Friday, April 28, 2006
New poker blogger and blogroll addition
One of my readers that makes semi-regular comments is named Thirsty. Well, Thirsty now has a blog. Check it out - it's brand new. I've added it to my bloglines account, and if there's good poker content showing up there then I'll add it to my blogroll on the left.
And I also need to introduce the latest blogroll addition: Bloody P Plays Poker. I've been following the blog via Bloglines for a while and I've been enjoying it. So check it out when you have some time.
And I also need to introduce the latest blogroll addition: Bloody P Plays Poker. I've been following the blog via Bloglines for a while and I've been enjoying it. So check it out when you have some time.
New game plan
Sorry for the lack of posting here, but what free time I've had in the evenings I've used to play a tourney (or two, if I go out early in the first one). I've spent a little time in the ring games, but very little. My focus has become tournaments, and I've been sticking to the 1.00 + .20 /45 person SnG tourneys at Stars, with one exception of playing a 1.50 + .25 turbo /18 person when I was short on time one evening.
I've done fairly well in the tournaments recently, at least for me. I've been working on my tournament play and it has paid off. I finally started using PokerTracker and it is showing me that I am in the black on tournament play. I've played 13 of the 1 + .20, paying 15.60 in entries and fees, winning 35.00 for a net of 19.40 (ROI 124.36%), finishing in the money 6 times. I've played 1 of the 1.50 + .25 and finished 3rd for 5.40, making a profit of 3.65 (ROI 208.57%).
Now I know this is not a big enough result set to be any indicator of solid tournament success. But analyzing my play shows that I've made very few "stupid" moves. One tournament where I finished 4th, I was the chip leader and had 2 back-to-back major suckouts from the same player to put me out. He even said "sorry" after the second one. First hand I had pocket AA going in, and on the river the 4th club hit the board to give him my flush. I had half my stack in - he was all in - so he doubled up. Next hand I get all money in pre-flop with KK. He calls, shows QT. A T hits on the flop, then the third T hits on the turn and I'm out. It's been little stuff like that.
Last night I finished 7th. I went out on a hand I could have played better, but was next-to-last in the chip stacks and felt the need to make a move with 99. Got called by JJ and that was it. So, didn't have the best hand going in, but with an M < 2, something had to be done. With a 2.00 payout for 7th, the tourney still paid for itself.
So my PokerStars bankroll now stands at 54.xx. I'm going to continue to focus on tourneys with some occasional uber-tight ring game play here and there. Once I build my bankroll up to 100.00, I may start trying the 5.00 tourneys and see how that goes. Any comments or suggestions?
I also played some at Party Poker in the last week. I logged in there after reading about people having money added to their account. Sure enough, there was a $20.00 bonus waiting for me there. Just play 200 raked hands and it's mine. And I can use their 20.00 to play my 200 raked hands. Ok, great. I play about 90 hands late last week, run my balance up to 26.xx. Then I forget about it. I realize Wed night that I had to clear another 110 hands that night, so I transfer in some money from my Neteller account and do some 4 tabling at .10/.25 to get my hands out of the way. I make it in about an hour, but along the way manage to give away most of my bonus money. I just end up with an 9.00 profit, which I transfer out (along with the money I transferred in) and it sits in Neteller waiting for the next bonus opportunity.
Two lessons learned here: 1) I still don't like the Party Poker interface much, even with the recent upgrades, and 2) I am not ready to 4 table. I need to focus on what I'm doing more in order to make good decisions and 4 tabling doesn't allow me to do that. I've done 2 tables, and I'm pretty comfortable with that, but I think I play my most effective poker when I have the time to watch the other players on the hands I'm not involved in. Helps me to push those small edges a little more.
I've done fairly well in the tournaments recently, at least for me. I've been working on my tournament play and it has paid off. I finally started using PokerTracker and it is showing me that I am in the black on tournament play. I've played 13 of the 1 + .20, paying 15.60 in entries and fees, winning 35.00 for a net of 19.40 (ROI 124.36%), finishing in the money 6 times. I've played 1 of the 1.50 + .25 and finished 3rd for 5.40, making a profit of 3.65 (ROI 208.57%).
