If you can't beat'em......

Live vicariously through them!

Congrats to: DoubleAs on getting to Aruba. Great place! I really enjoyed it there. Oh yea, there is a poker tournament also.

AND 50 Outs going to WSOP!

I would love for them to do a piece on the new champion and it be a blogger!

Get the next hottest book coming! Funny also! Bill's Blog (With Felicia's endorsement)

Help Maudie with her poker retirement fund. Great designs and well worth the high mark up. (hehe)

Me? I had a victory of sorts yesterday! 100 points cleared at $1/$2 tables at Poker Room and I didn't lose!!!! I didn't win either but hey, baby steps(hehe)

Decided today we are moving back home. I'm somewhat excited. Guess in all honesty, I like it here BUT like to get back home to. Hadn't spent a lot of time with family the last four years except at Holidays and it will be nice to get back into the "rotation" of family visiting.

Its central Virginia, so good news is I will be only 6 hours from AC!!! I am currently 8 1/2 hours from Tunica so I am getting closer to the live games!!

Kids are back in school today so life is "back to normal". Almost, wife is off today so we are going out. Will get back to poker eventually. A great month of poker and quality time with family....Life is good. Even if the poker gods are trying to taint it with my current run!

Been busy but not with Poker

Took some days "off" from poker for a few reasons. Mostly due to spring break and my kids have been home from school. Been nice being able to spend time with them.

I also used the time to redesign 4Flush

Lastly, Poker Room has been driving me crazy! Will get back to the grind tonight.

Rented the Stu Unger movie so I am going to watch that! Wonder if I could get my kids to watch it with me...........yea right! Just dreaming!

Having fun yet?

Still clearing Poker Room bonus. Slow going and not doing to well. At the $1/$2 tables I have reviewed about 2000 hands and have come to the conclusion that NO ONE will fold at Poker Room. If they have over cards, any draw, or worst....BOTH! They are staying to the end. This weekend, the river has been bailing them out. I'm still ahead of the bonus but just barely. I have 700 more points to get. Will get it knocked out this week for sure, just hope I have money left when it is done.

I haven't seriously hit the Absolute Bonus yet so that will get my full attention next. That will leave Pokerstars, Ultimate Bet and then a coordinated effort to clear Full Tilt. Still have a lot of hands ahead of me.

That doesn't bother me. Iggy has an uber-post and some of it addresses the playing poker for a living debate again. In it he says he may consider a "real" world job again. He, of course, is right. It isn't "all that" but, so far, it is for me. It is not a get rich quick option, nor is it glamorous and at times not even fun. You have to put in the hours just like a real job and it takes some commitment and self control. Sometimes being the only chief AND the only Indian can really cause some problems.

I spent most of my life so far in sales. Commission structure, so if you don't sale, you don't get paid and in essence you could lose money you were used to getting if you had a bad stretch in sales. Same with poker don't play and you don't get paid. Play and you could lose money.

Just like any "real" job, I love/hate playing poker for a living. The best part: My boss is real cool and lets me do anything I want. The worst part: My boss is real cool and lets me do anything I want. So if asked if I would recommend this type of work? I'd have to give the standard answer, "It depends". Just like any move in employment, it takes planning and a back up plan if it doesn't work.

Speaking of a plan, time to get back to mine.

Till Next Time!

Bonus Withdrawals

I can beat the hell-o out of the $25 NL tables at Poker Room and can’t get hardly a point towards bonus, go to the $1/$2 tables and get the hell-o beat out of me and get triple the points. Go figure. They don’t rake the $2/$4 tables till it is a $20 pot, so that is worthless for clearing bonus. Good if I played there all the time though. So it is going to be 4 tables at $1/$2 tomorrow for as long as I can stand it. Need to get on with the “bigger” picture but can’t leave all this bonus money just hanging out there.

As I posted before, I am going to scale back the bonus chasing. Now it is just going to be reloads and only at a few sites. I’m working on a “home” site; a place where I will play the most. I have narrowed it down to a few: Ultimate Bet, Party, and Absolute Poker.

I know there are a few people reading this and saying “Party! Go to Party Poker!” For my first attempt at “serious” $3/$6, I’m not sure I am ready for the variance at Party yet. That’s why I am leaning towards Ultimate Bet. The play there is weak/tight and there are enough tables to go around during the day.

Absolute Poker is good for the reloads. They have them all the time. The play there is like most anywhere else and with 10k in players a night, tables can be found. I’m not in love with the software but the reloads make up for that. It will make a good second site.

To me, if you are going to play poker seriously, use Poker Tracker and Game Time +, then you need to build a solid data base somewhere. Maybe my thinking is all wrong and I will find out later on that it really doesn’t matter but until then, I will go with this. I know that the more information you have about an opponent the better off you are, so why not carry that over to a particular site as well.

I have never had to move back down limits after moving up. At least not due to poker, I have had to cash out and been forced to start at lower limits again. This is mainly due to the fact that I have been cautious in my moves and made sure I was more than adequately bankrolled.

I think it just came to me why this is a bigger deal than it should be. I have been playing below my bankroll for a while now while chasing bonuses. I have, for the last few months, always had a bonus as a “safety net” and now that I have decided to cut that back, I realize that an off night will directly affect the bottom line. I’m having “Bonus Withdrawals”.

I had a goal. Playing correct poker has always been important but to be honest, winning poker as taken a back seat to clearing bonus and building bankroll to get back to $3/$6. I have been fortunate enough to win mostly AND clear bonus but the emphasis has been more on the bonus than the poker. Well, I made my goal. Now I guess I have to see if I am strong enough to handle the “bonus withdrawals” or will I have to throw in a crypto here and there and gradually ease away.


Till Next Time!

Love, Poker and To Do List

Love


I love my wife.

We have been married 12 years. She is a great supporter almost to a fault. I usually get her true feelings, if she disagrees or has a difference of opinion, eventually. (Usually late at night when I’m trying to sleep but I digress)

Saturday I get this: “You know I was very skeptical about this “poker thing” when you first mentioned it. (Playing full time) It’s turning out quite well.”

WOW! I was holding my breath after the first part.

I love my wife.

