When I started playing I was getting almost $2 to the £1 this was great for paying in.
I hit lucky when I cashed out only costing me $1.60 to the pound.
Theory being if I'd loaded up with £100 ($200) in June then cashed out now I'd have made £25 profit without playing a hand, 25% return - not bad
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Returning to the Table
Well I ventured on last night playing 3 tables at $10 buy-ins, my play was tight in fact super tight spent the first 30 minutes with little to show for my efforts. Then the cards started to hit.
Played AJ to a flop of 66J which was checked, turn was J and opponent bet 50cents which I flat called. River a 3 and opponent bets out $1, I think he could have a six and was slow playing the flop so I raise him to put him all-in. At this point I think I made a mistake and should have min re-raised his bet as I’m sure he only calls with a Jack or if I’m super unlucky 66 for his quads. Anyway he calls and mucks the losing hand had to be a 6 but then again I’ve been called with ace high on a 2 x 2 pairs board.
Any how maintained my tight play for the whole session, betting aggressively anything I hit well, nobody took notice of this and I won consistently for the next 1 ½ hours.
Bank Roll at $240
Played AJ to a flop of 66J which was checked, turn was J and opponent bet 50cents which I flat called. River a 3 and opponent bets out $1, I think he could have a six and was slow playing the flop so I raise him to put him all-in. At this point I think I made a mistake and should have min re-raised his bet as I’m sure he only calls with a Jack or if I’m super unlucky 66 for his quads. Anyway he calls and mucks the losing hand had to be a 6 but then again I’ve been called with ace high on a 2 x 2 pairs board.
Any how maintained my tight play for the whole session, betting aggressively anything I hit well, nobody took notice of this and I won consistently for the next 1 ½ hours.
Bank Roll at $240
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Poker a reality check
Well one of my closet friends caught me yesterday, he too plays poker online but at a monetary level way above mine. I can’t say how good a player he is as we have never played against each other, he seemed to think he was pretty good. He’s often talked about winning pots of over $500 and I’ve often joked about him never mentioning his loses. When I think back he never mentioned his loses.
Turns out he’s almost $60,000 in debt, not all but a large amount attributed to poker. He was telling me how it has fucked up his life, he can’t have a telephone line at home, or internet access in case he’s tempted to play. At it’s height he was online 18 hours a day, once he won $12,000 in a weekend and blew it on Monday morning. He’s getting help for his addiction, but it was so sad to see a once confident young man reduced to a quivering hollow left with having to pay almost a $1000 a month to his creditors for the next 6 years.
His story goes started playing for fun was winning, moved up and up to a level he wasn’t capable of playing at or really could afford to play at. Had some initial success and then things went badly wrong he was losing and he was addicted. His play was loser and riskier trying to win back enough to cover his debts. It’s a classic tale of gambling addition and one I’ve taken notice of.
Didn’t play last night, just didn’t feel right.
Turns out he’s almost $60,000 in debt, not all but a large amount attributed to poker. He was telling me how it has fucked up his life, he can’t have a telephone line at home, or internet access in case he’s tempted to play. At it’s height he was online 18 hours a day, once he won $12,000 in a weekend and blew it on Monday morning. He’s getting help for his addiction, but it was so sad to see a once confident young man reduced to a quivering hollow left with having to pay almost a $1000 a month to his creditors for the next 6 years.
His story goes started playing for fun was winning, moved up and up to a level he wasn’t capable of playing at or really could afford to play at. Had some initial success and then things went badly wrong he was losing and he was addicted. His play was loser and riskier trying to win back enough to cover his debts. It’s a classic tale of gambling addition and one I’ve taken notice of.
Didn’t play last night, just didn’t feel right.
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
Trips the good the bad and the lucky
As per usual my game starts off badly get draw into a fight on a super loose table and blowing my stack quickly, that’s why I play $10 buy-ins. These super loose tables can be profitable but when 3 or 4 players just won’t give up a hand you’re going to get outdraw at times.
