My confidence restored....

A good day so far. I'm playing well and making very strong reads; as a result, making some fantastic plays.

Thought I was going to have my first big cash in a MTT as well. I signed up for a $10+1 Knockout NLHE event on FullTilt. Played well and doubled up a couple times late. I found myself sitting in around 14th with 38 people left when this hand happened:

I'm BB with a min raise from the biggest stack at our table. 2 callers plus SB call in front of me. Pot odds say play my A-2off.

Flop comes A-7-2 rainbow. WOOOHOOOOOO!!!! BigStack raises, I re-raise, he pushes me all-in. I call thinking that I have just put myself into the chip lead and have a very good shot at a final table for a real strong payday.

My thinking was wrong.



Oh well, I don't think I could have gotten away from this hand. And I was correct in calling due to pot odds. Sometimes poker is just brutal.

But with all that said and done, my confidence in my game is restored. I'm up a healthy $80 today. Bankroll after buy-in to my 2nd blogger tourney (Hoy tonight) is at $621.

See ya at the virtual felt,

DubsPoke
Bankroll $621

A Quick But Solid Session

One advantage of living less than 5 minutes from work is the fact that I get to go home for my lunch break. So I decided to see if I could make a couple bucks. I dropped $25 onto a .10/.25 NLHE 6seat Cash game and $11+1 onto a 9seat Turbo NLHE SNG. The results:

1) Cash game - Ah7H on the button, 1 limper with a very short stack already in. I raise .75 preflop. BB (a big stack around $40) and limper call. Flop comes 2 hearts and another rag, no faces. Checked around to me. Make a continuation bet of just above half the pot. BB insta calls. Limper thinks for a sec and calls. Next card, heart. Boom...now how can I make money on this. Turns out easier than I thought...

BB checks, limper checks. I make a feeble bet (about quarter of pot). BB instantly goes over the top with a pot-sized bet, obviously having either a flush or has an 8 (board has 2 eights on it...obviously an important detail that I should have mentioned earlier). Limper bails with his $1.85 behind (why?...I seriously don't know, he's already in for about $4 at this point). I think for a minute, then re-raise all-in which is about $13 or so. BB nearly times out before flipping over a smaller flush but with straight flush opportunity.

River is the Ace of Spades and I doubled up. Played a few more hands and left the table with $61, a $36 profit. Not bad for 35 minutes on the table.

2) SNG - doubled up quickly when I flat-called with Ah-Jh in the big blind with 5 others already in the hand (yes...I probably should have betted, but in the early stages, I like to see how others play before I start making strong moves). Flop comes Ace,Heart,Heart. Great flop for me, top pair with a good kicker and nut flush draw. Time to go to work. Make a bet of half the pot, get called by 2 players including the button. next card is a blank. Bet stronger this time, about 3/4 pot. one fold, button calls. hmmm...what could he be holding!?

River comes and I miss the flush but I still got the top pair with a good kicker. Might as well fire again. My thinking being that the button would have raised preflop with any strong ace or upper pockets. He may have limped in with low pockets but he isn't playing he has the nuts so...fire away I go with my remaining chips. Button thinks for a bit and calls. I win the kicker battle when he shows A-2.

From there on, I just play tight. Take out another player when my Qs hold up vs his 6s and am sitting comfortably at about 3500 chips when the bubble bursts. Ok, now to go to work...

But never get the chance. Big stack takes out the 3rd place on the first hand of 3way. Next hand I'm dealt Qs-9s and push all-in. BB calls and shows Ac-2c. Not bad, I should win this about 40% of the time if remember the odds correctly.

Flop q-9-6c. (two pair...nice! Way ahead now!)
Turn -4c. (uh-oh...i know what this means....)
River - 5c (boom! The FT Tease has landed!!!!)

Anyways, I like how I'm making some good reads again and playing how I know I can. Now just to keep this going...

See you at the felt,

DubsPoke
Bankroll: $603.

