Ninety nine grand to go

When the year is through

2007-01-17T09:32:00.000Z

Well I guess the silence says it all. In case you havent guessed, I didnt reach the 100k mark. My winnings for '06 hit the 75k mark so I'm not going to be complaining whatsoever. The past year has thought me a lot about what it is to be a professional poker player. And its certainly not as glamorous as it may seem. The amount of ups and downs you have to deal with are very very testing and it is this that makes or breaks players. Numerous times throughout the year I felt like giving it all up and saying to hell with the bad beats, tilt and dry patches. But in time you realise that this is just part of the job. Its not about winning, its not about losing. Its just about maintaining yourself whatever the cards might bring. If you can do this, and do it well, you will win. If I look over my hands from the whole year, I dont care about the odd incredibly lucky winning session or a session where I may have dropped 4 buy ins in an hour. The only thing that matters now is the line that cuts through it all. The line that any serious player has to swear by. So after all the bullshit, short term variance, joy and tears, its the hourly rate that really counts. And knowing this and playing in accordance to this is what I have to do in the future. Its the only thing that can be relied on, and the only thing that makes sense. I have wasted a lot of time, health, energy and money by allowing small ripples of bad luck effect me....and to what end? It's a very hard thing to do to detach oneself from the outcome of cards but it has to be done. I know I will never be 100% free from it but I do know that I have a much better approach than I did going into '06. Poker has a tendency to take over your life, in positive ways as well as bad. This was a part of the game I really didnt like...the fact that I'd be stressed out or pissed off after a big loss. I think this is the same for a lot of players too. I have more respect for the game now than I had a year ago. Because I know that it is only my thoughts and my actions that create this negativity. Poker is a constant, people are literally playing 100% of the time. When I play I am only dipping my toe into a vast ocean of events, completely random and without mine or anyone elses influence. So why should I worry about the outcome of one card, when millions are taking place at the same time? What's so important about my hand, that it deserves so much concern, stress and worry? Here's to '07. .

'Everything is as it is. Why resist it? Why hate it?' - Japanese proverb

$33,991.05 to go

2006-10-31T13:50:00.000Z

I'm attempting to move up to the $3/$6 tables. I have decided to try take stabs at the higher stakes and play the smaller tables ($1/$2) when I feel under pressure, unfocused or if I just want an easy session. The $200's are so beatable it provides me with a good safety net while at the same time I can focus on getting used to the habits of the $600's without having to worry about my bread and butter.

I only have just over 2,500 hands on 3/6 recorded in Pokertracker. And for those hands I am down $1,280.66 which is fine.

My stats have been VPIP 26.91, PFR 15.2...I have been getting into a lot of pots because I'm trying to get used to the parameters of the table habits. It seems so far that 3/6 is all about position. Continuation bets aren't respected and people will test you all the time. So getting into tricky situations when out of position is very dangerous.

As well there is an increased value in bluffing and representing strength. Players are good enough to make tough folds so you can take advantage of dodgey looking boards especially when you have position. I hope to rack up another few hands on 3/6 and hopefully I'll push into the +'s.

EDIT: Had an $1100 win on the 600s so nearly out of the -'s.

Pokertracker graphing feature

2006-10-16T13:29:00.000+01:00

This is a handy new feature of Pokertracker...the ability to graph all the data so you can visually analyse how you are doing. I've actually found it to be helpful when going through a rough patch. When you are suffering a long series of bad beats and your in the red for a session, its easy to think that there is no way your luck could be THIS bad, blah blah blah. But having a graph to look back on you can see all the dips and climbs your BR has gone through, reminding you to cop on when it comes to variance. Here's a graph of my October progress;

And here's a graph about position for October so far...showing how I am doing when I'm on the button/cut off/blinds etc.

$38,093.42 to go

2006-10-10T21:55:00.000+01:00

Well it's been a while since my last post! Approaching mid October, and I still have a looong way to go to reach the 100k mark.

I was supposed to be hitting an average of $8333.33333333(and so on) per month. Meaning I would be on target if I had $25,000 to go. Which I dont. So, unless someone is willing to play heads up for 13k, and willing to go all in every hand and wait til I get AA, the glorious 100k mark may be a no-show this side of '07 :(

Going by my performance so far, a fair estimate would be he 80k mark. Bah...why didnt I call this Blog seventyninegrandtogo!

As many of you would know, there is an impending bill to be signed by one G.Bush. When this is passed, online poker and the profitability of online poker could take a serious dive. With thousands of Americans willing to blow their hard earned cash suddenly turned away at the door, us greedy bastards will be trying to steal blinds off eachother and grinding like we have never ground(?) before. Then again this could be all pessimistic babble, maybe the tables will not be too much worse. Maybe. Emm...maybe.

Poker has been a tough 'ol slog lately. I have learned a good bit this past while. My game has improved. But my enthusiasm to play has not. When I have the choice between doing something calm, relaxing and non stressful...or, playing poker, I tend to go for the former.

I watched a DVD of Des Bishop doing his work experience documentary. While it wasnt as funny as I had hoped, it brought back all the memories of all the minimum wage jobs I have done...and how easy poker can be in comparison. No boss breathing down your neck, no clocking in and out, no permission needed to take a piss. I just sit on my arse and play cards, and get paid for doing it. Maybe I should do a couple of weeks in my old Superquinn to scare me back into avid poker playing.

Now that I have broken the ice, I promise to update you sooner next time blog.

