Checked out the Noiq race, and I'd probably have to rake $500 .. or even Euros to cash this month. Whilst that would be perfectly doable if I play mainly on that site, I don't particularly want to be committing that much to a single site. Perhaps if I was playing no limit as well as limit and had some more table selection opportunities it might be worthwhile, but for me it probably isn't.
So .. now I will either need to find something else, or just play through some more of my William Hill and Sun bonuses, together with my regular Bodog and Cake. I might even do that unless something particularly juicy comes up, as this month is also going to be fairly light timewise.
Although since i'm getting married next month, that one will probably be even lighter again ....
Anyways, I got in about 20 minutes of poker last night, but struggled a little with finding good tables so I probably played all of 50 hands between Bodog and pacific. Made a few BBs so not a complete waste of time, and an okay start to the month.
Current bankroll: $17,250
Time played April: 20 mins ....
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
March 2009 Summary
Just when I thought it was safe to get back onto the tables after a relatively poor January followed by a half decent February, i've managed to go even worse in March for my worst monthly result to date. The shots at Bodog $4/8 left my bankroll on that site crippled, and my monthly results in tatters.
However, with a bit of luck and a super hot run on Pacific, I managed to recover some of those losses. Add in the double rakeback on Interpoker, my great reaload with Bodog (through RakeBackStat) and I still managed to end the month in the black. Just. $100 up, although i'm still about $100 short of my all time high that I reached earlier in the month - however I am very confident of getting back there in the very near future as I believe I am still playing quite well.
Interestingly enough, my BB/100 on Bodog $1/2 is still positive after finally getting out of negative territory last month. $4/8 is running at a super cold -10BB/100 over about 1,200 hands. Ugly.
Last month's goals for March
However, with a bit of luck and a super hot run on Pacific, I managed to recover some of those losses. Add in the double rakeback on Interpoker, my great reaload with Bodog (through RakeBackStat) and I still managed to end the month in the black. Just. $100 up, although i'm still about $100 short of my all time high that I reached earlier in the month - however I am very confident of getting back there in the very near future as I believe I am still playing quite well.
Interestingly enough, my BB/100 on Bodog $1/2 is still positive after finally getting out of negative territory last month. $4/8 is running at a super cold -10BB/100 over about 1,200 hands. Ugly.
Last month's goals for March
- Clear as much of my Bodog reload bonus as possible (cleared approx $200)
- Clear a chunk of my Cake reload bonus (cleared $60ish to qualify for the freeroll)
Play a heap of Interpoker - DOUBLE rakeback month! RakeTheRake (about $120 RB) - Spend some more poker points and hopefully convert some to cash (used my Stars points to try to get into ANZPT. Busted out.)
- Possibly purchase the Pacific hand grabber to play there (done)
- Maybe look for a new bonus to chase (haven't taken one up yet. May do Noiq through RakeTheRake if they do another generous rake race)
The gain of $100 for the month was made up of:
Bonuses/vip: $270
- Bodog $200
- Cake $40
- Pacific $30
Rakeback: $160
- Interpoker $120
- Fulltilt $10
- Cake $20
- William Hill $10
Poker bankroll Interest: $50
Poker losses: ($380)
For April the goals in order of priority are:
- Clear as much of my Bodog reload bonus as possible
- Clear the remainder of my Cake reload bonus (please give me another one Cake!!)
- Spend some more poker points and hopefully convert some to cash (fulltilt?)
- Play some more Pacific if it seems fishy
- Maybe sign up for Noiq through RakeTheRake if their race is generous enough.
Current bankroll: $17,250
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Kamikaze
Played my first Kamikaze tournament on Cake over the weekend. I wouldn't actually pay to go in one of these, but since it was only a couple crappy gold cards to enter with $8k up for prizes I figured it was potentially money for nothing.
That being said, Kamikaze is exactly how it is played and the entire tournament with 1,400 entrants was over in the space of two minutes. Every player starts with 1,500 chips, and you are automatically put all in every hand. Effectively its like entering the lottery where your chances of winning are around 1/5.
I sat down looking at the 96o dealt to me. I was up against A9 and A6 amongst other hands, and even though I hit my 6 on the flop, there was no help when I didn't hit my potential two outer of a 9. Therefore I lasted one hand when a pair of tens was enough to scoop the table.
In other play over the weekend, I actually got in more than I expected with a 1.5 hour session on each of Saturday and Sunday. I think I came out fairly even on Bodog, but continued to run hot on Pacific, where i've now made 7.5BB/100 over the last 2,000 hands playing mostly $2/4 but a bit of $1/2 and $3/6. Hopefully I can translate some of that back over to Bodog, where i'm surely due for a decent session.
Bodog also paid me my reload bonus for the month of around $100ish .. maybe $150. Add on some decent winnings at the tables and i'm actually back in front for the month ... just. I have to be happy with that though as it was looking pretty nasty for a while there. I probably won't get in any more play by the end of the month though so won't be able to increase my bankroll any further. It might be good to just wipe the slate clean for next month anyways.
Current bankroll: $17,200
That being said, Kamikaze is exactly how it is played and the entire tournament with 1,400 entrants was over in the space of two minutes. Every player starts with 1,500 chips, and you are automatically put all in every hand. Effectively its like entering the lottery where your chances of winning are around 1/5.
I sat down looking at the 96o dealt to me. I was up against A9 and A6 amongst other hands, and even though I hit my 6 on the flop, there was no help when I didn't hit my potential two outer of a 9. Therefore I lasted one hand when a pair of tens was enough to scoop the table.
In other play over the weekend, I actually got in more than I expected with a 1.5 hour session on each of Saturday and Sunday. I think I came out fairly even on Bodog, but continued to run hot on Pacific, where i've now made 7.5BB/100 over the last 2,000 hands playing mostly $2/4 but a bit of $1/2 and $3/6. Hopefully I can translate some of that back over to Bodog, where i'm surely due for a decent session.
Bodog also paid me my reload bonus for the month of around $100ish .. maybe $150. Add on some decent winnings at the tables and i'm actually back in front for the month ... just. I have to be happy with that though as it was looking pretty nasty for a while there. I probably won't get in any more play by the end of the month though so won't be able to increase my bankroll any further. It might be good to just wipe the slate clean for next month anyways.
Current bankroll: $17,200
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Time zone annoyances
Only problem of being an Aussie, is that a lot of the value added or freeroll tournaments seem to occur somewhere between 2am and 6am. And I can't be shagged getting up that early.
On the plus side a lot of premium play time on the cash tables goes through to about midday. Which would be good. If I didn't have to go to work ....
Anyways, I did miss a few freerolls/big overlays from interpoker and william hills in the last couple days just because I didn't want to get up, or had to work. Annoying at best.
I got in a bit under half an hour on the cash tables though and did okay again on Pacific to make about 15BBs at $2/4 whilst dropping only a couple BBs on Bodog. Add on a little rakeback and my bankroll is again moving in the right direction.
I could easily end up down for the month, but i'm not really too fussed if I do or don't - I tend to just take each session as it comes, and play the tables and fish on their own merits. I'm not going out of my way just to try to catch up any losses.
Should get my Bodog reload credit soon too which will also help the bankroll. I'm planning on getting a couple hours in on the weekend, but might be fairly busy so may not get in much more than that. With any luck William Hill will be made Pokertracker compatible by then and I can actually try it out some more to get an accurate rakeback equivalent figure to tell me if its worthwhile playing there or not.
Current bankroll: $16,950
On the plus side a lot of premium play time on the cash tables goes through to about midday. Which would be good. If I didn't have to go to work ....
Anyways, I did miss a few freerolls/big overlays from interpoker and william hills in the last couple days just because I didn't want to get up, or had to work. Annoying at best.
I got in a bit under half an hour on the cash tables though and did okay again on Pacific to make about 15BBs at $2/4 whilst dropping only a couple BBs on Bodog. Add on a little rakeback and my bankroll is again moving in the right direction.
I could easily end up down for the month, but i'm not really too fussed if I do or don't - I tend to just take each session as it comes, and play the tables and fish on their own merits. I'm not going out of my way just to try to catch up any losses.
Should get my Bodog reload credit soon too which will also help the bankroll. I'm planning on getting a couple hours in on the weekend, but might be fairly busy so may not get in much more than that. With any luck William Hill will be made Pokertracker compatible by then and I can actually try it out some more to get an accurate rakeback equivalent figure to tell me if its worthwhile playing there or not.
Current bankroll: $16,950
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
William Hill software glitch
I got in about an hour and a half of poker last night, and decided to fire up William Hill and do my deposit bonus on there.
Problem #1: Their ipoker software client doesn't import into pokertracker yet. They need to do an upgrade of some sort ....
