For those of you who couldn't be bothered reading my long posts, Interpoker has double rakeback through RakeTheRake from March 1 to 17. Effectively 60% rakeback, although i'm not sure if they're doing monthly bonuses as well or not on top of that.
I'll be playin there whenever I see the fish
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
February 2009 summary
Coming off my worst month to date in January, it was a pretty slow start to the month with little volume and fairly flat results. The last week or so has seen a pretty decent recovery, winning probably a couple hundred BBs at Bodog $1/2, a few BBs at Bodog $4/8, and reasonable gains on Cake from $1/2 through to $3/6.
Bonuses/VIP: $300
My main achievement for the month was finally getting my Bodog $1/2 BB/100 back to positive ... after 24,000 hands. It was also good to actually win a few BBs when taking a shot at $4/8.
Overall though, fairly low volume for February, and i'm not expecting a huge volume in March either. Not really concerned though, i'm in no rush.
Last month's goals for February:
- Clear as much of my Bodog reload bonus as possible (Cleared $180ish)
- Clear a chunk of my Cake reload bonus (Cleared $40 - enough to qualify for the freeroll)
- Clear my monthly interpoker bonus (just finished it today)
- Play some William hill when interpoker runs out for the 60% February rakeback (didn't get to it as I only just finished Interpoker)
- Work out whether the Ladbrokes rake race is worth it in Feb. (it wasn't)
- Spend some more poker points and hopefully convert some to cash (fulltilt?) (didn't get round to it)
- Possibly purchase the Pacific hand grabber to play there (didn't have time)
- Work out whether to keep playing on Sun (played a little whilst i'm on 40% rakeback)
Bonuses/VIP: $300
- Bodog: $160
- Interpoker: $90
- Cake: $40
- Sun: $10
Rakeback: $100
- Fulltilt: $20
- Interpoker: $60
- Cake: $20
Poker bankroll Interest: $50
Poker winnings / (losses): $500
For March the goals in order of priority are:
- Clear as much of my Bodog reload bonus as possible
- Clear a chunk of my Cake reload bonus
- Play a heap of Interpoker - DOUBLE rakeback this month! RakeTheRake
- Spend some more poker points and hopefully convert some to cash (fulltilt?)
- Possibly purchase the Pacific hand grabber to play there
- Maybe look for a new bonus to chase
Current bankroll: $17,150
Two ladies - different results
I got to play for about 2.5 hours last night, so actually got in a few hands. Only issue was that the tables available were generally pretty horrible, and so I only really had two tables running at a time at best, and these were split between Bodog, Interpoker, Sun and Fulltilt throughout the session.
My start was horrendous, and I found myself down 40BBs on a $2/4 table on Sun. The player to my right was one of those 60/20/2/50 guys who plays too many hands, plays them too aggressively and shows down way too often. Unfortunately for me, he would also limp in and then call my cbets, and his turned pair of 4s when holding 74o was enough to win a few showdowns when I whiffed. He also hit a number of gutshots and three outers, and was quickly about 40BBs up - mostly at my expense.
Bodog was also a little nasty, but only on a $1/2 table. Here's the first hand of my Ladies: (sorry for the lack of converter, but bodog is still not converting nicely)
Hand 1:
Hold'em Limit ($1.00/$2.00)
Seat 1: el fuego24 ($8.23)
Seat 2: gamberini ($213.51)
Seat 3: Rawdog22 ($61.39)
Seat 4: scottdo9 ($30.09)
Seat 5: hero ($126.85)
NEW HAND
Rawdog22: posts the small blind $0.50
scottdo9: posts the big blind $1.00
--- DEALING POCKETS
hero is dealt [Qc,Qs] (sweet)
hero: raises $1.00 to $2.00
el fuego24: raises $1.00 to $3.00 (this guy is about 60/15/2 .. so an aggro fish)
gamberini: folds
Rawdog22: folds
scottdo9: calls $2.00 (60/5 type fish - he could have anything here)
hero: raises $1.00 to $4.00
el fuego24: calls $1.00
scottdo9: calls $1.00
--- DEALING FLOP [5s,4d,Tc]
scottdo9: checks
hero: bets $1.00
el fuego24: raises $1.00 to $2.00 (hmm ... that's not a real good sign even though its only the flop)
scottdo9: calls $2.00
hero: calls $1.00 (i debated 3 betting here, but thought i might wait for a turn c/r on a safe card instead)
--- DEALING TURN [Ks] (arr crap ... still he is a fish so i'm calling down)
scottdo9: checks
hero: checks
el fuego24: bets $2.00
scottdo9: calls $2.00
hero: calls $2.00
--- DEALING RIVER [Jd]
scottdo9: checks
hero: checks
el fuego24: goes all in $0.23
scottdo9: calls $0.23
hero: bets $2.00 (i'm sure i've got that scottfish covered so may as well make him pay to see the showdown)
scottdo9: folds
$1.77 is not called, return back to hero:
el fuego24: shows [Jh Js] (u gotta be kiddin me .. he's rivered trips)
hero: shows [Qc Qs]
el fuego24: wins main pot($24.19)
Anyways, that was basically the story of the first half of my session. The second half, however was a different story, and can probably be summed with my second ladies hand:
Hand 2
$2/$4 Limit Holdem • 6 Players
UTG 205.78
Hero 147.72
CO 112.35
BTN 67.05
SB 39.15
BB 89.91
Dealt to Hero: QdQc
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 6 players)
1 fold, Hero raises, 2 folds, SB calls, 1 fold
Flop (5.0 SB, 2 players)
6sQhTs (nice, I have the nuts)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB calls
Turn (3.5 BB, 2 players)
Qs (okay now I virtually have the stone cold nuts!)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB calls
River (5.5 BB, 2 players)
3s (fantastic card putting the 4th spade on the board)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB raises, Hero 3-bets, SB 4-bets, Hero calls (this guy was a muppet, but I still don't know why he wasn't worried about the paired board)
Final Pot: 12.8 BB
SB shows AsJd
Hero wins 12.8 BB ( won +6.3 BB ) (which at $2/4 is about a $50 pot)
I then managed to score quads again, versus a full house on Bodog for a 15BB pot there as well. Played a couple orbits of $4/8 before I quit, as the table wasn't quite fishy enough for my liking. I only really played one hand which was KdQd UTG, which came back to me 3 bet preflop. Flopped two diamonds, and turned a 3rd diamond to give me the second nuts, and a 20BB pot in the end which is $160. Ended up around 15BBs there.
I also played against a few muppets at $3/6 on Interpoker. Here's an example of the standard of play:
Hand 3:
$3/$6 Limit Holdem • 6 Players
UTG 323.13
UTG+1 85.5
Hero (CO) 199.25
BTN 141.05
SB 99.5
BB 82.42
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 6 players) Hero is CO with As7s
2 folds, Hero raises, 2 folds, BB calls (standard PFR. BB was one of those 65/5 and 50% wtsd fish - although he had been a luckbox as he was up around 25BB/100 over 150 hands)
Flop (4.5 SB, 2 players)
Kd3s2h (damn whiffed)
BB checks, Hero bets, BB calls (time for a cbet even though he probably won't fold)
Turn (3.2 BB, 2 players)
Qs (hmm ... gives me a flush draw)
BB checks, Hero checks (I checked behind here as he is a calling station and I figured my fold equity was almost zero and I do want to see a showdown with A high. Still not sure if its the right move. Probably is.)
River (3.2 BB, 2 players)
9s (hehe awesome .. hit my runner runner)
BB bets, Hero raises, BB calls (even better .. he bet out! thanks!)
Final Pot: 7.2 BB
BB shows 6d2c (seriously ..wtf??)
Hero wins 6.9 BB ( won +3.4 BB )
I also played a couple double ups in this time, but there was nothing spectacular in either of those apart from playing against some of the biggest fish i've seen. A number of my opponents were prepared to call all in post flop with 2nd pair so in one of the double ups I found myself sitting on 5,000 chips, with the remaining 4000 chips spread out amongst the other 3 players still in. I just folded into the money. In the second double up, I didn't actually play a hand and still had 1,350 chips when three muppets had knocked themselves out and i'd doubled up.
So, overall after dropping a quick $160 on Sun, in about an hour and a half I made back about $60 of that still on the Sun $2/4 table. Then the Interpoker fish donated me another $100 on the $3/6 tables, and the Bodog fish then donated me about 7BBs at $4/8 and almost 50BBs at $1/2. Add on my Bodog reload credit of around $100 and the session ended up being pretty good.
