January is in the books

Due to my recent lack of ability to finish in anything worth wild in the last week, I am closing the month of January and taking a few days off from playing poker. This month was a good month, only suffering in the end... here is the break down:

Tournament Count: 73
Total Buy-Ins: $829
Total Payouts: $1,453
Total Won/Lost: $624
Average Won/Lost: $9

From January 22nd to the 28th I donked $117 or about $20 a day. Seems ever since I placed the third time in a row in the WPEX Guarantee tournament, I've been getting cold decks from WPEX and FTP. Overall, it hasn't been a bad month and I feel like I need some time off before going into February. I might jump in the Mookie this week, but that will most likely be it.

Since it's the end of the month, I wanted to revisit my New Years Resolutions I made in the beginning of the month. I feel this is the only way to be honest with myself if I am ever going to achieve my goals.

• Sharpen my ability to read opponents by focusing on everyday observation.
  

I've been working on trying to remember things that I normally wouldn't remember. I also have been taking regular doses of Ginkgo Biloba hoping that this will help sharpen the mind. I haven't noticed too many benefits yet, but I will keep working on it.

• Play more live games at casinos.
  

Only played there once this month. I been talking with some of the SJPC guys and we are thinking about a bi-weekly trip to A.C. as a group. If this comes through, then I will be able to complete this resolution without problems. If not, then it's going to take my own will power to make that long drive to A.C. more often.

• Become more physically fit.
  

Well, less than 30 days and I have lost 10 pounds and have noticed good results in a boost of stamina. My whole point in this was to be able to stay more sharp when playing long games. I haven't noticed too much benefits yet while playing cards, but personally I feel better when I wake up and I have more energy as the day gets later. My only fault is in the last few days I've been slacking on my daily exercise.

• Move into $40-50 regular sit and goes online.
  

I actually seemed to moved down rather then go up. Maybe this is the reason for my last few days of being sucked out on and loosing money. My original idea was to transfer a bunch of funds to one site and then play in their higher limit games. Since Neteller stopped transferring its made this plan sort of difficult to do. So instead, I've been trying to grind out $10-$20 SNGs to build up enough of a roll to play in the higher SNGs.

• Regularly finish ITM in 45-90 SNGs.
  

I placed consistent for a few days in the larger games but haven't done much since. I'd like to finish a lot more as time goes by. This is really a goal that should be revisited in March or April.

• Take down a big game.
  

No multi-thousand dollar win yet, but I have attempted to play in them. We will see how next month goes.

• Play at a low limit, short handed World Series NL Hold'em side game.
  

Again, another goal sort of ruined by Neteller. The idea was to build up enough money in online winnings to play in the WSOP low buy-in even for "free". While I feel I am on a good track, Neteller no longer transferring funds will make this difficult. I need to get involved with more live games.

• Play and win Sats.
  

Haven't done this at all and I really should. The few times I did play Sats, in December, it seemed like the players were complete idiots. I got drawn out on a few times and it left a bad taste in my mouth. But I know I am solid enough to win a few of these and even turn them into cash when playing in the tournament. The only way I am ever going to play in Sats is to schedule something. Next month I will play in 5 Sats. This may seem small, but as I meet my goal I will higher it up from month to month (pending my results). I need to start somewhere on this one.

Well it's going to be different not playing poker for the next few days, but I will keep myself busy I'm sure. I still have lots of things I want to do even though I have completed everything on my "to-do" list that I spoke about last blog.

For everyone who reads my blog: Cheers, I hope you had a great month as well.

Goals for February

• Play in 5 Sats
• Read Mathematics of Poker
• Post more poker strategy talk and hand analyst on the blog
• Take down 4 Guarantee tournaments on WPEX
• Final Table a Mookie on FTP
• Get back on track with my exercise
• Build more confidence in my game
• Visit A.C. at least twice
  

New Keyboard and a Plan

Well I did it, I finally broke down and purchased a new wireless keyboard and mouse. How does this relate to poker? Well I will not be folding pocket Kings anymore that's for sure! I also got some of my "to-do" list done (as mentioned in previous blog). Tonight I am going to finish a few more things on the list and the rest this weekend. I have my days planned out for doing what on what day. By Sunday night, I'll be all caught up and I feel really good about it. Now that I have a plan of action, I might jump into a few games tonight. Nothing overly serious, just some action to keep warm. It felt weird not playing poker last night and I don't know if I could go another night like that. As long as I get done what's on my to-do list for today, I am going to play tonight. I'll probably start out with some SNG's and work up some cash, then invest the winnings into some sort of guarantee tournament. Most likely I will play on WPEX since I've been running good there recently. This weekend I'd like to work in some FTP tables, I ran 'Super Hot' (Sharkscope) there for a long time and still feel that I can rekindle that flame.

With a course of action I feel much better about myself and hoping this trickles down to the poker table. Maybe now I can focus on what my opponent is doing and not what I need to do at home. Today I feel great, nothing can stop me. I got up an extra hour early all on my own and been feeling pumped up ever since I made breakfast. Tonight it's on... I just hope work doesn't kill my buzz.

Procrastination, Broken Keyboards, and the Mookie

First, any blog that starts with a picture of a donkey is never good. Last night was the most horrible night of poker I think I've ever played. I wasn't focused at all, totally lost in my surroundings. It was like I was at Burger King asking for a Big Mac... just wasn't happening!

Let me explain, so I can attempt to save face - ah what the hell... so I can come up with excuses! The last few days I've been playing like I just picked up a deck of cards and learned how to deal Hold'em correctly. I've made tons of amature mistakes and have been playing like a complete fish. Bankroll wise, I haven't moved much in either direction - positive or negative... but I know I missed tons of opportunities to be way in the positive. My problem? It's my own fault. No bad beats, no bad players calling and catching, just me... I'm my problem, and let me explain why.

Ever since I won the last WPEX Guarantee Tournament I promised myself I would catch up on some needed things. I have a lot of work to do at work, and I have been putting in some longer hours to keep caught up. With that, things at home have been put on hold. I have some side work I just been procrastinating on, my house is looking worse and worse, and I got other little personal things I need to take care of. But instead of taking care of things at home, I been sitting at poker tables and playing Hold'em.

How does all that translate to my donkey style play? I am just not focus. When I am playing, I am thinking of all the stuff I need to do at home and not thinking about the action in front of me. When a guy check raises me, or bets a large amount on the Flop, I have no idea what he is doing. Not because he's a crafty player, but because I can't remember what he showed down the last time he did that. I can't remember who's on tilt, who's been getting cards lately... hell man, I can't remember a damn thing. I'm better off playing in the dark! To top it all off, I have a wireless keyboard and mouse I bought at CompUSA that's absolutely terrible. Half the time it's completely non-responsive and I miss a lot of opportunities to raise when I want to, or call bets when I want to. Hell, I timed out trying to raise K-K pre-flop in position with 5 limper's. Right then I should have replaced my wireless set up, but I didn't... it's on my "list of things to do" lol.

