Poker Musings

Online cashout.

2006-06-12T07:30:34Z

I just reviewed my stats for the year combined hourly rate for online play is $0.95/hour.

My rate for live play is $25.82 and that's accelerating quickly when I look at the trends.

So I just cashed out most of my online accounts. The rest will follow soon.

I might give it another shot sometime when I figure out what I'm doing badly, but I'm spending most of the summer in Washington state where online play has become a felony.

Pokerstars blogger tournament

2006-05-24T14:40:12Z

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.

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Registration code: 7330476

Notes from last night's 3.30 rebuy on Pokerstars - My plan worked

2006-04-13T22:31:03Z

I decided to play the $3.30 Rebuy event again last night. I played with a few other players and we had agreed to split the winnings to reduce variance. Details at teamdp

Short version: 12/1799 and I make a $93.68 profit.

Initial starting chips are T1500 and according to the group guidelines I did the immediate rebuy and dropped it on the third hand when I had 22 in MP. I limp, three people go all in and I call. It's checked through the river and no 2 so I fold when there's a bet on the river from the only other player who did the initial rebuy and I'm back to T1500.

I rebuy to put myself back at 3K.

Hand #25 I make a 3xBB raise w/ 55 and get 4 callers. Flop is K95 rainbow so I make my set but decide to get cute with it. Turn is a 6 and a second heart and I bet the pot and get reraised. I'm pot committed at this point so I call. They have 66, so I'm basically dead. River is a 5. TQB.

Two hands later I have 77 and bet 4xBB. Flop is AA7, so I just keep making pot sized bets and take out 1 player who's got A4s.

Hand 35 I have T7600 and KK in the BB. One limper a small raise and a caller so I push. I get 2 callers TT and ATo. It comes Qh 3s 7d 2d Ad, but I make a profit on the hand because the ATo player had fewer chips and I'm up to T10710
--------------------
Hand 47: TT vs AQo & 22 : [Kd Js 8s Qs 8d] and I'm down to T3000

A couple of pushes (QdJd and KsJs) and I'm back to T7360.
--------------------
I make the first break with T8410 after taking the add-on. Average is T9500
--------------------
T17660 at the second break, which is just under the average (T19410).

I'm at table 25 and have been since the beginning which has been nice. No reseating == a decent read all the way through.
--------------------
Was doing pretty well until a hand w/ Ad6d vs 2d5d. Flop was 789 w/ two diamonds. Turn was an offsuit 4 and I pushed. He called, probably thinking his flush draw was good. River was a 6, making him a straight.

I managed to steal a couple blinds and then more than double with AKo vs AJo when I was in the big blind.

I had to fold 55 after a raise and a reraise. It would have been 2/3 of my stack. I would have been up against AA and ATo and a 5 flopped.

Just made the 3rd break w/ T26866 and I'm in the money.

MrPete is also in and joined my table.
--------------------
I'm still in at the fourth break.

Interesting hands:
I have T56K and pick up 44 in MP and limp. 3 others see a flop of 77s8s and it's checked round. Turn is a 4. One opponent bets and I raise a little. He calls. River is another spade he makes a small bet and I push hoping he has something and he'll think it's a steal but I get no action. I'm pretty sure he had A8 or A7.
I make about 25k on the hand

A little while later I have T67K and have 77 on the button. It's folded to the CO who makes a raise of 10k. I push (and have him covered) and he lays it down. +17K

A couple hands later I have JTs and T72K and limp from MP. Flop is Ad5dTs and I make a small raise after it's checked to me. 1 caller. Turn is a 7h and I make a raise of 2/3 the pot and take it down. +18K

Next hand was funny. I have 98k and am UTG. I accidently hit the raise button and make it 8k with T9o. 4 callers see a flop of Qs 8c Jd. The short stack pushes for 40k. Not really wanting anyone with a set, KT or AK to be getting odds to call I push too. Turn and river are Js 4s and I'm up to 154K. +56K

Only other hand I played this level I had 150K in late position. A player in MP pushes for 43k and I call. He has AK but doesn't manage to pair and I'm +61K.
--------------------
Here's a hand I probably misplayed even though I won.
TT flops a set

Iprobably could have just called his flop bet, but I'm figuring him forAK-AJ. If he has the AQ, he'll put it in. If he has the AK or AJ Idon't want him to get lucky since he has me covered.

Thoughts?
--------------------
A couple more hands

AA vs QQ
Too vigorous a blind defense
I make up for the previous hand
--------------------
Just made the 5th break with T402139. I'm in 14th place with 27 remaining.

Average is 475K. I'm also at a table with the very active chipleader. Good if I can catch a hand. Bad otherwise.
--------------------
I went card dead here. I stayed patient while it got down to 18 but I didn't get any decent hands and was too short stacked to make any big moves, especially with the super active big stacks at my table. They had piles of chips and were looking for any excuse to move them in. I had enough chips that I could make the next money level and decided to wait for that and then go into auto push mode and hope to get lucky. That worked to move me up a bit and I stayed card dead.

Once I hit the next money level, I was getting pretty low in chips. I started pushing with any vaguely reasonable hands (any ace, suited connectors, etc) and a couple unreasonable ones in position. While I did have some awesome suckouts, they weren't enough to build my stack up enough to be comfortable (M<4 and 4 players had to bust before I make the final table) and I eventually went out.

12/1799 isn't bad.

