It's been so long since my last post I had to hunt down my username and password haha! Since my last post I've had some hundred dollar swings at the casinos that were completely sickening. I played very well and was up about 500 dollars one day then promptly lost it.
It was then that I realized that 2000 dollars to play 1-2 NL is definitely not enough money to endure the downswings that comes with NL poker. After a few weeks of working at my marvelous salad boy job, being broke, and contemplating my next move, I decided to join Full Tilt earlier than expected.
Unfortunately my bad luck spilled out into the real world when I was trying to set up an account. Right after receiving my paycheck, I paid off some car insurance, made about 400-500 salads for Friday night's dinner rush and went out for a nice cleansing night at the bars. 3:00AM rolls around and I realized I've locked my keys in my car. "No worries" I thought "I'll just get it in the morning!" I then proceeded to consume about 8 more shots of rum while talking to the broiler cook till six in the morning.
Woke up. No car. Not towed. Police report. Parents driving me to work like I'm twelve.
Rewind a week earlier when I noticed an abnormally large painless lump in my lip. Not knowing what this mini-monstrosity was or whether or not if it was cancerous I decided to go to the Oral surgeon and get it cut out. "How bad could it be?" I thought while waltzing into the waiting room and informing the fat receptionist with too much eye make-up that I was there. 15 minutes later I have gauze bigger than the lump inside my mouth covering 30 stitches weaved through my bloody mess of a lip. "13 Dollars please." The Mickey D's queen insisted on asking for even though I told her to bill me later multiple times. I'm sorry that I didn't want to explain to her that even though 13 dollars might not be too much for a learned receptionist taking calls in her lavishly made XXXL scrubs for an oral surgeon that actually could save up enough cash (probably from avoiding 13 dollar buffets) to go to school for a mere 1/10th of his life and can actually afford a gym membership.
No I did not have 13 dollars but I can overdraft my checking account for the second time this week if it will help you sleep better, only if your sleep apnea subsides of course.
So anyways it wasn't a good week.
But alas Monday did come after a glorious Independence Day weekend of getting honorably smashed in the name of our forefathers and great things started to happen.
My car ended up getting towed and, even though it cost me about a NL200 buy-in to get it out, I'm glad to have it.
My stitches were painlessly (overestimating) removed and the lump was gone! And even though it's replaced with an extremely painful numbness (yes it can happen apparently) in my lower lip, I can eat again.
My 50 dollar deposit on Full Tilt actually got paid from my checking account, even if I did waste 50 dollars buying a worthless Netspend card that was supposed to null my worries of the U.S. government withholding my deposit, like what had previously happened at Pokerstars.
And I have cashed in 11 6-max sit-and-gos which, combining with a little cash game luck, has increased my $50 bankroll!
Soon I will post an all-poker post explaining exactly what I'm hoping to achieve on full tilt in the year to come but for now it's back to the tables to continue my run and fighting bad luck with profitable decisions.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
The Italian Not The Only One Steaming
It's been a few days since my last post. First things first. Here's what happened. I hopped over the river feeling frisky after a few weeks off the tables. The positive attitude continued to shine as I took the stairs up to Caesar's poker room and saw a few familiar faces. It was about 2PM on a Monday so not many games were going. There were about 2 full tables of 1-2 NL and I joined a 3rd fresh table.
Things seemed to be going well after the first couple of hours. I was on a rate of about $20/hr and spiked a hundred dollar win when I got really lucky against a not so lucky Italian. We both limped in before the blinds along with a couple of other callers. I held K6o, not a very strong hand but with everyone limping in I decided to play. I hit a king on the flop with two spades accompanying it and bet out 10 bucks into a 16 dollar pot. The guy to my left raised to $25 and the Italian in late position raised all-in.
Now here's where my mind screams and yells get the fuck out and say goodbye to $10 to save $100 but this time I wasn't listening. The smart part of my brain told me the guy who raised was probably trying to push people out on his flush draw and the Italian didn't want any of us to hit our draws so he tried to push us out even further. I put the Italian on a king but one with a low kicker since he just limped in preflop. I knew that if the guy to my left called he would only be about 25% to win the pot and be all-in also. I had both of them covered with about $250 when they had less than $100.
