DC's New Blog

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

Well, I'm really sunk now. I just lost the $300 that was left in my realistic reserves of capital playing live. I'd ask for a stake, but you guys would be throwing your money away, because I'm not playing well atm.

I'm not overly upset or anything, because I am busy with school, and have other things to occupy my time. At some point, I may try and put something together again, but probably not for awhile, and I'll pretty much have to rebuild a roll from scratch after spending money on school and now my dental work. Bleh.

Hopefully I'll get a $2000 scholarship I'm applying for, and potentially a $500 prize for graduate writing. If I get both of those, my finances will be in a lot better shape.

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

Playing on Money I Shouldn't Lose

Yeah, I can't really afford to lose the $600 I just threw on Stars, but I don't intend to lose it, and I can't pass up $120 of free money for their 20% bonus. So far, I'm doing slightly better than breaking even, but even if all I get is the $120, I won't care. That will still help.

Should also get 5000 more FPP's while gaining the bonus, which I can use for a third Turbo Takedown (I'm playing the first one this Sunday), which will hopefully be good for a decent cash.

If I ever needed a "run good" day, it would be this Sunday. If I could somehow pull out a huge cash, I'd be forever thankful, because I could pay off all my bills and relax for another year before I start scrambling for jobs that are getting harder and harder to find (or I just go deeper into debt and go to law school lol).

[HalfSugar]

Yeah, I can't really afford to lose the $600 I just threw on Stars, but I don't intend to lose it

Have you ever deposited with the intention of losing? Maybe I am going about this poker malarky all wrong..........

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

Yeah, I can't really afford to lose the $600 I just threw on Stars, but I don't intend to lose it

Have you ever deposited with the intention of losing? Maybe I am going about this poker malarky all wrong..........

Heh, fair point, Geno. The point is, I've never deposited money I wouldn't have been OK losing, even if I meant to win (and I think I've only lost a whole deposit twice the entire time I've been playing online). But because I'm a degenerate, I'm of course playing anyway, with the intention of cashing out as soon as I get the bonus, because I need that money at least until my financial aid comes in. If I can get something together, I'll probably have to go play $3/$6 limit at a local cardroom to start rebuilding. Sheesh, I'm starting to sound like SLC...

The good news is that I've pulled over two buy-ins ahead of even. Let's hope I can keep it up for 1600 more VPP.

[HalfSugar]

Sheesh, I'm starting to sound like SLC...

If you ever find yourself THAT low, just quit.

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!

That was like the most frustrating tournament ever. KK, AA, it gets folded to me in the BB. QQ and AK all I get is the blinds in the early levels.

Frankly though, I'm most pissed at Stars. WHY are they letting people register for a tournament in level FIVE with a full stack???? That's so ridiculous. To top it off, they weren't refilling any tables, so we were playing 5-handed when there were still over 6,000 players left! I know it's a "freeroll," but come on, there is a lot of value at stake, and 5000 FPP's are not a minor investment.

I emailed support to voice my complaint. But I'm really disappointed with Stars for the first time in a long time. That tournament was just poorly run.

The good news is I'm up like 7 buy-ins on my initial investment, so with my bonus, I'll hopefully take a decent haul back to the bank so I can pay the bills and rebuild a bit.

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

Update: Up about $700 from my initial investment. Much better than I had even initially hoped. Suddenly, the $50PLO games don't seem as hard, but I'm probably just experiencing run-good.

Here's a hand from today I liked:

PokerStars Game #27602408623: Omaha Pot Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2009/04/28 18:11:26 ET
Table 'Danae III' 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: eby123 ($50.25 in chips)
Seat 2: Robleh ($49.95 in chips)
Seat 3: cluelessiam ($21.80 in chips)
Seat 4: Turn_Prophet ($166.25 in chips)
Seat 5: HaHaGh0sT ($163.65 in chips)
Seat 6: KinataBG ($58.60 in chips)
eby123: posts small blind $0.25
Robleh: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Turn_Prophet [Jd Jh Qs Th]
cluelessiam: folds
Turn_Prophet: raises $1 to $1.50
HaHaGh0sT: folds
KinataBG: calls $1.50
eby123: folds
Robleh: raises $1 to $2.50
Turn_Prophet: calls $1
KinataBG: calls $1
*** FLOP *** [Kd 2s Qd]
Robleh: bets $2.50
Turn_Prophet: calls $2.50
KinataBG: folds
*** TURN *** [Kd 2s Qd] [3d]
Robleh: checks
Turn_Prophet: bets $7
Robleh: calls $7
*** RIVER *** [Kd 2s Qd 3d] [8s]
Robleh: checks
Turn_Prophet: bets $18.50
Robleh: folds
Uncalled bet ($18.50) returned to Turn_Prophet
Turn_Prophet collected $25.45 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $26.75 | Rake $1.30
Board [Kd 2s Qd 3d 8s]
Seat 1: eby123 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: Robleh (big blind) folded on the River
Seat 3: cluelessiam folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Turn_Prophet collected ($25.45)
Seat 5: HaHaGh0sT folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: KinataBG (button) folded on the Flop


