December 28th - Faroese championship.

Monthly goal: Starting again!
I'm at $3.466

As I predicted friends and family went with most of my time this Christmas. I have managed to squeeze in some hands and also managed to get some profit out of it, but as I went through my sessions in Poker Tracker I found no hand worth mentioning.

A kind of unofficial Faroese national poker championship was yesterday. I planned to attend, but missed it because I was recovering from a night out on the town.

[29th December]

I saved this entry as a draft and am posting it now on the 29th. It's already Friday again so I guess I'll be hanging out with friends and missing out on poker all the way into the new year.

I will have to think up some good new years resolution for poker for my next post.

December 24th - Friends and family 1st

Monthly goal: Starting again!
I'm at $3.093

Merry Christmas.

The tables have been good these last couple of days. People are on holiday and poker is a nice way to spend some time off from work I guess. For me it is the opposite way around. I have too much free time and only now that Christmas is here do I feel like I am starting to put some real hours of work in again.

I have done all my shopping and am looking forward to a good dinner later tonight. A lot of friends from Denmark are back in Faroe Islands for Christmas, including my big brother. So I am sure I that there will be partying and gaming in store for this next week or so, poker will just have to take 2nd place.

43s on the Button: I shouldn't have called pre-flop with this hand. I just had a good read on the table and felt like I could play it profitably.
I don't know if I would have called if there wasn't a timer on me, but I was still undecided when it approached zero so I pressed fold. It turned out to be a bad fold, but whether it was correct or not I don't know.

The hand I wanted to feature in my last post is unfortunately lost. It seems I also forgot to check the save hand histories option when installing Full Tilt Poker on my new computer.

December 22nd - No motivation

Monthly goal: Starting again!
I'm at $2.106

I've had some ups and downs these last two days, but managed to end them with some profit. I've played mostly $600 NL, the action there is sometimes too good to miss.

I still have not got the software running on my new computer. I wanted to review and possibly feature a couple of hands from todays session, but it is too much of a hassle without Poker Tracker.

Sadly I am realizing that I do not have the energy and drive, when it comes to poker, that I had half a year ago. I don't know if it is because of the resent bad run, or because I haven't had any other job besides poker for a year and a half.
I am getting lazy and out of shape much too fast. My back is causing me problems and I've been getting headaches and migraines more frequently.

The cure is simple. I need motivation and self discipline. I need to set a rigid sleeping rhythm and keep it. I need to do some exercise each day and set a schedule for when to work/play poker and when not to. Heck I probably should find that Baz Luhrman song and do everything he says too.

December 20th - Finally blogging on a new PC

Monthly goal: Starting again!
I'm at $1.609

Yesterday was great, I played well and got some cards too. I played very aggressively, pushing into medium sized pots and forcing opponents into spots where they could make big mistakes. I almost forgot how playing fast was profitable at lower limits.

Today I have mostly just been tinkering with my new computer. It has been a long struggle, but I am happy to say it's finally up and running.

My new computer is finally up and running

I think I started working on getting a new computer almost half a year ago. I've had several obstacles on my way. Firstly my idea of water cooling didn't work out. Secondly I returned one complete PC to a shop, because I wasn't happy with it. Lastly I've had trouble with a power supply cord being too short and setting up a RAID 0 system properly.
The end product was worth it though. I'm writing this entry on my new computer, in a quiet serenity of a silent yet powerful system. The whole ordeal set me back almost $2.000. That may seem expensive for most of you, but here in Faroe Islands large shipping costs are a burden we have to live with and $2.000 is a very fair price for a high-end new computer.

I am looking forward to playing some poker on the new rig, hopefully it will bring me as much success or more than my old one.

AQo on the Button: I don't know if I should have folded this turn or if I should have called on the river. My opponent acted fast on all streets and on the river I thought her most likely holding was a flush, a set or KQo with the King of Clubs. So I went with it and decided to fold.
I was pretty sure she had a strong hand and wasn't on a semi-bluff on the turn and she really isn't giving me odds to draw for the flush, if those are my only outs.

December 18th – Blogging vs. chatting.

Monthly goal: Starting again!
I'm at $653

A player requested that I feature a hand I played in my next entry so I'll start with that.

AA in Middle Position: My decision on the turn isn't so much based on the odds I am being offered from the pot, but rather on the odds of me having the best hand. If you think it is highly unlikely that your opponent has you beat, it really doesn't matter how much he bets, within reason offcourse. You are calling because you think by doing so you'll win more often than not and therefore will show a profit regardless of the pot odds offered.
I remember that in this particular hand I tried to think about the possible hands that beat me and I came to 88 and J9. I didn't think my opponent had a Ten because he would have played the hand differently on the flop and he wouldn't have pushed all-in with the speed he did when that second Ten showed up. Then thinking about the possible hands that I could beat, it became an easy call. There are flush draws, straight draws, top pair and numerous combinations of a draw with a pair possible. Not to mention the always present posibility of a bluff.
So more often than not I think I'll face a worse hand when calling in a spot like above and therefore I think it is a correct call.

I would like to mention again that I don't like chatting about blogging, pot odds, poker tracker and being a professional poker player at the tables. Most regular players have this as a mutual understanding.
Imagine that you walk up to a salesman you know and ask about how much they make on a product and how much they are willing to cut off the price when haggling. This is offcourse common knowledge and quite ok to talk about, but not when he is dealing with customers.

I am very willing to discuss poker on a professional level, but I don't like to talk shop at the tables. If people want to talk about serious poker subjects I would appreciate if they sent me an email or left a comment on my blog. It is quite ok to ask about my email address on the poker chat or mention that your sending me an email.

I've mostly been playing $400 NL these last two days.
I managed to run into Aces twice with Kings. But two buy-ins worth of unluck wasn't enough to leave me down. The tables were good and I played fairly well, earning back my losses and ending up a buy-in.

December 16th – Back in Green.

Monthly goal: Starting again!
I'm at $250

I am happy about writing in green again, it has been a while. I actually forgot the color code, it took a couple of tries to get the heading right. $250 isn't anything to brag about, but just being positive again means alot to me.
I hope the profits will start adding up again. I am sure I'll start playing more hands each day, if I keep winning.

I've found out that sticking to smaller limits is the way to go while playing EVE. $200 and $400 NL are easily beatable, even without undivided attention. Perhaps I can include more tables and higher limits in the future when I get some more practice.
I don't think it is such a good idea getting to used to having EVE running all the time while playing poker. Alot of money is to be won at the higher limits and I'll miss out on it if I get too used to having EVE constantly.

A4o on the Button: I am happy about my call on the turn in this hand. The player obviously says he has one pair beat with his check-raise. Despite this I saw exactly KQ as his most obvious holding and made the call.
There were a number of exploitable players at the table, which is why I chose to make the pre-flop call.

December 15th – EVE and poker?

Monthly goal: Starting again!
I'm at - $25

I have been playing some $200 NL tables while playing EVE. I really like that setup, EVE is relaxing and fun and that atmosphere transfers into my poker game while I play.
I'm not sure, if I should go for one $600 table or two $200 while playing, but I hope I'll find a nice and profitable balance.

My unluck from last month hasn't followed me into December. I've sofar had one unlucky day where I played poorly and lost about $1.000 and also a lucky day where I won it all back. My main problem has been finding the motivation to get back on track after my bleak November.

88 in the Cut Off: This is a hand from todays session. It turned out to be a big pot and without this win i would have been down today instead. It bothers me that I got my money in with the worse hand, but I don't think I can fault my own play in the hand.

December 13th – Breaking the silence.

Monthly goal: Starting again!
I'm at - $343

I have only played about 2000 hands of poker in December. Most of my time has been spent playing EVE online and hanging out with friends. I am also in the process of buying a new computer and piecing it together.

I've had bad runs in the past and a prolonged break usually followed. After a while I started to want to play again and a renewed interest naturally grew after that with every hand I played.

Hopefully I'll start playing again soon and blogging on a daily basis aswell. I think it only wise though to give myself the time I need away from poker and not push myself into it before I want to.

December 5th– End of November results.Monthly goal $15.000, end result: - $3.410

The month of November has finally come to an end. It has been a bleak mark on my poker carreer. The continued bad fortune, that started at the end of October and now follow me into December have taken their toll. I play worse, I blog less and offcourse it affects my life away from poker aswell.
I wish I could find comfort in the saying: "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger," but I honestly don't see any good coming from this experience.

Here are my pokertracker stats for November: (Note that not all levels are shown, which accounts for the missing hands. Tourney wins, rakeback and bonuses are not included, which accounts for the missing profit)

Above results are for NL Hold 'Em and Omaha/High is below.

After bonuses, rakeback and tourney wins my losses total $3.410. The amount has little effect on my bankroll or my spirits. The reason I am so distressed is because I honestly believe that I should have been up $10.000 or so this month, if fortune had been fair. If I had had the same amount of luck as I have had unluck I am sure my profits this month could have exceded $30.000.

I havn't been unlucky each day this month. Some days I just play poorly and others I manage to secure a small win. But more than half of my daily sessions have featured several all-ins lost to suckouts or cold decks.

