The Epic Session To End The Year

I played a relatively long session, at least by my standards, of 3400 hands for about -$500. The epic part of the session was 3 tabling a reg HU for the last 1000 hands, even though I was in the middle of playing another 8 tables of FR. So how'd that come about? Well I'm not quite sure. I had called him a donk after he shoved the nut flush draw on me in a SB vs BB pot when I had flopped the nut straight. He rivered the flush, so naturally I went off in chat. A while later, three of our tables broke and we both stayed to play HU, and even though I'm no HU pro I was sure I had an edge on him. I ended up quitting the rest of the FR tables so I could concentrate on our match. It didn't take long until we were both at least 200BB deep on the tables, so it made for an interesting match. I ended the match up $430, although I felt like I should've won way more because I felt like I had a significant edge. The cards just didn't run my way :( I won $800ish from non-showdown pots to make up for it though haha. It was an enjoyable experience, and I'm definitely going to designate some time next year to playing HU and getting better at it.

Here's some hands from the match:


$200.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, December 31, 07:32:26 ET 2008
Table Cake Seville 11428 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Seat 1: Bad.Santa ( $541.70 USD )
Seat 6: Sevi*** ( $517.50 USD )
Sevi*** posts small blind [$1.00 USD].
Bad.Santa posts big blind [$2.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Bad.Santa [ Kc Ah ]
Sevi*** raises [$7.00 USD]
Bad.Santa raises [$26.00 USD]
Sevi*** calls [$20.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qh, 4s, Ad ]
Bad.Santa bets [$32.00 USD]
Sevi*** calls [$32.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3h ]
Bad.Santa checks
Sevi*** checks
** Dealing River ** [ 3d ]
Bad.Santa bets [$88.00 USD]
Sevi*** calls [$88.00 USD]
Bad.Santa shows [Kc, Ah ]
Bad.Santa wins $295.00 USD from main pot
Sevi*** doesn't show [Tc, Qc ]



$200.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, December 31, 10:41:12 ET 2008
Table Cake Seville 11441 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Seat 1: Bad.Santa ( $510.85 USD )
Seat 2: Sevi*** ( $548.60 USD )
Sevi*** posts small blind [$1.00 USD].
Bad.Santa posts big blind [$2.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Bad.Santa [ 6c 6s ]
Sevi*** calls [$1.00 USD]
Bad.Santa raises [$10.00 USD]
Sevi*** calls [$10.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8d, Jd, 3s ]
Bad.Santa bets [$16.00 USD]
Sevi*** calls [$16.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5h ]
Bad.Santa bets [$40.00 USD]
Sevi*** calls [$40.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 8s ]
Bad.Santa checks
Sevi*** bets [$78.00 USD]
Bad.Santa raises [$216.00 USD]
Sevi*** folds
Bad.Santa wins $291.00 USD from main pot
Bad.Santa wins $138.00 USD from main pot


$200.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, December 31, 07:10:26 ET 2008
Table Cake Seville 11428 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Seat 1: Bad.Santa ( $402.70 USD )
Seat 6: Sevi*** ( $661.90 USD )
Bad.Santa posts small blind [$1.00 USD].
Sevi*** posts big blind [$2.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Bad.Santa [ 9c Qc ]
Bad.Santa raises [$9.00 USD]
Sevi*** raises [$26.00 USD]
Bad.Santa calls [$18.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Th, 7d, 6c ]
Sevi*** checks
Bad.Santa checks
** Dealing Turn ** [ Kh ]
Sevi*** bets [$40.00 USD]
Bad.Santa calls [$40.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 2c ]
Sevi*** checks
Bad.Santa bets [$90.00 USD]
Sevi*** folds
Bad.Santa wins $135.00 USD from main pot
Bad.Santa wins $90.00 USD from main pot



$200.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, December 31, 07:24:01 ET 2008
Table Cake Seville 11363 (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Seat 1: Bad.Santa ( $589.30 USD )
Seat 7: Sevi*** ( $200.00 USD )
Bad.Santa posts small blind [$1.00 USD].
Sevi*** posts big blind [$2.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Bad.Santa [ Tc Ah ]
Bad.Santa raises [$9.00 USD]
Sevi*** calls [$8.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8d, 8h, As ]
Sevi*** checks
Bad.Santa bets [$12.00 USD]
Sevi*** raises [$40.00 USD]
Bad.Santa calls [$28.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2h ]
Sevi*** bets [$68.00 USD]
Bad.Santa calls [$68.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 6h ]
Sevi*** bets [$82.00 USD]
Bad.Santa calls [$82.00 USD]
Sevi*** shows [8c, Th ]
Sevi*** wins $399.00 USD from main pot
Bad.Santa doesn't show [Tc, Ah ]



$200.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, December 31, 08:55:01 ET 2008
Table Cake Seville 11363 (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Seat 1: Bad.Santa ( $395.90 USD )
Seat 7: Sevi*** ( $375.70 USD )
Bad.Santa posts small blind [$1.00 USD].
Sevi*** posts big blind [$2.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Bad.Santa [ Ah Qd ]
Bad.Santa raises [$7.00 USD]
Sevi*** raises [$20.00 USD]
Bad.Santa calls [$14.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ As, 3d, 3h ]
Sevi*** checks
Bad.Santa bets [$26.00 USD]
Sevi*** calls [$26.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6d ]
Sevi*** checks
Bad.Santa checks
** Dealing River ** [ Kh ]
Sevi*** bets [$96.00 USD]
Bad.Santa calls [$96.00 USD]
Sevi*** shows [Kc, Ks ]
Sevi*** wins $287.00 USD from main pot
Bad.Santa doesn't show [Ah, Qd ]



