Sit N Go Update

I am supposed to be putting in a lot of volume in $11 sngs but that's obviously not going to be possible since I have a family and usually only start playing late at night.

I did play one $11 sng when I got home from work and made the money with a 4:1 lead over the other 2 players; but I had to leave to pick my daughter up from school so I just donkey shoved every hand regardless. Naturally I bust out in 3rd but this would have been a 1st place finish if I had enough time to play. Later in the evening, I did get a chance to play three sngs to my full potential.

So yesterdays summary is:

1 1st for $45
1 3rd for $18
2 4th for $0

ROI: 43.18%

Only 781 more sngs to go... woo hoo!

An update and my new project...

Wow, its been over a month since I last posted on my blog...

I have put in tons of volume in the micro/small stakes tourneys and have not had a decent cash in a long while. I'm in sort of a dry spell. I can make break even money but I consider that losing since I spent my time and energy to only make the minimum cash amount. Freerolling is better than losing I guess, but I play to make it to the FT and win. Hopefully I can pull one out of a hat soon because I am playing a larger variety of the ring game and have been running fairly well over the last month. I want to move up in level! LOL

I have mostly been mixing up my time on the .50/1.00 6H Limit, .10/.25 6H NLHE, and .10/.25 PLO. I also throw in a few sng matches here and there when I'm bored; but after reading some posts on the AP forums I may start taking sngs more seriously again.

I used to really focus on grinding $2 sngs to build me bankroll. I did ok and made a little money playing a TAG style. But after reading about ICM (Google it) and at the recommendation from some of the forumers, I took a small 10 sng sample size using ICM concepts and ran really hot this past weekend. Naturally, I played 5 sngs last night and only cashed in 1, but playing sngs and being profitable comes with the amount of volume you put in.

My goal is to get a quasi-decent sample size of $10+1 sngs and see what kind of ROI I can really generate. So including the 15 sngs I played in the past 2 days, my goal is to play 800 and calculate my ROI. According to the pros, 20% ROI is decent at the $10 sng level I play at, so if I hit the mark, after my 800 sngs I should have a profit of $1760. I like the sound of that.

So current ROI after 15 sngs = 52.72% Net profit = $87

I am going to commit to this project and try to play as often as possible. Hopefully I can stay focused and not get too distracted by mtts and cash games.

785 more sngs to play and $1673 to net to hit goal. I will post updates every couple days or so. Wish me luck!

I got PWNED!

He played me like a fiddle...

Table: CHARLOTTE DR (Real Money) Seat #6 is the dealer
Seat 6 - MIZZARK619 ($56.97 in chips)
Seat 4 - MAXNKEV ($68.38 in chips)
MIZZARK619 - Posts small blind $0.25
MAXNKEV - Posts big blind $0.50
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MIZZARK619 [5s 4s]
MIZZARK619 - Calls $0.25
MAXNKEV - Raises $1 to $1.50
MIZZARK619 - Calls $1
*** FLOP *** [Ah 7c Js]
MAXNKEV - Checks
MIZZARK619 - Bets $2
MAXNKEV - Calls $2
*** TURN *** [Ah 7c Js] [4d]
MAXNKEV - Checks
MIZZARK619 - Checks
*** RIVER *** [Ah 7c Js 4d] [4h]
MAXNKEV - Bets $7
MIZZARK619 - Raises $16 to $16
MAXNKEV - Raises $48 to $55
MIZZARK619 - All-In $37.47
MAXNKEV - returned ($1.53) : not called
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MAXNKEV - Shows [As Ac] (Full house, aces full of fours)
MIZZARK619 - Shows [5s 4s] (Three of a kind, fours)
MAXNKEV Collects $113.44 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($113.94) | Rake ($0.50)
Board [Ah 7c Js 4d 4h]

My only consolation is that only $20 of that money actually came out of my bankroll. It still hurt though to get owned, hahahaha.

I enjoyed my match with MAXNKEV though. He's a quality player and exactly the type of opponent I need to play against more often to improve my game. I can continue to stack off reckless young gun slingers but will never learn the true art of Heads Up NL Poker.

I am humble enough to say: Thanks for the lesson MAXNKEV. I will be more prepared the next time we meet.

Ship.

I hate the $1 Rebuy Tournament

For anyone who reads this blog, I just wanted to reiterate that I really hate the nightly $1 Rebuy Tournament. I have vowed many times that I would never play it again and what happens? I get bored and start playing it. Last night was once again, one of the biggest waste of times in my life, LOL.

I HATE THIS TOURNAMENT!

Alright... I feel better. Needed to get that out. It's just that I hate spending 3 hours to only win $6. Hahahahaha

I busted out in 12th when I opted to race my 99 against table chip leader's AKc. Naturally the King ball hits the river. I would have been top 5 in chips if I won the race. So I took 12th and the award for most time wasted trying to win a measly $250.

Never Again!