$44,841.18 to go

2006-08-25T14:48:00.000+01:00

Well, I've broken the landmark 50k barrier. It may be a bit overdue, but nonetheless I'm in the latter half of the 100k so I can see what happens for the rest of the year.

The $200 tables are very straightforward compared to the $400's. I'm planning on stayin on the 200s for just a bit longer until I have built up a solid bankroll to go at the 400s. It will be good to be on the climb again, but in a lot of ways Im not looking forward to it. People on the 200s are giving you gifts nearly every session, and that kinda stuff rarely happens on the 400s and beyond.

Playing the 200s has been so much less stressful than what I was going through at the 400s, which is another reason going back will be hard. So many times the 400s left me totally frustrated and stressed out whereas the 200s are quite easy to remain focused and just play solid poker because the plays are less intricate, the decisions less critical. This means that I am more confident to sit down and play, and dont have to worry about whether I am in the right frame of mind.

But getting too comfortable is a bad thing. If I am to get really serious about this game I need to keep pushing myself through the stakes. If I am to complete 99 grand to go, I need to keep pushing myself through the stakes.

$51,180.03 to go

2006-08-10T14:11:00.000+01:00

I'm edging close to the 50k mark. At this stage I am quite off my target (I should have won around 60k at this stage). But I have had a fair few hiccups that have thrown me. I'm still happy with my progress.

There is talk about moving into a new place with a few guys who play a lot of online poker. We're still looking for a place but if this happens it can only help my game. One of the things that I have found really helpful is just having discussion about poker and arguing over different hands etc. There should be a lot of this in the new place!

It'll be interesting to see if it how it effects my 100k goal.

$54, 402.34 to go

2006-08-03T16:41:00.000+01:00

The past two days have seen thousands of hands and very few "hands". I played over 2000 hands both days but the action was very slow. Due to this I got frustrated and slightly tilty, trying to build pots with mediocre hands and then committing myself to them when I shouldnt have been.

It's annoying playing so many hands and ending up down - even though its only $100 or so. These couple of sessions have shown me that things can run bad for extended periods of time even on the 200's:P

I'm hoping this little patch will end shortly but its definately reminding me of the necessity of trying to play your A game no matter what happens.

Make BIGGER bets!

2006-08-03T13:03:00.000+01:00

Just looking over some of my hand histories and I have fallen into a bit of a trap over the past couple of days. Because I have been getting relatively few good hands, I have been under playing them so as not to scare off my opponents. This is bad poker. Rather than building the pot, giving draws bad odds and getting good value, I have been making smaller bets to ensure a call. Then the turn would also be a small bet and then of course also the river.

If someone is calling, they have a hand. People dont just throw their chips into the pot without any kind of hand. So, if they DO have a worse hand, they will call a bet that is bigger than what I have been making.

For example, I raise preflop with AA. The flop is Kxx, he checks, I bet 1/2 the pot. He calls.

Why only bet half the pot?! I am setting myself up for a fall here.

If he has a strong K, he will call a close to pot size bet. If he doesnt have a hand, not only will he not call a close to pot size bet, he wont call a 1/2 pot size bet either. While at the same time if he has a drawing hand I am letting him in for cheap, so when he hits I will only have myself to blame.

So from now on I am going to try make sure my bets are stronger.

$54,311.97 to go doctor

2006-08-02T12:11:00.000+01:00

Its been another tough one here at 99k. I have been strained into dropping to the 200's. My losing streak at the 400's and 600's did not stop and was looking likely to continue if I didnt make some drastic changes.

Outside poker things have been a bit crazy too. Amongst other things I spent a week in hospital getting my appendix out. The thing was about to rupture on me...even though I was in very little pain I googled said pain and it was kind of obvious that thats what it was. Went to doctor who said it could easily not be it but I should go in anyway. Many many hours later (most of which spent on a trolley in the corridor) I'm being cut open and am less one appendix. Good riddance:P
I did in that time discover that Accident and Emergency staff have a remarkable talent for bluffing. "Yep you'll be seen shortly", "He'll be with you in a few minutes". Not a twitch, not a roll of the eyes. Amazing. Deceiving broke poker players is one thing, but dealing with broke limbs is obviously the way to bluffers nirvana. That and 20 hour shifts of practise. More beds and staff please.

So the year is slowly slipping away. And my winnings are sloooowly increasing. I suppose with the month that was in it I have done well enough. Up 5k or so since early July. I am going to step up the pace from now on as I want to get back up to the 400's and beyond.

Regards

6 gone, 6 to go

2006-07-04T13:19:00.000+01:00

So I'm half way through the year. Meaning I should be 50k up, with another 50k left to win. This did seem very doable until last months horror-patch. But since adapting my game and taking a new approach, my winning sessions have been quite solid since. Not many big pay-days, but my losses have been very limited. In fact, I cant really remember having a losing session for a good while. I know this is due to being fortunate luck-wise, but my new, more passive style means that I dont end up in loads of high-risk hands. Anyway, here is how things stand;

Winnings since 1st Jan; $40,610.08
Amount left to win before end of December; $59,389.92

Basically I'm 10k short. So I am under-performing by around 20%. So if I continue like this I'll be ending the year around the 80k mark. A few things I need to do are start aiming towards moving up in stakes, constantly analyse my game, and not freak out when things go bad. I also intend to post here a lot more...I have'nt been using it as a game-aid in the way I intended to, so be prepared for more irritating posts. A lot can happen in 6 months, and yes, losing is one of them.