$200.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, December 31, 11:55:26 ET 2008
Table Cake Seville 11428 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Seat 1: Bad.Santa ( $445.50 USD )
Seat 6: Sevi*** ( $601.80 USD )
Bad.Santa posts small blind [$1.00 USD].
Sevi*** posts big blind [$2.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Bad.Santa [ Ad 7h ]
Bad.Santa raises [$9.00 USD]
Sevi*** calls [$8.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Td, 7c, 5c ]
Sevi*** bets [$20.00 USD]
Bad.Santa raises [$60.00 USD]
Sevi*** calls [$40.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ac ]
Sevi*** checks
Bad.Santa checks
** Dealing River ** [ 9d ]
Sevi*** bets [$98.00 USD]
Bad.Santa calls [$98.00 USD]
Sevi*** shows [9c, Qc ]
Sevi*** wins $335.00 USD from main pot
Bad.Santa doesn't show [Ad, 7h ]


I quit after the last hand because I felt like he was getting momentum in the match, not to mention I'd played for quite a while. I was a little frustrated that I made the call because he hadn't been running big bluffs or anything so essentially I had a bluff catcher. I'm happy that I ended up in the HU match, but obviously it's disappointing to lose money the last session of the year :( I'm on a 10k breakeven stretch, but I plan to get my ass in gear next year and crush the tables!

Here's my December graph:


+ $1600 from coaching ,donkaments, and rakeback
= $6k

I didn't have much time to play this month, and I think I've played kind of bad the last few sessions of the month. I think I was running bad too, but I know I wasn't playing my A game the whole time. Still, not a bad month for about 50 hours of work.

And here's my graph from the last 3 months:



I haven't went through and totalled all of my earnings for the year yet, but I know I made significantly more than the $40k I was making as a Technology Coordinator. It's going to be a pain to total because I have my hands spread out across 4 databases and 2 computers, but I will do that soon. I did figure up my rakeback earnings, and that was just over $10k. I will write a blog to reflect on this past year in the coming days, but for now, Happy New Year!

LOL Donkaments

Soulcrushing Cake 250k Guaranteed hand:

Hand #172837ED00007347: $250,000 GUARANTEED!!
Seat 1: Bad.Santa (20769.00 in chips)
Seat 2: blan*** (9625.00 in chips)
Seat 3: blac*** (21723.00 in chips)
Seat 4: sick*** (22685.00 in chips)
Seat 5: kuul*** (14675.00 in chips)
Seat 6: tang*** (14539.00 in chips)
Seat 7: OJ L*** (16300.00 in chips)
Seat 8: airt*** (7487.00 in chips)
Seat 9: SnZP*** (20001.00 in chips)
Seat 10: IPWN*** (6025.00 in chips)
SnZP***: posts small blind 300
IPWN***: posts big blind 600
Dealt to Bad.Santa [ 6h 6c ]
Bad.Santa: raises to 1,444
blan***: folds
blac***: folds
sick***: folds
kuul***: folds
tang***: calls
OJ L***: folds
airt***: folds
SnZP***: folds
IPWN***: folds
FLOP[ 6s Td 3s ]
Bad.Santa: checks
tang***: bets 1,200
Bad.Santa: raises to 2,999
tang***: calls
TURN [ Qs ]
Bad.Santa: bets 6,666
tang***: is all in 10096.0000
Bad.Santa: calls
Bad.Santa: shows 6h 6c
tang***: shows 9d 9h
RIVER [ 9s ]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tang*** doubles up because he's a lucky idiot

Cake bustout hand...3 hands later

Hand #172837ED00007643: $250,000 GUARANTEED!!
Seat 1: Bad.Santa (5330.00 in chips)
Seat 2: blan*** (9025.00 in chips)
Seat 3: blac*** (20223.00 in chips)
Seat 4: sick*** (22685.00 in chips)
Seat 5: kuul*** (14675.00 in chips)
Seat 6: tang*** (29978.00 in chips)
Seat 7: OJ L*** (16300.00 in chips)
Seat 8: airt*** (9887.00 in chips)
Seat 9: SnZP*** (20601.00 in chips)
Seat 10: IPWN*** (5125.00 in chips)
blan***: posts small blind 300
blac***: posts big blind 600
Dealt to Bad.Santa [ 8c 8h ]
sick***: folds
kuul***: folds
tang***: folds
OJ L***: folds
airt***: folds
SnZP***: folds
IPWN***: folds
Bad.Santa: is all in 5330.0000
blan***: calls
blac***: folds
Bad.Santa: shows 8c 8h
blan***: shows Ad Ah
FLOP [ Jh 4d 6d ]
TURN[ 9s ]
RIVER [ 5d ]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
blan*** wins 11,260 with Pair of Aces

