But They're Suited!

The title says it all.

Starting Bankroll: 22.79
Ending Bankroll: 0.00
Played: .10/.25 NLHE. Bought in for full bankroll. :-)

Played a few hands ok. Lost about $8.00 on a bad read. Lost the rest on a hand where I just knew the guy was bluffing me. He just squeaked it out. So, I am done with Party Poker.

I prefer the Poker Stars UI and overall gameplay. And the fact they don't report my mucked showdown hands. So anyway, it was fun while it lasted Party Poker. Live Long and Prosper.

Who knows - I may be back one day.

Update: Ok, so I figured out that PokerStars shows the hand in the muck if you go to showdown as well. So I can eliminate that from my cons list for Party Poker. But, I still didn't like the interface as much. I think I will try it again, though, after building up a bankroll on PokerStars.

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Now off to Poker Stars.

Starting Bankroll: 25.00
Ending Bankroll: 23.24
Played: 1.00 + 0.20 45 person SNG.
Played (while waiting): .05/.10 NLHE

I need 7 more FPP to clear a bonus from my last deposit. Let's see if I can get it before I lose all this money.

I only got to play a couple of hands at the NLHE before the tourney started. Not too much damage.

DANG! I need to improve my game without it costing me so much. But I can't seem to take the play money games seriously. What can I do?

Ok, that tourney was over. Couldn't get decent cards, tried to make a move, and got burned. But 1 FPP closer to my bonus! Now for a little .10/.25 NLHE action to make back my tourney entry fees.

Starting Bankroll: 23.24
Ending Bankroll: 63.39
Played: .10/.25 NLHE

Several decent hands, a couple of all-ins that got me a profit in the range of 15.00 or so each time. Made enough FPP to free my bonus, too - so that number includes a 5.00 bonus. Take 5.00 off and that makes it 58.39 for a profit of 40.15.

Not too bad of an evening.

I had a bad couple of sessions since my last update. The details would just make you laugh at my poor play. My $66.00 bankroll dropped to a low point of $13.50ish.

I decided to play a bit this morning - either improve some, or finish off my Party Poker bankroll and move on to PokerStars.

Starting Bankroll: $13.50
Ending Bankroll: $22.79
Played: .10/.25 NLHE. Bought in for full bankroll. :-)

Had a bit of a slow start. I think that my bad run had me a little spooked, and almost any type of wager would scare me off everything but the biggest hands. Once I got over that, I won a few decent pots (based on my bankroll and the table wagering level), and managed to edge it up almost $10.00. Good for about 30 mins at the table.

So far, there are 2 main gripes I have about Party Poker vs. Poker Stars. First, no checkbox for Call or Call Any when a bet is made by someone else (Poker Stars has this). I really miss this. Having to wait until my turn to complete the small blind just bugs me. Second, apparently if I muck a losing hand at showdown, my cards show in the hand history anyway. I think that right there will make me leave Party Poker soon. I may try to build up my bankroll a bit first, but I don't think I'll be playing there for much longer.

I had a chance to play again on Thanksgiving day, late in the evening after everyone left. I had several good hands, and had the chance to make back most of my losses. Unfortunately, my total bankroll stayed at 51.00. Why you ask? I was an extremely stupid move on my part that involved that little Blackjack button on the right of the table screen. STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID! That will NOT be happening again.

Anyway, on to tonight...
Starting Bankroll: 50.75
Ending Bankroll: 66.91
Played: $25.00 NLHE

Best hand so far: I had AJo. I think I may have raised to 0.50 pre-flop. I had a couple of callers. Flop came AAJ. I bet out 2.00. Had one caller - a guy I had played a couple of hands poorly against earlier. I wish I could say it was on purpose, to set a trap when I got a great hand like this, but it wasn't. The early bad hands were just pure stupid play on my part. Turn - a rag. Bet out 4.00 and called. River - another rag. I go all-in for 22.xx. After using all his clock, he calls for about 14.00. When I showed down my boat, he mucked and left the table.

No other major hands played. A few good pots, a few bad plays by me. My high point for my total bankroll was $80.00. I left with it at 66.91 (as reported above) when friend called to try to play an online game. We are trying to connect now, but it doesn't look good, so I may be playing poker again in a bit.

The Neteller deposit finally cleared. I have some down time this morning waiting on our guests to arrive for Thanksgiving day, so I thought I'd play a little poker.

I've played on Party Poker on the play money tables. I don't like the interface as much as Poker Stars, but everyone says the fish are biting there, so I decided to try it out.

Oh Iggy, just in case you read this, I put in Bonus Code IGGY (except I put in iggy), and I don't see anything listed in my account on the bonuses page. I guess I screwed up by using iggy instead of IGGY. Darn!

So, here we go:
Starting Bankroll: 75.00
Ending Bankroll: 50.00
Played: $25.00 NLHE

So far, not doing real good. Buy-in is down to around 12.00, which is up from a low of 8.00. My highest point so far has been just under 26.00. I think I'm playing a little too loose since I've heard so many tales of fishes here. Time to tighten up a bit.