Absence

2006-04-12T16:17:19Z

I haven't posted here in a while. This year has been pretty uneventful in the poker area since I basically took February off to recover from a motorcycle accident. (I'm fine now)

That said, I've been seriously underperforming in tournaments. The start of 2006 was good for me. I made my first final tables ever, but lately I've been missing the money a lot. I think the thing that has been hurting me is that I've started to take the tack that just cashing isn't that important. I think about 2/3's of the way through I am starting to push smaller edges, trying to build up chips, and busting out. I'll probably have to look at this a bit more and re-read HoH.

I've also pretty much given up on limit hold'em. I think that I've developed my no limit game through tournaments to the point where I'm having a lot of success at the NL games. Reading Phil Gordon's 'Little Green Book' and scottro and rcfox's book "Mastering No Limit Hold'em" also definitely helped. Last year and this year I've made a few attempts to move up to 5/10 limit and had my ass handed to me. So far I've had a smooth move up through the NL levels and am regularly playing 2/4 NL.

Probabilities for matching hands

2006-03-08T00:43:01Z

rio posted in poker about a JJ versus JJ matchup. He asked what the odds were and I gave the heads up odds. bastard challenged me to do the odds for all numbers of players based on position and so I did.

Posted here because LJ won't let you leave a comment > 4300 characters

I'm pretty sure I did the math right, but I'd love to hear if I'm off.

These odds are only for JJ, for any rank, multiply by 13.

The numbers after each player indicate the order of the card dealt with 52 being the first card and counting down.

In the first example
- First player gets the top card (52) and the third card (50)
- Second player gets the second (51) and fourth card (49)

2 player odds
	1st player dealt JJ is player 1
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 2
			Player 1: 52 50	Player 2: 51 49	Odds 1/270725
3 player odds
	1st player dealt JJ is player 1
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 2
			Player 1: 52 49	Player 2: 51 48	Odds 1/259896
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 3
			Player 1: 52 49	Player 2: 50 47	Odds 1/249491
	1st player dealt JJ is player 2
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 3
			Player 1: 51 48	Player 2: 50 47	Odds 1/239700

