Crappy November

After a brilliant start, November was very poor. I ended up playing nearly 24,000 hands which is well over what I expected, but I started to 9-table and also had a couple of days off work when I played quite a few hands. Overall I ran at 1.89 BB/100 hands, which is very VERY poor. At $25NL I ran at over 6 BB/100, but -0.99 at 50NL which really bought me down.

So in December I will not play any $50NL! Hopefully I will win steadily and gain confidence and then in the new year I can get back to $50NL.

So anyway the bankroll hasn't been growing very well, but then last night I was with a friend and we got bored of grinding and tried to spin-up some money playing HU cash. We each put in $10 and started playing $50NL HU. We very quickly progressed and after about half an hour we were playing $1000NL against Grimstarr. Not much happened against him and we cashed out with about $250 so $115 profit each. Nice.

So with that, and about $100 in rakeback, the bankroll is now on almost exactly $2400.

The plan for December is to play over 10,000 hands, not to play cash games over $25NL, and to run at over 4BB/100. Here goes...

Very Slow

I played on monday, more 9-tabling $50NL and ended up down about a buy-in. I can't remember any key hands, but it was pretty frustrating. I haven't really been enjoying poker that much recently, and I am trying to think of ways to make it a bit more fun.

I've decided that December will be an STT month. I will start by 9-tabling the $6 turbos, and hopefully move up as the month goes on. I'm planning to play 500 in the month.

Until then I have been playing some $25NL 6-max, not really to make any money, but just for a bit of fun. So far it has been going pretty well, and I'm up about $50. So, again, no real movement to the bankroll.

Bankroll ~ $2300

Slow Weekend

I didn't have that much time to play this weekend, but since playing on Stars I am trying to reach SilverStar by the end of the month so I had to squeeze out a bit. On Friday night I got in from the pub and was way to drunk to play poker, but managed to win about $20. Looking over the hands in the morning though, I could've won a bit more.

On Saturday I played for about an hour, but lost about $20. Exciting stuff.

Then yesterday I played another hour and won $35. The only hand I remember is when I got all-in BvB, I had AK and he had A5 for a $50 pot. Nice.

So the bankroll is still about $2300, and I have now earned 500 of the 1500 FPPs needed this month.

Won a bit back

I kept playing a few sessions on FTP, winning $30 in the first one and losing $30 in the second. Pretty exciting stuff. I have found in that past that when I am running really badly it often helps to try a new site, so I thought I would give Stars another go. It means I won't be getting rakeback or getting ironman points, but the ironman rewards are fairly shit anyway, and the Stars FPP are much better.

The session went very well. I only had $380 on there and as my Neteller is bugger I couldn't deposit anymore, so I played 3 $50NL tables and 6 $25NL. The $50NL tables were pretty dull, but I couldn't misson the $25NL ones!

Firstly I got all in with AcJc v KQ v K4 on a Kc-Q-7c flop and hit a club on the river. Then I got all-in with 98 v 56 v AcJc on a 9c-8-7c and hit an 8 on the river. God times. I also managed to pick off a few bluffs and finished up $128.

The bankroll is now just under £2300, so still some way to go to reach this months target!

My worst session ever

I really shouldn't have posted about how well November was going, it's really fucked me up! I earned my 200 points yesterday and was about $30 up and decided to do some other things. Then a bit later I had an hour to kill and sat down at 9 tables.

Within 5 minutes I was $100 down. Firstly I raise AA and get 2 callers. The flop is J-4s-5s. I bet $3 and a blind raises to $14. The other folds. Most people will not play a set this fast, and I push. He calls with 44. Ouch.

After this I was a bit pissed off and called a raise with Ad10d. The flop came Kd-Jd-5. I got all-in against 2 other people, one holding AK and one with KJ, but I couldn't hit. Another $50 gone.

I managed to regain some self-control and continued to play, but soon I lost another $60, $30 on AQ v 10 10 on a Q-10-x flop, and $30 on a flush draw and overs v TP. Bugger.

Now I was pissed off! I closed down FTP and opened up Stars to see if thing would go a bit better. Early on I raised AhKh to $2, and the BB made it $15. This raise doesn't look strong! I pushed and he thought for a bit but called with Kc-5h. I flopped an A, but he hit runner-runner clubs for the nuts. Another $50 gone.

So I lost about $180 in total yesterday. I know that playing $50NL I can easily have days where I lose 4buy-ins, but it still has pissed me off so much! I am now only $58 up for the month! I think I will take a break for a few days, just yping this has made me feel angry and that doesn't seem to be a good mood to play poker in!

Bankroll ~ $2120

Booked a Win

I played last night and was a lot more focused and patient. I got all-in early with AQ v AJ on a A-A-10-8 board, overbetting massive, knowing that he couldn't fold an ace and hoping that he didn't have AK/A10/A8. I then doubled up with 88 v KK on a 8 high flop. Both pretty standard.

After a few more little pots I was up $120, but I had to play for a bit longer to get my 200 points. Then things started to go a bit worse, I played AK very badly and lost $20, and I let a very aggressive player keep betting into my AQ on an A high flop, but he caught his set of 7's on the river.

So overall I ended up $58 and got the required 200 points, so pretty happy in general, and back over $2.3k.

Bad Weekend

Poker has gone pretty badly this weekend. My A Game partner is back in the game, and so on Friday we tried to take down a multi. We played the $11 rebuy on Stars with a top prize of $12k. However, with 180 getting paid, we ended up busting in 186th with AQs v AA. Nasty. We did get very lucky earlier though when we got all-in with J5 v AJ v AA pre-flop and managed to triple up.

Then on Saturday I had a little time to play. As I didn't have long and I still wanted to earn the 200 Full-Tilt points for the Ironman competition, I decided to 9-table. It was all going pretty well and I was about $100 up until I lost the biggest pot that I have been in for a long time.

I had a stack of $80 and called a min-raise with 99 UTG+1. The button and blinds also called. The flop came 9c-8c-6. UTG bets $2, I make it $10 and the SB check-raises all-in for $80. UTG calls all-in for $20 and I'm not good enough to fold top set. SB shows 7c-5c and UTG shows Ah-7h. So I just need the board to pair! The turn is 6c - paired the board!... but gave SB a straight flush... bugger.

So I actually ended up about $30 on that session, but I was pissed off that it could've been $100 (or $200 if I won that hand).

On Sunday I played a bit more but I was tired and impatient and it was awful. I ended up losing about $100, and it could've been easily avoided. One time a very passive player bet and then re-raised me all-in on a A-10-6 board when I had A6. He only has A10, A6 or a set here, but I called and he had A10. Then I flopped 2 pair with 82o out of the BB on a 8-7-2 and was unable to fold when I was obviously beat. He had 87. Gutted.

I'm not quite sure what the bankroll is on now but It's not great, I guess about $2250. I need to stop tilting and play focused!

On the plus side I now feel comfortable playing 9-tables, and should be earning decent rakeback.

The bad run continues

I played for about an hour and a half last night and lost about $50 - not too much but still very annoying. I did get paid $42 for rakeback for last month though, so again the bankroll hasn't changed much.

It all started so well. An MP player limped and I made it $2.25 on the button with AQ. The BB called and MP re-raised to $9. I find it impossible to respect a limp/re-raise if it does not come from UTG or maybe UTG+1, and thought he was making this play with a lower PP. I therefore potted it for $29, and he pushed. Now I have to call, and I was wrong, he had KK. But I flopped QQ. Nice.

I also got fairly lucky winning a 50-50, getting all-in with AsQs v 85o on a 8s-4s-2 flop, hitting a Q on the river.

Then it went wrong though. I couldn't lay down AA on a 10 high flop, and he obviously showed 10-10. I felt that he could've easily played JJ/QQ the same though, so I wasn't too annoyed at how I played.

I then moved down to $25NL to practice 9-tabling. I found it pretty stressful and lost another $25, so I think I will stick to 6 at the moment.

I feel like a need a break to FTP to get over this downswing, but when I am earning rakeback there and trying to get enough points to get ironman medals, it seems a waste to change, so I will stick around and hope my hands turn around soon. I can't blame luck, as I have actually run very well! This month I am actually up $100 more than I should be according to PokerEV. That makes losing even more annoying, oh well.

Inevitable

After the last post it was pretty obvious that my good run was going to come to an end. I guess I couldn't expect to run at 14BB/100 for the whole month, but I would've liked it to have lasted a little longer!

I played for a couple of hours last night and had a few nasty situations. In one hand I got stacked with KK v AA, but I think I played it pretty well. I played it so that he could've easily stacked off with QQ/JJ there, but oh no, he had the aces. I then lost half a stack with 33 v Q8 on a 3-Q-Q-8-6 when I bet the pot on every street, putting him all-in on the river. I also had to fold QQ after investing about 30BB when it was fairly obvious that I was beat. At this point I was down about $120, and not very happy.

However, I did then hit one nice hand. UTG limped and a fairly TAG player UTG+2 made it $2.25. It folded to me on the button, and I made it $8 with QQ. UTG+2 calls. The flop is 3-9-8. UTG+2 check-calls $10. The turn is a 6. I felt that this player was pretty trappy, and could easily have AA/KK here. a set was unlikely, as he didn't seem quite aggressive enough to raise 99/88 pre-flop UTG+2 with a limper. Anyway, I couldn't afford to give him a free card and so bet $20. He pushed, but with only $13 behind I had to call. Luckily he showed TT, and missed the river.

In the end I only finished down about $45, which could've been a lot worse. After the previous post the night before, I played for about another half an hour and won about $40 so the bankroll hasn't really changed. I just need to get back into winning ways!

I am trying for the ironman thing on FTP at the moment, although I don't really understand it. I opted to go for the medals instead of the freerolls, but I have no idea which is better. I think so far I have 4 days with over 200 points, and 2 more with over 100. I'm not sure how much I will get to play this month, but I expect i should be able to reach Silver status.

That's it really, now about $80 to make until I can move up!

Good start to November

I know this post is going to jinx it and I will now go on a 20 buy-in downswing, but November has been going pretty well so far! I've only played $50NL full ring on FTP and after only playing for about 4-5 hours so far this month I am up over $280 and about another $30 in rakeback.