As I have already mentioned my mood has suffered. These last two weeks have featured very little poker and even less blogging. I usually play some poker, loose some money and then take a break for a day or two. After a while I give it another try and either book a small win, or loose alot again and take another break. I guess I will continue to do this until I manage to turn my luck around.
Poker is dreadfull when your loosing and I don't want to wake up every morning and ruin my day with a dreadfull session, so I find the time to take breaks and do something fun with friends and family. And when I do take a session and it turns into a nightmare, I don't feel like writing about it afterwards.

All players think they are unlucky. Therefore I am very suspicious of the possibility that I am playing a loosing game, without realizing it. Perhaps I am not good enough to play the $5/$10 tables, or perhaps I tilt too much of my profits away after a bad beat or two.
Luckily I have pokertracker and it doesn't lie. Each time I review my sessions I try to look for leaks and bad plays, but the majority of the time I only find random unluck as the sole reason for my continued loss. Therefore I'll keep playing the limits I do and trust that fortune will even itself out in time.

Thanks for reading. I hope to start updating on a daily basis again, but as so much else it depends on the cards.

November 30th – Q&A.Monthly goal $15.000 @ - $3.816

I got some question in an email and thought it would be a good idea to answer them here.

Do you use any software to track your opponents and which ones do you find most usefull?

Yes, I use Poker Tracker and PokerAce Hud. I have purchased and tried other products, but I only use these two.

Does Full Tilt allow you to grab hand history as an observer?

Yeah they do. I like to grab and review hands that I see Phil Ivey, Spirit Rock and others play. I don't however datamine the Full Tilt tables, I don't think the effort is worth it.

Do you use any of the rakeback sites and do you have a recommendation for that?

I have used multiple rakeback sites and have never had any bad experience. If you would like a recommendation, I can refer people if I have their emails and get a reward for referring them.

November 28th – Friends won.Monthly goal $15.000 @ - $3.546

If you read my last entry I was undecided about whether or not to play some serious poker or hang out with friends this last weekend. Well...

...friends won. That is me in the middle and Jan on the right. I can't remember the name of the girl on the left. Tróndur is taking the picture.

I have been playing a bit since then, but any plans of getting back to even this month pretty much rode on this weekend gone by.

Looking through the hands from these last couple of days, I found that almost all the hands where I lost the most were bad beats, usually featuring me with the better kicker and my opponent making two pair after all the money goes in.

JJ in the Small Blind: I am not so sure I am happy with the way I played this hand. I know that re-raising pre-flop would make it a lot less difficult to play.
Perhaps the best play would be to call the turn and call almost any river bet, evaluating if a bad card fell.

I think it will be good starting a new month. I would have liked to end this month on the positive side, but perhaps a fresh slate will help my game.

November 24th – Poker or friends?Monthly goal $15.000 @ - $2.769

I have this friend that works on a passenger ship. Every two weeks or so he is out sailing and the other two weeks he is on shore leave. Well he has been here this last week or so and I've been out doing stuff every day. Since I technically don't have a job either, I am up for doing stuff in the middle of the day and out into the night.

I have been able to sneak in some hands of poker since my last post. I've done well in NL Hold 'Em, but I lost my profits back and then some playing PL Omaha.

ATo on the Button: If there is anything I don't wan't with ATo, it's playing a big pot against multiple opponents. When the action is on me I know I want to raise, but I spent a fair amount of time thinking about how much I should make it, although my raise is weirdly small I think it was the right choice.

I am still in a dilemma if I should hang out with my friends this weekend or if I should get some serious poker playing done.

November 22th – Lazyness.Monthly goal $15.000 @ - $2.196

I havn't played poker for two days now. It seems bad runs arn't my only enemy this month, lazyness is taking it's toll aswell.

I have been playing Neverwinter Nights 2 and hanging out with friends playing board games and watching good movies. Whenever I am finished doing something I seem to have something else lined up that is more interesting and fun than poker.

Hopefully I can pull myself together in the near future and get some discipline back into my life.

November 20th – Low limits.Monthly goal $15.000 @ - $2.196

Yesterday was mostly dedicated to Neverwinter Nights 2. I did play some poker and lost a couple of hundred dollars, but not much interesting happened.

A good friend of mine has been crushing $200 NL lately. He usually watches TV while he plays, so I guess he is beating the game without much effort.
My concentration as of late has been a bit bad. When going from playing Neverwinter Nights to playing poker, it is hard to keep focus. So I got this idea of why don't I just 8 table $200 NL instead of playing poorly on the $1000 tables. Well it turned out to be a great idea, I won almost 6 buy-ins in less than 1000 hands.

Not caring about the money is a problem, when I'm used to playing with 5 times the buy-in, I did three-barrel bluff a buy-in away early on. But when 8 tables started running, I kind of forgot about the amount of money, and just focus on playing poker.

JJ from Under the Gun: Players at smaller levels slowplay a lot more than on higher levels. Therefore it might not always be correct making thin value bets like this one. I don't have too much of a problem laying hands like this down, but if I constantly start getting check/raised on the river like this I might start making bad calls.

I don't know if playing low limits as a change will become a habit. But when the games are this soft it's stupid not to play.

November 18th – A quiet weekend.Monthly goal $15.000 @ - $2.954

I didn't play much yesterday. Just logged on to Party Poker to see how the games were like.
It feels good to take a break like this. I find myself thinking about other things than poker in my spare time.
I dug through some old hands and found this one:

ATs in the Big Blind: I re-raise with hands like this pre-flop against opponents who seem to be stealing too liberally. After the flop I misplay the hand badly. My opponent is decent he won't call a flop bet from me unless he has me beat, so if I would have just bet I could have gotten away from the hand cheaply.
Instead I check and proceed to call away all my money.

Re-raising decent opponents from the Blinds is often a better play than calling, but it sometimes leaves me on unknown grounds. I learn from repetition, so I don't have more skill than others when I get into situations I havn't been in before. I think that is why I play the above hand so slowly, recognizing my inexperience in this kind of situation, I decide to try to keep the pot small, it just doesn't have the desired effect.

November 17th – Taking a day off.Monthly goal $15.000 @ - $2.776

I haven't played any poker today. Neverwinter Nights 2 is taking it's toll, as I suspected it would. Weekends are by far the best time to earn some money, I just hope I can discipline myself to play enough hands this weekend.
I dug up this hand from yesterdays session:

AA on the Button: I remember the villain bet the turn very fast, as if the turn card hadn't changed anything about the hand. I know some people play sets the way this hand played out, but many people don't limp with 44 or 22 Under the Gun.
I know he would stop and think about the hand on the turn if he had a Jack, especially since the turn is a spade. I guess a flush is possible, but I suspect he would rather just call the flop with a flush and hope to keep the third guy in the hand.
Looking back I can't say I regret folding, but I would like to know what my opponent held.

The month is moving along fast and I am still in the red. Emotionally I have somewhat gotten over my bad run, but I don't want to start pushing myself before I have had a good day or two, at the tables. I can afford to relax a bit, I just hope my game can afford the same luxury.

November 16th – Giving Party Poker a try.Monthly goal $15.000 @ - $2.776

I played a long session of $2/$4 NL Hold 'Em at Party today. I misjudged a couple of players and lost 2 buy-ins early on. I was tinkering with getting my software to work with Party Poker, but I didn't get it up and running.
Rest of the session I played well and managed to earn back one of the buy-ins.

Atleast I can't blame today on bad luck and it feels good now with a couple of days gone by without facing several gross suckouts.

I am in the process of buying a new computer. I am still waiting for some parts to arrive, but I have gotten it home and have installed Neverwinter Nights 2. It will probably take alot of time away from poker these comming days.

November 15th – The Iron Man Challenge.Monthly goal $15.000 @ - $2.306

Hold 'Em Cash

I didn't play much today, just enough to keep my standing in the Iron Man Challenge. This challenge is starting to bug me. There are a number of days I don't play the required amount and I end up playing a poor game just before I go to sleep, just to reach the points I need.
I think I lost about $500 to poor play just to keep this challenge running today and a ticket for the freeroll isn't worth anything close to that.

JTs from Under Gun: This is one of the last hands I played. I was getting tired and obviously loosing my focus. My stack is on the short side when limping in early position with a hand like this.
I also missed out on two good steal chances.

November 14th – Still alot to learn in Omaha.Monthly goal $15.000 @ - $2.657

Hold 'Em Cash

I did well today in Hold 'Em. I always try to find an excuse to play Omaha these days it seems, so every time the games seem a bit tight in the Hold 'Em section I jump on the Omaha games.
I shouldn't forget that Hold 'Em is my best game.

A9s in the Small Blind: This hand is very similar to the hand I featured yesterday. I remembered the previous hand and almost folded to the river bet. Instinct made me call in the last second, I noticed the size of the river bet seemed like a bet that wanted me to fold, where yesterdays bet was a bet that wanted a call.

Omaha Cash

I can't blame all of my loss on luck. Today I made a couple of expensive mistakes in Omaha. I still have alot to learn about the game.
Learning goes fast though and my opponents make gross mistakes aswell.

KQ99ss in Middle Position: I flop a warp and a King high flushdraw, so I am not to unhappy about getting my money in on the flop here. Raising pre-flop with this kind of hand from Under the Gun or Middle Position is a mistake though, I think.

