

I'm going to update some of my goals with the project. I'm going to start by getting out of SNGs asap. I'm going to build my roll up to $1000 and then switch to 50NL. 20 buy ins will be plenty for me to burn through that level to get up to 100NL. I feel I have a much better grasp on what it takes to win cash games consistently, and there is so much less gambling than there is in SNG or MTTs. I'm a great deep stack player so I need to stick with what I'm good at. If I could guess a time period for when I'll be back into cash games I'm gonna say 2 months. So hopefully by the end of November or beginning of December I'll be crushing the low limit cash games again. Just like I was before I started this project. So beware, I'm on my way.

So I really suck......

at blogging! Yea, so it's been a while since I've updated this thing. I won't go into details but I basically have been on a 2 month break from poker until last night. It's been really nice to just clear my head of everything poker related, but now I'm back and ready to roll. I've been having some issues with my internet connection and my isp so my volume will be pretty small for now. I'm currently working on getting it fixed.

I put $100 on stars this weekend and I got in a small session last night. I played 6 tables of $5.50 SNGs and I did pretty well. 1 first, 3 seconds, and one third, not to shabby for 6 tables fresh off a 2 month break. I feel much more in control of my emotions and decisions now at the table. We'll see how well that holds up when I hit a bad down swing.

Anyway, once I can start putting in a larger volume I will be updating this blog at least once a week. Probably on a Sunday, or Monday. We'll see what happens.


Bankroll: $139

still waiting.....

Well, my new computer is on the way. This project should be up and running by early or middle of next week. In the time being I have been watching a lot of sheets SNG videos and I feel I'm starting to get a feel for the basic strategy. I don't think I should have any trouble with the first few levels even if my bubble play isn't up to par yet. I think my general poker knowledge and ability will make up for any technical mistakes I might make. I have no doubt my post flop play will be far beyond that of most of my opponents.

It's been quite a while since I've played any poker really. Well, probably only about 3 weeks, but for me that is a long time. I'm going to try to get to my local casino tonight for their weekly $10 rebuy donkfest. I've had a lot of success in this tourney for only playing it 6 times. I've made 3 final tables with 2 chops and a 3rd place finish. The overall play in this thing is a complete joke. I have no problem saying that I'm easily in the top 3, if not the best player there. I'll try to post tonight or tomorrow with my result and any key hands.

Goals and strategy

I thought it would probably be right to make my next post about my goals and how I'm going to go about accomplishing them. So here is a list of my current goals:

-learn to bankroll properly
-build a 10k roll in a year
-learn to effectively 9 table
-maintain a 15-20% roi

Well I'll just start with that for now, I don't need to have too many goals right now. I'm planning to build my roll through SNGs as I feel these are the weakest low limit games available. I will certainly mix in as many micro MTTs as I can. I'm probably going to use the 100 buy in rule until I can establish an roi for a certain limit, and at that point I'll probably switch to the kelly criterion that fox recommends. Well thats enough for now I guess, theres not much going on until I can get my new computer. That will probably be in about 2 weeks. So I'll try to think of some more goals and write in a few more days.

Introduction

Well this is my first blogging experience so forgive me if I suck. As you can see by the title this is obviously a poker blog. I will try to mix in some real life stuff for those readers who don't really care about poker. I guess I should start this with a short introduction about myself. My name is Tyler, I'm 24 years old, and I live with my fiance, Yenae and my daughter, Rylee. If you know me personally you know the rest of my story, and if you don't know me the rest doesn't really matter. So with that I'll get started on real topic here, which is poker.
To make a long story short I've been playing poker seriously for about a year and a half.
In that time I've done quite well in learning the basic and some advanced concepts about the game. I've had several big scores in tourneys, and I've gotten pretty good in cash games. In an effort to improve weak spots in my game I'm taking all but $100 off of the online poker sites. My main objective is to teach myself how to properly manage a bankroll. This is easily the weakest area of my all around poker game. I just didn't think I would be able to stay disciplined enough to keep all of my money online and learn to manage a roll from that starting point. I also think this will be a great indicator of how far my game has actually progressed.
The money I took out is going toward a new computer and my upcoming wedding. I will not actually start playing poker again for at least 3 weeks. I need time to prepare for what line I will be taking to accomplish this daunting task. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I won't go into detail quite yet about the ideas I have for this. We can just leave this as the intro and go from there. Wish me luck!

BTW- This project was very much inspired by pokerfox.