Week 3 Update (sort of):

Just over 47 hours of work so far this month. So I guess I've only worked 17 hours in two weeks. Oops.
30,558 hands for $2,381.35 ($51/hr)
Winrate is 1.72bb/100hands which is easily sustainable and is actually lower that my overall average.
I've made some small tweaks to my game, and am playing like a zen master. I lost a $400 pot yesterday where I got it in as 94% favourite. I didn't even flinch... I sort of just gave the computer a dirty look and kept on keeping on. holla.



EPT Update:
250k/500k

Getting there.... slowly. I really need to play a tonne in January if I even want a shot at this. Its really hard to get a lot of play in during the holidays. I'm trying though...
It's not like I'm gonna have a lot of time to play until the new year, because I have a friend coming to stay with me next week. So we'll be going out and partying a lot, etc etc. I'd love to get to 270/500k by the end of the year.

Hahaha, I'm gonna need to play like 100k hands in January....

Well, I'm back from the land of guns, girls and ganja... happy to say I enjoyed all 3.

No real poker updates, I'll check in with a better update soon.

Week 1 update:

Well, my first week as a pro, and well... it could've gone better. I've run really badly, but I'm still up, so that is encouraging.

I played 20,670 hands this week (i only played 26k all last month!) and I'm up $853.10 for ~$27/hr. It hasn't really been a grind at all -- some frustrating moments, but nothing I can't handle. I'm putting in 2 sessions a day, and spending the rest of the time hanging out with friends. So I've played 32hours this week, and will probably put up another seshion tonight.

EPT Update:
228k/500k

Originally I thought I only needed 400k total to get the package... but its actually 500k.
I've earned 44.5k in points this week, and I only need 272k more by feb.10th to go to france for the EPT. It's gonna be close... but I should be able to pull it out.

I'd rather not even talk about this month, lol.
I ran like shit at the end of the month, and am currently on a big downswing. I havn't played in a few days, and I'm not going to play until december.
Go december I'll go balls out, and try to make a sml fourtune. I'll be missing a week mid month because I'm visiting Cambodia, and maybe some days at the end b/c some freinds are coming to visit me in korea.

Oh, if I manage to come up with 400,000 points by mid february, I'm going to France to play in the EPT event there. Getting that many points is totally doable if I play enough. Heck, lets make it a goal. Done.

Here are my awesome totals:

Cash games:

NL200 - 24,000hands for $673
PL200 - 1,400hands for $175
NL400 - 1000 hands for $145
PL400 - 33 hands for ($200)
NL600 - 18 hands for ($45)

Totals: 26,420 hands for $757.66 (.94bb/100 or $14.13/hr)

Tournies:
36 tournies
$350 invested for a return of $199.97

NET: ($150.63) with an ROI of (42.96%)

Add on a bonus from poker stars of $400 and.....

TOTAL : $1007.03

So I fell really short of my hand goal, but I think its better, because I hate playing when I'm running bad. I just wanted to wait and start fresh in December.

Here's my graph for the month.... talk about some swings! (the plunge at the end is two set over sets which I was on the wrong end of... not exactly tilt)

So today is my last day of real work... I'll check in next week, and hopefully I'll already have 15k hands in for the month. Go, John, go.

holla

This month has been so swingy so far. I've already had $1200, $1000 and $800 downswings. I've grinded through it, and I'm up $2k over almost 20,000 hands (not including bonuses).

After my school closes in ~1week, my korean visa will no longer be valid. Being canadian though, I can get a 6month visitor visa.... BUT I have to leave the country first. So in the next few weeks I will be taking a vacation to Tokyo. It will probably be for about a week, and I don't intend to play any poker while I'm on it.

I've been thinking about monthly goals, as far as hands go. In 38hrs this month, I've played 19ish hands. So lets just say 40hrs=20k hands (or 500/hr). So if I play 30hrs/week, I can get 60,000 hands in. This should let me make about $6k/month (assuming my winrate is accurate). This will be my base goal... but I'm hoping I can go above and beyond. I also want to get more $400NL in during the weekneds. Its been decently profitable for me, and will hopefully continue.

umm... big news.
I just lost my job. School is closing down due to bustoness.

I guess its time to see how much I can actually pull from this game.

December will be my first month as a pro.

GL ME.

I'm slacking... but hey, I'm enjoying myself.
I havn't played a hand over the past 2 weekends and I'm way behind schedule. Instead, I've been out galavanting with scantily clad korean women. Whatever, its been a good trade off.

I started back on monday and went on one of my biggest slides ever. $1.2k down the tubes in like 2500hands. This was 4buyins at $200 and 1 at $400, so no big deal relative to the stakes.... still hurts though. The blow was softened howveer, by the $400 pokerstars bonus.

Altogether I've played just under 11,000 hands and won $577. With the bonus, thats almost $1k. I don't know if I can hit my hand goal this month.... I have plans for sat. and sun., so it will be close. Whatever. Maybe I'll hit a big tourny score?! haha. I'm gonna try to play a bunch today from work, hopefully that goes well.

Ugh. I'm having a really frustrating start to the month.
I guess things are just balancing out a bit, because I'm running like shit. I suppose I was due for some bad luck.

I"ve played 6000 hands this month and I'm up like $200. I guess this is OK considering how many sick beats and coolers I"ve had laid on me (and an $800 SUPER-cooler). I've been getting my money in a favourite most of the time -- I know if I keep it that way, things will eventually fall in my favour.

I'm gonna keep on pluggin away, and shoot for 8k. Maybe I'm setting the bar too high, but whatever. Bleh, I shouldn't even set monetary goals. How about I just set a 35k hand goal? Thats what I did in september and I think it was my most hands/month ever. Still managed 6k in cash games with a fair winrate. Thats about 1100 hands a day for the rest of the month, whcih shouldnt be too tough b/c I've started playing at work (holla'!).

I'll check in next week...

Ok, So I'm pretty much done for the month. It was another juicy one, and my best month for cash games ever. The breakdown:

$200NL -- 21,774hands for $5,537 (6.26bb/100)
$200NL 6max - 109hands for ($87)
$200PL -- 654hands for $1,066 (40.76BB/100) lol
$400NL -- 1,695hands for $822 (6.51bb/100)
$400 6max -- 208hands for $552
$600NL -- 200 hands for $1
$600NL 6max -- 16 hands for $95
$5000NL - 24hands for $219 --- Yeah, that's right... $5000NL

Cash Game Totals:

$8258.45
56hours ($147/hr)



Tournaments are teh ghey, as I mentioned:

$689 invested for a $853 win =

$164.86
(24% ROI)

+
$337 in casino bonuses

Grand Total:

$8760.31


Very good month, consdiering my goal was $5k. And I still made 10k...if you count my teaching job. :D

In other news, I finally got a 2nd monitor. 20inch samsung widescreen (will post picz later). Now I'm dual monitoring like all the cool kids, and it makes my life that much easier.

