Some freeroll success

Ended up entering 4 freerolls on the weekend, 3 of which I crashed and burned relatively quickly to the usual nasty beats - AK v A4 in one and AKs v 56s in another. But that's life. In the 4th I ended up playing for about three hours to cash about $200 so all in all not a bad exercise, since I didn't even risk any of my own money.

The better one's were the affiliate sponsored freerolls. I looked at a few site one's but a $250 prize pool for 200 entrants seems like a complete waste of time.

On the side I played cash tables on Bodog, and Party. I am still running super cold on Bodog with a W$SD of 47% after almost 11,000 hands now and that session cost me another 40BBs! That has cost me probably around 2BB/100, maybe even slightly more, which in 11,000 hands adds up to quite a lot! Luckily Party offset the loss as one of the $2/4 tables paid me off for about 25BBs.

Current bankroll: $14,800

November summary

Given the month ends on Sunday I figure I’ll do my month end summary now. I guess the thing to note was that I really didn’t get in a lot of play this month, particularly with the week off in the middle, and most weekends being relatively busy. Still managed an overall gain of $700 though which isn’t too bad.

My shot at Bodog $4/8 went quite badly, which didn’t help the bankroll. And in the same session I won my biggest ever pot of $281. Without that win though, it really would have been a bad session.

I also managed to do a couple posts on my approach to poker and longer term goals. Hopefully they will be useful to reflect back upon later, and to refresh myself from time to time.

My holidays did give me the chance to catch up on a bit of poker theory which I will be putting into practice in the next few months where I’ve had a couple leaks. Hopefully it will increase my win rate somewhat.

I also won my first $26 token on Fulltilt using poker points, so will continue to work out the best use of those points in future.

Finally I should note that my last session was kind of handy with a decent win, and also clearing my Interpoker bonus. Without that, the month would be looking a little sick!

Last month's goals for November:

• Clear as much of my Bodog reload bonus as possible (cleared $70) (take a shot at $4/8 – did so and failed miserably)
• Complete my interpoker bonus (and hopefully play in the freeroll) (done – freeroll on Sunday too. Wish me luck)
• Pray for another Cake reload ... cmon!! (Yep got one .. and then accidently didn’t buy in for the full amount .. argh)
• Maybe sign up on Eurolinx through RTR ... although that may be a later month (maybe later)
• Withdraw some $ from a poker room to my neteller account to take up any new bonuses (withdrew from William Hill, and also my $200 reload from Bodog)

The gain of $700 for the month was made up of:

Bonuses/VIP: $280

• Bodog: $110
• Interpoker: $170
• Cake: $40

Rakeback: $80

• Cake: $30
• Fulltilt: $10
• Interpoker: $50

Poker bankroll Interest: $50

Poker winnings / (losses): $290

For December the goals in order of priority are:

• Clear as much of my Bodog reload bonus as possible (try to get closer to taking another shot at $4/8)
• Clear a chunk of my remaining Cake reload bonus
• Spend some more poker points and hopefully convert some to cash
• Play some Pacific through my RBS deal
• Pray for another Cake reload ... and don’t screw it up this time
• Maybe sign up on Eurolinx through RTR ... although that may be a later month
• Maybe sign up for another kickback bonus through PSO

Could easily be a busy month (I don’t think I have a Saturday night free at all), so I’ll be happy just doing a chunk of the first couple goals.

Current bankroll: $14,600

Handy little session

Started the day feeling crook so too the day off work. Thought i'd probably get in a bit of poker but had a massive headache so couldn't play for too long at a time. That being said, probably put in about two hours in total.

Turned out to be a reasonably profitable two hours, as I cleared my Interpoker sign up bonus for the remaining approx $200, and also received my monthly Bodog reload for $70.

Found a couple sweet $3/6 tables on Cake where I had position on at least one fish and on one table two fish. I'd made about 12BBs on each in one orbit, and then to my disappointment, both of the fish quit ... so I played all of two orbits before quitting. The $2/4 tables on Interpoker were also a little kinder to me than they have been in the past, and I would have made at least another 10BBs there by the time i'd cleared my bonus. It was a little problematic there though in that I couldn't seem to find any good tables or if I did, i'd have a horrible position, so was quitting after a single orbit and just waiting for better spots a lot of the time.

I guess patience really is the key for table selection, and I refuse to play where I have bad position these days. Its just not worth it.

The Bodog $1/2 tables were also running better than usual and I made about 30BBs in reasonably quick time. The fish didn't quite suck out as often, although did suffer a number of nasty beats from one guy who hit a 2 and 3 outer two hands in a row when I was holding the near nuts. He was then kind enough to cap the river against me holding nuts to give most of it back which was nice of him. (I had the A on a 4 flush board that wasn't paired ... although there was the potential for an unlikely straight flush).

Sometimes I am a muppet though - got an email from cake about a reload so tried to deposit. Got a message back saying that the code wasn't available yet. I guess they sent the email a little early .... Anyways, I again signed up later, and this time it went through, only i'd forgotten to change the deposit amount. So instead of a $100 reload bonus, I earned myself a princely reload bonus of $12.50. I blame the fact that my head was killin me which clouded my thinking ability ... (although probably it was just coz i'm an idiot). I hope they have a christmas reload as well and then I wouldn't have lost anything ....

Current bankroll: $14,600

Poker Freerolls

One additional bonus that you get from signing up with the right affiliate for rakeback/kickbacks, is that often the affiliate will put on monthly freerolls provided you play enough hands to qualify.

I'm not talking about the freerolls that the individual poker rooms put on, as they often have less than $1,000 prize money for several thousand players giving you an equity of 50c at best but more often something like 5c.

The affiliate freerolls tend to have several thousand dollars in prize money, and generally a limited number of players. For example this month I qualified for the raketherake freeroll on Interpoker. It has a prize pool of $6,000 with approx 250 players max. Take out 50 or so that don't bother to turn up, and another 50 or so that are total muppets, and I'd have an equity of about $24. With any luck I could finish substantially higher than that though.

Now i'm a fairly average tourney player but normally cash in these without too much stress, although my attention span seems to wander after a couple hours. Nevertheless, its a good bit of additional value and is relatively stress free.

If interested feel free to use my RTR link on the right. They generally have some pretty decent bonuses on top of regular rakeback, and their freerolls are fairly regular.

Played about half an hour last night, and really struggled to find good tables, so often ended up playing a single orbit and quitting. It was reasonably productive though making about 10BBs on the $2/4 tables and about 5BBs on the $3/6. Nothing really of interest, with no big hands. Just a regular grind playing big hands preflop with a few cbets paying off.