November 13th – Working my way back up.Monthly goal $15.000 @ - $2.569

Hold 'Em Cash

There were plenty of good $5/$10 tables today, so I opened up 4 tables. I am quite happy about my play and I got my money in the middle as a strong favorite about five times during the 100 hands or so of play. Keeping in style with my bad run of late, I lost four of the all-ins. Luckily in three of them I was short-stacked so the whole session only left me down about a buy-in.

KTs in the Big Blind: Top pair with a weak kicker is a tough hand to play out of position against an aggressive opponent. Other than not raising pre-flop, I like the way my opponent played this hand. His bets are just the size to keep me in. If he had a bit looser image he could have tried for a pot sized bet on the river, faking a bluff.

Omaha High Cash

I felt a bit sick of Hold'Em after taking a number of beats from my earlier session, so later on I gave Omaha a try.
I found a couple of good $2/$4 tables and managed to win in my loss from Hold'Em and end the day with a small profit.

AK55s in the Big Blind: I think I should have been able to find a fold on this flop. I have no straight draws and no flush draws. A possible straight is already out there and by the actions of the two first players and the fact that I hold the Ace of Spades, I can be pretty sure I am already facing the straight or a higher set.

Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, or so the saying goes. I don't know if a run like this improves my game, or my tolerance for bad beats. But I know it is part of the game and this will probably not be the last month I'll have to dig myself out of a hole.
I still don't doubt that I am able to beat the games I am in, I just need to hang tough and wait for clearer skies.

November 12th – A return to bloggingMonthly goal $15.000 @ - $2.910

I want to give blogging each day a try again, although I plan on changing some of the things that have slowly made blogging seem like a chore to me.

I notice people don't think three buy-ins down over three weeks is anything to complain about. For me it is a very big deal.
Please don't misunderstand me, the money isn't the issue. It wouldn't make that much difference to me if I was down $6.000 or $1.000 over this last three week span.
The issue is that I have been extremely unlucky these last three weeks. Imagine a player sitting down at a table with $1.000. After some time he has won 1 billion dollars and then he looses it all to a one outer. The guy comes home feeling down about it and explains it to his wife and she says, well that isn't so bad you are only down $1.000.

If this month would have gone well or even just been fair to me, I could have made a down payment on a new house with the money I have lost to bad luck. Working hard each day and seeing all my efforts turn to nothing is tough. That is why I am upset about these last weeks of poker.
Enough rambling, I hope people get my point.

Yesterday I played in the Iron Man $30.000 tourney. I am happy with my play, but I lost my chips in this hand:

99 on the Button: Preflop I think both calling and pushing are options to consider, I decided to just call.
The flop call was quite a tough decision for me, but considering the pot size and the tourney structure, I am pretty sure it was the correct play.

Today I have played mostly $5/$10 PL Omaha and it has gone pretty well.
There is alot of money to be won playing Omaha, so whenever I don't find a decent NL Hold'Em table I take a shot at it. I have moved up limits fast and I dread I am making a fair amount of mistakes in Omaha. But as long as the competition is making more mistakes I'll gladly keep playing.

Update on the bad run - Still on break for a couple of days more

I have been running very bad these last two weeks. Mostly I have played well, but the cards haven't been cooperating.

Running badly in poker is very though and there isn't really a way to explain how it feels.
Matt Damon did a better job of acting it out in Rounders after he lost $30.000 to Teddy KGB, than I could do of writing about it. His character suffered his loss in one hand, where my losses have cumulated slowly each day over two weeks.

Matt Damon's character also reacts differently to loosing than I do, he focuses mostly on the money and seeks comfort from fellow poker players that understand to a point what he is going through.
I focus mostly on mistakes I make and the futility luck makes of the effort I put into poker each day. In the past I would write about it and try to talk to people about what I was going through, but unlike in the movies people don't understand how you feel and more importantly they don't care.

Each time I hang out with my friends or do something with my family, I get asked how poker is going. People really aren't looking for a bad beat tale, they just want to small talk and asking about poker is a good subject for small talk.
It does however remind me of my loss. And each loosing hand and each drawout again weigh heavy on my mind. Before I go to bed I usually watch some TV and the reason I am on a break from blogging, is because I don't want to stir up the memory of the days loss again before I go to sleep.

What I am hoping for is a good session or two that will bring me back to even. It will feel much better writing again, if the numbers can be in green. The best cure for a bad run, is without any doubt a good win.

At this point of writing I am down about $3.000 for the month.

Short break in bloggingOn hold for about a week

I need a break from blogging.

Hopefully I can come back with some renewed inspiration and start writing again each day.
Poker just hasn't gone very well these past few days and I don't really feel like writing about it after each loosing session.

I'd rather take a break, than write poorly each day just for the sake of updating on a regular basis.

Day 1 - hands 347 - $638Monthly goal $15.000 @ - $638

I played some PL Omaha yesterday and did well, then I played some NL Hold 'Em and didn't do so well. Today I am not feeling so well, so perhaps I'll take a short break from poker.

Doing these monthly goals does put some pressure on. It feels like I just went from + $15.000 to - $15.000 in one day, because that is what I have set myself up to make these coming 30 days.

Hopefully I can put these bad thoughts behind me and keep my focus on playing my best.

ATo in the Cut Off: I find myself in this awkward position time and again, should I continuation bet against a short stack? Before I know it I have priced myself in to loose a good chunk of my money.
I think the correct play is to check on this particular flop, but I have to put some more thought into what I'll do in general.

End of month result $15.734

Here are my pokertracker stats for the month:


I also won some money playing Omaha and some playing tourneys. Add to that a bit from bonuses and rakeback and I finished the month up just shy of $16.000.

After I made the $12.000 monthly goal I didn't set myself a new one. Although I kind of hoped to reach $17.000, because that translates into DKR 100.000. I made close enough though, so I am happy.

Per request here is a graph of my October result:


The real challenge will be in repeating the success. I do think that some of this months results are due to luck. So I don't want to set myself up for a let down next month. My November goal is going to be $15.000.

Day 30 - 0 hands $0Monthly earnings: $15.186

I have just upgraded my internet connection to flatrate. Unfortunatly my internet service provider managed to make some mistake in the process and I have been without internet for the last two days.
To be honest the break has probably done me good, but it still sucks loosing your internet connection.

I have this one day left of October, so I won't make this my last post of the month. But I don't suspect I will be playing much tonight. I have some plans with friends and I also need to get up tomorrow at a reasonable time.

Day 28 - 1.089 hands - $641Monthly earnings: $15.186

Despite the loss I am very happy about yesterdays session. I 4 tabled $5/$10 at Full Tilt Poker for more than 1.000 hands and I think I played well throughout. I got sucked out of a big pot, so I ended the day down. But it wasn't a big enough loss to make me feel bad about it, especially when I think I played well.

33 in the Small Blind: The reason I call this river, is because I have difficulty putting my opponent on a hand he wouldn't rather check behind on this river, so I take his bet as a signal that he doesn't have a hand. But truth be told I probably should have folded on the turn.

If I can manage to get my discipline up and 4 table 1.000+ hands of $5/$10 each day, I am pretty sure I can double my monthly earnings to about $30.000.

Playing like that is hard though, especially when you have to deal with $1.000 suck outs each day. Although it is not something I think I'll be able to discipline myself to do within this next month, I'll try my best to aim towards it.

Day 27 - 447 hands - $1.171Monthly earnings: $15.828

Yesterday went kind of good except for one Heads-Up session where I got stacked three times. I think I played fairly well both Heads-Up and six handed, luck just didn't smile my way.
That doesn't mean I didn't make some mistakes along the way though:

K5 on the Button: I thrust my read here and I fail miserably. At the time I was hoping to see something like JJ or QQ if he called, but I knew that I could be outkickered and drawing pretty slim aswell.
He lured me in I guess with his weird overbet, which he had used a couple of times earlier.

I am not feeling too well today, so I think I'll take a day's break from poker.

Day 26 - 569 hands $2.200Monthly earnings: $17.001

Today treated me well. I played well and I got some cards, always a good mix.

I feel I have a better view on my own play now to how I have viewed my play in the past. This month's success has built my confidence and these last days of variance have balanced my perspective again.

As something new a friend asked me to feature this hand:

AQs on the Button: I perhaps should have bet out the full pot of $100 on the flop. On the turn I decide to check it, betting again is certainly also an option to consider.
On the river I make a thin value raise. There is a good chance I get called and I want the added $130 of value, but in order for that bet to give it's value over the long run, I have to be able to fold it to a raise.

Stupidly though I actually said I folded the Queen of Hearts to my opponent, now I would have to call this raise in the near future against him because he knows I can lay the hand down, which in turn makes me unable to make these kind of thin value raises against that particular opponent for some time to come.
I should have kept my mouth shut.

Day 25 - 1.091 hands - $633Monthly earnings: $14.801

I don't feel bad about yesterdays session. The loss didn't even get my mood down, because I was very satisfied about the quality of my game. Luck just had a loss in store for me yesterday, as it will have from time to time.

I again played a bit of Heads-Up and I really enjoy it. I hope it will turn out to be both a profitable and learning experience.

