Game Tight

LEGGO POKER

2008-02-17T16:13:00.000-08:00

I am a mod for Leggo Poker and am very excited about it. As some of you know I have been working for some sort of affiliation with Leggo for the last month. The site has the highest quality videos/instructors on the web, and I recommend it for anyone. Another feature that really wowed me initially was a pro responds to every thread. This is not even attempted on any other training site. This is a huge undertaking and deserves a lot of credit. I will be attempting to up the quality of my posts in an effort to match everyones else's dedication on the site. I encourage you to sign up, watch the sample videos, and see what a difference there is between Leggo and other sites.

As far as this month of poker goes, I am down 2 buy ins. I have worked more on my game this month than any other, and am not worried in the least.

I just realized that I get a blog at Leggo so I will be shutting this one down, here is the link. New blog

LAGGIN IT UP AND PICTURES

2008-02-06T06:17:00.000-08:00

I had a lesson with Nutedawg yesterday where we played laggy, I did it on my own today as well. I ran well and made some monies putting me almost to even for the month. I really think people should experiment when getting coached. Get coached HU or playing lag has much more value. Really put your coach to the test, get in marginal spots, and make him think. To play 20/16 on 4 tables for $150 hr is not a good idea IMO, make that bastard work! That being said Nute is the shit but I really wish he would stop taking students that play the same game as me (so fucked).

I decided to post some pictures of my investment property cause I am really proud of it and I like to show it off. It's it Walnut Creek an small city outside of San Francisco and is much nicer than where I live. Gots to make the monies though. Pictures That is not me in the picture.

FEB, MONTH O' THE DONK

2008-02-03T05:03:00.000-08:00

I am so good at 6 max this month, unfortunately people keep drawing out and coolering me like nobody's business. It is very nice to break even considering the way the cards have been falling. I was down 1.6 K before the 2nd so I cant complain to much.

As far as HU goes (all the $1 games in my stats) I run like Gods brother or at least 2nd cousin or something.

I have not played any PLO even though I said I would in an attempt to make my 6max game better. I just never feel like playing what I refer to as "The Devils Game". I am going to have to set up a time slot or something for it so I can get on track.

I might be getting a job/internship at a up and coming poker training site. I am not sure what I will be doing if they even decide to take me on. It sounds very promising, I just don't want to be let down if they decide not to give me a go for any reason. I have always enjoyed working as part of a team and have missed it since leaving my job. I did not have a passion for bar tending, it was a fun and social job though. To work on something that I believe in, and want to do, would just be great. I will keep you guys posted.

MEET POKER, MY BITCH

2008-01-29T09:34:00.000-08:00

Poker was my semi bitch this month and I liked it. I had a session where I tilted off 1.7K and I still had a good month. My play is improving and I am becoming more creative without falling into FPS.

My hourly rate was around $54.00 which is nice but about 1/2 of where I want it to be. I played 83hrs of poker this month and thats a strong month for me, I hope I will be able to break a 30hr work week at some point.

I have been working a lot with Nutedawg, Robin Ripper, and Jdell so shout out there. Also I owe a lot to the new training sites that I signed up for Leggo and Deuces. These sites IMO have better content than CR and my game has really gone to the next level because of the product they put out. I feel that CR has really fallen behind, has not come up with fresh ideas, and has been stagnant lately. That being said I would not be where I am today without CR and the great people that I have "met" there.

LONG SESSION, GOOD RESULTS

2008-01-18T09:11:00.000-08:00

This PT screen shot is from one long session during which I killed it. It is easier to play longer when you don't tilt yourself. Bad beats are OK with me, but spew is not and it leads to more spew.

I feel really good about my game right now and am excited about what the future will bring, no barista job for me though. Fuck you Starbucks.

It is crazy how bad I am playing (obv better than ever) and am killing these guys. I am running like god but people are just bad at poker in general.

OMAHA

2008-01-17T17:32:00.000-08:00

I played some $10 Omaha and you really do have to be more aware of the board texture and hand ranges. I will try to play a few K hands a month and see how it goes. Need less to say those guys playing $10 Omaha suck balls, in the 200 hands I played I was the only one to raise. Ever. In 200 hands. Seriously. People started to complain and say if I wanted to buy pots I should just move to a bigger table, IMO I was not playing crazy at all though.

2008-01-15T23:55:00.000-08:00

Above stats are month to date 1nl is HU

I feel that my 6 max game is at a whole new level and am looking to crush 1/2. I raise to 3x now and open more hands. I am folding some big hands which I have had problems with in the past.

Nute says I need to read hands better to become better so that is what I will be working on. I guess that's all the game really is though, reading peoples hands. I was hoping when I asked him he would say something like, "tighten up utg and you will crush".

I will continue to work on my HU game which really seems to help overall. I will play Omaha (the devils game) to help me read boards better. I will improve my 6 max win rate.

HMMM....

2008-01-08T02:15:00.000-08:00

OK, I think I might suck at HU right now, although I still think that Verneer ran hot VS me. Not saying I am better cause that is not the case (Iwas better till he took a lesson from the guy that taught me to play after our 1st session together). Also, Verneer is a very fast learner and has a mind geared towards poker. Kudos Verneer for killing me HU.

After playing Verneer I am not able to win HU and think that I might just not be that good at this point in time. I have started working with a few people from CR on HU including sweats and playing them for practice. I have been sweating Crush at 6max which has been great since we play very differently. The guy is just sick, he does stuff that is very crazy and gets paid all day.

I feel that my 6max play has improved sooo much since the HU began. I am opening to 3x instead of 4x and am playing looser overall. I have made two plays at 2/4 that cost me 1.6K total that should have cost about .3K. I have also made a couple donk moves at 1/2 but overall am doing much better. I think my flop AF needs to come down a little and the turn needs to be up, I will work on this through floating more. The above stats are for the month to date at all levels played , hopefully everything is green next post, all the $1 stuff is HU by the way.

HU VS VERNEER

2008-01-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

Well I have played two matches vs him and I took the first and he killed me on the second. It is great to play a series since we will be forced to adjust every match which is a weakness of mine. The third match should be interesting since it will be a tie breaker and if I lose I will be very behind.

