Monday, July 27, 2009

Missing Out On Money

Well, I have decided to stop being a little girl and start playing the 180's. I have always been turned away from the 180's because of the variance but you know what who cares. I think I will be pretty +ev and already have a pretty good knowledge for push shove decisions so it shouldn't be that much of an adjustment. I have already started studying some HH so it should only be a matter of time before I start hopping in those games. I just see players like jontsef crushing these games and I know he is pretty good but at the same time, I think I will be alright at these games and probably just throwing away free money. Hopefully this will also increase my ROI and hourly which will be nice. I just will need to suck it up and play through the swings.

I guess even though the money in my stars account does not contribute to my life roll I am still kind of nitty. This is kind of bad because I remember Assassinato saying when you don't have that big of a bankroll you can be kind of wreckless and when you have a bigger roll you want to protect it. I am still trying to run my bankroll up so I think I have it padded enough to take the variance. The plan for now will be to finish out the month playing the 45's then next month load in the 180's as I am playing.

I have kind of cooled down poker wise. I was running pretty hot at the beginnning of the month and now running just ok. Can't complain much because I am just sitting at home clicking buttons on a computer making money but oh well. Hopefully I can finish off strong and get started on my new challenge, pwning the 180's.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Everyday Struggle

"Im livin everyday like a hustle, another drug to juggle. Another day, another struggle!"
-Notorious B.I.G-

So I am pretty pissed off at myself right now because it feels like I haven't played an SNG in a couple of days. I can contribute this to a couple of things but I will just talk about what I have been up to lately.

On Friday I ended up going to the horse races with some coworkers. It was the first time I have seen it live and I definitely have a new outlook on horse racing. The people there are pretty funny just degenning it up betting on an animal to win. I just don't see how people can do it. It's weird because I just don't figure out how you can bet on an animal. Like I mean when you bet on sports they are actual people, they do interviews show so you think you know about the psychology of them, and at the end of the day you know humans. But with horse racing its like wtf information do you have to give you an edge on a horse. Maybe the jockey is good but the horse isn't gonna be like will imma come out there and wind because I feel good etc. Oh well kind of a tangent but just my two cents.

Later on that night, I ended up rolling with them to the casino. When we got out there I imediately signed up for $3/5. I walk in there and look at the least and it is on diesel. I put my name on the list grab a pager and head back out. They are in this lounge place just drinking so we decide to go out and gamble in the pit. I usually don't gamble in the pit but I played roulette and lost $40 oh well what a spew.

After eons, I finally got the page to go play poker. Now here is the predicament, I rode with one of my coworkers and didn't know how long he wanted to stay and watch me play. So I sat down buy in for $500 and play for a little. I sat down and got a feel for the table and notice how fishy all the players were. Pretty much a bunch of limping and nothing too crazy. There was this one cat who I thought was a fish and he was kind of luckboxing. Anyways there were only like a couple of hands I really got into.

Playing live I really am trying to get better with analyzing stack sizes etc because its no blinking on your screen. So I am getting a little better but I will give you the hands. One hand that drove me kinda of crazy internally in particular. I have about $420-450 in my stick. A tighter UTG guy raises to $15. We get two callers and now it is to me on the button I look down and oh boi like Jazze Phizzle I got AKs. So I bump it up to $65. Bam thats the first mistake I should of made it $75. Then it goes to the guy UTG and he reraises to $165. The two other callers gtfo and now it is on me. I was just thinking about his range. I was like man live players usually don't 4 bet all like. He is UTG and he is mad comfortable. I mean buddy didn't look like a ballar so I think the money means something to him. He also is rockin out on his ipod looking comfortable. I ask him how much more he has left he said $175 so I thought and folded. Plus I felt like I can just pick a better spot instead of flipping or possible being crushed. I mean these live fishes are going to pay me anyway.