4 player odds
	1st player dealt JJ is player 1
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 2
			Player 1: 52 48	Player 2: 51 47	Odds 1/249288
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 3
			Player 1: 52 48	Player 2: 50 46	Odds 1/239200
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 52 48	Player 2: 49 45	Odds 1/229320
	1st player dealt JJ is player 2
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 3
			Player 1: 51 47	Player 2: 50 46	Odds 1/229712
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 51 47	Player 2: 49 45	Odds 1/220224
	1st player dealt JJ is player 3
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 50 46	Player 2: 49 45	Odds 1/211312
5 player odds
	1st player dealt JJ is player 1
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 2
			Player 1: 52 47	Player 2: 51 46	Odds 1/238901
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 3
			Player 1: 52 47	Player 2: 50 45	Odds 1/229125
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 52 47	Player 2: 49 44	Odds 1/219552
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 52 47	Player 2: 48 43	Odds 1/210184
	1st player dealt JJ is player 2
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 3
			Player 1: 51 46	Player 2: 50 45	Odds 1/219937
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 51 46	Player 2: 49 44	Odds 1/210749
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 51 46	Player 2: 48 43	Odds 1/201756
	1st player dealt JJ is player 3
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 50 45	Player 2: 49 44	Odds 1/202125
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 50 45	Player 2: 48 43	Odds 1/193500
	1st player dealt JJ is player 4
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 49 44	Player 2: 48 43	Odds 1/185416
6 player odds
	1st player dealt JJ is player 1
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 2
			Player 1: 52 46	Player 2: 51 45	Odds 1/228735
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 3
			Player 1: 52 46	Player 2: 50 44	Odds 1/219266
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 52 46	Player 2: 49 43	Odds 1/209997
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 52 46	Player 2: 48 42	Odds 1/200928
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 52 46	Player 2: 47 41	Odds 1/192057
	1st player dealt JJ is player 2
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 3
			Player 1: 51 45	Player 2: 50 44	Odds 1/210375
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 51 45	Player 2: 49 43	Odds 1/201481
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 51 45	Player 2: 48 42	Odds 1/192780
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 51 45	Player 2: 47 41	Odds 1/184269
	1st player dealt JJ is player 3
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 50 44	Player 2: 49 43	Odds 1/193141
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 50 44	Player 2: 48 42	Odds 1/184800
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 50 44	Player 2: 47 41	Odds 1/176641
	1st player dealt JJ is player 4
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 49 43	Player 2: 48 42	Odds 1/176988
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 49 43	Player 2: 47 41	Odds 1/169174
	1st player dealt JJ is player 5
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 48 42	Player 2: 47 41	Odds 1/161868
7 player odds
	1st player dealt JJ is player 1
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 2
			Player 1: 52 45	Player 2: 51 44	Odds 1/218790
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 3
			Player 1: 52 45	Player 2: 50 43	Odds 1/209625
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 52 45	Player 2: 49 42	Odds 1/200655
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 52 45	Player 2: 48 41	Odds 1/191880
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 52 45	Player 2: 47 40	Odds 1/183300
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 52 45	Player 2: 46 39	Odds 1/174915
	1st player dealt JJ is player 2
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 3
			Player 1: 51 44	Player 2: 50 43	Odds 1/201025
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 51 44	Player 2: 49 42	Odds 1/192423
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 51 44	Player 2: 48 41	Odds 1/184008
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 51 44	Player 2: 47 40	Odds 1/175780
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 51 44	Player 2: 46 39	Odds 1/167739
	1st player dealt JJ is player 3
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 50 43	Player 2: 49 42	Odds 1/184362
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 50 43	Player 2: 48 41	Odds 1/176300
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 50 43	Player 2: 47 40	Odds 1/168416
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 50 43	Player 2: 46 39	Odds 1/160712
	1st player dealt JJ is player 4
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 49 42	Player 2: 48 41	Odds 1/168756
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 49 42	Player 2: 47 40	Odds 1/161210
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 49 42	Player 2: 46 39	Odds 1/153835
	1st player dealt JJ is player 5
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 48 41	Player 2: 47 40	Odds 1/154160
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 48 41	Player 2: 46 39	Odds 1/147108
	1st player dealt JJ is player 6
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 47 40	Player 2: 46 39	Odds 1/140530
8 player odds
	1st player dealt JJ is player 1
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 2
			Player 1: 52 44	Player 2: 51 43	Odds 1/209066
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 3
			Player 1: 52 44	Player 2: 50 42	Odds 1/200200
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 52 44	Player 2: 49 41	Odds 1/191524
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 52 44	Player 2: 48 40	Odds 1/183040
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 52 44	Player 2: 47 39	Odds 1/174746
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 52 44	Player 2: 46 38	Odds 1/166642
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 52 44	Player 2: 45 37	Odds 1/158730
	1st player dealt JJ is player 2
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 3
			Player 1: 51 43	Player 2: 50 42	Odds 1/191887
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 51 43	Player 2: 49 41	Odds 1/183572
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 51 43	Player 2: 48 40	Odds 1/175440
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 51 43	Player 2: 47 39	Odds 1/167490
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 51 43	Player 2: 46 38	Odds 1/159723
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 51 43	Player 2: 45 37	Odds 1/152139
	1st player dealt JJ is player 3
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 50 42	Player 2: 49 41	Odds 1/175787
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 50 42	Player 2: 48 40	Odds 1/168000
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 50 42	Player 2: 47 39	Odds 1/160387
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 50 42	Player 2: 46 38	Odds 1/152950
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 50 42	Player 2: 45 37	Odds 1/145687
	1st player dealt JJ is player 4
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 49 41	Player 2: 48 40	Odds 1/160720
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 49 41	Player 2: 47 39	Odds 1/153437
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 49 41	Player 2: 46 38	Odds 1/146322
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 49 41	Player 2: 45 37	Odds 1/139374
	1st player dealt JJ is player 5
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 48 40	Player 2: 47 39	Odds 1/146640
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 48 40	Player 2: 46 38	Odds 1/139840
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 48 40	Player 2: 45 37	Odds 1/133200
	1st player dealt JJ is player 6
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 47 39	Player 2: 46 38	Odds 1/133503
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 47 39	Player 2: 45 37	Odds 1/127164
	1st player dealt JJ is player 7
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 46 38	Player 2: 45 37	Odds 1/121267
9 player odds
	1st player dealt JJ is player 1
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 2
			Player 1: 52 43	Player 2: 51 42	Odds 1/199563
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 3
			Player 1: 52 43	Player 2: 50 41	Odds 1/190991
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 52 43	Player 2: 49 40	Odds 1/182606
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 52 43	Player 2: 48 39	Odds 1/174408
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 52 43	Player 2: 47 38	Odds 1/166395
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 52 43	Player 2: 46 37	Odds 1/158569
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 52 43	Player 2: 45 36	Odds 1/150930
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 9
			Player 1: 52 43	Player 2: 44 35	Odds 1/143476
	1st player dealt JJ is player 2
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 3
			Player 1: 51 42	Player 2: 50 41	Odds 1/182962
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 51 42	Player 2: 49 40	Odds 1/174930
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 51 42	Player 2: 48 39	Odds 1/167076
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 51 42	Player 2: 47 38	Odds 1/159400
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 51 42	Player 2: 46 37	Odds 1/151903
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 51 42	Player 2: 45 36	Odds 1/144585
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 9
			Player 1: 51 42	Player 2: 44 35	Odds 1/137445
	1st player dealt JJ is player 3
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 50 41	Player 2: 49 40	Odds 1/167416
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 50 41	Player 2: 48 39	Odds 1/159900
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 50 41	Player 2: 47 38	Odds 1/152554
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 50 41	Player 2: 46 37	Odds 1/145379
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 50 41	Player 2: 45 36	Odds 1/138375
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 9
			Player 1: 50 41	Player 2: 44 35	Odds 1/131541
	1st player dealt JJ is player 4
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 49 40	Player 2: 48 39	Odds 1/152880
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 49 40	Player 2: 47 38	Odds 1/145856
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 49 40	Player 2: 46 37	Odds 1/138996
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 49 40	Player 2: 45 36	Odds 1/132300
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 9
			Player 1: 49 40	Player 2: 44 35	Odds 1/125766
	1st player dealt JJ is player 5
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 48 39	Player 2: 47 38	Odds 1/139308
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 48 39	Player 2: 46 37	Odds 1/132756
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 48 39	Player 2: 45 36	Odds 1/126360
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 9
			Player 1: 48 39	Player 2: 44 35	Odds 1/120120
	1st player dealt JJ is player 6
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 47 38	Player 2: 46 37	Odds 1/126657
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 47 38	Player 2: 45 36	Odds 1/120555
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 9
			Player 1: 47 38	Player 2: 44 35	Odds 1/114601
	1st player dealt JJ is player 7
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 46 37	Player 2: 45 36	Odds 1/114885
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 9
			Player 1: 46 37	Player 2: 44 35	Odds 1/109211
	1st player dealt JJ is player 8
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 9
			Player 1: 45 36	Player 2: 44 35	Odds 1/103950
10 player odds
	1st player dealt JJ is player 1
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 2
			Player 1: 52 42	Player 2: 51 41	Odds 1/190281
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 3
			Player 1: 52 42	Player 2: 50 40	Odds 1/182000
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 52 42	Player 2: 49 39	Odds 1/173901
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 52 42	Player 2: 48 38	Odds 1/165984
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 52 42	Player 2: 47 37	Odds 1/158249
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 52 42	Player 2: 46 36	Odds 1/150696
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 52 42	Player 2: 45 35	Odds 1/143325
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 9
			Player 1: 52 42	Player 2: 44 34	Odds 1/136136
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 10
			Player 1: 52 42	Player 2: 43 33	Odds 1/129129
	1st player dealt JJ is player 2
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 3
			Player 1: 51 41	Player 2: 50 40	Odds 1/174250
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 51 41	Player 2: 49 39	Odds 1/166495
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 51 41	Player 2: 48 38	Odds 1/158916
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 51 41	Player 2: 47 37	Odds 1/151510
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 51 41	Player 2: 46 36	Odds 1/144279
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 51 41	Player 2: 45 35	Odds 1/137221
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 9
			Player 1: 51 41	Player 2: 44 34	Odds 1/130339
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 10
			Player 1: 51 41	Player 2: 43 33	Odds 1/123630
	1st player dealt JJ is player 3
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 4
			Player 1: 50 40	Player 2: 49 39	Odds 1/159250
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 50 40	Player 2: 48 38	Odds 1/152000
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 50 40	Player 2: 47 37	Odds 1/144916
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 50 40	Player 2: 46 36	Odds 1/138000
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 50 40	Player 2: 45 35	Odds 1/131250
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 9
			Player 1: 50 40	Player 2: 44 34	Odds 1/124666
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 10
			Player 1: 50 40	Player 2: 43 33	Odds 1/118250
	1st player dealt JJ is player 4
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 5
			Player 1: 49 39	Player 2: 48 38	Odds 1/145236
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 49 39	Player 2: 47 37	Odds 1/138467
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 49 39	Player 2: 46 36	Odds 1/131859
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 49 39	Player 2: 45 35	Odds 1/125409
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 9
			Player 1: 49 39	Player 2: 44 34	Odds 1/119119
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 10
			Player 1: 49 39	Player 2: 43 33	Odds 1/112987
	1st player dealt JJ is player 5
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 6
			Player 1: 48 38	Player 2: 47 37	Odds 1/132164
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 48 38	Player 2: 46 36	Odds 1/125856
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 48 38	Player 2: 45 35	Odds 1/119700
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 9
			Player 1: 48 38	Player 2: 44 34	Odds 1/113696
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 10
			Player 1: 48 38	Player 2: 43 33	Odds 1/107844
	1st player dealt JJ is player 6
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 7
			Player 1: 47 37	Player 2: 46 36	Odds 1/119991
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 47 37	Player 2: 45 35	Odds 1/114121
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 9
			Player 1: 47 37	Player 2: 44 34	Odds 1/108397
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 10
			Player 1: 47 37	Player 2: 43 33	Odds 1/102818
	1st player dealt JJ is player 7
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 8
			Player 1: 46 36	Player 2: 45 35	Odds 1/108675
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 9
			Player 1: 46 36	Player 2: 44 34	Odds 1/103224
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 10
			Player 1: 46 36	Player 2: 43 33	Odds 1/97911
	1st player dealt JJ is player 8
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 9
			Player 1: 45 35	Player 2: 44 34	Odds 1/98175
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 10
			Player 1: 45 35	Player 2: 43 33	Odds 1/93121
	1st player dealt JJ is player 9
		2nd player dealt JJ is player 10
			Player 1: 44 34	Player 2: 43 33	Odds 1/88451