So how do I know I am officially insane? How about last night in the Mookie I folded Q-Q when the flop came down A-small-small. Player first to act bets, I call. A on the turn, and he fires again and hard. I call. K on the river, he fires and I fold. What I really wanted to do was raise on the Turn, but I didn't... because I suck.

Then I did the play that I hate the most. I actually was up til about 1AM pissed at myself for doing this. It's the move I'd disown a friend for, and I did it. I went all in UTG with A-J suited. WHAT THE HELL was I thinking? Gee.... Ride my donkey baby! Of course Big Slick calls me, what was he thinking? I Flopped an inside straight draw and missed the Turn and the River... bye bye me.

Well, I am gonna stop playing poker and get things DONE here. As far as the next Mookie is concerned, I'll make my $10 contribution!

Another One Bites the Dust...

Dinner and poker... that's what I did tonight and everything came out all right. Now, I am not one to be stuffing my mouth when playing poker. Even at home games when everyone orders pizza, I am sitting there with my glass of water concentrating on what's before me. A pro once said, "Championships are won on starvation", and I believe this to be true. I forget where I read it, but there was a scientific study that proved eating while doing any sort of mind game (like poker) will affect your judgment and you will not play optimally. So what does all this mean? Well, besides the fact that scientist have way too much time on their hands to figure this stuff out, I went against them (and myself) and played some poker while eating a nice meal... that I cooked in between hands. The results? They say pictures say a thousand words, so here ya go...



The game was pretty average for me early on, keeping myself slightly ahead of the average chip stack and waiting for blinds to go up so I could play "poker". I was able to build up a rather healthy chip stack when the blind reached 100 / 200 then lost a bunch of chips when I called a guy's all in and lost. Later in the game we were down to 11 players left and my table was short handed. I had 11,000 in chips, and the next in like had 26,000. I ended up shoving my chips in on the button with Kd Td and was called by the BB with Ah Kh. The Flop gave hope, X X T, but a A on the Turn made me drop my fork. As I settled with the thought I was placing 11th, a miracle T hit the river and I doubled up. Two hands later I took him out and we went to the final table. (Sorry guy...)

Entering the final table I was 2nd in command and ended up the table captain in 4 hands. I was in the BB and it folded around to the chip leader in the SB. He made a huge raise and I had QQ, I reraised all in, facing the bubble.... and he let go. He didn't attempt to steal my blinds for a long time after, so this play not only gained me chips up front, but saved money for future rounds. Few hands later I took out a player and the bubble position was over. After that, I just kept myself under control. I called all in bets based on pot odds and what my remaining stack would be. I ended up doubling up a total of 3 players, but I knocked out just as many. When we got into 3-way action I had a dominating chip lead over the other two opponents. They sat around 15k each, and I with around 40k. The players just folded to me every hand, no one wanted to play with me. I just kept stealing and they ended up knocking each other out. When I went into heads up I have over 60k in chips and my opponent was crippled. He ended up doubling up through me once, but finally I took him down a few hands later.

Over all I am happy with the win. I did get lucky not to finish 11th, but I'll take it. I made the correct move and it paid off, even though I sucked out for it to happen. My only regret on taking this down is WPX hand histories make it nearly impossible for me to go back and retrieve key moments in the tournament. I guess need to start taking games down on FTP again. Maybe I'll play in this week's Mookie.....

SJPC, AC, & WPEX $500 Guarantee

It's been a busy weekend, with some roller coaster results. First, I headed down to South Jersey for a SJPC game. We had some old school players in the game, some guys I haven't seen in a long time. I ended up playing only a few hands but got maximum results each time, which placed me as the chip leader. Then I made two key decisions which really helped me; I called a guy's bluff with pocket 7's and they held up, and I folded pocket pair against two small stack all-ins when I guess correctly what type of cards they had - I would have been ahead but the one small stack spiked an Ace and took it down. I ended up going heads up as a massive chip leader and it was over in 4 hands. GG me.

The next day I headed to AC and sat down at the Showboat. Now before people think I am a complete donk, let me just well inform you that I am not a ring game player - I am a tournament player. I ended up dropping $120 in a 1/2 NL table. These guys were crazy, average preflop raises were around $30, and people were calling with hands like 5-3 OS. I lost most of my roll when I had top two pair, Aces and Kings and lost to trips. From then on in I really played bad and made a lot of horrible decisions. Now I look back on it, the $120 I wasted in a type of game I have no real skill in, I should have played the 100+20 Freezeout. Ah well, it was fun time with some of the SJPC guys... so the way I look at it, $200 night out with the guys (food and stuff included).

So feeling sort of upset with; A) Playing a ring game when my strength is ten-fold in tournament play, and B) loosing that money to complete crazy people - I decided to do a little online action. I jumped in WPX and finished in a couple SNGs, then took down a SNG on FTP (which I've been on a down slope recently at that site). I traveled back up to my place and played in the WPEX $500 Guarantee. I finished 3rd there which was completely my fault. I was low stack and in the BB. SB calls and the flop comes down. He checks and I make a move... he had a hand. So dumb play by me, but I needed that pot to stay alive. It was a situation play more then anything (odds of him hitting the flop is rare). The "damn-it" play of the game which could have made all the difference is if I would have called the two small stack all-ins with my pair of sevens. Small stack with about 3,000 moves all in, stack of 9,000 moves all in, and I am sitting with 15k and fold. The flop would have gave me quads and I would have been extremely healthy, eliminating two players in the mean time. Ah well, I just didn't want to bust out and be in the "all in" mode myself. Any way, played another SNG on WPX and got second. Kat moved all in every hand during heads up. I think we seen two flops out of 20 hands. I picked a spot and called. Flopped top pair and he got river-river diamonds to flush up and win. I'm not mad I lost this way either, I know I will take his money another time. To me, people who go all in all the time read Kill Phil and take it way too seriously. I just think he was scared to play me after the cards came down. Every hand I was in with him before the heads up I won... so what you think?

In the end, I made some good money this weekend and I am happy with my results. I hope everyone else had a good weekend. Cheers!

1st in WPEX $1,000 Guarantee

Yesterday I jumped into a $10 Freezeout on WPEX, feeling good about my play there. I've been taking down a lot of SNG's there and felt that it's been easy money so far, so why not try a tournament?

