Results from 4/28

Man are MTT aggravating. I played two small $20 entry tourneys and both times I suffered horrible beats, once on the bubble. Let me share my stories.

First tourney I have KK on the button with the blinds at 30/60. I make it 240 to go, and I get two callers. The flop comes 448 and they both check so I make it 480. The first person folds and the next guy raises me allin. I think about it for a second and figure a single 4 is not there. He could have quads, but probably not. I am thinking it could be like 1010 or JJ so I call. He has A8. The river brings an 8 and I am out.

The second one I am short stacked on the bubble. I push allin which is a 4x raise with AKs. I get called by 47o. The flop comes out with a King and a 7. The river brings another 7 and I am out again. AAAAAARRRGGGGHHHH.

So I go play my 5/10 game and I totally crush a table for two hours. I make over $400 in that span of time. I only played 125 hands, so it was a great showing. So my total profit for the day ended up at a nice $424. Here is how the bankroll looks as of today...

Jan 1 bankroll - $5252
Apr 29 bankroll - $12,438 (New all time high)
Profit - $7186

Today there are a couple of tourneys that I will play. The Blogger Poker Tour is playing at Poker.com at 4:30, and my World Amateur Poker Tour plays at 9pm at PokerStars. I will also look for that juicy 5/10 game again. Good luck to all of you!!!!!

Results from 4/26

Well last night I did not get started until late due to some unexpected company. I did make good use of my time however. I played four SNGs with a first and a second place showing. Then I played some 5/10 limit at Bayou Poker. I found a really good table with some people that I have noted were either "fish" or "calling stations". I won over $300 in about 130 hands of play. A very good night.

Tonight is stop #11 on the Bluff Poker Tour. We are playing at Sun Poker at 9pm. I am on a mini run with back to back final tables in this tourney. Hopefully I can keep up the pace as I am in 2nd place overall on the year.

So here is how the bankroll looks as of now.....

Jan 1 bankroll - $5252
Apr 27 bankroll - $12,119
Profit - $6867

So in addition to the Bluff Poker Tour, I will be playing some SNGs and 5/10 limit. Good luck to everyone out there.

Bad beat story - results from 4/25

Well it is a sort of real life bad beat story. Last night was bowling night so I am on the way to the alley from work when I get into a car accident. I was stopped at an intersection that has a lane for making a right before the traffic light. A guy in his little BMW convertible is stopped and I stop right behind him. He looks left to see if he can make the right and then proceeds to go. As he is moving, a guy runs the red light and comes flying down the road. He slams on his brakes but I could not stop in time and I hit him. I do almost $2000 damage to my car. Plus I get a ticket for "following to closely" from the officer that we called to the scene. Not a good start to the day.

Now I have been driving for 21 years and I have had ZERO accidents before this time. I was late to the bowling alley and all in all it just ruined my day.

So when I finally went home I decided that playing poker for any substantial amount would not be a good idea. So I decide to play .05/.10 NL and a $10 two table tourney at PokerStars. I end up winning the two table tourney at Pokerstars for $72 and I win almost $20 playing in the NL game. Take out my entry fee and it leaves me with a $81 profit. This is how the bankroll looks as of today....

Jan 1 bankroll - $5252
Apr 26 bankroll - $11,753
Profit - $6501

Today I will be back to playing my regular 5/10 game and some tourneys as well. Good luck to everyone out there!!!!!!

Results from last night and the BPT on Sunday

Hello everyone. I have no idea why my post is missing from yesterday, so I will try and recreated the portion that was important, the Bluff Poker Tour event.

Sunday was the 10th event on the Bluff Poker Tour on Absolute Poker. There was 192 people who paid $10+$1 each to try for the cash + a $1500 WSOP seat. Bluff even added a pair of Oakley Thumps as a bounty on one of their employees. So how did I do????