GOALS FOR THE FIRST 1/2 OF 08

2007-12-29T20:19:00.000-08:00

15K 6 max hands a month

15K HU hands a month

Improve my 6 max win rate to 4ptbb

Have a high HU win rate, around 7ptbb

Move up to 2/4 6max by June

Move up to 1/2 HU by June

Have a 20K month

Forget about 07

GOOD DAY TODAY +1.5K

2007-12-24T02:31:00.001-08:00

Heads up is really improving my game. I am making plays that I normally would not and they are working well.

2007-12-22T18:52:00.001-08:00

I just haven't felt like posting lately but decided I should put up something so everyone knows I am still alive. I have been doing OK but I am not happy with my play overall and it shows in my win rate. I have not been posting/responding to HH's or going over my sessions in PT and that needs to change.

I am looking forward to spending some time with my family and going to Vegas in Jan. hope everyone has a good holiday season.

MONTH TO DATE

2007-12-14T23:29:00.000-08:00

That is everything for the month. I tilted some playing HU but am improving. Villains so soft I don't think variance is that bad. You can just play passive guys and not get in crazy aggro fuck death matches, we'll see though.

I don't post here when I run bad, not going to start either. If I am not posting just assume I am not doing well and will update when it turns around.

I FEEL THAT I CAN NOW POST

2007-12-11T23:20:00.000-08:00

Well I am not playing poker like a vagina anymore thanks to epdogg. I am learning to double barrel in better spots and am being more aggro overall. I feel that I am harder to read but I did not open up my range at all. My ranges are not as polarized now and I am starting to get thinner value which is great. Hopefully this trend continues, since the adjustments I have had a 1.8K and 1.5K day. I will just try to go into every session knowing that I am not god so I can try and avoid the huge downswings I get after a good upswing.

FTP + TENANTS + PROGRESS

2007-12-05T08:51:00.000-08:00

I feel like I am getting better at FTP and it is helping me improve my game. I expect a good month and I need one. My tenants gave their 30 day notice and that will mean I have to come up with an additional $1800 a month if I do not find someone to move in. All and all this is a very stressful time, so much is riding on how poker goes this month. I have put in a good number of hands so far and I plan on hitting it hard for the rest of the month.

PROP BET

2007-12-01T21:38:00.000-08:00

Made a prop bet with cntgetmedown to keep up my hand volume this month. $100 if I don't reach 30K hands and $10 for every 1K difference between our hand totals.

ARP POINTS FOR DEC.

2007-11-30T10:52:00.001-08:00

I always forget how many I earn throughout the month so...

Nov. 30th 79.2k

BACK FROM VEGAS

2007-11-30T08:40:00.000-08:00

OK, I left Vegas a 1.2K winner. I played 2/5 for 30hrs for this win. I lost a 2K pot w/ AA allin preflop vs KK. I lost a 2.4K pot like this... I raise btn with 78o to $35 sb pops it to $75 (we are both 1.2K deep obv) I call. The flop comes 772 he bets $120 and I raise to $300, he calls. Turn is a J and he shove the rest of his stack in. I think for a little and decide to make the call based on earlier play and his demeanor in this hand. River is a K and I scream "fuck" and he says "bad call my man".

I think that live play is way, way more profitable for me than online. I could have had a 5K weekend (in games that I considered tough for live games). I will be going to Vegas more from now on.

It should also be noted that I got AA 2 times (won the blinds once and lost 1K the other), never hand KK through JJ, and flopped a set 1 time and got paid $75 on it.

TRYING TO BEST FTP

2007-11-26T07:51:00.000-08:00

I have been playing on FTP lately and have done OK. The cards have had a lot to do with my sub par results there (not altogether but the last few days). My game is becoming better sense the villains there are much better than AP's . Now that I have peoples 3 bet stats and fold to 3 bet stats it is easier to deal with preflop aggression.

On a side note, it turned out I was playing with an AP reg. I told him who I was and it was like I was a celebrity. (guess he does not read the blog) He said all these nice things about my game though, which was good to hear after this month. We exchanged emails and should begin communicating soon.

As of now I am down $965 for the month.

LOST 2K AGAIN, GOT SOME BACK

2007-11-24T05:03:00.000-08:00

I had a bad session and lost 2K but won some back today. I was running very poorly in the -2K session but played over aggro as well. I have been making way to many calls with this new style and will need to really rein it in to get back to where I was. The above graph is month to date.

EVEN FOR THE MONTH

2007-11-21T05:35:00.000-08:00

Well I am back from the 13 buy in downswing and it feels good. I had 1400 on a 1/2 table tonight and that is the best I have done so far, it felt good. I still have time to make some money for the month and will be going to Vegas from the 27th through 29th.

As you can see from the months stats I can not beat full tilt for the life of me, I am worried that I only beat donk games. I will of course continue to try and beat it, but geez I sure do suck on there.
Please let me know what you think of these plays below...

OK this guy had been there betting often he is 21/16 AF 4.5/2.3/1.0 I felt like 4 betting pre but decided to shove the flop cause I am a pus. Am I right in thinking that a frequent 3 bettor will have not a thing on this flop often enough to make this OK?

Hero ($655.32)
MP ($155.60)
Button ($394)
SB ($244)
BB ($410.20)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 5h, 5c.
Hero raises to $8, 2 folds, SB raises to $28, 1 fold, Hero calls $20.

Flop: ($58) Td, 9c, 2h (2 players)
SB bets $40, Hero raises to $627.32, SB calls $176 (All-In).

Turn: ($490) Kh (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($490) 8s (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $490

One more... This guy does not 3 bet a lot and his stats are 20/19 AF 9.5/0.0/0.0 over 200 hands. My thought was AQ AK KK and AA all fold here. Do you guys fold those hands here? This deep?

BB ($403)
UTG ($774.04)
MP ($433.95)
Hero ($478.22)
Button ($606.80)
SB ($88.25)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Jh, Js.
UTG calls $2, 1 fold, Hero raises to $10, 2 folds, BB raises to $34, UTG folds, Hero calls $24.

Flop: ($71) Tc, Qc, Th (2 players)
BB bets $58, Hero raises to $140, BB raises to $369, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $351

2+2 POST

2007-11-20T05:35:00.000-08:00

I'm out to dinner with my dad's wife's family. Her sister's husband is a finance guy (wealthy and retired ldo) and digs poker. He comes up to me during the dinner and goes, and I quote, "You have ace king and you read a guy for a pair, are you in or are you out?"