World Series of Absolute Poker: Event 13

So AP is having their own series of events to mimic the events going on in Las Vegas right now. Naturally the buyins are a lot cheaper and the fields are a fraction of the real WSOP. I played in my first WSAP event last night and did fairly well. Here are the results:



I gave it my all but in the end, my opponent totally tricked me, and crippled me when we were heads up for 1st place. Here are the final 2 hands played:

This is the hand that crippled me -
Stage #1202353937 Tourney ID 2018769 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $8000 - 2008-06-13 01:50:16 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #9 is the dealer
Seat 5 - VILLAIN($127088 in chips)
Seat 9 - MIZZARK619 ($165412 in chips)
VILLAIN - Ante $400
MIZZARK619 - Ante $400
MIZZARK619 - Posts small blind $4000
VILLAIN - Posts big blind $8000
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MIZZARK619 [Kh 4c]
MIZZARK619 - Raises $20000 to $24000
VILLAIN - Calls $16000
*** FLOP *** [6h 2s Kc]
VILLAIN - Checks
MIZZARK619 - Bets $48800
VILLAIN - All-In(Raise) $102688 to $102688
MIZZARK619 - Calls $53888
*** TURN *** [6h 2s Kc] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [6h 2s Kc 9c] [6d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
VILLAIN - Shows [Ac As] (Two Pair, aces and sixes)
MIZZARK619 - Shows [Kh 4c] (Two Pair, kings and sixes)
VILLAIN Collects $254176 from main pot

And then then knockout -

Stage #1202354650 Tourney ID 2018769 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $8000 - 2008-06-13 01:51:33 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #9 is the dealer
Seat 5 - VILLAIN($249776 in chips)
Seat 9 - MIZZARK619 ($42724 in chips)
VILLAIN - Ante $400
MIZZARK619 - Ante $400
MIZZARK619 - Posts small blind $4000
VILLAIN - Posts big blind $8000
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MIZZARK619 [9d Kh]
MIZZARK619 - Raises $20000 to $24000
VILLAIN - Raises $40000 to $48000
MIZZARK619 - All-In $18324
VILLAIN - returned ($5676) : not called
*** FLOP *** [5s 7h 6c]
*** TURN *** [5s 7h 6c] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [5s 7h 6c 2h] [5d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
VILLAIN - Shows [Ad Ks] (One pair, fives)
MIZZARK619 - Shows [9d Kh] (One pair, fives)
VILLAIN Collects $85448 from main pot

Tonight is the Heads-Up Championship of the WSAP. If I don't have any plans with the family, I may take a shot...

Until next time.

UFC 85: Bedlam

I love it when there are a lot of MMA events scheduled so close together... this is gonna be off the chizain! Don't miss it, June 7th on HD PPV.

Ship It

Definition from www.urbandictionary.com:

Ship It - Exclamation made after winning a big pot, i.e. in poker.

The nightly $5 $1500 Guaranteed tourney on Absolute Poker has been my nemesis. I always said that one day it would be mine...

All I can say now is: SHIP IT!

Micro NL Snap Off

Heads up NL poker is a game of feel and timing. Picking off a bluff is always a good feeling.

Stage #994330423: Holdem (1 on 1) No Limit $0.50 - 2008-05-31 23:21:24 (ET)
Table: FAIRBROOK CT (Real Money) Seat #6 is the dealer
Seat 6 - MIZZARK619 ($32.10 in chips)
Seat 4 - VILLAIN($24.90 in chips)
MIZZARK619 - Posts small blind $0.25
VILLAIN - Posts big blind $0.50
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MIZZARK619 [4s Js]
MIZZARK619 - Calls $0.25
VILLAIN - Raises $1 to $1.50
MIZZARK619 - Calls $1
*** FLOP *** [2h 9h 4d]
VILLAIN - Bets $1.50
MIZZARK619 - Raises $4 to $4
VILLAIN - Calls $2.50
*** TURN *** [2h 9h 4d] [7s]
VILLAIN - Checks
MIZZARK619 - Bets $11
VILLAIN - Calls $11
*** RIVER *** [2h 9h 4d 7s] [Ks]
VILLAIN - All-In $8.40
MIZZARK619 - Calls $8.40
*** SHOW DOWN ***
VILLAIN - Shows [8h Jh] (king high)
MIZZARK619 - Shows [4s Js] (One pair, fours)
MIZZARK619 Collects $49.30 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($49.80) | Rake ($0.50)
Board [2h 9h 4d 7s Ks]
Seat 4: VILLAIN (big blind) HI:lost with king high [8h Jh]
Seat 6: MIZZARK619 (dealer) (small blind) won Total ($49.30) HI:($49.30) with One pair, fours [4s Js]

MMA Weekend - Don't Miss it!

Thursday Results

I played a lot of poker yesterday. I think I got in a really good mix of a little bit of everything: sit n gos, ring game, and tourney play. I had positive results booking +$160 to the bankroll when all was said and done.

I have noticed as of late that there is A LOT of overlay in the AP guaranteed tournaments. Basically this means AP guarantees a certain sized prize pool based on the assumption enough players will play the tournament to at least meet the guaranteed amount. An overlay occurs when not enough players sign up and AP has to cover the difference.

So for example: AP runs a daily $100 buy-in tourney that is a $10k guaranteed tourney. Last night only about 72 players signed up to play which only equals $7.2k. This means AP had to come up with the additional $2.8k to make it a 10k guaranteed. This is very good for the players as they have the opportunity to make more money in a smaller field. I almost bought into this tourney last night but the competition looked pretty stiff. There were a lot of TLB (Tournament Leader Board) players registered, obviously since the overlay was so huge. If I can increase my bankroll a bit, I may give this tourney a try.

Hmmm... if I start playing $100 buy-in tourneys, I will have to change the name of my blog from Micro Stakes to Low Stakes. Hahahaha!

Until next time, ship!