Poker

At the end of November when I turned down the transfer and effectively quit my job, I was bankrolled for $2/$4 comfortably and real close to my 300bb rule for $3/$6. After Christmas and deciding that we should pay off all our monthly debt to make things easier, my roll took a big hit and I turned into a full time bonus chaser to make it up. I only need to pay half the incoming bills so I was doing my share and building slowly. An unexpected expense in February put me behind the eight ball again but man what a March.

If I break even the rest of the month I will be very comfortably bankrolled for $3/$6 again and still have over $1000 in bonus to clear and five sites I will not get to till April. Poker has been “bery bery” good to me this month. I have made a big effort to tweak my game and looking for all the small edges I can get. I understood what all the books have said, the advice in posts from just about everyone. Now I believe it. Making good decisions is all that it’s about. The wins will follow. This month hasn’t been all about the wins either. I finished Interpoker and Paradise Poker bonuses on the positive only because of the bonus. That’s OK though, if I was there for the long haul, I would have made it back. (Especially Paradise OMG!) Now all I have to do is finish up.

To Do List

As soon as Paradise and Interpoker money clear, it’s off to Poker Room. I have about 45 days to clear it and most of my Absolute Poker so I will play one during the day and one at night.

Then Poker Stars and Ultimate Bet. No expiration but next to be done.

Last, Full Tilt. I will not get to reload there so I hope they carry it over like they do everything else. I have till July to finish the 1st time bonus. (If I'm going back I might as well do one more bonus!)

Then I will have to find a home, somewhere to play everyday because if all goes as planned the bonus chasing will stop. (Except for the good ones!) I’ll give you my opinions on that next time.

Till Next Time!

Update Coming But First...

I would like to take this post and use it to send all my prayers, good karma, positive vibes and whatever else I can to Felicia. Get well.

Powerful Tool - Blind Play

I am about to reveal the most powerful tool in your poker arsenal. It is a play that, if used correctly and with proper timing, can make you a few bb’s a night that would have gone to someone else’s stack. Just like all tools, position is the most important rule to keep while using this tool and it particular works well in the blinds.

Got your pencil and paper ready? Here it is: Bet. I know obvious right? So many times, lately, I have seen someone limp and check down and some one hit an “x” card on river to win. Then you hear “That hand never wins for me”.

I have paid special attention to some details lately thanks to The Poker Tracker Guide (Get It!) and a comment from Harrington’s book that says pay attention to the perception of the table you are playing at AND the perception the table may have on you. Now, I use Poker Tracker and Gametime+ to help with my perception of the table but honestly have not given the tables perception of me much thought. I am a tight player, weak/tight at times and working on being more aggressive. So with this perception, hopefully, being projected, why not take advantage of it.

Yes, Harrington’s book is NL but I think this principle carry’s over to limit also. If you are playing at the 50+% seeing the flop tables and you couldn’t get someone to fold if you show them your cards, this will probably not work for you. As a matter of fact, betting works better against solid players capable of laying down a hand or a draw. I usually look for a solid player or two before I sit down, but table dynamics is another post all together.

As I alluded to earlier, position plays a big part in the success of a timely bet. I set out to improve my blind winning percentage by a few points or so. So I made a conscious decision to be more aggressive post flop from the blind. So during a session, if I played the blinds in a normal situation (I didn’t go out and try to play every blind) I bet out on the flop, no matter what. I was prepared to abandon this “experiment” if I was losing a lot of money and also folded to any resistant (raises) if I had missed all together. A few times when I bet out from BB and SB, it was folded around. That was the most suprising, to me, results of the experiment. The majority of the other times the bet put me heads up which made the betting on turn and river easier, if I went that far. Then a few times the fold was easy and no doubt I was beat. The blinds are –EV still but not nearly as bad as before.

I ended this experiment early because a couple players caught on to what I was doing, one even slyly commented in the chat one time. (I have played with him some before). I learned something though. I used to only semi-bluff out of the blinds, I either had a hand, a good draw or a piece of it and a good read on my opponent. Now I am going to use a trigger (if both cards are red for example) to decide when I bet out the blinds no matter what.

Like all things, over use can be bad. Even the slightly less astute players will figure out you can’t have a hand in the blind EVERYTIME. The blinds don’t have to be a huge money pit either. According to the Poker Tracker Guide my blind play was on the lower end of the “acceptable” levels, so this is one weak spot that has been reinforced. Now on to the others! (I tend to like AA and KK - A LOT!)

Till Next Time!

Almost Heaven

Did you read the title and think "West Virginia"? Any how:

I have a new set up. I had a computer I used for work hanging around and I formated it to use just for 4flush.com and poker! I spent $85 and got a HP 91 20 inch monitor and I most admit....I love it! 3 tabled Interpoker today and started to clear bonus. 3 tables, Poker Tracker and Gametime+ had everything undercontrol. Played for 2 hours and half way done with bonus already. Finished up $1.50! Tables were unusually tight this afternoon. It was wierd seeing all the tables and not having tables pop up eveywhere. Well, enough about my new found paradise!

*****

Scurveydog has set up a possible weekly Omaha 08 tournament. Better yet, it will be freerolls with a big event at the end.

What: Omaha 8 Limit Tournament
When: Friday, March 18 8:00 PM C.S.T
Where: Noble Poker
Cost: $0 ($50 freeroll provided by Noble Poker)
Who's Invited: You (bloggers, readers, whoever)
Tournament Name: TPTK.com Omaha
Tournament Password: hammer


Check out more details: HERE. He needs at least 15 people!

*****

I spent most of my available writing time getting blogger to open up so I will have to come back later and share the most powerful move in holdem. It will make you a ton of money if used properly and not abused. Until next time, go read all the good posts you can find listed at the left of this blog.


Till Next Time!

My First WPBT Event Part 2

So I am at the break 39th. Feeling pretty good. I am just a little under average stack and I decide to tighten up considerably because the non-holdem rounds are coming and I would like to at least limp to the next holdem round with a decent chance to maybe make the money. 16 got paid. I even say out load "Unless you have a high PP with a low possibility, I am folding."

Level 7(Omaha H/L) - asphnxma has just been moved to the table. I get dealt AhJhAs2d, now I am not sure about Omaha H/L but that looked pretty good to me. I did not right down the flop but I hit set with a possible low. Asphnxma and I see the turn, I 3 bet and he had hit a straight, no low to bail me out and I am down in a heart beat. Went all in with a good low hand next time and got lucky when I two paired and got low hand for the sweep. Ended level at T333 and all the wind knocked out of me. I am 56 out of 57.

