blog is movin

I recently become part of team Pokersavvy - making some training videos for the site and will be blogging from there.

http://www.pokersavvy.com/blogs/z06fanatic/

finally a win

After a long month I finally got a win under my belt - ended up on the last day of sept winning the 75 super stack on tilt for 7k and taking 3rd in teh 40k tilt for another 4500.......felt good to finally get a win after weeks of getting shat on....with 1 win on the month you'd think my month was pretty bad considering how much I buy in for, but the 3rd in the 1/4 mil stars along with a huge month for my horse made it a pretty successful September. Im currently in the process of finding a training site to produce videos for - Ive been talking to a couple and will be joining a site soon enough. Most likely the blog will be moved there and Ill let everyone know where that turns out to be. I enjoy making training videos and helping others so it should be pretty rewarding, and its nice to have a side income thats variance free. Thats all for now - im starving and need to get some food in my body before I kill myself.

Biggest downswing ever!

since my stars 1/4 3rd place its been severely downhill......im been getting completely assraped, going on a -16k downswing......luckily my stake destroyed this month to basically cancel out the downswing so that helps but its been brutal.....I havent mined it too much though as I figured something like this was coming my way especially after crushing August...hopefully I can stop the beating soon enough - I recently played a 1k 6 max event at the Borgata the other week and ended up jamming the turn with an open ender into aces and not getting there......maybe the whole hand was spewish but I'll recap for those who care

75/150 13K effective - Ive been opening alot of pots, Ive been 3 bet a couple times and folded to all.......villan in question has 3 bet once before with a very large sizing and then showed Aces - at the same time though he is greeted by a couple other players and I hear him talking about 100rs online so I assume he has a clue what hes doing. on to the hand......I open in CO with A9 to 400 at 75/150, button folds, Villan in SB raises to 1k - it folds back to me and decide to make it 2250 to go......with a little thinking he makes the call...flop comes J87 - he checks, I cbet, he thinks for a little and calls....the turn comes a 5 - at this point I have a little over a PSB left and he checks to me so I jam - he calls, and obv has aces....now the flop/turn plays are very standard its just should I 4 bet this spot or wait for more history - his sizing looked pretty standard for a 3b bluff range to be possible - maybe I should of waited for more information though.......had he made it say 1400 I wouldnt even of thought about going the 4b route......it would of been wierd if I didnt have the open ender on the turn - not sure if Id give up at that point or what

Anyways I hate playing live and feel my live game is way behind my online game - I feel less comfortable live and it takes more time to come up with a conclusion then it does online. its something Id like to work on but my online hourly rate is way higher so Im going to stick with that. Tomorrow starts the final week of September to come out on top - Im still up over 30k for the month with the staking so its still a great month, but Id like to show some profit playing this week. gl me

3rd in 1/4 Mil Stars

Last week was a bit interesting - I had just came off the UBOC chop and was feeling great about a massive August - nearly broke my single month profit that I did in February......Wednesday was the 1st of the month and I was motivated to crush September - I started off with taking 3rd in the 50r(I believe) for about 8k......then I won the 30r cake for a massive 1600 dollars to continue to crushing - its always funny how Ill play a cake 30r or AP 50 fo where first is 1400 then ill be playing the stars 320 where first is 50k - slightly different payouts....anyways things were going good that day and I was finishing up my session with the 1/4 Mil stars, 80 sniper, and the 75k on tilt.......there were about 200 left in the Stars 1/4 mil and I had roughly 12-15 bb - I thought about how cashing would be cool considering my big day, but regardless if I did or didnt I had a good day.....anyways I had doubled up a couple times in standard spots and made it to the money......from there I just contiuned to chip up - the structure is so slow and has alot of sattiers who prob play 40-50 buy ins and satty into this, so deep with 50 or so left the play is pretty tight overall.....I was able to chip up alot without people fighting back - I had a couple lucky spots along the way as well - I remember someone opened I 3 bet 46s he called......the flop came like A49, he checked I bet he called...the turn came he checked, I decided to fire another bullet for alot of my stack and he folded.

The big turning point came where I got in AK vs KK for 60 bbs.....it was unavoidable imo and obv the KK guy was calling me a fish - short stack with 20 bbs opened and he 3 bet a standard size - I hadnt been at the table long enough to know how he had been playing but regardless Im never folding - granted his 3b is straight for value, but he should be 3b pretty wide there, 66+,AJ+ generally speaking.....anyways we got it in, I binked an ace on the turn, and boom I was CL with 12 to go.....at the final table things went well - won a flip, lost a flip, chipped up slightly and had gotten 3 handed - we talked a chop where I was offered 35k but I declined - 35k was 2nd place money and the shorty was short and I felt I had 2nd locked up alot and wanted my shot at winning a monster rahter than chopping.....long story short I bricked a fl draw and a flip and 3rd place 26k I received.

Since then Ive had very little motivation to play......Ive hit some great scores, made alot of money this year, and am not too motivated to keep grinding....furthermore Ive been golfing a ton and been enjoying that. Im sure my poker interest will reappear eventually, but its tough to be motivated currently....next week I head to AC for a 1k 6 max and a bunch of golfing most likely...it should be a fun time and is coming at a great time for a little break....hopefully I go deep in the 1k and come back rejuvenated......Ive been down 7k since my 3rd place hit so Im not thinking the 1k is gonna go too good :(

