Beginning Bankroll: $14.28
Actually, today's report covers my pokering for 2 days, yesterday and today. But I only played 3 NLHE SNGs, so I don't have lots to report. However, I do have a lot of success to report for those 3 tourneys: 2 second places and a win! The win and a second yesterday, another second tonight. I think I've finally found the strategy that works for me. (Now if I could just find the secret to getting dealt great hole cards all the time, I'd really have something! In my 3 SNGs these past 2 days, I didn't get pocket aces even once!)
In my last 8 SNGs, all this month, I've won 3, come in second 3 more times, and taken fourth and fifth the other 2. And in my fourth place finish, I was firmly in second place but made the mistake of taking on the big stack (who only had me covered by 200 or so chips, while the other 2 players were extremely short-stacked), going all-in with pocket kings pre-flop. He, of course, had pocket aces. I hate when that happens! But overall, things are going well; over these past 2 days I've grown my bankroll by 44%. True pro's would scoff at that result, but hey, I'm still learning the skills, have little time for the pursuit, and am playing carefully to grow my bankroll instead of letting it backslide.
Thanks for checking on my results today. Please keep checking back, and drop me some comments. And good luck at the tables.
Ending Bankroll: $20.58, up $6.30
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Day Off Doin's
Beginning Bankroll: $11.88
Wow! I had an actual day off at home, and the weather was too cool and damp to work in the yard, so what else is a guy to do but play some po-kah? (Well, after taking care of some other necessary errands, anyway.) I scratched out time to play 4 single-table, 9-handed NLHE SNGs. If it weren't for the vicissitudes of that old poker bugaboo, luck, I'm sure I woulda' cashed in all of 'em. (Note, each SNG cost $1.20 to enter and paid the top 3 places.) Here's how they went.
The first one I entered I took 2nd place after a long battle. It took a LONG time before I got much of anything to get things started, so I had to battle back from the short stack (a common theme throughout the day). But by the time we got down to heads-up, I was the big stack and held about a 2-to-1 chip advantage. Then we had the traditional coin-flip all-in showdown of my pocket sevens vs. my opponent's 2 overcards. Naturally, he hit his pair on the river to go up 2-to-1 on me, after which I just could not get any cards to work my way back to the lead, and I eventually bowed out as runner-up. But that was worth a $2.70 payout, or a bankroll increase of $1.50 after accounting for the buy-in.
Next up was another long wait for decent cards in profitable situations. (By the way, I do generally play pretty darn tight in the early stages of SNGs, letting the other players take themselves out by battling with the marginal hands they seem to like.) Things were going pretty well and we got down to the final four. I worked my way into a very comfortable 2nd place, with over 4000 chips, vs. the big stack's 8000+, with the other two players under 1000 each (13,500 total in play at the table). The big stack, to my immediate left, had been raising and re-raising me throughout the tournament, so I was ready to battle back when I found pocket kings in front of me. I made a standard raise, he re-raised, and I went all-in. Now, I shoulda' just folded right there to stick around and wait for the short stacks to bust out, but I was getting tired of folding to that guy. So, as proof that the poker gods do enjoy torture at my expense, Big Stack made the call and turned up pocket aces. So much for cashing that time.
More of same in my third SNG of the day. My flame-out came in 5th place this time, again with the poker gods turning ugly. This time I started with pocket sevens and hit my set on the flop. My all-in got one caller, and I was thrilled, ready to double up or more. That was before the caller hit runner-runner to make a straight and crack my set. Grrrrr!
SNG number 4 followed the familiar pattern: wait, wait, wait for something good and let the field thin itself (occasionally with my help when I did catch a good hand). I made it to heads-up, but this time with a large chip discrepancy. I was down almost 10-to-1. So, of course, I overcame that and won. I forget the specific hand details, but obviously I hit the right hands at the right times. And the win netted my bankroll another $3.30.
So overall I grew my bankroll by 20.2 percent today. Not bad for a daily increase if I can maintain that pace. I know I have a winning strategy to follow in SNGs; it's just a matter of staying on the poker gods' good side to avoid more than my share of bad beats. Thanks for looking in today, and good luck at the tables.