MOUSE TILT

2007-11-19T13:24:00.000-08:00

I have been through 5 mice in the last year. Last night I was folded out of hands cause my mouse was jumping all over the screen, mostly to the top left corner though. I managed to order a new one from Amazon and hope that it will be the last. Since my old one no longer works at all I went to get a cheapy at Fry's. The damn thing has a 2.5 foot cord and forces me into a very weird position. It is also ideally sized for a three year old, maybe I will donate it to toys for tots or something after the new one comes. My new mouse.

MESSED WITH PT TO FIND OUT WHAT I EARN

2007-11-18T06:17:00.000-08:00

I am, after the downswing, earning $36hr playing an average of 3 tables. Include in to this the reload bonuses, ARP points, and rake back I am making around $50hr. This is just over what I was making at my old job although I will have to pay for medical on my own which will cost about $600 a month. The above figures are at a win rate (3.74ptbb) that I plan on improving in the future.

I would like to thank everyone again for all the help and support that they have given me. Cntgetmedown, Crush_a_lot, Dodgyken, Nutedawg, The1wizard, Peten2toms, Plutopatrol, Sirneb, and Vitas. All you guys have helped me in different degrees and ways. It has been invaluable to have a support network during this transitional period. I look forward to working with you all in the future.

Matt

$500 IN AVIODABLE MISTAKES TODAY

2007-11-18T03:50:00.000-08:00

I just a few big hands I managed to kill what could have been a great day. I have started to realize that I can crush this limit but need to improve just a little more to do it. By crush I mean that I should be able to win at over 6ptbb/100. Overall I am happy with my progression although I do not put in enough time studying.
I have started buddy listing donks and am realizing that there are a TON of them, the list grows long.
I have also started pot controlling to much and have gone overboard, I will be taking a closer look at these situations in the coming week. I also seem to call to many rivers when I pot control the flop and call the turn. Just because I pot control the flop does not mean that everyone is always bluffing me. Writing this makes me realize I need to improve a lot before crushing this limit or moving to the next one.
On a positive not I am almost even for the month and hope to book a small winner. It should help that I am playing between 4 and 5 tables again. I was only playing 2 or 3 for the last month which helped me improve a lot.

NEW AP IMAGE

2007-11-18T00:27:00.001-08:00

I told AP that my old image reminded me of an ex and they let me change it again. Nice.

REPPING HAND

2007-11-17T19:38:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to find places to make moves and rep some stuff. Here the small raise coupled with his 17% raise cbet stat made me go hmmm. The king is the only card out there that I am worried about and he is thinking the same thing. I thought for a little and made the call planning a c/r on the turn no matter what came. The flush hit and he was nice enough to bet again, seems to me he would raise more with a f/d and a K would check behind here a lot. I c/r him and he folds. I am looking for spots to do this stuff in more and feel that it wil improve my win rate quite a bit. Not only from the I win money that I did not deserve point of view but it will get people frustrated, cause they will know I am stealing.

UTG ($396.15)
Button ($284.50)
Hero ($266.10)
BB ($407.40)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Ad, 9s.
2 folds, Hero raises to $8, BB calls $6.

Flop: ($16) 2h, Kc, 6c (2 players)
Hero bets $10, BB raises to $25, Hero calls $15.

Turn: ($66) 2c (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $35, Hero raises to $80, BB folds.

SOME HANDS

2007-11-17T18:40:00.000-08:00

He is 39/11 AF 1.8/1/1

MP ($721.55)
CO ($160.80)
Button ($81.11)
SB ($148.80)
Hero ($409.55)
UTG ($147.90)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7d, 8d.
UTG calls $2, 1 fold, CO raises to $4, 1 fold, SB calls $3, Hero calls $2, UTG calls $2.

Flop: ($16) 5d, Jh, 3d (4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $10, UTG calls $10, CO calls $10, SB folds.

Turn: ($46) 6h (3 players)
Hero bets $34, UTG calls $34, CO folds.

River: ($114) Qs (2 players)
Hero bets 361.55 , UTG bets $99.9 (All-In).

I decided to fire again on the river with no real reasoning behind it. I am only folding out better flush draws J9 JT and maybe JK. Is that a big enough part of his range to go for the river bluff here?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This hand the guy is 23/7 AF 3.7/1.3/1. I have never seen him do this before. I decided to fold since I did not have much invested but feel I should have called. Any opinions?
BB ($402.25)
UTG ($135.75)
MP ($277.55)
Hero ($436.30)
SB ($132.89)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Ad, As.
UTG raises to $6, 1 fold, Hero raises to $20, 2 folds, UTG calls $14.

Flop: ($43) 7c, 9c, 4c (2 players)
UTG bets 115.75 , Hero folds.

Final Pot: $43
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This hand suck as I was out pot controlled (he had AQ) My bet size on the river is to induce calls from worse A's but more likely pocket pairs above 88. The D bag is 14/11 AF 9.1/3.5/1.2. Even with those stats I felt I had to bet the river the way the hand played out. Anyone check through?

Button ($402.60)
SB ($269.50)
BB ($392.37)
Hero ($322.30)
MP ($355.05)
CO ($77)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Jh, Ac.
Hero raises to $8, 4 folds, BB calls $6.

Flop: ($17) 4h, Ah, 8d (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

Turn: ($17) 5s (2 players)
BB bets $12, Hero calls $12.

River: ($41) 4d (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $32, BB calls $32.

Final Pot: $105

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here I pot controlled the turn by min c/r it worked out well and I got to showdown my 88 vs his 77 for free, no comments necessary.

MP ($208.35)
Hero ($195)
Button ($77)
SB ($586.90)
BB ($237.60)
UTG ($82.63)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 8c, 8d.
1 fold, MP calls $2, Hero raises to $10, Button raises to $20, 2 folds, MP folds, Hero calls $10.

Flop: ($45) Td, Qs, Qd (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $2, Hero calls $2.

Turn: ($49) As (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $2, Hero raises to $4, Button calls $2.

River: ($57) Kc (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks.