UBOC Chop/30r win

Wed/Thurs of this past week marked some interesting events.....first off on Wednesday I shipped the 20r AP - yeh yeh, its not that much of a cash but shipping it completed the shippage of every AP daily I play during the day......so that includes the 50 FO at 3 est, 30r, 501r1a,50r,20r,20k,30k,30r, and the turbo 75.......not a huge deal but thought it would be cool to one day ship every tournament that I play in my daily schedule......Thurs was a pretty sick day - I started off things with winning the 30r FTP for 6600 - this was the first time I won it so glad to get that monkey off my back....ran like a god short handed - HU I hit everything, ran good, and just destroyed him HU - felt too easy........then the UBOC 320 came up - I never really cared to play these bigger events as the fields are larger and I havent had any success.....also it was getting late and I had very little motivation but decided to reg the 320 UBOC and the 66 deepstack on AP along with the 162 FTP at 8est and call it a night......the UBOC overall was very soft for a 320 - when we got to the final 100 or so players, everyone was pretty passive - little to no 3 betting, the 3 bets I made worked, and postflop play was passive..........when we got ITM at 45 players, I lost a flip, but then had QQ beat KK and continued chipping up.....then I got a double with two tables to go, AA over TT I believe.....I came into the final table with like 25 bbs so I didnt have a ton of hope and had to play pretty tight as I was carddead and 25 bbs isn't much room to manevuer.....I tossed in a nice 3 bet that worked and picked up KK and doubled up with it......6 handed I had the CL or near the CL and began raising a bunch of pots - the players seemed very passive and it definitely seems the money was affecting them.....eventually they started opening up and then I lost A9 to KQ and was short 5 handed......from there I got lucky as 5th and 4th busted bringing us 3 handed.....I had 10 bbs at this point but then doubled up and we decided to talk chopping #s.......3rd was 15,500 and 2nd was 22k - chip counts gave me 17 something but told them I needed another 1k - I ended up getting 18,866 and we played it out for 3k and the UBOC watch.....I busted 3rd the 2nd hand in and that was the end of it. Overall was real happy with how the day turned out and the UBOC wasnt expected whatsoever......its great too cause it gives me the confidence to go deep in the bigger majors and hopefully get a win under my belt.....looking forward to the WCOOP and hopefully a deep run

Strategy post - have a plan

Was talking to someone the other day and this came about.....when you're playing poker, especially tournament poker, always have a plan for a hand.....I use to make this mistake myself about a year ago where I'd make a play either betting or checking and end up in an awkward situation where I have no clue what to do. People need to think one step ahead and understand all possible outcomes before making their move......the great thing about this is it also makes your decisions alot easier in certain situations - alot of times I'll get to the river and decide to bet/fold - if I get raised its a no brainer fold, and if he calls Im getting some nice value.....you see alot of newer players not setup a plan for the hand and get lost postflop - understand all the variables that are presented and come to a conclusion. Also if you're plan isnt going exactly as you wanted, stick with it. Sometimes Ill plan on 3b/calling someone and their 4 bet sizing will be very scary for example - regardless once I 3b I must stick to my plan - their odd 4 bet sizing could be pretty balanced between monsters and trying to look scary with 99, so I have to go with the plan of action. I think if you always have an intelligent plan of attack, you will always do much better.

Theres my tidbit of info for today now on to the grind :)

continuing to crush stars

The past 3 weeks have been real sick - I hit my biggest score ever and popped off a couple more 5 figure scores.....anyways last Monday I ended up chopping the 129 KO on tilt for 9400, and the following day on my bday winning the 162 Stars 65k guarenteed for 14,300.........also on those days I won the 501r1a on AP back to back which was the first time I won a tournament back to back like that.......this past week I followed things up with chopping the 50r on Stars for 11.4k 3 handed......The sickest part of that was at one point 3 handed I had 2.2 mil in chips, and the other two guys had 500k combined....I then went on to lose 6 all ins, and before you knew it I had 700k, the CL had 1.1 mil, and the shorty had 300k, and blinds were something absurd like 20/40k.......I pushed for the deal as these players werent good but it had turned into a luckfest and the difference between 3rd and 1st was 6k.....I ended up getting slightly more than 2nd place which is fair and it worked out as I busted in 3rd.......

I also had a win in the 75 dollar 10k turbo on AP the night before for 3300....Its a very soft tournament that is basically a luckfest towards the end - I had gotten down to 3 bbs with like 40-50 left and jammed AA and everyone folded.......at this point I figured I had no chance but I just kept winning showdowns and before you knew it made it to the ft.......the table was ridiculously soft - no one had a clue how to play......it was nice getting a win in a turbo tournament - I dont play too many of them so it was cool to do that for once

alot of big online tournament series are going on now and I know people are pysched up for them but I could careless.......i dont see why people fall in love with these big field big buy ins - majority of poker players see the payouts rather than thinking about their ROI and think oh man I got a shot at winning 100k! meanwhile in the long run these are the players who dont make as much as the consistent grinders......Im not knocking these tournaments - Im sure my ROI is atleast 150% in an FTOPs over a standard tournament, but the extreme variance of these fields makes it less appealing.....Im glad I dont play Sundays as well - it could take years to ever even out with variance and Ill pass on playing with that.......if people took more interest in playing the more profitable least variance games then everyone would be making alot more money.

Stars 100k ship

2nite was interesting.....last week I lost about 6k and was getting hammered once again today - I came into the night session with no cashes, and after busting the 20k AP I just had the 100K Stars to go.....my stars history is iffy - before this month I would run so awful on that site - after some unlucky spots today I figured my luck was back to reality after my 162 2nd place finish but apparently it wasnt.....ended up shipping the nightly 100k for 23k and change.....I never really had a big stack till the final two tables, then I came into the ft 4/9, and eventually was 5/6 at one point......had actually a funny hand short handed

PokerStars Game #47328259284: Tournament #323011041, $150+$12 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level XXIV (6000/12000) - 2010/07/27 3:35:34 ET
Table '323011041 30' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: dudeoflife21 (289014 in chips)
Seat 5: Z06LUVR (736000 in chips)
Seat 6: UcfChamp (534073 in chips)
Seat 8: joesid88 (714662 in chips)
Seat 9: Tjollerboy (288251 in chips)
dudeoflife21: posts the ante 1200
Z06LUVR: posts the ante 1200
UcfChamp: posts the ante 1200
joesid88: posts the ante 1200
Tjollerboy: posts the ante 1200
UcfChamp: posts small blind 6000
joesid88: posts big blind 12000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Z06LUVR [Qd Ac]
Tjollerboy: folds
dudeoflife21: folds
Z06LUVR: raises 15777 to 27777
UcfChamp: raises 44223 to 72000
joesid88: folds
Z06LUVR: raises 95555 to 167555
UcfChamp: calls 95555
*** FLOP *** [5h 4h 7d]
UcfChamp: checks
Z06LUVR: bets 37777
UcfChamp: raises 82223 to 120000
Z06LUVR: raises 447245 to 567245 and is all-in
UcfChamp: folds
Uncalled bet (447245) returned to Z06LUVR
Z06LUVR collected 593110 from pot
Z06LUVR: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 593110 | Rake 0
Board [5h 4h 7d]
Seat 1: dudeoflife21 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Z06LUVR (button) collected (593110)
Seat 6: UcfChamp (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: joesid88 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: Tjollerboy folded before Flop (didn't bet)