A7o on the Button: Here is a blunder of a call from a Heads-Up match. It takes a number of hands before I get a good read on my opponent. Here I trust my instincts too early in the match.

My monthly goal was over 10 days ago. I am glad I didn't set myself a new goal based on the results I got from my first two weeks of October. It would just have gotten my spirits down to fail so miserably.

I had a good run in the beginning of the month and I am having a bad one now, I don't know to what extent luck has evened itself out by now but I think I am nearing an accurate winrate for my skill level.

Day 24 - 246 hands $1.316Monthly earnings: $15.435

Another nice win and times are looking up again. I played some Heads Up NL yesterday and it gave good. I have been interested in trying it out, but have been a little afraid of the competition being too good. Yesterday was a pleasant experience, so I am probably going to try it again.

TT in the Cut Off: I am a bit disappointed that I didn't either get all my opponents money or folded this hand. I think I need to take a decision on this turn whether to fold or to push, but I am not sure. At the time I thought his bet was a bit on the big side to have turned a flush, so with the added outs for the full house and the middle high flush I decided to call.

AQ on the Button: I really don't like the way this hand played out. My best course of action I think is to not continuation bet the flop here and just let my opponent take it if he bets and I don't improve on the turn. It is a weak line, but I just can't see a better option.

These last couple of days have made me realize that I am not so skilled as to be able to avoid variance.

If I do choose to play some more Heads Up I know my variance will go up aswell. So loosing days are to be expected from time to time I have just been lucky in not having that many of them this month.

Day 23 - 810 hands $646Monthly earnings: $14.118

Yesterday actually started out just as bad as the previous days. I was loosing coinflips and getting bad beat and before I knew it I was nearing $1.000 in the hole again.
But I kept at it and slowly grinded myself back into the green.

I think I will celebrate my return to winning poker by updating my profile picture with this new "happy" me.

When I feature hands I usually show one where I should have been able to make a good laydown. Because of that I often get the image of being very tight to those who know my play from reading my blog.
But when my reads are working, I make loose and tough calls aswell.

22 from Middle Position: I know that this player wouldn't make these bets if he had a hand, he usually doesn't show aggression on later streets. Although I don't know if I would be able to make this call if the river was a diamond or a heart.
And no I havn't made bad calls with stupid hands before this one. I only make this kind of call when I am almost positive I have my opponent beat.

Lets hope the good times last so I can get my confidence back.

Day 22 - 856 hands - $1.326Monthly earnings: $13.471

Just a couple of days ago me and a friend were talking through Skype. He was telling me how impressed he was of the lack of bad days I have had this month and I was bragging about my skill being so high that variance had become negligible.
Well I take it back, I can still run bad.

I am going to try to be indifferent about the loss. I'll try not to shy away from higher limits and play as good poker as I would, were these last two days winners. But I always get paranoid about my game after a bad run.

My irregular sleeping pattern has made me loose a day of poker and blogging. I'll skip day 21 and entitle this entry day 22 to get back on track.

The month isn't over yet and still it has gone better than I dared hope. Much can happen still and hopefully I can get my game back and make up for these last two days with what time I have left in october.

Day 20 - 1.057 hands - $1.377Monthly earnings: $14.797

Bummer!

I really feel tired and beat after today's grind, so this won't be long. I didn't play my "A" game today, but I didn't play that bad either. I guess the cards didn't come my way and my focus wasn't sharp enough to minimize the losses.

I don't think I could have ended the day at a positive, but I could have dodge some of the beats.

QQ in the Cut Off: On a good day I might have been able to lay this down on the flop.

Weekend isn't over yet, there might be some money still to be made. So I best get some sleep if I want to take a shot again tomorrow. I do look forward to taking a days rest or two though in the not too distant future.

Day 19 - 1.069 hands - $288Monthly earnings: $16.174

I wanted to play a little more today, to see if I could turn the day into a win. But I think it is best to quit the day and preserve my strength for the weekend I have ahead of me.
I played alot against strong opponents today. It didn't take too many bad hands before I started thinking people were pushing me around. This was my biggest blunder of the day:

A6s on the Button: How often I look at the hand I still can't believe that it is me playing.
Just good old fashion tilt I guess, I have to remember how bad my judgement can become.

At some point today I was more than $1.000 in the hole. But after a couple of sessions more I managed to lessen the loss.

QQ in the Big Blind: I really felt I was beat on this river. I managed to talk myself into a call, because I had played the hand weak and I thought my opponent might have picked up on that weakness.
Meanwhile my opponent is clearly saying he can beat one pair here, I just wasn't listening. I wonder how the hand would have played out if I would have lead out on the flop.

I am looking forward to playing this weekend. I have some tournament freeroll lined up on Full Tilt, I might give that a try aswell.

Day 18 - 691 hands $1.594Monthly earnings: $16.462

I have been running good this month, no question about that. But these last couple of days I have suffered a number of bad beats and I still end up for the day. Today I owe that to a good beat though, I got dealt Kings and sucked out against Aces, here is the hand:

KK from Under the Gun: The game is four handed, so I three-bet pre-flop, I don't think that was a mistake. I kind of knew that our money was going into the middle before I checked this flop, so I decided incase he had something like AK with the Ace of clubs to check/call instead of pushing.
Perhaps I misplayed this hand somewhere, I am not sure. I will have to give it some more thought. I am pretty sure that I can't find a fold in this hand though, I am not familiar enough with the opponent to make that kind of laydown.

I have been very happy with my game this month. I am crushing the competition and playing with very little variance. But I am starting to see there is much room for improvement still. I should start to open my game up more against some opponents. Players also give a lot more information away about their hands than I know how to pick up on.

This is very good news, because it means I can get better than I am now. Thereby improving my winrate and perhaps moving further up in limits.

Day 17 - 701 hands $676Monthly earnings: $14.868

I have been trying to get a normal sleeping pattern these last few days and I have been unsuccessful. A steady pattern is important for mental and physical health and I feel I need to get my rythm sorted out.

Poker is still good though. I played both on Party Poker and Full Tilt Poker yesterday and I don't find much competition on either site.

56s on the Button: This hand is heads-up on Party Poker, so I have the Button in the Big Blind. I misplayed this hand. For me to have enough folding equity against whatever range my opponent has, I think the board needs to be a bit more scary, with perhaps a straight or a flush already possible.
Or I simply shouldn't push a draw like this ever on the turn. Draws are pushable on the flop, sets on the turn. Sounds like a good rule.

I am still trying to get my sleeping pattern fixed and trying to keep up my daily walks. If I want to stay sharp, I need to put some effort into it.

Day 16 - 56 hands $698Monthly earnings: $14.192

I felt like taking a break from poker yesterday. A friend came over and we talked some poker, so I sat in on a table while we talked and played a few hands.

AA in the Cut Off: I managed to pick up two aces in my short session. The fellow re-raising pre-flop is a capable player so I decide to just call. This isn't something I do often with aces, but at this level against good players I am starting to add some deception pre-flop.

I have some more non-poker related activities planned for today, but I think I will play a few hands before I go to bed tonight. Already I feel the break is doing me good though, as my mind slowly gets clear of all the bad beats and big wins of the past week.

Day 15 - 246 hands $1.436Monthly earnings: $13.494

I havn't really decided what to set my new monthly goal at. I thought about Sit & Go's and tournaments, but after trying out a Sit & Go yesterday I knew that it was something I didn't want to start.

I'll keep posting results. I think people enjoy reading pokerblogs more when they see the up's and down's in clear numbers, I know I do.

Sofar this year I havn't known how to do with taxes and poker. Faroese law doesn't really say much about poker, so I have been dreading that I might be doing something illegal or that someone might decide to take a full 50% tax cut from poker winnings.
So it came as good news when a lawyer went on the radio and explained how poker fit into faroese law. In short I need to pay 15% of my winnings in taxes. Not too bad.

Day 14 - 616 hands $1.145Monthly goal $12.000 @ $12.058!

What can I say other than that I am utterly amazed. The month hasn't reached it halfway mark yet and I have made my goal already. I haven't really had time to think what I should do if I reached it this fast. So I can't say more than I don't know what I am gonna do now.
I do feel like I need a break. My birthday is coming up so I might cut a bit down on my playing these next couple of days. I should atleast set my self a 24-hour without-poker break soon.

One thing I do have planned is cashing out some big bucks. I have more than an ample bankroll for the limits I am currently playing, so I should get some of this money invested.

I must say moving up to $5/$10 was easier than I imagined. I have played on a couple of tables I would consider tough for the limit and I still feel like the best player.
Looking forward I don't know when I will dare to sit at a $10/$20 table, but it isn't anything I have planned for this year.

It seems kind of lame to just set myself an even higher mark as a continued goal for this month and aiming for some goal at Omaha or Seven Card Stud won't make for as exiting reading, I think. So what I am left with is aiming for a fixed number of hands to play, or some goal involving NL Hold'Em tournaments.
I am gonna sleep on it and hopefully come up with a wothwhile and interesting second goal for what is left of the month.

Day 13 - 125 hands $2.403Monthly goal $12.000 @ $10.912

Yesterday was crazy, I found a maniac table where someone was bluffing every hand and I really cashed in on it. I guess people were drunk and playing poker yesterday. Luckily I was sober and able to get my share of all the money that was being thrown around.

