I have added two new sites to the 4Flush calendar. Check N Raise with a daily freeroll and 100% 1st time deposit match up to $500 (Till Feb 14th) and Full Tilt Poker with 2 daily freerolls and 100% first time deposit match up to $600. If you haven't been to my site...GO! Vote on the calendar page on what you would like to see next!
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Empire is losing the rematch! I am $76 ahead at half way point in bonus chase. In January, I was so far down by now I had given up. On the advice given by Chris Halverson in one of his posts, I switched to NL to chase this bonus. Was up $10 multi tabling the limit games in 405 raked hands. So you can see the NL is working out. I can be patient and still get more raked hands in playing this way. Thanks Chris! One side note, I did it again. Limped with QQ in MP2 and 6 people see the flop. It was a very passive table with any ace seeing the flop so I thought the limp would let me get away from it easier. Flop comes Q33(r). Checked to me and I bet .50. 3 call and turn is a J and putting two suits on the board and I bet $2...get two callers. River is an ace and I bet $4 and get raised. I slide the slider to All-In BUT I AM AT POT LIMIT TABLE! I need to pay more attention! I raise pot, he reraises all in and I call, he rivered straight. So it worked out. For all you paying attention, I did this at Party when I hit the full house on the turn!
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Have fun at the Super Bowl Parties tomorrow. Hope your team wins.
Till Next Time!
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Friday, February 04, 2005
So Far So Good
I cashed out of True Poker and here are the final numbers: $325 in, $98 in bonus, 63% won at showdown and $629 cashed out in 1600 hands! The best though was that I cashed out at 10:00 am EST and the money was in Neteller at 11:39 am EST. Thats right, LESS THAN 2 HOURS!
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Have 200 hands at the evil Empire and so far so good. Up $8 and been sucked out bad in 3 hands. Worst: KK down to Q4 soooted when he called a 3 bet pre-flop, hit bottom pair and call to river only to hit a 4 and win. No other draw on board.
850 more hands to go and I'm holding my breathe. (HeHe)
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Come on..admit it...we all secretly do this while folding hands!
Till Next Time!
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Have 200 hands at the evil Empire and so far so good. Up $8 and been sucked out bad in 3 hands. Worst: KK down to Q4 soooted when he called a 3 bet pre-flop, hit bottom pair and call to river only to hit a 4 and win. No other draw on board.
850 more hands to go and I'm holding my breathe. (HeHe)
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Come on..admit it...we all secretly do this while folding hands!
Till Next Time!
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Returning to Scene of the Crime
First off though: I railed the WPBT Event last night at Poker Stars. It was a great tourney and from the chat, a lot of fun was had by all. Next time I'll be there.
I started with Al and soon, too soon, saw his JJ called by TT with a 277 flop only to see the dreaded two out T on river and he was gone. Where was the hammer!
I watched April, who wasn't going to play, finish in the top 40 and play real well. Way To Go!
I saw the ultimate! "The Hammer" played to perfection, "all in" and cracking AA and KK at the same time! Way to go Dr. Pauly Though I am pretty sure the other players feel differently (hehe). Sorry, didn't get screen shot.
All in all I witnessed good play and maybe even better camaraderie. With all the complimentary comments in the chat about everyones blogs, HDoubles's new career and Otis with his new gig, it almost seemed like celebrity poker.
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At the last Empire Poker reload bonus I got beat to a pulp. I posted about how I couldn't win and for the first time, withdrew less than I deposited AFTER the bonus. Well, now I am going to return to scene of the crime. 25% up to $150 and off I go. You know the saying, "If you fall of the bike, get right back on it". Well, maybe it is time to get back on it. That spiral cumulated into me going to NL for a while, winning, getting to the next plateau in my learning of the game and a killer run at the True Poker. (Getting bonus and doubling my deposit)
So I am risking it all to go back to the Evil Empire. I will consider getting out even + bonus as successful excise of my demons! Should be good to go there by this weekend and Party is giving me a 15% bonus till the 11th so maybe I can get both in before the Interpoker monthly bonus.
Till Next Time!
I started with Al and soon, too soon, saw his JJ called by TT with a 277 flop only to see the dreaded two out T on river and he was gone. Where was the hammer!
I watched April, who wasn't going to play, finish in the top 40 and play real well. Way To Go!
I saw the ultimate! "The Hammer" played to perfection, "all in" and cracking AA and KK at the same time! Way to go Dr. Pauly Though I am pretty sure the other players feel differently (hehe). Sorry, didn't get screen shot.
