I only managed 12hrs of poker this week, and won just over $1000. I ran well (again) too, to the value of about $1250 so the bankroll starts the week at a healthy $15.5k.
I wonder if August is traditionally a slowtime in the online poker world as far as new players goes. The tables seemed to be dominated by regulars this week, although there were still one or two bad players kicking around.
On the evenings there were often 5 or 6 full tables going, although probably 6-7 players on each table were multi-tabling regulars, including 2-3 short-stackers. What a waste of a seat these guys are!
Just looking at my stats for $5-$10, I notice that my win-rate (5.2 BB/100) is almost exactly the same as for $1-$2. This is after only about 5000 hands at each level, but it does allow for luck in big pots, so maybe it is somewhere in the ballpark of a genuine win-rate. After all, my 'actual cash' win-rate so far at $5-$10 (of 11.6) is, I am sure, grossly over-stated due to running so well.
Next week I need to start making withdrawals from my account to cover living expenses because my wife has changed jobs. She now works part-time and is bringing home a lot less money than before. The change has already made a difference to our lifestyles and we are all a lot happier at being able to spend more time together as a family. I plan to withdraw 5% of the bankroll each week, although if the bankroll gets much higher I will probably set an upper limit on the withdrawal amount (maybe $750) as there is no point in drawing out more than I need whilst still operating on a relatively short roll.
Let's wait and see what happens before I make any hard and fast plans. As we all know, variance is a brutal thing and a major downturn could come my way at any moment.
Tuesday 28 August 2007
Monday 20 August 2007
Action drying up?
This has been quite a tough week. I finished it up only $170, but had great luck in the big pots again, to the tune of $2600, so the bankroll stands at a healthy $13k.
I played 19 hours this week, without any long sessions, so this was quite a lot of effort for less than $10/hour.
Monday brought a disappointing $1500 loss. This was largely due to two badly played pots; one where I hopelessly bluffed $600 away with no pair and no draw against TPGK; another where I called $600 off with the idiot end of the full-house on a double-paired board.
For some reason, losses always seem harder to take on a Monday. It feels as though you have to win it back before you get started for the week. Obviously this is crazy-thinking: its not as though you can take the rest of the week off if you have a good day. Its just part of the flow of the game. You've just got to get used to it.
Looking back, I am quite pleased with how I played after that bad day. To finish up for the week represents a good recovery. This was helped enormously by finding AA on the button against KK in the big blind when playing short-handed.
Overall, I did OK in the big pots. I made $900 Sklansky-bucks (approx 6.3% return) in 25 pots, even allowing for the 2 bad losses described above. In the small pots, however, I had a losing week. This was probably due to the standard of the opposition at the tables this week. There were noticeably less fish about compared with a couple of weeks ago. Average pots were smaller and most tables had 7-8 solid regulars.
I've read before that the party won't last forever. Its no doubt true and to win consistently going forward its going to be necessary to learn how to win against players who don't just give their money away. Thats going to be a big challenge, but its a challenge that I will be ready for.
I played 19 hours this week, without any long sessions, so this was quite a lot of effort for less than $10/hour.
Monday brought a disappointing $1500 loss. This was largely due to two badly played pots; one where I hopelessly bluffed $600 away with no pair and no draw against TPGK; another where I called $600 off with the idiot end of the full-house on a double-paired board.
For some reason, losses always seem harder to take on a Monday. It feels as though you have to win it back before you get started for the week. Obviously this is crazy-thinking: its not as though you can take the rest of the week off if you have a good day. Its just part of the flow of the game. You've just got to get used to it.
Looking back, I am quite pleased with how I played after that bad day. To finish up for the week represents a good recovery. This was helped enormously by finding AA on the button against KK in the big blind when playing short-handed.
Overall, I did OK in the big pots. I made $900 Sklansky-bucks (approx 6.3% return) in 25 pots, even allowing for the 2 bad losses described above. In the small pots, however, I had a losing week. This was probably due to the standard of the opposition at the tables this week. There were noticeably less fish about compared with a couple of weeks ago. Average pots were smaller and most tables had 7-8 solid regulars.
I've read before that the party won't last forever. Its no doubt true and to win consistently going forward its going to be necessary to learn how to win against players who don't just give their money away. Thats going to be a big challenge, but its a challenge that I will be ready for.
Monday 13 August 2007
Best week so far
Although I'm not superstitious, I don't want this post to upset the poker gods and rain down a series of bad beats and cold decks on my head this week.