Learning to like HU NL Poker

As of recent, I have been testing the waters with NL Heads Up poker. I have had mostly positive results and am beginning to identify players who play pretty weak. Not to say I am really good, but its obvious when I am up against a weaker player. I will continue to hone my skills and hopefully someday I will be as good as my HU NL idol: PeopleMover.

Here is an example of a hand I felt I played well. I was stuck against this opponent when on a previous hand he called off about $18 with a weak flush draw with one card to come. Of course the river was a spade to make his flush. Anyhow, revenge is sweet, LOL.

Table: PENNSYLVANIA ST (Real Money) Seat #6 is the dealer
Seat 6 - VILLAIN ($28.87 in chips)
Seat 4 - MIZZARK619 ($31.88 in chips)
VILLAIN - Posts small blind $0.25
MIZZARK619 - Posts big blind $0.50
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MIZZARK619 [Kd 7s]
VILLAIN - Calls $0.25
MIZZARK619 - Checks
*** FLOP *** [7c 4c Ah]
MIZZARK619 - Checks
VILLAIN - Bets $2
MIZZARK619 - Calls $2
*** TURN *** [7c 4c Ah] [7d]
MIZZARK619 - Checks
VILLAIN - Bets $2
MIZZARK619 - Raises $7 to $7
VILLAIN - Calls $5
*** RIVER *** [7c 4c Ah 7d] [Kc]
MIZZARK619 - Bets $8
VILLAIN - Calls $8
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MIZZARK619 - Shows [Kd 7s] (Full house, sevens full of kings)
VILLAIN - Mucks
MIZZARK619 Collects $34.50 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($35) | Rake ($0.50)
Board [7c 4c Ah 7d Kc]
Seat 4: MIZZARK619 (big blind) won Total ($34.50) HI:($34.50) with Full house, sevens full of kings [Kd 7s - P:7s,B:7d,B:7c,P:Kd,B:Kc]
Seat 6: VILLAIN (dealer) (small blind) HI: [Mucked] [Ac 3d]

I really liked my turn raise because I think it disguised my hand. I think a standard play is to raise the turn when on a draw which is what he possibly thought I was on. Even though the flush draw got there on the river, I stalled before betting for value. I was surprised to see he called my value bet with such a weak holding. I think that was the result of my constant pressure on him throughout our entire session. He quit me when I stacked him and had taken another $12 or so from him after he rebought in.

I am still buying into these HU sessions short, obviously because I am still learning the game. Hopefully in the next couple months, if I can continue to see positive results, I will begin to make full buy-ins($100) and continue to have +EV sessions.

Super Stack Tourney

I feel that I played very well in this tourney. I think I could have played a little loser so it wouldn't have been so obvious when I had made huge hands. It was tough to get paid off. But I was able to make another FINAL TABLE which is really exciting for me. It seems that if I stay focused and don't let myself get frustrated by the cards, I tend to do very well. Ironically, after being SO patient the entire tourney, I decide to move all-in at the Final Table with a hand I hate to play: Ace Jack offsuit. Naturally, 2nd chip leader wakes up with pocket Kings and I can't hit an A or some type of draw to save my tournament life.

GG me.

Back 2 Back

I played a lot of poker this evening. I dabbled in some Heads Up NL Holdem at the 25c/50c level and ran very well against two separate opponents. I was able to book a plus $95 session. I was also interested in playing the nightly $5+.50 $1500 Guaranteed tournament. I did very well in this tourney but got super lucky in a few key spots that allowed me to go deep in the tourney.

This evening marks the first time I have gone back to back in making final tables. Another milestone in my poker career. I took 5th after my KQd fell short to AJh. 5th place was good for about $80.

Until next time.

Its been a long time...

...Since I have posted on my blog. I have not had much to report in the past couple of months. Ever since I made some final tables to boost my confidence and my bankroll, it seemed like I had hit a brick wall. I either started playing really bad or started getting really unlucky. Who knows...

I am normally not a superstitious type of person but the "cash out curse" came to mind. This is the urban legend in the poker community that states if you win and either withdraw your winnings or transfer them elsewhere, you will become a losing player. The funny thing is, after I had transferred $100 to Ultimate Bet, everything went downhill. Since then, my Ultimate Bet bankroll has been since long gone and my bankroll on Absolute Poker had dwindled down to almost nothing.

I actually took a break and instead of running home to play as many tourneys as possible, I went on a fitness kick. I have changed the way I eat and now exercise on a regular basis. I have lost 15 lbs in two months and I feel physically and mentally stronger than I have in a long while. I think this has cleared my head a bit and brought me back to my winning ways. I have started to grind out more $2 sit n gos and have found a revitalized success. I built my bankroll up a bit in the past couple weeks, feeling like I have been playing some my best poker. So last night I decided to take a shot at a tourney I have only played a few times but have cashed in every single time I have played it. Yes... it was a little out of my bankroll range but I have been running high on confidence as of late so I did not doubt that I could at least make the money.

I did more than that. Last night I hit the biggest cash of my micro stakes poker career. Hopefully with a rebolstered bankroll and a new energized passion for the game, I will have more to post for the few of you that have stumbled onto my little blog.

Ship.

Set over Set is killing me!

I have been running extremely bad as of late, especially on UB. It seems UB has turned on the doom switch for my account. I am continuously getting coolered left and right with set over set beats. Believe me, I can handle the beats. I have been playing micro stakes poker for almost 3 years now and have every type of beat at my level of play. It can be truly sick. But lately I have been getting crushed by top set. I haven't seen it like this before. I must be on a huge variance downswing. I am going to take a couple of days off and get my head straight. I take pride in being almost untiltable, but lately, my patience is wearing thin. I am going to take a step back and breath a little before jumping back into the micro mtt grind.