In more exciting news, the basketball season starts today. To celebrate my good month, I dropped ~$100 on the raptors to win the NBA championship.

SHUT UP, THEY WILL.

STOP LAUGHING.

Whatever, you're not invited to my party when they ship me my $22,000 (220:1 odds).

I AM LUCKY AT CARDZZzz

example: free look with J7 in the BB. If the JJ7 flop wasnt good enough, why not just give my opponent 77 too? kthxpkr. ship it.

up $6730 for month now.

This is all mr.face's doing... I know it.

HA HA HA! HOLLA'!
/

Poker tournaments are possibly the most emotionally draining thing ever. There's nothing worse than playing for 5 hours and then getting shafted on a coinflip. Ugh. And nobody understands my frustration.

Today I woke up just in time to register for a tournament. It's an $11 rebuy tourny with a 55k gaurantee (1st place is usually 15k these days) . I won this tourny about 2 years about, and it's still my biggest win to date. So anyways, I hadn't planned on playing this, but this was the first chance I've had to since I got to Korea, so I did.

5 HOURS and 1600 players later, I bust in 13th place. I invested $33 and won about $500. I should be happy right? No.

Tournaments pay offs are so top heavy, the $500 win is laughable. 9th pays $1000, 8th $1500, 4th $4500, 2nd $10,000, 1st $15,000. And I come away with $500. Bleh. But no one gets it...

"YOU WON $500, STFU!"

But I can't help but be upset.... its so dissapointing. I hate tournsments... you're never satisfied unless you win the damn things.

I can't believe I'm up $1500 over the last 24hrs and feel bad. Die tournaments, die.

late night edit: I just hit 5k during my last session -- $5200 for the month so far... goodnight

Still doing damage...
$3,600 over 12,300hands for the month ($125/hr)

I'm closing in on 30k profit I think... too lazy to look up all numbers.

I'll update at month's end. 5k or bust - gogogogogo

Phase #1 - Run hot
Phase #2 - ?????????
Phase #3 - Profit!!

Mid-month update

Up $2,100 in cash games over like 4,000 hands. $188/hr, no big deal. Plus the ~$300 from the casino and I'm clsoe to 2.5k for the month in less than 13hours work. Sometimes this job is pretty sweet.

For you number guys:

12.74bb/100

$1,575 at $200NL
$280 at $200PL
$320 at 400NL (over only 90 hands)

I dropped some money trying out 6handed, and didnt like it -- Full ring is much easier IMO. I also made a bit of cash playing some low stakes games for fun with friends.

I'm sticking to my 5k goal for the month.... This will hopefully materialize if I play another 20k hands. If I can manage that, and still keep having all this fun outside of poker, I'll be a v. happy guy.

I have hardly played since my last post. I did play about 500 hands yesterday and about 1500 today.

2,500 hands so far for $600.

I intend to kick it into gear for the rest of the month... about 1000hands/day. I want to crack 5k.

And I'm off...

Ok, I lied. I played some more for the month and booked another nice win ($600 or so).
September cash game totals are now $6,300.

Oh and I'm up $50 for october so far. ship it. ;)

I have a lot of work to do this month if I want to pull in another 10k. I'll check in soon with updates.

edit: casino bonus good for $337

September is not quite over, but I'm done. What a month! I couldn't have asked for any better. The numbers:

Cash games:
29,635 hands at $200NL -- $4,200
3,640 hands at $400NL -- $2100
115 hands at $600NL - ($492) FU!

Total: $5,813.70 ($64.24/hr)

Tournaments:
$4,015.01 (all from that one big score)

Bonus from Pstars:
$120

Sports betting:
$100

I included the bonus and the sports bet because I needed them for this.....

GRAND TOTAL:
$10,048

This is my first 5 figure month and I'm really proud. I ran super hot at the end. While most people would attribute this to excellent play and skill, I will attribute it to satan and prehaps this korean mask I bought.

Allow me to explain. I bought this ceramic face that is filled with alcohol. He sits on my TV, smiling, watching me play. Since I got him, I've been on a sick hot run. Nearly $3k this week.

I know, I know... it's bad luck to be superstituous, but I can't help it. Look at this graph for the month:



Ok, so what does satan have to do with this? Well not much, maybe only a few hundred dollars. I was just playing a session, listening to some music. I was doing well, ina good mood, and singing along with the songs. The particular song in question was "Satan, lend me a dollar" by Hill of Beans. It's off the soundtrack for 'Weeds' season 1. ANyhow, so I'm singing "satan, satan, lend me a dollar....satan, satan, lend a dollar now" and this hand comes up:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (7 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: HTML)

MP2 ($198)
CO ($46.85)
Satan's Child ($359.65)
SB ($178.10)
BB ($202.05)
UTG ($58.30)
MP1 ($51)

Preflop: Satan's Child is Button with 4h, 6h.
UTG calls $2, 2 folds, CO calls $2, Satan's Child calls $2, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($10) Kd, 5h, 7h (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, CO checks, Satan's Child bets $6, SB folds, BB calls $6, UTG folds, CO folds.

Turn: ($22) 8h (2 players)
BB bets $20, Satan's Child calls $20.

River: ($62) Qs (2 players)
BB bets $60, Satan's Child raises to $331.65, BB calls $114.05 (All-In).

Final Pot: $567.70

Results in white below:
Satan's Child has 4h 6h (straight flush, eight high).
BB has Th Ah (flush, ace high).
Outcome: Satan's Child wins $567.70.

Oops. Soul sold.

Anyhow, I wont get much playing in for the first week. My buddy Andrew is visiting me here in Korea. There is a lot of anticipation in the nation, and they're giving everyone three days off. So we're gonna be pimpin' it out with my new balla bankroll.

holllla.

Well I've worked hard to implement a couple of the things from my last post and things have gone well. I can also attribute this to running fairly well over the weekend.

(past 7 days)

This puts me around $8650 for the month and it's shaping up to be my best ever.

I'll post specifics at the end of the month, but I've been doing well at the $400NL games, and nearly half my cash game profit is from this level.

All I can do is keep plugging away and hope for the best.

Midish month update:

26,430 hands for $2,372
$1,500ish from 200NL
$655 from 400NL
$158 from 600NL
Hourly rate is ~$35/hr

Tourny winnings = $4006

Total = $6,300ish -- This is coming off a nice $600ish downswing at $200NL...

Hopefully things get a bit better with cash games, and I cash my 2.2k check from work and den.......$10k month!??! Keeping my fingers crossed...

