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.

_____

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.

_____

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!