Problem #2: Being on rakeback puts you on the lowest poker points tier, which means the sign up bonus clears horrendously slowly. I'm talking maybe giving you 1% rakeback .. and that's probably at best.
I did find a fairly nice table though, so decided to rely on my own note taking. The player to my right was a fairly average fish - played any ace even to a raise, most kings, and any two suited. There was a huge fish on my left, but unfortunately the position on him never opened. In the end I dropped about 20BBs from some particularly nasty beats from the player on my left.
Bodog and Pacific made up for those losses though so I ended up about square.
Now I just have to wait until William Hill updates their software so I can actually use my PT database and HUD.
Current bankroll: $16,850
Problem #1: Their ipoker software client doesn't import into pokertracker yet. They need to do an upgrade of some sort ....
Problem #2: Being on rakeback puts you on the lowest poker points tier, which means the sign up bonus clears horrendously slowly. I'm talking maybe giving you 1% rakeback .. and that's probably at best.
I did find a fairly nice table though, so decided to rely on my own note taking. The player to my right was a fairly average fish - played any ace even to a raise, most kings, and any two suited. There was a huge fish on my left, but unfortunately the position on him never opened. In the end I dropped about 20BBs from some particularly nasty beats from the player on my left.
Bodog and Pacific made up for those losses though so I ended up about square.
Now I just have to wait until William Hill updates their software so I can actually use my PT database and HUD.
Current bankroll: $16,850
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Bodog downswing continues
I'm still finding good tables, and good positions on Bodog, but after a several bad beats in a 20 minute session, my results are never going to look good. Luckily only at $1/2 and only about 12BBs down when finally a couple hands held up towards the end of my session.
Pacific was reasonably generous though, making about 10BBs at $2/4 for the brief session. No massive fish there, but the three players to my right just looked to be steady losers, with stats around 45/5, and were quite predictable to play against.
This evening, I think i'll make my deposit for the William Hill first deposit bonus, and see how well that actually clears whilst also getting rakeback. Will be interesting to see how it works. If it turns out to be no good, i'll just withdraw and maybe go with the Noiq option for my next site to put a bit of volume into.
Cake hasn't come through with another reload yet, and i've almost cleared my bonus there. Fingers crossed something happens soon, as its still my favourite site.
Current bankroll: $16,850
Pacific was reasonably generous though, making about 10BBs at $2/4 for the brief session. No massive fish there, but the three players to my right just looked to be steady losers, with stats around 45/5, and were quite predictable to play against.
This evening, I think i'll make my deposit for the William Hill first deposit bonus, and see how well that actually clears whilst also getting rakeback. Will be interesting to see how it works. If it turns out to be no good, i'll just withdraw and maybe go with the Noiq option for my next site to put a bit of volume into.
Cake hasn't come through with another reload yet, and i've almost cleared my bonus there. Fingers crossed something happens soon, as its still my favourite site.
Current bankroll: $16,850
Monday, March 23, 2009
Nemesis
Found myself a nemesis on Bodog. He's about 38/6, so he's often opposite on the table from me or has position on me. For some reason though he chases a lot of boards when he has only a single overcard, or is chasing with Q high. Every time he seems to hit the turn or river when i'm cbetting with air .. and it's getting annoying. I think he burnt me for another 20BBs at $1/2 in my 20 minute session last night.
A few Pacific fish though decided to pay me off. Had some weird hands there, where one 67/1 guy thought it was good to cap preflop when he held 92o and I had QQ. With a K high flop he kept on betting, and i'm glad I called him down. He didn't even have a pair. I guess he had tilted .... but i'll keep a look out for him in future. Couldn't stay at the table though as the fish to my right decided to leave and I was left with two tags to my right.
A little rakeback as well, and my bankroll has improved a little. Slowly tryin to get back up there. Its interesting though to be in a position where i'm still a fair bit below my all time high. It almost seems to motivate me to get back up there, and i'm concentrating and playing really well at the tables. Even if it takes a little time, its like a self challenge and actually has me keen to get on the tables to take out some fish. I think i'm even table and seat selecting even more carefully - I guess I really don't like to be down from any point, although when I get back up there i'll probably be a bit more blase.
Current bankroll: $16,850
A few Pacific fish though decided to pay me off. Had some weird hands there, where one 67/1 guy thought it was good to cap preflop when he held 92o and I had QQ. With a K high flop he kept on betting, and i'm glad I called him down. He didn't even have a pair. I guess he had tilted .... but i'll keep a look out for him in future. Couldn't stay at the table though as the fish to my right decided to leave and I was left with two tags to my right.
A little rakeback as well, and my bankroll has improved a little. Slowly tryin to get back up there. Its interesting though to be in a position where i'm still a fair bit below my all time high. It almost seems to motivate me to get back up there, and i'm concentrating and playing really well at the tables. Even if it takes a little time, its like a self challenge and actually has me keen to get on the tables to take out some fish. I think i'm even table and seat selecting even more carefully - I guess I really don't like to be down from any point, although when I get back up there i'll probably be a bit more blase.
Current bankroll: $16,850
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Another downswing
Bodog is continuing to beat the crap out of me.
After a solid session on Saturday where I made a few BBs at $1/2 and $4/8 on Bodog, and a few BBs on Pacific after I finally bit the bullet and purchased the handgrabber their. Not sure if it was the right decision as the play was a fair bit tighter than I remember. Nonetheless, my deal on Pacific isn't too bad, and there were still fish to be found. All up profits from my two hour session paid for the hand grabber.
Sunday I put in two hours playing mostly $4/8 on Bodog, as well as a couple $1/2 tables, and my affiliate freeroll on Cake. I was doing okay in the freeroll at about 30th with 60 players left and about an average stack. Then I decided to call a 3BB raise from the Big blind with KQs. Flop KQ3r, and I check/raise a pot sized bet. I get three bet for him to be all in, and then um and ah before calling hoping to see AK .... KK is flipped over and i'm virtually drawing dead and crippled. Next hand I get KJs UTG and decide to push for my last 6BBs. A6o calls me from UTG+1, flops an ace and i'm out in the space of two hands.
My Bodog session though turned out to be pretty terrible. I dropped 55BBs at $4/8 when one muppet managed to hit 2, 3, 4 and 5 outers on me consistently. I had hands that should have won quite a few showdowns, but ended up losing enough of them to make my session fairly horrible. At the same time I dropped 70BBs on the $1/2 table, where the fish continued to suck out left and right.
I did lose some discipline towards the end when the 65/25 fish on my right quit the $4/8 table and I continued to play for another half hour with a 43/17 player on my right. That is not quite fishy enough for my liking so I should have left immediately. I suspect its still profitable to play against that type, but my poor run continued and I dropped 10BBs in that last half hour.
So all of a sudden i'm down $600 for the weekend and it's not looking pretty. Had a bit of a recovery though when good ole Cake gave me back $50 and Pacific donated me $100 on the $2/4 and $3/6 tables within the space of half an hour.
Its been quite a while since i've had a super hot run, with the past couple months being filled with running to average or poorly most of the time. I'm sure one will come soon as this month is now looking a little sick! That being said, i'll continue to be on the look out for the fish and play my usual game.
Oh, and on the next site question, I may take up blindman's suggestion on Noiq, although i've potentially got the william hill first deposit to clear as well. Just waiting on RakeTheRake to get back to me on whether the bonus is deducted from MGR or rakeback or not deducted at all like previous WH bonuses.
Current bankroll: $16,800
After a solid session on Saturday where I made a few BBs at $1/2 and $4/8 on Bodog, and a few BBs on Pacific after I finally bit the bullet and purchased the handgrabber their. Not sure if it was the right decision as the play was a fair bit tighter than I remember. Nonetheless, my deal on Pacific isn't too bad, and there were still fish to be found. All up profits from my two hour session paid for the hand grabber.
Sunday I put in two hours playing mostly $4/8 on Bodog, as well as a couple $1/2 tables, and my affiliate freeroll on Cake. I was doing okay in the freeroll at about 30th with 60 players left and about an average stack. Then I decided to call a 3BB raise from the Big blind with KQs. Flop KQ3r, and I check/raise a pot sized bet. I get three bet for him to be all in, and then um and ah before calling hoping to see AK .... KK is flipped over and i'm virtually drawing dead and crippled. Next hand I get KJs UTG and decide to push for my last 6BBs. A6o calls me from UTG+1, flops an ace and i'm out in the space of two hands.
My Bodog session though turned out to be pretty terrible. I dropped 55BBs at $4/8 when one muppet managed to hit 2, 3, 4 and 5 outers on me consistently. I had hands that should have won quite a few showdowns, but ended up losing enough of them to make my session fairly horrible. At the same time I dropped 70BBs on the $1/2 table, where the fish continued to suck out left and right.