Current bankroll: $14,150

Got called a fish

Only got in another 15 minutes of poker or so last night, but hopefully will be able to put in a longer session tonight.

I only need about another 60mpps on Interpoker to finally get my 150 pounds + $120 so really lookin forward to that. Might not be able to make it tonight still, as the time i'll be playing is when Crypto is particularly dead - although double ups will probably be running but won't give me enough mpps.

In my session last night I found myself up against a guy who berated me for being a fish. It was on Cake, and only a $1/2 table as there were no juicy larger tables running. I had notes on this guy from a number of times I played against him. They read something like:

"Aggressive muppet. Huge VPIP & PFR. cbet 3x wth air. Can c/r flp wth air. Call down any pair. Reraise light". (as well as a few examples of his plays after that)

Anyways, i'd seen him earlier attempt to steal the big blind from the SB and then 3 bet the big blind's reraise with 94s preflop and then he bet the flop, turn and river on a board of 4TJr, 7,5. BB had AK.

For my hand against him, I find myself with 99 in the CO, and raise preflop.

• He is the only caller from the BB on a flop of J36r.
• I bet, and he check/raises.
• I'm thinking there's a chance he has a J but based on my notes I can't really fold here in a 7sb pot as there's a good chance i'm ahead given his tendency to bet air.
• I'm tempted to 3bet but don't - possibly a mistake, but for some reason it felt a bit thin against the check/raise even with my notes on him. (plus the fact i'm in position and if he is bluffing he can keep barelling off)
• The turn is an 8 and the board is a complete rainbow which he bets and I am calling down here (again possibly a reraise is better).
• The river is a hail mary 9 which he then bets again so I obviously raise.
• He calls and shows J3o for a flopped 2 pair... and then goes mental calling me a total fish amongst other things.
• I just had a bit of a laugh although couldn't resist calling him a muppet for his J3o call - I know I shouldn't have said anything, but he just got madder.
• Unfortunately I then had to quit - which probably pissed him off even more - but it would have been nice to take some more $ from him.

On the other tables I really didnt have a lot of luck. In one hand I had QTo and had hit my queen on the flop. The board ended up 4 flushing with the A on the river to give me a Q high flush, only to be up against the K high flush. The other biggish pot that didn't go my way was my AQ flopping A76r versus TT and JJ only to have a T hit the turn. Missed a couple draws and didn't hit a single one which didn't help. Ended down about 10BBs overall but it could easily have finished the other way.

On the poker points front from my last post, I forgot to mention I do have about 7k FPPs on stars, so I need to find out what is the best way to turn them into cash. (bearing in mind I have $0 bankroll on that site). Any ideas would be appreciated, although I could probably quite easily look it up on 2p2 myself. (and have to trawl through various rubbish ideas to find the right answer).

Current bankroll: $14,100

Poker points

One of the small benefits (or problems depending on which way you look at it) of bonus chasing is that you also accrue a bunch of poker points. The problem is they're usually a relatively small amount, and spread across a stack of different sites.

Some of them are relatively simple to convert into cash -

• Bodog - converts 1 point to 1c with a minimum of 500 points
• Party poker - converts 1 point to 1c with a minimum of 2000 points (or so .. i should check that one)
• Everest - 1 point = $0.004

Others, not so simply, where you need to use your points to enter tournaments and hope to cash in those tournaments, or qualify in those tournaments and cash in the next tournament down the chain.

For example, I have about 20k points on Full Tilt, and i've decided to use them on the 1800fpp sitngos where the top 3 win a $23 (or so) tournament entry ticket. I think the next step is to enter a tournament and try to cash, or enter a satellite and hopefully win another ticket that I can deregister for tournament $ and then play lower stake tourneys. Sounds like a pain in the ass? Well .. yes. Cake is similar but using Gold chips instead of points, which I have a fair stack of. Cake also has gold cards which i've occasionally converted into cash through tournaments. I have one fairly rare Cake gold card that i'm hoping to be able to convert to cash directly sooner or later whenever it comes up in their lottery.

Other sites you buy bonuses with your points which basically convert them to cash, but you need to actually have earnt enough points for the bonus, and then you have to play through to clear it.

Finally, other sites have points that dont actually do anything at all. Go figure.

Many sites also have a shop that you can convert your points into stuff. I generally prefer cash, but there are probably decent options out there.

I really need to go through all my sites that i've signed up for and cashed out of to see if I have points that I can use for something - effectively I had basically written them off if they didn't convert directly to cash, but obviously they do have some value that I may be able to extract.

I'll have to look at what I can do with relatively few points on Pacific, Interpoker, Ultimate bet, Mansion, Gnuf, Sun, Littlewoods, Titan, Cake, William Hill, 24poker, Pokerroom to name just a few. I'm still wondering if my Fulltilt method is the best as well or if there are better options.

So far i've played in one of the 1,800 FTP tourneys and won a $23 token. It basically played like a double up sitngo since it has a flat prize structure.

Didn't actually get to play much last night - maybe 10 minutes for virtually no movement in the bankroll.

Current bankroll: $14,100

Back from holidays and poker ready, armed with theory

I wonder if the term 'poker ready' actually makes sense or if anyone actually uses it....

Anyways the week away was actually quite refreshing and made me raring to go in hitting the tables again. I ended up just reading through the Borer book which I actually found quite different from the last time I read it around six months ago.

Most of the example hands I generally come up with the best option which is quite reassuring, or I can at least understand the logic of any hands where I come up with a different answer. The first time I read through i'm sure there were quite a number where i'd come up with completely the wrong answer, or just couldn't seem to understand the logic of their explanations.

It is interesting to revisit the book though as I do think i've uncovered a couple leaks in my game. Mainly around not value betting enough, and often not playing draws aggressively enough.

In terms of value betting I think i've become a little too passive on later streets and am taking the check weakish hands on the river in the hope to induce a bluff a little too far. The key concept around value betting that I noticed was that checking a somewhat scary river when out of position with a medium strength hand often allows your opponent to play perfectly. ie they can just check behind when they are behind, and can bet out confidently when ahead. In this situation you are losing value from anyone who would make a crying call versus your bet, and often you won't get reraised by someone hitting the one scare card.

That being said often inducing a bluff will be the best play, but I guess its just a matter of being aware of board texture, your opponent's tendencies (the more aggro the more likely to induce), and when someone will make a bluff versus when you should value bet.

