In my mind I wanted to get lessons and training to improve my poker skills. It is my intention to become a full time poker player in the future so to do that whilst working a full time job is to get coaching. I am currently not sure whether I am allowed to say who I get training from but it has been decided that i will only play the 90 KO Tourney's on Full Tilt.
My aim is to crush and destroy the $3 ones primarily with a few $6 ones mixed in. During the week, after work I intend to play 9 tables a day and then play until I am dead on the weekends. Having the backing from the girlfriend is a bonus and so with that in mind I can focus on the task at hand.
Yesterday started off well where I managed to final table 4 at the same time again. Unfortunately, I entered 2 tables as chip leader but after a few all ins I was down and out finishing 4th, 6th and then on the other tables finishing 6th and 9th.
Whilst I had the four FT open, I let the thought that crushing these was going to be easy. I can say without a doubt that I was WRONG. A combination of being unlucky (running bad) and a few mis-reads has destroyed the confidence a little losing 25 back to back games. I am not used these type of swings and feel somewhat deflated. Having reviewed all the HH so far, I can say that the fishes had their day today and caught everything and I am sure that my day will come.
Once i speak to my coach again later on in the week, he can hopefully rectify a few leaks and boost my confidence in that I am executing his instructions. Knowing him, if i were in the same room then I might have got the hairdryer treatment for some of the STUPID stunts I pulled but then also congratulated for some high level moves I make (once in a blue moon). Anyway, I have leave and crush some more so until next time.
Good luck at the tables!
Sunday, 22 November 2009
Friday, 20 November 2009
A New Dawn!!
I have unfortunately got to stop my monthly goal. It is not because I was losing or felt that I could not complete the task. The reason was that I have had a better offer to do something more lucrative. It is still poker related but not sure how much I am allowed to say at this point but once I found out then it may be revealed.
I will summarize where I am before quitting (something I really hate doing):
Goal: 400 $3.40 SnG on Pokerstars
Played: 256 with a 0.05% ROI
Goal: 50 £3.30 KO on FullTilt
Played: 36 with a 86.55 ROI - netting $102
In summary, did well in KO tourneys and worked hard to recover from a $100 downswing to get back to break even. Not sure what my goal will be for the future but if anyone reads this then I will hopefully have some interesting stories to tell in the near future.
Good luck at the tables.
I will summarize where I am before quitting (something I really hate doing):
Goal: 400 $3.40 SnG on Pokerstars
Played: 256 with a 0.05% ROI
Goal: 50 £3.30 KO on FullTilt
Played: 36 with a 86.55 ROI - netting $102
In summary, did well in KO tourneys and worked hard to recover from a $100 downswing to get back to break even. Not sure what my goal will be for the future but if anyone reads this then I will hopefully have some interesting stories to tell in the near future.
Good luck at the tables.
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Feeling Frustrated
Played a total of 27 SnGs today, which is more than I play on most week days. I could have played more but the frustration was building and I did not want to start playing bad and tilted so I quit. The variance in poker is something everyone must deal with but having been beating these SnGs for a little while now the downswings hurt just a little. It seems that when I feel comfortable and looking to move up I get a sudden downswing the stops that plan in it's track.
Summary of the month so far:
1) 400 $3.40 SnG on Pokerstars
Played: 174 with a -6.69% ROI (approximately 12 buy-ins)
2) 50 £3.30 KO on FullTilt
Played: 28 with a 119.16 ROI
So as you can see not doing so well in the Pokerstars and that is where most of the frustration is coming from. I cannot seem to win an all in at the moment where I am a 4:1 favorite or a coin flip, I cannot even suck out just one time. Oh well, I am going to do a review session and then get back to it and pretty sure that i can break this downswing.
Good luck at the tables.