Current bankroll: $17,150
My start was horrendous, and I found myself down 40BBs on a $2/4 table on Sun. The player to my right was one of those 60/20/2/50 guys who plays too many hands, plays them too aggressively and shows down way too often. Unfortunately for me, he would also limp in and then call my cbets, and his turned pair of 4s when holding 74o was enough to win a few showdowns when I whiffed. He also hit a number of gutshots and three outers, and was quickly about 40BBs up - mostly at my expense.
Bodog was also a little nasty, but only on a $1/2 table. Here's the first hand of my Ladies: (sorry for the lack of converter, but bodog is still not converting nicely)
Hand 1:
Hold'em Limit ($1.00/$2.00)
Seat 1: el fuego24 ($8.23)
Seat 2: gamberini ($213.51)
Seat 3: Rawdog22 ($61.39)
Seat 4: scottdo9 ($30.09)
Seat 5: hero ($126.85)
NEW HAND
Rawdog22: posts the small blind $0.50
scottdo9: posts the big blind $1.00
--- DEALING POCKETS
hero is dealt [Qc,Qs] (sweet)
hero: raises $1.00 to $2.00
el fuego24: raises $1.00 to $3.00 (this guy is about 60/15/2 .. so an aggro fish)
gamberini: folds
Rawdog22: folds
scottdo9: calls $2.00 (60/5 type fish - he could have anything here)
hero: raises $1.00 to $4.00
el fuego24: calls $1.00
scottdo9: calls $1.00
--- DEALING FLOP [5s,4d,Tc]
scottdo9: checks
hero: bets $1.00
el fuego24: raises $1.00 to $2.00 (hmm ... that's not a real good sign even though its only the flop)
scottdo9: calls $2.00
hero: calls $1.00 (i debated 3 betting here, but thought i might wait for a turn c/r on a safe card instead)
--- DEALING TURN [Ks] (arr crap ... still he is a fish so i'm calling down)
scottdo9: checks
hero: checks
el fuego24: bets $2.00
scottdo9: calls $2.00
hero: calls $2.00
--- DEALING RIVER [Jd]
scottdo9: checks
hero: checks
el fuego24: goes all in $0.23
scottdo9: calls $0.23
hero: bets $2.00 (i'm sure i've got that scottfish covered so may as well make him pay to see the showdown)
scottdo9: folds
$1.77 is not called, return back to hero:
el fuego24: shows [Jh Js] (u gotta be kiddin me .. he's rivered trips)
hero: shows [Qc Qs]
el fuego24: wins main pot($24.19)
Anyways, that was basically the story of the first half of my session. The second half, however was a different story, and can probably be summed with my second ladies hand:
Hand 2
$2/$4 Limit Holdem • 6 Players
UTG 205.78
Hero 147.72
CO 112.35
BTN 67.05
SB 39.15
BB 89.91
Dealt to Hero: QdQc
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 6 players)
1 fold, Hero raises, 2 folds, SB calls, 1 fold
Flop (5.0 SB, 2 players)
6sQhTs (nice, I have the nuts)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB calls
Turn (3.5 BB, 2 players)
Qs (okay now I virtually have the stone cold nuts!)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB calls
River (5.5 BB, 2 players)
3s (fantastic card putting the 4th spade on the board)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB raises, Hero 3-bets, SB 4-bets, Hero calls (this guy was a muppet, but I still don't know why he wasn't worried about the paired board)
Final Pot: 12.8 BB
SB shows AsJd
Hero wins 12.8 BB ( won +6.3 BB ) (which at $2/4 is about a $50 pot)
I then managed to score quads again, versus a full house on Bodog for a 15BB pot there as well. Played a couple orbits of $4/8 before I quit, as the table wasn't quite fishy enough for my liking. I only really played one hand which was KdQd UTG, which came back to me 3 bet preflop. Flopped two diamonds, and turned a 3rd diamond to give me the second nuts, and a 20BB pot in the end which is $160. Ended up around 15BBs there.
I also played against a few muppets at $3/6 on Interpoker. Here's an example of the standard of play:
Hand 3:
$3/$6 Limit Holdem • 6 Players
UTG 323.13
UTG+1 85.5
Hero (CO) 199.25
BTN 141.05
SB 99.5
BB 82.42
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 6 players) Hero is CO with As7s
2 folds, Hero raises, 2 folds, BB calls (standard PFR. BB was one of those 65/5 and 50% wtsd fish - although he had been a luckbox as he was up around 25BB/100 over 150 hands)
Flop (4.5 SB, 2 players)
Kd3s2h (damn whiffed)
BB checks, Hero bets, BB calls (time for a cbet even though he probably won't fold)
Turn (3.2 BB, 2 players)
Qs (hmm ... gives me a flush draw)
BB checks, Hero checks (I checked behind here as he is a calling station and I figured my fold equity was almost zero and I do want to see a showdown with A high. Still not sure if its the right move. Probably is.)
River (3.2 BB, 2 players)
9s (hehe awesome .. hit my runner runner)
BB bets, Hero raises, BB calls (even better .. he bet out! thanks!)
Final Pot: 7.2 BB
BB shows 6d2c (seriously ..wtf??)
Hero wins 6.9 BB ( won +3.4 BB )
I also played a couple double ups in this time, but there was nothing spectacular in either of those apart from playing against some of the biggest fish i've seen. A number of my opponents were prepared to call all in post flop with 2nd pair so in one of the double ups I found myself sitting on 5,000 chips, with the remaining 4000 chips spread out amongst the other 3 players still in. I just folded into the money. In the second double up, I didn't actually play a hand and still had 1,350 chips when three muppets had knocked themselves out and i'd doubled up.
So, overall after dropping a quick $160 on Sun, in about an hour and a half I made back about $60 of that still on the Sun $2/4 table. Then the Interpoker fish donated me another $100 on the $3/6 tables, and the Bodog fish then donated me about 7BBs at $4/8 and almost 50BBs at $1/2. Add on my Bodog reload credit of around $100 and the session ended up being pretty good.
Current bankroll: $17,150
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Another quick shot .. not a disaster
Well f me.... finally I didn't actually lose when taking a shot at $4/8 on Bodog.
I had about an hour to play, and as usual with midweek, there were very few tables running, let alone many worth actually sitting down at. I think I found one okay $3/6 table on Interpoker, one $1/2 table on Bodog, and then I also watched a $4/8 table on Bodog for a while.
I ended up making a few BBs on Interpoker, but i'm still well down there for the month, and still need to get a few more points to clear the last of my bonus on there. It might actually be touch and go whether I make it by the end of the month, but its only around $30 so i'm not going out of my way to chase it down.
On the $1/2 table I made a good 25BBs in reasonably quick time with one main fish to play against who I had position on. There were also a couple tags on the table but one had an AF of 3 and a WTSD of almost 50%, so by those stats he looked like he bet air fairly regularly. I called him down with virtually any pair and he paid me off reasonably often. The fish actually made a profit during my session. Go figure.
The $4/8 table had 2 fairly big fish, and I had position on the bigger fish - very loose and very passive but there were also two tags on the table as well as one tight passive. The two tags were both immediately to my left so I think I had the best position on the table. The session was a little up and down, and I wasn't receiving a lot of cards. In the end I'd only played 20% of hands, and that's even with Limpy McLimper on my right often giving me odds to overlimp with all kinds of trash. However when I did receive cards they were holding up okayish ...
.... Well apart from when my set of 4s on a flop of Ad4d7s was beaten by both a set of As and a flush on the river, and when my AA got cracked on the turn by two opponents, one holding 7c4c and the other holding Kc6c when the third club hit. I actually folded the turn when it was two bets to me to call. One of them was quite passive so I thought it was the right thing to do, although I must admit it is pretty rare for me to lay down bullets.
Anyways I ended up about 10BBs which took my lifetime Bodog record to -9BB/100 at $4/8. It also means I have enough on Bodog to take a few more shots at $4/8 when I can find a good table with good position. I might even reload for a bit more next month, as the reload does clear a lot quicker playing a few hands at $4/8. I must also have a look at some other bonus offers and if they're worth taking up since I haven't been doin much bonus chasing lately but rather rakeback/bonuses on my existing sites ... maybe i'll try Noiq with some of the other boys ....