The first hand in the tournament I took down with a minimal profit when I flopped two pair. With two suited cards I bet out a tad bit more than 1/2 the pot and everyone folded to me. After that I was strictly in post-and-fold mode up until I doubled up with pocket Aces. From then on I played my position (stole chips from small stacks and kept constant pressure on everyone). I switched from being extremely tight to little "stealing rushes", trying to keep my game mixed up. I tried to develop an image that I was a tight player who just got card rushes from time to time, I think it worked well. Throughout the tournament I was able to maintain a stack in the top 5. When the action become the final 3 tables, I moved into the tournament chip leader with more than 16,000 chips.

I ended up doubling up a guy twice in a row which crippled my stack to a mere 6,000 chips. Keeping the faith, and taking advantage of the increasing blinds, I was able to get chipped up to over 20,000 in about a half hour's time. At this point I was at 23k and the average stack was 18k facing 1500 / 3000 blinds. All I had to do was be patient, steal in position, and keep building a stack. At one point I stole every time in one whole rotation, this really helped me build a decent stack up. Bold move by some, but it created action later when people went from the fear of being busted out and folding every hand hoping to skip into the money to panic mode that they will be blinded out soon and miss the money.

As the final two tables came together I kept a strong eye on how many people were left. Only the top 9 finished in the money, and as the field dropped to 15 my table become extremely tight. I was able to steal in any position as long as I was the opener - I took a huge advantage of this and stole my heart out. While everyone was folding, I was collecting. If I got challenged and didn't have a hand, I'd just get out of the way. Taking in so many steals it didn't matter that I was letting go one in every 7 or 8 steal attempts. My friend specing said I had "total control of the table", and I felt it. Even the big stack (leader of the tournament) was folding his SB to me when I was in the BB - they all feared to be busted out by me. I guess it helped that I also took 3 people out on my table. Once with pocket 4s, then with pocket Kings, and lastly with AQ suited. Being feared is awesome.

Finally the final table arrived, and the blinds were getting super high. I kept applying pressure when I was in position - but now the big stack woke up and was stealing more aggressively then me. Here are some screen shots of various key hands on the final table.

Big stack pushed all in and I called with pocket Kings. My Kings hold up hitting a full house on the River. This placed me second in chips.

Getting great odds, I called the Button's all in with K-9. It held up and I send him to the rail.

Small blind puts in a little more then a one-up raise. I call and flop a huge hand. He checks and I check behind him. The Turn lands me trips, but pairs the board. He shoves and I insta-called. The River counterfeited my trips and gave me the Straight for a win.

Shortly after the SB makes a move again. I have enough odds and chips to make the call. My Brunson holds up and we go into heads up.

Unfortunately I was extremely focused on my heads up play I didn't take any screen shots.
I kept the chip lead for most of the action until this hand happen:

Blinds 4000 / 8000 +ante Hero: 98680 (BB)

Villain: 49820 (SB) Dealt: Ac Jc

Villain calls 4000, Hero raises to 25000, Villain re-raises to 49420 and is all in, Hero calls

Villain shows J-T
Hero reveals A-J

The Showdown: Kc As 3d, Ad, Qs
Villain wins 99640 with a Broadway Straight Hero has 48860 left

This was a devastation. The Turn looked great for me and I was really hoping I'd dodge that Q. On the next 4 hands, our villain moved all-in preflop hoping for me to give up and call. Finally I did with J-J and stood good against his T-T. This evened the field and I did some bold all-in moves preflop 2-3 times in a row to smack him from doing it to me. A few hands later we got down to the last hand of the tournament.

Blinds 4000 / 8000 +ante Hero: 113840 (SB) Villain: 34660 (BB) Dealt: 8c Td (hey man, any hand can win in heads up)

Hero calls, Villain checks

With the Villain checking preflop I can not put him on high cards or a pair. I believe that if he had an Ace or a King he'd raise me. High Ace, King or Pockets he'd go all in. This assumption is from watching my player's habits throughout this final table and heads up play.

Flop: Ac 5d 7s
Villain checks, Hero checks

The Villain didn't take a chance to bet here, which to me means he was afraid of that Ace. I check behind him with full intentions of betting out on the Turn. My thought; he might min bet since I checked and I can raise him all in. Hopefully he folds and I can cripple him (he's a weak player and doesn't look at odds). If he checks, a 1/2 pot size bet would indicate to him that I was trapping with an Ace and he would fold. Either way I have confidence that my opponent is weak enough to fold in my attempts to steal this pot.

Turn: 8h [Ac 5d 7s]
Villain checks, Hero bets 12000, Villain re-raises to 26260 and is all in, Hero calls 14260.

Villain checks and I place my bet. This time I hit my card so I feel confident that I still have the best hand. Before I placed my bet I predetermined that I would call his all in if he decided to come over the top. He does, and I stick with my gut feeling that I have the best hand and make the call.

Villain shows K-J (Tried to slow play and got caught)
Hero reveals 8-T (Pair of Eights)

Showdown: 9c [8h Ac 5d 7s] Hero wins with Eights, Ten Kicker.

My opponent made a huge mistake in attempts to slow play his K-J and ended up loosing the whole tournament on a bluff. What he failed to realize, his all in gave me tremendous odds to call him. Had he would have pushed on the preflop or even the flop, I would have folded my hand. I hit the board, then being offered almost 4:1 on my money, there was no way I was folding. If he had the Ace then so be it, I wasn't folding. To his credit, I think he put me on a bluff and figured his King-high would be good. I was raising and playing so many hands, keep mixing my play, he didn't have a good read on me. If this is the case, my "in control, maniac play" paid off.

Overall I am very happy with my performance in this tournament. I did make a few mistakes during the tournament that cost me chips, but with patience and putting all my knowledge to use I was able to pull myself out of my loss and place myself right back in contentions. Eventually I will review this tournament's hand histories, and if I notice any plays worth discussing I will post them. WPEX makes reviewing hand histories a pain in the ass, so this might take some time.

In the end, while this tournament is not a major win as far as some of the blog sites I read post about, it's still a significant win for me - someone who has been on a bad beat streak for the last few days. Turning $10 into $300 definitely boosts your confidence. I plan to continue some action at WPEX, since their SNGs are really good. Hopefully my luck will change on FTP and I can go back to the site I truly like, until then I will stay with the money - WPEX.

Neteller Says Good Bye U.S. Poker Players

Found this information on Lucko21's blog.

Effective ImmediatelyDue to recent US legislative changes and events, effective immediately, US members are no longer able to transfer funds to or from any online gambling sites.All US members will continue to be able to use their NETELLER e-wallet account to safely transfer funds to and from non-gambling merchants and are not required to close their account or withdraw their funds.Please note that we are experiencing higher than normal support volumes and recommend that you read the FAQs for more information.

Why is NETELLER no longer allowing US members to make fund transfers with online gambling sites?

The US government has recently introduced new legislation in the form of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. To best protect the interests of NETELLER members, employees, shareholders and business partners, NETELLER will no longer provide service to US members to transfer funds to and from online gambling merchants. Read the press release.

