To ease my suffering after getting my arse kicked at the tables I went to Edinburgh to have a beer with one of my favourite bloggers Luckyjimm. We had a few beers and spoke about poker and life in general. It was a good laugh and I might write a full trip report later if I can be arsed.
Since then poker has been going pretty well. I don't even have much to moan about today for a change! Omaha 8 is going superbly and I reckon I'll be ready to move up to 10/20 on a more permanent basis at the end of the month. It's quite weird looking back on how much my game has improved in the relatively short time I've been playing. Obviously coaching really speeds your progression and props once again to danzasmack. I would have saved myself a lot of heartache if I had got some coaching when I was learning hold em.
After my last post I decided to take a break from 6 max for a few days and do a bit more studying to better equip myself. One positive aspect of getting killed at short handed play is that when you go back to full ring the decisions seem much simpler. I'm running at something like 8bb/100 over 5000 hands since taking a break. I've more than covered my losses so all is right with the world again. It might be that my thought process is a bit sharper after investing a bit of time trying to improve.
I've been trying to get to grips with 7 card stud for the past few days too and that's going reasonably well. I still pay a bit of HORSE and stud or stud 8 are by far my weakest games so I'm going to spend a little bit of time learning these over the next few weeks. If I can get to the stage where I feel competent then I'll be happy.
I feel like things are starting to come together a bit more for me now. I remember posting at the start of the year when I would sit down to play and have zero table selection as I played 5/10 full ring and there would be like 3 tables running. Today I got up and opened 4 different sites and had the choice of O8, hold em, 7 card stud and HORSE and I basically picked the games that looked the best.
I was spoilt for choice to be honest.
Saturday, 12 April 2008
Thursday, 3 April 2008
Shit Day
Got seriously fucked over at the tables today. Fuck you poker and fuck you limit hold em in particular. Never in my life have i been ass raped on the river as often as I have today. Sick. I think I dropped about 120 big bets in total. Lucky for me I'm only playing 1/2 while i learn (lol) 6 max. All I'm learning is how it feels to want to stab yourself in the eyes.
Don't get me wrong, I've lost a shitload more in $$ than i have today and not batted an eyelid. This feels personal though. I played pretty well for the most part despite the wall to wall suckouts but I could not for the fucking life of me get a hand to hold up. I was also playing against people who would not fold a hand under any circumstances and today was their day to runner runner 2 pair, straight, flush, full house... you get the picture.
To make things worse I'm shattered and can't sleep. My brain won't switch off even though thinking about poker makes me want to vomit. If I'm not torturing myslelf with poker I'm casting my mind back over all the times I've been a cunt in the past. I obviously just want to piss myself off even more.
Fucking stupid fucking arsehole I am. I need to get a grip and stop letting the fish get to me. Back to reading The Poker Mindset tomorrow I think.
End Rant.
Don't get me wrong, I've lost a shitload more in $$ than i have today and not batted an eyelid. This feels personal though. I played pretty well for the most part despite the wall to wall suckouts but I could not for the fucking life of me get a hand to hold up. I was also playing against people who would not fold a hand under any circumstances and today was their day to runner runner 2 pair, straight, flush, full house... you get the picture.
To make things worse I'm shattered and can't sleep. My brain won't switch off even though thinking about poker makes me want to vomit. If I'm not torturing myslelf with poker I'm casting my mind back over all the times I've been a cunt in the past. I obviously just want to piss myself off even more.
Fucking stupid fucking arsehole I am. I need to get a grip and stop letting the fish get to me. Back to reading The Poker Mindset tomorrow I think.
End Rant.
Wednesday, 2 April 2008
Solid
I decided that this month I was going to get the finger out and properly learn short handed limit hold em. So far so good.
I put in a just over 2k hands today and managed to achieve a positive win rate even though I seen some of the sickest coolers ever. I might go through my database and dig some out, there are a few absolute crackers. I'm pretty happy overall. I felt like I knew what I was doing the majority of the time.
I played a bit of full ring limit and O8 to break up the sessions and I've logged about 3k hands in total today which is pretty huge for me.
