A new idea

I don't find much time anymore to play poker. Yet, I still love the game and I would like to start writing about it again.

I still watch all the televized poker I can come across. My 'new idea' is to start writing a post now and then about a hand or an episode I've seen.

I'll have to figure out how to be able to make easier for any reader to watch the hands I will be writing about. Perhaps I can find clips on youtube and link to them.

Somehow, I also think this might help me keep in touch with poker player I was and the writer I would like to be, hopefully, not exluding either from future ventures.

February 18th - Starting is hard

It hasn't been going all that well lately. I just cashed out money enough to last me for a month, but as I do so I have lost money at the tables.

I remember all to well how it feels like. Playing poker in the evenings, sitting in front of the computer for hours on end trying to grind one or two buy-ins in for the day, and before I call it quits I get it all-in with a set against a flush draw and just a few hands later my Aces run into a set. And so I shut down the computer with the loss of the day heavy on my mind as I try to get some sleep before school starts tomorrow.

A couple of days like that and poker starts to feel like a tough job. My plan is to try to shake the last couple of days off and keep going, but it won't take much of a loss for me to move down to $200 NL to catch my breath.

I am pretty sure that I can keep myself afloat playing a rather casual amount of hands at $200 NL, but staying afloat isn't exactly my dream in poker. In that case I could just get a regular job. Perhaps the hours would be longer, but the level of stress would certainly be lower.

February 12th - A bad session

Yesterdays session didn't turn out too great. After 2.000 hands I was down about $450. I picked some bad spots to get my money in and didn't get that many great hands.

My biggest losing hand was this one:

AKo on the Button

I remember thinking for a long time on the turn whether to call or not. At least my instincts are still working, I just have to thrust them. I do believe that in future hands this will be an easy fold. My opponent wasn't the kind of guy to play AK or AQ like that and it was a very poor spot for him to make a bluff.

I haven't got all my stats updated yet, so no bankroll stats and monthly graphs yet. I plan on getting them up and running before the end of the month.

February 11th - A much needed update.

It has been almost a year since my last update. Much has happened in my life, yet a lot of things have stayed the same as well.

I have been dating a girl, Jane, for half a year now; I have just started my 4th semester in college; and by and large life is good. I live in a crappy little dorm room in Copenhagen, Denmark, but it is very affordable, quite close to school and even closer to the train track making traveling in the city easy and enjoyable.

"It is a hard way to make an easy living"

That saying has made a lot of sense throughout my poker career. A year ago after a prolonged losing period, poker seemed almost too hard a job.

I never quit though - I played a little, lost some money, won more than I lost, but cashed out even more. My bankroll has slowly dwindled while it has been my main source of income during school. In December after all the Christmas shopping was done, my bankroll hit an all-time low since I started playing poker professionally. All the money I had online combined was less than $10.000.

So in the start of this new year, I made up my mind to start playing a bit more regularly. With that decision comes this new blog entry. I don't know if I will start writing again, but I do know I will start playing more. I have built the bankroll up again, so that I can tackle $2/$4 NL with confidence again and so far it does not seem like I have lost my touch during my hiatus.

March 15th - Easter Break

Bankroll: ~ $20.000
Monthly goal: Getting out of this rut
Monthly win: $5.700
Hands played: 10.500

Unfortunately, my luck has not changed yet. With my bankroll reaching $20.000, I will be stepping down to $3/6 for the time being. I do not believe that I am playing badly, nor are the games too tough to beat at $5/10, so if my luck changes, I will move up again shortly.

Tomorrow I am going home to the Faroes on Easter break. I will most likely not be playing much poker, since I do not have a proper computer set up back home. I have been planning for a while to buy a laptop; but until my luck changes and the dollar goes up in value, it will have to wait.