Summary of the month so far:
1) 400 $3.40 SnG on Pokerstars
Played: 174 with a -6.69% ROI (approximately 12 buy-ins)
2) 50 £3.30 KO on FullTilt
Played: 28 with a 119.16 ROI
So as you can see not doing so well in the Pokerstars and that is where most of the frustration is coming from. I cannot seem to win an all in at the moment where I am a 4:1 favorite or a coin flip, I cannot even suck out just one time. Oh well, I am going to do a review session and then get back to it and pretty sure that i can break this downswing.
Good luck at the tables.
Thursday, 12 November 2009
A Small Blip
Well i played 24 games today and won... none making one 2nd and two 3rd place finishes. understanding variance in Poker is a key lesson everyone should learn and as i play so few games I feel the shifts a lot more. It is my aim to play the best SnG strategy but at the level i play there are serious amount of donkey's but having said that I hope they return when I am on a heater.
I have decided to cascade my tables, this way I do not see what stupid hands people are calling shoves with. The time i see this when i review my HH's which seem to suggest that I played well but just ran into bad luck.
Have been reading about Tom 'durrrr" Dwan and how he has become a Team Full Tilt member which is interesting reading but what is more interesting is that he is getting owned by a Swedish player going by the name of Isildur1. Another not of interest is the Pokerstars tournament Leaderboard race between MI_Turtle and EeeTee2008 who have a huge prop bet together.
On a final note I will play a lot more KO tourneys and so hopefully the bad run stops in the 9 mans.
Good luck at the tables.
------------------------
ADDED AFTER INITIAL POST
------------------------
I have just learnt that $3 KO tourneys on FTP are a gold mine. I have been told this in the past but never really understood how to best play them. Started out playing 6 tourneys, getting knowcked out early in one where my KK could not hold against A6o. Thinking this was going to be similar to my efforts on Pokerstars earlier, I was little anxious at shoving from the SB onto the larger stack, but guess what 84o can beat JJ - haha lets roll. I managed to FT 4 tables and it was an awesome sight for me and gutted I did not take a screenshot.
One FT, down to 3 handed and I was 2nd in chips and BB has ben shoving mad. I am in SB, the btn who is short stacked raises, 3x (leaving 6BB behind), I call with AA, BB as normal shoves all in, short stack calls, I call - happy days when they flip over their cards, Btn has ATo, BB, has KQo... HOLD ONE TIME!!! Ship it to the new chipleader and two hands later I get KQh all in against 77, Q on the flop seals the first victory!!
From there I managed to win another, finish 3rd having been sucked out on and a 5 place finish. Not wanting to be results orientated but ship me the dollars. Need to count the bounties as well cause there were a few.
I have decided to cascade my tables, this way I do not see what stupid hands people are calling shoves with. The time i see this when i review my HH's which seem to suggest that I played well but just ran into bad luck.
Have been reading about Tom 'durrrr" Dwan and how he has become a Team Full Tilt member which is interesting reading but what is more interesting is that he is getting owned by a Swedish player going by the name of Isildur1. Another not of interest is the Pokerstars tournament Leaderboard race between MI_Turtle and EeeTee2008 who have a huge prop bet together.
On a final note I will play a lot more KO tourneys and so hopefully the bad run stops in the 9 mans.
Good luck at the tables.
------------------------
ADDED AFTER INITIAL POST
------------------------
I have just learnt that $3 KO tourneys on FTP are a gold mine. I have been told this in the past but never really understood how to best play them. Started out playing 6 tourneys, getting knowcked out early in one where my KK could not hold against A6o. Thinking this was going to be similar to my efforts on Pokerstars earlier, I was little anxious at shoving from the SB onto the larger stack, but guess what 84o can beat JJ - haha lets roll. I managed to FT 4 tables and it was an awesome sight for me and gutted I did not take a screenshot.
