My head is killing me right now! I think I need some medicine but it hasn't been that long so I'm hoping that it is a sleep depervation thing, and not the onset of a head cold.
Ok, so Reno was a success, with a pretty decent showing in the other tournys despite not making any other cashes. I had chip leads many of the days but couldn't quite make it. Ran into too many coolers, played myself into a few awkward spots, etc. Ah well, I tend to think that the trip was really what I needed to get my head back into the game. I have had a ton of new drive to play since the trip, and it has really shown in my game. For the last month I have crushed nearly every game I played in. I haven't ran particularly well, but it seems the difference is that I just haven't had any of the major cooler spots for big money.
Of course that is all excluding this last week, in which I took a few days off, and only played 2-4 when I did play, and as a result, got my head kicked in. Got into a few flips that I couldn't win, and missed 2 big draws in $700+ pots. Sigh...
I played heads up the other night with one of the kids that was playing 2-4. We ended up flipping the game to 5-5. This was the second time in as many weeks that I have ended up playing heads up. Somehow I have tended to do pretty well in these matches coming out a 1-2 buy in winner. Last night was basically more of the same, until I made a pretty big mental mistake and allowed the guy to flip the game to 5-10, and rebuy for 150 BBs. I ran pretty salty and not having as many BBs to work with really hurt my game. In the end I got stacked off in a flip. I talked to Miguel about a few of the spots I got into, and for the most part he says they are pretty standard with the exception of one in which I played marginally bad. Lack of heads up experience showing. Cest la vie.
I got a coaching gig this week, and am being interviewed on Set You Straight Poker Radio on Weds. I'm pretty excited to get something going with them, and really hope to make a strong showing on their program. I like the show, and the team seems to have pretty good chemistry so this should be a pretty good experience!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Reno Day 1 and 2
Got into Reno a little later then I wanted to. Didnt get a chance to play the 7 o'clock tourny, but the cash game seemed decent so I jumped in and quickly proceeded to dump a buy in. Nothing really remarkable to speak of except that I had a lot of trouble getting the other players to fold a hand. Sucked, but whatever.
Got up early the following day for the noon tourny. Got a little time to do some prep, and mentally prepare for the long day. And fortunately it was a long day.
From jump street, I was running pretty decent. Within the first 5 minutes, called a pre-flop raise with 55, against 9x. Flop was 952 with a 2 daimonds. In the end I got 80% of my villian's stack, which made for a pretty decent start. Other hands of note included, 66 vs AA on the Q62 flop, AA vs JJ, 33 vs KT on the QJ3 flop. Unfortunately, I went pretty card dead late in the tourny, but was able to steal a lot of pots, and scored a final table chop for a over $6K.
I was really happy with my play throughout the tourny, and didn't make too many mistakes throughout. In fact, I was actually able to avoid a few cold decks that should have sent me to the rail. It was pretty amazing to feel like I was playing my best game for nearly 12 hours. Atleast I made a decent cash early, so from here on out, I should have a ton of less pressure on me. I'm pretty exhausted at the moment, so hopefully I can write a more detailed blog in the next couple days. A few more big cashes and this is going to be a pretty epic trip. Let's hope I keep running good!
Got up early the following day for the noon tourny. Got a little time to do some prep, and mentally prepare for the long day. And fortunately it was a long day.
From jump street, I was running pretty decent. Within the first 5 minutes, called a pre-flop raise with 55, against 9x. Flop was 952 with a 2 daimonds. In the end I got 80% of my villian's stack, which made for a pretty decent start. Other hands of note included, 66 vs AA on the Q62 flop, AA vs JJ, 33 vs KT on the QJ3 flop. Unfortunately, I went pretty card dead late in the tourny, but was able to steal a lot of pots, and scored a final table chop for a over $6K.
I was really happy with my play throughout the tourny, and didn't make too many mistakes throughout. In fact, I was actually able to avoid a few cold decks that should have sent me to the rail. It was pretty amazing to feel like I was playing my best game for nearly 12 hours. Atleast I made a decent cash early, so from here on out, I should have a ton of less pressure on me. I'm pretty exhausted at the moment, so hopefully I can write a more detailed blog in the next couple days. A few more big cashes and this is going to be a pretty epic trip. Let's hope I keep running good!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Bankroll Reading
So I just spent an hour or so going through some old Pokerroad.com threads dealing with bankroll considerations for playing full time. Reading threads in forums like this always makes me feel a bit bad about playing full time. I read things about needing 50 buy ins and it being impossible to grind games like 1-2 and 2-5, which are primarily the games I play.