I did lose some discipline towards the end when the 65/25 fish on my right quit the $4/8 table and I continued to play for another half hour with a 43/17 player on my right. That is not quite fishy enough for my liking so I should have left immediately. I suspect its still profitable to play against that type, but my poor run continued and I dropped 10BBs in that last half hour.
So all of a sudden i'm down $600 for the weekend and it's not looking pretty. Had a bit of a recovery though when good ole Cake gave me back $50 and Pacific donated me $100 on the $2/4 and $3/6 tables within the space of half an hour.
Its been quite a while since i've had a super hot run, with the past couple months being filled with running to average or poorly most of the time. I'm sure one will come soon as this month is now looking a little sick! That being said, i'll continue to be on the look out for the fish and play my usual game.
Oh, and on the next site question, I may take up blindman's suggestion on Noiq, although i've potentially got the william hill first deposit to clear as well. Just waiting on RakeTheRake to get back to me on whether the bonus is deducted from MGR or rakeback or not deducted at all like previous WH bonuses.
Current bankroll: $16,800
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Where to next?
At the moment, i'm going to keep playing Bodog as much as possible because I really like the deal there. However, since they have relatively few tables running, it means I need to have another site running as well.
I've still got bonus $ to release on Sun, but since I play 6 max, I understand that ipoker is actually not that generous in terms of equivalent rakeback, since players receive points as long as they are dealt cards, which is obviously much better for full ring players. I'll have to look at the actual numbers as to what equivalent rate i'm getting there. I suspect its pretty poor.
I did select the option on William Hill to stay on rakeback and just got the email from them saying that I could also do a first deposit now they are on ipoker. Pure rakeback on ipoker does sound better than the normal points deals, so that is at least looking okay. I'll follow up with RTR on whether the bonus cash is deducted from rakeback/MGR or not. If its deducted from MGR i'll still probably take up the deal there, and give William Hill a bit of a hammering until i've cleared the maximum bonus.
I've almost cleared my last Cake reload as well, although i'm tempted to keep playing on there even with out a bonus to clear, as my results have been very good on Cake even if you excluded rakeback altogether. I've got the freeroll to play this weekend as well. Hopefully I can cash in that again too.
On to last night's session .. which was all of 20 minutes, and started with me running like a turd getting drawn out on in 3 decent pots within the space of an orbit and a half. As follows:
Hand 1:
$1/$2 Limit Holdem • 6 Players
UTG 96.75
Hero (UTG+1) 100.75
CO 105.28
BTN18.25
SB 80.60 (70/2 fish)
BB 59.61
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 6 players) Hero is UTG+1 with QdQs
1 fold, Hero raises, 2 folds, SB calls, 1 fold (nice .. heads up with the fish with a strong hand)
Flop (5.0 SB, 2 players)
Ts6cAd (not liking the A, but i'm most likely way in front)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB calls (okay he probably doesn't have the A as he normally donks when he hits)
Turn (3.5 BB, 2 players)
Jc (pretty much a blank. Gives me a gutshot to improve on the river)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB calls (i must be in front still)
River (5.5 BB, 2 players)
8d (another blank. nice)
SB bets, Hero calls (hmmm a donk. not a good sign. maybe he had a weak A?)
Final Pot: 14.6 BB
SB shows 6s8h for two pair (omfg)
SB wins 7.1 BB ( won +3.6 BB )
Hero lost -3.5 BB
Hand 2:
UTG 10.75
CO 83.10 (my fishy retard from hand 1, who had also rivered his flush draw versus me a few hands ago)
BTN 46.61 (39/7 player that I have tons of hands on. runs at a small BB/100 loss. can be over aggro post flop)
SB 110.00
Hero (BB) 100.00
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 5 players) Hero is BB with 96s
1 fold, CO calls, BTN raises, 1 fold, Hero calls, CO calls (i figured 5.5:1 is good enough to call. CO is not going to reraise. Button is reasonably tight with PFR so probably has a decent hand. I will need to hit the flop hardish)
Flop (6.5 SB, 3 players)
3h5h2s (landed my flush draw and a gutshot .. nice)
Hero checks, CO checks, BTN bets, Hero raises, CO calls, BTN calls (time for a c/r. fishy cutoff calls two cold but that doesnt mean much. Maybe he has an A and is chasing the gutshot only)
Turn (6.2 BB, 3 players)
2h (okay cool. hit my flush. Paired board sux a little, but at worst i'm probably up against two pair)
Hero bets, CO calls, BTN calls (okay fairly sure i'm up against two pair now)
River (9.2 BB, 3 players)
3s (double pairing the board is not pretty. not pretty at all)
Hero checks, CO bets, BTN calls, Hero calls (unbelievable. surely muppet hasnt hit it again .....)
Final Pot: 24.0 BB
CO shows 3cTc (omfg x2)
BTN shows (KsKd)
CO wins 11.8 BB ( won +7.8 BB )
Hero lost -4.0 BB
BTN lost -4.0 BB
Hand 3:
$1/$2 Limit Holdem • 6 Players
UTG 10.19
UTG+1 243.67
CO 123.10
BTN 34.65 (80/5 fish)
Hero (SB) 99.00
BB 140.75 (50/30 aggro muppet)
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 6 players) Hero is SB with KsJh
3 folds, BTN calls, Hero raises, BB calls, BTN calls (iso raise unsuccessful, but i'm probably in reasonable shape still)
Flop (6.0 SB, 3 players)
Tc9c7c
Hero bets, BB raises, BTN calls, Hero calls (hmm someone probably has at least one club. i've got the double gutter though so figure its worth calling the c/r versus an over aggro dude)
Turn (6.0 BB, 3 players)
8h (sweet .. hit one of my gutters and not a club)
Hero checks, BB bets, BTN calls, Hero calls (i think i should have c/rd here)
River (9.0 BB, 3 players)
Ac (fing kidding me aren't ya)
Hero checks, BB checks, BTN bets, Hero folds, BB calls (i just dont think both can't have a club. button's play is consistent with holding one. big pot though, and i think i would have called if i was closing the action)
Final Pot: 21.5 BB
BTN shows Jc4s (j4o .. u gotta be f'n kidding ...)
BTN wins 10.5 BB ( won +6.5 BB )
Hero lost -3.0 BB
BB lost -4.0 BB
Hand 4: this one was when a couple players had dropped out and I was up against a super aggro muppet
$1/$2 Limit Holdem • 6 Players
Hero (UTG) 92.75
UTG+1 81.00
CO 298.09
BTN 210.13
SB 46.75
BB 123.50 (overly aggro muppet. lots of bluffs)
Pre-Flop (2.5 SB, 6 players) Hero is UTG with AcTd
[CO posts 1] Hero raises, 4 folds, BB calls
Flop (5.5 SB, 2 players)
3cTs5s (solid flop for me when up against a complete muppet)
BB bets, Hero raises, BB 3-bets, Hero 4-bets, BB calls (i've seen him 3betting light so reraise here)
Turn (6.8 BB, 2 players)
4s (f me .. that hits the flush draw and puts 345 on the board. still. i doubt he has it)
BB bets, Hero calls (i'm calling down here)
River (8.8 BB, 2 players)
7s (omfg .. 4 spades .. and completes a straight for the 6)
BB bets, Hero calls (i'm still looking him up)
Final Pot: 21.0 BB
BB shows 9s4d (wtf did you have to cap the flop???? f me)
And that was the end of a very frustrating series of beats.
Current bankroll: $17,250
I've still got bonus $ to release on Sun, but since I play 6 max, I understand that ipoker is actually not that generous in terms of equivalent rakeback, since players receive points as long as they are dealt cards, which is obviously much better for full ring players. I'll have to look at the actual numbers as to what equivalent rate i'm getting there. I suspect its pretty poor.
I did select the option on William Hill to stay on rakeback and just got the email from them saying that I could also do a first deposit now they are on ipoker. Pure rakeback on ipoker does sound better than the normal points deals, so that is at least looking okay. I'll follow up with RTR on whether the bonus cash is deducted from rakeback/MGR or not. If its deducted from MGR i'll still probably take up the deal there, and give William Hill a bit of a hammering until i've cleared the maximum bonus.
I've almost cleared my last Cake reload as well, although i'm tempted to keep playing on there even with out a bonus to clear, as my results have been very good on Cake even if you excluded rakeback altogether. I've got the freeroll to play this weekend as well. Hopefully I can cash in that again too.