Final Pot: $57

TO EMBARRASSED TO POST

2007-11-15T03:02:00.000-08:00

I went on a huge down swing and did not have the courage to post about it. It started with me dumping 1K to a fish and ended with me down over 3K. I got Nute to hook up an emergency lesson and as soon as that happened I started winning. I will post my month to date, tonights numbers, and positional stats. I blacked out some positional information cause I just donk know how much it would divulge about my game, if it even matters.

STOP WIN LIMIT

2007-11-09T18:36:00.000-08:00

I have been playing well only to lose my money donking about at the end of sessions. I have set a stop win for myself of 4 buy ins which I will increase as is appropriate. I know this seems crazy but I would be running at 2x ptbb what I am now if I had this rule before today.

GOALS FOR NOV.

2007-11-06T13:18:00.000-08:00

Play more poker, 45k hands would be good

Post in this forum with reckless abandon again.

Try to work the 2.5x four bet into my game.

Learn to rep stuff better, have the courage to do it, and pick the right spots.

NOT PLAYING ENOUGH

2007-11-06T02:46:00.000-08:00

I am not playing anywhere near enough hands this month. Even worse, I have not been posting and answering HHs. I have a little success and I stop trying to improve. I will work on this tomorrow by answering some HHs and going through PT.

MONTH TO DATE

2007-11-05T14:28:00.000-08:00

THE MONTHS OVER AND HERE ARE RESULTS

2007-11-01T23:38:00.001-07:00

This coupled with $750 in ARP rewards, $1000 in rake, and maye $500 bonus dollars makes for an $8500 month. Niiice.

2K HANDS, SECOND TIME EVER

2007-10-31T02:34:00.000-07:00

Today was the second time I played over 2K hands in one day. I was down $600 at one point but came back to book a nice win. I made some dumbass plays during the first part of the day but thankfully got back on track.

HEADS UP IS OK

2007-10-28T21:18:00.000-07:00

I have played just over 550 hands of HU and like it. I think that it will help my 6 max game and break up the monotony of only playing one game. I have started off good and hope that I will continue to run hot, and find weak competition. People seem to have the same problem that I do, not adjusting to the villains play anywhere near enough. This will help me focus on how to exploit people and their specific weaknesses.

I checked my hourly rate today and found hat I am earning over $50.00 hr. I am very happy about this since that is just a bit more than I was making bar tending.

MONTH TO DATE RESULTS

2007-10-26T21:35:00.000-07:00

NUTEDAWG'S RATE

2007-10-26T18:34:00.000-07:00

is $500

BACK FROM TAHOE

2007-10-26T18:20:00.000-07:00

Took three days and spent them with Pops at Lake Tahoe. Played a little live which was cake and had a good time doing almost nothing.

REALITY CHECK

2007-10-22T06:10:00.000-07:00

Had a lesson tonight and it went well, made some money and learned a lot. One hand that I would have lost otherwise actually paid for the lesson.

I got to thinking the other day that a HU lesson would be really cool and would be a great opportunity to learn in some marginal situations. I brought it up with Nute and he said it would be fine.

We also talked about the amount of money I need to pull out of my BR each month, the amount I can expect to make at 1/2, and what I need to move up to 2/4 safely. At the rate I am currently going it will take almost a year to build enough to move up. I could of course, take shots earlier, but with poker as my only income and the seriousness of my financial obligations I don't think that would be wise. If it did not go well it could take a lot out of me emotionally and could cost me more than just the loss of a session. I remember talking to cntgetmedown about his BR requirements a few months or so ago and thinking what a BR nit he was. My bad.

I AIMed The Girl after Nute and I talked about this stuff and explained the situation I was in to her. She agreed to help me reach my goal by helping me cut my food costs and understanding that I will have to play poker quite a bit. She really is great.

GEEZUS

2007-10-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

I was up $900 at one point tonight but gave it all back. It is safe to say that I ran like shit during the second half of these hands.

PLAYED EHH TONIGHT

2007-10-20T05:42:00.000-07:00

I made some bad river calls with OK hands tonight. I also got outdrawn a lot and ran into quads. I do not want to wait to download the pic but I lost 3 buy ins and play around 1K hands.

PLAYED LIKE A DONK, BUT GOT IT BACK

2007-10-19T04:47:00.000-07:00

I lost like 3 buy ins in 60 hands cause I played like shit. I came back to be +3 for the day due to some donktastic play on the beautiful AP. I have a new focus which will be improving my turn play and going to showdown more and lighter. It's late, I'm off to bed.

Oh, and I will be hitting the forums more I have been slacking quite a bit

ANOTHER GOOD DAY

2007-10-18T03:49:00.000-07:00

Feeling really good about my game. I think that I have an edge over 90% of the other 1/2 players at this point. I am not going to take it easy either. I will continue to improve my game through posting, answering HH's and taking lessons. At this point I am no longer worried about going bankrupt which is a huge load of my mind. To go from making 60K+ from my job and not that much at poker to poker as a sole source of income in less than a month, without planning on it, and making it, is great.

AHH

2007-10-17T03:36:00.001-07:00

And we have a winner! It is nice to book a win after a few losing days. My play is imporoving but still needs work, I did play the situation a little bit tonight though. I called out of the bb in a blind war and the flop came 883 2 tone, he bet, I called, turn 4 off suit, he bet, I raise 3.5x his bet, he folds. I used to just give up here the reasoning being I want to stay out of trouble and git it in when I have something, although I make stupid ass bluffs sometimes. I spent 2 hours going over PT and posting some stuff before playing as well and plan on hitting it hard tomorrow if the girl permits. Balance right?

HAD THE LESSON

2007-10-16T06:31:00.000-07:00

Lesson was great and I have something to work on for the next week. I need to play the player and not my cards. This will include floating and bluff raising while making sure I am telling a story that is believable and understood by the villain. When I realized that this is what I had to do my gut reaction was "fuck me" and at the same time "I thought I was doing this". I realize now that I play my cards much more than I thought and it will be very hard to get to this next level. I have to identify the type of player that I am playing against, more so than "he's a fish" or "aggro". Then I need to come up with plans to exploit there weaknesses in reoccurring situations. I did have a VPIP breakthrough though and am able to play a looser style. The style does not have certain hands that I open from here or there but instead is what the table will tolerate.