Official posting from Neteller
News from PokerNews

This started when the founders of Neteller were arrested in the U.S. a couple days ago.

This becomes very problematic for poker players. It's not bad if you some bankrolls already built up on your favorite poker site, but it does become a problem when you want to withdraw or try a different room. Hopefully with all the intelligent people in this world, someone will figure out another way to deposite and withdraw. Or maybe, someone with enough pull can remove this bill, or get poker excluded.... wouldn't that be nice?

Review: Harrington on Hold'em Vol III: The Workbook

Each month I will take some time to talk about a poker related products and voice my opinion about it, for the good or for the bad. In this review I would like to talk about Harrington on Hold'em, Volume 3: The Workbook.

Harrington on Hold'em Volume 3, known as 'HoH3' through out the rest of this review, is written by none other than Dan Harrington himself along with Bill Robertie and is published by Two-Plus-Two Publishing. This is the third of his three volume set and focuses on the following main topics:

• Evaluating Your Play
• Playing After the Flop
• Playing The Bubble

When you first look at HOH3 you will assume that the book is not very much different than it's predecessors, you'd be terribly wrong. HOH3 breaks from his typical design of "Lesson" then "Practice" and puts you right into the thick of the problem. Take HOH3 as a test of your knowledge. Imagine, if you will, that HOH1 & 2 was the class and HOH3 is the test.

HOH3 features 50 real life hands that were played by some of the very best players in the world. In these hands you ride shotgun with a selected pro and are presented with a multiple list of choices of actions you can make before every action the professional player actually made. Each hand, or situation, is presented with information that might be important in making the correct multiple choice answer (if a player has been loose, betting patterns known, your image at the table, etc.). Record all your answers and compare them with what the pro actually did - then read Harrington's comments on the play! Believe it or not, Harrington doesn't always take sides on what the pro did, and some hands are introduced in this book that were played completely wrong but Harrington wants to test you to ensure that you would have made the right play and not just marking off every move that the pro did (cheater!).

Answering the problem correctly gains you points. The tougher the answer, the greater the points. In the end you can tally up your points and compare them to his chart, almost like a grade.

200 points or less, you're a beginning player
200 or more, you need a lot of work in many key areas
300 or more, you have a solid base of skills to build upon
400 or more, you're a very good player who should show profits in big tournaments
500 or more, you're a world class player

The maximum one can earn is 591 points. But the point system is not all that's valuable in this book. Marking off which questions you did not score the maximum amount of points can be matched to another chart to inform you where you need to focus to strengthen your game. Whether it's your preflop action, betting for value, or the dozen or so other area's of focus, Harrington will hopefully guide you into the right direction on what part of your game you need to focus on.

This book should be apart of every true poker player's line up. It's not only a very insightful book, but a book that literary challenges your skills and abilities - and rates them. I did find myself time to time arguing with what Harrington would claim as the best answer to a particular problem, but then I guess that's why he is the Pro and I am not. The point is, this book gets you thinking and puts your plays, moves, calls, or whatever you want to call them, to the test. I recommend if you haven't already read HOH 1 & 2, to take the test first. Do not read Harrington's solutions to the problem since that will spoil the correct answer. Then read his previous two books and take the test again. Score both of them and see how much you gained from his previous books. I believe that you will be impressed with the results and feel that this book was well worth it's $29.95 price tag.

My verdict: Buy it

Oh, and my score was a 416. Good luck!

Taking a Break

Well today started good. I made up all the money I lost minus $10. Figured I'd jump in a small SNG and win the money back (plus a little more) then call it a night.

In the first SNG I played in I had a complete donk at my table who just seemed to be hitting all his cards and no one catching a break. I lost a lot of money, most of my stack, when I bet 4x BB with K-K, and he called. Flop came down Q-J-9 rainbow. He checks, I bet 3/4 the pot and he calls. The Turn is an A and he pushes all-in. I fold and he shows A-5 OS. Few hands later I jam QQ and he calls with K-T suited. Before he made the call he announced he had a really good hand.





So I figured, "Ok, he's a donk and cards just went with him." I pulled up his profile on SharkScope and he is a break-even player at best. So all is well, I'll join another SNG.

In the second SNG on the road to win back my cash I lost half my stack when this happen:
UTG+1 limps, I am on the Button with K-J OS and make it 3 bets to go. SB folds, BB calls, Limper calls. Flop comes: 8s 3d 8d. Both players auto-check so I make a continuation bet about 3/4 the pot. SB folds, Limper calls. Turn comes 6h. Limper pushes all in and I reluctantly fold. I say reluctantly because I believe he was on a stone cold bluff but I haven't the cards to call him. I get card dead and the few times I try to steal someone comes over the top on me. With the blinds coming fast, I push UTG+1, first in with A-T. The same guy who took half my chips auto-calls with A-Q OS. I get no help and loose again.

So I think about it. I really feel that I play way above my level at these SNG. Prior to this weekend, out of 25 games I lost 3. That's an amazing record that got destroyed this weekend. So I figured I'll step up to the $30 game. I took down my first ever there and in my second game I lost to a BS call posted in the previous blog.

Well same old goes with the $30 table. Every time I entered a pot with a raise someone would push all-in on the flop. I wish I could talk with someone who really makes good profit from these games to figure out how they make decisions when people abuse the all-in factor. Because when I call I get sucked out on:



I raised 3x BB with A-Q on the button with one UTG limper. The Limper calls my raise with J- 7 suited. He checks the flop and I slightly over-bet the pot to chase draws away. He shoves immediately. I think about what he might be doing:

1. Came in with A-Q himself and figures he has the best had as well
2. Came in with pocket pair, Tens or better and wants to end this hand now
3. Has A-A or K-K and doesn't want to get a flush beat
4. On a Bluff, figures my over-bed missed the board
5. On a Semi Bluff (Draw, K-Q, Q-J)

Then I think back, it's early in the game and he's shoved his chips in two other times with no one contesting him. He might feel that he has an edge on the table and can bully people around. Before I make the call I notice I have 670 chips left and it's a pot of 1710. If I fold I leave myself semi-crippled. If I win I am 2nd in chips with good feeling I could win this SNG. Getting 2.5 on my money, I make the call with TPTK and the Turn gives him the flush with no help for me.

I lost a good chunk of change in the matter of an hour or so. I knew I should have never went on break when I was winning, but I wanted to enjoy some lunch and review my play.