During last night's session I also found the biggest fish I have ever seen. Out of my 42 hands with him, he saw 100% of flops without raising preflop once. His AF was around 0.12 and he went to showdown 76% of the time. With a few massive suckouts though, he was hardly down at all. He was even up by about 30BBs at one stage when he'd carved up one of the TAGs on the table. It was just a pity I had to leave when he still had 15BBs left. They would have been useful in my stack.
Current bankroll: $16,900
I had about an hour to play, and as usual with midweek, there were very few tables running, let alone many worth actually sitting down at. I think I found one okay $3/6 table on Interpoker, one $1/2 table on Bodog, and then I also watched a $4/8 table on Bodog for a while.
I ended up making a few BBs on Interpoker, but i'm still well down there for the month, and still need to get a few more points to clear the last of my bonus on there. It might actually be touch and go whether I make it by the end of the month, but its only around $30 so i'm not going out of my way to chase it down.
On the $1/2 table I made a good 25BBs in reasonably quick time with one main fish to play against who I had position on. There were also a couple tags on the table but one had an AF of 3 and a WTSD of almost 50%, so by those stats he looked like he bet air fairly regularly. I called him down with virtually any pair and he paid me off reasonably often. The fish actually made a profit during my session. Go figure.
The $4/8 table had 2 fairly big fish, and I had position on the bigger fish - very loose and very passive but there were also two tags on the table as well as one tight passive. The two tags were both immediately to my left so I think I had the best position on the table. The session was a little up and down, and I wasn't receiving a lot of cards. In the end I'd only played 20% of hands, and that's even with Limpy McLimper on my right often giving me odds to overlimp with all kinds of trash. However when I did receive cards they were holding up okayish ...
.... Well apart from when my set of 4s on a flop of Ad4d7s was beaten by both a set of As and a flush on the river, and when my AA got cracked on the turn by two opponents, one holding 7c4c and the other holding Kc6c when the third club hit. I actually folded the turn when it was two bets to me to call. One of them was quite passive so I thought it was the right thing to do, although I must admit it is pretty rare for me to lay down bullets.
Anyways I ended up about 10BBs which took my lifetime Bodog record to -9BB/100 at $4/8. It also means I have enough on Bodog to take a few more shots at $4/8 when I can find a good table with good position. I might even reload for a bit more next month, as the reload does clear a lot quicker playing a few hands at $4/8. I must also have a look at some other bonus offers and if they're worth taking up since I haven't been doin much bonus chasing lately but rather rakeback/bonuses on my existing sites ... maybe i'll try Noiq with some of the other boys ....
During last night's session I also found the biggest fish I have ever seen. Out of my 42 hands with him, he saw 100% of flops without raising preflop once. His AF was around 0.12 and he went to showdown 76% of the time. With a few massive suckouts though, he was hardly down at all. He was even up by about 30BBs at one stage when he'd carved up one of the TAGs on the table. It was just a pity I had to leave when he still had 15BBs left. They would have been useful in my stack.
Current bankroll: $16,900
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Up and down
Played a shortish half hour session last night, which started quite well, even though there were very few tables to choose from.
I made about 10BBs at $1/2 on Bodog, and another 15 or so on Sun poker $1/2, and was up a few BBs on a $3/6 table on Interpoker.
Then superfish on Interpoker had one of the hottest streaks i'd ever seen. My database had him running at -20BB/100 over 400 hands, and in the space of half an hour he brought this back to even - ie winning over 80BBs. It was a case of gutshot after gutshot, and runner runner every orbit, as he tore the whole table apart, including myself for a good 25BBs at my worst point. Eventually my AK held up to only end about 15BBs down.
I'll be keeping an eye out for him in future though, as he sees over 50% of showdowns so is obviously chasing everything under the sun.
A bit of rakeback also helped me to keep my bankroll all square for the day.
Current bankroll: $16,750
I made about 10BBs at $1/2 on Bodog, and another 15 or so on Sun poker $1/2, and was up a few BBs on a $3/6 table on Interpoker.
Then superfish on Interpoker had one of the hottest streaks i'd ever seen. My database had him running at -20BB/100 over 400 hands, and in the space of half an hour he brought this back to even - ie winning over 80BBs. It was a case of gutshot after gutshot, and runner runner every orbit, as he tore the whole table apart, including myself for a good 25BBs at my worst point. Eventually my AK held up to only end about 15BBs down.
I'll be keeping an eye out for him in future though, as he sees over 50% of showdowns so is obviously chasing everything under the sun.
A bit of rakeback also helped me to keep my bankroll all square for the day.
Current bankroll: $16,750
Monday, February 23, 2009
It's only taken 24,000 hands ...
... but finally my $1/2 limit BB/100 stats are showing in the green on Bodog.
I managed at one stage to get to about 20BBs in front, but then ran my flopped set into a flopped flush (the guy had 82s), and then about five hands later, I flopped another set, only for the same guy to river his flush with 64s. Of course I didn't fill up to a boat on either. He was running at -20BB/100 over 250 hands - just a pity he wasn't giving me those losses.
Its been a fairly long battle to get back to square, particularly when I was down by over 250BBs at a couple stages, but i'm now hoping to gradually eek it up to hopefully get to 2BB/100. It actually feels like i've reached a big milestone in simply getting back to even alone but I genuinely think 2BB/100 is achievable. However, since i've already logged quite a few hands at simply break even, its going to take some time.
That being said the bonuses have been fairly good with Bodog so i'm still doing okay from the site, albeit with the $4/8 tables dragging me significantly backwards as well given i've run like a big dry turd at that limit.
Current bankroll: $16,750
I managed at one stage to get to about 20BBs in front, but then ran my flopped set into a flopped flush (the guy had 82s), and then about five hands later, I flopped another set, only for the same guy to river his flush with 64s. Of course I didn't fill up to a boat on either. He was running at -20BB/100 over 250 hands - just a pity he wasn't giving me those losses.
Its been a fairly long battle to get back to square, particularly when I was down by over 250BBs at a couple stages, but i'm now hoping to gradually eek it up to hopefully get to 2BB/100. It actually feels like i've reached a big milestone in simply getting back to even alone but I genuinely think 2BB/100 is achievable. However, since i've already logged quite a few hands at simply break even, its going to take some time.
That being said the bonuses have been fairly good with Bodog so i'm still doing okay from the site, albeit with the $4/8 tables dragging me significantly backwards as well given i've run like a big dry turd at that limit.
Current bankroll: $16,750
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Freeroll fun and games
Had an interesting battle to get into my Cake affiliate freeroll over the weekend.
The requirements for a ticket are to earn 500fpps. Problem with Cake is, that it doesn't actually show you how many fpps you have earned.
What it does show you though is that you require a certain number of FPPs to earn gold chips, and to earn 6 gold chips, you need to earn 505 FPPs for the month.
So .. in January I earned 6 gold chips, which means a minimum of 505 FPPs ... right? well apparently not ... i'd only earned 493.5FPPs. How this works, I have no idea, and didn't get a rational explanation.
However, I was provided with a ticket anyways, so big kudos to customer support.
So after my mini battle of emails just to get a ticket, I got up at 6.30am on Sunday morning in order to play the freeroll.
I started off pretty card dead, so must have looked pretty tight folding hand after hand. It wasn't until blinds were 25/50 that I had anything even semi playable so when it was folded to me in the CO with A7o, and with the BB sitting out, I put in a 3XBB raise .... or so I thought. Actually I had misclicked the slider up to 90% of my stack and to add to my horror, the button then came over the top all in for the rest of my chips. At this point i'm getting 20:1 on my money so it would be a mistake to fold practically anything, so I call and he flips over QQ. All is not lost, but its looking pretty grim.
Flop of 578 gives me a few more outs from my pair. Turn of a 9 doesn't help, however a river 6 puts a straight on the board, and we split the pot, so i'm not out due to a nasty misclick. Not much later I receive TT on the button and am facing a small raise by a very loose player in mid position, which I then reraise to kick out the blinds. Flop is 248r and he makes a largeish bet. I've seen him playing some pretty trashy hands earlier so after thinking for a few seconds I decide to just push all in. He snap calls for about 2/3 of his stack in total, and shows 64o ... Turn and river blank so I double up.
I then steal a few more blinds and have everyone fold to AJs in mid position and 99 in early position and suddenly i'm in the top 10, although only with 4,500 chips with blinds heading up to 300/600.