Moving up and down

2006-01-14T18:14:42Z

Kristy Gazes, in her article at Full Tilt, says "Early in my poker career I set a simple rule for myself: I would never move to a higher limit until I won three consecutive sessions. If I lost three consecutive sessions at a given limit, I would move down to a lower limit."

I'm going to institute this rule. I know my early days I'd step up in limits to try and get rid of a loss and being down probably affected my play adversely. I no longer do that, except for the occasional SNG, which I play at limits far below what I'm bankrolled for.

However I've been trying to make the jump from 2/4 to 3/6 or 5/10 for a while unsuccessfully. What I've been doing is running my bankroll up at 2/4 and then moving to 3/6 or 5/10 exclusively until my bankroll takes a serious hit. By making the move up and down dependent on results I think I'll have less trouble making the switch.

The Poker Zone

2006-01-13T17:02:53Z

Saw this at http://guinnessandpoker.blogspot.com/2006/01/i-dont-particularly-give-shit-about.html and there's some great material in here. I googled it and it seems to be a couple of articles that Ed Hill wrote for WorldPX.net

The Poker Zone
(Part one)

There is a very special place reserved for great players only, sometimes
average players visit when they are running good, but they are not allowed
to stay until they become great players. It can be a lot like the twilight
zone, because it is located in our minds and we call it the poker zone.

This is not an easy place to visit we have to learn all the tools that
winning players utilize first. These tools can be found is Sklansky’s
“Theory of Poker.” The next step is trying to figure out the right moment
to utilize all the concepts that winning poker players use without using
the wrong one at the wrong time. This takes a long time of being in
repetitious situations but our timing does get better over time. If you
have really studied “Theory of Poker” and have studied a good “how to”
book on the game of your choice you will have developed a better feel.
Only time teaches us on when to bet a certain hand again against this type
of player and to take the free card that is being offered you against that
type of player. There are many situations like this in all forms of poker.