so we're 5 handed here - UCF has been pretty aggro up until this point - he had the CL for a while and was definitely 3 balling it light from time to time - anyways my intentions were to get in AQ preflop vs him - I felt his 3b range was pretty wide and a small 4 bet might get him to spazz out and ship in worse.....anyways he flats which was odd since he has a pot sized bet left....on the flop I planned on just betting 370k to put him in but by accident bet 37k! I felt like a total idiot at this point - what to do - I figured the flop didnt improve him and hed ship pre with bigger pairs and I gotta stick to my original plan....I shoved and closed my eyes and it was crazy seeing him fold....

when we got HU we were about even in chips and I offered to talk chop numbers and he quickly declined - I guess he looked at my stars stats and figured i was awful....anyways the final hand was when I raised the button with 26 suited he called from the bb and flop came 26A two clubs - he led I raised he called.....turn came an 5 - he checked I bet he jammed - i called he had 78 and i held......felt amazing winning that tournament and probably the best feeling since winning the 60k FTP back in november......Its been a long year playing on Stars without being a winner and finally I can say I am across all the sites.....it was funny too today cause I was in the stars 50r for 350 and ap 50r for 450 and was just watching my monthly profit disinegrate and boom

goodnite all see you another time

Finally a lifetime winner on stars!

Since I started playing MTTs fulltime Ive struggled to make money on Stars....Id just constantly lose showdowns, run into better, etc etc etc......This was fine by me as I was crushing AP/FTP and doing decent on Cake so overall everything equaled out, but I always wondered when I'd do my first cashout on Stars....Well finally this week it came - took 2nd in Stars 501r1a and then 2nd in the 162 afternoon for like 14k combined....the first one, the 501r1a I ended up getting HU with about a 3 to 1 disadvantage....HU the button limps and I shove for 30 bbs - he snaps with K9 - I had A8 and he hit and that was that....Obviously a terrible call by him but hed been doing that all final table so nothing new. The second one I came in with about a 2-1 advantage.....I just couldnt flop anything and he apparently continued to pick up hands......I picked off some bluffs, got some of mine picked off - had 1 hand where I 4b pre with like k5 and he jammed - he was playing pretty straightforward and his sizing was giving away info but I couldnt get going...the final hand he opened, I jammed KQ for 20 bbs he obv has AQ......it was frusturating but what can you do......It felt great to withdraw off Stars - took a year to do so, but hey finally.....

As far as the other sites I also did well across the board....won the cake 109, a 50 fo on ap, and another 2nd in an ap.......Ive been feeling good about my game and am in a real good spot with it now.....its funny how much more I'll open now then I use to especially on sites like AP where they dont defend enough.......The only site I wont open too light is Stars cause they defend too much so I go back and forth between playing looser and tighter.......playing some of the softer APs like 50 fo's and the 20k at night you can run over the table so easily its really incredible......Ive also been 4betting more often then before - I still think at mid stakes 4betting is very very borderline as you need to satisfy a couple things before deciding to 4b bluff........had one spot in a FTP tournament where a decent reg opens with like 40 bbs, another decent reg 3bets with like 50 bbs, I got about 50 bbs and decide to put in a cold 4bet with like A3 - I figured its a good spot because the first reg opens with his standard sizing so his range is wide - the 3 bet from the other reg is also the proper 3 bet sizing - both stacks are deep that the 3 bet isnt commiting nor is his plan to isolate the first opener......Bet sizing is so key - had his 3b sizing not been 2.5x the raise then I wouldnt contemplate the 4b but everything was perfect......so I 4 bet - at this point my range is super strong - I dont know if they know who I am or if im capable of 4b without value, so I figured theyd need atleast QQ+,AK to consider getting this all in......anyways the original opener folded, the 3b shoved and I had to fold.....it definitely sucks when 4bs dont work but when they do its a beautiful thing...

Ive also worked on improving some things I was doing wrong........#1 was hero calling against people who arent capable of barreling.....heres an example

blinds 100/200, you have 6k, villan covers....villan is someone thats a reg but not good - hes very straightforward, will never value bet thin, and his sizing isnt the greatest...

villan opens in MP to 500, you flat with AJ, folds around flop comes J77 - he bets you call.....turn is a 2 bringing a club draw - he bets again about half pot you decide to call......river is a non club 6 - he goes all-in......for this player to be betting every street like this he has to have a near nuts hand - even with QQ/KK/AA I think hes that straightforward that he might take some pot control with the 77J flop......his range on the flop is obviously very wide, but I dont think hes capable of betting the turn as a bluff, or if he can its very very rare......when he jams the river its a little over pot so his sizing looks like it could be bluffy but at the same time hes that straightforward that he checks all of his river range except fh's,quads,trips,etc.....anyways I ended up calling and he had A7...I should fold the turn all day....

Another leak Im plugging is raising weak river bets on boards that are pretty dangerous.....Had a spot the other day in that 50 FO - heres teh HH

Stage #269536000 Tourney ID 5640136 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit 40 - 2010-07-09 15:36:16 (ET)
Table: 2 (Real Money) Seat #5 is the dealer
Seat 1 - RAISERAISE87 (1,910 in chips)
Seat 2 - TWIT007111 (1,164 in chips)
Seat 4 - SCHONGIT (2,229 in chips)
Seat 5 - Z06FANATIC (3,154 in chips)
Seat 6 - BIGPATRA (2,852 in chips)
Seat 7 - IRONP0KER (3,090 in chips)
Seat 8 - DA MAD HATTER (3,836 in chips)
Seat 9 - BIGCATOK (2,000 in chips)
BIGPATRA - Posts small blind 20
IRONP0KER - Posts big blind 40
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to Z06FANATIC [6h Kh]
DA MAD HATTER - Folds
BIGCATOK - Folds
RAISERAISE87 - Folds
TWIT007111 - Folds
SCHONGIT - Folds
Z06FANATIC - Raises 120 to 120
BIGPATRA - Raises 180 to 200
IRONP0KER - Folds
Z06FANATIC - Calls 80
*** FLOP *** [Jh Jc 4h]
BIGPATRA - Checks
Z06FANATIC - Checks
*** TURN *** [Jh Jc 4h] [8s]
BIGPATRA - Bets 160
Z06FANATIC - Calls 160
*** RIVER *** [Jh Jc 4h 8s] [10c]
BIGPATRA - Bets 80
Z06FANATIC - Raises 565 to 565
BIGPATRA - Calls 485
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Z06FANATIC - Shows [6h Kh] (One pair, jacks)
BIGPATRA - Shows [Qd 10h] (Two Pair, jacks and tens)
BIGPATRA Collects 1,890 from main pot