For playing draws more aggressively I found it a very interesting concept. Often lately i've fallen into the trap of just calling when I have pot odds, and betting out when I think their are enough runners in the pot to create the pot odds. What I hadn't really considered is that by playing more aggressively you can get a number of better hands to fold even if you miss. For example if you have a flush draw with say A2s with three runners on the turn, and the first player bets out, if you raise and the third player will then be faced with 2 bets to call. If they are on a small pair the may fold here when they are in front. Also if they have say a naked AK and fold here for 2 bets, then you have cleaned up your three A outs assuming the first player was betting with a single pair. The other benefit is your hand can look like a made hand.

I played a couple hours over the weekend and was hoping to find some examples but didn't get time to go through my database in any detail. Here's one though that does sort of illustrate the concept .. but I did whiff completely in the end:

$2/$4 Limit Holdem • 6 Players
UTG $171.25 (average tag, although WTSD of 30% is a little low .. but small sample)
UTG+1 $65.00
CO $58.12
BTN $53.64 (huge fish)
SB $42.88 (fishy)
Hero $100.00
Pre-Flop (1.5 SB, 6 players) Hero is BB with Ks2s

UTG raises, 2 folds, BTN calls, 1 fold, Hero calls (with the button tagging along i'm calling here, otherwise i'd fold in this spot)
Flop (6.5 SB, 3 players)

3s5sJd (okay i've got my flush draw and thats about it)

Hero checks, UTG bets, BTN calls, Hero raises, UTG calls, BTN calls (Check with intent to checkraise. Button tagging along helps my odds. No reraise from UTG though which is promising)
Turn (6.2 BB, 3 players)

9d okay now the board is quite draw heavy ... 2 diamonds, 2 spades and J9

Hero bets, UTG calls, BTN folds Bet out here and hope to take the pot. The one fold is handy in case I miss - he could easily have been in front of me)
River (8.2 BB, 2 players)

6c (damn .. whiffed .. although 356 is now on the board which might scare an UTG raiser a bit .. but probably not ...)

Hero bets, UTG folds (okay well, i'm fairly sure i'm not winning if I check here, and I can easily fold to a raise, so I think raising is the best option. I check/raised the flop and bet the turn so i've only shown strength so far in this hand. In his whole range of AA-66, AKs-QTs, AKo-KJo i'm actually behind every single hand except QTs, although he could potentially fold any hand where he doesn't have a pair if I bet. So ... AK, AQ, AT, KQ, KT are a chance and even maybe 77, 88, all of which add up to quite a big part of his range.)
Final Pot: 8.2 BB
Hero wins 8.9 BB ( won +4.9 BB )

I ended up doing okay for the session, and even had a slight heater on the Bodog tables, where i'm now only running at -0.5BB/100. My interpoker is even running slightly better than negative 2BB/100 which is a big improvement over the slaughtering i've been getting there.

Current bankroll: $14,100

Poker theory refresh

Well, i'm about to take off on holiday, so wont be playing any poker for a week or so, so there won't be too many updates (if any) until i'm back. I may get in a little over the weekend and maybe Monday but will see.

I've decided to take my two main poker books (stox and borer) with me to just refresh myself on some of the key theories of shorthanded play. Maybe spot a leak or two in my game that needs fixing. Given I haven't even picked one up for 6 months i'm probably about due for the refresh.

I've also got to get it straight in my head exactly how I play paired boards on the flop. I always find these to be tricky situations.

I even got into a couple today. One with the board reading 995r and me holding QJ and being the preflop raiser. I cbet the flop but got check raised but a quite aggro player. Do I throw it away here? I ended up calling and hit a Q on the turn and called down his turn and river bets. He flipped over 33.

Generally post flop i'm calling down (or betting) if its heads up and I have a pair on a paired board.

Can't say too much interesting happened in my session, although given it was only 20 minutes you wouldnt expect much. I think I dropped about 10BBs ... mainly from a couple fish who called my cbets and managed to hit one of their two rubbish cards on the turn or river. For some reason no one seemed to fold .. which would have been good if I had been actually hitting my cards.....

On the plus side, only 200mpps to go and i've finished the Interpoker bonus.

Current bankroll: $13,950

Aussie online poker cash out options

Well, it looks like neteller has gone and given everyone a nice little kick up the arse.

Apparently the current prepaid card is no longer an option and has been replaced by "the net+ card" and "the net+ virtual card".

The foreign exchange fee has gone up from just under 2% to 2.95% .. which is basically a 50% fee increase from the prior card.

Then add to that the net+ card has a monthly dormancy fee of $3 if the card is not used in that month. WTF? At least the virtual card doesn't have that fee .. although how you withdraw from an ATM with a 'virtual' card has me a bit miffed. If anyone can explain it feel free to comment.

So where does that leave me .. well back to square one - i'll have to find another ewallet with lower fees, or find an alternative withdrawal option. I know with rakebackstat I can cashout my rakeback balance for a number of their rooms to an Aussie bank account at a 2.5% foreign exchange fee, so maybe i'll start cashing out monthly rather than $1k for every $2k my bankroll increases.

I will investigate some of the other ewallets as well I suppose. No huge rush as I have to get my bankroll to $16k before my next withdrawal is due anyways, and my current prepaid card is valid for another few months from memory.

The tables have treated me to a fairly smooth run in my past couple sessions. In about an hour and a half split over two sessions i made about 30BBs, predominantly on $2/4 as I still struggled to find loose tables worth playing on. In the first session I actually went down about 30BBs before chipping it back up to a positive 10BB session. The second session was more a gentle but consistent upswing after initially dropping only around 10BBs to end 20BBs up.

Interestingly .. or rather uninterestingly there were almost no hands of note. Generally when my big hands preflop such as AK-AJ/AA-JJ etc flopped top pair I just bet every street and got called down by one or two opponents showing second pair or worse or folding on the river. No huge suck outs for or against me. Hit one or two flush/straight draws and missed 3 or 4. I guess that's the way I like my sessions to go, although perhaps without the initial drop.

Current bankroll: $13,950

Poker bonus status

Sometimes its kinda tricky to keep track of where you are at when clearing multiple bonuses at a time, so I thought i'd better step back and work out exactly what I have outstanding that needs to be cleared.