Level 8(Razz) - Picked my first 3 cards to a low hand and got all my chips end. So after loosing with a set of aces, I double up twice with two real crappy hands. So is poker and I end the level at T1163 and 41 out of 52. A little hope for a possible revival.

Level 9(7stud) - Uneventful and I play maybe one hand and ante my way down to T400. Eventually I go out in the next level when my 8 low gets beat by a 7 low. I am out 38th but had a blast playing. At least I didn't go out first!

Special thanks to Iggy for setting it up.

My First WPBT Event

Before I begin I would like to think StarLuck Casino for the free $5 that I turned into the Poker Tracker Guide. Believe me it is well worth the $20. GET IT!

*****
I will link the people I know, sorry if I missed you.

Table 12

PallMall
kuboa
dontknow
on_thg
ME
iamapoe
he1ixx
asphnxma


Level 1(Holdem) Was hoping for some cards to get up a little but got a SB special, followed by a BB bet in a pot no one wanted and ended up with 1500 going to level 2. Right where I started.

Level 2(Omaha H/L) - First hand QQ and ended up folding on turn to flush board. Won one hand with A82T when I hit the low and unexpectedly won the hi with 2 pair. Now at T1160

Level 3(Razz) - excited about this part because my cards have stunk up the place so far. Held my own, won one pot and left this level at T1310. 53 out of 93.

Level 4(7 Stud) - NEVER played this game before. Folded all but one and saw the turn and that was it. T1085 and 57 of 89. No one at my table has busted yet. Which turned out to be bad. I am moved and one of these players I will see again.

Table 6

gcox25
speclj
ToddCommish
zerat11
nemod
scottyjf8
nightranger
ME

Level 5 (7 Stud H/L) - Still not much of a clue here but manage to split one pot and leave with T923. I feel good, made it through the first events and with Holdem coming up next, think I can at least make the break. Saw my first casualties here in ToddCommish and speclj. So that means I get moved again and caught a break. Missed the blinds!

Table 1

ME
gdogg- Eventual winner!
BobRespert
TPfelt
bigpuppy - fhwrdh
peacecorn - Scurveydog - tapin42
spm1024
scarknight - asphnxma



Level 6 (Holdem) - Saw the first "ouch" of the evening when peacecorn got all in with KK only to see scarknight turn over AA. The AA held and peacecorn was gone. I get 99 late that flop a set and AKs in the CO to a A on flop and end up coming out with T1573 and 39 out of 71. More importantly I made it to the BREAK!

Next report..I get to see another "ouch" but this time it hit home!

Bonus Money Everywhere!

Perfect month to rebuild a bankroll. I had to cash out at the end of Febuary and left myself $600 to start the month with. Figured with an Absolute, Party and Empire reloads I should be able to double my bankroll in March and be OK again.

Well, here is how it has gone so far and the plan for the future:

1) Absolute Poker gotten a 25%, 15% and 20% reload so far. Total $405 with $305 left to clear

2) Party Poker and a 20% reload. Cleared!

3) Poker Room and a 30% reload. Total $180 and haven't started to clear yet.

4)Poker Stars and a 20% reload. No way I am missing this! Deposited today for max $120.

Still to do:

1) Noble Poker First time 100% up to $300. Have till end of month to deposit.

2) Ultimate Bet reload 25% up to $100. Have till March 17th to deposit.

3) Paradise Poker First time 50% up to $100. I have till March 20th to deposit.

4) Interpoker $90 monthly reload.

5) Full Tilt Poker 50% reload up to $300 and still have big part of first time deposit bonus still there.

Need help? $1995 worth of bonus money(including all of Full Tilt I have)on $600 starting bankroll. I am still expecting an Empire reload and another Absolute Poker reload (or 2). Good thing is Ultimate Bet, Poker Stars and Paradise (I think) don't expire so I will get to them last. Full Tilt will, by far, take the longest. Will have A LOT of bonus money there. Better than I could have ever imagined. Top it off, Star Luck gave me a free $5 yesterday and I have "Black Jacked" it up to $30 so far. Yea, got a good early run!

The blogger Horseshoe tourney is tommorrow and I asked a friend for a $6 transfer to play. All my money is being used to capture these bonuses and I will not get around to Full Tilt in time. I will for sure be there to rail and laugh at you guys giving Felicia all your money or I will be there donating to the Felicia fund myself. By the way Felicia, if you are slumming and come across this blog, I want you to know that picture scares me! LOL!

*****

No word on the 20" monitor yet, was hoping for yesterday but no phone call telling me to come pick it up. That would sure come in handy about right now. I have even rearranged my little poker corner and will have a better set up when it gets here.

*****
I have sworn off NL games till I finish Dan Harrington's book. So far, about 125 pages in, it is fantastic. So many little details I have been missing so far, should really improve my game. Should have it down pat just in time for second volume to come.

*****

On the poker front, all is going steady. I haven't had a real rush of cards or a real bad run lately. Just hanging around a steady 1.58bb/hour rate. I feel in control of my game. Getting good reads on my opponents and it helps that my big PP's are holding up, ect. I was thrown off once yesterday when I capped the betting pre flop with AA and 4 saw the flop, one all in. I bet the 678(r) flop and lost one. Turn was a J, I bet and was called. River was a 5 and I bet and was called. Lost both main pot and side pot to All In - 9To and calling me down....44 for rivered gut shot straight.

No biggie though, I got it back and some before session was over. Which is about what all my sessions have been like lately. Down early, hanging in there and finishing in the positive which has all come together for a nice steady growth so far this month. Add to that the bonus money and it looks like March will be one of my best months ever. Couldn't have come at a better time.

Till Next Time!

-"Do you think college kids in Japan get English words tattooed all over themselves?"

Not Sure I Have Any More Room

Ultimate Bet says:

It's time to RELOAD! Over the next few days we'll be offering our players the opportunity to take advantage of our 25% Redeposit Bonus and fill their pockets with a little extra green! Claim your bonus when you make a deposit of $25 or more, anytime between 11AM ET Thursday March 10th and 11PM ET Thursday March 17th, we'll give you 25% of that deposit up to $100 in Bonus Dollars.