One FT, down to 3 handed and I was 2nd in chips and BB has ben shoving mad. I am in SB, the btn who is short stacked raises, 3x (leaving 6BB behind), I call with AA, BB as normal shoves all in, short stack calls, I call - happy days when they flip over their cards, Btn has ATo, BB, has KQo... HOLD ONE TIME!!! Ship it to the new chipleader and two hands later I get KQh all in against 77, Q on the flop seals the first victory!!
From there I managed to win another, finish 3rd having been sucked out on and a 5 place finish. Not wanting to be results orientated but ship me the dollars. Need to count the bounties as well cause there were a few.
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
10 Days In
I am now 10 days into the challenge and I am already feeling that i have bitten off more than I can chew. It seems that when i set the challenge people were determined to make me tilt. Calling AIPF with 84o and 92o out of the BB when I am shoving ATC on the SB... gg losers hope I see you again. You also know when things are bad when you shove with AA or KK then a miracle flush or straight gets there or the dreaded 2 outer on the turn or rive. For once please let them hit on the flop so I can SUCK OUT on them.
Anyway enough of the whinging, these things happena dn we must continue to do the best we can. So the summary as it stands:
1) 400 $3.40 SnG on Pokerstars
Played: 115 with an 9.75% ROI
2) 50 £3.30 KO on FullTilt
Played: 7
My aim was to get ahead in the SnGs before Friday so to concentrate on the KO tourneys on Friday's where the fill up very quickly. I am going to struggle to complete both tasks but I definitely want to complete the first as it seems to be easier for me to rake in the money.
I am considering coaching in the SnG department as I have the bankroll to move up but as I only have an ROI of 9% (small sample) I am not sure whether moving up is the best idea. Just think that a coach can improve the weaker areas of my game in particular when to push if you have 4-5BBs left. Is shoving 98s UTG+1 when there are 6 players left with 4BB and so forth.
Good luck at the tables!
Anyway enough of the whinging, these things happena dn we must continue to do the best we can. So the summary as it stands:
1) 400 $3.40 SnG on Pokerstars
Played: 115 with an 9.75% ROI
2) 50 £3.30 KO on FullTilt
Played: 7
My aim was to get ahead in the SnGs before Friday so to concentrate on the KO tourneys on Friday's where the fill up very quickly. I am going to struggle to complete both tasks but I definitely want to complete the first as it seems to be easier for me to rake in the money.
I am considering coaching in the SnG department as I have the bankroll to move up but as I only have an ROI of 9% (small sample) I am not sure whether moving up is the best idea. Just think that a coach can improve the weaker areas of my game in particular when to push if you have 4-5BBs left. Is shoving 98s UTG+1 when there are 6 players left with 4BB and so forth.
Good luck at the tables!
Sunday, 1 November 2009
November Goals
Since October was a successful month, I have decided to push myself a little further this month. Please see goals below:
1) 400 $3.40 SnG on Pokerstars
2) 50 £3.30 KO on FullTilt
I have had a little success with the KO tourneys and wanted to see what I can achieve playing a very very very small sample in a month. So there are the goals and I have already wasted most of the day doing other stuff. Considering that I play around 250 SnGs a month 400 seems to me impossible but will keep you posted throughout the month.
I am also following Nick Rainey who has a prop bet to finish above another player in the TLB on Pokerstarts (see http://rainmanpoker.net/Blog for details). He is streaming the action live using Stickam so will be interesting viewing... perhaps.
Good luck at the tables!
1) 400 $3.40 SnG on Pokerstars
2) 50 £3.30 KO on FullTilt
I have had a little success with the KO tourneys and wanted to see what I can achieve playing a very very very small sample in a month. So there are the goals and I have already wasted most of the day doing other stuff. Considering that I play around 250 SnGs a month 400 seems to me impossible but will keep you posted throughout the month.
I am also following Nick Rainey who has a prop bet to finish above another player in the TLB on Pokerstarts (see http://rainmanpoker.net/Blog for details). He is streaming the action live using Stickam so will be interesting viewing... perhaps.
Good luck at the tables!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)