Anyhow, on a more strategic note, here are some things I want to improve in my game:
1)bluffing
2)inducing bluffs
3)tilt control

1)I really don't feel I've been agressive enough with my busted draws or pouncing on opponents when I sesne weakness. I keep waiting for spots where I'm stronger and feel I'm being a weak tight nit. Bleh. So I've been giving some thought to the theory of bluffing, and trying to actively find spots to pull off bluffs. Getting into my opponents heads and finding the scary boards and putting them to tough decisions.

2) I'm noticeing too many people are folding to my river bets. Its not that I'm betting too much or something, its just that they have nothing to call with in a lot of cases. I'm talking about when I'm first to act, and I'm betting the whole way. I think I have the best hand and keep betting for value... the river blanks off and I fire another bet hoping for a call from a worse hand.

So anways, I'm going to start checking the river a lot more with decent hands. This is so that those hands that can't call a bet (because they missed a draw) will take a shot and bet at the pot. They know the only way they can win is by betting, so I'm going to let them hang themselves. Ths also saves me from getting raised huge on the river when an opponet is slowplaying. I may miss some value here and there, but hopefully I'm smart enough to pick the right spots.

3) See 2nd last post. I have to try to maintain my killer instinct throughout a session. I'm not sure how exactly to do this, but I'm working on it.

Until next time......

Its like 4am but I need to post this:


I actaullly chopped this three ways as the chipleader and took in $4085. I didnt even have to pay for the buyin. I played a $36 satelite and won $215 tournamnet dollars. I used $109 to enter this... awesome. So on my $36 investment... i made $4155

I htink this puts me near $7k for the month

Holla.

Another solid weekend, and I don't think I'm done yet. I might log another session tonight, and then definitely one in the morning. I'm feeling really good with my game right now, I'm making good laydowns and also flopping pretty well. I am still making mistakes though, and I have to cut them out of my game. When I get up a fair amount on the day, I start to get alot more passive -- limping with hands I might raise with, and calling with draws instead of raising when I see a good spot. This is a form of tilt (though a far less destructive kind) and I shouldn't be a victim to it.

I've continued to take shots at $400NL and the results have been better. Nearly 10% of my hands this month have been at this level and I'm up $414. I've been table selecting very well, and only playing in the games when the bad players are in (weekends/evenings). I can definitely compete at this level, though there are alot better players here.

So the month has been good overall, and I'm up $2900. I'd love to keep this pace and lock down $8-9000. But that's wishful thinking, and I would be really happy with 5k. I'm planning on taking a vacation in october, so this would be a nice cushion.

Quite the recovery from my downswing to start the month. I've had almost no hitches in my ride since.

10,877 hands so far this month and I'm almost up $1800. This works out to about $62/hr. If I can run like this for the rest of the month (4.5bb/100) then I will be happy. That would be somehting like 8K? That would also require me to play 45k hands this month, which is a little much.

The bad news is my shots at $400NL havn't gone well. I've dropped almost $400 there, but whatever. I'm not going to get gunshy, if I see a good game I'm going to jump in. I'm properly rolled for that game, but I'm just comfortable where I am. I have ~60buyins for NL200 which is ridiculously overrolled. Whatever -- if I can somehow pull 8k/month from a mixture of games, thats almost 100k/yr. I'm not greedy, that'd be more than enough for me (obv.).

Sidenote: If anyone is interested, I've paid close to $7000 in rake($ taken out of pots) to these sites over the last 80k hands. Thats just one player. Imagine how much these poker sites make.... wow.

NICE TRY SEPTEMBER

I got off to my worst start of a month ever. Dropped nearly $1300 in my first two sessions. $900 of the downswing were off sick sick beats. I got my money all in on the turn as an 80% favourite twice and lost both (one $500 pot and one $400). Those two go my way and I'm robusto.

But anyways, I guess this is what saturdays are for:


Ahhh, the long road back. Feels really satisfying to climb back without having gone on serious tilt and losing a lot more money. Now I have a clean slate to work from and pound out a sick month.

The month is over and I feel very meh about it. I rode a monster wave of variance near the end. Here's the graph:



I totally forgot about that huge downswing at the start of the month... pretty weak.

#'s

Hands: 27,009
Moniez: $2751.55
Hourly rate: $35/hr :(
bb/100: 2.61 :(
mt ratio: 5.74

At least its better than last month. With all those big swings down (One for $1500 and a few nearing $1000), I guess I can't be dissapointed with the month. I'm proud I got so many hands in. Next month will be better, and will include calulated shots at limits as high as $600. I plan to mix $400NL games in on the weekend and nights that are juicy. I'll play up to $600 if I'm following a fish up. This will be good for multiple reasons. 1) More money to be had and 2) it will desensitize me to $200NL. For example, now if I play $100NL, I play absolutely fearlessly. My bankroll is huge for these games and can make plays with less concern for the money. At $200NL I still get that uneasy feeling when I lose a big pot. Hopefully winning and losing at higher stakes will give me that fearlessness at $200NL. I mean, I used to feel this way when I played $100NL, so it only makes sense.

I'll check back in and let you know how september is treating me.

Well, it took 77,056 hands, but I finally hit 10k profitz since I began this quest.

Cash games:
62,781 hands/ $8974.09 (270.13 hours)

Tournies:
14,134 hands/ $1,447.84 (146 tournies, with a ridiculous 226% ROI)

That ROI is pretty sick, I should really play some more tournaments. I think I'm going to try and get into the WCOOP and win some big moniez.

All is well on the poker front. I'm at $2580 for the month, but more importantly I'm really close to hitting $10,000US in profit since I ended school a few months ago. Looking at the numbers, I'm on pace to do ~$30k this year, but I'm thinking 50k is attainable. Combine this with the fact that I actually work a real job now, and I should have a pretty profitable year.

All I can do is put in the time and the hands, and hope everything goes well.

I'll let you know when I hit 10k (~$225 away from it).

Month is still going pretty well.

Today is Idenpendence Day in South Korea, so I got a chance to log 1500 or so hands. Booked a nice session, despite running my KK into AA on the flop (when we both flopped sets) and running my K-high flush into an A-high flush (where I feel I managed to only lose the minimum).

Mid-August Results:
12,509 hands
$2,143 profit
$53.60/hr

I love that I've alreayd played 20% more hands already this month than I did last. Finally I'm on pace to get a lot of hands in, and there is really nothing to stop me.

Feel free to check out my blog in Korea -- I've added a link to the side bar, but it's located at:
www.wevegotseoul.com

peace

9554 hands - $1475 profit
My winrate is still ~4. I'm begining to wonder if that is my actual winrate at this level or just bad negative variance. I guess I can't complian, b/c it's leading to about $50/hr, but I really think/wish it should be up closer to 8. Only time will tell I suppose.

<\3 variance.