Last Hand, we have a MP limper and a LP limper I am in the SB with AQo but I am oop so I just bump it up to $30. The guy in MP calls and the other guy calls. Bam flop comes AJ8r cbet $45 and the guy calls. The turn comes 9 diamonds. I was like hmm I could bet here but let me check and try to get him to bluff so I check and checks. Turn is a 4 diamonds and I am like alright I need to value bet here. I grab my chips and ended up betting $120. Now that I think about it that may be too much but hey I suck at adding up the pot live. I just am lazy and hate doing the math for it. Either way guy heeems and haws counts out chips and calls. That was the biggetst hand of the night. Nothing to excited but booked +$120. By that time my coworker was ready to leave so I dipped.

Saturday I ended up going to the Chelsea vs. Sounders soccer game. It was real cool because Qwest Field was pretty much sold out and was the biggest soccer game I have been to. Even though Chelsea's A team was out there, they still fielded a decent squad and managed to absolutely abuse the Sounders. You just see how much better the English sides are than an MLS squad. Chelsea looked so composed on the ball and did whatever they wanted to do. While the Sounders were more frantic and always looking to pass instead of shooting. Either way it was an good game and the Sounders lost 2-0. I am really looking forward to going to the Sounders vs. Barcelona game August 4th.

After the soccer game, I ended up going to the NSBE (National Society of Blacke Engineers) Bbq. It was a pretty good time and got to see most of my friends from college tghat I kicked it with. I ended up just kickin it out there eating food having a good time. After that, I just went home and passed out. I guess I kind have been pretty busy.

This brings me to my next point about why I have not been playing. I just feel like I don't have any balance at all. I feel like I can never find the happy medium of going and kicking it with friends vs. playing poker online. I mean I always get cracked on kind of because everyone is like we don't see you out. Well I feel like I don't need to go out. Why go out and spew off money instead of just coming home and making money. Now it seems like the roles are reversed. I have been going out lately and now I haven't played any SNG's. Sure I played live but I rather be playing online trying to get that bank roll going. Don't get me wrong live is a good change of pace but I just wanna get the BR on swole online.

I guess it comes down to it I am hungry but I am not putting in the time to even get better/make more money. Sure I have studied some stuff but I have to find a way to put these games in and maybe possibly go out. I dunno its something that I just struggle with. It seems like I have said something about it in previous post and just seems like a vicious cycle. Like I really do want to start going to the gym, going to the store, grabbing groceries SO I WON'T EAT OUT ALL THE TIME!!!!! But, I never really slow down to do it. After work all I think about is coming home to grind. If I don't start right after work then the games load way to slow being out here on Pacific Time. After that I am so tired from working and grinding I just go out get something to eat. Eat and go to sleep. Oh well.

I know this post has been all over the place so I apologize. I guess I should of put this on top as my disclaimer my bad.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

SharkScope @ $10k

Well it took me long enough but I finally hit the $10k mark for profit on SharkScope. Some people may roll their eyes and think it is pretty wack but hey I am proud. I have actually managed to make $10k doing something in my spare time so that also makes it better. I guess I could be out having fun at the bars and clubs but hey that's more about spending money than making it.

I haven't updated this blog because I suck at doing things after I get back in town. I always feel like I am the laziest person on earth. If I don't do things right when I get back into town then my life really goes to hell. That was the case again this time as I didn't unpack anything and everything goes down hill from there. I am finally kind of back on track but hey its like the middle of the month now.

Hmm now its time to really sit down and set some goals for the month. Last month, I feel like I had a good goal trying to put in 1,500 games but things didn't happen how I wanted them to. I put in the games but I wasn't playing my A game which lead me to posting that post at the end of the month. This month I am going to shoot for 1k games played and an ROI of 25-30%. I think that I may be overestimating my ROI in these games since they have gotten a little bit hard so I might have to sit down and reasses sustainable ROI's. I will also try to play more MTT's when I am on and we will see how that goes.

So far this month I haven't put that much volume in but I think that I am playing a lot better. I still cut down tables and now I am usually 12-14 tabling during my seasons. I don't feel rushed at all and everything is flowing smoothly so I probably won't add anymore tables for a little. I feel like I am just taking everything I have learned from last month and trying to really apply it to my game. I feel like I learned so much psychologically and mentally about the game that it will do nothing but help me when I play in the future.

