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.