I have to get about another $70 until I have made 10 buy-ins at $50, and then I can move up to $100NL. I did use to play $100NL, but it was a long time ago and I didn't play at this level for a long period, and so I am a little worried about moving up. I know that if I lose 2+ buy-ins in a session then I would be pretty pissed off. But I just have to go for it. I might start by playing 3 tables of $50 and 3 of $100 to slowly mix it in.

Having said that I will probably go on a horrible run now and won't get anywhere near moving up. It's always the way, I have a bad spell and think I should give up poker, but this is completely forgotten when I have a winning spell. Then poker seems so easy. Hands like these enforce this...

- UTG+2 posted his BB. It is folded to be on the button and I make it $2.25 with TT. Just UTG+2 calls. The flop is A-4-3. He checks, I try to take it cheaply with $2.20 and he calls. The turn is a T. He check-calls $7.50. The river is another 3. He checks and I push for $38 into the $25 pot. He thinks and calls with A5. +$47.75

- I get AhJh in the BB. MP makes it $1.75 and the SB calls. The SB has $230 and is playing very loosely and seems to be tilting a bit. I have $75 behind and want to get in hands with the SB, and just call. The flop is 2h-6h-2d. SB bets the pot ($5.25) and I call. I want to see what MP does before I commit anymore. MP folds. The turn is a 9h. SB checks, I value bet $15 and he calls. The river is 10h. SB checks. Now on a paired board I could be beat, and the SB is definitely the type of playing who may have called with a 2 out of the SB. But he is also the type of player that could never fold Kh here, so I push for $52. He thinks and thinks, so I know I'm ahead. Finally he calls, and shows... 5h3h! Nice. +$72.30

Well the bankroll is currently at about $2350, so the aim now is to hit my monthly target early and try out some $100NL before the end of the month.

October Update

Here's October's graph. As you can see I had a really awful spell, where I dropped 6 buy-ins in very quick succession, but I think in all honesty that it was my fault. I was playing poorly and started to tilt, and that's not a good combination. According to PokerEV, I should've also won about $115 more in the month, and so I obviously ran fairly badly too.

Overall I played just over 12,000 hands and made 2.8 BB/100. From this it should be obvious that I didn't reach my monthly target of $2200, but with rakeback and some bonuses I did get fairly close. I ended the month on about $2075. I am over $2k! Woohoo!

After the awful swing at 50NL 6-max, I dropped down to $20NL 6-max and made a bit of a killing, making nearly $100 in under 2000 hands. However, when I moved up it continued to frustrate me, with hands like this.

- I raise to $2 UTG and UTG+1 makes it $6. It's folded to me. UTG+1 had been very tight, he had only raised pre-flop once in about 80 hands, and had never 3-bet. I stupidly decided to trap. The flop was 2-3-Q. I check, he bets $10 and I push. He insta-calls with 23s and I don't catch up. Grrr, how the hell does he 3-bet my UTG raise after playing so tight?

Anyway after this, and reading a few other blogs etc, I decided to switch to full ring games. Before going travelling I only played full ring games, and although I ran at about the same BB/100 rate, the variance was wildly reduced. Reduced variance sounded very tempting! Also, you play many less hands, I can easily 6-table, and so actually see more hands per hour.

For rakeback I thought I would give FTP a go. Here's the results...

- very first hand starting back on FTP and playing full-ring and I get 44 in the BB. An MP player makes it $1.50 and only I call. The flop is Q-J-4. I bet out $3, MP makes it $9 and I push. He insta-calls with AA and misses. Full ring was meant to be! +$47.25

There have, however, also been some horrible hands...

- There are 2 limpers and I make it $2.75 on the button with QQ. The SB and both limpers call. The flop is an attractive A-Q-5. It checks to me, I bet $8 and just the SB calls. The turn is a K. I'm not really worried about J10, but a nasty river now could lose me the pot, so I bet big and the SB calls again. The river is a 6 and the SB again checks. I definitely can't put them on J10 now, and so I push. The SB thinks... and calls with KK. -$50.20

Overall though I am enjoying full ring. The decisions seem much easier and I am earning a good amount of rakeback. At the moment I am running at about 8BB/100 but that is over a very small sample.

My target for November is to keep playing $50NL full ring, to play over 10k hands and to get my bankroll to over $2500! Let's hope it happens!

Shitty Month

So my aim for this month was to get to $2200. This is no looking extremely unlikely, as I am currently on about $1650. The month started well, and after a couple of days I was about $150 up, but then It started going badly wrong. A few days later and I was $150 down for the month.

I realised that I was playing badly, and that my technique of playing very loose and passively pre-flop on iPoker was not a winning strategy. I changed it all around, and started to play really well, but the bad streak followed me...

- UTG limps and I make it $2.25 on the button with KK. The SB pushes for $6.25 and the BB calls. I make it $18.50 and the BB pushes. I call and he shows QQ. The SB shows AQ. The flop of A-9-5 meant I had lost the main pot, but the larger side-pot should be all mine... NO! A Q on the river! -$34.55

Anyway I was going to make this post into a list of badbeats, hoping it would purge my psyche and enable me to get back to winning ways, but it doesn't seem like the right thing to do. I am feeling a lot more positive now, I have dropped down to $25NL breifly just to recoup some losses, and it's going a bit better.

I also played in the blogger tournament. When I saw that we started with 10,000 chips, 1300 runners and only about 30 good prizes, I couldn't really be bothered. I dossed around a lot, made some rediculous plays and managed to get into 9th place with 300 left. At this point it was getting late, and I was still finding it very hard to play sensible and focus, and so I let a friend take over for me.

He ended up getting pretty unlucky, and busted in about 75th with KK v 88. And for that I win a duffel bag and a pack of cards! Brilliant!

Bankroll ~ $1650

Blogger tournament on Sunday!

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 7775217

September Done

So here's my results from September. Overall I played about 7k hands and averaged 8.6 BB/100 hands. Since the last update I stuck with iPoker but opened a new account on Noble poker so that I could work off a bonus whilst playing there. It was going pretty well until I had an absolutely awful session. I think it happened because I forgot how to win at iPoker. Although it is really bad poker, I think the best way to win there is to be very passive pre-flop and just wait until you hit monsters and get paid off. It's boring but it's profotable. Anyway, I tried to play aggressively and lost about $190 in an evening, and twice I had AA v KK which both held up. Here's a few hands...

- This hand I am a moron. For some reason I am convinced that the BB is weak, just because he re-raised me twice pre-flop in the last 20 hands. Anyway, I get 66 in the cut-off. UTG+1 makes it $2 and I call. The SB calls and the BB makes it $8. UTG+1 folds and I decide to push. The BB calls with JJ. -$54.60

- I make it $2 UTG with KK and the cut-off makes it $4. I re-raise to $14 and he calls. The flop is Q-9-4. I bet $10 and the cut-off pushes. I am usually ahead here and call, but he has QQ. -$50

- UTG makes it $2 and it is folded to me in the BB. I make it $6.50 with AK and he calls. The flop is Kc-Qc-4. I bet $10 and he calls. The turn is an 8c. I check and UTG pushes for $37. This is an easy fold. I call and he has 44. -$43.05

I didn't really lose any other big hands, but I was just c-betting against people who won't fold and it cost me a lot.

I then tried out FTP a bit and made some of it back on a little beauty...

- UTG+1 makes it $2 and I call with 22. The SB also calls. The flop is 5-5-2. SB checks and UTG+1 makes it $4. I raise to $14, SB folds and UTG+1 pushes for $44. Insta-call. He shows J9. The turn is a 5 to give him a few outs, but he misses. +$45.55

SInce that awful night I haven't played much, but will stick to Noble for a bit but will play FTP when I feel like playing aggressively. The tournaments on Noble also look good. I played one the other night with 580 runners. 80 places paid and I ended up coming 81st, but as you don't even get your money back for coming 80th I wasn't too annoyed. I will try some more MTTs though.

October target - get to $2200

Bankroll = $1772.98

Up and down and iPoker

I played one more session on Stars, winning about $15 and unlocking my $75 bonus, and then I moved back to FTP to try to benefit from rakeback. To increase my rakeback, I tried to 6-table. I practised at $25Nl and it went well. My favourite hand was a beautifil little 67s...

- MP makes it $1, MP+1 calls and I can't fold 67s and call out of the BB. The flop is 7-5-4. I bet out $2, MP makes it $6 and MP+1 folds. I think I am against an overpair, but know 67s won't let me down, and so I push for $24. MP calls and amazingly I'm ahead - he has 66. The turn is a 7 and he is drawing to a split, but misses. +$23.55

Anyway I won about $85 in this session but when I tried to play $50NL, it just wasn't happening. I don't think I was playing well and I just wasn't hitting any hands and got pretty frustrated. I then decided to deposit on Party and try to work off a bonus. However, I was soon down $70 and had got almost no-where towards getting the $60 bonus, so I gave up on Party.

My friend then told me about how loose the games were on iPoker. I had played on Titan a couple of years ago and everyone used to be pretty tight, but I though I would give it another go...

- UTG makes it $2, I call on the button with 66 and the Bb also calls. The flop is 9-8-6. BB checks, UTG bets $5 and I make it $15. Just UTG calls. The turn is a J - not ideal. UTG checks and I mean to go all-in but actually just bet $35, leaving myself $6. UTG calls. The river is a 10. Pretty dirty. UTG puts me all-in and I have to call. He shows 9-10. At first for some reason I think it is a split pot, but then I see my $116 stack. +$58.05

Overall I have played about 5 hours on Titan and I'm up about $200. Some of this has been over the weekend though, but let's hope it's equally juicy during the week. The plan is to win $200 more on Titan and then try again on FTP. I want to try FTP again because I feel that I play badly on Titan, I see a lot of flops and I don't think it's good aggressive poker, but it seems to be working against the players there. But I don't want to get into the habit of playing, as soon I will be moving up levels!

Bankoll - $1747.23

All going swimmingly

I soon won back the remainder of what I lost at $50NL, and these were the hands that did it...