I am planning on heading out to the casino this Saturday for a day of low buy in donkaments and 1/2 ring game. Hopefully my live game fares a lot better than me online game.

Ship.

AP and UB $1500 Guarantees

I was only able to play 2 tournaments last night: the AP and UB $1500 guaranteed. I played very well in the UB tournament but lost a key race that would have put me about 4th/5th in chips with 18 left. I came over the top of an early position standard raise by one of the tourney chip leaders. I shoved with AcQc and he tanked a bit before calling off about 1/2 his stack with 99. The flop pretty much sealed my fate when he hit another 9 and I missed any possible redraws; essentially drawing dead on the turn. I finished 18th.

In the AP tournament, being card dead and having 2 solid players at my table for the first 2 hours made it very difficult to move up the ladder. I was able to maintain an above average chip stack for the majority of my time in the tourney but ended up losing a flip with AK vs 66 and ended up finishing somewhere in the 60s.

Hardly Played this Weekend

Well, as usual I had planned on playing a ton of mtts and make a ton of final tables, haha. I hardly played at all. The online poker highlight of my weekend was shipping 2 multi-table sngs Saturday morning: $2 3-table and $5 5-table. Otherwise I only played the AP $1500 last night but was too tired to care how well I did. I think I went out somewhere in the 50s when it paid to 45th place.

The wife has class tonight and me and the kid will be home alone till late. So that means multiple low limit donkaments tonight! I'm due for a final table. I am excited to see if I can make more than 1 in the same night for the first time.

Wish me luck!

Haven't posted in a while...

Not much going on lately. A lot of mtts, nothing special to report. Still continueing to cash on a regular basis but no final tables as of late. I have also moved up to the $5 sngs where I have been running ok. Its hit or miss. I plan on playing a lot of poker this weekend. Hopefully I will have something worthy to recap on Monday.

Peace out!

If anyone reads this at all, hahaha...

Playing and Running like Crap

All the tourneys I have played as of late have been horrible. I need to buckle down and focus. I am going to concentrate tonight and play all the... oh wait. Tonight is Survivor. Ok... well that means I will be able to only take a shot at the $1500 guaranteed tourneys on AP and UB that start later in the evening. I may even take a shot at the $1k rebuys on both sites as well.

I did run pretty well in some SNGs last night. I was ON +ILT due to running bad in some Limit Holdem ring game on UB, so I played 6 full table $2 SNGs on AP. I forgot how much fun 6 tabling was. Anyhow, the results were: 2 bust outs, 2 seconds, 1 third, and 1 first.

Wish me luck in the micro donkaments tonight!

LOL Bountyaments

Was able to freeroll this $6+.50 buyin Bounty tourney. Too bad I didn't make the final table... finished 17th. It's funny how UB includes the names of the players in the deposit info to your accountyou knock out, obviously so you can brag about it. Hahaha!

Standard Showdown: Rockets vs. Cowboys

I played two tournaments on AP last night: The $2 freeze out and the $25 $6.5k guaranteed. The $2 tourney had its typical 450 or so entrants. I played very well in the opening rounds but wasn't able to keep my momemtum moving in the right direction. Once we were in the money (ITM) I went completely card dead and spewed a lot of chips trying to make some plays. Ultimately, I busted out in 41st place allowing me to break even.

I also played the $25 $6500 guaranteed tourney. This was only my 3rd attempt at this tourney and was my 3rd consecutive cash playing it. I was a little nervous because I was expecting the play to be tougher than my usual $2 or $5 buy-in tourney. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't. I won some key races in the middle to later rounds and soon found myself 7th in chips with 21 players remaining. I really felt confident that if I didn't get unlucky, I was final tabling this tourney for sure.

Well, from the title of this post, I'm sure you know what my bust out hand was:

Stage #1087799751 Tourney ID 1963069 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $1200 - 2008-02-12 02:59:31 (ET)
Table: 11 (Real Money) Seat #9 is the dealer
Seat 2 - MIZZARK619 ($19470 in chips)
Seat 3 - MISTERKUP ($8430 in chips)
Seat 4 - HERE2GRIND ($16135 in chips)
Seat 5 - DRAWINGDEADD ($69740 in chips)
Seat 6 - IJACKURSTACK ($14706.50 in chips)
Seat 8 - MIKEFOXTROT ($30120 in chips)
Seat 9 - GECKOJR ($25580 in chips)
MIZZARK619 - Ante $100
MISTERKUP - Ante $100
HERE2GRIND - Ante $100
DRAWINGDEADD - Ante $100
IJACKURSTACK - Ante $100
MIKEFOXTROT - Ante $100
GECKOJR - Ante $100
MIZZARK619 - Posts small blind $600
MISTERKUP - Posts big blind $1200
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MIZZARK619 [Ks Kc]
HERE2GRIND - Folds
DRAWINGDEADD - Folds
IJACKURSTACK - Folds
MIKEFOXTROT - Raises $3600 to $3600
GECKOJR - Folds
MIZZARK619 - All-In(Raise) $18770 to $19370
MISTERKUP - Folds
MIKEFOXTROT - Calls $15770
*** FLOP *** [4s 8d 10d]
*** TURN *** [4s 8d 10d] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [4s 8d 10d 6s] [5d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MIZZARK619 - Shows [Ks Kc] (One pair, kings)
MIKEFOXTROT - Shows [As Ac] (One pair, aces)
MIKEFOXTROT Collects $40640 from main pot

Weekend Report: 2 more cashes including another FINAL TABLE

I didn't get to play half the tourneys I wanted to play this weekend but out of the 3 tourneys I did play, I got deep/cashed in 2. Friday night I finished 13th in the Absolute Poker nightly $1500 guaranteed tourney. Last night I finished 5th in the Ultimate Bet $1500 guaranteed BOUNTY tourney. The UB tourney has a little bit more added incentive since you get a $1 for knocking out other players; got 4 under my belt, haha. Anyhow, I always forget to include screen shots but here is one of the UB lobby after I busted out:

Too Tired...