My First Blogger Tourney

Well, I played in my first blogger tourney last night via ThePokerGrind.net $20+2 NLHE Deepstack KO tourney. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the results. 2 hands of note:

1- Crippled myself by getting tied to pocket Kings. Raised preflop to $250 when blinds were at 25/50. With the way this game was going, this was more or less a standard preflop raise. Got called by a shorter stack that was in the BB position. Immediately, I put him on a strong hand as the player (moochie m or something like that) had taken a beating in the early goings but had tightened up considerably by this point. He did not reraise me so I knew it wasn't high pockets which means QQ, JJ, or A-Q, A-J or mid-pairs were his range.

Flop comes Axx rainbow. I make the continuation bet, he goes over the top. And I insta-call. Although I already knew I was most likely beat. It wasn't even like I had a considerable amount of $$ in the pot. ....sigh...and I wonder why my bankroll has been cut in half since I started this blog....

2- So now I'm down to about $800 with blinds around the 50-100 mark if I remember correctly. I get dealt A-5 on the cutoff. With only 3 to act behind me and a limper from a LAG player in front, I push all-in. I figured this was a good move and here's why: Button was tight player with a reduced stack (1500ish) so I still have some fold equity on him. He is not calling unless he has a decent pocket or a strong ace. He folds. SB and BB both quickly fold as well. The limper however starts to think and actually uses his Time Button. He has $6600 chips or so and it will cost him another $700 to call. Additionally, this is a bounty tournament so he has added incentive to take a shot. He calls just before he times out and reveals pocket 4s. Sweet! I got two overs which makes this a coin flip 55-45 in favor of him. Flop comes and I hit my ace! Sweet I'm back in it!

DENNNIIIIIEEEEDDDD. He hits a set on the turn with one of the 2 remaining 4s.

Typical FullTilt tease play.

BUT, I did learn a few things from my play. And I feel like my game is FINALLY starting to sharpen up.

Now just to start making a profit again. I will only be playing $10 9seat SNGs and only one table at a time until I start turning a profit again.

See ya at the felt,

DubsPoke
Bankroll: $545ish.

Curse of the Blog

Much like Warcrimes-Road to Retirement, I've seem to have been hit by the curse of the blog. If you haven't heard about this curse, let me fill you in. An aspiring poker player who has been turning a profit decides to share his story with the rest of the world through the use of a blog. He/she has decided that he will be entertaining, as well as helping, others by sharing his exploits. Then THE CURSE OF THE BLOG strikes!

The aspring poker player all of a sudden is drilled by a string of bad beats and "donks" and his bankroll takes a big slam.

In reality, it isn't bad beats or donks that cost the player his bankroll. Instead, I hypothesize that it is the player's focus on "improving his game" that results in poor play. In other words, I've been trying to outplay my opponent without having the goods/skill to actually do so. Additionally, the aspiring players focus on reaching certain goals results on him continue to load up chips on the felt when they should step away from the felt and take a break instead of playing while on a "hidden tilt" (which is my phrase for being on tilt although I dont' realize I am, this typically results in me continue to push to "outplay" my opponents).

Anwyays, this is what has happened to me. Instead of playing my game that is the reason why I have been successful, I've been trying to do to many things that I'm not skilled enough at yet to do at the levels that I'm doing them at. And that was a horribly written sentence, I apologize. I hope you understand what I mean.

Luckily, I have been staying pretty close to my Bankroll management rules so I'm still sitting comfortably at $670 in my account.

Now I just got to get back going the other direction. AFTER the Thanksgiving break.

See you at the felt,

DubsPoke
Bankroll: $670ish

Back to Basics....

After donking off close to $300 due to poor bankroll mgmt and not following the guidelines I have set for myself (which whenever I figure out how to rearrange this blog, I will post in a sidebar), I am now back to basics and have started winning once again.

One of the blogs I've been reading (I read it at work, so I'll have to find the link for you all tomorrow), made a great point about game selection, specifically 9seat vs 6seat SNGs. In 9 seat, you have to beat 6 other people to barely make your money back. In 6 seat, you only have to beat out 4 other people to nearly double your money for 2nd. Add in the fact that 6 seat typically is a shorter game, and you should have the more profitable game. I wholeheartedly agreed with his points and am now will be focusing my games on 6 seat SNGs at a level I'm comfortable with until I get my game back under control, $10+1. I will play sets of 2 tables at once and gradually increase the number of tables at once.