Stars $80k guaranteed bustout hand

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $50+$5 Tournament, 75/150 Blinds (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 (t8180)
MP1 (t1815)
MP2 (t3430)
MP3 (t3746)
CO (t4250)
Button (t1055)
SB (t6389)
BB (t12015)
Hero (UTG) (t5755)

Hero's M: 25.58

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Qc, Qs
Hero raises to t390, 1 fold, MP1 raises to t1815 (All-In), 5 folds, BB calls t1665, Hero calls t1425

Flop: (t5520) 9c, 9d, 5d (3 players, 1 all-in)
BB checks, Hero bets t3940 (All-In), BB calls t3940

Turn: (t13400) As (3 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t13400) Ad (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t13400

Results:
BB had 9h, 10s (full house, nines over Aces).
Hero had Qc, Qs (two pair, Aces and Queens).
MP1 had 10h, Ah (full house, Aces over nines).
Outcome: BB won t7880, MP1 won t5520


Well that was tilting. I did cash in the FTP 100k, which featured a field of 10k players. How much did I cash for? $10 bitch!!! I know, ballin' right? If I win that Cake hand I'm in the top 50 in chips w/ 500 players left and 130 cash, so basically I would've been in great shape. I was above average in the Stars tourney as well, but still had a long way to go to approach cashing. I just flatted b/c I put the BB on a big ace or something, little did I know he had T9o haha. Oh well, try again next week. I've got to get away from this computer and try to smile now...peace!

I Present To You...My Worst Played Hand of The Month

No-Limit Hold'em, $2.00 BB (10 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com



Hero (MP3) ($213.40)

CO ($181.85)

Button ($109.50)

SB ($70)

BB ($273.30)

UTG ($242.30)

UTG+1 ($144.44)

UTG+2 ($198.95)

MP1 ($88.05)

MP2 ($251.95)



Preflop: Hero is MP3 with K, J

UTG calls $2, 1 fold, UTG+2 calls $2, 2 folds, Hero raises $11, 5 folds, UTG+2 raises $31, Hero raises $76.50, UTG+2 raises $165.95 (All-In), Hero calls $111.45



Flop: ($402.90) 7, 6, 6 (2 players, 1 all-in)



Turn: ($402.90) J (2 players, 1 all-in)



River: ($402.90) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)



Total pot: $402.90



Results:

UTG+2 had A, A (two pair, Aces and sixes).

Hero had K, J (two pair, Jacks and sixes).

Outcome: UTG+2 won $399.90



Ya I suck. Anyway, here's the graph from today's loltastic session.

What A Nice Christmas

On Christmas day, I "staked" nfuego to play a $2k guaranteed tourney in which only 7 people registered. Anyway, he shipped 2nd place which was good for $600 profit, of which I won $440. He also won an entry into a $250k Guarantee tourney on Sunday, which is worth $320 and I am going to use. So essentially, he won me $760 yesterday. If I parly this tourney into a huge score (1st pays $52k) it's going to be the sickest thing ever. I was sweating him as much as I could from my iPhone since I was at my parent's house with no Internet, so it was funny reading the updates from the hu play, like "oops I got owned"...then 5 seconds later..."Haha but I sucked out!" I was sad he didn't ship 1st, but still what a sick Christmas present!

I picked up my Grandma around 12:30 and headed out to my parents house, where we ate dinner, socialized, and opened presents. Pretty much my whole family from Indiana came; all 16 of us. The food was amazing of course, and the presents were great too. I got a lot of stuff for my kitchen (Big ass George Foreman, lots of tupperware, Brita filter, a huge Corelle collection) as well as gift cards, clothes, and other odds and ends. Really, the best part was watching my niece and nephew open their presents. My nephew would open up one and if it wasn't a toy he'd say "Another present!" If it was a toy, he'd fuss if his Dad wouldn't open it for him. I was laughing and smiling pretty much non-stop the whole day. I made it home around 8:30 and passed out soon after eating dinner from pure exhaustion. Little kids wear me out. Another reason I passed out so early was because my wisdom teeth were killing me. The pain started the day before Christmas, and the pain has only gotten worse. About 3 years ago I went to see about getting them pulled, found out I had 5 wisdom teeth which is somewhat rare, and the esimate was $2200. I had good insurance then that would've paid 50/50 on major surgeries like that, but for some reason I didn't do it. Now, I've resorted to popping Tylenol's like they're candy in hopes of making the pain go away. Oh well, what can you do? Hope you all had a great Christmas!!!

The 45 Minute Drive That Took 6.5 Hours

Sounds fun right? Ok so here's how yesterday went. I went and played basketball at 5:30 AM, then afterwards I showered and went to Toys R Us, Best Buy, and Walmart to finish my Christmas shopping. Toys R Us didn't have a few of the things I needed, but they said their store in Indy did. I had to get a couple things from Indy anyway, so I drove the 45 minute drive to the mall and got mostly everything I needed. While eating lunch at the foodcourt, I overheard a lady tell her kids to get ready because daddy called and the rain was freezing and the roads were getting bad. I decided I better leave and get the Movie Gallery gift card for my brother-in-law and head home. It was like 1PM at this point. I almost slipped and fell and felt like I pulled my hamstring in the parking lot, so I waddled the final half mile to my car (everybody and their brother was out shopping). I sat in the parking lot waiting to get out for a good 30 minutes since everyone had the same idea to leave and beat the storm. Turns out the roads were horrible. I have never driven on icier roads.