I lived in Vegas from 1976 until 2004 when I finally moved to Los Angeles.
I just made a trip back to Vegas and visited one of my old friend’s Cissy.
She is one of the greatest players I have ever played with, we hold each
others poker skills in high regard. She has recently started playing
online and made an amazing comment that I have also found to be very true.
She said, “I used to think that I was really good in reading tells and
that is how I ascertained the correct thing to do. But after playing
online I see that I can read my opponents the same way I do in the live
games. Eddie, this is really weird, how can you read a blinking circle the
same way you can read a person that you are looking at across the table?”
I told her, you are always in the zone. I have found the same thing to be
true, I can sit here in front of the computer and hand after hand say this
guy has this and when the cards turn up, there it is, exactly what I said
he had. Many people can do this in obvious situations, we are talking
about much more abstract hands than the obvious ones.

Many average players have gone on rushes, when they are winning and
everything is going their way they kind of know what their opponents have
most of the time. Their game is temporally great and there is a positive
energy around them, they have visited the place that great players go and
didn’t even know where they were. The next day when the rush is over they
are right back where they used to be, trying to guess the right time to
make this play or the right time to not make that play. When you are
guessing you are correct a certain amount of the time and wrong a certain
amount of the time, that’s why it is called guessing. Wouldn’t it be nice
to “guess” right nearly 100% of the time? You can if you know what your
opponents have. This is why some people have resorted to playing with
marked cards. But that is cheating and electronic daub hasn’t been
invented yet. But if you have been playing professional poker as long as
we have you will find that we are almost as accurate as the cheaters that
are playing with marked cards, because we know how to go to the poker
zone. We know how to stay there even when the cards are not being kind to
us. Most of the players have never been there, some have visited when they
are on a rush and the great players are there almost all the time.

We all have our on way of going to a very abstract place, a scary place
that exists somewhere in our minds. Where we have taught ourselves to
focus on the game with extreme intensity, there is no other existence
except this poker game. I am totally oblivious to everything else. If you
are talking to me I don’t hear you, the TV is background noise, I am not
done playing this hand even if my cards are in the muck. If you don’t
understand this statement you probably are looking on the TV Guide to see
what channel the Poker Zone in on and wondering why you have never seen it
before.

You must know every tendency that all your opponents have and then go way
beyond that knowledge. After awhile you can start to feel their emotions,
even over the Internet.
The other night I was playing no limit and my beautiful neighbor was over
sweating, she is fascinated that somebody can make a living playing poker
and likes to watch. There was one limper and I raised it with KQs one off
the button and the field folded, he called. The flop came KQ4 rainbow, he
checked, I bet, he called. I am real familiar with this opponent, I know
he avoids getting in pots with me at all costs. He called real fast here,
that is usually a draw, but there are three cards of different suits
sitting there, so the only draw is J-10. He, like a lot of others likes to
think for awhile before raising in an attempt to fool his opponent into
thinking that he has some mediocre hand that he finally decided to raise
with. He doesn’t slow play his hands when he is out of position, so if he
had flopped a set, he would have stalled for a long time before finally
raising. He didn’t do that, he called immediately, that is a draw, so he
has J-10, I know it. The turn is a 9. He checks and I say to my neighbor,
he just sucked out on me and checked. She said, “you have been telling me
to not see the boggy man when a bad card comes off and to go ahead and get
value for your hands. You have been saying that I shouldn’t worry about
being raised until I am actually raised and now you check top two pair?” I
said, he has J-10! The river fortunately came a Q. He bet right into for
half the pot because he was looking to get paid off. I raised him
everything he had in front of him and he called. He turned up his hand,
J-10! I said to her, “told ya!” She said, “you always just triple their
bet when you raise, now this time you raised him all his money instead?
Sometimes you violate all your own principles.” I told her, “he bet me
$100, normally I would make it $300, but he had $900 in front of him and I
knew he couldn’t fold a straight.” She chuckled, “you mean you knew he had
J-10, you absolutely knew.” I said, “I put my money where my mouth was
didn’t I? I did check top two on the turn against one opponent.”

The Poker Zone
(Part two)

You must know your opponents almost as well as you know yourself, you have
to be capable of feeling their feelings. This can only be done when you
have observed everything that they have done, hour after hour, day after
day. This beat will be the straw that broke the camel’s back, player “X”
is now going to go on tilt. Player “Z” is going on a rush and is now ready
to try and run over everybody.

Your opponents are human beings, which are affected by their moods. The
same player is not going to play the same hand the same way all the time.
Usually player “Y” will play this type of hand this way except when he is
losing. Well, is he going to get more timid when he is losing, or more
aggressive? He is winning, is he going to tighten up and try to preserve
the win or is he going to try to push everybody around and take advantage
of his good table image? A certain card comes off and he is taking longer
to act than he normally does. Did this card stun him so that he needs a
little more time than normal to figure out what he is going to do? Or, did
it hit him and he is sitting there thinking in attempt to fool his
opponent into thinking that he has a tough decision? These questions can
be answered, and answered correctly at an astounding high frequency. Like
I said in Part One, it is almost like playing with marked cards. I am not
guessing does this guy have this, I am stating that this guy has this. I
know it and I am going to play my hand accordingly.