8290 hands already for the month. And I'm down since my last post? $1288 profit with a staggering 3.97bb/100 winrate. My multitable ratio is waaaay up though, so my hourly rate is a 'happy time' $48/hr. I also won the biggest pot of my poker career yesterday. $798.15. There was a moron giving away money at the table, and I took a lot of it (then gave some back when I had a full house trumped by his quads). All in all, I probably took $500 off that one guy. Anyhow, that hand he paid off my set with his two pair and another guy had an overpair. It was a very sexy pot. It was the biggest I've ever seen at 200NL by over $100.

Anyhow, I'm on pace to do some damage this month -- hopefully I can crack 5k... that would be lovely.

rock on.

<3 August.

2089 hands - $1,379.15 profit so far
$224/hour with a multi table ratio of 5.7 (i've been playing as much as 9 at once)

My 16.47ptbb/100 winrate is sustainable, I swear.

Edit: Casino bonuses sucked - I lost them both for a grand total of -$1

The month is over. Since the last post -- I got sucked out on horribly once in a $400 pot, missed a big draw (50/50) in a $400 pot, and someone hit thier draw (60/40) in a $400 pot. This all happened in the span of a few hours. Lots of fun. The result? Grossness.

THE MONTH:

10,352 Hands in 60hours (2.95 multitable ratio)
$149.90 profit

$2.48/hour!!!

If I didn't somewhat enjoy playing, I'd probably cry.

It a new month and I'm in a new country, so I'm ready to rock and/or roll.

Hopefully my casino bonuses treat me right this month and I can rake in a couple hundo.

Folding KK pre-flop gives me a hard-on. There's something so satisfying about making the hardest flod in poker.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: HTML)

MP2 ($139.35)
MP3 ($522.15)
CO ($63.25)
Button ($290.60)
SB ($296.80)
Hero ($206.90)
UTG ($107.25)
UTG+1 ($239.15)
MP1 ($216.45)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Ks, Kd.
UTG calls $2, 1 fold, MP1 calls $2, 2 folds, CO calls $2, Button raises to $10, 1 fold, BB raises to $25, UTG folds, MP1 folds, CO calls $23, Button raises to $290.6, Hero FOLDS KK!, CO calls $38.25 (All-In).

Flop: ($383.85) Qh, Kh, 7s (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($383.85) Ah (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($383.85) Tc (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $383.85

Results in white below:
CO has As 4s (one pair, aces).
Button has Ac Ad (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: Button wins $383.85.

It was a pretty obvious fold to me, as I had a read on the button. This is the only real positive I can remember from my session.

It was a sad day of getting cold decked. I had another flush over flush where I got stacked (lost a $400 pot). I flopped a flush which got smoked by a full house (villain made it on the river and bet pot out of position -- he was capable of bluffing the scare card, and I paid him off like a donkey-- $200pot). I also ran my QQ into KK for a sizable pot. No fun.

There was another hand of note I'd like to share. I totally mind-fucked this guy and... well, you'll see:


MP2 ($103.95)
CO ($186.30)
Button ($303.35)
Hero ($319.45)
BB ($194)
UTG ($338)
UTG+1 ($209.55)
MP1 ($132.75)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Ad, As.
UTG raises to $6, 1 fold, MP1 calls $6, 3 folds, Hero raises to $25, 1 fold, UTG calls $19, MP1 calls $19.

Flop: ($77) 5d, 8s, Tc (3 players)
Hero bets $50, UTG folds,

I bet $50 so I could get MP1 to commit his stack (if he calls 50 now, he'll call the other $57 on the turn). Anyways, he thinks and thinks about it and runs his whole time bank down. I know exactly what he's thinking, and I'm pretty sure I know what he has. I figure he has 77 or 99 or some other medium sized pair. He's sitting there thinking that "maybe he raised with AK or AQ and missed the flop and is bluffing". When he took that long, I knew I was winning (he doesnt need to try to trick me, as even if I did have AK, I'm calling his all-in). So with about 5 seconds left I type "AK" into the chat box. RIGHT away he acts:


MP1 raises to $100, Hero raises to $150, MP1 calls $7.75 (All-In).

Turn: ($334.75) 3d (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($334.75) Js (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $334.75

Results in white below:
MP1 has Jc 8c (two pair, jacks and eights).
Hero has Ad As (one pair, aces).
Outcome: MP1 wins $292.50. Hero wins $42.25.

So I totally mind-fucked him but ended up mind-masturbating? I don't know.

It was a bad day, I dropped nearly $400 which puts me about -$250 since my last post. Lame.

I've made it here alive in S.Korea, with a little time to pad my July stats. I haven't played any poker as of yet, but I should get a fair amount of time. I'll be starting a different blog to track the adventures I have here over the next year.

Hey! A good day! I played for a few hours and booked a nice win. Over the last 500 hands I won $566 bringing the month to $1185 over 7268 hands.

People say a lot of things about poker. Two of my favourite sayings are; 1. It's a hard way to make an easy living, and 2. It's a great job... if you can forget about it. The latter is the focus of my post.

I couldn't sleep very well last night. Before I fell asleep I was mulling over why I was having such a lackluster month -- even while I slept I kept dreaming of poker. And it wasn't anything exciting like playing in the WSOP, it was a boring, tedious dream of me grinding away at my computer (and doing poorly, at that). I wish this wouldn't occupy my mind - I'm smart enough to know this is variance. But whatever, I need to justify this month to myself, so here goes:

There have been 15 hands this month where I've won over $100. In all of these hands I got another player to put a lot of money in once they were behind. In not one do I put my own money in with the worst of it (the closest was getting all in on the flop as only a 52% favourite with the nut flush draw and a pair vs. an overpair). I'd say about 3 of them were tough spots for my opponents to fold (One flush over flush, and two full houses vs. straights).

There have been 10 hands this month where I've lost over $100. Two of these were flush over flushes (My K high vs. and Ace high, and my J high vs. a Q high). Both times the money went in on the turn, and both were against pretty bad players who could've had a much worse holding. Both of these were also $400 pots. Another big pot had me turning a flush and a solid player semi-bluffing me all in with the nut draw ( He was about 15% to win and did). That pot was $300. The worst one was a $400 pot where I got all in on the turn with AQ vs. AJ on a 8-A-2-A board. I'm a 90% favourite, and unfortunatley the jack hit the river. The last (barely) mentionable one had someone hitting their flush draw versus my set in a $200 pot (all in on flop). Three or four of the other hands could've been avoidable in retrospect.

This really illustrates the variance in poker. I mean, two huge hands where I was over 85% to win went the wrong the way and my month has been shitty. If those hands hold up I have at least doubled my take for the month (both hands total $700). And if one of those flush vs. flushes goes my way, thats $800 more!

This has been theraputic for me, and I hope my luck swings in the right direction soon.

I put in a huge session today, nearly 2k hands. Lost about $130. Awesome. Hourly rate for July is now just below $15.

This is all of July so far- as you can see I've been break even for about the last 5700 hands.