Ok, I swore I was going to have my own little mtt marathon last night but I was too tired to play. All I did was a little Limit ring game and a few freerolls. I did play a $2 Bounty tourney on UB but majorly donked out because I was focusing on my 3 freerolls and the ring game, LOL. The night was +EV but I plan on really focusing on some tourneys tonig....

Dang it. Tonight is the seriers Premier of Survivor and the Celebrity Apprentice comes on right afterwards. Maybe I won't be playing a ton of mtts tonight. Hahah!

2 Final Tables = Boost to the Bankroll

I have been playing a lot of nightly tournaments and running very well as of late. A few nights ago, I ended up taking 2nd in the $1500 guaranteed tourney; my best finish to date. The next night, I played a small $5 buy-in tourney that had about 120 or so players; I took 3rd. I have also been taking shots at the $1 ($1k guarantee) and $3 ($8k guarantee) rebuy tourneys. These have very good value if you can run well and not commit a large amount of money; I cashed in the $1 a few times.

Since I basically more than doubled my bankroll, I have decided to make a transfer to AP's sister site, Ultimate Bet (UB). So we'll see how I start running on UB. Going to play maybe 4-6 tourneys tonight, hopefully I will have some positive results to post.

Wish me Luck!

SNG Fun

It's been awhile since I committed an evening session to just playing single table sit n' go tournaments (sngs). Instead of playing my usual nightly tourneys, I opted to play 3 sngs last night; of the $2+.40 variety. Although these were played simultaneously, I will just recap them one by one.

SNG #1: VERY first hand, I get dealt AA in SB. It limps to MP who raises to $100 (level 1 blinds are 10/20). It folds to me and I made it like $450 to go. It folded back to the orginal raiser who just flat called. The flop came something like Q 2 6, rainbow. He led out for 1/2 his remaining stack and I moved all in. He called with pocket TT??? I guess he put me on AK or something like that. So I doubled the very first hand. From there, I played my usual tight aggressive game (TAG). When we were 5 handed, I had about a $4500 stack (starting is $1500) and continuously put pressure on the short stacks. When they were in the blinds, I kept raising or moving all in with marginals hands. Eventually when we got to HU, we were even stacked and played a somewhat marathon HU battle. I ended up taking 1st when I raised pre with Jh6h. The flop came 2 hearts and the turn brought a gut shot straight draw. My opponent led the turn and I flatted to see another heart come on the river, the Ace of hearts. He checked to me and I stalled before moving all in. He insta-called me and my flush was good enough to take it down.

SNG #2: I got really unlucky in this table. I picked up KK in MP at about the 3rd or 4th hand of the tourney. I had taken down the first two pots, so I was up about $400 or so. I ended up getting it all in pre with my Kings and some donkey calls me with ATo. Of course he rivers the Ace and I get crippled to a micro-stack. I was actually able to double up with AQ vs AJ, but still found myself really short when the blinds were up to 50/100. I ended up pushing with pocket TT and lost the race to AJ when a Jack hit the turn.

SNG #3: I was ridiculously card dead in this tourney, except for the very first hand, I was dealt QQ in the BB. About half the table limped and I raised it to $150 to go and got 2 callers. The flop came Ace high so I just folded to any bet. Someone scooped the pot with AT I think. Anyhow, this was a particularly boring and uneventful sng. I was surprised to make it to 3 handed(which is in the money) and even more surprised to make it to HU without really playing that many hands, if any. It was ridiculous though. HU, I only had about $880 in chips. My opponent had the rest; which is about $12k. I fought back, moving all in every hand. I got lucky a few times and got my stack back to about $3k. I think I ended up shoving with a medium pocket pair and he called with a decent hand like AJ. He flopped the Ace of course and I took 2nd place. Not bad since I didn't get many playable hands the entire tourney.

Next time I will post some hands and screen caps. Until then...

Broke My Rule

Ok, ok. I broke my rule. I said I wouldn't play anymore cash, but last night my buddy M4NT1S was 2 tabling the .05/.10 NL game and I was compelled to sit down. I bought in for the minimum which is $4 and played a very loose game. Ironically, a few orbits later, M4NT1S had to sit out to go eat dinner; which sucked since he was the only reason I was playing. But while he is gone, I took down a few miscellaneous pots and was able to increase my stack up to about $7.50 or so. That's when I picked up KdQd in the SB. There were probably about 5 limpers by the time it got to me, so I decided to put in a standard raise and make it .30 to go. Everyone that limped called. The flop came down something like Th 5s 7s. I continuation bet for .30 and got 1 caller, his name is MOTELREBRK. The turn was the 9h. So we're HU on the turn and there's two flush draws out there. Figured I would continuation bet and try to take this hand away on the river. I bet .30 and MOTELREBRK min-raised it to .60. I figured he hit the 9 or was on a flush draw. I myself picked up the gut shot straight draw on the turn. The river was my money card, the Jc. I hade made my straight and both flush draws missed. I figured I would make it look like missed a flush draw, even though I had the nuts. I let me timer run down and shoved all in figuring he might call if he thought I had nothing. I got lucky and MOTELREBRK had a set of nines, which was a pretty big hand. He called and doubled me up to over $15. I played a few more hands and then got up. Its nice to run good once in awhile.