Alright so I open the button here - Im fine with this - I have a suited King in position against weak players who dont defend often....he reraises pre - the sizing leads me to a weaker hand than stronger - either way I have good implied odds to call and can outplay postflop..The flop comes out and he checks - maybe I should be betting here I decided not to as I dont really rep anything and dont want to be blown off my fd......the turn comes and he bets - I probably should of raised here if anything but figured I had alot of equity and hed check/fold alot of rivers....anyways the river comes out and he leads for 80 - its obvious this player is awful and is leading something to protect me from betting alot so I decide to pounce on this and make a substansial raise - of course he calls.....this might work later in a tournament with higher blinds but I think early on I should avoid raising rivers like this because my opponents in a 50 fo arent thinking enough to fold to my range thats either nuts or pure air.....Ive taken spots like these a couple times and definitely seems like burning money :)

Alright im tired and heading off to bed so i can grind tomorrow......no more river bluffs and hero calling

Vegas trip report - Big day yest

So I went out to vegas for about 5 days to play some poker and have a vacation with the gf......we stayed at the Venetian which is easily the best place Ive ever stayed at - each room is a suite so while one person can be on the bed watching tv, theres a living room area with another flatscreen which is awesome....I could of stayed there for a month and it was around 100/night for the poker rate.....definitely where Ill be staying in the future.....anyways in regards to poker, I played 1 550 Venetian and 2/5 NL while I was out there.....first off live poker is hilarious - I'd probably rank the 550 skill level as that of a 50 dollar freezout online - the level of play early on especially is atrocious.......the structure is great though - 15k starting 25/50, 40 minute levels I believe.......I was very aggressive early on - played my normal online game, opened alot in position pretty wide, a couple 3 bets......got lucky with my 3 betting actually - a guy in later position opens at like 100/200 with about 14k effective.....hes been opening alot, looks like a younger guy, so I decide to 3 bet A7.......he flats and the flop comes 77x.......he checks, I cbet, I think he c/rs and I flat....turn comes another blank - he leads I shove he folds......says he had JJ (wp sir)...A couple hands later I open A3 from sb into bb who calls....flop is 338 - i bet he calls....turn comes a queen - i bet again he calls.....river is an 8 - i decide to valuebet/blockbet into him with intent on folding to a raise - i bet like 35% pot he folds......

So at dinner break I have about 160k and go into the 1500/3k level shortly after......I lose AK to QQ for a flip then my final hand comes up.....I got about 85k at 1500/3k when MP opens to 7500, CO flats, Im in BB with JJ and jam it.......MP calls and i lose a race to AQ....Overall I was very happy with how I played - I didnt feel like I made any glaring mistakes, although its definitely easier to play 100% on your game when your 1 tabling against retards.

So yest was a pretty good day to snap me out of a funk - I won the 20r 6 max Tilt and Cake 162 to get me some wins on the month, along with a couple 7-800 dollar cashes.....Ive also been staking someone recently whos real good and he won the 30k sniper on ap for 8k....while the month still isnt that great, its nice to get some confidence back and get that feeling again of winning.

Offering coaching services

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/164/poker-coach-listings/mtt-coaching-804529/

So I put up an ad on 2p2 regarding coaching for MTTs.....The going rate will be 80/hr if anyone who reads my blog is interested!

As far as poker its been slow this month.....Im up 4k while getting raped deep in tournaments....The worst part about this is alot of these FTs Ive made with 5 figures+ to first have a bunch of droolers that are pretty terrible.....last week I ft'ed the 40k ftp with 10k to first and busted in like 6th after losing QQ to QT....tonight I came into the 75k FTP 2/9 but got my money in with an open ender for about 40 bbs....I couldnt hit and obv busted like 7th - it was sad too as the two bigstacks I had played with for about 50 hands and were pretty bad.....you could tell this money was big to them and their play reflected it....one was super tight while the other was super spewy, so it coud of been a cakewalk if I picked up a big stack.....oh well cant win them all I guess....on a positive note Ive gotten in 180 MTTs only 11 days into the month which is great - as long as I get my volume in Im happy.

GG May

May turned out to be a very good month - it was tied for around my 2nd highest profit month on the year, and im not too far off of last years profit......i had one 10k hit this month, and about 8 3k+ hits......site by site, I believe AP/FTP continued to be my biggest winners -I know I won on Cake - on Stars I either broke even or was a slight loser - Stars continues to be my downfall but Im confident itll turn....Ive been having deeper runs on there but continue to run bad deep, but Im sure its gonna pan out eventually - I think I have like 2-3 wins on there this year! The last two weeks were interesting on the month - I went on a 7k downer towards the end but bounced back on last Friday with a win in the 50r AP and the 66 buy in ap, for a combined 8200...the 50r was funny cause I had rebought a couple times and was in for 400 - I was pretty annoyed with the situation but continued to steal until I got some double ups.....with two tables left I chipped up to the CL and continued to chip up......the field was weak, weaker then usual - I will say fridays are a very soft day for mtts - the fields are smaller and weak which leads to alot of overlay...the 66 AP was very soft - I had gotten aroudn the money bubble with 10 bbs and eventually won a couple all ins, had a suckout and had 30-40 bbs.....from there I chipped up, picked up alot of hands and dominated the field.....the ft was super weak- I dont think I got 3 bet once that tournament outside of value hands - when we got shorthanded I lost a huge hand with KK to AK, but after shoving a couple times in spots where they should of called any two, I got 10 bbs back, then 20 then ended up shipping it......all in all was a nice day to get some confidence back and get me back to the peak of the month...