On to last night's session .. which was all of 20 minutes, and started with me running like a turd getting drawn out on in 3 decent pots within the space of an orbit and a half. As follows:
Hand 1:
$1/$2 Limit Holdem • 6 Players
UTG 96.75
Hero (UTG+1) 100.75
CO 105.28
BTN18.25
SB 80.60 (70/2 fish)
BB 59.61
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 6 players) Hero is UTG+1 with QdQs
1 fold, Hero raises, 2 folds, SB calls, 1 fold (nice .. heads up with the fish with a strong hand)
Flop (5.0 SB, 2 players)
Ts6cAd (not liking the A, but i'm most likely way in front)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB calls (okay he probably doesn't have the A as he normally donks when he hits)
Turn (3.5 BB, 2 players)
Jc (pretty much a blank. Gives me a gutshot to improve on the river)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB calls (i must be in front still)
River (5.5 BB, 2 players)
8d (another blank. nice)
SB bets, Hero calls (hmmm a donk. not a good sign. maybe he had a weak A?)
Final Pot: 14.6 BB
SB shows 6s8h for two pair (omfg)
SB wins 7.1 BB ( won +3.6 BB )
Hero lost -3.5 BB
Hand 2:
UTG 10.75
CO 83.10 (my fishy retard from hand 1, who had also rivered his flush draw versus me a few hands ago)
BTN 46.61 (39/7 player that I have tons of hands on. runs at a small BB/100 loss. can be over aggro post flop)
SB 110.00
Hero (BB) 100.00
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 5 players) Hero is BB with 96s
1 fold, CO calls, BTN raises, 1 fold, Hero calls, CO calls (i figured 5.5:1 is good enough to call. CO is not going to reraise. Button is reasonably tight with PFR so probably has a decent hand. I will need to hit the flop hardish)
Flop (6.5 SB, 3 players)
3h5h2s (landed my flush draw and a gutshot .. nice)
Hero checks, CO checks, BTN bets, Hero raises, CO calls, BTN calls (time for a c/r. fishy cutoff calls two cold but that doesnt mean much. Maybe he has an A and is chasing the gutshot only)
Turn (6.2 BB, 3 players)
2h (okay cool. hit my flush. Paired board sux a little, but at worst i'm probably up against two pair)
Hero bets, CO calls, BTN calls (okay fairly sure i'm up against two pair now)
River (9.2 BB, 3 players)
3s (double pairing the board is not pretty. not pretty at all)
Hero checks, CO bets, BTN calls, Hero calls (unbelievable. surely muppet hasnt hit it again .....)
Final Pot: 24.0 BB
CO shows 3cTc (omfg x2)
BTN shows (KsKd)
CO wins 11.8 BB ( won +7.8 BB )
Hero lost -4.0 BB
BTN lost -4.0 BB
Hand 3:
$1/$2 Limit Holdem • 6 Players
UTG 10.19
UTG+1 243.67
CO 123.10
BTN 34.65 (80/5 fish)
Hero (SB) 99.00
BB 140.75 (50/30 aggro muppet)
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 6 players) Hero is SB with KsJh
3 folds, BTN calls, Hero raises, BB calls, BTN calls (iso raise unsuccessful, but i'm probably in reasonable shape still)
Flop (6.0 SB, 3 players)
Tc9c7c
Hero bets, BB raises, BTN calls, Hero calls (hmm someone probably has at least one club. i've got the double gutter though so figure its worth calling the c/r versus an over aggro dude)
Turn (6.0 BB, 3 players)
8h (sweet .. hit one of my gutters and not a club)
Hero checks, BB bets, BTN calls, Hero calls (i think i should have c/rd here)
River (9.0 BB, 3 players)
Ac (fing kidding me aren't ya)
Hero checks, BB checks, BTN bets, Hero folds, BB calls (i just dont think both can't have a club. button's play is consistent with holding one. big pot though, and i think i would have called if i was closing the action)
Final Pot: 21.5 BB
BTN shows Jc4s (j4o .. u gotta be f'n kidding ...)
BTN wins 10.5 BB ( won +6.5 BB )
Hero lost -3.0 BB
BB lost -4.0 BB
Hand 4: this one was when a couple players had dropped out and I was up against a super aggro muppet
$1/$2 Limit Holdem • 6 Players
Hero (UTG) 92.75
UTG+1 81.00
CO 298.09
BTN 210.13
SB 46.75
BB 123.50 (overly aggro muppet. lots of bluffs)
Pre-Flop (2.5 SB, 6 players) Hero is UTG with AcTd
[CO posts 1] Hero raises, 4 folds, BB calls
Flop (5.5 SB, 2 players)
3cTs5s (solid flop for me when up against a complete muppet)
BB bets, Hero raises, BB 3-bets, Hero 4-bets, BB calls (i've seen him 3betting light so reraise here)
Turn (6.8 BB, 2 players)
4s (f me .. that hits the flush draw and puts 345 on the board. still. i doubt he has it)
BB bets, Hero calls (i'm calling down here)
River (8.8 BB, 2 players)
7s (omfg .. 4 spades .. and completes a straight for the 6)
BB bets, Hero calls (i'm still looking him up)
Final Pot: 21.0 BB
BB shows 9s4d (wtf did you have to cap the flop???? f me)
And that was the end of a very frustrating series of beats.
Current bankroll: $17,250
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Midweek struggle again
As per usual, midweek absolutely suck for finding any good tables, although admittedly I did manage to find one that had about 4 fish on Bodog. As often seems the case, those fish seemed to suck out left and right. I will have to post one hand in particular tomorrow ...
I ended up opening a couple tables on Sun at $3/6 and $2/4, as well as at least one table on fulltilt whilst the Bodog muppets were taking my money. Sun was particularly generous though giving me a solid 10BBs on both the $3/6 and $2/4 table. So in a bit under an hour it had been a reasonable session, after i'd brought myself back to even on the Bodog $4/8 table as well.
I also played my last double up SNG on Interpoker, and that went quite smoothly. The only hand that I really played was KK on a flop of T42r. The overaggro fish to the left of me decided to push all in on that flop after calling a fairly big raise from me preflop. Since I had double his chips and i'd seen what he'd been showing down I called, and he flipped over A5o and was chasing 7 outs. None hit, and I folded my way into the money.
Kind of sad to see the end of crypto - their bonuses that were not deducted had always been great. The player base was reasonably tight though, so I guess it might get better in future. We shall see.
Current bankroll: $17,250
I ended up opening a couple tables on Sun at $3/6 and $2/4, as well as at least one table on fulltilt whilst the Bodog muppets were taking my money. Sun was particularly generous though giving me a solid 10BBs on both the $3/6 and $2/4 table. So in a bit under an hour it had been a reasonable session, after i'd brought myself back to even on the Bodog $4/8 table as well.
I also played my last double up SNG on Interpoker, and that went quite smoothly. The only hand that I really played was KK on a flop of T42r. The overaggro fish to the left of me decided to push all in on that flop after calling a fairly big raise from me preflop. Since I had double his chips and i'd seen what he'd been showing down I called, and he flipped over A5o and was chasing 7 outs. None hit, and I folded my way into the money.
Kind of sad to see the end of crypto - their bonuses that were not deducted had always been great. The player base was reasonably tight though, so I guess it might get better in future. We shall see.
Current bankroll: $17,250
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Back into the black ... just
Played all of three orbits last night, as I just couldn't find any tables worth playing on. About 8 tables were running on Interpoker and all were too tight to be worthwhile. Only a couple running on Bodog, and only one of those - a $1/2 table was worth playing on, and they did donate me about 10BBs in the space of three orbits.
Cake had a stack of tables running, but most looked fairly tight. I found one $4/8 that looked kind of loose, so I sat down. In the first orbit I made a few BBs, but I was disappointed to see a lot of folding preflop, so I sat out and watched the second orbit. Every man and their dog then limped into every hand. I sat back in when the BB got back to me. Suddenly everyone was folding preflop again, although I managed to pick up one good pot with top pair after raising J9s UTG so I was a little concerned when I had two callers still at the river. Ended about 6BBs up when I stood up and left the table at the end of that orbit.
So at least i'm back to where I started the month .. plus a little bit. Hopefully it continues that way and I can make a few more BBs on Bodog as well.
Current bankroll: $17,150
Cake had a stack of tables running, but most looked fairly tight. I found one $4/8 that looked kind of loose, so I sat down. In the first orbit I made a few BBs, but I was disappointed to see a lot of folding preflop, so I sat out and watched the second orbit. Every man and their dog then limped into every hand. I sat back in when the BB got back to me. Suddenly everyone was folding preflop again, although I managed to pick up one good pot with top pair after raising J9s UTG so I was a little concerned when I had two callers still at the river. Ended about 6BBs up when I stood up and left the table at the end of that orbit.
So at least i'm back to where I started the month .. plus a little bit. Hopefully it continues that way and I can make a few more BBs on Bodog as well.
Current bankroll: $17,150
Monday, March 16, 2009
Sometimes i'm a bit slow
Hadn't really thought about it, but with Interpoker moving i'll basically lose all my loyalty points. If i'd been a bit quicker, i'd have actually spent a stack of them on tourneys. Oh well. I'll have to make it a point next time i'm playing in a room which is moving networks.