Ending Bankroll: $14.28, up $2.40
Wow! I had an actual day off at home, and the weather was too cool and damp to work in the yard, so what else is a guy to do but play some po-kah? (Well, after taking care of some other necessary errands, anyway.) I scratched out time to play 4 single-table, 9-handed NLHE SNGs. If it weren't for the vicissitudes of that old poker bugaboo, luck, I'm sure I woulda' cashed in all of 'em. (Note, each SNG cost $1.20 to enter and paid the top 3 places.) Here's how they went.
The first one I entered I took 2nd place after a long battle. It took a LONG time before I got much of anything to get things started, so I had to battle back from the short stack (a common theme throughout the day). But by the time we got down to heads-up, I was the big stack and held about a 2-to-1 chip advantage. Then we had the traditional coin-flip all-in showdown of my pocket sevens vs. my opponent's 2 overcards. Naturally, he hit his pair on the river to go up 2-to-1 on me, after which I just could not get any cards to work my way back to the lead, and I eventually bowed out as runner-up. But that was worth a $2.70 payout, or a bankroll increase of $1.50 after accounting for the buy-in.
Next up was another long wait for decent cards in profitable situations. (By the way, I do generally play pretty darn tight in the early stages of SNGs, letting the other players take themselves out by battling with the marginal hands they seem to like.) Things were going pretty well and we got down to the final four. I worked my way into a very comfortable 2nd place, with over 4000 chips, vs. the big stack's 8000+, with the other two players under 1000 each (13,500 total in play at the table). The big stack, to my immediate left, had been raising and re-raising me throughout the tournament, so I was ready to battle back when I found pocket kings in front of me. I made a standard raise, he re-raised, and I went all-in. Now, I shoulda' just folded right there to stick around and wait for the short stacks to bust out, but I was getting tired of folding to that guy. So, as proof that the poker gods do enjoy torture at my expense, Big Stack made the call and turned up pocket aces. So much for cashing that time.
More of same in my third SNG of the day. My flame-out came in 5th place this time, again with the poker gods turning ugly. This time I started with pocket sevens and hit my set on the flop. My all-in got one caller, and I was thrilled, ready to double up or more. That was before the caller hit runner-runner to make a straight and crack my set. Grrrrr!
SNG number 4 followed the familiar pattern: wait, wait, wait for something good and let the field thin itself (occasionally with my help when I did catch a good hand). I made it to heads-up, but this time with a large chip discrepancy. I was down almost 10-to-1. So, of course, I overcame that and won. I forget the specific hand details, but obviously I hit the right hands at the right times. And the win netted my bankroll another $3.30.
So overall I grew my bankroll by 20.2 percent today. Not bad for a daily increase if I can maintain that pace. I know I have a winning strategy to follow in SNGs; it's just a matter of staying on the poker gods' good side to avoid more than my share of bad beats. Thanks for looking in today, and good luck at the tables.
Ending Bankroll: $14.28, up $2.40
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Back on the Upswing
Beginning Bankroll: $8.58
Finally:
A. Some time to get back to the tables and this grand experiment, and
B. Some success.
I've been having some laptop problems lately, so I haven't been able to play during my downtime in the back of my truck. Tonight I'm sitting inside a truck stop so I can plug the laptop into a real power outlet and play without draining the battery. Anyway, on to the success part.
First I entered one of PokerStars' freeroll satellites for a shot at a seat at this year's WSOP. I did manage one or two lucky suckouts, but they weren't enough as I went card-dead and crashed and burned long before prize territory. At least I didn't sacrifice any of my bankroll for it.
Next I went ahead and threw caution to the wind and entered a $1.00 + $.20 nine-player NLHE sit-n-go. That move was a risk in that I really don't want to put more than 10% of my bankroll on the line in any one session, but I felt I could do it this one time to see if I could jump-start things, seeing how it's been over a month since I've had a winning session. Lo and behold, I finally caught my share of good cards, opponents actually folded to some of my well-timed bluffs (or didn't believe me and paid me off when I had the goods), and I won the thing! $1.20 in, $4.50 out; I'll make that trade anytime.