So after battling to gain my losses I am slightly up for the day, but down for the weekend thanks to some more bad beats and bad calls from my opponents. I am officially taking a break. I will spend this time researching, ordering MOP (Mathematics of Poker) and reading that book, and maybe playing some live games. I tend to run much better live then online. I am even considering some AC play next weekend which I haven't done in a while (lazy to drive). I have a VIP card at the Hilton and met a guy recently who regulars there. Might see about running into him at the 1-2 NL tables. While on break I am going to invest on a notebook and start reviewing all my hand histories. I am going to write down all the times I lost a significant amount of chips and look for patterns. I feel this is the best way to really figure out what I am doing wrong.

No offense to my friends, your all good players, but I really wish I could talk with someone who is a "GREAT" player so I can find out what I am doing wrong... or am I just on a bad roll of luck this weekend. There is so much about the game I want to discuss but no one I can talk with who truly understands the game beyond my level. <- This is were I hope MOP helps.

In the mean time, I have some poker items I will review to keep this blog active as I break. I will also post some findings if I do find glitches in my play, and my results in AC if I go. Cheers all and I hope you have better luck than I have been getting.

Bad Beats

I find this ironic this blog entitled "Bad Beats" is directly after my previous blog entitled "Suckouts". The last few days have been incredible. My RIO for my regular SNG is +80% for the last two months, and I have even attempted to move up a level and took down my first game there. But today, which started out as a decent day, has turned into a nightmare. Let's recap the day:

Bad Beat 1

Started my day out at a 45 player SNG. A few hands in and I am up to 1740 chips. Nothing to brag about but it's a good start. Then this terrible hand happens and ends my tournament:

Blinds 20 / 40
Starting pot is 60

Seat 1: 1425
Seat 2: 1140
Seat 3: 1700 (Hero)
Seat 5: 1155
Seat 6: 1275 (Button)
Seat 7: 1900 (SB)
Seat 8: 3000 (BB)
Seat 9: 1845 (Villain)

Dealt 9d 8d

UTG (Villain) calls, Seat 1-2 fold, Hero limps, Cutoff & Dealer limp, SB folds, BB Checks
Pot is now 220

Flop: 9s Ac 8h
BB checks, Villain bets 240, Hero calls, remaining players fold.

Heads up action, Hero vs Villain
Pot is now 700

Turn: 3d [9s Ac 8h]
Villain bets 360, Hero raises to 720, Villain calls
Pot is now 2140

River: Jh [3d 9s Ac 8h]
Villain bets 845 and is all in, Hero calls

Hero shows two pair; Nines and Eights, Ace-Kicker
Villain shows two pair; Aces and Jacks, Nine-Kicker

Comments: I knew I had the best hand up until the River card but he wouldn't get off his pair of Aces. When the Jack came down I said out loud he had Aces and Jacks but the pot was too good to fold. 740 to win 2880 was almost 4:1 on my money with two pair. I lost the hand, but really didn't feel bad about it since "that's poker".



====================

Bad Beat 2

I placed second in this SNG, so it was a money finish. The final hand was another suckout.

Blinds 50 / 100

Villain: 7140 (Button)
Hero: 1710

Villain calls 50, Hero raised to 300, Villain calls
Pot is now 600

Flop: Jd 3h Tc
Hero bets 400, Villain calls
Pot is now 1400

Turn: Ah [Jd 3h Tc]
Hero bets 500, Villain calls
Pot is now 2400

River Qh [Ah Jd 3h Tc]
Hero checks, Villain bets 610, Hero calls 610 and is all in

Hero shows two pair; Aces and Threes, Queen kicker
Villain shows Broadway Straight, Then through Ace

Comments: I should have shoved on the Turn and I paid for my mistake. Nothing I could do about the outcome. If I folded the hand on the River I was all in the next couple hands regardless. Ah well...



====================

Bad Beat 3

I've been hearing so much about Satalites from so many magazines and professional players I decided to give one a try. I was doing good until my two pair ran into Quads and I lost a good portion of my stack. Then I jammed K-6 OS with first in and was called by 6-3 OS. The board sent 6-3 OS the chips.



====================

Bad Beat 4

Nothing much here, pushed with T-T Pre-Flop and A-J OS called me. Ace on the Turn sealed my fate. Amazes me that people would call such a large push with A-J OS at the $30 level.



====================

Bad Beat 5

Blinds 50 / 100
Down to bubble position

Hero on the Button: 1275
SB: 3745
BB: 3980

Dealt Ks Jd

Hero opens for 300, SB calls, BB Calls
Pot is now 900

Flop: Jh 7h Ac
SB: Checks, BB Checks, Hero moves all-in for 975, SB calls, BB folds

Hero reveals K-J OS
Villain reveals K-T OS

The Showdown: 9c Qs [Jh 7h Ac]

Villain makes a Broadway to win the pot.



Comments: I am speechless. How can he call that with an inside straight draw? If he flipped over an Ace then it would simply be GG me... but a draw? Come on!

====================

Bad Beat 6

This beat occurred when the blinds were 40 / 80 and I was low stack after loosing more than half my stack to a River beat. I get dealt A-J suited on the SB and had 740 chips after posting. Figured this would be a good time to push since someone might think I am on tilt and call with a lesser hand.

I shove and A-T suited calls. Great! He's an underdog to my Ace, I just need to dodge a straight and a T and I should double up...



====================

I did have some wins today, it wasn't all bad. Overall I am down but it happens. I just can't believe some of these calls from underdogs and hitting their cards hard. I pulled my games and I seem to have a tougher time beating SNGs on the weekends than I do any other day of the week. Early on the weekends is not bad. So I am coming to a conclusion that there are too many "gamblers" on the weekend who just don't care about what your trying to represent. As long as they have an Ace, they will call you down.

Well, I just hope my next session brings this back into the positive. If I get up early tomorrow I will play a few rounds, otherwise I will spend the day reviewing hand histories.

Good luck to everyone else out there, may your good starting hands hold up!

Suckouts

Anyone who has played more than one game of poker learns to hate suckouts. We hate it when we have the best hand, get all our chips are in the pot, and get sucked out on the Turn or the River. It's enough to put even the best players on tilt.

One method to counteract going on tilt when you loose a ton of chips on a suckout is to remember the times when you were the one raking in the pot as an underdog. Poker Pros say you can hardly remember all your great wins but you can remember in detail all your losses. To help me remember the times I got lucky and suckedout, I started saving screenshots of them when I played online. I review them frequently enough to present a constant reminder that I too was an underdog at one point and won a pot when I shouldn't have. It's self discipline for keeping off tilt when I get sucked out on. Here are some screenshots that I saved.


