Wednesday 29 December 2010

December Grind Complete

Unfortunately, I will not be able to grind my regular 90 mans until next year! So it is with a sad hearth that I post my results for the month. In fact, I should not be sad at all, I had a good month and after a relatively flat patch I have finally come out of it.

The breakdown of games is as follows:
$6 - 288 games @ 3% roi for $55.25 profit
$12 - 172games @ 52% roi for $1175.50 profit

Total 460 @ 30% roi for $1230.75 profit

Now this was not my best month nor my second best month in terms of profit but it was the first month in a little while where my bankroll increased significantly. I put it down to hard work and listening to friend's who encouraged me all the way.

I played a few more MTTs this month with little success, however, having watched a few videos on PokerVT again, I am accumulating the chips, now all that is required is a little run good and hope we can ship one in 2011! There was one deep run where I was around 10th in chips with only 150 let (147 get paid) and Full Tilt decided to crash for everyone! They did give me a nice chip chop of the prize pool but I am pretty sure I could have had a chance to make more by final tabling or even binking it!

I will keep this one short as I want to do a larger statistical breakdown of the year in a few days time.

Good luck y'all!

Sunday 19 December 2010

Fun with the Railbirds

Before I get on with the main topic for this blog, I thought I might as well post some of the results so far this month.

In terms of 90 mans I played just under a hundred having only time to play 3 times this week. The coming week will be no better but with just over a hundred more to reach 500 should be attainable even with Xmas festivities. I made a decent profit over the period with a dollar shy of $400.

The damage to my roll occurs when I try to dabble in those stupid mtts. Maybe I am not just able to master them, running bad in the small sample I have or just need to study more on mtts (probably this) but they definitely are NOT adding the dollars to my account. I will persist and eventually ship one in 2011 (goal for the year???).

Now for the main reason for the blog; Saturday night after watching Green Zone (Matt Daemon film - pretty good), I decided to log onto FTP to see if the Durrrr Challenge was happening or a few top level pro's playing, alas there was none of the sort so I was reduced to railing Bodeye ;-)

When I rail Bodeye, there are two things that occur, one he seems to start getting monster hand after monster hand and generally reaches a final table. He is a good friend, ex coach, and so he lets me know his hole cards to get a better understanding of mtt strategy which I really appreciate. We then also have a discussion which is invaluable information. Now yesterday there was a railbird, initially heaping praise on Bodeye about his game, wishing him luck, hoping for a run of good cards, praying for the suck out, you know the thing. As I was watching these messages, I wondered when the begging would start and within a split second of the thought, there it was, "can you stake me in a $2 tourney?". At which point I started begging Bodeye in the chatbox, stating that I would give him 10% of all my losses, to which he then stated to the rail he was transferring me $600 because of the great deal I presented him with. The railbirds were going wild at the thought of Bodeye sending the rail some money. To have even more fun, I declared that I would stake one of them $200 from the $600 Bodeye had sent me. I was having a good laugh and so was Bodeye. Unfortunately this was all after Bodeye finished 7th pr 8th when KK < AK when the villain spiked an A on the river.

I had my own railbird for the first time, he apparently likes the way I play, so much so that he felt that I could stake him $20... hmmm... I think not LOSER! I didn't catch his name because I was too focused on playing rather than begging! Not sure what I think of railbird beggars but they seem a little desperate at times so I don't mid messing with their heads if I get the opportunity.

Anyhow, this is probably the last entry before Xmas so wishing everyone a Happy Christmas.

Good luck y'all.

Sunday 12 December 2010

Incredible week

WOW.. that sums up my run from Monday til today! My thoughts before this week (for many weeks) was when will this breakeven stretch end. Well, it may be a little early but I think it has finally come! Not much has changed in the way I am playing but all I know it that I am winning and may it last forever. All I now want to do play day in and day out. Those bad beats are back to not effecting me emotionally in the slightest. It is an AWESOME feeling.

Played a total of 158 games since Monday making just under $1k in the 90 mans. If it was not for my damned Sundays (seem to lose on Sundays) I would have been up a little more. Cannot complain though as it's just nice to be playing well and confidence. Those abusive chats in the chat box have returned, you know you are playing well when that happens.

Currently playing the $12 Super Stack KO MiniFtops - lets ship an MTT one time!

Friday 3 December 2010

Friday Dilema

For the last few months I have been in a little dilemma. It is basically a decision on whether I should play poker with friends at the local pub or play online. The choice is a tough one as I should make more money online than the live event but with the live event I can have a few drinks whilst socializing with friends.