It feels good finally to increase my bankroll again, and to raise it to a new high to boot! Hopefully this is the start of a positive trend. And hopefully I'll be able to work on this project much more regularly, too. Thanks for looking in today, and good luck at the tables.
Ending Bankroll: $11.88
Finally:
A. Some time to get back to the tables and this grand experiment, and
B. Some success.
I've been having some laptop problems lately, so I haven't been able to play during my downtime in the back of my truck. Tonight I'm sitting inside a truck stop so I can plug the laptop into a real power outlet and play without draining the battery. Anyway, on to the success part.
First I entered one of PokerStars' freeroll satellites for a shot at a seat at this year's WSOP. I did manage one or two lucky suckouts, but they weren't enough as I went card-dead and crashed and burned long before prize territory. At least I didn't sacrifice any of my bankroll for it.
Next I went ahead and threw caution to the wind and entered a $1.00 + $.20 nine-player NLHE sit-n-go. That move was a risk in that I really don't want to put more than 10% of my bankroll on the line in any one session, but I felt I could do it this one time to see if I could jump-start things, seeing how it's been over a month since I've had a winning session. Lo and behold, I finally caught my share of good cards, opponents actually folded to some of my well-timed bluffs (or didn't believe me and paid me off when I had the goods), and I won the thing! $1.20 in, $4.50 out; I'll make that trade anytime.
It feels good finally to increase my bankroll again, and to raise it to a new high to boot! Hopefully this is the start of a positive trend. And hopefully I'll be able to work on this project much more regularly, too. Thanks for looking in today, and good luck at the tables.
Ending Bankroll: $11.88
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thursday Thrashing
Beginning Bankroll: $9.35
Another session in which the poker gods were having fun at my expense. I actually played yesterday morning, but was too busy (then too tired) to report on it here afterwards.
I bought in on a 6-handed LHE speed game--$.02 and $.04 limit--for 80 cents. Like the night before, I just was not getting any cards unless someone else got something just a bit better. And on the few occasions when I actually did catch something really good, the rest of the table had nothing and therefore didn't pay me off.
Yeah, we all go through that. Even the top pro players only win about 60% of the sessions they play, from what I've read. But it does get irritating when you're at a table and the same guy always has you beat. There's always one player who has the goods every time and his chip stack just grows and grows and grows. Why am I never that guy? I have to grind and grind and grind, lucky to hit anything better than 1 pair for hours at a time. I know, I have had some nice winning sessions, so I shouldn't complain, but it is always a grind. Being patient does test your patience in this game.
One thing I've learned at these micro limits online is that it usually isn't worth it to raise pre-flop. When I do, I just start a call-fest, and my stack shrinks that much faster when I whiff on the flop. Part of being a winning player overall is limiting your losses on your bad hands, so I like Ted Forrest's advice (see his chapter, "(Don't) Play Like Ted Forrest" in The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide, Tournament Edition) that it's OK to limp and see flops cheaply, to see more cards and get a better idea of where you stand before committing chips (or money) to the pot.
Thanks for reading today's report (on yesterday's action), and good luck at the tables (unless you're at mine)!
Ending Bankroll: $8.58, down $0.77
Another session in which the poker gods were having fun at my expense. I actually played yesterday morning, but was too busy (then too tired) to report on it here afterwards.
I bought in on a 6-handed LHE speed game--$.02 and $.04 limit--for 80 cents. Like the night before, I just was not getting any cards unless someone else got something just a bit better. And on the few occasions when I actually did catch something really good, the rest of the table had nothing and therefore didn't pay me off.
Yeah, we all go through that. Even the top pro players only win about 60% of the sessions they play, from what I've read. But it does get irritating when you're at a table and the same guy always has you beat. There's always one player who has the goods every time and his chip stack just grows and grows and grows. Why am I never that guy? I have to grind and grind and grind, lucky to hit anything better than 1 pair for hours at a time. I know, I have had some nice winning sessions, so I shouldn't complain, but it is always a grind. Being patient does test your patience in this game.
