3 August 2006


Today started out very badly. I dabbled in some $2/$4 Stud, but I got reamed for about $50. On one board, I had KKQA on 4th street and got called down by no pair who made 9's and 7's on the river. Yuck. I really didn't enjoy the cash game atmosphere, however, so perhaps I've just become a tournament junkie.

Later, in another crappy run, I bubbled 4th in a $22 SnG. It was an odd game, as when we got down to 4-handed, the chips counts were as follows: 1500, 1000, 1000, 9000. Very lopsided game. Bu Ace-high got burned by the leader's pocket 7's, and it was back to the drawing board for me.

I saw that there was an $11 Stud 8/b tournament starting at 8:15, so I figured why not, I've had a good run lately. For the first hour I was a chip-eating machine. I scooped three huge pots, one with trips aces with 6 low, another with low flush, and another with a 6 high straight. The second hour was brutal. I bricked out on virtually every hand I played, and by the end...

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2 August 2006


Today was not as nice. I did not play much, as is my usual tradition after a big win--it can mess with my head sometimes. But I did get myself into two satellites for the Sunday Million: an $11 double shoot-out, and a $3 rebuy tournament.

In the shoot-out, my 8-handed table lost 4 players by the start of level 3, and most of the chips went to a LAG luckbox on my right. I doubled off of him once, lost some chips, doubled off another guy who called my all-in with K6, and then got knocked down again, around 2300. In the 50/100 level, I picked up 66 and raised to 300. The LAG BB raised me (virtually) minimum to 600. Now, I'd seen him do this a lot with hands as weak as A2. Furthermore, he seemed to have slightly more respect for an all-in bet, so I just moved in. He waited for a long time to call with JJ. I couldn't help but feel like he was slow-rolling me, as he was sitting on about 8000. I think calling with the Jacks was elementary after re-raising me, but...

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1 August 2006


One day into the new month, and I'm up $609. How, you ask? Well, last night after tabulating my July results, I played my first $22 SnG (even when I had the bigger BR, I played mostly $30's, not $20's).

Wow, the play was excruciatingly tight in that game. I simply wasn't getting solid hands in the early rounds, and even when I did, I was losing far more than I was winning. But, the tight play of my opponents opened up the perfect opportunity for me to put "The System" into play. For those of you unfamiliar with "The System," it's a style posited first by David Sklansky in his Tournament book, and it involves either pushing in or folding before the flop. It's explored in more detail in Rodman and Nelson's book, Kill Phil as well.

When I was down to about 700 and the blinds got to be 25/50, my M was slightly below 10, but any loss would put me on a respirator. I like to push my hands a little earlier than Harrington suggests in volume 2, particularly in SnG's,...

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31 July 2006


Well, seeing as how it's the end of the month, I figure it's time I do one of those old "Here's a summary of my month in Poker" type entries.

Here's the numbers, the red meat...
Tournament net: +$341.37
Limit Hold'em Cash games: -$150.50
No Limit Cash games: -$16.65
Limit Omaha Hi/Lo games: -$116.47
PL Omaha high games: -$12.35
7-Card Stud cash: +$30
Miscellaneous Items: +$33.50

Total cash and tournament: +$109

As for SnG's...
Games Played: 39
1st Place: 8
2nd Place: 6
3rd Place: 3
4th-9th: 22
ITM: 43.6%
ROI: 34.4%
Net profit: $147

So the grand total for the month is $256. Certainly not my best month ever, but considering the stakes it's not bad. Finishing in the black at all just kinda came together at the last minute, especially with that big tournament win. But then again, the only reason I was really deep in the red in the first place was my disastrous trip to Lucky Derby that cost me $210 and accounts for my pathetic totals in Limit Hold'em...

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