October Resolutions

Goals

• Play more poker! At least 50 hours of online play. Minimum 200 SNG's, 20 HU matches and 5 MTT's. More is better.
• Win more! Don't want to put an exact number here but $$$+ is the way to go.
• Study more! Waste less time with silly TV shows etc. Watch more PokerVT.
• Learn to completely understand and accept the filthy, hard realties of the game of poker. 
• Get ridded of all those damned emotions while playing.

Dreams

• Have a +$5K month.
• Win a multi-table tournament 
• Phone my boss and say the magic words 'I quiet! ...and, by the way, you're a total asshole' 
• Disappear at the horizon.

September: The Results

About 39 hours spent at online poker tables...
Well, I never played less poker in 2009 than this September...
Normally I play something between 60 and 120 hours of online poker a month.

Now things were very, very slow:
No multi-table tournaments and no heads up matches.
Just 180 sit 'n go's and about 1300 hands in cash games.

But, most important, I made my goals:

• Got Iron Man Status for the 11th consecutive month, completed the Take 2 promotion at Full Tilt and (as a little extra) cleared my deposit bonus at PokerStars. 
• Didn't tilt too much (well, I totally blew up at a friendly live game but luckily I'm only focusing at online play here...) 
• Playing correctly became a lot more easy after I got that flattering hand history review at PokerVT
• Made about $300...

Not bad given the circumstances:

Too much work and too little free time.

A lot of time spent on website building.

A lot of time wasted on doubting myself.

None of my dreams came true.

(But that's why they're called dreams...)

Anyway, my September sit 'n go graph looks (somewhat) promising for times to come:

Enough of September;

the best is yet to come!

Ganja & Poker

Poker and pot...
an interesting combination.

Now there's even an online poker room dedicated to it:

Reefer Poker


Sadly they don't have a Mac client yet...
But for Windows users it's up and running.
Reefer Poker is part of the well-known Merge Network.
So, although the name might suggest otherwise, it should be a respectable and safe place to play.

If you're into it (or just looking for a smaller site to play) now is the right time to sign up: Reefer Poker is offering a big, fat 150% deposit bonus (up to $1420!)...

As a high stakes player you're probably better of at Full Tilt or PokerStars.
But if you're just a high player this might be the place for you.

Even if you (somehow) don't like ganja, Reefer Poker has some advantages. Just imagine the competition you'll be facing...

A few example situations:

• Your opponent might be unable to see his hole cards because too much smoke clouds his computer screen. 
• Players might time out because they're looking for a lighter.
• Your opponent goes to the kitchen for a snack (during a tournament break) and while exploring his fridge, he forgets all about the poker tournament.
• ...

There should be a lot of dead money out there.
Check it out!

The $36 Curse

It's a great weekend.
Sunny weather.
Love, life, poker - everything cool.
No alarms and no surprises.
Life like it should be.

What better time to face my old foe again?
The $36 Turbo Sit 'n Go's at Full Tilt...

Those games almost wiped out my bankroll back in March...

The trouble is that I don't feel outclassed or outplayed in these games.
On the contrary,
even before I knew I was better than I thought I was (???),
I felt I really could handle it.
The difference in the opponent level compared to the $24 games is minimal.

Sadly my stats tell a whole different story:
I played 259 x $36 Turbo SNG's.
ROI = -14%.
A total fish.
I'm probably better of throwing $36 out of the window.
With a little bit of luck (on a windy day, for example) some notes might fly back into my house...
My ROI should be higher that way.


Anyway, nothing has changed.
I played 2 games this morning.
Felt like the best player at the table.
Half an hour later I was down -$72...

Randomness sucks

Words of Wisdom - Plan Your Hand

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 297703
***
The introduction of Professional No-Limit Hold 'em (Flynn, Metha & Miller, 2007 2p2 publishing) goes like this: 'Plan your hand. If we had to summarize this book in three words, that would be it.'
***
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $25.00

BB: $6.40

UTG: $27.23

MP: $9.58

Hero (CO): $26.80

BTN: $24.65

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is CO with 6 4

1 fold, MP raises to $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, 1 fold, SB calls $0.40, BB raises to $1, MP calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, SB calls $0.50

Standard call in a loose, passive 6 max game...
After the big blind reraises I am definitely priced in. It's a multi-way pot with suited connectors. Folding for the min-reraise is out of the question.