One thing I've learned at these micro limits online is that it usually isn't worth it to raise pre-flop. When I do, I just start a call-fest, and my stack shrinks that much faster when I whiff on the flop. Part of being a winning player overall is limiting your losses on your bad hands, so I like Ted Forrest's advice (see his chapter, "(Don't) Play Like Ted Forrest" in The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide, Tournament Edition) that it's OK to limp and see flops cheaply, to see more cards and get a better idea of where you stand before committing chips (or money) to the pot.
Thanks for reading today's report (on yesterday's action), and good luck at the tables (unless you're at mine)!
Ending Bankroll: $8.58, down $0.77
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Wednesday Woes
Beginning Bankroll: $10.15
I finally had a short work day, so I had some time this afternoon and evening to fire up the laptop and head to PokerStars to work on my bankroll experiment. Shoulda' kept the laptop closed.
This was one of those days when, when I wasn't completely card dead, my good hands got beat, anyway. I played at a 10-handed $.02/$.04 Limit Hold 'Em table, buying in for 80 cents. At that stakes level, you pretty much have to play straightforward, 'cuz the donkeys there will call any raise pre-flop with absolute junk, hoping to get lucky. And today they were, and I wasn't. Every time I raised pre-flop, the table turned into a call-fest. I don't remember a single instance when I raised and had fewer than 3 callers, and the norm was more like 4 or 5.
I tried to play aggressively, betting strongly when I had hands. Then I'd get rivered. Or my pocket kings ran into pocket aces. I rarely hit anything better than one pair when I was in a hand, though I would have made all sorts of good things on trash hands that I folded pre-flop. My chip stack would dwindle, then I'd win one pot and move back upwards, dwindle some more, go back up, and so on, and so on. After hitting a low of 27 cents early, I eventually grew my stack back to 79 cents, or only down 1 cent from my buy-in. But, naturally, being a grinder, I stuck around. Then got more good 2nd-best hands and dwindled back down.
Down to about 23 cents, I finally caught pocket aces. And I looked up just then and saw "Empty Seat" popping up all around the table. Everybody somehow picked that time to abandon the game. All that were left were me and one other player, and he had a stack of $50+. Sheesh! So those rockets didn't net me very much. Needless to say, heads-up I still couldn't catch anything, and my opponent cleaned me out pretty quick (I may have been tilting a little by that point).
So that was that, a downturn day for my bankroll balance. I'm a little roo steamed with the poker gods right now to go back and try some more, so that 80-cent loss is going to have to stand for today. Besides, it's been a long day and week on my real job, and tomorrow's going to be another long one. Thanks for dropping in today, and good luck at the tables.
Ending Bankroll: $9.35, down $.80
I finally had a short work day, so I had some time this afternoon and evening to fire up the laptop and head to PokerStars to work on my bankroll experiment. Shoulda' kept the laptop closed.
This was one of those days when, when I wasn't completely card dead, my good hands got beat, anyway. I played at a 10-handed $.02/$.04 Limit Hold 'Em table, buying in for 80 cents. At that stakes level, you pretty much have to play straightforward, 'cuz the donkeys there will call any raise pre-flop with absolute junk, hoping to get lucky. And today they were, and I wasn't. Every time I raised pre-flop, the table turned into a call-fest. I don't remember a single instance when I raised and had fewer than 3 callers, and the norm was more like 4 or 5.
I tried to play aggressively, betting strongly when I had hands. Then I'd get rivered. Or my pocket kings ran into pocket aces. I rarely hit anything better than one pair when I was in a hand, though I would have made all sorts of good things on trash hands that I folded pre-flop. My chip stack would dwindle, then I'd win one pot and move back upwards, dwindle some more, go back up, and so on, and so on. After hitting a low of 27 cents early, I eventually grew my stack back to 79 cents, or only down 1 cent from my buy-in. But, naturally, being a grinder, I stuck around. Then got more good 2nd-best hands and dwindled back down.
Down to about 23 cents, I finally caught pocket aces. And I looked up just then and saw "Empty Seat" popping up all around the table. Everybody somehow picked that time to abandon the game. All that were left were me and one other player, and he had a stack of $50+. Sheesh! So those rockets didn't net me very much. Needless to say, heads-up I still couldn't catch anything, and my opponent cleaned me out pretty quick (I may have been tilting a little by that point).