So I didn't find the Movie Gallery store, which was the first fail of my iPhone. It was hard to look in the shopping complexes though because I was too worried about the roads and the jackasses all up on my ass. I hopped on the interstate and it was crawling, so I turned on the radio and found out a semi had jackknifed a few exits up. I got off and went to a furniture store and Frye's Electronics (my heaven). Mistake #1, I should've just driven straight home. Back on the interstate at around 3:00 PM. This time the roads were worse and the traffic was moving slower. I'm talking 5 MPH stop and go instead of 15. I finally made it to an exit where there was a mall and my dad suggested maybe stopping there and blowing some time in hopes of not sitting in traffic the whole way home. Then my phone died.

As soon as I got on the exit ramp I knew it was Mistake #2. I watched a 350z slide right into the ditch, a Transam slide from the left lane all the way to the right shoulder where he stopped, and then I barely made it up the ramp only b/c I was driving on the bumpy thing on the shoulder. Right after I got up the ramp, 2 cops came and closed the left lane. I shopped at the mall for a while and decided I'd give the roads another go, so back on the Interstate. By this time, 5:00, it was raining even harder and we were driving about 15 MPH. I passed an exit then BOOM, all I see is a slew of brake lights in front of me. This was at mile marker 15. I made it to mile marker 19 at 10PM. The radio stations said that the interstate was closed from Pendleton to Anderson, which are on my way, so I got off at the Pendleton exit and stopped at the gas station. The lady working there told me how to go around the interstate and then I hopped back on it one exit down from where they had it closed. Mistake #3. There were 4 cars in front of me so I just said fuck it let's go, but I should've just stayed at a hotel. I've never been so terrified of driving in my life, but at 11:30PM I finally arrived in Muncie. I drove down the road to my house, and the train was stopped on the tracks just like it was at 5:30 this morning and I really just wanted to cry, but I cussed up a storm instead. 15 minutes later it finally moved and I got home to my Budlight and Pizza King. I go to pull up my driveway, and surprise it's a fucking sheet of ice. After 3 attempts I finally got it up far enough so it wasn't hanging out on the road then put my parking brake on hoping that would keep it from sliding back down. What a fucking day.

I woke up this morning and decided I was going to stop being a lazy ass and work. 886 hands later I finished up $740. It was just $730, but I registered for a $10 hu sng and was going to play someone I knew...lol...and some random donk signs up. He didn't stand a chance of course. My ROI on cake has gotta be sick. I'm off to go wrap my presents, but I might post some hands later. There were some funny ones. Happy Holidays everyone!

Technology Is The Shit

Ok, I'm going to plug a few pieces of technology for free, just because they're the shit.

Pandora.com is amazing. Somehow I just now stumbled across this amazing internet radio station that allows you to create your own radio station. You can start out with a blank station, add in some bands you like, and it will search for similar songs and play them. If you don't like a song it plays, you give it a thumbs down and it will skip it, as well as adapt your radio station based upon your choice. It's an amazing tool for me because previously I lived off my iTunes library; I'd play it while at home, in the car, and while working out. Now I have Pandora on my new pc and there's also a Pandora app for my iPhone, so I'm in heaven.

Shazam, I mean c'mon the name says it all. Open the app up on your iPhone, record about 5-10 seconds of audio from anything that's playing music. For instance I used it at a restaurant and it picked up the music playing overhead. Give it another 15 seconds and it will tell you what the name of the song is, the band and CD it's on, and will even link you to the youtube video of the song. This is awesome for me because I would always listen to songs on the radio or while shopping and would be like "wow I like that song" but wouldn't have a clue what it is. Now I can just whip out my iPhone and SHAAAAAZZZZAAAAMMMMM, I know what it is.

Netflix is going to make blockbuster obselete. I get 3 movies at a time for $17 a month, and when I send them back I get 3 more. It only takes a day to get them after I request them. That's the old school method of watching movies, now I can watch them instantly on my PC. Yesterday I started watching Heroes: Season 1 and it worked great. It didn't work on my old PC, so I'm glad it does on this one. They also just added a feature so I can do the same thing on my xbox, so now I can use my netflix service on my bigscreen tv.

Ok that's enough of that. I haven't played poker since my last post, but will probably play tonight if I don't have to coach. The only thing poker-related I'm going to mention in this post is that I just got a free month subscription to pokersavvy and I just joined deucescracked, so I'm going to be checking out both of their products in the near future. I've been thinking a lot about continuing to work on my HU game, as well as 6max and PLO. The games on the site I'm playing on at the moment are getting reg instested more and more each week, so I feel it will be more profitable if I don't just specialize in Full Ring. Anyway, I think with the addition of these two resources, I'll be ready in a month to tackle this goal. I need to sit down soon and come up with some goals for the year of 2009, because I feel like it's going to be MY year. Well it's not going to be if I average the amount of hands that I've played so far this month, but I'll actually have time to play this week thankfully.

Well I'm off to finish my Christmas shopping, take it easy!