Picking up the pieces

2006-06-14T13:51:00.000+01:00

...sounds like an episode of Trisha. But the last month has felt just like that! Hardest time I've ever had playing this damn game! But I do feel now that the worst is over, Trish.

Frustration is not the word. I could'nt even bring myself to post here about it, because I was just so sick of the whole thing altogether. Thousands upon thousands of hands and I was getting nowhere. I would build up a small profit, only to lose it and more in 10 minutes. I would sit for hours and wait and wait and wait, finally get into a big hand only to find myself with the 2nd best set. I did'nt think bad patches could last this long, but they can! More than 10,000 hands later, I think I have adjusted myself into a winning approach again.

Now that I have regained perspective, I can see what was going wrong, Trish;

Bad luck.
New environment
Horrible luck
Lower bankroll
God-awful luck

Throw in a pint of tilt to the mix and you have yourself a harsh harsh month. But the good news is I do feel like I have come out of it a better player. My focus has improved, and I am starting to see new parts of the game that I knew I could'nt see before. My style has had to change and I know now that it is the style that is applicable to higher stakes games. So while I have had to endure plenty of hardship, it has prepared me for moving up in stakes.

So...100k in a year. Hmmm... my path to victory has certainly taken a turn. More like a backwards jolt. But I am happy still. I know I may not achieve my goal now, but who knows. I guess this kind of patch had to be expected over a year of poker. And I'm sure there is even worse still. But I feel confident again for the first time in ages so with that we could get there yet.

Next time on Trisha...

Sorry, just had to show off this call :)

2006-05-14T20:25:00.000+01:00

I was playing at this table for a while and knew the villain to be quite fps and getting involved in way too many hands...

I was on the bb with Qheart Kheart. There was a bb poster in utg position who checked. Utg+1 (villain) calls $4, button calls and so does the sb. I make it $22. UTG folds, utg+1 calls, button calls and sb folds.

Flop is; 6 heart 9 club 5 spade

I decide to check. I am out of position and the way villain was playing made me think that he would raise me if he had any pair here, so I would prefer to get a cheap draw. The two others check also.

Turn is; [6 heart 9 club 5 spade] 6 club

Since the other two checked I decided to throw in $45 to hopefully steal the pot. If they both didnt have anything on the flop the 2nd 6 hardly helped their hand...it was worth a shot. Villain calls and button folds.

River is ; [6 heart 9 club 5 spade 6 club] 5 diamond

Ok the bluff didnt work..I check. Villain thinks about it and bets $125. I only have a high king, but I have a strong feeling he is bluffing. I dont think he has an ace because he would have bet it preflop (he had a high preflop raise %). He didnt bet on the flop so I didnt put him on a pair...so I decide to follow my gut and call. My high king is good against his high Jack, J club 8 heart :) :)

Bluffing with a reason

2006-05-11T23:43:00.000+01:00

I have said it before and I'll say it again...bluffing should only be done for a reason!

And you have to be clear on what that reason is. Because if you are called, you need to assess how the situation has changed. If it has changed for the better, continue the bluff. If it has changed for the worse, admit defeat.

In this way, all-out bluffing is fine, as long as there is a reason. Just because you dont have any real draw doesnt mean you cant test your opponent when you think he is weak. But as long as you know why:P

Here's an example of a bluff with reason...

$400 NL 6 max, bb$4

Im first to limp in cut off with 8c 9s. Button folds and sb raises to $12. Big blind calls and so do I.

The flop comes;

4d, 3d, 2h

SB makes a bet of $12 and the big blind folds. This looks like a weak bet so I decide to put him to the test and make it $38. Unfortunately he calls after a few seconds.

The turn is the 4 of spades putting two 4's on the board. SB checks again. Now, this has given me a nice opportunity to represent a strong hand here. Even though I only have a high 9, I have credibility now because of my flop raise.

SB checks this time and I bet $65. He called the flop raise (which was significantl big), suggesting he has a somewhat playable hand. But now he feels he is up against trips and folds.

I have a very solid reason to continue the bluff and am representing in such a way that even AA would find it hard to call. When you dont have a reason to continue the bluff, you generally have to accept that you are behind and just let it go. Bluffing blindly just for the sake of it will only result in a lot of chips being fecked away.

I know exactly how he feels...

2006-05-09T13:04:00.000+01:00

$70,530.89 to go

2006-05-09T12:42:00.000+01:00

This patch is bad. No doubt about it.

Over the past couple of weeks I have lost around $3000. This is putting a strain on keepin myself on track. Not only have I wasted money, I have wasted time too.

The past while has been very hard to play through. Constantly getting outdrawn, or getting myself into 2nd best hand situations.

But I know that this is all part of the process and I just have to deal with it.

Due to the losing streak and other costs, I have had to cut back my bankroll to $7,000 and I will be dropping down to the $200 tables for a while.

I have been moving around a couple of sites too which has thrown me off. Playing with a site-bankroll of $1000 etc and chopping and changing tables/stakes. This is not good for focus so I will be just moving $7000 to one site to stick through the storm. The next while could be frustrating with playing lower stakes than I am used to.

My immediate goal is to build the bankroll back up to $10,000 and carry on through the $400 tables exclusively.

If I can get through this one I will be very relieved.

Team Event

2006-05-07T11:07:00.000+01:00

After getting knocked out early in the first Vegasnights team event, I am hoping to represent Team Poker.ie somewhat better this time round:P

We may even win it this time. In fact, we will win it this time!