There's about 20 players left with the top 15 getting paid and i'm on the big blind with AJs. The action is folded to the cutoff who has a shortish stack of 2,500 chips and he pushes all in. I um and ah for a bit here. If he's on a pocket pair under 10 i've got a fair chance of doubling up. I'm not sure I'd push with a weak A here but this guy had been a bit loose earlier on. I end up deciding to call as doubling up would actually have put me in the top 4 and given me a shot at the tourney. Disappointed when he turns over AQo - I guess I should have known.
I end up basically folding into 15th and the hand after the bubble bursts i'm looking at A2s UTG and push for my 3BBs. Get one caller in the BB with QJo who picks up his Q on the flop and i'm out .. but still made $100 for my efforts. Since I could easily have been knocked out earlier i'm satisfied with the result - although somewhat regretting my AJ call. That being said, almost everyone was relatively shortstacked to the blinds at that point so I could easily have gone out in the same position anyways.
For the entire weekend I actually got in about 3 hours of play, and mainly through Cake and Bodog I ended up around $300 for my time, which is a significant improvement over the rest of the month. Hopefully it continues.
Current bankroll: $16,750
The requirements for a ticket are to earn 500fpps. Problem with Cake is, that it doesn't actually show you how many fpps you have earned.
What it does show you though is that you require a certain number of FPPs to earn gold chips, and to earn 6 gold chips, you need to earn 505 FPPs for the month.
So .. in January I earned 6 gold chips, which means a minimum of 505 FPPs ... right? well apparently not ... i'd only earned 493.5FPPs. How this works, I have no idea, and didn't get a rational explanation.
However, I was provided with a ticket anyways, so big kudos to customer support.
So after my mini battle of emails just to get a ticket, I got up at 6.30am on Sunday morning in order to play the freeroll.
I started off pretty card dead, so must have looked pretty tight folding hand after hand. It wasn't until blinds were 25/50 that I had anything even semi playable so when it was folded to me in the CO with A7o, and with the BB sitting out, I put in a 3XBB raise .... or so I thought. Actually I had misclicked the slider up to 90% of my stack and to add to my horror, the button then came over the top all in for the rest of my chips. At this point i'm getting 20:1 on my money so it would be a mistake to fold practically anything, so I call and he flips over QQ. All is not lost, but its looking pretty grim.
Flop of 578 gives me a few more outs from my pair. Turn of a 9 doesn't help, however a river 6 puts a straight on the board, and we split the pot, so i'm not out due to a nasty misclick. Not much later I receive TT on the button and am facing a small raise by a very loose player in mid position, which I then reraise to kick out the blinds. Flop is 248r and he makes a largeish bet. I've seen him playing some pretty trashy hands earlier so after thinking for a few seconds I decide to just push all in. He snap calls for about 2/3 of his stack in total, and shows 64o ... Turn and river blank so I double up.
I then steal a few more blinds and have everyone fold to AJs in mid position and 99 in early position and suddenly i'm in the top 10, although only with 4,500 chips with blinds heading up to 300/600.
There's about 20 players left with the top 15 getting paid and i'm on the big blind with AJs. The action is folded to the cutoff who has a shortish stack of 2,500 chips and he pushes all in. I um and ah for a bit here. If he's on a pocket pair under 10 i've got a fair chance of doubling up. I'm not sure I'd push with a weak A here but this guy had been a bit loose earlier on. I end up deciding to call as doubling up would actually have put me in the top 4 and given me a shot at the tourney. Disappointed when he turns over AQo - I guess I should have known.
I end up basically folding into 15th and the hand after the bubble bursts i'm looking at A2s UTG and push for my 3BBs. Get one caller in the BB with QJo who picks up his Q on the flop and i'm out .. but still made $100 for my efforts. Since I could easily have been knocked out earlier i'm satisfied with the result - although somewhat regretting my AJ call. That being said, almost everyone was relatively shortstacked to the blinds at that point so I could easily have gone out in the same position anyways.
For the entire weekend I actually got in about 3 hours of play, and mainly through Cake and Bodog I ended up around $300 for my time, which is a significant improvement over the rest of the month. Hopefully it continues.
Current bankroll: $16,750
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Bodog $1/2
Back to work yesterday so only played about 20 minutes on the Bodog $1/2 tables.
I found one very rare table where every other player had a VPIP in the high 50s or more, so there were quite a few players seeing every flop. Luckily for me, or rather not unluckily my premium hands were generally holding up with only a couple bad beats, resulting in another gain of 25BBs. So again, i'm actually not that far off another $4/8 shot.
It was interesting taking notes on some of the players - a couple of the guys were happy to play any unsuited connectors. I saw 32o and 43o at showdown a couple times, so obviously i'll be keen to play against those guys again. Of course the other week when my opponents were playing those hands they sucked out left and right, in one case with 32o v my AK, the flop was A82r, turn 2, river 2. Ugly.
Yesterday went more to plan though which does help the overall BB/100. I think its only -0.1 now at the $1/2 level. Over the last 5000ish hands i've made a good 250BBs which has helped turn around my results on Bodog significantly. If only I could do that at $4/8.
I should get in a bit of poker over the weekend, including at least one freeroll. I haven't cashed in a freeroll for a while, so fingers crossed.
Current bankroll: $16,450
I found one very rare table where every other player had a VPIP in the high 50s or more, so there were quite a few players seeing every flop. Luckily for me, or rather not unluckily my premium hands were generally holding up with only a couple bad beats, resulting in another gain of 25BBs. So again, i'm actually not that far off another $4/8 shot.
It was interesting taking notes on some of the players - a couple of the guys were happy to play any unsuited connectors. I saw 32o and 43o at showdown a couple times, so obviously i'll be keen to play against those guys again. Of course the other week when my opponents were playing those hands they sucked out left and right, in one case with 32o v my AK, the flop was A82r, turn 2, river 2. Ugly.
Yesterday went more to plan though which does help the overall BB/100. I think its only -0.1 now at the $1/2 level. Over the last 5000ish hands i've made a good 250BBs which has helped turn around my results on Bodog significantly. If only I could do that at $4/8.
I should get in a bit of poker over the weekend, including at least one freeroll. I haven't cashed in a freeroll for a while, so fingers crossed.
Current bankroll: $16,450
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Another premature shot ...
My back was killing me again yesterday to the point where I couldn't stand up at one stage. Scary stuff really. I've no doubt I will be very vigilant once i'm better on sticking to a decent exercise program, and if i'm ever slacking i'll have to refer back to this post. Being basically crippled is not fun at all.
What it meant was that I only played about 40 minutes of poker yesterday, but did see a juicy $4/8 table running on Bodog.
I played 51 hands
I went to showdown 11% of the time
I won zero showdowns
That is probably the defnition of missing every flop, turn and river possible. Although I did pick up AA once in the BB ... and then the entire table folded to me.
Down about 12BBs all up, so back to $1/2 I go.
I also had a Cake table running at the same time, where I was up about 25BBs in the space of the first five minutes when people couldn't let go of their whiffed AK, and unlike Bodog, they didn't manage to suck one out on the turn or river. So that win, plus a rakeback credit allowed me to finish the session only about $20 down all up.
Current bankroll: $16,400
What it meant was that I only played about 40 minutes of poker yesterday, but did see a juicy $4/8 table running on Bodog.
I played 51 hands
I went to showdown 11% of the time
I won zero showdowns
That is probably the defnition of missing every flop, turn and river possible. Although I did pick up AA once in the BB ... and then the entire table folded to me.
Down about 12BBs all up, so back to $1/2 I go.
I also had a Cake table running at the same time, where I was up about 25BBs in the space of the first five minutes when people couldn't let go of their whiffed AK, and unlike Bodog, they didn't manage to suck one out on the turn or river. So that win, plus a rakeback credit allowed me to finish the session only about $20 down all up.
Current bankroll: $16,400
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Poker - a game of small percentages
Ended up having another day off yesterday, and was able to play a couple hours in total.
At the end of my session I had a look at my stats for the last 2,500 hands or so at $1/2 on Bodog. Overall I have:
-----------last 2,500 ---- all hands (approx 23,000)
WTSD ---38.25%------------- 36.91%
W$SD ---55.90% -------------49.23%
BB/100 ---2.75 ----------------(0.21)
As can be seen from that i've had a reasonable run lately (mainly from yesterday), and its gone a fair way to making my total return on Bodog positive again, after a pretty horrendous 20,000 hands. I can't expect to keep winning 56% of showdowns, but definitely expect to win more than 50%. That small percentage difference is the difference between being a small loser on the tables, and being a significant winner. Hopefully I will continue to increase my overall numbers closer to expectation.