• *Interpoker - Earned a little over 1200mpps out of 1500 required by 30 November to clear around $370. This is priority #1.
• Bodog - Reload bonus of $200, which i've probably cleared about $50. Expires 26 November, but you don't have to clear the entire bonus to receive it - effectively you earn it to the nearest 1c which is quite generous. I'll reload again as soon as it expires and pays me out.
• Cake - Reload bonus of $100, which i've done $30 of. Haven't played much cake since the first day or two though. I think cake bonuses last 60 or 90 days, but clear in $10 chunks so there is no real rush to complete this one.**
• Party poker - did a small 8x reload just to maintain my party points before they change their points system in December. Only need another 50 points for about a $10 bonus so takes no time at all on $2/4. Probably priority #2 as it wont take long to clear and does expire in a week or so.

*Already credited my bankroll for $150 in Oct
**Since it clears in $10 chunks i've already received the $30 into my bankroll.

Hmm .. I guess its not all that difficult to track, but is relatively easy to forget about a bonus, particularly if you open other sites as a priority and find fishy enough tables to play on.

I put in under half an hour last night, and made a few BBs on Cake $3/6 and Interpoker $2/4. The bodog $1/2 tables managed to be losers .. again. I just cannot seem to run even remotely warmly there, but it doesnt really matter if i'm winning a few BBs at higher stakes. At least my Interpoker balance is starting to head in the right direction - hopefully it keeps going as i'm fairly sure I will play their monthly bonuses each month as well after I clear this sign up bonus.

It was a bit of a struggle to find fishy tables last night and I ended up opening a few that I only sat on for an orbit or two when they started with an average players per flop of 50% and then promptly dropped to 35% as soon as I joined.

I also received my credits for the weekend's efforts on Bodog .. only about $20 which was a bit disappointing given my loss there .. but better than nothing.

Current bankroll: $13,850

Shooting ... and missing ...

Took another shot at Bodog $4/8 and got burnt … again.

Found a couple good tables, although didn’t necessarily best position on the fish. Offsetting that was that the players to my right though were still passive and slightly loose, so I didn't think i'd actually get pushed off too many blinds, which turned out to be the correct assumption.

However, the fishes decided it was time to slaughter me.

Atshizzle – 71/11/.84/54 with W$SD 47 … with most of those wins against me …
YA221 – 78/29/1.24/45 with W$SD 45 ..mostly against me
Tungpeter – 51/27/.84/43 with a W$SD 43 .. again mostly against me …

A frustrating procession of me v fish resulting in suck out, followed by fish v someone else losing my money to them. Annoying, but I still didn't tilt at all that I could see - in fact I don't think I loosened up at all in trying to chase losses, or overplay any marginal hands that flopped poorly.

My stats for the session:

VPIP 24% .. I was a bit down on receiving decent starting hands
PFR 16% … as above
AF 1.43 … down on usual .. maybe I was a little passive .. but more likely I was having to check/call a few marginal hands
WTSD 33% … low … I couldn’t hit a flop to save myself
W$SD 42% …unbelievable that I can go that badly with such a low WTSD. But I guess the suck outs hurt a lot.

The thing is … at the $1/2 tables at the same time I also managed to drop 75BBs in about 2.5 hours running even colder .. about a 20% WTSD and a 30% W$SD over 600 hands. Only played about an hour and a half of $4/8 and at one stage was 50BBs down before finishing at 20BBs down. Boy was it ugly for a while. Couldn’t hit a draw to save myself.

Anyways .. a few hands from the session: (sorry about the lack of converter .. I’m getting errors on weaktight for bodog at the moment).

Hand 1:

Hold'em Limit ($4.00/$8.00) - 2008-11-08 18:24:22
Table 'Bristol (max 6)' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: HERO ($370.00)
Seat 2: atshizzle ($212.75)
Seat 3: troutman101 ($92.82)
Seat 4: doseone916 ($135.22)
Seat 5: Ducati Hottie ($303.61)
Seat 6: YA221 ($648.00)
------------------------------
NEW HAND
atshizzle: posts the small blind $2.00
doseone916: posts the big blind $4.00
--- DEALING POCKETS
HERO is dealt [Ad,Kd] nice!
Ducati Hottie: folds
YA221: folds
HERO: raises $4.00 to $8.00
atshizzle: calls $6.00
doseone916: folds
--- DEALING FLOP [6s,6d,6h] not a horrible flop. i'm in front of everything except pocket pairs and this dude is a muppet ...
atshizzle: checks
HERO: bets $4.00 value/c bet
atshizzle: calls $4.00
--- DEALING TURN [3d]
atshizzle: checks
HERO: bets $8.00 value/c bet
atshizzle: calls $8.00
--- DEALING RIVER [Qd]
atshizzle: bets $8.00 u gotta be kiddin me .. surely the Q didnt help
HERO: calls $8.00 Don't think i can fold here.
atshizzle: shows [Qc Td] FFS ... thats about the 3rd suckout he's laid on me.
atshizzle: wins main pot($58.00)

Hand 2:

Hold'em Limit ($4.00/$8.00) - 2008-11-08 18:19:11
Table 'Bristol (max 6)' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: HERO ($360.00)
Seat 2: atshizzle ($264.75)
Seat 3: cleovictoire ($53.72)
Seat 4: doseone916 ($154.00)
Seat 5: Ducati Hottie ($355.61)
Seat 6: YA221 ($492.50)
------------------------------
NEW HAND
HERO: posts the small blind $2.00
atshizzle: posts the big blind $4.00
--- DEALING POCKETS
HERO is dealt [Qd,Qs] at this point i havent had a hand for a while, so this is great!
cleovictoire: calls $4.00
doseone916: calls $4.00
Ducati Hottie: calls $4.00
YA221: calls $4.00
HERO: raises $4.00 to $8.00
atshizzle: folds
cleovictoire: calls $4.00
doseone916: calls $4.00
Ducati Hottie: calls $4.00
YA221: calls $4.00
--- DEALING FLOP [Jd,6h,8c] (frickin cold callers and i've missed .. but still my overpair is likely to be good)
HERO: bets $4.00
cleovictoire: calls $4.00
doseone916: folds
Ducati Hottie: calls $4.00
YA221: calls $4.00
--- DEALING TURN [7d] (thats not a good card ... 678 ... still ...)
HERO: bets $8.00
cleovictoire: calls $8.00
Ducati Hottie: calls $8.00
YA221: raises $8.00 to $16.00 (arr crap. wonder if i'm now drawing dead?)
HERO: calls $8.00 (calling ... but dunno if this is correct)
cleovictoire: calls $8.00
Ducati Hottie: folds
--- DEALING RIVER [9h] ARGH
HERO: checks
cleovictoire: checks
YA221: checks interesting ... I would have folded to a bet i think 3 ways
HERO: shows [Qd Qs]
cleovictoire: mucks
YA221: shows [7h 6d] WTF? and thats his 3rd suckout on me for the session as well .. although he would have had the odds to call that flop after his idiotic preflop effort.
YA221: wins main pot($113.00)