Well lets start off with the fact that I did not get any cards for the first 90 minutes. I played exactly one hand, AhKh. I won that hand, but for the rest of the 90 minutes I had no pocket pairs and only one other hand that had two cards above 9, which was K10o. I was down to about 800 chips when I finally doubled up with 88. Then I won another hand with KK, and I was off to the races. By the end of the 2nd hour I had an above average stack, and by the third hour I was part of the final table. This just shows what patience can do for you.

Now I headed into the final table in 5th place out of 9. One person went out right away and then we were down to 8 with no real short stacks. There was one player who kept stealing blinds, and I made a note to play back at him. Eventually I got my chance when he raised me on BB and I was holding Ad9d. I decided to go allin which he called with Q10o. Unfortunately the dealer and I were not on the same page and he got a Q to win the hand. I finished in 7th place an orbit or two later. I felt that if I could have won that hand I would have at least been in a heads up battle for the seat. Instead I won $67 and a ton of valuable points (80+).

So in 9 tourneys, I missed the Easter Sunday tourney, I have cashed 5 times and have made 3 final tables. I am firmly in 2nd place in the standings, and I am right behind the leader. This is important since the top 2 players win WSOP seats. Our next stop is at Sun Poker at 9pm on Thursday. The last event at Sun Poker I finished 14th out of 125, and last year I won this event. I would love to have a repeat of that finish.

Yesterday I finished 1st in my pokerfox.net league game which was HORSE. I also won some money at my 5/10 game. Here is how the bankroll looks.....

Jan 1 bankroll - $5252
Apr 25 bankroll - $11,672
Profit - $6420

Tonight is bowling night, but I will play some 5/10 limit and some tourneys. Good luck to everyone!!!!

A short update - results from 4/21

Well I did not play anything but some 5/10 limit yesterday. I did not have a long time to play because I had to leave for my live game which is just a standard low level dealer's choice game.

In my limit cash game I won $202 in a pretty short amount of time. I won at a pace of 9bb/100 hands. This is how the bankroll looks as of now...

Jan 1 bankroll - $5252
Apr 22 bankroll - $11,313
Profit - $6061

Tonight I should get to play some more. Also tomorrow the 10th stop on the Bluff Poker Tour is at Absolute Poker at 5pm. There is another $1500 WSOP seat giveaway, and there is a bounty on one of the players. If you knock him out you get a pair of Oakley Thumps!!!!!

Just call me dumbass - Results from 4/20

Well I am sure you will be able to tell whether or not I had a winning session by that title. The answer is no. The reason why though is the subject of the title.

I have been doing pretty well in this online poker thing. I have been building a bankroll and enjoying myself. Limit holdem was treating me nice, but I decided why not give some NL holdem and some PL Omaha 8/b a try. DUMB, DUMB, DUMB. I played .25/.50 tables on both and proceed to get killed. I would build a little momentum and then my AK would see a board of AK4 and I would lose my buyin to a set of fours. This is why I originally moved to limit. In Omaha my new nickname is "Quarter" because I would get quartered in every huge pot.

I did finish 5th though in event 9 of the Bluff Poker Tour. That should put me back in 2nd in the standings. We still have a long way to go, but I would rather start near the top.

So this is where the bankroll stands as of now....

Jan 1 - $5252
Apr 21 - $11,111
Profit - $5859

I have my neighborhood game tonight

A quick day - results from 4/19

Well last night I did not get to play too much. Today my company leaves and I will be back in business. I played some tourneys at Pokerstars without much luck. Fortunately I made some back in my 5/10 game and ended up the night with a huuuuge profit of $41 for the day. It beats losing though.

Today we have event #9 of the Bluff Poker Tour. It is at Poker.com. Yours truly has dropped to 7th in the standings, but I am one good showing away from being at the top of the list.

In addition to the Bluff Poker Tour, I will be playing some SNGs at Pokerstars and playing some 5/10 at BayouPoker. Here is how the bankroll looks as of now....