Who am I kidding. I'll get it. That would mean I have turned my $600 into $2000 in bonus money in the last 15 days. What a month to chase bonuses! (I know Absolute isn't done yet...maybe 1 or 2 more reloads there)

I am holding my own at Absolute Poker. Not up big but a little over even and clearing bonus. Not going as fast as I had hoped so I will have to change my master plan again. May just have to withdraw and go get others and come back. I'm suppose to have a 20" monitor coming in tomorrow which will allow me to play more tables. I know, I hate ABC mutli table poker BUT I also have to clear these bonuses. If I play two different sites and two tables each....maybe I can fool myself into thinking I am not 4 tabling.

Been in a little funk lately about playing again. Will have to work through this one on the fly though. Too much money out there now to take a break. Today helped some. Playing $1/$2 at AP because the way there rake structure is it seems I get more raked hands at this limit. Bought in and folded - folded - folded. Got AA....cracked my TWO people with a gut shot. (One had a flush draw also so not too bad) Folded - Folded - Folded - AQ beat by AK and down to $2.75. Got ready to reload when SB tried to steal my BB and I reraised all in with K9s. Doubled up. In the next 9 hands, doubled again. Thought I would play till I got back to even and make it a game. Table was good, so why not. Know what, it was fun. Got within 25 cents of even and AQ busted by AK AGAIN but I kept going. Last hand UTG, QJs....Flopped top pair, turned trips and rivered a full house with 3 calling to river....left up $1. WOOT!

I know, sad being excited about $1. It was fun though. Even chatted it up some. Not much in the way of Omaha at AP so it changed the pace for me a little. Enjoyed it. So many bonus chasers there now, all the tables are tight and gets boring real fast. Well, off I go to clear some more!

Since it is all the rage: Go make a South Park character.
Thanks April

Till Next Time!

The Plan

WOW! The killer bonus month continues!

Cleared Party Poker Sunday with +40 and Bonus. So now I have Absolute Poker to clear and Poker Room. Withdrew my money from Party on Sunday at 10am EST. In my Neteller at 12pm Sunday! Great Service!

So before I go back to Absolute Poker and was gonna wait till Wednesday. They have been doing a lot of reload promos lately and I had a feeling. Monday I got a $25 bonus to deposit $50 in the mail from them and then this AM....20% reload till Thurday! So now I have $400 in bonus money to clear there!

So now what? Still on hit list:

Interpoker - $90 monthly reload

Noble Poker - 100% up to $300. Never played here but sounds like good bonus. T&C looks reasonable.

Paradise Poker - 50% up to $100

Full Tilt Poker - 50% reload up to $300. Still have some original bonus there also.

I still have to eat and sleep!

Plan of attack:

Clear AP by Friday. (approx: 4000 raked hands)

Deposit into Paradise( I have till 20th) and Full Tilt by Sunday (So I can add to the dead money on "March 13th, 9pm EST WPBT HORSE Tournament password = thehammer" event)

Then Interpoker by 25th and finally start on Poker Room. Interpoker usually takes me about 2 days to clear and that will leave a month to clear Poker Room.

And then April will start and lets see what hapens!

Digging it up

“One can not plant a seed, expect it to grow and keep digging it up to find out”

Found this on the wall at the muffler shop while I waited for my car to be fixed.I have been thinking lately of were my game is and it occurred to me I was digging up my seed. Here is what I came up with:

1) The Novice – We all know this player. Puts money in because he saw it on TV, ran his deposit up and claimed how easy it was only to see it dwindle down to nothing in short order and you never heard from him again. You’ll hear him shout to all who will listen that the internet is rigged. He just threw his seed out on the ground and even though the seed fought valiantly, it never had a chance and died.

2) The Amateur – He has also seen poker on TV but has gone out to buy a book or two. He thinks he is ready for the big time, he has done ok, he is on his 4th reload deposit and the last one made it about 6 months. He keeps getting on good runs and then for some reason, everyone keeps getting lucky and beats his hands that were winning yesterday. He knows that their luck will run out soon, so he keeps plodding away. He prepared a spot for his seed, planted it and then ignored it. It took root enough to live and is struggling to survive. It is about 60/40 to bust out but is not beyond hope if he finds help.

3) The Semi-Pro – He has read most of the books out there. Belongs to a forum or two and is genuinely interested in improving his game. He plays about 20 hours a week and can say he is at least a break even player early in his career. He will analysis his play, seek advice and is on the verge of being profitable. Yet he may be the most dangerous to himself. He prepared a spot for his seed, planted it, watered it, took care of it and it is growing. As soon as there are signs of trouble though, he digs it up to see if it is alright. He doesn’t fully understand that in order for the seed to grow into maturity, it has to stand up to the elements on its own. Take its lumps and stand firm.

4) The Pro – He has it all together. He understands all the many angles of the game. He makes a living from the game and respects it. He expects wins and loses, and has come to understand them. He realizes that there is always another game. He planted his seed a long time ago; it is matured and can stand up to must anything. There are times that it becomes weak, but the Pro will prune to keep the whole strong. He is a master and it shows.

Though I play this game for income I use to live on, I am at level 3. I over analyze and the variance of the game gets too involved in my decision making. I keep digging up my seed to see if it is ok. My game still leans towards weak/tight because it means safe to me. I understand wins and loses’ but maybe not variance fully. I know what it is but don’t fully understand its effect yet. I’m winning and have the PT numbers to prove it, but am I getting the value that I should be getting? Should my 10 bb wins really be 20 bb wins? That is what I am trying to figure out know.

Speaking of variance, I did some research before I came down here. The part I needed for the Toyota is $330 at Auto Zone. Everyone said come to this particular shop to get it fixed because is can do “miracles”. So I sit here expecting about a $600 bill and two days wait. He comes out and says $61.20 and I was out in 45 minutes! Sometimes variance can be good huh.

So Much Money .. So Little Time

Noble Poker – First Deposit Bonus 100% Up To $300. March Only!

Paradise Poker is excited to announce a 50% Deposit Bonus offer! From Tuesday March 1st to Sunday March 20th, you will receive a 50% Bonus the very first time you make a chip purchase using the NETeller deposit method. You are only eligible if you have never used NETeller with Paradise before. To get the bonus, enter bonus code: NETELLER50 Up to $100 max. For the record, I'm exited about it also.

AND time to do Interpoker monthly reload!!

Already at Absolute Poker, Poker Room, Party Poker(Bonus Code 4Flush) and Full Tilt Poker!