Hand 3:

Hold'em Limit ($4.00/$8.00) - 2008-11-08 18:39:12
Table 'Bristol (max 6)' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: HERO ($287.50)
Seat 2: atshizzle ($180.25)
Seat 3: troutman101 ($17.14)
Seat 4: doseone916 ($112.22)
Seat 5: Ducati Hottie ($353.11)
Seat 6: YA221 ($778.18)
------------------------------
NEW HAND
HERO: posts the small blind $2.00
atshizzle: posts the big blind $4.00
--- DEALING POCKETS
HERO is dealt [Jc,Kd] cool.
troutman101: folds
doseone916: folds
Ducati Hottie: folds
YA221: calls $4.00 here fish
HERO: raises $4.00 to $8.00
atshizzle: calls $4.00
YA221: calls $4.00
--- DEALING FLOP [Qh,7s,Jh] Not bad ... 2nd pair. i'm probably in front
HERO: bets $4.00 cbet
atshizzle: folds good
YA221: calls $4.00 hmm
--- DEALING TURN [4c] good
HERO: bets $8.00 cbet
YA221: calls $8.00 prefer a fold here ..
--- DEALING RIVER [4d]
HERO: checks i'm going to c/c my showdownable hand here
YA221: bets $8.00 not a good sign.
HERO: calls $8.00
YA221: shows [5s 4s] OMFG
YA221: wins main pot($61.00)

Hand 4:

Hold'em Limit ($4.00/$8.00) - 2008-11-08 19:52:15
Table 'Bristol (max 6)' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: HERO ($181.51)
Seat 2: atshizzle ($158.60)
Seat 3: cminuts ($161.50)
Seat 4: doseone916 ($249.72)
Seat 5: Ducati Hottie ($346.39)
Seat 6: Stitch676 ($145.00)
------------------------------
NEW HAND
atshizzle: posts the small blind $2.00
cminuts: posts the big blind $4.00 LAG/TAG
--- DEALING POCKETS
HERO is dealt [Js,Ad] cool
doseone916: folds
Ducati Hottie: folds
Stitch676: folds
HERO: raises $4.00 to $8.00
atshizzle: folds
cminuts: calls $4.00
--- DEALING FLOP [Jd,6d,2s] wicked
cminuts: checks
HERO: bets $4.00
cminuts: calls $4.00
--- DEALING TURN [Tc] cool
cminuts: checks
HERO: bets $8.00
cminuts: calls $8.00
--- DEALING RIVER [Th] hmm
cminuts: checks
HERO: bets $8.00
cminuts: raises $8.00 to $16.00 oh crap
HERO: calls $8.00
cminuts: shows [Ts Ac] you lucky F ... POS
cminuts: wins main pot($71.00)

Hand 5:

Hold'em Limit ($4.00/$8.00) - 2008-11-08 20:09:42
Table 'Billings (max 6)' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: YA221 ($393.00) (note he had almost $800 earlier ... and even took more off me to donate to the others)
Seat 2: 1rockstar ($125.00)
Seat 3: HERO ($364.50)
Seat 4: elpsredmen ($220.50)
Seat 5: cminuts ($509.49)
Seat 6: tungpeter ($379.50)
------------------------------
NEW HAND
YA221: posts the small blind $2.00
1rockstar: posts the big blind $4.00
--- DEALING POCKETS
HERO is dealt [Ah,Qh] sweet
HERO: raises $4.00 to $8.00
elpsredmen: folds
cminuts: folds
tungpeter: calls $8.00
YA221: folds
1rockstar: folds
--- DEALING FLOP [Kh,Js,Ac] nice
HERO: bets $4.00
tungpeter: calls $4.00
--- DEALING TURN [6h]
HERO: bets $8.00
tungpeter: calls $8.00
--- DEALING RIVER [9d]
HERO: bets $8.00
tungpeter: raises $8.00 to $16.00 oh oh ... surely i woulda heard from QT earlier and who calls an UTG raise from the button with QT?
HERO: calls $8.00
tungpeter: shows [Jc Kd] interesting ... i guess you call an UTG raise with KJo from the button and play passively to the river....
tungpeter: wins main pot($75.00)

Hand 6:

Hold'em Limit ($4.00/$8.00) - 2008-11-08 20:13:07
Table 'Billings (max 6)' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: YA221 ($415.50)
Seat 2: 1rockstar ($109.00) also appears to be a fish ...)
Seat 3: HERO ($346.50)
Seat 5: cminuts ($489.49)
Seat 6: tungpeter ($388.50)
------------------------------
NEW HAND
1rockstar: posts the small blind $2.00
HERO: posts the big blind $4.00
--- DEALING POCKETS
HERO is dealt [6s,7c] yuk ..
cminuts: folds
tungpeter: raises $4.00 to $8.00
YA221: calls $8.00
1rockstar: folds
HERO: calls $4.00 with one cold caller who is a muppet i think worth a call
--- DEALING FLOP [7d,Ts,6d] Nice!
HERO: checks
tungpeter: bets $4.00
YA221: folds
HERO: raises $4.00 to $8.00
tungpeter: raises $4.00 to $12.00
HERO: raises $4.00 to $16.00
tungpeter: calls $4.00
--- DEALING TURN [8s]
HERO: bets $8.00
tungpeter: raises $8.00 to $16.00 (hmm i'm up against trips or the 9? calling down now)
HERO: calls $8.00
--- DEALING RIVER [Ah]
HERO: checks
tungpeter: bets $8.00
HERO: calls $8.00 I think pot is big enough to call here, although that A is a terrible card as I was in front of AT before.
tungpeter: shows [8c Th] FFS .. out turned again ... T8o is an interesting CO raise
HERO: mucks
tungpeter: wins main pot($104.00)

Hand 7:

Hold'em Limit ($4.00/$8.00) - 2008-11-08 20:24:02
Table 'Billings (max 6)' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: YA221 ($390.50)
Seat 2: 1rockstar ($172.00)
Seat 3: HERO ($287.50)
Seat 4: atshizzle ($234.10)
Seat 5: cminuts ($460.99)
Seat 6: tungpeter ($344.50)
------------------------------
NEW HAND
YA221: posts the small blind $2.00
1rockstar: posts the big blind $4.00
--- DEALING POCKETS
HERO is dealt [As,9s] not bad
HERO: raises $4.00 to $8.00
atshizzle: calls $8.00
cminuts: folds
tungpeter: raises $4.00 to $12.00 okay this guy is a bit of an aggro muppet preflop so could have anything
YA221: calls $10.00 nice call fish
1rockstar: calls $8.00 here fishy
HERO: calls $4.00
atshizzle: calls $4.00
--- DEALING FLOP [8s,4s,Kc] awesome flop
YA221: checks
1rockstar: bets $4.00
HERO: calls $4.00 call here waiting for the tungpeter raise so that YA and rockstar aren't facing 2 bets to call
atshizzle: raises $4.00 to $8.00 interesting
tungpeter: raises $4.00 to $12.00 man ..dont scare em off
YA221: folds doh
1rockstar: calls $8.00 bonus
HERO: calls $8.00 toss up between a raise and a call .. i decided to call here given atshizzle had reraised before
atshizzle: raises $4.00 to $16.00 can't complain here
tungpeter: calls $4.00
1rockstar: calls $4.00
HERO: calls $4.00 (capped here so i cant reraise otherwise I possibly would)
--- DEALING TURN [7h] hmm woulda been nice to hit that spade here ...
1rockstar: checks
HERO: checks
atshizzle: bets $8.00
tungpeter: raises $8.00 to $16.00
1rockstar: calls $16.00
HERO: calls $16.00 hmmm ... i wonder if i'm up against trips. if i'm up against another spade draw that does reduce my outs significantly. I really dont want to see the board pair on the river, but need that final spade. Not sure, maybe this should be a raise since the pot is already huge.
atshizzle: calls $8.00
--- DEALING RIVER [Ks] well .. that's hit my flush .. but also paired the board .. could be ugly
1rockstar: checks
HERO: bets $8.00 dont really want this to be checked through.
atshizzle: raises $8.00 to $16.00 oh oh he's back awake again ...
tungpeter: folds raise turn and fold the river in a huge pot for 2? wtf ...
1rockstar: raises $8.00 to $24.00 ack .. this isnt looking good
HERO: calls $16.00 can't fold in a pot this big when i've surely got reasonable equity
atshizzle: raises $8.00 to $32.00 argh ..this is lookin bad ...
1rockstar: calls $8.00
HERO: calls $8.00
atshizzle: shows [Kh Qd] heh .. you owe me a lot more than just that one
1rockstar: shows [Ts 5s] doofus preflop, but unlucky flush over flush.
HERO: shows [As 9s]
HERO: wins main pot($281.00) biggest pot ever for me I think .. but i'm still way down for the session

So .. all in all a pretty horrible session, but at least recovered late with that hand. So coulda been a lot worse. Looks like I’ll be back to the $1/2 tables on bodog for a while. And that could be quite a while as I’m still running very cold there in total at a 36% WTSD and now I’m actually under 47% W$SD…. And that’s over 8.5k hands…

I also played a stack of $5 double up sitngos on interpoker as there were literally no cash games running when I was playing. I think I cashed in about 6 out of 8 of them and they are quite fun. It looks like most people dont really know how to play them. As soon as my bankroll hits $500 on there I might take a swing at the $15 double ups. I'm assuming the play there is also fairly terrible.

Current bankroll: $13,800

The curse of the online poker player - ADSL dropouts

The last few sessions have been fairly frustrating with dropouts in my ADSL in the middle of a session. I generally have all-in protection, but still they are only going to cause losses. And frustration. Lots of it.

So now i'm thinking my current router/modem has to go. I'm using a Billion 7404VGPM, which in theory was supposed to be a decent product. It was okay when it was running its best, but now its downright dire.

Anyways, i'm thinking of grabbing a Draytek 2700VG (yes I want VOIP as well). Anyone have any thoughts on this brand/model? I obviously want something rock solid reliable as priority #1, and VOIP would also be very handy.

No real poker last night because of the dropouts .... in maybe 10 minutes i made 1BB ...

I also signed up for a Party reload, but only for the minimum amount as I almost have enough points for another $20 cash, as long as I keep my current status on there. (which means earning 1 party point per week basically).

Current bankroll: $14,000

Applying the wisdom of Warren Buffett to poker

I wonder if its possible .. but here are a few quotes from the great man and how i'd apply them to poker:

"I always knew I was going to be rich. I don't think I ever doubted it for a minute. " Not sure if its useful for poker, but a good motto to live by ....

"I don't look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over. " Why challenge the sharks when you can play against fish?

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently. " The same can happen to your bankroll. Think about it.

"Of the billionaires I have known, money just brings out the basic traits in them. If they were jerks before they had money, they are simply jerks with a billion dollars. " I suspect the same applies to poker players some will be nice, others not so nice

"Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked. " He who bets outside his bankroll will be caught when the inevitable downswing happens

"Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing. " Know what you are doing ...

"Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1." Whilst not applying to individual sessions or hands, I think you can apply this appropriately to bankroll management


"Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks. " For some people limit holdem might not be their game. For others poker might not be their game. If its not, its time to try something else

"The only time to buy these is on a day with no "y" in it." Its never a good day to play a -EV game

"There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult. " Keep it simple - abc poker will work relatively often

"Time is the friend of the wonderful company, the enemy of the mediocre. " Variance will even out over time and show whether you are a winning or losing player


"We enjoy the process far more than the proceeds." Interesting concept. Almost applies to myself I think


"Why not invest your assets in the companies you really like? As Mae West said, "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful". " Play on sites you enjoy playing on and against players you enjoy playing against


"Wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing. " Do you need to focus on multiple games, or ensure you are very skilled at one?


"You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong. " Too many small errors will add up to a big hole in your bankroll

That might be the end of my semi-thoughtful posts for a bit as I think i'm outta ideas, so the next few might be a few more boring session updates and hand histories. Will see.

In terms of play I put in about an hour last night, but couldn't find too many soft tables so was stuck with playing only one or two tables at a time. I eeked out a gain of 7BBs at $2/4, broke even at $3/6, and lost a few BBs at $1/2, so no big movement in the bankroll, although should see a small increase in rakeback in the next day or two.

I still need to stop myself from going into the chat box to give my 2c on a bonehead suckout that has cost me 10-20BBs. I'm sure one day I will quit doin it. Don't tap on the aquarium and all that ....