These answers are not derived by witchcraft or by cheating. They are
derived by totally focusing on the game. It is my job to not only get into
your head, but get in tune with your emotions. I start off putting my
opponent on a group of hands and then take his emotions into account. Then
start eliminating what he doesn’t have by his actions on each street until
I come up with what he does have. It can be done. The great players know
how to do it. But how do you get there? That goes back to the statement
that I made in Part One, you are not done playing this hand even if your
cards are in the muck. There is still information here to be collected,
information that you can use in the future to your benefit. This is of
course if you are paying attention. If you choose to watch TV or to get in
a conversation because you have already folded, you will not be privy to
what your opponents were telling you about themselves. Once you have
succeeded in overcoming all the distractions and staying totally focused
on the game you will find the poker zone. Staying there is a another
problem. I like to pretend that it is my job to announce the game to the
audience and I do it every hand. I am the announcer it is my job. Seat 1
posts his small blind, seat two posts his big blind, seat 3 and four fold,
seat 5 raises first in from middle position, seats 6,7,and 8 fold, seat
nine calls, the blinds pass. It is now heads up. The flop comes 2-3-J two
diamonds and the raiser bets and the nine seat calls. The turn pairs
Jacks, the flush draw doesn’t get there and the 5 seat bets and gets moved
in on by the 9 seat. After a brief pause he calls. I am off getting the
hand history, I want to know what both of them had. There could be
something here that I could use in the future. The five seat had Aces and
the 9 seat had K-J. Big deal, just another bad beat, you see it all the
time. No way, there was a vast amount of information.

The five seat will not limp in with Aces looking to sandbag after two
people have folded. He was not scared to bet on the turn even after top
pair paired but wouldn’t fold even when he was moved in on. This means
that when scare cards come he took a little more time than normal but
couldn’t lay his hand down after getting moved in on. Was he winning or
losing when this hand came down? Was he pot committed after betting the
turn, or was he not far enough gone and could have still folded? How is he
going to conduct himself from here providing that he doesn’t quit? How
about the 9 seat? He was willing to call a first in raise from middle
position raiser from the button with K-J offsuit. He didn’t raise on the
flop when he flopped top pair, he just called. He didn’t use his position
and just call when the he got there on the turn, he raised it. Now, after
busting the 5 seat, what can I expect from him? Is he going to sit on his
winner and try to preserve it? Is he going to get more aggressive and try
to run over the table? I want the answers you should to. This was just one
very normal hand, but there was a lot of useful information that can be
used in the future providing that took the effort to pay attention. Your
job is to solve the very abstract puzzle that is constantly unfolding
right before your eyes.

The old saying “it is better to lucky than good.” Well, I haven’t figured
out how to keep luck, it comes and goes. I have figured out how to be
good. It takes a lot of work. But I don’t have to punch a time clock or
have a boss to answer to. All I have to do is use my poker skills and pay
attention to every detail and I am rewarded greatly for the effort. Isn’t
that what a job is? Getting rewarded for your effort. The poker zone
exists, the higher you play the more people you will run into that know
exactly where it is and how to stay there all the time. How do you think
they got the money to be able to afford to play in the size of games that
they are playing in? They won it and it didn’t come easy.

Heads up

2006-01-12T01:55:38Z

Wow. Had a rather unpleasant junk kicking in heads up SNG's today. I was doing well in heads up earlier in the month, but today wiped that out. I lost 6 straight games.

I one game I know I played badly, but the others it seemed like I was just running into improbable hands or getting sucked out on.

In other news, I'm kicking ass at MTT's. Of the last 6 tournaments I've played, I cashed in 4 including one 3rd place finish

Fuck yeah

2006-01-11T00:04:48Z

I just made my second final table (of the week, year and ever). I was playing a $3+0.30 Limit MTT game on Poker Stars and placed third out of 612. I tried for a deal, but the chipleader was uninterested. Oh well.

Things to remember

2006-01-10T05:01:26Z

That last post was mostly for me. This post might actually be of use for other people who are at my level of play.

1. Bonuses matter. I made $1015 from deposit bonuses and rake back. It was enough to offset my first (and expensive) run at 5/10. If I hadn't been chasing after bonuses I would have had a negative year, or wouldn't have had the luxury of taking shots at higher limits and different games. Do be careful about the sites you go to. Clearing bonuses at Party is pretty easy. I'm having more difficulty at Full Tilt due to the limited number of games going at any given time. The upside is that Full Tilt gives you tons of time to clear your bonus.

2. Play different games. Even if you have to drop down to micro-limits, get some experience with games like Omaha hi/lo. The games will teach you interesting things about all poker games and will strengthen your skills in your main game.

3. Read. I probably read in excess of 3000 pages on poker last year. I read almost everything that 2+2 press has put out and about a dozen other books. They all helped my game and my take on game related things like bankroll management. The various poker blogs are also great. I constantly pick up things from them.

December and year in review

2006-01-10T04:10:11Z

It was an interesting year. December wasn't a great month at -$306.47. I think I was over aggressive again.

I ended the year up only $514.52. I took some pretty big swings over the course of the year, but I learned a ton and am not unhappy with the result. I have a pile of confidence that this year will be much better. I know my feel for the game is constantly improving. I am getting much more accurate at putting opponents on hands and am either folding or managing to get extra bets in. I also know how to manage my table image much better and make appropriate adjustments to my betting patterns and starting hand requirements.

I'm also getting much better at tournaments and I've cashed in a lot lately, including my first final table (I placed 6th in a $5+1 NL MTT on Empire on January 4th)

My goals for the year are as follows:
- Make at least $2000
- Play more tournaments. Last year tournaments and SNG's were a major leak for me, costing $750 overall, but I have some confidence that will change this year
- Move up in limits. I'm killing the 2/4 game but every time I move to 3/6 or 5/10 I get my ass handed to me. I think I know the reason now.
- Improve my NL cash game. This is another area of weakness and I need to read more about NL cash game strategy. I'm starting with scottro and rcfox's book.
- Post more

November results

2005-12-02T17:40:53Z

November wasn't anywhere near as good as October. It started off really well with me going on a +$800 tear the first three days of the month, but then I managed to lose it all back and wound up ending November -$71.30.

I was trying to follow my standard game selection routine, but I have to say that I wasn't finding games as good as I was last month and often settled for games that were just ok. Obviously I should work on this.