All in all I witnessed good play and maybe even better camaraderie. With all the complimentary comments in the chat about everyones blogs, HDoubles's new career and Otis with his new gig, it almost seemed like celebrity poker.
___
At the last Empire Poker reload bonus I got beat to a pulp. I posted about how I couldn't win and for the first time, withdrew less than I deposited AFTER the bonus. Well, now I am going to return to scene of the crime. 25% up to $150 and off I go. You know the saying, "If you fall of the bike, get right back on it". Well, maybe it is time to get back on it. That spiral cumulated into me going to NL for a while, winning, getting to the next plateau in my learning of the game and a killer run at the True Poker. (Getting bonus and doubling my deposit)
So I am risking it all to go back to the Evil Empire. I will consider getting out even + bonus as successful excise of my demons! Should be good to go there by this weekend and Party is giving me a 15% bonus till the 11th so maybe I can get both in before the Interpoker monthly bonus.
Till Next Time!
Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway.
John Wayne
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Live Play
Played in the local Holdem Tournament last night. I must admit that playing live is fun. To be able to sit there and see the tells that you read about and then see them flip the hand you put them on is mind boggling at times.
First off game 1. I got down early with this hand and then limped to fourth place. I misplayed this badly trying to get cute. I have AQo in cutoff and I limp with 3 others. Flop is Q high, 2 suited and I bet T600 into a T800 pot and only get called by BB. Turn completes the flush draw and BB check/raises me all in after another T600 bet. Now at this point I am positive he does not have the flush draw, he would have slowed played it some more, I fold. I was right, he hit 2 pair. My question is, why check raise all in when the only hand that would call you beats you? I don't think that is worth the chance but I am new at NL and maybe I am missing something. The guy is better than average player and I asked him about it at end of night and he said that the flush never entered his mind, and added "Maybe it should have". It's not like I was not betting it like a flush...who knows.
Ironically, I go all in blind after 5th place went out with T600 and a T400 BB. I wait till end to see if I won, I lost....AQ.
2nd game. This table had a few that were new to the game. Lately, these guys have been killing it. The expressions "Beginners Luck" and "Better lucky than good" come to mind. Jsaw and I ride down together, its about 30 minutes from my house, and usually play at the tables together. As a side note his game 1 was bad and topped off by is pretty sizable all in bet with KK called by a little bigger stacks A9s who hit his ace. That will become a bitter theme you will see. I'm hanging in, with a couple small wins and right before the break Jsaw raises twice the BB UTG with 88. I look down to see the Hilton Sisters and double the raise, he folds to the dismay of everyone and at first break I am chip leader by a few. This time it seems luck was on a break and shortly after resuming play, it was down to five "regulars".
At this point I would like to introduce you to player 1, lets call him "Phil". An over aggressive 22 year old who has watched to much poker on TV and "Tilt" probably isn't helping either. By the way, he just started playing NL at Party and I will have to get his screen name. A little on the obnoxious side and loved to showboat. Played with his blue mirrored sunglasses and liked to claim to all who would listen how he preferred to play his "reads" on people over the cards he actually had. It was all about the reads! Funny thing is, he was the most readable of them all. Jsaw is still in when he raises big again with KK. "Phil" calls and well, lets just say I saw the most unbelievable flop with the most unlikely of hands to call the raise with. I’ll let Jsaw write about THAT one. "Phil" and I are about even and there are 3 left.
The set up.
I call in with 33 on the button, SB completes and "Phil" checks BB. Flop comes Jxx and I go all in instantly. SB folds and "Phil" starts to chatter. He actually shows the table his hand! JTo and looks hard for a reaction from me. He asked if he is out kicked...I said I don't need a kicker! He asked if I wanted a call, I looked him in the eyes and said "Please". He then announced he had a good read on me, counted out the chips, and folded. I showed the 33. Got a pretty good reaction on that one!
I knock down third place when I go all in with KQs on a flop of Q68. 3rd places calls with 22 and spikes a 2 on the turn...I hit RR flush and he is down to one BB left. He doubles through twice when this hand happens.
The knock out.
Though outwardly there wasn't much in the way of change in "Phil", I know inside he was fuming. I am still stacking chips from the RR flush miracle and I am in the BB. "Phil" completes in SB and I check blind. Flop comes Qxx. "Phil" bets T1000. I look down and see JJ. Now "Phil", being the astute poker player he is would have raised my BB with any face card. So I just call. I feel pretty good about this. Turn is a rag and again T1000 and I called. River is Q and he thinks for a minute and reaches for all his chips. I realize instantly he is buying the pot. As he says "ALL IN" I say call and flip over JJ. He is flabbergasted that I called him down and he mucks. I see the cards as dealer takes a peak...95o. Complete bluff. As he goes on a little about how unbelievable he thinks that call was I was thinking how easy it was.