Well the play overall today as very good and would have been the first day in the green for 3 days but I lost a $660 pot as a 70% favorite for the last hand of the night. I am still up 2K since turning pro and have a winrate of 3PTBB now. On DODGYKEN'S advice I will be going through PT and trying to put villains on hands to improve my skills. I also have like 13 hands to post, so lots to do.

Though this whole thing my girl has been more supportive than I ever thought possible. I tell other people and they go "Oh, thats great." then like two sentences later they say "So you going to try to get a job here?" etcetera, etcetera. It is very nice to have someone that believes wholeheartedly in me and what I am trying to do. She is very constant with it too, she does not waiver. So thank you Jordan it means allot.

BLA

2007-10-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

Make some stupid plays today and got caught bluffing a few times. I have a lesson tomorrow and feel it will do me good.

Totals since being fired, 9 days in.

2007-10-13T05:13:00.000-07:00

CAME BACK FOR A WINNING DAY

2007-10-13T05:08:00.001-07:00

So this is still the same day as my last post. I turned it around and booked a decent win, it all started with me sucking out for a big pot and then everything started to click. From -$600 to +$350 feels very nice.

DOWN 3 BUY INS TODAY

2007-10-12T21:19:00.000-07:00

I played well today but did not get any action on my hands, my bluffs on the other hand were another story. watched a video blog entry from The Bryce at Stoxpoker and it made me realize that while I have been putting more effort then normal in, it is not even close to what some people do. I will be responding to every post on the high and mid stakes forums from now on. I will continue to post my hands and review PT. I am also going to make videos of my play and try to find areas of weakness through that approach.

MAN

2007-10-12T05:52:00.001-07:00

I get home from the live game (I won a buy in) and decide to play. Before I know it I am down $800 and just thinking what the fuck happened. Had some coolers, ran trips in to 4 of a kind unfortunately the river bricked or I would be writing a much happier blog entry. The great thing about tonight is that I played on, my A game, even though I was down 4 buy ins. I stuck it out knowing that this is a job now, this is how I earn my money. Bad beats, bad timing, bad players, and bad plays, I got through it all tonight. When I had worked my way to -$200 (for the third time or so) I realized I really liked what I was doing. I felt that I had an edge on some regs tonight and knew my studying was really paying off. I played 1200 hands , stuck till the last 10, and I played good.

UNEMPLOYED 1 WEEK

2007-10-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

I am running well and committed to playing a better game and it shows in my results. I can't imagine how I would feel if I was losing right out of the gate, but this feels great. Besides what the graph says I am up $375 in rake and more in bonuses.

Going to a live game that I hope to crush tonight. Buyin is $100 but it will be nice for a change.

CR POSTS

2007-10-10T05:18:00.000-07:00

I have received complaints about the amount of posts that I have been putting up. I find it kind of amusing and was expecting it. Allot of the hands I post are not that interesting or exciting, some may even be "standard". The fact is though I have two mortgages, and two second mortgages, and NO JOB. I can not exactly go out with my 8th grade diploma and land a job that is going to pay my bills. Also, in this real estate market I would be hard pressed to sell one. What I am saying is unless they limit the amount of posts you are allowed to make in a month, charge me per post, or people stop answering them altogether, I will continue to post. To everyone that has been answering them, even the boring ones, thanks.

GOOD NIGHT TONIGHT

2007-10-10T03:28:00.000-07:00

I played pretty well tonight although I did not get into situations where I tend to donk off all my money. One pic is tonight and one is for the month.

I am glad that poker is going well for me out of the gate since I would have to get a job at Starbucks otherwise. It's funny, I tell people I got fired and I play poker now and they say something like "That's great, I'm sure you'll do great. So you going to try to get a job at Restaurant X or Y?" Fuckers.

I talked to Nutedawg my coach and I should be having another lesson soon. I am looking forward to it since I have put more into improving at this game in the last week than I have in the last year. During this process I am sure to make mistakes and head the wrong direction at some point and I am very glad to have someone to help me stay on path.

DOWN 2.5 BUYINS TODAY

2007-10-09T05:36:00.000-07:00

I came back to win around 4 though. I made very bad calls and shoves again to start the night. I did improve towards the end of the session. It is hard to believe that I did not know what I was doing before someone at CR told me. I get a fight response when I have an OK hand and someone applies pressure. I call down and raise without much thought. Sometimes I even make calls knowing I am beat, but I call anyway, out of a sense of pride I guess. I will ask my coach if he can help me with this somehow.

The games were great tonight, someone with a VPIP of 50+ was on each of my tables. For this reason I will not be posting hands tonight but will have to do it tomorrow. I have ten that I noted as needing to talk about and will post some big winners and losers as well. On top of that I will have to answer some so I don't feel like I am abusing the forum. I feel I am posting a ton but this guy "DODGYKEN" puts me to shame. He also delivers a higher quality of response and a level of insight that I can not offer. He is quickly becoming my role model for posting and dedication at CR.

DOWN 1/2 BUY IN

2007-10-08T04:04:00.000-07:00

Played pretty good but made some bad calls at the end of a session. I am still defaulting to aggression in marginal spots which is killing my wins. Also I have lost like $800 with JJ and ran it into AA like 4 times in the last 2 days. I should have gotten away cheaper than I did though.

TWO GREAT COMMENTS FROM CR GUYS

2007-10-07T04:50:00.000-07:00

From reading/responding to some of your posts I think you should be slowing down on some of your marginal situation aggression (speeeew) without better reads. You could also try and control the size of the pot more in these spots.

Ive noticed in the last 2 hands you posted that you like to lead with your draws, but then you have second thoughts about betting them once the get there.

BAD DAY

2007-10-07T00:38:00.000-07:00

Took some beats and played overconfidently today. Called down lite and continued to have to much aggression in marginal spots. I lost back almost all my winnings from yesterday. I have stopped for the night however and will hit it up again tomorrow. My girl sent me this when I told her how I did... "you shouldn't let one day bring you down though, b/c there will probably be days when this happens, i'm sure pros have the same thing happen, it's just they didn't stop trying and they worked very hard at it. and here you are learning from a very good teacher, working harder, and dedicating more time. it will take time, but i think you'll be great. i really do and if i was worried or concerned in anyway i would tell you." That helped.