Its a sick up-down-up-down cycle right now and its frustrating. My goal of $2k is still doable, but I don't think I'll be getting much more playing time in this month. I'm leaving for south Korea in less than a week and the preperation +adjustments will eat up most of the rest of July.

Quick Update:
Played about 800 hands in the last 2 days - +$250

My records now show July being at $771 over 4,777 hands, but I think I lost $50 profit somewhere while transfering hands to my laptop. Whatever, an extra $50 is always a good thing.

I finally got my laptop back today. It seems to be running well, which is better than I can say for myself. Not to say that I'm running horribly though - for the month I am at $534 over 4k hands (or roughly $18/hr). All this month's profits came in fast and I've been breaking even ever since, which is never very enoyable. This is especially frustrating because I have been forced to play fewer tables which in turn has made me feel less productive (less hands per hour = less money per hour). Hopefully I can squeeze out $2k for this month and I'll be happy.

On a more horrible note: on sunday I spent 6(SIX!) hours playing a satellite tournament to the world series of poker. Over 1600 people entered (for free) and the top 5 finishers got the WSOP package (valued at $12,000). Long story short, I finished in 7th place and made a whopping $0 for my efforts. 6 more hours of breakeven poker I guess. Its just always been a dream of mine to play in this tournament, and it was horrible to come up short.

I know I said I'd write about playing draws but I've changed my mind. I did some serious thinking on the topic and came up with a bunch of insights which I don't think I'm ready to share just yet.

I'll check back in next week.

I'm really fed up. My computer is still in for repairs and I havn't been able to play much. I finally caved and tried playing a few hundred hands from my ancient basement computer. At times I thought it was going to blow up, but it got me through about 1000 hands. Glad to report that 'I still gotz it' as I booked a $371 win over 4 or 5 hours. I played mostly 2-3 tables which was really slow, but I opened up and played ~7% more hands than I usually do. This was because I had more time to devote to reads -- if I can incorporate a few more hands into my normal game (playing 5-6 tables) I think I can increase my winrate (and probably my variance too :S ). Should be a fun tradeoff.

I've been giving a lot of thought towards how to profitably play draws. I'm going to sleep on it and give more of a strategy based post tommorow.

So June is over and I guess I really slacked off near the end. It was sort of inevitable, but I still (almost) hit my monetary goal. Really, it could've been one of my best months ever. Anyhow, I have enjoyed my 2 week break from the game, and hope I can come back more focused than ever.

I read Sklansky's 'no-limit theory and practice' on my time off and thought it was pretty basic. I was really disapointed as this was suppsoed to be the most advanced book yet. Everytime he got into something interesting, he would state that it was too complicated to get into. WTF? I thought that was the point? The only thing I got from the book was the feeling I should play a wider range of hands from late position. That's it.

June results: (numbers arnt exact because I don't have my laptop with all the specifics)

Cash Games: $3300 over 10k hands
Casino whoring: $550 (my post on June 1st was wrong, it wasn't $650 as I was counting my original deposit)

Total: $3850

For 2 weeks, I'm extremely pleased with these results. I also designated $100 at the start of the month for sports betting (nba playoffs and world cup), and I've run that up to $330. I don't like including these numbers in my bankroll b/c sports betting is just entertainment for me, and I fully intend to lose it all eventully :)

So anyways..... on to July! Should be a slow month too, as I wont have my computer back for another week. Also, I'll be moving half way around the world, so the transition might be slow. Hopefully, I can match last months numbers.

I also did my casino bonuses this morning and lost them both, so I'm down $1 for the month so far ;)

Well, I'm back from LA but I'm currently computer-less. I brought my laptop in for repairs so it will be in good shape when I move to Korea (2-3weeks). It was acting up and overheating, amongst a few other problems. I should get it back next week sometime. Until then I will probably do very little playing, if any at all. If I get really bored, I might fire up a tournament or two. I'm really not in a bind to play, so I'll likely make use of the free time to spend it with friends/family before I leave the country.

I doubt there will be another update for a week+. Going to the cottage this weekend, and then I graduate on the Monday I come back. Right after that I'm off to California for a week (I might play some live poker at Commerce or the Bike when I'm there). I'm back on the 20th. See you then.

I'm +$3300 over 9313hands now for the month. That's very little progress over the last 2000 hands. But I'm actually feeling pretty good about it. I lost some really big hands, but was able to fight through a deficit. At the lowest point I was down $670 (~3.5 buyins), which is relatively small compared to the stakes I'm playing (10 buyin downswings are normal, which is why they suggest always have 15-20 buy-ins in your bankroll). I'm not sure how I'll handle dropping $2000, but it should be fun finding out one day. Ahh variance, you sexy beast.

BONUS: Pokerstars gave me a bonus of $120, on the condition that ~1500 hands on thier site. Any current player can get the bonus. This is to reward current players and to encourage players to redeposit. It's a good marketing technique. I'm nearly 70% through that bonus, so that will be nice to get.

I havn't played as much as I expected - Only 800 hands since my last post, but I'm +$365 in them. Sometimes I wonder how much I could make if I ever put in a real workday (8hrs).

I have to share a hand with everyone. Poker is a lot like business: to be successful, you have to maximize profits and minimize losses. Over the long run, every one of your opponents will get the same distribution of cards. It easy to play the best cards, but its what you do with the 2nd best hand that makes or breaks you. This is how you can make folding a weapon in your arsenal:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: HTML)

Button ($206.15)
SB ($418)
BB ($198)
UTG ($35.05)
UTG+1 ($198.60)
MP1 ($214.60)
MP2 ($545.65)
Hero ($239.95)
CO ($154.60)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with Ks, Kh.
UTG raises to $4, UTG+1 raises to $12, 2 folds, Hero calls $12, 4 folds, UTG calls $8.

Flop: ($39) 4c, Ac, Kc (3 players)
UTG checks, UTG+1 bets $186.6 (All-In), Hero FOLDS, UTG calls $23.05 (All-In).

Turn: ($248.65) 3h (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($248.65) 9h (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $248.65

Results in white below:
UTG has Jc Qd (high card, ace).
UTG+1 has Ad Ah (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: UTG+1 wins $248.65.

So what happened here? How was I able to fold 2nd set on the flop? Its not even that difficult if you think about it logically. The villain in the hand raised pretty large pre-flop, so you assume he has a big hand. When the flop comes down with three clubs and he moves all in, you have to assume he's protecting a hand. What I mean is that if he had a flush, he would play it slower and try to draw you in. This is an obvious betting tell. So now that you know you're not agianst a flush, you have to ask 'what hands would he do this with?'. And really, there is only one answer - two aces. Hands like QQ or JJ are scared of the two overcards, and AK is unlikely as you have 2 of the other kings (and one ace is on the flop). I did have a read, and the guy was a fairly tight player, so this made the play easier to make.

I think most people call here without thinking too much about it. I put him on the exact hand he had, and saved myself $200. The power of folding.