There are times at the tables, when I see another buy-in slide over to the worser hand that happened to suck out, when I do feel badly about these two last months. Yet, mostly I have been able to take the bad beats without much sorrow.
Then there are the times when I see the players I rose up in levels with - some of which I outplayed - winning life changing amounts at $50/100 and $100/200, when I wonder if a good run - equivalent perhaps to the bad run I am going through now in magnitude - would propel me to those kind of limits; then again, I know by now that more likely than not my day will come when I finally break through the barrier that $5/10 has become.

My plan has long been to return to Las Vegas in June. I have been playing the satellites on Party for a chance to win a seat at the Main Event. Now I am not certain if it is such a good idea to go this year. I have quite enough money to get by, but I have also intended for it to be used for buying an apartment here in Denmark. Dashing out $5.000 to a trip to Sin City from my savings might not be the best of ideas. I will think about it while back home and hopefully I can make up my mind to either drop the trip or go on it before school starts again.

March 12th - Losing streak

Bankroll: ~ $23.200
Monthly goal: Getting out of this rut
Monthly win: $2.500
Hands played: 9000

These last months are steadily becoming the longest losing streak I have been subjected to. I always feels bad and it certainly affects my daily mood; however, I am surprised by how well I am taking the losing streak. I moan over an expensive weekend or a unexpected deficit on some credit card, while the ebb and flow of my bankroll that dwarfs out any comparison to real life economics hardly touches me in the same way.

This particular month has been a epic one in terms of wins and losses. I started out winning about $8.000 in a few days; soon thereafter my luck plummeted and I reached -$1.000 for the month. I had planned on writing an entry yesterday and at that time, I could have reported a $3.000 win for the month, but again todays session of only 300 hands and just about as many bad beats brought me to a record low for this month.

The tables are very profitable today, so I might give them another shot. If time and will permits I will write some more about this month's battle.

February 28 - Running bad

Bankroll: ~ $25.700
Monthly goal: None
Monthly win: $5.400
Hands played: 5000

I have had a terrible month this February and I have not felt like writing about it. Every time I felt the inclination to update my blog I have postponed it, telling myself that I could get back to even before making an update.

Despite the urge of the loss to convince me otherwise, I am more confident than ever that I play a winning game at $5/$10. $10/$20 is another matter and time will tell if I will ever feel confident at that level.

This is not my biggest losing streak, whether tallying it in time or loss. However, it has been tough, as losing streaks always are. We humans have a sense of justice, so when we see a month's worth of wages unjustly go the wrong way due to suck outs, this sense of justice infuriates us. Needless to say rage and fury has no good effect on the game of any poker player, but overall I believe I have handled it quite well this month.
One good aspect of a bad run is that it tends to enrage the urge to play more. I want my money back, but more than that I want to prove to myself that I can beat the game.

Summer is approaching all too rapidly and with summer comes the WSOP and slowly I start to long after the city of sin. 20 hour sessions at the MGM and check-raising tourists at the Rio is too much fun to pass up, especially since it comes only once a year. I do not want to dig into my savings or cash out too much of my bankroll for an adventure that most likely has a negative expectancy. So I need to get in some winning sessions again.
Party Poker is already running entry tournaments each Friday. The structure is good and the buy-in is agreeable, so I will take a few shots at getting to Vegas on the cheap.

February 2nd - School starting and goal missed.

Bankroll: ~ $31.100
Monthly goal: $6.000
Monthly win: $4.000
Hands played: 15000

I didn't reach my goal for the month, but I am happy with the result nonetheless. I managed to play a nice amount of hands and most of them I played well. Most of my profits came from $5/10 and overall I made money on all the limits I played except $10/20 where I lost $800.

I have been thinking about whether or not I should move up, but I guess I am not quite ready yet. It will require a bit more confidence and some more free time before I can aim to move up limits.

QQ in the Small Blind: This was my biggest single loss from the hands I played this month. I remember thinking that I was a bit deeper than I realized when I pushed. Re-raising wars are a common feature of the high stakes tables and I must admit I have not mastered how to adjust to them fully yet. I think I should read up on some strategy for re-raising before I get another month where I can play some more.