- at my very first hand at a table I get AA in the BB. UTG+1 makes it 50c, MP makes it $3 and I make it $11. UTG+1 folds but MP pushes and his QQ misses. +$22.80

- I make it $1 UTG with QQ and UTG+1 and the BB call. The BB is a dweeb. The flop is 233. BB checks and I bet $2. UTG+1 folds but the BB calls. We both check a K on the turn. The river is a Q! BB bets $2.75 and I push. He calls with 93o. +$25.80

After these I had won back enough to once again play $50NL. First though I decided I needed alittle MTT time, so I played 4 $4 180man STTs on Stars, and they went pretty awfully. In one I came 77th, but in the other 3 I went pretty far. With 18 places paying, I ended up coming 19th, 21st and 27th in the remaining 3. Nice waste of $18 and nearly 3 hours.

Back to the cash games- I started $50NL again and played very tight, and I was rewarded but getting in some nice situation...

- I get AA on the button and make it $2. The SB makes it $13 and I just call. The flop is Q-9-5 and the SB pushes for $28. I insta-call. The turn is a K and I feel like I've been outdrawn, but an A on the river stops me worrying. The SB shows 10-10. +$40.10

- I get QQ on the button and make it $2. The SB makes it $6 and the BB calls. I re-re-raise to $15 and just the BB calls. The flop is 2-3-6 and the BB pushes for $34. I insta-call and he shows 88 and misses. +$52.75

- I get AA in the cut-off and make it $2. The button makes it $6 and it is folded to me. I re-raise a little too small, and only make it $12. The button calls. The flopis 8-6-2. I bet $16 and the button calls. The turn is a 9 and I push. The button calls with JJ and misses. +$55.20

There was one nasty hand where I'm not really sure how I played it...

- There are 3 limpers and I make it $3.50 in the SB with QQ. Just the last limper calls. The flop is 6-7-J. I bet $6 and get called. The turn is a 9. I'm not really sure where I am, but I push. He calls and shows 78. The river is an 8. -$40.10

Overall though I won about $150 at $50NL so I am pretty pleased. I also got $18.20 in rakeback on FTP.

Bankroll - $1497.19

Up to $50NL... and down again... (August update)

This is my graph of cash winnings in August. The first big drop is when I was playing awfully, and was down $100 in a session but managed to pull about $60 of it back. Then things were going pretty steady. I tried to play on Crypto again, but it just didn't work. I get rakeback there so I think I should play there, and they have recently introduced re-sizeable tables, but I just can't win there and don't like the look of it.

Then I thought I would give FullTilt one final shot, as rakeback would make a difference. Although I have always done really badly on FullTilt, I thought I should give it another go. Things started very badly...

- I raise to 85c on thebutton with 77, and the BB calls. The flop is A-10-7. The BB bets the pot and I call. The turn is an A. BB bets the pot again and I push. He calls with 10-10. Nice. -$23.60

...but after this everything went well. I found the play very poor and I won fairly consistently. After a good session, I decided to give a $24 MTT 6-max a spin, but sadly busted in 51st place (out of 350). The cash continued to go well, and I got to the point where I could move up to $50NL. I was feeling pretty confident, and it went like this...

- I raise in the cut-off to $1.75 with Ah5h, and the button abd SB call. The flop is 4-6h-4. We all check. The turn is Qh. We check to the button, who bets $5.75. The SB calls. I think this is a marginal call if I was drawing to the nuts, but with a paired board it is a horrible call. But I called. The river is Kh. SB checks, and I feel I have to value bet and bet $15. The button folds and the SB pushes. I pretty much know I am dead but can't fold. I call and he shows 44 for quads. -$46.75

- It is folded to me in the cut-off and I make it $1.75 with JJ. The BB calls. The flop is 10-7-5. The BB checks, I bet $2.50 and he makes it $8. I'm not sure on the best way to play this, but I make it $15, which I don't think is a horrible play, as I may have the best hand but can fold if he re-raises. He calls. The turn is a 10. Now I don't beat much, and we both check. The river is a 3 and he bets $11. The pot is now $44, and although I don't beat anything, I call. He shows 55. -$27.75

- UTG limps, the SB completes and I check the BB with A4. The flop is A-5-2. I bet $1 and UTG calls. The turn is a K. I check and UTG goes all-in for $20.75. This is such an obvious fold. But not to me, and I called. UTG had 34. -$22.25

So all together I lost $138 over 520 hands at $50NL - very disappointing. I played absolutely awfully, I thought everyone was trying to make a move on me, but I should've just been much more patient and have gotten to know my table before I made any big moved. Nest time I will be a lot more patient before I move up.

Anyway, Now I have to win another $100 at $25NL before I can move up. I have played one session and made back $43.95, so hopefully it won't take too long before I am at $50NL again.

Bankroll - $1260.84

On the way up...

I've played 4 mini-sessions since the last and think I've played pretty well. When I get to 10 buy-ins won at 10c-25c ($250) I will move up to trying 25c-50c. Hopefully that won't be too long. Key hands...

Session 1

- Only 1 key hand with a bit of background. I sit in and on the first hand someone raises UTG to $1, UTG+1 makes it $5, it folds to UTG who pushes, UTG+1 folds and UTG shows Q9s. Pretty spicy table. So anyway in my first orbit I raise to $1 in LP with AJs. The UTG player from before calls out of the SB. The flop is A-9-4. He bets $3 and I hope he is just being overly aggressive and just call. The turn is a 6. He bets $6 and I put him all-in for $15 more but he folds. +$9.24

Session 2

- I raise 22 UTG to $1 and the button and the SB call. The flop is Q-Q-2. Nice. The SB bets $1, I make it $3.50, the button folds and the SB calls. The turn is a 3. The SB checks, I'm not sure if he has a Q but can't give a free card incase he does, so I bet $8. He raises me all-in and I can't wait to call. He has QJ and misses the river. +$26.35

- I have A7 in the SB. There is a limper and I just call (maybe I should raise here? Not sure). The BB checks. The flop is A-7c-2c. I bet 75c and the limper calls. Then turn is an 8. I bet $2 and he calls. The river is a K, I bet $4 and he calls with Ac8c. I'm lucky he was so passive, I could go bust here on the flop or turn. -$7

Session 3

- MP makes it $1 and the button calls. I make it $3.50 in the BB with AKo. MP calls and the button pushes all-in for $6.50. I'm not sure of thebest play here but I push, MP folds and I beat the buttons A2. +$9.52

- It folds to the SB and he min-raises. He is pretty loose/crazy. I make it $2.50 with QQ and he calls. The flop is K-8-6 and he bets half his stack, $5.50. I'm really not sure what to do here, but I eventually push all-in. He calls with KJ but I river a Q. +$12.28

Session 4

- I make it $1 UTG with AdQd and the button and SB call. The flop is 4d-5-8d. I bet $2 and the button makes it $5. The SB folds. I'm really not sure of the move here but I'm not giving it up, so I push. He folds. +$6.60

- 3rd hand at the table I get 5h6h on the button. 2 players limp and I try to see a flop and call. The flop is 7-5-5. Nice. SB bets $1.25 and UTG calls. I call too to see how the action progesses. Well it progresses nicely, the turn is another 5. SB bets $1.25 and UTG goes all-in for $4.75. I call and so does SB. The river is an A. UTG bets $1.50 and I make it $9.95. He calls with A7. +$20.15

- a few hands later on the same table, I get 65s again on the button. It is folded to me and I make it $1. The BB calls. The flop is A-5-3. He checks, I bet $1.25 and he calls. The turn is a 5. He checks, I bet $3 and he calls. The river is another 5! He checks and I put him all-in for $4.50. He calls with A7. Deja-vu. 56s is now my favourite! +$8.90

- MP makes it $1, the button calls and I make it $3.50 with JJ. The button calls. The flop is 9-7-4. I bet $5 and he calls. The turn is an A and we check it and check the river 4. He shows A8. Annoying. -$8.50

- There are 2 limpers and I make it $1.50 on the button with AA. An aggressive player in LP calls. The flop is 4c-4-10c. LP checks and I follow. The turn is Kc. Not ideal, but he bets $4.50 and I call ( i have Ac). The river is a 6. He bets $5 and I am very sure I'm ahead but just call. He shows A7. +10.50

Overall I think I've been playing pretty well, and need to win about $100 more at 10c-25c before I can move up. I hardly have any time to play at the moment though so this may take a while.

Balance = $1283.81

2 crazy sessions

I have been very busy so I have only played 2 proper sessions since the last post, and they have been pretty crazy. Both have been 4 tabling 6-max 10c-25c on Party. Here's the monsters...

Session 1

- I limp KK UTG and the button makes it $2. I make it $11 to put him all-in. He calls with 22 (!). The flop is J-J-3, but the turn is a dirty 2. -$10.89

- I get 82 in the BB. There is 1 limper and I check. The flop is 8d-8-2d. We both check. The turn is a 7. I check, he bets 50c and I make it $2. He calls. The river is Jd. I put him all-in for $18.26 and he calls with Kd6d. I don't think I played this hand well at all, I made it pretty obvious I was strong, but luckily he hit his flush and couldn't fold. +$18.61

- UTG limps and I decide to just limp on thebutton with 88. The BB checks. The flop is 6-6-J. It checks to me and I try to take it with 50c. UTG calls. The turn is an 8. He checks, I bet $1.20 and he makes it $3.25. He obviously either has a 6, or maybe JJ. Either way it's all going in, so I push and he calls with 67. +$11.29

- The cut-off makes it $1.25 and I call on the button with 33. He has been tight, and I hope he has a big pair. The flop is 8-5-3. He bets $2.25 and I make it $8. He pushes and I call. He shows KK. +$24.54

Session balance = +$78.42

Session 2

Before the first big hand, I had been playing for about an hour and was almost exactly even.