Best of luck to all players and teams

Playing for a pint

2006-05-03T16:56:00.000+01:00

I'm playing on a play money table with my friend. The prize...a pint.

100 play dollars each. First to get all the chips wins the honourable liquid trophy.

Edit: 1-0 to me when I saw through some aggressive betting

Damn. 1-1 and we are even stephen. My QK walked into KK when the 4th K decided to make a river appearance.

Edit: It's not to be. 2-1 and the wallet will be coming out.

poker is not a game of cards played with beer. Its a game of beer played with cards.

Times are tough

2006-05-03T01:15:00.000+01:00

I dont know whats goin on with my play at the moment. I'm finding it hard to stick to a solid game and keep focused. I think its because of some bad luck and some silly tilty play I've done over the past while, but it's got to stop! I know every player goes through these patches, but I'm really lookin forward to this one being over:P

I guess you could say it's easy to fall into a pit of self doubt when you havent won properly in a long time. So maybe that's my problem...a mini-viscious-circle where the lack of winning is throwing me off my game to make me doubtful and win even less!

Things that I am probably doing wrong;

Making too many bets on the button/sb with trash
Limping too often with hands like Q10s in ep
Getting too attached to big-action hands

I've learnt from the past that one of the best things to do when going through a bad patch is to first take a break, and then to come back and play ultra-conservative and ultra tight and avoid tricky situations. I think this is what I'm going to have to do if I want to get out of this one.

$67,717.25 to go

2006-04-25T12:24:00.000+01:00

Finally...at last, thank god...god bless ye, how's your father. I've got my broadband back! After weeks of waiting, BT have eventually decided to connect me and I am back on the PC and back to my proper Pokertracker set up. I've got hand databases all over the shop, but with a bit of luck this will be it now and I wont have to moan anymore.

$67,717.25 to go. $32,282.75 won so far this year. I've been noticing myself get bored at the $400's, so I want to start moving up soon now. The other night I played until 6.30 am and lost $1300. Usually I would be really motivated to win it back, but that night I did'nt have it the motivation for some reason. Maybe this is because it is time to move up and play new tables.

With a couple of projects in the pipeline I dont have the funds just yet, but from now on I will be able to put money towards the BR and build myself up towards the $1k tables - which I wanted to beat before the end of the year as part of my goal.

Sunday night was just one of those unfortunate nights of poker we have all experienced. Where you play hundreds of hands and dont hit anything, and then when you do, the guy has flopped the nuts and you get screwed.

It's funny, one day you think your the greatest player ever, the next you are afraid to sit down at any table.

Just back from Amsterdam

2006-04-13T11:57:00.000+01:00

I was in Amsterdam for a few days at an online gaming conference. Unfortunately did'nt get to play any poker while I was there except for a few hands in internet cafés while sending email etc.

I did (slightly drunkinly) make my way over to the casino one night, but I did'nt have any photo ID on me so I could'nt play. That may have been a good thing:P

Have'nt played properly in a long time so I must get my shtuff back in line.

Maybe Mike Caro will inspire me back into a colossal winning patch. The mad professor is giving a talk later this afternoon in Trinity College Dublin. Should be a bit of craic.

Will be updating my standings shortly
Cian

2 outer loses me $1400 pot :(

2006-04-05T11:06:00.000+01:00

Flop is 9 high, I have KK and I push. He calls and the pot is $1400. Turn is a J, river, I cant remember. He has JJJ...arg.

Just thought I'd let you know!

First quarter review

2006-03-31T16:16:00.000+01:00

I started out this project with a light-hearted approach, not entirely serious about what lay ahead of me. It was a case of "Ah sure why not". But now three months in, one quarter of the way there, I am much more committed to achieving my goal. I guess I was'nt sure whether I could do it or not, keeping track of my wins and losses was something I wasnt very good at before. But this is a nice way of putting things into perspective for me, to see what poker means to me at this stage of my life.

Not considering Poker.ie, it's becoming clear to me now that poker is more valuable to me than any other job I could get. I dont have any college qualifications and my Leaving Cert is good but not amazing. I am very appreciative that I can achieve these kind of numbers from just playing a game of cards! Thats not to say it's been easy, it has been and always will be fucking difficult. So many hard, difficult moments of absolute frustration that all poker players can relate to.

I'm even typing this worrying if I am speaking too soon...I still have another 9 months to get through! That's kinda what it is all the time...a reserved, cautionary attitude.

So, about the last 3 months. As it stands I have won $28,644.92 so far this year. I'm a quarter of the way through the year, so anything over $25,000 means I'm on track:)
I'll admit the past few months have been unusually profitable. I'm not yet sure what the reasons are for this. It could be a lucky patch, it could be that my ability is improving. Probably a combination of the two. But I am happy nonetheless. I had two of my best nights ever in the past month, the most recent was winning 4.2k in one night, which was very nice. Although the next time I played after that I lost 2k in a night:(

Unfortunately I cant post up 100% concise Pokertracker stats for the last quarter, as I am still between two computers because of my internet connection problems. When I get things sorted I will be merging databases and will publish the info then.

Thanks for reading, here's to the next 9 months.
Cheers

$72,992.76 to go

2006-03-24T17:14:00.000Z

Things have been going quite well for me lately. I've managed to maintain a very high win rate for the past month, with only having one or two losing sessions. Will it all come crashing down as the gods of probability realise what the f**k's been going on?! Who knows...

But here's hoping they turn a blind eye. Hey, its a skill game right?