For now though school has started again. I had my first class yesterday and it feels good to start studying again. The teachers I have met so far seem nice and competent and the subjects are very interesting.
British History and Literature is one and American History and Literature is another. Both try to tie the impact of history with the literature of that period and I look forward to getting some reading done.

January 17th - Getting there.

Bankroll: ~ $30.400
Monthly goal: $6.000
Monthly win: $3.250
Hands played: 4600

I am slowly getting closer to $6.000. Money won this month in consideration of the number of hands played is closer to what can be expected. The last few months I have had an amazing winrate, and since it lasted for a number of months I was starting to hope it was a sign of me getting better. However, this month looks like it is going to take some grinding to reach my goal.

When I post hands on this blog I usually only post hands where I play poorly, for two reasons. Firstly it forces me to face and contemplate the bad elements of my game; and secondly it doesn't reveal too much about the way I play.

I have been sloppy at updating lately, so as a treat I have decided to share a hand where I make some money. I will explain the reasons for my plays and hopefully you guys can get something out of it that you can use.

AQ from under the gun: I don't want to say too much about O1eja, the player in the Big Blind in this hand. I play with him regularly and he doesn't play that big a part in this hand.
jouba007 is a Jamie Gold type player. He probably plays tournaments mostly and hasn't got much experience with post flop play. He likes to bluff and does so without sufficient consideration for the other players.
I decide to check this flop. There aren't that many draws and checking will really disguise my hand. Furthermore, jouba007 hasn't got a full stack so I do not have to lead out on the flop to get into an all-in situation with him.
The turn brings a Queen and when it is checked to me I am now confident I have the best hand. I bet out $80 and jouba007 jumps on the possibility of bluffing and raises to $180. There are a couple of indicators that he is on a pure bluff. Firstly, off course is his check on the flop, but also notice the size of his raise. If he had something like 34s or a set he most certainly would raise to $240 or just push it all-in.
Now comes the hard part. There are two hearts out there and a score of face cards will make a straight possible. However, at this point it is imperative to play scared and let him do the betting. If I push on the turn, he gets away from his bluff cheaply and I miss out on a lot of money. If he had a flush draw, a weak ace, some weird straight draw or something similar he would almost certainly just call the turn bet. He raised, so I need to convince him that a bet on the river will take it down.
I raised from under the gun before the flop, so I can easily represent something like: KK, JJ or KQs. Therefore, I let a few seconds slip by acting like I am contemplating if he has the ace or not.
He bites and fires again on the river and by allowing him to bluff I make $225 more than I would have had I pushed the turn.

I didn't learn how to fully utilize this kind of play until very late. It is pretty tough to allow a player to bluff, especially on a draw heavy board; but against Jamie Gold and Sammy Farha type players this is the way to get their money.
If you, like me, watch High Stakes poker, notice how many times even the best of players miss the opportunity to cash in on that final big bluff at the end, because they follow their natural instinct to protect their hand against an unpredictable aggressive player.

January 15th - Starting up a new year.

Bankroll: ~ $28.900
Monthly goal: $6.000
Monthly win: $1.700
Hands played: 2300

I made a new year's resolution to quit smoking. I kept it for about 5 hours...
Let's hope I can assert more discipline at the poker tables.

The two weeks of January have been stressful featuring two essays in my English studies. However, from now till February 1st I have no classes or homework, so I look forward to taking some time off and catching up on some poker.

I was up about $4.000 a week ago, but I have run into some bad beats these last few days and it has taken it's toll. It has not all been bad luck, I have also made some questionable plays.

KQ in the Big Blind: This hand has been bugging me for some time. The UTG limper had been playing wildly pushing me out of a few pots. I was thrilled when I finally flopped top pair and once I turned top two I couldn't let the hand go.