I had started up a couple of tables, but I soon found out I wasn't concentrating on any table other than the maniac table. I decided to shut the other tables down and that is the reason my hand count is so small for yesterday.
There weren't really any interesting hands, I was really just playing a lot of hands hoping to hit a flop hard enough so I could take on the barrage of bluffs that would inevitably come. One set of trips and two flushes later I am $2.400 up after an hours work.

My friends and I also played two Sit & Go's yesterday. By sheer luck I ended up winning one of them. I haven't played well in Sit & Go's as of late, I should look into getting some practice online perhaps.

While looking at computer prices yesterday, my brother and I stumbled upon a awesome mouse, the Logitech G5. I just couldn't help but buy it. Here is a picture:

Logitech G5

The mouse I had before might have had an influence in causing my shoulder pains. Hopefully this one will threat me nicer.

Day 12 - 452 hands $1.889Monthly goal $12.000 @ $8.509

Yesterday was a good session. I played quite a number of hands against good players, but all the time I felt I had an edge so I kept playing.

As soon as I notice a player is good, I give him some respect. Usually I don't get the same treatment. If players notice I play a decent game, they start battling it out against me, trying to win dominance over the table. I think it is stupid wasting energy against the best player at the table instead of focusing on the bad players, but when a good player willingly seeks out my action by reraising and playing back at me, my only choices are to leave the table or to make a stand.

Well yesterday I was faced with this choice multiple times and chose to make a stand. There came a number of difficult decisions out of it, but in the end I managed to end the day a big winner. How profitable the decision to play against other good players is might be questionable. But there is no question that it improves my game a lot, and my confidence if I manage to win.

QQ in the Cut Off: This is the hand from yesterdays session that haunts me the most. My opponent make a good laydown on the turn I think. I can't help but think I got lucky on the turn and missed some value aswell.

Here are my pokertracker stats for the month of October:

I hoped for a larger number of hands played.

I'd like to get my River AF a bit up, but I am very happy about my winrate sofar.

Day 11 - 786 hands $915Monthly goal $12.000 @ $6.620

My first session today didn't go well. My brother was downloading and I felt the delay with each click. Just a little distraction like that amazingly brings my game down several grades. I loose my reads and my feel for the tables, when I loose my focus.
Here is a hand from my early session:

JTs in the Cut Off: The villains bet on the flop makes me think he has an overpair on the turn. I know he doesn't have a flush, I don't think he has a set, so I jam it in when I make top two. If I had more time to think about the hand I think I could have found a fold on the turn, but I'm not sure.

My brother was downloading The Saga of Ryzom. It's an MMORPG that has gotten promising reviews. But my brother and I found it a bit too anime'ish to our liking, so we are gonna keep looking for a good game to play.

In Ryzom, even the big monsters have a cute anime look to them

After his download finished I opened up a couple of good looking $5/$10 NL CAP tables at Full Tilt. The CAP means that in no hand can any player bet more than 30 Big Blinds, so $300 at $5/$10. I often play short stacked the first few hands I play at a table and CAP is not much different than playing short stacked. It suits me well and hopefully will prove to be profitable.

It sure did prove profitable today, where I turned a $400 loss into a $900 win, by mostly just making simple correct pre-flop decisions.

Day 10 - 286 hands $445Monthly goal $12.000 @ $5.705

My day didn't start out too well. In the actual first hand I play I get dealt two Kings and loose a buy-in to two Aces at $3/$6, a couple of hands later I quit the session at about $700 down.

After a day playing board games with friends I logged back on to give poker another try for the day. I played good and the cards treated me well. After a short while I had turned a loosing day into a winner.

Q9s on the Button: This isn't that difficult a call, I like the fact that I caught a bluff, but I would have liked a diamond river even better.
The reason the call isn't that difficult to make is the size of the river bet. The pot is $54 and the villain bets $50.

I am doing well in regards to my monthly goal. At this point I need to be at about $4.000 and I am comfortably ahead of schedule. There is nothing wrong with earning more than my preset goal though, so I just need to press onwards and play some cards.

I have been playing very few hands each day lately. Because of that I feel a bit bad if I take a day off from poker. Hopefully I can play enough these next couple of day, so that I can take a day off without feeling like I am skipping work.

Day 9 - 555 hands $1.617Monthly goal $12.000 @ $5.259

I had two good sessions today. Most of the profit comes from the first session, where I got some very good hands. I think I played well throughout the day, but there were a couple of hands that tested my ability.

Q2s in the Small Blind: What bothers me about this hand is the value I miss on the river. I am pretty sure this opponent will call my all-in with a rivered two pair.
I know now that the correct play on this river, taking my opponents stack into consideration, is to push.

My earnrate sofar this month is surprising me a bit. How much of it is luck and how much is an increase in skill is still unknown to me, but I am pretty sure it is a mix of both.

TT on the Button: This opponent has been reraising a bit too frequently preflop, so I decide to see a flop with TT.
I am still unsure if I could have played the hand diffrently. I keep thinking the river is just random unluck and not a result of bad play, but in theory he could have had AQ or AK. With that many outs, giving a free card might not have been the right play.

Day 8 - 246 hands $494Monthly goal $12.000 @ $3.642

I have renamed my titles, so they fit better in the right column. "Sofar" has been replaced with an "@" sign.

My session yesterday was quite like the others I have played this month. I am setting a trend for myself in playing short but focused sessions. If that is for better or for worse time will tell.

AJs Under the Gun: This hand bothers me a bit. This is the third hand in a short time span where I raise pre-flop and get called by this opponent. The other two hands he has called my continuation bet and taken it down uncontested on the turn by a bet of his own.
If it is well played or not I am not sure of yet.

I am on a reload bonus at Full Tilt at the moment and I also have some rakeback saved up, so I am getting a nice helping hand with my earnrate.

Day 7 - 120 hands $1.050Monthly goal $12.000 @ $3.148

I had a good run yesterday and made a nice score. I thought I played more hands than I did, but I did go out with some friends so I guess I cheated work a bit.

I played mostly at $5/$10 and the higher stakes paid off. The tables were good and people were in a bluffing mood. I got a couple of good hands and cashed in on them.

ATo on the Button: At the time this hand came up, I had won a couple of big hands without showdown. So I was waiting for a couple of the players to play back at me with mediocre holdings if I kept up the aggression. It was still a tough push to make with only top pair, but I knew it was the right play.

I started the session of really bad, I played perhaps 10 hands totally unfocused doing other things in the meanwhile.
After I caught myself making a bad call I sat out at the tables until I could turn my attention properly towards the game.

K4o in the Big Blind: This was the hand that made me sit out for a couple of minutes. I just shouldn't have called on the turn here. The river bet is fine as long as I fold to the raise, which I again didn't.
Luckily I sat out in time to cut my losses or todays session could easily have been a train wreck.

Non online poker related news:

Today I have just been sleeping my day away. My friends and I played a board game based on the series Babylon 5. The game is new to us and we took way to big a scenario. It lasted through the night and into the morning and we stopped before it ended cause people had to get up again the next day.

My brother played in a local Dota tourney yesterday. Dota is a very popular custom map for Warcraft. He and his clan came in first and he won a 500 GB hard drive, so congratulations to him.

Day 6 - 389 hands $372Monthly goal $12.000 @ $2.097

Yesterdays session isn't that fresh in my mind. Looking through the hands again I see that nothing much happened. The profit mostly comes from standard play.
I should pick one hand to feature, so I might aswell go with the hand where I lost the most.

A2s in the Big Blind: The Button had been getting out of line with his raises and I had been looking for a hand to fight back with. I decided to call with this hand.
I know I didn't play the hand well, but it is difficult to point out any major mistake. If I were to play the hand over again, I guess I would bet out either on the flop or on the turn.

My friends and I gathered for two live Sit and Go's yesterday aswell. I didn't fare to well, not cashing in either. I planned on playing some more poker when I got home afterwards, but fell asleep before I got to it.

I havn't got anything planned yet for today, so I should be able to get some work done.

Day 5 - 604 hands $917Monthly goal $12.000 @ $1.725

I played on Party Poker today. I was a bit intimidated at first, all the players seemed to play a tight game. I soon realized that the players were just as bad as always, I just happened in on some passive tables.

I am glad that I am pulling up on schedule again on my monthly goal. I should be at about $2.000 by now, and I am not that far off.

I think that my biggest obstacle at this point is not playing enough hands. There is always something else to do each day when I wake up. I have alot of TV series to watch, my friends are always up to something and there are a number of computer games I wanna try out.
I hope to keep some discipline and stay on target throughout the month.

JTs on the Button: This was my biggest winner of todays session. I had just overbet pushed a couple of hands earlier, so I thought he'd definatly call me with any two pair and maby even some one pair hands like AJ or AT. When I pushed though he took a long while before he called. Since he did that with a set, perhaps I wouldn't have gotten a call out of two pair.

Day 4 - 233 hands $524Monthly goal $12.000 @ $808

Again I confirm my theory that all I need to make my monthly goal, is to avoid playing when not focused.