I now take the extremely small stack 2nd place guy all in next hand with J8 vs. Q4. I flop a jack for the win. It was my second win but I felt in control over this one from the break on.
Well, got to get busy. $18 left on True Poker bonus to go(Still killing it over there), Party Poker has a reload bonus about to expire I want to get, Empire Poker annouced a reload bonus good till Feb. 8th. 25% up to $150 with bonus code Feb150. It's posted on there site so know it is good, and it is time to reload at Interpoker for there monthly 100% up to $90.
Some much bonus....so little time.
Till Next Time!
First off game 1. I got down early with this hand and then limped to fourth place. I misplayed this badly trying to get cute. I have AQo in cutoff and I limp with 3 others. Flop is Q high, 2 suited and I bet T600 into a T800 pot and only get called by BB. Turn completes the flush draw and BB check/raises me all in after another T600 bet. Now at this point I am positive he does not have the flush draw, he would have slowed played it some more, I fold. I was right, he hit 2 pair. My question is, why check raise all in when the only hand that would call you beats you? I don't think that is worth the chance but I am new at NL and maybe I am missing something. The guy is better than average player and I asked him about it at end of night and he said that the flush never entered his mind, and added "Maybe it should have". It's not like I was not betting it like a flush...who knows.
Ironically, I go all in blind after 5th place went out with T600 and a T400 BB. I wait till end to see if I won, I lost....AQ.
2nd game. This table had a few that were new to the game. Lately, these guys have been killing it. The expressions "Beginners Luck" and "Better lucky than good" come to mind. Jsaw and I ride down together, its about 30 minutes from my house, and usually play at the tables together. As a side note his game 1 was bad and topped off by is pretty sizable all in bet with KK called by a little bigger stacks A9s who hit his ace. That will become a bitter theme you will see. I'm hanging in, with a couple small wins and right before the break Jsaw raises twice the BB UTG with 88. I look down to see the Hilton Sisters and double the raise, he folds to the dismay of everyone and at first break I am chip leader by a few. This time it seems luck was on a break and shortly after resuming play, it was down to five "regulars".
At this point I would like to introduce you to player 1, lets call him "Phil". An over aggressive 22 year old who has watched to much poker on TV and "Tilt" probably isn't helping either. By the way, he just started playing NL at Party and I will have to get his screen name. A little on the obnoxious side and loved to showboat. Played with his blue mirrored sunglasses and liked to claim to all who would listen how he preferred to play his "reads" on people over the cards he actually had. It was all about the reads! Funny thing is, he was the most readable of them all. Jsaw is still in when he raises big again with KK. "Phil" calls and well, lets just say I saw the most unbelievable flop with the most unlikely of hands to call the raise with. I’ll let Jsaw write about THAT one. "Phil" and I are about even and there are 3 left.
The set up.
I call in with 33 on the button, SB completes and "Phil" checks BB. Flop comes Jxx and I go all in instantly. SB folds and "Phil" starts to chatter. He actually shows the table his hand! JTo and looks hard for a reaction from me. He asked if he is out kicked...I said I don't need a kicker! He asked if I wanted a call, I looked him in the eyes and said "Please". He then announced he had a good read on me, counted out the chips, and folded. I showed the 33. Got a pretty good reaction on that one!
I knock down third place when I go all in with KQs on a flop of Q68. 3rd places calls with 22 and spikes a 2 on the turn...I hit RR flush and he is down to one BB left. He doubles through twice when this hand happens.
The knock out.
Though outwardly there wasn't much in the way of change in "Phil", I know inside he was fuming. I am still stacking chips from the RR flush miracle and I am in the BB. "Phil" completes in SB and I check blind. Flop comes Qxx. "Phil" bets T1000. I look down and see JJ. Now "Phil", being the astute poker player he is would have raised my BB with any face card. So I just call. I feel pretty good about this. Turn is a rag and again T1000 and I called. River is Q and he thinks for a minute and reaches for all his chips. I realize instantly he is buying the pot. As he says "ALL IN" I say call and flip over JJ. He is flabbergasted that I called him down and he mucks. I see the cards as dealer takes a peak...95o. Complete bluff. As he goes on a little about how unbelievable he thinks that call was I was thinking how easy it was.