Overall I am very happy with how things are going. I plan to get in some hands before the end of the month and hopefully they will bring me to my goal of $6.000.
Cashing out here in Denmark is cakewalk. Three days or so after I cash out the money is in my bank account. I have been on the phone with the tax authorities and they say my winnings should be tax free. I can wait till I get my tax returns to be sure or I can write a letter for each of my individual cash outs to get a binding answer from the tax authorities.

January 3rd - End of 2007

Bankroll: ~ $32.250
Monthly goal: $4.000
Monthly win: $4.250
Hands played: 5000

I made my monthly goal in December, but just barely. At one point I was up over $7.000, but I dropped almost $3.000 while home on vacation. I played on Full Tilt, because I didn't dare log in to my Party account on an iffy computer. Without helping programs and a shaky bankroll it didn't go well.

January will provide ample time for playing, so I think I will set my goal at $6.000 for the month. I still have to turn in two essays, but I won't have any classes till February.

I don't really have a tally for the entire year of 2007, but I am sure it went well and I can't complain.

I got my address verified with Party as planned and I now enjoy being able to cash out my winnings tax-free in 3 days or so. This will certainly make my life financially a lot easier providing I keep earning money in 2008.

With the extra free time in January I hope to be able to update my blog more. I understand the frustration of checking a blog regularly only to find it abandoned. I have already played a few hands this month, but will save it for an update in a few days time.

December 11th - School, school, school.

Bankroll: ~ $30.000
Monthly goal: $4.000
Monthly win: $0
Hands played: 0

I have not played a hand since my last update, but although I do not have any results to update with, I thought too much time has gone by since my last post.

School has been very hectic lately. Every week features a new essay and a lot of reading, so I have not found any time for poker yet this month. However, I do hope to have some time around Christmas to get in some hands, so I'll aim to make another $4.000 this month.

Last month ended with $4.650, which I will put to good use :)

26th of November - Doing good.

Bankroll: ~ $30.000
Monthly goal: $4.000
Monthly win: $4.650
Hands played: 2500

Well it has indeed been some time since my last update. Schoolwork has been heavy lately but I have had time for the odd poker session.

My hand count is pretty low for the month, however I have played a a thousand hands or so at $5/$10 with a good win rate, so I have been able to exceed my goal for the month.

The games have been really good at Party Poker, which is the reason why I took a stab at $5/$10. I didn't get disappointed, there were plenty of fish throwing their money away.

Reaching $5.000 would be great. The Christmas month is always tough on the bank account and I wouldn't mind a paycheck come January. I am in no dire need of money, but most of my money is bound in interest accounts, so a new paycheck would be welcomed.

Schoolwork might get heavy again soon, although I am pretty much up-to-date presently. A few papers are due in December and January, so next month might get dry when it comes to poker.

November 7th - Keeping focus

Bankroll: ~ $25.000
Monthly win: $750
Hands played: 1300

In between homework and friends I have been able to sneak in two poker sessions this week. The first one went good and left me up about a grand. The second didn't go so well and I lost some of it back.

If I can keep up the current win rate throughout the month, I'll be more than happy.

I have not found poker to be a good pass time after homework. After doing homework I usually end up watching some TV or seek out some friends. School will definitely take its toll on my poker playing. On the other hand I feel that poker has trained me to focus and that helps me a lot in school. I have been playing 4+ tables for a couple of hours each day for the past two years. Suddenly sitting through a 45 minute class, even when boring, isn't an issue. Around me people are yawning and complaining about not getting anything out of lectures, while I just sit there and suck it in with no effort.

October 30th - Homework finished

I finished both my essays on time. They turned out OK, although I would have preferred a day more to work on the grammar and structure.

Needless to say, me and the rest of my class were quite relieved on Friday. So the weekend featured some partying.

I did play a decent session yesterday. I finished up winning a small amount, leaving me up about $400 this month. No fortune, but I'll take it. I do feel a bit rusty, but I also feel like I am quickly getting back to speed. This hand however didn't turn out to great:

88 in the Small Blind: My opponent in this hand had just suffered two big losses. One was an all-in where he had KK and ran into Aces. Anyway, I thought there was a strong possibility of tilt and didn't want to get bluffed. I don't think folding the flop is the right play, but by the turn I definitely should have picked up on his confidence, instead of focusing on the tilt factor.