Im looking forward to June and crushing it - hopefully I can knock out another 20k+ month - I think if I get in 350-400 mtts a month 20k is very doable.....I was thinking the other day how the money isnt a factor at all anymore - I have a really strong drive to compete and I truly love this game - winning a tournament whether its a 5 dollar or 1k is amazing and it feels great to battle people on a mental level and come out victorious.......the money is great but its not why I play anymore - I think a year ago I was very money motivated but now the competition drives me....it definitely gets easier to focus on the fun of the game when you have a nice financial cushion, but either way ill continue to put in the hours and grind it out

shipped a 2nd triple crown

ended up shipping a 2nd triple crown - had a win in that 75 buy in for 10k, won the ap 50r for like 5k, then the cake 109 for 3kish....it was cool to win another - its not really something that requires much skill just being able to grind and run good across 3 sites....since then Ive had some small wins here and there - think I won the 50r again and won the cake 162 as well - anyways profit wise im doing really well on the month - think its going to be tied for my 2nd biggest month on the year - yearly wise my profits are not too far off from my yearly 2009 profit, so thats exciting....would be amazing to match my 2009 profits by the end of the june, but either way Im very happy where Im headed for 2010.....Ive been adding more and more 320s to my schedule - I think the best bang for the buck is the 1/4 mil on stars on wednesday - its a 320 buy in with about 900-1k runners - the average play is probably equal to that of a 501r1a, so value wise its great.....Id imagine my roi could be say 30% in that, or 90 dollars profit everytime I play it. Ive also been playing the 1001r1a on Tilt - its not as great of a value as the 1/4 mil - the average table is alot tougher but even at a 15-20% roi thats still around 60 dollars profit per....its also cool being able to play with some great players and learning to adjust to their game....moorman is a great example of someone who just rapes you nonstop - you raise, he 3 bets, u 3 bet his raise, he 4 bets - its nonstop with him and someone you hate to see at your table......hopefully one day i can terrorize players

nice week

Had a pretty sick week although Mon/Tues were the winning days...Monday I won the tilt 75 buy in for 10k, Tuesday went 4th in the 60k tilt for 7600, won the 50r for 5500, then chopped the 20k 6 max for another 5300 or so......had a funny hand in the 75k where a guy opened, I had Q4dd and decided to 3bet in position....he called flop came A9J two diamonds....he led out with 20k into a 32k pot, I shoved like 60-70k more, he calls with 78dd - luckily I held and picked up a ton of chips....the ft though didn't go as planned - ran TT into AA 5 handed, then JJ into QQ 4 handed to bust...the 75 buy in did go very smoothly - if anyone cares I uploaded the HH to PXF so if your interested respond back and ill post the link...

taking the day off today, maybe grinding tomorrow - we'll see.....ive been debating going to vegas for wsop - I really dont care to play the live events all that much, but its defintiely a cool atmosphere to be in during WSOP time....maybe ill make my way out west.

April wrap

well my april is done - ended around 17k in profits......it was a so so month - my roi was around 35% - a little low but nevertheless 17k is 17k.......I did start to incorporate some 1001r1as into my schedule that I didnt do before - I think im +ev in them - the thing is say my choices are a 1001r1a at 20% ROI or a 20r at 50% ROI - the 100 comes out to 60 dollars profit per game, while the 20r comes out to 30 - with that said my ROI in the 100 might even be higher making it a real easy choice....the 100r has to be played alot differently than a 50 dollar fo would be as well - you cant open as much, you're going to get 3 bet more often, and when you do 3 bet theres alot more people that are capable of 4 betting light.....4 betting light isnt really a tool I use much in my daily tournies - think Ive 4 bet light under 10 times since I started playing MTTs full time - its definitely pretty read dependant in the midstakes...in high stakes its pretty common place so you have to get use to using it....also the postflop play is much better - you can't just barrel away or take your standard lines that you would.......Ive been watching more PXF vids to improve in certain spots - im gonna spend the weekend actually watching vids and possibly taking notes.....yes its boring but I wanna get my game to the next level.....I love the level of competition in the higher stakes - playing a 50 FO is like autopilot - most people are pretty tight/straightforward, 3 bets take things down quite often, etc....in the high stakes games youre playing against intelligent people where you cant just steal their blinds constantly or be able to check down 2nd pair without risking many chips.....hopefully May can be a big one

Im also finishing up my first month of p90x - the program is killer! The first week I was extremely sore but since then Ive felt great and the workouts make me sweat like crazy....I didnt weigh myself when I started so not sure what I weigh, but I can definitely see results already......love handles have shrunk, I got more "cuts" especially around the chest, and I can do alot more pushups then I could before....I cant wait for month 2 to start - it should be real intense but the results should be even better....Im also going to weigh myself to keep track of that, even though muscle gain definitely messes that up....Regardless of anything I feel great and hopefully this next month Ill feel even better

big week

Had a pretty big week, 10k+..........mon I had some small cashes, with a final table in the stars 50k ....tues I ended up getting HU in the 40k tilt and chopping it hu.... I had 1 mil to his 700k HU and after some negotiating took 9k (400 over ICM).....I probably should of played it out as I didnt reallly care about the money jump, but 9k was 1400 less than first so figured I should take it......wednesday was another steady day - won the ap 30r afternoon for 3k, and then took 5th in the 1001r1a AP for another 2500........today I put in another full session and won the 50 buy in on ap for 2100, and then went like 5th in the 75 buy in on tilt for 2200....All in all a pretty good week - the 50 I won today I just steamrolled the whole tournament - the great thing about fields like that is everyone sucks so its very easy to chip up....you never really run into much resistance or people 3 bet bluffing.....the big hand was when we were 4 handed - I had about 100k, hotemogirl who is pretty good had 80k and tw oguys had like 30k a piece at 1250/2500....anyawys hot emo opened the button to like 6k, i had 9s so decided to 3 bet to 17555 hoping for a 4 bet shove......anyways he flatted which was wierd - flop came like Q77 two clubs if i remember correctly - so my logic at this point is his flatting range is pretty polarized - I think 77+ maybe wider he shoves pre, small pairs hes not getting in he folds cause he cant set mine for that many chips, really nothing made sense outside of him flatting say AA.....anyways I bet out half pot with the intention of calling the shove - I cant think of any Queen in his range he flats pre - AQ he gets in, KQ i guess but either way him flatting here outside of AA pre is pretty bad.....anyways he shoved i called the rest - he had 89cc and I held.....from there I just bullied the shorties till it ended.....