Suckout 1, KK vs. Trips



Dealt Cowboys and raised pre-flop. The BB call and the flop is T-8-6 rainbow. The BB goes all in and I call with my KK vs his Trip T's. The Turn was a 6 giving him a full house and leaving me with two outs. The K on the river sent the BB to his 'reload' screen.
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Suckout 2, 7-2 vs. A-T



Even the worse hand in poker pays off sometimes. In this hand a super-aggressive player raises on the button and I call with the intention of standing up for my blind and stealing this pot away from him (I have a super-tight image at this point). The flop comes down 4-7-A and he over bets the pot. My read was that he was afraid of the flush draw, so I shoved all-in. He calls and my dead chips get returned. He flips over top pair and the Turn makes my day.
=====================


Suckout 3, K7 vs. K9



Sometimes a suckout doesn't have to be a time where you take all your opponents chips, but also a split pot when your dominated. This play occurred in the heads up stage of a SNG. I was SB and low stacked. Pushed with K-7 and my opponent called with K-9. The Queen on the River saved me giving us both two pair; Queens and Tens, King-kicker.
=====================


The above screens are a few that I have saved. I can't show you all my suckouts because then I might look like a fish =). The point of this blog is, don't let a suckout ruin your game and put you on tilt. Remember, at one time you were on the receiving end of a suckout.

Patience and Position

Lately I've been a spectator to a lot of games. From friend's games to blogger's that I read - I've logged numerous hours on watching them play. I spec to offer advice for my friends on how they can strengthen their game; I watch some of the top upcoming players for my own learning purposes. From time to time I see players gain a really large stack early on, then loose it all and go on tilt which ultimately cost them the game.

Recently I was in an interesting Sit-N-Go where I doubled up early on then lost it all several hands later placing me from "massive chip leader" to the table's short stack. With patience, position, and a little luck I was able to hang on, double up, and place in the money. I'd like to recap this game to show that even after you suffer a massive chip lost and become a true underdog to win - you can still get back in the game by not going on tilt and focusing on your game 100%. This also will be an opportunity to use my newly purchased hand replayer. Without further ado, let's take a look at the SNG.

Hand 1, Blinds 15 / 30

What we know: We are a couple of hands into the SNG, but it is still very early in the game. With blinds at these levels I am not looking to get involved with a lot of pots unless I have a solid hand. So far I have been doing a lot of folding. The player in the Big Blind is the chip leader, seems aggressive. The small blind seems like a total fish. Willing to gamble on any draw or pair, he's slightly up.

Hero: 1405
Villain 1375

Starting pot is 45
Hole cards, Kd Ks

Hero raises to 95, UTG+1 folds, Villain calls, all other players fold.
Heads up action against Hero and Villain
Pot is now 235.

Our Impression: A pair of Kings is definitely a hand I will be playing. Raising under the gun 3x the BB should keep A-Small hands out of the pot, but it's early in the game so if an Ace does flop I have to be careful. If I get action on this hand I am happy. If not, I don't mind taking the blinds down. This early in the game I am not looking to get into all in decisions and large pots. We actually get one caller and we get to see a flop.

Flop: 9d Kc 9s
Hero checks, Villain bets 175, Hero calls
Pot is now 585

Our Impression: We flopped a full house, a 1 in 165 chance. Now we need to maximize our profits. With such a strong hand I am not worried about an Ace coming out on the Turn since pocket Aces would have re-raised preflop. The only cards I need to concern myself with if someone is holding a pair of nines. The percentage of that is so low, I just have to believe my hand is good. What I can hope for is that our Villain has an Ace or a King and thinks it's good. If he does he will bet if we check and we can start to build up a pot. We do check and our Villain bets. A raise here, rather than a call, might make him fold if he's holding Ace high or on a draw. A call here will hopefully induce a later bluff.

Turn: Jd [9d Kc 9s]
Hero checks, Villain Checks

Our Impression: The Turn brings no danger and we check to continue to induce a bluff. Our Villain checks.

River: 8d [Jd 9d Kc 9s]
Hero bets 300, Villain raises to 720, Hero re-raises to 1140, Villain calls and is all in

Our Impression: Our Villain checking last hand didn't help us. If we are to make any more money off this hand we need to weigh in our options to find out what would be profitable. If we check to the villain he might also check and we don't get any more money in the pot. Being that I feel we have the best hand I want to take the opportunity to get a few more dollars from my opponent. The question is how much to bet. If I bet too much I will induce a fold on a medium strength hand. If I bet to give him the odds to call with his medium strength hand I get additional money in the pot. If I bet to give him odds and he feels he has the best hand, he might reraise and we will get even more money in the pot. We actually bet 300 making the total pot 885, giving him almost 3 to 1 on his money to call. He actually reraises and I put him all in. He calls and we take down a rather large pot.

Hero shows full house, Kings full of Nines
Villain shows full house, Eights full of Nines
Hero wins 2985.

Our Impression: This was a great win for us early on. This gives us some chips to work with. Normally I tend to continue playing my solid/tight game here, even after a big win. However, after reading a resent article about being a table bully once your in the situation I am in, I decide to try a new strategy. The results are disastrous.



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Hand 2, Blinds 15 / 30

Hero: 2970
Villain: 1155
Opponent: 1785

Starting pot is 45.
Hole Cards: Kc 9h

Opponent post SB, Hero post BB, Villain (UTG) calls, SB calls, Hero raises to 95, Villain calls, SB folds
Pot is now 220

What we know: We haven't played the last 5 hands since we doubled up. The player UTG has been conservative since he lost a few hundred chips a few hands back. The player in the small blind likes to make bets on the flop, but folds to raises if he doesn't have anything. K-9 os is not a good hand, but may be a chance to attempt a sandwich play. The player UTG did not show strength preflop and the SB only limped in. I am going to use my stack here and the advice in the recently read article to attempt to steal. My thought before the flop is that if we miss it, and someone shows strength, we will back off and fold.

Flop: 9d 6h 7h
Hero bets 180, Villain raises to 360, Hero calls
Pot is now 940

Our Impression: The bet of 180 after the flop can be considered as a continuation bet, but it's also a probe. I raised preflop with not-so-great cards, but hit top pair with a nice kicker and a backdoor straight flush draw. Betting 180 here will hopefully take down the pot. Instead our Villain challenges us and does a one up raise to make it 360 to go. It cost me 180 to win a pot of 760 and I might have the best hand at the moment. The Villain could also be on a steal (or draw) figuring that I raised preflop with overcards and missed the board. Since a one up raise is rather weak, I call for the pot odds offering almost 4 to 1.

Turn: Qs [9d 6h 7h]
Hero checks, Villain bets 390, Hero calls
Pot is now 1720.

Our Impression: We should have bet out on the Turn if we wanted to take this hand down. Instead we checked which showed weakness and our Villain bet. His bet of 390 gives me over 3 to 1 on my money. I still do not know where I am in this hand so I call for the odds. My 9's still might be good and I really don't put my opponent on a strong hand. The Queen didn't help him even though his bet says it did. I really put him on a week hand and still attempting to steal, however I can not be certain since I took no opportunity tosee how good my hand is.