In no way should I have made the call but the twisted side of my brain told me by some slim chance I was ahead and if I wasn't I still had some gambling outs. I called discouraging the guy on my left to play his flush draw against a caller and the Italian turned over K8o to dominate me. I was right on my reads, but made the wrong decision.
The turn was a blank, but on the river I caught my miracle 6 giving me two-pair. I dragged the $200 pot which cured my shame for sucking out rather quickly.
The Italian steamed, yelling at me for getting lucky over his superior skill. I said sorry it had to be that way and kept my mouth shut. I felt like I was slowly crawling back into the shadows before anyone had noticed how absolutely absurd my play was.
After that I decided to play only premium hands knowing fully well that no one at the would respect any bets or calls from then on. Fortunately this image worked to my advantage. Shortly after, all my preflop pairs had flopped trips and some even filled in by the river. I placed small value bets every street which got paid every time.
The Italian kept reloading his stack, donking it off to me and the others by playing wildly. Around 7PM I picked up K10s in early position and called a raise to see a flop. The Italian also called. I hit top two pair on the flop and the Italian moved in on me for about $200. I quickly called and turned the two pair and he turned over Q9 for a open-ended straight draw. I filled up on the river and was up about $300 on the night.
This is the point where casinos become really fun. Overhearing some other players, I'd learned that the casino special that day was if you played for more than an hour and a half in the casino, they gave you two free vouchers to the buffet. Hunger being one of the obstacles when I play long hours of poker, I promptly went downstairs to cash in on my comps.
I don't know if it was the mediocre fried fish or the confused looks on all of the white-haired old ladies clasped arm and arm looking for the carrot cake, but I couldn't wait to get back to the tables, play in the tournament, and join a new 2-5 table that had just opened up.
Unfortunately, I played the tournament too loosely and only came in 19/42 and became even more impatient and pissed away my winnings and then some on the 1-2 game waiting for the 2-5 game. After salvaging what I could from the evils of fatigue and boredom, I walked out of the poker room with a wound in my ass.
I was pretty discouraged, but after writing this post I've realized a few things.
1. Image is important. Even if you play badly and get lucky, you can use your "donk" image to your advantage in future hands.
2. When your mind screams "GO HOME" "TAKE YOUR MONEY" "DON'T CALL" listen to it.
3. Free Buffets are better than paying for buffets even if the fish sucks.
4. Don't be afraid to run with your money, you can always come back refreshed the next day.
Thanks for listening guys, I will be headed back to the casino shortly and will be posting shortly after that.
Things seemed to be going well after the first couple of hours. I was on a rate of about $20/hr and spiked a hundred dollar win when I got really lucky against a not so lucky Italian. We both limped in before the blinds along with a couple of other callers. I held K6o, not a very strong hand but with everyone limping in I decided to play. I hit a king on the flop with two spades accompanying it and bet out 10 bucks into a 16 dollar pot. The guy to my left raised to $25 and the Italian in late position raised all-in.
Now here's where my mind screams and yells get the fuck out and say goodbye to $10 to save $100 but this time I wasn't listening. The smart part of my brain told me the guy who raised was probably trying to push people out on his flush draw and the Italian didn't want any of us to hit our draws so he tried to push us out even further. I put the Italian on a king but one with a low kicker since he just limped in preflop. I knew that if the guy to my left called he would only be about 25% to win the pot and be all-in also. I had both of them covered with about $250 when they had less than $100.
In no way should I have made the call but the twisted side of my brain told me by some slim chance I was ahead and if I wasn't I still had some gambling outs. I called discouraging the guy on my left to play his flush draw against a caller and the Italian turned over K8o to dominate me. I was right on my reads, but made the wrong decision.
The turn was a blank, but on the river I caught my miracle 6 giving me two-pair. I dragged the $200 pot which cured my shame for sucking out rather quickly.
The Italian steamed, yelling at me for getting lucky over his superior skill. I said sorry it had to be that way and kept my mouth shut. I felt like I was slowly crawling back into the shadows before anyone had noticed how absolutely absurd my play was.
After that I decided to play only premium hands knowing fully well that no one at the would respect any bets or calls from then on. Fortunately this image worked to my advantage. Shortly after, all my preflop pairs had flopped trips and some even filled in by the river. I placed small value bets every street which got paid every time.