It just seems really odd to me. It makes me think I'm doing it wrong because I dont have a huge roll, and I don't play super huge. However, I have provided for myself pretty well, never have been super short on cash, and have not had any real problems making my bills. It makes me wonder if I these guys know something I don't. Granted I have not really built my bankroll to the point where I move up, but aside from that I am pretty happy with how I have done.
Well, whatever, just food for a thought I suppose.
It just seems really odd to me. It makes me think I'm doing it wrong because I dont have a huge roll, and I don't play super huge. However, I have provided for myself pretty well, never have been super short on cash, and have not had any real problems making my bills. It makes me wonder if I these guys know something I don't. Granted I have not really built my bankroll to the point where I move up, but aside from that I am pretty happy with how I have done.
Well, whatever, just food for a thought I suppose.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Back To It
Booked a winner of significance last night. Who would have thought it would take me such a long time to put the losers behind me? I didn't, but atleast I am feeling more confident and have stopped losing flips...for now!
Last nights session was duality in practice. I started by playing the smaller game, and played a pretty aggressive game. I went with my reads and was rewarded for it, instead of punished as it has been of late. One of the more interesting spots I got into was actually one of the spots that everything played out perfectly.
1-2 NL: UTG+2 opens for 9. This was not an unusual thing for him as he was opening almost his entire range regardless of position. I happened to be directly on his left, which aside from his offensive habit of coughing/sneezing into his hands and then touching cards for me to plainly see, was a good thing. I look down at 10 10, and elect to flat him because he has shown a propensity to basically shove or just barrel his face off on almost any board. A younger, solid player 3-bets to $30 and UTG+2 and I both call.
The flop is Jh 6h 7s. UTG+2 open shoves for about $50, and I have a decision to make. I think my hand might be a bit too strong to fold in this spot for a half pot bet, but the alternative of calling isn't exactly appealing to me either, mainly because it allows the preflop 3-bettor to play nearly perfectly against my hand. I elect to raise for 2 reasons. First, it stops the preflop 3-bettor from making a play at me with a hand I have beat, like 99, 88, or AK. Second, I believe that the raise makes my hand look HUGE. Popping the original raiser before action has a chance to get back to the 3-bettor screams strength in my opinion and I was banking on the fact that the kid was a good enough hand reader to see it the same way that I did and muck an overpair if he did in fact have one. I raised to $175, and the kid tanked for a long time, then finally mucked his hand. When I turned my hand over the kid looked absolutely sick, and his friend later told me that the kid had kings. UTG+2 shows rags and I scooped the pot. It was a pretty interesting spot I think, and it somewhat shows how easily some of the players, even the better ones, can be exploited.
The 2-4 game went last night, and that game was purely about discipline. There was a maniac at the table in the classic sense of the word. He opened 90% of pots and was always coming in for HUGE raises. 3 limps to him, he opens for $50. EVERYTIME!!!! It was a total cream dream, but I had a lot of difficulty trying to find spots to get in against him. I played pretty lockdown tight, but eventually was rewarded by bushwacking a few people who were too focused on the action player and not taking the other people at the table into account.
As it were the night ended pretty profitably so I can't really complain about anything. Heading back out to play tonight, and Reno is on Thursday. Time to buckle up and get this thing in gear.
Last nights session was duality in practice. I started by playing the smaller game, and played a pretty aggressive game. I went with my reads and was rewarded for it, instead of punished as it has been of late. One of the more interesting spots I got into was actually one of the spots that everything played out perfectly.
1-2 NL: UTG+2 opens for 9. This was not an unusual thing for him as he was opening almost his entire range regardless of position. I happened to be directly on his left, which aside from his offensive habit of coughing/sneezing into his hands and then touching cards for me to plainly see, was a good thing. I look down at 10 10, and elect to flat him because he has shown a propensity to basically shove or just barrel his face off on almost any board. A younger, solid player 3-bets to $30 and UTG+2 and I both call.