My plan for the month is concentrate on 6 max and O8, grinding up 50 big bets for the level above and using that to take shots. I want to log a shitload of hands in April because I've been a lazy bastard since I started this shit in January so it's about time i got myself sorted out.
I'll either have a huge month or burn myself out in the process but fuck it.
I put in a just over 2k hands today and managed to achieve a positive win rate even though I seen some of the sickest coolers ever. I might go through my database and dig some out, there are a few absolute crackers. I'm pretty happy overall. I felt like I knew what I was doing the majority of the time.
I played a bit of full ring limit and O8 to break up the sessions and I've logged about 3k hands in total today which is pretty huge for me.
My plan for the month is concentrate on 6 max and O8, grinding up 50 big bets for the level above and using that to take shots. I want to log a shitload of hands in April because I've been a lazy bastard since I started this shit in January so it's about time i got myself sorted out.
I'll either have a huge month or burn myself out in the process but fuck it.
Thursday, 27 March 2008
Wrecked
I'm pretty fucked right now after 4 days or so of pretty solid alcoholism. Obviously poker took a bit of a back seat during this time and I need to get my finger out and get some hands in.
I did play a bit of 10/20 O8 which was somewhat ill advised although profitable. I'm not particularly comfortable at that limit and still have a chunk of my bankroll tied up which makes it worse. I did have Danzasmack sweat me during it but it could have been somewhat disasterous. I also put in a solid session at lower limit O8 at some point but it's all a bit of a haze to be honest.
So I'm off the piss now before my wife divorces me or my liver falls out of my arse. I'm somewhat dissapointed to be awake at 9am with no games running at the limits or sites I want/need to play on.
I might hit some steps SNG's on Stars to pass the time. Not that I have any intention of playing in the main event but $12.5k would be a nice start to the day.
I did play a bit of 10/20 O8 which was somewhat ill advised although profitable. I'm not particularly comfortable at that limit and still have a chunk of my bankroll tied up which makes it worse. I did have Danzasmack sweat me during it but it could have been somewhat disasterous. I also put in a solid session at lower limit O8 at some point but it's all a bit of a haze to be honest.
So I'm off the piss now before my wife divorces me or my liver falls out of my arse. I'm somewhat dissapointed to be awake at 9am with no games running at the limits or sites I want/need to play on.
I might hit some steps SNG's on Stars to pass the time. Not that I have any intention of playing in the main event but $12.5k would be a nice start to the day.
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
Long Days and Producing the Goods
I've been continuing to put the hours in over the past week or so and my hard work is paying dividends. I passed £3k for the month late last week after running pretty hot and whoring some boni. I've been doing a lot of jumping about from site to site, game to game and playing various stakes from 1/2 to 5/10. It's been useful in keeping me motivated for the long sessions I've been putting in.
I'm really focused on becoming a better all round poker player at the moment and this has really started to show, especially with my hand reading skills. Being a multi tabling TAG I didn't really give this too much thought before but it's always at the front of my mind now. Putting opponents on hands based on their actions is actually quite easy when you think!
My normal poker sessions consist of 2 tables of O8, Stud or HORSE with 4 tables of Hold em as this keeps my mind active when I'm playing and makes my thought process clearer. It takes a bit of getting used to but it prevents me from slipping into autopilot. I've also been recording some sessions with CamStudio to identify leaks. What I will say, it's easy to play good poker when you're explaining every decision you're making.
I've already set my sights on next month and I've decided to really hammer the short handed tables on Ongame and get things up to speed. I've been dabbling a bit with short handed and keep promising myself that I'll play a ton and get good but I tend to get distracted by other things. Next month it's fucking happening - no more excuses. I have a couple of cracking bonuses to do, one of which I'll have to play short handed to stand a chance of clearing so that is reason enough. I'll also continue playing other games, particularly O8. I'm grinding up a completely seperate bankroll for this as I was making a few mistakes at higher limits which cost me a bit. Getting good at NL cash is currently on the back burner but is very much on my to do list.
I've been playing for a living for 2 and a half months now and things have finally clicked into place. It has not been easy making the transition but I think I'm half way there and hopefully there'll be big things to come as the year goes on.