The Italian kept reloading his stack, donking it off to me and the others by playing wildly. Around 7PM I picked up K10s in early position and called a raise to see a flop. The Italian also called. I hit top two pair on the flop and the Italian moved in on me for about $200. I quickly called and turned the two pair and he turned over Q9 for a open-ended straight draw. I filled up on the river and was up about $300 on the night.
This is the point where casinos become really fun. Overhearing some other players, I'd learned that the casino special that day was if you played for more than an hour and a half in the casino, they gave you two free vouchers to the buffet. Hunger being one of the obstacles when I play long hours of poker, I promptly went downstairs to cash in on my comps.
I don't know if it was the mediocre fried fish or the confused looks on all of the white-haired old ladies clasped arm and arm looking for the carrot cake, but I couldn't wait to get back to the tables, play in the tournament, and join a new 2-5 table that had just opened up.
Unfortunately, I played the tournament too loosely and only came in 19/42 and became even more impatient and pissed away my winnings and then some on the 1-2 game waiting for the 2-5 game. After salvaging what I could from the evils of fatigue and boredom, I walked out of the poker room with a wound in my ass.
I was pretty discouraged, but after writing this post I've realized a few things.
1. Image is important. Even if you play badly and get lucky, you can use your "donk" image to your advantage in future hands.
2. When your mind screams "GO HOME" "TAKE YOUR MONEY" "DON'T CALL" listen to it.
3. Free Buffets are better than paying for buffets even if the fish sucks.
4. Don't be afraid to run with your money, you can always come back refreshed the next day.
Thanks for listening guys, I will be headed back to the casino shortly and will be posting shortly after that.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Intro/Back To The Tables
Hello friends and welcome to my new blog! For awhile now I've been wanting to set up a blog chronicling my poker adventures but never really got around to it. I have been playing poker seriously since I was 17. Since then I've been able to accrue and, unfortunately, lose thousands of dollars (I'm 21 now).
Right now I'm on the ass end of the poker world, taking one of the greatest losses since I've started playing. Enduring this has been rough, especially since I don't come from much money to begin with. Building a bankroll and losing it within a week or two becomes very disheartening and demoralizing. Lately I have been questioning my skills in the game, but never have I questioned my love.
After meticulously analyzing my actions and players actions at the table I have come to the conclusion that many of my losses over this bad run has simply been due to a bad run of cards. It seems as though my good plays go unappreciated by other players while my strong hands never tend to hold up by the river. The other estimated 70% of my time spent at the tables is folding trash hands, which is not too uncommon for the regular poker player, but lately those hands have been too many too often.
I started playing online at Pokerstars. I would regularly play micro cash games and $11 dollar Sit-n-Gos trying to make something happen with my bankroll. I had many micro tourney cashes ($40-$50) and caught my biggest cash yet ($3500). Unfortunately a bank error issue and the "loophole legality," as i like to call it, of online poker has given me a difficult time transferring funds. I may go back to playing online in the winter, but my preference is brick and mortar poker. Real man-to-man poker.
I've played in many types of casinos. Being a "Michigander" I started playing live poker at the Soaring Eagle Indian Casino when I was 18. When I turned 19, I was able to go to Caesars Windsor in Canada (Just across the river for me). There, I've had a good amount of success with docile players who are too tight with their money. I was able to loosen up and make moves on many different players just because they didn't want to risk too much money in the pot and I would take it down.
When I turned 21, I flew to Vegas by myself for about 2 days to check out the town. I wanted to relax and have a good vacation break from classes, see the sights, have some drinks, meet some good people. You know do the whole "Vegas thing." Immediately after getting out of the taxi however, I found myself scoping all the poker tables in MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Excalibur, and the Luxor. I didn't even check into my room till late because I was playing poker for about 8 hours. Fortunately I was able to pay for my trip.
This gave me huge confidence. I realized that poker was pretty much the same everywhere for me and that is a huge advantage. I wasn't intimidated. I wasn't scared. The players had the same moping faces and drooping eyes. The hotshots always boosted their ego with success stories at the tables and the oldies were always trying to trick you into giving more money to the pot. Pretty standard stuff.
When I returned home, I dominated some finals and dedicated the beginning of my summer to poker. Unfortunately it didn't take long before the wild players at MGM Detroit out-lucked me and took more money I was willing to spend.