Living Like A Caveman For a Week

Ok, not quite, but the title sounded catchy. Basically, I was computerless for the past week. Well that's not true either, I bought a computer on Tuesday but didn't set it up until yesterday, not to mention I used my iPhone to get on AIM, briefly browse 2+2 and facebook, and check my email. So I wasn't quite at caveman status, but having essentially no Internet, not being able to play poker, and not being able to listen to music was actually quite peaceful. One more week of it and I would've went crazy, but it was nice to get away from the poker world for a week. My hiatus allowed me to get some Christmas shopping done, hang out more with friends, finish season 2 of Lost, and I wrote several songs. I also had my only final this week so I studied for that quite a bit, which I probably wouldn't have if I was able to access a computer.

So, my new computer...damn it's fast. I got the Gateway LX-6200, which has a quad core 2.2 GHz processor, 8 GB of RAM, and a 750 GB hard drive. I can't get over how fast everything is on it. I haven't installed Photoshop and Cubase on it yet, but I'm assuming those programs will run a lot faster than they did on my old computer. I also bought a sick graphics card since the 30 inch monitor I ordered requres it, but I haven't installed it yet, nor have I pulled the old hard drive out of my old computer and gotten all of my files yet. I spent most of the day yesterday downloading and installing software, and still have a long ways to go. One thing to mention, I had a problem with my iPhone; I wanted to get the songs off it onto my new computer without copying them from my old hard drive. After reading online I tried a method, which worked, but then it bricked my iPhone to where iTunes wouldn't let me do anything with it. I had to go through and reset the iPhone back to the default settings, which erased all of the apps that I had downloaded on it, removed my settings, un-jailbroke it, and come to find out deleted my contacts. Luckily Damn Ringer knew how I could get my contacts back or I would've been on tilt. Anyway, it was just a minor setback that cost me several hours of time, but I got it back working and it's all good.

I cautiously logged on to play poker last night and decided I would just play 100NL since it had been so long since I'd played. Since I don't have the new video card installed yet I only have one 22 inch monitor, so I cascaded 12 tables. I haven't cascaded in forever, and it showed because I timed out on the tables numerous times. The worst was when I was trying to type texts messages and play, and eventually just turned off my phone because I was incapable of doing these two things at the same time. I always get like this after I take a break from poker, it's like my reflexes are slowed on the mouse, and my brain processes everything slower. I also have to get used to this keyboard because the number keys are a little different it seems. Several times I'd go to type a 5 and I'd hit 2 instead, and although it didn't really cost me any money (it might have when I was typing out big bets but I double check the numbers before I hit enter) it was still a major nuisance.

The session went good, although at times it sure seemed like it was more aggro than 200NL. I was getting 3bet left and right and I had to double barrel a ton, but since I didn't have my notes or HEM I just had to go with the flow. I'm guessing my cbet success was under 40% last night even though I only cbet around 65% of the time. After finally getting annoyed, I chose to 4bet light a reg who seemed like he was 3betting my iso's light, and of course he shoves on me. Come to find out, he was running at 11/7. Lol, ok well obviously he's just picking up a bunch of hands against me because I'm pretty sure he's not adjusting to my late position iso's and steals and 3betting me light. Maybe he is, but I really really doubt it. I was finishing up the session and was up $375 and really wanted to get to +$400. I asked Mazzler if he wanted to flip for $25 and he obliged, and my 73o sucked out on his Q9o when I spiked a 7 on the flop. Ship the 4 buyins on my first day back!

Busy Weekend Of School, Shopping, And Some Poker

School kicked my ass this week. I had a quiz to study for, a four page paper to type, and this weekend I've been studying for my final on Tuesday. I'm done on Tuesday for quite a while, so that makes me happy! On Friday I met my parents at the AT&T store and after a grueling 2.5 hours I walked out of the store with my new iPhone. I'm one of those people who likes to have new toys, and I decided it was worth it to jump ship to AT&T just so I could have an iPhone. My parents wanted to get their first cell phones too, so we are doing a family plan in my name. I left the store and went directly to Best Buy to get a case and bluetooth headset for it, then went home to play. Within a few hours I had already jailbroke my phone, which allows me to customize it in about any way imaginable. I was very tired and just ended up playing with my phone the remainder of the night while watching Season 2 of Lost. Well I did play one orbit of 1/2 on one table for +60, and then sat down at 3 .50/1 tables where one of the regs was sitting all alone, and he quit me after 22 hands and losing $30. So by just screwing around I made $92 in 17 minutes! Half my iPhone already paid for...ship ship.

I went to bed relatively early because I was supposed to be going to Indy with Alicia so she could get her license reinstated and then we were doing some Christmas shopping. She called me at like 8:30AM and was so shocked that I was awake, so we ended up leaving around 9:30. This trip gave me an excuse to try out the GPS on my phone, and it didn't disappoint. We were in and out of the BMV before I could even finish a game of Pacman (which is saying a lot because I suck at it). Next stop, the mall. Dear lord was it packed. Every time we'd try to cross over to the left side and get inside a store entrance I'd have images of the xmas movies where people get trompled running through my head. I actually was hit in the shin by a lady with a stroller at one point, but I chose not to react on my feeling of road rage after seeing the cute little girl staring up at me. AANNNDDDD the power supply just gave out in my computer and now it's not booting up :(. I wanted a new pc anyway so I guess this is a good excuse. Well I'm not typing another paragraph on my iPhone, this was bad enough. Later guys!