December's off to a bad start. I'm -$144 so far, mostly due to me donking off a 2/4 buyin last night. I'm still trying to figure out if this is variance or if I am screwing something up now. Another week should let me know.

Patching leaks

2005-11-05T19:51:30Z

Every so often, your game will develop some weaknesses. For me, this occurred after a long winning streak. May, June and the start of July were very good for me. I was averaging 5BB/hr playing 2/4 Limit Hold'em. I thought it was just due to the large number of mistakes I saw my opponents making. What I didn't realize was that I was also running way better than normal. Looking back I now see that I was definitely hitting more than my fair share of flushes. When I hit mid-July I wasn't running as well (I literally went over a week without ever hitting a flush) and was starting to lose money.

At first I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I was sure I was playing the same style and I was probably right. I initially thought I was just running bad, which was true, but not the whole story. When the losses continued I had to reanalyze my game. Looking back I think that I responded to the good run in May and June by loosening up on my flop and turn calls and had been getting a bit lucky, which reinforced the strategy. I think I was slow to catch on to the mistake because it had crept in when I was winning. Once I realized that, it was fairly easy to correct.

Interestingly, I've since heard others say that the most difficult to find leaks creep in when you're winning. I have to agree.

There's a second aspect to this. I like playing no limit tournaments and sit and go's, but I just sat down and analyzed my tournament and SNG win rates and they're not good. I'm doing exceptionally well at 2/4 limit, and that's giving me money to play these, but they're seriously -EV for me. From now on, I'm confining myself to the very low buyin events/tables and only playing them occasionally. At least until my win rate seriously improves.
They're also impacting my overall hourly rate since they suck up so much time.

October results

2005-11-01T16:21:04Z

I ended October up $842.89 after 127 hours of play. I am much more comfortable multitabling now, so that only represents about 30-40 hours of actual time. That was my best month yet. My prior best was June at $777.25 but I also logged 178 hours that month.

I definitely credit good game selection with that win. A few months ago I was relying solely on the average pot stat to determine whether I'd play at a given table. For the 2/4 game I was looking for an average pot size of about $25. I had learned that choosing the table with the largest pot wasn't the best approach as it usually had a lot of loose aggressive players, which meant very high fluctuations. I only have time to play a certain number of hours every week and I'd rather book consistent wins rather than have wild swings.

I've switched over to PartyPoker pretty much exclusively at this point. I can't justify playing for rakeback at Empire when the games are so much better at Party. I still poke my head in every once in a while to see if I can find a particularly good game (and they're there sometimes), but I'm playing at Party about 90% of the time now.

Since I've refined my approach (I now use Poker Tracker and the PokerAce HUD) to track a pile more stats. I often find very loose passive games and can extract a good win with minimal risk.

Poker Tracker handles all of the obvious ones:
Per player
- VP$IP (Voluntarily Put $ In Pot)
- Preflop Raising
- Aggression
Table
- Average Pot Size
- Table Average Preflop Raising
- Table Average VP$IP

The one that I've started playing more attention to (thanks to ScurvyDog's post is cold calling. It really is a great indicator.

I've also added a few fields to the display. I track each player's fold stats for the Flop, Turn and River. That way I know how likely I can bluff them off a hand at each juncture. I often find that there are certain players who never fold on one street, so you have to choose the appropriate place to bluff. Never folding on the end is common, but I see certain players who will happily fold on the end, but never on the turn. Not bluffing at the wrong time probably saves me 1-2 BB/hour.

Ups and Downs

2005-10-20T18:06:17Z

Wow. I haven't posted in quite some time, mainly because there are few people following this journal.

Here are the numbers for August and September
August: -$156.90
September: -$1112.13

I made some forays into the $5/$10 Limit game in August and started playing it seriously in September. The early part of the month I was doing pretty well, but then hit a downturn and got my ass absolutely kicked.

I also set some new records
Good:
- Largest pot won: +$174)
Bad:
- Worst day: -$414.50
- Worst session: -$447.50

I know I made some mistakes, I can recall getting moved off some pretty big pots and staying in when I thought I was beat a few times. Pretty much what you'd expect when moving up. It's definitely a more aggressive game overall and so the fluctuations are going to be larger.

I'm back to playing 2/4 Limit and have managed to recoup most of my September losses and am +$700 so far this month, so I'm pretty happy about that. Playing 5/10 definitely improved my game, but it'll be a while before I take another shot at that game.

I am much better about game selection. I'm using PokerTracker and the PokerAce HUD and so I'm choosing better tables to sit down at and I'm also able to keep a much better eye on the various table statistics. That lets me know when the table gets tougher and I've been pretty good about leaving when it gets unprofitable, though occasionally I'll get stubborn and keep playing rather than record a losing session.

July results

2005-08-05T17:28:19Z

Last month wound up being pretty disappointing after the good run I had through May and June.

Looking back at my stats, I lost a total of $529.06 in 2004 when I was just learning the game.

2005 started off slowly. January and February were losing months and I hit my low in early March with a total loss of $682.70.

March was definitely the turnaround point though. Through March and April I made $134.33 and by May I was really starting to turn things around, logging a monthly win of $442.26. June was even better, with a win of $777.25. June 3rd also marked my break even point on winnings (not including expenses like books, etc).

July, however, was very mixed and I ended up only $93.73 for the month.

I went out to Las Vegas early in the month and played about 8 hours live and lost $176. Online games were very good to me in the first week of the month and I hit my peak at +$1100.98. The next couple of weeks were awful. I was reviewing my play pretty regularly, but I didn't see any obvious new leaks. It just seemed like my draws weren't hitting as often as they should and I was spending a lot of time folding. I wound up giving up all of the month's wins and hovering just below even most of the next couple of weeks.