I thought this was a good spot for a semi-bluff. I'm unlikely to be bluff-raised on the turn, and by betting I'm representing a made flush and can follow through even if I miss the river (but I'm probably not bluffing a K or Q river). This particular player didn't seem prone to making hero calls, and I had a pretty good image, so it worked out pretty well (although I doubt he had a hand as good as, say, top set).

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

April Month in Review

It actually turned out to be one of my better months Poker-wise in a long time; the best since last March, actually. Including my bonus, I ran up a profit of $968 on PokerStars, putting me at +$668 for the month after that debacle in the live game. This has largely helped rekindle my confidence, since I actually hoping just to break even on Stars and make the $120 bonus + points for my trouble. Needless to say, I'm pleased with the result.

The $50PLO game for some reason seemed much easier this time around, much more in line with the $25 game. A lot of players were more passive they were a few months ago; it could be that many of the better players have moved up or moved on, that I for some reason was just playing better, or the most likely scenario that I was simply running better than I had been. Variance is tricky to pinpoint, but it did seem that I was hitting sets and getting paid off more often. I'll take it any way I can get it, though.

With my work for school nearly complete (I have one paper that will require some editing and finals to grade over a span of about 4 days), I am left with a few options for the summer, because I would like to get my finances in order a little bit:

1. I can get a job. Bleh, only thing available short-run is probably retail, and I just don't do that. I can make more at Poker anyway if I play 25+ hours/week. I don't know why I even brought up this option, because we all know it's not happening.
2. I can play live Poker. This is slow and often boring, but the games are very soft and I can play for much larger stakes than I can online. However, my finances have me on a somewhat limited roll, so this is risky.
3. I can play online on Stars or Tilt. I like Stars, it does have some good items/points opportunities, but no rakeback. Tilt has the option of rakeback, which is appealing, and I might be losing a lot of money by not having it. Since I largely prefer cash games, that may be the way to go, even if I don't especially like their software. Of course, this is contingent on being able to GET rakeback, since I technically already have an account with FTP.

On the financial front, I took a big hit from my dental work. between the root canals and my crown lengthening appointments and related work, I'm out about $2500. The crown itself will probably at least match that, and I will need a new retainer, so I'm probably still looking at another $3500. The good news is, I don't have to pay that immediately, and I can take an interest-free loan from the "Bank of Mom and Dad." That is probably the best option, since I still have another year of grad school and I need some capital to play Poker. With a little luck, I might be able to pay that off by the end of the summer and have a little left over for living expenses next year (though on my current budget, I should have enough in all my accounts to get through another year of school... as long as I score a decent job after graduation).

The first week of May will probably be devoted to paper editing, and I might go hit the live games next weekend (if my money from Stars clears by then). After that, I'll probably have to make up my mind on what to do with the rest of the summer.

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

We're in definite FML territory now.

Know I haven't blogged in awhile, but here's the short end of it:

1. 6 buy-in downswing in PLO, cashed out of Stars, bleh.
2. Cost myself $120 by making like the worst fold ever of a Q-high flush in O8 that was way good for high in a multiway pot.
3. Lost a $450 pot today with set over set over set. I had 77 on a 7-3-2 flop, got it in vs. 22 and 88, there's the 8 on the turn. FML.

Not having a good time with Poker. Really thinking about giving it up (again). But don't know what else to do with my time now that I'm done with school for a few months (finally). Still have a nice dental bill awaiting as well. Joy. Good thing April and March were positive months.

[Ciso_B]

Stop playing the weird games , become expert at no limit hold em, play good, run good, win, then tell me how u did it.

Seriously though, I always appreciate your thoughts on hands and stuff, if you play often and try hard, you ll make enough DC.

Blog more too !