Flop: ($4.00) 4 3 7 (4 players)

SB checks, BB bets $1, MP folds, Hero calls $1, SB folds

After this bet, the big blind only has about 1 pot bet left. Because of his reraise pre-flop, it is OK to guesstimate he has missed this (low!) board. 
With the MP player out, I get a good price to call. 
If only the SB folds, I'll happily commit the remaining (effective) stack as long as the turn is a 'safe' card...


Turn: ($6.00) 7 (2 players)

BB bets $4.40 all in, Hero calls $4.40

Because I made my decision to commit on the flop, I can...
 #snap call# 
(no need to thinks is always a relief)


River: ($14.80) A (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $14.80

BB shows K Q (a pair of Sevens)

Hero shows 6 4 (two pair, Sevens and Fours)

Hero wins $14.06
('Bing Blang Blaow!')

(Rake: $0.74)

A tip for the weekend: plan your hand!

Books and TV

I qualified for the Iron Man Challenge on Full Tilt (for my 11th consecutive month...).
Made about $200 this month so far.
Everything is cool and fine.
My confidence still on a high, after the positive PokerVT review of my play.
My game is (supposedly) rock solid.
Just not going anywhere really.
No break trough.
I go to work everyday and spend my nights with books and TV.
Something needs to chance.
I feel brain-dead.
Like poker's just another hobby.
I am nowhere near reaching my 2009 goals
(be filthy rich, stop work and get as far away from here as possible - in a nutshell).
Maybe I should move up in stakes.
Time to rise and shine or
(more likely)
crash and burn...
*
But for now it's just books and TV.
Another autumn in the dull city.

A Brilliant Idea

A great idea on PokerNews.com:

Pokernews Op-Ed: Will Casinos Cater to Pot-Smokers in the Future? | PokerNews

Now the Dutch start reconsidering there tolerance towards marihuana,
I am very surprised to see that California and Nevada even consider the idea to think about legalization...

Anyway, who needs Amsterdam when you can get Bellagio Brownies in Vegas?

Quote of the Day

“I cannot really critique Vagabond’s play here too much because there’s not really much he’s doing wrong, if anything”

-- Poker Pro Derek Willams on PokerVT 

(Online Strategy with Derek Williams/ User Submitted Hand History Review 5)

Just watched two of my own hand histories reviewed on PokerVT.

Now I cannot get rid of this smile on my face...

I've been sending in hand histories for a few weeks now. 
Showing of my donkey moves in an online video while getting expert advice from a seasoned pro... It seemed like a fair trade of. 
But as it turned out, there were very little donkey moves in my hand histories. 
My sit and go play looks leak-free and rock solid on video.

Hey, I'm a winning player.

Derk said it, so it must be true...

This is such a huge confidence boost!
I am on the right track. 
As long as I can persevere I'll get there in the end...


(If you're not a PokerVT-member, check out my training page for more info....)

Hail To The Fish

Image is everything.
For over 2 years I was a pirate on Full Tilt.
Yesterday I decided it's time for a change.

Pirates are making money by all means necessary.
So my avatar and I were sort of...
well, incompatible lately.

Last night I changed to the fish avatar.
It should be a more reasonable reflection of my personality and state of mind....

Since then I'm running hot as hell.
My ROI for September is back up to a solid 5% (coming from minus more than I wish to remember!)
I'm winning coin flips, I'm sucking out from time to time (instead of just sucking) and I'm winning games, making money. Cashing!
...Dollar signs flashing in my eyes...
Happiness and general wellbeing are back again.
Bing Blang Blaow!

Now if I just can figure out a way to stay on this side of variance...
Everything will be all right.

Back From Outer Space

Went looking for a dark forest (to kill a cat)
but I took a few bad turns...
It feels like my mind ended up in outer space
but actually I stayed right here.
Staring at the shadows on the wall,
doing nothing much at all.
Passing time.

Work, sleep and TV.
An average guy in an average life.

The truth bothers me.
Too much evidence pointing in one nasty direction...
Maybe I've just been running hot for about 18 months and now reality starts catching up.
Hard and fast.

If you don't know where you're going, you most likely will not get there.
If you do know where you want to be...
you'll probably fail anyway.
But at least you stay busy that way
(until failure is undeniable)

So, after enjoying a nice sunny day, I'm ready for another night of online poker. The weekend has just begun and there's about $3K left in my bankroll.
Here we go again...

Kill A Cat

When all else fails,
one has to be willing to go the extra mile.

So next full moon I'll drive deep into a dark and creepy forest.
There I'll ritually slaughter and disembowel as small to medium sized animal (preferably a cat but a porcupine will suffice). To improve the overall experience I will do all this while standing on one leg and howling at the moon...