gonna take it easy till sunday and grind 4 more days to finish the month up strong....maybe win the sunday mil? would be nice

50r ownage and where I am since making the full time switch

April was off and kickin - Monday was my first day back at the grind and it turned out pretty successful - shipped the 50r AP for around 4800.....I think I also had a cash for 1k so overall about a +3800 day.........Tuesday I bricked, and Wednesday I ended up shipping the same tournament for 6600 this time, due to the bigger Wednesday field. I've felt real good about my game the past month or so - Monday was great because I felt like I made no bad decisions - I remember playing that 50r and not questioning one play - granted running above reality makes things easier when you don't have as many tough spots, but I just felt in control the whole time....On wednesday I had about 250k of the 900k in chips 10 handed, so it was real easy to run over the table and chip up....Ive head plenty of times your big advantage in tournaments in abusing people later on so noticing whos playing tight or just poorly is definitely key....there were a couple players obviously trying to move up the pay scale so I attacked their blinds.....another thing is attacking stack sizes - its great raising the blinds of people with under 15 bb cause they have to think you're calling them alot when they reshove, especially when stacks get to say 10 bbs...because of this they have to pick up a hand so its easy to pick up chips that way.....Another thing I learned in the past month is slowing down vs overaggro players - I got HU actually in the 50r about 3 weeks ago with Tazedspur - very aggro big winner whos been on a hell of a heater as of late so I had to adjust.....My normal raises got owned when he 3 bet, and when I 3 bet he put in the 4th........now its rare I run into people that play like this cause I don't play much HSMTTs, but I realized with a player like this the best basic strategy is to raise garbage and strong hands Im willing to 4 bet, and hands that have some value but not a ton to limp in especially when im position......I ended up losing but it was an eye opening experience

So its been about 10 months since I made the switch full time to MTTs, and in every regard its been very +ev.....Ive made about 230k in the 10 month period thus far, and its amazing how far I've came playing wise....I remember so many basic spots with say 20 bbs early on I'd have no clue how to play - or picking up QQ early on with 100 bb and what the fuck do I do.....now things are alot easier - I actually remember back in say June I was playing the afternoon 30r on AP right after rebuy period - Wisco murray had opened to 250 at 50/100 - I had roughly 7k - I was dealt QQ and it folded around to me? What did I do well I shoved - what was my reasoning? I wanted to overshove to look weak and get him to call with worse - he ended up calling with AA and I sucked out...how terrible that was and the logic behind it....overall though Ive worked real hard on improving my game - countless hours on PXF, looking on the forums, and talking to good players on AIM to get insight...I guess the big thing is if I lose on a certain hand that I misplayed it bothers me through the day and I must find the solution to any situation that I might of misplayed.....Sometimes with MTTs theres alot of spots that are borderline that you just gotta take and when they work its great, and when they dont well that sucks! Either way though I try to analyze plays that are questionable - Id rather not toss losing up to being unlucky but rather bad play.....everyone tries to blame losing on bad luck and while there is alot of luck especially in MTTs, alot of these people especially in higher stakes don't have the edge they think they do. Thats why I stick to what I play - I might be a winner in say 100r's but Id rather take a large edge in a 109 than take a small edge in a 100r.....in regards to variance over my 10 months it hasn't been too bad - heres a quick recap of what Ive experienced

-500 game breakeven stretch
-2 10k downswings
-400 game stretch of running 4 times over my expectation

Overall thats not too bad at all for what I play....while Im running above reality, theres also some things I do to keep variance down. I play smaller tournies on AP/Cake so variance is reduced, I play alot of Cake/AP tournies where my edge is large so variance is also smaller, and obviously I work on my game to constantly get better to increase my ROI.....People who play say Stars only experience the worst variance cause the fields are huge an their edges are small.....to each their own I guess

Anyways thats it for now.....I ended the week up 7500 after losing 8 tournies tonight, so its a great start to April....with the SCOOPs and FTOPS coming up hopefully I can ship big and take a vacation for the rest of the year (well maybe not).....gl to all

March - weakest month since September

So the month has came to an end - ended up around 13k in profit - the worst month since September....the funny part was I was at like 4k on Monday then had a +9k tues to get me up there......anyways as you can tell im off to a huge start in 2010 more than I could of anticipated......with that said im going to stop posting financial figures in my blog - I actually had a wierd situation wtih selling my car where a guy found info on me and didnt want to buy it, so goin to try to limit how much information I give out over the net.....Ill def talk about my wins or losses, but wont get into the #s

I also recently sold my corvette z06 and bought a 2008 335xi - found a great deal on one for 30,750 and picked it up last week....been loving the car too much! looking forward to good weather to full enjoy it..

Anyone want some coaching?

Well I was on 2p2 looking at coaching threads and thought, hey I could see myself doing that. I'm obviously not the greatest at MTT/MTT SNG play, but a proven winner at mid stakes/some high stakes games over a decent sample. Now I don't even know who reads this blog but I figure I'll post this up anyways. I'm looking to coach small stakes/midstakes MTT/SNG players, whether that maybe be reviewing HHs, reviewing HHs via skype, sweating players, or any other form of coaching they may want. My sharkscope results show the following for MTT play

YouGotBeat 1,022 games played, 80,198 in profit, 73% ROI
Z06Fanatic 764 games played, 75,106 in profit 92% ROI (never counted my 80k win)
Richard Gere 432 games played 30,655 in profit 64% ROI

Stars is about even so I wont even post :(.......anyways my sample isn't that large for results via tracking sites, but thats over 200k in profit dating back to June. Why do I want to coach? I enjoy the game of poker and enjoy talking about it on a more indepth level and like to see people succeed(sp?).....I had one student already for a session over skype that went well...anways my rate will prob be around 80/hr - my hourly in MTTs is probably higher but this is variance free and atleast I can do an hour and stop....anyways if you're interested reply here otherwise I'll post back when those figs double and hopefully garner some interest!

