Another disaster of a weekend - Vacation notice

Ok this weekend has been a nightmare. I just cannot win. When I get QQ, it is up against AA. AK on a flop of K55? Someone has J5. So what to do? Take a vacation. I am done with poker until I am back from vacation. No more at all. I will be sitting out and then when I get back I am dropping back down to 2/4 until I can get back over 25k. Where am I now? At 22.2k. I lost over 3k again this weekend playing mostly 3/6 and some 2/4. Like I said I am going back down to 2/4. So no more posts from me until August 7th.

I am at the bottom of the poker playing career right now. Dropping almost 6k in a week kills me. I know I will overcome, but for now I must stop playing, enjoy time with the family, and then come back with a new focus.

So that is it for now. I am sorry for the dark news. These clouds will lift. I hope you guys understand my position. Best of luck to everyone, and I will see you in two weeks time.

Even Steven Day

Well technically it is my 3rd straight winning day, but it is not even worth reporting on. I could never gain any momentum at all. It sure was aggravating. I played one 180 man tourney and lost when I pushed with AcKc. I was called by 66 and by 88 despite my push being 10xbb. The flop comes AK6 and I am out.

So for the day I won a whopping $20!!!!!!! It sure beats posting a loss though. The bankroll is at $25,471. Right now I would love to get back to 26k before the weekend is out.

Well I am off to go play. Best of luck to all of you.

A small win is better than no win.......

and that is exactly what I got last night. I played in two tourneys - the Bluff tourney at Absolute Poker and a 180 man SNG at Pokerstars. I finished in the middle of the pack in both tourneys which obviously netted me $0.

I then look at Pokershare and what I saw was disturbing. There were no 2/4 or 3/6 games going on at all. There were some 1/2 games going on so I sat down there. I ended up winning about $200 playing 1/2 but those games started to dry up early. There was a juicy game going on at 5/10, surely I can head over there? Right?

Hell no. I stick to my guns. Instead I just turned the laptop off and went to bed early. Total profit for the day was $175, bringing the bankroll to $25,451. Today is another day, and I am sure the games will be going strong on Pokershare all weekend.

Good luck to everyone. I will talk to you later.

The winning streak has begun!!!

Well at least I hope it has. We cannot really call one winning day a streak, but after the other day we will take it. I played two tourneys last night. A $1000 freeroll hosted by Bluff Magazine on VIP poker, and the $500 guarantee on Pokershare. I got great cards on VIP but kept getting sucked out on and I finished 40th place. Way out of the money. Will only $1000 in chips and the blinds at 10/20 with 10 minute levels, you needed to get chips early or get knocked out. I guess I chose the 2nd route. The 2nd tourney I was about avg position with 17 players left. Top 7 got paid. Three off the button I had AA and two people went allin before me. I called and the first guy had AA and the 2nd guy had 1010. Sure enough the AA guy gets a flush and I am out!!! Unreal luck for me.

In the cash game I lose a $1000+ pot with 88 and a flop of A86. The other guy slowplayed AA perfectly and got a great flop. I did not get discouraged and I kept plugging away. By the end of the night the profit was at $547 which brought the bankroll back up to $25,276. It sure felt good to post a win.

So tonight I have a couple of tourneys to play and then my cash games again. Like I said, I will be sticking to 2/4 and 3/6, no 5/10 anymore. Thanks for the support everyone, good luck to all of you.

Black Tuesday - Worst night ever

Well I am in pain as I am writing this. You cannot imagine how much pain. Today I played some 2/4, 3/6 and then I saw some people who moved up to 5/10. I gave it a shot yet again. I regret that decision.

I lost 3 buyins in an hour. $3000. The sad thing is I really did not misplay any hands.

66 vs 45s. I flop a set. On a flop of Q67. The turn is an 8 and kills me.
AA vs JJ. Allin preflop. J flops and I am dead.
AJ on a Jxx flop. The aggressor has QQ this time.

So the 10k month is history, the 30k before the trip is history, and I feel like I was hit by a car. I immediately stopped playing for the night and now that 45 minutes have passed I can write about it.

So what are the lessons?

1) You can take a shot at the higher level, but make sure you cap the buyins that you will lose.

2) Now that I have taken my shot I will no longer play 5/10 until I get to 50k. I cannot afford to screw around like that again.

3) Losing almost a months profit sucks, but you can and will rebuild. Just go back to the plan.

4) While I feel humiliated, I am still a winning player. Every player has gone through this. How I react to it will determine the person and the player I will be.

So I believe I will come out of this more determined. I am going back to 1/2, 2/4, 3/6. Like I said 5/10 is OFF the board for me. While I believe I kept my aggression up at the new table and I was not scared, I cannot afford losses like that.