Well, I may be so modest to say that I have actually been playing very good poker. Yes I have been hitting some nice hands, catching my opponents on their 2nd bests etc., but I have also carried a good level of discipline and focus.

Last night could be an exception to that however. Went into the Sporting Emporium for a bit of cash game action on the €1/€2 pot limit tables. Very quiet all night, was playing quite conservatively, went a bit too aggressive on my made hands which scared away any action, when I should have been a bit more inviting. Maybe it was because there were no digits hovering above my opponents heads, and I was playing with these weird disc-like objects instead of my mouse.

Well, silly me. Decided to limp with 46o in late position, and the flop was seen without a raise. Low and behold, I've flopped the nut straight, board is 2 3 5 with two hearts. EP puts in a moderate bet, MP (Nick from Vegasnights) calls, I bet the pot which was €40. Suprisingly I was called by a player behind me, then EP pushes all in for another €100 or so. Not realising Nick was still to make his decision I declared All In...arg. Player behind me folded, and Nick pondered for a while before folding what he claimed was the lower straight, great fold. But due to my eagerness to get my stack in the middle I missed out on probably €400 or so from Nicks stack :( Player behind me folded, so it was between me and EP who held top two pair. Thankfully my straight held and I took the pot. And a lesson.

Ah well.

Finished up €200 which I was happy enough with. Then for some reason on returning home I have the bright idea of jumping online at 5am. A pint of tilt and 3 hours later I'm down 1.4k. Woops.

Are those probability gods catching on? Hope not.

$81,123.25 to go

2006-03-07T14:41:00.000Z

Wow, what a session! Had my best night ever last night. Ended up playing right through the night 'til 7.30, finishing up $3,456.25 :)

That puts me in a very good position now, with my targets being pretty much on track.

Loads of great hands, with loads of very big pots. On looking back, it seemed that many of my big hands were situations where I was overbetting all-ins. A number of times, I was justified in making overbets because of the pot size and opponents stack. Luckily I was mostly called, and even luckier, my hand nearly always stood up!

But this approach is something I would like to incorporate into my game. I think I will start experimenting with big overbets when I'm sure I have the best hand. The problem with this is that if you dont have the best hand, it can land you in a lot of trouble. Also, some opponents may be more inclined to call a lesser bet with a marginal hand rather than commit their whole stack, so it would mean losing out in that way. But for those opponents who put me on a bluff, or are too tempted to call, it will mean a big pot sliding my way. We shall see how it fares out.

Some stats from last night;
1732 hands
7 hours 15 mins of play

I was dealt AA and KK 10 times each! And both have a 100% Win%! Winnings from AA and KK are $1441.50 and $1150. Total being $2591.50. Meaning 20 hands out of 1732 make up around 70% of my winnings. Just goes to show.

Here was a lovely hand that would be representative of the session as a whole (and the overbetting)

5 players. Big blind $4. I had seen villain make some very dodgy plays earlier, and knew him to be quite loose. He's on the button with $707 and I have him covered. I'm on big blind and get Ac As.

All fold to villain, he bets $15. SB folds, I raise to $45. Villain calls. Flop is Jd 3d 3h. I bet $60 into the $90 pot. Villain min raises to $120. I call. Turn is (Jd 3d 3h) 4h. I check. Villain bets $125, I push him all in for another $417! He thinks about it for a while, and eventually calls. River is (Jd 3d 3h 4h) 7s. He has Ad Js...$1476 pot is mine. Phew:P

(Roughly) $84,579.54 to go

2006-03-07T03:59:00.000Z

Well broadband hasnt arrived yet. So my poker HQ is still out of action. Hasnt kept me away from the tables though. I dont know how many computers I have played on in the last couple of weeks, between internet cafes, dodgy dial up connections and what not, but I've managed to get in a decent amount of hands. No Pokertracker updates however, and no Pokerace by my side. So I'm resorting to rough estimates for the time being;

Since my last update on 8th Feb, I have;

Won 1.8k
Won 1.6k
Lost 1k (tilted most of that away as far as I remember)
Won 1.1k
Lost 100 (what a sh!t session that was!)

Which leaves me up around 3.4k since last update.

Putting the current figure at (roughly) $84,579.54. I'm not on target, I should really be somewhere around the 80k mark, but considering the circumstances I think I'm ok :P

Cian

Preflop Strategy (when there is no bet)

2006-02-26T01:14:00.000Z

Preflop strategy
Here is my approach to preflop play when there is no bet. The following is a given for everything below;

Full 6 max table
No Limit
No reads or any info on any player, except that they are typical players for your level
Typical table condition

(The stars * indicate that the play is not definate with the hand in question and can depend on many factors. I will expande on these at a later date)

Betting is always 4 times the big blind. For every limper, you add another blind. In a tight table, you can reduce this to get more action. In a very loose table, you can increase this for isolation. -1 or +1 would usually suffice.

Raising always has to be significant. You cannot only min raise because you will usually always be giving your opponent a good price to see the flop. There are obvious exceptions to this rule, when you want to take control of the pot with position and dominated cards etc etc., but when you are raising with a Primary hand, you always have to make it a significant raise. For example, in a $1/$2 game if your opponent bet $8 and you have AA, make it around $28, or as much as you think you can get him in for. Anything smaller than $24 is quite pointless and will; a. easily get you in trouble, b. fail to generate action, c. give your opponent good odds to see a flop.