Current bankroll: $14,000

Poker database issues

Well I knew it was only a matter of time before I had some database problems with my pokertracker ... Since my Vista install didnt like SQL for some reason (a driver issue), i've been using the Access databases option. In order to manage that risk somewhat I made a separate database for each network that I play on.

However, since blindman asked me the question on how i'm doing, and I couldn't find as many hands as I was expecting to find at the $2/4 and $3/6 levels, I realised that one of my databases has died and taken about 15,000 hands with it. Its my own fault though, as I think the fix to SQL was relatively simple - deleting the problem driver and then letting it reinstall with SQL. Anyways, I really should get around to installing it and converting all my access databases ... maybe tonight.... or maybe not...

As far as play goes, I got in about half an hour, mainly on interpoker and cake on the $2/4 and $3/6 tables. The first 15 minutes went very well with me hitting a few hands and gaining about 20BBs. Then the death fish comes along. A player I had 200 hands against in the database who was running at 70/10/.2/45 with a W$SD of 35% and a -15BB/100. Of course in the 5 or 6 hands I am head to head against him he manages to suck out a gutshot or 2nd pair or trips on the river on every single hand to sink me by 25BBs in a matter of 15 minutes. That put me back basically square for the session. It sux, but it happens.

Current bankroll: $14,000

Long term poker goals

Thought i'd finally get around to posting a few thoughts which might actually set some direction for me over the longer term. I guess i'll start with a few questions for myself:

Do I have ambitions to turn professional? Well the short answer is no. I like the social side of working a regular job, and even though I am an introvert, I'm sure i'd go nuts just playing poker online day after day. It would be very isolating I think. Even if I have a day or two off work now and decide to play poker, I do not just play for the whole day, as I get tired of it.

What is my motivation to play? I like winning at whatever I attempt to do. I like money. I don't necessarily need to be the best though, so I won't play against the best players, or even those too tight for the game to be EV+

Will I switch to no limit or some other form of poker? To be honest, i'm not sure. I regularly read that people find no limit easier - maybe there are more fish in the pool. However, given I am doing okay, I guess I don't feel the need to fix something that ain't broke.

Will I move up limits? Well, I started at .5/1 effectively, so I have moved up from there. I'm not convinced I will go a lot further than $4/8, although with good table selection I will be playing the occasional $5/10 game in the near future. In a couple years though I suspect the easier money will still be up to the $3/6 level. Might need to think about this some more.

What do I want out of poker? For the moment its a bit of extra income on the side. I am certain I wouldn't want to be reliant on the game as my only source of income as I believe that would drastically decrease my enjoyment of the game. I guess I also enjoy the challenge of growing my bankroll. I'm not sure if this is to prove anything to myself, or if I see at as kind of a video game where your bankroll is effectively your score, and I like to do well in games so the bigger the score the better.

How do I stay motivated? Basically I play when I want to play. Admittedly this is quite often still at the moment, but as soon as I get sidetracked or a bit bored I quit and only come back when I really want to play again. I think the fact that there is no pressure on me to do well also is a significant factor. Just having a blog may also motivate me to a degree I think - at least it prevents me from being too lazy and ensures that I do analyse my play after a significant loss or win.

So where would I actually like to be in a couple years? I think i'll still be playing limit poker predominantly unless the games completely dry up. I think I will still be at the medium stakes level with play mostly at the $3/$6-$5/$10 levels, and mainly at the lower end of that scale. I can't see myself playing more hours, so it will still be kind of a hobby at 20-30 hours per month. In terms of monetary targets, i'd like to have a bankroll somewhere around $40,000-$50,000 mark, with a fair chunk of that offline earning at least $200 per month for doing nothing. I suspect I won't be chasing bonuses quite as much but relying more on rakeback and reloads as I would have already completed many of the sign up bonus offers.

What is wrong with the higher stakes? I don't want to reach my level of incompetence, where I am no longer good enough to beat the game, which will happen if I just keep on moving up. (And I do have plenty of leaks which would probably be exploited!). Although I think that if I find myself with a $40k bankroll, I might actually play some of the $10/20 or higher games if I happen to spot a fishy table. It does all become relevant after a while - when I started a $2/4 game would have appeared to be crazy, so I guess you never know, maybe the bigger tables won't look so big in a couple years.

Tournaments? I just don't have the patience, or the inclination to spend multiple hours just sitting there. I think smallish sitngos are about my limit for them to be EV+ so I can't see anything changing in the next couple years.

Live play? Whilst I do quite enjoy live play, 30 hands an hour and a 10% rake is just atrocious. The local casino here is very fishy though. To be honest, the only time i'll bother going there is if its with a mate or two and we're just going to have fun. Its always good to come out in front though, so I do play a TAG style against the fishes.

What about education? I guess I haven't felt the need to sign up for a website like stox or cardrunners or anything like that. I find experience to be a great teacher, as long as I have a sound base, which I think I have from the Stox and Boerer books. I will continue to look at hands on 2p2 though from time to time, and see if my thinking is consistent with others. If anyone brings out a new book that is raved about, I will probably give it a go. If I switch to no limit I have no doubt i'd get Harrington on cash first.

How will I stay on track to achieving these goals? Probably through a couple ways - this blog for one, and in particular making sure I continue to do everything in yesterday's post. You never know though, I might get bored one day and quit playing altogether. Not super likely right now, but it could happen. Or my game could develop so many leaks that I dont notice that my play becomes EV- ... and then I would quit whilst I was still in front.

So I am going to .....? just keep cruising along. Everything always works out in the end

Might add some more if I think of any ....

Multiple sites simultaneously

I've noticed having multiple sites open at once is normally not much of a problem. However, when you add Cake into the mix with no HUD, it does become a little more tricky, as I have to make sure I have time to make manual notes. I'm still comfortable with 4 tables open, although it can be a little hectic and occasionally I need to open hand histories to back track on notes on some players.

I don't think it hurts my win rate though, as I can spot the fish relatively quickly, although do have the occasional revision where i've mistaken a LAG for a fish.

I got in about an hour of play last night, which turned out to be relatively profitable. Cake had some nice $2/4 and $3/6 tables, although I didn't really go far with them but made a few BBs. Should have some nice rakeback though. I found a nice $2/4 table on Interpoker though, and for once I didn't get slaughtered there. I'm back to being a bit better than -3BB/100 there now ... after making 25BBs ... sheesh. There was one other pretty decent table on interpoker with two tags and three pretty big fish. Problem was I found myself directly to the left of the two tags, and that made for some pretty hard going, so I quit the table after a couple orbits.