[crack]

*** FLOP *** King of DiamondsTwo of SpadesQueen of Diamonds
Robleh: bets $2.50
Turn_Prophet: calls $2.50
KinataBG: folds

When you call this bet DC, what are you hoping for? I know you are getting about 5-1, but the Ad or 9d could be killer cards for you. Even if they don't have a flush, you can't bet for value and they probably ain't going to call you anyway.

You also have 2nd pair no kicker and if a J does hit, it may give someone a straight. And there is someone left behind to act.

Roblehs bet tells me he doesn't have a set or he would have bet the pot, so if you hit your hand you probably won't be getting any value. If the player behind you was fairly decent he should recognise this weakness along with your call on a drawy board and raise the pot probably taking it down on the flop.

I don't mind the turn and the river bluffs but I don't think I would have got to that point in the first place because I would fold the flop.

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

I guess my thought process was: "I have position and I don't like folding," lol. In some ways I guess I was potentially looking to float what looked like kinda a weak bet.

Stop playing the weird games , become expert at no limit hold em, play good, run good, win, then tell me how u did it.

Seriously though, I always appreciate your thoughts on hands and stuff, if you play often and try hard, you ll make enough DC.

Blog more too !

Heh, thanks mate.

I had something of an epiphany. I realized that more than anything, what kills me is variance. I had super run-good in PLO in April, and the other side of the coin kicked in during May. The fact is, after playing for years now, like many players, I feel much worse after losing that I feel good after winning. I'm profitable, I beat games, I know I'm decent (not great), but I hate losing, and variance kills me. What I need is to play a low variance form of Poker where I can book a good amount of wins and feel good about myself. Financially, this might not be the most +EV, but emotionally, I think it's the only formula that will not put me in FML mode when I play Poker. And since I'm not doing this professionally and I'm not really ever planning on doing so again, I think my satisfaction with the game should really be my primary concern.

[crack]

Well if I'm honest DC, I'm not really that experienced in PLO but I don't really like the idea of floating in this game with players having 4 card combos.

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

Two live sessions:

A couple weeks ago, I played a few hours of $1/$3 NL, which has been made almost unbearable by the addition of $1 jackpot drop (mostly because the stacks are too shallow in relation to the rake) at my favorite card room. Went broke once with top pair against a fishy drunk, re-bought, and worked my way back up. I did something else I've never done before in my NL Hold'em career: I limp-called with pocket Aces (I've limped before, and I've flat-called before, but never in this manner).

Basically, I limped for $3 UTG, one other player called, the the CO made it $25, leaving himself about $110 behind (I had him covered). I was going to reraise to make sure it got HU, but I thought that might actually force him to fold a few more hands I could get value from by c/r'ing the flop, and when I saw that the other limper had picked up his cards like he was going to pitch them, I decided to call instead of reraising. Sure enough, the other limper folded. The flop was something raggy, I checked, the CO bet $55, and I shoved for the rest. The CO was not happy, but called off the rest of his $55, and mucked when I showed on the river. Certainly not a play I would usually make, but it seemed like a decent situation to try it out. I ended up winning about $35 that session after a bad run of cards after the AA hand (including a hand I flopped a pair and flush draw and totally whiffed).

Yesterday, I played some $3/$6 limit for the first time in ages, and I actually enjoyed it. The rake didn't hurt as much because the average pot size tended to be bigger than in NL, plus with more showdowns, the chance of actually getting the BBJ is much bigger (though still not worth the price... I hate jackpots). Anyway, up about $100 from that session. Ran decently, but I could have been up more if I hadn't lost a flush vs. flush cooler, or if a guy hadn't cold called 2 bets on the turn with a gutshot that got there on the river in another pot. Such is life. I may play some more limit in the near future, as it tends to be a little less stressful for me, and there is actually more potential to move up in the area than there is in NL (since $3/$6, $4/$8, $9/$18, and $15/$30 are all spread nearby).

In other news, all my dental work is done. Hefty price tag, but my teeth at least look normal again. Not much Poker lately as I've been trying to get in shape and train for a lasertag competition in August. No plans to return to online Poker in the near future, as I find it's just too much of a distraction to have around the house.

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

Played some Omaha-9 today (yes, that's not a typo, that's a NINE), won about $100 despite getting gut-shot twice to turn a scoop into a chop (would have been closer to +$250 if I won those). I've been told that game runs Mon-Wed-Fri, so that might be something to look into for me since there are some REALLY bad players in that game.