- I had K10 in the BB. It folds to the button, and he makes it $1. He had done this every single time it folded to him on the button. The SB folds and I make it $3.50. He calls. The flop is Js-3s-K. I bet $4.50 and he min-raises. For some reason I am convinced he is making a move, and I push. He called with AsKs and I am basically dead. -$41.81

- I get JJ in the BB. There is 1 limper and the button makes it $1.25. I make it $3.50 and they both call. The flop is 6d-7-10d. I bet $7 and the limper pushes for more than my $12 remaining. The button folds. I think I have to call, and he shows AdJd. He rivers an A. -$22.75

- I get AQ in the SB and it's folded to me. I make it $1 and the BB calls. The flop is A-J-8. I bet $1.25 and get called. The turn is a 2 and I decide to get sneaky and check. He bets $3.10 and I am almost 100% sure I am ahead, and want him to bluff again on the river. I call. The river is a 6. I check and he bets $10. This is a big bet, and I'm not at all happy calling it, but I do and he shows 66. -$15.35

- I raise 9d8d UTG to $1 and UTG+1 makes it $3. It is folded to me, and I am obvioulsy tilting and call. The flop is 3-4d-5d. I check, he bets $3.75 and tilt appears and I push. He calls with Jj and I miss. -$23.39

So at this point I am over $100 down, which would've made it my biggest losing day ever. But luckily I regained a little focus and found a couple of nice hands...

- UTG limps and I limp on thebutton with 97s. The blinds check. The flop is 10-6-2. The BB bets 50c, UTG folds and I can foresee the turn, and so I call. The SB folds. The turn is an 8. BB bets $1 and I make it $5, he calls. The river is a 6. He checks and I'm not worried about a FH and bet $15. He thinks for ages and called with Q10. +$19.15

- UTG makes it 75c and I call on the button with 33. The flop is 10-9-3. UTG bets $1.75, I make it $5 and he calls. Thr turn is an A. He bets $3.50 and I call. The river is a 7. He bets $5 and I push for $15. He thinks for ages but folds, saying he had Q10. +$13.64

- MP makes it $1 and I make it $4 in the BB with KK. MP pushes and I am sure he has AA due to the way the session has gone. I call and he has Ak and misses. +$33.66

So in the end I ended the session down $38.83, which I am so pleased with! I know I was playing very badly, thinking everyone was making amove against me, and it coud've been a lot worse. Next time I will be a lot more focused.

Bankroll = $1204.50

Steady as she goes...

So I tried cash on FT a bit more and of course, I lost. I cannot win on that site. But then I decided to try STTs there to see if they were paying out...

I started with only about $55 in my FT account so I just played the $2+$0.25 Turbos. After 25 of them, my stats looked like this...

1st - 7
2nd - 3
3rd - 2
4th - 9th - 13

ROI = 53.6%

After that I got to $100, and just finished my first batch of $6+$0.50 Turbos...

1st - 1
2nd - 1
3rd - 0
4th-9th - 2

ROI = 66.1%

So that's not too bad. I have also been playing some cash on Party. I figured that I was way too busy this last 2 weeks to achieve the bonus, but I just like playing there anyway so I carried on. The first couple of sessions were pretty poor, but then it picked up. Key hands...

- it fold to me on the button and I make it $1 with Q9s. The BB calls. The flop is 9-8-4. The BB checks, I bet $1.25 and the BB makes it $3.50 and I am feeling aggressive and make it $7.50. He calls. The turn is a 2. The BB checks, and I have no idea if I am ahead or not. Anyway, I bet $5.75. I have no idea why. The BB calls. The river is a Q. The BB checks, I put him all-in and he calls with K9. Nice river. +$25.13

- UTG limps and I make it $1.25 on the button with KK. UTG calls. The flop is K-5-3. UTG checks and I follow. The turn is an A. UTG bets $1.25, I make it $5 and he calls. The river is another A. UTG checks and I put him all-in for $8.81. He calls with 33. +$13.89

- UTG makes it 75c and I make it $2.25 in the cut-off with 10-10. UTG calls. The flop is A-K-4. UTG checks, I bet $2.50 and he calls. Hand over. But wait, the turn is a 10! He checks, I bet $6.50 and he calls. The river is a 8. He checks and I put him all-in for $14.85. He calls with AQ. +$24.45

- I raise in the cut-off to $1 with 88 and the blinds call. The flo pis Q-8-3. The SB bets $1.25, the BB calls and so do I. The turn is a 2. The SB bets $2.25, The BB folds and I make it $6. He pushes for $12.28 and I call. He shows Q6 and I laugh. +$15.22

- UTG limps, the cut-off makes it 75c and I just call on the button with AQ. The BB and UTG call. The flop is Ac-Q-Jc. It's checked to the cut-off who bets $1.25. I make it $5, the other 2 fold and the cut-off calls. The turn is a 10. We both check (mistake by me!). The river is a 4 and the cut-off pushes for $23. I fold and he shows 10c-9c. -$5.75

- 2 people limp and I raise to $1.50 in the SB with QQ. The BB and the UTG limper call. The flop is 6-6-3. I bet $3.50 and the BB calls. The turn is a 5 and I put the BB all-in for $9. He calls with K8 (?). The river is a 5. +$14.20

I also played a bit of poker at work, and had to deposit onto Pacific as you can play there without downloading the software. Well I hate it, it's a horrible site. I got stacked twice in about 5 minutes with JJ v Q10 all-in on a K-J-x flop and 44 v AK on a K-10-4 flop. Nasty. NO MORE PACIFIC!

Bankroll = $1171.79

Much better...

So I have continued to play 6-max on Stars. I needed to make another $50 at 5c-10c after the bad run before I allowed myself to move up. Making the $50 wasn't quite as quick and easy as I had hoped, but I got there. I then moved up and had a couple of sessions with some big wins and losses that pretty much evened out, and then I had a good session. Here are the hands...

- I get 10-10 in the BB. UTG makes it 75c and MP makes it $1.75. It's folded to me. I'm not quite of the best play here, but I just call, as does UTG. The flop is J-10-3. It checked to MP, and he bets $1.75. I make it $7. UTG folds and MP $12.55. I call, knowing he has JJ. He has JJ. -$14.30

- UTG limps and I complete it the SB with 97o. The BB checks. The flop is 7s-9c-Js. I bet 50c and UTG calls. The turn is 8c. I check and UTG bets $1. I am a bit fishy and call. The river is a b-e-a-utiful 7c. I check, knowing he will bet after the turn. He bets $2.50 and I make it $10, hoping to get called. He makes it $17.50. Uh-oh. Does he have a bigger full house? I hopenot, and push for $22.65. He calls with A-10. +$22.25

- I raise QQ UTG to 41 and UTG+1 calls. UTG+1 had been annoying me a lot. He seemed to call every pre-flop raise I made and loved to min-raise my continuation bets. As I hadn't been hitting many flops, he was winning off me and I hated him. Anyway, everyone folds and the flop is Jc-3c-3d. I bet $1.50 and he calls. He would fold or min-raise with a bluff, so I think he has something, probably a J or a pair 44-TT. The turn is 7d. He knows I continuation bet a lot, so I check to hope he tried to take the pot. He bets $1.25 and I make a big raise to $10. Not sure what my thinking is here, but I want a call. He calls. The river is Kd. Now he could have me beat; he could have KJ, JJ, Jd-xd, he could even have a 3. But if I check and he pushes I can't fold, so I put him all-in for $10.45. He calls with J7. +$21.05

- MP and the button limp and I check in the BB with 33. The flop is 3c-8c-9c. I bet 75c and the button calls. The turn is 4s. I bet $2 and he min-raises to $4. Damn, did he flop the flush? I call and the river is 6d. I check and he bets $6.50. I don't really beat much here but I am stubborn and call. He shows Ac5c. -$11.50

- I raise AJo UTG to $1 and just the BB calls. The flop is 9-A-3s. The BB checks, I bets $1.25 and he calls. The turn is 4s. He pushes for $9.05. I don't think he plays 2 pair this quick, and I reckon he has an A and a draw, either A2, A5 or AsXs. I call and he shows As10s. The river is a blank. +$10.30

- I raise JJ on the button and the BB calls. The flop is Ad-J-10d. The BB checks, I bet $1.75 and he calls. The turn is a 7h. Now the BB bets out $4. He could have KQ, but he could also have a 2 pair or AK/AQ or a pair and a flush draw. I don't think I make the best play, but I push all-in for $22.30. He calls with AQ and misses the river. +$23.45

- It folds to me in the SB and I make it $1 with A10o. The BB calls. The flop is 4s-6-9s. I bet $1.25 and get called. The turn is 7c. I check and the BB bets $2.25 and I puthim all-in for $10.50 more. He folds. +$4.10 (This is a very small pot but I think it is unusual for me. Usually I give up on this hand on the turn, but I have noticed that at $25NL people call your flop bets a lot thinking you are always continuation betting, and then try to take it away with a turn bet. Also, if I got called I might of had as many as 10 outs.)

I then saw that Party were offering a 40% reload bonus so I whacked $400 in there and played a few hands...

- I raise QQ on thebutton and the BB calls. The flop is 3-4-8. The BB bets 25c and I make it $1.25. He calls. The turn is a 5. The BB bets 25c again and I want to end it now so I put him all-in for $9.47 more. He calls with A8 and the river blanks. +$10.87

I also just noticed that my FT bonus has expired and I am pretty annoyed, I only worked off $80 of the $320 bonus. Infact I was up to about $98.9, and would only have had to play for another 10 mins to earn another $20 in bonus. Oh well. I really struggle at FT but I still get rakeback there so I might give it a spin.

Bankroll = $1131

Bad Beats and Coolers

This entry is going to be completely dedicated to the beats that I have taken in the past few days. I know nobody wants to read my coolers and bad beat posts but it's my blog and I'll do what I want.