Just Took a Quick Shot at 2/4

Resulsts: 77 hands for +$222. If I would've quit all 4 of my tables after I doubled off the huge donk, it would've been like 64 hands for +$420. But hey, who can complain about making $222 in about 15 minutes? Not me.

Here's what happened:

No-Limit Hold'em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (MP2) ($400)
MP3 ($827)
CO ($390)
Button ($738.44)
SB ($653.80)
BB ($564.06)
UTG ($488.04)
UTG+1 ($343.70)
MP1 ($256)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 7c, 8c
3 folds, Hero raises $14, 1 fold, CO calls $14, 1 fold, SB calls $12, 1 fold

Flop: ($40) Ad, 3d, 8h (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $26, 1 fold, SB calls $26

Turn: ($92) 7h (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $75, SB raises $150, Hero raises $285 (All-In), SB calls $210

River: ($812) Kc (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $812

Results:
SB had 9s, Ac (one pair, aces)
Hero had 7c, 8c (two pair, eights and sevens).
Outcome: Hero won $815


The SB was the only reason I decided to sit down at the only four 2/4 tables running. I had a note on him that he was a big donk, and turns out I was right. That was an exhilarating allin! I can't wait until I play more 2/4. After that hand, the SB donked off the rest of his stack and left the table, so I decided to quit my session since the tables were full of nits and a few half stackers. I also have to make sure I make it to class later this morning to turn in my career choice paper. So, I waited until I hit the blinds again to quit my tables, and the following hands took place...

No-Limit Hold'em, $4.00 BB (10 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (CO) ($416.60)
Button ($401.10)
SB ($397.74)
BB ($881.10)
UTG ($652.25)
UTG+1 ($101.50)
UTG+2 ($401)
MP1 ($236)
MP2 ($231.25)
MP3 ($31.30)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Kc, Ah
6 folds, Hero raises $12, 1 fold, SB calls $10, 1 fold

Flop: ($25) 3d, 4d, 4c (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $18, SB calls $18

Turn: ($61) 2s (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $37, SB calls $37

River: ($135) 7s (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Total pot: $135

Results:
SB had 10c, 10h (two pair, tens and fours).
Hero had Kc, Ah (one pair, fours).
Outcome: SB won $135

I don't know how I feel about this hand against an unknown. If I decide to cbet, I like the double barrel because it gets value from flush draws and may fold out small pocket pairs and 3x. Based on his timing I decided not to 3barrel because it sure seemed like he had a hand he wanted to show down. Then this happened a few hands later on the same table.

No-Limit Hold'em, $4.00 BB (8 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (MP2) ($400)
CO ($648.10)
Button ($875.10)
SB ($648.25)
BB ($101.50)
UTG ($401)
UTG+1 ($227.25)
MP1 ($31.30)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 10d, Js
3 folds, Hero raises $12, CO calls $12, 2 folds, BB calls $8

Flop: ($36) 9h, 4h, 10h (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $22.50, 1 fold, BB raises $89.50, Hero calls $67

Turn: ($214) 2h (2 players)

River: ($214) 6h (2 players)

Total pot: $214

Results:
BB had 8h, 10s (flush, ten high).
Hero had 10d, Js (flush, ten high).
Outcome: BB won $214

Grrr. Oh well, I was still happy to book a profit over such a short amount of time. 2/4...here I come! Watch out bitches.

I'm Just A Little Behind In My Goal...

...Of making +$12k this month. The month is 1/3 of the way over and I'm up $3800 (I include my rakeback earnings because I'm an ex-rakeback pro), so I'm 1 buyin behind pace damnit. It sure would've helped if I didn't have that minor $2400 downswing, but hey what can you do. On Monday I had a +$1180 session, and then yesterday I finished up about a $200 which was disappointing because I was up $700 at one point. I highly doubt I will be playing any poker today because I have a career choice paper to type for my Exercise Science class. It's only a 3-5 page paper but it serves as my final so I have to focus on it a little bit at least. Anyway, I've played a whopping 13,500 hands for the month, which is quite frankly pathetic, especially since 5,000 of them were from one day. I know the last half of the month I'll be grinding it out a lot more though, so hopefully that will make up for me being somewhat lazy the first half of the month.

I'm tired and don't feel like typing any more than I have to today so I'll leave you guys with a hand that tilted me from yesterday's session, and my monthly graph up until now.

No-Limit Hold'em, $2.00 BB (10 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) ($200)
UTG ($87.30)
UTG+1 ($41.85)
UTG+2 ($262.45)
MP1 ($274.90)
MP2 ($192)
MP3 ($120)
CO ($81.55)
Button ($397.30)
SB ($199)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5d, Qd
5 folds, MP3 calls $2, 3 folds, Hero checks

Flop: ($2) 3d, Jh, 2d (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets $5, Hero raises $20, MP3 calls $15

Turn: ($42) As (2 players)
Hero bets $32, MP3 calls $32

River: ($106) 9d (2 players)
Hero bets $77, MP3 calls $66 (All-In)

Total pot: $238

Results:
Hero had 5d, Qd (flush, Queen high).
MP3 had Ad, 6d (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: MP3 won $238


So yeah, the hand was a cooler obviously, but what tilted me the most was the fact that I thought I hit gin on the river, especially when the villain timed all the way down before calling. I didn't really tilt as a result of this hand, but I did say something like "Nice slowroll you miserable piece of shit" to him in chat, which is a huge no no since he's a donk. Oh well, I have to exercise my ability to use the chat function at times since my chat was banned on FTP and I never got to use it to the best of my ability.