Phew! Lots of poker to play.

Lost -49.95 yesterday in the morning session at Party $25 NL. Thats right, NOT $50! It was just good cards getting beat by better cards. I know, Party Poker!, surprised me too.

Last night I played live again at the local Freeroll League. (only way it is legal) Its a 10 person SnG format, the main tourney is coming up for the top 40 players in points and even though I got started half way through, I am sitting about 40-43 in points and have one more opportunity to make it in. Well, two more opportunities. Since this has grown so much over the last month or so, the directors have decided to add a couple play in tournaments to get you in the main. Top 12 scores count so I replaced a couple 6ths and 7ths with a 1st and 3rd last night. Usually I only play two games a week and come home but since I am trying to get into the top 40, I played one more last night. I went out 8th with this hand:

QTo on the SB.

UTG+1 & MP limp, I complete and 4 see the flop of AKJr.

Thats right: I have the nuts. I check, BB bets 1500 into a 800 pot, UTG+1 calls all in, MP raises all in, I am about to pee my pants. I call all in and proceed to see K on turn and J on river.

Hands:
UTG+1 K8o!!! AND he wins!
MP AJo AND he wins side pot
ME: Left picking my jaw off the ground
BB: J7o! He lead the betting!

IF they looked anything like the avatars, it would have been like "live" Party Poker! (HEHE)

Alas, it is all good though. This mornings session has been good and got back about $20 that I dropped yesterday. Knocking on the door of half way done on this bonus. Now I have to come up with a plan for the rest of the bonuses. Be a shame to leave any money on the table this month.

Till Next Time!

Greed Almost Got Me Screwed!

Those of you waiting for me to tell you I am going to Vegas to watch the WSOP will have to wait one more month. AP had a "malfunction" and I didn't get entered in this months. Tried to get them to just give me the trip because I would have won but no dice. So new date is March 31st!

Friday I was all set to "Party Down" with the reload and was happy with the fact I got AP's 25%, Poker Rooms 30% and was getting Party Poker's 20% and it wasn't even March 1 yet. The money was in my Neteller account Saturday when I get the email that AP is offering another 20% Sunday only. Knowing it took 48 hours to withdraw from AP and usually it takes 8 hours to get into my account, I took the chance and got 20% more from AP.

Tonight at 11:40pm, an the last night of Party's reload....NO MONEY IN NETELLER! So it has been 14 hours and no money. I can't believe I screwed up the easiest bonus to get just by getting greedy! I was pissed at myself. The key word being WAS! 11:46pm check Neteller one more time....There it was. WOOT! Quickly to Party and I AM IN! With no time to spare.

But wait, today is the 1st still....reload is till 2nd. Sweating over nothing, calming down now, adrenaline levels dropping. Hope this isn't an omen of things to come from this bonus.

See where Party Poker has dropped there blinds in NL games. Most everyone thinks it is good. I think they figured out that is where the smart bonus chasers were going and just playing ultra tight and getting raked hands in quicker. So they fixed it to where you can't do that as easy. Oh well, it will be NL for me any way. Still has to be "less dangerous" than the limit suck outs.

So after sweating the cash out for no reason all day, I am now back on track. Will be playing exclusively at Party the next couple days and I will have to go find the blogger table this time for sure. Been doing a little spying on them lately and taking notes.....not that'll help, they play better than I do.

Till Next Time!

The Big Announcement and Wait and Clear

Looks like the big secret is out! A Poker Tracker Ebook from HDouble and Iggy. Congrats guys, will be getting mine soon.

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Playing a little NL at Absolute Poker this weekend. Have done rather well. I have to wait 48 hours to withdraw so that puts me 9:30am withdrawing from there tomorrow. Usually AP has it in my Neteller within 6-8 hours so that puts me at Party Poker just in time. I know it was going to be close but couldn't turn down another 20%. Of course I will have to clear Party first so I am basicly waiting to withdraw and clearing as much as possible at Absolute Poker. Hoping that most of the bonus chasers are gone by then at Party and can get a little back to normal.(At least normal for Party Poker) Barring a catastrophic 2-3 weeks, I see a phenomenal March coming on.

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Tonight I play in the Absolute WSOP Challenge final to win a trip to watch the WSOP. It's at 9pm, hope the cards run well. This is the first MTT I have played with such a big prize. Not much of a serious tournament player. So I am about 60% excited,40% nervous and 0% experienced. So let's hear it for beginners luck! WOOT!

Thats it, hopefully it will be very late when I get to do the tournament write up!


Till Next Time!

Why Bonuses?

I had to cash out Feb 1st and left me with $500. I chased a Casino Bonus earlier and then:

The reload skies opened up!

Wednesday - 25% at Absolute Poker. $150 Bonus waiting. Cashed out $600 after their 48 hour wait and

Friday - 30% at Poker Room. Cashed in and out in same day. - $180 Bonus waiting

Sunday - Absolute email. Today Only. 20% reload - Redeposited - $120 bonus waiting. After 48 hour wait I will go to:

Tuesday - Party Poker - Last day for 20%. $120 Bonus.

$570 Bonus off of $600 and will take about 2 weeks to clear all. For those of you just starting out or rebuilding a roll. Got to love bonuses!

I'll have to clear Party first because of the 7 days to clear thing. But AP and PR give me 60 days to clear so I have time.

Got to go! Lots of poker to play!

I Love Technology But

I’m not a numbers guy.

I can tell you pot odds to the “inth” degree and decipher implied odds and even pot equity. Why? I have it all written down right beside me in a chart I can reference anytime it’s needed. That’s one of the advantages of sitting here in my chair, watching the screen. I can have all this information around me.

I have Poker Tracker and Game Time Plus 1.4 and use it to my full advantage. I love it. I get exited when I see "Update Available" and have to get it downloaded even if it is fixes or adds to a site I don't play at. Ok, I'll admit it, I'm an update junkie.

I take time out during the day to take notes on my opponents and check out my play as well. I rely on these notes to make decisions when I play. All that helps tremendously when I am up against a tough decision. I know I can contribute money saved on the notes I have on how people play certain hands.

All that being said, I'm not on my game unless I have a "feel" for it and I am in the flow of the game. Maybe this is because I am not a numbers guy. I need a feel for the way the game is going, the betting patterns, the players chat, ect. I like a chatty table, I don't chat myself but there is a lot of information in a chat if you pay attention. Even if they are not talking about poker. That is for another post though.