When I sit at a table I have a hard time judging just how good or bad my play is. I have an idea of where it is at, but I never think I play much worse than my normal game. After a session, before I write my blog, I look through the big hands of a session in pokertracker. There I am amazed of how much my play differs from an "A" game session to an unfocused one.

KJo in the Cut Off: Here is a perfect example of my game when I am concentrated. In my standard game I would not have played any street of this hand the same way. But in this hand I am confident in my reads and use them to make what I think are the right plays throughout the hand.

Day 3 - 260 hands $487Monthly goal $12.000 @ $283

I played few hands yesterday, but I kept them easy and simple. If I want to reach $12.000, I need to average about $400 a day. Yesterday through simple solid play I got $487 in less than an hours work.

I have to remember that I do this to earn money and nothing else. Whatever path gets me the most money in the end is the right one.

ATs Under the Gun: I usually try to keep the pot small in hands like this. But I was so confident about both our holdings in this hand, that I went for a check/raise on the turn.

Both yesterday and today I have made plans with friends, so the number of hands I am able to play will suffer. It doesn't bother me though, as it seems to be the quality of play rather then the quantity that is hampering my winrate at the moment.

Day 2 - 1.077 hands - $233Monthly goal $12.000 @ - $204

I started today with a good session on $5/$10, I was focused and ended about $400 up.

Later I sat down again, this time at $3/$6.
I played way too long a session, loosing focus after about an hour. I started doing other things while playing, browsing and chatting. After a while I noticed I had lost any feel for the tables I was sitting at and all reads I had on players were gone. Still I kept playing and managed to throw away what profit I had grinded for the day plus some.

This is my second day in a row where I have not logged out when I have known it to be the smart move. Without any hard work I could easily be on track with my monthly goal, but instead I put my money in jepordy at the tables playing unfocused and tireing mylsef of poker at the same time.

I think I'll install a good computer game, so that when my mind starts to wander after a long session I have an easy alternative to poker. Hopefully it won't come back to haunt me, taking too much time away from work.

KK in the Small Blind: This is a perfect spot to push on the flop after he raises. I thought about it when in the hand but decided to call instead. I soon saw that I was lost in the hand, and wished I had pushed on the flop.

Day 1 - 822 hands $28Monthly goal $12.000 @ $28

I didn't play well in my first session of the day. There were a couple of really juicy $3/$6 tables at Full Tilt Poker, so I made the mistake of opening 4 right of the bat and sitting in with a full stack. The players were really aggressive and I was put to some tough decisions early on, without any reads on my opponents. I lost about a buy-in ($600) before I saw I needed to shape up.

Second session of the day started with a suckout, so I had a hard climb back up to even. Not that I usually try to make even again each loosing day. When I did the math I just noticed I had ended back just above zero.

A7s in the Small Blind: I am a bit lost in this hand. The game got three handed and I picked this hand to punish the Button who had been raising liberally. I still am unsure how I should have played, if indeed the hand shall be played at all.
Perhaps it is better to re-raise with something like all pocket pairs instead pre-flop. That way post-flop decisions are easier.

It does feel good playing online poker again. I just need to remember, when my concentration isn't at it's peak, to limit the number of tables I play.

Monthly Goal: $4.000 - I only made $2.253

If you havn't been following my blog, most of this month has been spent in Malta and Denmark vacationing. That is why I set myself a modest goal for the month. The sad part is I came in short.

I'd like to blame bad beats or cold cards for my shortcommings, but I can't. The only reason I didn't make it, is because I didn't play enough poker.

With this in mind I'd like to set my monthly goal for October at a reachable level. Offcourse I plan on making some non monetary goals, such as playing more $5/10, but I feel a totally materialistic goal is a sweet thing to aim for aswell. I think $12.000 seems reachable and will be a challenge aswell.

I have learned a couple of things this month.
Firstly I don't loos much training by taking a vacation. I don't forget what I know in two weeks of inactivity. But my bad beat/tilt tolerance gets somewhat out of practice.
Secondly I believe that a player can greatly reduce the effects of variance through training. Some good players have bad runs that last months, others seem never to even have a negative day. This offcourse has to do with the style each player has and the skill he has of avoiding variance.

I sometimes sit at a table with a superior player than me, but after the session I am ahead in winnings. I have played worse but more profitable poker.
The superior player concentrates on outplaying me by mixing up his game and studying my betting patterns and at the end of the day perhaps he has won $50 from me. Meanwhile I have been trying to steer clear of him and instead focusing my energy on the 4 bad players at the table winning $200 from them.

699 hands: $119Monthly Goal $4.000 sofar: $2.153

I suffered a big suckout yesterday. The biggest one since I got back from vacation. I felt that my ability to handle tilt had worsened slightly, but I still managed to keep my cool.

I had all my money in the middle on the turn against two opponents, I had a flush, one opponent had a set and the other a pocket pair of Kings with the nut flush draw. The last card gave the player with the Kings his nut flush and he took the pot worth more than $1.600.

Immediatly I thought how I would feature this hand on my blog, writing about how I would have almost made my Monthly Goal if there was any justice in poker. But then I remembered that I am not writing this blog to let of steam from bad beats, but to improve as a player. So I dug through the hands of that session and wouldn't you know it I found a suckout I myself made, which I had forgotten in all the selfpity the previous hand created.

66 in the Small Blind: On the turn when he bets pot, I remember thinking that he wouldn't bet that much with the straight so I might as well just get it all-in. Well sometimes my thinking just doesn't make sense.

If I would have let my mind linger on the suckout I suffered, I would not have learnt anything from the bad play I myself made in the same session.

I am gonna play some poker today, but I need to be at my grandmothers birthday aswell, so my playing time is limited. September only has 30 days, so I basically need to make $1.850 today. Unless I get very lucky I am not gonna make my monthly goal.

Too lazyMonthly Goal $4.000 sofar: $2.034

I have played a couple of short sessions, but mostly I have just been lazy these past two days. I got my record keeping software up-to-date and see that I am over the halfway mark of my monthly goal.

I still have $2.000 to go. If I want to make it I must shape up these few days I have left and get some hours in.

I got a complementary poker-chipset in the mail today, from Full Tilt Poker. I play alot on some sites and they threat their good customers well.

Home again. 170 hands: $72Monthly Goal $4.000 sofar: $1.814

I am back home in Faroe Islands...

I took a short session while still in Denmark yesterday. Not much happened but I managed to pull in a small win.
Not many days are left in September, so if I want to make my goal I need to get some work done. I am a bit jetlagged from traveling, so I don't think I will risk playing too high stakes today. But tomorrow I plan on starting the day with a walk and then getting down to some serious poker playing.

I have gotten some offers on ads on my blog. Ads don't pay that much unless you are insanely popular, which unfortunatly I am not. I could probably get somewhere around $50 - 100 a year from ads. Since I wouldn't notice that kind of money, I'd rather keep the site "clean".

But I would like to increase the number of visitors, so I plan on doing some studying on how to improve as a blogger.

My last days in Copenhagen

I am still in Denmark.
Days go by quickly here, without enough time for pokerplaying nor blogging. The nice people at the airline company allowed me to change my return flight to the 27th of September. So by the 28th my life should be back to normal.

I played in a live cash game again yesterday. The game was wild with alot of action. The good players there play a very high variance game, wich is the complete opposite of my style. Still I manage to keep my own swings down and ended the day up a small 200 DKR, about $35 .
I do feel though that if I want to maximize my profits in such a game, I need to change up my play a bit. Hopefully I can find some cash game back home which I can play in, so I can train my live game play.

Today I am gonna watch a movie with my brother, before I leave for Faroe Islands. But perhaps I can squeeze a couple of hundred hands of NL Hold 'Em in before the day is done.

A long session netted me -$8Monthly Goal $4.000 sofar: $1.742

I managed to play some poker yesterday. I played alot of hands but finished the day about even.
A break even session is never too disapointing though, after rakeback I should be ahead for the day.

Unfortunatly I don't have pokertracker set up on my laptop, so I can't go through the hands of yesterdays session to see if I might dig up some mistakes or fancy plays.

A friend asked me about the overbet I made in the hand posted in my last entry. I don't know if I have given the whole story about how I came about making it a regular fixture of my game. I sometimes try to copy what great pokerplayers do, to see if I can pull of the same plays. Most players have a move or two unique to themselves that they practice to perfection. Often these moves are hard to copy, because so much depends on reads and the specific situation that it can't be easily made into a formula.
One such player is Phralad Friedman, he is one of the biggest internet winners known by the nicks Mahatma and Spirit Rock. I have watched his game on various sites and also read through some of the hands others have played against him on poker forums. I noticed that he sometimes pushed for a large amount into a relative small pot. The play didn't seem to make alot of sense to me, since you stand to loose alot or win just a little. But it was this exact move that gave alot of the regular forum posters such a headache, they never knew when to call or fold. So since the best online player made such a play there had to be something to it, and I started to use it myself at times I felt it could be profitable.
At first I lost money making the move because I didn't time it correctly, players always called when I pushed on a draw and always folded when I had the nuts. But slowly I turned the tides and now the result is quite the opposite, the mostly fold to my draws and call when I have the nuts. It is all about timing and knowing your opponents.