Poker, Church, Gangbangs, and Cheesecake...What Else Do You Need?

On Saturday afternoon I played a relatively short session of .50/1 since the 1/2 games consisted of 7-8 regs on each table. I decided to only 8 table and try a few things out, which led to me playing 26/21/4 and minraising as my standard open (*Note, this is at full ring). My 3bet % was about twice what it normally is, and I got in a lot more cool spots. Doing things like that every now and then is good because it helps me learn from being in more postflop spots and having to adjust to players adjusting to me more so than when I play a TAG style. The other cool thing I noticed was that when most of the players would 3bet me they would just click pot, which after my 2BB raise would be 6.5BB. This allowed me to call 3bets with small pocket pairs and sc's as a result of our stack to pot sized ratios. Only one player really tried to adapt to me opening lighter and attempted to outplay me, but here's how that worked out for him...

No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (10 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (CO) ($140.45)
Button ($115.55)
SB ($65.25)
BB ($103.15)
UTG ($98)
UTG+1 ($19.58)
UTG+2 ($93.10)
MP1 ($54.30)
MP2 ($115.60)
MP3 ($42.40)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 7h, 6c
6 folds, Hero raises $2, Button raises $6.50, 2 folds, Hero raises $17.50, Button calls $13

Flop: ($39) 5c, 8c, 8d (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $25.25, Hero raises $120.95 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $89.50

I 4bet him light several times, which only backfired once, and then would call his 3bets and bluff raise the flop with a pretty good frequency. Again, it was all experimentation, but it was a lot of fun to create a learning environment and try to grow from it. I ended the session up $380 over 1300 hands so that's always a good result. It was a pretty swongy session though.

Yesterday I woke up early and went to church at a church down the road. I'm in this weird stage of my life where I feel a calling back to God, but I don't want to be Catholic anymore. I was born and raised Catholic, but now I just want something more upbeat that I can really focus on and get into, and Catholic mass just does not do that for me. The church I went to has an awesome worship band that plays for 30 minutes, and then the pastor preaches for about an hour, so it's a decent balance between the two. I really love the worship band and can feel myself connect with everything, but I'm not a big fan of the pastor. I just couldn't follow what he was saying a lot of the time and didn't agree with a good percentage of it either, where as Veronica's pastor I could at least stay in tune with what he was saying. I didn't care for her church's music though, so I'm still on the hunt for a church with a good mixture of good music and a good pastor. I haven't started reading the Bible yet that Veronica got for me, but I plan to start reading it once school is over.

After church I went to my Grandma's birthday part which was a blast since my niece and nephew were there. My life lights up whenever I get to see them because they're so fun to play with. They're both about three, so they are in that obnoxious whiny stage of their life, but they are still too cute. I met Alicia at the mall once I left there and we did some power shopping. We spent the most time in Bath & Body Works which is always a blast. There's nothing better than having your nose gangbanged by a different scent every step you take.

After shopping we went back to her house and were going to watch either Hancock or Wanted, but Veronica called me asking me if I wanted to go eat at the Cheesecake Factory in Indianapolis. I really really wanted to but I figured Alicia would get mad if I bailed on her so I told Veronica that I couldn't. Well...I ended up going...after changing into the new shirt I bought yesterday haha. Their menu is insane; it's like a freaking book, but I finally settled on some sort of shrimp. Everything was amazing, although her cheesecake was way better than mine (white chocolate macadamian nut > key lime pie). I drove her talkative self home (she had two of the strongest margarita's I've ever tasted, and yes she could drink me under the table) and after dropping her off I drove home with a smile on my face just thinking about what a wonderful day it had been. I passed out on the couch in peaceful bliss in the middle of watching the second House show I'd tivo'd. That show is soooo good, but only because the characters are great. The whole routine of he has this, oh wait no he doesn't let's go check his house for toxins and heavy metals, didn't find anything? ok do a tox screen then...nothing, well maybe it's cancer?...blah blah blah is starting to get a little old. I still love it though. Ok, I have to go train my friend who is getting married next summer and wants to look stunning in her wedding dress, later all!

Sickest Day Of Poker In My Life

In terms on the swongs and the $$$ involved, this was my sickest day of poker. I originally dropped 5 buyins and quit around hand 1000. I went and talked a bunch of shit to the 13 year olds on Call of Duty, then came back to try another session. Wow were there some sick hands. AK and KQ aaipf against the same donk and I lost to Q6o and 96o respectively. I did get one stack back against him w/ JJ vs. 76o aaipf. Then there was KK vs. AA for 3 stacks, and all the other usual stuff, set over sets, flushes>my sets...blah blah blah. I obviously didn't stick to my stop loss, which I think I'm going to officially declare as 5 buyins from this point forth. I just really didn't want to quit because I felt I was playing well and just not running all that good, although I know there was a stretch of time I wasn't playing my A game. Anyway, I'm glad the session is over! I'm still up $1700 this month from my play alone and am still beating the games at 9bb/100 so I shouldn't complain. I can't win every session I play. Ok, back to killing some 13 year olds and talking smack. Peace.