Played all of half an hour last night, and found my K2 fish again, and actually got position on him - and then proceeded to go card dead ... again. Only dropped about 4BBs on the $4/8 table, and made that up on the $1/2 table where I also had position on him. Irritating though that i'm not smashing it up.
Cake was kinder, where I played a single orbit before realising my position sucked, but in that time i made a good 15BBs at $3/6. Hopefully I can continue to run well there, and actually run better than turd on Bodog sooner or later.
Current bankroll: $17,100
Played all of half an hour last night, and found my K2 fish again, and actually got position on him - and then proceeded to go card dead ... again. Only dropped about 4BBs on the $4/8 table, and made that up on the $1/2 table where I also had position on him. Irritating though that i'm not smashing it up.
Cake was kinder, where I played a single orbit before realising my position sucked, but in that time i made a good 15BBs at $3/6. Hopefully I can continue to run well there, and actually run better than turd on Bodog sooner or later.
Current bankroll: $17,100
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Uh?????????????
Well, my weekend of poker actually started out pretty well. I got in a couple hours, and was winning on Bodog, Interpoker and Cake at all stakes from $1/2 to $4/8. I'd boosted my bankroll back up to $17,300.
Then came an hour of pain. On one $4/8 table, I was completely card dead, and in 50 hands I had a VPIP of 5%, and had won a total of 1 hand - 62o from the BB .....
On another $4/8 table, I had a vpip of around 20% and was hitting flops pretty hard .. and then getting screwed. I had a wtsd of a whopping 70% .... and a w$sd at a miniscule 15%. I guess its' best explained with a few examples.....
Hand 1:
$4/$8 Limit Holdem • 5 Players. (huge fish had just left 2nd to my right. sigh)
UTG 420.50 (50/5 fish ... wish i had position on him but that seat never opened)
CO 442.50
BTN160.10
SB 420.50
Hero (BB) 269.35
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 5 players) Hero is BB with QsQh (about time I got a hand!)
UTG calls, 3 folds, Hero raises, UTG calls (heads up against the fish .. good)
Flop (4.5 SB, 2 players)
Qc9s5s (awesome!)
Hero bets, UTG calls (here fishy fish)
Turn (3.2 BB, 2 players)
Ts (okay that's probably the worst possible card in the deck that someone could have peeled for. KJ hits their straight, and it hits the flush draw)
Hero bets, UTG calls (nevertheless I have to bet here. He is a fish and with his call he probably didn't hit anything still. Maybe he has a single spade?)
River (5.2 BB, 2 players)
Jh (you gotta be kiddin me. that puts the oesd on the board ... i guess a spade would have been worse ....)
Hero checks, UTG bets, Hero calls (gotta crying call here as there's a fair shot i'm in front)
Final Pot: 14.2 BB
UTG shows Kh2h (Uh?????????????)
UTG wins 7.0 BB ( won +3.5 BB )
Hero lost -3.5 BB
Hand 2:
$4/$8 Limit Holdem • 6 Players
UTG 88.50 (45/7 .. showed down too much too)
Hero (UTG+1) 345.50
CO 394.00 (50/5 fish from above hand)
BTN 452.50
SB 144.30
BB 439.00
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 6 players) Hero is UTG+1 with KhTh (not bad)
UTG calls, Hero raises, CO 3-bets, 1 fold, SB calls, 1 fold, UTG calls, Hero calls (dont mind limpy fish coming in. Not overly happy with the 3 bet from the other fish who is reasonably tight with his PFRs)
Flop (13.0 SB, 4 players)
9hKdTs (two pair for me. QT, TT or 99 could be a concern from UTG but unlikely. KK is the only worry from the CO, so i'm most likely in front.
SB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets, CO calls, SB calls, UTG raises, Hero 3-bets, CO calls, SB folds, UTG calls (hmm utg c/r ... but i'm not giving him credit for a better hand yet. Big pair for the CO?)
Turn (11.5 BB, 3 players)
2h (gives me my flush draw as well as 2 pair. nice)
UTG checks, Hero bets, CO calls, UTG calls (given both just call i think i'm in front)
River (14.5 BB, 3 players)
Jc (well thats a horrible horrible card for me putting the straight on the board)
UTG checks, Hero checks, CO bets, UTG calls, Hero calls (gotta crying call here - pot is massive!!)
Final Pot: 34.6 BB
CO shows AhQh (where is the justice from hand 1??? f me. Not a horrible beat though in hindsight as he basically had odds to chase it ... and he often chased and missed ... against other opponents ... )
UTG shows Tc9s
CO wins 17.1 BB ( won +12.1 BB ) (about a $135 pot. would have made a big difference to my final results .... but that's often how it is - a single showdown often is all it takes)
UTG lost -5.0 BB
Hero lost -5.0 BB
SB lost -2.0 BB
I also managed to lose 35BBs on a $1/2 table within about 50 hands. Here the villain is running at 85/25 with a 70% wtsd, and a 80% w$sd ... He was also super aggro on all streets with basically crap and was consistently hitting miracle turns and rivers.
Hand 3:
$1/$2 Limit Holdem • 5 Players
UTG 102.75
CO 42.00
Hero (BTN) 77.50
SB 41.20
BB 32.43 (above mentioned muppet. started with literally $10)
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 5 players) Hero is BTN with Qh8h
2 folds, Hero raises, SB calls, BB calls
Flop (6.0 SB, 3 players)
6h8c5h (sweet .. top pair and the flush draw)
SB checks, BB bets, Hero raises, SB calls, BB 3-bets, Hero 4-bets, SB calls, BB calls (i'm happy to cap here with my big draw and two people along for the ride. BB could easily have just top pair, and maybe a bigger kicker)
Turn (9.0 BB, 3 players)
Qc (nice .. two pair now and still the flush draw. I should be in front)
SB checks, BB bets, Hero raises, SB folds, BB 3-bets, Hero calls (not super happy with the 3 bet from BB, but I figured I was probably in front and wanted sb to fold .. maybe he has trips?)
River (15.0 BB, 2 players)
Tc (that's reasonably blank even with the FD on the board)
BB bets, Hero calls
Final Pot: 33.5 BB
BB shows 4d7s (Uh?????????????)
BB wins 16.5 BB ( won +9.5 BB )
Hero lost -7.0 BB
SB lost -3.0 BB
Current bankroll: $17,000
Then came an hour of pain. On one $4/8 table, I was completely card dead, and in 50 hands I had a VPIP of 5%, and had won a total of 1 hand - 62o from the BB .....
On another $4/8 table, I had a vpip of around 20% and was hitting flops pretty hard .. and then getting screwed. I had a wtsd of a whopping 70% .... and a w$sd at a miniscule 15%. I guess its' best explained with a few examples.....
Hand 1:
$4/$8 Limit Holdem • 5 Players. (huge fish had just left 2nd to my right. sigh)
UTG 420.50 (50/5 fish ... wish i had position on him but that seat never opened)
CO 442.50
BTN160.10
SB 420.50
Hero (BB) 269.35
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 5 players) Hero is BB with QsQh (about time I got a hand!)
UTG calls, 3 folds, Hero raises, UTG calls (heads up against the fish .. good)
Flop (4.5 SB, 2 players)
Qc9s5s (awesome!)
Hero bets, UTG calls (here fishy fish)
Turn (3.2 BB, 2 players)
Ts (okay that's probably the worst possible card in the deck that someone could have peeled for. KJ hits their straight, and it hits the flush draw)
Hero bets, UTG calls (nevertheless I have to bet here. He is a fish and with his call he probably didn't hit anything still. Maybe he has a single spade?)
River (5.2 BB, 2 players)
Jh (you gotta be kiddin me. that puts the oesd on the board ... i guess a spade would have been worse ....)
Hero checks, UTG bets, Hero calls (gotta crying call here as there's a fair shot i'm in front)
Final Pot: 14.2 BB
UTG shows Kh2h (Uh?????????????)
UTG wins 7.0 BB ( won +3.5 BB )
Hero lost -3.5 BB
Hand 2:
$4/$8 Limit Holdem • 6 Players
UTG 88.50 (45/7 .. showed down too much too)
Hero (UTG+1) 345.50
CO 394.00 (50/5 fish from above hand)
BTN 452.50
SB 144.30
BB 439.00
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 6 players) Hero is UTG+1 with KhTh (not bad)
UTG calls, Hero raises, CO 3-bets, 1 fold, SB calls, 1 fold, UTG calls, Hero calls (dont mind limpy fish coming in. Not overly happy with the 3 bet from the other fish who is reasonably tight with his PFRs)
Flop (13.0 SB, 4 players)
9hKdTs (two pair for me. QT, TT or 99 could be a concern from UTG but unlikely. KK is the only worry from the CO, so i'm most likely in front.