June goals update:
+$3161 in cash games over 7122 hands

$4000 is the goal - I should be able to make this, but I have a VERY busy month ahead and I will be away from a computer 10 of the next 17 days.

I've had a busy weekend and havn't played much at all. Except on friday, when I came home throughly trashed and decided it would be a great idea to play poker. It wasn't. I dropped about $200 before realizing I just might not be playing my best game.

I should be able to play a lot this week, so updates will follow.

Moving up quickly is a tricky thing to accomplish. Generally, if you're moving up fast, you are running well and won't hit too many downswings. But then, when you do finally hit one, it's amplified. This is obviously because that downswing is going to come at a time when you are playing higher stakes than your previous downswing. Emotionally, this is a tough thing to deal with.

For example : You have a bad day at $50NL and end up down $200 for the DAY. This happens and you recover, and don't hit a bump in the road until you're all the way up at $200NL. And then the inevitable happens, and quickly you lose $200 in one hand. And then another one - and all of the sudden, you've lost $400 in a few minutes. While this is a smaller downswing relative to the stakes, emotionally the loss is harder.

This is a point where many players lose thier patience, and go on tilt. Thier emotions begin to affect the way they are playing. This sub-optimal play fuels more losses, and the downward spiral continues until busto.

I hit a bump today. I had been running so hot, and then all of the sudden I dropped $200 in one hand. I shook it off quickly, because I had a big hand on another table. That hand I overplayed KK, and instantly dropped another $200. Looking back calmly at the hand history, I should've folded and saved myself $150. But I let the other hand affect my judgement and paid for it.

So now I'm down $400 in about 60seconds, when my biggest loss had been $200. I guess it was the speed as much as anything that got to me.

I just had to stop for a minute and reassure myself that this was normal and bound to happen. In fact, I hope to lose a lot more one day. I took a quick peek at my stats/graph and saw what a small bump this was overall. These things together helped me to calm down very quickly. I'm really pleased with how I handled it, and that I managed to play well afterwards. I hope when I hit my next little downswing (which will be bigger) I can look back at this and be reminded.

For what it's worth, I ended the session +$753 over ~1500hands. Still 13.88bb/100.

I got in just over 1000hands today for ~$500 profit. This is dispite blowing $60 or so in a 2+2 game with some friends. These are basically private tables where a lot of high stakes players get together and play for very low stakes. Usually this is done to blow off some steam, socialize and have some fun. The buy-in is typically $25, which is meaningless for a lot of these guys . I enjoy the games because there is a very interesting dynamic. Essentially, you have a table full of very skilled players, who are playing sub-optimally and goofing around. It's a different level of thinking which is really stimulating.

I'm actually still playing on one table as I type this (painstakingly boring). It's late, but there is one horrible player left on the table throwing money away. He was up to $1000 at one point, and has since blown threw that and rebought twice ($400 more). It's been facinating to watch, as the more he loses, the looser he gets. Pure gambling problem. But whatever, I guess as sad as it is, this is the kind of person I thrive on. And just as I write that he loses his last $200 and I'm off to bed.

Played about 1000 hands today for close to $600. I'm running sick good at 13bb/100hands which has led to $130.20/hour over the last 10 hours. I severely doubt this is sustainable, and would expct my true rate at this level to be anywhere between 6-9bb/100hands.

Sick June graph:

Quick update:
$200NL is treating me well, and it looks as if I won't be stepping back down any time soon. I've already pulled $720 from the game over ~1400hands(including the $281 from last post). So far June kicks ass, and I'm on pace for a $15,000 month. lol, doable?

So the bad news is I'm home on a friday night. The good news is that I took advantage of it. The games were really good tonight, so I jumped up to $200NL for the first time. I 6-tabled it for the most of the night, and after a rough start, eventually got up about $400. I played for some more and ended up +$281 for the night.

Some thoughts from the session:

First, I know I can beat this level (Even if I ended down $300, I'd still know this. The play was just as bad, and worse in spots, as my lower limit). So that feels really good. I felt like some people were putting moves on me in spots, but didn't make a re-raise. I decided to play cautiously and avoid the curse of overthinking. What I mean is that when you play higher than you're used to, you tend to think the players will be better. So all of the sudden, you start seeing things that arn't there and beating yourself. An example would be if someone raises your bluff, instead of folding and giving him credit for a good hand, you instead raise all in because you think "He knows I'm bluffing, and he's bluffing with that raise because he knows that". So yeah, I played cautiously to make sure this wouldn't happen to me tongiht. I played straight-forward, aggressive poker and it paid off.

Last thing I want to mention is a great hand I played. I played it OK, but my opponent played it expertly. Check this out:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: HTML)

MP3 ($413.10)
CO ($164.60)
Button ($19.65)
SB ($191.10)
Hero ($234.80)
UTG ($209.70)
UTG+1 ($106)
MP1 ($213.80)
MP2 ($247.70)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6s, 6d.
5 folds, CO calls $2, 1 fold, SB raises to $4, Hero calls $2, CO calls $2.

Flop: ($12) As, Th, 8d (3 players)
SB bets $2, Hero calls $2, CO calls $2.

Turn: ($18) 6h (3 players)
SB bets $2, BB raises to $8, CO raises to $22, SB folds, BB raises to $50, CO calls $28.

River: ($120) Qd (2 players)
BB bets $178.8 (All-In), CO calls $108.60 (All-In).

Final Pot: $407.40

Results in white below:
Hero has 6s 6d (three of a kind, sixes).
CO has Jc 7s (high card, ace).
Outcome: Hero wins $407.40.

Yes. He called my all in -- for ONE HUNDRED more dollars -- with JACK HIGH. I mean seriously, WTF? Where do these people get money?

Anyhow, hope you enjoyed that one. I know I did!

So, June got off to a great start. I didn't play any poker today, but managed to win $650 or so. This is all from blackjack bonuses that I get every month. Basically I get $1600/year free to gamble. Sounds too good to be true, right? It's not. I've pulled thousands of dollars from it. But still no one believes me or takes me up on it. It's like I say "Hey, here's $1600 to gamble. You get to keep anything you win, and don't worry about giving me the $1600 back". And they're like "Oh no, that's OK". I don't get people sometimes. Whatever, I'll take the free moniez.

I thought today would be me first losing post, but I managed to come out on top.

I started the day with tournaments, trying to crack the top 100, but no luck. My best finish was 4th or 5th which paid roughly $70 and put me even for the day. I must've finished the month somewhere in the top 150, which is slightly disapointing. I hardly played tournies for 2 weeks this month, and that's what cost me. If I wanted to catch up, I should've started last week. Oh well.