Now I know this is not a big enough result set to be any indicator of solid tournament success. But analyzing my play shows that I've made very few "stupid" moves. One tournament where I finished 4th, I was the chip leader and had 2 back-to-back major suckouts from the same player to put me out. He even said "sorry" after the second one. First hand I had pocket AA going in, and on the river the 4th club hit the board to give him my flush. I had half my stack in - he was all in - so he doubled up. Next hand I get all money in pre-flop with KK. He calls, shows QT. A T hits on the flop, then the third T hits on the turn and I'm out. It's been little stuff like that.
Last night I finished 7th. I went out on a hand I could have played better, but was next-to-last in the chip stacks and felt the need to make a move with 99. Got called by JJ and that was it. So, didn't have the best hand going in, but with an M < 2, something had to be done. With a 2.00 payout for 7th, the tourney still paid for itself.
So my PokerStars bankroll now stands at 54.xx. I'm going to continue to focus on tourneys with some occasional uber-tight ring game play here and there. Once I build my bankroll up to 100.00, I may start trying the 5.00 tourneys and see how that goes. Any comments or suggestions?
I also played some at Party Poker in the last week. I logged in there after reading about people having money added to their account. Sure enough, there was a $20.00 bonus waiting for me there. Just play 200 raked hands and it's mine. And I can use their 20.00 to play my 200 raked hands. Ok, great. I play about 90 hands late last week, run my balance up to 26.xx. Then I forget about it. I realize Wed night that I had to clear another 110 hands that night, so I transfer in some money from my Neteller account and do some 4 tabling at .10/.25 to get my hands out of the way. I make it in about an hour, but along the way manage to give away most of my bonus money. I just end up with an 9.00 profit, which I transfer out (along with the money I transferred in) and it sits in Neteller waiting for the next bonus opportunity.
Two lessons learned here: 1) I still don't like the Party Poker interface much, even with the recent upgrades, and 2) I am not ready to 4 table. I need to focus on what I'm doing more in order to make good decisions and 4 tabling doesn't allow me to do that. I've done 2 tables, and I'm pretty comfortable with that, but I think I play my most effective poker when I have the time to watch the other players on the hands I'm not involved in. Helps me to push those small edges a little more.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Pokerstars tourney
I just finished a 1.00 + .20 45 person tourney on PokerStars. I almost went out in the first few hands when I had several bad beats on consecutive hands. I was down to around T600 by the time the 2nd blind level hit (15/30). Then I finally hit a hand and doubled up. Suddenly I was back in the thing.
I'm glad I held on. I managed to win the entire tournament. $14.00 payout. I did give a bad beat to my opponent to swing the tourney my way when he had about a 2-1 chip lead on me, but I figured it was just payback from the bad beats I took in the first few hands.
Anyway, overall a fun time. I paid 1.20 to play 2 hrs of poker and make 14.00 (net 12.80). Not a bad night.
I'm glad I held on. I managed to win the entire tournament. $14.00 payout. I did give a bad beat to my opponent to swing the tourney my way when he had about a 2-1 chip lead on me, but I figured it was just payback from the bad beats I took in the first few hands.
Anyway, overall a fun time. I paid 1.20 to play 2 hrs of poker and make 14.00 (net 12.80). Not a bad night.
Blogger tourney sponsored by PokerSavvy
PokerSavvy is sponsoring a tournament to send a blogger (or multiple) to the WSOP. Prize money is just the entry fee to the tournament ($1500), but that makes it a freeroll for ya. There is no entry fee - you just have to be a blogger. Go to their site and check it out. If your not signed up, then sign up. So far they have been outstanding to deal with. The next poker room I sign up for I am definitely signing up through PokerSavvy.
Click the logo on the left or the link in this post to sign up.
Click the logo on the left or the link in this post to sign up.
Friday, April 14, 2006
So far, a great run at Titan
I didn't get set up in time for the PokerSavvy tourney on Tuesday, but I decided to go ahead and try Titan for a bit anyway. I made a $50 deposit, and got $50 in bonus money to work off. Every 400 points earned gets me $5.00 of my bonus money released.
So far it's been a pretty good run. I've turned my original $50.00 deposit into approx. $235.00 as I write this, including the $15.00 in bonus money I've earned. I'm still playing, and my peak was 269, so no telling where it will end up. I'll update this post when I'm done.
The first evening I played the .25/.50 table, but since then I've been playing the .50/1.00 tables. I'm playing pretty tight, and mostly just mining the points. So you'd think that when I've sat at a table for 3 hrs, seeing the flop around 10-15% of the time, and reraise you on the flop or turn, people wouldn't continue to bet then call my reraise all the way down with middle pair. But hey - who am I to argue if they want to give me their money.