There's no hard evidence that this will improve my poker results.
But, being a player-who-used-to-be-winning (aka a loser), time away from poker equals money saved.
So with a bit of sketchy math it's cleary an excellent idea:

Kill a cat = Ev- (time, gasoline, the killing, the howling, cramps from standing on one leg, ...)
Losing at poker = Ev- (time, money, stress, pain, anxiety, ...)

But:
Ev(Kill a cat) > Ev(losing at poker)
And:
Being at rock bottom =
Ev- > Ev-- =>
Ev- = (almost) Ev+ =>
Ev+ > Ev-
<=>
Ev(Kill a cat) > Ev(playing poker)
Ev- > Ev--
<=>
Killing a cat = excellent for poker results

Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)

2 hands of bubble play...

Full Tilt Poker $22 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t120/t240 Blinds - 4 players - View hand 275540

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: t3760 M = 10.44

Hero (BTN): t3920 M = 10.89

SB: t2880 M = 8

BB: t2940 M = 8.17

Pre Flop: (t360) Hero is BTN with A K

1 fold, Hero raises to t550, SB raises to t2880 all in, 1 fold, Hero calls t2330

Flop: (t6000) Q K K

Turn: (t6000) 8

River: (t6000) T

Final Pot: t6000

Hero shows A K (three of a kind, Kings)

SB shows 8 8 (a full house, Eights full of Kings)

SB wins t6000

Same sit 'n go, a few hands later:

Full Tilt Poker $22 + $2 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t120/t240 Blinds - 4 players - View hand 275543

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: t2720 M = 7.56

Hero (BB): t2200 M = 6.11

CO: t6000 M = 16.67

BTN: t2580 M = 7.17

Pre Flop: (t360) Hero is BB with A Q

CO raises to t720, 2 folds, Hero raises to t2200 all in, CO calls t1480

Flop: (t4520) 3 8 4

Turn: (t4520) 7

River: (t4520) 6

Final Pot: t4520

Hero shows A Q (Ace Queen high)

CO shows 5 A (a straight, Eight high)

CO wins t4520

Variance sucks.
Maybe I should try 'Bingo'...

Lost Little Fish

So I read the books, watched hours of video on PokerVT, studied the odds and outs, ...
Still no results...

September so far:

• 68 x $24 Turbo Sit 'n Go's: -$28,80
• about 400 hands of NL25 6max cash games: -$12,75

It's a tiny sample size.
Variance might have a huge influence on these results.
Still, I don't feel too happy about this.
One could blame bad luck and cold cards, moan about bad beats or launch a theory about online poker being rigged.
Sure, that would give me comfort. Another 'victim' to join the masses...
But would it improve my results?
No!
There's only one solution to this problem:
study more, play better, complain less.
Strive for greatness!
Time (volume) will overcome variance.

I know, in general, dreams don't come true.
(that's why they are called 'dreams')

But...
better a tiny chance than no chance at all.


So I'm going to start up Full Tilt and play my daily dose of sit and go's.
One day I'll get there... (one day)

Poker Clandestino (Marihuana Ilegal)

Just read about a new ruling by Europe's highest court:
Brussels backs Portugal in Bwin online betting case - Times Online
That's one bad beat for European online poker...
... and then there was this article in the local newspaper:
'Dutch coffeeshops will no longer be allowed to sell marihuana to foreigners'
Too much rules &
Too much laws
Got me all stressed out!
Time to relax
(aka online poker and a good smoke)

Reeling In The Fish...

Another day, another fishy low-stakes cash game at Full Tilt.
I was crushing the table.
Especially in this hand (so I taught):
The skilled pokermaster (me, who else?) turns a full house against an ignorant fish.
All I was thinking of was making the right bet sizes to stack my opponent by the river. In my mind I saw his chips already sliding in my direction.
...Sweet $$$ Dreams...
The poor guy didn't have a chance...

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 271303

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $25.00

Hero (UTG): $28.69

CO: $25.00

BTN: $9.42

SB: $31.75

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is UTG with 5 5

Hero raises to $0.85, 1 fold, BTN calls $0.85, 2 folds

Flop: ($2.05) 5 7 J (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN bets $1, Hero raises to $3, BTN calls $2

Turn: ($8.05) 7 (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN bets $2, Hero calls $2

River: ($12.05) 4 (2 players)

Hero bets $4, BTN calls $3.57 all in

Final Pot: $19.19

Hero shows 5 5 (a full house, Fives full of Sevens)

BTN shows 5 7 (a full house, Sevens full of Fives)

BTN wins $18.24

(Rake: $0.95)
(My Pain: significant)