Re-Re-raising should really only be done with AA, KK, and usually QQ. Unless you know your opponent to be playing trash too often, these are the only hands that you should be going this far with. Of course you can still call a re-raise with suited connectors, pocket pairs (Queens and below) and hope to hit two pair, set, flush/straight draw etc.
I think the most conveniant way of breaking down hands is not by categorisation, but by position.

My typical play;

UTG
Bet: AA, KK, QQ, JJ*, AKs, AKo, AQs, AQo, AJs, AJo*, KQs*, KQo*
Limp: KQs*, KQo*, QJs, QJo, J10s, J10o, 10 9s, 9 8s, JJ*-22

UTG+1 to CO with no limper:
Bet: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs, AKo, AQs, AQo, AJs, AJo*, KQs*, KQo*
closer to the button maybe bet 10 10
Limp: KQs*, KQo*, QJs, QJo, J10s, J10o, 10 9s, 9 8s, JJ*-22
closer to the button you can limp with 87(s) and maybe 76(s)

UTG+1 to CO with limpers
Bet: AA, KK, QQ, JJ*, AKs, AKo, AQs*, AQo*, AJs*, AJo*,
Limp: KQs*, KQo*, QJs, QJo, J10s, J10o, 10 9s, 9 8s, 8 7s, 8 7o*, 7 6s, 7 6o*, JJ*-22

Button with no limpers
Bet: Any pocket pair*, AKs, AKo, AQs, AQo, AJs, AJo, KQs, KQo, J10s, J10o, any suited connector*
Limp: Low pocket pairs*, unsuited connectors*, gap connectors(s/o)*

Button with limpers
Bet: AA, KK, QQ, JJ*, AKs, AKo, AQs, AQo*, AJs*, AJo*, KQs*, KQo* (low pp's)**
Limp: KQs*, KQo*, QJs, QJo, J10s, J10o, 10 9s, 9 8s, 8 7s, 8 7o*, 7 6s, 7 6o*, JJ*-22

Small Blind with no limpers
Bet: Almost any non-trash hand*
Limp: Almost any non-trash hand*

Small Blind with limpers
Bet: AA, KK, QQ, JJ*, 10 10*, AKs*, AKo*, AQs*, AQo*, AJs*, AJo*, KQs*, KQo*
Limp: KQs*, KQo*, QJs, QJo, J10s, J10o, 10 9s, 9 8s, 8 7s, 8 7o, 7 6s, 7 6o, JJ-22, almost any non-trash hand*

Big Blind way out of position(with 2 or more people to act after you)
Bet: AA, KK, QQ, AKs, AKo, AQs*, AQo*

Big Blind out of position (with just 1 person to act after you)
Bet: AA, KK, QQ, JJ*, AKs*, AKo*, AQs*, AQo*, AJs*, AJo*, KQs*, KQo*

Big Blind with position (just you and sb)
Bet: Almost any non trash hand*

Discussion on this here

No internet...poker drought,,,arg!

2006-02-22T20:34:00.000Z

Well I have moved into a new place and am awaiting my phone line and internet to be hooked up. And waiting. And waiting. A couple of more weeks should do it, but thats a lot of hands to miss out on. I will play what I can at the local internet cafe, but I am gonna miss my Pokertracker and Pokerace. So, does this mean I'll have to PLAY poker!!?

Slacker

2006-02-16T14:51:00.000Z

I've been taking it easy over the past week or so. Truth is I've run into one of those "poker blocks"...when you just dont feel up to playing.

Yep you guessed, I've been losing!

Over a couple of days I dropped around $2000. With a disgruntled look over Pokertracker, I can put it down to a bit of bad play, with a chunk of bad luck and unfortunate situations.

It's funny how one day you can feel you are able to beat any table you sit at, and the next you are afraid of staking a dollar. Just another element of this strange game of ours.

This is one of the hardest parts of being pro. To maintain consistent focus and not let the bad times get you down. A bad session leaves a bad taste in your mouth, so you are slower to return for more. A good session, well, it speaks for itself.

I could ramble on for hours on the ins and outs of all this, what I should do and why, but I think a picture paints 99 thousand words...

Go on!

$87,979.54 to go

2006-02-08T16:57:00.000Z

Winnings: $11,120.48
Rakeback: $899.98

Total: $12020.46

Here's the current standings. The tables seem quite good these days. I have'nt run into a solid bad patch though, so I'm worried that my bb/100 and $/hour could take a serious hit if the cards run cold for any extended period of time. But at the same time the above is from 15,115 hands which is enough to give myself a fairly accurate read on how my overall is.

Some stats about what this task actually entails;

I need to earn an average of $274 a day for the whole year

Since the start of the year I have been earning an average of $308 a day

This has been from 66 hours of play, in 39 days. Which equals just under $180 an hour

To complete my task, if I kept the same rate up, I've to play another 489 hours of poker before the year is out...

...which is 21 solid days of poker.

Maybe I should just sit down from now until early March with some toothpicks and a load of coffee!

Preflop play and flop follow ups

2006-01-26T02:24:00.000Z

Taken from a post "No respect on Party", on Poker.ie;

"My method (much thanks to Nicky for introducing it to me) for a long time has been a very straightforward approach to preflop play. And I have used this method for a long time, from the $50 games right up to the $600 games, and its still working.

(Keep in mind this is 6 max - with 10 seaters you have to be more aware of the ranges of position)

If I am first into the pot, I will raise 4x the BB. If there is someone in before me, I will raise 5x. Basically for every limper, you bet an extra blind. If you are out of position, you need to get slightly more creative and bet enough to reduce the field, or compensate for your disadvantage.