Started at 10c-25c
- I call a raise to $1 in the cut-off with 55 and then the worst and most annoying person at the table min-raises to $1.75 on the button. 3 of us call. The flop is 10-8-5. We check to the button who bets 50c. The other 2 call and I make it $5.50. The awful player makes it $10.50 and I push for $22.50. He calls with QQ. The river is a Q. -$24.65

- I raise to $1 UTG with 66 and the cut-off, the button and the SB all call. The flop is J-8-7. I don't see the point in C-betting, so it checks round. The turn is a 6. The SB bets $4 and I min-raise to $8. It's folded to the SB, who pushes for $23. I call and he shows 77. -$24.75

- UTG makes it 75c and I call in the SB with 22. The flop is 2-4-5. I bet $1.25 and He makes it $3.50. I then push and say "please call, I have a set". He does call, and shows AK. The river is a 3. -$15.75

I then moved back down to 5c-10c
- UTG limps, a very weak player UTG+1 makes it 30c and I decide to call in the BB with J9s. The flop is 10-8-7. He check to the raiser, and he pushes for $14. I call and he shows 77. The turn is an 8. -$9.60

- UTG limps. It is folded to me in the BB and I raise 88 to 50c. UTG calls. The flop is 8s-6s-5. I bet 70c and UTG min-raises to $1.40. I make it $4 and he calls. The turn is Ks. It's obviously possible that he has a flush, but he has less than half the pot left, so I put him all-in. He calls with 9s-5s and the river blanks. -$8.80

- I call an all-in with JJ. He shows KJ and hits a K. -$5.40

- I raise 5d4d UTG to 40c and the SB calls. The flop is 9-5-4s. SB bets 60c and I min-raise to $1.20 to see where I am. He min-raises to $1.80 and I am still confused but call. The turn is 10s. SB pushes for $13 and now I know I am ahead. I call and he shows 9s-7s. The river is As. -$13.55

- UTG makes it 40c and the worst player at the table calls (over a few hundred hands, he had seen 93% of flops and never raised pre-flop). I want to isolate him and raise my 10-10 to $1.40 in the SB. Just Weak-o calls. The flop is 10-6-4. I check, and he bets 50c. I know he will keep betting, so I just call. The turn is a 3. I check, he bets $1.10 and I put him all-in for $5 more. He calls with J5o. The river is a 2. -$8

My theory is that now I have gotten these bad beats off my chest, the bad run will end. Lets hope its true!

Bankroll = just under $1000

Found my Focus

I couldn't stick with STT's. I was doing well, and making a nice steady profit but it was just too boring. I had to play cash. I tried to playing Limit cash to see if I was more suited to that, but again I couldn't sick with it, despite running good for a few days. It had to be No-Limit.

I watched a brilliant video of someone playing $2-$4 NL 6-handed and I really feel it has completely changed my game. To test it I decided I had to play 5c-10c until I had earnt 10 buy-ins. I thought this would take me a fair while, but although not playing very much, I actually completed it in about 2 weeks. I was running very well, and averaging about 16 BB/100 hands. Not very sustainable but still a lot of fun.

I then moved up to $0.10-$0.25, and although I have only played 2 sessions, it is going ok. My aim now is to run at atleast 6 BB/100 hands and get to $1200 where I can move up to $0.25-$0.50. Hopefully it won't take me aslong as getting to $1k did!

Cash
Hours = 165
Profit = -117.35

Tourney
Hours = 38.25
Profit = $35.48

Bankroll = $10.23

Not much...

So firstly I tried to work off the PartyPoker bonus, and lost quite a lot of money in the process. In one hand I had 8-9 on a 10-J-Q flop and was unable to lay it down even though it was pretty likely that he had AK. Then I wasunable to lay down 99 on a 4-5-7-9-J board, and he had 8-10. This pissed me off a lot, and so I decided to stick to STTs.

STTs aren't very interesting to talk about, but I was playing very low stakes STTs and not doing too badly. My ROI% got to about 40% which is ok, but the stakes were very low. Altogether I won $39.20.

A friend has been saying for a while that I should join PKR and I finally did. I thought I wouldn't like it because it's too messy and you can't multi-table very well, but I love it! Not only does it make poker a bit more fun, but it also has the worst players ever - what more can you want! Sadly you can't get HH's from there so I have no hands to show how bad the players are, but trust me they are awful. I am up about $70 there so far.

I also got about $28 in rakeback.

Cash
Hours = 134.25
Profit = -$124.39

Tourney
Hours = 36.75
Profit = $55.18

Bankroll = $985

Downs and Ups

I have played a fair bit over the last 2 weeks with varying success. Here's how the main sessions went...

Session 1
- no big hands but ended up $22.03 on Sun Poker in half an hour. Good start.

Session 2
- I played for an hour and a half on Party and this was the main hand. I was playing really shit and I don't know why. Ended down $22.33.

- I limp AKo UTG. UTG+1 and the button limps, and the blinds call/check. The flop is K-9-2. It's checked to me and I bet $1. UTG+1 folds and the button raises to $3. The blinds fold. As it wasn't raised pre-flop, I have no idea where I am and I could easily be ahead or behind. I decide to raise to $6.25 and fold to a re-raise. The button calls - now what? The turn is an 8 and I am stupid and push all-in. The button insta-calls with 99. -$24.90

After this I decided that I couldn't handle the slowness of full tables, even when I multi-table, and so I tested out 6-max tables again...

Session 3
- an awful half an hour on Party. Ended down $37.72

- The button min-raises and I call inthe SB with 4h2h. The BB folds. The flop is 3d-5h-6d. Nice. I check and the button checks. Damn. The turn is a harmless 10s and I bet $1, thinking the button will probably fold. He min-raises to $2. Nice. I re-raise to $6 and he re-re-min-raises to $10. I push for $25.40 and he calls, with 55. The river is a harmful 10. -$25.90

- I raise 6h5h to 75 UTG and the BB min-raises me to $1.25. He has been doing this quite a lot, so it definitely didn't mean much. I call. The flop is a nice 10h-5d-2h. He bets 75c and I make it $3.75. He calls. The turn is a delightful 4h. He checks and I put him all-in for $12. he calls with 9h7h. -$14.70

Session 4
- only a quick 15min session but managed to win $26.20. Key hand...

- UTG, who is pretty loose, makes it $1 and I make it $4 with AA in the cut-off. UTG calls. The flop is 3-3-5. UTG checks and I decide to give a free card and also check. Thr turn is another $3. UTG now bets $3, and I put him on an overpair and just call. The river is a 4 and UTG bets $12. I only have $19.55 left. I figure that he may well have 44 or 55, but I doubt he would bet the 3 so strongly. I think that if I push he would almost have to call with any pocket pair, and so I push and he calls with 54s. +$24.25

Session 5
- another quick session, about half an hour, with a positive result. +$14.22. Key hand...

- UTG raises to $1, the button calls and I can't fold the nuts in the SB and so call with 7c6c. The BB folds. The flop is J-8-5. I check, UTG checks and the button bets 50c. I call, as does UTG. The turn is a 3. We check to the button again, who bets $1. I am feeling lucky and call. The river is the 9. I check, the button bets $2 and I make it $8. He calls with 88. +$11.15

Session 6
- I play for an hour and win $6.68, with 2 key hands...

- It is folded to the SB who makes it $5. I have QQ in the BB and make it $5. He calls. The flop is J high. He checks, I push for $19 and he calls with AJ. I turn a Q to end the hand. +$22.10

- I have Q10o in the Sb and 4 of us see a flop of 2-10-10. I check to the limper who bets $1.75. The button calls. If the button folds then I am fairly sure I am ahead and would raise, but this confuses me and I call. The turn is a 4. We check to the button who bets $3. We both call. The river is a 7. We check to the button. He bets $7 and I call. He shows 22. -$12

Session 7
- an awful session! I play for an hour and lose $37.95. I really didn't play well but also got a little unlucky.

- I get QQ UTG and make it $1.25. The cut-off makes it $2.25 and the SB calls. I make it $5.50 and they both call. The flop is K-10-9. I bet $9 and just the cut-off calls. It doesn't look good, but I know he is very lose. The turn is a 4, and I think that if I push I am only getting called by a better hand, and so I check. He bets $4.25, and it looks like a bluff and so I put him all-in for $4 more. He calls with AQ and the river is a J. -$22.70

I now decided to quit cash games and become a STT master. As I hadn't played STTs in ages, I played 4 low stakes ones. I played 4 and came 2nd in 2, winning a measly $6.

But I had to earn of a bonus on Party, so I had toplay more cash...

Session 8
- Played for an hour and a half and won $25. Pretty please.

- Started with an annoying hand. The SB limps to my BB and I raise to 75c with AdQd. He calls. The flop is an almost perfect A-10d-2d. He checks, I bet $1 and he calls. The turn is a 7. He checks, I bet $2 and he calls. The river is another 7. He bets $3.25 and I call. He had Jd7d. -$7

- I raise AK in MP to $1 and get I caller. The flop is A-4-5. I bet $2 and he calls. Thr turn is a 9, and I bet $4 and he calls. The river is a 7, and I value bet $5 and he calls with 76s (poor lad). +$11.40

- I get Js10s in the BB. The button limps and the SB makes it $1. We both call. The flop is 3s-4s-5. The SB bets $1.25 and we both call. The turn is a K. The SB bets $2.50 and we both call. The river is 7s. The SB bets $5.75 and I put him all-in for $15. The button calls his last 8c and the SB calls. The button shows A2 and the SB shows 55. +$22.18

- There are 2 limpers and I call in the Sb with A9. The flop is A-Kc-9c. I bet $1 and a limper calls. The turn is a 2. I bet $2.75 and the limper calls. The river is a 4. I push for $11 and he calls with Ac4c. Ideal river. +$13.30

Session 9
- only played for 45 minutes and won $20.42, mainly because people are stupid.

- there are 2 limpers and I call in the SB with Ah-J. The flop is Jh-8h-5h. I bet 75c and the button calls. The turn is 3h. Nice. I check, the button bets $1 and I raise to $5. He should fold, but he doesn't. The river is 4d. I push for $16.25 and he calls with Kh7c. +$20.75

So now I will stick to 6-max until I earn off the bonus, and then play more 6-max but also quite a few STTs.

Cash
Hours = 122.75
Profit = -$137.51

Tourneys
Hours = 25.5
Profit = 20.44

A Game
Hours = 19
Profit = $17.35

Bankroll = $859

Feeling good

I have been feeling a lot more positive, and I actually expect to win when I start a session. However, it doesn't help when the first session runs like this...

