a short hiatus...

i was playing limit this morning and realized that I really needed to study. However, I choose to continue playing and then we went onto base and there was a 100 player MTT that I wanted to play so I played I final tabled it by the way :)

Anyways it hit me I had played poker online everyday for almost 2 years. Then I was thinking. That sometime you need a break from things. even the things that u love. Sometimes you just need some space.

I am not broke, and it is not the bad beats. I am just not focusing as much when I amplaying online as when I am playing live. It is a big leak and I think a week off of pokerstars might help me out in that respect.

I will still post in here if I have anything worthwhile to say. I hope i don't lose any readers taking a break, but i think i truly need it. Also it gives me a week to make studing my priority. It also gives my wife a 4 day weekend poker free. I want to begin a new challenge when I return. However I want someone to participate with me. Anyone want to start a $.50/$1 limit ring game challenge. I am thinking my next challenge will be a ring variety... Or during this week i might read up on raxzz or something and try my hand at HORSE.

Well anyway good luck at the tables...

A good second day, and a rough star to day three

Well I made something like $37 dollars yesterday which put into $18.00 profit. But have given a chunk back already this morning. there are teo guys seeing 80%+ flops and turns and they are outdrawing me left and right.

I am hoping that by some chance i can get my money back from these guys. If I lose much more i will have to switch tables. I hate leaving lost money on the table for other people to give away.

Bad first day...

Well I started off my day great. Unfortunately this hand happened and I went on to uber tilt. and tilted off $26.00.

0.5/1 Limit Holdem
6 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Stacks:

UTG		($23.30)
UTG+1		($3.90)
CO		($13.50)
Hero		($25.85)
SB		($48.10)
BB		($13.70)

Pre-flop: (1.5 SB, 6 players) Hero is BTN

UTG calls, UTG+1 raises, 1 fold, Hero 3-bets, 2 folds, UTG calls, UTG+1 4-bets, Hero calls, UTG calls

Flop: (13.5 SB, 3 players)
UTG checks, UTG+1 bets, Hero raises, UTG calls, UTG+1 3-bets, Hero 4-bets, UTG calls, UTG+1 5-bets

Turn: (12.7 BB, 3 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets, UTG calls

River: (14.7 BB, 3 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

Final Pot: 14.7 BB
UTG shows:
UTG+1 shows:
Hero shows:

UTG wins 14.1 BB ( won +9.1 BB )
UTG+1 lost 3.9 BB
Hero lost 5.0 BB




This put my first day in my challenge down
$18.00. It is odd but I have only had a big pair hold up play limit once or twice. I usually win my biggest pots with suited connectors. I truly thinkn it is going to take me several days to make up for yesterdays loss.

Ok I am starting late...

Well after about a week or so of donking aroun din limit I have my roll up around 100dollars. I have decided on playing .50/$1.00 Limit for my challenge. Unfortunately due to the fact that I am also studying for my promotion test I won't be able to play the amount of time that I want to. However I am going to play at least 100 hands per day. Probably more, but atleast 100.... I will post the results/stats from day 1 tomorrow. Expect an update about the challenge everyday/other day. My ultimate goal is to have enough money to be playing $2/$4 limit or $3/$6 limit by the time I take my promotion test so I can really concentrate on making some money. I will still play the odd SnG and NL mtt. However as these games have the highest variance online I am going to plan on becoming a ring game specialist.

Now why did I choose limit well I think limit will help me understand the games dynamics better. I also believe it is the best way fo rme to build a bank roll capable of withstanding the swings of NLHE. This when everyone chimes in about Brian Townsend. Well he played limit to build a bankroll of a few thousand dollars before he tried NLHE .25/.50. I will see how it goes but if I run good I might move up and try $1/$2 this is the thing I like about limit a bad hand or a bad beat should not cost you your buy in, and you should be able to notice when you are getting outplayed. So taking a shot and moving up and down the limit ladder should an insane ride.

This Virtual reality...

I read The End of an Era posted by Cell He mentioned some really good points and I wanted to talk a little about it. Also I wanted to talk about the action of one man that caused this uproar in our little community

When I first started playing poker I did so inspired by yet another dead/dieing poker blog Hdouble and a blog that is very much alive Bill Rini's Blog Now these people are what I would consider tier one bloggers. I read the term before but never really fully grasped what it meant. I kinda developed my own definition for it. What I noticed was the poker blogging world was seperated in small communities that seemed to branch off of these "Tier One Bloggers". Once I started my blog I shot an e-mail to all these guys to say hey thanks for doing what you do and here is my link if you want to post it.