So that brings me to where I'm at today. A prep cook at a restaurant 40 hours a week waiting to get a paycheck to take back to the tables and turn it into something significant. I'm a student at Grand Valley State University for fall/winter semesters and usually play online then.
Today is my first day back to the tables in a couple of weeks. I have a limited bankroll, but I remember times a few years back when I would buy in with my last 200 dollars and it wouldn't phase me one bit so it's time to stop being so cautious. My skill is good enough to grind and my skin has calloused. I'm headed back across the river, staying away from the MGM fools.
My goal tonight is to at least win enough money ($500) to join the 2-5 game in order to multiply my money quickly. I have the skill to win this game, all I need is the money.
I don't know what this blog will bring, mostly interesting poker experiences for my readers I hope, but I also expect some blow ups and rants about the bad luck in poker. Either way whether to keep my sanity or just to keep my readers entertained, this blog should be fun.
Right now I'm on the ass end of the poker world, taking one of the greatest losses since I've started playing. Enduring this has been rough, especially since I don't come from much money to begin with. Building a bankroll and losing it within a week or two becomes very disheartening and demoralizing. Lately I have been questioning my skills in the game, but never have I questioned my love.
After meticulously analyzing my actions and players actions at the table I have come to the conclusion that many of my losses over this bad run has simply been due to a bad run of cards. It seems as though my good plays go unappreciated by other players while my strong hands never tend to hold up by the river. The other estimated 70% of my time spent at the tables is folding trash hands, which is not too uncommon for the regular poker player, but lately those hands have been too many too often.
I started playing online at Pokerstars. I would regularly play micro cash games and $11 dollar Sit-n-Gos trying to make something happen with my bankroll. I had many micro tourney cashes ($40-$50) and caught my biggest cash yet ($3500). Unfortunately a bank error issue and the "loophole legality," as i like to call it, of online poker has given me a difficult time transferring funds. I may go back to playing online in the winter, but my preference is brick and mortar poker. Real man-to-man poker.
I've played in many types of casinos. Being a "Michigander" I started playing live poker at the Soaring Eagle Indian Casino when I was 18. When I turned 19, I was able to go to Caesars Windsor in Canada (Just across the river for me). There, I've had a good amount of success with docile players who are too tight with their money. I was able to loosen up and make moves on many different players just because they didn't want to risk too much money in the pot and I would take it down.
When I turned 21, I flew to Vegas by myself for about 2 days to check out the town. I wanted to relax and have a good vacation break from classes, see the sights, have some drinks, meet some good people. You know do the whole "Vegas thing." Immediately after getting out of the taxi however, I found myself scoping all the poker tables in MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Excalibur, and the Luxor. I didn't even check into my room till late because I was playing poker for about 8 hours. Fortunately I was able to pay for my trip.
This gave me huge confidence. I realized that poker was pretty much the same everywhere for me and that is a huge advantage. I wasn't intimidated. I wasn't scared. The players had the same moping faces and drooping eyes. The hotshots always boosted their ego with success stories at the tables and the oldies were always trying to trick you into giving more money to the pot. Pretty standard stuff.
When I returned home, I dominated some finals and dedicated the beginning of my summer to poker. Unfortunately it didn't take long before the wild players at MGM Detroit out-lucked me and took more money I was willing to spend.
So that brings me to where I'm at today. A prep cook at a restaurant 40 hours a week waiting to get a paycheck to take back to the tables and turn it into something significant. I'm a student at Grand Valley State University for fall/winter semesters and usually play online then.
Today is my first day back to the tables in a couple of weeks. I have a limited bankroll, but I remember times a few years back when I would buy in with my last 200 dollars and it wouldn't phase me one bit so it's time to stop being so cautious. My skill is good enough to grind and my skin has calloused. I'm headed back across the river, staying away from the MGM fools.
My goal tonight is to at least win enough money ($500) to join the 2-5 game in order to multiply my money quickly. I have the skill to win this game, all I need is the money.
I don't know what this blog will bring, mostly interesting poker experiences for my readers I hope, but I also expect some blow ups and rants about the bad luck in poker. Either way whether to keep my sanity or just to keep my readers entertained, this blog should be fun.
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