I've also played one Maui tourney, and came in 3rd. So far 100% in the money. Maybe I should quit while I'm ahead? :-)
At first I didn't like the titan interface much, but I'm gradually getting used to it. The table interface is ok, but I really don't like the hand history interface. Maybe it just takes more adjusting. I don't like that it doesn't report the total pot anywhere, and the rake.
I'm going to keep playing Titan until I have the 4k points needed to clear my bonus, then I'll rethink it.
Oh yeah - and if any of you that have an account on Titan haven't heard, they're awarding everyone points at the Titanium VIP level until midnight Sunday, regardless of your current VIP level. So hit the tables.
Update: I ended the evening at approx. $225.00.
Update 2: /span>Cheapsk8 asked in the comments if it was Limit, NL, or Pot Limit. It was no limit. And everyone probably knows this already, but the weekday evenings seem to be much softer than other times.
So far it's been a pretty good run. I've turned my original $50.00 deposit into approx. $235.00 as I write this, including the $15.00 in bonus money I've earned. I'm still playing, and my peak was 269, so no telling where it will end up. I'll update this post when I'm done.
The first evening I played the .25/.50 table, but since then I've been playing the .50/1.00 tables. I'm playing pretty tight, and mostly just mining the points. So you'd think that when I've sat at a table for 3 hrs, seeing the flop around 10-15% of the time, and reraise you on the flop or turn, people wouldn't continue to bet then call my reraise all the way down with middle pair. But hey - who am I to argue if they want to give me their money.
I've also played one Maui tourney, and came in 3rd. So far 100% in the money. Maybe I should quit while I'm ahead? :-)
At first I didn't like the titan interface much, but I'm gradually getting used to it. The table interface is ok, but I really don't like the hand history interface. Maybe it just takes more adjusting. I don't like that it doesn't report the total pot anywhere, and the rake.
I'm going to keep playing Titan until I have the 4k points needed to clear my bonus, then I'll rethink it.
Oh yeah - and if any of you that have an account on Titan haven't heard, they're awarding everyone points at the Titanium VIP level until midnight Sunday, regardless of your current VIP level. So hit the tables.
Update: I ended the evening at approx. $225.00.
Update 2: /span>Cheapsk8 asked in the comments if it was Limit, NL, or Pot Limit. It was no limit. And everyone probably knows this already, but the weekday evenings seem to be much softer than other times.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Long Time, No See
I've been away for a bit. Dust has gathered around here. Sorry about that. Shortly after my last post I broke my arm. Luckily it wasn't very bad, but it made it difficult to use a keyboard for quite some time. But I'm all healed up now, and back in action.
I had hoped to kick things off tonight with that blogger freeroll on Titan courtesy of PokerSavvy.com, but didn't get it all set up in time. I never had played there, so I had to download and install the software, register with Titan, then go to PokerSavvy and get the ad code to put in my blog (see the left) and then email them for the code. I just missed the cutoff. Got home from work a bit later than I planned. Oh, well. Maybe next time.
I must give kudos to the PokerSavvy people though - not only were they VERY prompt in responding to my email, but also were letting me slide in. I hadn't updated in a while, so they thought the site may be dead.
But no worries - I'm back. Maybe I'll move a tad bit of my money from Stars over to Titan and play a bit. See how I like it.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Oh, and go check out PokerSavvy. They didn't ask me to say that. They just seemed so cool when working with me that I think you should check them out.
I had hoped to kick things off tonight with that blogger freeroll on Titan courtesy of PokerSavvy.com, but didn't get it all set up in time. I never had played there, so I had to download and install the software, register with Titan, then go to PokerSavvy and get the ad code to put in my blog (see the left) and then email them for the code. I just missed the cutoff. Got home from work a bit later than I planned. Oh, well. Maybe next time.
I must give kudos to the PokerSavvy people though - not only were they VERY prompt in responding to my email, but also were letting me slide in. I hadn't updated in a while, so they thought the site may be dead.
But no worries - I'm back. Maybe I'll move a tad bit of my money from Stars over to Titan and play a bit. See how I like it.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Oh, and go check out PokerSavvy. They didn't ask me to say that. They just seemed so cool when working with me that I think you should check them out.