Not so long ago, maybe two weeks or so, I was down at the local pub but rather then play the lame looking poker game, I decided to watch the rugby. Having witnessed the fishy play made me want to join the game next time round. The guys playing look at their cards and then make betting decisions accordingly so should be a faily easy game for someone who has some skill.

During the game I saw that my brother was down around the 10BB mark so on the break I gave him a few tips. When I say tips, I said, if the BUT min rises again, just shove on him and if it is folded to you, dont look at your cards and shove. He is a monster fish and was arguing the merits of such a strategy. On the very first hand sitting in the SB, everyone folds, the IDIOT looks at his cards and folds! So much for listening. On the second orbit the same happened in that everyone folded to his SB, I signaled the motion to shove blind and because he had like 8BB left he reluctantly shoved and ran into QQ. He was NOT a happy bunny, telling me off for a stupid play, I tried to explain why it was correct but you can teach fish to breathe out of water!

So after "getting" my little brother busted, I see that my girlfriend is on final table bubble. She has played a few sng/90 mans and understands that she needs to shove with not so good hands in some situation. Even though she knows, she is always gives me a hard time about it when she gets knocked out. This time was no different as I motioned her to shove UTG 7BB with 87s She got knocked out running into AQ. OOOOPPS!

The next hour was the most pain I have suffered, I rather have bad beat after bad beat than listen to the pair of them whine how I got them knocked out. I sat there smiled and drank my beer.

On reflection, the game was played by a bunch of simpletons and sure that I have a massive edge even with my limited skill. After watching it for 3 hours, I came to the conclusion that I may slit my wrists listening to the idiots talk about poker as if they are experts and playing one hand every 5 minutes! BORING!!!

Online is the way forward for me for now but will consider trying it out one time!

Good luck y'all!

ps: Check out Nick's attempt to get Supernova Elite by playing some crazy volume! Read all about it at www.rainmanusc.blogspot.com

Wednesday 1 December 2010

November Ends

My work this month has really made sure that I had very little time to play poker. I mean there was one week where I had slept for only 10 hours in 4 days. At least the project is now live and I received some praise. Not that it means much from a bunch a people who know nothing yet insist on telling people what is best!

Back to the poker update, basically only managed to play the last week of the month and managed a mere 297 90 mans. It is the lowest volume I have achieved throughout the year and somewhat disappointed. There were maybe a few days where I should have played more but the past is gone and can only look forward.

I managed to play a few MTTs and although I did not win one, my game is coming along There were two tourneys where I finished 61 and 78 out of 2000 or so runners. Both equally brutal bust outs where if I had won the hand then it could have been another story!!! However, when I do bust I think of the words Nick told me on my visit to Vegas... Who would want to be a MTT grinder.. you have to be sick in the head (similar words to those effect). I can only explaining by the statement: You were so close yet so far. Its just very frustrating at times. He is right though so I sticking with the 90 mans for the most part.

With the MTTs and 90 mans I made a little money so that is good. I hate losing, and being of Asian background, losing money is the worst! Yes I can make fun out of myself and culture... no you cannot!!!

There are a number of blogs I read and one that always is entertaining is Jammenplyr. He has started blogging about his exploits at 10NL 6max so I decided with very little time to play 90 mans that I would try my hand at a little cash myself, knowing he is a fish (only messing) and having success, I cannot help but feel I can make a little profit in the games. So this month I have completed 2.5k hands and made a little money, $45 at 9ptBB/100 (yes very small sample).

Initially, I just sucked, playing too many hands over compensating for the tightness of hand range I employ in the 90 mans in the early going. My hand reading skills have greatly improved and that sort of helped me get out of trouble spots that I should not have been in the first place. Jammen sent me a spreadsheet he used when he started as a good starters guide for opening ranges, I was not to far off from the onset but definitely opened two many from UTG/UTG+1. Having tightened up my game a touch and watched a few John Ettinger vids on PokerVt, I have definitely plugged some leaks but know that I am still making a few mistakes here and there. I guess its all part of the learning curve. Definitely enjoying it and will only improve my 90 man games in post flop situations.

My aim in December is to play as much poker as possible whether that be 90 and/or 10NL cash on Stars. The problem with December is all the Christmas parties and socializing before Xmas just get in the way of a solid schedule so I will do what I can when I can.