Around the 20th of the month I decided to give PokerStars a try. I do like the software, but my results there have been pretty mixed and I'm down slightly overall. Their SNG's are definitely harder to beat than the Party/Empire ones, but the live games feel about the same. I definitely like being able to see stats on the number of players seeing the flop and hands per hour in the game list, but they just don't have as many games as Party/Empire.

I was out in Vegas the last week of July and managed to play live a bit. I had a couple of good sessions at the Bellagio that let me book a small win for the month.

I'm glad it was a positive month in the end and it's still a fun hobby, but I'm starting to wonder if I've picked up a bad habit or two.

Bankroll Management

2005-07-07T04:59:23Z

Bankroll management isn't well covered in any of the basic books and I believe it's hugely important for beginning players. One of the major mistakes I made early on was playing in games that were too high for my bankroll. It wasn't until I read Mason Malmuth's "Gambling Theory and Other Topics" that I figured out what I had done wrong.

Poker is a game of chance. It has a large skill component but even someone who's playing a perfect game will have some losing sessions. How often this happens depends on the game you're playing - some variants involve a larger luck factor than others. Regardless of the game you play, you need a certain amount of money to serve as a buffer. Generally people recommend somewhere between 200 and 300 times the big bet for hold'em (200-300BB). If you're playing 1/2 Limit this amount would be between $400 and $600.

If you're a losing player, then this won't help you out at all; eventually you'll lose it all. However, if you're a decent player who is just playing at the wrong limit, moving down can ensure steady profits instead of occasional bankroll wipeouts. When I made this mistake, I was playing with less than 50BB and took a couple of swings that really set me back. The second one made me stop playing for a while last December.

If you're just starting off and don't know how well you play, decide what you're willing to risk learning the game and split that into 3 or 4 chunks. Then find a site that offers a game that will allow you to have 200-300BB for each of the bankroll chunks.

For example, if you have $600 you're willing to risk to start, you should divide it into 4 $150 chunks and find a 0.25/0.50 game. If you lose a full chunk, then it's time to do a bit more reading before you risk another one.

Back story

2005-06-29T00:31:01Z

Here's a quick history of my interest in poker. I've been good about tracking my wins and losses since I got interested in the game, so everything I write here is pretty accurate as far as dates and amounts go.

I started playing poker a little more than a year ago, after a few conversations with my friend Mike. In summer 2003, at Blackhat (http://www.blackhat.com - a Las Vegas computer security conference), he seemed to spend a fair amount of time at the tables and seemed to be winning consistently. I was a little curious but didn't really follow up. Then I came down with a really nasty flu in the winter of 2003 and spent a fair amount of time watching the initial season of the WPT and my curiosity was definitely piqued.

In March of 2004 I was at another computer security conference (http://www.cansecwest.com) and Mike was playing on PartyPoker during some of the breaks. I asked him a little about the game and when I understood the +EV aspects of the game, I started getting seriously interested.

I bought a copy of Tournament Texas Hold'em (http://www.wilsonsoftware.com/) and started playing to understand the fundamentals of the game. I also discovered that another friend, Chris, was into the game. I borrowed a couple of books from him, starting with the original "Super System" and Sklansky's "Tournament Poker for Advanced Players". I learned the basic tricks and concepts but still needed a ton of experience.

In May of 2004 I went with Chris to Chips, a total dive casino in Tukwilla, WA where he often played and entered my first tourament. It was a $20 buyin no limit with 40 players. I busted out early, but enjoyed playing so I went back a couple of times over the next few months. I originally stuck to tournaments but tried a 3-6 game one night and lost $90 in a couple of hours. So I read some more.

At Blackhat that year, wandered around the Bellagio a bit and watched Mike and Chris play. I tried to find a 1-2 or 2-4 game one evening, but was unsuccessful. It was probably just as well, I'm sure I would have dumped a fair amount of money. I also picked up "Small Stakes Hold'em" at one of the malls.

In September I made my first deposit at PartyPoker ($50) and played two $0.50/1 games. I played for half an hour in each and lost $10 and $15 respectively. So I went and read more books.

In November I started playing the $0.50/$1 limit games and the $5+1 SNG's (Sit and Go). My first real week at PartyPoker I was all over the place. I played about 20 hours and was up a whopping $2.97. I'd be up $20 one session then drop $10 on each of my next several sessions then make another big catch up win. My biggest loss that week on .5/1 was $26.50 and my biggest win was $43.00. I placed anywhere from 8th to 1st on the single table SNG's.

At that time I didn't understand bankroll management or game selection and started playing $1/2 and even $2/4 with about $200 and I wasn't nearly good enough to try that. I was also playing the $25 NL (No Limit) and PL (Pot Limit) games. Again, my variances were huge. I'd win $50 one session and then drop $25 a couple of times.

Overall I was definitely trending down rather than up, so I quit for a while in December and again, read a pile of books. By January I was starting to get the hang of things and by March I was steadily winning. I made my last deposit at PartyPoker ($100 in February 2005) and have run it up to $1083 in the past few months. I started with $.50/1 and moved up when I had about 150BB for the next level with the intention of dropping back if I got much below that. I'm now playing $2/4 and getting ready to jump to $3/6 soon.

I've read over 3,000 pages on poker in the past year and played somewhere in the neighborhood of 26,000 hands. I am by no means an expert, but I'm a pretty solid recreational player.

I'm planning on using this blog to condense some of my experience and reading into a short primer in playing hold'em for a few friends who are just starting out.