A Good and Bad Weekend

First the Bad: My San Diego Chargers were not able to pull off the upset win against the undefeated New England Patriots. The Chargers offense was really banged up, and it showed when we couldn't turn 4 trips into the red zone into touchdowns. Missing Tomlinson really took away a major threat on the ground and in the short range passing territory. My hat's off to New England though. They played well and did their job. There's always next year...

The Good: During the Charger game, I opted to buy into a $3k guaranteed tourney on Absolute Poker. It had just over 800 players so the prize pool was much more than the guarantee. I was very card dead in the early rounds but picked up some momentum in the mid to late rounds when I was able to continuously double up against big stacks and hold up against little stacks. My skill(luck) allowed me to maintain a close to avgerage stack the entire tourney. I made it all the way to the final two tables and when we were down to 12 players, I found myself with a decision. I had about a 38k stack and was in the BB with KQ. The tourney chip leader was OTB and raised enough to force me to call all in if I wanted to play my hand. Now I expected this. He had been playing extremely laggy and showed down some very weak hands. I felt he was just trying to get me to fold, so I made the call confidently. I was happy to see that I had him crushed whith his measely 78 unsuited. Unfortunately for me, he got lucky and hit 2 pair to knock me out in 12th place. I just missed the Final Table once again by just 3 players. Oh well, the payout was somewhat decent as it was 6x the buy-in.

Until next time...

OMG... I can't wait...

San Diego is a huge underdog.

But anything can happen, on any given Sunday.

Almost back to back final tables

I didn't play much last night. I was a really tired from the night before when I FT'd the $5 tourney so I figured I would look for an early tourney so I could catch up on some ZZZs. When I logged on, the $2 tourney was starting. Perfect! These donkaments are perfect practice for me. The payouts aren't much, but they allow me to try new things when playing a mtt. I was lucky to pick up some big hands early, and found myself in the top 20 in chips for the majority of the first half of the tourney. As we approached the bubble, I found myself very card dead and tried to make some plays that made me bleed off a lot of chips. Once in the money, I just kept shoving my stack all in with marginal hands like AQ, AJ, and small pocket pairs. I was able to survive long enough to cash out in 14th place. Only 5 spots away from back to back final tables. Darn it! So close.

$5 Donkament

I made another final table last night... Woo-hoo! I was pretty much card dead and had barely enough chips to meet the average stack size. But as the bubble neared, I knew I was going to have to start gambling a bit if I was going to make it deep. I doubled twice in a relatively short period of time first with AK all in from UTG and got called by AJ; I flopped the king. The other was a race between my pocket 6s vs. AK suited. After the 2nd double up, I was up to about 15k in chips and the bubble had just popped.

From there it was pretty standard until we made the FT. I was about 3rd or 4th in chips but was still only about 10 to 11 BBs deep. The blinds were HUGE! Anyhow, the player to my immediate left was really aggressive and was raising every single time it folded around to us in the blinds. For about 4 orbits he did this, until this hand came along:

Stage #1056116410 Tourney ID 1947768 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $6000 - 2008-01-16 05:09:23 (ET)Table: 4 (Real Money)
Seat #1 is the dealer
Seat 1 - DRUMMAN69 ($34219.94 in chips)
Seat 2 - MIZZARK619 ($67468.58 in chips)
Seat 4 - BOOZULOOSE ($82384.78 in chips)
Seat 5 - MDD02 ($49390 in chips)
Seat 6 - DOUBLE_KYAN ($143978 in chips)
Seat 8 - MALAMMUTE ($61360.70 in chips)
Seat 9 - MIKE2121 ($41198 in chips)
DRUMMAN69 - Ante $300
MIZZARK619 - Ante $300
BOOZULOOSE - Ante $300
MDD02 - Ante $300
DOUBLE_KYAN - Ante $300
MALAMMUTE - Ante $300
MIKE2121 - Ante $300
MIZZARK619 - Posts small blind $3000
BOOZULOOSE - Posts big blind $6000
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MIZZARK619 [3d 3h]
MDD02 - Folds
DOUBLE_KYAN - Folds
MALAMMUTE - Folds
MIKE2121 - Folds
DRUMMAN69 - Folds
MIZZARK619 - Calls $3000
BOOZULOOSE - Raises $30000 to $36000
MIZZARK619 - All-In(Raise) $61168.58 to $67168.58
BOOZULOOSE - Calls $31168.58
*** FLOP *** [4h 8s 10s]
*** TURN *** [4h 8s 10s] [Ks]
*** RIVER *** [4h 8s 10s Ks] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MIZZARK619 - Shows [3d 3h] (One pair, threes)
BOOZULOOSE - Shows [Jd 9h] (Straight, seven to jack)
BOOZULOOSE Collects $136437.16 from main pot

Unfortunately, he had a lot of outs and hit one on the river. GG me.

Finished in 7th.

Chargers 28 Colts 24

NEW ENGLAND, THE LIGHTENING IS COMING...