GAME IS IMPROVING, BUT STILL NEEDS WORK

2007-10-06T03:47:00.000-07:00

Two pics tonight one is for the month and one is just the 5th.

I am running very well still, and playing better than I ever have. I am running at 19/15 which is not where I want to be. I am trying to open up to around 20/17 but it is not happening. I am very happy with my coach and what I have learned so far and am looking forward to the next lesson. I think he will be happy with the direction my game is headed and I should be able to open up more with him watching.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it in my last post but I have been reviewing my sessions in PT and it is helping a ton. I also take notes on hands that I have questions on during my session so that I don't have to search through to find a small obscure pot I played.

I am still really nervous about poker as a job. I feel that with hard work, dedication, and the support of my friends, girl, and family, I can make this work. It is nice not to have to be fake anymore either. Pretending I'm happy to see people that I could care less about gets old after ten years. Now everyone that I come into contact with I like and am happy to see, there is no more faking it.

GETTING REEMED ON CR

2007-10-05T21:37:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of booking another winning day. I started off down a buy in and a half but came back to be up over a buy in. I will be playing more tonight and I assume the weekend games are crazy. Just realized that I will be playing in some free rolls from now on, sweet!

I am posting allot of hands on CR and am catching shit from other posters. It turns out I might suck at poker since the guys giving me shit are solid players. I will be posting more tonight and am sure I will learn allot.

I entered into a 90 day trial of Quicken Business and Home to get a grasp of what I need to make playing poker. It is a sweet program and I might just have to buy the damn thing.

STUDYING THE GAME

2007-10-05T05:14:00.000-07:00

I have been taking a much more serious approach to poker. I am looking over sessions in PT and posting hands on CR. I am falling short on answering but will make an effort to balance my studies in the future.

I AM A PRO POKER PLAYER NOW...

2007-10-04T18:22:00.001-07:00

I got fired today.

I am going to try and play poker for a living. This will involve allot more commitment than I have previously given to poker. I will need to be a winner at 2/4 to make enough money. I do have a good amount of savings to get me to that point.

I need to earn 6K a month to break even on all my expenses and not starve to death. I think I will be getting unemployment and that will come to about 2K, so I need 4K from poker.

I would like anyone who reads this and has ever seen me play to provide an opinion on the state of my game. Honesty is paramount. I would also like any general opinions on the quality of my posts on CR, and thoughts on if I exhibit enough intelligence to beat 2/4 for a decent rate given time and dedication.

Also, I will be having more time to sweat and be sweated and would happy to discuss hands on AIM and so on. Please contact me if you have interest in anything like this.

PT DATABASE GONE

2007-10-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

I recently rebooted my computer and lost the last 100K hands I hand in PT. With the older ones and stats left I decided to go for a fresh start and delete everything. Before this I was down $800 or so for the month but I will be disregarding that and am starting over completely.

I had a 3 1/2hr lesson with my coach. I sweated him since I was having issues with my computer. He ran bad and still booked a nice win at 2/4 on FTP. A couple things I learned; I am not giving people credit when they bet scare cards, I can slow down in pots where I don't hit my flop but my hand still has showdown value, 4 betting frequent 3 betters pf and how to put the pressure back on them, I need to pay attention to the table dynamic and my image more.

PROBLEMS

2007-10-01T13:02:00.001-07:00

1. I am calling reraises with QKs and other marginal crap.
2. I default to FPS to get value, this does not work.
3. I am not reevaluating ranges on the turn and river when new information is presented.
4. I need to work on when I double barrel, and how often I need to do it.
5. I need to realize when I am playing someone that does not fold, I have no fold equity.
6. I am continuing to lose.

I TILTED TONIGHT

2007-10-01T01:06:00.000-07:00

I ended the month down $800 and have a bad start on this one. I played poorly tonight and went on tilt for the first time in a while. I have a lesson tomorrow and hope to have a strong month.

DOWN, DOWN, DOWN

2007-09-28T15:50:00.000-07:00

And it continues.

DOWNSWING

2007-09-26T21:37:00.000-07:00

I played a little aggro when I sat down today without getting a feel for the tables and payed for it. I then got some fucked up hands, set over set, set vs rivered quads, and so on. I did not tilt though, and feel good about my play after the coolers. It is also a big step to still post while losing, enjoy the stats.

Edit: While I played well to the best of my knowledge, I was not concentrating as much as I could of. I surfed the web and chatted while playing, neither helped the situation.

FEELING GOOD STILL

2007-09-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

I am playing what appears to be very good poker although I have not been running great. This is a period where I would normally trend down but I am going up slightly instead. I am getting paid off more and feel that I am the irritater not the irritated, which is nice. I posted 3 hands on CR mid stakes and would like some feed back from you guys if you have the time or inclination.

Poker goes in phases and right now I am in a discovery phase. I am ready to learn and apply myself more than I have been for a while.

FIRST LESSON TONIGHT

2007-09-24T23:35:00.000-07:00

Had a good first lesson although not to many interesting spots came up. I learned how to take advantage of poker stove better, learned about meta game a little, feel better about hand ranges, and my opening and calling ranges. I am looking forward to the next lesson and am very happy with my coach.

One interesting spot that came up was in a 3 bet pot on a flop that I checked through, and then double barreled the turn and river. Given the way he played his hand it did not seem he would have a big enough hand to call a river bet. At the same time we could have a T from the way the hand played out. If anyone would care to comment on this hand please feel free.
wmmcl: $203.00
Hero: $261.10
NigelWinters: $289.50
john0014: $201.00

[b]Preflop:[/b] Hero is dealt A:diamond: 8:diamond: (4 Players)
[i]2 folds[/i], wmmcl raises to $6.00, Hero raises to $22.60, wmmcl calls $16.60

[b]Flop:[/b] ($45.20) J:heart: T:club: Q:club: (2 Players)
wmmcl checks, Hero checks

[b]Turn:[/b] ($45.20) J:heart: T:club: Q:club: 3:heart: (2 Players)
wmmcl checks, Hero bets $33.90, wmmcl calls $33.90

[b]River:[/b] ($113) J:heart: T:club: Q:club: 3:heart: T:diamond: (2 Players)
wmmcl checks, Hero bets $79.10, wmmcl???