I tried to relaxed for the rest of the day - I read a book, watched a movie and then the basketball game. But I came back at around midnight to get an hour or so in. This probably wasn't a great idea though, b/c I had a lot of other stuff on my mind. There came a point in my session when I stopped and asked myself if I was focusing. I wasn't. My mind was racing over a million other things. I should've stopped, but I wasn't tired and had nothing else to do really. So I set a stop loss for myself, that if I managed to lose $100 I would just call it a night. I'm trying to listen to myself more in situations like this. If I wasn't in the right mindset, I should've just waited until tommorow. My feelings are that this is what seperates the good players from the great ones. Sure, another guy might have the same skill level as me, but does he have better disicpline? If he lets his emotions affect his play while I can keep mine under control, I will be the bigger winner in the long run. This is what I'm striving for.

Thankfully, a big hand came in for me at the end which made my daily graph look like this:

This was the biggest hand of the month at $312 (the previous largest was $240), so needless to say this put a nice smile on my face. Ok here goes, a little poker content for you:

I had 99 in early position. I raised my standard raise to $3 as I was the first one to enter the pot. I got three callers. With four people in the pot, 99 is usually very easy to play. Either you hit another 9 on the flop, have all three cards under a 9, or get a big draw - if neither of these happens, you can humbly bow out. What happens next is sexy. The flop comes down

Ace - 7 - 9 with two clubs.

So I've hit my three of a kind, and now try to figure out how to get someone to put all their chips in with you. An unexperienced player might look at this flop and be scared to bet. They might reason that thier hand is too big, and they don't want to scare anybody away. They want to 'slowplay' and 'trick' thier opponents into believing that they have nothing.

I have a newsflash - this is horrible. There are two major reasons to bet this flop hard. First, the flush draw. If you check and everyone checks, you are giving any player a free chance to draw to a flush and beat you. The second reason is far more subtle. As soon as I saw this flop, I jumped to attention. This is what I like to call an 'action flop'. Allow me to explain - In order to get money out of an opponent, they have to believe they are winning or have a chance to win. Of the 3 people who called my raise pre-flop, one is very likely to have an Ace and will be willing to call a bet (or raise...yum). Someone might have also called with 77, and be in love with the flop as much as you. My point is, there are lots of people who are going to be willing to put money in and gamble with you right now. Sometimes you are going to bet and everyone will fold. And again, the unexperienced player will chastise himself and believe that he wasted an oppourtunity. When the truth is, if no one is going to play with you on that flop, there are virtually no cards that can come on the turn that will make them want to (unless of course its the club, and then you're in a lot of trouble). For all these reasons, you HAVE to bet this flop.

In contrast, if the flop was 9-5-2 of all different suits, you might want to slow down and let somebody hit thier card. It is unlikely this flop helped someone, as there are no draws and no big cards.

So anyways, I obviously bet the pot and I get two callers. The turn is a K of hearts which is unlikely to have helped anyone (if they have KK or AA, then I'm just unlucky). I fire a pot sized bet again, and get raised all in. The other guy quickly calls. I thought for a second maybe the raiser had AA or KK, but felt AK was far more likely. I was wrong, as he had A8 and the other guy had a pair and the flush draw. The river is insignificant and my three of a kind is good for a monster pot.

Last thing is my May results:

Cash games: $2742
+
Tournies: $1472
=$4214

Cash graph:

OH and, awesomely, my hourly cashgame win-rate is now up to $31.81.

I pretty much run white hot. There's no other way to describe it.

Played 3 hours tonight, good for $300. Played most of the 1100 hands with my favourite fish, who has now singlehandedly given me over $300. I will feel very sad once my poor friend has gone BUSTO. But seriously, he deserves it. I mean, I'm not a genius, but I pay attention.... and this guy is horrible. Everytime he has a good hand, he goes for a check-raise on the flop. If he's in position, he always checks through with a good hand and bets a bad one. It's like clockwork --everytime, without fail. If I get check-raised on the flop, I'm usually beat -- if he check/calls, he's going to showdown (usually with a weaker holding then me). Needless to say, he wins very little money off me, while I take him for stack after stack. It's such a simple pattern, but it's like no one sees it but me. He doesn't adjust, no one at the table adjusts, and I get all the moniez. Whatever, it works for me.

Anyhow - I hope I can do well in some tournies tommorow and crack that top 100 list. I will also update with my May stats at some point tommorow (pretty sure I will have cracked $4k for the month).

Played a couple hours this afternoon and made some decent money. A bit over $100 through 439hands. Some people ask how it is possible to win money everyday, and my response is that is isn't. I'm running very well right now, and there will obviously be many losing days in my future. It's the nature of the game. But right now I'll take my good run with a smile.
The object of the game is to make better decisions than your opponent, and in the long run, that will lead to profit. The long run, however, is VERY long. So you have to take the losing days with the winning ones, and hope that the latter outweigh the former.

With the huge amount of poor decisions I see being made consistently at this level, it really is a goldmine.

No tournaments for me today, as we're having an impromtu 'drink-off' at a buddies place. Time to kill some braincells, and hopefully get a bunch of tournies in tommorw.

Lazy late night session : 654 hands good for $248

I hit a milestone tonight, as I've officially taken the $100NL game for 20buyins. This means that I have enough to move up in stakes to $200NL, and do so with a comfortable bankroll (The general rule is to have 20buyins available. This allows for the natural variance of the game to occur, and not end up being BUSTO). But right now my hourly rate is very comfortable and I don't feel the urge to move up. I think I'll put another 10,000 hands in and evaluate my situation from there. Hopefully by then I'll have taken another 20buyins.

After dropping about $120 this morning in cash games, I decided to play some tournaments for the rest of the day. Pokerstars ranks all of thier tournament players and then lets the top 100 players play for 2 packages to the world series of poker (each package is worth ~$12,000). So if I can crack the top 100, it would be sweet to have that shot. At the start of the day I was in the top 200 with 2400 points, while #100 had 2800. I'd have no idea how many players are ranked, but to put it in prespective, there are 75,000 players online as I post this.

I played about 10 tournaments and got a tonne of bad beats. Not horrible, but basically consisted of everyone hitting thier draws, while I missed mine. I only made the money in one tourny, and with a bit of luck, I managed to win it. The buy-in was only $4, and first was good for $220. I havn't ran the stats yet but I'd guess after all the tournies I'm up $160. I also managed to pull in another $60 from cash games while I was at the final table (I get so bored playing only 1 table, I had to fire something else up). So that's about $80 for day. More importantly (or prehaps not important at all), I managed to jump 60 spots and am sitting at #133 overall with 2692 points. I'll probably do the same thing tommorow and try to squeek into the top 100.

Well, I think I'm done for the weekend. It was a good one - +$782 over 2000ish hands. Weekends are easily the greatest time to play. This is when you have the most recreational players out, who are typically not that good and easy to exploit. This is especially true at night, as you get the drunks out to gamble as well. After this solid weekend, my hourly rate is now up to $28.21.