SB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets, CO calls, SB calls, UTG raises, Hero 3-bets, CO calls, SB folds, UTG calls (hmm utg c/r ... but i'm not giving him credit for a better hand yet. Big pair for the CO?)
Turn (11.5 BB, 3 players)
2h (gives me my flush draw as well as 2 pair. nice)
UTG checks, Hero bets, CO calls, UTG calls (given both just call i think i'm in front)
River (14.5 BB, 3 players)
Jc (well thats a horrible horrible card for me putting the straight on the board)
UTG checks, Hero checks, CO bets, UTG calls, Hero calls (gotta crying call here - pot is massive!!)
Final Pot: 34.6 BB
CO shows AhQh (where is the justice from hand 1??? f me. Not a horrible beat though in hindsight as he basically had odds to chase it ... and he often chased and missed ... against other opponents ... )
UTG shows Tc9s
CO wins 17.1 BB ( won +12.1 BB ) (about a $135 pot. would have made a big difference to my final results .... but that's often how it is - a single showdown often is all it takes)
UTG lost -5.0 BB
Hero lost -5.0 BB
SB lost -2.0 BB
I also managed to lose 35BBs on a $1/2 table within about 50 hands. Here the villain is running at 85/25 with a 70% wtsd, and a 80% w$sd ... He was also super aggro on all streets with basically crap and was consistently hitting miracle turns and rivers.
Hand 3:
$1/$2 Limit Holdem • 5 Players
UTG 102.75
CO 42.00
Hero (BTN) 77.50
SB 41.20
BB 32.43 (above mentioned muppet. started with literally $10)
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 5 players) Hero is BTN with Qh8h
2 folds, Hero raises, SB calls, BB calls
Flop (6.0 SB, 3 players)
6h8c5h (sweet .. top pair and the flush draw)
SB checks, BB bets, Hero raises, SB calls, BB 3-bets, Hero 4-bets, SB calls, BB calls (i'm happy to cap here with my big draw and two people along for the ride. BB could easily have just top pair, and maybe a bigger kicker)
Turn (9.0 BB, 3 players)
Qc (nice .. two pair now and still the flush draw. I should be in front)
SB checks, BB bets, Hero raises, SB folds, BB 3-bets, Hero calls (not super happy with the 3 bet from BB, but I figured I was probably in front and wanted sb to fold .. maybe he has trips?)
River (15.0 BB, 2 players)
Tc (that's reasonably blank even with the FD on the board)
BB bets, Hero calls
Final Pot: 33.5 BB
BB shows 4d7s (Uh?????????????)
BB wins 16.5 BB ( won +9.5 BB )
Hero lost -7.0 BB
SB lost -3.0 BB
Current bankroll: $17,000
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Cake strikes back
Well for the first time in a while Cake decided to dish out beat after beat. I couldn't even beat the player who was playing T6o from MP.
In my half hour session I ended up winning one hand without a showdown, and one showdown, in around 50 hands split across two $3/6 tables. I guess fortunately i'd had to fold a LOT of hands preflop so was only down 25BBs.
But now i'm back to square one for the month. I'm not sure how much play i'll get in over the weekend, but hopefully it goes in the right direction!
Interpoker is about to switch network, so i'll still be trying to get as much play in there as I can for the double rakeback.
Current bankroll: $17,150
In my half hour session I ended up winning one hand without a showdown, and one showdown, in around 50 hands split across two $3/6 tables. I guess fortunately i'd had to fold a LOT of hands preflop so was only down 25BBs.
But now i'm back to square one for the month. I'm not sure how much play i'll get in over the weekend, but hopefully it goes in the right direction!
Interpoker is about to switch network, so i'll still be trying to get as much play in there as I can for the double rakeback.
Current bankroll: $17,150
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Waiting ...
Played for nearly an hour last night, and added myself to the waiting list of a very juicy $4/8 table. When it was nearly time for me to quit ... I was still waiting. Irritating.
At the same time, I broke even on a very loose $2/4 table on Interpoker where I saw one muppet 3 bet 23o preflop, and win the hand ... twice. That same muppet took about 20BBs off me, until he managed to tilt the tag to my right, who then though it was a good idea to cap the turn with 4 hearts on the board, and then call my three bet on the river with Q hearts high versus my A high. That and a couple hands finally holding up allowed me to break even, whilst accumulating some half decent rakeback as every hand would have been raked fairly heavily.
I also played a couple $1/2 tables on Cake and Bodog, and they were fairly generous making me 20BBs or so in total. Not a bad little session in the end, although I really wanted to get onto the bigger fishy table.
I played one double up at the same time. I think i'm getting my strategy pretty sorted in those now. Basically blinds have to be at least 50/100 and my stack under 800 before i'll risk my entire stack all in with a pair or worse (even AA, although that may go all in preflop). I had to actually play one hand in the whole sng, where blinds were 25/50 and I raised to 150 from the button with AJs. An aggro SB reraised to 350 and I ummmed and ahhhhhed before calling. Flop was A62r and he checked so I decided to push and hope that he folded as my stack was now only about 600 left. He called. But then flipped over KK. wtf ... and my AJ held up. I then folded into the money.
Current bankroll: $17,300
At the same time, I broke even on a very loose $2/4 table on Interpoker where I saw one muppet 3 bet 23o preflop, and win the hand ... twice. That same muppet took about 20BBs off me, until he managed to tilt the tag to my right, who then though it was a good idea to cap the turn with 4 hearts on the board, and then call my three bet on the river with Q hearts high versus my A high. That and a couple hands finally holding up allowed me to break even, whilst accumulating some half decent rakeback as every hand would have been raked fairly heavily.
I also played a couple $1/2 tables on Cake and Bodog, and they were fairly generous making me 20BBs or so in total. Not a bad little session in the end, although I really wanted to get onto the bigger fishy table.
I played one double up at the same time. I think i'm getting my strategy pretty sorted in those now. Basically blinds have to be at least 50/100 and my stack under 800 before i'll risk my entire stack all in with a pair or worse (even AA, although that may go all in preflop). I had to actually play one hand in the whole sng, where blinds were 25/50 and I raised to 150 from the button with AJs. An aggro SB reraised to 350 and I ummmed and ahhhhhed before calling. Flop was A62r and he checked so I decided to push and hope that he folded as my stack was now only about 600 left. He called. But then flipped over KK. wtf ... and my AJ held up. I then folded into the money.
Current bankroll: $17,300
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
New favourite fish type
The 'timeout' fish. Played one guy last night on Interpoker who appeared to have a stack of tables open, and fairly often his timer would run down to almost out, or he'd time out before acting. The result was him donating me quite a few BBs to cbets with air, or relatively poor hands.
Basically every time he was in a hand looking a bit slow with me, i'd raise him and wait and see what happened. It actually worked extremely well.
That being said, another fish at $4/8 then took my stack of winnings when he hit a flush with K2s v my AA and then hit another flush when he held AJs v my AKs. Ack. Bodog is still not looking pretty .. although I did recover 20BBs at $1/2 to even out my 4BB loss at $4/8
Overall about even for the session, but i'll be on the lookout for my timeout fish in future. I know some people would lose patience against this type of player, but if you have a few more tables open, it doesn't bother me too much.
I also played an interesting double up last night when I was completely card dead. My stack had blinded down to 900 chips with blinds about to go to 100/200. I then started shoving reasonably liberally versus medium stacks when folded to me on the button or SB, and they were kind enough to just fold. All in all, I didn't receive a single premium hand or show down a single hand for the entire SnG and still doubled my cash. (Well actually I did have AQs once, and there was an all in from a medium stack before me and a short stack on the BB to come after me, so I just folded that one - which I believe is the correct play in a double up).
Current bankroll: $17,250
Basically every time he was in a hand looking a bit slow with me, i'd raise him and wait and see what happened. It actually worked extremely well.
That being said, another fish at $4/8 then took my stack of winnings when he hit a flush with K2s v my AA and then hit another flush when he held AJs v my AKs. Ack. Bodog is still not looking pretty .. although I did recover 20BBs at $1/2 to even out my 4BB loss at $4/8
Overall about even for the session, but i'll be on the lookout for my timeout fish in future. I know some people would lose patience against this type of player, but if you have a few more tables open, it doesn't bother me too much.
I also played an interesting double up last night when I was completely card dead. My stack had blinded down to 900 chips with blinds about to go to 100/200. I then started shoving reasonably liberally versus medium stacks when folded to me on the button or SB, and they were kind enough to just fold. All in all, I didn't receive a single premium hand or show down a single hand for the entire SnG and still doubled my cash. (Well actually I did have AQs once, and there was an all in from a medium stack before me and a short stack on the BB to come after me, so I just folded that one - which I believe is the correct play in a double up).