Recap

I played three tourneys yesterday. I played the daily $2 which is usually a prize pool of about $700, the $5 $1500 guaranteed, and the $1 re-buy $1000 guaranteed. I didn't do too well in the $2 tourney. I didn't get many decent starting hands and everytime I tried to make a play, someone else came over the top of me. I just couldn't get any momentum going and it didn't help to be card dead. I basically busted out before the first break, which is the first hour of play.

The $5 tourney went a little bit better but really not that much more. I did make the money, but cashed out for the minimum. I think I was playing too tight in this tourney as I couldn't maximize the value on my monster hands and lost a lot of chips on my marginal hands. Sometimes I figure making the money is better than busting out for $0, but I have been playing well lately and need to start really focusing on making it deep to the last 2 tables at the minimum. I need to change my mentality that I am always going deep and that making the final table is ALWAYS a possibility. Just getting into the money is no longer the enough.

Anyhow... I usually don't play these tourneys on a work night, but I did play the $1 rebuy tourney. Typically I commit about $4 to $6 on this tourney buy I really wasn't that motivated to play to I decided to commit only $1. I decided no rebuys or addons. I played very well and won some key races which allowed me to chip up to about 15k in chips which was about the average. One of the main reasons i don't play rebuy tourneys during the week is that they take SO LONG! There are so many chips in play that it takes forever to eliminate players. I literally played about 3.5 hours and didn't even make it into the money. This tourney paid the top 36 and I busted out somewhere in the 60s. So lame, and such a waste of time. Never again will I play one of these during the week.

I hope this will be a good weekend for me. I am still looking to take down my first multi-table tourney. I am still waiting to make that one post every poker player hopes to make... hopefully soon; sooner than later. LOL

San Diego Super Chargers

Well, its Friday before playoff weekend and I am super pumped. I am confident that my Chargers will show up in Indy and put on a display of perfect offense and smash mouth defense. We got lucky in our first meeting with the Colts this year, indeed, VERY LUCKY. Some people say that it is almost impossible to beat a team, especially like the Colts, 3 times in a row. The odds makers have San Diego as a 9 point underdog... so what's new? When we win, this won't be considered a suck out victory. We are going to march into Indy and the score will show that we are STILL the team to beat in the AFC. Go Chargers!

My only other hope is that the Jags win over the Pats on Saturday so that we get to play the conference championship back here in good ol' San Diego.

Chargers FTW!!!

Took 6th after another blunder...

I MADE ANOTHER FINAL TABLE!!! Woo-hoo!
(slowly fade in background music: The Final Countdown)

First things first. As the title of my blog states, I am a micro stakes player. So yes, this tourney in particular was a whopping $2 buyin. Here is a screen shot of the payouts, # of players, etc. This was a combination of playing well and running well. I was crippled very early in the tourney when I couldn't let go of top pair and my opponent slow played a turned nut flush. I basically had to fight my way back and ended up being in the top 20 chip leaders for the remainder of the tourney about 2-1/2 hours in. Granted I was blessed with AA, KK, and QQ on more than one occassion, I played my blinds well and showed excellent pre-flop aggression to take down built up pre-flop pots. All in all, I am very happy to have made another final table but I am NOT happy with my play once I got there. I was currently 3rd in chips with 6 left and made this horrible blunder:

Stage #1047642744 Tourney ID 1944412 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $4000 - 2008-01-09 02:13:24 (ET)
Seat #2 is the dealer
Seat 2 - MAERICKS21 ($87840 in chips)
Seat 4 - XALHX ($20292.50 in chips)
Seat 6 - MIZZARK619 ($58005 in chips)
Seat 7 - JUICYDUECY ($101132.50 in chips)
Seat 8 - MUD SHARK ($33720 in chips)
Seat 9 - SPOAD ($222510 in chips)
MAERICKS21 - Ante $200
XALHX - Ante $200
MIZZARK619 - Ante $200
JUICYDUECY - Ante $200
MUD SHARK - Ante $200
SPOAD - Ante $200
XALHX - Posts small blind $2000
MIZZARK619 - Posts big blind $4000
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MIZZARK619 [Kh 10c]
JUICYDUECY - Folds
MUD SHARK - Calls $4000
SPOAD - Folds
MAERICKS21 - Folds
XALHX - Folds
MIZZARK619 - Checks
*** FLOP *** [10d 4c 6c]
MIZZARK619 - Checks
MUD SHARK - Checks
*** TURN *** [10d 4c 6c] [5d]
MIZZARK619 - Bets $8000
MUD SHARK - All-In(Raise)
$29520 to $29520
MIZZARK619 - Calls $21520
*** RIVER *** [10d 4c 6c 5d] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MIZZARK619 - Shows [Kh 10c] (One pair, tens)
MUD SHARK - Shows [5c 5h] (Three of a kind, fives)
MUD SHARK Collects $70240 from main pot

This particular hand really upset me because I KNEW he had a SET when he raised all in. What other hand could he be holding after he limped in from UTG and shoves when the 5 hits the board? I should have folded. My instincts told me to fold. But I convinced myself of something that was not there. I told myself he "could" be on the flush draw. Sometimes I just can't fold...

A few hands after this, I put myself at risk with a measly KQo from the button. I figured I had enough fold equity to convince both players in the blinds to just fold. I guessed wrong. I got called by As2s and found myself way behind. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

MADE ANOTHER FINAL TABLE!