50r win and some thoughts on how becoming complacent can be the devil

first off, i won the 50r ap 2nite for 5k and change....i came into the ft 3rd or 4th in chips - ended up chipping up here and there - when we got 4 handed i donated alot of chips to pokerho when i got 88 in the bb vs his button open with 30 bbs or so - we got it in he had kk.....I then chipped back up and lost anotehr big race to him , but eventually won a big race and had 4-500k in chips 3 handed.....we got hu and eventually i 3 bet qj pre, flopped the nuts, and buried every street till i got paid off by k8 for like a 80 bb pot on a 89T93 board

Ok now a little bit about complacency in poker.....you see it alot - people get good at one form of poker, grind it for hours on end and save up the money, never thinking about the future.....at the same time, they dont improve their skillset, thus just grinding out their hourly and praying that the hourly will always be there....well we've seen how much tougher games have gotten, especially SNGs, and people have to realize mindlessly grinding and never improving is a recipie for long term failure - yes you can still make plenty of money, but the games continue to get harder, so if you're not ahead of the average pace you're losing money slowly.....SNGs have been the big example of this - SNGs back in 2004 were ridiculously easy and extremely profitable - big winners were making 500k+ plus for sngs! its pretty amazing to think about compared to todays profits....I think after looking on SS for 2009 the biggest winner had 80k or so in actual profit? Now thats now bad with bonuses - I mean its still possible to make 100-150k with SNGs but nowhere near where they use to be, and in 2010 the games will get harder.....MTTs too aren't the toughest thing to beat - the 109s and under don't require amazing poker skills to beat - playing 20-30 bb stacks isn't that tough, but its still very profitable....anyways the point is to always improve your game if you plan on playing this game for a long time - you see alot of players come and go and very few are still playing for a living over a 5+ year period - just realize if your not improving daily your losing money

chopped up the 40k tilt

Last Wed I chopped the tilt 40k for 9800 or so......I got heads up and had 1.6 mil to about 500k and icm dictacted he'd get 1k over 2nd place but he wanted more.....since he had nitted most of it and hadnt shown being that good I declined and said take icm or we play....we ended up playing and i ended up losing a race to him....eventually we got to about 900k in chips a piece and decided to chop it up - blinds were high and even if i had an edge it wasnt that big at that point.....I think its definitely been to my advantage to have all these scores over the past 6 months - when I get to the ft's with 10k+ 1st place payouts I dont think about the money whatsoever....i remember back in August id make a ft with first being 8k and worry bout it - now first can be 30k and it doesnt influence me...its definitely helpful as you can see others tighten up trying to move out the payouts which makes it insanely +ev to chip up off of them

anyways its a nice little start to the month.....I want to get in some good volume in march, but its tough being motivated lately.....its really a grind but i gotta toughen up and get in my games.....we'll see how march pans out

February wrap up

Im heading out to California for vacation tomorrow so Im going to wrap up the month. It was a small month in terms of volume, but profits were very high. This turned out to be my biggest month of my poker career, and probably for a long time....Anyways heres the #s

262 MTTs Played 62,118 in profit 193% ROI

So I got in some lower than expected volume but I guess thats due to ending the month on the 23rd and slacking here and there - its tough to get in 400 mtts a month especially since I dont have 15 table and play 60% like some of the other high volume grinders, but im happy with my situation. I should of gotten a 2nd triple crown last week when I won the 501r1a AP, 162 on Cake, and the 60k on Tilt, but because the ap had under 100 entrants it didnt count....booo let me get my 2nd triple crown of the month! Overall Im obviously very happy with how the year is shaping up - Im a little under 90k in total profit for the year which is fantastic, but I also understand im running way above expectation so its not like Ill be making 500k this year.....I feel like I have a great grasp on the stakes im playing - I still dont have the chops to cut it with good thinking players, but against your average 109 FO player I feel like my edge is huge.....hopefuly I can continue to improve and take down some more larger fields next month.....Ill also be heading to AC for the WSOPC coming to town - hopefully ship a tourny there or dominate some cash games.....2010 is lookin good :)

Think I won the triple crown?

So this week was ridiculous.....Monday I won the 35k KO on tilt for 9500, Tuesday the 302r1a on Stars for 3800, and Wednesday the 80k Sniper on AP for a chopped 19,200. So this should be a triple crown but since I chopped the AP I dont know exactly how that computes. Pretty sure I am awarded 1st though cuz I had more chips during the chop and got more money. Anyways Wednesday turned out to be very interesting....I had those two ships on mon and tues and went into wednesday with hopes of winning a cake or ap for the triple crown. Its not something im dieing for but a cool little accomplishment I guess, although if you grind MTTs full time eventually you're gonna hit one. I loaded up about 20-25 MTTs on the day and had bricked all of them with 2 min cashes, and literally had the AP 80K as my last tourny to go. I was also pissed after making a questionable 4 bet in the FTP 60K with JJ into QQ, and then I blew a ton of chips in the 30r ftp when I got 77 in against AA on the flop like 60 bbs deep BvB. Anyways I was cruising in the 80k when I ran 99 into a flopped set which brought me down to 15 bbs about 20 away from cashing. At this point I went totally card dead and played the nitty shortstack game for a while...I would double up winning a race and then grind back down......Anyways I eventually got to like 30 bbs when a guy opened, I 3 bet JJ and he shoved 910 and I won...from there the ft came, it was prety nitty overall - when we got 3 handed it was me bbb333 or whatever his name is - a very good player - and a very weak non regular.....bbb wanted to get 17k rather then 15k a piece chopping, so the deal was never made....he eventually got coolered running ak into aa - this was great for me since bbb was easily the best left.....when we got hu he wanted to chop and ended up giving me 19,2 when he got like 17 something.....ill take it