I got a couple of replys but the ones from Bill and Hdouble really meant something to me. I was lumbering around the blogs, and I came across a blog that had a link to Raise the River. So I became a member and made a post. I did not recieve the ususal berating from everyone about being a newbie and blah blah blah. After awhile I really felt like I was a member of a virtual community.

Sometimes someone at work would see me reading a blog and say "whats that?".

"Um, just reading some guys online journal" I would awkwardly say. As the tech stupid individuals I work with have no idea what a blog is. As Cell said in his post it seems like we are approaching an end to an era.

I noticed this for a long time, but I always looked to cornerstones of our virtual community such as Burnleymik's,Pudding, Amatay. Along with many others. Now we were never as big/tight knit as the tier one bloggers tha meet in vegas every year, but we were growing. I was happy to be a part of the beginning of something that looked like it could be a pretty big deal.

Then it happened the cornerstone of our little virtual community announced he was finished. Burnleymik's announcement at first was taken lightly as he has threatened to retire many times lately. Unfortunately he seems serious this time.

I understand his reasons and the games he chooses to play have more variance then anything else. He tried everyt=hing to beat low limit SnG($50 and under), and unfortunately he did the only +EV decision he had left, to take his chips off the table. Hopefully he will realize that the online world is better off to have him.

Preheat to 450, bake 40 minutes and serve....

Yesterday was one of those days where I decided poker was a bit traumatizing and I was going to study for my promotion test. Now it is important to note that due to no oven in my house we purchased a large toaster oven to bake with. It sits on top of my microwave/microwave stand right next to my refridgerator. Now about 20 minutes into my study session i had just finished looking up the answer to a question and had closed my laptop. When my son came and asked for carrots. I walked over to the refridgerator but could not get the carrots and dipping sauce out since I was holding my laptop. So I sat the laptop down right beside the refridgerator.
(Remember what is right there.)

About half an hour later I decided I was going to make baked potato's for dinner. So I walked over to the toaster oven barely looking up from my book and turned the dial to 450 and hit the on dial. Thinking how smart I was to be multitasking,cooking and studying at the same time. Well 40 mins after that I kept think i smelled something hot, but they burn trash here all the time so i thought nothing of it. Then I heard my wife gasping for air, jumping up and down saying oh god!. I honestly thought i was going to see pools of blood, but instead I saw my laptop sitting there melting onto the toaster oven. A quick attempt at removing it was useless so I had to resort to prying off my laptop.



Needless to say my laptop was ruined. Luckily for the planets well being my wife offered to let me go buy a new one before the shock had worn off. I was able to save most things on the hard drive, but my 100k+ HH in poker office are gone.

I did take the opportunity to take out some frustration on the machine that had been the proprietor of so much agony courtesy of its mutual friendship with the PokerStars Random Number Generator.



So I am spending Sunday getting my new laptop ready. I looked for the RnG Guaranteed winner sticker. So I registered for the Bloggerment and will be waking up at 4:30am to play it.

Learning is fun...

Well as many of you probably know I am currently preparing for a 30 day challenge involving me and limit HE ring games. I practiced for a little while last night. Unfortunately I ran into some big hands. I decided to go take a look at HDOUBLES BLOG he was and probably still is a limit specialist. I started back at the beginning of his blog and worked my way up ran into a nice post that detailed what he felt was a development of a poker player. I thought I would share the link here.link here

After some reflection on my limit play thus far I decided I was playing to many hands, and paying ppl off when I knew I should not. I came up with the below starting hands chart. It is quite a bit looser then my NLHE play but still kind of sets some guide lines. The main reason for this is to help me with my discipline and learn how to play these hands in and out then I might branch off from there.
So take a look and tell me what you think. Feedback during this experiment is great so thanks for the comments.

I also have to say I have renewed my interest with this experiment I feel lik eI am learning againand that was one of th epremier reason I started playing poker in the first place.

Working out the kinks...