I like the idea of playing in sets as that is a philosophical change and could be good for my bankroll as well (if I play a set horribly, then I take a break; if I'm playing well, i'm playing well on two tables ideally.)

Anyways, time to get in a couple sets before I do some stuff for EK.

Good luck at the felt,

DubsPoke
BR: $715

Process to Becoming a Better Poker Player: Step 1

Realization that I'm a Jerk and an Amateur

I have to give a big thanks to WillWonka for his blog. Reading through some of his posts has truly been an eye-opener for me. His post entitled "Justification" truly hit home. After reading it, I realized one major MAJOR flaw in my game: I'm a jerk at the table. I get angry at others for making bad decisions when truly, the bad decision was made by me.

This is even evident in one of my posts below when I bitch about a-10 beating my a-q when I was small stack and on the bubble. Calling my preflop raise with a-10 is viable. The flop just didn't work out in my favor. Instead of just reviewing how I played the hand, I have now instead reviewed how he would have played the hand. Now I can understand why. Now in the future, if I think of that BEFORE I throw my chips out there, I will have an edge and perhaps stop allowing the bad beats to happen.

Additionally, my reaction at the table was outrageous and uncalled for and I need to put an end to it immediately. Shit happens in poker, mostly in the name of "luck" and "bad beats." I need to stop trying to play others cards for them after the hand has already happened. Instead, by concentrating on improving my own play instead, I will be able to limit the probability of the bad beat.

In the end, this will make me a happier poker player. And a happier poker player is usually a more successful one. Plus that will make it easier for my beloved EK to be around me while I'm playing. Which may mean that I get to play more often. Next step: poker/life balance.

See you at the virtual felt,

DubsPoke

11/13/07
Bankroll - $973.20
Tokens - $26
BR Value = $999.20

Back to $1000

After reading a post by FTrain on basic SNG Strategy at low-limits, I found a couple leaks in my game.

I've only been over-playing A-K, A-Q, A-J, K-Q in the early part of SNGs. Essentially, raising 3x BB when it's only at 15-30 doesn't push anyone out and I have gotten repeatedly beat by weaker starting hands that hit the flop much better. What results is that I'm quickly down to the 700-1000 chip range before blinds become worth anything. An additional effect is that I ruin my table image as well.

So tonight the plan is to 2-table $10 9seat SNGs to see:

1) How well I am able to follow the action
2) Practice before I jump back to my normal (and affordable $20) game.

See you at the virtual felt,

DubsPoke

Bankroll: $999.43 or something close to that

End the night upbeat

at least the last game went well although I played HU quite poorly. Got 2nd and pushed my...

Bankroll: $996.50

One of those nights....

I thought I was playing very well recently...however, tonight just seems like one of those nights when everything that can go wrong has. I started the night with approx $1150 in my bankroll.

1st Mistake - not sticking to my rules and my game. I decided that I wanted to "hit one big." So I entered a $24k guaranteed deepstack tourney, a $24 limit satellite, a $10 knockout, and a $5 knockout.

I finished without any cashes and only one good showing. More below.

$24k NL Guaranteed:

The hand that crushed my spirit and began it all...