Update: I am now a miserable failure at Party Poker No Limit. Managed to go out.

Moving on to Limit to try a bit.
Starting Bankroll: 50.00
Ending Bankroll: 51.00
Played: .50/1.00 Limit HE
Buy-in: 25.00

So my first day of poker on Party Poker is over. Time to go do a couple of last minute things and get ready for the guests and football.

So far, I'm not real happy with Party Poker. And not because I played poorly, or lost money, but because I just don't like the interface much. If my bonus stuff never shows up, I may move my money to Poker Stars.

Any reason I should stay on Party? Let me know in the comments.

I played in a play money tournament tonight on Poker Stars. My deposit at Neteller is still "pending" (read as "we want some more interest off the float"), so I couldn't play at the real money tables.

I played in a 27 person sit-n-go. Finished third, for about 1300+ play money $$. Didn't do too bad.

Best hand: pocket 7's, then the flop brought up 2 more 7's. Even better - another player had a full boat and called me when I went all-in post flop. Unfortunately, I failed to get a screenshot - didn't even think about it until several hands later. But I did do the obligatory "DEEMS QUADS BEEETCHES!" line!

I'm looking forward to my real money hitting my account. Hopefully it will clear Monday and I'll be playing Monday night.

Until then.....DEMS QUADS BEETCHES!

It's been a long break from poker. I played occasionally at PokerStars at the play money tables, but didn't play for real money again until Oct. 29th, which was also my first live casino game.

A friend's birthday had occured the week before, and I took a day off from work to hang out with him for his birthday. We were trying to think of something fun to do, and we decided to go to the Winstar Casinos just across the border in Oklahoma. He had played Texas Hold'em online with play money, and wanted to try his luck at the real thing.

I scanned their website ahead of time and noticed that the lowest no limit game they listed was 2/5 with a $300 minimum buy-in. That was more than I was willing to risk for my first live outing, so I had decided to play the 4/8 limit table which had a $40 minimum buy-in. I took $100 for gambling, planning to buy-in at that level. My friend took $300 because he wanted to play no limit regardless of the buy-in.

We arrived around 12:30 PM (noon:30) and proceeded to the poker room. When we arrived, every table had a waiting list, so I immediately got my name on the 4/8 limit list. As I was looking over the waiting list board, I noticed a $1/$2 no limit table with a $100 buy-in. WOO-HOO! I immediately switched to that list, my friend added himself to that list, and we went off to have some lunch while we waited.

We returned to the poker room about 1:45 and had to wait about 15 mins. for our seats. I was seated first, and my friend got seated about 10 mins later at the other 1/2 table. I was hoping he'd get a seat at my table so I could go up against him at some point, but it wasn't meant to be that day.

I proceeded to buy in for $100. I got 2 stacks of $5.00 chips, and a seat to the immediate right of the dealer. Away we go...

First few hands my stack dwindled to around $75.00. I was playing a little, posting some blinds, etc. but mostly trying to get my reads on the other players at the table. After about 20-30 mins of this, I started feeling comfortable and really started playing. Things immediately turned around. I quickly got back to even money, and never looked back. All-in-all, when I cashed out 2 hrs. later, I was up by $380.00 excluding some generous tips to a couple of dealers when I won some big pots. I bought in for $100 at 2:00 pm, and cashed out for $480 at 4:00 pm. A good day overall.

There were several really good, fun hands, but best I can remember I only rivered a suckout on someone once. Nearing the end of my time at the table one player was down to his last $6.00. He went all-in preflop in middle position, saying something like "might as well". I was dealt 2-2 (suits are gone from memory). At this point I was up pretty good, so I decided to just roll with it and see what happened. 2 others must have felt the same way, and 4 of us saw the flop. Flop was no help for me. The 3 of us left that could bet just checked it around. Turn was no help. Same thing - checked around. River came with a 2. Ok, so I bet out $10.00. Other two folded, and it went heads up. He had QQ. I rivered the set of 2's on him, and took his last $6.00. I felt bad about it, as I probably shouldn't have played that hand. What would you have done there? Feel free to comment and let me know.

Mainly for the first 45 minutes to an hour I played very tight, only showing hands I had to (being the bettor not the caller), and only taking strong hands to the showdown. In the second hour I loosened up a bit, but didn't bet big until the turn or the river, at which point many of the players that limped in and min-raised on the flop would fold. I took several hands for $30-$50 without even a showdown.

It was a great trip and I can't wait to do it again.

I am now taking $100 of my winnings and making a new bankroll for online play. I sent the money to netteller yesterday, and hopefully it will show up by this weekend and I can get back in the swing of things. I will definitely be tracking my play here, so check back in.

Oh, and my friend? He burned through $300.00 in 2 hrs. I guess he's learned that real money plays differently than play money.