Well that is the raw and honest truth. I feel like I let everyone down, especially myself. But the clouds will clear and the sun will come out.

The streak ends at 11

Well all good things must come to an end. I played 2 180 man SNGs yesterday and I did not cash in either one. The first one I get dealt AA during the first orbit. There is a raise and a call in front of my when I make a pot sized raise back to them. The first guy goes allin and the 2nd guy folds. I of course call and he shows KK. After nothing on the flop or the turn the river comes with a K and I am out. GG me. The 2nd tourney I move deeper into the tourney when I raise with JJ and get two callers. The flop comes J104 and I decided to push allin and take the pot right there. One person calls with KQo and the river comes a 9. GG me.

So then I go play some 3/6 and I just could not get any momentum. One hand that I played poorly was when I hel KcJc. I raised on the button and was called. The flop comes Ks8c4c. The guy checks and I bet $40 and he min raises to $80. Without thinking I call. The turn is a Kh and he bets $125 and after thinking I call. The river is my flush but it does not matter since he has a boat with 44. I lose $400 that hand. I never gave him credit for AK or a set. Dumbass, dumbass, dumbass.

So overall I post a loss of nearly $300 for the day which drops the bankroll to $27,735. Tonight we will start a winning streak yet again hopefully. My biggest losing streak the last two months is two days in a row. I dont want to beat that streak.

Well good luck to everyone on the felt today.

Vegas, the WSOP, and Speed Poker

Well I did not win a WSOP seat, so all my tough decisions have been made for me. I finished 13th in the tourney, top 3 won the seat. I put all of my chips when I had the best of it, got a great flop for my hand, and then was rivered on what amounted to a 4 outer. It felt like someone punched me in the stomach. I guess that seat mattered more to me than I thought.

So no Vegas trip for me this year. That has really bummed me out. I am hoping to make another Tunica trip with some of the guys, and then next year it is Vegas baby!!!! I will pay for a $1500 seat out of my pocket next year if I have to, but I am playing an event. I will also focus some attention next year to winning seats since I will not schedule any vacation during that time.

*********SPOILER ALERT************************

If you do not know about the Mansion Poker event from this Sunday do not read this!!!!

Ok I watched the event last night that my buddy Greig played in. He handled himself very well on TV, he looked a touch nervous when handling chips, but that is about it.
I do have an issue with the fact that he said that Kenna James is his favorite player over me, but what can you do.

So Greig got completely screwed during this broadcast. He was in first place with about double the 2nd place person when disaster struck. First he has AK and runs into QQ. They are both allin preflop. The first card hits and it was an Ace, but two cards later the Queen shows up. No problem he is still in solid shape. Then he gets AJd and he raises. Someone reraised with 55. He folds. Then he gets AKs and the other guy has A4d. Greig raises and the other guy calls. The flop comes Kxx with two diamonds. The guy bets and Greig goes allin. The guy thinks and thinks and then calls. Of course a diamond hits on the turn and Greig is a short stack. Shortly after that he is out. He played well, and I do not know what I would have done differently. I may have called with the AJd, it just depends on my read. If the guy flips over 55 it is an easy call mathematically. He could have had AK,AQ,JJ,QQ,KK,AA and then that would have spelled disaster.

I did play some 3/6 NL 6 handed games and I was able to post my 11th straight winning session. My record of 13 is right around the corner. My profit for the day was $839, which brings the bankroll to $28,022. I am hoping to break 30k before I take my self imposed break. I am starting to figure that while I may not hit 100k, I could hit 70k this year and 100k before next spring. I am making on average of $340 a day over the last 46 days since going back to NL. If I can finish this month at 30k, that would give me 145 days of possible play, which includes my break for vacation. I figure there is another 20 days out of that which I wont play (Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays, long weekend with the wife that I have planned etc.), so that gives me 125 days of play. Multiply 125*340 and you get and additional $42,500. Now all I have to do is execute. It sounds so easy on paper, but obviously it is not as easy as it looks. But at least we have a plan to look at.

Ok enough rambling. Tonight I will be back playing some 2/4 or 3/6 and maybe a tourney or two to get me aggravated. Good luck to all of you out there.

Whew what a roller coaster ride

Man what a rough day. I started off this morning losing some tough hands. I just could not get a break. When it was all said and done I was down $1250. I went out to play with the kids, grab some dinner, and then I came back and put the kids to bed. Finally with everything settled at home, I grabbed a seat at the 3/6 NL table. I tore up that first table and then moved to a 2/4 table. I tore up that table as well and when the evening came to a close I not only picked up the $1250 that I was down, but I finished the day with a profit of $622!!! That puts the bankroll at $27,183.