Reading The Newspaper is Overrated

So I'm sitting in McDonald's, eating my egg mcmuffin and reading the newspaper after my 5:30 AM basketball game. Looking around, the average age of the other customers dining in is about 65, and that's being generous. Normally I would've just taken my food to go and eaten while reading some retarded BBV post on 2+2, but I wanted to read the news since I hardly ever read newspapers or watch the new. Now I think I'm depressed, and if it's not depression, then I guess I'm just pissed off that our society is so freaking retarded. Some samples that I came across were, the story about the 5 year old boy who shot and killed his 4 year old sister, point blank in the face nonetheless. His dad is being locked up for neglect obviously. Then there was the story about the parents who were locking up their two adopted kids, ages 11 and 13 in a cage on their farm. Seriously? Probably the most shocking story to me was the story about Planned Parenthood now marketing gift certificates that are redeemable for abortions. Wow, you have got to be kidding. Finally, the business section was full of stories about layoffs, AT&T laying off 12,000 employees, and a bunch of local businesses laying off employees. All in all, the newspaper was one hell of a depressing read and I think I would've been better off not even reading it. Yeah it's nice being up to date on the news, but I'm really questioning if it's worth it since I came out of the experience feeling pissed off at the world.

Anyway, enough with that rant. I could hardly function at basketball this morning. The gym was so cold it was like my lungs were in shock, so I quit after the third game. It's funny when the youngest guy on the court quits before all the 40 year olds do, but I really wasn't feeling that great. Heat would be nice in the gym though. The weather here has been pretty crappy; it's been pretty cold and snowy. It's funny that I say that because I'm planning on taking a trip to the ski slopes next weekend to try to learn how to snowboard. I'm not a big fan of the cold weather or snow, but I really think I'll enjoy it because I love pretty much any sport that gets the adrenaline pumping. My goal is to learn how to snowboard decent enough to survive in Colorado, because I want to plan a trip to the slopes there in January or February. I'm taking next semester off from college so that I can travel, and this time I'm not going to just talk about doing it, I'm actually going to do it.

Last but not least, I finally spent almost all of my FTP points. I had 482k before I went on my shopping spree last night. I bought the 30 inch Samsung monitor, Canon Rebel camera, bathrobe, slippers, beer mugs, a long sleeved t shirt, and a hoodie. Not a bad little Christmas package for myself. I've been wanting to get into photography and the Rebel is a good starter camera, although I'll have to spend about $300-400ish on accessories for it. Photography and traveling go hand-in-hand though, so I can't wait. I went ahead and got the 30 inch monitor because one of my 22's seems like it's starting to spazz out and everybody raves about their 30 inch so I had to have one. Everything else was just a way to spend the points because I don't see myself playing on FTP much anymore, so I spent all but 3k points. I didn't play any poker yesterday, but I did finish up my 3 weeks of coaching sessions with Neversleep, which turned out great. I think his game has improved a ton since I started with him, and I'm excited to see him grow. I'm sure he'll be kicking my ass at 1/2 in no time. I'm planning on playing a little bit this weekend, and if I don't wuss out I'm thinking of trying out some 2/4 tonight or tomorrow night. My bankroll is at $13.5k right now and I'd rather it be at $16k to play the games, but if I table select and only play a few of the good tables I think it will be fine. I'm just starting to open up my game at 1/2, and I think that's all a function of having a bankroll plenty big enough for it. I'm thinking maybe I should just be patient and take a shot at 2/4 next month when my roll is over 40 buyins for the limit and then I'll be able to feel more comfortable and play better, but we'll see. Well I have to sleep, this has been an all-nighter, later!

What A Wonderful Night...

...and I have Alicia to thank for it, so Alicia if you read this, THANK YOU! We went out to dinner and then headed to Doc's, a bar downtown, to check out the open mic night there. I plan on playing/singing there within the next few weeks, but it was intimidating to learn each act gets a 30 minute set. It was pretty dead when it started, which was at 9PM so we didn't stay long, then we planned on going to the bars on campus. We drove there and she was like "Meh it's dead, let's just go home" so I took her to her car and I went home around 10PM. When I got home I got on my computer of course and started browsing, then decided to check out the tables. I really didn't feel like playing but I thought I should play for a little while at least, and was glad to find out Damn Ringer was the only good player on the majority of the tables. Against my better judgment, since I did feel pretty tired, I went ahead and hopped on the waiting lists and started the grind. Once the dust settled, here's how I ended up...


In terms of money made, that was my best online session ever. The only time I have made more money than that was the + $2k night in Vegas. The funny part was I was sad/depressed to a.) be quitting the session, and b.) be quitting the session while not reaching the + $2k mark (Well I did, but I didn't know I did until I'd already lost some pots). Unfortunately, I had to quit so I can get my lazy butt out of bed in time for class on Thursday. I was too stoked to delay the writing of this blog though, but now I have to sleep.