River: Qc [Qs 9d 6h 7h]
Hero checks, Villain bets 310 and is all in, Hero calls
Pot is now 2340

Our Impression: If the Queen didn't help him on the Turn, then it pairing on the river shouldn't have either. There aren't so many hands that bet us that match his play style. I don't put him on pocket 9s since I think he would raise preflop. Pocket 6's and 7's I rule out since I believe he would try to trap some and wouldn't have made the raise on the flop. Queens are reasonable but I still put him on a week hand. I put him on a 9, 6, or 7 with an overcard, or a busted draw. Really the only hand that has me worried that matches his betting is A-9. In the end, calling a bet of 310 into a pot over 2000 is a no brainer. I make the call.

Hero shows two pair, Queens and Nines - King kicker
Villain shows twp pair, Queens and Nines - Ace Kicker

Villain wins 2340.

Our Impression: Our play in this hand was horrible, but we called our opponent's hand. Originally we knew he wasn't on the greatest of hands, then we felt A-9/7/6 matches his betting perfectly. Given the odds we call and loose a pretty large portion of our stack. This was a complete amateur play by myself and I am sick of it just revisiting it.



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Hand 3, Blinds 40 / 80

Hero: 1480
Villain: 1120

Starting pot is 120
Hole Cards: Ac Kd

Villain post SB, Hero Post BB, all players fold to SB, SB limps, Hero raises to 240, SB raises to 1120 and is all in, Hero calls
Pot is now 2240

Hero reveals Ac Kd
Villain reveals 8s 8d

The Showdown: 9c 7s 9s 9d 6s

Hero shows Trip-Nines, Ace-King kicker
Villain shows full house, Nines full of Eights

Villain wins 2240

Our Impression: A-K os is a decent hand heads up, and since all players folded to me and the small blind, we were heads up. I was expecting to win his blind when I raised to 240. The player in the small blind has been on tilt lately and has been throwing around his chips in the last couple hands. When he raised me all in I didn't put him on too strong of a hand. My thought was that he would have raised into me with a good hand and not limped in. I call with Big Slick hoping my opponent was on some A-Q, K-Q type hand. He actually held pocket 8's and they held up. Nothing I can really do in this situation. He slow played his pair and I ended up with a decent hand to loose my money to him.



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Our Impression: After that last lost we are now the low stack at the table. Lets take a look at our stack in relation to the rest of the players:

Seat 1: 3430
Seat 2: Busted Out
Seat 3: 2300
Seat 4: 670
Seat 5: 2240
Hero, Seat 6: 360

The blinds are 40/80 and will be increasing shortly. It cost 120 a round, leaving us with an M of 3 and we are on the SB next hand. It's all in or nothing right now. We must double up to stay alive.


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Staying Alive at M 3

With such insignificant chips we really want to shove all our chips in the center if we are going to play a hand. But we can't also just post and fold while we wait for massive cards to come our way, we must also play our position.

Push 1 (360 Chips): Dealt A-2 OS and in the Small Blind. All players fold to the button who limps in. Hero shoves, BB folds, Button calls. Button shows A-9 OS. The Showdown: Qh 7c 4s 7h 4h. We get lucky and split the pot with both players having two pair, Sevens and Fours, Ace-Queen Kicker.

Push 2 (400): Dealt Ad Qd in the cutoff. UTG folds, we push all in, Button and both Blinds fold. We scoop the pot.

Push 3 (440): Dealt Ah Qh in the SB. UTG raises to 160 (blinds 40/80), players fold to Hero, Hero pushes all in, BB folds, UTG player calls. UTG shows K-9 OS. The Showdown: 4s 6s Jd 2h Ts. Hero wins 960 with Ace High.

Blinds are now 50 / 100.
Seat 1: 4140
Seat 3: 900
Seat 4: 910
seat 5: 2040
Seat 6, Hero: 960 (M of 6)

Push 4 (960): Dealt Qh Jd UTG. Push in hoping to gain blind money. Cutoff folds, Button Calls for 650 and is all in, all other players fold. Button shows 3-3. The Showdown: 4d Jh 2d 3c 2c. Button wins 1450



Our Impression: Loosing that hand was massive damage in the progress of trying to rebuild our chip stack. We are now left with 310 chips facing 50 /100 blinds and in the BB next hand. Our move to gain money for the blinds by pushing with Q-J OS was a complete failure.

Push 5 (310). Dealt Ac 3d. UTG folds, Cutoff raises to 200, All players fold to Hero, Hero raises to 310 and is all in. Cutoff calls and reveals Qc 7c. The Showdown: 6s Jc 5s Ks Jd. Hero wins 670 with Ace High.

Push 6 (620): Dealt Ac 3c and on the Button. Action folds to Hero, Hero bets 620 and is all in. SB and BB fold. Hero scoops pot and wins 150.

Push 7 (770): Dealt Kh Ts and UTG. Hero opens with 770 and is all in, all players fold. Hero scoops 150.

Push 8 (770): Dealt Kc Td and on the Button. UTG and Cutoff folds, Hero bets 770 and is all in. Blinds fold, Hero scoops 150.

Blinds are now 60 /120
Seat 1: 3230
Seat 3: 990
Seat 4: 2120
Seat 5: 1740
Seat 6, Hero: 920 (M of 5)

Attempt to Trap 1: Dealt Ah As and UTG. Hero opens pot for 240 (blinds are 60 / 120). All players fold. Hero collects 180.

Push 9 (740): Dealt Kd Qh and UTG. Hero opens for 740 and is all in. Cutoff folds, Button calls, Blinds fold. Button reveals Qd Td. The Showdown: Jh Js As Qs 9c. Players split pot with two pair; Queens and Jacks, Ace Kicker.



Our Impression: Tough split. Leaves us with 830 chips with blinds going up soon.

Blinds are now 80 / 160
Seat 1: 3290
Seat 3: 1020
Seat 4: 2060
Seat 5: 1980
Seat 6, Hero: 650 (M of 2.7)

Push 10 (650): Dealt Ks Kh and UTG. Hero opens for 650 and is all in, all players fold. Hero scoops 240.

Push 11 (650): Dealt Ks 7c on the Button. UTG and Cutoff fold, Hero pushes all in for 650, SB folds, BB calls. BB reveals Qs 6d. The Showdown: 2h 8c 8h Js Kh. Hero wins 1380 with two pair; Kings and Eights, Jack Kicker.

Our Impression: Finally a good double up for us. In my opinion this was a bad call for the BB with Q-6 OS. He only left himself with 370 chips and he is in the SB next hand. The table has become really tight so it's hard to believe he thought Q-6 OS was good.