hopefully feb can not go to the shitter after peaking the first week

End of January

Today was my last day of playing for the month of January. Heres the results

394 MTTs played 74,583.00 in cashes, 47,889 in buy ins, = 26,694.00 in profit 55.7% ROI

Overall was a very successful month even after my dismal -10k start. I don't think I had alot of wins, outside the 75k early in the month. Just alot of 4-6k cashes. With rakeback that puts me slightly over 27k to start the year, obviously a great start. My ROI doesn't seem that far off from my true ROI - I figure I could atleast do 40% over all the sites - AP/Cake are obviously much higher than Stars and Tilt, and overall on the month I do about half and half of the weak sites with the tougher sites. AP has definitely been getting harder in the past couple months - the afternoon 30r which I thought use to be very soft is now getting tougher sadly - its a small field and I think roughly 20% of the field are winners. I also started mixing in some 50rs and 320s. The 50r is the AP one - definitely a tough field but I figure if I invest 200 on average in it and can do a 20% ROI its worth it. Im also adding the Stars weekly 1/4 million 320 buy in to my lineup. Its a soft field and definitely the softest 320 you can play during the week outside Sundays. I hate playing bigger buy ins with 1k fields, but Im playing for long term profit, so just have to deal with the variance. Last wed I was going to play the AP 1001R1A but after looking at the field I passed. I loaded it up and literally 30 of the first 40 players were winners. Yeh Ill pass :)

Febuary I hope to hit atleast 350 MTTs and hopefully 15k or more profit - If I spend 50,000 in buy ins I shouldn't have an issue turning 15k profit a month longterm, although I think I can turn 20k/mo more likely. Ive had 3 straight months now of 25k+ profit, so things are looking good.

Mid January results

I was thinking the other day of who even reads this blog but I guess ill keep it going - something cool to look back on years down the road.....anyways heres the mid jan update

13,129.00 profit, 51.25% ROI, 213 MTTs

Ive decided to do 400 MTTs a month for the year. With that said I wanna set aside time for going to Aruba, Vegas, and anywhere else I may vacation to this year, so I want to get ahead on that quota to "reserve" time for vacations. I figure if I can do say 20-40 extra per month, build up a month of vacation time to do whatever i want...yea it sounds retarded but whatever i wanna hit this volume goal for the year so i can hit some profit goals as well....anyways the month is looking good thus far - had a huge week with the 75k chop, and then today made 5k ft'ing a couple mtts.....hopefully i can keep my roi at 40% this month but obv variance could careless.....ill be back feb 1st

Shipped 75k Tilt

So I was slumping big time this month - got to about -10k yesterday when I was deep in a couple big ones - stars 100k, Tilt 40k, Tilt 75k, Cake 20k......I was actually like 2/70 or something in the Tilt 40k when we got ITM - everytime I opened I got 3 bet, and obv couldn't get hands....eventually this guy who had been opening a ton of buttons opened again at like 1/2k to 5k, I had Q8ss and decided Id make my stand with 40k.....I reraised to 20k and he shipped me - obv had TT and I couldn't hit. Stars I had been riding a decent stack but getting near the money I fell down to about 9 bb when the sb shoved me in I had K7ss made the call, he had Q4 and binked the queen on the flop....The Cake 20k I actually became CL at the final table when I won a big flip, but eventually I had KJ on a 98QT3 where another guy had the same hand but of hearts so that knocked me way down low pretty quick....I took 5th for like 1300. The 75k was really my last chance - I wasn't that big in it at any point really till we got down to about 30 players - I forget how I got there but eventually I had a 200k stack and decided I'd just relax and play pretty solid, some weak 3 bets but nothing too crazy.......had one hand where this guy opened i 3 bet k9 he called flop came k36, he checked i checked......turn came Ts putting three spades up there, he bet like 10k into a 40k pot or something like that so i called....river came a non spade 9 - he bet half pot for 44k, i called, he had A high.....he wasnt too happy to see me 3 betting him with k9.....it setup the next hand vs him though where he raised and i 3 bet again this time with KK. he called the flop came all blanks, he checked and I made another 50% pot bet where he raised and we got it in. At the final table there were some real good players there - Tmay420 and Miltman were the notables and obv two players I did not want to see get stacks.....I did notice when we got to the FT how nitty alot of the people were playing.....I lost a race 6 handed with TT vs AK for a decent sized pot and fell to 6/6.....I got my hopes down at that point but kept picking up blidns here and there when Tmay opened the button and I 3 bet from sb.....he 4 bet and I got in JJ - he had AJ and doubled me up.....it was great to get a double from the best player at the table as I crippled him and just had miltman who was short left to deal with....I got reshoved by miltman about 7 times lol - sadly had nothing everytime as I was dieing to call him...he eventually busted 4th or 3rd (cant remember).....when we got heads up the ICM chop was 19,6 and I wanted 20k flat - he wouldn't budge so whatever Ill do the ICM chop.....anyways went from -10k on the month to +10k so was an eventful night. hopefully I can have a repeat of it tonight as well

fuck u 2010

getting owned to start off the year.....currently -7100 the year, after 95 mtts....my plan for this blog this year is to cover the highs and lows of grinding midstakes/high stakes MTTs and to show the good, the bad, and the ugly.....Im happy though getting nearly 100 mtts in 7 days into the month - when Im getting owned I tend to play more and work harder.....my average buy in is roughly 120 so not a huge swing but definitely not a fun thing. Another good thing is Ill have to the penny the exact profit I make this year considering Im gonna be tracking via a spreadsheet from the beginning.....Anyways stay tuned - hopefully im not -15k in the hole next week!

2010

2010 has finally arrived.....had a good NYE drinking with some friends and the gf......tomorrow I shall start the quest of domination for the new year hopefully winning the sunday mil and calling it a year :).....I ended up playing 1 day last week and had a couple 1k cashes bringing Dec to a 24k profit and 80% roi....im real pleased with the past couple of months - ive been workin on my game and have seen real good results.......im obv running above expectation the past two months with about 80% roi, prob double my expected roi......anyways tomorow is a sunday and i plan on palying a full schedule - im glad i dont play a ton of sundays for the simple reason that im going to be playing the alot of 215s with huge fields and obviosuly high variance. playing fields of 1k and larger is just absurd in terms of ever hitting a true expectation, so sundays can be huge sucesses or monster failures - for example the 50 fo on stars i play has about 1k-2k entrants between the 3pm one and the 5 pm one - i dont have any final tables in those touranments...getting through a field of 400 is tough let alone 2k....anyways gl to me