Jan 1 - $5252
Apr 20 - $11,405
Profit - $6153

Luck in poker

For those of you new to the game, you will here that you can go a long time without cashing in a MTT and that you should have a big bankroll to withstand the short term swings of MTT play. While poker is a game of skill long-term, there is a huge amount of luck that can impact you short term. Sometimes that is in your favor, though I hope not because that usually means you are making poor decisions and you need to get lucky. Other times it is not in your favor. Take this tourney where I was destined not to win.

After about 20-30 minutes of play I have moved my 1500 chips up to 2000. I get dealt AA. Someone raises before me to 150 (blinds are 20/40) and I make it 500 to go. Flop comes out 6,8,10 rainbow. He bets and I raise allin and he calls after taking a minute or two. He flips over KK. Turn is a 7 and the river is a 9 and we split.

Moments later I have AK. A couple of people limp in and I raise which eliminates all but one person. Flop comes out rags and he bets and I raise him again all-in since he has a smaller stack. He calls and flips over AQ. The turn brings a Q.

That cripples me and I push in with QQ on the button. The small blind has KK and I am out.

Now I am not someone who is cursed, nor do I believe that the poker Gods are against me. That is just poker and mathematically sometimes those hands that are 15% to win will win. Actually it will happen about 1 in 7 times. Sometimes that happens all in one tourney and there is little you can do.

So other than my wonderful tourney, I played some 5/10 last night. I am not playing nearly enough because I have had family in town for three weeks now. The last of my family leaves tomorrow which means I will be playing my usual 4 hours a day.

So this is where the bankroll stands as of now...

Jan 1 bankroll - $5252
Apr 19 bankroll - $11,364
Profit - $6112

Tonight I hope to play a tourney or two and maybe some 5/10. I may just be playing some PS2 with my brother though. If not I will resume tomorrow. Good luck to all.

Results from 4/13

Well last night we had over 600 people at the Bluff Poker Tour event at pokerroom. Pokerroom was nice enough to throw in a $1000 Grand Seat to the winner. I finished 411th when this hand happened. Blinds are 50/100, we had a raiser to 300, a caller, and then I reraised to 1600+ on the button with QQ. Both blinds folded and the original raiser folded. I had one called and he flipped over JJ. My buddy then told me he folded a J. Of course the case J falls on the river and I lose.I also placed 4th in a $500 freeroll at SpadesLounge, winning $40.

On 5/10 I won over $100 in a couple of hours, finishing the night with a profit $152. Here is how the bankroll looks as of today......

Jan 1 - $5252
Apr 14 - $11,278
Profit - $6026

Tonight I will play in a tourney or two and some cash games. By the way the next Bluff Poker Tour is on Sunday at 5pm at Doyle's Poker Room. They are giving away a $1500 seat. Not bad for $10. Good luck.

Results from 4/12

Well I went back to my winning ways last night. While I did take a beating in some tourney play, I made up for it in my 5/10 cash game. Here are some of the details...

The first tourney I play in is the expert series at Royal Vegas Poker. I take a couple of bad beats, losing 77 to 66 and AK vs KQ, but I am still doing ok at the end of the rebuy period. I finally end up losing AQ vs J8 when the guy flops a J and an 8. I finish 39th out of 100 (top 20 pay).

I played in two 45 man SNGs at Stars. The first one I lose KK vs QQ. Out in 41st. The second one was nothing that bad. I just pushed in when I got low and did not win a race. Out in 19th.

So on to the cash games. I won $250 playing 5/10 limit for about 2 hours total. I was looking at finishing over $300 but some guy went runner runner to beat me after I flopped two pair. I win that pot and I finish in the $350-$400 range.

So overall my profit for the day was $187. Here is how the bankroll looks right now....