Session 1

- I am on the button with AA. UTG makes it $3.25 (BB = 25c!). MP then makes it $6.25. Almost ideal. I push for $24.50. The both call. UTG shows QQ and MP shows KK. The flop is J-2-2. The turn is an 8. And the river is a K! Nice start. -$24.50

- I am in MP with 22 and it is folded to me. I make it 75c. The button min-raises to $1.25, the SB calls and I gladly call. The flop is 7-7-2. The SB bets $2.25. I put him on an overpair. The button only has $1.75 left, so I call as I want him in. He calls. The turn is a 3. SB checks and I bet $3. He calls. The river is a J. He could have JJ, but he checks and so it's unlikely. I put him all-in for $15 and he calls with JJ. Nice. -$21.75

- I raise AA in MP to $1 and the blinds call. The flop is J-8-7, they check to me and I bet $2. The SB min-raises and the BB calls. I must be tilting after the other 2 hands, because I make the worst decision and just call. The turn is a 10. He bets $4 and now I know I am definitely tilting because I push. He thinks for ages and calls with 77. -$18.10

However, I still felt positive, and later sessions went a bit better...

- UTG makes it $1. He is fairly tight and so he is probably only raising a very strong hand. I call in the SB with QQ. The flop comes A-Q-7. I hope he has AK or AQ and I bet $1.50. He calls. The turn is a 9, I bet $4 and he calls. The river is a K. I push for $15 and he calls with AK. +$19.80

- I raise wiith QdJd in MP and just the SB calls. The flop is Q-8-3. He bets $3 into me and only has $7.45 left. This is a very marginal decision, and I think I usually fold, but instead I put him all-in. He calls with Q9 and doesn't hit. +$10.60

I have also started playing on Sun Poker. I like it but there are never enough tables running. The maximum I have seen is 5 10-seater $25NL tables running, but they usually break down quickly. As I like to 4-table, it's not ideal. However, the majority of players are extremely passive and there is a lot of limping, so I should be able to make money here. Also I have found that the bonus is hard to work off. I have played quite a few hours there and only earnt 18% of the monthly bonus so far. Here are a few hands...

- I raise to 75c in MP with 33. The BB calls. The flop is Ah-10h-4h. He checks, and I consider cont. betting but just check. The turn is 3d. He checks and now I think I have the best hand, and so bet $1.50. He calls. The river is 8d. He checks and I am now sure I am head, and so I value bet $4, and he immediately pushes for $15. It is odd if he checked a flush on the river, and although it's unlikely he has anything else, I just can't fold. He shows Kh-7h. -$15.90

- I get 44 UTG and limp. A very loose MP player makes it $1, and I call. The flop is Ah-4-8h. I bet $1, hoping he will raise with an A, but he just calls. The turn is 9h. I bet $3 and he calls. The river is Ad. I now have a full house. I put him on an A, but does he have a FH? I bet $8, prepared to call an all-in from this player, but he just calls and shows 10h-3h. Nice river! +$12.10

I have also just been paid $20.52 in rakeback on FTP.

Cash
Hours = 104
Profit = $150.89

Tourney
Hours = 22
Profit = $169.94

A Game
Hours = 19
Profit = $17.35

Bankroll = $842

Time for a catch-up

AFter my last post I have been doing very badly. I broke fairly even for a few days with nothing exciting happening, and then I went on holiday to France for 10 days. I didn't have much time to play there, but still had time to squeeze in a few sessions, and they were awful! However, May is a new month and I am convinced it is going to be a good one! I signed up to EmpirePoker to get a $25 bonus and I am also signing up to a crypto site to get rakeback and a bonus. Aswell as this I have earnt another $20 of bonus at FTP to keep the accounts looking remotely respectable. Because I had such a bad month, i have now dropped down to playing $10NL but will soon be moving back up.

Cash
Hours = 92.75
Profit = -$150.38

Tourney
Hours = 22
Profit = $169.94

A Game
Hours = 19
Profit = $17.35

Bankroll = $829

Back to Basics

After getting PokerTracker, I played about 28,000 hands before I went travelling. This is how I did in them...


Since I've returned from travelling, I've played about 20,000 hands. This is how I've run in them...

It's rubbish! I looked at the stats and I don't think I am playing much differently. I seem to raise pre-flop a bit more and I play overall more aggressively, but this is the only difference. I think the problem must be playing 6-max then. I do think that 6-max can be more profitable than full ring tables, but you have to be prepared to take marginal edges, and with my puny bankroll, I can't take the variance. So I will stick to full ring cash games, and try to repeat the top graph!

Since the last update, I've had a couple of awful sessions. Here's the lowlights...

Session 1

PokerStars, 10c-25c (6max), 4 tables, 2 hours

- UTG limp, an MP player makes it $1.25 and I make it $3.75 on the button with QQ. Just UTG calls. The flop is 5-6-7. He checks, I bet $5 and he calls. The turn is a 3 and we both check. The river is a J, he bets $6 and I call. He has 54. -$14.75

- There is a limper and I raise on the button to $1 with 53s. The BB and the limper both call. The flop is 8h-5h-3h. BB checks, the limper bets $1, I make it $3.50 and the BB pushes for $11.30. The limper folds. I call and the BB shows KK (no heart). The turn and river come A A. -$12.30

Session balance = -$67.80

This made me feel unconfident, and then I played some dweeb stakes for a while. Today I went back to Party and played some 6-handed.

Session 2

PartyPoker, 10c-25c (6max), 4 tables, 2 hours

- I played this hand so badly! I make it $1.25 on the button with AQo and the BB and a limper call. The flop is Q-J-7. It's checked to me, I bet $2.50 and the BB calls. The turn is a 4. The BB checks, I bet $5 and he pushes for $13. I don't beat hardly any hands here, but I called and he shows QQ. -$16.40

- On one table I found my nemesis, Mahatta, and we had a few big pots against each other. AT one point I layed down AA to him on a 7-7-5 flop and he showed 75. Then I layed down QQ on an A high flop and he showed rags. Then I raise 8c-5c UTG to 65c and he makes it $2.21. The buton calls and so do I. The flop is Kc-6c-2c. I bet $4 and he calls. The turn is 10h. I bet $10 and he calls. The river is a horrible 7c. I check and so does he, showing AK (no clubs). I get his whole stack if that river isn't a club! +$17.07

- I raise in MP to 65c with AQo and Mahatta makes it $2.50. I'm out of position butr I want to stack him. The flop is a helpful Q-Q-8. I check, he bets $4.75, and I call. The turn is a 4. I check, he bets $12.50 and I push for $25. He calls with QJ. +$30.46

- The button raises to $1, the SB calls and I make a loose call in the BB with Ac-4c. The flop is A-4-2. The SB bets $1, I make it $3.26 and the button makes it $5.52. I call. The turn is an 8. I'm not sure where I am in this hand, but I push for $18 and get called by AQ. +$24.85

Session balance = $12.93

Cash

Hours = 66.75

Profit = -$40.29

Tourney

Hours = 15.5

Profit = $157.49

A Game

Hours = 15.5

Profit = $30.10

Bankroll = $963.49

Closing in on $1000

I played a few bits and bobs, without any real success or losses. Then I had 3 long sessions. Here's the stats...

Session 1
Party, 10c-25c (6max), 4 tables, 0.5 hours

- I raised to $1 on the button with KdQd and just the SB calls. The flop is 5d-2d-3d. He checks, I bet $1.75 and he calls. The turn is Ah. He bets 25c, I make it $4 and he calls. The river is 2h, he checks and I put him all-in for $9. He calls with K-4d. +$14.55

- I raise in MP with As7s and the SB calls. The BB min-raises to $1.75 and we both call. The flop is Qs-9s-4. BB bets $1 and I call. The turn is 8s. BB goes all-in for $10.97 and I call, he shows QQ and misses. +$14.02

Session balance = $23.27

Session 2
Party, 10c-25c (6max), 4 tables, 2 hours

- I raise UTG to $1 with AQo and the cut-off and the button call. The flop is Q-9-3 and I bet out $2.50. They both call. The turn is a 10. I figure I am still ahead, and bet out $6. The cut-off calls and then the button min-raises to $12. This is an easy fold. But I am a moron. I call, as does the cut-off. The river is an A and I push. They both call, showing 99 and KJ. -$22

- I raise to $1 in MP with AKo and the button min-raises. The SB calls and I make it $5. They both call. The flop is AA4. I bet $5, the button pushes for an extra 9c and the SB folds. The button shows 83 (!). +$14.09

- I have AA in the BB. The button makes it $1, I make it $4 and he calls. The flop is A-K-8. I bet $5 and the button calls. The turn is a 5, I push for $12.15 and he calls with A4. +$19.65

Session balance = $14.20

Session 3
Party, 10c-25c (6max), 4 tables, 2 hours

- I raise in the SB to $1.25 with AdKd and a limper calls. The flop is A-8-2. I bet $1.75 and he calls. The turn is another A. I bet $4 and he calls. The river is a 3. I figure he will call with any A here, and I am only behind a few, and so I overbet the pot for $10. He pushes for $21 and I find it hard to fold, so I don't. He has A8. -$28.62

- I raise in MP to $1 with QJo. The SB calls. The flop is J-10-7. He checks, I bet $1.25 and he calls. The turn is another 7, SB bets $1.25 and I min-raise to $2.50. He calls. The river is a J and he pushes for $18.24. I am probably splitting the pot here, and I was stupid at the time and thought I was only dead to 77, and so I called. He showed A7. +$21.24

- The SB makes it 75c and I call in the BB with A9. The flop is A-J-9. Sb bets 75c, I make it $3 and he calls. The turn is an 8. He checks, I bet $5 and he min-raises to $10. I think and think and eventually fold. He later tells me he had Q10. -$9

Session balance = $1.13

I also played a $4 180 man STT on Stars. I was running so well. I trippled up early with KK v AJ and QJ on a J-10-9 and rode that to the bubble. Then I pushed with QQ and got called by A7. I then built a monster stack. Firstly, I had AQ v KQ on a Q high flop, and then got lucky that my KK outdrew AA. With 7 to go I was chip leader with 76k and 2nd place had 56k. He limped in MP and checked in the BB with 5h4h. I flopped the flush and crushed his AA, so with 6 to go I had 145k and second only had 35k. However, I didn't manage to finish it, and came 2nd. +$139.60

I also got my first rakeback money = $11.58

Cash
Hours = 56.75
Profit = $4.15

Tourney
Hours = 11.75
Profit = $139.49

A Game
Hours = 15.5
Profit = $30.10

Bankroll = $989.93

It's all boring

Firstly, I was earning off the bonus from Party that I eventually managed to activate. I wasn't doing too well there, but had the odd nice hand. Here's the facts...