Lastly, I just really wanted to say thank you to the game of poker. I know it sounds crazy and people are going to ask me wtf I am talking about but let me explain. I feel like I have talked to so many different people just by playing this game. I can't say enough for the network of people that I feel like I have gained from this game. People that are always there to listen to you help you and also share their experiences. It is unbelieveable how much you can just learn just by listening to people share their past experiences. More than likely, it will keep you from making a mistake that they had made or just have a different way of looking at a situation. I really feel like the things that I have learned from other people has turned me into a much better player today.

Oh yeah I almost forgot congratulations on and good luck tomorrow TheLipoFund. It's crazy enough you took down the weekly TLB now just beat that chick Katja Thater! Vamoooooooooooos!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

All Volume Aint Good Volume

The title of this blog post totally summarizes my whole month. I am very proud for myself from getting down to the nitty gritty and putting in the games but how may of those games where actually good volume? How many games was I playing my A game? Well I guess its hard to know unless I review every single HH but at the same time I know I didn't put in the best volume I could.

Last night, I was inspired by TheLipoFund who actually played for 30hrs straight trying to win the TLB so I decided to grind a long session late last night. I was so focused on getting to 1.5k SNG's for the month that I really didn't care. I just kept loading and playing. Granted that I didn't run the greates it was clear after reviewing some HH's with Reasons14 that I was not playing my A game. That got us starting to talk about how I need to be mentally prepared for the game.

We started talking about how with variance included and you are 16 tabling you have to be on your A game. I have heard many succesful players that said this same thing but I think I took that statement for granted. Last night I had a volume goal and I was forcing myself to play instead of wanting to play. I mean I always want to play don't get it twisted but, the wrong thing was motivating me on this session.

The reason I am so angry at myself is because I am hard headed and don't keep lessons in my head. When ParadiceCity was coaching me we always talked about not spazing out and really focusing on what you are doing. Now it seems like I am not for some reason. It has always been a struggle for me to focuse period though. I have a hard time sitting down doing one thing at a time. Like I only can look at something for a little then my mind wanders. I guess my mom was right when she called me scattered brain growing up lol. Anyways I either I have Adult ADD or I need to find a way to concentrate more. I have some plan of actions that I am going to take and I am going to list those.

1)Dropping down to 12 Tables.
-I think I was so focused in moving up on tables that I really started slacking with my game play. Sometimes I think I play too many tables too because I feel rushed and am not thinking about each situations to the fullest. For @ least the first half of the month I think I am going to 12 table and focus on everything going on more. Seeing what types of hands people show up with etc etc. I know this could be bad because I can get bored and tempted to surf the web or message but I will work at focusing on everything more.

2)Closing all IM programs and cutting of phone while grinding.
-I feel like I just get too easily distracted. I work from 6:00-2:30 every day and when I am off of work I want to talk to people. People usually call me when I am grinding and I will pick up the phone for like 5-15 mins and I will talk. This is very distracted and I cannot focus on my A game when all of this is going on. Thus the reason why I am going to stop. I end up missing way to many shoves/iso spots when this is going on so it has to stop.

3)Focus on playing my A game all the time.
-Obviouslly I have struggled with this because this past month I have already written about playing like a robot/zombie. I need to be focused on everything. What % of my stack am I raising with? What ranges I put this person on. What my image is perceived? How do I get max value from hands? These are just the little things that I must constantly askign myself when I am in every situation.

These are all of the things that I am thinking about that are off the top of my head. I left a thread on both forums I am a member on becauce I feel like I need more help to focus. I don't know if I need to get checked for adult ADD or what but I refuse to just grind that long for only a measily 7%. I know I am better than that and no matter how bad I run I refuse to believe I am that "bad" of a player. Below you can see the graphs for my month.

I am thinking about taking a couple of days off not really thinking about poker. I am going to relax and start next month with a clean slate. I need to take advantage of the months I have before my grad school program finally starts. Even though thats another story that I don't like to talk to this time. I hope when people read this stuff they can learn from my lessons and not do the same thing. Till next time stay classy.

wbmustang aka wbdonkstang :-(