Tomorrow we have the WSOP freeroll at Pokershare. I am so looking forward to this event. My wife is taking the kids out of the house so I can concentrate. Hopefully tomorrow is my time.

Well I need to go to bed and get some sleep if I am going to be able to bring my A game. Have a great night and good luck to everyone.

Winning streak hits 9 in a row

Well my dog did not want me to sleep in this morning, so here I am posting already. Last night I was only able to play for a couple of hours since my company is still in. Fortunately I was able to take advantage of the limited time I had to play and posted a $377 win. That win brings the bankroll up to $26,561. Hopefully we can pass 27k this weekend and cap the weekend off with a WSOP Main Event seat, even though we will turn it in if possible.

Since I am up anyway I will go check out the tables. Good luck everyone.

8 winning days in a row but no WSOP for me

Well last night was the finals of the Bluff Poker Tour. Like usual, I choked for a WSOP main event seat. I was up and down for the first hour of the tourney, and then the 2nd hour I missed a couple of huge draws that left me with 10xbb. I raise to 4xbb after a limper with AhKh. The limper calls. The flop comes out A93. I push allin and get quickly called. He turns over 33 and I am dead. Another opportunity shot down.

I did play some 2/4 NL 6 handed tables and I did post a winning night overall, my 8th night in a row. My total profit for the night was $186, and that puts the bankroll at $26,184. Since moving to NL on June 1st I have posted 35 winning sessions out of 43 sessions overall and my profit has been nearly 14k. I do not see moving away from NL anytime soon obviously.

So tonight I am entertaining guests again, so I will not be able to play until much later unfortunately. Hopefully I can still get in a few hours of 2/4.

Here is a question for readers out there. Sunday I play in the 40 person freeroll at Pokershare that gives away 3 seat to the Main Event. If I should win a seat, and that is a HUGE IF, should I ask them if I can exchange it for a World Poker Tour seat? The reason I would do this is that I am supposed to go to the lake for a week with the kids when the WSOP starts. Now I really, really want to play in the WSOP, and I have never been to Vegas, but I also enjoy the lake, and I want to see my family. I would also hate to cancel the kids vacation. They have been looking forward to it all summer. Any thoughts???

I did notice that a couple of people have signed up for the rakeback deal. Thanks for using the link, and I hope you enjoy your new boost to your bankroll. Good luck everyone!!!!!!

The streak hits 7!!!!!

Yes yesterday I had another winning session. I did not get to play alot because I have company in until next week, but I do what I can, when I can. I played all 2/4 6 max tables, and ended up winning $633 for the session. The bankroll is now at $25,998. For the month I am up $2800. It is really a good month considering how little I have played. My results would be scary if I could get in any serious play. Oh well.

So people are asking me about Pokershare and this rakeback deal on that site and other sites. Keep those questions coming, I do not mind answering them. As little as I have played I still have earned $257 in rakeback through 5pm on the 11th. It is money that you should get as well. I just want my readers to have every advantage that I have.

Ok tonight is the final of the Bluff Poker Tour. We are playing for the WSOP Main Event seat. Wish me luck, I have a feeling I will need it. Best of luck to you at the felt!!!!

Justpaysomerake.com Banner

Yes the 2nd banner is now up. I know my formatting sucks, so anyone that can help with where a better spot would be, and can help me put it there, I welcome the advice.

But now let me talk about the site and why I put it there. First of all I use it. I would never put anything up here or suggest it without using it first. This site is solid. Why you ask? Good question. Here is why. They update their stats every day so you can see how much you are earning. They pay you promptly each month. They are there to answer any questions that you may have. These guys have proven to me that they are trustworthy.

The fact of the matter is that you deserve some rake back for your play. Someone is getting it, why not you? Every little bit helps. Now obviously when you get to 1/2 and 2/4 NL, it is not a little bit anymore. I should end up around $1000 each month.

Now if you do click the link to sign up I will get a small % as a referral fee. That is NOT why I am telling you to do this. While every $ helps, my word means alot more to me than anyone here can afford. I did not know about rakeback when I started out, and I certainly did not know what companies to trust. So for those of you that are in my shoes, it is my obligation and my pleasure to help you out. What you do with that information is entirely up to you.

Six winning days in a row

Well last night I mostly got my ass kicked in Playstation 2 games, but I did get to play some poker. I played some 2/4 NL and won $286 for the day. The big losing hand came when I overplayed my 99 on a 852 flop and lost to 1010. Oh well, it happens. The bankroll is now sitting at $25,365.