Party, 10c-25c, 5.25 hours

- LP min-raises to 50c, I call from the small blind with J8, I flop a straight and stack his AA. +$11.35

- I get JJ in the SB. There are a couple of limpers and I make it $1.25. The BB and limper call. The flop is J-8-7. I bet out $2.50 and the BB calls. The turn is a 10. I check, he bets $5 and I feel fishy and call. The river is a K. I check, he bets $8 and I am stupid and call. He has Q9. -$16.72

- I limp KK UTG, MP makes it $1.75, SB calls and I make it $7.50. They both call. The flop is 9-2-2. SB checks to me and I have to choice but to push all in. They both call, with QQ and 10-10. +$43.15

- I get JJ in the BB, MP makes it $1 and I call. The flop is A-J-9. I bet $1.50, he calls and the turn is a 2. I bet $4 and he calls. The river is a 3. I bet $10 and he calls with AK. +$14.95

- MP min-raises and I call on the button with 44. The flop is A-J-4. He bets $2, I make it $4 and he pushes. He calls and shows JJ. -$8.70

- I raise 96s in LP and the BB call. The flop is 7-6-4. He checks, I bet 80c and he calls. The turn is a 9. He checks, I bet $2 and he calls. The river is a 9. He checks, I bet $6 and he pushes for $14. I call and he shows Q9. +$15.88

- I get 87o inthe BB. There are 2 limpers, and the flop is 9-10-J. I bet 80c and MP makes it $2.40. For some reason I am feeling very unconfident, and am sure he has KQ. I call. The turn is a 5. I check, he bets $3.50 and I call. The river is a 10. I check, he bets $6 and I call. He has J10. Bugger. -$12.15

Session balance = -$9.1

I have also been playing the CAP games on FT. In general they have been going well, but last night was awful. I can't be bothered to find the hand histories, but here a few examples...

- I raise J9s, the flop is Q-J-J, someone have QQ.
- I raise 10-7s, the flop is K-10-10, someone has KK.
- I have QQ, someone has KK.
- I have 9-10 on a 9-9-Q-K board. Comeone has K9.

Just not fun at all. But I did earn another $20 in bonus. Session balance = -$32.95

Cash
Hours = 48.5
Profit = -$39.58

Tourney
Hours = 6.75
Profit = $5.49

A Game
Hours = 15
Profit = $32.50

Bankroll = $800.62

Bits and Bobs

I played quite a lot on Titan trying to get enough points and to build the free $5 into something worthwhile, and by the end of the day I had achieved enough points and I had turned it into $95. Here are the key hands...

- (10c BB) I get 99 in the SB, UTG limps, I call and the BB makes it 70c. UTG folds and I am feeling fishy and call. The flop is A-10-9. I bet $1, he makes it $2, I make it $7, he pushes and I call. He has AK. +$11.44

- (20c BB) I make it 80c in MP with Q10o. The button and the BB call. The flop is Q-10-3. The BB bets $2 and I call. The button folds. The turn is a 2, the BB checks and I put him all-in for $4.38. He calls with Q5. +$7.23

- (20c BB) UTG limps and it's folded to me in the BB with 54o. I check. The flop is 5-6-5. I bet 40c, he makes it $1.60 and I decide to trap and call. The turn is a J, I check, he bets $1.60 and I make it $6.40. He calls. The river is a horrible 6. I check and he pushes for $4.95. I know I am beat but I want to see, so I call, and he has J6. -$13.15

- (20c BB) I make it 80c UTG with JJ and MP and the button call. The flop is J-10-2. I bet $2 and MP calls. The turn is an 8, I bet $4.60 and he calls. The river is a 6, I push for $10 and he calls with Q-10. I'm not quite sure why I played that hand so fast, but it seemed to work. +$16.75

I had almost given up on Full Tilt, but then I heard about the CAP rooms. Basically you can buy-in for however much you want, but you can only bet up to 30BBs in a single hand. The play is appaulling. There aren't any notable hands, as they are all fairly small pots, but I did win a little.

Aswell as this, I have played a little on Party. They have offered me a 25% reload bonus, so I redeposited, but for some reason the bonus didn't activate. Anyway I played a bit and was getting destroyed at 6-max, I just couldn't get in to the game, so I played some 9-max. I also played a Step 1. The Steps have been changed, but hopefully I can have another good run in them.

Cash
Hours = 35.25
Profit = -$24.89

Tourney
Hours = 4.25
Profit = $2.55

A Game
Hours = 15
Profit = $32.50

Bankroll = $684.07

Monthly Review

Here are my cash results for March - as you can see, they are fairly unimpressive! It's not quite as bad as it looks, as I have also earnt $40 in bonus from Full Tilt and about another $20 in rakeback. As it is my first month back and playing properly, I'm not too disappointed, but I am expecting much better results from now on!

My current challenge is based on Titan. They gave me $5 free as I have not used their site in ages, and I was just dossing around with it on the $20 NL table and managed to get it up to $12. I then played 2 STTs and managed to come 1st and 2nd, giving me about $42. Now I think I will play 6-max with 4 buy-ins until I gain the points I need to withdraw (373). Yesterday I managed to grind it up to $96, earning 120 points on the way. Titan seems so easy at the moment that I might even leave it there, early days though. However, this money will not count towards my bankroll until I am able to withdraw it.

Cash

Hours = 22.2

Profit = -$69.93

Tourney

Hours = 3.75

Profit = $5.55

A Game

Hours = 15

Profit = $32.50

Bankroll = $642.03

A Game and 6-max

First off I am loving 6-max cash games. It actually feels as though I am playing poker, and not just waiting for sets or AA v KK. It takes a lot of concentration, but so far I am finding it lots of fun. The sessions have gone like this...

Session 1
Party, 10c-25c (6max), 0.25 hours

- Very early on I get 22 in the BB. There is a limper, the SB makes it $1 and we both call. The flop is Q-9-2. SB checks, I bet $1.75 and the SB calls. The turn is a 4, and the SB check-calls $4. The river is an 8 and the SB pushes for $4.70. It looks like he has been fishy with J-10, but I call anyway and he had QQ. Nice start at Party. -$11.45

- The next hand I play very badly. I get As-Qs on the button and make it $1. Just the SB calls. The flop is Q-9-7 and the SB bets $2.20. I normally take a bet like this to mean top-pair-weak-kicker, and so I raise it to $7. He calls. The turn is a pretty shitty K, and he checks. I continue with my read and put him all-in. He calls with J-10. -$24.80

- I get AJo on the button. The cut-off limps, I make it $1 and the cut-off calls. The flop is 3-10-6. He checks and I bet $1.25. He calls. The turn is an A and he bets $3. I'm not really sure where I am, but I call. The river is another A, and he goes all-in for $5. I can't fold, and he shows K-4. +$9.60

- I get KK in MP and make it $1. The cut-off then makes it $3.30 and the button calls. It's folded to me, and I may be tilting a bit because I push for $36.95. The re-raiser folds, but the button calls with KJs. He flops a flush draw, but luckily misses. +$32.75.

- Session balance = +$18.17

Session 2
Stars, 5c-10c (6max), 0.25 hours

- Very early on I get 77 UTG and limp. The button makes it 30c and I call. The flop is K-Jd-7d. I bet 50c and he calls. The turn is a nasty Ad. I bet $1 and he pushes for $7.25. With this bet, I don't put him on the flush, and I doubt he has Q-10 with the pre-flop raise. I call and he has K-Qd. The river is a 10. -$8.05

- I can feel myself tilting so I call it a day. Session balance -$10.50

Session 3
Party, 10c-25c (6max), 1 hour

- Not many big hands in this session. At one point I get 9-6 in the BB, 2 players limp, the SB calls and I check. The flop of A-4-5 is checked round. The turn is a 7 and it is checked to a limper, who min-bets. The SB and I call. The river is a perfect 8. We check to the limper who bets $2. I put him in for $12 more and he calls with J6. +$13.65

- Session balance = +$32.57

As well as these sessions, me and a friend often combine our meagre bankrolls to try to take down a big MTT and play a little cash on the side. We call ourselves A Game. No big scores yet, but we are up slightly.

Cash
Hours = 22.25
Profit = -$69.93

Tourney
Hours = 3.75
Profit = $5.55

A Game
Hours = 15
Profit = $32.50

Bankroll = $642.03

6-max is the future!

Since the last post, I was a busy and took a few days off, then came back with a live tourney win and then a little internet poker. I started by playing 6-max on Stars as I think 6-max may be where the money is. As I don't really know the strategy of 6-max, I am starting by just playing 5c-10c. It went well, and I then played a few sessions on FTP, as I don't want to give up on my bonus and rakeback!