Current bankroll: $17,250
Monday, March 9, 2009
$4/8 pain continues
Played for an hour yesterday, and the first thing I noticed was the same fish 65/25 from the other day on the Bodog $4/8 tables, sitting with about $700 in his stack, and an empty seat on his left. I figured it was worth a shot so sat down.
In about 20 minutes, his stack has dwindled to about $300, however, at the same time i'd managed to drop 25BBs as well. F me. I hope $4/8 on Bodog doesnt go like $1/2 where I had to lose 250BBs before recovering them all and more within the space of 1,000 hands.
After that point I did recover about 10BBs before the table broke up but it still wasn't pretty. Overall i've dropped about 90BBs within 1,300 hands at $4/8. Ugly.
I also found a super fishy $1/2 table, where the player on my right was 85/35, and the player to my left 94/0. The 85/35 guy lost 40BBs ... and obviously I also lost 25BBs at the same time. Unreal beats as you'd expect when playing opponents that loose. Only problem was the only time I seemed to get a fairly good hand, either of the fish would hit something even better. Like when my ATs flopped AT9r, only to have run into 94/0 guy's 99. Yuk
I sat down at an Interpoker $3/6 table at the same time, and found one of my favourite fish sitting to my right who runs at 70/35 and also sees a LOT of showdowns. Thankfully he donated about 15BBs to me, so the day wasn't a complete disaster.
I cashed out $60 worth of Bodog points, and also accrued $90 in rakeback from the weekend's play on Interpoker thanks to the 60% rakeback, so my bankroll actually increased even with some losses on the tables.
Current bankroll: $17,250
In about 20 minutes, his stack has dwindled to about $300, however, at the same time i'd managed to drop 25BBs as well. F me. I hope $4/8 on Bodog doesnt go like $1/2 where I had to lose 250BBs before recovering them all and more within the space of 1,000 hands.
After that point I did recover about 10BBs before the table broke up but it still wasn't pretty. Overall i've dropped about 90BBs within 1,300 hands at $4/8. Ugly.
I also found a super fishy $1/2 table, where the player on my right was 85/35, and the player to my left 94/0. The 85/35 guy lost 40BBs ... and obviously I also lost 25BBs at the same time. Unreal beats as you'd expect when playing opponents that loose. Only problem was the only time I seemed to get a fairly good hand, either of the fish would hit something even better. Like when my ATs flopped AT9r, only to have run into 94/0 guy's 99. Yuk
I sat down at an Interpoker $3/6 table at the same time, and found one of my favourite fish sitting to my right who runs at 70/35 and also sees a LOT of showdowns. Thankfully he donated about 15BBs to me, so the day wasn't a complete disaster.
I cashed out $60 worth of Bodog points, and also accrued $90 in rakeback from the weekend's play on Interpoker thanks to the 60% rakeback, so my bankroll actually increased even with some losses on the tables.
Current bankroll: $17,250
Sunday, March 8, 2009
What constitutes a swing?
I more than doubled my poker hours for the month over the weekend, with overall pretty poor results. I think it was mainly from running kind of cool.
In my first two hour session, I played mainly on Interpoker, mixed between 3/6, 2/4 and 1/2. On the 3/6 table, I was getting smashed to the tune of about 30BBs, on the 2/4 table I dropped another 30BBs, but on the 1/2 table I made 50BBs. Each of those tables was equally fishy, and I even had position on the exact same player on the 1/2 as the 2/4 table ... and he really was retarded. Anyways ... that seemed pretty swingy to me, and is what i was going to title this post .. until i thought well ... 30BBs whilst being somewhat painful is not really that big of a swing.
In my first two hour session, I played mainly on Interpoker, mixed between 3/6, 2/4 and 1/2. On the 3/6 table, I was getting smashed to the tune of about 30BBs, on the 2/4 table I dropped another 30BBs, but on the 1/2 table I made 50BBs. Each of those tables was equally fishy, and I even had position on the exact same player on the 1/2 as the 2/4 table ... and he really was retarded. Anyways ... that seemed pretty swingy to me, and is what i was going to title this post .. until i thought well ... 30BBs whilst being somewhat painful is not really that big of a swing.
The interesting thing of that session was that my W$SD was under 40% on all tables, so I must have been running cool. Card dead is a better description for the 3/6 table where my VPIP was 15%! The main difference on the 1/2 table was hitting quads twice, and getting turn and river capped for one of those for a massive pot. Unfortunately on the other tables I couldn't start with or hit anything at all.
My next two hour session was pretty boring, with my bankroll hardly moving in any direction. Even though I was playing against a bunch of fish. Oh well. At least i'll get some rakeback.
My final session was mainly on Bodog, and then a stack of double ups on Interpoker. I had both a $1/2 table open and a $4/8 table open, with the same 65/25 aggro fish sitting on my right. Of course I started off horribly again, and quickly lost 25BBs on the 4/8 table, whilst winning about 20 on the 1/2 table. FFS. I'm almost stuck back to 1/2 on bodog again .... i just cant seem to catch a break against the fish at 4/8 even though they are absolutely horrible players. I was also now down for the month.
The table then broke up and I found a juicy 3/6 table on Cake. Good ole cake. They donated me back 30BBs and I also won 6 $5 double ups at Interpoker at the same time. All in all back to even for the session after a horrendous start.
I'm sure i'll have some luck on the higher stakes tables sooner or later .....
Current bankroll: $17,200
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Fishy stats
I noticed last night in another of my brief sessions, that some of the players who are paying me off the most, aren't necessarily those that are super loose preflop.
Several players in my database are running at over -10BBs/100 in 1,000 hands, with a VPIP under 40. However, where they are weak is that their WTSD is over 45% and often in the low 50s. They are obviously therefore calling down a lot with pretty mediocre hands, and with their loss rate being so high, they're paying several big bets on the turn and river to do so.
Normally i've been looking to have position on the very loose preflop fish, but based on this small insight i'll have a look for these showdown bound types of players as well. They are probably higher variance to play against, and cbets will often fail, but by the looks of it they do pay off quite well.
That being said, I got in an hour on Wednesday night, and found a couple of those types of players. The main one I had position on though went through a super hot streak, and managed to suck out on me several times and I ended up stuck about 30BBs. Luckily for me it was only at $1/2 on Interpoker. Actually most of my session from Wednesday, and the 15 minutes I played Thursday night were on Interpoker, on a mix of $1/2 to $3/6 tables. A brief Bodog session on Thursday however did net me another 25BBs at $1/2 to keep me even for the last couple days. I'm keen to play more Interpoker though, for the double rakeback, monthly bonus and the fact that I have to rake at least $50 to qualify for the double rakeback, which i've now nearly achieved.
I should get in a few more hours over the weekend, but am otherwise pretty busy so we will see.
Current bankroll: $17,350
Several players in my database are running at over -10BBs/100 in 1,000 hands, with a VPIP under 40. However, where they are weak is that their WTSD is over 45% and often in the low 50s. They are obviously therefore calling down a lot with pretty mediocre hands, and with their loss rate being so high, they're paying several big bets on the turn and river to do so.
Normally i've been looking to have position on the very loose preflop fish, but based on this small insight i'll have a look for these showdown bound types of players as well. They are probably higher variance to play against, and cbets will often fail, but by the looks of it they do pay off quite well.
That being said, I got in an hour on Wednesday night, and found a couple of those types of players. The main one I had position on though went through a super hot streak, and managed to suck out on me several times and I ended up stuck about 30BBs. Luckily for me it was only at $1/2 on Interpoker. Actually most of my session from Wednesday, and the 15 minutes I played Thursday night were on Interpoker, on a mix of $1/2 to $3/6 tables. A brief Bodog session on Thursday however did net me another 25BBs at $1/2 to keep me even for the last couple days. I'm keen to play more Interpoker though, for the double rakeback, monthly bonus and the fact that I have to rake at least $50 to qualify for the double rakeback, which i've now nearly achieved.
I should get in a few more hours over the weekend, but am otherwise pretty busy so we will see.
Current bankroll: $17,350
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Small sessions - just one hand is all it takes
Only got in a very short 15 minute session last night.
I had one Bodog and Interpoker $1/2 table open and a Cake $3/6 table running. I'd run up a few BBs on the Bodog table, but that becomes a little irrelevant when you also have a $3/6 table open and are down there by even just a few BBs.
I'm on my last hand of my last orbit, and am dealt pocket 9s utg. I raise and get 4 callers ... 4 ... wtf ... Anyways flop is T62r, and i'm thinking i'm not in a bad position here - although i'm hoping everyone has overcards. It's checked to me by SB and BB so I raise to try to minimise the field, but still get 3 callers. Turn is a K, and i'm pretty much sunk, although it does get checked to me again, and I just check behind. River is a 9 and i'm thinking SWEET. SB checks and BB bets, so I raise, and still get two callers. BB flips over KT - I guess he wanted a c/r on the turn, and the other doesn't show.