My $4/8 run has been even more horrific with only 600 hands played, but a BB/100 of negative 10!!! However, since my good run at $1/2 i'm almost ready for another shot at $4/8, and hopefully I won't run like turd.
I think i've cleared about $100 of my bodog reload this month too, so that will hopefully get me back to $4/8.
Current bankroll: $16,450
At the end of my session I had a look at my stats for the last 2,500 hands or so at $1/2 on Bodog. Overall I have:
-----------last 2,500 ---- all hands (approx 23,000)
WTSD ---38.25%------------- 36.91%
W$SD ---55.90% -------------49.23%
BB/100 ---2.75 ----------------(0.21)
As can be seen from that i've had a reasonable run lately (mainly from yesterday), and its gone a fair way to making my total return on Bodog positive again, after a pretty horrendous 20,000 hands. I can't expect to keep winning 56% of showdowns, but definitely expect to win more than 50%. That small percentage difference is the difference between being a small loser on the tables, and being a significant winner. Hopefully I will continue to increase my overall numbers closer to expectation.
My $4/8 run has been even more horrific with only 600 hands played, but a BB/100 of negative 10!!! However, since my good run at $1/2 i'm almost ready for another shot at $4/8, and hopefully I won't run like turd.
I think i've cleared about $100 of my bodog reload this month too, so that will hopefully get me back to $4/8.
Current bankroll: $16,450
Monday, February 16, 2009
off work but ...
can't play much poker.
My back is killin me at the moment, and sitting down kinda sux. So I took a visit to the chiropractor. Turns out my skull isn't straight (so now I can literally say my head isnt screwed on right ...), my pelvis isnt straight, i've got a bit of a curve in my spine and possibly my neck, and my liver needed to be shifted back into the right place. I guess i've always taken physical health for granted, and its only when you don't have it that you think you should have done more ....
Anyways what this means for poker, is that even though i'm home, I only seem to be able to sit for an orbit or three before getting up. So yesterday I probably played about 2 hours in total, in many tiny sessions, and eeked out a small gain on Cake mostly, while breaking pretty much even on Bodog and Interpoker. Although i've now cleared 2/3 of my Interpoker bonus for the month.
It also means sitting here typing a blog will also be brief as well as reading others. What I really need is a monitor attached to the roof so i can lie down and play ...
Current bankroll: $16,250
My back is killin me at the moment, and sitting down kinda sux. So I took a visit to the chiropractor. Turns out my skull isn't straight (so now I can literally say my head isnt screwed on right ...), my pelvis isnt straight, i've got a bit of a curve in my spine and possibly my neck, and my liver needed to be shifted back into the right place. I guess i've always taken physical health for granted, and its only when you don't have it that you think you should have done more ....
Anyways what this means for poker, is that even though i'm home, I only seem to be able to sit for an orbit or three before getting up. So yesterday I probably played about 2 hours in total, in many tiny sessions, and eeked out a small gain on Cake mostly, while breaking pretty much even on Bodog and Interpoker. Although i've now cleared 2/3 of my Interpoker bonus for the month.
It also means sitting here typing a blog will also be brief as well as reading others. What I really need is a monitor attached to the roof so i can lie down and play ...
Current bankroll: $16,250
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Bodog giveth, bodog taketh away
Well F me.
I thought all was right with the world when i'd managed to pull in about 50BBs within half an hour on the weekend on Bodog.
That was then rapidly followed by one of the sickest series of beats i've suffered, to lose over 100BBs in the next half hour. I was dealt many premium hands, hit huge draws only to get rivered and so on as you'd all know. I even got KK 4 times ... and lost all four of them. I didnt even play badly, didn't tilt ... just couldn't win a hand.
I then also managed to miss out on 4 double ups in a row to drop another $40ish. Still got my money in good in each of them, but was pretty card dead. It just wasn't my day. Even Cake burnt me for a few BBs on the $3/6 tables.
And that was my weekend's play. And now i'm back to square one where I started for the current month.
Grrrr
Current bankroll: $16,200
I thought all was right with the world when i'd managed to pull in about 50BBs within half an hour on the weekend on Bodog.
That was then rapidly followed by one of the sickest series of beats i've suffered, to lose over 100BBs in the next half hour. I was dealt many premium hands, hit huge draws only to get rivered and so on as you'd all know. I even got KK 4 times ... and lost all four of them. I didnt even play badly, didn't tilt ... just couldn't win a hand.
I then also managed to miss out on 4 double ups in a row to drop another $40ish. Still got my money in good in each of them, but was pretty card dead. It just wasn't my day. Even Cake burnt me for a few BBs on the $3/6 tables.
And that was my weekend's play. And now i'm back to square one where I started for the current month.
Grrrr
Current bankroll: $16,200
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Waiting ...
Played another half hour yesterday to take my total hours played for the month to a whopping five hours (well amost). I'm sure plent of you guys do that in a day, let alone virtually two weeks.
And with a wedding and dinner tomorrow, the weekend may be a little slim on the poker front too.
I added myself to the wait lists for two tables of $2/4 and one table of $3/6 on Interpoker, and three Bodog tables. Within a couple minutes I was playing on all three Bodog tables, but none of the Interpoker tables. It was then a wait for 25 minutes just to get onto one of the Interpoker tables, and sure enough, by then the table had turned way too tight for my liking, so I had to give up my seat anyways. That can be one of the big problems of waiting lists that you always need to look out for - particularly if you're 3rd or lower on the list.
Made a few BBs on Bodog, before losing a 15BB pot with the nut flush when the board paired on the river. Apparently 97s is good to play from UTG .... Missed a few more and ended down about 10BBs. Irritating.
Current bankroll: $16,400
And with a wedding and dinner tomorrow, the weekend may be a little slim on the poker front too.
I added myself to the wait lists for two tables of $2/4 and one table of $3/6 on Interpoker, and three Bodog tables. Within a couple minutes I was playing on all three Bodog tables, but none of the Interpoker tables. It was then a wait for 25 minutes just to get onto one of the Interpoker tables, and sure enough, by then the table had turned way too tight for my liking, so I had to give up my seat anyways. That can be one of the big problems of waiting lists that you always need to look out for - particularly if you're 3rd or lower on the list.
Made a few BBs on Bodog, before losing a 15BB pot with the nut flush when the board paired on the river. Apparently 97s is good to play from UTG .... Missed a few more and ended down about 10BBs. Irritating.
Current bankroll: $16,400
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Opposite of recent running
I got in an hour long session last night, but still struggled to find decent tables. In the end I settled for a single $1/2 Bodog table, and a single Cake $2/4 table, and added on a couple double up SNGs on Interpoker to at least clear a couple more points of my bonus there.
Ran like turd on Cake, where I managed to drop 20BBs to a couple gutshots and one particularly nasty runner runner straight versus my KK. Ran like god on Bodog for a change though, and made about 50BBs ... and that's even with my AA getting cracked by 64s to turned and rivered 6s in a four way pot.
In my $5 SNG I had one hand which was limped by 3 players into my BB of KJo. I checked, and the flop was a perfect AQTr. The SB opened for a half pot bet, which I just called hoping to get another caller, but both folded. The turn was a blank and SB bet out again for half his remaining stack, so I put him all in which left me about 300 chips. He flips over AQ, and of course the river is a Q. This muppet had been limping into almost every pot, so was disappointing that he'd get rewarded with a big suck out. Next hand I push all in with A2s in effectively MP, but get two callers, and prevoiusly mentioned muppet wins with 87o when an 8 flops.
In my $10 SNG, one player was out first orbit, so that basically gives me positive equity. The only other hands that I really played I clean missed the flop, but everyone folded to my cbets. The blinds eventually got to $100/200 with 4 players left, but the play was pretty bad, and twice everyone folded to my BB. I still didn't have to really play a hand, and all of a sudden the last player was out pocket Ts v Js. Thats the way I like those double ups to go - not really getting involved in any hands and just cruising into the double.
I'm also now less than 100BBs away from taking my next real $4/8 Bodog shot. Hopefully it continues like this.