Sessions 1 & 2
Stars, 5c-10c (6max), 1.75 hours

- There are 2 limpers, I call with my 10-4o in the SB, and the BB checks. The flop is 10h-4h-2h. I bet the pot, 40c, and get raised to $1. This player is very aggressive, but I am still kinda stuck as to what to do here. He could easily just have top pair or a high heart. I raise to $1.70 and he calls. The turn is 5d and I check. I should bet here! He checks behind. I get lucky and the river is 4c. I know my opponent is aggressive and so I check. He puts me all-in and I gladly call. He has Jc-8h. +$9.80

- UTG raises to 40c, the button calls and I call in the SB with 99. The flop is 8-5c-4 and I bet 80c. UTG calls. The turn is a 10c, I bet $1.20 and he calls. The river is 2c and I check, as I see no value in betting. He pushes for $3.85 and I call. He shows Q9o. +$6.15

Sessions balance = +$24.85

Sessions 3, 4, 5 & 6
Full Tilt, 5c-10c (6max), 3.25 hours

- I get J7o in the BB, the button limps and the SB calls. The flop is 8-9-10. The SB bets 25c, I make it 80c and the button calls. The SB then makes it $1.70 and how exciting he has QJ! I can't fold though so I push, the button folds and the SB calls with QJ. -$6.45

- I raise in MP with 6d-4d and the BB calls. The flop is 5-7-8. BB checks, I bet 55c and he calls. The turn is a J, and the BB check-calls $1.20. The river is a 3 and the BB checks. He has a big stack and I think its worth trying to get paid off and so I push for $5.95. He calls with Q8. +$7.15

- I get AKo in the BB. UTG min-raises and the button and the SB call. I make it $1.10 and UTG and the SB call. The flop is 4-2-7 and I bet $1.65. Just UTG calls. I now put him on an overpair or set and give up on the hand unless I turn an A or a K. The turn is a 10 and I check. UTG checks behind. The river is a 9, I check and UTG bets $8. I then spasm and convince myself that I am ahead. I call and he shows 6-8 for the straight. -$10.40

- The cut-off makes it 40c and I make it $1 on thebutton with AKo. The BB then re-raises to $1.60 and just I call. The flop is K-J-J and the BB pushes for $3. I call and he shows 88. The turn is an A and the river is an 8. I love Full Tilt and they love me. -$4.55

- UTG limps, I make it 50c on the button with AA and just UTG call. The flop is J-9-6. UTG bets the pot and I am confused. I decide to call and put him in if the turn blanks. I call and the turn is a 6. I figure this is a good card for me if he has J9, and so when he checks, I put him all-in. He calls with 6-5 and the river is a 5. -$7.55

Sessions balance = -$27.95

And I earnt another $20 in bonus.

I have no moved most of my bankoll from Full Tilt to Stars, but I will keep playing 6-max at both and try to see which is most profitable. I should get my first rakeback money through soon and then I should be able to decide whether it is worth it for me to stay at Full Tilt.

Cash
Hours = 20.75
Profit = $110.17

Tourney
Hours = 3.75
Profit = $5.55

Bankroll = $622.59

Argh!

Well I have two of the worst cash game sessions ever! I also played a few other bits and bobs, but nothing major. FTP is killing me, even with the bonus and rakeback I am down! I think I will move back to Party and see how it goes. So, here's the pain...

Session 1
Full Tilt, 10c-25c, 3 hours.

- I raise from the cut-off to 80c with KdJd and just the button called. The flop is 2d-3d-5. I bet $1, he makes it $3.75 and now I think I should push. But I just call. The turn is a K, and here I should definitely bet. But I check and he bets $6, I call. The river is 8d. I push for $13 and he calls with Ad-9d. -$23.60

That was the only killer hand, but loads of shitty ones, and ended the session down $58.75.

Session 2
Full Tilt, 10c-25c, 2.5 hours.

- UTG makes it $1, it folds to me on the button and I make it $3.50 with KK. He pushes and of course he has AA, it's so obvious! So I call and see his shiny aces. - $23.35

- Raise in MP with 99. The cut-off, the button and the BB all call. The flop is K-Q-9. The BB bets $0.25, I call, the cut-off makes it $4 and the BB calls. I push for $21 and they both call, showing KQ and K10. They miss. +$22

But then ever PP I had missed of got raised, and every TP was no good. Very frustrating. Session ended down $54.90.

I also cahsed in a Stars 180man STT and a few other bits and bobs. This sucks.

Cash
Hours = 15.75
Profit = -$107.07

Tourney
Hours = 3.75
Cash = $5.55

Bankroll = $605.69

Getting Better!

I've played a few short sessions since the last update, and here are the highlights...

Session 1
Full Tilt, 10c-25c, 1.5 hours

- Only one key hand. I get AA in the BB, there are 3 limpers and $1.50. I get 2 callers, one of which is the SB. The SB checks a K-10-4 flop, I bet $3.50, the limper folds and the SB goes all-in for $22.15. Obviously I am a bit scared of the check-raise but I call and he has K7 and doesn't improve. + $19.15

Session 2
PokerStars, 5c-10c, 1.5 hours

- This was a game with people from my forum, the first time I had played with them. Early on a raised and then called an all-in with 8c-6c on a Ac-Q-2c flop and didn't improve against AJ. Not ideal. -$10.45

Sessions 3, 4 and 5
Full Tilt, 10c-25c, 1.5 hours

- There was only 1 key hand in 3 short sessions, and it was a bit of a beaut. I am in LP with 77, and call $1 after a MP player raises. The flop is 10-7-4. He bets our $2, I make it $5.50 and he calls. The turn is another 7. He checks, and I want to suck him in, and so bet $5. He calls. The river is a Q, he checks and I put him all-in. He calls with A10. +$21.65

After these sessions, I also earnt the first $20 of my FTP bonus.

On my forum there is also a HU tournament, and I won my first round match. Bring it on!

Cash
Hours = 9.5
Profit = $3.99

Tourney
Hours = 0.75
Profit = $3.70

Bankroll = $714.91

Shitness and Slowness

I've played a few session on FTP and a couple of hands on WPX, and here's the info...

- Deposited $50 on WPX and thought it would be a good idea to test it out by playing like a complete twat. Pushed with a flush draw again 2 pair and missed. I quit this site. = - $28.26

Have also played two sessiosn on FTP, with amazingly unimpressive results. Here are the hands...

Session 1

- UTG limps, I limp in LP with KQo, button limps and BB checks. The flop is Q-Q-10. UTG bets out $1.10, I make it $4, and he calls. The turn is a 6, he checks, I puthim all-in for $9.70, and he calls with AA. Nice. = $13.15

- The button raises to $1.10 and I make it $3.75 in the SB with QQ. Button calls. The flop is Q-2-2. I bet $2, he makes it $4, I make it $6 and he calls. The turn is a J and Iput him in for his last $1.50. He calls with KK. Double nice start. +$10.60.

- MP makes it $0.75 and I make it $3.50 on the button with QQ. He makes it $8.25 I should be able to fold this. But I didn't and he had AA = -$17.90

- Get AQs in the SB, MP limps, I call (mistake!) and BB checks. The flop is Q-3-2. I bet $0.50 and they both call. The turn is a J and I bet $1.50. BB fold and MP makes it $3. Ah-ha, QJ! I want a cheap showdown so make it $4.50 and he calls. The river changes things, as it is an A. I put him all-in for $18 and he calls with QJ = +$21.10

Session balance = +$0.95!!!

Session 2

- I get JJ in the SB, the button limps and I make it $1.25. BB calls. The flop is J-J-6 (!) and I bet $1.75. He calls. The turn is a 2, I bet $4 and he calls (what the hell has he got?!?). The river is a 9 and I put him all-in for $5.50 and he calls with AK. = +$11.50

- But then I had to fold KK and QQ on A high flops, and fold QJ on a QJ8 flop, so the session balance was... =$0.75!!!

It's beginning to all seem like a waste of time.

Bankroll: 666.96

First Session

As I have a bonus to earn off at Full Tilt, and I should be getting 30% rakeback, I thought I would kick off with a session of 10c-25c there. It started well, I was raising a lot of pots and the players seemed incredibly passive.

Then the first toughy...

-I get 6d2d in the SB, there is a limper and I complete. The BB checks. The flop is 6-6-5 with 2 spades. I bet out 50c and the limper calls. The turn is a 4 and I bet out $1.20 and he calls. The river is a J and I bet $2. I think this is a bad bet, if he is drawing then he isn't calling, and if he has a hand then it probably beats mine, unless he is playing A5 like a dweeb. Anyway, I bet $2 and he makes it $10.15. I think he could have spades and so call, and he shows 55. - $12.10

- Now I am a little pissed off and waste a few $'s. Then I get J9o in the BB. The button limps, the SB folds and I check. The flop is a delightful K-Q-10 rainbow. I bet 50c, he makes it $2.10 and I call. I check the 4 on the turn, and he bets over the pot for $6.25. I push for $22.65 and he thinks... and thinks... and thinks and calls with K10. The river is a Q. +$21.70

- So I'm feeling a bit better and raises Ks9s in MP to 80c. The BB re-raises to $1.75. It's only a small raise, I have position, and I want to stack him, so I call. The flop is 5-7s-As. He bets out $2.50 and I have a decision. I had been raising a lot pre-flop, and stupid people seemed to think the way to counteract this was to re-raise me back a very small amount, so his re-raise didn't necessarily mean strength. And I was feeling a bit fishy, so I pushed for $25 and he calls with AK. I hit my spade on the turn and it's good day Vienna. +$22.30

There was a lot of banter after this hand, and I made a few EFL's (Enemies for life), but it was all fun.

- Session balance = +$6.30

Cash game
Hours = 2
Balance = +6.30

Bankroll = $693.52

Jacks (soon to be) on $5k!

So, I'm back from travelling, and it's time to start hitting the tables. The current aim is to build the BR up to $5000 as quickly as possible and then hit Vegas. Hopefully I will complete this before the end of the year, but I have no idea when or where I will be working and how much time I will have, so it really could happen anytime. But it will happen.

The current bankroll looks like this...

Neteller - $211.92
FTP - $321.05
Stars - $48.86
Bodog - $105.39

TOTAL - $687.22

The plan runs like this: I will mainly be grinding on FTP and PartyPoker, moving up the levels when I gain 20 buy-ins. I will be earning bonuses on FTP and hopefully some redeposit bonuses on Party, which will help. I should also be getting 30% rakeback on FTP.

The Stars money is mainly to piss around with and play against some forum members, as well as the occassional tourney or satelite.

Bodog won't seem to let me withdraw my money, and so it is kinda stuck there. Therefore I will play a few tournaments there, as I've heard the cash games suck. I will enter no tournaments that is over 2% of my bankroll.

I will also be redepositing on WPX, just to see if I can put up with the awful site when getting all my rake back. We'll see.