Today I am off of work, but I am bringing the kids to the pool. I will get some poker in at some time today, I am not sure when though. Best of luck to all of you today.

Why Bill is a dumbass

The other day I was telling you why you should root for Kenna James. Let me elaborate, and add Rick Fuller and crew to that list. Along the way you will find out why I am a dumbass (if you did not already know why). My buddies Greig, Jeremy, and Erik were all going to Vegas to watch Greig compete in the Mansion Pokerdome Speedpoker tourney. I backed out due to family obligations. Well on Sunday night my buddies go to the Rio and meet Kenna James finally. Kenna was super cool towards his new "Bluff posse". They also called up Rick Fuller who has played in tourneys with us online, and routinely posts in the Bluff forum. Well Kenna and Rick decide to take the guys out on the town with them, Gavin Smith, Clonie Gowen, and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. Needless to say my buddies are having a blast going from club to club with these folks while yours truly is sitting at home playing 2/4 NL. All I can say is AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!

I get a phone call the next day and Greig cannot contain his excitement as he is relaying the story. He said that Kenna, Rick, and the gang treated them as they were long time friends. This from people that they have never "met", just really talked to online. If that does not show you what awesome people that they are, nothing will.

So instead of making my first trip to Vegas ever and getting to meet some really great people that I watch all the time on TV, I am sitting on my ass playing online and handling some family stuff. Man if that is not a bad beat then I do not know the definition of one.

So last night I played in a 180 man SNG on Stars and played some 2/4 NL on pokershare. I could not build any momentum at all during the day. I cashed in the SNG, finishing 12th when I pushed allin on the button with AQ for 10.5k and was called by the bb who had KJ. The blinds at the time were 600/1200 with a $50 ante. He flops two kings and I am out. GG me.

In the cash game I lost a $500 pot when my I went allin with my overpair of KK and I was called by A9s. He goes runner, runner for the flush. Just wonderful. I do manage to win $130 at that table anyway though.

So my profit for the day is $151 and that moves the bankroll to $25,079. It is my 5th straight winning day, hopefully that does not end soon. Oh well back to work and my sorrow of a missed trip. Good luck everyone!!!!!!!

The start of what I hope is a huge week

Well this week I have two solid shots at winning a Main Event seat at the WSOP. Thursday night we have the finals of the Bluff Poker Tour at VIP Poker. My best shot will be Sunday at Pokershare. There is a freeroll for 40 people where they will give away THREE seats to Main Event. I would love to take advantage of one of these opportunities to play in the King of poker tourneys. Hopefully everything can come together during one of them.

So I took most of Saturday off but I did play yesterday. I entered 3 tourneys and only cashed in one which was a second place showing. Unfortunately it was also the cheapest of the prizepools. Oh well.

For the day the profit was just under $400. I also received my rakeback payment for 15 days of work which totalled $440. Not bad at all. So the bankroll is sitting at $24,928 now, which represents a $1700 profit for the month so far. Not nearly a 10k month like June was, but still solid after 1/3 of the month has been done.

1/3 of the month you say??? We have only had 9 days so far, and last time I checked July had more than 27 days. Well not for me. I am taking a break from online poker from July 27th-August 6th. I am going to spend time with my family and all of my Aunts/Uncles/cousins at a lake in Indiana. Simply put, it is the best time I have all year long. All we do is swim at the lake, play ball with all the kids (and there is a ton of them), play horseshoes, and of course play some cards. They love playing Euchre and Poker. My euchre game is rusty, but you all know how the poker game is shaping up. My kids are counting down the days until we leave, and I must say I am doing the same.

So that is all I have to report for the day. This Sunday night on FOX Sports they will be showing the epsiode of Mansion Poker that my friend Greig played on. I dont know how he did (I am trying to avoid finding out), but I am sure he played well. I know they had a great time over the weekend, and most of my buddies were winning money through play on Sunday afternoon. I will have to wait for the final report. Well good luck to all of you on the felt this week, hopefully we all will have alot to be happy about!!!

A good way to start the weekend

Well I had a very good night playing 2/4 NL and also playing at a very rarely seen full 3/6 NL game. The good news is that more players are heading to Pokershare, and we are getting better ring games. I played for about three hours overall, and won just over $1500. This brings the bankroll up to 24k once again.

Today I will play for a couple of hours before going out tonight with my wife. Hopefully I am back on the verge of another positive run. Good luck.

Results from 7/6

Well I played some 5/10 limit and some 2/4 NL. I did not have a good session in 5/10 limit as far as results go, but I did play solid poker. I think I am going to be done with limit for now and just concentrate on the NL game.