Full Tilt Poker Game #4156150491: $24,000 Guarantee (31011468), Table 122 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:12:50 ET - 2007/11/12
Seat 1: BigPappa882 (3,205)
Seat 2: shadydog543 (3,095)
Seat 3: DubsPoke (2,925)
Seat 4: luckeydonkey (2,985)
Seat 5: AMIRNYC (2,520)
Seat 6: Orbyorbit (3,480)
Seat 7: Donkey5layer1 (2,880)
Seat 8: Iridium (2,955)
Seat 9: crazytimy (2,955)
shadydog543 posts the small blind of 20
DubsPoke posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DubsPoke [Jc Js]
luckeydonkey folds
AMIRNYC folds
Orbyorbit folds
Donkey5layer1 folds
Iridium folds
crazytimy raises to 120
BigPappa882 calls 120
shadydog543 folds
DubsPoke has 15 seconds left to act
DubsPoke raises to 400
crazytimy has 15 seconds left to act
crazytimy calls 280
BigPappa882 folds
*** FLOP *** [3d 3s Kh]
DubsPoke has 15 seconds left to act
DubsPoke bets 480
crazytimy raises to 960
DubsPoke calls 480
*** TURN *** [3d 3s Kh] [6c]
DubsPoke checks
crazytimy checks
*** RIVER *** [3d 3s Kh 6c] [6h]
DubsPoke checks
crazytimy checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
crazytimy shows [Qd Qs] two pair, Queens and Sixes
DubsPoke mucks
crazytimy wins the pot (2,860) with two pair, Queens and Sixes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,860 | Rake 0
Board: [3d 3s Kh 6c 6h]
Seat 1: BigPappa882 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: shadydog543 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: DubsPoke (big blind) mucked [Jc Js] - two pair, Jacks and Sixes
Seat 4: luckeydonkey didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: AMIRNYC didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Orbyorbit didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: Donkey5layer1 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Iridium didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: crazytimy showed [Qd Qs] and won (2,860) with two pair, Queens and Sixes

$24 Limit Satellite:
I decided to try a $24 limit sat to FTOP Event #13. Top 3 paid, top 2 got seat. I bubbled at 4th when my top pair, top kicker got slammed by a mid-pair catching trips on the river and taking 75% of my chips while at it. Raised throughout entire hand but not able to make the opponent fold mid-pair....sigh....

$20+2 9seat SNG:
So the table is down to 4 and I've fought back my way from low stack, doubling up when my q-j suited catches a Q vs my opponent's A-Koff. Then this crap happens to knock me out of yet another game when I was outplaying my opponents:

Full Tilt Poker Game #4157096859: $20 + $2 Sit & Go (31560088), Table 1 - 150/300 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:36:55 ET - 2007/11/12
Seat 3: DubsPoke (1,350)
Seat 7: Debsue11 (4,130)
Seat 8: PChizzle (2,040)
Seat 9: Deezel50 (5,980)
PChizzle posts the small blind of 150
Deezel50 posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DubsPoke [Qh Ad]
DubsPoke raises to 1,350, and is all in
Debsue11 calls 1,350
PChizzle folds
Deezel50 folds
DubsPoke shows [Qh Ad]
Debsue11 shows [Ac Ts]
*** FLOP *** [Qs Jh 3d]
*** TURN *** [Qs Jh 3d] [6c]
*** RIVER *** [Qs Jh 3d 6c] [Kh]
DubsPoke shows a pair of Queens
Debsue11 shows a straight, Ace high
Debsue11 wins the pot (3,150) with a straight, Ace high
Deezel50: good game
DubsPoke stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,150 | Rake 0
Board: [Qs Jh 3d 6c Kh]
Seat 3: DubsPoke showed [Qh Ad] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 7: Debsue11 (button) showed [Ac Ts] and won (3,150) with a straight, Ace high
Seat 8: PChizzle (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: Deezel50 (big blind) folded before the Flop

4 outs by the time the river comes and the fool hit once again just add to the misery of a night.

Play by Play of my last game of the night....:
Fantastic....playing another $20+2...someone all in for 365 with pocket 8s. I have pocket Qs and call. First card on the flop, one of the 2 eights and I'm down to 1700. Very next hand, I have A-Q suited. Guy I just doubled goes all-in in front of me. I call. Then small blind calls the $600 raise as well.

Flop comes 4-5-7-K-K. Small Blind wins with 9-9. Who calls with low pockets with an all-in and already one caller?

Two hands later, I raise minimum with Aces from early position and get no callers....just my luck...currently in last with 1185 chips....

Sigh....tomorrow I start again $10 SNGs. I'll also post my rules that I will be playing buy during my run inspired by Chris Ferguson...

Hopefully that review will get me back to playing the solid game I usually do...