Pot Size: $271.20 ($2 Rake)

PLAYED AGGRO

2007-09-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

I felt like playing aggro and did OK I made one very bad call though. I will post my monthly stats as always and also stats for just yesterday.

LIVE GAMES ARE CAKE

2007-09-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

Live play is allot easier thats for sure but I still made mistakes that killed my win rate. Overall I ended up $1400 over 24 hours at 2/5 which is an hourly rate of almost $60. I take out three glaring errors I made and my rate increases to $85hr. I was playing very few hands and suspect my VPIP was not over 10% this did not seem to matter to most people at the table however. I found it impossible to get anyone to fold and only bluffed rarely and mostly on the river when they could not call looking for cards. The bet sizing was absurd I will not waste your time describing all the ridiculousness. I met up with a fellow AP player "The1Wizard who was good enough to take advantage of a huge mistake I made netting him around $500 of my money. I am in the land of donks and I am siting here playing with someone who kills me online. Talk about poor game selection.

IPOD UPDATE COMPLETE

2007-09-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

I am leaving in 2 hours and will not be updating for a couple days.

PARANOIA

2007-09-16T04:44:00.001-07:00

I am going to work on reducing my paranoia, I just need to trust people more. I make calls I justify one way or another and it is killing my game. It sucks to build a stack just to give it back due to some crack pot reason I think up.

FULL RING, MY NEW HOME TILL COACHING

2007-09-15T07:04:00.000-07:00

I rocked the full ring games tonight. I decided to play to prepare for Vegas (2 days left) and am glad I did. I found leaks in my preflop hand selection (not all I am sure) and got some post flop practice also. It felt good to be able crush all 8 tables, there was a point where I made some bad decisions due to allot of hands playing out at the same time.

I can not stop thinking about my lessons that should be coming up soon, my soon to be coach is just waiting for a mike. I think I will continue to play full ring till the lessons start as long as I continue to print money. The last week has been a really exciting poker time for me and I am looking really forward to becoming the player I want to be.

THE DONKY PLAY LEVELER

2007-09-14T04:15:00.000-07:00

I played good tonight till I make a huge donk move which leveled me for the night. I don't want to talk about it right now.

ANOTHER PROBLEM

2007-09-13T15:56:00.000-07:00

I think I am raising to further define my opponents hands to much and losing value or having to fold to reraises. I do this because I can not read a hand to save my life sometimes. I want to know where I stand instead of playing poker. I am going to have to figure out how to fix this without losing a ton of money.

I AM NOT GOD.

2007-09-13T06:43:00.000-07:00

I got a little cocky and made some bad calls and raises but overall I am still improving. I calmed down after I got the idea that people can still beat me and got some cash back Going over my PT stats, some big pots that I lose are from being overly aggro at the wrong times. This includes but is not limited to raising myself off of draws. I am also getting it in PF with the worse hand (AK) and will tone that down a bit as well. Overall I think I need to pick my spots better and less frequently to improve my win rate and stop the spew that is my game.

AHA MOMENT

2007-09-12T03:17:00.000-07:00

I feel I had an aha moment today, I am reading players better it is winning me some pots. I continue to play only 2 tables as I watch The Wire. I might not be cut out to multi table. I will have to play more tables at some point this month to keep my elite status at AP, I hope that I will play as well as I have been while playing 2 tables. Hopefully I am not just running well and creating bad habits with these "amazing" plays I have been making.

CR FLOP FLOATERS ON THE TURN

2007-09-11T23:05:00.001-07:00

I was cr flop floaters on the turn with some success today. It was nice to feel in control of the table, like I was the unpredictable one. I was also playing good ABC poker and making good folds (which is rare). I have only been playing 2 tables at a time because I am addicted to the wire and I just got seasons 2-4. I am almost back to my high point for the month after the rough stretch I had.

UP AND DOWN TO END EVEN. AGAIN.

2007-09-11T08:22:00.001-07:00

Exchanged a few PMs with my future coach today and I am excited about starting my lessons. I feel that he will be a good teacher, seeing as how he used to be a teacher. He asked what I felt like paying and I suggested $75 an hour. I am not sure how this comes across to someone that is a successful 5/10 player and only hope that I did not insult him. I asked how he felt about it and he said he would ask around and see what was average in this type of situation. I am slightly worried that he will come back with a high figure like $200 or something. It will really put me to a tough decision. I mean, how much can 1 hour of coaching improve my play? How bout 2? And 10? I would like to get 10hrs or so. I shutter to think how many hours I will have play to make up 2K at 1/2. On the other hand, poker is allot more fun win you beat the hell out of everyone. I would get more hands in if this were the case, and I would be happier on a day to day basis. I think I would be most happy if he came back with an hourly rate that included him getting a % of my winnings over X hands (I did suggest this) I would feel good that I had the confidence of a good player and would be less prone to tilt. I think I will also broach the topic of a bonus once some trust is established. I would like to be able to beat 3/6 for a decent rate and think I will offer 10K to him if he can get me there. It would be only one month of 3/6 earnings at 3.5BB/100. At that point, when the lessons are an obvious success, I would not hesitate to dish out serious coin. As you can see from the length of this, and the late hour of it's entry, I am excited about this.

LAAATE NIGHT SESSION HELP A BIT

2007-09-10T07:08:00.001-07:00

Made a buyin at .5/1 when I hit a flush with AQ vs AK.

ELITE VIP STATUS ON AP

2007-09-10T04:50:00.000-07:00

I have to play like 20K hands to keep my status on AP. With that status I get the 200K APR points converted to 3K, my rakeback, deposit bonuses, and now the 9% interest. The 9% interest comes with allot of conditions though, here they are.

* Maximum balance eligible is $500,000
* You Must be Elite
* Your average daily balance must be greater than $1000 (balance snap shot taken once per day)
* You may not have any payouts during the calendar month
* You must earn the VIP points needed to maintain your Elite status during the calendar month
* Interest credits to your cash account will be given within the first 7 days after the closing of the previous calendar month
* All issues not covered in the terms and conditions will be decided on by Absolute poker, and all resolutions will be final
* Absolute poker reserves the right to withdraw this program at any time, with 10 days notice
* You may not have any payouts or transfers during the calendar month

OK PLAY

2007-09-10T03:45:00.000-07:00

I played OK today. If I had not exhibited some serious FPS I would have had a solid session and recouped most of my losses. As it stands I broke even for today over 900 hands.