Overall my profit for the night was $225 which puts me over 22.5k. Today I should get my rakeback money as well which will bump me back to 23k.

Today I added a link to the official website for Kenna James. Simply put, there is no better person in poker than this guy. He exudes class in everything he does. It is great to see someone who truly deserves success, actually acheiving it. I know that one day we will be referring to Kenna as "x time WSOP bracelet winner Kenna James". I hope he starts that run this year. He is so down to earth and accessible to the common folk like us. Take a look at his site and see for yourself.

In other news my buddy Greig is heading out to Vegas with two other buddies of mine today. He won a trip to participate in the Mansion Poker Speed Poker tourney. He is playing tomorrow night and it will be on TV some time next week. He won the entry in a ONE PENNY tourney. Now if he can beat 3 consecutive 6 person SNGs he will win one million dollars. Just unreal. Go take it down Greig!!!!!!!

Ok that is enough rambling for now. Best of luck to everyone on the felt!!!

AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!

Yesterday was horrible. Everything that could happen to a player in his life, happened to me yesterday. Flopped set over set? It happened to me three times. KK vs 88 allin? 8 flops. AQ on a Q rag flop? I lose to 56h when the turn is a 5 and the river is a 6. It was brutal.....

So looking back what could have I done differently? Well there were a couple of bets I would have liked to take back, if I did then I would have lost a couple of hundred less. Nothing I could have done would have made me a winner yesterday though. What was the total carnage? Nearly $1400. I wince even as I write that.

So overall the bankroll dipped to 22.3k. Not good at all. I am down $1000 for the month. I know this will turn around, but boy that hit does not feel good.

Anyway today I will be back at it, playing some 2/4 NL and some 1/2 NL. Good luck out on the felt!!!

Winning Streak ends at 12

All good things must come to an end eventually. I was hoping though that the end of my winning streak would not cost me so much!!! Fortunately I rebounded some yesterday, and I am ready to start a new winning streak.

So with my loss on Monday and my win on Tuesday, by bankroll dipped to 23.7k. A loss of $300 overall. Not a huge deal, but not nearly as much fun as winning.

Tonight I have the last event of the Bluff Poker Tour at Poker.com. This will finalize the standings and then we will play for the WSOP seat next week. I also play for a WSOP seat in a pokershare promotion as well next week. Hopefully I can take one of these down.

Take care and good luck on the felt!!!!

Results from 7/2

Well I did not get to play a whole bunch today. I spent the day having a shrimp boil at the house with the neighbors. I did get to play some 2/4 NL as well as some 5/10 NL. I only tried the 5/10 game because I recognized half the table from my 1/2 and 2/4 play. I basically broke even on the 5/10 play and won money on the 2/4 play. My profit was $276 overall. The bankroll edged over 24k and now sits at $24,034. Tomorrow I will get to play some during the day, but then I am going to the Braves game tomorrow night with the family. After Tuesday I will be back to my regular amount of play. Good night and good luck!!!!

Ok I lied - results from 7/1

Well I was not supposed to play at all today because I am playing live with friends today after I got back from the Liberty Day festival in Cedar Bluff, Alabama. Well we left the festival a little early since it was so hot. I had an hour to kill, so what better way to prepare to play poker other than to play poker. I played an hour of 2/4 NL and posted a win of $558. That is my 11th winning day in a row. My record is 13 days in a row.

Question of the day - What is your record for most consecutive winning sessions?

So the bankroll now sits at $23,758. No more play for me today as I am leaving for the game in about 20 minutes. Take care and good luck!!!!

Results from 6/30

Well I posted my first 10k month!!!!!!!! I back to NL fulltime on 6/1 and my profit was $10,662 for the month.

I played in two tourneys today. One was a 10k event at Full Tilt. I finished 61st out of 494 people when my KK could not beat A10 when he went runner runner straight. If I win that hand I definitely cash and I would be in the top 15. Instead I am out.

I played a $500 guarantee at Pokershare and I died when my AKs lost to QQ. Races were not good to me today at all.

But then there was the cash games!!!! I won $1300 at the cash games today. One hand was a $1699 pot where I had KK, another player had QQ, and a third player had K5s. The flop comes J45 and I bet and 50, get raised by QQ to 152 and the 3rd player calls and I call. The turn is a 4 but puts 3 spades on the board and we all check (the guy with K5 had hearts). The river is another 4 and I check and both guys go allin. I call and take down the pot!!!!!

So the bankroll is now at $23,200. I will not get to play tomorrow because I am playing live. Sunday I will play and post the results.

Hopefully July can be even better than June. Good luck to all of you!!!!!