Jan 1 - $5252
Apr 13 - $11,126
Profit - $5874

Tonight we have event #7 in the Bluff Poker Tour. It is at pokerroom at 9pm. In addition to the prize pool, Pokerroom has thrown in a seat to their $1000 Grand tourney. I would love to play in an event like that. In addition to the Bluff event I will play in some PokerStars 45 man SNGs and some 5/10 play during the night at Bayou Poker. Good luck to everyone out there!!

Lesson learned

Well the past week I have been busy hanging out with my parents and my wife and kids during spring break. I tried to play poker whenever I could. Unfortunately I reacted extremely poorly to the environment that I was playing in and that caused me to make horrible decisions. This cost me a ton of money during the past week. I have now learned that if the environment is not a good one then I should walk away. I thought that since I was running so hot that I can overcome that. I was dead wrong.

So where does that leave me right now? Well my bankroll took a huge hit. Some of it was variance, but too big a part of it was bad playing. The good news is that I can change that. Starting today I should be back to my regular play and posts. Here is how the bankroll looks as of today......

Jan 1 - $5252
Apr 12 - $10,939
Profit - $5687

Today I will play a 180 man SNG and maybe a tourney on Full Tilt. I will also play some 5/10 as well.

By the way if Frank the bowling phenom is reading this please email me your Paradise Poker ID so that I can find you. Last night I was looking but I must have been looking for the wrong ID. You can email me at billinga@yahoo.com

So starting tonight we rebuild. Good luck to all of you out there.

A little poker lesson

Well I have always heard how you need to be careful of the environment that you play in. This past week I have had my parents in town and my kids were off of school. I decided to schedule a week off for vacation so I can spend some time with the family. My Dad loves cards as well so I was sure that poker would be involved. Well needless to say that environment was not the one I needed to succeed. Between my Mom telling me how bad poker is and that I play too much, my Dad looking over my shoulder at every move that I make, and my kids constantly at my heels, I just went on tilt. I should have stepped away from the computer for the entire week. Keep in mind that I did not play a bunch, but when I did I played poorly. Now I am not blaming them for my poor play, it was my reactions and my poor decisions that caused the decline. But I have learned my lesson. From now on I just take the time off rather than play.

So what happened? My cash game crashed terribly and I was impatient on my tourney play. Here is where my bankroll sits (make sure you are sitting before you read this...)


Jan 1 bankroll - $5252
Apr 11 bankroll - $10,966
Profit - $5714

So yes I have had a $1400 decline in a week. It is sickening, but I will get over it and be back even stronger than before. Today will be a light day due to the fact that it is bowling night. I may get in a 180 man SNG and some 5/10 play but that will be it. Good luck out there.

Black Thursday - Results from 4/6

Well I really do not want to type this post. But I have to in order to put forth an honest picture of poker. Today variance kicked my ass. It was kicked hard. First of all lets go to the Bluff Poker Tour. All is going well when after the break I am still in the top 30. I get dealt 66 on the button and I limp in. I am raised from the big blind and I call. The flop comes 689 rainbow. He bets 500, and I go allin for another 2000. He calls and flips over QQ. The turn is a K and the river is a Q. I am done. At the same time I am in a SNG close to the money (we have 23 people left). I get dealt QQ in the small blind. I am raised on the button and I reraise allin. The guy calls off 90% of his stack with A3o. An ace flops and I am out.

Well I have the cash game right? Wrong!!!!!!! I get absolutely crushed every single time. I end up losing $800 in my cash game for the day. I will revisit this session, but I can show so many runner runner hands it was sickening. So for the day I have lost $860. Here is how the bankroll looks.....

Jan 1 - $5252
Apr 6 - $11,470
Profit - $6,218

Tomorrow there will be no online poker. I do have a live game with my buddies tomorrow night. I will most likely stay away from the game the next two days and resume on Sunday. I need some time off to let this settle in. Good luck to everyone out there.