The flop is Jh 6h 7s. UTG+2 open shoves for about $50, and I have a decision to make. I think my hand might be a bit too strong to fold in this spot for a half pot bet, but the alternative of calling isn't exactly appealing to me either, mainly because it allows the preflop 3-bettor to play nearly perfectly against my hand. I elect to raise for 2 reasons. First, it stops the preflop 3-bettor from making a play at me with a hand I have beat, like 99, 88, or AK. Second, I believe that the raise makes my hand look HUGE. Popping the original raiser before action has a chance to get back to the 3-bettor screams strength in my opinion and I was banking on the fact that the kid was a good enough hand reader to see it the same way that I did and muck an overpair if he did in fact have one. I raised to $175, and the kid tanked for a long time, then finally mucked his hand. When I turned my hand over the kid looked absolutely sick, and his friend later told me that the kid had kings. UTG+2 shows rags and I scooped the pot. It was a pretty interesting spot I think, and it somewhat shows how easily some of the players, even the better ones, can be exploited.
The 2-4 game went last night, and that game was purely about discipline. There was a maniac at the table in the classic sense of the word. He opened 90% of pots and was always coming in for HUGE raises. 3 limps to him, he opens for $50. EVERYTIME!!!! It was a total cream dream, but I had a lot of difficulty trying to find spots to get in against him. I played pretty lockdown tight, but eventually was rewarded by bushwacking a few people who were too focused on the action player and not taking the other people at the table into account.
As it were the night ended pretty profitably so I can't really complain about anything. Heading back out to play tonight, and Reno is on Thursday. Time to buckle up and get this thing in gear.
Friday, September 17, 2010
A few thoughts
Ok, back on here after a VERY long hiatus. Sadly, not much has changed, I am still grinding day in and day out. I have been up and down, and every measurement in between, but can't quite find a way to get ahead. I feel like I'm one of those people Dante wrote about, destined to spend my life reaching for some unobtainable object only to have it pushed just slightly out of my reach when I am finally close enough to grasp it. Things are supposed to get easier as time goes on, but I find myself dealing with the same stresses that I always have as a poker player. Where is the next amount of money going to come from? When am I going to have that one big score? What is this all leading too?
I find myself at a crossroad. If I continue playing then I will probably continue to make a decent clip but ultimately what is this going to get me? What is the end goal? I don't have dreams of making a mark in the poker world. I don't need the fame or anything like that. I just want to feel more stable, a little more secure. As I get older, I have grown more tired of walking the tight rope, of standing on the wire, and wondering if I am going to plummet to the ground, hit reality, and have to find some "real" work.
I never thought that poker was going to be easy. It was never a misconception of mine to believe I was going to come in and take the world by storm. The grind is where I happily reside, and that's fine with me. I just would like to know that I am good enough, I am strong enough, and I will be ok. It really is the waiting that kills me.
Trip to Reno in mid-October is fast approaching. Been working hard the last few weeks to get the roll in fighting shape to take on the tournys that are out there. I made $3K last week, gave a bit back this week. Still got 3 weeks to go and about another 4K to earn. The closer that I get to my goal, the more I am forced to think about the fact that this is never going to end. The endless grinding, the workhorse mentality, the long nights. It just keeps going.
I find myself at a crossroad. If I continue playing then I will probably continue to make a decent clip but ultimately what is this going to get me? What is the end goal? I don't have dreams of making a mark in the poker world. I don't need the fame or anything like that. I just want to feel more stable, a little more secure. As I get older, I have grown more tired of walking the tight rope, of standing on the wire, and wondering if I am going to plummet to the ground, hit reality, and have to find some "real" work.
I never thought that poker was going to be easy. It was never a misconception of mine to believe I was going to come in and take the world by storm. The grind is where I happily reside, and that's fine with me. I just would like to know that I am good enough, I am strong enough, and I will be ok. It really is the waiting that kills me.
Trip to Reno in mid-October is fast approaching. Been working hard the last few weeks to get the roll in fighting shape to take on the tournys that are out there. I made $3K last week, gave a bit back this week. Still got 3 weeks to go and about another 4K to earn. The closer that I get to my goal, the more I am forced to think about the fact that this is never going to end. The endless grinding, the workhorse mentality, the long nights. It just keeps going.
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