Current bankroll: $16,400
Ran like turd on Cake, where I managed to drop 20BBs to a couple gutshots and one particularly nasty runner runner straight versus my KK. Ran like god on Bodog for a change though, and made about 50BBs ... and that's even with my AA getting cracked by 64s to turned and rivered 6s in a four way pot.
In my $5 SNG I had one hand which was limped by 3 players into my BB of KJo. I checked, and the flop was a perfect AQTr. The SB opened for a half pot bet, which I just called hoping to get another caller, but both folded. The turn was a blank and SB bet out again for half his remaining stack, so I put him all in which left me about 300 chips. He flips over AQ, and of course the river is a Q. This muppet had been limping into almost every pot, so was disappointing that he'd get rewarded with a big suck out. Next hand I push all in with A2s in effectively MP, but get two callers, and prevoiusly mentioned muppet wins with 87o when an 8 flops.
In my $10 SNG, one player was out first orbit, so that basically gives me positive equity. The only other hands that I really played I clean missed the flop, but everyone folded to my cbets. The blinds eventually got to $100/200 with 4 players left, but the play was pretty bad, and twice everyone folded to my BB. I still didn't have to really play a hand, and all of a sudden the last player was out pocket Ts v Js. Thats the way I like those double ups to go - not really getting involved in any hands and just cruising into the double.
I'm also now less than 100BBs away from taking my next real $4/8 Bodog shot. Hopefully it continues like this.
Current bankroll: $16,400
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A quick shot
Tuesday was again very slim pickings for decent tables. Players per flop on interpoker from $1/2 to $3/6 were all under 40%, and in most cases very low 30s or even 20s. Since none of those tables can really be profitable, I closed Interpoker.
Next stop Bodog, where there were actually no $1/2 6max tables running. So much for table selection there .. or so I thought. I then noticed the $4/8 table had 5 players and had an average 60% of players per flop. I opened the table and the two players to the right of the empty seat I had notes on. Both had vpip's in the 60s and a PFR of around 15%, so the empty seat was actually the best seat at the table.
Even though I am technically not rolled for it on Bodog, my overally bankroll easily allows me to play $4/8 so I figured I may as well give it a go. (I actually withdrew $600 from Bodog yesterday so I only had about 3 buy ins left on there for $4/8).
First hand I get 66 in the BB, and one guy limps from the SB, so I raise. Flop of Q73r and cbet both the flop and a blank turn. I check behind on the river and he shows 78o ... not the best start.
Couple hands later and i'm in the SB with AQo, and with 2 limpers I raise it up, and both limpers call. Flop was a fairly annoying J84r, which I cbet and get one caller. Turn 7. Cbet, and get called. River 4, which I check and he bets. I have a look at his WTSD and its 49%, so I decide to call with my A high. He flips over Q4s. I'm down 10BBs and only have about 5 minutes left before I have to leave for another one of my huge 20 minute sessions.
Couple hands later I get AQo again. 2 limpers (both the fish to my right) and I raise from the button. Both call. Flop is A74r, which gets checked to me so I bet. Turn is a T, check, check bet. River was another 4 again .... and i'm thinking surely not. Checked to me, so I have to value bet here against two muppets. They both call and show A3 and A6 and I end up a couple BBs for the session when I don't get any more hands before the BB reaches me again.
Bit of a pity that I had to leave, as one of the fish had $500 in front of them. The other was virtually out though so maybe not a big loss, and the table had already dropped back to five players again.
It was good to actually come out in front at $4/8 on Bodog even if it was only a few BBs, as every other shot has been fairly painful.
I should get in a longer session tonight with any luck, and hopefully come out in front
Current bankroll: $16,350
Next stop Bodog, where there were actually no $1/2 6max tables running. So much for table selection there .. or so I thought. I then noticed the $4/8 table had 5 players and had an average 60% of players per flop. I opened the table and the two players to the right of the empty seat I had notes on. Both had vpip's in the 60s and a PFR of around 15%, so the empty seat was actually the best seat at the table.
Even though I am technically not rolled for it on Bodog, my overally bankroll easily allows me to play $4/8 so I figured I may as well give it a go. (I actually withdrew $600 from Bodog yesterday so I only had about 3 buy ins left on there for $4/8).
First hand I get 66 in the BB, and one guy limps from the SB, so I raise. Flop of Q73r and cbet both the flop and a blank turn. I check behind on the river and he shows 78o ... not the best start.
Couple hands later and i'm in the SB with AQo, and with 2 limpers I raise it up, and both limpers call. Flop was a fairly annoying J84r, which I cbet and get one caller. Turn 7. Cbet, and get called. River 4, which I check and he bets. I have a look at his WTSD and its 49%, so I decide to call with my A high. He flips over Q4s. I'm down 10BBs and only have about 5 minutes left before I have to leave for another one of my huge 20 minute sessions.
Couple hands later I get AQo again. 2 limpers (both the fish to my right) and I raise from the button. Both call. Flop is A74r, which gets checked to me so I bet. Turn is a T, check, check bet. River was another 4 again .... and i'm thinking surely not. Checked to me, so I have to value bet here against two muppets. They both call and show A3 and A6 and I end up a couple BBs for the session when I don't get any more hands before the BB reaches me again.
Bit of a pity that I had to leave, as one of the fish had $500 in front of them. The other was virtually out though so maybe not a big loss, and the table had already dropped back to five players again.
It was good to actually come out in front at $4/8 on Bodog even if it was only a few BBs, as every other shot has been fairly painful.
I should get in a longer session tonight with any luck, and hopefully come out in front
Current bankroll: $16,350
Monday, February 9, 2009
Too brief to win a hand
I played all of a couple orbits over a couple tables, and although I managed to flop a couple nut hand draws, both missed, and my cbetting A high managed to get called by a fish with J high, who spiked his J on the river.
Add them together and i'm down 10BBs in 10 minutes. Thing is, the fish then left the tables, and I basically had to quit, as i'm not going to play with just the TAGs.
My scan of other tables for any worthwhile came up with nothing, so I ended up just shutting down for the day. Admittedly though I didn't fire up full tilt where i'm sure there'd be a fishy table or two amongst all the tight ones.
Anyways, might not even get onto the tables again until Wednesday where hopefully I can get in at least an hour to feed on the fish, and hopefully have something slightly more interesting to post ....
Current bankroll: $16,350
Add them together and i'm down 10BBs in 10 minutes. Thing is, the fish then left the tables, and I basically had to quit, as i'm not going to play with just the TAGs.
My scan of other tables for any worthwhile came up with nothing, so I ended up just shutting down for the day. Admittedly though I didn't fire up full tilt where i'm sure there'd be a fishy table or two amongst all the tight ones.
Anyways, might not even get onto the tables again until Wednesday where hopefully I can get in at least an hour to feed on the fish, and hopefully have something slightly more interesting to post ....
Current bankroll: $16,350
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Home game blind structure
Played a home game friday night, where we basically play several SNGs and try to time it so that each game only lasts an hour. That is actually easier said than done, given live dealing is probably more like one hand every two minutes, which means the SNG has to only last about 30 hands in total. It also encourages some pretty loose play ... or rather doesn't really penalise loose play so much as its closer to correct play.
Anyways currently with 7 players our structure is as follows:
Starting chips: 50
Time (mins): Blind:
0 - 10 1/2
10-20 2/4
20-30 3/6
30-40 4/8
40-50 5/10
50-60 10/20
60-70 15/30
We even got to 20/40 in one out of the three games, but with a total of 350 chips on the table that is somewhat ridiculous. In that game there were still six players left when it changed to 10/20.
Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on a different structure that would allow for a game to finish within an hour live?
For online play I only managed to get in an hour on the weekend. Interpoker had ten tables running in the stakes that I wanted to play at, but only one of those was loose enough to be worthwhile, and even on that one my fish left after only one orbit.
Cake also had slim pickings for table selection, so I ended up opening three or four Bodog tables, whilst only have a single Cake table open. For a change though, I didn't get absolutely slaughtered on Bodog, even by the massive fish. I had position on a true calling station on one table, who for some reason thought it was worth calling down with 93o on a board that read AKQ74r ... Needless to say, he donated me quite a few BBs.
In my 200ish hands I ended up making about 50BBs, which makes the big hole in my Bodog bankroll slightly smaller, which is a relief.