I think I may be repeating Nutcruncher here, but I wasnt 100% sure what he was describing his approach to be.

If there is a bet before me, I will make a sizeable bet to a) take the driving seat, b) give opponent bad odds to flop something better than me c) build the pot so that if opponent has a decent hand, or hits a part of his hand, then he will find it hard to get away from, and d) As Sandycove says, and which I think is a very important factor, Ask the question.

If I miss my flop and am in early position, I will very often bet almost pot size. Unless the board is quite worrisome, I will have no problem putting in a 3/4 - 5/6 pot size bet, a lot of the time even betting over the pot just to reinforce dominance. The first thing an opponent acts on is fear - dont give him a reason to get fancy on you, instill the fear of losing his money, his buy-in. If you make a powerful follow up bet, he will act on fear first, unless he has a hand. And if you are called, fair enough, get ready to check - fold the turn, better luck next time. I know I said this in a previous post, but you should never continue a bluff unless you draw a very good reason to continue a bluff.

Once you have a pre-determined, structured approach to your preflop play, the rest becomes a lot more manageable. You are constantly playing the same scenarios and your ability to read the situation becomes very reinforced as a result. "

$92,239.90 to go

2006-01-24T00:31:00.000Z

Poker winnings: $7263.25
Rakeback: $496.85

Current total: $7760.10

After sorting out and merging my pokertracker stats, this is where I currently stand. With a monthly target of $8333.33 (100k divided by 12 months), I'm right on track! 100k here I come!

After a poor post Christmas performance, I had to get my poker life back on track. I was getting horrible luck, but I was also well aware that there were a few serious glitches in my game.

So on Saturday I spent about half an hour going through big losing hands in Pokertracker.

Let me just point out, that any flaw you find in your game, its like you just found a $1000 note on the ground on your way to the shops to buy a pint of milk and the morning paper. If you spent 15mins going over some hands to figure out what your doing wrong, that 15mins could be saving you hundreds or thousands on future hands. You have to reflect on your play to improve...if you dont you are playing in poker limbo.

So, I sat, picked out hands where I lost a lot, replayed the hands and made notes on what I did wrong, or what I could have done better.

Heres what I scribbled down on a bit of paper as I went along;

Poker Notes;

Increase flop aggression
assimiliate strength by doing so
If a decent-looking player check-calls the flop and check raises the turn, he has a strong made hand
Be strict about the +BB pf raise rules*
Start off on one table and build from there
DONT slowplay vulnerable hands
Define hand more on the flop.
If you are being aggressive with a weak or drawing hand on flop (raising), take the free turn if called and dont get dug into the hand
When an opponent bets preflop, and plays somewhat weak on the flop, dont assume he doesnt have anything if he is calling a raise - if he didnt have anything it'd be very easy for him to get out of the hand
When a player bets small into a raggy flop after you raise preflop, its quite likely he has a low pocket pair
Make a more defining re-raise to try knock him off on the flop. If he calls, take the free turn.
When a player re-raises preflop and checks on flop in ep, unless you have a strong made hand just take the free turn, because they are most likely going to re-raise
If someone bets into you smallish after you bet pf, they are probably trying to get a cheap draw. Make it very expensive for them
Dont call pf bets with dominated hands
Be much more wary of getting into iffy hands when out of position
Dont play on when even possibly on tilt!!!
When a player is giving action, MAKE THEM PAY!
PLAYERS ARE ONY GOING TO PUT MONEY IN WHEN THEY HAVE SOMETHING, SO MAKE THEM PAY!!
When trying to represent, do so effectively....dont make it cheap enough for your opponents to be tempted
Dont make value bets when there is a dangerous board
Refrain from bluffing when the bet is small in relation to the pot

*This is something I will explain in further detail later on

Oh, I also got a Royal Flush last night! Was on big blind with QJd, flop was AdKdx, turn was 10d, sweet:) Got him all in, he was short stacked, but who cares!

'til next time

I get by with a little help from my friends....

2006-01-23T16:41:00.000Z

It's one thing being good at poker. It's another being good at poker AND having some very handy tools to make your play (and your winnings) even better.

If you are not familiar with Pokertracker or PokerAce, here is the run down.

First of all, the price. Pokertracker is $55, from Pokertracker.com

If you think $55 is a bit steep, think again...the value you get out of this programme is many many times the $55, believe me.

Every hand you play of online poker is recorded onto your computer. This is usually in the form of a hard-to-read, too much info document. Pokertracker gracefully takes all your hand histories and organises them into a fantastically thorough database. What's so good about that?

Well, it means if you want to review some hands if you feel your game has a hole, you have themm all there right in front of you. No more excuses! It also displays a massive range of information on your game....how often you see the flop, how often you raise preflop, how often you win showdowns. These are essential to figuring out if you are going down the right track or not.

On top of all this, it does the exact same for every opponent you have played against! Example;

You are on the button with Ace Queen. Under the gun has bet 4x the big blind. Usually this would be a tricky situation, but Pokertracker is telling you that his pfr% (thats preflop raise percentage) is 25%. Meaning that he is raising preflop every 4th hand he gets...meaning in turn that it is very likely that your Ace Queen is the better hand...boom. One pot and Pokertracker has already payed for itself.

PokerAce is another gem.

Price is $30 from Pokeracesoftware.com

And again, its another very worthy investment.