I have come to beleive that is what contributes to my poor starts and strong finishes. I have posted before how I inevitably start out in the hole and make my way back. I have tried to work on that and figure out why. I think for me, I have to get comfortable with the table. Once I play for a while and get into the flow, things start to come around. Even with a table where people jump in and out, it usually is just one or two at a time and I seem to quickly adjust to the new people.

I have started to play extremely tight in the first 15-30 minutes and that has helped a lot. I actually will switch tables now if I can't get into the flow. Once I get into the flow at one table I add another. I have played over two tables but haven't really enjoyed it, ABC poker isn't fun for me. Two tables I can get into OK but over that just isn't enjoyable.

Why am I sharing this? One reason is because I can :) the other is that the last 4-6 weeks have been profitable for me. Not every session but every week has come out in the positive. I can't contribute that to better than average cards or good run. It's better play on my part. Not because I have become a better poker player overnight but I beleive because I have found a comfort level at the tables and it has allowed me to use all the tools I have learned both on the technology front and the phycological front.

I don't know if this is another level that my game has reached or if it is something that should have already happened, I missed it along the way and it is now just catching up but it's working and I like it.


Till Next Time!

Poker Poker Poker

Man, from doing hardly anything on the poker front to now having bonuses on 2 sites and getting ready for Party Pokers reload. Played a lot of poker at Absolute today. It's a lot easier clearing the bonuses on NL tables. Blinds are smaller, most pots are raked and I am starting to feel more comfortable there.

I qualified today for the Feb. 28th AP WSOP Challenge Final. It's a chance to win a trip to watch the WSOP. $2000 prize package for winner. Who knows, a little run in a qualifier....and BAM! I'm the next Moneymaker! (HEHEHE) Now all I have to do is remember to play in it.

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I started the 4Flush Newsletter. The first edition is posted and a sign up for future editions to be emailed. The hardest thing I have found so far is keeping it reasonably small. A didn't realize all the information I get each month...you'd think I would be smarter than I am.


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What: The World Poker Bloggers Tour Aladdin Casino Classic
When: Saturday, June 4th
Where: The Aladdin Casino in Las Vegas, NV

More info HERE

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Thats about it for tonight. Poker has been fair for me so far. Down at the $2/$4 table but got to almost even again at the NL. Got about 3 players here chatting away, losing money. Guess I'll try to hang out till at least 2 of them leave.

Till Next Time!

Welcome Back Bonuses

If we didn't have bonuses, we wouldn't have had anybody working for us.
-Drexel Burnham Lambert spokesperson

Yesterday, I was wondering where to go to play poker while I wait for my casino bonus cash out. There were no bonuses to be had and I had almost pulled the trigger on going to UB when I get this email from Poker Room with a reload bonus of 30% up to $300. Yahoo! Back in business.

Not an hour later a get an email from Absolute Poker giving a 25% reload on Wednesday (Today) only. So now I have a lot of bonus to work off and 60 days to do it!

Got back to back emails from Starluck Casino saying they are reviewing my cashout and then they are processing, not sure what everyone was saying.....2 hours it was in my Neteller account!

Intertops also has a reload going but haven't signed up the first time yet! Was going to, got side tracked, went to Starluck instead and now to busy!

Have to give props to Ship It Poker that is great stuff that Matt Dean, Lloyd McGuire and Taylor Caby are writting over there. I even peeped in on Taylor playing heads up Limit $3/$6 at Ultimate Bet the other night. Heads up is such a different game! Hyper aggressive!

Guess I have a lot of poker to play and will have to push the next casino bonus back some but will try to get to it next week.

Till Next Time!

One Down!

A quote from Scurvydog: (My unofficial mentor of casino bonus chasing)

Assuming you’re new to blackjack and consulting the basic strategy often, you’ll probably only be able to play around 200-300 hands per hour. That puts you at 5-8 hours of playing for an expected profit of $90, for an hourly earn of $11-18/hr.

Though not "new" to blackjack, I played a lot live a couple years ago, and got to be pretty good. I found though that my memory skills had faded and had to consult the chart frequently. It started to come back to me but I digress. The point is I hit close to the top of that scale. Cashing out $190.50 in 6 hours for $15/hr. Varience spread: $175 to $229. I minimum bet the whole time and followed the chart to the letter.

According to plan ,Planet Luck will be next.

Now I have decided to track this bank roll seperate, so I have to wait 3-5 days (according to must) for Starluck withdrawal to hit Neteller. Then I will continue.


So I guess it's back to poker!

EDIT: Thank you Poker Room for coming through!

Make a deposit by the 27th of February using deposit code MONACO and you’ll receive a 30% bonus up to $300. Valid for a single deposit only. Standard Reload Bonus terms & conditions apply.

Til Next Time!

Casino Update

1045 hands - Been as low as $192 and as high as $229.

Currently at $200.50.

My whole varience came in one 320 hand session. Went from $207-$229 when I just couldn't miss. Then straight to $192 when the dealer couldn't miss. $550 more wagers to make and all is going as expected. I will clear tomorrow and cash out. Anything over $200 I am going to leave so not to look suspicious. (Hopefully there will be a over $200). If not I might play a little over the WR.

I'm done for the night. Gets a little mind numbing :) .

Casino Bonuses

I started at the Starluck Casino today and can see why everyone says this can be a more lucrative bonus than poker. I played 250 hands in a little less than an hour. Using the stategey from Scurvydog, I have been down $8 and stopped up $7. I'm looking at ~6 hours to clear the wage requirements and then on to Planet Luck.

This is not full proof of course, it is wagering and you can loose, but the numbers are in your favor as far as risk of ruin is concerned, as long as you don't go crazy with your betting. Boring, YEP! Each hand takes 5-8 secs. and not much thinking going on. See your cards, see dealer up card, look at chart and act accordingly. It's a good break though, I haven't been slowplayed or check/raised on the river but I have beed sucked out a few times! :) (Black Jacks equivalent of AA getting cracked....Push on your BJ....happened 4 times!)

Well, lunch and more hands! Probably will not finish today because I have a sink child home but will get in $750-$1000 of the wage requirement in today. That sounds like a daunting task when you write it out. Deposit $100, get $100 bonus but have to wager $1600 to clear. At first I thought this was a joke! (I'm not to bright sometimes) I get it now. So off I go!