I had a great week, winning $2700 and even had good luck in the big pots to the value of $1450 on top. As a result the bankroll stands at $10,380 which is not far short of my all-time high of $12k. (Don't ask what happened to that, by the way!) This is almost approaching the realm of being a playable bankroll for $5-$10 full ring. According to my calculations, my 'true' win rate of $139 and actual standard deviation of $600(ish) indicate that my risk of ruin is a measly 0.04%. However, I am not dumb enough to believe that this wouldn't increase dramatically with even a small downturn in fortunes. After all, its only 10 buy-ins.
The biggest win of the week came when I got all-in for nearly $1000 pre-flop with AA against AK suited (about as big a favourite as its possible to be).
Other big wins came with:
-JJ v AQ where I flopped top set against a flush draw, turned the full house and got paid off a decent bet on the river when he paired his Q;
-KQ v 1010, villain called 3 decent-sized bets on a K42,4,2 board (he had check-called then check-folded the previous hand and I decided he would pay off relatively light as a result);
-44 v KJ where I flopped a set and the pre-flop raiser got a bit too frisky with his overcards.
There were lots of small wins too and I was particularly pleased with a couple of bluffs I made against regulars. Not only were they, I believe, well-timed but they were plausible too (possibly the most important factor in pulling off a successful bluff).
I didn't lose many big pots at all this week. The biggest came when I flopped TPGK + the nut flush draw with AQ, but was against AAA and missed the flush. I kind of suspected I was beaten when the money went in on the turn and should have really lost less in all honesty.
I have been reading Alan Schoonmaker's book entitled "Your Own Worst Poker Enemy" and found some interesting stuff in there, along with a decent amount of fluffy padding.
The main thing it emphasizes is the need to be objective at all times. You need to honestly evaluate the game you are playing in, the way you are playing, how you are feeling. All decisions need to be made dispassionately and if this isn't possible for whatever reason you need to stop playing. If I continue to play well and run well we will never know if the book was a worthwhile read or not. Oh well: I can live with that. If I lose and go off for a ton of money, we will know that it had little or no effect on my (and most players' number one) problem of losing too much when things go against us.
I have just started reading Professional No Limt Hold 'Em by Matt Flynn and others. I will let you know how I get on with that later.
I had a great week, winning $2700 and even had good luck in the big pots to the value of $1450 on top. As a result the bankroll stands at $10,380 which is not far short of my all-time high of $12k. (Don't ask what happened to that, by the way!) This is almost approaching the realm of being a playable bankroll for $5-$10 full ring. According to my calculations, my 'true' win rate of $139 and actual standard deviation of $600(ish) indicate that my risk of ruin is a measly 0.04%. However, I am not dumb enough to believe that this wouldn't increase dramatically with even a small downturn in fortunes. After all, its only 10 buy-ins.
The biggest win of the week came when I got all-in for nearly $1000 pre-flop with AA against AK suited (about as big a favourite as its possible to be).
Other big wins came with:
-JJ v AQ where I flopped top set against a flush draw, turned the full house and got paid off a decent bet on the river when he paired his Q;
-KQ v 1010, villain called 3 decent-sized bets on a K42,4,2 board (he had check-called then check-folded the previous hand and I decided he would pay off relatively light as a result);
-44 v KJ where I flopped a set and the pre-flop raiser got a bit too frisky with his overcards.
There were lots of small wins too and I was particularly pleased with a couple of bluffs I made against regulars. Not only were they, I believe, well-timed but they were plausible too (possibly the most important factor in pulling off a successful bluff).
I didn't lose many big pots at all this week. The biggest came when I flopped TPGK + the nut flush draw with AQ, but was against AAA and missed the flush. I kind of suspected I was beaten when the money went in on the turn and should have really lost less in all honesty.
I have been reading Alan Schoonmaker's book entitled "Your Own Worst Poker Enemy" and found some interesting stuff in there, along with a decent amount of fluffy padding.
The main thing it emphasizes is the need to be objective at all times. You need to honestly evaluate the game you are playing in, the way you are playing, how you are feeling. All decisions need to be made dispassionately and if this isn't possible for whatever reason you need to stop playing. If I continue to play well and run well we will never know if the book was a worthwhile read or not. Oh well: I can live with that. If I lose and go off for a ton of money, we will know that it had little or no effect on my (and most players' number one) problem of losing too much when things go against us.
I have just started reading Professional No Limt Hold 'Em by Matt Flynn and others. I will let you know how I get on with that later.
Monday 6 August 2007
Focus on one table
I have played all week at $5-$10, and have played pretty well too.