So that was that, a downturn day for my bankroll balance. I'm a little roo steamed with the poker gods right now to go back and try some more, so that 80-cent loss is going to have to stand for today. Besides, it's been a long day and week on my real job, and tomorrow's going to be another long one. Thanks for dropping in today, and good luck at the tables.
Ending Bankroll: $9.35, down $.80
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Good Morning Indeed
Beginning Bankroll: $8.32
Holy Moley! I think I'm getting to like this Limit Hold 'Em! As long as I keep playing tight-aggressive and only going to war with good hands, I think I'm gonna do pretty well. It helps to have donkeys at the table who play every hand and don't know when they're beat, but they seem to be a dime a dozen at the micro limits.
I wound up with some unexpected free time this morning, so I signed on to my PokerStars account to work on my bankroll experiment. I joined a 10-handed 2-cent/4-cent LHE table, buying in for 80 cents, and it was a struggle. I didn't get many good starting hands and when I did, I usually whiffed at the flop. Or played it out and got rivered by one of the aforementioned donkeys who got lucky.
My stack was down below 50 cents when I finally caught a hand and won a pot that nearly put me back to even. Then my stack shrank again to around 63 cents before another big pot put me up.
And that's how it went: Wait forever for anything good while my stack slowly shrivelled, then catch a big hand that gets paid off well (one was trip kings over pocket aces when I started with AKo). Eventually I had more than tripled up, and the table seemed to be breaking up, so I called it quits. In the end my stack was up to $2.63, and I had increased my overall bankroll by 22% in that session. I'll take that any day of the week.
That's my report for my session this morning. I don't know yet if I'll play tonight when I finish my work day, but if I do, I'll duly report on it. Thanks for following along, and good luck at the tables.
Ending Bankroll: $10.15, up $1.83
Holy Moley! I think I'm getting to like this Limit Hold 'Em! As long as I keep playing tight-aggressive and only going to war with good hands, I think I'm gonna do pretty well. It helps to have donkeys at the table who play every hand and don't know when they're beat, but they seem to be a dime a dozen at the micro limits.
I wound up with some unexpected free time this morning, so I signed on to my PokerStars account to work on my bankroll experiment. I joined a 10-handed 2-cent/4-cent LHE table, buying in for 80 cents, and it was a struggle. I didn't get many good starting hands and when I did, I usually whiffed at the flop. Or played it out and got rivered by one of the aforementioned donkeys who got lucky.
My stack was down below 50 cents when I finally caught a hand and won a pot that nearly put me back to even. Then my stack shrank again to around 63 cents before another big pot put me up.
And that's how it went: Wait forever for anything good while my stack slowly shrivelled, then catch a big hand that gets paid off well (one was trip kings over pocket aces when I started with AKo). Eventually I had more than tripled up, and the table seemed to be breaking up, so I called it quits. In the end my stack was up to $2.63, and I had increased my overall bankroll by 22% in that session. I'll take that any day of the week.
That's my report for my session this morning. I don't know yet if I'll play tonight when I finish my work day, but if I do, I'll duly report on it. Thanks for following along, and good luck at the tables.
Ending Bankroll: $10.15, up $1.83
Monday, March 31, 2008
Back on Track
Beginning Bankroll: $7.46
First of all, my sincere apologies for the L-O-O-O-N-G delay before this update. My laptop was down for about a month, then I've been very busy since getting the replacement part I needed for the laptop and returning to the road in my truck. Today was my first chance to get back to working my Zip to Chips bankroll which, as you may know, I'm working on growing from nothing to something substantial, a la Chris Ferguson's bankroll experiment. But I did get back to it today, and here's my report.
I've been reading Howard Lederer's chapter on Limit Hold 'Em (LHE) in the book, "The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide, Tournament Edition", and decided I'd try my hand at LHE for a while. So I played a couple of play money sessions on PokerStars to get some practice. I was doing OK in the first session, but was down a bit when I quit to concentrate on a freeroll NLHE (No-Limit Hold 'Em) tourney on Full Tilt. After bowing out of that tourney (mostly card-dead, bad beats, etc.), I returned to another practice LHE session on PokerStars. (PokerStars is where I'm building my experimental bankroll for the time being.) This time I more than doubled up my "buy-in", so I figured I was ready to try the real money tables.