Till Next Time!

Total absence of humor renders life impossible.
- Colette

Whats New!

I just realized tonight that I haven't played poker on-line in three days. Mostly due to my site being down, switching hosting companies and figuring everything out again. The new hosting company has a lot of features that I didn't have excess to before so it has been like Christmas here for me in the last couple days.

For those of you that come to this blog through my site, I will give an update on the changes. First on the poker front, no changes! Still right where I was 3 days ago. Last I played I finished the Interpoker monthly bonus. (If your bonus chasing, this one is a must) Cashed out and have never cashed back in anywhere! I'm pretty sure it will be Intertops next. They have a $10,000 Freeroll for "active" players at end of the month so I think I will go over there and be active.

My site now has a new looking calendar. This one is much better than the old one (Came with new host!) I like the mouse over feature when you view and the admin stuff on this side makes my life easier. The big difference is that it is a stand alone calendar so I have to link to it instead of displaying it like before but it opened up the page for a Special Monthly Promos section. I will be able to list all the "special goings on" now on a monthly basis.

The new hosting company also allows me to do newsletters. So I am considering a monthly freeroll newsletter. Though this will be down the road a few months it is a probable happening. You will be able to sign up through the site. I get a lot of good stuff from the poker rooms each month and a newsletter will be a good way to pass it on.

The last "new" thing going on is that casino bonus chasing has entered the back of my head and is making its way forward. Been doing some background reading (here and here). Might give this a try next month; just have to get my head wrapped around it.

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Go read Iggy. He is posting a 10 part story that has been hilarious!

I finally got around to updating the blogroll so just sit back,relax, grab a refreshment and read them all! Great stuff being written all around.


Till Next Time!

Poker Life

Life is too important to take seriously.

-Corky Siegel

Either consciously or unconsciously, we all have a priority list, in some way there are filters that we use to make all our decisions in life. For example, my family and I are moving. Since my job is now poker, my wife and I decided that being 5 hours away from any core family members was getting old and it would be nice not to have to travel every holiday. Our family is the first “filter” in this decision so we sat down and discussed it with them. I have a daughter getting ready to move into High School, so moving may have been a big deal for her. Come to find out we are all about 100% sure on the move and 50/50 on were to go! I took an idea ran it through the filter and it came out a little different. Such is life.

Each section of your life has a filtering process it goes through for decision making. In the above example, if I had a “real job”, I would have to see if moving made since on the job front before I went to the family. Just a different set of filters had to be used. The number of filters you have to go through to reach a decision depends on the ranking of importance that decision has. This is where poker comes in.

To me it was easy. Poker became a source of income for my family before I was ready. I was offered/forced a transfer at my last job and I turned it down and left. Knowing at the current bankroll I was at I couldn’t provide like I was doing, the family filter kicked in and we decided my wife would get a part time job after 12 years of being a housewife. It is working; I am paying some bills and building a bankroll as we go. So for me, poker is ranked on my priority list right there were my job used to be. I have a schedule of playing time and poker takes priority during that time. Poker is my profession and I try to improve and move up in it just like if I was trying to climb the corporate ladder. It gets talked about around my house just like it was a regular 9 to 5, with even my 7 year old son asking “How was work today dad?” There are times when poker has a higher priority over other decisions and times when it doesn’t. Poker is a big part of my life, but not my whole life. This is where I see a lot of people having trouble with poker. Where does it fit end?

I think for all of us it started out as a fun hobby, a curiosity, a way to release and if I lose “x” amount of money a month it doesn’t matter. It was cheaper than going out every week. To some it never gets over that level (Thank You!) It is a low priority with possibly 100’s of filters to go through to see if you play or not. Oh yes, the recreational players.

For a few of us, poker moves up the ladder a little and we start reading books, studying the game and we start to take an extra interest in whether we win or lose and taking steps to get better. We recognize the potential for “extra” money. We start to make time for poker and it takes priority over the late night TV show and maybe over a night out with friends.

Over time you learn, you win, you lose but overall you are coming out ahead. This is when successful poker actually becomes a problem. Life gets in the way and there is no time to do it all. At this point I would like to advise you to take a breath and step back. Consciously decide where poker fits in to the priorities in your life and act accordingly. Run the decisions through your priority filters and see where it comes out. Whether you find more time or less time for poker, be happy with that decision because:

Life is too important to take seriously.

Loving it Live!

2 more weeks in the 12 week session on the live events. Then the top 40 get a final tournament with awards to the final table. It has been a blast. You have to complete 12 events to qualify, and the top 40 go from there. I finished events 11 and 12 tonight. Drew the 10s in both events and finished 3rd in both events. To add a little more wierdness, lost with TT big in both events. Now I have 2 weeks to up my final score because only the top 12 events count. I have a couple bad showings I would like to erase.

I haven't played online in a few days. Just been taking it easy. Got a new hosting company and waiting for domain transfer. I waited 12 hours to hear something from my now previous hosting company, got 4 emails saying what I had done wrong then one final email telling me what they "found" and fixed and I should be OK now. I am OK now, I switched!

I have been wondering about the importance of poker in the grand scheme of life and since my last couple of posts have been lacking a lot, my next post will be about what I discovered. Hopefully it will be from a different angle than what you'd expect.


Till Next Time!

Damn Web Hosting

As many of you are well aware, 4Flush.Com is down and since my "superb" customer service hasn't contacted me in 8 hours, I am currently looking for a new hosting company. My hope's are to be back up and running in a few days.

New meaning to "get paid to blog" at Sound of a Suckout. Check it out. Great idea.

Been real busy so not much in poker going on. May try to go to Intertops.

Will be back soon with a quality post. :)

Til Next Time!

Bumping my Head Then Stubbing my Toe

Thats how is has felt in the last couple of days. Finish up a little, bump my head, finish down a little, stub my toe and start picking up my feet and start the cycle all over again. Over all result....right were I started on Monday.

It's not a good thing, not a bad thing, just poker.

Lou Krieger wrote an article in the new CardPlayer Magazine about the three levels of poker.

Level 1 - Hand Selection. I feel here I need some inprovement. I think I am a little too tight pre flop. I have broken out the charts again and see that I have not taken advantage of some hands I should be, notably in late position.