And I took.... 9th. Bummer. Just kidding, I am happy to have made it to another FT. I got really lucky in a few spots to get me there, and I guess I used up all my luck because I got sucked out on at the FT.

I have complained about other players hitting 2 outters on me and getting really lucky. Well, I guess I can't complain anymore.

Check out this 1 outter that kept me alive:

Stage #1041436910 Tourney ID 1942098 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $1200 - 2008-01-04 03:54:22 (ET)Table: 49 (Real Money)

Seat #8 is the dealerSeat 1 - KETCHUP57 ($21570 in chips)
Seat 2 - SLIVOVITZ ($20910 in chips)
Seat 3 - DALEMOUTHLEE ($45124.50 in chips)
Seat 4 - MIZZARK619 ($6260.32 in chips)
Seat 5 - BILLINGSBEAV ($49124 in chips)
Seat 6 - GHONDON ($11983 in chips)
Seat 7 - HELLBOUND47 ($36996 in chips)
Seat 8 - ALCREWINC ($37081 in chips)
KETCHUP57 - Ante $100
SLIVOVITZ - Ante $100
DALEMOUTHLEE - Ante $100
MIZZARK619 - Ante $100
BILLINGSBEAV - Ante $100
GHONDON - Ante $100
HELLBOUND47 - Ante $100
ALCREWINC - Ante $100
KETCHUP57 - Posts small blind $600
SLIVOVITZ - Posts big blind $1200
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MIZZARK619 [6c 6s]
DALEMOUTHLEE - Raises $3600 to $3600
MIZZARK619 - All-In(Raise) $6160.32 to $6160.32
BILLINGSBEAV - Folds
GHONDON - Folds
HELLBOUND47 - Folds
ALCREWINC - Folds
KETCHUP57 - Folds
SLIVOVITZ - Folds
DALEMOUTHLEE - Calls $2560.32
*** FLOP *** [Jh 9h Qc]
*** TURN *** [Jh 9h Qc] [3h]
*** RIVER *** [Jh 9h Qc 3h] [6d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DALEMOUTHLEE - Shows [8h 8d] (One pair, eights)
MIZZARK619 - Shows [6c 6s] (Three of a kind, sixes) MIZZARK619 Collects $14920.64 from main pot

Pretty unbelievable. I think that's my first time for the 1 outter. But once we made the final table, this hand sealed my fate:

Stage #1041452282 Tourney ID 1942098 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $2400 - 2008-01-04 04:29:36 (ET)Table: 39 (Real Money)
Seat #8 is the dealerSeat 1 - BILLINGSBEAV ($109629.60 in chips)
Seat 2 - GUNNEY5 ($52558 in chips)
Seat 3 - SEADTICA ($98836.84 in chips)
Seat 4 - BULLITTWOLF ($4230 in chips)
Seat 5 - AAATEMO ($45347.20 in chips)
Seat 6 - MIZZARK619 ($30281.44 in chips)
Seat 7 - RAZOR777777 ($56649 in chips)
Seat 8 - HELLBOUND47 ($131877 in chips)
Seat 9 - ALCREWINC ($30090.92 in chips)
BILLINGSBEAV - Ante $150
GUNNEY5 - Ante $150
SEADTICA - Ante $150
BULLITTWOLF - Ante $150
AAATEMO - Ante $150
MIZZARK619 - Ante $150
RAZOR777777 - Ante $150
HELLBOUND47 - Ante $150
ALCREWINC - Ante $150
ALCREWINC - Posts small blind $1200
BILLINGSBEAV - Posts big blind $2400
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MIZZARK619 [Qs As]
GUNNEY5 - Calls $2400
SEADTICA - Folds
BULLITTWOLF - Folds
AAATEMO - Folds
MIZZARK619 - Calls $2400
RAZOR777777 - Calls $2400
HELLBOUND47 - Raises $7200 to $7200
ALCREWINC - Folds
BILLINGSBEAV - Folds
GUNNEY5 - Folds
MIZZARK619 - Calls $4800
RAZOR777777 - Calls $4800
*** FLOP *** [5h Qd 6h]
MIZZARK619 - All-In $22931.44
RAZOR777777 - Calls $22931.44
HELLBOUND47 - Folds
*** TURN *** [5h Qd 6h] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [5h Qd 6h 7c] [Kd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MIZZARK619 - Shows [Qs As] (One pair, queens)
RAZOR777777 - Shows [Kh Jh] (One pair, kings)
RAZOR777777 Collects $74812.88 from main pot

And I finish 9th. There's always tomorrow. Soon I WILL be posting a 1st place finish for some decent coin. Until then...

2008 Really Sucks So Far

Happy New Year! Or so I thought...

I feel like I have been playing ok as of late, not great, but just ok. I have been running really bad and all my opponents have been running really good. I don't keep stats or anything, but it seems like I have been losing alot to 2 outters lately. Granted I get my money all in pre-flop with a hand like AK or AQ which is basically a 6 outter, I really hate it when the 2 outters hit against me.

I'm supposed to be the lucky one, not my opponents. LOL Hopefully I can turn this around. I have been consistently cashing in tourneys, but slightly better than break even money isn't going to help my bankroll much. I really want to improve my game so I don't have to worry about shoving 15BBs with AK/AQ in the later rounds of a tourney. I am putting my foot down. As of today, no more donkey play. I am going to FOCUS on my tourney play and you WILL see a post in the next few days titled: MADE ANOTHER FINAL TABLE AND TOOK IT DOWN FOR 1st Place!