So in one hand i've gone from breakeven for the session to up $50 - which ain't bad for 15 mins work :)
Current bankroll: $17,350
I had one Bodog and Interpoker $1/2 table open and a Cake $3/6 table running. I'd run up a few BBs on the Bodog table, but that becomes a little irrelevant when you also have a $3/6 table open and are down there by even just a few BBs.
I'm on my last hand of my last orbit, and am dealt pocket 9s utg. I raise and get 4 callers ... 4 ... wtf ... Anyways flop is T62r, and i'm thinking i'm not in a bad position here - although i'm hoping everyone has overcards. It's checked to me by SB and BB so I raise to try to minimise the field, but still get 3 callers. Turn is a K, and i'm pretty much sunk, although it does get checked to me again, and I just check behind. River is a 9 and i'm thinking SWEET. SB checks and BB bets, so I raise, and still get two callers. BB flips over KT - I guess he wanted a c/r on the turn, and the other doesn't show.
So in one hand i've gone from breakeven for the session to up $50 - which ain't bad for 15 mins work :)
Current bankroll: $17,350
Monday, March 2, 2009
Sometimes you win your poorer hands
Only played a short session last night - less than half an hour. Again there weren't many tables running that were worth playing on, so I ended up with a single Interpoker table, a couple Cake poker tables and one or two Fulltilt tables running.
I've been asked why I play on Fulltilt when their rakeback is only 27%. Well there's a few reasons, as the rakeback rate is not the full story. Fulltilt actually charges less rake on every single hand, so the equivalent rakeback rate is actually much better than it seems. Also since there are a lot more players there, the table selection is also quite good - although obviously some tables are so tight they're not even worth looking at. I'm not sure if its just me, but i've been able to find a few very juicy tables recently. Lastly the RakeTheRake freeroll is generally pretty good value.
That being said, last night I ran pretty flat on Fulltilt and Interpoker, but made about 10BBs on the $3/6 table on Cake for a small but nice profit for a very short session. The thing is though for those 10BBs, I managed to lose with KK and AA, but also won a quite large pot with K5s in the BB when I flopped a 5 and turned a K when I decided the flop was worth a peel for one bet with only passives after me to come. Simlarly my 25o held up in the BB when it was limped to me and flopped 22T. Go figure.
Here's a hand from the other day though - what do you think I should have done?
Limit ($4.00/$8.00)
6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Simon1966 ($174.18) (total fish)
Seat 2: Hero ($115.50)
Seat 3: carpedm65 ($459.47) (passive fish)
Seat 4: juarino ($86.34) (TAG)
Seat 5: jjjjb ($73.50)
Seat 6: topthis1971 ($460.25) (60/20/1 ... loose but a bit aggro)
------------------------------NEW HAND
Simon1966: posts the small blind $2.00
Hero: posts the big blind $4.00
--- DEALING POCKETS
Hero is dealt [Jd,Jh] (sweet)
carpedm65: calls $4.00
juarino: raises $4.00 to $8.00
jjjjb: raises $4.00 to $12.00 (hmm)
topthis1971: raises $4.00 to $16.00 (ummm okay, i might not be in front)
Simon1966: folds
Hero: calls $12.00
carpedm65: calls $12.00
juarino: calls $8.00
jjjjb: calls $4.00---
DEALING FLOP [8h,5c,8c] (interesting flop)
Hero: checks (i'll check to see what action comes after me)
carpedm65: checks
juarino: checks
jjjjb: bets $4.00
topthis1971: raises $4.00 to $8.00
Hero: ??? (calls? raises? folds? what would you do? 19sbs in the pot - 2sbs to call, 3 players still to act after me)
Current bankroll: $17,300
I've been asked why I play on Fulltilt when their rakeback is only 27%. Well there's a few reasons, as the rakeback rate is not the full story. Fulltilt actually charges less rake on every single hand, so the equivalent rakeback rate is actually much better than it seems. Also since there are a lot more players there, the table selection is also quite good - although obviously some tables are so tight they're not even worth looking at. I'm not sure if its just me, but i've been able to find a few very juicy tables recently. Lastly the RakeTheRake freeroll is generally pretty good value.
That being said, last night I ran pretty flat on Fulltilt and Interpoker, but made about 10BBs on the $3/6 table on Cake for a small but nice profit for a very short session. The thing is though for those 10BBs, I managed to lose with KK and AA, but also won a quite large pot with K5s in the BB when I flopped a 5 and turned a K when I decided the flop was worth a peel for one bet with only passives after me to come. Simlarly my 25o held up in the BB when it was limped to me and flopped 22T. Go figure.
Here's a hand from the other day though - what do you think I should have done?
Limit ($4.00/$8.00)
6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Simon1966 ($174.18) (total fish)
Seat 2: Hero ($115.50)
Seat 3: carpedm65 ($459.47) (passive fish)
Seat 4: juarino ($86.34) (TAG)
Seat 5: jjjjb ($73.50)
Seat 6: topthis1971 ($460.25) (60/20/1 ... loose but a bit aggro)
------------------------------NEW HAND
Simon1966: posts the small blind $2.00
Hero: posts the big blind $4.00
--- DEALING POCKETS
Hero is dealt [Jd,Jh] (sweet)
carpedm65: calls $4.00
juarino: raises $4.00 to $8.00
jjjjb: raises $4.00 to $12.00 (hmm)
topthis1971: raises $4.00 to $16.00 (ummm okay, i might not be in front)
Simon1966: folds
Hero: calls $12.00
carpedm65: calls $12.00
juarino: calls $8.00
jjjjb: calls $4.00---
DEALING FLOP [8h,5c,8c] (interesting flop)
Hero: checks (i'll check to see what action comes after me)
carpedm65: checks
juarino: checks
jjjjb: bets $4.00
topthis1971: raises $4.00 to $8.00
Hero: ??? (calls? raises? folds? what would you do? 19sbs in the pot - 2sbs to call, 3 players still to act after me)
Current bankroll: $17,300
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Almost blew another shot
Got in about 3 hours of poker over the weekend, predominantly playing on Bodog as i'd cleared my bonuses on other sites for February already. Generally had three tables running, with one or two at $4/8 and the other two at $1/2, depending on the levels of fishiness available.
I actually found one guy on the $4/8 tables who was running at 86/56 .. which is very loose aggressive. He was also showing down around 70% of hands. He had position on me, but I had position on another 65/20 guy, and the seat to aggro dude was already taken. Unfortunately for me though, aggro dude was also winning over 70% of his showdowns, and was quickly up by a good 100BBs. About 30 of those were mine, and plus all of the profits that I was taking from the fish to my right. This had effectively wiped out all of my $4/8 shot buffer, and also taken me down another 10BBs on top of that, and I was looking like having to drop back to $1/2 again.
I reloaded another 25BBs because the table was so good, and I was still playing well, and finally he stopped running so unbelievably hot, and I managed to recover 25BBs. I actually have one interesting hand to post, but its on my other PC. I'll have to remember to grab it out tomorrow.
The $1/2 tables however were treating me very well again, and I would have made another 40BBs in my session there. I think my BB/100 is above 0.4 now at $1/2 which I have to be pleased with, given it only turned just positive a few days ago.
On the Interpoker through RakeTheRake front, it looks like you can also earn the monthly bonus (which is not deducted from MGR) as well as double rakeback, so that takes effective rakeback to very close to 100% until March 17. I'll be playing there as much as possible rather than looking for a new deal this month I think.
Current bankroll: $17,250
I actually found one guy on the $4/8 tables who was running at 86/56 .. which is very loose aggressive. He was also showing down around 70% of hands. He had position on me, but I had position on another 65/20 guy, and the seat to aggro dude was already taken. Unfortunately for me though, aggro dude was also winning over 70% of his showdowns, and was quickly up by a good 100BBs. About 30 of those were mine, and plus all of the profits that I was taking from the fish to my right. This had effectively wiped out all of my $4/8 shot buffer, and also taken me down another 10BBs on top of that, and I was looking like having to drop back to $1/2 again.
I reloaded another 25BBs because the table was so good, and I was still playing well, and finally he stopped running so unbelievably hot, and I managed to recover 25BBs. I actually have one interesting hand to post, but its on my other PC. I'll have to remember to grab it out tomorrow.
The $1/2 tables however were treating me very well again, and I would have made another 40BBs in my session there. I think my BB/100 is above 0.4 now at $1/2 which I have to be pleased with, given it only turned just positive a few days ago.
On the Interpoker through RakeTheRake front, it looks like you can also earn the monthly bonus (which is not deducted from MGR) as well as double rakeback, so that takes effective rakeback to very close to 100% until March 17. I'll be playing there as much as possible rather than looking for a new deal this month I think.
Current bankroll: $17,250
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