I am starting to miss my stationary computer. My return ticket is set for 1. of October, but the airline company told me before I left that it might be possible to move it a couple of days. I am gonna give them a call tomorrow, to see if I can book a flight home on the 27. of September.

New goal and a good day at the tablesMonthly Goal $4.000 sofar: $1.750

I have been thinking about moving to Denmark for some time now. If I were to move, my "nut" would be about $2.000.

Nut: The amount of money needed to get by per month.

Since I have only about 10 days of pokerplaying this month and just a laptop with no software to aid me, I think I should set my monthly goal at an attainable level. Twice my possible future "nut" seems like a reasonable number, so $4.000 it is.

Today I had a great two sessions at Full Tilt. I ended the day up about $1.600. So already before setting myself the new goal I am almost halfway there. Nevertheless poker is a game of variance and it could easily have gone the other way.

QQ in the Big Blind: My first big pot since August. I really felt good getting those chips showed in my direction. I also think it is nice seeing my overbet push still gets paid off when I want it too.
I am glad to be playing online poker again.

Back ... somewhat

My friends and I had a great time on vacation. We were on Malta for 2 weeks.

I am not home as of yet, I am in Denmark staying with my brother. I will stay here for a week or two before I head back home.

I do have a laptop and an internet connection here in Denmark, so I am starting slowly to play again.

Unfortunatly I forgot to bring the recharger for my camera with me on vacation, but mine wasn't the only camera there, so hopefully I can get some pictures up in a couple of days.

I took a session on Full Tilt yesterday, just to see if things have changed since I last was online. Things seemed to be quite normal and I ended with a nice profit of about $150.
Today I got invited to a live game. The stakes were not too high, but that didn't guarantee a smooth ride. At one point I was down about 2500 DKR ($415), but after a action packed ending with straddles and heavy raising I ended the session up about 600 DKR ($100). Large swings indeed for a game that has a blind level of about a tenth of what I am used to.

There were a couple of very interesting hands, but the details are fuzzy.
The last hand of the evening was my big score. The pot got huge before the flop was even dealt, because of raises and straddles. Luck was smiling my way and I flopped a set. All my money went in on the turn and I ended up running it twice against a double belly buster straight draw.
My hand held up on both dealings and I raked in the biggest pot of my live game experience, over 4000 DKR ($666)

All in all it was great fun and we played for about 12 hours.

And I honestly believe that I would have had the same great impression of the game, if I would have ended the day down. I hope to be able to join in again next week.

On VacationBack around the 20th of September

I am on vacation.

I expect to post a new entry somewhere around the 20th of September with some vacation pictures.

If I happen to stumble upon an internet connection while on holiday I might make an update, but I am not sure if I can find the time or the means.

Since I won't be able to moderate comments while I am gone, I will disable them until I get back. Old comments are not deleted and will reappear when I get back.

Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables!

End of August results:14,664 hands $10.269

These are my Poker Tracker stats for my NL Cash game play.


Add to that $2.229 from tournaments, rakeback and bonuses and I just made my Monthly Goal with a profit of $10.269.

Just like last month, the only level I seem to have a hard time at is $400 NL. Perhaps the games are tougher there, or they just don't fit my style of play.

There are a some aspects of my game I have been trying to improve this last month. Pushing a big stack into a small pot to maximize value has proven itself a profitable skill, when used at the right time. Lately I have also been experimenting with limping some hands on the button and cut-off, instead of raising. I don't have enough info to be sure of the results yet, but it is looking very promising.

Hand reading and tilt control are issues that always get better with practice. This month has certainly helped in that regard.

I think my monthly goal was a good idea and I plan to set myself one for next month. But since my vacation starts tomorrow and will last well into September, I have plenty of time to think up a new goal.

391 hands $221

I took a short nice session on Party Poker. I have a bonus waiting there, hopefully I can get it cleared before I leave for vacation. At this time tomorrow I will be on my way out the door.

I will be posting an end of the month entry later tonight, I am looking forward myself to seeing the figures and compare them to last months.

Day 29 - 197 hands $478Monthly goal $10.000 sofar $10.119!

$539 from rakeback and a nice day at $200 NL on Party Poker and here I am $10.119 richer than I was 29 days ago!

The Monthly Goal has been broken. I feel that I am secure making a comfortable living, for as long as enough bad players want to gamble.
Again I want to say that setting a goal like this works out better for me than setting a goal to play a certain amount of hands. Discipline is needed when you are your own boss and my monthly goal has been a good motivation, where playing a fixed amount of hands each day wasn't.

There was an nice hand in yesterdays session:

88 on the Button: Notice the large raise from Under the Gun. This is a classic tell that he either has JJ, TT, 99 or AK. He makes the large raise to get bad hands to fold, because he isn't too comfortable playing the hand after the flop. AK, because it often misses the flop and he doesn't want to throw it away and the pairs because an overcard often flops and he doesn't want to throw them away.
In a case where I see a raise like this and I have some reads on the opponent I will call with a large amount of hands, because I already know alot about his hand.

I will post a coupe of entries more before I leave for vacation, I might even play a couple of hands. The monthly goal is over though, incase I loose or win some money I will take that as a seperate thing.

Day 28 - 591 hands $1296Monthly goal $10.000 sofar $9.102

Ba - da - bing

What can I say, the lucky day came and I am back in the saddle. I have a big chunk of cash waiting in rakeback that I was planning to cash out at the end of the month, that alone will push me beyond $9.600. So suddenly I have a real shot at the goal again.

I played well today and the $600 game was real good. There was money to be won and I sure got my share. I think if I hadn't pulled in moderate wins these last two days, I would have stuck to the $400 games, but I slowly got my confidence back and today it paid off.

Most of my winnings came from grinding it out, taking advantage of my opponents passive play. Only one pot I dragged in was over $200.

55 in the Cut Off: This was my only big winner for the night. I had a good read on the limper in middle position and the re-raise from the Big Blind was just small enough to price me in, especially since the limper calls infront of me.
On the flop I know I am gonna be called by the middle position player with a wide range of hands and I hope the Big Blind will call me with an overpair aswell.
One funny thing, if you check the chat, the Big Blind says he folds Aces. If that is true he would have drawn out on me and won the pot.

I am not gonna let this one lucky day get to my head. I still have some work to do and I have a maximum of 3 days to make it. I hope I can grind a couple of hundred dollars in these next two days and have some time for packing and getting ready for vacationing on Thursday.

Day 27 - 976 hands $227Monthly goal $10.000 sofar $7.806

Last nights session isn't too clear in my mind. I got too tired to write my blog so I postponed it to today. I remember individual hands very clearly, but the overall play of the session doesn't stay with me through a nights sleep.

88 in the Cut Off: I sucked out in this hand. I remember I had tagged this opponent as a tilty LAG. But I still should have given the flop raise more credit than I do. It was a poor spot to get my money in the middle.

Since I leave for vacation Friday and am probably gonna be packing and stuff Thursday I am not gonna take Today (Monday) and Tuesday off, as I usually do.
I don't know how much I will be playing. I have completed the Iron Man Challenge this month and my Monthly Goal seems too far away to reach.

Day 26 - 976 hands $233Monthly goal $10.000 sofar $7.578

I really worked hard today, giving it my all and my best. So many times I got my money in with the best hand and all to often it didn't hold up. The small profit I managed to end the day with, disguises the horror of a rollercoaster I went through to get it.
People do not want to hear about bad beats and there isn't much point in writing about them. Suffice it to say, if there was any justice in poker I would have reached my montly goal already with plenty to spare.

I have to be realistic. Unless I get a lucky day in the near future, I am not gonna make my monthly goal. As for the bad run, it isn't affecting my game and my emotional state heavily yet. If it continues and my game starts getting affected, I will have to move down in limits until I get back on track.

Day 25 - 736 hands -$1.980Monthly goal $10.000 sofar $7.345

I started the day playing $400 NL on Full Tilt Poker. Three hands within seconds of eachother I was all-in with my opponents drawing to two or three outs, and they all sucked out. I didn’t tilt away much afterwards, but it did put a damper in my mood and I decided to take a little break before heading back onto the tables. At that point I was down about $900.

After some Dota gaming with my friends I decided to try out my luck one more time, see if I could remedy the days loss. I think I played great, but I just got either colddecked or sucked out on more fiercly than I have been sofar this month.

This month has been up until now a good run, but that doesn't mean that I get my money in with the worse hand and suck out on someone. I do my job, get my money in with the best hand and it holds up. If that happends three or four times in a row it is a good run. Because every so often, the best hand doesn't win.

KK in Middle Position: This was my last hand of this session. I really felt like I deserved the pot, because this wasn't an easy push. I decided this was the last beating I could take today and closed down the tables. If I had won this hand the day would have been at - $700 instead.

This offcourse means that my monthly goal has suffered a major set-back. At $7.345 I still need $2.700 to reach my target. If I feel ok tomorrow I'll try to play a bunch of hands, to see if I can make it. But sometimes these bad beats linger for a day or two in my mind, if that is the case I am not gonna play much tomorrow.

Day 24 - 644 hands $42Monthly goal $10.000 sofar $9.329

I started the day winning alot, at some point I was up a couple of hundred dollars. Later I opened 6 $200 NL tables where I didn't play my best game, just rushing in a few hundred hands. I barely managed to keep some of my profit to end the day on a positive.