Of course, the 2-cent/4-cent limit isn't what most people would call "real money", but it's all I can afford with my bankroll at its current level. I can't be risking the entire balance on one session, so I bought into a 10-handed table for 80 cents.
The real-money table was nowhere near as loose as the play money tables (go figure!), where some players were calling just about everything. And getting lucky. So it was easier to get a hand through when I caught something. People actually FOLDED some times when I bet with actual coinage on the line! I managed to catch a full house, a set of kings, and had pocket aces hold up among a couple other smaller winning hands, so I called it quits when I was up 86 cents and before the inevitable backslide kicked in.
Yes, I know the conventional wisdom is to keep playing when you're winning, but doubling up my buy-in (or more) and increasing my bankroll's balance by ten percent (or more) in a session is, at this point, quite an acceptable result. As I've noted before, when I get up early in a session, I always seem to hit a rough patch and give back a large chunk--if not all--of my gains. So I'm sticking to a conservative game plan for now and quitting when I'm ahead.
I probably won't play another session tonight, although it's only 6:00 p.m. where I am now--the Dallas, TX area, as it's been a busy day already. I'll need to get up early in the morning to resume my "real" job of over-the-road truck driving, so rest will have to take precedence over rounding. Thanks for checking on my bankroll's progress, and be sure to check back regularly. And use the blog's "Comment" feature to wish me luck or share a bad beat or once-in-a-lifetime-hand story.
Good luck at the tables.
Ending Bankroll: $8.32, up 86 cents.
First of all, my sincere apologies for the L-O-O-O-N-G delay before this update. My laptop was down for about a month, then I've been very busy since getting the replacement part I needed for the laptop and returning to the road in my truck. Today was my first chance to get back to working my Zip to Chips bankroll which, as you may know, I'm working on growing from nothing to something substantial, a la Chris Ferguson's bankroll experiment. But I did get back to it today, and here's my report.
I've been reading Howard Lederer's chapter on Limit Hold 'Em (LHE) in the book, "The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide, Tournament Edition", and decided I'd try my hand at LHE for a while. So I played a couple of play money sessions on PokerStars to get some practice. I was doing OK in the first session, but was down a bit when I quit to concentrate on a freeroll NLHE (No-Limit Hold 'Em) tourney on Full Tilt. After bowing out of that tourney (mostly card-dead, bad beats, etc.), I returned to another practice LHE session on PokerStars. (PokerStars is where I'm building my experimental bankroll for the time being.) This time I more than doubled up my "buy-in", so I figured I was ready to try the real money tables.
Of course, the 2-cent/4-cent limit isn't what most people would call "real money", but it's all I can afford with my bankroll at its current level. I can't be risking the entire balance on one session, so I bought into a 10-handed table for 80 cents.
The real-money table was nowhere near as loose as the play money tables (go figure!), where some players were calling just about everything. And getting lucky. So it was easier to get a hand through when I caught something. People actually FOLDED some times when I bet with actual coinage on the line! I managed to catch a full house, a set of kings, and had pocket aces hold up among a couple other smaller winning hands, so I called it quits when I was up 86 cents and before the inevitable backslide kicked in.
Yes, I know the conventional wisdom is to keep playing when you're winning, but doubling up my buy-in (or more) and increasing my bankroll's balance by ten percent (or more) in a session is, at this point, quite an acceptable result. As I've noted before, when I get up early in a session, I always seem to hit a rough patch and give back a large chunk--if not all--of my gains. So I'm sticking to a conservative game plan for now and quitting when I'm ahead.
I probably won't play another session tonight, although it's only 6:00 p.m. where I am now--the Dallas, TX area, as it's been a busy day already. I'll need to get up early in the morning to resume my "real" job of over-the-road truck driving, so rest will have to take precedence over rounding. Thanks for checking on my bankroll's progress, and be sure to check back regularly. And use the blog's "Comment" feature to wish me luck or share a bad beat or once-in-a-lifetime-hand story.
Good luck at the tables.
Ending Bankroll: $8.32, up 86 cents.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)