Current bankroll: $16,350
Anyways currently with 7 players our structure is as follows:
Starting chips: 50
Time (mins): Blind:
0 - 10 1/2
10-20 2/4
20-30 3/6
30-40 4/8
40-50 5/10
50-60 10/20
60-70 15/30
We even got to 20/40 in one out of the three games, but with a total of 350 chips on the table that is somewhat ridiculous. In that game there were still six players left when it changed to 10/20.
Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on a different structure that would allow for a game to finish within an hour live?
For online play I only managed to get in an hour on the weekend. Interpoker had ten tables running in the stakes that I wanted to play at, but only one of those was loose enough to be worthwhile, and even on that one my fish left after only one orbit.
Cake also had slim pickings for table selection, so I ended up opening three or four Bodog tables, whilst only have a single Cake table open. For a change though, I didn't get absolutely slaughtered on Bodog, even by the massive fish. I had position on a true calling station on one table, who for some reason thought it was worth calling down with 93o on a board that read AKQ74r ... Needless to say, he donated me quite a few BBs.
In my 200ish hands I ended up making about 50BBs, which makes the big hole in my Bodog bankroll slightly smaller, which is a relief.
Current bankroll: $16,350
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Ladbrokes rake race
Doing a bit of quick math in my head, it looks like the ladbrokes rake race isn't going to be worth my time this month. The bottom level prize money has been halved to $50, and its looking like you'll need to rake a similar amount to last month to get it which is around $160. An equivalent 31% rakeback is hardly worth the effort, particularly where you actually need to rake a little more to be certain you don't drop out altogether for no prize money at all.
I put in another 30 minute session last night, so i'm still not playing much this month. Bodog as per usual shafted me early, but a small comeback made it not quite so bad. It was second hand this time where I managed to lose flush over flush (2 pocket spades each) in a very large pot. Its going to go my way soon ....
Cake and Interpoker were decent to me again, although I did lose one big pot early to the table muppet who hit his flush on the river versus my flopped trip Ts. However, I got my revenge in the exact reverse situation about 5 hands later to win a 15BB pot. Ended up making a handful of BBs on both Cake and Interpoker again at $2/4 and $3/6. Again it could have been a lot more, but I got nastily outdrawn a couple times.
Current bankroll: $16,250
I put in another 30 minute session last night, so i'm still not playing much this month. Bodog as per usual shafted me early, but a small comeback made it not quite so bad. It was second hand this time where I managed to lose flush over flush (2 pocket spades each) in a very large pot. Its going to go my way soon ....
Cake and Interpoker were decent to me again, although I did lose one big pot early to the table muppet who hit his flush on the river versus my flopped trip Ts. However, I got my revenge in the exact reverse situation about 5 hands later to win a 15BB pot. Ended up making a handful of BBs on both Cake and Interpoker again at $2/4 and $3/6. Again it could have been a lot more, but I got nastily outdrawn a couple times.
Current bankroll: $16,250
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
No volume, nothing to see here
Still not finding time for a longer session, as I only got in another 20 mins last night.
First hand of Bodog, and i'm in the big blind looking at Qs6s. One limper from the button and the SB completes. Flop is a beautiful Js7s2s, which I bet into and get only the SB calling. Turn blank and my bet gets called again. River 5s to which SB donks. I'm thinking you gotta be kiddin, and call to see him with AdKs .... F me.
Again however, the Interpoker and Cake $3/6 and $2/4 tables made up for it, and I dragged in about 12BBs at each level. Didn't get a lot of playable hands, but hit a couple nice flops which didn't get sucked out on.
Overall good to post a positive session and get my bankroll back to its peak point, even with running quite cold lately.
Due to my low volume of play I've hardly cleared any bonus or rakeback cash so far this month though, and i'm only a third of the way through my first 20 pounds on Interpoker. It might pick up later in the month, although I know i'm busy again this weekend too, with a home game with the boys, and some mountain biking on Sunday.
Current bankroll: $16,200
First hand of Bodog, and i'm in the big blind looking at Qs6s. One limper from the button and the SB completes. Flop is a beautiful Js7s2s, which I bet into and get only the SB calling. Turn blank and my bet gets called again. River 5s to which SB donks. I'm thinking you gotta be kiddin, and call to see him with AdKs .... F me.
Again however, the Interpoker and Cake $3/6 and $2/4 tables made up for it, and I dragged in about 12BBs at each level. Didn't get a lot of playable hands, but hit a couple nice flops which didn't get sucked out on.
Overall good to post a positive session and get my bankroll back to its peak point, even with running quite cold lately.
Due to my low volume of play I've hardly cleared any bonus or rakeback cash so far this month though, and i'm only a third of the way through my first 20 pounds on Interpoker. It might pick up later in the month, although I know i'm busy again this weekend too, with a home game with the boys, and some mountain biking on Sunday.
Current bankroll: $16,200
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Do I have a sign on me ....
.... that says please hit me with a runner runner?
In another brief session, third hand in i've had a muppet chase down a runner runner flush, but this time with only under cards and not even a pair. For the session (all of 20 minutes) I ended up losing five or six 10 - 15BB pots to 2 - 4 outers on the river. All it takes is one or two of those to go your way and its a good session, and all of them to go your way for a huge session.
I ended up dropping 20 more BBs on Bodog - still not sure why i'm getting killed there, and my W$SD is getting even closer to going under 47%. Just for fun my second last hand of the session had 2 limpers preflop with me raising up my AQ. Flop is A85r, and my raise kicks out one of them. Turn 4, river 7. UTG flips over A6 for the straight.
It still appears to be that i'm just running cold as my other stats look fairly reasonable. I might withdraw my reloads from my account shortly, which will still leave me with $500ish which is enough to play at $1/2. Maybe my luck will improve?
Fortunately Interpoker and Cake made up for my loss on Bodog, where I picked up a handful of BBs at $2/4 and $3/6. I've nearly done half of the points required for my first 20 pound monthly bonus on Interpoker, and have been able to find some fishy tables, so that's actually looking quite good. So overall with rakeback etc i'm probably starting to recover a few $.
Current bankroll: $16,100
In another brief session, third hand in i've had a muppet chase down a runner runner flush, but this time with only under cards and not even a pair. For the session (all of 20 minutes) I ended up losing five or six 10 - 15BB pots to 2 - 4 outers on the river. All it takes is one or two of those to go your way and its a good session, and all of them to go your way for a huge session.
I ended up dropping 20 more BBs on Bodog - still not sure why i'm getting killed there, and my W$SD is getting even closer to going under 47%. Just for fun my second last hand of the session had 2 limpers preflop with me raising up my AQ. Flop is A85r, and my raise kicks out one of them. Turn 4, river 7. UTG flips over A6 for the straight.
It still appears to be that i'm just running cold as my other stats look fairly reasonable. I might withdraw my reloads from my account shortly, which will still leave me with $500ish which is enough to play at $1/2. Maybe my luck will improve?
Fortunately Interpoker and Cake made up for my loss on Bodog, where I picked up a handful of BBs at $2/4 and $3/6. I've nearly done half of the points required for my first 20 pound monthly bonus on Interpoker, and have been able to find some fishy tables, so that's actually looking quite good. So overall with rakeback etc i'm probably starting to recover a few $.
Current bankroll: $16,100
Monday, February 2, 2009
First hand for Feb
Sorry, no hand history but:
- $2/4 Fixed Limit Holdem
- Me: KJo in the BB
- Open limp from UTG fish (64/8)
- One caller in the SB (62/12)
- I raise, both call
- Flop QhTs9c (nut straight .. wow what a start)
- SB check, I bet, call, call
- Turn 8h
- SB check, I bet, fold, call
- River 2h
- SB bet .... oh oh..., I call
- SB Th7h .... FFS
Anyways, ended up dropping about 25BBs at $2/4 in that session on Cake. Made back about 10BBs on Interpoker $3/6 but had lost $50 through the movement in the exchange rate to break even there. Also dropped a few BBs on Bodog $1/2 when I managed to get runner runner'd and 3 outered several times in my 20 minute session.
Frustrating start to Feb.
Current bankroll: $16,100
Sunday, February 1, 2009
January summary
Well, that's my worst result for a month so far where the 275BB downswing on Bodog has been pretty ugly, and add a -10BB/100 run on Ladbrokes for the month, and its never going to be a record breaking performance.