Here's to hoping you have better luck on the felt than I do,

DubsPoke

Bankroll: $942.50

End of Day 1

Didn't play much tonight. One lesson I've been taught (and have repeatedly) is to not play when you are tired. And tonight, I'm exhausted. I run my company's coed softball team that plays a doubleheader every Wednesday night; last night we had the late set starting at 8:30pm, which wraps up at 10:30pm. For most people, that isn't too bad. But I work in sales and work East Coast hours, which means I'm up around 5 each morning. Anyways, point being, I'm tired.

I am currently playing $20+2 9-seat SNGs. I got knocked out in 5th when my pocket 8s got beat by Ace-5 off suit. Flop came 2-3-4 and I was done. A bit of misfortune but I played my cards right and had the odds. Unfortunately, I put myself in a position to have to go all in with 8s preflop due to playing too many hands like Ax suited from early position. Have to remember to tighten up a little bit in early goings.

Played two $2 turbo SNG 9seat satellites. Got 2nd in one for $6. Bubbled on the other one.

So a little frustrated at that point, I decided that I had energy for "just one more" and sat down at another $20+2. Immediately to my left was a player that called any 3X BB raise with suited, connectors, or Ax. This caused me a few issues to start with when I'd raise with A-Q, A-J 3X BB. He flopped the nut straight 2x in a row on me. And this is where my game has matured.

I calmly kept on doing the same thing, raising with premium hands from position. Eventually I caught QQ with about 500 chips left. Raised 3x BB, get called by the guy to my the left and then button raised pot, pushing me all in. Called, guy to my left called with 6-7 diamonds as well. I tripled up when my Qs beat 10s and guy-to-left completely missed. I went on to dominate the table and win the game easily.

End of 11/8/07 - $1162

Birth of the DPBankroll Blog

Ahhh the wonders of birthdays. I can remember when I was 6 years old and my birthday wish was for an Atari and to have all my friends over to celebrate and hopefully stay the night. Turning 14, I just wanted a girlfriend and to be more than 4' 6" tall. Turning 16, I just wanted to be taller than 5', get my driver's license...and, yep, still wanted that girlfriend. Turning 21, it was all about getting drunk and getting girls. Turning 24, it was about changing careers, gettin' drunk, and trying (that being the operative word) getting girls.

Now, today November 8th, I'm turning 27 and my life has changed immensley. I got above 5' and am now at 6' even. I'm fortunate to have a beautiful, supportive and incredibly brilliant fiance in my life. She will be known as EK here on this blog. I still like a drink every now and then but my liver appreciates that I've cut back.

However, one are of my life could be better - my professional life. Now this is not uncommon; a lot of people wish for their jobs to be better. My problem is I have little passion for my current job. It's a good job in professional sales for one of the world's largest financial companies. However, whenver I've been passionate about something I'm doing or working on, I have succeeded. When that passion fades, so does my ability to succeed. With no passion for my career, I'm a mouse running on a wheel. I can spin fast...I can spin slow...but I'm still not going to go anywhere.

So, this being my 27th birthday, I've decided to pursue something I have been very passionate about for several years now. Poker.

Yes, that is right. I plan on working towards being able to support myself and my impending family by playing poker. In today's world, this have proven to be possible over and over again. However, it is going to take hard work and dedication to accomplish. Since I am passionate about it, I am sure I can succeed. AND I want to bring you along for the journey.

This blog will be about tracking my progress towards my initial goal of $10,000 by my wedding date, August 28, 2008. I will need your help examining hands and strategy. I will also provide you with resources that I have uncovered. Books, articles, online videos, etc will all be covered. So let's begin.....

Starting Up

Back in March of 2007, I deposited $50 into a FullTilt account. Through dedicated bankroll management, my account is now at $1100.

On 11/5/07, I deposited $50 into a PokerStars account. I've already doubled my money playing in $5 9-seat SNGs.

My goal: Build total bankroll to $10,000.

11/8/07 FullTilt Beginning Balance: $1100
11/8/07 PokerStars Beginning Balance: $100

Shortly I will provide you with my strategy on how I will attain my goal, including some great tips on bankroll management that I've found from the likes of Chris Ferguson, Annie Duke, and Daniel Nagreanu. Check back often and don't be afraid to comment!

Take care,

DubsPoke