Well it is Friday today and if I want to reach my goal of $10.000, this weekend is my best shot at doing it. My mother is gonna celebrate her birthday today, so I don't know if I will be able to get alot of hands in, but hopefully I can play some tonight.
I heard of another live tourney today. There are a couple of them in my city, but I am not a very social person so I never hear of them till to late. I guess I need to add my cellphone number to some lists, so I can get a message when another tourney is scheduled. It'll have to wait till I get back from vacation though.

Day 23 - 394 hands $735Monthly goal $10.000 sofar $9.287

Again yesterday I couldn't reach the blogger homepage. It must be something wrong on my end. Oddly enough the problem clears if I restart my router and get a new ip.
I started todays session with loosing a buy-in at the $400 tables.

AQ in Middle Position: I should have folded pre-flop and I was pretty sure he was gonna show me exactly KK when I called on the flop. I have seen a couple of people three-bet me pre-flop with horrid hands. I think that is the reason I played this hand so badly.

Well I shaped up after that one bad hand and did my best to end the day on a positive note.

KK in the Big Blind: I don't slowplay often. In this hand I felt my opponent didn't have anything and wanted to bluff me off my hand. I quickly pressed the raise button on the river, I didn't think I would have any money left behind. Luckily it was only $30, but I should still have won that much more from him.

All in all I think it was a good day. My play isn't the best at the moment, so I hang at the $400 level instead of the $600. I still seem to be ahead of my competition though even when I am not playing my best.

Day 22 - 306 hands $221Monthly goal $10.000 sofar $8.551

I spent most of yesterday at a friends house playing board games. When I did get home I took a quick 300 hands to keep my Iron Man Status up at Full Tilt. The Iron Man thing is a bonus freeroll thingy, that requires a certain amount to be played most days of a month. The hands I played were uneventfull, but gave me a nice profit.

My plan is to take it a bit easy these next days and then go for the prize this upcomming weekend. I hope I can reach my monthly goal with a couple of days left to pack and get ready for my September vacation.

I am again amazed at my inability to capture a decent photo. This is of the gaming table at my friend Steven's house, littered after a Babylon 5 game.

Day 21 - 297 hands $517Monthly goal $10.000 sofar $8.310

I played at the $200 tables yesterday. I didn't feel like playing big, just wanted to get some hands in so I could stay in the Iron Man Challenge. Nothing much happened, my biggest loosing hand cost me $22. I played very confidently because of the lack of money on the line and it paid off.
I am going to Stephens today for some board gaming, hopefully my shoulders will benefit from the break from my computer.

Day 20 - 398 hands -$156Monthly goal $10.000 sofar $7.783

I played three live tourneys yesterday with my friends. I didn't finish in the money in any of them. The entry was about $17 for each.

Me (right) and Jan stacking up chips for the next SnG. Darn lamp was in the middle of every picture I took, in this one Tróndur is holding the camera.

I knew I wasn't gonna do well, my shoulder was in pain and I wasn't focused. Later on the pain cleared somewhat and I logged on Full Tilt Poker. I played much better online and would have been up a decent chunck if I hadn't lost to a suckout.

QQ on the Button: I usually don't post Bad Beats, there isn't much to learn from them. But this was the only interesting hand I played last night. When I flop a full house like this I am not gonna waste my chance at a big score by slowplaying and hoping to extract some value out of a pocket pair. I had seen this player make a bad call beforehand, so I am sure he will call a push with any Ace.

I feel I am playing well lately. Usually there are a couple of regulars at the $400 and $600 tables that give me some headache. But this last month it seems as if I am the one giving them headaches. It could be a sign that I am ready to move up to $1000.

Day 19 - 709 hands $929Monthly goal $10.000 sofar $7.919

I am very happy about how this month has gone sofar. Setting a goal in dollars earnt has been a much better idea than setting a goal on how many hands to play each day. Hopefully I can win my last $2.000 before the month is over, so I will bring a good mood with me on vacation.

Todays session didn't stand out in any way. Infact this whole weekend hasn't felt like a weekend at all. Players still play badly and I make my money, but there hasn't been an increase in bluffing maniacs as there usually is. At least not on the tables I have played.

JTs in the Cut Off: I am not too happy about this push. The opponent wasn't the type to that makes loose calls. The board really looks drawy, so I am sure he will fire big on the turn if it isn't a scarecard. After that I can push and I can't see him folding. He said in the chat: "KK no good?" after he folded.

Day 18 - 832 hands $319Monthly goal $10.000 sofar $6.950

I took it easy yesterday. My back has been troubling me lately, especially my shoulders. I am sitting to much infront of my computer and the wear is starting to show. The vacation in September is hopefully gonna do me some good, otherwise I would have to look into a better chair and a new desk.

The session wasn't too eventfull, but there was one interesting hand.

J7s in the Small Blind: The aggressive player with the big stack is an unknown to me. His huge raise really took me by surprise and in the heat of the moment I decided to call the turn and hope he didn't bet the river. Unless offcourse a Ten or a Club fell in which case I would shove myself.
In hindsight I think the correct play is to push the turn. I might well be ahead of a set or two pair type hand, not to mention a bluff or semi-bluff. And if he indeed limped on the button with exactly T7 and makes this strong a move when he turns the nuts, I have alot of outs.
Looking at the hand again, I think he very likely has a set here and if that is the case I guess I am lucky I didn't push with the board pairing on the river. That doesn't mean I played it correctly though.

Day 17 - 1002 hands $1.939Monthly goal $10.000 sofar $6.571

I had two good sessions today and I am very happy about being back on track with my monthly goal. The numbers in the titles of my entries don't always add up. That is because I get paid bonuses from various sites. The monthly goal total reflects this, where my daily total doesn't.

All it took was a bad day for me to shape up and concentrate. It scares me to imagine how much I would earn each month if I really put my heart and soul into it.
I had alot of interesting hands today. Prolly just as interesting as other days, but today I really paid attention. I am not sure which hands I should feature, so I will just take the biggest winner and the biggest loser.

KK in the Small Blind: This hand hurt a bit. I am not sure if my push at the end is a mistake or not, it might well be.

A5 in the Small Blind: This hand is player dependant. I had made a couple of laydowns against this opponent and he was monster aggressive. I knew at this point that he was making huge purebluffs. Note that there is no way I am getting much money from him if I bet this hand at any point. I need to make him believe that I am strongly doubting the strength of my hand by pausing at every street.

Day 16 - 965 hands -$876Monthly goal $10.000 sofar $4.522

One bad day and suddenly I am behind my monthly schedule. I made one really bad play today that cost me about $350. Other than that I am not too unhappy with my play for today. I am sure tilt cost me $100 or so, but that is always an issue I have to work on and live with.
I do need to stop doing other stuff while I am playing, atleast at the $600 NL level.

K9 in the Big Blind: Here is the hand I misplayed. I had no reads on the opponent and the game had just gotten to heads-up. I have been meaning to up my aggression heads-up but this is just going over the line. Overbet pushing a hand that completely missed against an unknown player is just poor play. I don't know what I was thinking.

After that play I made some hands and got to being up for the day. Then just before I called it a night a couple of really bad beats took a big chunk out of my monthly goal.

Day 15 - 344 hands $263Monthly goal $10.000 sofar $5.428

I took a break from poker yesterday. It wasn't scheduled I just felt like playing Eve Online all day. Today I felt a bit guilty if I didn't atleast squeeze in the 200 Full Tilt Points worth of hands that are required for the Iron Man Challenge. For those who don't know what that is; if you earn 200 points at Full Tilt for 25 days out of a month, you get entered into a freeroll tourney.

99 in Middle Position: This is a bad push here. I knew that it was quite likely he had 77, 88 or 78 on the flop. I shouldn't have called his raise, but instead mucked my hand on the flop. When the board paired on the turn I took it as a added bonus because now I beat 78. But the bet he makes on the turn should really have turned some warning bells on, I just misread it for a weak bet instead of a value bet in the heat of the moment.

Only two weeks now until my friends and I leave on our vacation. The blog will get a long rest and so will my poker playing.

Day 13 - 473 hands $329Monthly goal $10.000 sofar $5.165

I reached the halfway point of the monthly goal before schedule. That means I am gonna cash out the planned $5.000 and use the rest of my monthly earnings to increase my bankroll.
I do hope I reach my goal of $10.000, but my past experience tells me that the beginning of the month is where the easy pickings are. People have just gotten money and are more than willing to gamble a chunk of it in hopes of cashing in on a big score. Later on in the month, most people tighten up a bit on their spendings and so do the tables.

The last two days have been mostly spent playing Eve Online. I do log an hour or so at the tables, but far from any time I am happy with. Eve is fun though, so I imagine my poker playing will suffer atleast a week more.

Here is a hand I was quite happy about.

KJ on the Button: I am playing $200 NL because I am not really focused, so I didn't want to open up some $600 tables. The opponent in this hand doubled through me with QQ when I had JJ and the flop came with undercards, but the interesting thing was I overbet pushed that hand aswell. So I knew that he would call my push again if the situation arose where he had a top pair or better hand and I had a lock.