Well limit is definately a new monster. I started off my first night with a bang. I bought in to a .25/.50 limit game for my entire limit practice bankroll of $10 and off I went. With in 60 hands I was at $24.00 and thoroughly having fun. I was playing a few too many flops but I was getting away from my missed hands.

I lost a couple coolers with a set over set, and a boat over boat. I lost a huge pot that was capped on every street when an A hit the river on a rag board. I was holding pkt KK and the villian had the mighty A4o. Anyways I ended my first session down $2.50. I began another session before work this morning. I took down a couple well time pots and no I am up $3.50.

Worked on my blogroll a little and decided to synchronize with google reader. I will be adding a good numbe rof blogs in the coming days. I also am going to start relabeling my posts so it will be easier for people to find posts and such.

Micro limit is full of....

Passive players like this guy...

0.25/0.5 Limit Holdem
9 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Stacks:

UTG		($10.20)
UTG+1		($9.00)
MP1		($5.50)
MP2		($9.00)
MP3		($9.95)
CO		($10.00)
BTN		($16.75)
SB		($8.75)
Hero		($24.45)

[CO posted 0.25]
Pre-flop: (2.4 SB, 9 players) Hero is BB

1 fold, UTG+1 calls, 3 folds, CO checks, 2 folds, Hero checks

Flop: (3.4 SB, 3 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks, CO checks

Turn: (1.7 BB, 3 players)
Hero bets, UTG+1 calls, CO raises, Hero calls, UTG+1 calls

River: (7.7 BB, 3 players)
Hero bets, 1 fold, CO calls

Final Pot: 9.7 BB
Hero shows:
CO shows:

CO wins 8.0 BB ( won +4.5 BB )
Hero lost 3.5 BB
UTG+1 lost 2.5 BB

A better explanation...

Ok for starters I am not abadoning NLHE I am just taking what I feel is a much needed break. The reason I chose Limit Hold Em is I really feel it will improve my ability to read the board. I also feel like the level of play in limit vs no limit is much lighter at the lower levels. many players playing at least 60-70% of their hands. Most wont raise even with a huge hand as they are afraid of not being paid off. I truly think in poker you have to go where the money is more likely to gravitate to you. Many bonuses exist in limit including the fact you can play with a smaller bankroll. Also you are likely to get paid off with your big hands. and str8 and flush draws you almost always have the pot odds to call. Also, if you try to JAM your flush draws you can make a good profit of one or two hands.

Also limit really allows you to well limit your losses and increase your winnings. There is no big tough decision against one opponent after the river brings a flush and you were holding the nut str8. The most this guy can get from you is 1 bet extra.

Are the suckouts bad. Well, Yes but take a look at Burnley Miks Blog and look at the beats he has suffered recently. Not only that anymore NLHE is a game of all in no matter what and then some one else deciding to call. Most Pre flop all ins are a 60-40 which means a good chunk of time your going to lose. NLHE is full of players afraid to play after the flop so they push medium/weak hands preflop. MTT's/SnG's are even worse. That is why I think the most prestigous Tourney in WSOP the 50,000 HORSE is a LIMIT event. It allows for playing poker.

Ok so my LHE challenge will begin on Tuesday November the 6th. Until then I am pretty much going to donk around the micro limit SnG's/Ring games just to get a feel for the dynamics. I have played a couple and actually feel there is currently a lot of money to be made in the low/medium limits.

So I have 1 week to do some reading. Plan my attack and begin my challenge my challenge is kind of open ended and the only real goal is to play 10,000 hands and have a 6BB/100 hands profit. I will keep my blog updated on my progress as much as I can probably about every other day.

A new chapter?...

So I have been going through a kinda downswing. I also been kinda getting bored with no limit hold 'em. I mean it all just seems so similiar any more. I mean fold fold fold... Raise raise push and pray it either holds or you suck out.

So I have decided to make a change... I have decided prepare yourselves to play limit ring games for a month. I will put my stats up on the side at a later time...

Well my training is over...

As most of you know i have been in training for the last 3 weeks today marked the graduation and end of a pratical exercise for my career field. I learned a lot and met a lot of really cool people...

I got to play a lot of poker with some great and some brutal results today i am packing and preparing for my very long journey back to japan. I will in PCA steps though for awhile. If I can make it to step 6 I have a good chance of really adding the bankroll...