Pokerace works with Pokertracker to overlay all the Pokertracker info right onto the poker table you are playing on. So, for every hand you have played against a guy, there is info right by his name to build a better picture of what kind of player he is. Theres 10+ different types of stats that you can use. Personally I only use the 4 default ones;

VPIP (Voluntarily put $ into pot) - shows how loose/tight he is, how often he goes in preflop

PFR (preflop raise percentage) - how often he raises preflop

Agg (aggression factor) - how aggressive a player he is

Hands (number of hands info is based on) - the more hands you have against him, the more reliable the info is

If you multi-table, using these tools in conjunction with eachother is essential. How are you going to have a good read on an individual player when you are playing against 15 of them at the same time?! If the info is right there in front of you, you can afford to divert your attention elsewhere.

If you only single-table, then any extra read can only be a good thing.

Countless times I have relied on my Pokertracker/Pokerace stats as a read on a player, and its worked time and time again.

At the risk of repeating myself; If you are serious about internet poker, USE THESE!!

Pokertracker is compatible with most poker networks, excluding the Tribeca Network! So if you are a VC/PPP exclusive player then dont bother purchasing them because they wont work.

Pokertracker and Pokerace are of course compatible with Poker.ie ;)

Oh god...

2006-01-19T15:56:00.000Z

Kick me while I'm down! Had my new worst poker day ever...and it comes in succession to my previous worst poker day ever! Arg. My poker chi is definately out of allignment...$2000 down the swanny. Before I play another hand I'm going to comb my Pokertracker database, review a load of hands and get my poker life back on track! Not a great start to the year:( I'll be delighted if I manage to finish the month +8k, but its lookin iffy to say the least!

Currently I'm hovering around the 3k mark....97 grand to go, gulp!

95 grand to go

2006-01-16T02:24:00.000Z

Great, got my pokertracker sorted and am ready to get stuck into a year of hacking away at the tables. According to my stats, so far this year I have won around 5k! This was a pleasant suprise, it means I am right on track as my average per month has to be around 8k. Considering I have'nt been playing much and without Pokertracker and Pokerace properly set up (not to mention Friday the 13th!), I think I'm doing ok.

Friday the 13th...lucky for some, but not for me. Happened to be my worst ever day of poker EVER, I finished the day down $1800. That'll teach me to throw superstition to the wind!

Next up, a detailed breakdown of where I stand and what lies ahead.

Also I'm going to give a good run-down on the games I play, where I play, what tools I use, my approach to the game and so on.

take care

Busy busy...but time to get things in perspective

2006-01-13T21:05:00.000Z

This weekend I expect to get all my pokertracker info sorted, and to find out exactly how much of the 100k I have left to go! (I'm making an educated guess that I have won around 4/5k so far. What with everything to do with getting Poker.ie off the ground, my own poker time has been either compromised or cramped. Lost $700 in an internet cafe today...played badly at times, but also got a bout of bad luck. *Note...when you find yourself limping in middle position with 10 8o, you need to take a step back for a while...something I didnt do today. Can't really complain though as the cards have been running quite well for me lately.

Email sent to Pokertracker support for the transfer...

G'luck
Cian

Somebody think of the children...

2006-01-05T15:56:00.000Z

If I do achieve my goal I'll give €2,000 to charity. Have'nt decided which one yet:P

First live game of the new year

2006-01-05T02:01:00.000Z

Just back from the Anglers Rest, where myself and a few lads from Poker.ie got a small game going at very short notice, thanks to Nick and the Anglers. €40 buy-in, eleven runners.

My rock image was re-inforced by constant folding for most of the game. But suddenly when I needed them most, the cards came. AQs UTG, I make it 1,200 BB400. All fold (suprise suprise) to Jeff on the big blind. Flop comes Ace high with two rags, he checks I push for my last 1,200 or so, he folds. Happy days.

Very next hand I'm on the BB, and see pocket 5's. I end up in a 3-way all in which my 5's stood up through. Trebled up, grand.

A while later the blinds are gettting high enough. I look down at the bullets, I'm on the big blind again with two limpers. I make a sizeable bet and UTG calls. Flop comes AA7! I make a follow up bet of around 4k, UTG re-raises to 8k, I flat call. Check the turn, UTG goes all in, I think about folding but decide to call just in case. Bad timing for him, but a lovely pot for me.

3 way now and Nick gets knocked out to leave Jeff and I heads up. After a bit of back and forth with a lot of strength representation rather than the cards to back them up, we end up all in, Jeff holding AJ, me with KQ. Luckily I hit my Q for 1st place and €250. 100k here I come!

A very enjoyable game, but I was lucky to take down every big hand I was involved in.

I'll be sorting out my Pokertracker stats soon, to have a clean slate for the coming year and to get some perspective on what lies ahead (jaysus!)

'til then
Cian

Welcome, and happy new year to ye

2006-01-04T13:42:00.000Z

Right, now that the dust has settled on the whole Christmas slash new year festivities, its time to get back to the tables and look forward to a whole new year full of bad beats and -EV. I've never really been one for making new year resolutions, but this time I thought I'd give it a go and this blog is going to be a way of keeping track of the year and keeping my poker Chi in check.

Another reason I decided to start this blog was because of an ambition I have (thanks Nicky for putting the damn idea in my head!) to make $100,000 from playing poker this year. Quite an ambitious target I must say, but at least it will be interesting seeing how the whole thing plays out.

I'll keep this blog updated as to how I'm doing. Hands will be posted, players will be mocked, tears will probably be shed...walls punched. But with a bit of luck (ok, a lot of luck) I will creep over the 100k mark by the big '07.

Fingers crossed
Good luck,
Cian