I'm really focused on becoming a better all round poker player at the moment and this has really started to show, especially with my hand reading skills. Being a multi tabling TAG I didn't really give this too much thought before but it's always at the front of my mind now. Putting opponents on hands based on their actions is actually quite easy when you think!
My normal poker sessions consist of 2 tables of O8, Stud or HORSE with 4 tables of Hold em as this keeps my mind active when I'm playing and makes my thought process clearer. It takes a bit of getting used to but it prevents me from slipping into autopilot. I've also been recording some sessions with CamStudio to identify leaks. What I will say, it's easy to play good poker when you're explaining every decision you're making.
I've already set my sights on next month and I've decided to really hammer the short handed tables on Ongame and get things up to speed. I've been dabbling a bit with short handed and keep promising myself that I'll play a ton and get good but I tend to get distracted by other things. Next month it's fucking happening - no more excuses. I have a couple of cracking bonuses to do, one of which I'll have to play short handed to stand a chance of clearing so that is reason enough. I'll also continue playing other games, particularly O8. I'm grinding up a completely seperate bankroll for this as I was making a few mistakes at higher limits which cost me a bit. Getting good at NL cash is currently on the back burner but is very much on my to do list.
I've been playing for a living for 2 and a half months now and things have finally clicked into place. It has not been easy making the transition but I think I'm half way there and hopefully there'll be big things to come as the year goes on.
Monday, 10 March 2008
Days Off
I had the weekend off for my son's birthday and the Scottish Cup quarter final and I'm struggling to get myself motivated today. Last week i hit the tables pretty hard and played a few 10 hour days. This was more through choice than anything else as I was really enjoying poker and grinding out masses of hands was less of a chore than usual.
Today I've played for an hour or so and really can't be bothered. I'm feeling pretty shit after burning the candle at both ends all weekend and just want to lie down.
The Omaha 8 games continue to be excellent but I hit a bit of a bad run of cards which has been a bit frustrating. I know if I keep playing the way I am that the big hands will come and not be counterfeited on the river! I had a great coaching session last week that has encouraged me to be a bit more aggressive when I'm playing and this has made a lot of hands easier to play.
I also have something in the pipeline which might generate some extra income but more on that later.
Today I've played for an hour or so and really can't be bothered. I'm feeling pretty shit after burning the candle at both ends all weekend and just want to lie down.
The Omaha 8 games continue to be excellent but I hit a bit of a bad run of cards which has been a bit frustrating. I know if I keep playing the way I am that the big hands will come and not be counterfeited on the river! I had a great coaching session last week that has encouraged me to be a bit more aggressive when I'm playing and this has made a lot of hands easier to play.
I also have something in the pipeline which might generate some extra income but more on that later.
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
Can't Be Arsed...
I've been really hammering the tables over the past few days and putting in some marathon sessions. I was planning to so a bit of an in depth post about various things that have cone up over the past month or so. The truth is that I'm enjoying poker so much that I really can't be bothered. I'd much rather be at the tables.
I'm playing an absolute shitload of Omaha/8 and still bonuswhoring on the side. Trying to get good at a new game has really sorted me out I think. I'm eating up anything I can find on the game and can't get enough of it.
I think that I would like to class myself as a mixed game player by the end of the year but I'll take it one day at a time. I really don't think I could do without the help of my coach who has recognised my boredom with hold em and has helped me embrace other games that really fit my style of play.
I'm currently paying for my education at the tables but have managed to fall in love with poker again and I can't get enough of it. I used to struggle to put in a 2 hour session but the past 3 nights I've played 6-7 hours no problem because I'm really enjoying it.
Not being bored will pay for itself.
I'm playing an absolute shitload of Omaha/8 and still bonuswhoring on the side. Trying to get good at a new game has really sorted me out I think. I'm eating up anything I can find on the game and can't get enough of it.
I think that I would like to class myself as a mixed game player by the end of the year but I'll take it one day at a time. I really don't think I could do without the help of my coach who has recognised my boredom with hold em and has helped me embrace other games that really fit my style of play.
I'm currently paying for my education at the tables but have managed to fall in love with poker again and I can't get enough of it. I used to struggle to put in a 2 hour session but the past 3 nights I've played 6-7 hours no problem because I'm really enjoying it.
Not being bored will pay for itself.
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