I just realized that AP and UB results are not separate in PT, I have no idea why this is but it irritates me.

I will be getting a coach for some serious time, I am deciding between two people that are both very qualified. I am excited about it and plan buy around 10 hours which I expect will cost about 1K. While this is quite a bit I think it will pay for itself so fuck it.

BAD PLAY TODAY

2007-09-09T03:21:00.000-07:00

My Dad is in the ER with a blood clot in his lung. I spent the day with him got home and played anyway. I did not play well, in one hand I did not notice that I was 200bb deep and lost two buyins when it was a clear fold.

UB IS SO SOFT

2007-09-08T05:25:00.000-07:00

After playing in the game for 1000 hands I believe I can sustain a win rate of at least 20BB/100.

ROUTERS SUCK

2007-09-08T04:38:00.000-07:00

I spent sooo long updating my firmware on the old wireless router. One of the bigger pains in my ass of the year. More results to follow.

I CONTINUE TO OWN UB .50/1.00

2007-09-07T04:26:00.000-07:00

FUCK YEAH UB

2007-09-07T00:16:00.000-07:00

UB is treating me real good, I have not been playing crazy or tilting as well. That was a huge problem for me at UB in the past. Recouping some of my losses feels good and I am back on track for a great month.

FUCK YOU FULL TILT

2007-09-06T05:22:00.000-07:00

CAUGHT UP WITH ME

2007-09-06T04:36:00.000-07:00

I had a bad run and proceeded to tilt off a buyin or two after that.

I have redeposited at UB now that AP owns them. I have had great experiences with AP customer service and hope that UB will follow suit. The games were very soft with table VPIP's of up to 50%. Looking forward to being able to play on three different sites although 2/3 of my hands will be at AP due to the great bonuses they offer. The crazy bastards even pay me interest on my money now, 9%!!! This is crazy, you cant get 9% anywhere except AP. A big thanks to AP the only site that gives a rats ass about customer service. Long live AP.

PLAYED BETTER THAN USUAL TODAY

2007-09-04T04:21:00.000-07:00

Besides one very bad call I could get over all the other errors I made today. I continue to run well and am trying to mix up my play. The bottom line is I am making hands and getting payed, I must maximize now to get through the inevitable dry spell that will come at some point. I posted some hands today and plan on answering posts tomorrow.

I have a Vegas trip planned in a couple weeks and am looking forward to that. Every now and then I get a craving to play a ton of live poker. After, I feel like WTF did I put myself through that for but I look forward to it just the same.

RUNNING WELL IN SEP.

2007-09-02T22:05:00.000-07:00

I continue to play OK but am killing it anyway. I think in an effort to get my AF up I am spewing on the turn. I need to remember that folding will have the same effect and that it is an option.

STUCK TO UNSTUCK IN 1 GREAT HAND

2007-09-02T04:13:00.000-07:00

When you try and steal with T9o and hit the joint on the beautiful rainbow flop against to donks that manage to call with hands such as K9o it is great. It also helps that AP lets them buy in for 200BB. If it were not for this hand I don't know where I would be tonight, I started with some piss poor play. My turn AF is 1.71 so that is not going great either. Tomorrow is a new day and I plan to kill it.

THE DONK GIVITH

2007-09-01T15:28:00.001-07:00

Some very bad play on AP today, most of it by players other than myself. Only got out drawn a couple times and had a good start to the month. My AF is low for the session but over only 450 hands, I will still try to improve this as the month goes on.

A NEW MONTH

2007-09-01T02:55:00.000-07:00

This month I am going to work on folding one pair hands to raises and check raises on the turn. I think I am not believing people enough and it kills my win rate. I am also going to continue to answer and post regularly in the forums on CR. I will also be trying to raise my AF, folding more on the turn should help but I will also be betting more overall. As always I will be working on my hand reading skill (it could really use some improvement). Heres to a good month.

POSTING HELPS MY PLAY

2007-08-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

Posting to the forums is really helping my play. I start sessions with a better mind set and play better overall. I ran like god this morning till the doom switch was flicked on my account and I took 2 beats at almost exactly the same time. I proceeded to close out the tables and am going to go to work.

BAD AP/GOOD FTP

2007-08-30T04:39:00.000-07:00

I ran bad at AP (where I play 200NL) and good at FTP (where I play 100NL). Played well overall and sweated a buddy who played well also. Played 4 tables for a while on FTP because I was tired and having trouble focusing and I tilted a buyin away. There was a very aggro player who I was beating on, but I started taking the game I was playing with him to everyone else. Somehow I ended up allin with AQ preflop cause the guy raised on the button. WTF.

VERY SWINGY TODAY

2007-08-29T02:52:00.000-07:00

I played pretty badly today. Got lucky and played half way decent at some points to make it a somewhere close to even day. I was shoving into over pairs and not laying anything down at all. I was pissed for most of the day till I played some $0.05/0.10 with a friend which helped bring me off tilt.

I did on the bright side respond to 15 or 20 HH's on CR. I felt like this helped me allot and I will try to keep up the good habit in the future. Reading those makes me realize just how far I have to go in order to become the player I want to be.

And still the bad beat jackpot climbs at AP now over 800K. Makes me wonder.

BAD MORNING SESSION

2007-08-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

Bad session this morning, got frisky right out of the gate and it cost me 2.5 buy ins. I think I am going to impose a 10min sit and don't do shit rule to prevent this in the future. I don't know what the table is playing like and stats have not come up on anyone why go broke and have to spend the rest of the session getting unstuck.

MIGHT BE A GOOD MONTH

2007-08-28T02:22:00.000-07:00

I am going to try to bring up my turn aggression up a little bit. I think I am freezing when I get called on the flop with 1 pair hands. I recall Tay saying in his videos "he hasn't given me a reason to believe I don't have the best hand so I am going to continue betting." I will be looking for reasons to bet the turn and reasons not to call big bets made by Villains. These two things should help my results allot.