That being said, i've still made a profit for the month of $400, so I am actually fairly happy still. My volume for the month was probably also pretty low and may not increase much in February either by the looks.
I'd like to say there were some highlights for the month, but there were few and they were far between. Probably the most satisfying was Cake support giving me a reload on the weekend, when I hadn't actually been included in the promotion. Thanks cake!
Last month's goals for January:
Bonuses/VIP: $500
Poker winnings / (losses): ($280)
For February the goals in order of priority are:
That being said, i've still made a profit for the month of $400, so I am actually fairly happy still. My volume for the month was probably also pretty low and may not increase much in February either by the looks.
I'd like to say there were some highlights for the month, but there were few and they were far between. Probably the most satisfying was Cake support giving me a reload on the weekend, when I hadn't actually been included in the promotion. Thanks cake!
Last month's goals for January:
- Clear as much of my Bodog reload bonus as possible (try to get closer to taking another shot at $4/8). Cleared about $160ish, but got slaughtered at the tables
- Finish my remaining Cake reload bonus. done
- Clear my monthly interpoker bonus. done
- Spend some more poker points and hopefully convert some to cash. spent 500 stars fpps and bubbled
- Possibly purchase the Pacific hand grabber to play there. not yet
- Pray for another Cake reload ... and don’t screw it up this time. Got one thanks to support, and didn't screw it up
- Maybe sign up for another kickback bonus through PSO Signed up for ladbrokes through Boogster
Bonuses/VIP: $500
- Bodog: $160
- Interpoker: $50
- Cake: $10
- Ladbrokes: $280
- Cake: $20
- Fulltilt: $40
- Interpoker: $30
- Sun: $30
Poker winnings / (losses): ($280)
For February the goals in order of priority are:
- Clear as much of my Bodog reload bonus as possible
- Clear a chunk of my Cake reload bonus
- Clear my monthly interpoker bonus
- Play some William hill when interpoker runs out for the 60% February rakeback
- Work out whether the Ladbrokes rake race is worth it in Feb. Probably not though as they have changed the prize structure
- Spend some more poker points and hopefully convert some to cash (fulltilt?)
- Possibly purchase the Pacific hand grabber to play there
- Work out whether to keep playing on Sun
Current bankroll: $16,200
Live session
Headed to the local Casino Friday night with a few mates, and played 2.5 hours on the $4/8 limit tables, whilst my mates hit up the $1/2 NL tables.
Initially I sat down at a newly opened table, however, one of the players from the existing $4/8 table also came across to the new table. I'd seen earlier that he basically had position on a couple of the larger fish on the table, so quickly got myself shifted into that seat. Although the player to my immediate right wasn't too bad, the next two were absolutely horrible.
It was an interesting experience to play basically full ring again - well generally 9 players, and occasionally dropping to 8. The table was very loose, and i'd say on average 6 players were seeing the flop. Unfortunately for me, I was rarely getting anything worth raising, or even overlimping which was quite irritating.
After dropping about 5BBs on the first orbit, I did manage to score AKo in the SB, and with 4 limpers in the pot before me I obviously raised it up, and all limpers called. Flop of KdKsQd looked pretty sweet to me, so I raise flop, and still get 3 callers ... i mean ... WTF ... surely they cant all have a decent piece of that fairly dangerous flop to a preflop raiser, so i'm sure i'm miles in front. Turn was a 8h, so pretty much a blank, and this time my bet only gets one caller. River, Kc .... but this time I don't get called. Still ... a decent sized pot because of all the limpers, and the first time i've had quads live.
I only actually win a couple more hands for the night, and obviously there's no bluffing with that many players seeing every flop, and often showing down 2nd or 3rd pair.
The one huge hand I was involved in was on my last orbit, where i'm dealt TT in UTG+2. UTG and UTG+1 both limp so I raise it up and get another 5 callers plus the original 2 limpers. UTG is a complete fish, playing almost every hand even to a raise and has chased all sorts of crap (and gotten lucky) reasonably often. UTG+1 is also very loose preflop, but does fold. The other play of note was the fish on the button, who would regularly play any two cards. The couple tight players on the table got out of the way to my preflop bet. Flop was Ts9c2c, which was a great flop for me. I bet out and still get 5 callers. Turn is the Qc which makes my stomach turn a little. Both straight and flush possibilities. I bet out still when UTG checks to me, and get two callers including UTG. River was a blank, and I get check/raised by the UTG retard. Of course he shows down T5s to scoop an almost 20BB pot...\
I ended the night a couple BBs up even though I was fairly card dead. The play was so soft, that i'm sure its profitable, but i'm not sure about the speed of live play. So slow ....
In terms of online play, I only got in a couple hours for the entire weekend. My awful ladbrokes run in my previous post was offset by a few hands on Cake at $3/6 where I won a couple nice pots with monster hands versus a tag or two who were happy to play fairly aggressively with 2nd pair. I had to leave that table fairly quickly though as my target fish left about ten hands after I sat down.
I didn't actually receive the Cake reload bonus email that was talked about on 2p2, however, when I emailed support asking about it, they said it was actually a restricted offer. They were kind enough to add me to the list of eligible players, so big kudos to Cake support. So now i've got a Cake bonus to release in February as well.
I've ended up placing for $100 in the Ladbrokes rake race, but after all the bonuses i've received there i'm actually still down, due to running so horribly on the tables. (I think i'm somewhere around -10BB/100 all up).
Current bankroll: $16,200
Initially I sat down at a newly opened table, however, one of the players from the existing $4/8 table also came across to the new table. I'd seen earlier that he basically had position on a couple of the larger fish on the table, so quickly got myself shifted into that seat. Although the player to my immediate right wasn't too bad, the next two were absolutely horrible.
It was an interesting experience to play basically full ring again - well generally 9 players, and occasionally dropping to 8. The table was very loose, and i'd say on average 6 players were seeing the flop. Unfortunately for me, I was rarely getting anything worth raising, or even overlimping which was quite irritating.
After dropping about 5BBs on the first orbit, I did manage to score AKo in the SB, and with 4 limpers in the pot before me I obviously raised it up, and all limpers called. Flop of KdKsQd looked pretty sweet to me, so I raise flop, and still get 3 callers ... i mean ... WTF ... surely they cant all have a decent piece of that fairly dangerous flop to a preflop raiser, so i'm sure i'm miles in front. Turn was a 8h, so pretty much a blank, and this time my bet only gets one caller. River, Kc .... but this time I don't get called. Still ... a decent sized pot because of all the limpers, and the first time i've had quads live.
I only actually win a couple more hands for the night, and obviously there's no bluffing with that many players seeing every flop, and often showing down 2nd or 3rd pair.
The one huge hand I was involved in was on my last orbit, where i'm dealt TT in UTG+2. UTG and UTG+1 both limp so I raise it up and get another 5 callers plus the original 2 limpers. UTG is a complete fish, playing almost every hand even to a raise and has chased all sorts of crap (and gotten lucky) reasonably often. UTG+1 is also very loose preflop, but does fold. The other play of note was the fish on the button, who would regularly play any two cards. The couple tight players on the table got out of the way to my preflop bet. Flop was Ts9c2c, which was a great flop for me. I bet out and still get 5 callers. Turn is the Qc which makes my stomach turn a little. Both straight and flush possibilities. I bet out still when UTG checks to me, and get two callers including UTG. River was a blank, and I get check/raised by the UTG retard. Of course he shows down T5s to scoop an almost 20BB pot...\
I ended the night a couple BBs up even though I was fairly card dead. The play was so soft, that i'm sure its profitable, but i'm not sure about the speed of live play. So slow ....
In terms of online play, I only got in a couple hours for the entire weekend. My awful ladbrokes run in my previous post was offset by a few hands on Cake at $3/6 where I won a couple nice pots with monster hands versus a tag or two who were happy to play fairly aggressively with 2nd pair. I had to leave that table fairly quickly though as my target fish left about ten hands after I sat down.
I didn't actually receive the Cake reload bonus email that was talked about on 2p2, however, when I emailed support asking about it, they said it was actually a restricted offer. They were kind enough to add me to the list of eligible players, so big kudos to Cake support. So now i've got a Cake bonus to release in February as well.
I've ended up placing for $100 in the Ladbrokes rake race, but after all the bonuses i've received there i'm actually still down, due to running so horribly on the tables. (I think i'm somewhere around -10BB/100 all up).
Current bankroll: $16,200
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