I slept in today until about 4pm. This was not an easy task, as I had to fend off the intruding light from my window, and the annoying rumbles of construction outside. I had to have woken up at least 4 different times. I really didn't feel like rolling out of bed because a) I was hungover, and b) I was having my usual dose of interesting dreams. I can usually just close my eyes and drift right back into REM sleep.

I did have an interesting dream though. Me and some friends were leaving a club and heading back to someone's car. I fell behind the group b/c I was sending a txt msg on my phone, and that severly inhibits my ability to walk. So out of the shadows comes this black guy (its always a black guy, isn't it?) with an angry dog who instructs me to give him my phone. I say no, and he reaches for a gun. I freak out a bit and say "Whoa whoa, relax. If you want it that badly you can have it. Just let me phone my friends and find out where they are so I can at least get home". Being the friendly criminal he was, he obliged. I get on the phone, and then I think I decided to walk off, so he promptly unleashed his dog. The dog attacked my arm, tearing violently into my flesh. This was slightly unpleasant. So I toss my phone at the guy and tell him to call the dog off. He says he doesn't know how. Interesting. So I kick the dog about as hard as I can in the nuts, and then once again in his head after it released my arm. The dog was laying motionless as our criminal starts to cry. He then tells me to give him all my money. I say I have none. I don't. He says we'll go to the ATM. Zing.

So we go to the ATM, but I enter this secret code so that the ATM accesses my fake account which is empty. I show the criminal I have no funds and he lets me go. (This is actually a great security feature all bank cards should have - you enter a special pin number, and your account appears empty).

Ok, so where am I going with this, and how does it relate to poker you're probably thinking. Bear with me, I'm getting to it, I swear.

So I'm playing a session of poker today and while things started off really well, I'm now back to about even for the afternoon. And then it happens - I get dealt 77(on the button) and JJ(in the SB) on two of my tables. I bring both in for a raise. I get 3 callers with 77 and 4 with JJ. Both flops are beautiful. On one table I flop the top set on a very uncoordinated board (I have the best possible hand). With JJ, the flop comes JKK, meaning that only someone with exactly the other 2 kings beats me, which is unlikely given the preflop action... either way, I'm going to try to get all-in on both tables.

With the 77 hand the first person to act moves all in for a bit more than the pot. The other player calls.

With the JJ hand I fire a pot sized bet, praying someone has the K and will raise me. My prayers are answered, and the button moves all-in for about $80. OMG, is it christmas?

So as I'm about to get rich, suddenly my music stops. Oh no. I've been here before. This is not a pretty place. The tables freeze up. I let out a quiet, disbelieving "noo". And it happens. My laptop shuts down. It's overheated for the third time this week (this is a fairly new laptop and should have no problem multitaksing in the manner which I am).

Several more "no"s follow this as I sit there stunned. I then shoot out of my chair and run down 2 flights of stairs to my basement. I figure I have about 1 minute before my hands are folded. The computer is already on, thank god. I turn on pokerstars furiously... It starts to load up when I'm greeted with the wonderful message... "Your version is out of date, click here to update". A few more "no''s escape. I click the update button about a million times. The progress bar inches closer and closer to 100%. Finally its done, faster than expected. I try to log in. I fumble on my password twice before getting it correct. I log in an my KK table pops up with 3 seconds to act. Call. The next table pops up. 1 second to act. Minraiselol! And the caller folds. Phew. Both hands hold up and I make the $133.98 I so desperately deserved.

So I'm wondering now if I'm physic or something. Which would probably be a fairly advantageous skill for a poker player....probably. But I mean, I had a premonition that I would almost get robbed, but then somehow managed to avoid it. And then this happens. TWILIGHT ZONE!! Ok, maybe not. But whatever, it's still makes for a good story.

Got home from a late night BBQ and fired up a little half-druken poker session. I played fairly well from what I remember, and got a lot of my hands paid off. 484 hands for 104bb's ($208), which is a pretty hot session. No hands were really noteworthy, but I do feel like I'm getting a better grasp on bet sizes and finding better spots for my aggression.

FWIW, there is no way my updates will be this regular once the novelty of a blog wears off.

A new focus

First things first, a bit about myself. My name is John, and I'm a recent graduate from the Univeristy of Toronto. I studied communications, culture and information technology, with a specialist in digital enterprise management, as if that matters. I'm passionate about a lot of things in this world, but few engross me currently any more than poker does. I'm not sure what it is about the game that attracts me, but it does. It's like a moth to a flame with me.

Maybe it's the lure of the money I know is out there, as I have friends who pulled in $1million profits last year. Maybe it's addiction - I mean, I play almost every day. My girlfriend asks me sometimes that if I tried, could I stop playing? And while I think I could, why would I want to? It's been a profitable hobby for me for many years, and has financed a decent portion of my education. What I do know if that I have a lot of gamble in me, and poker is a gamble with a positive expectation.

Few people in my life understand how this game works, and this blog isn't an attempt to enlighten them by any means. So what is it going to be? I really don't even know. It's being started for more selfish reasons than anything. Hopefully by having this I can refocus my game, and properly set and achieve goals.

My ultimate goal is to make $100,000/yr, which is both reasonable and attainable, as absurd as that may sound to some. It wont be this year, and it may not be next year, but it will happen. Currently I am playing No-limit holdem (NLHE) with a capped buy-in of $100. My monthly goals are $4000, playing ~25-30k hands. My current winrate is 9.52ptbb/100 hands (playing, on average, 3 tables at once) , which is ~$23.50/hr (this is low, as some of my sample includes $50 buyin tables). This equates to almost $50,000/yr.

My stats are still unstable, and I expect my hourly rate to rise as I have increased the amount of tables I'm playing (this will probably negativley affect my winrate, as it detracts attention from other tables). But it's all about that hourly rate.

For now I'll post a graph, and it includes every hand I've played since school ended 45 days ago:

In dollars, thats about $2000. I havn't put in as many hands as I would've liked in ring games, as I devoted a lot of May to a multi-table tournament contest I got involved in (which netted me an additional $2040 with my ridiculous ROI% of 314.09 over 110 tournies). I had two first place finishes, three 2nd places, and two 3rds. A super hot run, to say the least.

In case anyone is curious, that big dip around hand #10,000 was a $450 pot I lost with a big stack and a monster draw. I had AdTd and the flop came KdQd7c. SB bet the pot which I called, and a player behind minraises. Original raiser calls, and I push for another $150 (pot was already ~$72), representing a huge hand. Minraiser folds, initial raiser instacalls with Q7o and I get no help. I'm surprised he called with only 2pair, but I was still around ~40% to win the hand. C'est la vie.

Okay, so in summary: I'm going to make $4000 in June, or ~ $1000/week for the rest of the year. These goals will likely change as my life and bankroll do. This should be a lot of fun....