The streak hit 10 - results from 4/5

Well as the title suggests, I had another winning day yesterday. I started off playing a double stack tourney at FullTilt. I overplayed top two pair and was elminated when someone flopped a straight playing 910o. I then played a 180 man SNG where I was knocked out with AK against A10 when the flop came out A10x. My third tourney was an Omaha 8/b tourney at Full Tilt. I finished 8th out of 113 for $34.

Then it was on to my 5/10 game where once again I had great success. The table had 4 players who I had marked as either fish or calling stations and they played true to form. In 90 minutes I won over $300 at the table. This shows the importance of taking notes and of game selection.

So the day ended with a profit of $329. Here is how the bankroll looks....

Jan 1 bankroll - $5252
Apr 6 bankroll - $12,330
Profit - $7078

Tonight is event #5 of the Bluff Poker Tour. It is at Pokerstars at 9pm. I think I am still in 2nd place in the points after the first four events, but I would really like to see a better performance than I had at Full Tilt on Sunday. I am sure I will play a 180 man SNG and some 5/10 as well. Good luck at the tables.

Results from 4/4

Well last night was bowling night so I played a very short session. I played in two tourneys last night. One was a 180 man SNG where I finished in 70th place. I played in my league game and I finished 11th out of 19 people. Luckily my 5/10 game at Bayou Poker served me well as I won over $100 in an hour. Overall for the day my profit was $90. Here is how the bankroll looks.....

Jan 1 bankroll - $5252
Apr 5 bankroll - $12,002
Profit - $6750

So I finally reached 12k, a new high for my bankroll. I now have a nine day winning streak as well. Today I will play in a 6k guarantee at FTP, a 180 man SNG, and some 5/10. Good luck to everyone out there.

Results from 4/3

Well I played in three tourneys last night. One was a sat into an exclusive 35 person sat for a $2700 WSOP seat. I won the sat so now I need to win on Saturday for the package.

I did play some 180 man pokerstars SNG. One of them I was in the top 3 when these two hands hit me.

First hand I have 77. I just limp in with 4 other people. The flop comes out 73K. I bet, one guy raises, and I call. The turn is another K. I check, he raises, and I go allin. He calls and flips over KK for quads.

I move to another table and get dealt 66. I limp in from the sb. The flop comes 6A10. I bet, one guy calls, the other one raises, and I reraise allin. Both call. One guy has AQ the other has 1010. I lose that pot.

I end up getting killed with AK vs AA. I finish in 41st. Just digusting.

I did win in my cash game and my profit for the day was $61. Here is how the bankroll looks....

Jan 1 bankroll - $5252
Apr 4 bankroll - $11,911
Profit - $6659

Results from 4/2

Well I did not do well in the Bluff Poker tour event yesterday. Twice I got married to hands that I should have gotten away from and just got buried. Oh well, you cannot cash in every event on the tour. I believe I am still in 2nd place in the points, as it seems none of the leaders did very well. I also played in some Stars events and could not muster a good finish. The only tourney that I did do well was in my pokerfox.net league game. I finished in 2nd place which is my 4th consecutive top 2 finish.

I did kill my 5/10 cash game though. I won at a pace of 8bb/100 hands, which put me in for a good day to start the month of April. My profit for the day was $370. Here is how the bankroll looks....

Jan 1 bankroll - $5252
Apr 3 bankroll - $11,849
Profit - $6597

It seems that the bankroll is moving at a steady pace now. I should be over 12k in the next day or so and maybe I can get to 13k by next week. Of course I could always slide back a bit, but I hope with solid poker and much studying that will not happen. Tonight I will most likely play in a double stack and my pokerfox league game. I am sure I will throw in some 5/10 as well.

Also I am rooting for UCLA tonite so I do not have to pay off a bet with a buddy of mine that is an ACC fan. I am also a HUGE Mets fan, so I will be watching at 1pm today when we play the Nationals. Thank God for MLB Extra Innings. Take care and good luck everyone!!!!