Level 2 - Reading opponents hands. This is were I am at now. Putting people on hands and acting accordingly. My biggest improvement here needs to be trusting my reads. I made a costly mistake last night that took me another hour to recover from when an ace hit on river putting two on board. I knew my two pair was being called down with top pair, but bet anyway (NL) and then called raise. Oh well. I'm not saying a crying call is sometimes warranted but if you know the player that well (I did at that point), should have been an easy fold for me.

Level 3 - Reading opponents minds. Here is were I need to get. What does he/she think that I think that he/she might have. Playing $2/$4 and below, I don't think there is much use for this but provides great practice. Usually no need to get tricky at these levels, just bet and raise....some one will call! As I move up levels and play gets trickier, this will be something I need to develop.

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I have, as others have admitted to, been lazy in adding to my blog roll. I will try to remedy this next week.

Till Next Time....Do something different this week!

A conservative is a man who believes that nothing should be done for the first time.

Alfred E. Wiggam

Poker (Fish) Therapy

I know what I'm doing today. I need some therapy and know where to get it.

FREEROLLS!

I have a calendar full of them! So here is what I am going to do:

Any Two - Minimum Raise
Any A, PP's under ten, connectors - 1/2 stack in
Any cards that equal 20, PP's ten and up - All In
Fold to any raise before me, 1/2 stack raise if first in

I might dub this "fish" therapy. First one was Check N Raise this AM at 9:30. Second hand AA - All In - 4 callers - lost to 77 who hit set. Ok, so I need more therapy!

1- Out 151 of 165
Edit:2 - Out 132 of 470 at Wpoker. Set of 6's down to flush Need More Therapy
Edit:3 - Out 22 of 361 at Poker Host. KQ vs. AK with 2 K's on board. Therapy Working

NEXT!

I hate these nights..

I was do for a "correction" in the bankroll and tonight was the night. The worst part was it was I had good cards that were leading till the turn and then creamed on river. These kind of nights just test by patience and nerve.

I posted before that I don't tilt on the table but I do start talking to the computer and I knew then it was time to go. Down $60 tonight and only cleared $17 in bonus. So I am going to take a break for a day and start back fresh in the NL tables.

Saying the tables during my nightly session were very loose and fishy just doesn't do it justice. Unreal the hands I sawed played. I would normally love this type of action, but tonight, they were hitting like crazy. I was beat by every draw there is and at the same time missed every one of mine, frustrating night.

Just signed off. Last hand AK vs.KQ he hits 4 straght spades on a K high board to win. Did I mention, I hate these kind of night.

Till Next Time!

Done It!

After last months excellent run, bankroll is healthy, I went to Full Tilt Poker. I played today for about 2 hours. Tables were bountiful and the play there is a lot tighter than Empire.....but what sight isn't!

Played $1/$2 and with my limited play I project this:

Clearing $2/hour of bonus per $1/$2 table. 6 hours a day + muti-tabling should get me to $25 a day in bonus. Looking at a month to clear. Not sure if tables at night are "looser" which may speed up the process but from what I hear, I doubt it. Today if raised pre-flop, no more than 3 saw flop and 50% of the time you won it out right.

As far as bonuses are concerned I'd say it was worth it if you planned to stay and play anyway. If you are a true bonus whore and never stay at a site after bonus is cleared, this may not be for you because it will take a while. If you project out some other bonuses, you can see the difference. Took me 3 days to clear Empire's $150. Project that out to $600 and you would get 12 days to clear and the Party skins are probably the easiest to clear.

I will go get Interpoker some time this month too, which will cut into the Full Tilt time. That Interpoker monthly bonus has been so profitable to me, I can't pass it up.

Till Next Time!

New Champion This Month!

After the horrendous disaster in January with that Empire Bonus Chase, I am happy to announce that this time, there is a new champion on the street. Final numbers:

$134 profit
$150 Bonus
+8bb over 1500 hands
18 hours


Not bad at all I'd say.

Since Party Poker is offering me a 15% bonus till Feb. 11th. Think I might press my luck and try them out.


Till Next Time!

The Bell Rings..Final Round

The crowd rises to its feet. Anticipation at a crecendo, will the champ answer the bell. The challenger rises, a little bruised but you could hardly tell he had been toe to toe with the champ all night. The challenger knows, there is no question, the champ will answer. He is ready.

The champ sits, dazed and confused over the last rounds. Eye swollen, nose bleeding, and looks like he has been fighting two men instead of one. In the corner of his mouth though, there is a smirk, almost a smile. He knows he has the power still to take this guy out. So with extreme pride and arrogance, he stands. Ding. Ding.

Thats how it has been so far at Empire Poker. 200 hands left to go and I am way ahead. I can fold my way to profit + bonus from here. I have taken my punches, some unreal draws have come in on the river. I have landed some wicked punches myself though. I will clear up those 200 hands today. Declare myself the victor and consider the demons exised.

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North Dakota trying to step it up it seems. Got this off Poker Gazette.

A Bill currently under discussion in North Dakota could lead to the US state becoming an online poker jurisdiction.
The proposal, contained in House Bill 1509, aims to see poker played over the internet to be defined in the state Constitution as a game of skill rather than gambling.

And the proponents of the Bill want to use the law change to encourage poker operators to set up in the state.

Jim Kasper, a member of North Dakota’s House of Representatives, said North Dakota would be prepared to fight the US government if it sought to block the state law.

He said the Bill could bring up to US$500m of new revenue to the state.

Under his plan, Kasper would use 60% of the poker revenue for property tax relief, 20% for public education and 20% for the state's general fund.

The Bill would need to negotiate several hurdles to become law, not least of which is a public vote in 2006 to change the definition of gambling.

But politicians in the state said they were not afraid to take a risk and confront the US government head on.

"I believe that for the people of North Dakota and for the state, we need to be strong and take on this challenge and not be afraid to step out of the box," Mark Dosch, a North Dakota Representative, said.

Be an interesting battle I think. Will keep an eye out on this one.

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Not a bad game last night really, seemed like the Eagles gave up though, taken so long to score at the end buy glad they did score.....they covered. I guess my only question is why? Why did Cleveland ever let Bill Belichick go??


Till Next Time!

New Stuff and Empire Losing!

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!

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!

___

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)

___

Come on..admit it...we all secretly do this while folding hands!


Till Next Time!

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.

___

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

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!

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,

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!