Current bankroll: $14,000

Attributes for a successful poker player

Thought I might just copy, paste and modify my response to one of TiocfaidhArLa comments as it might be useful to come back to one day. Basically the question was:

"if someone wanted to emulate your success what are the key attributes they need - discipline, attention to detail, study, natural talent for games etc?"

So in answering from my perspective and what works for me -

Conservatism - (this probably sounds weird as an attribute for effectively gambling, however I don't really view poker as a gamble - to me its more like I have a small edge so the more I play the more likely I am to win). I am not at all worried about dropping down levels when I have a cool run. I'm a bankroll nit to a high degree ... i like to have several 1,000 BBs in my bankroll. (ie bearing in mind i've lost 300BBs once before, that would be a disaster to say a 500BB bankroll which i'm not prepared to go through). I guess this relates to bankroll management most directly, and as they say if you don't manage your bankroll correctly you are going broke. I don't want to go broke.

Discipline - includes a) not tilting, and quitting immediately when seeing it coming on. b) the ability to actual notice tilt coming on. c) always table selecting and quitting tables as soon as they turn poor.

Preparation - Study I am admittedly a bit lazy on however I read the stox book and the boerer book early on and occasionally hit up 2p2 but I don't do as much as I should. Yes I use their basic charts for starting hands, and used to have a hard copy out whenever I played. Now I would play basically to those charts adjusting for opponents off the top of my head.

Self Analysis - I review my own stats regularly, particularly after a bit of a losing run. I find that I sometimes become a bit too showdown bound which I have to reign in. Most of the time though its just variance and running super cool at showdowns. Hot runs tend to be the reverse.

Opponent Analysis - The use of software tools is invaluable. I use Pokertracker2 for my database and Gametime+ as my HUD although i'm fairly sure i'd do better with pokerace, but will wait till PT3 is compatible with all sites before I get it. The key thing here though is to be able to adjust my play slightly depending upon opponent tendencies. On sites that don't allow Pokertracker I make sure I take notes and rate every single opponent.

Confidence - When i'm confident I can beat any given level, and not play scared i'm generally the most successful. (Although overconfidence might lead to playing too many hands which would be very bad). For me the confidence baseline is still probably at $1/2 where i'm sure I can clean up over the long term. I'm fairly sure I can do the same at $2/4 and $3/6 but when in doubt I still drop back, although admittedly most of my $1/2 play is on Bodog which doesn't have $2/4 or $3/6 6 max and I will now be playing more 2/4 and 3/6 cake and interpoker.

Perceptive and flexible - this can be as simple as being aware of someone's stats, and how you should play against them. For example if they rarely showdown you know to put real pressure on them on early streets. If you get resistance from one of these players you'd know to throw it away unless you have a strong hand. Also if you notice someone times out when you're heads up against them and you're the next to act, you want to isnta-raise and hope they don't have any disconnect protection to take an easy pot. Some people may think this a little unethical, but I figure it happens to me sometimes so it would all even out. In my last session when the guy reconnected he said he had flopped a boat versus my 3rd pair ...

Adaptable - if you're playing relatively small stakes and want to get the best returns you need to be able to sign up at multiple sites to gain the best deals. For example, many of the one off PSO sign up bonuses offer returns far in excess of 100% rakeback, so its often in my best interest to play on new sites. I also find myself often playing on multiple sites at the same time due to limited traffic or fishy tables on the individual sites. Takes a little getting used to, but I have adapted. Will I adapt to other games or NL? Maybe. One day.

Concentration - if you cant concentrate on the action and the tables then poker would quickly become a losing venture. Making a mess of a single hand for say 10BBs by misclicking the fold button undoes 750 or so hands of good solid play.

Self awareness - you need to know your own strengths and weaknesses and in particular your limitations. For me, i'm generally only able to concentrate for maybe a couple hours max, and the majority of my sessions are probably more like half an hour to an hour. This means i'll often take a break and do something else after a session before coming back to it. It also means that i'm probably never going to get huge value from a MTT as I just end up losing concentration and making some bonehead play when I just make it into the money.

Inquisitive - A desire to know the ins and outs of any rakeback or bonus deals is important in being able to assess how good a particular deal is. Also realising that rakeback figures alone don't necessarily tell the whole story on how good a site is, particularly where rake taken can vary significantly. For example 27%RB of a 2BB/100 rake is far better than 40%RB of a 3BB/100 rake.

Patience - even after beat after beat, you still need to be patient and wait for the right hands. Sure I have runs of playing less than 10% of hands, which is extremely low at 6 max, but other times you hit premium hand after premium hand and more than make up for it. (Provided you don't run out of patience, tilt, and lose a stack of BBs)

I might add some if I think of anymore ....

All that being said, i'm still not 100% sure i'm a winning player, although have done okay so far. I guess though the key thing to note is that total return is far more important than actually winning at the table which is why rakeback and bonuses are so important to me. Will be interesting to see how the next few months go.

I'm sure others would have advanced through the ranks quicker through much less conservative bankroll management, but i'm comfortable with my progress. I might actually be a bit further along if the share market wasnt killin me at the moment and i hadn't withdrawn quite as much of my bankroll, but thats another story ...

Cake reload

Well it took a month of prayer, and Cake have come through with the goods in their halloween reload. Pity they charge a fairly hefty deposit fee against your MGR, but its still significantly EV+

Only got in a couple hours play in total over the weekend, and it started poorly when Bodog decided to keep on smashing me at the $1/2 tables. I had one table which had 65% of players seeing the flop, and managed to drop 40BBs in 120 hands. Ugly.

Also found a nice Interpoker table with two huge fish who had VPIPs of 90%. They also managed to suck out about 15BBs from me early, before the table fell to 3 handed. At this point i'd normally leave, but these two guys were obviously extremely loose, but were also very passive. They allowed me to take back all my losses and then gain about 10BBs through basic aggressive play when ever I hit hands.

I also had a couple Cake tables open although very few were running. One table was a $1/2 table where a two fish seemed to be eating me alive and I dropped another 20BBs. The other table was a $3/6 table with an average of 71% of players seeing the flop. Basically every flop was at least 4 ways, so obviously you had to hit your hand reasonably hard for it to hold up. I fluctuated a fair bit there before leaving a bit over 5BBs up when my nut flush draw hit, after my previous 4 had managed to miss in huge pots. Still .. it cleared some bonus points very quickly and would have earned me some reasonable rakeback.

Current bankroll: $13,850