I got stuck back in playing solidly winning a lovely pot playing Q5 suited from the big blind with the small blind and I min bet player I checked, flop was QQ5 small blind checks as do I and a bet of 10cents come in, small blind folds I flat call. 3 comes and I check again, bet of 20cents comes I call. River is a 2 I bet 20cents expecting no action and the guy goes all in. I had just under $10 he had around $21 and was playing pretty well overall. I can’t work out what he has to make such a huge bet to win a dollar or so, but hey I can’t be beat so I call. Bang he has pocket 2’s for a full house 222 QQ. Well played he typed into the chat box, unlucky I replied but in reality I was think foolish bet.
Won well flopping a set of 10’s on a flop 3 7 10 no suits, my opponent went all in for his $3.50 I called he had pocket 33’s river and turn come blank and I win again. Then I get done in reverse with trip 7s against trip J’s both flopping our hands but the guy only had $2 to push with.
Have to say I’ve probably lost more money to trips than any other hand, especially low trips. I always seem to have 2 pair and a good two pair aces and another and get bumped by trips. Saying that I’ve won big the other way on many occasions, it’s so hard to see you’re beaten with trips. Meet a lot of players who flop trips with 2 cards coming on the flop and think they are unbeatable even if its trip 5s with a 3 kicker and get the shock of their lives when they get beaten.
Bank roll down at $199
I got stuck back in playing solidly winning a lovely pot playing Q5 suited from the big blind with the small blind and I min bet player I checked, flop was QQ5 small blind checks as do I and a bet of 10cents come in, small blind folds I flat call. 3 comes and I check again, bet of 20cents comes I call. River is a 2 I bet 20cents expecting no action and the guy goes all in. I had just under $10 he had around $21 and was playing pretty well overall. I can’t work out what he has to make such a huge bet to win a dollar or so, but hey I can’t be beat so I call. Bang he has pocket 2’s for a full house 222 QQ. Well played he typed into the chat box, unlucky I replied but in reality I was think foolish bet.
Won well flopping a set of 10’s on a flop 3 7 10 no suits, my opponent went all in for his $3.50 I called he had pocket 33’s river and turn come blank and I win again. Then I get done in reverse with trip 7s against trip J’s both flopping our hands but the guy only had $2 to push with.
Have to say I’ve probably lost more money to trips than any other hand, especially low trips. I always seem to have 2 pair and a good two pair aces and another and get bumped by trips. Saying that I’ve won big the other way on many occasions, it’s so hard to see you’re beaten with trips. Meet a lot of players who flop trips with 2 cards coming on the flop and think they are unbeatable even if its trip 5s with a 3 kicker and get the shock of their lives when they get beaten.
Bank roll down at $199
Monday, 1 December 2008
Poker Pro
I was doing a few hypothetical calculations on poker earnings and you need to turn over surprisingly little to make a living. Here in the UK the average wage for the year is just under £24,000 (about $38,000). To make that amount of money over a working week of 38 hours would mean turning over about $19 per hour, something that multi-tabling 5/10c $10 buy-in table isn’t that hard to do. In fact as poker winnings are tax free you really only need to make $16 an hour to equate to the same level of income. Take out actual expenses involved in working, childcare, travel, insurance, petrol etc. and it looks an interesting prospect.
I guess what’s scary is not having anything to fall back on if things are going badly, would be great to build up 6 months wages and go for it, not that I’d ever have the bottle. One problem or may be a positive thing would be if I had to rely on poker for a living I’d be a rock for sure.
So if you don’t want to be greedy and you’re a decent player perhaps this is an option for you, beats working for a living.
I guess what’s scary is not having anything to fall back on if things are going badly, would be great to build up 6 months wages and go for it, not that I’d ever have the bottle. One problem or may be a positive thing would be if I had to rely on poker for a living I’d be a rock for sure.
So if you don’t want to be greedy and you’re a decent player perhaps this is an option for you, beats working for a living.
Position and I don't me Doggy Style
Right I understand the theory, I’ve read the articles, I’ve played hands and thought, hmm I wish I was betting last. Position is really important to the game, so why do people just ignore it. Sure at the level I play not many players are folding any kind of ace be it under the gun or on the button to these guys A6 is exciting. Don’t get me started with people playing any suited cards 103 for example. I sometimes get drawn in thinking my A9 could be good cause they raise with an ace anything. It pissed me off when I fold a rag ace only to find it was the best hand. But still I know I’m playing better and that when I go against them with my AK’s they will bet a flop even with A2 or A7 hands.