I now take the extremely small stack 2nd place guy all in next hand with J8 vs. Q4. I flop a jack for the win. It was my second win but I felt in control over this one from the break on.
Well, got to get busy. $18 left on True Poker bonus to go(Still killing it over there), Party Poker has a reload bonus about to expire I want to get, Empire Poker annouced a reload bonus good till Feb. 8th. 25% up to $150 with bonus code Feb150. It's posted on there site so know it is good, and it is time to reload at Interpoker for there monthly 100% up to $90.
Some much bonus....so little time.
Till Next Time!
Monday, January 31, 2005
Stop/Loss and Winning
I knew he knew but why did Chris Ferguson tell every one else in his commercial! Check them all out here.
I don't know why but unlike some other players I have talked to lately, I am running hot! I wish I could extend January for a couple more weeks! My limit game is on cruise control for the last 12 sessions. Only posted 2 losing sessions so far and I have won far more than I lost. This is part of the reason:
Notice 93o is UTG!!
How long is a winning session? I know this may sound dumb, and I know some of you are saying "Duh! When is enough enough?" but I know a lot of players who have stop loses and I too play with that in mind. Someone on ITH wrote Howard Lederer about bankroll requirements and he wrote back and said,
Now I know this might be a stock answer but it made for a nice discussion
What about an above average hot streak? An example: I could only get an hour in this AM because I had errands to run and already decided I would get another session in this afternoon before my regular evening one. I post in CO and get 63o and flop OESD. I hit on turn for 6 bb's. Two hands later QQ for 8 bb's. 4 hands later 77 flops set for 10 bb's and then the ultimate AA in BB with 7 people limping and flop of KKA, two suited, flush hits on turn and I get river capped between 3 people. 28 bb's!
I am up about 45 bb's (No, I didn't win every time) in about 34 minutes. After another orbit and a half of no cards, I left, even though I had only about half a session in. I felt that that was it for cards and I gave a few bb's back at the end with good cards not hitting. Not sure if that was right or wrong play but I decided that it was an above average streak to hit and I wanted to save the profit. As we all know, luck plays a factor also. If it wasn't for luck, Phil Hellmuth would win everytime! I think I got lucky and took the profit and ran.
There is no mathmatical formula for when a winning session is over. I just think when you run above average hot for a while and you profit is healthy...stop. Like Howard says "The game isn't going anywhere. You can always play the next day..."
Enjoy the commercials!
I don't know why but unlike some other players I have talked to lately, I am running hot! I wish I could extend January for a couple more weeks! My limit game is on cruise control for the last 12 sessions. Only posted 2 losing sessions so far and I have won far more than I lost. This is part of the reason:
Notice 93o is UTG!!
How long is a winning session? I know this may sound dumb, and I know some of you are saying "Duh! When is enough enough?" but I know a lot of players who have stop loses and I too play with that in mind. Someone on ITH wrote Howard Lederer about bankroll requirements and he wrote back and said,
Money management is very important. You should never let yourself lose more
than 30 big bets in limit or 50 big blinds in no-limit in one day. That way
you can't steam off too much of your bank roll in one day. The game isn't
going anywhere. You can always play the next day after you have had a good
night's sleep.
I think you should have at least 300 big bets before moving up. You should
also be willing to move down quickly if you start to lose. Best of luck,
Howard Lederer
Now I know this might be a stock answer but it made for a nice discussion
What about an above average hot streak? An example: I could only get an hour in this AM because I had errands to run and already decided I would get another session in this afternoon before my regular evening one. I post in CO and get 63o and flop OESD. I hit on turn for 6 bb's. Two hands later QQ for 8 bb's. 4 hands later 77 flops set for 10 bb's and then the ultimate AA in BB with 7 people limping and flop of KKA, two suited, flush hits on turn and I get river capped between 3 people. 28 bb's!
I am up about 45 bb's (No, I didn't win every time) in about 34 minutes. After another orbit and a half of no cards, I left, even though I had only about half a session in. I felt that that was it for cards and I gave a few bb's back at the end with good cards not hitting. Not sure if that was right or wrong play but I decided that it was an above average streak to hit and I wanted to save the profit. As we all know, luck plays a factor also. If it wasn't for luck, Phil Hellmuth would win everytime! I think I got lucky and took the profit and ran.
There is no mathmatical formula for when a winning session is over. I just think when you run above average hot for a while and you profit is healthy...stop. Like Howard says "The game isn't going anywhere. You can always play the next day..."
Enjoy the commercials!
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