That hand proved the most costly and it happened just a couple of orbits into the session. I am glad that I was able to put it behind me and work with my table image. Often one such bad judgment call can creep in and distract throughout a session.

Now I just need to verify my new address with Party Poker and grind a couple of hours every week. I feel confident that I can get to where I was some months ago and cash out a decent pay-check every month.

October 23rd - Heavy homework ahead

I have just booked a decent session again. I ended up a bit over a buy-in on $3/$6, putting me slightly in the positive for the month.

I have two essays to write this week. One on The Wife of Bath by Geoffrey Chaucer and the other a summary of The Story of English by Robert McCrum et al. This means that I am going to take the next week off from poker.

Thanks for the comments. To answer one of them I think it would be a great idea to post bankroll tallies and ongoing results. I am not going to run any kind of script though. My online bankroll currently is at about $25.000. With that kind of money at stake I keep strict security measures on all my online activities. Poker is tax-free here in Denmark and I have no qualms of posting numbers and results, but it will have to be entered manually. I'll try to feature a bankroll stat, a monthly earn rate and perhaps a monthly goal from next month onwards.

I still need to change my address with the poker sites I play at, I kind of set that as my goal for this month and I hope to keep it.

October 19th - Two decent wins

I have had two decent wins recently. I have played two session at $3/$6 at Party. I won about a buy-in each session, so I am down just under $900 for the month. It feels good to be winning again. My confidence is growing and I am finding my old rhythm again. Still sucks being down for the month though, but I can see clearer skies ahead again.

My birthday is coming up, I am turning 30. That kind of sucks, but hopefully the birthday party will be fun. I am really getting old and I feel a bit old too. We went to a Danish amusement park called Tivoli on Wednesday. The rides were scary and exhilarating. They made me feel a bit younger, be it only for a day.

October 14th - First real session

I took a real session today. It went very badly, putting me down about $2.200 for the month. I didn't bring my best game and I am sure it got worse after the first two beats.

I choose $2/$4 to start of easy. I guess I should be happy about my choice considering how bad it went. The games were good and I got a decent run of cards, but my good hands didn't hold up and my draws didn't get there.

I think I still played a winning game at those stakes. Sometimes the cards just won't let you win. Of the mistakes I made I think the biggest was opening 6 tables. If I want to start of slow I should limit my multi-tabling.

A9s from Under the Gun: If I were to play this hand again, I would just call his min-bets hoping to hit my flush. I was fairly certain he had a top pair weak kicker or mid pair type hand when he lead the flop.

I'll try to put the session behind me and get cracking on some homework. It kind of sucks to start out playing again, after losing $2.200. $3/$6 will probably be the highest I will play this month, so getting back into the positive will require some work.

October 10th - Study and poker

I have not played much since my last update. A couple of short sessions is all I have found time for and they have left me down about $300.

I am slowly getting settled here in Copenhagen. School is going well and I am adapting to my new work schedule. The work burden is quite heavy and there is not much time left for poker.

Autumn break is coming up next week. I do need to hand in two essays after the break, but I plan to start working on them as soon as I can muster up some discipline. Hopefully this will leave me more time for friends and poker during the holiday.

I am studying English and I hope writing this blog will help me improve my grammar and spelling. If you come across any mistakes feel free to leave a comment.

October 3rd - Back online.

Finally back online. I have been studying in Copenhagen since the start of September. I have mostly been staying with friends, while trying to get a place of my own. On October 1st I got a room in the dorm called Grønjordskollegiet. It is close to school, cheap and has a good internet connection.

My parents mailed me my computer and I just now got it assembled. Everything seems to be working, although the chassis looks like it took a blow or two.

I have got tons of homework for tomorrow. Poker will have to wait until I can find some spare time.