Although I have got involved in trying to start new tables, I have concentrated on playing 10-handed. At this level, there are quite a few players taking a shot on a short bankroll (even shorter than me!), and they tend to play scared for a while and then get married to a hand after they are sick of being pushed around. You can almost tell when it is coming: they sit down with $500, call a couple of pre-flop raises or raise/c-bet and fold to the flop-raise; then, next thing they check-raise all in with tpnk or worse!
My bankroll is small, but I always try to play true to the level I am at ie. I sit down with the max and play aggressive (tight or loose depending on the make-up of the table).
This week has been a good one: I have won $1425 and been lucky to the tune of $1155 (mostly attributable to a big pot when shorthanded with JJ v AA), so the bankroll at the end of the week is over $6k, even after withdrawing $600 on Wednesday.
A few observations about $5-$10 full ring:
- play is generally fairly tight, with the occasional total donkey sitting in
- regulars are fairly predictable
- sometimes quite a few short-stackers, generally very tight, looking to get all-in PF
- too many players call raises out of position
- too many regulars call first barrel and fold to the second.
My sample size is very small in this game (only 1500 hands) but I am feeling reasonably comfortable so far. I've only played 10 big pots and the money has gone in OK so far (+10% return).
What has been encouraging has been the very positive flow from small pots. This probably shows that I have been picking my spots carefully, reading the players well and showing just enough aggression to pick up more than my share of small pots. In fact, in the last 2.5 hours of play I have managed to win over $500 without getting involved in a big pot at all.
This level of play, and good luck, needs to continue or else I will need to drop down in stakes or risk going broke. I know I am capable of winning if I continue to play well: I've just got to force myself to do it.
I was given a confidence boost earlier in the week by finding out that my Poker IQ is 125, which is pretty good (ie. good enough to win at levels up to $1000NL). I took the test on http://www.donkeytest.com/ and found this to be a very rewarding exercise. However, one thing struck me about the IQ. It is actually your maximum potential Poker IQ (ie. assuming you play your 'A game'). So, although I was encouraged to find out I scored a 125, I realised too that to achieve the success that this IQ suggests, I need to play my best game (or close to it) all of the time.
To that end, I am looking forward to receiving the new Alan Schoonmaker book this week. It should be an interesting read.
Although I have got involved in trying to start new tables, I have concentrated on playing 10-handed. At this level, there are quite a few players taking a shot on a short bankroll (even shorter than me!), and they tend to play scared for a while and then get married to a hand after they are sick of being pushed around. You can almost tell when it is coming: they sit down with $500, call a couple of pre-flop raises or raise/c-bet and fold to the flop-raise; then, next thing they check-raise all in with tpnk or worse!
My bankroll is small, but I always try to play true to the level I am at ie. I sit down with the max and play aggressive (tight or loose depending on the make-up of the table).
This week has been a good one: I have won $1425 and been lucky to the tune of $1155 (mostly attributable to a big pot when shorthanded with JJ v AA), so the bankroll at the end of the week is over $6k, even after withdrawing $600 on Wednesday.
A few observations about $5-$10 full ring:
- play is generally fairly tight, with the occasional total donkey sitting in
- regulars are fairly predictable
- sometimes quite a few short-stackers, generally very tight, looking to get all-in PF
- too many players call raises out of position
- too many regulars call first barrel and fold to the second.
My sample size is very small in this game (only 1500 hands) but I am feeling reasonably comfortable so far. I've only played 10 big pots and the money has gone in OK so far (+10% return).
What has been encouraging has been the very positive flow from small pots. This probably shows that I have been picking my spots carefully, reading the players well and showing just enough aggression to pick up more than my share of small pots. In fact, in the last 2.5 hours of play I have managed to win over $500 without getting involved in a big pot at all.
This level of play, and good luck, needs to continue or else I will need to drop down in stakes or risk going broke. I know I am capable of winning if I continue to play well: I've just got to force myself to do it.
I was given a confidence boost earlier in the week by finding out that my Poker IQ is 125, which is pretty good (ie. good enough to win at levels up to $1000NL). I took the test on http://www.donkeytest.com/ and found this to be a very rewarding exercise. However, one thing struck me about the IQ. It is actually your maximum potential Poker IQ (ie. assuming you play your 'A game'). So, although I was encouraged to find out I scored a 125, I realised too that to achieve the success that this IQ suggests, I need to play my best game (or close to it) all of the time.
To that end, I am looking forward to receiving the new Alan Schoonmaker book this week. It should be an interesting read.
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