Standard Play 1 (1380): Dealt Qs Jh and UTG. Hero opens pot for 320. Cutoff folds, Button calls for 290 and is all in, Blinds fold. Button reveals Ah 5d. The Showdown: Qh 4h Tc 4d 8c. Hero wins 820 with two pair; Queens and Fours, Jack High. Button joins the rail.

--------------------------------

Even with our M of 8 we do have enough chips to make some moves. We've knocked out both players at this table so far and we are down to 4 players, sitting 3rd in chips and 500 chips away from 2nd. Our focus now is to take advantage of the growing blinds and the tight table to scoop some chips and sneak our way to 2nd (if not 1st).

--------------------------------

Hand 4, Blinds 100 / 200

Hero: 1670
Villain: 1990
UTG: 4280
Button: 760

Starting pot is 300
Hole Cards: Qc 6s

Hero post SB, Villain post BB, UTG folds, Button folds, Hero limps, BB checks.
Pot is now 400.

What we know: The BB has been super aggressive with us since he won with his two pair, Ace-high (we had the King-high), He's been playing like a bully, pushing all in every time we make a bet preflop or on the flop. I've folded many top pairs when there has been a flush or straight draw on the board and he came over the top of my bet. Going heads up with him, before the cards are even shown, I know he will be aggressive with me.

Flop: 2s Qd Ad
Hero bets 300, Villain raises to 1300, Hero reraises and goes all in for 1570, Villain calls.
Pot is now 3540

Our Impression: We hit our Queen but we have some problems with this flop. One, our pair of Queens has a weak kicker in the hole, 6s. Two, there is an overcard to our Queen out on the board. Three, our probe bet just got reraised to put us all in. Normally this would be a fold, but lets think about this and see why calling might not be a bad idea.

1. Our opponent has been super aggressive with us when we make a raise preflop or bet the flop. He has pushed all in more then 5 times in this situation
2. Our opponent only checked his BB. This would make sense with AA, but an aggressive player might raise with A-x in attempts to end the headsup action quickly. Remember, we show no strength preflop
3. Our opponent has a great opportunity to bluff. We folded to him every time he put us in this situation, and we haven't showed much strength in this hand
4. Folding leaves us with 1270 (M of 4), calling and winning will leave us with 3540 (M of 11). So if we fold this hand we will be in all in mode again. Doubling up later only brings us to a maximum 2540 (M of 8)(not including blind deductions).

Because of the strong chance that our opponent may be bluffing, and the added support that if we win this hand we almost lock a money finish - we make the call.

Villain reveals Kd 8s (a bluff)

The Showdown: 3h 7c [2s Qd Ad]
Hero wins 3540 with a pair of Queens.

Our Impression: This ended up being a great call on our part. Over time by just playing the value of the cards this is a money loosing play. The ability to read your opponent, remember previous betting habits, and going with your gut feeling can make a play like this all the difference in your tournament. To the person sitting on the rail, this may seem like a horrible call, but that person in the same situation with the same knowledge about their opponent - this call may look like a really good one. The end result is that call places us second in chips. 3rd place is sitting at over 700, and fourth has little over 400. We should definitely make the money as long as we play smart and stay our of trouble.



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Summary of the Ending: The third place in chips ended up going all in a few hands and ran into our super aggressive player's K-K. The Cowboys held up and we were down to three. Shortly after Mr Aggressive pushed with K-4 suited and ran into Big Stack's A-K offsuite. Slick held up when the board came 3s Kh 7c 5s Qd.

We made it to heads up and lasted a few rounds. My opponent kept moving all in every hand. The good about this is I know he felt uncomfortable actually playing a hand against me, the bad is I got a run of crappy cards and I didn't want to risk my tournament on a hand like 5-2 OS. With the blinds 120 / 240 and a stack of 1240 I ended up making a move with JT. My opponent called with 67 OS and flopped a monster hand that gave me no chance to win.



Conclusion: The reason for this post is just as the topic indicated, have patience and play your position and you can recover from any tournament disaster. You can't go on tilt when you make a stupid play or donk move and loose money on it. Learn from the mistake then focus on what you need to do to recover. Recovering in this game took almost the whole length of the game. When my shoves were called I got a little luck and ran into some walls. Each time I tried to maximize the outcome in a positive way and keep looking at the next step I need to do to get more chips. What it comes down to is believe in yourself, your ability, and stay focus. Real winners can get back up after a hard defeat.

New Years Resolutions

It's officially 2007, so Happy New Years everyone! With bringing in the New Years it's also time to bring in some self commitments known as "resolutions". These resolutions are usually self goals that you wish to have accomplished by next year. While most people's resolutions are to loose weight, quit smoking, or even find a new job; a poker players resolution can be quite different. Personally I was not going to publish a list of resolutions because I think they are some what pointless. The person who make the resolution to loose weight will most likely make the same resolution next year while the smoker wanting a new job will be at the same company New Years party with a cig in his hand cheering for the 2008 ball to drop. But seeing that other poker bloggers are making a list I decided I'd do the same, only in my list I will revisit this list from time to time and cross off the accomplishments as they happen. Being this is suppose to be a blog that tracks not only my insight of poker (which I want challenged by my readers), but also tracks my progress - I feel this could be a fun and useful way to better myself. Maybe for once I'll actually live up to my New Years Resolutions!

Without further ado, here are my 2007 Poker Resolutions in no particular order:

• Sharpen my ability to read opponents by focusing on everyday observation. Too often I walk into a place and I can not recall the room or building after I leave. Being able to do this should increase my observation skills which should help my live game.
• Play more live games at casinos. If I want to strengthen my game I must stop playing the same people over and over in home games. Online games are great practice but elements of reading people are not there. Since I feel I am a better live player then online player, practice at casino's should strengthen my abilities.
• Become more physically fit. Most do this for a girl or for other reasons, my reason is for stamina at a poker table. I find myself getting tired after several hours of playing at a table. Being more physically fit should allow me to stay focused longer and provide me with better stamina
• Move into $40-50 regular sit and goes online. Currently my game is strong in the $10-20 range. By the end of this year I would like to be moved up from the micro limits.
• Regularly finish ITM in 45-90 SNGs. I seem to go deep often but make a silly play and loose it.
• Take down a big game. Whether it's a live game or online, I would like to achieve my first multi-thousand dollar win.
• Play at a low limit, short handed World Series NL Hold'em side game. The catch here is, I want my poker winnings to pay for it.
• Play and win Sats. I always seem to shy away from them and there is so much potential to make some really big wins with minimal investment.

Well that list seems to sum it all up. It's a big list for me with a lot of big goals. But I have confidence in my ability and my game level that I can take down most of these goals on the list. As I do, I will mark them off and revisit the list at the end of this year.

For all those with your own resolutions, good luck - I hope your able to accomplish them. Once again, Happy New Year.