What position means to me is that if I’m not sure where I’m at in a hand being in position gives me the advantage of seeing how others feel about their cards first, I can fold and get away from a hand if betting is strong and I’m not confident, I can big up a weaker hand if everyone’s checking. It puts the pressure on others to make decisions, especially if they have caught part of a flop and are unsure how they stand. Even I can see a weak feeler bet asking is my second pair good and capitalise on the situation.
What position means to me is that if I’m not sure where I’m at in a hand being in position gives me the advantage of seeing how others feel about their cards first, I can fold and get away from a hand if betting is strong and I’m not confident, I can big up a weaker hand if everyone’s checking. It puts the pressure on others to make decisions, especially if they have caught part of a flop and are unsure how they stand. Even I can see a weak feeler bet asking is my second pair good and capitalise on the situation.
Weekend High and Lows
Didn’t get much time to play over the weekend with only about an hour on Saturday, the same Sunday afternoon and a couple hours late Sunday night.
The Saturday session I was rocking, to be honest I got great hand after great hand with people willing to call me, quad aces raise, then I get re-raised all-in they had Full house and I’m storming. Every straight I hit every flush I hit and soon the bank roll was at $220. I called it quits well smug.
Sunday afternoon I started the same chasing every straight and flush draw but this time never hit a bean. My play was getting looser and looser as I tried to re-coup my loses. Kids started coming in the office asking how I was doing, missed a straight draw 10 to A talking to my youngest as I bet hard on my two pair AQ’s and got busted for my stack. Bank roll took a big dip down to below $180 so I stood up and put the kettle on (well the Dolce Gusto Coffee Machine as I’m a tart).
Sunday calmed and focused I got back on about 7.00pm played till just before 9.00pm, steady and tight, may be over cautious but I was winning. No real stand out hands just $1 and $2 wins with the one $5plus got bank roll back up over $200.
Lessons of the weekend:
Patience is a skill, I have played so many times losing $1 here and there sticking to mostly premium hands, folding the rest taking no gambles. This pretty much always pays off as at some point I’ll flop a monster with plenty of callers and bang one hand I double up.
Reload I always reload back to $10 if I dip below, I thinking if a monsters hand comes I want to have max amount of cash to throw at my opponents.
Kids don’t mix well with poker, send them out to play, to bed or to bother their mother.
Luck isn’t skill, skill isn’t luck – nuff said.
So Sunday night worked out ok, I need to control my game a bit more and not chase hands I’m unlikely to hit.
Me and my lady had some seriously good loving as well – hmmm – result.
Bank Roll $204
The Saturday session I was rocking, to be honest I got great hand after great hand with people willing to call me, quad aces raise, then I get re-raised all-in they had Full house and I’m storming. Every straight I hit every flush I hit and soon the bank roll was at $220. I called it quits well smug.
Sunday afternoon I started the same chasing every straight and flush draw but this time never hit a bean. My play was getting looser and looser as I tried to re-coup my loses. Kids started coming in the office asking how I was doing, missed a straight draw 10 to A talking to my youngest as I bet hard on my two pair AQ’s and got busted for my stack. Bank roll took a big dip down to below $180 so I stood up and put the kettle on (well the Dolce Gusto Coffee Machine as I’m a tart).
Sunday calmed and focused I got back on about 7.00pm played till just before 9.00pm, steady and tight, may be over cautious but I was winning. No real stand out hands just $1 and $2 wins with the one $5plus got bank roll back up over $200.
Lessons of the weekend:
Patience is a skill, I have played so many times losing $1 here and there sticking to mostly premium hands, folding the rest taking no gambles. This pretty much always pays off as at some point I’ll flop a monster with plenty of callers and bang one hand I double up.
Reload I always reload back to $10 if I dip below, I thinking if a monsters hand comes I want to have max amount of cash to throw at my opponents.
Kids don’t mix well with poker, send them out to play, to bed or to bother their mother.
Luck isn’t skill, skill isn’t luck – nuff said.
So Sunday night worked out ok, I need to control my game a bit more and not chase hands I’m unlikely to hit.
Me and my lady had some seriously good loving as well – hmmm – result.
Bank Roll $204
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